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Gibbs POV-

I had done everything I could for DiNozzo, and now I was just stuck waiting. I was useless to my agent, I realized. I could only sit there and listen to the rattling of his lungs that came in erratic gasps. He was now laying on his side in a fetal position, which was probably caused by the cold. I had the luxury of moving to keep warm and I was still freezing; I could hardly imagine what he was feeling. I had attempted to give him my jacket, but before I had even fully shrugged it off both my shoulders Tony stopped me. He threatened he would try to stand up if I put it on top of him, which would no doubt open up any previously closed wounds. I reluctantly complied to his requests, or more accurately, demands. Though I complied I made a decision that if, or more likely when, Tony passed out I would give it to him. Tremors continually racked his body and his lips were now the color of a clear sky.

After five hours, which I knew because I thankfully had a watch to keep me sane, the door opened. I was tentative to attack because I had no idea how many there were, and I still had Tony with me. I tensed and watched curiously as the figure appeared.

It took an effort to keep my jaw from dropping at the sight. There was a girl, no more than thirteen years old, staring back at me with intense blue eyes.

"I've got water," she said with her voice soft. I wondered why she had attempted to be quiet, and I came to two conclusions. Either she had brought the water against directions, or she understood Tony had a concussion and loud noises would hurt his head. She took a step forward and I straightened my back, making myself look more powerful and defensive. I needed to protect DiNozzo,not necessarily from her, but whatever dangers that could linger behind the door. She saw my actions and raised her hands before bending over and setting the bottle on the floor. I eyed it warily pondering if it could be drugged, and I decided I would have to try it before giving any to my SFA. She also noticed my unsure glance and uncapped the water bottle before taking a sip.

"See, it's fine. But don't let anyone see that I gave this too you, please." Her voice quivered towards the end of her sentence, displaying her fear of the men near.

"Thank you."

"Your welcome, but don't drink any of the water they give you. They usually drug it." I nodded not completely convinced she was truly there just to help, but I was still thankful of the advice.

"Who are you?" I hadn't really been planning on asking her, but my thoughts slipped past my lips before I could stop them. I needed to pull myself together if I no longer could prevent myself from saying things I had no intention of saying.

"I'm Cleo. I'm Mark's sister, one of the guys out there." She must of noticed my face darken slightly because she immediately exclaimed, "Mark tried to get out, honestly! But Jeff kidnapped me. Jeff is the leader." Cleo must have been abnormally observant to notice my face changes, because half of NCIS could still not spot them.

"Why are you helping us?"

"Because neither Mark or I are bad people. I was trying to be helpful. Oh, I have this for you." She pulled out some bandages from the back pocket of her black jeans and handed them to me. "I really have to go now, or Jeff will notice I am gone. I couldn't bring any food because Jeff hasn't given me any yet, but I'll try to bring some next time." With that she hastily exited the room with her blue and white plaid shirt fluttering behind her.

"Boss?" I knew Tony had been semiconscious this entire time, otherwise I would have forced my coat unto him by now, but he had yet to speak. I had figured it would take up a lot of his energy considering how much it look like it strained him to simply breath.

"Yeah?"

"What do you think Jeff's plan is?" His question confused me at first before I remembered that Cleo had said that Jeff was the leader.

"Probably ransom."

"NCIS doesn't pay ransom."

"Yeah I know," I told him while scrubbing my hand over my face. A silence fell over the room and I glanced over at Tony. I let out a sigh of relief to see that he had finally fallen asleep. I wrapped one of the bandages around his injured leg, but I had to force myself to ignore the grimace that crossed his sleeping face. I moved unto his ribs in an attempt to support them, but from what I could tell, the only outcome was pain.

I pulled off my coat and draped it over DiNozzo's shaking body. The cold hit me like a wall and forced the air from my lungs, but I stubbornly ignored it, instead rubbing some heat back into DiNozzo. After sitting there for another freezing twenty minutes the cold was unbearable. I had to get up and move around or I would be too cold to help myself, much less Tony. But no sooner than when I stood up, Cleo re-entered the room carrying a silver platter of food. This time, though, her face was blank and her back straight and rigid. She looked nothing like the girl who had just tried to save our lives just minutes ago.

She had a bright red mark on her cheek just starting to blossom, as if it were recent. I had the expectation that before the end of the hour it would be a sea blue. She did not look friendly, only defiant and above her age. After I squinted I noticed a ever so narrow nick of a cut slightly to the right of her neck. It did not take a genius to figure that she had had a knife to her neck, and at the same time she had been hit, judging by the two droplets of blood that still rolled downwards lazily.

