Tony sat for about an hour, unmoving.
He heard Gibbs turn on the tv, and move around the room some more before settling down.
He felt incredibly angry at Gibbs. And guilty at the same time, that Gibbs was such a good friend and all Tony wanted to do was get away from him.
He sighed shakily, and got up.
He heard Gibbs' cell ring, and opened the door when he herd the tension in the older man's voice.
"When?" Gibbs asked the person on the other end tersely.
He looked up at Tony from his seated position on one of the double beds.
"Are you alright?" Gibbs asked into the cell, frowning, and looking down. His eyes darted around for a moment, listening some more.
Then a little wry smile played on his lips.
"Good. Maybe you should apply for a job with us."
Tony was even more curious as to who Gibbs was talking to.
"Okay. I'll tell him….Okay." Gibbs hung up and looked at Tony, a little strangely.
"Who was that?" Tony asked.
"Sharlee."
"Sharlee?" Tony became immediately concerned, "What happened?"
"One of Campanelli's men swung by The Sweet Spot. Saw your car out back."
Tony closed his eyes for a moment, groaning.
"She's okay," Gibbs assured him quickly. "She wanted me to tell you she wasn't hurt. Apparently, the jackass walked in and grabbed one of her girls, and asked for you. He threatened her with a gun, and Sharlee overheard."
Tony looked at Gibbs, wide-eyed.
"And?"
"Sharlee had her gun out and ready, and when said idiot swung his arm towards her, she shot him."
Tony shook his head. "Never should'a happened. But she's okay? And the girl?"
"They're all okay. Local LEO's came in, and they're in the process of identification of the body. I'm banking Fornell's already on it."
"She's a good shot, huh?" Tony said bitterly. It was his fault. Sharlee was in danger just because of him.
"DiNozzo, she's fine. And, we really need to watch our asses. That was a little close. If I could track you, someone else could too."
"I wasn't trying that hard to cover my tracks…but I should have." Tony sighed and walked over to the other bed. He was staring at nothing now. "I should call her."
"I don't want your phone on."
"Well, then I better not turn it on," Tony said hollowly, "wouldn't wanna', go against any of your orders." He sat down on the bed, looking longingly at the door.
Gibbs raised an eyebrow but said nothing.
Tony rolled his shoulders, trying hard to calm himself. It was going to be a long night.
Gibbs called Fornell, who as he guessed, was on top of the situation.
They ordered pizza, giving a phony name for the room. Though Gibbs urged him to eat, Tony couldn't get too much down.
Once or twice he looked at Gibbs, while the older man was eating and reading the newspaper.
He was suddenly, incredibly sad, because he wanted to talk to Gibbs so badly. But everything had changed. Or had it? He was so confused…and wished that he could erase the last week or so of his life and go back to the way things were…
He thought about what Sharlee said to him earlier that day.
And then thought about taking the pills, being tied down to the bed, and fucked by the man he hired…
He got up and started to pace the room. He needed to get away...from himself.
Gibbs gave him a covert glance, and then went back to the paper.
It was when he started fidgeting with his hands too that Gibbs knew he was getting agitated again. He put the paper down.
"What's up, Tony?" he asked softly.
Tony just shook his head and didn't look at the older man.
"I need to get out of here."
Gibbs hesitated. "It's getting late, less people around. Makes us stand out more if go out walking around…"
"I KNOW!" Tony suddenly yelled, and looked at Gibbs, coming to a stop. Then he said more calmly, "Maybe you should have gotten us separate rooms."
Gibbs snorted. "Yeah, and you wouldn't disappear in five minutes flat."
Tony looked around the room again, and sighed. "I'm gonna' go out of my mind."
"So," Gibbs picked up the paper, "watch a movie."
Tony sat down on the bed again. He didn't feel like watching anything. But he was flagging, finally, becoming tired.
He flopped back onto the bed, mind still turning things over, when sleep came over him quickly.
Gibbs stared at him for a long while. This kind of rollercoaster Tony was on…he'd never seen before. Not even when he had to battle PTSD. Gibbs ached to find a way to help him, but knew he had to be patient, to wait him out.
He got up, and pulled the coverlet on the bed from its side to cover the younger man, who looked absolutely comatose.
Gibbs lowered the volume on the television, and got ready for bed.
Something startled him awake. Gibbs looked at the clock. 04:23 hours.
He bolted up and turned on the light.
This time, he didn't even bother swearing at the empty bed.
He jumped up and looked for the rental keys, sighing with relief that they were still in the room. He also saw Tony's bag and clothes still there.
