………4 hours later……

"Ducky, how is she?" Gibbs asked when he came into the monitoring room.

"Not better but she's in a different stage right now." Ducky answered.

"Did she take the flowers with her?" Gibbs asked. Just 20 minutes after Kate had got the call a delivery man came to her with flowers from Tony. On the note he thanked her for making this his best day of his life and he was going to show it to her all day long. As she sat there wondering if she should have gone with him to the hospital the flowers showed up making her really shaken up.

"Abby put them in her room for the time being. Kate didn't want to have them and asked her to throw them away but Abby couldn't do that." Ducky answered knowing that it wasn't what Gibbs wanted to hear.

"Has she gone home yet?" Gibbs then asked Ducky. He had ordered Abby and McGee to take Kate home to pack her things so she could move into his house. Since Ari was probably after her too she couldn't be left alone. Abby had decided to stay there too until Tony came back. With Gibbs and McGee at work trying to figure out what had happened to Tony and where he was now, Abby thought the best thing she could do was to be with Kate until she was ready to go back to work. In the back of his mind Gibbs wondered who the next person in his team he was going to harm. McGee, Ducky, Palmer, Abby or even himself.

……………..

"Gibbs, are you there?" a female voice said just as her face came up at the big TV Screen.

"I'm here Lauren. What's new?" Gibbs said to his friend Lauren Wood who worked at FBI.

"Hi Ducky." Lauren then said.

"Hi Lauren."

"Ok, get a move on." Gibbs then said feeling stressed.

"Fornell isn't giving so much but I think that Ari has some big plan he wants to carry out soon and that's all I know. There is probably a link between Tony, major Anderson and the head of security at New York's mayor office. All of them getting kidnapped at the same day…" Lauren explained.

"You don't say…I could have told you that hours ago. Do you have some pictures of who ever kidnapped the other two?" Gibbs asked her eager to take a step forward in the investigation.

"A security camera filmed when Nicholas Anderson got kidnapped. We know it wasn't Ari who kidnapped him but probably one of his guys who did it. Ari is well hidden and it is going to be hard." She explained to him.

"Not what I want to hear. Any other threats which could be linked to Ari?"

"Several but knowing if it is just a smokescreen like today's bomb threat is hard to tell right now. And I know you're going to say time is ticking and we have to hurry up. Everyone I got is working on this. It's top priority…I'll call as soon as I know more. Bye." She said just before the screen turned off.

"Ducky, I know…That's why I don't try to mix work with personal life. Tony is the top priority now." Gibbs said before Ducky could even start his lecture and storytelling.

"Don't you think Lauren thinks the same? Don't underestimate her. As soon as you can accept that your long distance relationship is really working the sooner you can fully concentrate yourself on finding Tony and the others." Ducky then told him before heading back to his room.

……………..

"All three in my command. I like saying that. I still haven't decided who I will kill first. One of you is really a survivor…I just want you to know that everything which goes on in the search after you I know. I will always be one step ahead. When I get what I want then they will find your bodies… Abraham Tyler, are you sure you don't want to cooperate? It's worth a phone call to Melissa, Lily and Abraham Junior…Nicholas Anderson, if I can recall right you have also a family waiting for a phone call. I have pictures of them too if that will help to persuade you two…Ali, take those two into the other room so I can be alone with Dinozzo here…I've got pictures of your family too. Andrew, Maxine and little Julia…I saw how close you were in New York…Caitlin too…All five of you like one big happy family…If you don't cooperate then you will have to choose who I will harm first. "Ari said before hitting Tony.

"No matter how much you will beat me I won't say a thing." Tony said before starting to cough. All the beating was taking a toll on him but he knew giving Ari what he wanted would destroy many more lives than it will do if he got killed.

"I'm good at hacking into places. It will be less painful if you tell me what I want. It took a long time for me to get to where I am now. Who knew I could get back at Gibbs, have my revenge at the same time and do some other things too? "

………….

"Ducky, what is the prognosis?" Gibbs asked him while trying to find out what these three had in common.

"The doctor didn't know…An infection is the last thing he needs right now and if he gets beaten up, the wounds don't get any medical attention than within 72 hours he can be dead. That's the worst case scenario and we know Tony is a fighter and he has survived two near death experiences so this third time he will do the same." Ducky explained and reassured him at the same time.

"How did Kate take the news?" Gibbs asked him.

"Not so well but that's why I'm here." Kate said walking up to them with Abby.

"What are you doing here? I told you to stay put!" Gibbs said worried.

"I'm not helping when I'm at your house. Tony would want me here. You want me here. I'm sitting down at my desk and you can tell me what to do." I said to them.

"Ok, listen up. I'm trying to find a connection between Tony, Abraham Tyler and Nicholas Anderson. So far I haven't found a thing. They didn't grow up in the same state, they didn't go to the same colleges and I'm looking into if they have ever worked together. I'm waiting for a call from Tony's brother because he is checking out if they have ever worked together. I know that all three have been policemen before but Tony has only worked in Baltimore and the other two in New York. My gut feeling is telling me the connection is there." I told everyone.

"Tony is 37, Tyler 42 and Anderson 52. Tyler and Anderson never worked in the same precinct. It has to be a case or several cases they have worked with which are somehow connected to Ari. I'm guessing revenge…" McGee told the rest.

"That's good McGee. Connect me to…"

"Already done boss. Line 2."

………………….

"Tony, are you alright?" Anderson asked him after they were let back in to the room he was in. They saw he was in bad shape. Ari and his men hadn't tied them down now so they could walk freely in the room.

"Abe, Nick…You didn't, did you?" He asked with the words barely coming out of his mouth.

"Of course not. I know the police are protecting our families and his threats aren't going to lead anywhere. I just can't understand how he found out that we all were undercover in the same case. That file was classified by FBI and never talked about again. Everyone wanted to forget it and move on. We were too late and the bloodbath, the money disappearing overseas…If we only knew the money was going to Ari…"

"Either he has hacked in or someone is leaking information to him. I think it's a leak." Tony said to them while trying to sit up straight. Both of them helped Tony since they saw he couldn't even do that on his own.

………Two hours later…….

"One time Tony worked undercover with Anderson and Tyler in New York. After that Anderson and Tyler quit the force and Tony got back to Baltimore and worked there until he got here. The file is classified and neither FBI nor CIA ever wanted to talk about it. His former boss didn't know more and until this day he is still wondering why three ordinary policemen could work undercover for FBI…They have a leak somewhere and by not letting FBI agents work undercover and three people who didn't know each other do that instead…Tony had applied for a work at the FBI in New York and that's why they choose him and the other two…I need to…" Gibbs explained to them.

"Talk to me." Lauren Wood said and they all turned around to see who it was but Gibbs already knew.