AN: Happy One Year Anniversary! Thanks to the people who have reviewed thus far. And the people who follow this story. And the people who marked this story as one of their favorites. Hate to be a bother, but I could use some love right now. If people could give (hopefully positive) reviews, I'd really appreciate it. Thank you!

Hetty put down the diary.

She pressed a hand to her stomach and took deep breaths.

It was difficult, trying to contain her nausea. But she managed thanks to years of training and harsh discipline. She'd never felt so disgusted in her life. Everytime she thought she couldn't get more sickened by this woman, Noelle managed to surprise her yet again.

And not in a good way.

Hetty rubbed her temples to offset a growing headache.

She was no stranger to pain and tragedy. Lord knows the agent under her command suffered their fair share of bullshit over the years.

But what McGee endured was really getting to her.

Hetty glanced around her office.

Thankfully, she was alone. Callen and the rest of the OSP team were racing back to Washington DC with the rest of the NCIS/FBI task force. Danielle Evans recognized the necklace during her Skype session with her younger sister, Krissy.

It was the first real lead they had in weeks.

Krissy was taken into protective custody.

As was her boyfriend, Cole Matthews.

Who'd given her the necklace.

Eric was in his lab, working alongside Nell Jones, going over the videos confiscated from Noelle's storage unit. Hetty was worried about her agents. They'd yet to tell her what Eric showed them. They were experienced agents in their own right.

But something in those videos spooked them but good.

Hetty couldn't bring herself to watch them.

Instead, she became consumed with reading the diary. She was admittedly obsessed with it.

Ever since she was given the diary, she wasn't able to put it down.

Despite herself, Hetty was fascinated.

It wasn't often that she got to take an intimate peek into a mind like Noelle's. She was the living embodiment of Jekyll and Hyde. Only Penny Langston was able to see the bitch as she truly was.

Everyone else was fooled by her sweet, sunny and innocent act.

Well that wasn't strictly true.

There was one other person who was never fooled.

McGee.

While Hetty didn't read all of the passages, she did quickly scan the diary. She got little snippets here and there. What she read, made Joan Crawford from the book-and movie-"Mommie Dearest", look like a warm and cuddly teddy bear by comparison.

If only Penny didn't take off!

McGee had no one to defend him!

No one!

His so-called father was just as flaky and self absorbed as his wife.

Hetty took another deep breath to fortify herself. She was about to read yet another page when she got a text from Eric. Apparently, he'd discovered something...disturbing in the videos.

Tim cowered in the corner.

HE left for some reason or another.

While Tim didn't necessarily want him around, at least this meant he was safe-well safer-when HE was in the area. He shivered. It was always so cold in his cell! Tim was being punished again for showing weakness during yet another "session".

In other words, he was naked.

Only "good little boys" deserved clothes.

At least he wasn't in the hole. Tim shivered again. He hugged his knees to his chest in a futile attempt to get warmer. He absently rubbed his ear. HE had been harder than usual as he practically wrenched his ear and jerked him closer.

Tim was surprised he didn't wet himself as HE whispered menacingly in his ear:

"I'm going out for a little while." HE said coldly. "Don't you dare move from that spot. If you move, I'll be able to tell. And then you'll really be sorry. Understand?"

Tim was too terrified to answer at first.

HE wrenched his ear again.

"UNDERSTAND!?" He shouted into his ear, making it ring.

"Yey-ye-yes, si-si-sir, I u-un-der-st-stand." Tim stuttered.

HE let out a growl and twisted his ear. "I HATE it when you stutter!"

Tim stammered an apology.

Disgusted, HE let go of his ear and shoved him into the corner. Tim knew better than to disobey. He wasn't going to move from this spot come hell or high water.

He didn't care that he was hungry and that his bladder was about to explode.

He knew he was going to get it if he moved.

Tim stiffened. He really tried to control his bladder, but he couldn't help himself as he failed. He could hear the laughter of hyenas filling the air. Which meant the assistant was coming back for yet another "round".

Tim gulped as the metal door slowly opened.

He winced as the grinding of the rusty metal filled the air. He whimpered and clamped his hands over his ears.

It was all he could do not to faint as the assistant slowly entered the room. "Oh Timmy!" He screeched in his annoying, high pitched voice. Honestly, it was like he'd swallowed an entire tank of helium or something. "It's time to play!"

"Boss!" DiNozzo whined. "I can get my mail by myself!"

It was beyond embarrassing!

DiNozzo couldn't even go into the head by himself! Gibbs had become his shadow. True, DiNozzo was grateful his boss cared. But he didn't need to have his life micromanaged either! He was a grown man for crying out loud! An experienced former cop and senior agent with years of action under his belt! He could take care of himself, dammit!

But try telling that to Gibbs, he mused bitterly.

"I don't care." Gibbs said flatly. "Move it or lose it, DiNozzo! I don't have all day!" Muttering under his breath, DiNozzo exited the passenger side of Gibbs' Charger. He wasn't surprised when he was joined by the former Marine. Apparently, Gibbs wasn't taking any chances with his safety.

Even now, Gibbs was relentlessly scanning their surroundings as they headed for DiNozzo's apartment building, one hand on his SIG Sauer. DiNozzo couldn't help feeling like a celebrity with a bodyguard dogging his every step.

At least he didn't have paparazzi taking thousands of pictures.

Living with Gibbs was weird as well.

Since Gibbs was a total technophobe, there was no Internet connection. He had to make do with Gibbs' old-fashioned TV. It only got so many channels. Even worse, there was no channel that showed Magnum, PI!

The sleeping arrangements also sucked.

Big time.

Gibbs got to sleep on his comfortable bed while HE was stuck with that old-fashioned couch! It was doing murder on his back!

DiNozzo made a mental note to schedule an appointment with a masseuse.

