A/N: WoW, almost 70 reviews? o.0 Hmmm, maybe I should always ask some kind of question at the end of the chapter... *LOL*

Sooo, 'Stupidly Brave Tony' won, albeit barely. Many of you have mentioned that I should combine both versions and while I read those reviews I got an idea how that would be possible and I liked it very much and... well, to make it short: You get the combination!!! *throws confetti* It's hard to explain how I combined 'Stupidly Brave Tony' with 'Kidnapped Tony' but I hope you'll get it when you read it. I think it's something a stupidly brave Tony would have done... And I take 'gets himself kidnapped', quite literally... *snicker*

AAAAAND, *drum roll* THIS STORY IS FINALLY BETA'ED!!! Wooot! Bow your head and appreciate the great Keahi Spitfire for reading this story over and eliminating my mistakes and helping me with the punctuation and grammar!!! Once again (although I have done this alot already and am probably annoying you by now) thank you so much for your help! *hugs* All remaining mistakes are my own!

Important: I changed the place of the second delivery. It's now Chelsia Piers!!!! Many thanks to 'brill' for suggesting it!

The Day Before The Day

Chapter 10

The ride to Chelsia Piers was made in complete silence and Tony was actually rather grateful for that. He had no intention in making small talk with Nickols. Especially since the man had forced him to sit on the back seat because he was 'too small' to sit in the front. Tony had wanted to point out that Gibbs didn't seem to think that he was too small, but decided to keep his mouth shut rather than pick a fight. The Agent was currently gripping the steering wheel so hard, his knuckles turned white. He continued to speed through the city like a madman.

Still, his driving wasn't nearly as bad as Gibbs'...

Tony was worried nonetheless. He could only see the back of Nickols head, but the rearview mirror showed narrowed eyes that held a disturbing gleam. The boy began to wonder if he'd made a mistake when he hadn't stopped Nickols back at the motel.

What if the Agent made a mistake and endangered Mia's life? What if Gibbs had everything under control and Nickols blew the plan with his appearance?

The boy felt sick to his stomach at the thought, but there was no turning back now. They were almost there, and the young Italian doubted that he could convince Nickols to turn around. Tony looked through the car window to his right and frowned when he realized that everything looked perfectly normal.

No police cars, no patrolling policemen, no roadblocks...

The streets were actually kinda deserted. He could see an old woman with her dog, and a young couple that was kissing each other fervently. Tony stared at the couple for a few seconds before he shook his head and looked away. He didn't understand why adults liked this whole kissing thing so much. It was just...yucky.

Nickols was suddenly veering into an empty parking spot. He stalled the engine with a curse on his lips and began to check his gun and holster.

Tony leaned forward to get a better look of their surroundings and realized that Nickols had parked at least two streets away from their destination. Maybe the jerk wasn't so dumb after all...

Nickols checked his watch and cursed under his breath. "Shit, I'm already late. "He opened the driver's door, but before he could get out of the car he turned around to give Tony a look that was probably meant to be stern. "You'll wait right here in the car, got it?"

Tony wasn't sure whether he should protest or not. He didn't want to hamper Gibbs in any way and endanger the delivery, but he didn't want to sit here and wait either. That's not what he was here for, was it? He was here to be part of the rescue and to help.

So although a voice in his head (that sounded suspiciously like Gibbs) told him to 'Stay in the car, for God's sake', he opened his door and attempted to follow Nickols. His left foot was still in the car when the Agent realized what Tony was trying to do. He glared at him over the top of the rental and shouted: "Are you deaf, boy? I said wait in the car!"

The young man sounded genuinely livid, but Tony was no longer listening. He had stopped in his tracks as soon as he'd noticed the two figures that were currently running down the street.

Both of them were men, but that's where the similarities ended.

One of them was very tall with reddish brown hair. He was wearing a black coat and a cap. It covered the upper half of his face so Tony could only see his mouth which was set into a grim, unhappy line. The other man was a lot shorter and had a larger frame. He was wearing the same coat as the redhead, but lacked a cap, so Tony was able to see his hairy face.

It took Tony only a second to realize that he knew that face and another to realize that he should probably warn Nickols that the kidnappers were running right towards them.

"Nickols! Watch out!"

But Nickols, dumb and stupid son of a bitch that he was, didn't notice the edge of panic in Tony's voice. Instead of producing his gun and pointing it at the approaching criminals, he did the stupidest thing that he could have done right then.

He faced Tony and effectively turned his back on the two men.

