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Chapter 10

"Come on, time to get up, Sleeping Beauty. We don't have time to sleep in."

Pride's answer was a loud growl, then he threw the pillow he was sleeping on in Gibbs' direction, but he missed him, unfortunately.

"Go away. Your armchair is absolutely uncomfortable to sleep in it."

Gibbs picked up the pillow and threw it on his couch.

"And whose fault is that?"

"Yours."

"You wish. I told you to take the guest room, but you refused."

Slowly, the tired team leader of New Orleans opened his eyes, only to stare angrily at his 'brother'.

"I couldn't leave you alone. I wasn't sure that you would do something stupid."

"Keep telling yourself that if it makes you feel better. You have ten minutes to get ready. If you're not done, I'll drive to the Navy Yard alone. The kidnapper will probably call again with the next riddle for me, and I have to be prepared."

Gibbs turned around and left for his kitchen.

"How is it possible that he is already awake?" grumbled Pride, while he tried to shake off the tiredness.

In the end, Pride made it in ten minutes with the help of coffee. When they arrived, at the squad room they were surprised to see Callen, Sam, Brody, and Chris, who were already awake.

"Morning, King."

"Morning, since when are you here, Chris?"

"We never left. We took a nap and then we worked on the container. Or what's left of it."

"Anything about the explosion?" asked Gibbs, and this time it was Sam, who answered.

"The bomb was connected to the door. When someone opens them, we have two minutes before the container explodes. I don't know it for sure, but I would bet that the kidnapper prepared the other hideouts just like this one."

"Did he call again?"

"Not yet, but we just have 0730. It may take a while before he calls again."

"I don't have the time to wait for his call. Three members of my team are still missing and I don't know anything about the condition from Bishop."

At this moment, Callen's phone rang. He took a quick glance at the caller-ID before he answered it and put it on speaker.

"Morning, Kens. How was your night?"

"We didn't sleep very much, to be honest, but that's fine."

"Speak for yourself," Deeks said out of the back and he sounded tired.

"Anyway, we thought Agent Gibbs would like to hear an update on his agent."

"I do."

"Oh, good morning, Agent Gibbs. I didn't know that you…"

"Update, Agent Blye."

"Of course, I'm sorry to tell you, but nothing has changed yet. Agent Bishop is still sleeping, but the doctors say that she will be fine. Deeks and I, we will stay here until she awakes."

"Good, we'll send you two agents, who will take over, so you can help us here," Callen explained.

"Understood. I'll call if something changes. See you later."

"Bye."

"Well, those were good news. At least, it means we don't need to worry about Bishop anymore," Pride said, "One down, three left. Let's concentrate on them. We have a little more than 75 hours left. This sounds like we have a lot of time to solve riddles, but considering the whole driving to the port and everything, it turns out that we are running out of time."

"All we can do right now is to wait for the next riddle," Brody mentioned.

Depressed Gibbs sat down behind his desk and stared at the stupid countdown.

This time, the kidnapper waited until 10 am before he called. Eric informed the teams, which quickly made their way upstairs.

"Hello, Agent Gibbs. How is Agent Bishop doing?"

"You said nothing about a bomb."

"Didn't I? I'm sorry, I could have sworn that I mentioned it. Well, then I will tell you about it now. I planted bombs, and when you try to trick me, I will activate them. If you try to open more than one hideout, I will activate them. If you don't play by my rules, I will activate them. Do I have to go on?"

"I get your message," Gibbs answered with gritted teeth.

"Good, very good. I'm glad to hear that."

"Just tell me one thing. Why did you activate this bomb? I played by your rules, I only opened one container. So, why the bomb?"

"I wanted to show you how serious this all is to me. Yes, you got one agent back, but I needed to show you that the others are still in danger and that I only need to push one button to kill them all."

"Why don't you kill me?! Why do you take my team as hostages?!"

"Because I hate them as much as I hate you. Well, no that's not entirely true. I hate you more, but what would be so funny in killing you? You would die quickly and you wouldn't suffer enough. Now you feel terrible and the whole situation is killing you inside. This is so much more fun than simply killing you. Do you have more questions, or do you want your next riddle?"

"Riddle."

"Good decision. Take a look at your desk. The letter should have arrived by now. I'll wait for your answer. Have a nice day, Agent Gibbs."

"Damn it!"

As soon as the screen went dark, Gibbs stormed out of MTAC. Even from the stairs, he was able to recognize the brown envelope, which was lying on his desk. Other than yesterday, he didn't wait. This time, he ripped it open and pulled out a new crossword.

