A/N

Thanks for the reviews...especially the encouragement. :)

Authors write because they enjoy writing. Hopefully, readers read because they enjoy the story.

Would you be able to do me a huge favour? My son has posted his first story on fanfiction. His username is yippyfox. Would some of you be so kind as to read his story and leave an encouraging review for him? You would be encouraging a future author, and you never know what he might write someday! Apparently, my review doesn't count because I am his mom. *smirk* Just go to my favourite stories on my profile page and look for the story Rico's Adventures. He's only posted one chapter so far. Pretty please with a cherry on top?

My chapters may be shorter than normal because my time is so limited. I thought you'd appreciate a little when I can rather than making you wait for weeks and weeks at a time...so if the story seems to be moving slowly, it's just my lack of time, not the story haha. Besides, it will build up your curiosity and imagination to speculate what will happen next, right?

I'm so honoured that you are reading along. Thanks for the private messages that spur me along as well.

Tears soaked the covering over her eyes and leaked down Aimee's cheeks as she attempted to lick her dry lips through the duct tape attached to her mouth. She was lying on her side, her arms and legs were bound and she was blindfolded. She wasn't sure how long she had been lying there but she was wet and cold, having already relieved herself several times. Her heart just seemed to continue hammering in her small chest as her mind spun in a so many directions, wondering what was going to happen to her and if anyone would miss her and if it was going to hurt. She had already come to terms with the fact that she wasn't going to see her sister or Gibbs again. She also decided that she deserved whatever happened to her and that everyone would be much better off without her.

Aimee strained her ears to try and hear something—anything—but the room was as silent as she imagined a tomb in Ancient Egypt would be. She'd already tried rolling around the room, searching and figuring out the size of the room, if there was a door or a window. Having spent as much time at NCIS as she'd had, she'd learned a thing or two. Being really quiet and overhearing their conversations had taught her a lot about what agents did. Aimee had figured out that there was one door in the room and at least one window opposite the door. She could feel the air under the door and she was able to stick her fingers out under it. She knew there were windows because she felt the warmth on her face from the sun. Under different circumstances, she would have bragged to Tony how she figured it out. She felt sure that he'd be proud of her assertions.

A sudden movement from the doorway made Aimee stiffen. She heard footfalls and the door swing open with a loud creaking noise.

"Ugh, the kid pissed herself," complained a deep male voice.

A loud grimace could be heard. "What do you expect, you idiot? Why didn't you check on her and take to the washroom? Have you even given her anything to eat or drink?"

"Hey, I wasn't hired to be a damned babysitter. You said to make sure she didn't go anywhere. She didn't, did she?"

Aimee heard a scuffle and one of the men grunt. She wiggled herself backward until she felt her back touch the wall. She wanted to make sure nothing came up on her from behind. She heard footsteps cross the room and then someone touched her gently. She jerked and screamed but her gag prevented anything but a muffled sound from escaping her lips.

"Shhh, it's okay kid. I'm not going to hurt you. I'm just going to remove this tape from your mouth, okay?"

Aimee felt the tape being pulled from her mouth. She grimaced as it was removed along with the small hairs on her face. It stung much worse than a Band-Aid. She blinked back more tears that were soaked up by the already wet blindfold.

"You thirsty?" The guy said when the gag was pulled from her mouth.

Aimee frantically licked her lips, wishing she could rub the sting from her mouth. She used her shoulder to wipe off her face. She took a deep breath and began to scream as loud as she could. It was a stupid thing to do because she knew she would be stopped but she hoped someone might hear her. Instantly a rough, but a warm hand clamped over her nose and mouth. Her eyes bugged out under the covering. Was he going to suffocate her now as punishment? She jumped when she felt breath close to her ear.

"Shut up, kid." His voice held a very clear warning to it.

Aimee closed her mouth and the hand slowly loosened and was removed from her face.

She felt someone brush hair from her face. "You must be cold."

Aimee shivered as if on cue. She was cold. "Please, lemme go." She sobbed pathetically.

"I'm sorry, kid. I can't do that. Open your mouth. I have some water for you."

She felt a bottle touch her lips. She drank greedily.

"Not so fast. You'll make yourself sick," admonished the man, his voice soft.

