Sitting in the back seat of Abby's white Hearst, Kate held on for her life as Gibbs drove. His driving under normal circumstances could never be deemed safe, and this was anything but normal. He wove in and out of traffic, cutting people off without regard to accepted rules of traffic safety. He left behind a lot of irritated drivers who shouted words she was certain she was glad she couldn't hear.

Gibbs' driving didn't seem to bother Abby. Her fingers sped over the keyboard of her computer, pulling up screens that flashed by too fast for Kate to even see from her vantage point sitting behind the Goth girl. Finally she found what she needed and nodded in satisfaction.

"Got him, Gibbs," she cried in triumph, giving a little bounce in her seat.

Gibbs barely glanced at the read-out, choosing to keep his eye on the road. Kate was grateful for that, at least.

"Where is he?" Gibbs asked.

Kate leaned in so she could see better and was thrown back in the seat when Gibbs changed lanes abruptly to pass a slower car, then he veered back into the original lane once they had passed it by.

"God, Gibbs," she breathed under her breath.

Not low enough obviously.

"Do you have a problem, Agent Todd?" he barked.

"No," she answered immediately. She just didn't know how they were going to be any help to Tony if they died on the way to rescue him.

"Tony?" she asked trying to get them back on track.

"He's right ahead," Abby answered, chewing on a nail thoughtfully. "He's stopped actually."

Tail lights flashed red as the traffic ahead of them came to a halt. Gibbs pounded the wheel in his frustration. Behind them an emergency vehicle was making its way through the line of traffic, strobe lights flashing, siren blaring. The cars parted in an unwieldy line in its wake, allowing it to pass.

"An accident?" Kate asked.

"You think?" Gibbs retorted harshly.

Kate didn't take it personally. They were all frustrated by this turn of events. To have Tony safe and then to lose him again was making her crazy. Thinking of the multitude of things that he could have been programmed to do was making her dizzy and very, very frightened.

"You think Tony's being held up by the accident, too?" Abby offered, her eyes never leaving the spot on the screen that was Tony's car. They were so close now.

"It's possible," Gibbs conceded, eyeing the traffic around them. "Or it could be that he is the accident, but it's not going to stop him." He leaned over, tracing routes with a finger, considering his options.

Kate was unprepared when he put the huge vehicle into gear and screeched into a U-turn.

"Where are we going now?" she asked as she braced herself as best she could.

"To stop Tony," was Gibbs only reply.

If Gibbs had a definite destination in mind he wasn't sharing, but Kate thought she knew where they were going. She recognized the route they were taking, she drove it every morning on her way to their office.

From her place in the back seat, Kate could see Gibbs determined profile. He pressed the car as fast as it would go, taking corners it wasn't designed to take, cutting in out of the traffic, bypassing slower moving cars. Which were most of the cars on the road. He drove as if Tony's life depended on it, and it probably did.

When Gibbs' cell phone rang, Kate was pretty certain they were going to die. When he handed it back to her, she let out a relieved breath before she accepted it. She glanced at the caller ID before she flipped it open to answer it, it was McGee.

"It's Kate, Tim," she identified herself.

"Kate," his voice was so excited he nearly squeaked, "I found something on the hospital security tapes."

"Put him on the speaker phone," Gibbs instructed, never taking his eye from the road.

"I'm putting you on the speakerphone," she told him before she punched the button. She held the phone out so they could all hear.

"Tell Gibbs what you just said," she said.

"Boss?"

"Here, McGee, what do you have?'

"The hospital had a camera on the hall outside Tony's room," he told them, "you can't see inside, but I found some pretty interesting things anyway."

Like Abby, McGee had a tendency to wander; it was how he processed information. It didn't make it any easier that Kate understood that when all she wanted was to hear the information. Gibbs' tolerance for Geek-Speak was even lower than hers.

"Are you going to tell us, McGee, or are you going to make us guess?"

"Guess? Uhm, no, of course not," McGee sounded genuinely puzzled.

"McGee!" Gibbs' sharp tone was the equivalent of a verbal head slap and he responded appropriately.

"There were orderlies in Tony's room after we left with the doctor, Gibbs," McGee said in a rush.

"Yeah, orderlies, McGee, every hospital has them," he answered.

"No, boss they went in right after we left, they were kind of sneaky…"

"Define sneaky, McGee."

