Gibbs was back beside the bed before Terrance could see it, and he gripped the man's restrained arm right over a bandage that was already bleeding through. He pressed his thumb into it a bit, ultimately ending the killer's laughter.
"Ow! What the hell are you doing?"
"What's the matter?" Rossi asked as he approached the other side. "Can't take what you dish out?"
"I've told you everything. Hell, you have it all on video!" Terrance yelled.
"Lower your voice, Terrance," Gibbs said, squeezing a bit harder.
"Aghh…what… What do you want from me?"
Gibbs eased up a bit but kept his hand where it was. "You're gonna tell me exactly what you did to your last victim and why we haven't been able to find her."
Terrance grinned on one side of his mouth. "She hasn't come to you?" He looked away, down at nothing in particular as he thought. "Perhaps she's realized that we belong together…" Gibbs squeezed again. "Gah! Damnit, alright!" he said in a screaming whisper. Gibbs released him. "I don't mind rehashing the story anyway." He smiled.
"First, how were you able to capture her?" Gibbs asked.
"Oh that's easy. Same way I captured all the others."
"Tranquilizers," Rossi said. "But if she's super-human, how would that have worked on her?"
"Well…" He paused to think for a moment. "It didn't work for long, actually. Just long enough to get her into the van. Had to keep dosing her. I ended up putting in an IV. That seemed to do the trick. Long enough to get her restrained in my workshop." Gibbs glanced through the window at Tony.
"Is that what you call it," Rossi said, bringing Gibbs' attention back to the killer.
"Her resistance to the drugs had me thinking she was probably an addict. I've run across quite a few, but none that I had to use that much on. I was a bit worried I might kill her before I got her home." He smiled in reminiscence. "They did make her sick, though," he said, tilting his head in thought. "For a good few hours after waking up she looked positively terrible. I kept that in mind as it came in handy for our little sessions," he said with a fond grin. "They kept her weak, you see," he elaborated. "Just weak enough that she couldn't fight back. She gave me a black eye the first time I tried it without. As exhilarating as it was, I have much more fun making them change color.
"The torture… Well, it started out mostly like I did the others. Mostly superficial wounds. Nothing that would be life-threatening. I like to keep them a while, you know."
*~.~*
Torres and Bishop were on their way back to the crime scene with Ducky, whom Gibbs had fly down in order to get his opinion of the killer's mindset. Not that the BAU didn't do a good job of it, but Gibbs liked to cover all the bases.
When they arrived at the house of DT, they noticed that most of the local PD had gone. There were a few still posted to keep an eye on the grounds, but McGee was the only one still inside waiting on the rest of his team. When they entered, Bishop noticed how Tim was slightly pacing the ground level of the home, his thumbnail at his mouth as he chewed absentmindedly on it.
"Crime scene giving you the jitters, Timmy?" Nick asked with a slight smirk.
Tim shook his head dismissively. "No. I mean yeah. Of course. But that's not what's bothering me I don't think."
"Are you feeling okay?" Bishop asked, stepping forward as she set her bag down.
"I—I don't know. It's uh… It's strange. I feel on edge. Sick to my stomach. I don't know…"
"Anyone would be sick to their stomach from this house of horrors," Nick told him. "Just chill for a bit. Sit down and drink some water. We'll go downstairs with Ducky."
After a moment, Tim met his eyes and nodded. "Yeah. Okay…"
*~.~*
The killer's description of his treatment of Rhoda went on and on in seriously unfortunate detail. Those who'd been standing outside the window had found seating out of the way of passing nurses, the retelling of horrors becoming a bit difficult to take standing up any longer.
Reid, having an eidetic memory, would forever be forced to recall all of these details more vividly than the rest of them, but he was more concerned with Tony's current state than anything else at the moment. The older man was taking it all very personally. At one point, he'd taken out the earpiece and handed it to the younger man and stormed out down the hallway toward the front entrance. Reid had then given his own and Tony's to Emily, who gave him an understanding look before he followed the NCIS agent.