Aimee obeyed. She kept drinking and stopping to breathe, then drinking again. She hadn't realised how thirsty she really was. Soon the bottle was taken away. Her face was wet. Water had run under her head, soaking her shirt.

"Why do you bother?" said another voice coming from what Aimee figured was the doorway.

"I'm not going to torture her!" snapped the man close to her head. "Get something for her to eat and something dry for her to wear. She'll get sick if we leave her in these wet clothes."

"Get it yourself. I told you, I wasn't hired to be the kid's nursemaid." Footsteps told Aimee that the other man walked away.

Aimee heard the man stand up and walk away from her and then back towards her. Then she felt something being laid over her.

"I'm going to untie your feet, kid. You're wet so I'm gonna need to pull your pants off."

Aimee's eyes widened as she felt the man untie her feet. The sudden freedom gave her just enough inspiration to spring to her feet. The gasp from the man told her that he hadn't expected that. She leaned against the wall, straining her ears to see where the man was. She would kick him as hard as she could, just like Tony had taught her. Tony had told her just how vulnerable a man could be if you kicked him just right. Ziva had taught her how to roll and get to her feet with her hands tied behind her back. Tony had taught her how to use her shoelaces to break tie straps. Apparently, it was common practice to use tie straps to tie up kids up. Their wrists were small and tie straps were easy. Aimee hadn't been so lucky. Her captors had used duct tape.

"Hey, relax Aimee. I' m not gonna hurt you."

Aimee willed herself to stay silent and concentrate on every sound in the room. Being blindfolded was a disadvantage but she was on her feet and that was a huge improvement in her mind.

"C'mon, kid, what are you gonna do? Run? You wouldn't make it out the door before I'd catch you. Geez, you're definitely are Gibbs kid."

Aimee kept her face neutral but inside her heart clenched. She wished she was more like Gibbs and his real kid. Gibbs was brave and strong. He always did what he needed to do. Aimee heard the man move but the sound travelled away from her and then she heard the door shut. Was the man leaving or just preventing her from escaping? Foot shuffles answered her question. The man kept wandering around the room and not standing in one place. She could hear him breathing and groaning.

Then the movement stopped. Aimee pressed her back against the wall and slowly dragged herself sideways. Her hands felt behind her, getting to know the room better from her new position.

"Telling you to trust me is probably a moot point, isn't it?"

Aimee licked her lips and lifted her shoulder to rub her blond hair from her cheek. She didn't know what he meant by that but she still didn't say anything. Talking to him would distract her. She kept sidestepping and running her hands along the wall. Her hands found something jagged and she stopped. A nail maybe? She stood stock still and began to slowly rip at the duct tape on her wrists.

Her heart beat a steady rhythm in her chest as she tried to not make it noticeable.

"You work for Brody, don't you?" Her voice was gravelly so she cleared her throat several times. Maybe now was the time to distract the man and talk.

She heard him walk closer. "No, I don't work for him."

"Then who do you work for?"

"FBI." The man whispered in her ear and Aimee swung her head away, startled. How had he gotten so close to her without her hearing him move? Aimee stopped moving her hands. Her mouth was like cotton once again. Did this mean he was a good guy or a bad guy? Her lips trembled. She felt a hand stroke her hair and she whimpered.

"That's right, kid. You should be afraid." He pulled her from the wall and picked her up by the waist, tossing her over his shoulder. Aimee screamed and kicked her feet for all she was worth until she found herself lying back on the ground. The FBI man grabbed her by the legs and yanked her pants off in one fluid movement. She felt cold air hit her legs and then in the next moment she felt the warmth as something dry and warm was thrown on top of her.

"I'll be back with something to eat and some dry clothes."

Aimee grimaced and succumbed to sobs once more once she heard the door open and close once more. Her heart was racing and she was having a hard time catching her breath. She was just a little kid. How was she supposed to know what to do? Aimee dug her hands into her hands as hard as she could. She had to stop herself from crying. That wasn't going to help anything. She rolled over and was on her feet again, thankful that the man had only taken her pants and not her underpants as well. She slowly walked backward until she felt her fingers touch the wall again. She was determined to find that jagged nail or whatever it was and keep working to free her hands. Aimee sidestepped and kept fingering the wall behind her. Minute after minute crept by as she carefully felt the wall over and over until she found the jagged edge. Her tongue poked from her mouth as she worked hard to cut the bindings from her hands. If she could free her hands, she could remove the blindfold. She wasn't about to run away, though. She was prepared to see this through but it was going to be on her terms.

xXx—NCIS—xXx

Riley woke with a start to find himself on the floor now still attached to the chair he'd been cuffed to. He grimaced and moaned at the pain in his head. He remembered his rash attempt to free himself and groaned at his stupidity. The apartment was cluttered and he'd lost his footing, hitting his head and knocking his own self out.

