Hey um, I just hate starting off a story with a note. But after the reviews I just want to say thank you to all of you who have subscribed and reviewed. I'm not good with remembering names. Loll. However, my story started off a bit 'too much' and 'too weird' because that's how I like to start them off. Have you all wondering what the hell is this person trying to do or say? Where is this going? Is this crap or what? Loll.

On the upside though, my stories never suck. They always are very good reads, not too kinky or too much but they always make me happy when I'm writing them and sometimes I really don't count on reviews since I write because I'm passionate about it. I'm passionate about Tibbs. I like romance stories that are filled with conflict and happy endings.

Now I'm not begging you to review but please tell me what you think. It would soothe my wounds ;) hehe

Chapter One

oOoOo

(Tony)

'Give me one reason why I shouldn't shoot you.'

On my knees, my eyes watering and swollen, my lip lined with blood, hands tied behind my back and with the taste of bitter bile in my mouth, I remained silent. If I moved, he moved. When I moaned, he smiled. And when I refused to answer his questions, I got a solid kick in my chest.

I wasn't surprised that he had found me because I knew he would. He always did. He knew where I was, had tabs on me. And even though the Director had no clue as to what was going on, I was a bit surprised that he had actually handpicked me to go undercover on this opt.

In the first instance I didn't want to do it. I didn't want to come here to face him and have to relive those moments again. My hands were aching and my chest was heaving as I fought to control my breathing.

'Give me one reason, Agent DiNando.'

'DiNozzo', I corrected him. 'It's DiNozzo. You should remember it. It's not new to you.'

'Fuck I care. I knew you'd come after me. I knew NCIS was in this all along. After the third murder I spitefully did leave my fingerprint behind so you idiots would track me down because you know what?' and he threw his hands up wildly, his eyes wide and dancing with madness, 'I don't care anymore! I don't care what they do to me, what happens…I did what I had to do already. But', and he pointed the gun at me, keeping his hand steady, 'I guess the body count will go up to four now.'

Gibbs.

In my mind, he was all I could think of and it scared me terribly to be thinking about him the way I was. I was delving into thoughts that weren't making sense because suddenly I felt anguished to know that I'd never see his face again, feel his head slaps giving me a wakeup call. I'd never hear his voice again if Vault killed me. And what about his trust and belief in me: I didn't want to let him down. I didn't know what to do. I was so confused and miserable that I found myself feeling helpless as I sat on my knees bounded there in front of him.

Vault laughed.

'This is so easy. You're not even putting up a fight. Fight, give me a hard time. I love when my victims fight. Makes killing them more fun to do. I feel satisfied when I'm done.'

I had to keep him talking but with the way I was feeling, I didn't know what to say.

'Why did you kill them? What made you –'

oOoOo

(Ziva)

'…do it? We have to find out what made him do it', and I watched as Gibbs sprang up from his desk and he went to stand in front of the plasma. 'McGee.'

'Yes, boss?'

'Any luck with tracing his cell phone? His earbud…can you pick up anything from that?'

McGee gulped and stared up at Gibbs. "Ah, no, boss. They smashed the earpiece so I can't trace a signal from it. And his cellphone is turned off.'

'Then find some way to turn it back on!' Gibbs barked with his eyes wide. 'Ziva you go over Vault's information from top to bottom. I want to catch this bastard before it's too late!'

'We are trying our best, Gibbs –'

'Try harder!' he ordered me to do and I immediately pulled up my mouse, dragged it about to get the cursor in movement and I then linked my account unto the NCIS Database.

Going over the files was easy. Reporting to Gibbs that I could find nothing other than the town Vault was born in, which was Italy, was hard and would prove harder than before since he had become emotionally attached to the case. He was furious, pacing up and down with that cold glint in his blue eyes. And every time he had the opportunity, he would bark at either of us, as if we had something to do with Tony suddenly losing contact with us.

Actually we had no idea that Tony was assigned to another undercover opt! Honestly speaking, McGee and I, and I even think Abby as well knew nothing. Gibbs and the Director were in it alone. And that only made me feel angrier at Gibbs for standing there and treating us badly, as if we were responsible. Of course I could understand how he was feeling because Tony was his responsibility in the end and he had to watch his back. But somehow, unlike any other time when anything happened to any one of us, his behavior had taken on a drastic change.

