Thanks to Brianna for letting me know I've messed this up. My apologies!


Looking at the body on his table, Ducky wasn't sure how he ever could have thought it had been the young DiNozzo. Although they shared a similar physiology – height, weight and coloring, the body was slighter than Tony's, tending more towards pudginess rather than Tony's lean musculature.

"Perception is a remarkable thing," he informed the body on the table, genially. "Because you were dressed in young Anthony's clothes and found on his sofa, we all assumed you were him. But now I can tell quite plainly that you are indeed not him."

Ducky felt a little guilty that he was glad the body wasn't Tony's. After all someone had died – someone's son or brother, someone else's friend was laying on his table with their face shot off. But he couldn't help that he was still eternally grateful it wasn't Tony. He was quite endeared to the young agent and the pain of thinking he was dead had quite taken Ducky's breath away. Now he was determined to find out who it was they had found in Tony's apartment because it might give them clues as to where their friend was.

"So, has he told you who his is, Duck?" Gibbs asked quietly.

Ducky hadn't heard him come in, but he wasn't surprised. Now that they knew Tony was alive, Gibbs was going to be relentless in his search for his missing agent. He nearly felt sorry for whomever it was that had Tony, because Ducky could read murder in Gibbs' eyes.

Then, considering the body on his table was missing a face and the fact that Tony had been missing for more than 48 hours, Ducky decided he didn't feel in the least sorry.

"If only it were that easy, Jethro," Ducky answered. "I have sent his fingerprints up to Abigail. She tells me she has 'mad skills' with fingerprints."

"She does indeed," Gibbs confirmed with a wry smile. "What can you tell me about the body? Anything helpful?"

"Well, I don't know how helpful it is, but our John Doe didn't actually die from being shot in the face, although that would have been fatal if he hadn't already been dead."

"He was dead, THEN they shot him in the face?"

"Exactly. Rather gruesome don't you think?" It was a rhetorical question and he didn't wait for Gibbs to answer before continuing, "His neck was broken to be exact."

Gibbs stared at him eyes narrowed, gaze turned inward. Ducky could practically hear the wheels turning in his friend's head.

"Hell, Ducky, what is going on here?" he whispered.

Ducky knew it was the closest Gibbs would ever come to admitting his frustration and his anger.

"I was rather hoping you could tell me," he admitted.


They gathered around the plasma as McGee gave the breakdown from the video surveillance tapes they'd retrieved from Tony's apartment manager. After the initial euphoria of realizing that Tony was still alive had worn off, they all realized that they needed to find him. Fast.

"The building is fairly high end, so they have a pretty sophisticated security set up. I was very impressed to find that…" McGee began. At a frown from Gibbs, he hurried on "Yes... Well, the tapes are video only, but I think they give a pretty clear picture of what happened on Friday night. This is Tony coming home about 10:30 in the evening."

He hit the control and the screen lit up to show the hallway outside Tony's door. They could see the stairs and the elevator from the camera's vantage point. Tony came charging up the stairs, a bag from the video store dangling from one arm and a grocery bag in the other. As he passed the door at the end the hall, just barely in the camera's range, he paused to knock.

A door opened, but just a crack so they couldn't see who was behind the door.

"That's Mrs. Miller," Kate volunteered from her perch on her desk. "She said Tony brought her a movie she'd requested at the video store."

Sure enough, when Tony withdrew a video from the bag, a small white haired lady stepped out of the apartment to accept it and kiss him on the cheek.

"This is very sweet, McGee. But is it helping us find Tony or whoever took him?" Gibbs asked pointedly.

"Uh, no, boss," he fast-forwarded the video, speaking as the video progressed. Mostly all they saw was an empty hall with the occasional person walking by in fast forward. It might have been comical to see the more elderly residents walking by at a brisk pace under any other circumstances. "There's nothing on the tape for about an hour, then three guys get out of the elevator. Now they make a real effort to keep their faces from being seen by the camera."