"Stupid idiot," he mumbled as he sat up. In a fit of rage at his own foolishness, Riley jumped to his feet and swung himself around. This time he heard the chair smash behind him. Most things in the abandoned apartment were tras, to begin with, so he'd been right in thinking he'd be able to easily break the chair. He was free now but his hands were still cuffed behind his back and he was still tightly blindfolded. Riley carefully stepped nearly tripping, trying to find his way to a wall or a corner. He eventually managed to stumble his way across the room until he ran head first into a wall. He went to work rubbing his head against it, trying to remove the covering from his eyes. Riley felt perspiration grow on his upper lip as he worked to remove the blindfold. He never knew it would be so difficult and it was attached to his hair in places. He kept rubbing and sliding his head against the wall, hoping to find a way to remove it. All at once, the fabric caught onto something jagged on the wall and he felt it move. He kept working at it and finally, the covering moved enough so he could see out of one eye. He scanned the room, trying to remember where he had seen a coat hanger. Riley had had more than one experience with cuffs in his young life. He'd learned young how to escape them.

A sudden noise from behind him caused him to stop and spin around. His heart was hammering in his chest, not knowing if the same people had returned to finish him off or what.

"Don't move, kid!" ordered an authoritative voice.

Riley froze and blinked. Two well-dressed men entered the room, followed by a dark haired woman with her hair tied up in a ponytail at the back of her head. They all had weapons poised to shoot but were slowly dropping them to their sides as their scan of the room only had him and he was hardly a worthy adversary. Riley blinked again, trying to clear his vision as it was still encumbered by the blindfold pressing on his upper lid.

"On your knees," the darker haired man ordered.

Riley grimaced and reluctantly obeyed. If he hadn't have been still half blindfolded and handcuffed, he felt sure he could have escaped. Of course, the guns might have proved a problem. Complying seemed the best option. The man kept his gun trained on Riley as he walked around him and pulled him to his feet. He felt himself being propelled forward and his stomach shoved over a counter. The man removed the blindfold and Riley blinked hard as his eyes adjusted to being free. He turned his head to get a better look at the guy. Riley furrowed his brow as it dawned on him that he recognised the guy.

"You're that agent from the street," said Riley, grimacing as his hands were released from the cuffs restraining him. Riley straightened up, his hands bordering on numbness and he quickly began rubbing his wrists as he turned to face the man who'd freed him.

"Special Agent DiNozzo." The agent flashed his badge quickly and replaced his gun in its holder. "You're the kid from the alley."

Riley dropped his shoulders and leaned against the counter he had been shoved against when the agent had released him.

"Tony, look." Both Riley and the other agent turned to see the other man in the room hold up Aimee's shoe. "It's Aimee's."

The agent called Tony turned and eyed Riley dangerously causing Riley to swallow in trepidation. Riley's hands went up in defence. He was still pinned against the counter in a corner with very little room to escape.

"Where's the little girl?"

Riley swallowed convulsively. "They took her. I-I…" he stammered, his heart thrashing hard in his chest.

"Who?" demanded Tony, grabbed Riley by the scruff of the neck.

"I-I dunno. They burst into the room before I could do anything. I tried to stop them but they overpowered me!" Riley felt like his head would explode. One bad thing after the other seemed to happen to him. He never caught a break.

Tony released Riley with a shove, digging his back further into the sharp-edged counter. Riley groaned and tried to slide sideways but was pinned by Tony.

"Anything else, McGee?"

The lightered haired agent shook his head and walked up to stand in front of them. He held up the shoe so Riley could get a good look at it. It was a pink camo running shoe and it looked much smaller when an adult male held it.

"I swear I was only trying to protect her, man."

Riley blinked back moisture building in his eyes as he looked towards the woman agent in the room, trying to elicit sympathy for her. The woman pulled out her phone, hit a button and held the cell to her ear. Riley heard a voice answer and the woman walked from the room, leaving Riley alone with the two male agents.

