"What are you going to, Jethro?" Ducky asks.
"I honestly don't know and that scares the hell out of me."
"You must call Timothy. Or at least Ziva considering she is watching over him. Or perhaps you should go to him and tell him in person."
"I have only an hour to let tell Tim about this. Even with my driving, I won't be able to make it home in time."
Ducky picks up his phone and dials McGee's number and then placed the phone on speaker.
"McGee."
"Hello, Timothy. I'm afraid we have a problem."
"Ducky? What kind of problem? Is Tony ok? And Jethro? Please tell me there're alright."
"I'm fine, Tim. It's about Barnes." Gibbs says.
"What happened?" Gibbs could hear the worry and fear in McGee's voice.
"He has Tony." Jethro says.
The line goes silent.
"Timothy? Are you alright?" Ducky asks.
"I, uh…Are you sure? I mean, he could just be running late."
"We're sure. Barnes just called Ducky to tell us." Jethro says.
"And to deliver a message to you." Ducky adds.
"What message? Just tell me, Jethro!"
"You are to call him on Anthony's phone in the next hour or…"
"Or what, Ducky?"
"He kills Anthony and then Jethro and myself." Ducky says cautiously.
"Alright. How am I supposed to reach him?"
"On Anthony's cell." Ducky says.
"Did he give you anything else to tell me? I know there has to be more."
"He wants to deal with you for Tony's release, Tim. Look, call him but do not make a deal. I'm going to have Abby trace Tony's cell." Gibbs says.
"Ok…I'll call you back." McGee says. Then the line goes dead.
McGee looks at Ziva.
"So, Tony has been captured?" She asks.
"Yes. Now, I'm supposed to call Barnes." McGee says.
"Gibbs tells you not to make a deal with this Barnes? He is coming for you."
"Yes but if I have to make a sacrifice to save Tony, I will. He's my friend and I won't let Barnes hurt him."
"You are a good man, McGee."
"Thanks, Ziva. Would you mind stepping out while I make the call? I feel better if I talk to him alone."
"Of course. You will shout for if I am needed, yes?"
"Yes."
Ziva nods, squeezes McGee's shoulder, and walks out of the room. McGee waits until she disappears before finding his phone and tapping in Tony's number. He took a deep breath and dialed.
Johnny had cut away Tony's jacket and under shirt and peeled it off of him. Then he pressed the knife to Tony's shoulder blade and began to press the sharp tip into flesh when Tony's phone rang. If Tony could, he would have sighed in relief.
Johnny walked away and picked up Tony's phone.
"Yes?" Johnny says gleefully.
"It's Tim McGee, Johnny. I heard you wanted to make a deal with me for Tony's release."
Johnny placed the phone on speaker and walked over to Tony.
"I sure do, Timmy." Tony's eyes widened. "I want you to come to the docks and meet me at the furthest one where the St. Mary is docked. Be alone and then we can trade. Cell phones, guns, knives, or anything that could be used for a weapon is to be left behind. If I think you are being followed, the deal is off and I will kill Agent DiNozzo. Do we have a deal?"
Tony tried to protest but all he could do was make a muffled sound through the gag.
"We have a deal. What time?"
"8 when it's good and dark. Don't be late, Timmy." Johnny says smiling. He snaps shut the phone and looks at Tony. "Today's your lucky day, Agent DiNozzo."
Tony glares at Johnny while the serial killer smirked victoriously. He looked at Tony's phone and made a humming noise.
"Seems like we have about 2 hours to kill. I'm just going to run out and get a few supplies. Don't go anywhere!" Johnny says laughing.
Then Tony watches the man go and shut off the lights bathing the warehouse room in darkness. The Senior Field Agent fidgeted in his chair and cringed as he began to hear rats scurry around the room.
'I hope you and Gibbs has a plan, Probie.' Tony thinks as he closes his eyes.
McGee shut his phone and sat it on the table and began to form his own plan in his head. He would go meet Johnny and save Tony. First, he has to get away from Ziva.
He grabbed his phone and typed a number in.
"Virginia Taxi Service. How can I help you?"
"I need a taxi." McGee whispers.
"To where do we pick you up?"
McGee gave him Gibbs's address.
"One will be there in 10 minutes to pick you up, sir. Have a nice day."
McGee snapped the phone shut again and sat it on the table again. He stood and grabbed his crutches. He made his way into the living room where Ziva was standing watching out the living room window. She turned when he walked in.
"What did Barnes say?" She asks.
"He wants me to meet him and trade."
"Trade for what?"
"Myself for Tony."
"You are not, correct? We cannot risk your life, McGee." Ziva says.
"I have to, Ziva. I won't let Barnes hurt Tony if I can help it."
"I will not allow you to do this. I am calling Gibbs." Ziva says reaching for her phone, which sat on Gibbs's coffee table.
McGee took this chance and hit Ziva with his crutch, knocking her to the ground where she hit her head. McGee went wide-eyed in surprise at what he done. He made his way to the floor and checked her pulse. She was alive and her pulse normal. McGee had just knocked her out. He pulled himself up with his crutches.
"I'm so sorry for this, Ziva. But I'm going to save Tony no matter what." McGee says.
He drops his crutches beside Ziva and limps his way outside. About 5 minutes later, the cab is pulling up and McGee limps his way to it and inside. He gives the cabbie the address to the docks and they're off.
"Why hasn't he called me back, Duck?" Jethro asks.
"Maybe he is still speaking with the man. Or he and Ziva are making a plan on how to best approach this situation." Ducky says.
