McGee and Bishop finally arrived at the hospital. They each had a card for Tony. Bishop had a bunch of flowers, and McGee had a bag of DVDs and a DVD player. They wanted Tony to feel better and to know that they cared about him, even if they didn't know what had happened yet.

"Knock, knock," said Bishop cheerily. "Can we come in?"

Tony smiled when he saw who was at the door. He nodded, letting them in.

"How are you feeling?" Bishop asked as she handed her card and the flowers over.

"Really tired. How are you?" asked Tony, hoping that she wouldn't ask anything else right then.

"I'm good. I'm glad to have you back."

"I'm glad to be back." Tony looked at McGee. "Hi Timmy."

"Hey Tony." McGee handed over his card and the bag. "Enjoy those."

Tony rifled through the bag, grinning as he found all his favourite movies. "Did you go through my collection?"

"Those are just the ones you insist on bringing to my apartment to watch."

"Really? I didn't think I had brought that many."

"Oh, you did. And there's more too. I will happily bring them to you."

"Uh, I think this is enough. At least for now, anyway."

"Are you hungry? I could go and get something for everyone," said Bishop.

"No, actually, I'm not hungry." Tony yawned. "Sorry."

"Don't be. McGee and I are going. We'll let Abby know that you're okay and that she can come tomorrow."

"Thank you, Bish," said Tony. He gave his friends hugs before they left. "Boss, I might just go to sleep. Are you staying?"

"No. I'm going to head back out to Silver Springs and see what I can find on those idiots. I want them off the streets ASAP."

Tony nodded. He thanked Gibbs again before he closed his eyes and fell into a peaceful sleep.

Tony managed to sleep through the night and into the middle of Saturday morning. When he woke up, he found Abby and Gibbs sitting there, chatting quietly. Abby looked like she was about to fall asleep herself, but she gave Tony a wide smile when he called out to her.

"TONY!" Abby exclaimed in a loud voice as she wrapped him in a bear hug.

"Abbs, I can't breathe…"

"Sorry." She let go, but chose to sit on the bed with him. "I missed you so much. I got scared when we didn't find you straight away."

"I'm alright, Abbs. Tired and sore, but alright."

"But you were missing for five days, Tony. How can you be alright after that?"

"Because I'm strong. And because I have the best friends anyone could ever ask for."

"That's true." Abby reached over and gave Tony another hug, this time being careful to not squash him. "I brought you Bert. I thought you might need something to help you feel better."

Tony laughed. "I think that is going to be a wonderful item to keep me happy in here. Thank you."

Abby beamed with pride and joy. "Well, I should get going," she said. "I have a date with a cute puppy this afternoon at Kyle's pet shop, and then I'm bowling with the nuns tonight. I'll let you know who wins, Tony."

"Say hi to Sister Rosita for me, Abbs."

"Always. Oh, that reminds me. Sister Rosita says she wishes you a speedy recovery and she can't wait to see you again."

Tony smiled at that. He hugged Abby and said goodbye just as lunch was brought in.

"Mr DiNozzo, here is your lunch. We didn't get a menu from you, so I've left one on the tray," said the woman that brought the food in.

"Thank you," said Tony with a smile. He opened the tray and immediately felt hungry. He had forgotten about his hunger pains so that he would be able to concentrate on getting to safety over the last five days.

As soon as the woman had left, Tony dug into the food. It didn't have the greatest taste, but he was so hungry, he didn't care. He shovelled the food into his mouth, putting the next spoonful in before he had swallowed the first.

"Tony, stop that!" said Gibbs as he watched in horror. "Eat slowly, the food isn't going anywhere."

Tony stopped. He looked at the plate and realised what he had been doing. "Sorry, boss."

"Don't be sorry. Just remember to eat slowly so you don't make yourself sick."

"I'm hungry."

"I know that. But shoving it into your mouth won't do you any good. I know you haven't eaten for a few days, but forcing food into you isn't good."

Tony hung his head. He felt bad because he knew Gibbs was right. He was being silly.

"Now, do you want me to get you something that tastes better than the food in front of you?" Gibbs asked.

"This isn't too bad," said Tony, cheering up. "Besides, I want to eat, and I don't think I can wait much longer."

Gibbs nodded and sat back, keeping an eye on Tony while he ate.

Fornell found McGee and Bishop at their desks on Saturday afternoon. Both looked extremely tired, but they were both working very hard still, looking for the Barn brothers.

"Hey guys," said Fornell. "Have you got anything?"

"No. Abby just got back from the hospital. She said Tony's feeling a little bit better, but we don't know what happened to him. He told Gibbs, but Gibbs won't say anything to us," said Bishop.

"Probably because it's something that doesn't need to come out yet. It's going to come out at some point, especially when it comes to charging these idiots."

"Have you got anything over at the FBI?"

"Nothing. We processed the motel room and found nothing other than DiNutso's DNA. All we know is that they ran as soon as the police pulled up. A woman coming out of her room saw them hightailing it towards the back of the motel. They must have had a vehicle there, because there's nothing but trees behind there."

"Did anyone find the van?"

"Yes. It was down the road from the motel. It was burnt to a crisp."

"Of course it was," sighed McGee. "Maybe it's time to call it a night and go home, come back with fresh eyes tomorrow."

"I'm not going anywhere," said Bishop. "I live alone and I really don't need to go home to an empty apartment. Besides, I want to try and find these two before anything else happens. I don't know what they did to Tony, but whatever it was, it was horrible. I've never seen Tony looking so scared, so depressed before."

"That's a good point. I might call Delilah and see if the DOD has anything."