Authors note—I am so sorry for the long delay but I have been super busy with working both jobs and school. I always think that I am going to get more done than I do. Oh and have no fear I am also in the middle of the next chapter of A Lost Love so hopefully I will be able to get that out to you soon. So anyways I have had some questions from a couple of chapters back about why I put Tony back in school, since obviously he is a genius and all that. Well my answer to all those that asked is that, Tony was socially stunted due to his awful childhood. So the point of putting him back in school was so that he could learn how to interact with kids his own age and so that he could get over some of his interaction issues. I put him in school with Jimmy because he and Jimmy are already friends and he would be able to help Tony out, make him feel more comfortable. And also this school has extremely advanced programs so when I say that Tony tested into advanced senior level work that is actually at the senior level of college. I hope that this clears up some of your questions. So I hope you enjoy this chapter and please leave me a review. Oh also Gibbs might be slightly OOC in this chapter. enjoy.

Chapter 12

Disclaimer—I do not own.

In the dark

Gibbs was regretting it; big time. He couldn't help the onslaught of fear and worry that engulfed him as he watched Tony get sacked for the umpteenth time that night. The whole team was sitting in the bleachers sporting varying levels of school based paraphernalia. Abby and Kate were sporting team jerseys that had Tony's number on the back. Abby had pompoms, while Kate held a sign the read "Go Wild Cats!"

Graceton, McGee and Gerald all were sporting school hoodies that had the teams' logo on it. Ducky was sporting gloves, and a scarf that had the school emblem on them, while Gibbs wore a zip up hoodie that read 'Gibbs' with Tony's jersey number on the back of it, and he was using a travel coffee mug that also had the teams logo on it.

Gibbs had admitted that they all had gone a little overboard with all this stuff, but they had never gotten to do this before and they were all enjoying it tremendously. He remembered Tony's face when he saw the whole team standing up in the bleachers for the first time. He had given them one of his biggest and brightest smiles, the one that he reserved for family only. It had made Gibbs's heart swell, like it always did when he found a new way to make his boy smile. Gibbs grinned a little when he thought of his boy. How long had he been secretly yearning for someone to take care of? It had taken him years and three failed marriages to find someone who would fill that empty spot in his heart. Someone who he could care for and love unconditionally with no strings attached. And now he had that. He had his boy who needed him and depended on him, and loved him back unconditionally. Gibbs new that Tony had helped him to heal just as much as he had helped Tony. They were exactly what the other needed and Gibbs found himself thanking his lucky stares that he had been fortunate enough to find Tony and to get to keep him in his life.

That was why, it was so very hard for Gibbs to stand in the stands and watch as each play and each pass brought on a new chance for Tony to be hurt. Gibbs found he was now holding his breath as he waited for his son to crawl out from under the pile of bodies for which he had just been recently buried under again. It seemed to take too long for Tony to start moving again. Gibbs was getting ready to head down there when he felt a hand on his arm. He looked back to see Graceton gently holding his arm and shaking his head saying, "Give him a minute boss."

Gibbs realized then that it hadn't really been all that long at all; it had just seemed like it to him. So he took a deep breath and sat back down, and Sure enough after just a few seconds Tony got up. One of his team mates gave him a hand and walked with him over to the bench where he was forced to sit down by the coach.

What none of them noticed was the dark figure lurking under the bleachers, watching and waiting.

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Two Weeks later

Tony sat on the steps of the school reading his book. It was lunch time and he was taking advantage of the beautiful afternoon. They had been experiencing a bout of Indian summer. Tony was so engrossed in his book that he didn't notice the person walking up to him, until they were sitting right next to him. He jumped slightly when the person suddenly asked, "What book are you reading?"

Tony looked up into the same warm brown eyes that he had been secretly dreaming about for weeks. His mind went blank for a minute and he seemed to choke on his words. The girl just sat there looking very bemused and after a few seconds she said, "If you do not wish to tell me that is fine."

She was getting up to leave when Tony finally found his voice and cried out, "Wait! Please don't leave."

She turned back to him with a look that was very distrusting. She slowly sat her bag back down on the steps and said, "Well?"

Tony shrugged replying, "Well what?"

She sighed in exasperation and said, "What book are you reading?"

"Oh," replied Tony with a shy smile, "Its, um . . . it's called The Mind of Albert Einstein."

The girl looked at him as if he had suddenly grown another head then said, "I did not take you for the kind of person who would be interested in that kind of reading."

