A/N: Here's another chapter folks! To my recent followers/favourites, welcome! So glad to have you with us! To my amazing reviewers, thank you so much, I love reading your comments! They keep me inspired!

Now, I know you're all a little concerned, but I want to assure you all about one fact - MacDonald Fielding IS DEAD - so whatever is going on is well, mildly concerning.. everyone shall go on the same discovery adventure with the Gibbs clan, but that man is dead.

To my guest reviewers: Momcat: Mike was extremely brave, and his clue will both confuse and help the situation.

None: Kelly would defintiely be extremely distraught if something happened to Tim, given her reaction with Mike, you're definitley right. But what happens.. well, you'll just have to wait & see

Ladyaloysius: I'd hate to kill you before this story finishes, lol Enjoy this chapter!

Sue Dooley: Thanks! Glad you're loving this!

Let's get into it..

Gibbs walked out into the waiting area, he saw his dad & his girls still sitting in the corner, his team were all in the area & on the phone, but Ziva had just hung up her latest call "Ziva" he called quietly motioning her over

"Gibbs?" Ziva enquired, she was really wondering how he hadn't exploded yet.

"I need you to find Mike's older brother Marcus, he's an Air Force Major, I need to speak to him urgently" Gibbs remarked

"I will find him Gibbs" Ziva nodded, she took a step away & then realised she would have break the news to the man about Mike & his condition.

Gibbs headed over to his family, sitting back down next to his wife, he gently stroked her back.

Shannon looked up "How is he Jethro?" she asked still keeping a hold of her girl.

Gibbs swallowed "Harm's got him under now, they've started to work on his injuries."

"How was he when you were in there?" Kelly asked trying to wipe away her tears.

"He's fighting Kell, he's fighting" Gibbs answered gently, he took a breath, he had to ask them "Mike said…"

"What Jethro? What did he want to tell you?" Shannon enquired.

Gibbs knew that once he told him them this, they'd come to same terribly worrying conclusion, but maybe they knew something about it too? He wanted to tell them something first though "I'll tell you, but first, I want you guys to know that Phoenix fought" he needed to tell them that he got something out to Ted.

"What do you mean Jethro?" Shannon asked, what was he talking about?

"He was on the phone with Stacey when they were attacked, she heard screaming so she took her phone straight to Ted, he heard Nix yell 'dragon left arm & skull right neck' before the line cut out. He was trying to get information to us, he was fighting" Gibbs answered gently.

"Phoenix got information to Ted?" Shannon asked "why didn't you say that before? Why didn't you say that our son actually made contact during the mess? Don't you think I would have wanted to know that?!" she exclaimed, how could he not have mentioned that he'd heard something from their son earlier?

Gibbs let out a breath as he let her get it out, he understood her frustration "you're right Shan, I'm sorry" even though they hadn't really had a moment to spare to actually say it, he should have found a moment.

"Anything else you haven't remembered to tell me?" Shannon asked briskly standing up.

Gibbs stood & caressed her cheek "Babe, I know you're worried beyond anything, I am too. We will find him, I will not let anything happen to him, not him, not you, not anyone, but we have to stay calm because what Mike just told me, is… I will be frank… extremely worrying. And there is something we need to talk about, something I found out right before Jonas's A.I.D. went off" he took a breath as he brought their heads together "take a breath babe, I'm right here, we'll get through this together"

Shannon took a deep breath as she stared into her man's eyes, while she was extremely worried, she felt his calming effect, she'd get through it because they were there together, they'd get through it together, she just nodded "ok"

Gibbs sat them back down, but he put himself between his girls, and brought them both into him, while he'd like to keep it as a family only thing, it wouldn't be useful that way, he needed "Tony, Tim" he called gently, once the pair looked his way he motioned them closer. He then considered something else "Marks!" he called, beckoning him over as well. Given it now looked like someone connect to Mac was involved, he needed to ensure Marks knew the score, given he was in charge of base security.

Gibbs waited for the trio to sit down near them "ok, Mike got a look at one of the kidnappers and…"

Tony could see the hesitation "was it the same guy that Nix identified, with the tat's?" he asked

"Yes it was, only…" Gibbs replied but hesitated.

"What is it Jethro?" Jack asked, there was concern written all over his face.

"Mike recognised him" Gibbs stated

"Mike recognised the guy that took Nix?" Kelly whispered.