McGee hit the control and the video paused as the doors opened on the elevator to reveal the men, they were wearing ball caps and their faces were tilted down. It was impossible to get a good view of them. After a moment McGee let the video continue and they watched as the tape continued.

The men headed straight for Tony's door. One of them knocked while the other two looked nervously around the hallway.

It didn't take long for Tony to answer. At first it didn't look like he knew the danger he was in, leaning casually against the frame, smiling at the strangers at his door.

"Come on, Tony," Gibbs remarked to no one in particular.

Then Tony kicked out at one of the men. They watched in horrified silence as the man caught Tony's foot. He twisted it viciously and shoved Tony into the apartment. The men entered behind him and the door closed behind them.

"Son of a bitch," Gibbs swore, "wasn't there a security guard watching the monitors?"

"Seems there was a call just then from one of the residents reporting a prowler," McGee said. "He went to investigate just about the time our guys showed up at Tony's apartment. By the time he got back, everything was quiet."

"Is there anything else?" Gibbs asked, sarcasm heavy in his voice.

McGee did his best not to flinch. He knew Gibbs was angry. Hell, he was angry. If the guard had been doing his job, they would have known about Tony's abduction when it happened instead of 48 and more hours later. Tim couldn't let himself think about what could have been done to Tony in that much time.

"There is, boss."

He clicked the play button and fast-forwarded the tape a little more. The door to Tony's apartment opened and three men came out. Two men were walking with a third draped between them.

While he was dressed in the clothes of the third man who'd come to Tony's door, it was very clear to those watching that it was Tony leaving with two of the men, an injured Tony. The security camera was of a very good quality so they could see the blood dripping down the side of his face in vivid color.

They watched as the men started to leave, but were intercepted by a neighbor from across the hall.

"That's Mr. Kransky. He's the watch captain for the floor. He thought there was something hinky about the guys, but Tony told him everything was fine. He did say Tony talked about his wife who had been dead for a year. He thought Tony was just confused from the head wound," Kate supplied, consulting the notebook in her hand.

"Hell, he was sending us a message. He was hoping we'd come looking for him and he was sending an SOS," Gibbs said. He squinted at the image of the men on the video, something nudging at his brain, "Wait where's the third guy who went into the apartment?" he asked.

"We think that's the body down on Ducky's table," McGee answered. "He was the right general size. They just changed the clothes between him and Tony. So, we would think Tony was dead when we found him."

"But what possible good would it do them for us to think Tony was dead?" Gibbs challenged. "It could only gain them a few hours before we figured out that it wasn't Tony anyway."

Kate and McGee exchanged a glance. McGee really wished Tony was there. As much as he drove Tim crazy sometime, he did admire Tony's instincts and his ability to reason what the criminal element was up to.

"Come on, Probie, think," Tim could hear Tony's voice in his ear.

"Maybe they didn't really care if it bought them any time," Tim said slowly, thinking out loud.

"Because?" Tony's voice in his head prompted.

"Maybe they were going to get rid of the guy anyway," Kate picked up for him. "They just did it this way to mess with us?"

"Maybe. Maybe. I hate maybe. I wants facts," Gibbs barked. "Do we have any actual facts here? Any leads to Tony? These bastards have had him for going on 50 plus hours. Do you know what they could have done to him in that time?"

"You tell 'em, boss," the Tony in Tim's head crowed.

"If they were going to kill him…" Kate began.

"If they wanted something from him, they've had more than enough time to get it from him," Gibbs interrupted her. "He could be dead now. What do we have? Is there anything else on that tape to help us?"

McGee looked as if he'd rather be anywhere but there, but he answered all the same, "We do have them on the camera leaving the building," he cued the tape and let it play. It showed the two men shoving Tony into a black van sitting on the street in front of the building.

"License plate, McGee?" Gibbs asked.

McGee shook his head, "It's been removed, boss. The van is pretty non-descript, no special features or markings to go on."

