A/N: Just a reminder, if you're having trouble following who's speaking, each chapter is told from only one perspective. And if you need a further hint, check the previous chapter. The last character mentioned will be the perspective be used in the next chapter. For example, in the last chapter, Tony mentions Gibbs in the last line and in this chapter, we see the events through Gibbs' perspective. (It's a writing style that makes a little more sense when you look at the document in one file. Seeing one chapter per page makes it tough.)

For everyone who's dealing with the cold weather, keep warm! I'm hibernating this weekend looking forward to the 'warmer temperatures' tomorrow and Monday. Who knew it would be exciting to 'warm up' to just freezing temperatures? Anyway, back to the story. The search is on!

"Gibbs," Abby pleaded.

"I told you Abs," he replied exasperated. "We haven't been able to search with this storm. We've got search teams ready."

"When are you going to look for them?"

"As soon as I hang up the phone with you," he said as he looked at Ziva. She was waiting impatiently at the door. She was heavily dressed for the weather and held her orange watch cap in her hands.

"They've been missing for four days, Gibbs," she said plaintively.

"I know, Abs," he said. "We'll find them, and I'll let you know as soon as we do."

"You better," she said.

"Gibbs," Ziva said as she looked at the door.

She was right. They had to get going. "Gotta go, Abs," he said.

"Call me as soon as you know something."

He hung up and looked at Ziva. He didn't say anything as they stepped out of the small inn and into the cold.

The storm finally let up just after dawn on the fourth day after Tony and McGee had gone missing. And like the three days previous, he had found himself awake and pacing long into the night, which meant he was asleep on the couch in the common room when the winds suddenly stopped.

It was the silence that woke him from his uneasy sleep. After three days of howling winds and a creaking house, the lack of noise was almost disconcerting until he realized that the snow had ended.

He was staring out the window when Elsie came into the Farmhouse to cook breakfast. She had made some joke about charging him a reduced rate for sleeping on the couch for the last three days instead of in his room, but his mind was already going through their search plans.

"Do you think that we will really find them alive?" Ziva asked, her fear clearly showing on her face.

Ziva had run the gamut of emotions from optimistic to concerned and finally had settled on fear. Even though she tried to mask it, they both knew she was afraid of what they might find when they were finally able to search for their partners. He shared that same fear but the little voice in his gut telling him that his boys were alive tempered it.

He examined her features. It was a rare moment when Ziva let her guard down. It was almost as rare as when he let his own feelings show.

But he understood her fear. Tim and Tony were her closest friends. She had left her country and her family behind so that she could return to the U.S. and rejoin their family. Losing them would be like losing two brothers and she knew the pain of lost family all too well.

He knew that pain all too well too. Not only with his wife and daughter but he had lost Kate in the line. He didn't want to lose his boys either. He wasn't sure he could bear it.

"They have been out in this storm for four days without food, water or shelter," she continued as they saw several men on snowmobiles waiting for them. With the snow ending only a few hours ago, the plows hadn't had time to do their work. Even on the roads, snowmobiles were the best means of transportation for now. "To survive a storm like this would not be easy even for a trained survivalist and neither Tim nor Tony has that training."

"They're alive," he said firmly. His gut told him they were. In all this time, that hadn't changed at all. "DiNozzo is too stubborn to freeze to death and McGee is too smart."

He knew that some of his words were bravado, but he wasn't going to give up on them until he was looking at their bodies. They weren't dead until he knew they were.

Ziva didn't seem to be convinced as she got onto a snowmobile behind one of the local rescue volunteers. They drove to the football field at edge of town where the searchers were meeting.

Sheriff Berman had come by the Farmhouse several times over the last three days, both to socialize and to check in on them. He had informed them that he had searchers ready to go the moment the storm let up. And he had gone over the search plan with them. Berman's search plan was meticulous and well thought out but when he and Ziva offered suggestions, he took them into account and modified the plan.

After numerous conversations with Sheriff Berman, he couldn't shake the feeling that Berman knew more than he had let on. But at the same time, his gut told him that Berman was a man of the law and wasn't corrupt. Maybe Berman was just as cautious as he was and played his cards close to his vest? He knew something of that and couldn't fault the man for it even if it frustrated him at the moment. He was still looking for the puzzle piece that would make this case make sense.

They had met many of the locals as they came in to the Farmhouse to socialize and have a meal even though the storm raged outside. After observing everyone, he still wasn't sure what to think. If any of them were running drugs, he didn't pick up on it. Then again, if they were running drugs he wasn't sure that they would come to the Farmhouse where two federal agents were staying, and they had the storm as an excuse.

