Washington DC—Bullpen

Exiting the elevator, Tony said into his phone, "No, Boss. I should be fine… Yeah, Kensi's still there… Okay, I'll tell them."

Everyone looked up, surprised to see him there alone. Ziva was the first one to

speak after seeing the pained expression on his face. "Tony, what happened?" She was already out of her chair and walking toward him.

He held up his hands and dodged her question. "Call Ducky; there's a body Jimmy needs to pick up. Sam, Callen, I'm here to relieve you. You're needed at the scene of a car accident; in case you haven't heard, we think the guy responsible is the guy we're after. You can call Kensi for the location; she's still there."

"Tony, what is wrong?"

Ignoring her again, he told Hetty, "They're finishing up at crime scene seven, and McGee's on his way now. We're going to take Ziva home to take a break from all of this, and get her things. You're staying at Gibbs' tonight," he finished, acknowledging Ziva's presence at last. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go down to the lab."

Washington DC—Labby

"Abby!" Tony called upon entering the lab.

"You're back already? Well, I hope you brought that Caf-Pow you owe me…"

she trailed off after seeing his face. "Eric, can you watch things here? I have to go…"

"Where to?" Eric asked, looking up from Abby's desk…

And freezing when he saw Tony.

Abby looked at Tony for his answer.

"Well, if you're busy, I guess the elevator will work."

His answer confused Eric, but Abby nodded. "Okay. Is McGee on his way back here?"

"Yeah, he just left Crime Scene 7."

"Okay. Then, Eric, call him if we get a ping."

Washington DC—Elevator

"Okay, Tony, what happened?" Abby asked the second Tony pressed the emergency stop button.

"Jeanne's dead, Abby."

"Oh, no! Tony, I'm so sorry!" And she was, surprisingly. "How…?"

"Car crash."

Now she was confused. "Did somebody call you to let you know? Or—oh, Tony, you weren't there when it happened, were you?"

Her hug was so tight it was hard to breathe, but he didn't care; he needed it.

"No, Abs, I didn't see it happen." He took a deep breath, and began to tell her everything:

"McGee was telling me that I don't care about Ziva, that I only want her to be safe because I'm selfish. He was just joking—and, who knows? Maybe he's right—but I still got mad." Abby looked angry too, and he had no doubt that McGee's lunch would not go as he was planning. "So I told Gibbs that I was coming back here, and he told me to take Kensi and check out the crash site first—"

Abby gasped. "She was killed in that crash? But, Tony, that could have been…

Do you think he meant to do it? And to her?"

"No such thing as coincidences, Abby."

"But…but… Does Ziva know yet?"

He looked up at her. "No. And you're not going to tell her. No one is."

She blinked; he meant it. "Okay, I won't tell her…But can I ask why it's such a secret?"

He stood up and began pacing. "Six men are murdered, and she finds out her father is behind it, and that he'll keep killing until she comes back home. Which she really doesn't want to do, because last time she was there, Daddy sent her on a suicide mission.

"So he kills again. But instead of being out there, trying to catch him, she's stuck behind her desk with a bunch of paperwork.

"Now she hears he was involved in a fatal car accident, as the one who got away. If she hears he had Jeanne killed, she'll think what we do: it wasn't an accident. Now he's getting personal, going after the people she works with. It's almost as clear as if he left her a note: 'Look how easily I got his girlfriend; he's next.'"

Abby looked worried at this, and stopped his pacing with an even harder hug. "Don't let him kill you, Tony!"

Now that the shock was wearing off, he could successfully mask his emotions again. He was ready to go back to work; to catch this dirtbag. "I'd like to see him try," he scoffed, releasing the elevator from its standstill.

"I wouldn't." Her mutter was lost in the roar of the elevator coming to life.

Washington DC—Ziva's Apartment

"Okay, Ziva," Tony said as they walked through the door, "take your time; we'll just make ourselves at home."

"Do not touch anything, DiNozzo!" she shouted over her shoulder.

And he didn't. He just sank into a chair. McGee did the same.

