A/N: Thanks (as always) for all of the reviews and alerts! I really do enjoy reading each and every review that I get, and getting them may actually be a motivation for me to post sooner. Ahem. :) Anyhow, standard disclaimers apply, I still do not own NCIS or its characters, although original characters are of course mine. I hope you enjoy this chapter, please let me know what you think! (I put this chapter up then almost immediately took it down to correct something, sorry about that if you received multiple notices or something.) -abby

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Ziva and Tim had been at the Navy Yard for a couple of hours trying to track down anything to use as a lead, when they suddenly realized they had exactly nothing to go on. Lieutenant Keller had given them everything he had, but unfortunately it wasn't much. Bossman's cohorts didn't know his real name. They were all small-time criminals who claimed they had no prior connections with the man, just that he had recently approached them about a big bank job with a supposed huge payoff.

And since he had escaped before processing, Metro did not have any fingerprints to run. All the gunmen had worn gloves - and in fact were all still wearing them when Bossman got away - so there were no prints inside the bank. The officers who had removed his ski mask were looking at mug shots, and the mask itself was being tested for the possibility of DNA, but beyond that Keller was running out of options. His bomb squad was of course checking the explosives they had pulled out of the coffee house, but so far there was nothing traceable there either.

For his part McGee had been trying to track the GPS chip in Gibbs' cell phone, but with no success. Tim suspected that the phone had been destroyed, since Bossman had crushed both his and Tony's as they were being held back at the bank. If they knew Bossman's real identity, then McGee could have tried to track him via cell phone or bank records or any number of other things, but without that one vital piece of information Tim was at a loss. A BOLO had been put out on the sedan, but the plates had come up as having been stolen a few days prior. They were running into one infuriating dead end after another.

McGee's ribs were reminding him of the bruising every time he inhaled, and his head still ached from his exposure to the tear gas. He felt sick and was having a hard time concentrating. Mostly, however, Tim was extremely frustrated that he couldn't do more to help his colleagues – No, he corrected himself mentally, not just colleagues. My friends. Tony and Gibbs are out there somewhere, and god only knows how long Tony can last. Tim slammed his hands down on the desk in annoyance. Ziva looked up from her computer at the sound.

"What is wrong, McGee?" she asked.

Tim laughed derisively before replying. "What's wrong?! Tony's got a serious concussion and he's been taken by some psycho that seems to have no problem killing on a whim. To make matters worse, this guy has Gibbs too, and we're supposed to find them both without a single shred of usable evidence? We've got nothing! Less than nothing!!"

"I know, Tim. I am worried also," the Mossad officer said quietly. She got up from her desk and walked around to stand beside McGee. "Have you heard from Abby or Ducky? Maybe they are having more luck with the two dead gunmen." Ziva had been extremely grateful when NCIS was allowed to bring the bodies back to the Navy Yard for processing. Lieutenant Keller had been more than cooperative and as he had pointed out, the federal agency had far superior technology than what was available to Metro.

Tim sighed. "Abby hasn't found anything useful on the clothes or in the backpacks yet, and Ducky is still finishing the autopsies." He brightened as he continued with, "But he should be about done by now, I'll go find out." McGee winced slightly as standing too quickly caused his headache to intensify.

The elevator doors opened just as Tim started to walk away from his desk. The junior agent couldn't hide the shock on his face when FBI Special Agent Tobias Fornell stepped into the bullpen.

Apparently Ziva was caught off guard too. "Fornell?" she asked. "What are you doing here?"

The FBI agent glanced at Gibbs' empty desk as he replied, "The FBI field office in Manhattan received a call earlier today about the ransom demand. Once I caught wind of it, I decided to come over and see if I could do anything to help. Where's Jethro?"

Ziva and Tim looked at each other in astonishment. Neither of them knew what they had expected Fornell to say, but that certainly was not it. McGee stammered nervously, "Wait, what? What ransom?"

Now it was Fornell's turn to look confused. "You don't know that DiNozzo" – he pronounced Tony's surname in his usual peculiar fashion – "has been kidnapped?"

"No, we are aware of that part. But this is the first we have heard about a ransom," Ziva explained. "Who is supposed to pay this ransom?"

Fornell shook his head bemusedly. "The call came into the field office a little while ago from DiNozzo Enterprises. It was strange, actually. The caller - a young woman - said that her boss' son was kidnapped, and Mr. DiNozzo has been ordered to pay five million dollars by six tomorrow evening or Tony will be killed." The FBI agent pulled a small notebook out of his pocket and flipped it open before continuing. "She said – and I quote – 'Mr. DiNozzo will not be paying a ransom, nor is he interested in the outcome of this case, but he wanted to perform his civic duty by notifying the proper authorities that there has been a kidnapping.'" Fornell looked up from his notes. "Sounds like DiNozzo's father is a pretty cold-hearted bastard," he finished.

McGee's eyes were so wide with surprise that for a moment it seemed as if they may pop right out of his skull. All those times he talked about how his dad treated him…I thought he was joking! Having grown up in a loving, happy family, Tim could hardly wrap his brain around the idea that Tony's father would let him die, just like that.

Ziva, while furious, was not nearly so shocked. Her tenuous relationship with her own father had taught her that not all family situations were positive ones. Fury flashed in her dark eyes and she struggled to maintain control as Fornell looked at her.

"Where is Jethro?" he asked for the second time. "I figured he'd be all over this one personally." The FBI agent had never been sure why Gibbs liked DiNozzo so much - the younger man had always seemed like a gigantic pain in the ass to Fornell. But he knew that for whatever reason, Gibbs thought of Tony not only as a protégé, but almost as a son.

McGee sighed as he replied, "He is, more than you know. He was taken along with Tony." At the puzzlement on Fornell's face, Tim explained further. "Bank robbery, hostage situation, it's a really long story. The short version is, we have no leads at all."

Ziva chimed in, "And it appears that now we have a deadline as well." The concern was as evident in her voice as it was on the faces of her companions.

Fornell had just confirmed what she and Tim already knew – their friends were running out of time.