"We're not gonna get anything until he calls," Tim said, very annoyed at the lack of progress they had made, "He won't let us find her until he wants us to."

"Well, we can't just sit around and do nothing until then," Tony replied.

"Really?" Tim replied sarcastically, "I had no idea that this team didn't wait around for answers!" He shook his head, "God, sometimes you are so stupid!"

Tony stood up to be eye level with Tim, "Hey! Chill! We're all wanting to find Abby, alright?"

"No duh!"

"Both of you, shut up!" Gibbs yelled as he walked over to them and smacked the back of their heads.

"Tony, go with Ziva and get us all some coffee." He looked at his watch. It was nearing three o'clock in the morning, "We're gonna need it," He added with a sigh.

Tony ended his glare match with Tim, grabbed his keys, and headed out of the building with Ziva.

Gibbs turned to Tim, "You have go to learn to calm down. I get that this case has everything to do with you, and you've got a major reason to wanna get this guy, but we're a team, McGee. We're all here, going through this together. We may not have the personal ties that you do, but that doesn't change anything. Got it?"

Tim looked down, embarrassed to look Gibbs in the eyes, and nodded, "Got it," He replied quietly.


Ziva could tell that Tony was angry as they headed to the car. She couldn't help but smile at the huffy look on his face. "I thought you said you would rather have the angry McGee back?" She reminded him.

"Yeah, well, I forgot how obnoxious the angry McGee was."

"Oh, Tony, you know he just wants to find Abby."

"We all want to find Abby, Ziva."

Ziva stopped and grabbed Tony's arm, stopping him as well, "I know that, Tony. But that man did not kill our fathers, he killed Tim's. This is different for him then it is for us. No, he does not want to find her any more than we do, but his feelings about it are very different from ours."

Tony sighed, "I just want all of this to be over."

"As do I. As do we all."

They began walking again. "Do you think he's hurt her?" Tony asked.

She thought for a moment, then shook her head, "No. He has no reason to yet. He will want to wait, to drug this out as long as possible-"

"Drag," Tony corrected.

"Yes, drag. He will want to drag this out as long as possible… to torture McGee."

"I'm pretty sure Tim's already been tortured enough," Tony replied sadly, then they got into the car and headed out to get coffee.


Abby was in the back corner of the room, curled up and leaning against the wall. She was trying hard to stay awake, but she was barely winning that battle.

Her eyes closed and, just as she was about to fall asleep, a door slammed loudly, causing her to jump and gasp.

She heard two men talking outside of the room. She figured it was John and Jack.

The talking quickly turned into yelling, and Abby wished she could understand what they were saying.

Suddenly the door flew open and a very angry Jack came rushing in.

"She was hungry!" John yelled behind him, "I jus' gave her a little bit!"

Jack ignored him and charged at Abby.

Before she could do anything to defend herself, he grabbed her by the throat and pulled her up so she'd be standing, "You think you're special, don't you?" He growled through gritted teeth.

She shook her head the best she could as she tried to catch her breath. Her eyes were wide with fear.

"Answer me!" He yelled.

"N… no," She managed to choke out.

He let her go by slamming her back into the wall. She slid down it, coughing frantically.

Jack turned back to John, "From now on she doesn't get food or water unless I say so! Understand?"

John nodded, "Yeah… I'm sorry, F-"

"Shut up!" Jack ran his hands through his hair, "I need to make a phone call," He said as he walked past John and left out of the room.

John looked over at Abby, who was still trying to catch her breath, "You alright?" He asked in a low voice.

Not able to speak, she just nodded.

"Okay."

He left out of the room and closed the door behind him.

Abby sat there, breathing heavily as tears fell down her face.


Tony and Ziva came walking into the bullpen with four cups of coffee. Ziva gave Gibbs his, then took hers to her desk and sat down.

Tony sat one down on Tim's desk, then turned to go back to his own desk.

"Tony," Tim called out to him.

He turned back to Tim, "Yeah?"

"About earlier… I'm sorry. I shouldn't have acted like that."