Tony felt himself become a little irritated, but he tried to not let it show saying nonchalantly, "Well I guess that will teach you not to judge a book by its cover."

Tony almost laughed out loud when he saw the girls look of confusion. After a few seconds of contemplation she asked, "What does that mean, to judge a book by its cover? I was not judging the book I was judging you."

Tony shook his head and said, "It means that you shouldn't make assumptions. It can make you look bad."

"Oh, well then why did you not just say that? All of these American idioms are really quite ridiculous."

Tony just shrugged saying, "Well they are what they are. Hang around in America long enough and you will eventually pick them up."

The girl smiled slightly and Tony almost forgot to breath. That small change in her expression turned her face from completely serious and studious to light hearted and carefree. He returned her smile and sticking out his hand said, "My name is Tony. What's yours?"

The girl hesitantly took his hand in her own and said, "My name is Ziva, Ziva David."

Tony thought that, that name suited her perfectly. He smiled slightly and said, "Ah it means brilliance doesn't it?"

Ziva looked at him in surprise and asked, "You know Hebrew?"

Tony just shrugged and said, "I know many languages. I have only begun to study Hebrew; I find it quite an interesting and challenging one to learn."

Ziva again starred at him in shock. Tony just smiled slightly and said, "That is why you should not judge a book by its cover."

Ziva nodded saying, "I think I understand that one now. So what other languages do you know?"

"Oh not too many really," replied Tony with a shrug, "I am fluent in German, Italian, Spanish, French, Russian, and Chinese. I have just begun studying Hebrew, Japanese and Swahili."

Ziva shook her head and said, "You are a strange boy. You play sports and act like the typical boy, and yet you read about Albert Einstein and speak several different languages."

Tony shrugged and said, "Well appearances can be deceiving."

Ziva nodded saying "Apparently."

Tony smiled and said, "So miss Zee-vah where did you live before you came here?"

A sad smile passed over Ziva's face as she said, "My father made me move here from Israel. He is a very powerful man there and things were becoming too dangerous and he said he wanted to keep me safe after what happened with my sister."

Tony instantly felt bad and said, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked."

"You could not have known," she replied with a shrug, "Besides it is good to talk about it. I do not have many friends here in America yet."

Tony nodded and timidly asked, "So what happened to your sister?"

"She was killed by a suicide bomber. She loved to learn about medicine and healing; so she would go with a local doctor and work with her and that day they were in the market buying herbs to make medicine and an al-Qaida suicide bomber was there with enough explosives to take out the whole sector."

Tony scooted closer to her and gently wrapped his arm around her shoulders and said, "God! Ziva I am so sorry. Living through that kind of stuff is the worst."

Ziva sniffed back her tears saying, "Look at me crying like a little child."

Tony shrugged and said, "It's ok to cry. That's not the kind of stuff that you can get over without crying a little."

Ziva turned to look at him and asked, "What about you? Have you always lived here?"

Ziva watched Tony stiffen as he said, "Nope. I started coming to school here just over year ago now."

Ziva was about to prompt him to continue when the school bell rang signaling the end of lunch period. Tony quickly gathered up his things and started to leave, he stopped mid stride and turned back to Ziva and said, "I have practice after school, but if you would like I can walk you to your house or where ever you live."

Ziva smiled shyly and said, "I would like that."

Tony got a huge grin on his face as he turned and ran all the way to his next class. Every one noticed as he entered the room last and still had a huge smile on his face. He took his customary seat next to Jimmy and then began to stare dreamily out of the window. Jimmy leaned forward and asked, "Why so happy?"

Tony just shrugged and continued to smile from ear to ear for the rest of the day.

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Three Weeks Later:

It was the begging of fall break for the kids and Ziva, Jimmy and Tony were walking home after begin let out early. They were walking and talking animatedly, when Tony noticed a dark sedan following them at a distance. He nonchalantly made it so that he could check it out. He kept up his pretense not wanting to upset the other two. The windows of the car were dark and he couldn't really see the person inside it. He suddenly got a glimpse of a logo on one of the windows and a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach suddenly bloomed making him want to throw up. He had no way of knowing if it was the same thing but his instincts were telling him it was and having learned to rely on his instincts a long time ago, shouted, "JIMMY, ZIVA RUN!"

They looked at him in shock. Tony quickly became agitated and started pushing them as he noted the car moving closer and closer. "Quickly!" He cried, "You have to go now."