'It happened like this with Kate before.'

I lifted my head to look at McGee and frowned. 'What happened?'

'Him…being like that…so angry', and he glanced at his computer screen then back at me. 'I wonder if he'd be like that if either you or I got kidnapped. Then again he does seem to like Tony more…'

'Tony is his Senior Special Agent. You are a Probie and so am I', and I sighed, 'I am worried as well. I just do not understand why he is being so hard on us, treating us like little insolent children.' I raised my right hand and clenched it. 'Ugh!'

After a while I just let go of the mouse and pushed back in my chair, resting my hands behind my head. 'This is making no sense! We are not going to find anything.'

Picking up my knife that was still in its case, I sprang up and walked out from behind my desk. Then I began to pace the floor in front of the plasma. I could tell that I was making McGee nervous but I could not sit down and know to myself that I was just wasting my time going over files that offered nothing to finding Tony's whereabouts.

'Ziva you're making me nervous', McGee said looking at me sideways.

'I am sorry but I cannot sit down, McGee', and I grabbed fistfuls of my hair in spite. 'What are you…' and I waved my hand at him, 'doing there?'

'I'm keeping track of Tony's cell, hoping that it comes back on, and I'm also trying to go over each victim's personal information.' He turned to me and frowned. 'All of them had dark hair, had green eyes, all went to Riverside High right here in Washington –'

'They were all in their thirties, the same age range as Vault.'

'Not to forget that they were all gay.'

'Right', I said frowning at my hands and then I went up to McGee's desk. Sitting on it I stared at him then bit the inside of my cheek. Why would Vault want to kill three gay men just like that? Was he holding a grudge against them? What had they done to him to make him so angry? Was he just homophobic?'

McGee groaned. 'This is useless.'

'We are missing something here, something in the case that is there but we are not seeing it. I can feel it. I just know that Vault has…'

oOoOo

(Gibbs)

'…never slipped up before and it just so happens that this time, on his third attempt, he leaves his fingerprint behind? I mean like one fingerprint?' and I watched as Abby studied me as she talked. 'Gibbs the entire scene was wiped clean: the first one spotless, second spotless, and the third left one fingerprint linking us to him. Why would he do that?'

I continued to look into her eyes as she proceeded to study me, narrowing hers as she did. I hated when Abby did that. Sometimes I just needed things to be private, yet she never left me alone. She always wanted answers. And right now I didn't want her to ask the question she was obviously going to ask.

'He wanted us to find him, Abby.'

'Gibbs.'

'He also wants a show, led us to him. He had this all planned', and I lifted my hand to my face and wiped it. 'He wanted to get to us…'

'Gibbs.'

'…should have been me going undercover, not DiNozzo. Should have been me. I messed up –'

'Gibbs!'

'What?' I asked staring at her.

She took up the remote for her music player, pointed it across the room and the heavy metal died down slowly.

'We need to talk, Gibbs', and Abby took hold of my hand,

'About what, Abs?' I asked as she pulled me towards the back room of her lab. 'We don't have time. We need to find Tony.'

'You and I', and she rested her hands on either side of my shoulder then pressed me down to sit in her chair, 'need to talk about Tony.'

'Not now, Abs.'

'Now!' she demanded and I couldn't remember the last time Abby had raised her voice at me like that. It immediately worried me and got my attention. 'Gibbs this is serious! I hate when you do this, this part of you, this part that just decides to hold things in and not let it out. You need to talk to someone, get it out of you. You can't hold stuff inside for so long. You're gonna explode! And when I say explode, I mean like how you're going about ordering McGee and Ziva around upstairs as if it's their fault that Tony's missing.'

'I just want them to do their job!'

'They are doing their job, Gibbs! We all are. We want to find Tony as much as you do. Yelling at us, demanding impossible stuff from us isn't going to solve anything. I can already see you beginning to explode. There are fireworks brimming in your eyes and it has got to stop or else you'll do something and regret doing it. And I have decided that', and I watched as she stood up fully and closed her eyes as if expecting me to shout at her, 'you can explode on me, right here, not upstairs but right here. You and me. Come on.'

And she waited with her eyes squeezed shut.