Cleo was about half way through the room when she tripped on her untied converse. She looked rather funny, something close to the thing that Tony would snicker at. Her platter flew out of her hands, dumping its contents on the ground a few feet away from me. She scrambled to her knees with red embarrassment tinting her cheek, which then turned her left cheek to be a bright red. She started putting the food on their rightful places with her left hand, but she kept her right hand in front of her and empty. It was guarded with her back from any leering eyes in the door and she began to move it quickly. I soon realized that she was signing with me!

I could barely contain my shock, but I knew my face had to remain neutral and pay attention to what she was saying.

Food drugged. Don't eat. Planning on moving you soon. Ransom? The grammar of sign language is confusing and her was slightly incorrect, but I could still figure out what she meant. How she knew that I understood sign language was beyond me, but she had just given me a miracle and I refused to question it.

Escape? I asked her quickly.

No, many guns. Don't. I sighed, discouraged. This was going to be hard. Before there had been the spark of hope that McGee had called backup, but from my many hours of waiting I knew there was a minimal chance that rescue was going to happen from him. Ziva would still be processing the scene at the building and I doubt she would be allowed to help much because of Vance. Leon would probably focus on protecting the agency instead of on helping us. We were doomed if I was even considering Leon coming to the rescue.

Cleo finished cleaning up the food and set down the plastic plates a few feet away from me. She exited and closed the door without looking back behind her. There was the click of the lock as it was pushed back into place, and once again I paced the room. This situation was frustrating me, I was purely helpless waiting for my team to come to my rescue. I nearly punched the wall again, but a quick glance at my hand showed that it was still a bright red with spots of purple from the last time I had attempted that. I instead settled in curling my good hand into a tight fist, my fingernails digging crescents into my palm.

Tony stirred and I rushed over to him, reclaiming my jacket. He would be furious if he found out that I had lied to him, and it was too late.

"Is that your jacket?" His face was an angry red and I was sure he had intended his words to be shout, though they barely came out louder than a loud whisper.

"No."

"Liar," his hoarse voice accused.

"You need it. Have you looked in the mirror lately?"

"You aren't exactly looking peachy either, Boss."

"Yeah? Well, I'm not dying."

"Neither am I. Well, not yet." I didn't have the bluntness to tell him that soon, he would be, if his health deteriorated at the same speed it had been for the last twenty four hours. "Stop looking at me like that."

"Like what?"

"Like I'm a pitiful puppy."

"I wasn't."

"How would you know?"

"I do control my face, contrary to popular belief."

"You still can't see the expressions you make."

"I am the one making them."

"It doesn't matter either way. You lied. You said you wouldn't give me the jacket." I didn't know how to reply to that so I chose not to.

"You want some water?"

"Nah, we should save it. But do we have food?"

"Yeah, but I don't think we should eat it. I think it's drugged." I felt bad for taking credit for Cleo's prediction, but I was not going to explain that to Tony with Lord knows who listening. I got the sinking feeling that if Jeff found out what Cleo had done then Cleo would be punished. I remembered her words of 'I couldn't bring any food because Jeff hasn't given me any yet, but I'll try to bring some next time'. Jeff hadn't given her any food and it had been far past midday. I started to wonder how long Cleo had been here, and if Jeff had hurt her. I made a quick, and rather easy, decision that if I escaped I would rescue Cleo too. It seemed only fair since she could have easily saved our lives, especially Tony's with the bandages. Without them he could have lost an extreme amount of additional blood, not to mention development of another infection. Speaking of infection. I leaned over and pressed my hand to Tony's sticky forehead, while pushing away the strands of hair that fell over it. He pulled away from my hand as if it burned him but it was too late; I had already felt how hot he was.

"Why didn't you say anything? You're burning up!"

"I feel fine." I glanced at him and his body denied his words. He had many sheets of perspiration covering his body, yet he was shaking violently as if he was cold. His teeth chattered together every couple seconds, and I realized his jaw was clenched tightly to prevent them from chattering the entire time.

"You sure as heck don't look fine."

"I feel like we've been through this. You don't look great either."

"Tony, you have to tell me if you are not alright."

"To heck I have to." I sighed wondering why Tony had to be so much like myself. Because you taught him, the obnoxious little voice said in my head, and I was vaguely aware that it was my conscious. Great. Another thing you can be guilty for.

"You're shivering."

"So are you." Was I? I hadn't noticed, but I was rather cold. I glanced at my hand, and sure enough, it was shaking almost in rhythm to the sound of Tony's teeth.

"Are you sure you don't want any water?"