"Well that's too damned bad, McGee. You're going to get all the footage from the traffic cameras in the area, any bank videos that might have picked it up, any damn thing that might have picked up that van and find out where it went."

"Already on it, boss," McGee answered.

He was saved from more of Gibbs' tirade by the phone.

Gibbs picked it up, growling, "Gibbs."

He listened for a moment and then hung up. "Well, what are you two waiting for? I'm going to Abby's lab, when I get back, I want to see the two of you finding Tony."

"On it, boss," McGee called out to his departing back.

Only he could hear Tony cheering them on.


Gibbs knew that McGee and Kate were doing everything they could to find Tony. The problem was, he just kept thinking of everything that could be done to the human body in 48 hours. It wasn't pretty.

Tony was tough, he knew that. He'd hold out as long as he could. But anyone could be broken. Whatever the people who took him wanted, they'd have it by now. Gibbs just hoped they'd be able to put the pieces of Tony back together once they found him.

The music in Abby's lab was at an all-time high. He let it wash over him as he entered the lab. He didn't turn it off this time. If it helped her work, then let it play.

"Abby?" he shouted.

"In here, Gibbs," she called.

He followed the sound of her voice to find her in front of the computer.

"Do you have something, Abby?"

"Hey, don't you owe me a Caf-Pow?" she regarded him in disappointment.

"Abs...," he started impatiently. He took a breath and started over. "It's been a hell of a day, Abby, can I give you an IOU?"

She smiled brightly, "Sure thing, Gibbs. Tony can bring it to me."

It was one of the things he treasured about Abby, her eternal optimism. Sometimes she had to be the optimist for both of them.

"Do you have something for me, Abs? Or was this just a social call?"

"What do you think?" she teased, twirling a ponytail with one finger.

"I think you wouldn't have called me down here if you didn't have something."

"Exactly," she smiled at him pleased. "Because I know that you're doing everything to find our boy, Tony, and I wouldn't interrupt that if it weren't important."

"And what you've found is?" he asked in what he thought was a reasonably calm tone.

"Guess," she said.

He was tired and he needed to have something to hold onto, "Just tell me, Abby."

"You're no fun, Gibbs."

"So you often tell me. Now what have you found?"

She paused for dramatic effect and then announced, "I know who Mr. John Doe is."

There was silence between them punctuated by the heavy beat of her music.

"Well?" she asked impatiently, brow raised expectantly.

He sighed; he was going to have to say it. "You have mad skills, Abby. Now who is he?"

She was nearly dancing in her excitement, "You are not going to believe this, Gibbs. I checked it twice just to make sure, I was so surprised…"

"Abby," Gibbs shouted in his impatience.

"He's an FBI agent, Gibbs, Mike Saunders. He's one of Fornell's guys."

"Abby, Tony owes you and your mad skills dinner," Gibbs said as he swept her up in a hug. Then he was out of the lab before she even had time to hug him back.


Gibbs didn't even give Fornell time to get out of the elevator when he arrived. As soon as the doors opened, he stepped inside, punching the stop button. The elevator was instantly plunged into the half-light of the emergency lights. He handed the extra coffee he held to Fornell without a word.

Fornell accepted it and took a drink before speaking.

It was funny, but they'd known each other so long, that the silence was as comfortable between them as any conversation. They understood each other. Fornell had heard about the kid's death, he knew that Gibbs would be in super-agent mode right now trying to track down Tony's killer. He was waiting for Gibbs to speak, letting him take his time.

As much as he was grateful that Tony was alive, Gibbs was not looking forward to telling his friend that it was his man that was dead. The silence stretched out in the elevator. Gibbs could feel Tony's time passing, like sand slipping between his fingers and yet he still couldn't bring himself to speak.

Finally Fornell broke the silence, "I heard about DiNotzo. I'm really sorry, he was a good agent."

Fornell had definite opinions about DiNozzo, Gibbs had heard them a few times. He was undisciplined, a wild card, he was going to go off half-cocked someday and get somebody killed. But he was also a damn good agent and Gibbs suspected Fornell would have taken him in the FBI any day if he thought he could have gotten him.