He found him on a bench in a designated smoker's area. His head was between his knees and his heavy breathing was evident by the quick swelling and contracting of his ribcage. Spencer slowly made his way to sit beside him.
"I'm guessing you're in the middle of an anxiety attack," Reid said, trying not to sound too scientifically cold. "Can I do anything to help you?"
Tony shook his head as he tried harder to get his breathing under control. "Hasn't happened...in a while," he said. "Not like this."
"It's understandable," Reid replied. "I know you only spent a matter of hours with Rhoda, but she shares something with you that no one else does. Forgive me for presuming, but I think your panic stems more from the fact that these terrible things that have been done to her could very well be done to you…"
"It's kinda been a fear of mine," Tony said as he began to straighten up a bit. "But I always thought it'd be scientific experimentation. I'd be held at Area 51 and dissected and put back together again, ya know? But this is…"
"Different."
"Yeah. You could say that. That and…well I can't help but to wonder where Rhoda is now. What she's thinking. If she's thinking…I mean, she could've hidden herself somewhere and she's too scared to come back out again. She'd have no way to contact us. Not unless her memory's as good as yours," he said with a slight smirk.
Reid returned the small smile. "There's also the possibility that she's been injured to the point that she doesn't remember any of you," he said. Tony looked down worriedly. "DT said he'd, at one point, cut her throat all the way through to the vertebrae. Her death could've been blood loss or asphyxiation, either way causing deprivation of oxygen to the brain. From what you've told me, this could result in significant memory loss." Reid looked to Tony for any signs he'd caused him more anxiety. Mostly he seemed thoughtful. "Of course, she could just be having trouble finding transportation back to DC." Tony let out a small, unamused laugh. "Then again, there's also the extremely remote possibility that she was found and captured by someone else. Or rather, perhaps a faction of the CDC. I guess it could be both. She might've tried to get help and then had that person call the police or… Oh god, wait. I'm sorry! I didn't mean—"
"It's okay…" Tony said from where he'd returned his head between his knees. "Just my worst nightmare."
*~.~*
"I'm gonna check on McGee," Elle told them before heading back up the stairs to the ground floor. She hadn't expected to find her teammate even worse off than they'd left him just minutes ago. "Tim!" she said as she quickly approached where he was barely hanging onto his chair. "What is it? What's wrong?" she asked, gripping onto his arms to feel how tightly the muscles there were clenched. He seemed to be hyperventilating, and as he met her eyes, he could only shake his head, the confusion just as clear on his face as it was on hers.
As he began to slip out of the chair, Elle grabbed onto him, making sure his descent wouldn't cause injury. "Ducky!" she yelled loudly…
*~.~*
Gibbs felt his phone vibrating in his pocket. He'd ignored it the first time, but a second attempt could mean that it was important. He pulled his phone out and looked up at Rossi who gave him a small nod. Then he walked to the other side of the room, answering as he faced the wall.
"Hey, Gibbs," Ellie's voice sounded on the other end. "I know you're busy, and I'm not exactly sure what's happening right now, but I think you need to check on Tony."
Gibbs immediately turned toward the window and realized that his SFA was no longer there. "What makes you say that?" he whispered.
"McGee's been…um…not doing so well for the past ten minutes or so. I had Ducky come up to check on him—uh—"
"Jethro," the ME's voice took over suddenly. "I have no explanation for Timothy's unresponsiveness except to assume that he's picking up some kind of signal from Anthony." His voice was purposely quiet, but Gibbs could hear him clearly. "The young man is aware of us, and he can understand what we're saying, as far as I can ascertain. However, he's currently incapable of any verbal response. He's in respiratory distress and it seems as though his thoughts are in two separate places, which leads us to believe that that may quite literally be where they are. Is Tony alright?"