"Wow, Boss, avoidance really doesn't suit you."

"I'm going to pour some over your leg. It'll help with the infection."

"Tisk, tisk. I would have thought you were above this. The almighty Gibbs cannot admit defeat." His voice faltered when the water fell on his leg, and his wide smile turned into grimace. I instantly knew that Tony wasn't showing me how much it was hurting.

"You okay?"

"Just lovely." His voice came out quietly between his tightened jaw.

"I think we will be moved soon. It would make sense. We should prepare." Tony looked like he wanted to ask why it would make sense, but before he could I sent him a silencing death glare.

"Of course, Boss. I've got your six." A smile tugged at my lips as I knew it was true. DiNozzo was possibly fatally wounded and still as loyal as a dog. Maybe I had taught him some good things along with the bad. "But, uh, how exactly do we prepare?"

I knew I had to think quick or Tony would realize I was making up my plan as I went along, and I did not want Tony to know that for once I was at a loss of what to do.

"Gather anything we do have and put it on our persons. If they come in I don't think they'll exactly just stand here and allow us to slowly pack anything that could possibly later useful. Also, I want to change the bandage on your leg." Tony did not look excited to have his gauze changed to say the least. His shoulders fell down ever so slightly in what I could only guess as fear, but almost as soon as they had the facade popped up along with his shoulders.

"Okay. Here's the water," he told me before tossing over the bottle I had left next to him. He seemed almost cheerful which was rather strange. Tony was funny, sarcastic, goofy, but not cheerful.

Maybe I was just starting to lose it. It seemed like a plausible hypothesis. It gave me explanations to a lot of my situations. I had almost decided that was the answer before I inwardly shook my head. No, even if I was loosing it I couldn't deal with it currently. DiNozzo couldn't have me doubting every move I made, or we would never make it out of here alive.

"You still in this world, Boss?"

"Yeah. Do you have a knife?" I asked him, hoping to avoid the inner self conflict I had recently just had.

"In my belt buckle." he told me, but made no move to grab it. "I, uh, am gonna need, um, help." His voice stumbled over the word 'help' as if he had tried to force the syllable as fast as he could.

"Yeah you're totally fine. It's completely normal to not be able to remove your belt without assistance."

"Shut up."

"You never do."

"What is it parents say? Treat others the way you want to be treated."

"That is meant for kindergartners."

"My maturity level is at a kindergartner's."

"That might be the truest thing you have said this entire time."

"The truest thing I have said is that you didn't have a plan A."

"I had a brilliant plan A."

"Two things. First thing, the key word in that sentence was 'had.' You had a plan. Second, if your plan was so good what was it?"

"I can't tell you. I have no idea who is listening."

"Liar, liar, pants on fire!"

"Yep, definitely a kindergartner."

"It is completely normal for adults to call other adults liars."

"Not while rhyming it isn't. Now sit up more so I can get your stupid belt off."

"Ugh, fine." He used his arms to push himself upward, and my keen eye did not miss the lines of pain that formed at the edges of his eyes. I knelt down and unbuckled it, but at the same time checking over his injuries out of the corner of my vision. His elbows were shaking from the strain of his own weight that he seemed unwilling to put any fraction of on his leg. I pulled it off quickly and awkwardly from the angle I was situated at. As soon as it was off Tony gently lowered himself down, and I had to fight the urge to help him. He would not appreciate my assistance much, and I knew it, so I restrained myself. Even as gingerly as he had been he still grunted when he settled down.

I looked at the belt and pulled away the knife. Some blood had been smeared on it from when Tony had been holding it earlier, and I felt a hand squeeze my heart. I ignored the thoughts of Tony's condition, instead focusing on the task at hand. I could, and had to, use the knife to cut away Tony's bandage.

"I have to change the gauze now," I told him with my voice nearly apologetic.

"Yeah, okay." He spoke with acceptance as he understood how much it was likely to hurt. I knelt next to him and gently, well as gently as I could be, began to saw away the white cotton. Creases of pain made their way across Tony's face, and he but his lip hard. I forced myself to ignore him and continue, though it was very hard to miss his rapid breathing that was interrupting my thoughts. I finished cutting through it and lightly pulled away the bandage, which caused Tony to gasp. I nearly did too when I saw the cut.

I could feel heat emanating from it without even touching it, and the area around the slash was swollen. There was angry red streaks coming from it that snaked up his leg like veins. I felt Tony's forehead, and found it had managed to go up in the very short time in which I had not checked.

"Ow," I told him 'cause it sure looked bad.

"No kidding?" He asked with sarcasm oozing from his words.

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