They hadn't seen any of the Dunning family at the Farmhouse over the course of the storm other than Rick and Kara on the first morning. Sheriff Berman had checked in on them at Richard Dunning's home and said that the family was coping with loss as expected. Brian's mother Alice started to cry at every mention of Brian, Jack was stoic and silent, and Kara had sequestered herself in the guest bedroom and refused to see anyone.

As for the other Dunnings, William was divorced, and his family lived in Charleston. Rick and his wife had three young children who didn't seem to understand what was going on.

Elsie had said that it wasn't unusual that the Dunning family didn't stop by. Rick's wife was apparently a good cook. And with Brian's death, she suspected that they were taking time to mourn on their own.

He wasn't so sure. He couldn't forget Richard Dunning's suspicion or Kara's flash of recognition when he introduced himself.

He put those thoughts on hold as they reached the meeting point at a football field at the edge of town. Several dozen snowmobiles were lined up and groups of heavily bundled men were standing around Sheriff Berman's police vehicle. Berman was standing with his deputy, Russell Cunningham.

"All right," Berman said. "Listen up! We're looking for two Federal Agents. You have copies of their photos, but it shouldn't be too hard to figure out if they're the ones we're looking for. You've gotten your assignments and radios. I want regular reports on your progress. Call in every half hour. Russ and Shirley are going to keep track of your location and your check in times." Russ waved. "If you don't call in, we're going to have to divert searchers to check on you so don't forget to check in! Got it?"

The men agreed and once Berman was satisfied, he continued, "After four days, they must have taken shelter. Look for makeshift tents and lean-tos. Check any caves you come across, but be careful not to disturb any bears you might find. There are a few cabins in the search area, check those too. Keep your eyes open for smoke and beware of drifts that can hide drop offs. Any questions?" he asked.

The group shook their heads.

"Good. Let's go. I don't need to tell you that we're working against the light. We'll reconvene at the Farmhouse," he said.

There was a moment of confusion as the search parties broke up and started up their snowmobiles. After they had sped off, he approached Sheriff Berman and Deputy Cunningham.

"Morning Agent Gibbs, Agent David. Nice hat," Berman said as he pointed to Ziva's bright orange hat. She nodded and when she didn't reply, Berman continued, "Russ is going to head back to the station coordinating the searchers," Berman said. "He'll make sure that we're covering the search grid as effectively as possible. We've done this before. We know the drill."

"Good," he said.

"As we discussed, we're taking the quadrant around their vehicle," Berman said.

"Yes, we want to examine their car for ourselves," Ziva said.

"Sam here is chief of our local fire department. He's trained in search and rescue," Berman said. He glanced at Sam who nodded. He was wearing a bright yellow vest with the words Fire Chief emblazoned on the back. "You ready to go?"

Berman looked at him, so he stared at the man until he motioned for them to get on to the last two remaining sleds.

He climbed up behind the Sheriff as Ziva climbed up behind Sam. Berman waved to Russ who was getting back into the jeep and then they were off.

Like all the roads, the one they took hadn't been plowed yet. Only the road signs and bordering forest told him that there was a road below them. As the Sheriff had told them when they had first arrived, the road was curvy and hilly. Even in good weather, it would be a tricky road to navigate. Both Tim and Tony were excellent drivers but in poor weather, even this road would present a challenge.

Being seated behind the Sheriff, he was spared the spray of fresh powder, but it was still very cold even though he was dressed for the weather. He tried to pull his scarf up over his face, but Berman made a harsh course correction, forcing him to grab the seat before he was thrown off the machine.

"Sorry about that," Berman shouted back at him. "You ok?"

"Fine," he replied as he pointed ahead.

Berman nodded and refocused on the road. This section of the road seemed to have been carved on the side of a mountain. To the left was a steep drop off and to the right was a steep mountain. Neither of which were traversable without climbing equipment.

Almost thirty minutes later, they stopped on the side of the road at a particularly sharp curve. Several trees at the edge of the road were tied with orange survey tape.

"Russ marked the trees with the tape, so we'd be able to find the car," Berman said.

They looked over the hill. If he hadn't known there was a car down the moderately steep embankment, he'd have passed by this location. There was nothing but snow and trees for as far as the eye could see. But as he looked down the hill, he saw several more trees marked with survey tape as well, one of which looked to be almost four feet in diameter.