"They were looking both directions, like they were making sure there was no one around. Now get this, Boss. Tony left before they did. He didn't look good, Tony, that is. But he was walking."

"Yeah, we kind of got that, McGee. And...?"

"Oh, yes. The orderlies followed him down the hall, like they were tailing him. I picked up some footage from the cameras in the parking lot, too. He took Kate's car and they followed him in another car. I'm sending the footage to Abby's computer."

"That's good work, McGee," Gibbs said warmly.

Kate could practically feel McGee's smug expression through the phone line.

"Boss, I thought I could get a cab and meet you guys wherever you're going," Tim started in a rush.

"No, McGee, you stay at the hospital."

"But, Boss…" McGee protested.

Kate knew how he felt. He wanted to be with the rest of team in the search for Tony, doing something besides sitting around uselessly.

"McGee," Gibbs cut him off, "you're not at a hundred percent right now." There was no arguing with that tone. "Now listen, we were right behind Tony and there was an accident, Abby will send you the details. If Tony wasn't involved it might have slowed him and his tail down. Contact the local Leos and tell them to be on the lookout."

McGee didn't argue, he just answered, "On it, boss."

"And McGee if Tony shows up back there at the hospital, you sit on him if have to, but keep him there."

"Alright, Boss," McGee responded, resigned to staying at the hospital. "Boss, just… find him, okay?"

"Count on it, McGee," Gibbs said in the tone of a solemn promise.

Kate was sure they'd find Tony; she just didn't know what condition they'd find him in. He hadn't even had a chance to begin to recover from the injuries he'd already suffered. Adding hallucinogenic drugs to the mix was bad, very bad.

Kate hung up and handed the phone to Abby so she could use both hands to hold on as Gibbs wove through the traffic bringing them closer to their destination.


Although he felt like he could take on an army, Tony knew he looked like shit. So, he wasn't unduly surprised when the paramedic grabbed his arm again.

"Sir, I really need you to come with me now. You need medical attention." The man was determined and wasn't going to be deterred with anything short of force. Force that Tony wasn't prepared to use yet. Just because he felt like he could take on all comers didn't mean that was the wisest course. He didn't want to call any unnecessary attention to himself just yet.

He was hazy on the details, but he knew that a bomb was going to go off at NCIS headquarters and he was the only one who could stop it. He just didn't think anyone would believe him if he tried to convince them of that sporting a bandage around his head. Time was of the essence now.

Biding his time, Tony allowed himself to be led toward the waiting ambulance since it was in the direction he wanted to go anyway.

"What's you name?" the paramedic asked. His face was creased in concern.

Tony played along. As they walked they were drawing closer to his target, just another couple of steps and he could make his move "Tony. My name is Tony."

"Tell you what, Tony, you just come with me." The man talked soothingly, his hold on Tony's arm loosening now that he appeared to be cooperating, "we'll take care of you and get you to a hospital. It looks like that's where you belong right now."

If he only knew.

As they walked Tony kept a constant watch on the scene, assessing the situation and looking for the best escape route. His focus narrowed when he saw the car that sat idling on the side of the road, its owner was nowhere in sight. He took in the position of the cops and whether they'd be able to give any pursuit. Satisfied that everything was as good as it was going to get, he made his move.

"Sorry," he told the paramedic as he punched him quickly. The man didn't expect it and went down like a stone.

Quickly Tony glanced around once more to make sure that no one had seen what happened. Hefting the man by the shoulders, he dragged the body out of site behind a car. Then, taking a deep breath, he walked quickly towards the vehicle that was his goal. He didn't run, that would draw attention he didn't want. He just picked up his pace a little, the car his only goal. When he reached the vehicle he ran an appreciative hand over it.

Yes, it was a means to an end, but he could appreciate the clean lines of the sleek vehicle, the hum of the engine as it idled waiting for its owner to return. To someone watching, it would just look like he was appreciating a fine automobile.

His luck was holding out. No one had found the unconscious paramedic and everyone else was clustered around the car with the injured woman in it. He was sorry that the woman was hurt but it served his purpose that she was the center of attention for the moment.

He slid into the driver's seat, savoring the leather interior, caressing the wheel under his hands. He revved the engine a little and heard the quiet hum that declared that there was more than enough power to get him wherever he wanted to go.

He put the car into gear and slid slowly forward into the traffic moving away from the accident. He watched the scene behind him all the way. He was prepared to step on the gas if an alarm was raised, but it never came.