"And the game starts again."

Crossword 2

/a/PFDIRF7

Brody and Sam sat in front of the crossword, while Gibbs walked up and down. He tried to ignore the three live videos – especially Abby's – but every time he passed the screen, his gaze went to it immediately. The two boys and Abby didn't move anymore. Abby and Tim were lying on a blanket, and Tony sat on his mattress. Obviously, they were trying to save air since there was no way out. Who knew how much they had already lost? It was better for them to wait until they would rescue them. The only problem was that it now looked as if they were dead, and only when Gibbs concentrated on their chest's, he saw that they were still breathing.

"The new land is RUSSIA," Brody said.

"Give me a second then I'm done too."

All eyes were on Sam, but he stayed calm and finished his paper.

"Okay done. She is right. Write him the answer, G."

"So, he uses the same riddle like the first time. This could mean that we have to solve three riddles again to get another agent, who could also be in a container," Pride said.

"There is only one problem. The kidnapper won't let us open all containers in this port at once. If we would give the order, he would activate the bombs," Chris answered, "Which means, we have to solve three riddles, get one agent, solve three riddles, get one agent…"

"This version will cost us some time. Especially the second riddle where he sends us across the town."

"Agent Gibbs?"

Everyone turned around to the young man, who was standing beside Bishop's desk. Gibbs recognized him immediately, although their last meeting had been years ago. In front of him stood Kyle Davis, Abby's biological brother. He looked lost and afraid and reminded the team leader so much of his missing forensic scientist.

"Kyle, what are you doing here?"

"I'm sorry that I came here without calling, but I didn't know what I should do or where to go."

Sighing Gibbs left his chair. He had to wait for the kidnapper's call anyway, so, he had some time for a little talk with Abby's brother.

"Come on, follow me. I know a place where we can talk."

"Where is my sister?"

Kyle didn't waste any time. As soon as Gibbs had closed the door of the conference room, the young man couldn't wait anymore.

"Today, we planned to have lunch together, but she didn't show up. She didn't even call, and when I try to reach her I get her mailbox. I left like ten messages. Why isn't she calling me back? Or text me? I don't a call, all I want is a simple…"

"Stop."

Immediately, the tensed young man closed his mouth. He knew Gibbs a little bit and his sister had told him more than once that her boss could be grumpy sometimes, but that he was actually really nice. Except when he was stressed or tired, and both of those things fit on Gibbs today.

"I see that the 'talk-too-much' gen runs in the family, which explains from who Abby got that part," Gibbs sighed, while he poured coffee into two cups.

"When I'm nervous I start to talk and talk and it is hard for me to stop."

"Don't worry. Abby is just like you. Sit down."

Gibbs saw that Abby's little brother hesitated, but in the end, he followed his order.

"Where do I start?"

"My sister isn't here."

It wasn't a question. Kyle wasn't stupid. He knew that Gibbs would have brought him to his sister if she would be in the building. Still, Gibbs nodded. He had no idea how he should explain the poor boy that Abby got kidnapped, and that it was his mistake.

"She told me that she is a forensic scientist, so, I assume that she isn't on an undercover mission."

"No, she isn't."

"Then please, tell me where she is. I know that I just found her and that I don't know much about her, but I care for her and I need to know what happened."

"She got kidnapped five days ago."

Silence filled the room. The team leader saw Kyle's blank face and could only imagine how the cogs worked behind his eyes. He wanted to explain Kyle everything, but the words didn't want to leave his lips. It was as if his lips were sealed.

Finally, Abby's brother found his speech again.

"Kidnapped? By who?"

"We don't know yet. We're still working on that."

"But… but… did she anger someone? But she is so nice to everyone. Could it be someone, who she helped to put away? Or…?"

"Kyle, she isn't the only one. My whole team got kidnapped."

"And… did the kidnapper called?"

"Yes."

"What does he want?"

"He wants to play games. I have to solve riddles and when I solved enough he gives me my team back one by one."

"How many riddles have you solved by now?"

"Four."

"Four? So, he has to release them all, right?"

Gibbs saw the shimmer of hope in the eyes of the young man, which hurt his heart. Sadly, he shook his head. Immediately, the small shimmer died, which hurt even more.

"I have to solve three riddles to get back one of my people."

"I assume that you didn't get Abby back, didn't you?"

Again, Gibbs shook his head, and suddenly, he knew what Kyle's next question would be.

"Why didn't he kidnap you?"