Gibbs pulls out his phone and calls Ziva. When it rings and goes to voicemail, he knows something's wrong. He can feel it in his gut.
"Jethro?" Ducky says.
"Something's not right. Ziver isn't answering." He tries to call McGee but it just keeps ringing. "Or Tim. Ducky, I don't like this." Gibbs says.
He turns and walks out of Autopsy.
"Where are you going?"
"Abby!" Jethro replies stepping into the elevator.
Gibbs walked into Abby's lab and is hit with loud, blasting music. Abby was at her computer oblivious of Gibbs.
"Abby!" Gibbs shouts.
She turns and takes her remote and turns off the music.
"Hey, Gibbs. I don't have anything to help with locating Barnes." She says.
"That's not important right now, Abs. I need a location on Tim's phone right now." Gibbs says. Abby nods and types furiously on her computer.
"No signal. It's probably off. What's going on, Gibbs?" Abby asks getting worried.
"What about Ziva's?"
Abby types again.
"She's at your house. Isn't she with Tim? You could call her since you can't get hold of McGee."
"She hasn't answered my calls. Something's going on and I don't like it. Find Tony's cell."
"He's moving…down 1st Street. Wait, I thought he was going to relieve Ziva? I mean, she's been watching Tim since this morning." Abby says confused.
"Barnes has Tony, Abs. And I think he might just be getting Tim. Pull up Tim's phone records."
Abby looked horrified but did as told.
"He received a call from Tony's phone about 25 minutes ago. Not long after that, he called another number." She says.
"Who'd he call?" Gibbs asks.
Abby types and pulls up a webpage on her screen.
"A cab company. Virginia Taxi Service." Abby says.
"Damn it."
"What? What is it, Gibbs?"
"McGee is meeting Barnes." Gibbs says walking away quickly.
"Bring them both back safe, Gibbs!" Abby shouts after him.
Gibbs takes his car and drives full speed to his home. His door is a jar so he pulls his weapon and advances in slowly. The first thing he sees is Ziva on the ground. He rushes to her and places to fingers on her neck. Then she's opening her eyes and trying to sit up.
"Easy, Ziver. What happened here?" Gibbs asks helping her up.
"McGee. He hit me over the head as I reached for your phone. He is gone." She says as Gibbs helps her stand.
"Why would he do that?" Gibbs asks.
"He has gone to deal with Barnes. He is going to get himself killed." Ziva says.
"No he won't. Abby is tracking Tony's cell. We'll go and get them both back. When we do, I'm head slapping the pair of them into tomorrow." Gibbs says. Ziva gives a small smile.
Gibbs calls Abby and gets the current location of Tony's cell.
By the time McGee reached the docks, it was around 7:45. He paid the cabbie and made his way towards the end of the docks where he looked for the St. Mary. When he did, he checked his watch. It was almost 8. McGee stood there until a car pulled up and the headlights lit him up. He tensed as it got closer.
Other than the headlights, the only source of light was a couple of lamps around the docks.
When the car stopped, a man stepped out and went over to the passenger side and pulled someone else out.
"Timmy! How good to see you again!"
"Hello, Barnes."
"You don't sound too happy to see me. I'm hurt, Timmy! Hurt!" Johnny says mockingly. "Now, head right over to the end of the dock like a good boy."
McGee did as he was told when he saw Johnny bring a gun up to Tony's head. He couldn't tell how Tony was health wise since it was dark. Once at the end, they stopped.
"Now, be good and stay right there as I approach you." Johnny says as he pushes Tony ahead of him. When he and Tony are a foot or so from McGee, Johnny smiles. "So, here is what going to happen, Timmy. I'm going to push Tony to you and you're going to undo his cuffs. Then Agent DiNozzo is going to cuff your hands and leave. You and I will then get on the St. Mary and we'll sail into the night."
By the end of Johnny's instructions, he began to sound giddy.
McGee nods as Tony shakes his head. Tony is pushed forward and the keys to the cuff are thrown to him. McGee releases Tony and he pulls the gag from his mouth.
"You alright, Tony?" McGee asks.
"Fine, Probie. This is stupid and Gibbs will not be happy with this." Tony says as he cuffs McGee's hands behind his back.
"He sure won't."
Johnny quickly runs behind McGee and Tony. He grabs hold around McGee's neck and places the gun to his head. Tony is kicked in the back of the knee by Johnny and falls to the ground. They all look up to see the unmistakable form of Gibbs and Ziva guns raised at them.
"Let him go. You cannot escape, Barnes." Ziva says.
"Nope. Timmy and I will be leaving and that won't change." Johnny says backing up towards the boat dragging McGee with him.
"You have nowhere to go, Barnes." Gibbs says. He and Ziva approached as Johnny retreated. Tony stood with the help of Gibbs when close enough.
"Stay back or I'll kill him!" Johnny shouts shoving the gun into McGee's cheek bone.
McGee looked at Gibbs with fear and a fierce determination. Tony, Ziva, and Gibbs all decided that they did not like that look at all.
"You won't kill him. You've waited too long to get back at him. You want to take it slow because you were interrupted lat time. Killing him now would just get yourself killed faster." Gibbs says.
"I…I'll do it!" Johnny says as he reached the end of the dock. He began to look frantically for any escape. He had failed to get to the boat.
"No, you won't." Gibbs says.
Johnny points the gun at Gibbs and Ziva fires, hitting Johnny in the arm. He screamed in pain and fell backwards and off the dock…
…dragging McGee into the murky depths below with him.