The rest of the trip to his office was remarkably uneventful. Tony kept expecting someone – Gibbs, his father, hell, Kate, to show up in the passenger seat, but it stayed obstinately empty. It was unsettling and a little lonely, he was becoming used to their presence.

Pulling into his usual parking place, he observed the building. For the life of him he couldn't see anything odd to indicate that a tragedy was about to take place there. It looked like it did every morning when he arrived.

He expected to have to charm his way through security, he'd done it before, but those times he'd been dressed in a little more than scrubs and sporting a bandage around his head like a turban. He was prepared with a wild story about being under cover. He was disappointed when he didn't have to use it.

It didn't occur to him that it was odd when there was no one at the security station and the security doors were conspicuously open. He wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth though. He was in the building and that was what was important.

He made it to the elevators without encountering a soul, which was a little odd. NCIS was a busy place. There was a lot of people who worked there – from the people who logged in evidence, all the way to the people who delivered their mail every day. He liked that, coming to work in the morning and finding his mail waiting for him on his desk. It made him feel like he belonged somehow, to have mail on his desk with his name on it.

Walking through the halls it felt like a ghost town. The lights were on, but no one was at home. He guessed he should be grateful for that, less people to get out of the building. He might have given it more thought if he couldn't feel that whatever was keeping him moving was beginning to wear off. His vision was beginning to get fuzzy around the edges and his hands were shaking.

Inside the elevator he punched the button for his floor a little harder than necessary. He wrapped his arms around himself to keep himself together. He'd begun to feel like he was going to fly apart any moment now. It would do no good to have pieces of Tony DiNozzo everywhere.

"Doesn't look like you're doing so well," Gibbs observed nonchalantly from his position in the corner of the elevator.

"Been better, boss," Tony answered honestly. What the hell? Gibbs was his subconscious after all; he knew how Tony really felt.

"So why don't you go back to the hospital?" he asked quietly, raising a questioning brow.

"Got something to do first," Tony replied shortly.

"Yeah, about that, you sure about this?" Gibbs asked.

"What's there to think about?" Tony asked puzzled. "It's just something I gotta do. You saying I should just let the building blow up?"

Gibbs watched him with eyes that seemed to say it was up to him to decide.

"Okay, well if you're sure," Gibbs didn't have time to say anything else because they were at his floor and the doors opened. Tony stepped out leaving the other man behind. Something a real Gibbs would never allow.

The office was deserted which was really odd. The sun was streaming through the window and dust motes danced in the air, but that was all that was moving. Tony wondered if there was a meeting somewhere that no one had told him about, or an NCIS picnic. Yeah that would be just his luck. Come to save everyone's lives and no one was there to be saved.

But he couldn't take that chance, and he didn't have time to search the whole building. His plan was the fastest way of making sure everyone got out safely. He sat at his desk, brushing away a tiny speck of dust there. Automatically he unlocked the drawer with his weapon, checking it and loading it before tucking it away.

Tony couldn't help it, he looked up at the clock – it was 11:45.

Maybe they thought he was unconscious, maybe they just didn't care, but Tony didn't move a muscle to let his captors know that he was awake and aware and listening avidly to their every word.

"Do we have everything we need?" The voice asked. He remembered he voice with its Middle Eastern accent.

Tony wished he could open his eyes; see who was standing next to him. But he didn't dare give away the fact that he was awake. He needed to hear what they were saying.

"Yes, we have everything we need to gain access to the NCIS facility and blow it up. We will take care of this thorn in our side once and for all." Now that was a voice he recognized. It was one of the men who had come to his apartment. He clenched his fists thinking how he would take the man apart slowly once he was able.

"And this one?" the contempt and disdain was evident in the first voice. If he had his way, Tony would be dead.

Tony willed himself to relax; he couldn't let them know he was awake and listening. Everything depended on him getting as much Intel as he could.

"Leave him, let his friends find him like that. He doesn't know anything that will help them stop us, and it will keep them busy trying to figure it out. By noon tomorrow NCIS and everything in it will be so much rubble.

Tony scooped up the phone and dialed the operator.

He was counting on the fact that the NCIS had excellent emergency procedures in place. Just tell them that there was a fire and things started happening at a satisfactory speed. Alarms began to sound, the fire department would be called, and people would be evacuated. It was going to be okay.

