Author's Note: I am grateful for your reviews and comments, and would very much like to hear what you think of this chapter.

Characters' inner thoughts are in Italic.

Chapter 3

The senior legal representative of Kisarios Inc. was a dignified man, with white hair, a serene smile, and mild manners. After a few minutes of dealing with an enraged Gibbs, the dignified man has definitely lost his smile, and most of his manners. Tony was lounging on a chair in the luxurious lobby, watching his boss do his "magic"-if you can really call Gibb's brand of persuasion / intimidation that.

They have been trying to meet Mr. Kisarios for almost an hour now. The nice blonde assistant had talked non stop for 5 minutes to explain why that would not be possible, at least not right now, mentioning video conferences, overseas, urgent meetings and critical deadlines. When Gibbs insisted that the matter was urgent and concerned Kisarios' son, she got a blank look on her face, but she politely asked them to take a seat for a few minutes. A junior legal representative was called, and Gibbs made short work of that one. His supervisor, the dignified looking man, was currently raising his palms up in the universal gesture of surrender, and was discreetly trying to move back a step or two away from Gibbs. No luck there, thought Tony with amusement. Sometimes it looked like Gibbs had no idea what personal space is, but the man definitely knew how to manipulate that space to make the most impression.

Tony freely admitted that he enjoyed watching Gibbs spar with suspects, clueless Law Enforcements personnel, and other assorted characters. It was a bit like a personal hobby, though he suspected that Ducky would have a disturbing psychological label for that one. Then again, Ducky himself liked to talk to his cadavers, McGee was attached to comic books heroes, Gibbs kept building boats in his basement with no intention of sailing them, and Abby slept in a coffin… by comparison, Tony was actually quite normal!

In between rounds with the unfortunate staff of the company, Gibbs has asked him to use his charm on the blonde assistant to gain them entrance to Kisarios' barricaded office. He had tried to explain that in that kind of business environment, he may still have a chance of getting a date with her, but no chance to make her defy her boss' order. Since Tony hasn't yet learned how to say No to Gibbs, he now had her phone number in his pocket, and Gibbs was trying to find another way in.

On the inside, Tony was as angry as Gibbs, every minute lost was taking away from their Lance Corporal's chance to survive his predicament. He was angry, yes, but he wasn't surprised. In his own experience, business will always come first for a man in Kisarios' position. Nothing will take precedence, neither family nor children, a man could even forget his only child, literally not just figuratively.

No, Tony was not enraged, the rage has burned out of him a long time ago, leaving only bitter remnants of disillusionment and pain. He firmly pulled his thoughts away from that direction. He needed to keep his focus on the case, and in order to that he really needed a distraction, something to keep at bay the emotions and memories triggered by his presence in that building, and by the prospect of meeting a man who shared a few traits with his own father. Gibbs in a fit of temper was a good distraction, provided that Tony himself was not the object of that fury.

Gibbs now called to him, and a moment later, Kisarios finally came out of his office, exchanged a brief word with his assistant, greeted them with a curt, "Gentleman, we will need to use the other office," and strode briskly in front of them in a determined way that reminded Tony strangely of Gibbs himself.

Once in their seats, Kisarios said without preamble, "May I see your I.D.s please?"

Gibbs handed them over, along with his personal card, he was used to people giving a cursory glance to the I.D., but Kisarios spent a moment examining them. Gibbs took that chance to examine the man. He was in his early sixties, with sharp dark eyes, strong features, and purposeful movements.

"What happened to Philip?" The question was direct, precise and emotionless.

"Your son has been missing since yesterday, presumably kidnapped." Gibbs was studying the man's face as he replied, he was sure that DiNozzo was doing the same.

"Presumably?!"

Tony gave him a brief account of the relevant facts, then asked, "do you have any idea about what may have happened to your son?"

"None." the man said in an even tone.

Gibbs was not a talkative man by any means, but the one-word answers were starting to irritate him.

"Did anybody contact you recently regarding Philip?" Gibbs asked.

"We have not been in touch for years, and this fact is well known to many people."

"Then, Can you give us any information that might help, about his relations, any potential enemies.."

Kisarios interrupted Tony a bit sharply, "Any information I have is definitely outdated. As for enemies," he added coldly, "Philip is not the type to make enemies, except within his own family." The words were blunt, but the man still sounded almost uninterested.

Gibbs was quite aware of the barely suppressed agitation radiating from Tony. He was finding it hard himself to remain civil to a man who didn't seem to value his son's life. But he was slightly concerned for DiNozzo, Kisarios' indifferent attitude probably reminded him of his own father's negligence. However, Gibbs' real concern was that their hope to find anything that could help them locate their marine was fading fast.