Ziva looked at him and he knew what she was thinking. Even if Tim and Tony had returned to the car, they couldn't have started it with the tail pipe buried in the snow. They'd die of carbon monoxide poisoning. And if they hadn't turned on the car, chances are they would have run out of oxygen or had frozen to death.

"Although as soon as Russ told me where he found their car, I knew I could find it without the survey tape," Berman said as he stood. Berman looked at him. "This curve is notorious for accidents."

"Means we also know how to deal with getting to cars down there," Sam said as he pulled a rope from his bag and walked over to a sturdy tree.

"Their car is resting against the biggest tree," Berman said as he joined Sam and helped him to secure the rope. "And that isn't the first time that ole hickory has been hit by a car."

"I can see why," he said as he looked at the road. There was no guide rail, the road was narrow and the drop off was steep. Once you went over the hill, there was no coming back.

Once the rope was secured, Berman motioned for him to take the lead.

He grabbed his bag and then slowly made his way down the slope using the rope to stabilize himself when he lost his footing on the uncertain terrain. Ziva followed him and Berman followed her.

Once they reached the toe of the slope, he let go of the rope and struggled through the deep snow drifts until he found the car. Silently, he and Ziva began to dig until they found the car.

Even with Berman and Sam helping, it took almost thirty minutes to clear enough snow away to determine that no one was inside. And it took almost another hour to clear away the rest of the snow so that they could examine the wreck.

The hood was dented around the tree which seemed to have withstood the impact with little more than a few pieces of chipped bark. The windshield was cracked but it looked to be from the impact to the tree rather than the impacts of passengers against it.

He pried open the front door and looked inside with his flashlight. It looked just like the photos.

"I'm not sure if it is a good sign or a bad one that your agents aren't inside," Berman said, looking over his shoulder.

"I'm taking it as a good sign," he said as he examined the driver's compartment. The airbag had been deployed but there wasn't any evidence that someone had impacted it. Airbags deployed with some force and it wasn't uncommon to get a bloody nose from them but this one was clean.

He knelt and looked at the underside of the dash. The panels were popped and some of the wires were sticking out. He looked at the passenger side and saw that the panel was popped, and wires were hanging out there as well. Neither of which showed any blood. Either Tony and McGee walked away without a scratch or they hadn't been inside when the car struck the tree.

He frowned. But if Tony and McGee hadn't been inside, how had the airbags been triggered? Airbags were pressure sensitive. If you didn't have someone weighing at least fifty pounds in the seat, they wouldn't deploy.

Suddenly Ziva yanked open the rear passenger seat.

"The survival supplies are still here," she said. She held them up. "Several thermal blankets, frozen water bottles and various energy bars."

"And one police radio," he said as he found the radio in the center console. He pushed the button. "Testing."

Berman's radio crackled to life and he heard his voice.

"Still works," Berman noted.

Even if it still worked, he wouldn't bet that Tim or Tony would have made use of the police radio if they suspected Berman was the reason for their accident. But he doubted that his boys had returned to the car after the deputy had found it. They would have taken the supplies.

He popped the trunk and stood upright. Pushing through the deep snow, he opened the trunk. It contained their portable crime scene kits, the roadside emergency kits and two duffle bags.

He opened the first duffle and saw an Ohio State sweatshirt on top.

"Tony's," he said as Ziva joined them.

She opened the second bag and they saw a Navy sweatshirt.

"McGee's," Ziva said.

"McGee is Navy?" Berman asked.

"Navy brat," he replied with a frown. "NCIS is a civilian agency."

"Right," Berman said. "Your agents did mention that." Berman motioned to their search partner. "Sam and I are going to start searching the area for clues unless you need us to stay with you?"

He shook his head.

Once Sam and Berman had walked far enough away, Ziva said, "I see nothing that would indicate this was not an accident. Except that there is no blood."

He looked around.

"You think there should be blood?" he asked.

"Yes," she said. "And so do you." He didn't reply but that was answer enough for her. "If I were looking to dump a car, this would be the perfect place to do it. Bad curve," she said ticking the reasons off on her hand. "On the road to see Dunning's family. The tree is already damaged from previous accidents. And it is remote enough that no one would find it unless they were looking for it."

"I didn't see any driveways to indicate we passed any other houses," he said. Ziva nodded.

Suddenly, they heard a snowmobile. It grew closer and closer until it stopped at the top of the hill.

"Hello?" a voice called.

"Down here," Berman said. They looked to their left and saw Berman and Sam retracing their steps. "Who's up there?"