He had cut things a little closer than he'd liked, but he was pretty sure everyone could get out by the noon deadline. He knew he should get up and evacuate the building, too, but he was suddenly so tired, he couldn't move. He'd done everything he could do, and now he was done. He laid his head on his desk and just appreciated the fact that he'd succeeded in his self-appointed mission.

"So, seen any good movies lately, DiNozzo?" Gibbs' question startled him out of a doze.

"What?" he blinked up at his boss, trying to decide if he were real or imagined.

Gibbs sat a hip on Tony's desk and Tony decided he couldn't be real; his whole posture was just too relaxed, "I saw a good one the other day. The Manchurian Candidate. You ever seen it?"

Tony perked up immediately, his whole demeanor brightening. He couldn't help himself, as a kid, movies had been his only friends. He'd stay up late at night mesmerized by the larger than life people he saw there, transported by the stories.

"We talking the original with Frank Sinatra or the remake with Denzel Washington and Meryel Streep?"

"Really, gentlemen, is there time for this?"

Tony had really hoped his father's hallucination was gone for good.

"Who invited you to the party?" Gibbs asked before Tony could say a word.

Tony decided he really didn't have the strength. He dropped his head back to his arms and let his hallucinations fight amongst themselves.

"Agent DiNozzo."

A new voice shouting his name forced Tony to lift his head back up. There was a fireman standing beside his desk looking down at him.

"Excellent work, Agent DiNozzo," he said, "You have completed your mission well."

It was a measure of how tired Tony was that it took him a full five seconds to realize he knew the fireman. It was one of the men who had appeared at his apartment and kidnapped him, one of the men who had strapped him into a chair and tortured him. The man circled around the desk and grabbed Tony by the neck, pulling his head back so he was looking up at the man.

"Where are the people?" the man growled fiercely, his fingers biting deep into the muscles of Tony's neck.

The people? It filtered through Tony's increasingly scattered thoughts that he hadn't seen anyone since he'd entered the building. "I don't know, I have to get them out of the building," he mumbled.

The man slammed his head on the desk and the pain took away his breath. It took all his remaining strength to push back the blackness and remember how to breathe. It would be so easy to give into that blackness, but he couldn't yet, he had to find out what was going on. Gibbs would depend on him to hold on.

When he could hear again, the man was leaning in close, "Your job was to get us in, and you've done that, what should I do with you now?"

The man pulled a gun from somewhere and put it to Tony's temple, he could feel it pressing, cold and heavy.

"No, wait," Tony said desperately, trying to stall. For what he didn't know, but stalling was always the best thing to do, "I… I don't understand. What do you want?"

The man bent down to whisper in his ear, "Understand this, Agent DiNozzo, we're going to bring down NCIS and it's all your fault. Your agency has interfered in my people's fight for too long now. Now you will pay."

Tony could see the hand holding the gun to his head. He could see the finger tightening on the trigger. He heard the gun shot and pain exploded in his head…

--NCIS--

It was hell to just stand and watch, using an injured DiNozzo as bait. Every part of him screamed it was wrong, but they just hadn't had time set up anything else. He could feel Kate behind him fidgeting, ready to run in and drag Tony out. Gibbs knew she would hang on, just as he did, but they didn't have to like it.

Tony was in bad shape, talking to himself. He'd done that a couple of times now since he'd entered the building. He needed to be back at the hospital. And he would be, just as soon as they had the dirtbags responsible for the whole mess.

Gibbs tensed when the alarms went off. He waited, knowing that whatever was going to happen, it would be soon.

"Stand by," he said low to all the teams waiting.

"Gibbs, we have firefighters at the front door," Agent Monroe advised, his voice also pitched at a whisper.

"Do we have confirmation that they're official?" Gibbs asked.

"No, sir. We've contacted the fire department and they've been advised that this is a false alarm. These aren't our people."

It all clicked for Gibbs then. Fornell's Intel that there was going to be a terrorist attack, Tony's abduction and programming, all the information came together and he knew what was happening. NCIS itself was the target – except it was too well-protected for the terrorists to get in, they needed someone on the inside. That someone was Tony.

They'd programmed him to think he was preventing an attack, when he was actually letting the bad guys in. Tony was going to be devastated when he found out what he had done, but Gibbs was determined that the only people being hurt today was the dirt bags who tried to use his people.

