(Author's Note)

Sorry it took so long for this to be updated, and for the length of this post. I know, usually I do one or two pagers but I was inspired on this story. Something about it, perhaps that it came to me in a dream, or that I could definitely see it happening on the show or IRL has drawn me to it. Now, am I leading to a romance like I have in the past. You decide on that, will McGee come back? Hmm, won't tell. Will they find Ziva and Tony before too late? Well, I don't have a good track record with Tony surviving any of my stories, but I haven't decided yet. Will Gibbs be able to calm down and heal? It's Gibbs, think about it. Now, if there are any more questions please direct them in your comments. Thanks again to those who have posted reviews on this piece, it does mean a lot to me to read them, to simply know that people do like part of my hard work. Till next time, which will probably be pretty soon since I am on break.

Chapter Two

Desperation

His body was numb, the pain a simple memory to his semi-conscious mind, though the warmth of the liquid sliding down his throat in thick crimson lines brought him back if only for a moment. The cold steel of the blade pressing past the thin membrane of his flesh made him remember the severity of his situation. The brightness of his eyes were dulled by the lax beating of his heart, those mud colored pools were dulled so much that they appeared almost opaque in the dimly lit warehouse. Tony's eyes blinked away the glint that radiated off of the eighteen inch blade held by one of the most sinister beings he had ever met in his long law enforcement career. Atalo Baldasarre stood before him with a raised smirk, his fingers adding pressure by pressure to the knife at the NCIS agent's throat.

"So, you are the brave Agent DiNozzo that put away my second in command eh? What was it like, putting away the very man that would have you and your whole team destroyed because you and Agent Gibbs just had to nail the second best assassin in the nation?" Atalo pressed the tip of the knife just a bit deeper, giving a thin stream of blood a stronger current. The tip of Atalo's tongue ran across his lips with the desire to taste the crimson goodness he saw dripping down the olive colored flesh of his Italian cousin.

My eyes fell on the small group that surrounded Tony and I forced myself up, my bonds had been loosened and the fatigue of my injuries had faded with the strain induced sleep. My fingers tightened against the cold metal of the chains they had wrapped about my abdomen and I shook them with a violent growl. I was going to do anything in my power to distract Atalo's goons from my weak partner, even if it meant dying far before my time. I wasn't going to let them torture DiNozzo, he was my partner after all and he had helped me out of enough jams in my short career at NCIS.

Atalo's eyes narrowed upon the moving form of Agent David, "She is a troublesome little twit is she not boys? Perhaps she needs to be properly, broken in?" He smirked, his tongue clicking against his teeth as he moved the knife away from Tony's throat only to plunge it into his left thigh at full force making the man scream out in pain. His breath coming in short, ragged gasps as Atalo twisted and turned the blade in his thigh moving it up and down with his eyes remaining locked upon Ziva's.

I growled, my body thrusting forward against my bonds as Atalo drove the knife into Tony's leg. My heart ached seeing the pain streak through his body. His olive colored skin shifted to an almost pale white, his body glistening in the soft light with the thin sheen of sweat that had built up there. In my heart I knew that I had caused my partner's newest pain, but at the same time as the heavy beat of the gang's footsteps headed my way I knew that in the long run I would buy him more time in this world.

Even as two of the brutes strong armed me into standing, their nails digging into my flesh causing half moons to tear and began to bleed, I did not waver from my cause. I threw my body into the goon on the left, my head striking him in his rib cage. The man wavered and collapsed, but the one on my right pulled me back kneeing me in the ribs causing a loud gasp to echo from my body as a fist struck me straight in the chest. I fell back, my head slamming against the concrete floor and then silence. Darkness ebbed it's way into my eyes as I gazed at the blurred image of the light above me. I could hear laughing, I could feel them touching my body, could hear the distant groan of Tony as he protested what they were doing and then, then nothing my body let go of it's current condition and slipped back into it's unconscious state.

Meanwhile at the Hospital

Doctor Donald Mallard sat outside the door of Special Agent Gibbs' hospital room, his fingers running over the creased folds of a dog eared copy of the novel he read every time he was sent to a hospital to sit or to be taken care of. He could remember back to when he was a child in Cambridge, after falling from a porch swing he had a spiral break in his right forearm. He spent a few weeks in the hospital and during that time he read the same novel twice, the novel in question was The Awakening by Kate Chopin. It was about a woman who found herself awakening from the dream that was her life. She was neither a happy woman, nor a terribly sad woman but a woman that knew naught what she wanted out of life until an affair would bring her full circle to the desires that rested deep within her heart. It was this book that he read now, his glasses low on his nose as his eyes scanned each word before him.

