Heya, I am so sorry that it took me so long to finish this chapter. My muse went on strike. Anyway I hope you enjoy it. Thanks to C. Nicole, once again, for the beta work.

I don't own any of the characters from the show- I only play with them.

This chapter goes out to my brother and his new wife! Welcome to the family Marinet.

The next couple of days saw Gibbs making a steady recovery. He stayed awake for longer, which in turn allowed his father to go home and get some rest. During this time, Ducky or one the team stayed with him. He didn't like the team to see him so weak, but he couldn't bear to be alone. Jackson made sure that he was with Gibbs during the night, as Gibbs was plagued with horrible dreams.

In typical Leroy Jethro Gibbs fashion, he refused to talk about it. Jackson could see how much the dreams were taking out of his son, but he knew his son well enough to know not to pry. He just hoped that Leroy would work through the issues before they got worse.

Vance was released three days after he was admitted and was back at work before the end of the week. He went after the kidnappers with a vengeance. Over the course of two days, he hardly went home, slept or even ate. It was almost as if he was making up for lost time.

The MRCT worked on the case as well and was driven to exhaustion by Vance. Tony didn't argue- he wanted those bastards just as bad. Silently, however, he watched Vance and noticed how he reacted. He refused to go see Gibbs or to tell anyone what happened during those three days. Vance even ignored Secnav's order to give a statement, claiming his memory was a little fuzzy. Tony had spoken to Ducky about this, and even though the elderly doctor said that it was possible to forget what happened, Tony still didn't believe- or trust him, for that matter. Something about Vance was a little off.

Ziva and McGee felt the same. They just didn't voice their opinions out loud- that was until today.

Nine days after the whole ordeal, Gibbs broke the silence. Jackson was sitting in a chair by the window, Gibbs next to him. The last two days he had been allowed to sit up for short periods of time. Going to the bathroom was still a painful experience, but at least he was able to walk there- with assistance, of course. Jackson was watching a Dutch show on Abby's laptop when Gibbs came back from the bathroom; Tony had told him about this show and said he needed to see it. That's when it happened- Gibbs had sat down and was about to ask his father about the show when he heard the language, as it only had English subtitles.

Gibbs began to hyperventilate. Jackson looked up in surprise, taking in Gibbs' pale face and ragged breathing.

"Leroy?" he asked shocked, "What's wrong?"

"That language!" Gibbs panted, "What language is that?"

"Dutch. Why?" Jackson was getting a little worried about his son. Leroy wasn't one to panic like this.

"They spoke like that," Gibbs took a deep breath, drawing strength from his father's steady hand on his shoulder.

"Son, are you sure?" Jack took out his phone and called Tony. Gibbs just nodded while trying to get his breathing under control.

"Dinozzo."

"Tony, it's Jack. Leroy just remembered something." Jack heard his sharp inhale over the phone.

"What did he remember?"

"The language they used was Dutch." Jack glanced at his son and saw him shake his head. "What is it Leroy?"

"Not Dutch, but similar," he said through shaking breaths.

"Ok, Tony, he said it sounded like Dutch, but it wasn't Dutch."

"That should narrow it down a bit. I will ask Vance what he thinks. Thanks Jack."

"Bye."

Jack turned back to his son to see him looking at his hands. He sat down and waited. Jacks patience was rewarded a couple of minutes later when Gibbs started talking.

"I heard the shot and thought they killed McGee. I turned around to see if he was okay and that's when they struck. I remember feeling something hit me and then falling. It must have been tranquilizers because I woke up later, don't know how long though. I was tied to a wheelchair; they said they wanted Vance to confess something, but I can't remember what. They beat me until I passed out. I was in a van later when I woke up; there was a wire around my neck- if I moved I would have strangled myself. I fought back, Dad." Gibbs suddenly grabbed his father's hand, trying to reassure the older man, "I fought back. I kicked them and head-butted them, but they were too strong." He hung his head and fumbled with the sweatpants he had on, "they broke my leg then. Later, I heard the van stop and Vance talking to the leader, but I didn't hear what they said. Vance got into the van at some point. Then they put us into the cage. They would come to get us out and put Vance in a chair and they would… uh they would…do things, I can't remember everything."

Jack had to swallow hard to get past the massive lump in his throat. He looked over his shoulder to see McGee and Ziva standing at the door. McGee had his phone in his hand. Ziva was wiping tears off her cheeks and muttering in Hebrew- probably curses at the men that had hurt the man she considered a second father.

"How much did you get McGee?" Gibbs' voice was unnaturally soft.

"Enough, so you don't have to go through it again, Boss." He walked in and put his hand on Gibbs' shoulder. "I need to apologize to you."

Before he went on, Jack cleared his throat, "My dear Ziva, I think I need some coffee. Would you mind accompanying me?"

Oh bless your heart, Dad, Gibbs thought.

"I would love to." She held out her arm and, like a proper gentleman, Jack looped his arm through hers and they set off together for the cafeteria.

"Sit down, McGee."

"Boss I …." McGee began, but was cut off by Gibbs.

"No, you have nothing to be sorry for."

"If I didn't get shot, they would never have gotten to you." McGee swallowed hard, "I should have opened my eyes earlier. I should have seen what they were planning."

"McGee, listen to me. I took my eyes off the suspect. I should have paid better attention."

"Let's agree to disagree on that then."

"Agreed."

McGee started smiling and looked at Gibbs who smiled back. Things were not sorted, but at least they had started.

NCIS

Tony looked up from his desk to see Abby walking from the elevator with another woman. She had long, dark brown hair that was almost black. As she came closer, he could see brown eyes looking at him. She had fair skin, but something about her told him that she was a foreigner.