Jimmy started running and grabbed Ziva along with him. All three of them ran with all of their might. They turned and started running down an alleyway. Jimmy could hear the screech of tires as a car came to a sudden halt. They hadn't gotten very far into the alley when Ziva was suddenly yanked out of his hand and he himself was wrapped up in a strong hold. He looked around frantically and saw that Tony was pinned to the ground by two large goons. He could hear Tony talking but he wasn't sure what language it was. Tony had begun to teach him Italian and he had picked it up really quickly. The goons that were holding him and Ziva dragged them closer towards the car and closer to where Tony was. Soon they were close enough that Jimmy could hear what was being said, "Kick me in the balls one more time you little bastard and I will take out my frustration on your little friends."

"You touch them and you will regret the day you were born Baldassare."

Jimmy couldn't believe his ears. Tony knew these men. He knew them! Jimmy knew that the only reason he would know them was if they were somehow related to his father. And that meant that somehow even though his father was supposedly in jail, he had managed to coordinate this attack on Tony. Jimmy's gut twisted in fear and he turned his attention back to his friend in time to see the goon that was holding him suddenly slam his fist into Tony's abdomen. Jimmy could see Tony's eyes bulge for a second but his friend remained completely silent. Jimmy wasn't entirely surprised when Ziva suddenly came to life and started struggling with her captor at this point. She was a very active person and in addition to doing gymnastics she was also a black belt in several different forms of martial arts. Finally having come out of her shock stupor when the thug hit Tony, she started kicking at her captor and managed to land a few good hits until the thug holding Tony yelled at him in Italian, "Tell her to knock it off or I will shoot the other boy."

Tony glared at the man and then turned to Ziva and said, "Zi knock it off. It won't help."

Ziva stopped struggling and stood there gasping for breath. She grunted when her head flew back from the unexpected slap to the face. Jimmy and Tony yelled out in shock. The thug holding Tony looked down at him and said, "Next time I won't be so easy on her."

When he got no reaction, the goon stood up dragging Tony with them and speaking in Italian to the others said, "Turn them loose the boss only wants the kid."

And with that the goons dragged Jimmy and Ziva back into the alleyway. After a few minutes and some scuffling noises the two thugs came back and got back in the car. The thug holding Tony lifted him up over his shoulder and threw him into the car.

Tony gasped as he hit his head on a pointed object. The thug just laughed and said, "You need to strip out of your uniform now."

Tony just sat there and glared at the man he could feel the blood trickling down the side of his face. The thug was not a patient man and pulled out a gun and holding it at Tony's head said, "Take. Off. The uniform."

Tony continued to glare at the man but this time started undoing his shirt. A few minutes later Tony was sitting in the back of the car in only his undershirt, boxers and socks. The thug took his clothes, shoes and book bag and tossed them out of the car into the alley.

The thug smiled and suddenly lunged at him. Tony was surprised to find a very bad smelling cloth being pressed over his face and mouth. He tried to fight but he was no match for the thug. Soon he could feel himself getting sleepier and sleepier, until finally he fell unconscious.

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Three Hours later;

Gibbs stormed into Autopsy saying, "Hey Ducky have you heard from Tony?"

Ducky looked up from the body he was working on and said, "Why no Jethro I do not believe I have. Is there a problem? It's not yet three pm."

Gibbs sighed and ran a hand through his hair saying, "They were supposed to get out early today at like eleven and Tony told me that he and Jimmy were going straight home afterwards and that he would call me and he still hasn't yet."

Ducky straightened a little and asked, "What is your gut telling you?"

Gibbs looked sideways at Ducky and said, "It's been giving me fits all morning."

Ducky instantly stripped off his gloves, went to his desk and took out his cell phone; he punched in a number and waited. Ducky quickly looked up at Gibbs and said, "This is most strange Jethro; Mr. Palmer is not answering his phone."

Gibbs did waste any time in whipping out his cell phone and dialing a number, "McGee, get me a trace on Tony now."

In a matter of minutes the team were in their cars and ridding across town. They pulled up to the alleyway and came to a sudden halt when they found the pile of Tony's clothes and book bag. Gibbs was in shock. His mind was unable to process any of what was happening. He stood there looking silently at the pile of belongings; he almost didn't hear Graceton and Kate yelling at him. He snapped out of his trance when he saw McGee and Graceton carrying two small bodies from the back of the alley way. He instantly recognized Jimmy but the girl was unfamiliar to him. He took in their appearances, cataloging everything in his mind to put to use later. He looked to Kate and said, "Call an ambulance now, then I want you three to stay here and search the scene. I don't want one stone left unturned."