"It's Jack," the voice replied.

"Jack Dunning?" he asked

"The one and only," Berman said as he started to climb back up the hill.

"Who did you say Corporal Dunning listed as his next of kin?" he asked as he watched Berman and Sam climb the hill with the aid of the rope.

"The CACO officer said the paperwork he received listed a Michael Harper as the person Corporal Dunning wanted notified in case of his death," Ziva said. "He was not listed as a relation."

Nodding, he grabbed the rope and climbed back to the road where they found Jack Dunning waiting for them. From the tracks, it looked like he had come from his home rather than the town.

"Ah here they are," Berman said. "NCIS Agents Gibbs and David."

"Jack Dunning," Jack said as he nodded at them.

He nodded in return as he took a moment to catch his breath and size up the man. Like everyone else, Jack was bundled up against the cold in snow pants and a heavy hunting jacket with orange blazes on the shoulders. A camouflage hunting snood was pulled up to his chin and he wore a blaze orange watch hat like Ziva. Jack was a few inches shorter than him, but Jack was a burly guy. Even through the heavy clothes, he could see that Jack was heavier built than he was.

"Sorry to hear about your missing agents," Jack said. "Any leads so far?"

"Not yet," he replied. "But we're just getting started. My condolences for the loss of your son."

Jack nodded stiffly.

"Did you ever find out why the CACO officer didn't notify Jack and his family?" Berman asked.

"Corporal Dunning's paperwork listed a Michael Harper as his point of contact in case of his death," Ziva replied. He watched as a dark expression clouded Jack's features for a moment. But before he could dwell on it, it was gone. "Michael lives in Baltimore and was notified by the CACO officer."

"Michael wasn't listed as family," he said. "Any idea who he is?"

"An old classmate of ours," Berman said. "We were good friends in high school."

Jack nodded stiffly. "He ran in my circle of friends," Jack said. "Along with my brother Will, Elsie, my wife Alice, Mark here." Sheriff Berman nodded. "And Mark's wife Susan."

"There were others," Berman said. "But we were the core group." Jack nodded. "Michael was the smartest in our class. He got a scholarship to go to three different Universities and took the full ride at one of them. Last I heard, he was living in Baltimore. He's some kind of materials engineer I think."

Ziva nodded. "He is still there," she said.

"Any idea why Brian would list him as his point of contact instead of you and your wife?" he asked.

Jack frowned slightly.

"Dunno," Jack replied. "Maybe he thought it'd be better for us to hear the news from a friend instead of some stranger? Brian's the only one who could tell you why he put down Michael instead of his family."

"Doubt that news would have been any better coming from Michael," Berman replied. "When was the last time you talked with Michael?"

"Years ago," Jack replied. "He went off to that University and only comes back to visit his folks a few times a year. Our paths never seem to cross when he's here."

Jack was trying to keep his tone light, but he could hear the hint of tension in his voice. He had a feeling that Jack and Michael weren't exactly friends any longer.

"How is your relationship with your son?" Ziva asked causing Jack to bristle. He was intrigued by the reaction and it told him that something might have been amiss between Corporal Dunning and his father. "It is a standard question."

"Well I don't like what you are insinuating by it," Jack retorted.

"I was not insinuating anything," Ziva said defensively.

"We ask the same question of every family member," he said calmly as a slight breeze picked up. Unconsciously, their small group turned their backs to the cold air. "It helps to eliminate a group of suspects."

Jack didn't look convinced, but he didn't argue.

"Brian and I butt heads like any father and son," Jack replied. "I didn't like that he joined the marines but once he sets his mind to something, there's no changing it. He's stubborn like that."

"Gets that from his father," Berman said with a laugh as he chucked Jack on the shoulder. "Once Jack sets his mind to something, there's no stopping him."

Sam nodded in agreement and Jack didn't argue.

"Since he joined up, we haven't been together long enough to get into any disagreements," Jack finished. "We talk when he calls his mother but he's a grown man who doesn't need his father anymore."

"We all need our fathers," he said as he thought of his own father. "How we need them changes as we get older."

"Well, if that's the case, I'll never get to find out," Jack said. "Since he left home, Brian's been on his own. He comes back to visit on occasion and he's close with my daughter, Kara. But we have no reason to quarrel, Agent David."

"What about your brothers?" he asked. "Any reason to think they may have had a disagreement with Brian?"

"No," Jack replied. "At least they didn't say nothing to me. But I'd like to ask you, when could they have had a disagreement? Brian's been in Afghanistan for almost a year."

