Warnings: Implied/referenced "offscreen" non-con. Unbeta'd. Probably mistakes and they're definintely mine ;)
No spoilers to speak of, but references to eps "Missing" and "Chained".
~Bullpen, Present
McGee hung up the phone at his desk and swallowed to relieve the tightening in his throat. Ziva and Gibbs were studying security camera footage they'd gathered, hoping for a break in a missing person case that had become personal to all of them.
Two missing persons, his brain reminded unhelpfully.
"Boss," he began somberly.
Gibbs glanced over. "You got something, McGee?"
"No…Agent Fornell is on his way up," he announced, hoping with everything he had that they weren't about to get bad news.
A stoic mask dropped over Gibbs' features, but not quickly enough to conceal a glimpse of fear in the blue eyes.
McGee checked his watch out of habit, and the realization hit him unexpectedly hard. It had been almost exactly twenty four hours since Tony disappeared without a trace.
~.~
~Georgetown, 24 hours earlier
Gibbs gave a disappointed sigh and tucked away the photographs of Leigh Danford, a young woman whose disappearance they were investigating. Missing for over 72 hours, Petty Officer Danford was the latest in a string of women who'd disappeared from the Georgetown area in the last year. They weren't sure if their case were related yet, but it seemed possible, if not likely.
Hoping the others were having more success, he exited the restaurant that turned out to be another in a long line of dead ends. They'd traced the missing woman's movements on the night she disappeared to a four block area in Georgetown's Historic District. Splitting up to cover more ground, they were canvasing bars and restaurants in the area looking for witnesses that might help them pinpoint the young woman's last known location.
Farther along the block, he spotted members of his team working their way down the street. As he stood in the doorway at his next stop, he absently noted Tony stepping into the dark interior of The Den, a popular bar on the opposite corner.
Sometime later, he was elated to find a business owner that recognized the woman in the photos, he was jotting her information in his notepad when his phone buzzed in his pocket. He excused himself and retrieved the phone, mild annoyance turning to apprehension in an instant. The phone simply displayed a text with the sender's name and three numbers. DiNozzo…911.
"Dammit!" Tony needed back up, and he needed it right now.
Gibbs raced out the door and into the street. He dodged and weaved through traffic, ignoring the screech of brakes and blaring horns. He threw open the door to the bar he'd seen Tony enter a short time before. Gibbs skidded to a stop, blinking as his eyes adjusted to the darkness of the room. Other than the exclamations of surprise at his dramatic entrance, there seemed to be nothing amiss. Tony was nowhere to be seen. Excruciatingly aware that every second counted, his eyes zeroed in on the bar. He quickly ascertained from the bartender and bouncer that Tony was seen entering but not leaving, at least not by the front door.
"Maybe he went out the back," the bartender suggested with a shrug and vague wave toward the back corner of the room.
Gibbs' heart raced as he glanced over at the entrance to a dark hallway. He drew his weapon with one hand and flashed his badge at the bartender with the other. "No one comes in or goes out until I say so, you got that?"
The bartender blanched at the sight of the gun and nodded quickly.
"Call 911; tell them officer in distress," he ordered.
Without waiting for a response, Gibbs moved quickly to the door, which was open just a crack. Leaning to one side for cover, he toed the door open and quickly scanned what he could see of the alley behind the bar. Not seeing an immediate threat, he cautiously stepped outside into the alley.
Something shiny lay on the filthy asphalt nearby, glinting in the late afternoon sun, the only thing out of place in the empty alley. Tony's phone. The realization that he was too late stabbed painfully at Gibbs' heart.
He knew he should be calling McGee and Ziva to the scene, but disbelief paralyzed him. His mind was reeling and a sick, feeling grew in the pit of his stomach. He squashed the stirrings of panic and dialed McGee.
How could this possibly have happened again? There was only difference was this time, it had happened practically right under their noses.
Tony was gone.