Kate nodded and said, "Yes Gibbs."

Gibbs reached out and took the girl from McGee saying, "Give her to me McGee and go get copies of all the security footage starting from the school and up to this area,"

McGee nodded saying, "On it boss."

That left him and Graceton with the two children. He looked and saw that Graceton was laying Jimmy down on the ground and started searching for any injuries. He copied him with the girl and once he really started looking he noticed that the girl had a dark bruise already formed and turning shades of black and purple covering most of the left side of her cheek. Other than her face there were no other injuries. He was just about to turn away to talk to Graceton when he notices a small red area on her neck. He took a closer look and saw that it was an inflamed puncture mark. Without saying a word he moved over to Jimmy and began to look for a similar mark and him and sure enough, in almost the exact same spot as the girl was a swollen puncture mark. He stood up suddenly and cursed. They had been drugged! His mind instantly when to Tony and began to think about all of the horrible things that could be happening to him. He was drawn out of his mental state by Graceton shaking his shoulder and saying, "Boss the ambulance is here and they want one of us to ride along."

Gibbs nodded mutely and said, "I'll go. I want you to stay and help McGee and Kate process the scene and get it all taken care of." He started walking towards the ambulance and before getting in yelled back, "Graceton I want an update every half an hour."

Graceton nodded and turned to survey their scene. He took a deep breath and tried to keep his feeling in check. He kept repeating to himself over and over, "It's just another case, it's just another case." Like it was a mantra, he took another deep breath and grabbing a pair of gloves out of his pocket started processing the scene.

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At the hospital

Gibbs rushed into the ER with the kids and was answering questions as best he could. They children had started to arouse in the middle of the ambulance ride. He had told the paramedics about Jimmies diabetes and after searching through the girls book bag, he found her school identification card and was able to tell them that her name, Ziva David, and that she had no known allergies. Gibbs was allowed to follow through into the examination rooms since both were minors. He waited out in the hall as the doctors and nurses did their thing. He had already called Ducky on the way to the hospital and was expecting him at any minute. Now he took the opportunity to call Miss David's emergency contact. He dialed the number and waited while it rang soon he heard a feminine voice on the other end answer, "Hello?"

Gibbs took a deep breath and then asked, "Is this Netanya David?"

"Yes."

"Are you the aunt of one Miss Ziva David?"

"Yes. What is this about?"

"Ma'am, my name is Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs from NCIS and I am at the hospital with your niece. I need you to come to Bethesda hospital as soon as you can."

"Oh My Goodness is she alright? What has happened?"

"Please ma'am, just come to the hospital and I will explain as much as I can."

"Yes, yes of course. I only work a few minutes away. I will be there shortly."

Gibbs sighed as he hung up the phone and rested his head against the wall. He momentarily allowed his thoughts to turn to Tony and if he was alright or not. But he soon stopped himself from going any farther, knowing that if he did he wouldn't be able to keep it together, like he needed to. His thoughts were interrupted by Ducky rushing up to him asking, "Jethro how are they doing?"

Gibbs looked at Ducky and said, "They're both doing ok now just still a little out of it from the drugs. Other than that I haven't been told anything. I just got off the phone with the girls aunt. She'll be here in a few minutes."

Ducky nodded and said, "I am going to go talk to their doctor."

And once again Gibbs was left to his thoughts. He wished that he could disconnect himself from it but the truth was that this was a missing person's case and that missing person was his son. And there were rules that had to be followed and one of those rules was that you cannot be involved in the investigation of a family member's case. The only thing he could hope for at the moment was that they would at least keep him in the loop. He didn't think he could handle being off the case and out of the loop.

He was once again distracted from his thoughts as a younger woman who looked a considerable amount like her niece came rushing up to him asking, "Are you Agent Gibbs? Where is Ziva? Is she all right?"

Gibbs held up his hands to slow her down and said, "Yes I am Agent Gibbs. Your niece is in that exam room right over there and as far as I know she is just fine. Now I need to go in with you and ask her some questions is that all right?"

The woman nodded and after Gibbs moved aside led the way into Ziva's room. As soon as she saw her aunt the young girl began to frantically speak in Hebrew, "Nettie! They won't let me leave! I have to go Tony's in trouble."