"Tony, meet my friend Michelle." She gestured to the new arrival, "Michelle this is very special agent Anthony Dinozzo or Tony."

"Pleased to meet you, Agent Dinozzo." She held out her hand and he took it gently.

"Please call me Tony, Michelle." He smiled at her, flashing his best flirty smile, "You are not from around here, are you?"

"No, I am not. I am originally from South Africa, but at this moment I am a student at the university here. I specialise in foreign languages. Abby thought I might be able to help you." Michelle smiled at the handsome man in front of her, hoping that she'd be able to get to know him.

Across from her, Tony was thinking the same thing about her.

"Yeah, we are looking for a language that sounds Dutch, but isn't Dutch," he scratched the back of his head, "if it makes any sense."

Michelle laughed and Tony couldn't help but like the sound.

"Actually it makes sense, more than you know." She took a deep breath before starting her explanation, and nobody noticed Vance behind them- listening in.

"As I'm sure you know, most of the languages we use today are derived from other languages. If I'm right then the language you are looking for has a base or touch of Dutch, which means that Dutch has an influence on the language. Now there are a few of them, and I won't be able to tell you which one it is until I get an example of it."

"Do you have examples of the languages?" the three people jumped as Vance suddenly spoke up from behind.

"Yes, I do. I actually speak one of them quite well." Michelle met Vance's eyes without a flinch.

"I heard them, so I will be able to tell you." He looked at Tony, "How exactly will this help us?"

"If we can determine where they come from, we can get a solid idea of who they are and what they want." Tony stared right back at Vance.

"Fine, just hurry up then." He turned to leave, but Tony's voice stopped him.

"I thought you didn't remember anything." Not an accusation- no this was statement. A pang of guilt slammed through Vance- over the last two weeks, it was a feeling he had gotten used to.

"What are you saying, Agent Dinozzo?" He walked up to Tony, trying to intimidate him. Tony didn't even flinch- evidence that he had been working with Gibbs way too long.

"I think that you don't want to remember. I think that you are trying to hide something." Abby gasped- Tony was like a mini Gibbs.

"Who do you think you are, Dinozzo?" Vance's voice was so icy it could have frozen over a desert.

"I am the person who had to see his second father almost die and now I am the person standing in front of the bastard who has the answers, but is too selfish to help this team find the fuckers who almost killed a good man." Tony couldn't believe he was saying this to Vance, but it was too late to back down now.

"His blood is on my hands, Dinozzo, whatever happened or why is none of your business!" Vance shouted at Tony.

"That is where you are wrong, Vance!" Tony shouted back.

"Oh, yeah?" The sarcasm really didn't match Vance's wrinkled suit.

"Yeah! Think about it, you arrogant ass." Tony went on, ignoring the crowd now surrounding the bullpen. "Gibbs saw them as did you; we only caught one of them- the rest got away. They won't stay away forever. They will come back and when they do, who do you think they will go after?"

"Gibbs," the Secnav's voice cut through the silence like a knife. Everybody turned to see Clayton Jarvis standing by the elevator. He walked over to where Vance and Tony still stood toe-to-toe.

"What are you hiding, Leon?"

"They wanted access to a top secret mission." The admission came almost silently and Tony could see Vance breaking down, "I refused to give it to them and because of that they targeted one of my agents. They took Gibbs to prove a point. Then they threatened to kill him and my family if I didn't get into the van. I didn't have a choice." He took a deep breath, "they beat him up because I refused to talk."

Tony and Jarvis glanced at each other, but before they could say anything, a phone rang. Michelle blushed and apologized. She quickly answered her phone and spoke rapidly in another language. She was on the edge of the bullpen, but Vance heard her and got up, a shocked almost fearful expression on his face. Michelle ended her call and turned to catch Vance staring at her.

"Sorry, that was my mother. Different time zones you see. It's night time in South Africa and she just wanted to say good night." She was rambling again.

"What language was that?" Vance's voice was almost a whisper.

"Afrikaans, it's my mother tongue." she answered with a frown.

"Your what?" Jarvis sounded as confused as Tony felt.

"My mother tongue, it means the language I grew up with. My first language if you will."

"That's the language they spoke." Vance's knees buckled and it was only Tony's quick thinking that got Gibbs' desk chair behind him before he fell to the ground.

"Are you sure?" Jarvis asked, and Vance nodded.

"How does that help us?" Tony asked.

"Well, I don't know much about your case, but I can tell you that if it was Afrikaans you heard, it probably means that the people you are looking for are South African."

"You sound confident," Jarvis sounded sceptical, "there must be a lot of countries that use that language."

Michelle shook her head, "that's where you're wrong." She turned to Vance, "I need you to tell me how they spoke it." Vance looked at her with a puzzled expression, but she explained, "Did they sound like me? Or were the sounds flat?"

Vance thought a minute, "Just like how you spoke it. Fast. They spoke really fast." Michelle nodded and went to stand in front of the small group. Ducky and Palmer had joined in the chaos.

"The language is indigenous to South Africa and even though it is still a relatively young language, it is unlikely that you will find anyone who speaks the language like I do in another country. I can even tell you in which province in South Africa they are from."

"Wow." It was the only word that Tony could say.

"Then welcome to the team, Miss." Jarvis shook her hand, obviously very impressed, "Agent Dinozzo, I think you two should go and speak to the suspect tomorrow." Tony nodded and Jarvis looked at Vance, "In the meantime, Leon, I think you and I need to have a little talk in your office."

With that, and not even waiting to see if Vance would follow, he walked up the stairs to the Director's office.

There you go! Thank you for all the reviews and alerts you guys really make my day. Keep them coming though- my target is still 100 (only 34 to go!) – till next time, CSIflea.