A/N: Thanks, everyone, for your reviews, pm's, alerts and favoriting, and for your patience waiting for a new chapter. Also, thanks to my wonderful beta Bunny, who always finds time in her busy schedule to help me!
GIBBS POV
How could this be that I could lose not just one but two children in my lifetime? Am I that much of a bastard that I would deserve that? Am I going to be paying for sins I don't even know I committed until I die?
Well, I'll make it simple for the universe - if I don't get Tony back alive, I WILL shoot myself this time, no one will be able to stop me putting the gun in my mouth. I'll be with Kelly and Tony and Shannon and mom, and that's all I'll need. I can still feel him in my heart, but for how long? Every hour that goes by cuts down his chances of being found still breathing.
He was so happy the last time I saw him. The daycare had put on a talent show, and my baby stood up on that little stage dressed in his cowboy clothes and boots and sang "My Home's In Montana" at the top of his voice, all the time twirling his lariat like the worker at the horse ranch had shown him. Most of the time it just drooped around his hand, but he didn't let it discourage him, just kept tapping his little boot and belting out the song.
Everyone roared with applause and laughter when he was done, and he was in his glory. But in the end, he lost the prize to a boy who quoted Edgar Allen Poe's 'The Raven'. What the hell kind of parent lets their four year old memorize that kind of morbid poetry?
I shook my head in disgust when they read the winner's name, but Bubba didn't seem to care one way or the other that he hadn't won. All his family was there to see him, even Uncle Toby, who was in such hysterics he could barely hold onto the video camera.
Uncle Toby's still in hysterics, but a different kind now. He just brought me Tony's right cowboy boot as evidence and could barely look me in the eye. It wasn't because he was afraid of me, or ashamed that that was all the evidence his team had found… it was because he knew as well as I did that eyeball to eyeball, we both would have fallen apart, and gotten nothing more accomplished.
He knows as well as I do the odds we're working with, and how strongly they're stacked against us, but you won't hear it from either of our lips. We refuse to believe them this time, both of us have fallen into that zone we warn so many scared, hopeful parents against. Prepare yourself for the worst. And yet here we are, refusing to follow our own advice. He looks like he's aged ten years in the last hour, and I noticed his hand shaking when he handed me the evidence bag. I know he's seen way worse than I have when it comes to kidnapped children, could quote me chapter by chapter and verse the grim statistics.
But not my son and not his god son.
Not now, not ever.
Flashback
Gibbs knew he had to stop thinking about Tony and concentrate on tracking his abductors. Normally, he was able to keep his emotions at bay on their cases, but how the hell could he do that NOW? When he'd handed Abby Tony's cowboy boot, she burst into uncontrollable sobs, and Kate had rushed in, white-faced and shaking, thinking the worst. Both she and Abby had been pacing the lab, snapping at anyone who dared call or stop by who wasn't related to the case. When Kate saw the boot, her hands flew to her face and she let out a gasp.
Then Ducky joined them, hearing the commotion. The broken look on the M.E.'s face, combined with his girls' sobbing, forced Gibbs out of the lab and into the nearest men's room.
He kicked the empty stall doors, not caring if anyone was in the room at the time, banging them back onto the other stalls, then single-handedly ripped the paper towel holders off the wall. If he'd been physically strong enough, he would have pulled the sinks out of the counter top. He gripped his hair with both hands and screamed, falling sideways against the wall as his voice echoed around his ears. He could hear his boy's voice, hear Tony calling for him. What Tony must be going through...
He slid down the wall and landed on his butt, not moving until he felt a hand grip his upper arm.
"Jethro, please." Ducky's voice quietly pleaded. "At least let me give you a light sedative."
"No, Duck."
"It will only relax you; it won't cloud your thinking."
"NO. I need to find him, he NEEDS me, he's calling for me! I can hear him! He's depending on me, I'm his daddy, he - I can't let him down!"
"Then rest. You can't help him like this. Just for an hour or two. Your team is doing everything that can possibly be done to get our boy safely home. They'll wake you if they hear anything more. Come, lie down in my office, I'll let them know where you are in case they need to find you."
Gibbs sighed heavily and heaved himself to his feet.
"Just for an hour, Duck. No more. Then I'm good to go."
"Alright, Jethro, I'll set the alarm clock," Ducky assured him, keeping a steadying hand on the man's arm.
"Duck, can ya stay with Kate and Abs for a while? They need somebody and I can't... I just can't-"
"There there, Jethro, just LIE down and try to relax, I will soothe Abigail and Caitlyn for you. Close your eyes, I'll have Timothy come down and get you very soon."
Gibbs obeyed and let Ducky settle him on the old sofa and cover him gently with an afghan. Almost two hours later, he awoke with a start—he had been dreaming, seeing Tony with DiNozzo Senior, running to get away from the man, only to find Ari Aswari blocking his path. Gibbs sat up in a cold sweat, and threw off the afghan, adjusting his eyes to the office light and swiping a hand over his face. He looked at his watch and grunted in annoyance. Ducky had said an hour. It was well past that. He was about to go chew the man out and was met at the office door by McGee.
"Boss, one of Fornell's people spotted Ari, going into the Adam's House Hotel!" he blurted before Gibbs could get a word in.
"They grab the bastard?" Gibbs asked, running past him to the stairwell, not wanting to wait for the elevator.
"No, they're following him. They're not letting him know they're there until they know Bubba's - Tony's - there with him."