"About that," Gibbs replied after a sip of his own coffee. It was bitter and strong and hot, just the way he liked it. "The reports of DiNozzo's death might have been a little exaggerated."

That made Fornell frown. Gibbs had called him to NCIS for a reason and it wasn't to talk about an agent's death. "I heard you found his body."

"We found a body. Turns out it wasn't DiNozzo's."

Gibbs could see in his face that Fornell suddenly knew what was coming, but he asked anyway, "You have a name for that body yet?"

"We do, Abby ID'd him. Mike Saunders. Name ring a bell?"

Fornell ran a hand through his hair and closed his eyes, suddenly he looked inexpressibly weary. Gibbs knew how he felt.

"Yeah… Yeah, it does. He went dark a couple of days ago. We've been looking for him."

Gibbs took another drink of his coffee. Time was of the essence but he knew he had to give his friend time. It was hard to find out you'd just lost a member of your team. Gibbs had first-hand knowledge of how that felt.

"What was he into?" Gibbs asked when he felt that he'd stretched the time as much as he could.

Fornell sighed. It was heavy and sad, but there was no time now for grief. He could do that later after they'd found the missing agent. The dead would wait, it was the living that needed them.

"We had Intel that there was a terrorist's cell operating here in DC, planning an attack here. Mikey was our inside guy. He contacted me… what…? Three days ago, said they were grabbing somebody as part of the operation. Said he'd get back with me, then he never contacted me again. We've been looking for him… I just thought… Shit!" He turned and hit the wall.

When he spoke again, he didn't turn back to Gibbs, he talked to the wall, "He was a good guy, you know. Real idealistic."

"I'm sorry," Gibbs said softly. He reached out and squeezed Fornell's shoulder, just a quick squeeze, all the man would allow, and dropped his hand.

"I know, Jethro," Fornell turned back, his grief put away although it still lurked there, Gibbs could see it in the shadow behind his eyes. "Let's go find your guy."

Gibbs punched the button that restarted the elevator and the door opened.


"So, what you doing, Katey?" Kate could almost see Tony lounging on the edge of her desk, foot swinging idly, banging against the edge, annoying her to no end.

It was funny that he was so much a part of them, their team, that even when he wasn't there, he was. Encouraging them, and cheering on their efforts to find him. She'd never admit it to him, but she'd learned a lot from him, she was a better investigator because of him. He was just so damn smug about it. It came easy to him and she had to work harder at it. If she were ever missing, she'd want Tony on the case, because she knew he'd never stop until he found her. Of course then she'd never hear the end of it. But that was fine too.

"Do you think we're really going to find him?" Tim asked quietly from his desk, his voice pitched just loud enough that she could hear.

"Of course we are, McGee." She wouldn't allow herself to think otherwise.

But McGee wouldn't let it go. "I know the statistics, Kate, they're not good."

"I know the statistics, too, McGee," she punched the keys of her computer furiously as she worked. "But this is Tony we're talking about here. He's annoying and a chauvinist, but he's also stubborn."

"You tell him, Kate," Tony nodded in approval.

"Yeah… Yeah… You're right." Tim didn't sound like he believed her.

"Listen Tim, He's going to survive just so he can give us hell about not rescuing him sooner."

That made Tim smile. "Just so he survives."

The elevator opened then and Gibbs and Fornell stepped out. Gibbs blew out of the elevator like a tornado, or maybe the better analogy would be a hurricane. Because he was the eye of the storm, it was the things in his path that tended to be pulled up by the roots and destroyed.

"You two got anything yet?" Gibbs asked.

"Kate has something," the imaginary Tony sitting on the edge of her desk volunteered.

"I think I might have something," Kate said, knowing no one else could hear Tony but her.

Gibbs didn't speak just raised an impatient eyebrow, prompting her.