Ziva's aunt soothed the girl, "Hush, hush little one. You cannot leave until the doctors tell you it is all right. Now this gentleman here is an agent and he needs to ask you some questions."

Ziva eyed the man and then nodded in agreement. Her aunt looked back at Gibbs and said, "It is alright agent Gibbs you may question her."

Ziva's eyes instantly grew wide and she sat up asking, "Are you related to Tony?"

Gibbs couldn't help the lump in his throat so he just nodded and after a second said, "Yes I'm his father. Can you tell me what happened?"

Ziva nodded and said, "We were walking home from school like we usually do and then suddenly Tony got very upset and told us to run. At first I did not understand, but then he started yelling at us to run and Jimmy began to pull on me so we started running but we didn't get very far. We ran into an alleyway but it turned out to be a dead end, and the men caught up to us. When I turned around I saw that the leader had Tony pinned to the ground and they were talking hotly towards each other, I am not sure what language it was in but I think it was Italian,"

Gibbs smiled slightly and said, "I think you mean heatedly."

"Yes well whatever," she replied with an eye roll, "The point is the goon especially was not happy. And I am ashamed to admit that I had been caught off guard and was unable to react appropriately until I saw him punch Tony in the stomach and then I started struggling to get free, but the man said something to Tony and then Tony told me to stop and that it wouldn't help, I could tell by the look in his eyes that I needed to not make things worse so I stopped and then the goon that was holding me, slapped me across the face. After that the goons that were holding Jimmy and I dragged us all the way to the back of the alleyway and then injected us with something that made me pass out and then I woke up in the ambulance and then again here at the hospital.

Gibbs was a little taken aback by the girls straight forward account of what happened. It was very rare for a child to be able to give anything more than a hysterical account, but this girl in front of him had just given him an account more accurate and detailed than even one of his team could give. He smiled at her and said, "You did good. You just rest and let your aunt help you. My team and I will take care of the rest. I'll be back if we need anything else."

With that he left the room and headed over to Jimmies room. He walked in to find Jimmy and Ducky in a state of argument as Jimmy was trying to disconnect himself from all of the machinery that the hospital had attached him to, "Mr. Palmer! Really I must insist that you cease and desist this behavior at once. You Are Not Leaving. Now lay back down,"

"Dr. Mallard you don't understand! Tony is in real trouble. I need to find agent Gibbs now and tell him."

Gibbs got closer to Jimmy and placing a comforting hand on his shoulder asked, "What do you need to tell me Jimmy?"

Jimmy looked at Gibbs with fear showing clearly through his eyes. He swallowed hard and said, "Agent Gibbs it was his father or one of his fathers associates that did it. They took Tony."

Gibbs couldn't help the confused look on his face as he instantly started running through all of the facts in his mind. He looked back at Jimmy and asked, "How do you know it was them Jimmy? Tony's father is supposed to be in jail for a long time still."

Jimmy shook his head in frustration and said, "I know that agent Gibbs but Tony taught me Italian so I understood their conversation, and I am telling you agent Gibbs this reeks of his father."

Gibbs could see that Jimmy was getting worked up so he soothingly said, "Alright Jimmy, alright. I need to calm down and tell me what it is exactly that they talked about. Can you do that?"

Jimmy nodded and said, "Ok, well when they dragged us out of the alleyway the thug who had Tony was sitting on him, and Tony was fighting him. The thug told Tony that if he didn't stop kicking him in the balls that he was going to take his frustrations out on Ziva and I."

Gibbs and Ducky both wore matching expressions of anger as Jimmy continued with his story, "So of course Tony stopped struggling, and he told the man; I think Tony called him Baldassare, that if he touched us he would regret the day he was born. Then this Baldassare dude punched Tony in the stomach. And that's when Ziva came back to life, she had been in shock I think, but any ways she started struggling with the man who had her, and Baldassare told Tony that if he didn't tell her to knock it off then he was going to shoot me. So again Tony did as he asked and told Ziva to stop. But then the thugs exchanged some kind of silent signal and the man holding Ziva slapped her really hard across the cheek. And the guy holding Tony said that next time he wouldn't be so easy on her. And then he told the two holding Ziva and I to turn us loose cause the boss only wanted Tony."

Jimmy stopped to take a deep breath and then said, "Please agent Gibbs you have to believe me this has Tony's father written all over it."