"Yes" Gibbs answered "He said I needed to speak to Marcus, that the man that took Nix had a dragon tattoo, and something about their father's retirement party" he answered looking at his girl

"Who's Marcus?" Jack enquired

"Mike's older brother" Shannon answered "but what do you mean about the Admiral's retirement party, what about it?" she asked back

"Don't know, that's all Mike got out before Harm had to put him under" Gibbs answered "Do either of you know anything about that?"

"I didn't go, Nix had just had his tonsils out, so I stayed home with him" Shannon answered but she turned "Kells?"

"Umm.." Kelly thought "Don't remember anyone with a dragon or skull tattoo.." she then tried to remember the day as best as she could, and she did remember something "ahh, I do remember that Mike, Marcus & Myles all disappeared for about 45 minutes, maybe an hour when we first got there & when they got back, all three had changed out of their dress uniforms and were wearing their service uniforms. They said they had to help the wait staff move some kegs, and had gotten their uniforms dirty, hence the change. Seemed reasonable to me, so I let go"

"I take it Myles is another brother" Tony guessed.

"Yea, Myles is one of Mike's younger brothers, about 3 years younger than Mike, Marcus is 5 years older than Mike." Kelly explained

"And all three are military?" Marks enquired,

"Those three yes" Kelly confirmed "though at the time, Myles was in his senior year at his military academy school, he's now Army Special Forces, Marcus is a pilot with the Air Force" she concluded

"You know where he is?" Gibbs asked her

"He's attached to the Air Force Special Operations Command, think they're based out of Florida" Kelly answered

"Tim, message Ziva that" Gibbs motioned.

Shannon could see her husband was still mulling something over, there was obviously a piece she hadn't put together "Jethro?"

"Mike knew the guy from back then" Gibbs remarked "he then came here & took Phoenix.. what if…"

Shannon watched his eyes as realisation dawned on her what he thought "you think Mac is involved? He's dead!" she'd seen his body, he was dead, there was no other way to put it, the man was dead!

Kelly looked at her father horrified "Mac?" she whispered, though logically speaking, if Mike had known the guy from back there and he was meddling, maybe…. But Mac was dead!

"Don't know how, but I think it's possible… Fornell said.." Gibbs started to say

"Fornell said what?" Shannon asked interrupting him, any thought that Mac was involved just seemed ludicrous to her!

Gibbs looked between his family "Fornell & Michael Barnes dialled in, they had news that ties Tony's sisters mess with us"

"Jethro, did you just say that Tony's sister's situation is tied to us?" Jack asked, that really didn't seem right.

Gibbs began explaining "Fornell's forensic accountants uncovered that the regular payments that were coming to you Kells, weren't entirely coming from Mac"

"What do you mean? Who else would have sent them?" Kelly asked, she was really confused.

Shannon had to admit she was confused as well "What are you talking about Jethro, it was only MacDonald that was sending her money?"

"Actually, in the grand scheme, Mac only sent through 15-20% of the entire amount that reached your account Kell" Gibbs said

Kelly shared a look of utter confusion with her mum, what? "sorry?" they both remarked.

Gibbs explained what Fornell had told him about the bank account transfers.

Tim had to admit he was really taken by this, even though he didn't know what the amounts were, he knew they would have been substantial, the family didn't exactly shop at the cheaper end. Still this was sounding fairly weird, what was the connection with Tony & how'd taking Nix fall into it?

"So someone else sent them the money, how does that tie into Tony's situation? And why would anyone else do that?" Shannon enquired, this talk of money had thrown her again, who else was there to send her kids money, she really didn't know what to think!

"I have no idea why, but they traced the funds to…." Gibbs said but took a breath first, he wasn't sure how they'd take it "to New Orleans… to a….. Laurance Alexander"

Kelly listened to her father & it took her a moment to link it "wait… Laurance Alexander, as in…"

"The guy that adopted my sister" Tony supplied quietly.

Shannon looked at Tony, she honestly didn't know what to say "I'm utterly lost, why would that man….?" but she left the question open

"I'm right there with you Shan, I have no idea why the man would have done that, or anything about this, but we will work it out" Gibbs finished sounding as self-assured as possible.

"Ahh, boss" Brunswick called coming closer, she saw all the eyes suddenly turn to her "Ensign Evans has come around, and I took the liberty to speak to her" she remarked carefully.

Gibbs nodded "and?" he knew that the rest of his family would want to hear this, so he'd let her make her report right there with all of them present.