"That's Agent Nickols to you, and I suggest you - "

Tony would never know what Nickols wanted to suggest because 'Redhead' had finally reached the unaware man and knocked him out with the butt of a gun that appeared out of nowhere.

Nickols looked disturbingly like a puppet whose strings had been cut when he dropped to the ground. Tony could only see his legs since the car obscured his body, and he only dared to breath again when he saw those legs twitch a little bit.

Not dead then. At least not yet.

'Redhead' didn't waste any time and bent down to pat the pockets of the unconscious man, probably searching for the car keys. The other man was still a few feet away, breathing heavily and almost running backwards in order to keep an eye out for their pursuers.

In other words: neither men were paying any attention to Tony, who was still standing in the door, one foot on the street and the other in the car. He seriously doubted that they had even seen him to begin with.

Tony was surprised at how clear his mind was and that he wasn't panicking. Admittedly, his heartbeat had picked up and his palms were getting sweaty where his hands had grabbed the edge of the car door, but he wasn't exactly scared. He kept perfectly still while he watched the two men, as he debated fiercely with himself about what his next step should be.

He could run. Tony doubted that they would try to stop him, if they even noticed his escape at all. 'Redhead' hadn't shot Nickols after all, and they seemed to be in quite a hurry. No, running would be no problem and, Tony had to admit, it would be the logical choice. The choice everyone with a little bit of common sense and intelligence would make.

Tony almost smiled at the thought. Well, his father always told him how stupid he was, didn't he?

These two men were their only connection to Mia and Tony wasn't oblivious enough to miss the fact that there were still no policemen in sight, let alone Gibbs.

What if the two disappeared into thin air as soon as they left this place? What if they decided that the money wasn't worth the risk, went into hiding and let Mia die, locked away in some kind of old cellar, all alone and scared?

It was either 'Run away and safe yourself' or 'Stay and risk getting killed'.

The choice wasn't nearly as hard as it should have been.

Tony didn't hesitate as he climbed back into the car, closing the door behind him and sealing his fate. He didn't have any time to hide however, because only a second later 'Redhead' wrenched the driver's door open and practically threw himself into the car. The hairy man had reached the car as well and was about to open the passenger door when he spotted Tony on the back seat.

He narrowed his eyes into slits and hurried to open the door to Tony's right. He leaned down to stare at the boy and Tony was momentarily worried that the guy would recognize him. He didn't need to worry though. There was no sign of recognition in those hazel eyes, only impatience and urgency.

"Come on brat!" He gestured with his big, calloused hand for Tony to get out of the car. "Get out already!"

This is your last chance, Anthony. Swing your cowardly ass out of that car and let your precious Agent Gibbs handle the rest.

The voice of his father that echoed through his head sounded disturbingly real and Tony even flinched a little bit when he heard it. But he'd made his choice and he wasn't going to back down.

He slid away from the open door as far as he could and tried his best to appear like he was scared shitless of the hairy man. Somehow he didn't think that 'Please sir, could you give me a ride to your hideout?' would have worked.

'Redhead' paid them no mind as he started the engine and actually hummed a melody that was vaguely familiar, although Tony couldn't for the life of him figure out where he had heard it before. The man trying to coax Tony out of the car, cursed under his breath and made a move to lean into the car and grab the boy, when a distant shout stopped him in his tracks.

Tony looked through the windshield and saw a man running towards them. He was still far away but the Italian thought that he looked a lot like Gibbs.

"Just leave him Jeff," 'Redhead' yelled. "We need to get out of here!"

The man, Jeff apparently, only hesitated for a second before he slammed Tony's door shut and jumped into the passenger seat. He hadn't even managed to closed his door before 'Redhead' had stepped on the gas and sped away from the approaching figure. Tony turned around to look out of the rear window and saw that the man was still running after the car, but he was rapidly falling back, to the point where the boy could barely see him.

The redhead sped on for the next five minutes, only taking side roads; though even Tony could see that no car had followed them.

"Shit Shit Shit!!!" 'Redhead' suddenly exploded, slapping his hands against the steering wheel as he did so.

"How did they know about the new location?" Jeff asked.

He seemed a lot calmer than his buddy, but Tony could see his tense shoulders and how he repeatedly tapped the dashboard with his index finger. Jeff wasn't calmer, Tony realized. He just controlled himself better than his partner.

"What do you think?" the driver snapped. The sound alone made Tony realize that he was the unpredictable, violent one of the duo. He would have to be careful around him. "That bitch called the cops! We should have sent her a piece of her daughter after all. I'm sure that would've shut her up!"

