Hello, everybody! I know I said I would try to post this weekend, and I didn't. But its Monday, so its close enough, right? Anyways, this story is halfway over! Charlie is writing 15 chapters, plus an alternate ending which will be posted as chapter 16. I'll explain more about that near the end of the story. And when I post chapter 11 eventually, you will understand why I'm forcing Charlie to write an alternate ending. So...ON WITH THE STORY!

Abby glanced longingly at her refrigerator, which held several Caf-Pows. She missed the artificial cherry flavoring and the little buzz she got from the caffeine. Abby picked up a bottle of water and sipped it. It sure wasn't Caf-Pow and she hated the taste. Gibbs would have been proud of her for going healthy.

Gibbs.

Abby swirled around in her chair to see if he had come in without her knowledge. She had been doing that since Gibbs and Tony first went missing three months before. She missed them terribly and couldn't wait until they returned.

Ziva and McGee entered Abby's lab with a shaken Bree in tow. Bree's eyes were red and puffy from crying and McGee almost looked sad. Ziva remained emotionless, like usual.

"Oh, gosh," Abby said, terrified. "What happened?"

"Brown is dead," McGee said softly. "Bree found him."

Abby wrapped her arms around Bree's shaking form. No one like Brown, but no one wanted to see him dead. Well, maybe except for Ziva. Bree crouched down on the floor and cried into her hands.

"What happened?" Abby asked.

"His appendix burst," Ziva said. "Bree went to his house to talk to him. She found him dead in the shower."

"But that's not why we came here though," McGee said sadly.

A sense of dread washed over Abby. She wanted to plug her ears and run a thousand miles away. But she stayed rooted to the floor, willing McGee not to tell her what she knew was coming.

"Vance told us to drop the case, Abby," McGee said, tears welling up in his eyes. "Tony and Gibbs were pronounced dead this morning."

Abby collapsed into a sobbing heap in McGee's arms. She cried unintelligible words, not caring what anyone thought. Ziva came over and hugged the two. Bree stood up and found they had stretched arms for her. She gladly joined in.

"Just because they say they are dead, does not mean they are," Ziva whispered.

"How will you save them if you aren't allowed?" Abby wailed.

"We can do it," Bree said, feeling out of place. "But they need to help us too."

The hug lasted another few seconds, then they broke apart. Ziva and McGee went back to work and Abby and Bree remained in the lab. Abby fiddled with little things while Bree sobbed quietly. The poor girl was probably scarred for life.

Bree wiped her tears away and composed herself. She did not want to be an NCIS agent. She didn't know what she wanted to be. Bree didn't want to be in all this kidnapping business, but she was, and she couldn't just walk away.

Bree grabbed Abby's arm and pulled her along.

"Where are we going?" Abby asked.

"Autopsy," Bree replied. "I need to see Brown."

Abby was shocked. Bree was going to see Brown? Bree didn't understand why she was going. She just felt autopsy was the place to be. Plus, she though Jimmy Palmer was pretty cute. Too bad he was engaged.

The two entered autopsy to find Ducky hunched over a table, studying papers. Bree walked up behind him and peered over his shoulder to see pictures of Gibbs's house and the crime scene. Her eyes were glued to the picture of dried blood. Bree nearly jumped out of her skin when Abby placed her hand on her shoulder and nodded towards Ducky.

"Uh, Dr. Mallard?" Bree asked, losing all her confidence.

"Ducky," Abby corrected.

"Right, Ducky, may I-"

"I knew you would come," Ducky interrupted.

Ducky stood up and moved over to the body cooler. He opened a slide and out popped Brown. Bree wanted to vomit, but she forced herself to move forward and examine him. Brown was pale, but that was a given, considering he was dead. A large purple bruise covered his abdomen. Bree lightly touched the Y stitches and held back a sob. She turned back to Ducky and changed the subject, not wanting to look any weaker.

"What were you doing over there?" Bree asked, pointing to the table.

"Trying to get in the kidnapper's head," Ducky said, holding up the pictures of the blood stain. "This picture means-"

"The kidnapper wanted them to hurt. He didn't want them dead yet," Bree interrupted.

"So it's possible they're still alive?" Abby piped in.

"Possible, but very unlikely," Ducky said sadly.

Abby fled the room. She loved Ducky like a family member, but she couldn't take his lies. Tony and Gibbs were alive. Ducky was lying. Abby ran into McGee and hugged him tight. He hugged her back and patted her hair lightly.

"We'll find them," McGee told her.

"I know," Abby said, wiping away a stray tear. "But I can't help but feel time is running out."

Hahahaha! Brown is dead! Oh God, I'm incredibly messed up...but i guess if i wasn't messed up, Charlie wouldn't be messed up, and this story would have never been written. Oh, and by the way, Charlie created a challenge a while ago, and only about two people entered. So if you think you have a great story, leave the name of it in a review or send a PM. Me and Charlie will read it, and the winner will have a story dedicated to them. And you will have a little bit of a say in the plot. Probably more say than I have. For more details, just go to charlie's profile and click on the story called Charlie's Challenge. It will have the full details of the challenge, cuz I don't remember them right now.

I will update this again whenever I feel like it. But it will probably be within the next week. And please enter the Charlie's challenge. Cuz if you don't, that means I just typed all that crap about it for nothing. And you should also review, cuz that would make me happy. And by the way, at this moment The Road to Freedom has 42 reviews! Don't ask why that makes me extremely happy. Well, its cuz 42 is the answer to everything. I doubt that you'll understand that, but if you do, I freakin' love you! No, not in the romantic sense of the word, cuz thats just creepy. Oh my God, I'm rambling again! I'm a little hyper at the moment...so I'm gonna shut up now! PLEASE REVIEW AND/OR ENTER THE CHALLENGE!