"Tony, are you okay? You're not still mad about what I said, are you? I really didn't mean—"

"No, Tim. Didn't Gibbs or Abby tell you about the crash?"

"You mean the one he sent you to? No… Oh," he said sympathetically, thinking he understood, "was it a kid?"

Tony shuddered. "No… It was Jeanne."

"Oh, man, Tony. I'm sorry… He did this?"

"Looks like it."

"You didn't tell Ziva?"

Tony looked at him like he was crazy. "Do I look like I want to be responsible for killing her? The way I see it, it's need to know. And she doesn't. Ever. Got it?"

"Yeah," he said, taken aback by Tony's outburst.

Then Tony smirked. "So, when's your lunch with Abby?"

McGee looked down at his watch and sighed. "It was supposed to be in about a half hour, but I guess I'll have to call her and cancel."

Tony looked at him for a minute, then said, "No. Go ahead, I've got things here. Just call someone as you're leaving, just in case. They should be done at the house by now."

Tim's face brightened. "Okay! Wait… Are you sure?"

"Go, McGee. Have fun."

"Thanks again, Tony!" McGee called as he walked out the door.

He hadn't heard the car drive up, or the door open. No footfalls alerted him to the intruder. Nothing seemed out of order until something hard and heavy came in contact with the back of his head.

Pain, panic, and the thought to yell to warn Ziva came quickly, but too late. His vision was already swimming, and then everything went dark.

Washington DC?????

Before he opened his eyes he knew something was wrong. Something was biting into his wrists, almost cutting off the circulation to his hands, which were uncomfortably positioned behind his back. When he tried to move them, the biting sensation only got worse.

I'm tied up, he thought. Then, before he was even finished with that realization, his eyes snapped open. Ziva!

A small moan from across the room alerted him to the fact that the last word was said aloud. Squinting through the dark room, lit only by a dim lantern in the middle of the floor, he saw Ziva sitting with her head down. He scowled at the sight of her bloody hair.

"Tony?" she responded belatedly, dazed. "Are you all right?"

He was too afraid—for both of them—to use sarcasm. "I'm fine. You?"

"I am fine, as well."

"No, you're not," he argued. "You've got a head wound!"

She looked up at him. "As do you."

He gritted his teeth, but said nothing.

Ziva sighed. "I suppose that neither of us would tell the other if we were injured."

"Pride is a funny thing, isn't it?"

She looked around the room, taking in her surroundings.

There were no windows, and only one door. Ziva assumed that they were at the end of an underground tunnel, because the walls and floor were made of dirt. She had been wondering why they had been bound so tightly, but not gagged, but now she could guess the answer: no one would hear their screams anyway.

"Why are we here?" Ziva voiced her thought aloud.

Tony chuckled humorlessly. "That's your question? Not 'where are we?'"

"Why would I ask you that? Surely you do not know the answer any more than I do. Do you?"

"No," he admitted. "And to answer your 'why' question, isn't it obvious? Daddy dearest is trying to get his princess back." Maybe he wasn't too scared for sarcasm.

"I do not find that humorous, Tony."

"Do you think I do? Ziva, Gibbs is going to kill me when he finds out what happened. I allowed these guys to take us. I failed, Ziva. I failed Gibbs, I failed the mission, and I failed you. I'm sorry."

"It does not make sense."

"Well, it's true."

"No, not that."

"What, then? Oh, if you're wondering where they're holding McGee, don't worry. He's okay."

"That was not it either…" she trailed off and eyed him suspiciously. "What do you mean, 'He is okay'? How could you possibly know that?"

"Well, I sent him to lunch."

"What?"

"Well, isn't it a good thing? He's not trapped here, too! Plus, he's having a good time. Abby asked him."

"I was saying it does not make sense that they would take you, as well. They could have just knocked you out, or even killed you—"

"Thanks a lot, Ziva!"

"Well, it is true! But there was no reason to bring you along."

The conversation with Abby flooded back into his mind. "It's almost as clear as if he left her a note: 'Look how easily I got his girlfriend; he's next." Suddenly, he knew the reason he was here with her, and the thought caused him to shake.

They were going to kill him, and she was going to have to watch.