"Well, I thought the prowler call coming at the same time Tony was abducted was suspicious," she began.

"Good work, Agent Todd," Tony approved, "we're going to make a detective of you yet."

"You think?" was Gibbs succinct contribution.

"So, I pulled the phone records and found out that the call came from a cell phone. Mike Saunders cell phone."

There might have been a mumbled expletive from Fornell, Kate wasn't sure, but Tony and Gibbs was nodding at her to continue.

"So I pulled the records for Mike Saunders. Up until three days ago there was a daily call to Fornell," the reason those calls stopped hung like a black cloud over their heads. She hurried on, "but all the rest of the calls where to one number. I tracked it down to a warehouse, down by the docks. It's supposed to be abandoned."

"Good work, Kate," Gibbs was already in motion, the eye of the hurricane moving on. "You and McGee get your gear and meet me downstairs…"

"I'm going with you, Gibbs," Fornell braved the hurricane to face Gibbs down.

"I never doubted that you would, Fornell, have a team meet us there, we're probably going to need them. I'm going up to talk to the director, we'll meet in ten."

Then Gibbs was gone. Kate took a moment to gather herself.

"What are you waiting for, Katey?" Tony stood up, bouncing on the balls of his feet.

God, she really hated it when he called her that.

"You need to rescue me. Come on, let's get a move on here." He made a shooing motion with his hands.

"McGee," she asked as she pulled out her gun, checking it before she thrust it into its holster. "Have you been seeing anything…. strange today?"

"Strange?" He looked up at her, considering her question, "What? You mean like an imaginary Tony hanging around telling me how to do my job?" He peered at her cautiously to judge her reaction.

"Yeah," she nodded, "like that."

He gave a sideways glance to Tony's empty desk, "No, not at all. You?"

"Me? No!" She slung her pack over her shoulder and headed to the elevator, "We should go."

He matched her stride for stride, "We should."

She could hear Tony's laughter following them as the elevator doors closed behind them.


Time was of the essence; every second that passed now meant they were that much closer to Tony's death. Gibbs knew he wasn't dead yet, he couldn't explain how he knew it, he just knew. But he could feel the light that was Tony dimming; he didn't have much time left.

Gibbs lifted the binoculars, surveying the warehouse. It certainly appeared to be deserted with broken and boarded-up windows and trash littering the streets in front of the building. The whole area looked as if it hadn't been needed for useful commerce in quite some time. Smelling of refuse and rot, there wasn't even the usual assortment of homeless and abandoned people you might expect to find in an area like this, which was suspicious by itself.

He was hyper aware of everything: the snugness of the vest he wore, the ear piece of the radio he wore sitting in his ear connecting him to his people, the sun as it began to settle in the west, the quiet that seemed to surround them and cut them off from the rest of the world. He could feel Kate and McGee, their anxiety ramping up. They needed to rescue Tony as much as he did.

He narrowed his focus to the building in front of them. If this really was the hub of a terrorist cell, if Tony was inside, shouldn't there be something more? Like a big red X on the side of the building? If only their job was ever that easy.

"Gibbs?" The radio in his ear crackled with Abby's voice.

"Here, Abs," he answered never taking his eyes from the building looming in front of them, scanning for signs that this was where they were supposed to be. "You have the building up?"

"Yeah, Gibbs," her voice was breathless with the excitement of the moment. "There's not much inside, I have one body in there. Gibbs," her own anxiety was nearly palpable, "It's not moving much, could just be someone who found a way in out of the cold."

"Let's hope it's Tony," he answered tightly. "Anyone else in there?"

"No, Gibbs, just the one."

"Good work, Abs."

"Gibbs," she nearly shouted, her anxiety was so great.

"Abby?" He took a breath and pushed down his own impatience.

"You'll let me know if it's Tony, right? And that he's okay?"

She had the hardest job of all sometimes, staying in her lab helping however she could there. But also having to wait until someone remembered to call her and tell her what was happening in the field.

"You'll be the first to know, Abby," he promised her.