"Alright, let them in, let them get comfortable, find out what their plans are, then detain them. I'm here with DiNozzo."

"Copy that, Gibbs. I'll let you know when we have the situation contained."

Gibbs knew he didn't have to worry about the hostiles downstairs. He just needed to make sure they had everything tied down before they pulled the plug and took DiNozzo back to the hospital. And he would be staying there this time, if Gibbs had to handcuff him to the bed.

Calling in the fire emergency seemed to take everything he had; Tony was down now with his head on his desk. It took all Gibbs had not to break cover and go to him, not to call for the ambulance and get Tony out. He even took a step forward when something down the hall caught the corner of his eye.

There was movement.

"Heads up," Gibbs advised Kate.

He could feel the tension radiating from her. She was coiled as tightly as he, needing something to hit, to make someone else pay for the pain that had been inflicted on their team, on Tony.

A fireman approached Tony's desk.

"Gibbs," Agent Monroe spoke, "one of the hostiles got away. He's headed your way."

"We've got him," Gibbs answered shortly.

He gestured for Kate to circle around. He held up 10 fingers for her. She nodded and then moved away.

They'd catch the dirtbag in a cross-fire. Gibbs just hoped he gave them ten seconds.

"Agent DiNozzo," the firefighter went straight to Tony as Gibbs crouched down and slowly worked his way down the hall. He placed his steps carefully, not making any noise that would alert anyone to his presence.

One Mississippi…. Gibbs began the count in his head. Ten seconds seemed like an awfully long time.

"Excellent work, Agent DiNozzo," the man said, "you've completed your mission well."

Two Mississippi… Gibbs kept working his way down the hall, counting, and giving Kate time to get in place before he could make his move.

"Where are the people?" Gibbs heard the man ask.

Three Mississippi… Four Mississippi.

Tony spluttered, Gibbs could hear him struggling weakly trying to break free of the other man's grasp. The anger ran through him like fire, a fire he was about to rain down on the other man's head.

Five Mississippi….

"I don't know, I have to get them out of the building." Tony mumbled.

Six Mississippi… Keep talking, DiNozzo, Gibbs thought. Keep the dirtbag occupied so we can take him out.

Gibbs heard Tony's head hit the desk and Tony's low moan of pain. He almost did break cover then. It was only the other man's voice that stopped him.

Seven Mississippi…

"Your job was to get us in, and you've done that, what should I do with you now?"

Eight Mississippi…

"No, wait," Tony was babbling now, "I… I don't understand. What do you want?"

Nine Mississippi…

"Understand this, Agent DiNozzo, we're going to bring down NCIS and it's all your fault. Your agency has interfered in my people's fight for too long now. Now you will pay.""

Gibbs heard the cock of the gun and there was no more time. He stood and sighted, firing at the other man, not knowing if he'd been in time until he saw the firefighter fall.

He ran, kicking the falling gun away. It went against all his training, but he'd shot to maim and not to kill. They really needed the man alive to make sure they had all their answers. The round had been through his shoulder.

The man glared up at him with eyes filled with hate. Truly if looks could kill, Leroy Jethro Gibbs would be a dead man.

"You have not won," the man asserted, his bravado a mask for his fear.

"Oh, I think I have," Gibbs countered, cuffing the man before turning to DiNozzo.

The dirtbag had hit him on the way down, and Tony was unconscious again. Gibbs lifted him, leaning him back in the chair. Kate was there, then, hovering behind his shoulder anxiously.

"Hey, DiNozzo," he called softly, "wake up for me."

Tony came to with a jerk, pushing away in the chair.

"Boss? Are you real?" His eyes were glassy and his movements sluggish, but he was awake. He reached out a hand to grab Gibbs' cuff.

"Yeah, we're real, DiNozzo, and if you ever pull a stunt like that again, you're going to be working in the file room for the next six months."

"Hey, Tony," Kate said from behind him.

"Kate? You're here, too?" Tony was suddenly angry and trying to stand, "Don't you guys understand? There's a bomb, we have to get out of the building."

Gibbs grabbed him, wrestling him back into the chair, "DiNozzo there's no bomb. They set you up so they could get in the building and set the explosives. We've caught them, everything's alright. See?" Gibbs gestured to the man handcuffed and bleeding on the floor.

"Agent DiNozzo, it is true you have been part of Operation Turnkey," the man said forcefully, focusing all of his attention on Tony. "Now complete your mission."

