Sunday

Chapter 8

Around 01:00 early Sunday morning, Tony and Gibbs are in the cage at the trading camp. Tony's eyes are closed as he's lying on the ground. He begins to moan. Tony places his hand on his head and rubs where he was hit by the weapon which knocked him unconscious. Gibbs, who is sitting right next to Tony, looks down at him.

"What happened? Where are we?" Tony wondered as he finally opens his eyes.

"We're in a cage at the trading camp." Gibbs replied.

"Where's Chioke?!" Tony immediately sits up. The overwhelming feeling of being worried quickly takes over.

"He…"

"Chioke!" Tony stands up and looks in every direction as Chioke is of more concern than his hurting head.

"Tony…"

"Chioke!" Tony runs to the door of their cage. He wraps his hands around the bars of the cage door and starts shaking it. "Chioke!"

A guard walks to the cage door and pulls out a club. He swings at Tony's hand. Tony pulls his hand back after begin hit. A couple seconds pass. Tony places his hands on the bars and shakes the door again. The guard swings. Tony quickly moves his hands. He grabs the guard by the arm. With all of his might, Tony pulls the guard to the door. The guard's face slams into the cage door. The guard falls to the ground.

Another guard comes along and points a gun at Tony who raises his hand and backs away as if he didn't do anything. The guard grabs the unconscious man who is lying on the ground in the front of the cage door and drags him away.

Tony turns to Gibbs who is still sitting in the same place he was when Tony finally woke up. Tony has a look of pain on his face as he rubs the hand which was hit with the club.

"Ow…" Tony cried as he shakes his hand then continues rubbing it.

"Chioke is with the other captives." Gibbs stated.

"I failed him." Tony said in a sad voice as he sits near Gibbs.

"You didn't…"

"Of course I did! He's still here and now we are too. I failed to rescue him, Gibbs."

"Look… I don't know how we're going to get out of this or if we ever will. But I do know you succeeded in showing Chioke how much he means to you and how much you truly love him."

"That means nothing without being free!"

"A person can go the rest of their life without being free, but hope keeps them strong. You've given him that hope, Tony."

"I know you're trying to cheer me up, Gibbs. And it's kind of working but not really. Thanks anyway…"

The camp translator walks up to the cage. He pounds a club against the bars to get the captives attention. Tony and Gibbs look in his direction.

"You two cost us a client due to your interference. We run a stable operation and maintain a certain reputation for excellence by keeping things under control." The translator stated. "We believe in punishment here. You will be punished for your interference."

"You will be punished for your interference." Tony mocked the man. He laughs. "If you're looking for an apology…" He stands. "Here it is." Tony bends over and pulls his pants down; showing his ass to the translator. "Here's my apology…" Tony licks his hand and smacks his ass. "Kiss my ass white you fruity piece of Korean crap."

The translator walks away. Tony laughs as he pulls his pants up.

"That blow to the head really messed you up." Gibbs said.

"I've been meaning to ask you something, Boss." Tony said as he sits near Gibbs. "A week and a half ago, we had your psycho brother in custody…"

"I had a rough childhood. I admit that. At times, I know I'm hard on all of you… Especially you since you married to my daughter. I don't expect you to even remotely understand why I am the way I am. My childhood was not even close to being ideal. Yes, it has helped shape me into who I am today. I'm not as bad off as other people who have been through what I have. It's hard to overcome and will always effect the person it happened to. A lot of abused people are able to…"

"I was really going to just ask you why you sent Ziva and McGee to search your brother's apartment when it was already thoroughly searched…"

"And why I didn't send you off to go do something as well."

"Did you want me to continue hearing all of that stuff?" Tony wondered.

There's a brief pause of silence. Gibbs takes a deep breath.

"I could've easily sent you away to do something to waste your time so you didn't continue hearing about me. I'm surprised I didn't." Gibbs stated. "But I allowed you to remain in the observation room. The things my brother said are things I probably wouldn't have ever told you…"

"Than why did you not send me away?"

"I'm honestly not sure." Gibbs answered. "I kind of wish I did though."

