Disclaimer: NCIS and its characters do not belong to me and I am making no money from this.

Many thanks to Mr VP for the Beta and to Cold Ember for making sure this isn't too 'English.' Any remaining mistakes are mine.

AN Thank you again for the lovely reviews and your interesting comments, they really made my day. I will reply personally as soon as the alerts arrive, if they do! There's no shipping, I like the father/son dynamic as well.

McGee hurried into the bullpen and went straight to Gibbs' desk. "How's Tony?" he asked as Gibbs stood to allow him access to his computer.

"Sleeping," replied Gibbs dryly, looking meaningfully over at the body on the floor.

"Oh," McGee ducked his head and lowered his voice, already tapping on the keyboard. "Ziva's gone down to Abby with the evidence bags Boss."

Gibbs nodded acknowledgement. "Murphy?"

"Checking your kitchen, should be light enough outside in another half hour."

Gibbs began to pace. He was missing something, he knew it. Walking over to McGee's desk he called up the search he had been running when McGee interrupted him. Taylor hadn't had many visitors in prison but his gut was telling him that he had definitely been recruited there. He called up inmate lists for the time of Taylor's imprisonment and began to search for any inmates with connections to any NCIS cases from the past five years.

For a few minutes the bull pen was silent as both men worked. The silence was broken abruptly when DiNozzo's eyes shot open and he tried to sit up too quickly. He couldn't contain the groan as he eased his stiff and sore body back to the floor. Gibbs was at his side immediately, holding a restraining hand to his shoulder, a question in his eyes.

"Karl," DiNozzo ground out, his eyes closed in pain.

Gibbs threw a glance across at McGee who was half out of his seat. The young man shook his head.

"Karl?" Gibbs questioned.

Tony blinked, trying to focus his good eye. The left was all but swollen shut by now Gibbs noted. "Just before I passed out, it was muddy, Taylor stood under a flood light. He turned around and said something to someone behind him. I think," he paused and swallowed painfully. "I think he called him Karl."

"Good job Tony," Gibbs commended, patting the shoulder he still held. "How many floodlights?" he queried, gently teasing the memory from DiNozzo's subconscious.

"They were all round the pitch," Tony smiled slightly at the memory. "Minor league, small stadium." He frowned slightly. "That's when I heard the train."

"On it Boss," McGee called from Gibbs' desk. A few moments later he put a map onto the plasma.

Gibbs helped DiNozzo to his feet so that the younger man could see the screen, pushing him gently into his seat as he swayed.

"There are four possibilities within an hour's drive of your house Boss," McGee reported. "Tony was left on your doorstep two hours after leaving work so, allowing time for him to go to Mario's and then home, an hour away from your place seems the maximum possible distance."

Gibbs nodded, agreeing with the assessment. He looked sideways at DiNozzo. The younger man was hunched over in his chair and was shivering slightly. Gibbs bent over and picked up the discarded blanket, wrapping it around Tony's shoulders before asking if there was anything else that he remembered.

Before he had a chance to reply McGee spoke again, pointing to the screen. "Each of the train lines run night services Boss but these two run hourly services, both on the hour. This one," he pointed again, "has trains every fifteen minutes and this one every half hour."

Gibbs frowned. DiNozzo had left just a little after 21:00 hours. He wouldn't have gotten home before 22:00 by the time he had stopped at Mario's so each of the lines would have most likely been on night service timetables by the time he had been attacked. Turning again to the injured man he asked. "Can you tell how many trains you heard Tony?"

DiNozzo shook his head doubtfully. "I can only remember one clearly," he said, tongue sticking out in concentration. "It blew a whistle," he suddenly realised, pushing himself out of his seat to look more closely at the screen.

"This one," McGee pointed excitedly. "It's the only line that crosses a road within a half mile of the stadium, that must be our best bet."

Gibbs looked at his watch, five AM; they would be able to see clearly by the time they arrived. "McGee," he barked. "Have you traced the message?"

"To a point Boss," McGee admitted, "but it's been expertly encrypted. I've got decryption programs running but they'll take time."

"Send the data to Abby she can monitor it while we're gone. Feed the traces from the prison records down to her lab too."

"On it Boss, I'll factor in the name Karl if you can give me five minutes."

Gibbs nodded. "Ziva and I'll meet you in the garage," he said, gathering a set of keys from his desk. "DiNozzo."

"I'll run the searches from Abby's lab Boss," Tony said, anticipating Gibbs' orders.

His superior smiled faintly. "Come on, we'll see what she's got. Five minutes McGee," he warned as he escorted DiNozzo from the bullpen. Once in the elevator Gibbs asked quietly. "You up for this?"

DiNozzo smiled slightly. "Well hanging around Abby sure beats the dreams I've been having Boss."

Gibbs snorted. "You look like hell."

"Yeah? Well I have felt better," Tony admitted. "But I'm fine to run searches, maybe jog another memory or two."