Gibbs nodded and said, "You did good Jimmy." And with that he left the hospital room. He just started walking and didn't stop. He walked out of the hospital and down the street. He didn't care where he went; he just kept on walking lost in his own thoughts. He finally pulled up short when he was almost hit by a car and looking around at his surroundings he noticed that he had walked all the way from Bethesda back to the navy yard. He took a deep breath and prepared himself to update the director.

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Some where across town

The first thing that Tony noticed was the pounding in his head. He grimaced slightly as the beat in his head reverberated though his entire body, intensifying with each pulse. He shivered as he felt a sudden blast of cold air on his skin. He tried to swallow but found that his mouth was dryer than the Sahara. He could feel pulling on his arms and legs and he noticed that he was swaying slightly back and forth.

Keeping his head down he carefully cracked his eyes open. He shivered again when he realized that he was dangling from the ceiling in a room so cold he could feel his breath freezing as it left his mouth and so dark that he could hardly see a foot in front of him.

Before he had time to linger on these new developments a light so bright it burned his retinas; was flipped on. Tony closed his eyes against the harsh light. He could feel it was slowly circling around him. The cologne the person was wearing, overwhelmed his senses, almost gagging him the scent was so strong and overpowering. The person stopped their circling and stood right in front of him saying, "Ciao Antonio."

Tony slowly and determinedly raised his head and starring the man in the eyes replied, "Ciao Uncle."

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Two Weeks Later

Tony rocked back and forth on the hard ground. He hurt all over from the latest beating that his uncle had provided. He wasn't sure how long he had been here. He had lost all track of time now. Everything blended together; the only thing that marked any passage of time was routine visits from his uncle and his 'Special friends'. It was amazing to him just how much abuse ones body could endure; although he was pretty sure that one more visit from his uncles 'Special friends' and he was gonna go mental on them all. He realized that he was slowly losing consciousness when he noticed that his vision was going gray around the edges, and for that he was grateful. If he could only escape for a few hours, well then that was a few hours he could pretend to be back with his real family; the ones that loved him and made sure he was ok and told him that he was important. He could pretend that he was at home with his dad working on the boat while he did non- existent home work or read a book. Tony had to suppress a small sob as he thought about his dad and his family. He wondered what they were doing right then.

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Gibbs house;

"Damn it!" cried McGee. Gibbs looked up from his spot in the dining room and sighed; the whole team had been given mandatory leave since Tony had disappeared. The director stated that the case was being transferred to the FBI saying that Gibbs and his team were too involved, and that they couldn't be impartial 'bull shit!' so now they were all here sitting in his living room searching like crazy for any clue, any lead that could help them find his son. Even Abby and Ducky had taken emergency vacation days to help them. Gibbs buried his face in his hands attempting to scrub the tiredness out of his eyes. He hadn't slept for the last two weeks that Tony had been missing, and now he was starting to feel the effects of it. He reached for his coffee cup and had it up to his mouth before he realized that it was empty. He got up to the kitchen and was filling up his cup again when Ducky came up behind him and said, "Jethro why don't you go rest for awhile. You'll be no good to young Anthony if you end up getting sick your self."

Gibbs just shook his head saying, "Can't Ducky. Not till we find him."

Ducky sighed and said, "Very well Jethro I know better than to argue with you."

Gibbs gave Ducky a sideways glance, he had not expected for the old doctor to give in so easily. But his mind was still to jumbled and slow from worry and lack of sleep to think about that too much. His mind kept going back to Tony and all of the different things that could be happening to him right then. What was he thinking? What was he feeling? Was he in pain? Was he cold? Was he wet or dry? There were just so many possibilities and scenarios that could be happening or have happened. He shook his head; he needed to be thinking positive, as Abby would say. It was imperative. He finished filling his cup and took a drink of his coffee. He noticed that it seemed extra bitter, but he didn't put too much thought behind it. He stood there at the sink, looking out the window when he noticed that his vision was getting blurrier, he also noticed that it was getting darker around the edges. He cursed mentally as he realized what had just happened.

He turned towards the doorway where Ducky was waiting. He made to take a step closer but the sedative that Ducky had slipped into his coffee was taking hold completely. Thankfully Ducky was there with Graceton to catch him as he fell towards the floor. Together they carried him up to his room and placed him gently on his bed. Ducky quietly removed his shoes and covered him with a blanket.

As he left the room he sent up a silent prayer that his friends sleep would be deep and dreamless.