Tony's demeanor changed in an instant. He stood again, this time pushing himself away from Gibbs. He pulled the gun that he'd tucked earlier in the small of his back and took careful aim.

"Tony, what are you doing?" Kate cried in horror. She took a step toward him and he cocked his head to look at her, although the gun never wavered.

"Stay back," he said with a snarl, "This one's for him, but I can just as easily shoot you, too." Then he turned his attention fully back to Gibbs.

Gibbs couldn't believe. He knew he should have killed the dirtbag when he had a chance. Tony was pointing the gun straight at his head and his finger was tightening on the trigger.

--NCIS--

Tony was so confused. The people around him kept changing, morphing from one to another.

He thought he'd been talking to Gibbs and Kate, he had been so relieved to see them and they had seemed so real and clear and right there with him. But they must have been another hallucination, because now he was confronting his attackers, the men who had showed up at his door and taken him from his home. Mike and Steve, isn't that what he'd told Mr. Kransky?

He didn't know where he was anymore. It was like a merry-go-round, all he had to do was blink and he was gone from one place and in another.

He was strapped in the chair listening with horror to what was in store for his team.

"We'll start with the girls, no need to kill them right away. We could have fun with them," the coarse voice reverberated in Tony's head.

He shook with anger and knew that if he had a chance he would kill the man.

And just as abruptly he was back in his office facing Mike and Steve with a gun in his hand.

His head was pounding, it felt like someone was using a jackhammer to split it in two. He was shaking so much now that he had to hold onto the gun with both hands to keep from shooting someone accidentally.

If he shot someone he wanted to do it on purpose.

He could feel the tears prickling behind his eyes and he blinked to clear them, he couldn't yield to the weakness yet, not until the men responsible for his pain was dead. Once they were dead his friends would be safe.

"DiNozzo, don't do this." Mike said earnestly. He held his hands held up. Dropping the gun on the floor, he kicked it away.

"Shut up," Tony told him fiercely. "You don't get to speak. I'm in charge here."

"Really, Tony," Steve cut in, speaking in wheedling tones. He dropped his gun, too and backed away a step, "it is us, Kate and Gibbs. You're going to be really sorry if you kill us."

"Shut up!" Tony backed up until he hit the edge of his desk, it gave him something to lean his weight on, to balance himself. "Just shut up, you're trying to confuse me and I won't let you."

"What about me, Tony?" Hallucination Gibbs was there, standing between Mike and Tony's gun. "Am I trying to confuse you?"

"What?" His vision was becoming blurry now and it was hard to see, but he would always know his boss. He felt relief wash over him. Gibbs was back and, hallucination or not, he'd know what to do. Tony struggled to focus on him, to meet his gaze.

"I wouldn't lie to you, Tony. I can't lie to you, I am you. And I'm telling you that if you kill these people, you'll regret it the rest of your life." His voice was low and even, soothing.

Tony nearly let his hand drop, but then the other voice spoke.

"Don't listen to him, Anthony."

Tony almost groaned out loud when his father rejoined the party.

"Go ahead shoot them, it would feel so good," His father stood behind Tony whispering seductively in his ear, "they deserves to die for what they've done to you and for what they're planning on doing to your friends. You have to protect them. It's your duty to protect them."

It was true. They deserved it for what they'd done to him; leaving him in the cage, left to rot, filthy and stinking. Not even an animal should have been left like that. They deserved it for what they were going to do to his friends.

He lifted the gun and took a step forward letting his finger tighten on the trigger.

"DiNozzo," Mike said urgently, "Tony, stay with us, here. Think about what you're doing."

"Yes, think," his father whispered. "Think about who you'll be saving. Kate, you like Kate don't you?"

"Yes," he answered desperately, grasping at thoughts trying to hold onto them, "Kate's my friend. She doesn't think she is, but she is."

"Tony, please, I know we're friends. A little dysfunctional sometimes, but we're friends," Steve pleaded with him, his eyes beseeching. But Tony wasn't going to let himself be fooled.

"Stop it, just stop it all of you, I have to think." Tony shouted at everyone and no one. He spun trying to cover everyone, real and imagined. The room kept slipping on him though, the walls became someplace else, constantly shifting, making him dizzy and sick.

"Yes, Tony, think," Gibbs said quietly, his voice cutting through all the other cacophony. Tony felt some measure of calm return just hearing his steady voice. "Think before you pull that trigger."