"Do you know if he has been in contact with any other family members, can you give us a list of names?"

The man looked at Tony silently for a few seconds, "you don't seem to understand the situation, Agent DiNozzo, so let me clarify again, there are no contacts and no lists, Philip is no longer a Kisarios, he is simply not a family member."

Tony had a murderous look in his eyes as he invaded the man's personal space, "you really don't care whether he lives or dies!" Tony said in a low, dangerous voice. Before Gibbs could interfere, he exploded, "even if he was in fact kidnapped for ransom, and even if they contact you, you would not contact us. He is not family anymore! So you would just stand by and let him die, wouldn't you?!"

"DiNozzo!"

"Am I a suspect in your investigation, Agent Gibbs?" The man turned to Gibbs, his face still expressionless.

According to Gibbs, the man was probably as bad as some of the criminals they chased, but the law would not recognize that fact.

"No, you're not."

"Then, your agent is out of line," Kisarios turned to DiNozzo, "Your superior, and I don't mean Agent Gibbs, will hear about this. I do not take kindly to being harassed in my own office," he turned to look at Gibbs pointedly, "or to see my staff being harassed." With those words, he strode out of the office, leaving behind two shocked and angry men.

Gibbs slammed the car door shut, then slammed his hands on the steering wheel hard enough to hurt. He turned to his agent with a thunderous look and lashed out, "Our job, DiNozzo, is to find the missing marine, not to prosecute bad fathers! This case is difficult enough without you acting like an inept rookie who can't control his emotions, get your focus back on the case!"

Tony visibly flinched at the cutting words. He has regretted his outburst in the office as soon as it happened, not because the man didn't deserve it, but because he has, in fact, lost his focus, and he owned Philip Moore a lot more than that. Though his emotions were in turmoil, he was now feverishly trying to think of options, leads, anything that could get them one step further towards finding Moore. He couldn't handle the full weight of Gibbs' disapproval, anger and disappointment now. He was barely keeping his own emotions in check, and if anything, Gibbs' censure was distracting him even more. Besides, he has messed up, but he was in no way responsible for their current predicament.

He took a deep breath, and took off his seat belt; thankfully, Gibbs hasn't started to drive yet, otherwise his shaky self-esteem wouldn't be the only thing to suffer damage.

The look in his eyes was as icy as his tone when he turned to his boss, "you're right, I messed up, and I'm not proud of how I handled the father, but I want to find Moore as much as you do. I made one mistake, but it is not my fault that our only lead didn't get us anywhere! I got distracted, I know it is a major sin in your book, and probably never happens to you, but you don't always need to bash me over the head to get my attention!"

He took his stuff and started to leave the car when Gibbs put a hand on his wrist, "what do you think you're doing?"

"Look, if you don't want me to be distracted, then I need to be by myself now," the words 'I need to be away from you' were left unsaid but Gibbs could clearly hear them. Tony went on, "I need to clear my head, get my focus back, that's the only thing that matters now .. the only thing that matters to you, right?"

Gibbs was still grabbing his wrist, and looking at him a bit strangely, and Tony was starting to lose his patience, "I am going to get a cab, and meet you in the bullpen, I don't think you have a rule against cabs, and if you do, I will need to break it this time."

Gibbs slowly released his wrist and started the car, he didn't look at him as he simply said, "Don't be late, DiNozzo, we're back to square one, and we can't afford to lose time." Tony was really tempted to say 'don't you think I know that?!!' But he just strode away silently.

Gibbs felt that they were back to square one on more than just one level, he had no clue how to find his marine, and he was alienating his senior agent, again, his conscience added. DiNozzo was right, he made a mistake but this impasse was not his fault. Even worse, Gibbs himself was guilty of being somehow distracted, though DiNozzo would not have sensed it. Thoughts of Langer and Lee have been disturbing him greatly for days, he was also concerned about Vance's attitude towards Tony, if Kisarios was petty enough to go to Vance, he wasn't sure that Vance wouldn't use that against Tony. But worst of all, he admitted to himself, he has been closely following Tony's reactions during the meeting, even as he was observing Kisarios himself. His only focus should have been on the case, but he couldn't block Tony's agitation. Is that, then, what you're really blaming Tony for? Were you talking to him or to yourself about acting like a rookie? His conscience was just relentless today.

He had no definite answers, but he knew himself enough to recognize that his concern and worry often came out as anger. He easily became angry when he was worried, and more often than not, he became angry at the object of his concern! DiNozzo was probably right when he said that anger was his default setting. However, none of these thoughts would help their Lance Corporal. The case wasn't the only thing that mattered to him, as DiNozzo said, but right now it just has to be.

Tbc.