"Don't apologize, Probie. If we can't take our anger out on our family, then who can we take it out on, right?"

Tim smiled, "Right… Thanks, Tony."

"No problem, kid."

Tony went to his desk and sat down just as Tim's phone rang.

Everyone's heads turned to his direction.

Tim took a deep breath and answered the phone, "Hello."

"Before you say anything to draw attention to this conversation, I want you to know that this discussion is for us only. You involve the rest of the team, I kill your sweet Abigail, understand?"

Tim cleared his throat, "Yeah… I know I haven't been around in a while, Mom," He answered. The rest of the team sighed and returned back to work.

"Good job. Now, I am going to give you a number. It is up to you to figure out what it means. Got it?"

"Yes, Mom, I know."

"Okay, here it goes. 3830010790959. Did you get that?"

Tim wrote down the number as discreetly as possible. He kept looking up to make sure no one was watching him, "Yeah. Can I talk to Sarah for a minute?"

Jack paused. He knew what that question really meant. "Hmmm. I suppose that wouldn't hurt. One moment, please."

"Okay."

"Don't forget to tell your mother that you love her, Timothy," Jack said as he walked back to the room Abby was in.

Tim took a deep breath, vomit rising in his throat, "I love you too, Mom," He said quickly.

"Aw. How sweet." Jack walked into Abby's room, and she immediately tensed.

Without a word, he handed the phone to her.

She stared at him as she slowly took it, unsure of what he was doing.

She put the phone to her ear, "Hello."

Tim sighed in relief at the sound of her voice, "Hey, A-" He cut himself off then looked around quickly to make sure no one heard him, "Hey. How are you?"

She wiped the tears from her eyes and took a deep breath, "I'm fine, Timmy."

He could tell she was lying. "Really?"

"Tim, don't," She warned, "I know you, Timmy. Do not blame yourself for this, do you understand me?"

No answer.

"Tim! Do you understand me?"

"Yeah," He whispered, "Yeah, I understand."

"Good. You better."

Jack snatched the phone away from her, "That's enough… There, Timothy, you got to talk to her. Remember the numbers. Goodbye." Jack quickly hung up.

Tim knew he couldn't just hang up without saying goodbye to "Sarah", so he continued, even though no one was on the line, "I'll see you guys soon, okay? I gotta go… Love you too. Bye."

"Everything alright?" Ziva asked as Tim hung up the phone.

"Yeah. Everything's fine. Mom just wants me to come visit soon."

"You should go at lunch," Gibbs replied.

Tim's eyebrows raised, "What?"

"You haven't seen them in a long time. Go eat lunch with them at the new safehouse."

"But… what about Abby?"

"It's an hour, Tim," Gibbs said, staring at him, "Just an hour. The rest of us are all still gonna be here working."

"Um… okay, I guess."


Tim spent the rest of the morning trying to figure out what the numbers meant.

It was nearing lunch when he finally got it. It was latitude and longitude for a forest in Virginia.

There was one area in the forest that had cabins, and no one went this time of year. That had to be it! It was only about half an hour from NCIS.

He looked up, wanting to tell everyone what he had found… Then he remembered something. "This discussion is only for us. You involve the rest of the team, I kill your sweet Abigail. Understand?"

Tim's heart began to pound. He looked at his watch. It was time for him to take his lunch break. He quietly opened his top desk drawer and pulled out his gun. He placed it in the back pack he had at his desk, then he stood up, "Boss, I'm gonna go now."

Gibbs nodded, barely looking up at him, "'Kay."

Tim walked to the elevator, realizing he was probably walking to his death. He just hoped the team noticed he was missing... before it was too late.


Sorry I didn't update yesterday! Things have been very hectic around these neck of the... circles. Yes, I live in a circle. Seriously, I do. I also have alligators in my backyard, like Abby :) lol

Enough about me... I hope you enjoyed the chapter. It had a little more to it than the last one did. Thanks for the reviews!

Oh, and now we know the first letter to "Jack's" name, thanks to John! haha