"What's there to think about?" his father countered with a sneer, "It's the one thing you're good at, Anthony, shooting, killing. Do this one thing, then you can rest."

Rest would be good, if he could just rest he could make sense out of what was happening, he'd know what to do.

"DiNozzo," Gibbs spoke sharply now, sounding like he wanted to slap Tony on the back of the head, "If you pull that trigger you better be damn sure what you're shooting at. Are you sure?"

No, he wasn't sure of anything.

He was in his office, he knew he was in the office, the walls solid and real around him…

Then he was in the chair, unknown drugs working their way through his veins.

And he was sitting in the cage, shivering and puking his guts up.

Desperately he swung the gun from one man to the next trying to figure out who to trust, who to listen to.

"Tony," his father said from behind him, "trust me. I know what I'm talking about."

Turning, Tony swiftly pumped three rounds into the apparition of his father. Everything around him splintered then, like shards of glass falling to the floor. His strength was gone, he had nothing to hold him up and he fell heavily to his knees, dropping the gun from shaking hands.

And Gibbs was there, holding him up, supporting him.

"Hey, boss," he whispered, licking his lips.

"You back with us, DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked, his hands catching Tony and gently easing him to the floor.

Tony would have suspected he was the hallucination because his eyes were sad and concerned, except Tony felt him, real and solid at his back.

"Yeah, yeah, I think so." He gave a small shake of his head, it was all he could manage. He reached out and grabbed onto Gibbs' sleeve, fingers grasping the material of his sports coat.

"Don't let me go, 'kay?" he whispered before he shut his eyes and relaxed back into Gibbs with a small sigh.

--NCIS--

It had been close. Closer than Gibbs ever wanted to be again.

Kneeling on the floor, supporting Tony's unconscious body, Gibbs allowed himself to acknowledge the fear he'd been holding at bay for so many hours. He'd known fear a lot of times. Fear was a good thing. It warned you when things were about to hit the fan, it warned you to run, it warned you when you should duck and cover rather than to hold your ground. Fear made his senses sharper and his responses faster. Fear was something he'd learned how to control and channel a long time ago.

But this fear had been different. It hadn't been fear for himself or even for Kate, fear that they might die. No, it had been fear for the man he knew as Tony DiNozzo. Because if Tony had pulled that trigger, if he had done what he'd been programmed to do – kill Leroy Jethro Gibbs, then Anthony DiNozzo would cease to exist. When he realized what he had done, the knowledge would kill Tony. And whether he actually got up and walked away from what had happened, he would never be the same man again.

Gibbs shifted so that he was sitting, easing Tony down, but still not letting go. He met Kate's eyes where she stood guarding their prisoner. He saw the same fear and knowledge in her eyes.

It had been close.

Tony moaned and began to shake as fine tremors began to run through his body. Gibbs felt for a pulse and didn't like what he found.

Tapping the radio in his ear, he snapped, "We need Ducky up here, now."

He heard clattering footsteps and Abby appeared, she came streaking around the corner, stopping when she saw them.

"Is he…?" she couldn't finish the sentence, but Gibbs knew what she was asking.

"He's alive," Gibbs assured her.

Kate had the dirtbag up and was taking him away. Gibbs knew how hard it was for her, she would want to stay with Tony, too, but Gibbs wasn't giving her a choice. He had DiNozzo and he wasn't letting go any time soon.

Abby's eyes were wide and Gibbs could see the tracks where the tears had smeared her mascara. "He was going to shoot you," she breathed.

"But he didn't, Abby," Gibbs told her. "He broke the conditioning somehow." Somehow. Tony was so much stronger than any of them knew.

She nodded, chewing on her lip, "Is he going to be alright?"

"We'll make sure of it, Abs," Gibbs promised her.

The shuddering grew stronger and Tony began to convulse, "Where is Ducky?" he shouted.

"Here, Jethro," Ducky called from the elevator.

He was accompanied by medics who pulled Tony from his grasp. Gibbs' instinct was to hold on. He couldn't stand to lose him one more time.

Ducky put a steadying hand on his shoulder, "Jethro, let them do their work. He will be alright."

"He'd better be, Ducky," Gibbs growled, "or he's going to answer to me."

Gibbs stood by scowling as they did their work until Tony was, once again, on his way to the hospital.


To be continued...