"Ducky, don't you ever buy new books? I mean honestly, I've seen you read that at least thirty times since I've known Jethro."

"Oh my dear Director, worry naught, I buy new books but it is the classics that keep my interest when our dear friend finds his way back to this place." Ducky smiled and leaned back against the wall his fingers sliding the book closed as he gazed at Shepherd. "How is Timothy doing, better I do hope?"

"He seems to be coming out of the shock, he is still rambling on about an error, I think he is blaming himself but until he snaps out of it we will never know. Abby is with him now, a familiar face will probably help the young man."

"Always helped Jethro to have friends around, though I do hope he wakes up soon. I am worried about Anthony and Ms. David, they are two wonderful agents but even they have their limits."

"Don't remind me Ducky, the FBI has two teams on it, I can only spare one at the moment and the CIA is thinking of getting involved. Fornell is everywhere these days, he is taking Jethro's injury very personal. Then again, I think we are the only two that don't know why Jethro was so deeply involved in the case anyway."

"You are correct, if Jethro was passionate about this case, Fornell would indeed know about it before we would. They may not be drinking buddies, but Jethro would know he could depend on Tobais in a nutshell."

"I just wish he knew he could depend on me Ducky."

"M'lady, I am sure he knows he can to a point, but you have to remember we are talking about Jethro here, not DiNozzo or McGee. Jethro is a lone wolf, if he had it his way..."

"If he had it his way he'd be right where he is now. I know Ducky, but sometimes I just need to be frustrated at my blue eyed demon."

Doctor Mallard started to smirk at the last comment but the rush of a young nurse going into Jethro's room caused him to throw his book down and spring to his feet. He may have been older than most in NCIS, but it held no matter when it involved his friends. There was movement on the previously dead bed, work hardened hands flailed in the air striking at the various IV's attached to Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs' body. It was obvious he had his own personal agenda, those blue eyes fierce but at the same time weak.

Ducky frowned, his friend was panicked, even though Jethro would never admit it Ducky knew him better not to see the fear in this ice blue eyes of his. "Shh, Jethro, everything is going to be alright just calm down and I'll tell you what happened." For a moment Gibbs continued to fight the nurse and those wretched cords, but as he felt the hand of Ducky fall on his shoulder he let out a soft grunt and then let his muscles relax against the bed. "That's it Jethro, just relax and we'll talk."

Gibbs turned his eyes to Shepherd and then, recognition appeared, his fingers flew to his throat skimming the flesh there before roaming about his face. His fingers felt gauze and he grimaced, those blue eyes slid closed and the memories floated back to him in an urgent frenzy.

They were on a rooftop in the warehouse district, McGee was stationed by one of the air returns, DiNozzo was at Gibbs' flank, and Ziva was stationed above the door to the roof laying prone with her gun pointed downwards. And then, all hell broke loose. Men came out of no where, Tony leapt forward knocking Gibbs out of the way as the first shot gun blast rang forth the bird shot lodging deeply into the rusted metal of a rooftop pipe.

Tony rolled, his body forcing itself up as he fired away at the movement of Atalo's men. His Sig Saur ran out of bullets fast, his trigger finger not letting go even as he felt a bullet strike him in the right side, lodging between ribs. The young man fell, his knees collapsing upon each other with a loud groan. Tony's fingers slid over the wound applying pressure as his free hand reloaded his Sig.

Ziva had long since leapt off the top of the door, her trigger finger growing restless as she took down man after man until she felt a knife lodge in the back of her thigh. She screamed, her fingers wrapping around the hilt of the knife at her side as she spun ripping the knife from her thigh whilst thrusting her own knife into the offender's throat. He sputtered for a few minutes and then collapsed in a pool of his own blood. Ziva took a knee, her brows furrowed as she ripped off the bottom half of her shirt and quickly tightened it around her bleeder. She sprang forward sheathing her knife and taking the offender's as well as his primary weapon. With two pistols she headed forward, her body slow moving due to the leg injury, as men moved before her and behind her she would take pop shots taking out as many as she could currently.

When Tony rolled off of Gibbs, the older man sprang forward his body leaping over the roof top pipe. His knee slammed against the concrete as he grabbed McGee by the shoulders shaking him roughly, his fingers digging into his velcro straps of the kevlar vest the agent was wearing. "God damn it! Snap out of it McGee!" Gibbs raised his palm, striking McGee in the cheek and sending the young man into the metal pipe. A dull thud rang out as McGee whimpered and scurried beneath it, something he had seen had broken this young agent and done it at the speed of light. That's when the pain seared across Gibbs' body, the man was thrown into the pipe his blood spattering it as he slid down it to land upon the ground with a soft groan. The face before him, the face of the man who had killed him, the man who had trespassed against him so many times before started to blur and then darken, then it simply faded away.