"well….." Brunswick swallowed, he was going to loose his lid! That was certain! "she said…"

"Just say it Brunswick!" Gibbs asserted, he could see her hesitation though, whatever it is, he wasn't going to like.

"She said that when they got outside, one of Nix's teammates had said he'd just gotten some new boots fresh off the Nike assembly line, and had a pair for him, but he needed to try them on. Said they were in his car, so they all went around the back" Brunswick started to explain, she took half a step back, unsure about the reaction "when they got around to the car park, he said he'd forgotten that he'd left his keys with a friend & would be back in a few minutes"

Gibbs flared his nostrils, did a teammate set him up?

Tony & Tim shared a look of shock & concern, a teammate? Whoever this was, was going to get his arse kicked!

Brunswick took another deep breath "She said that not 5 minutes later, they were suddenly surrounded, by at least 10 men. She said that they'd all reacted instantly, and said it was clear pretty quickly who their target was."

Shannon didn't really like the sound of this, at all!

"She said that Captain Bond had tried to get Phoenix away, they all did, but there were just too many of them" Brunswick hesitated, Gibbs hadn't lost his load yet, which she'd thought he would have done, but she wasn't sure how they'd all take this next part "she sad though after a short while Captain Bond.."

"Captain Bond what?" Tim prodded, she looked really hesitant.

"He'd somehow gotten Phoenix out of the mess with Evans, they were clear…..but" Brunswick would have continued but got interrupted

"If Nix made it out of there? How'd…" Tony wondered quietly.

Kelly's eyes widened "he wouldn't leave Mike, would he?" she paled

Brunswick shook her head "no he wouldn't, Evans said she tried her best to get him clear, Jonas & Captain Bond had somehow managed to keep the group at bay, while she pulled Phoenix a good distance away. However, he refused to leave when he could see clear as day that Jonas, but especially Captain Bond were knee deep in a fight that she said, could have turned deadly. She said he didn't even say anything, he just rushed straight back in"

Marks had to admit, that was very brave of Phoenix because from the way Captain Bond & Agent Quinton looked & everything he'd heard it had turned deadly "did Evans know anything about the man that was dead?"

"No sir, she said the attack started on the grassed area, where the body was found, but she said the fight quickly moved towards the car park. The last thing she remembers was being with Phoenix back on the grassed area, but followed him quickly back towards the car-park, only to be attacked from behind, she said she felt her arm break instantly, then nothing until she came around just now" Brunswick answered.

Gibbs took a deep breath, on the one hand he wished his son would have just kept running, but on the other hand he was proud that his son hadn't left the others & had tried to help them. He shared a sad smile with his wife, he just couldn't find any words as they rested their heads against each other.

Shannon knew that her husband felt like she did, proud that her son had refused to leave the others in the midst of the fight but also wishing he had kept running, she rested her head against her husbands as a tear ran down her cheek.

Gibbs wiped the tear away "Our boy's a fighter, we'll find him, I promise you, we'll get him back" he whispered, he just prayed that they found him before anything happened to him.

Shannon nodded, just praying he was right.

Jack had an arm around his granddaughter, and she was nestled into his side, she was clearly not coping. He understood it, he didn't like anything he was hearing & his concern for his grandson was rising by the minute. "Do you know who the teammate was?" he asked, deciding he needed to focus on anything baring his worry.

"Vincenzo De Luca, I've already spoken with Kruse, he's got an agent on the hunt for him as we speak" Brunswick supplied.

"That was the guy that was on the bench today" Tim noted quietly "he's a striker too, isn't he?" he finished looking at Kelly, whom he'd just made eye contact with.

"Think so" Kelly agreed quietly.

Tim nodded, but he left his gaze on Kelly, she really wasn't coping at all. He knew how close the pair were, you'd find no siblings with a tighter bond that these too, so she was clearly worried beyond anything.

Gibbs took a few deep breaths, he had to shove some of his emotions down & deal with the situation "the boys will be in surgery for a while, we should head back to NCIS" he was glad that he had a change of clothes in the office for not just himself, but his whole family, and Kelly definitely needed to change as well, as did Tim.

"I want to be here when he wakes up" Kelly whispered.

"I'll make sure they keep us in the loop angel, as soon as he & Jonas are awake, we'll get back down here, ok?" Gibbs said quietly as he rubbed her back. He could see just how torn up she was, and that alone was killing him.