"I dunno, Duck, but I'm gonna find out." He ended the call and glanced once more to Agent Rossi. The man approached Gibbs.
"Is everything okay?" he asked.
"Something might be up with Tony. I need to go find him. Are you good?"
"I think we've heard enough. Go take care of your man," he said, patting him on the arm before he left the room. As soon as he was out in the hallway, JJ approached Gibbs.
"Reid went after him," she told him. "I think they're outside."
"Thanks."
*~.~*
"Maybe I should get a doctor," Reid said, feeling hopeless as he watched Tony panic.
"Won't help," he said between breaths. "Meds; they don't…do much for us…"
Suddenly Gibbs was there standing in front of them. Reid looked up at him, meeting eyes that understood exactly what was going on with his agent. Reid moved out of the way as Gibbs knelt down in front of Tony, his hands going to the agent's shoulders. "Tony," he said, patiently waiting for a response.
"Gibbs?"
"Yeah. How ya doing?"
"Obviously…been better, boss."
*~.~*
"Gibbs is gonna help Tony, okay, McGee?" Bishop said where she sat beside him on the floor. She had Tim resting back against the wall to keep him from falling over. "Hey," she told him, her hand grabbing his chin so he'd look at her. "It's gonna be okay," she told him, a small smile fighting its way to her face to help calm him. "Everything is gonna be okay. C'mere," she said, decidedly pulling her teammate into a hug. "You're gonna be fine. Okay? I promise."
Nick looked at them with concern from where he paced the floor as Tim had earlier.
"Nicholas," Ducky said from the chair he'd taken. "You're certainly doing him no good worrying."
He stopped in his steps, his eyes darting around on the floor in front of him before meeting the doctor's eyes. "I hate not being able to do something," he said quietly.
"Nevertheless, there's nothing we can do that Agent Bishop isn't already doing. All we can do is wait."
"I hate waiting."
*~.~*
"Ya gotta breathe, Tony," Gibbs instructed.
"I'm trying. I swear."
"Come on," Gibbs grunted as he stood back up. "My knees can't take the concrete."
"Sorry, boss."
"Come on. Stand up," he instructed.
"I might fall over."
"I won't let you." He held his hand out to Tony and the younger agent hesitantly grabbed onto it, allowing Gibbs to help him to stand. What he hadn't expected was for Gibbs to pull him into an embrace. The shock was enough to distract Tony's mind for a moment. He held onto his boss for fear of falling and maybe a little bit because he really needed to hold onto something right now. He felt Gibbs firmly rub his hands up and down his back quickly.
"Just gotta breathe, DiNozzo. Gotta get outta your head, okay?"
"Trust me," Tony said when he could finally manage. "There's nowhere else I'd rather get out of right now."
"Hey, look at me," Gibbs said as he pulled away slightly, tucking a finger under Tony's chin. "She got herself out. She kicked his ass and ran like hell. She's gonna be okay and so are you. You got me?" Tony thought for a moment, his gaze falling somewhere else. "Hey!" Gibbs pulled his attention back to him. "You got me?" he asked again more firmly.
"Tony?" Suddenly Tim's voice sounded in his head. "Tony, are you okay?"
"Tim?" Tony said aloud. Gibbs' eyes narrowed at the agent.
"What was that? What happened?"
"I…" Tony realized in that moment that he needn't speak out loud. "Had a panic attack I think," he told him. "Why? How did you…"
"It happened to me too."
"Shit," Tony said aloud, pulling away from Gibbs and shaking himself off.
"You okay?" Gibbs asked. Tony nodded.
"Gimme a sec," he told him. "I'm sorry about that. I didn't realize…"
"You don't have to apologize. I just wanted to make sure you were okay. It felt like…like you were having a heart attack or something."
"What's happening?" Reid asked Gibbs quietly as they watched him sort of pace and not look anywhere in particular.
"I think he's talking to McGee."
"He's… Wait, what?"
Tbc…