Thank you so much for all of the reviews, it means a lot! Disclaimer from the previous chapter still applies.

Gibbs POV- My phone still continued to beep constantly and quietly, signaling that Tony's captor had hung up. But somehow I felt if I hung up that I would be giving up on Tony. And I would not give up on him until we found him. Even if its just his body, I part of me thought despondently.

I was saved from my discouraged thoughts when McGee spoke up for the first time since he hung up. "Ok so lets go over the facts." He seemed to be talking to himself just as much as he was talking to me. "Tony is in a known location. We could storm the place, but that leaves Tony vulnerable. Most likely the captors would probably just try and leave with Tony, and trigger happy SWAT would probably shoot him. They could easily miss and hit Tony, or the man could retaliate and kill Tony. We could come up with the money, but there is no way NCIS would pay four dollars, much less four million. Not very good options," he concluded. I nodded in my agreement of his assessment but didn't add anything. I was proud of how he was handling everything; I would have to tell Vance later.

Not like you're busy now. And it was true. Now that McGee didn't have to trace any phones neither of us were doing anything. I wasn't worried about Vance's anger if we went to see Ziva, but I would rather focus on helping Tony. Besides Ziva could easily take care of herself, and I trusted the police force enough to handle it. If Ziva found anything useful she could easily call me too.

That left McGee and I to work with our limited options. I had momentarily considered telling the director about Tony's predicament, but I had quickly dismissed the idea. The only outcome would probably be me being entirely removed from the case.

As the younger man had previously stated our best option was probably to collect the money, if not to rescue Tony than to buy time. But unless McGee had four million in his back pocket than we were back to where we started. I was definitely not going to take the risk of using SWAT either. "How much do you have?" I asked knowing that he would need no more context.

"Not enough." He said with his face bent gravely down at his desk. "Should I call Tony's dad?"

"No, not yet." I answered because I knew the man wouldn't care much, he would only make the situation worse.

"Why?" He questioned looking up with curiosity filling his wide eyes. I didn't respond but my glare most of spoke volumes; his eyes immediately found his desk top again. I decided that it was time to talk to Abby. No one had told her what happened; I had been hoping that Tony would come out unscathed and he could explain to her. Now she would be furious she had been kept out of the loop, but she deserved to know. To deal with the extra energy coming from the coffee I took the stairs rather than the elevator, only passing one person on my way down. When I reached Abby's lab I quietly snuck past her to the radio that was sitting on the far counter of the room. It was currently blaring music on full volume that could easily turn someone deaf. I twisted the knob almost all the way down, and the music turned became a bearable level.

"Hey!" Abbs complained. "Don't mess with my music mister. And what are you doing down here early? I don't have anything on the Collins case yet."

Before she could go on a rant about how I was losing my touch I placed a Caf-Pow! on her desk to silence her. With the anticipated effect she snatched it up and took large gulps greedily. "Abbs, there's something important I need to tell you."

"Something is wrong with Tony?" She guessed.

"Yeah. How did you know?"

"Something bad is always happening to Tony," she replied with her eyes filled with worry. "It's his head isn't it?" At that remark I couldn't help but chuckle a bit.

"He was in a building when it collapsed. A terrorist found him and kidnapped him." Thinking of the cut Tony had on his forehead from the earlier clip I added, "Yes, tony did manage to hurt his head."

"I knew it!" Abby exclaimed. Her eyes were starting to fill with tears and leaned over and gently kissed her forehead.

"He'll be okay, Abbs." I comforted her talking into her hair.

"How do you know?" She asked her voice choked and barely above a whisper.

"Because he doesn't have my permission to get hurt," I reassured her with a smile tugging at my lips. I embraced her for a few moments, and then excused myself. Mascara was running down her face but I still was impressed by how she had taken it.

My next stop was Ducky. McGee had recorded the video and I wanted Ducky to see it and point out any injuries I may have missed. I took the elevator this time; my interaction with Abby leaving my tired. When I arrived Ducky was doing the autopsy on General Collins.

"I must admit I am not quite ready for you, Jethro." He said with his accent.

"I'm here for something else, Duck. Tony was in a building when it collapsed and then got abducted. We got a video, can you give his condition?" I skipped to the main point and the elder man could not hide his shock and surprised very well, but he still nodded. I handed him 'stick' that McGee had called a flash drive; hoping that Ducky knew more what to do with it than me. Duck retrieved it and pushed it into a hole in the side of the computer. The screen burst to life, revealing the clip of Tony sitting in the chair. It didn't have audio because the conversation had been on the phone, but I figured that Ducky didn't need it to evaluate the extent of the injuries. Ducky leaned in and squinted at the screen, I would guess to look at the rise and fall of Tony's chest. The video played itself out and I turned away when the man punched Tony in stomach. No need to re-watch that and re-stir those dark the screen turned black Palmer cleared his throat, which was the first noise he had made since I had arrived.

"Well, I think it is safe to assume Tony has a mild to severe concussion. We should definitely be worried about blood loss and the wound on his thigh. He has broken ribs that I fear have bruised or punctured the lungs. I would say that he has thirty six hours before he has to be in a hospital." Duck said with his voice sounding disconnected. Palmer nodded but apparently had nothing to add. I suddenly realized why Tony's captors hadn't given me a time frame to drop of the money. They knew he didn't have that long, and that disgusted me. Deciding to ponder the new revelation later I told Duck thanks before heading back to my own floor.

I sat at my desk and rubbed my face, unsure of what to do next. Now that I had a time limit more stress was building and I wasn't entirely sure of what to do with it. I had always promised myself that I would not get emotionally attached to my team, but that rule had been broken when I first met DiNozzo. And then Kate had came. And then McGee and then Ziva. Now it was much too late to turn back, now we were a family. Now my team member was in danger and I wasn't sure how to handle it.

My cell phone burst to life playing an obnoxious ringtone that I continued to forget to change. I battled between throwing the phone and answering it for a long time, but seeing as how it did not halt in its annoying song I decided it could be important.

"Gibbs."

"Boss, can you pick me up on Oak street in five?" The words were slurred and the voice was hoarse but it still very recognizable.

"DiNozzo?"