AN: Woohoo! I decided to chop this chapter up. That is, I've divided it in two like I did chapter 6. See, for you guys, this is chapter 12, but for me, it's chapter 11. Yes, it makes it very confusing for me. :D Well, one of my muse moved 2 hours away. Or 1 1/2, depending on who's driving. Isn't that right, Bubbles? ;) Before she left though, she spent the night here, and guess what? ::Does a little dance:: "I got her hooked on NCIS!" :D Thank you, thank you! She'd already seen 'Minimum Security'(of her own volition) and watched 'Sub Rosa' at her grandma's house because her grandma likes it. "Go Mrs. R!" I had her watch 'UnSEALeD' and 'My Other Left Foot'. She loved them. Especially Abby and Gibbs, because she's goth(and crazy perky morbid like Abbs) and a coffeholic. :D She insists she's a long lost twin of Gibbs. Albeit a twin who's about 38 years younger. :D Oh, my bad. On to the story. I hope you like it and it's sufficiently surprising. Story...
Tony groaned as he groggily woke up. The pain in his head was intense. His brain seemed to be trying to expand; pounding and tightening. He opened his eyes and the light assualted them, sending a shockwave through his brain. He squeezed his eyes shut again, hot tears stinging at the corners and tried to use his hands as an added shield.
But he couldn't move them. His arms were tied behind him, secured to a sturdy wooden chair. When he tried to move his legs, he found that his ankles were bound as well.
"Not good," Tony groggily thought. He shook his head slowly, and ignoring the pain and tried to focus. He needed to figure out where he was- and whether Kate was still with him. Using his eyes, for the moment, was out of the question. What could he smell, hear?
There was low music- Tchaichovsky maybe- off to his left. The sound was slightly muffled. The air was bitingly cold, as it would be in a large unheated space. Tony was still in his button down shirt from work, and his bare arms were covered in goosebumps. Aside from the scent of chloroform that remained clinging to his nostrils, Tony could smell stale dust and dirt. The building hadn't been used in a long time. Beyond the music were the sounds of major traffic; he was close to an active roadway. That at least, was a plus for escaping.
Behing his eyelides, Tony's eyes were gradually adjusting to the onslaught of light. He blinked them open again and ignored the tears that formed. The room in front of him wasn't very large; nor small. It had the look of an old apartment building; brick walls, wooden floors, and bright light streaming through the windows. There were two doors. One was closed, whech he assumed led to the rest of the apartment. The other was open and appeared to be a closet. If he was going to escape, the first door may be the only way out. He didn't know how high up he was, so the window was temporarily unavailable.
He was in a bedroom devoid of furniture, but a bedroom nonetheless. Tony felt a chill ripple down his spine as he realized the room was completely empty and he couldn't see Kate. His inattention had gotten them kidnapped. If anything had happened to her... Tony dropped that train of thought.
'Okay, the chloroformed me, so I've only been out for about an hour.' He rationalized. 'My cell was on me, so maybe they can use the tracking device.' Gibbs had had McGee install tracking microchips in all of their cell phones after Kate had been kidnapped the first time. Of course, even if the phone was still on him, the tracking could take half a day. And who knew what would happen to him and Kate in the mean time? What they may have already done...
A sudden groan close to Tony's right ear made him flinch. He struggled to look over his shoulder, and immense relief flooded his body. Kate sat a few feet behind him, right on the edge of his peripheral vision. Like Tony, she was also tied to a chair, and her head lolled as she began to wake.
"Kate-"
"Tony?" she slurred.
"Yeah. Don't open your eyes." He whispered.
"Why not?" she whispered back. Despite his warning, she opened her eyes, only to immediately shrink back and slam them shut.
"Because it really hurts." Tony replied quietly.
"Where are we?" Kate mumbled.
"As near as I can tell, we're in an apartment building or back room of a ware house. We're still in the city."
"Tony, it's-"
He cut her off. "I know. I should've got him before I passed out. I-" Tony abruptly stopped, hearing someone approaching from the other side of the door.
"Here he comes." Tony whispered, and silently steeled himself for what was to come.
The lock quietly 'snapped' as the door was unlocked and their captor strode in, quickly closing the door before they could glimpse anything more than a brick wall.
"Hello Caitlyn." Craig rasped. "Are you hungry?"
Kate remained silent.
"Why are you doing this, Craig?" Tony blatantly asked. Craig slowly turned to glare at Tony, his eyes dancing with fury.
"You don't speak unless I tell you to." he responded coldly, then turned back to Kate. "Are you hungry? No? you usually get off late anyways. I didn't think you would be. It was stupid of me to ask. I suppose you won't be hungry 'til 9 or so." He sighed. "Call for me when you are hungry."
He smiled as he left, locking the door behind him.
After Craig had been gone a few minutes, Tony finally spoke again. "Are you okay?" he whispered.
"I'm fine." Kate simply said.
"Gibbs'll come after us, Kate. Don't worry. He'll get here before Craig touches you."
Kate sighed. "Tony, I really appreciate the optimism, but Gibbs won't look for us before Monday, when we don't show up for work. And I'm not worried about me. Now that I'm available to him, Craig's not going to rush this. He'll hold himself in suspense, savoring every moment of it. But he hates you, Tony. Did you see his face when he looked at you? His eyes were more full of hatred than anything I've ever seen before. Whatever he has planned for you is far worse than what he's going to do to me...
I'm sorry I got you into this." Kate whispered as a tear slid down her cheek.
"We already had this talk." Tony lightly replied. "And don't cry. I can't hold you."
A slight smile crept onto Kate's lips as another tear fell.
AN: Sorry if that seemed short for you. But I used college ruled paper and wrote reallllllly tiny. So, hmmph! I know alot of you objected to taking Tony with her, but hey, I've got my reasons. :D :: shrugs:: 1) I'm TATE, and hey, this story's pretty long already and I didn't since I'm working on the V.S. too, I didn't want to chance not being objective enough to not mirror the V.S. with this one. (2) Well, while your idea was good, jtb, I just don't see it. Well, actually I do, but in my mind, Gibbs literally "threw" a book out a window and I don't want it to end that way. Especially since I've been nominated for a TATE award. That would TOTALLY destroy any chance of winning I have. Although up against Star and Ash, I don't know how large my chance actually is. LOL. Speaking of Star, WHERE ARE YOU? YOU'RE UP TO BAT!
Oh yeah, review please! I thrive on this stuff. :p Well? Review! NOW! ::cough cough:: Pweeze?