Quickly, he took a gulp of his coffee to buy himself some time. But Kyle was just like his sister, so, he never turned his eyes from the poor agent. Finally, Gibbs put down his cup and opened his mouth to give an answer. Suddenly, someone knocked and opened the door without waiting for an invitation. Pride was standing in the door.

"Hey, brother. We could use you downstairs. We have… some problems."

'Problems' was an understatement. Apparently, the partners of his team talked to the parents, because the office was full of people now. Gibbs recognized Mr. DiNozzo senior and McGee's grandmother Penelope. Furthermore, Jake was back. Penelope was the first, who noticed the stressed team leader.

"Is it true? Timothy got kidnapped?"

"Good morning, Miss Langston."

"Don't try to be nice. Tell me the truth."

"Yes, your grandson got kidnapped."

"And Junior? What about him?"

"Tony too."

"And when did you think about telling us this amazing news?" asked an angry Penelope.

A part of Gibbs understood her anger. He wouldn't like it either to be left out of the loop. But this was not the time to debate and be angry. He was running out of time.

"I didn't. Do you want to know why? Because I'm running out of time. Like you can see on the screen, I only have 72 hours left to save the last three members of my team."

"Three? Does this mean that you…?"

"Yes, Jake, we were able to save Bishop last night. She is in the hospital of Baltimore."

At least, Jake didn't need a second invitation. He grabbed his coat and ran to the elevator as fast as possible.

"Mr. DiNozzo, Miss Langston, Kyle, you are welcomed to stay with our Medical Examiner Dr. Mallard, or you go home. We call you if we find your son, your grandson, and your sister. But you can't stay here in the squad room. You would distract us, and I don't have the nerves to have a longer discussion with you."

"Gibbs, this is my son we're talking about. I need to know what happened. I know that I'm not the best dad in the world, but he is still my son."

"I know that you want answers, Mr. DiNozzo, but that's all I can say for now. So, tell me: which option do you choose? Morgue or home?"

"I go home," Kyle said, "I'm not such a big fan of dead people. Just promise me that you'll call me."

"I promise."

Kyle watched the ex-marine closely before he gave up and left the office. Mr. DiNozzo senior watched the young man, then he took his jacket.

"I go to my hotel. If you search me, you find me at the Adams House, Gibbs."

Tony's dad walked over to the elevator. He didn't need a confirmation from the old agent. He knew Gibbs would explain everything to him when the time was right. Now, there was only Penelope Langston left. The agents turned towards her.

"I'll stay. Besides I would love to see Dr. Mallard again."

"An agent will bring you downstairs," Gibbs sighed.

"Don't bother. I'm not that old, Agent Gibbs. I still remember the way to your autopsy."

Gibbs opened his mouth to protest, but McGee's grandmother didn't wait for anyone. Instead, she turned around and left the office. Other than the men before her, she used the second elevator, which would bring her to Ducky.

"Shall I…?" asked Brody, and Gibbs nodded.

"Go with her. Careful she isn't… well, she says what she thinks."

"That's not a problem."

The remaining men shook her heads in disbelief.

"This is Agent McGee's grandmother?" asked Sam, "Correct me if I'm wrong, but when I met him, he didn't seem so… aggressive."

At those words, Gibbs needed to smile. No, McGee was nothing like his grandmother. The MIT alumnus was calm and nice. But the team leader knew that McGee loved his grandmother very much, no matter how strange she was.

Suddenly, a loud whistle rang through the office, and Eric appeared on the stairs.

"Hey, guys. We have a new message."

"Congratulations, Agent Gibbs. You're faster than I thought you would be."

"Is this the reason why you take your time to call me back?"

"I don't want our game to be over yet. We need more time, don't you think?"

"Sure, why don't screw this countdown and give me more time?"

"Oh, I would love to, but I'm afraid that if I do this your last team member wouldn't survive it. See, when the countdown is down to zero, he or she will be dead. Do you want me to ignore it?"

"No," Gibbs growled angry "Tell me about the next riddle. Where do I have to go?"

The kidnapper sighed, then the teams heard the sound of paper.

"Let's see. Drive to Rosegarden Flowers. Buy a Sophia bouquet. The owner will give you the next address with a new sort of flowers. Find all three flowers, solve the riddles, then write me the answer. As usual."

Gibbs wrote the name of the shop and the bouquet on his block.

"Are you sure you don't want to end this now? All you have to do is to release my team. I will speak to the judge…"

"I don't care if I go to jail. And no, Agent Gibbs. I don't want to end our game. If I end it earlier, then only because I activate the bombs and I highly doubt that you wish that."

Crossword Solution 2

/a/r8zaGx7