Tony paled and swallowed hard, but said nothing. He listened closely in case they let something slip.

"What should we do now Chuck?"

"We'll set a new appointment with Mommy." Chuck grinned evilly. "And this time we make sure that she doesn't get any ideas."

Jeff only nodded and both of them lapsed into silence. A few minutes passed, and Tony had begun to think that they had forgotten about him, when Jeff suddenly stared into the rearview mirror and fixed his cold eyes on him.

"What should we do with him?" He'd spoken to Chuck, but his eyes never left Tony and the boy began to fidget under the intense stare.

Chuck merely shrugged and sounded almost bored. "We'll just toss him out somewhere along the way. It's not like they don't already know who we are. The guy that followed us screamed your name, remember?"

"Guess you're right." Jeff mumbled and finally turned his eyes to the road in front of him.

Tony began to panic, but for all the wrong reasons.

They were going to toss him out and there was nothing he could do to stop them. When two grown men wanted a child to leave their car- well, then the child would leave their car, whether it wanted to or not.

But he couldn't let that happen. As soon as they drove off without him, he would loose the only connection he had to Mia. They hadn't said anything about their hideout or whether Mia was even alive anymore. He couldn't let this opportunity slip away, he just couldn't.

When his mother was still alive she had managed to convince her son to join the drama group of his school. Tony had been skeptic at first but soon learned to truly enjoy the meetings and rehearsals. He'd never imagined that it would be so much fun to pretend to be someone else. To leave everything that was Anthony DiNozzo behind and become a completely different person with its own past, present, and future. His teacher had praised him a lot, had told him that he was a natural and that she wanted him for the leading part of their next play.

He had never played that role, since his father had found out about his after-school activities soon after the teacher had offered Tony the leading part. He had made him quit, telling him that 'DiNozzo's don't act. DiNozzo's don't need to hide behind a role.' Sometimes, Tony wondered if his weeks with the drama group had been for nothing and whether he would ever be on a stage and be able to give the performance of his life.

Well, it seemed like his big day had come and his stage was the back seat of a rusty Volvo.

He suddenly started to sob and managed to startle the two men in front of him with his sudden wailing. "P-Please don't hu-hurt m-me!"

Jeff turned around to face him and looked mildly annoyed. "Cut it out, will ya? We're not going to kill ya!"

Tony pretended that he hadn't heard him and 'cried' even harder.

"Please! I-I don't wanna die! Pl-Please call my Da-Daddy! He'll *hiccup* He'll give you everything you w-want!"

Jeff didn't seem to be overly impressed, but Chuck perked up at the word 'everything', just like Tony knew he would. He looked into the rearview mirror to get his first good look at the kid. "Say," he drawled, "who is your Daddy exactly?"

Tony sniffed and stared 'fearfully' into the green eyes. "My Daddy is A-Anthony DiNozzo, s-sir."

"DiNozzo?" Jeff gasped, "The Anthony DiNozzo, from the Long Island DiNozzo's? The multimillionaire DiNozzo?"

Tony nodded meekly but the kidnappers weren't even looking at him anymore.

Chuck was grinning from ear to ear. "Dude!" he said, "Do you know what that means? We have the son of a multimillionaire back there. We just hit the Jackpot! I can't believe how lucky we are!"

"Hell yeah man!" Jeff cheered back. "Maybe that DiNozzo guy will pay for Mia as well, you know, to get good publicity and all that."

"Maybe." Chuck nodded and turned around to face Tony when they had to stop at a red light, a little insincere smile on his lips. "Sorry kid, change of plans. You're not going home after all. You're going to come with us for a little while."

Tony buried his head in his hands and pretended to cry but in reality, tried to hide the smug smile that began to tug at his lips.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Tony had long since lost his bearings.

At first he had been able to recognize a few of the streets but now, twenty minutes later, he had no idea where they currently were. Their surroundings had become more and more deserted with each passing minute until it seemed like they were in another country altogether. They occasionally passed a rundown warehouse or a fenced, rubbish-strewn piece of ground, but there was no life whatsoever and it had been at least ten minutes since Tony had seen another car.

Tony had grown up in New York but he'd never seen anything like this. He noticed that they had driven through a big hole in a fence, just a few minutes ago, and suspected that this area probably wasn't meant to be open to the public.

'Probably an abandoned industrial park.' Tony mused.