Gibbs shivered, his muscles tightening as he curled into a ball then relaxed with a loud grunt. His eyes flickered for a moment before they fell to rest upon Ducky, "How are they?" His speech as slow and groggy, but that was understandable with the amount of drugs he was currently on and the amount of trauma he had sustained in the past couple of days.

"How are whom Jethro?"

"Damn it Ducky, you know whom. My team, how is my team?" With each word his tone roughened, it was also raising in degrees of rage. He hated to be treated like a child, expecially when they thought they were protecting him from something. "Tell me the truth Duck, how many have I lost?"

"So far, we don't think you have lost any lives Jethro. We were hoping you could tell us where we might be able to find Anthony and Ziva. They are still missing in action Jethro, whilst your junior agent McGee is in shock and will possibly be moved to the psych ward in the near future." Ducky knew honesty was not always the best policy, but in this case Ducky knew that if he didn't say the truth, it would be ripped from him with extreme prejudice.

"Two...two agents are MIA and you two are sitting on your ass not doing a thing about it!" Gibbs' fingers gripped the metal bar handles of his bed and he pulled himself up, his stitches giving way to the strain he was placing upon them as he threw himself forward and out of the bed. He fell, his body rolling onto it's side in pain as he grimaced, blood seeping into his hospital gown and making the thin material cling to his body.

Ducky growled, his arms wrapping around the man to pull him up slowly and get him back into the bed with the aid of the nurse and Shepherd. After a few moments of grimacing and soft growling Gibbs finally calmed down, with the aid of a sedative of course and restraints. Shepherd drug her hand over the sweat covered brow of her former partner and sighed softly, "Ducky, we have to find them, I don't think that Jethro will ever forgive himself if we don't find them."

"We'll find them Jen, we will. Why don't you go back to the office, I'll stay here with Jethro and Timothy just to make sure they will be alright. I'm sure they will keep Jethro sedated for a long while so he doesn't rip his fresh stitches again. As for Timothy, Abigail is his best hope for recovering some ounce of sanity."

Meanwhile at the Warehouse

My eyes blink open slowly, the hot metallic taste of my own blood lingers on my lips even now as I roll onto my side. They have removed my bonds, and left me laying there half naked upon the cold concrete ground of this damp dark warehouse. My shirt is torn, hanging on by only a thin line of what used to be a sleeve. With a soft groan I slowly made my way to my knees, the injured leg from before dragging painfully as I crawled across the floor towards my partner. He too had been released from his bonds, and had been ungracefully laid out upon the concrete floor in the dried pool that was his blood. His sides were rising and falling, even as his limp fingers slipped across the floor and his chest collapsed to the ground the fact that he had regular breathing satisfied my worry for the mean time. He had been horribly beaten, all on my account of course. My fingers fanned over his cheek gently and I slipped an arm under his ribs to raise him to lay in my lap.

His eyes rolled open, those faded brown orbs gazing at me weakly as he raised his hand to rest against mine. "Ziva, they didn't...?" His voice was weak but his intentions were noble enough, my fingers gently squeezed his cheek as I shook my head to tell him they had not, even though they really had. But Tony didn't need to know that, not now, not in this state. His head nuzzled into my abdomen, my eyes slid closed with the pain of his skull running along the area where I had been punched. But, the pain was worthy knowing my partner was alive and conscious for now.

Tony's eyes scanned her's, he saw the lie there, saw the pain of the truth but he'd say nothing for now at least. His fingers ran along her abdomen, feel the broken bones and the places where fists had indented her skin. He'd sigh gently and lean in to kiss the flesh there for a moment before gazing back up at Ziva. "You know, you didn't have to distract them for me. You were hurt far too much already, and I don't have much left in me. At least one of us should make it out of her Ziva."

My finger pressed against his lips and I leaned forward, my lips next to his ear lobe as I released a soft purr towards him. And then I took the lobe into my mouth, biting down hard until I tasted the sweet metallic blood that my partner held. "If Gibbs were to hear you say that I do believe he would have your balls on a platter."

"Ziva, you are confusing..."

"Oh shut up, I'm Israeli I can say it however I please." I'd smirk and stroke his ear once more, to say I wasn't worried about my partner would be like saying I had never loved in my life. Which was in fact a lie, I leaned back against the wall behind us, my fingers skimming his flesh to keep him awake and to help calm us both. Neither of us have much more strength left in us, the one thing we do have though, is resolve. Even if we die here we will find away for the team to find us. Besides, both of us have family after all.