"That would make it hard to have a fight, wouldn't it?" Berman asked.

"It would," he replied as he thought back to the video showing Brian arguing with William Dunning. "But we have to ask."

"You any closer to finding out why Brian was killed?" Jack asked.

He shook his head. "Been impossible to follow any leads while we've been stuck at the Farmhouse during the storm. And I have two agents missing."

"At least you found their car," Jack said as he motioned to the car over the hill. "That gives you a starting place. You got a search grid mapped out?"

"Yeah," Berman said. "Wasn't sure you'd want to help considering what happened to Brian."

"After three days stewing over it, I could use the distraction," Jack replied. "Soon as I drop this stuff off at Rick's I'll get my brothers and help you out."

Berman nodded.

He glanced at Jack's snowmobile. It was loaded down with several bags.

Jack followed his gaze. "Alice sent me back home to pick up some things and to check on the house. Good thing we stayed at Rick's too," Jack said.

"Power out again?" Berman asked as he looked up the road towards Jack's home.

"Yeah," Jack replied. "I put a call into the power company, but it'll be a few days before they can get out here," Jack said as another breeze picked up. "If that's all, I'd like to get out of this cold and get these things back to my wife."

"Check in with Russ at the station and he can tell you and your brothers where they can go to search for the missing agents," Berman said. Jack nodded and turned back to his snowmobile.

"One more question," he said, stopping Jack in his tracks. "We came from town by the road, but you didn't," he said as he pointed to the two sets of tracks on the snowy road and the single set from Jack's snowmobile. "How'd you get here?"

Jack pointed uphill from the road.

"I took the trails from town," Jack said. "They're usually faster than taking the road from Rick's place but with this much snow it was slow going. I decided to take the road back instead of slogging cross country."

"Jack owns a lot of the property up that way," Berman said pointing vaguely towards the hillside. "It's pretty rugged around here but further away there's some good land for hunting and fishing. Not really that accessible by foot though."

"That's for sure," Jack replied. "But there are a few good trails into the property if you know where they are. And there are a few shortcuts between my house and Rick's if you have an off-road vehicle." Jack smiled. "This land is our little family secret. So pretty, we like to keep it to ourselves."

Berman snorted.

"No matter how many times I ask," Berman said.

"I'm not about to give up my hunting grounds, Mark," Jack said with a grin. "I want to keep all those prime bucks for myself."

"Bucks?" Ziva asked, confused.

"Deer," he explained. Jack looked at Ziva. From his expression, he seemed to think Ziva may have been born under a rock. "Ziva is from Israel. Still working on her American slang."

"Male deer," Berman said pantomiming antlers. Ziva nodded in understanding. "Jack owned the record for the largest buck in the county for five years running. And when someone broke that record last year, he outdid them this year." Jack nodded. "No one's better with a hunting rifle than Jack Dunning."

"You know it," Jack said with a grin. "Everything from squirrels to bear don't stand a chance when I'm on the hunt."

They watched as Jack fired up his snowmobile and drove away.

"Jack and his brothers will be a big help, Agent Gibbs," Berman said. "They know this area better than anyone." He glanced a Ziva. She wasn't reassured by Berman's words but fortunately Berman didn't pick up on that. Jack hadn't said anything to incriminate himself but he had said enough to worry for his boys even more if Jack was responsible for their disappearance. "Let's go find Agent McGee and DiNozzo."

A/N: Well, isn't that ominous? Things are looking grim for our boys.

Thanks for all the reviews. I hope everyone who isn't leaving a review is enjoying this story as much as I enjoyed writing it. I love layering in the little foreshadowing moments from information gleaned from later seasons.

- McGee is worrying about finding someone and having kids but we know that in a few short months, he'll be grinning and telling Tony that he had met "DoD Delilah."

- Tony brushed off Tim, when Tim asks about Tony's feelings for Ziva and he told Tim he's bad with kids, when we know that Tali is soon to be conceived.

- It's a little bittersweet that we know Admiral McGee will change his perspective because of his illness after Tim reconnects with him in a few short months after this story is set. We didn't get to see much of that relationship but Squall was a fascinating episode to me. It gave just enough information for me to extract my version of Tim's strained relationship with his father.

But most of all, I enjoy writing the brotherly relationship between Tim and Tony. I'm enjoying the new seasons but I miss that relationship between the two characters and the chemistry between Sean and Michael. So look for some more of that brotherly bonding in the next chapter!