As soon as the 747 landed the team found their rental, each in a state of finding more information regarding the whereabouts of the truck and it didn't take long. Their phones had been silenced on the flight but now that they were back on and they were getting urgent messages.
Gibbs read Abby's text to call her as soon as he landed. Then he read Ducky's urgent plea to get in touch with him as soon as possible.
Gibbs started with Ducky first, the news was more than devastating, that Tony could be used as a biological weapon. Ducky and Palmer were on their way to the airport. Vance was flying them their on the Sec Nav's private plane, this was a priority one situation that had to be dealt with great care. If the killer was successful in resuscitating the disease inside of Tony's lungs then he could be in great distress. This was Ducky had deducted from Dan Brown's Journal.
It was Abby's call that caused the most concern though, the man driving the truck was a forensic pathologist, Dr Stephen Moore. He had been thought to be the eighth victim nine years ago, the one victim that had never been found. He was a pathologist for the Baltimore Police Department, a co-worker of Tony's.
The man was a gentle giant, well respected and he had been a good friend of Tony's. Gibbs wondered if Tony had put it together yet. That the man who had kidnapped him from his home was now a killer. Yet, there were questions. Had the pathologist been the killer all along or was he brainwashed like Dan Brown? He had concerns, the main being if they were too late to save Tony from the same fate.
Tony had never accepted that the man was dead and even swore he had seen him at several crime scenes afterward but the evidence was overwhelming that the man had died. Tony felt that something far more sinister had happened to the man, evidently Tony's gut had been correct.
Gibbs slammed his hand against the wheel and cursed under his breath, Ziva and McGee just watched as the news effected their boss, their concern too had risen for their partner, their friend.
The traffic from the airport was horrendous. McGee was trying to locate the location of the police station but it was Ziva who came across the crucial information that would change their destination.
" Gibbs, they found the truck." Ziva informed , " but the officers will not approach. They're too afraid."
Gibbs nodded, Ducky, Abby and Palmer would be there soon. The threat of the plague was good enough reason not to approach.
Unknown Location
Arkansas
The first real moment of lucidity came after he attempted to role over, his back screamed in pain, it was torn and bruised and he could feel the sticky remnants of blood as he attempted to move on the small bed. The room was freezing cold, goosebumps covered his aching body.
The fever had climbed, his fever and his lungs felt tight now, not the loose cough as before, instead it was the wheezy kind, too tight to allow air inside. Death would soon come to gather him up, but it was okay, it would be better than what these maniacs had in mind for him.
He felt the headache, the shivers and the aches associated with the plague, and if he was correct he would soon give in to its effects, his scarred lungs would not be able to fight another bout of the black death.
Then another fear gripped him, a fear that finally had ebbed through to his fogged mind. Why hadn't the two men been infected? Why had they not died? Did he actually have the plague or was it pneumonia? His mind attempting to recall what Dr Pitt had said about the virus going dormant in his organs.
He opened his sticky eyes to find himself in a regular room, by himself. He was lying on a bed, a bed with a sheet and a comforter underneath him. Reality also hit that his clothing was missing, and that he was actually not alone.
The man who had beat him was busy gathering items across the room. The thought of the man touching him again sent his heart racing, sweat started to bead on his forehead in the freezing room and his first instinct was to get up and run, to hide, but he couldn't, he was restrained to the bed. Soft restraints were attached to all his limbs, and a lapbelt slid across his waist.
Regardless of the condition of his body, it attempted to buck the restraints, as if itwere instinct, as if his body knew something his mind refused to believe. The man would definitely harm him again, it was a given.
"Elijah, how are you feeling? I gave you some pain medication so that you would not suffer too much. We love you Elijah and our only wish is that you realize your name and your purpose." the man still had his back turned away but from what Tony could gather, he seemed to be a crazy old lunatic, the man's hair was gray and long. His clothing consisted of only a dark long robe and a thick tie around his waist.
"What the hell am I doing here and what the hell are you going to do with me?" Tony screamed as loud as his damaged voice could scream.
The man turned and faced his victim, his prophet. "I am here to assist you Elijah in remembering your purpose, your destiny. Evidently you're journey back to Earth was too long and you forgot, but I am the one to assist you in remembering. I am here to care for you"
"You beat me you son of a bitch." Tony attempted to buck the restraints again.
"I would never hurt you without a reason. I caused you pain but I will also give you comfort, that is my duty." The older man replied as he brought a pail of water over to the bed. He then dipped a cloth into the warm water and started washing away the sweat and the blood from Tony's face.
Tony pushed away at first but then he stopped, there was something familiar suddenly, something from long ago that flashed in his mind. Another case, one that had Biblical implications, one that neither he nor Gibbs could solve. The other man was familiar suddenly also, very familiar.
The older man continued to wash Tony, but Tony's body reacted only with shivers and fear. "Leave me the hell alone!" he growled, again straining an already damaged throat.
Moses reached down and touched Tony's abdomen, rubbing his hand across it gently, taking care to make sure that Tony's attention was with what he was about to do, " I need to place a catheter into your bladder Elijah. You abdomen is swollen and I need to give you some fluid to keep you hydrated. I don't want your bladder to rupture."
Tony's fight or flight kicked into gear and he was now forcibly pulling on the restraints which seemed to just tighten even more as he pulled against them, "Don't freakin' touch me you son of a bitch!" His body attempting to flee to no avail, the restraints were too tight. too secured.
But his words went unheeded and the older man prepared him for the worst experience of his life, as he applied the cold betadine and then the older man took the catheter and placed inside of him, his screams filled the room as the man almost took an indignant pleasure from what he was doing to his victim's body. And when it was over the older man watched in wonder as the urine trickled down the tube into the bag, smiling at his accomplishment.
Tears rolled down Tony's cheek, the humiliation of what the man had just done to him clear, the feelings of abandonment increase towards those who should have found him before something like this could happen. It would get worse, he knew it. Why hadn't Gibbs found him? Where was his team?
The man smiled towards Tony, "I will start your intravenous fluids in a few minutes. Take a few minutes and relax." He spoke the words calmly and went back to work gathering more equipment. Tony's restrained body lay naked on the bed, the effects of the cold room and the man's torment effecting Tony's body in numerous ways.
Tony looked over as the man picked up another instrument that man him shiver more than the catheter, it was a long thick needle. Not the IV kind but the biopsy type, he had seen it before in Ducky's forensic lab.
"What are you going to do with that?" Tony asked, his voice breaking with fear, his wrists now pulling at the restraints tightly.
"I need to see if our experiment is working, I need another sample of lung tissue." The man replied as he again brought out the betadine, soaked a cotton ball then rubbed it on Tony's right upper chest. He wanted to see if the plague was ready to come to life again, if his prophet was ready for the judgment day that was in his near future.
Tony's eyes grew wide with the new fear, of a new torture being presented and all he could react with was a useless cry for help as the man approached.
"Noooooo! Please, noooooo" the only scream that could be heard from the room as the man plunged the long biopsy needled into Tony's chest.
Well. This chapter is not for the squeamish at heart. Most definitely. But I might be able to squeeze out another chapter today if you like.