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Next Morning

Gibbs slowly became aware of his surroundings. He opened his eyes and looked around the room. It was his room, and he was laying on his bed still dressed in his clothes that he had on the other day. He noticed that his body felt stiff and sore as if he hadn't moved in a long time. He tried to remember why that would be. He decided to think about as he made is way to the head. He stood and found himself to be a little off balanced as he made his way across the room to the on suite bathroom. After he finished taking care of business he looked in the mirror at himself and he concentrated as the images began to filter through his mind. He remembered that they were looking for Tony and that he had gone to the kitchen to get more coffee and then it was blank. Why was it blank? He focused a little harder and suddenly he remembered, Ducky! Ducky had drugged his coffee. Gibbs growled as he stormed out of the bathroom and down to the living room. When he got there he saw his team huddled around a phone and a familiar voice on the other end was asking for him. He pushed his way through the group and taking the phone from McGee said, "I'm here Fornell. What's going on?"

"Ah Gibbs they said that you were still sleeping."

Gibbs glowered at each one of his teammates in turn as he said, "Yah well they were wrong. Now why did you call Tobias?"

"I called to tell you that we found him Jethro. We found him and that he is on his way to Bethesda."

Gibbs wasn't sure if he could remember how to breathe; it seemed as if all of the air had been sucked out of the room. He didn't even realize that he had dropped the phone. The only thing registering in his mind was that Tony, his boy, was found, he was found and he was still alive. He didn't even register that he and Ducky were in the car on their way to Bethesda. He didn't come back to his senses until Ducky had to practically pull him out of the car once they had parked at the hospital. Gibbs and Ducky were walking into the ER at the same time the paramedics came rushing in with Tony. Gibbs was at a loss for words when he saw his son fly by him. He could see that Tony was very much alive, pulling against the restraints, and thrashing slightly on the gurney. He was going to follow them back into the examination room, but Ducky held him back saying, "I'll go Jethro. You stay here and talk to Tobias."

Gibbs looked longingly at the doors that his boy had disappeared through, and after a few seconds nodded and turned back to find Fornell and his partner Agent Sacks standing over in the waiting room area. He silently walked over to them and sat down in a huff saying, "Talk to me Fornell."

Fornell looked to his partner and quietly told him to go find some decent coffee. After he was sure that he was gone Fornell sat next to his friend and with a heavy sigh said, "We finally got a break that led us to an old abandoned warehouse all the way over on the other side of the district, that used to be owned by DiNozzo Sr.'s company. We stormed in there with guns blazing and took them all by surprise. We- we caught them in the middle of one of their meetings. They tried to put up a fight, but we got most of them before they could do any real damage. Found out that the kids father contacted his little brother, who we didn't know about by the way; and asked him to do him a favor. The little brother of course wants to exact some type of vendetta for the way his brother was falsely accused and imprisoned."

Gibbs looked at him in shock and asked incredulously, "And this guy just told you all of this?"

Fornell nodded saying, "I know! The man is not stable. Any ways he's giving me this big long spiel while I am cuffing him and putting him in the car. Meanwhile my boys are searching the warehouse and we almost missed the hidden door that led to a secret observation room, where they were keeping Tony. The kid was sitting chained to a chair. He looked like death warmed over, but as soon as we started undoing the chains he suddenly came to life fighting and working against us as much as he could in his weakened state."

Fornell stopped and took a deep breath, he really didn't want to be the one to tell Gibbs all the sordid details but he knew his old friend and knew him well. And he knew that he wouldn't settle for anything less than all of the information. He was glad when he looked up and saw Sacks coming back towards them with several of the largest cups of the darkest roast that Starbucks had to offer. He silently handed one to each man and then sat a few chairs down and waited. Fornell sipped on his coffee for a few minutes before he continued, "When we got him out of the chair we were better able to see the extent of some of the damage done. They beat pretty good, and it looks like they whipped him several times. There was a table with all of their instruments on it, and from the looks of it, there may have been some sexual abuse as well."

Fornell didn't get to go on any farther because Gibbs was up and storming back towards the examination room. Fornell sighed he really hated cases that involved kids, especially kids of the people he knew.

NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS

Three days later

Tony slowly became aware of his surroundings he could hear the beeping of the machines and the smell of antiseptic assaulted his senses. He went to open his eyes and found that he couldn't. The panic quickly began to rise in his body as he tried and tried to open his eyes but found that no amount of shear force was going to make that happen. "No!" he cried as he launched himself forward. Hands quickly found him and tried to comfort him and make him lay back down but Tony was having none of it. He struggled against those hands crying out, "I can't see! Why can't I see?"