An old sign grabbed his attention. It was dirty and in shreds, but he could still read the letters "...closed 1957". He revised his opinion.

'Probably an old abandoned industrial park...'

The car came to a sudden halt in front of a three-story warehouse and for the first time since Tony had convinced Jeff and Chuck to kidnap him, he felt something like anxiety.

The thing was huge! It was almost as big as a football field and the doors, or rather gates, were made of iron. Probably the same iron that the bars in front of the few windows were made of. It didn't really look like a warehouse. If Tony didn't know better he would say that it was a fortress, or maybe even a prison.

The door to his left was yanked open and a big hand took his arm in a vice-like grip that would have made his father proud. He tried to help when the hand began to pull him out of his seat but was too slow to do much of anything. He could barely keep himself from falling flat on his face when his foot got stuck somewhere and the hand just continued to drag him with it. Said hand belonged to Chuck, who was apparently much stronger than his slim body indicated, and Tony momentarily forgot that he was the scared little boy. He growled at the man in a way that would have made Gibbs proud.

Chuck merely raised an eyebrow at the sudden change in Tony's behavior and didn't say anything. Instead he just told Jeff to hide the car and began to drag the kid towards the main entrance. Tony noticed that the door didn't seem to have a lock and his suspicions were confirmed when 'Redhead' merely pressed his shoulder against it to push it open.

Tony couldn't help but smile. No lock meant that he wouldn't have to struggle with a key in order to leave this place should he manage to grab Mia and make a run for it. The door opened with a loud screech and his smile dropped immediately.

Well it seemed like a silent escape was out of the question...

Chuck began to move again and the boy tried to keep up with him as best as he could. He could already feel his arm going numb and his shoulder was screaming at him from the strain it sustained.

They entered the warehouse/fortress/prison and Tony's step faltered when he was met with a pungent smell. It seemed familiar but he couldn't put his finger on it. He tried to block it out since it was so prominent that it made his eyes water, and instead tried to concentrate on his surroundings.

He was mildly surprised when he discovered that the first floor was completely empty except for two cots, a table with a little TV and some old pizza boxes on the floor. The objects sat in the middle of the room and looked a little bit lost when compared to the vastness of the hall.

Chuck dragged him to a staircase at the far end of the warehouse that went right through the ceiling and seemed to lead to the second floor. They began to climb the stairs and Tony had to suppress a grunt when his shoulder began to throb even more.

They reached the second floor and stepped into a corridor. The Italian's heart began to drop when he saw the many doors to his left and right. The second floor seemed to contain offices or storage rooms and there seemed to be a lot of them. Chances were pretty slim that they would put him in the same room where Mia was.

The kidnapper approached one of the doors to their right and pulled a little key from his pocket. He unlocked the door and opened it before he practically tossed his captive into the room.

This time however, Tony couldn't keep from falling. He tried to catch himself with his hands when the floor came rushing towards him and heard more than felt something snap. The pain didn't come immediately and for a moment Tony thought that he'd just imagined the sound but suddenly, there was something like fire flowing through his left arm. The pain was so intense that it took his breath away and he almost didn't hear Chuck's last words before the unaware man closed the door.

"I'll come back soon and if you're a good little boy and tell us your Daddy's phone number you'll get some pizza."

The kidnapper closed the door behind him and dutifully locked it again, but the only word that Tony had really registered from his little speech had been 'pizza'.

"Well," Tony whispered weakly. "pizza would be nice right now, thank you..."

He hadn't noticed that Chuck wasn't even there anymore. The pain was making his thoughts fuzzy and he rested his head against the cold concrete to clear his mind. He took a few deep breaths and tried to breath trough the pain, which wasn't exactly fire anymore, but was still enough to make him wish that he had some strong painkillers with him.

Tony kept his eyes closed since he didn't need to see it to realize that the pain was coming from his wrist and that it was probably broken.

"Goddamnit!" he hissed through gritted teeth. His father didn't like it when he cursed but Tony couldn't care less right now.

A broken wrist wasn't the worst that could have happened. Tony didn't feel sorry for himself, how could he? He had, in some way, even expected to get hurt and it was not the first time that he had broken something. But he had hoped that he could stay out of trouble long enough to be some kind of help. A broken wrist would just slow him down and make things even more difficult than they already were. Tony sighed heavily. He should probably be thankful that it wasn't his right hand...

His wrist was only throbbing by now and Tony thought that he should try to get up. Slowly, oh so slowly, he began to sit up and tried to keep his left arm as still as possible. His eyes were still screwed shut but he could tell that the room wasn't entirely dark.