"Tobias is on his way there?"
"Yeah, he's notified the hotel staff, no one goes in or out, all the exits have been locked down."
"They know if he's got a room there or is he just visiting someone?"
"There's no record of him having a room, but the staff is saying they think they've seen him there a few times."
Gibbs flung the stairwell door open and surged into the parking garage.
"They THINK they've seen him there?" he barked.
"Well it's a busy place, boss. Fornell's people are getting ready to review the security footage for the last three days."
"Call Kate, tell her to meet us there, tell her not to tell Abby anything, don't want her showing up in the middle of it trying to rescue Bubba."
"Got it," McGee snapped back, flipping open his phone and punching in Kate's speed dial number. He was barely able to get in the Charger and shut the door before Gibbs hit the gas and screeched out of the garage. He expected no less from the man in this situation, and prepared himself for the carnival ride of a lifetime.
If they expected chaos at the Adam's House, they got a surprise. It seemed none of the guests were aware there was anything of concern brewing within its lavish walls, simply going about their business to and from their rooms and the hotel's shops and restaurants. It made Gibbs suspicious. AND furious.
"What the hell, Tobias, is he here or NOT?"
"EASY, Jethro, he's here. We're just trying to do this without bloodshed."
"Not gonna happen, Tobias, and you KNOW it. Now let's go!"
Fornell held his friend back with a strong hand.
"Not talking about Ari, Jethro, talking about the hotel guests and staff. You know as well as I do this could turn into a bloodbath, and not gonna let this happen, not in front of my godson, or anybody ELSE'S son. My people are setting it up, quietly and covertly."
He let go of Gibb's arm, and squeezed the man's shoulder. "Soon, friend…if he's here with Ari, you'll have him back soon."
Gibbs let go an exhausted sigh. "He's GOTTA be here, Toby, I - I can't take anymore waiting."
"I know, Jethro. Come on, we've secured the floor the suite is on, my people will move in on my signal."
Gibbs's POV
We'll never know if Ari was expecting us, whether or not he wanted me to find him and confront him for a chance to kill me face to face. But that's how it happened.
He smiled when I shot him, like I was doing him a favor, like somehow me killing him would scar me for life or make me go crazy with guilt. Who really knows what was going on in that warped mind of his…
I didn't waste one second before or after killing him to worry or wonder about it. Never will. He took my baby from me, held him hostage in a darkened room for three days, and terrorized him to the point of near breakdown. I barely recognized my boy, he was so sick from being drugged, and then hysterical with fear that he would never see any of us again. Insult to injury, Ari had terrorized his family – us–by making us afraid we would never see him again.
So I pulled the trigger of my Sig twice, one through the head, one through the heart, and walked away without looking back. My boy needed me, and I didn't give a damn what they did with Ari's body.
Fornell met me coming down the hallway, a shocked and angry look on his face, and I couldn't imagine that he was pissed for what I had just done.
When Tobias told me what had just happened on his end—hell, the moment he uttered the name Senior—I had to really hold back from slugging him. The only thing that stopped me at the moment was the thought of having to explain to Bubba why his Uncle Toby had a broken nose.
"I swear to God, Jethro, I didn't know. You know I would have never kept that from you if I'd known, I would've had an APB out on his ass and had him back behind bars where he belonged!"
"None of your agents were smart enough to know something was hinky when Senior didn't check in to his last appointment?" I shouted, well beyond anger.
"He said he was sick…it was the first time in two and a half YEARS he missed a check-in! His handler checked his apartment. His car was there, mail had been picked up, everything seemed in order!"
"I swore I would never let that bastard near my kid as long as he was alive!"
"He's dead now, Jethro, so let it go! He's nobody's problem anymore, except the mortician that has to try to piece his head back together again."
"To hell with that, Tobias. Toss his sorry ass into the swamp and let the god damned coyotes have at 'im. He doesn't deserve a burial! Same with that piece a' crap lyin' in there!"
"Agreed, but not our call. Ari will get sent back to Israel, Senior will probably get a county-funded funeral unless he has insurance or his family wants to cough up money for one. Ducky's on his way to pick up both of them. Where's Bubba, how come you-"
"Kate's got 'im, pulled him out of the room before he could see me blow Ari's head off. He's a mess, Toby, half out of his head in hysterics, so be prepared..."
"No blood or broken bones?"
"Don't know, just threw 'im in Kate's arms and she ran out with him screaming at the top of his lungs. Probably still is. Probably thinks I'm dead."
"I'm sure Ducky's here by now, he'll get him settled down."
"Not without a sedative. Gonna take 'im a long time to settle, Toby. Maybe never. I'm gonna take leave time and go up to dad's as soon as he gets the go-ahead from Grandpa Ducky. I'm relying on you to take care of this from here. I'll file my report, but I'm leaving the rest for you to clean up. You can reach me at my dad's, even come up and visit when you're done."
"Just might, Jethro. Need some time off myself after this."
"Yeah, you do, Uncle Toby. All of us do. Make sure you take it 'cause Bubba'll be counting on you to help him get through this. So will I."
"You got it, Jethro. Wild horses wouldn't keep me away, you know that."
Gibbs stopped briefly to turn to the man, and give him an unexpected hug, suddenly feeling an enormous weight lifted off his shoulders.
"We got 'im back, Tobias." His voice broke unashamedly. "We got 'im back."
A/N 2: Next up, Bubba's reunion with his dad, and his POV of his abduction and rescue.