"Darling, Mike will fight as hard as he can" Shannon soothed, she knew just how close the pair were "Mike never gave an inch to Mac or Quinn or any of those men did he?"

Kelly looked at her mum & shook her head, he certainly gave them no leeway.

"And do you really think Mike will let anyone connected to them beat him?" Shannon asked gently. While she still thought it was ludicrous that it was connected with Mac, she had to say something to get her daughter's spirits up as much as she could "because I don't, Mike wouldn't let anyone connected to them beat him, he never did & never would"

Kelly just nodded, her mum was right, but still his heart had stopped beating, there's only so much someone can fight when they're that bad. She prayed her friend would fight, she couldn't lose him, not now when she had no clue as to her brother's condition or whereabouts, and it was just too much.

Gibbs stood, if they didn't stand up now, they would just stay seated & everyone seemed to be waiting for him to make the first move "let's go" he said softly.

"I'll get you an escort organised, will check in with Sgt Morrison down at the pier & then head over to join you" Marks confirmed before he headed for exit.

Gibbs nodded at Marks before turning "Brunswick make sure they keep us in the loop with the surgeries, there's no point anyone hanging around here just waiting, they'll be a while. Just have one Agent remain & take Ensign Evans formal statement when she's ready"

"Yes boss" Brunswick replied & headed off to arrange it.

As Gibbs led his family towards the exit he was met by Alice & Agent Yates "Alice? Yates? What are you doing here?" he asked surprised, she was definitely needed at HQ.

Alice took in her boss, he only had a small amount of blood, but Kelly & Tim had a lot of it, they really didn't look good. She swallowed a breath before answering "we're both AB Negative boss, so we're here to donate blood for Captain Bond. Vella is having the NSA Naples personnel records combed for anyone else that is the same type too & getting them to head down"

"Thank you Alice, Christopher, we appreciate it" Shannon said softly, she was so grateful that someone had thought to look for blood donors.

"Not a problem ma'am" Yates replied "we'll donate what we can & be back at HQ as soon as possible boss"

"Do that Yates, and you don't leave Alice alone, am I clear?" Gibbs finished eyeing his man. He had no clue what was going on & didn't want Alice exposed. As far as he was concerned NCIS EUFO wouldn't function without her, people thought he & Tristan ran the place, but he knew just how much of that she actually did.

"Yes boss, not for a second" Yates agreed. Though the amount of MP's currently patrolling not just the hospital, and NCIS HQ but the base, it would be nuts for anyone to try anything. He would however ensure Alice was with him the entire time & they actually had a marine driving them, given neither would be able to drive back to HQ once they'd donated.

As Tony cleared the exit he saw that both Lt Carter & Lt Andrews had changed & were back in their marine uniforms, and each had 2 MP's with them, they were clearly going to be providing the escort "Carter, you lead, Andrews at the rear!" he ordered.

"Yes sir!" the pair responded.

Gibbs saw the cars that were waiting for them, there were the 2 marine hummers, and 2 sedans, and he made a quick decision "Tony, you take, Ziva, Silva & Zuse, behind me. McGee, you're with us"

Tony nodded, he had a feeling Gibbs would want his whole family with him "will do boss"

"Dad, you sit in the front. Tim, take the seat behind him" Gibbs said more softly, with only him & Tim in the car, he wanted them both strategically placed on each side of the vehicle. He also knew that even though Kelly should have sat in the front, she'd prefer to be able to sit with her mum, she'd barely let go of either of them. He also knew his wife would want to hold their girl close to her.

Tim nodded in understanding & climbed in, as Kelly sat herself down next to him he helped her with her belt & moved to interlock their fingers, he just squeezed. He knew she'd be seeking comfort from her parents, but he didn't want her to forget that he was also here for her, he felt a small squeeze back & was glad for it. He couldn't believe that Nix had been kidnapped, but he would do anything to get him back, he'd do anything to make sure nothing happened to Kelly. He just didn't know what to think about the supposed connection with Mac, or how it tied into Tony's sister's situation, or why the man that had adopted her had sent money to Kelly & Nix. Things seemed rather complicated & generally when things got complicated, they got dangerous. He'd need to keep his wits about him, because something gave him the feeling that things were going to get worse before they got better.

A/N: Well, looks like everyone is just as confused as each other about all the various connections in this mess, but it seems that something may have gone done back in Austin, but what exactly happened? What exactly will Gibbs & co learn from Marcus?

You know I love to hear your thoughts, so review away! More up soon!