'Maybe a table lamb or something. Wonder if Mia has some light as well...' He finally opened his eyes....

....and there she was.

Mia Kent was still wearing the same clothes as she had the day Tony had met her but they were dirty and rumpled by now. Only one of her many ribbons had survived the night in captivity and the sight made Tony physically ill. She had been so damn proud of those ribbons...

The girl was sitting against the wall and had her arms wrapped around her legs. Her head rested on her knees and she stared at him like he was a ghost. Tony couldn't blame her. He had also needed a few seconds to realize that he hadn't imagine her in the same room with him.

Tony pushed himself to his feet and cautiously approached the hunched over form. He didn't want to scare her, so he kept his face as friendly and reassuring as he could while he crouched down in front of her, cradling his injured arm against his chest.

"Hey Mia. Fancy meeting you here!"

"Tony?"

The boy winced when he heard how hoarse her voice was. She had probably screamed at the top of her voice for hours after she had been brought here. Tony felt the sudden urge to strangle someone.

"Yup, that's me!" he grinned from ear to ear but she didn't smile back. "You had us all quite worried, you know. Did they hurt you?" 'Please say no! Please say no!'

She shook her head. "Uh-Uh, Uncle Jeff and the other scary man didn't hurt me."

Tony blinked a few times. 'Uncle Jeff?'

"Well that's good."

After reassuring himself that she seemed to be okay Tony was finally able to tear his eyes off her face and survey the room. There wasn't much to see. An old desk and a few boxes in the corner. He also spotted a few empty plates which looked quite fresh and here and there the same pizza boxes he had seen on the first floor. Well, at least they weren't cruel enough to let a little girl starve. That was a relief.

"Why are you here?"

Tony didn't answer immediately. Why was he there? When he had convinced Chuck and Jeff to take him as well, he hadn't really thought about what he would do once they got there. He'd just wanted to see that Mia was okay and to protect her. But now he had a broken wrist and was locked in a tiny room that didn't even have a window.

When he looked back into Mia's eyes he saw nothing but trust, which was a little bit frightening, considering that she barely knew him. She looked just like those kids that always asked him to escort them home because they were afraid of the older kids. It suddenly hit Tony that they didn't just ask him because he was a pretty decent fighter, but because they really, truly trusted him with their safety.

Tony felt suddenly dizzy and scooted over to Mia's side so he could sit against the wall besides her.

'They trust you Tony. They trust you, worthless, stupid, no-good bastard, with their safety.'

The realization truly scared Tony but at the same time he felt all warm and fuzzy inside . The responsibility was heavy and frightening but also light and reassuring. The boy suddenly knew, without a doubt, that he never wanted to loose this trust, this heavy but reassuring weight on his chest. He knew that it could crush him if he wasn't careful but for now it only felt nice to be needed, to be appreciated, to be worth the trouble.

Mia was watching him intently and Tony squeezed her knee with his uninjured hand and smiled softly at her.

"I'm here to help."

And although he felt worse for wear and probably even looked like it, his words were the plain truth and Mia seemed to sense it as well because she finally smiled back at him and burrowed against his side.

They were silent for a few minutes, and Tony thought that Mia had fallen asleep, when she suddenly began to shiver ever so slightly. Tony wrapped and arm around her but it took him a few seconds before he realized that she wasn't cold but was silently crying into his side.

Tony felt at a loss. He knew that parents were supposed to tell bedtime stories when their children couldn't sleep after a nightmare (and if this wasn't a nightmare then Tony didn't know what was) but Tony had never been told any stories, neither from his mother or from his father. He felt vaguely ashamed that he didn't know a good story but he suddenly remembered last night.

'Gosh, that was only a few hours ago? Feels a lot longer...'

Tony smiled and decided to give it a try. It wasn't exactly a bedtime story but it would take her minds off things and maybe he could even add a few things of his own to make it more... suitable for children her age.

"You know," he drawled and tried to sound as upbeat as possible. "This reminds me of a movie..."

TBC

A/N: I know what you're all thinking: "But Tony, did you forget about the ******????" and I can just say: "Wait and trust me my fellow Tony lovers! Wait and trust me..."

Well, what do you think? Did I deliver the good or are you disappointed with me??? For all those that are mourning the lack of Gibbs in this chapter: Don't worry! You'll meet him and the others again in the next chapter...and for a certain Agent it's not gonna be a nice reunion...*muahahahaha*