"Fornell," he knew the agent would be there, waiting for instructions from Gibbs. It was his man, it was his operation.

"I'm here, Gibbs," he heard.

"We're going in the front. You take your team in the back. You heard Abby? There's only one person inside?"

"Affirmative. I hope it's DiNotzo," Fornell said.

"Me, too." Gibbs took a breath, focusing himself for what was coming. "Let's go."

They left the relative safety of their vehicle and crouched down beside it for a moment. He nodded and motioned for McGee and Kate to go left and right and he went straight – right down the center, straight to the front door. They sprinted across the street, zig- zagging to make a harder target for anyone who might be watching and targeting them.

Gibbs scanned everything as he ran. Even if there was no one in the building, it didn't mean there weren't snipers in the other buildings, down the street, hidden in alleys and corners. He'd been in combat and this felt like that, not knowing where the enemy was going to come from or when they might strike.

Then they were across the street, pressed against the building, making themselves as small a target as they could. He caught Kate's eye and nodded. She leaned in, trying the door. She jumped back surprised when it swung open under her touch, screeching from age or disuse.

Gibbs tucked and rolled into the building. When he was inside, he was instantly up with his gun trained on…. Nothing.

The interior of the building had been completely gutted. To his left a concrete wall rose ten, twelve feet to form a single room in the huge echoing space. In front of it was a bank of machines with a row of monitors, but otherwise the building was completely deserted.

Fornell and his men could be seen making a similar entrance from the back of the building and they were as equally stunned by what they found, just halting in astonishment, their guns raised and readied.

Gibbs went straight for the mystery room.

"Fornell, you and your guys secure the area," he ordered, "Kate, go around, see if there's a way into this room."

Tony was inside, he knew it.

Acknowledging his order with a tight nod, Kate headed off disappearing quickly around a corner. Gibbs approached the machinery with gun raised. Even if the terrorists had known they were coming, and that scared Gibbs with thoughts of a spy in their midst, there was no way they were going to go without leaving a parting gift.

"McGee, what is this?" he gesture taking in the machine and the row of monitors above them.

McGee was already studying the bank of machinery avidly; his eyes sparkling like a kid on Christmas morning.

"It looks like a security center, boss," he said slowly as he studied the machinery. He reached forward and flipped a switch and the whole thing lit up, the monitors filled with snowy static.

Gibbs jumped back. "Hey, McGee, was that smart? You could have blown us up."

McGee's face fell, "I… uh… really, boss, I didn't even think of that."

Then the monitors cleared up and they saw who was on them and there was a shocked moment of silence.

"Oh, God, Tony," McGee breathed, he took a step back, his mouth agape in horror at what they saw.

Gibbs had seen people who looked like that before, but he was pretty sure McGee never had except maybe in a textbook.

There was no mistaking him for anyone else this time; he was displayed from every possible angle. It was Tony, curled tightly in a small metal cage inside the concrete room. Gibbs felt his jaw tighten as he took in the state of his agent: the stained tattered shirt, the jagged bloody wound down the side of his face, the way he lay deathly still.

"Son of a bitch! Kate," Gibbs shouted, "We need to get in that room and we need to get in there now."

"Gibbs," she answered, frustration evident in her voice, "there's no way in that I can find."

Gibbs took a breath, his eyes never leaving the monitors, looking for some sign that Tony was still alive. There was none. Tony just laid there, his fingers intertwined in the metal of his cage, his knuckles white.

"Boss?" McGee's voice was uncertain, "What if this feed isn't to the inside of the room? What if it's from someplace else? Tony could be miles away right now."

Gibbs jaw set, "He's in there McGee, he has to be. Now get me in!"

McGee nodded in his distraction, then his eyes lit up, "Boss, look. I think, this," he pointed to a recessed button, "I think this opens it." McGee pushed the button before Gibbs could stop him.