"Whaddaya think, McGee? How many ways do you think we can make Riley talk?"

Riley's eyes budged and he gasped out loud. He didn't scare easily. He'd been through a lot in his young life which made him tough. He wasn't a sickly, skinny person either but in comparison to the agent, he was no match.

"Knock it off, Tony," said McGee, shoving Tony out of the way and allowing Riley to move away from the counter. The agent gave him a small smile and offered a chair for Riley to sit in. Riley looked towards Tony who was still glaring at him and sat.

"How do you know my name?" he finally thought to ask.

"Found your jacket in the alley," said Tony as he began to pace in front of Riley. Riley furrowed his brow wondering how that had happened. He didn't remember dropping it. Hell, he didn't even remember wearing it.

The agent called McGee pulled another chair over from the debris in the room and sat across from Riley. Riley swallowed and kept an eye on the other agent who was pacing like a caged wild animal.

"Aimee was here with you. Why didn't you bring her to Gibbs? He gave you his card."

Riley wrung his hands. He should have called the name on the card. If he had, he would have gotten rid of the kid and not be in this predicament. Riley's mind flashed back to the fear in Aimee's eyes and the bruises and scrapes on her face. There was no way he could have slept at night if he'd have given her back only to be beaten again. He wouldn't do that to a dog let alone another human being.

Just then the female agent returned to the room. "Gibbs wants us back at NCIS."

The agent called Tony balked indignantly. "What about the kid?"

She merely shrugged. "Let him go."

"What the hell?"

"It is not a request, Tony. Come on." With those words, the woman left the room.

McGee stood to his feet and walked towards the door, turning to look at Tony. "You coming, Tony?"

Tony kept pacing. "In a minute."

McGee left the room leaving Riley alone with Tony.

"Answer the question."

Riley blinked, feeling completely disconcerted by the change of events. He thought he was going to be busted and they were going to let him go? Riley was reeling from everything and couldn't stop his heart from hammering against his ribcage.

"Answer the damn question! Why didn't you call the name on the friggin card?" Tony grabbed him by the scruff of the neck again, half lifting him off the chair.

Riley felt terror build up within him. How many times had his father grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and beat him senseless? Riley closed his eyes and forced himself to stay lucid. Losing control now would only make things worse,

"I-I…uhh…s-she made me promise not to call him."

Tony glared at him. "Why would she do that?"

"I-I don't know…maybe she's tired of him beating her. You should have seen her face, man. All bruised up. She begged me not to call him."

Tony released his grip on Riley's shirt, running his hands through his dark hair.

Riley took that opportunity to spring to his feet and back away in fear. Tony turned to him and pointed a finger at him gruffly.

"Gibbs didn't beat her, you idiot. Damn it! She nearly fell off a roof…Gawd!" Tony let out a streak of curses while he shook his head. Then he looked up at Riley with a more softened expression gracing his face. "Look, Riley, Aimee is in severe danger. Those people who have her are not fooling around. They're gonna kill her. Calling Gibbs was the only thing you should have done."

Riley swallowed hard taking in the agent's words. How could he have known? He only had what he could see at face value.

Tony looked at him again, his face softening further almost like he was reading his mind. "I'm sorry, Riley. You couldn't have known all that." Tony cursed again and walked towards the door.

Riley took a deep breath as he saw the agent walk away. He released it very slowly, trying to slow down his heart rate. At this point, he was beginning to feel like his heart was going to leap from his chest and leave without him. Suddenly the agent stopped and turned to look at him once more.

"You don't have to keep running you know. NCIS can help if you'll let us."

Riley hesitated a moment as he stared at the dark-haired agent. He'd been running for so long, he wasn't sure what it would feel like not to be running from something. Not running sounded nice. But he knew better. Everyone had an angle. Everyone wanted something from him. He had nothing left to give and he wasn't ready to trust anyone.

Riley stuck his chin up proudly. "I don't need anyone."

Tony stared at him for what seemed like a long time before he spoke. "We all need somebody, kid."

"I don't."

Tony nodded and walked out leaving Riley alone once more.

Riley leaned against the wall and allowed the tears to fall. He rubbed his filthy hands across his face and slipped to his knees. Soon the tremors overwhelmed him and he collapsed to the floor.