Which meant Tony likely went for the walk he wanted, or if Gibbs got lucky, just to the fitness center and was still in the hotel. He also looked for Tony's phone, hoping that he was considerate enough to take it, knowing Gibbs would worry. But, that's what regular Tony would do. This Tony…he couldn't be sure. This Tony could be on a bus headed for Baja for all he knew. But…since his things were still in the room…Gibbs reasoned he was nearby.
After searching, he found Tony's badge, gun, and wallet all in his bag. SO he had taken his phone.
Gibbs blew out a breath. "I dunno, I dunno…" wondering to himself if this was an improvement…
He called Tony's cell. It rang. But no one picked up.
Gibbs' gut did a flip.
"Shit."
Tony had thought just to walk around the hotel. When he awoke, he saw Gibbs sleeping in the light of the television. The worry lines he saw on his friends face made him think twice about taking off again. So he didn't. Instead, opting to just explore the hotel. He figured when he came back in an hour or so, Gibbs would be waking up anyway, since it was usual for him to wake early.
Tony smiled to himself, at how Gibbs had been snoring. "That's why he gets up so early. He sleeps like a brick."
The hotel was set up with a large indoor courtyard, with four levels of rooms surrounding it.
He looked over the retaining wall of their floor, the third, down into the lobby, and the central seating area littered with club chairs and couches. Not very fancy. But, the looked comfortable. He kept walking to the end of the hall, and was almost at the elevator bank, when he felt something small and cold at his lower back.
He froze.
"You make a sound, you die here. Any sudden moves, you die here. Try to call for help, and-"
"Yeah, I get it, I die here," Tony said in a low almost bored tone.
"Hah, the boss told me you're a real smart ass. We'll see how long you keep that up, DiNozzo." The man pushed the muzzle of the gun harder into him. "Move to the right, down the hall, and walk until you get to room 361."
Tony did as he was told, sorry now he'd left his gun in the room. Gibbs was going to murder him for this. If he wasn't already dead.
"You got a room here too? Wow this place is popular," Tony said, as the man practically shoved him against the wall by the door.
"Shut up."
The man opened the door with his card key, and then herded Tony inside.
The room was neat, and there was only a briefcase on the desk, no other bags.
"Against the wall. Spread em'."
"Isn't that supposed to be my line?" Tony asked snarkily, which earned him a gun butt to the back of his head.
He was temporarily blinded with pain, almost falling into the wall as the man frisked him. He gasped a little at the dizziness as he tried to keep himself upright.
During the process, Tony's phone rang. He felt a hand take it from his front pocket.
"Your friend Gibbs," the man behind him said. "No worries. See, I've got a friend too. He's gonna collect your pal'n bring him here."
He spun Tony around, having to hold him up a bit, pointing the gun in his face.
The man was huge, like a wall, and reminded Tony of Lou Ferrigno. Except maybe…the zombie version.
"You have friends…looking like that?" Tony said, head throbbing.
"Sit down," the man stepped back and pointed to the chair, gun still trained on his victim.
Tony did as he was told, waiting for an opportunity…just a moment for the gun to point somewhere else or for the hideous man to get distracted.
But that didn't happen.
"Reach into the drawer in the desk, the top one."
Tony did, and scowled when he found handcuffs.
"Open em'. Arms back through the chair, and then close em'."
Tony suddenly wondered why this hotel had to have chairs with open backs and a center rung. This was going to complicate things…not to mention he would be restrained…
"Now!" the man said. "Take a look, pretty boy, there's a silencer on here. The Boss wants you alive, but he didn't say I couldn't hurt you."
Tony clenched his teeth angrily and slid his arms back behind him, through the back of the chair, and put the cuffs on.
Once they clicked into place, "Lou" seemed very pleased.
He took out his phone and dialed.
"Boss. Yeah. We got him."
Tony was trying to deal with the pain still pulsing from his head, and the anxiety that being restrained…
"Betty's out waiting for the other guy. Gibbs. We'll get him too. And wait for you. Uh-huh…when does your flight come in?"
So, Campanelli wants to see me in person, Tony thought, amused by the irony of the situation. He wanted to destroy himself. But was irritated someone else wanted to do it.
"Okay. Yeah. It's a shame about JohnnyBoy. We'll go take care of that whore in Vegas when we're done here, right Boss?"
Tony felt fear grip him. They were talking about Sharlee. He couldn't let anything happen to her…
"Good. See you later." The hulking man closed his cell.
He turned his dark, beady eyes on Tony.
"So, now we're just waiting for our other guest to show up. What should we do in the mean time?"
Tony said nothing, shaking after what he overheard about them wanting to kill Sharlee.
"Chess?" the man asked, standing up. "Checkers?"
"No offense, Lou, but…I don't think you'd be much of a challenge."
As Tony expected, it was only a few seconds before the fist sailed across his mouth.