It took him a few minutes but finally his dads voice penetrated his thoughts, "Hey, hey Tony calm down its ok, it's ok, shh just relax. Everything is ok."

Tony shook his head, which exasperated the pain that was already starting to build in it. He took a deep breath and cried out, "Dad? Dad I can't see! Why is it so dark? Why can't I see? Help me Dad tell me what's going on."

Gibbs took a deep breath and tried again to calm Tony and reassure him, "Hey . . . Listen to me it's going to be ok. Do you understand?"

He waited for Tony to acknowledge him. After a few seconds he saw a slight nod, "Good." he said, "Now you are in the hospital" he saw a tremor run through Tony as he said that but he didn't stop there, "The reason you can't see is because you had been held in that dark room for so long the doctors didn't want to take any chances of hurting your eyes so they wrapped a bandage pretty tightly over them."

Tony wasn't happy with that and cried, "Dad take it off! Make them take it off! Please I don't like the dark!"

Tony felt himself being wrapped in Gibbs's arms and it felt so good to be held that he couldn't control the flow of his emotions He began to cry deep heart wrenching sobs and he mumbled over and over "Don't like the dark, don't like the dark, don't like the dark."

Each time he repeated it he became a little more hysterical. Gibbs knew that if he couldn't calm Tony down soon the doctor would be forced to sedate him again. Finally Gibbs took Tony's face in his hands and said "Tony! You have to listen to me and calm down! If you don't they will come in here and make you go back to sleep! Please Tony try and calm down." His voice cracked as he said that last part and it seemed that he managed to get through to Tony.

Tony's sobs began to slow down and he took deep breaths to even out his breathing. He uttered his last sob just as the doctor and nurses walked into his room. Gibbs looked furtively at the doctors and demanded, "Get these damned bandages off of him now!"

The doctor nodded quickly and said, " I don't see why not they were really only there as a precaution."

Gibbs gave Tony a little squeeze and said, "Yah hear that? He's gonna take it off. Ok?"

Tony nodded and tried to regulate his breathing a little more though he was still hiccupping and shaking from before. He held as still as he could as he heard the doctor come closer to him. He flinched involuntarily when he felt an extra hand rest on his shoulder. The doctor he realized by the sound of his voice was none other than doctor Grant. Tony never thought he would be happy to see a doctor, but that was what he suddenly found himself felling as he allowed himself to relax and melt into Gibbs's shoulder. He realized that he was very tired all of a sudden, and was just about to go back to sleep when bright light pierced through his closed eyes. Tony hissed and turned his face into his dads shoulder. The turning action caused a sharp shooting pain to spread across his back. He gasped as the pain radiated out across his whole body. He could hear Dr. Grant issuing orders to the nurses, "Turn those lights off and get me a pair sun glasses for him."

"Tony?" He could hear someone calling his name but his mind was still to clouded by pain to register who it was. Finally after what seemed like an eternity the pain receded and he was able to think somewhat more coherently. "Tony?" came the voice again; "I need you to open your eyes for me."

He shook his head slightly in the negative; it hurt too much to open his eyes. "Come on Tony show me those pretty green eyes." 'Ok' he thought 'this is definitely not a person I know and definitely a woman.' He felt the arms around him squeeze him a little tighter and his dads voice sounded close to him, "Come on bub, they even turned off the lights for yah."

Tony hated that he was going to sound so weak but he swallowed and said, "But it hurts."

Dr. Grant stepped in and said, "I know Tony but we have some pretty awesome shades for you to wear so that it wont hurt as much."

Tony sighed heavily and slowly started to open his eyes. He found much to his surprise that it didn't hurt as much this time. Even though with the relative darkness of the room it was still a bit much for his sensitized eyes and made him have to squint. Dr. Grant and the nurses did their thing and soon Tony was wearing the promised shades. He was really tired now; the medical staff had done everything that they could think to do to him. They had checked all of his vitals, cleaned and changed all of his wounds, gave him a neuro check and repositioned him. Finally after an hour of being poked and prodded Tony and Gibbs were left alone. Tony was just starting to fall back to sleep with Gibbs holding his hand when he asked, "Dad?"

"Yah Tony."

"When can I go home?"

Hey every one I hope that you all enjoyed this chapter. I made it extra long for you all. So as always thanks to all of you who have faved and followed and have left such nice reviews.