"Dammit, McGee…"

McGee was saved from Gibbs' furious lecture by a grinding noise from the room in front of them. A door swung slowly outwards, granting them admittance to the concrete room.

"McGee, you stay there," Gibbs shouted, even as he ran for the opening in the wall. He intercepted Kate who was running from the other direction.

"Stay here," he ordered her tersely. He had no idea what kind of tricks would be left inside and he wasn't going to risk any more of his people.

"Gibbs," she began to protest and he didn't bother to answer, just slipped through the door into the chamber.

And there it was.

The cage with Tony inside. It was suspended from the ceiling by thick cables, not quite touching the floor. The room was rank with the stink produced from fear and waste mingling together.

Gibbs stomach grumbled in protest and he huffed out a breath through his mouth. He took a moment to let himself become accustomed to the smell because there was no way he was going back for a mask, there was no way was he leaving without Tony now that he'd finally found him.

Gibbs clutched his weapon tightly, it was probably better that the terrorists hadn't stuck around to be caught, because he'd shoot them right then and there if he had them.

As much as he wanted to rush forward and assure himself that his agent was alive, he knew he couldn't. His gut was telling him that there were booby traps left in the room for them. He had to go slow or they would all die.

"Tony," he called quietly, hoping for some sign of life from the man in the cage.

There was nothing.

The way Tony was laying, Gibbs couldn't even tell if he was breathing.

Not moving from his position by the door, he scanned the room. There were no visible wires that he could see, nothing to indicate a trap. Still, he moved forward slowly, testing each step for weakness in the floor, any give that might indicate explosives under his feet. It was going to take him forever to reach Tony this way, but as long as he kept moving forward that was all that mattered.

--NCIS--

Kate stood at the door of the chamber, trembling. She could see him, she could see Tony, and he looked…

She couldn't even think it. She needed to go in, but she knew why Gibbs had ordered her to stay out. There was every likelihood the room was riddled with traps to make it harder for them to get to Tony.

God, she needed answers. Why had someone done this? What did they want? It frightened her that one of their team could be taken without anyone being the wiser for two damn days. It frightened her even more to see Tony reduced to lying in a lifeless heap.

She had imagined they'd find him beaten and bruised, but still the wisecracking Tony who could infuriate her with one leering smile.

She watched breathlessly as Gibbs made his way slowly to Tony. He tested each step, his gaze constantly sweeping the room looking for anything he might have missed.

"Fornell," she heard Gibbs speak, both in her ear and the weird echo from the concrete room, "get an ambulance, and get your people out of here, I don't know what's going to happen."

"Already on it," Fornell assured him. "Did you find him?"

"We found him. Listen, Fornell, I'll get back with you."

Kate just stood, watching impotently as slowly, so slowly, Gibbs made his way closer to Tony.

--NCIS--

McGee watched on the monitors as Gibbs got closer and closer to the cage that contained Tony. The angles of the monitors were very thorough in showing him Tony's condition.

Tim could see the scabbed-over wound on the side of his head, it was red and angry. The rest of his face was one massive black and blue bruise. Tony's t-shirt was ripped and dirty, and Tony himself was filthy, all the way to the bottoms of his feet.

It was morbidly fascinating and he couldn't help comparing Tony's current state to the techniques he'd learned about torture. It was just the way his mind worked, trying to make sense of what he saw. But there was no sense to be made of the mindless violence that had been visited upon his friend.

He shivered and finally had to turn away, his stomach rebelling at what he saw.

It was then that he saw the spot on the floor. Perhaps fifteen feet from the room and the machinery, there was a clear circle of dust in the floor where something had been sitting. There was also a track in the dust that marked lines running from whatever had sat there to the machines.

"Kate," he called, waving her over.

He watched her internal debate, caught between her desire to stay and watch Gibbs progress and McGee's urgent beckoning. Knowing that she could be no use to Gibbs she moved reluctantly to McGee's side.

"Do you see it?" He asked, gesturing to the disturbed dust.