"I'm glad you didn't." Tony said. "I never expected or imagined your childhood was like what your brother described. No child should ever go through the things you did…"

"If I could go back in time… I wouldn't change any of it."

"Why?"

"Cause it helps me be a better father. I know how to feels to not be loved. To be abused; emotionally, verbally, physically… Even… Well… I don't want to mention the last one. But you get the idea. The thing is… It helped because I know exactly what not to do as a father. I vowed to be the complete opposite of what my father was. No child should ever have to go through what I went through. And there is no way I would ever put my child through the same pain and suffering. Being a good father to Jamie is my way of putting right what was doing wrong with me."

"You may not have been in Jamie's life for fifteen years due to being mislead about her being dead when she wasn't…" Tony begins to say. He pauses and takes a breath. "But I'm sure you're well aware of how much you mean to Jamie. I look up to you, Gibbs. The relationship you have with Jamie, it… Through your example, I think I'm doing a better job with Chioke then I probably would have been doing."

Tony's eyes start to become watery as he remembers where they are.

"What's going to happen to Chioke?" Tony asked as he wipes a couple tears from his eyes.

With not knowing what to tell him due to their current situation, Gibbs scoots closer to Tony. He places his arm over Tony's shoulder. Tony leans closer and cries in Gibbs' arms.

Hours pass.

Close to noon, a couple guards enter into the cage. They place shackles on both Tony and Gibbs. They're escorted out of the cage.

The two of them are brought to an area with two ten foot high rocks. Upon approaching the rocks, the shackles are detached from one of their hands. Both of them are shoved against the rocks. Both of them are facing each other from the rocks which are only a couple feet apart from each other.

Tony stares into Gibbs' eyes as his face is being pressed against the rock. The chain of the shackle is wrapped around the rock. Once around the rock, the shackle is placed back around Tony's wrist. On the other side of the rock, two men grab the chain of the shackles. They place one foot against the rock and use their bodies to pull the chain toward them. Tony's body is pressed against the rock even tighter. The same thing is done to Gibbs. The two of them keep eye contact with each other.

Suddenly, Tony's eyes widen as he hears the crack of a whip. His heart begins pounding. The translator steps between the two rocks. He looks into Tony's eyes.

"It's time for your punishment." The translator stated. "You're first by the way."

"Come on…" Tony laughed. "You can't think of a more original punishment than this. How sad…"

"It's very effective. I hope you enjoy it as much as we will." The translator grins and moves away.

Tony is finally able to see Gibbs again. Gibbs can tell from the expression on Tony's face that he's worried and scared.

"What movie does this remind you of, Tony?" Gibbs asked.

"Are you kidding me?!" Tony said as he's unsure why Gibbs is asking such a dumb question at a time like this.

"Just answer the question."

The man with the whip moves his arm around. The whip smacks against Tony's back.

"Ow!" Tony cried in pain after receiving the first of many whips against his back.

"Talk to me, Tony." Gibbs said. "What movie?"

"At this specific moment, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom..." Tony stated. "Harrison Ford stars as Indiana Jones…" The whip is smacked across Tony's back a second time. "Argh!" He cried in pain. Gibbs can see the pain in Tony's face. Tony breathes heavier, but quickly calms it down. "It's the second Indiana Jones adventure. The movie is set in 1935. Indian Jones is an archeologist…" The whip smacks across his back a third time. "Argh!" He cried. "The movie starts off in Hong Kong where Indiana is trying to make a trade with the gangster over the ashes of a Ming dynasty emperor." The whip smacks across his back a fourth time. "Ah! Oh God…" He cried.

"Keep going, Tony. Tell me more."

As Tony continues telling Gibbs about the movie, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, he receives a couple more lashes across his back. Each hit with the whip tears the skin on Tony's back. After receiving ten lashes in total, the man with the whip moves behind Gibbs because it's his turn to be punished.

At this point, Tony is in so much pain as each of the ten lashes tore the skin. Blood is oozing from each wound. The whip is finally smacked across Gibbs' back.

"Argh!" Gibbs cried in pain. He receives ten more lashes.

After receiving the first of many forms of punishment, both Tony and Gibbs are thrown back into their cage.