DiNozzo entered his apartment building and headed for his mailbox.

At least there was one bright side to Gibbs' constant presence. Everytime DiNozzo was about to explode with anger, a quick headslap brought him back to earth. It was just as well that he wasn't around when Jordan Kowalski and his pathetic little entourage made their appearance.

DiNozzo's tenuous hold on his temper would've snapped.

And he'd have kicked their sorry asses three ways from Sunday.

It was only due to his years of experience that DiNozzo was able to concentrate on the Frost murder, barely anyway. His worry and anger were increasing.

He knew the statistics about kidnap victims.

The longer they were gone, the less likely they were still alive.

The clock was ticking.

Even though he wasn't on the investigation, DiNozzo was feeling the pressure.

DiNozzo didn't know what the kidnapper was trying to accomplish. If he was so obsessed with DiNozzo, then why kidnap McGee? What was the point of torturing him? What was his game?

It didn't make any sense.

DiNozzo inwardly sighed.

Making matters worse was the fact that there was no time to meet with his contacts. He couldn't do anything with Gibbs watching his every move. Sometimes, it seemed like Gibbs knew DiNozzo better than he knew himself.

Abby claimed that Gibbs had magical powers.

Sometimes, DiNozzo had to wonder if she was right.

DiNozzo unlocked his mailbox and retrieved his mail. He inwardly winced as he realized how much mail had accumulated in the days he'd been gone. With a frustrated sigh, DiNozzo gathered the mail into his arms.

Unbeknownst to him, there was a certain manila envelope in the pile.

Vance wasn't often surprised.

He'd worked hard to build up his reputation as a hardass.

He'd already sent his kids, Lily and Jared, off to their grandparents. He decided to send them away to safety the moment he began investigating McGee's first kidnapping.

Vance was glad he followed his initial instincts.

That file Kort showed him was still giving him nightmares.

As far as he knew, Kort was still alive. Vance never imagined that he would give a shit whether the bastard was alive or not.

But Kort was vital to this investigation.

They were dealing with powerful, dangerous people.

And powerful, dangerous people had the means and motive to suppress any information that would threaten their lifestyles. Vance's children were his weakness. He would do anything to protect them.

Anything.

Vance felt like he was stretched thin as it was.

It was all he could do to keep Gibbs off the scent. It was vital that Vance keep him busy. Or he would interfere with his investigation.

That couldn't happen.

He was also trying to keep DiNozzo and Bishop contained.

Both were understandably worried about their teammate. But Vance wasn't about to let them take matters into their own hands. Especially DiNozzo. Like Gibbs, he could be a loose cannon.

When you add the fact that Vance had to run a federal agency, one could understand why he didn't have time for anything else.

His schedule was complicated as it was!

Pam sounded weird when she activated her intercom. She was annoyingly vague and refused to identify his visitor. When said visitor entered the room, he suddenly understood her reticence.

Vance made sure his mask was up as he leaned back into his chair and steepled his fingers. "So Miss David, what brings you back to NCIS?"

He entered his study, pleased.

Cornelius Kowalski knew better than to say a word.

It didn't hurt to have a powerful senator in your pocket. Kowalski had as much to lose as he did if they were ever exposed. Despite his corruptive tendencies, Kowalski believed in keeping his word.

He was an old-fashioned businessman through and through.

Kowalski promised he'd do "whatever it took" to keep the past buried.

While Kowalski wasn't nearly as intelligent as he was, he had experience sweeping things underneath the proverbial rug. Now he just needed to visit the other...parties involved.

They had to be warned.

Not to mention do their part.

After all, they owed him. If it wasn't for him, they would've been exposed a long time ago. It was time to remind those smug assholes that he made them. And he could break them, just as easily.

They weren't the only ones with money and power.

He bellowed at Carruthers that he was not to be disturbed.

Then he closed the double doors behind him and lit a cigar. He'd already dispatched Dennis and his band of mercenaries to take care of his former assistant. This time, he wasn't taking any chances.

Dennis was cold, deadly and efficient.

Even more so than Max.

If they failed, he was going to come up with contingency plans. It'd been a mistake to solely rely on Max, he reflected, taking a long drag. At least Max succeeded in silencing Noelle.

It'd been a mistake on his part to listen to her.

But Noelle had been a veritable tigress in the bedroom.

At the time, it'd seemed like a good deal. He was looking for some weakling that could serve as the guinea pig, the lynchpin of his little experiment. Noelle was desperate to get rid of her pathetic son.

Tim seemed ideal.

Unfortunately, his plans backfired.

Tim was rescued before he could continue. His assistant turned out to be batshit crazy and totally unreliable. At least Noelle was smart enough to keep quiet. Officially, nothing happened. John McGee saw to that. He refused to believe his son.

Insisting he was a liar.

Tim was cowed into keeping his mouth shut.

He took another drag. The other parties who funded his experiment helped with the coverup. They were just as eager to make sure that evidence of Tim's kidnapping never saw the light of day.

He took another drag.

This time, he was going to be more thorough.

If the kidnapper didn't kill Tim, he was going to off the little bastard himself. He wasn't going to take any chances. He made a mental note to send someone after Penny Langston. He knew via his contacts that she'd been in a car accident.

Currently, she was partially paralyzed and she had amnesia.

But she could easily regain her memory.

And that wouldn't do.

It wouldn't do at all.

So he was going to send one of his minions to get rid of the bitch. He would make sure they would know to make it look like an accident. If it was obvious that Penny had been murdered, her death would be investigated thoroughly.

Which meant the risk of exposure increased.

He sat at his desk and tapped his fingers on the mahogany, deep in thought.

Best not to take any chances, he decided.

He buzzed Carruthers. "Get me Richard." He ordered.

It was best to get rid of Penny now, before she remembered everything.