Gibbs nodded, making a mental note to call Ducky on the way to the garage. He and Palmer could wait in Abby's lab too, help her with the testing and be on hand should Tony need anything. Satisfied he strode out of the elevator and into the lab without another word followed, a little more slowly, by DiNozzo.

"Anything Abbs?" he asked after turning her music down to a more tolerable level.

"It looks like you were right Gibbs; the fireworks were set off by remote. There are the remains of a detonator here," she held up an evidence bag. "I should be able to tell you more when I've had a closer look."

"Any prints?"

"Maybe," she was noncommittal. "It's pretty faint but I may be able to lift a partial from what's left of the box."

"Do what you can?" Gibbs kissed her quickly on the forehead. "Ziva, with me."

"Where are we going?" she asked, already moving to follow.

"DiNozzo may have remembered where he was beaten," Gibbs was already out of the door and his reply was lost to the two left in the lab.

Abby turned to look at Tony frowning when she saw the darkening bruises and the hunched way he was carrying himself. Knowing better than to be overly sympathetic when he was really hurting she simply took him gently by the arm and steered him into a seat, bringing a laptop over to him.

"Thanks Abbs," he smiled faintly, leaning into her touch for a moment, drawing on her strength. "McGee should be sending the decryption programs down here and the searches." He pulled his blanket more tightly around his shoulders and opened the laptop. "I'll work on the searches."

"What are we searching for?"

Tony quickly filled her in on what he had remembered, marvelling at her energy levels after pulling an all-nighter. Then again, this was Abby he reasoned, she was always bubbly, automatically he glanced at her trash can, counting the Caff-Pow! cups, smiling as he caught her eye.

"Want some?" she asked holding up yet another cup.

Mentally Tony tested his stomach before deciding that perhaps Abby's drink of choice wouldn't be a good idea. "Nah," he shook his head very slightly. "Got any water?" he asked finally.

"A wise choice Anthony," Ducky concurred as he and Palmer entered the lab. A quick glance at his assistant had Jimmy scurrying to the nearest vending machine for a bottle of water. Ducky himself gently turned Tony's face towards the light so that he could look more closely at his damaged left eye. "How do you feel?" he asked quietly.

"I'm fine Ducky," Tony began before meeting the ME's gaze and adding succinctly. "Sore."

The elderly physician checked his watch before reaching into his pocket for a small bottle. He shook out a couple of pills and handed them to Tony, together with the water bottle Palmer had just brought in. "They're just for the pain," Ducky assured, reading the younger man easily. "They won't make you sleepy." Won't keep you awake either, he added mentally.

"Thanks," DiNozzo smiled slightly, taking the pills. "I can't shake the feeling Gibbs is walking into a trap."

"How could that be Anthony? Ducky reasoned. "Taylor and his friends can't have been at all sure that you would remember anything."

"I just know that whoever is behind this has been one step ahead of us all along," the young man replied, resolutely opening the laptop and calling up the searches Gibbs had set running.

Outside the sky lightened imperceptibly with the approach of dawn.

NCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCIS

With Gibbs driving they made it to the stadium in good time. He drove around the area slowly before parking but there was nothing obviously out of place. The floodlights were no longer lit and everything appeared quiet.

Getting out of the car Gibbs sent Ziva and McGee around to the back of the stands while he approached the small office building to the right of the car park. It was in darkness and the door, when he tried it, was locked. Not wanting to push things without a warrant, yet, Gibbs peered in through the windows and could just make out a couple of tidy desks arranged at right angles to each other. A filing cabinet stood in one corner with a coffee machine standing on top of it. His stomach growled at the sight and he sighed deeply. His gut was screaming at him and he knew without a doubt that they had guessed correctly. This was the place that Tony had been beaten; they just had to prove it. As if to echo his thoughts a train whistled in the distance, the sound cutting through the rain.

NCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCIS

Tony sighed deeply, bracing his hand across his chest as his ribs protested. His hand was moving to his pocket for his cell before he remembered that he was still wearing borrowed clothing and his cell had yet to be found.

"What is it?" Abby asked, looking intently over at him.

"I think we may have found our connection," he said hurriedly. "I need to let the Boss know."

Quickly Abby got up and brought a phone over to him, pressing the speed dial for Gibbs as she did so. As she handed it over her eyes questioned her friend.

"Karl Masterson visited Taylor in prison, three times over the last six months before he was released." Tony frowned at the phone in his hand, willing Gibbs to pick up. At Abby's look he continued. "Masterson is the half brother of Peter Wilkins, Gibbs put him away for the rape and murder of three naval cadets," he frowned again continuing slowly. "It was only by following the rules to the letter that we got him."

Abby looked over at him in horror. "This time I make the rules," she quoted. "Come on Bossman, pick up," she willed, quickly cutting the connection and dialling again.

At the other end of the line the cell fell from lax fingers as Gibbs' body joined those of Ziva and McGee to lie face down in the mud.