"Yeah," she moved around to get a better look, careful to disturb nothing. There was no telling what was evidence and what was nothing, but she was taking no chances. "Something heavy sat here."

"What do you think it…"

A siren that echoed throughout the building interrupted them. It was followed by an urgent call from within the concrete chamber.

"McGee, I need you now," Gibbs shouted, "Turn this thing off…"

--NCIS--

Gibbs made steady progress forward and still Tony didn't move in the cage. Gibbs refused to think that his instincts could be wrong. He refused to even consider the possibility that Tony could be dead.

It only seemed like it took forever, but at last Gibbs found himself standing next to the cage that imprisoned his friend. Instead of being relieved, his gut tightened even further. He shouldn't have been able to make it this far without tripping something.

"Tony?" He called again.

Even if Tony was alive, that didn't mean that something terrible hadn't been done to him. All the evidence certainly pointed to that fact. He really needed some sign from Tony that he was still home, that they were rescuing something beside the empty husk that had once housed Tony DiNozzo. Gibbs had seen men who came away from being tortured and ended up in homes being spoon fed and having their diapers changed. Damned if that was going to happen to Tony.

Up until the moment that those monitors had come on, part of him had been expecting Tony to meet them at the door with the bad guys in cuffs and Tony saying, "What took you so long, boss?"

He didn't realize how much he'd been counting on that happening.

Slowly he circled the cage, looking for some way that the cage was booby-trapped and he couldn't see anything, nothing, just the thick cables that suspended the cage from the floor. He'd nearly made the full circumference when a slight trembling alerted him to the fact that Tony was waking up, finally.

He put away his gun and squatted so he was eye level.

"DiNozzo?" he called sharply in the voice of command that Tony always responded to. It was cruel, but it was also usually effective.

He was rewarded by a sliver of an eye peaking up at him, a small breath that stirred the shoulders.

"Gibbs," Tony's voice was raspy, "Glad you're back." He licked cracked and dry lips with the tip of his tongue and found no relief. "I was getting lonely."

Gibbs didn't even wonder at Tony's strange words. There was no way of knowing what he'd been through during his captivity. They'd figure it out once he was in a hospital, safe. He stood and scanned the cage, spying the latch he moved there, studying it. It seemed simple enough, slide the latch out and free Tony. Funny, he didn't think it was going to be that easy.

Before he could even think about touching the latch, an alarm sounded and Tony's body jerked. He cried out and curled into an even tighter ball, if that was possible.

Gibbs decided the time for caution was over, he needed to get Tony out of the cage and he needed him out now. He reached out to touch the latch, but it was too late. He was thrown backwards by the electricity flowing through the highly conductive metal.

His fingers tingled from the spark, but once he was no longer in contact with the metal he was alright. Tony didn't have anywhere to go though. The electricity flowed through the metal of his cage into his body.

"Gibbs," Tony cried out in distress. "Oh, God, not again.

"McGee," Gibbs shouted, "I need you now. Turn this thing off…"

--NCIS--

McGee raced to the bank of machinery, Kate close at his back. They could see on the monitors the bright blue spark of the electricity coursing through the cage, Tony bucking as it coursed through his body.

Instantly McGee flipped the switch that had turned the machine on, hoping it would turn it off. It was useless now. The energy just kept flowing through the cage. Beside him, Kate had her gun up and was targeting the machine.

"No, Kate," McGee caught her arm and stopped her. He wasn't for sure, but he had a feeling if she did that, it was going to blow everything up. Circling he scanned the machine, his mind whirling, looking for something, anything... Then he saw it.

There was a thin wire going out of the back of the machine disappearing into the floor. It was so fine that he almost missed it in his haste. He knelt, pulling the knife from his pocket. He didn't stop to think and debate whether what he was doing was the right thing, because it was the only thing he knew to do.

With a deliberate jerk, he cut the wire. There was a blue arc of energy that threw him across the floor and the last thing he heard before slamming into the floor was Gibbs screaming for an ambulance.


To Be Continued...