I got up slowly, doing so as quietly as I could and began to step away from her. I had to do my job, find Tony and the time just going by. I felt terrible just not being able to get any leads as to where he was. As soon as I reached the door, her hand grabbed mine and I spun around.

'Where're you going, Gibbs?' and her eyes were narrowed.

I sighed. 'Not gonna snap at you or anything like that, Abby. So you're just wasting both our times here. You got something important to say, say it or else I'm leaving.'

We both stared at each other.

'Alright fine, you want it my way.' Taking out her remote control for the lab and pressing a button, I looked around to see for maybe the second time, Abby was shutting the door on me, trapping me inside.

'Abby! Open the door!'

'Not until you talk to me!'

'I am talking to you!'

'We don't keep secrets from each other, Gibbs! Not since I found out that you…shot Shannon and Kelly's murderer.' And she took hold of my arm. 'Gibbs, tell me.'

'Tell you what?'

'…that you love Tony.' Her face expression suddenly changed as if she was expecting me to shout at her and demand her to explain. 'Gibbs, I know.'

I immediately felt the blood drain from my head making me become dizzy and confused. Taking hold of the table's edge next to me, I looked away from her and blinked several times too many.

'I don't know what you're talking about, Abby.'

''It's okay', she said softly, and tried to reach out to hug me but I stepped backwards. 'Gibbs, don't be mad at me. I'm just worried about you –'

'Stop, Abby', I begged and held up my hand, my head bowed. 'There's nothing to worry about.'

I watched as she pouted, then bit her lips, then she looked as if she was going to cry. And without thinking it over, I reached out and wrapped my arms around her, hugging her as she remained stiff. Then she did hug me back.

'I'm just trying to help', Abby said miserably.

'I know you are, just do your job, Abs.'

'It's okay for a guy to love another guy…' and I pulled away from her and stared her down as she spoke, moving on the spot, 'the way you love Tony. Gibbs…it's…nothing's wrong. I like girls too. I totally love Ziva. See? It's not bad…'

'You done?'

'Gibbs, come on…yes, Sir!' and I was thankful when she realized that I didn't want to talk about it and saluted me.

'Remind me why I came down here in the first place?' I asked going to the stand in front of the plasma and staring up at the screen where Vault's face appeared, him leering at whoever was taking out the picture or maybe he knew NCIS would get the picture one day.

'Geese, you're never satisfied are you?' and she smiled. 'I'm sorry for Tony when he gets back. So…' and her eyes quickly diverted from my glare to her computer. 'I've come up with a few places that he may be carrying out the murders before he dumps the bodies in various dumpsters. First…' and a picture of a deserted hallway of some sort came up. I stared at it and could make out only a bulletin board and –

'A school.'

'Very good, Gibbs! But not just any school. This is Vault's high school. Riverside High located in right here in Washington. It's a bit weird for a first start but this is what I found. Since we had no leads…sheesh I feel as if I'm doing Ziva and McGee's jobs for them because this isn't forensics.'

I turned to her and waited on her to continue.

'Right, um about twenty years back, which would have placed Vault in his last year at Riverside, him along with the three victims were all expelled from school. Why, Abby? Well that answer's simple, Gibbs. Vault was in love with the first victim, Andrew and Andrew didn't like him back. He loved Victor. Lover's jealousy. This is like a soap opera, Gibbs so bear with me.'

And she brought up the three victims' pictures alongside Vault's own, then Tony's. And I immediately felt my chest contract as I stared back at his picture: his dark hair, wide eyes always appearing as if he had some joke to tell and was bursting to tell it, and his comical smile.

'Geese you're even attracted to him when he's in a picture, Gibbs.'

'Abby!'

'Sorry! Right…but I must know this and I have to because it's like an itch that I can't scratch, not that you can scratch it either. It's just that the truth can scratch it. How long have you two been together, Gibbs?'

I turned to face her, our eyes inches apart, mine narrowed.

'One night then?'

I kept walking into her personal space as she backed up, her eyes wide.

'You two kissed? That would be…something hot to see…Gibbs, you can stop advancing now. I'm shivering with fright.' I stopped and smiled at her. 'One night, one kiss?'

'Don't –'

'Gibbs, please! Come on! You didn't bring a Caf-Pow and I need fuel to continue.'

I sighed and turned back to the plasma. 'Not one night, I've loved him for years. Continue.'

I could sense her eyes widening and excitement bubbling up within her as she stared at my back. She was probably now bouncing on the spot.

'Wow! That's neat! Does he know? I bet he was surprised! The head slaps! That's cool!'

'He doesn't know. The case, Abby…?'

She looked at me with pleading eyes then gave up. 'Right, so Victor was involved with Andrew and then –'

oOoOo

'…Vault found out', I said pulling my chair up to McGee's desk, 'Vault loved Andrew. So it was jealousy. Victor and Andrew and Vault loved Andrew.'

'But where does Jacob fit in? The last victim? This is confusing, Ziva.'

I sighed and wiggled around in my chair. 'No it is not! I am guessing that when Vault found out, he cornered Andrew, issued threats about revealing his sexuality to the school or something. Then Victor found out and –'

oOoOo

(Ziva)

'He took Vault to the backlands of the school where a small gardener's cottage is located about half a mile off and they beat Vault terribly. It was in the news. He was hospitalized for four months, Gibbs! Four months!'

'So now he comes back to take revenge? He kills them.'

'And he murdered Jacob because he believed that he was the only other witness to the beating that took place.' Abby threw up her hands and sighed. 'I know it's weird and bizarre but that's it. The beating made the papers but not the reason for it. The explanation for rape on all three victims and the fact that he cut out Victor's private parts, ripped Andrew's heart out of his chest, and gorged out Jacob's eyes.'

'Jealousy, heartbreak and witnessing.'

'Exactly.'

'But where does Tony fit in? Why did he appear to be waiting on him last night when Tony showed up at the bar? I don't get it.'

'Because', and she took my hands into hers and I saw her eyes grew moist, 'Gibbs, Jacob wasn't the only one who witnessed the beating.'

I stared at her confused then my heart did begin to beat fast, with every beat it pained me terribly. And I found myself finding it hard to breathe.

'Tony didn't attend Riverside High, Abby', I said finding my voice echoing.

'No but he was spending the summer with his cousin in Washington. Any guess on who that cousin is?'

oOoOo

(Tony)

'Vault don't do this', I pleaded as he came towards me. I fought to move backwards and squeaked. 'I'm sorry but I…I didn't…I don't remember what I said, what I did. That was a long time ago!'

He remained silent.

'Vault, Andrew, Victor, that was a long time ago!'

'I loved him!'

'I know you did! We used to talk about this all the time. Andrew as a jackass to be involved with that messed up son of a bitch Vic. I knew you loved him.' And I saw smelt saw dust and Old Spice as if he was in the room with me, right there, right then. 'But sometimes we can't always have what we love, Vault. Listen to me. We can't always have the person we love to love us back the way we want them to.'

He moved towards me and grabbed the front of my sweat soaked jersey, pulling me up, his teeth gritted. I felt the gun mouth press to my right temple and tears came to my eyes.

'You don't know, never knew what it felt like to be who I am', he said keeping a firm grip on me. 'You never understood when I used to tell you that I was gay, how I felt for Andrew. You always listened but never told me it was okay to feel the way I did. I could fucking see it in your eyes when I mentioned him how you'd be judging me –'

'I never judged you!' I shouted and fought with him but he was too strong, was always the stronger one. 'Vault, let me go!'

'No!' he shouted and then I felt him shake. His evil, cold laugh came gradually. 'I hate people who judged me! I fucking hated you! And now you're going to feel what it felt like to them to be pleading for your life…cousin.' And he spat the word out as if it was bitter aloe in his mouth.

'Vault', I moaned as I heard the gun click, as I grabbed unto his pocket and slowly pulled my cellphone out, knowing that he probably believed I was just trying to fight with him. I held my thumb down on the power button and squeezed my eyes shut. 'I never said anything, I couldn't judge you or say anything because…' the phone vibrated, 'I know what it feels like. I love someone -'

'And who does little rich prince charming from Baltimore has his heart set on now?' he asked leering into my face, his breath heating up the inch between us.

'My boss.'

'Bet she's one sexy isn't. Oh how she's gonna miss you.'

'Actually it's him. And if you don't let me go, that boss is not gonna think twice when he has his gun aimed at you.'

Love you all, readers.

Thank you so much for reading this chapter.