Tony found his weapon and quickly aimed around the empty room he'd been electrocuted in. To his surprise, he found no one hurrying in to counteract his resistance. So he pushed up from the table and hurried down the hall toward their cell, in search for his boss.

Flinging the door open, he pointed his weapon around the empty room, slightly confused that no one was there. But then he saw the box...the lid was closed and latched. "No..." he dropped his gun to the floor and scrambled to his knees in front of the box, quickly opening the lid after removing the latches.

Tony's heart caught in his throat... Gibbs' body was paled and cold...long dead. "No...nonono..." Tony reached down to pull his boss from the box. But the older man's body was stiff in that position, and the helplessness overwhelmed Tony. "Boss, I...I'm sorry...oh god..." he cried as he held the man in his arms...

"Tony..." he heard a voice call to him.

"Tony, wake up," it was Gibbs' voice, and it made him open his eyes.

He blinked to clear his focus as he saw him standing over him, "Boss?" he squeaked, relieved that it had only been a dream.

"Yeah, it's me," he told him. "You're safe now, Tony."

"Where...where am I?" he looked around the room, then down at himself. "Hospital?"

Gibbs nodded and narrowed his eyes at the agent, "You remember what happened?" he asked. Tony's eyes darted wildly about for a few moments. "It's okay if you don't right now."

"I remember," Tony told him, meeting his eyes again. Gibbs watched his senior agent's face as it displayed mixed emotions; relief, confusion... embarrassment? "I remember them takin' me from my place," he said as his eyes focused somewhere beside Gibbs. "And I remember..." he swallowed and closed his eyes for just a moment, "Everything they did. But I don't remember getting out of there," he focused on Gibbs again. "I'm sorry, Boss," there came the embarrassed look again. "For freakin' out on you like I did."

Gibbs shook his head, never leaving eye-contact with Tony, "You've got nothin' to be sorry for, Tony."

"My inability to control myself made Griswald's plan successful," he clenched his jaw.

"You realize how much PCP was in your system, DiNozzo?" he asked with squinted eyes. "I'd say you did a pretty damn good job controlling what you could." They were both silent for a moment. "Besides," Gibbs looked down, "I'm the one who should be apologizing to you."

"What are you talkin' about?" Tony furrowed his brow in disbelief.

"I put the wrong man away," he met his eyes again.

"That's funny, 'cause last I recall, we both pinned the wrong Griswald."

"Yeah, well...I came out of there without a scratch. You're the one who got hurt, in all this."

Tony pursed his lips for a moment, searching his boss's eyes. "You're the reason I came out of it alive, Boss." Gibbs flinched for just a moment at that thought. "I've seen people tear themselves apart on that drug; ram themselves into walls and split their own heads open. Anyone else might've...backed away into a corner and let me self-destruct, but you..." he took a couple of breaths through his nose, "You made sure I didn't." Gibbs could tell that his agent was starting to tire again, quickly, as his eyes became hooded.

"You know I'm not the only one who would've done that," he told him. "McGee and Ziva would've had your six, too, if they'd had the chance. In fact, they're the ones who tracked us down and got us outta there." Tony nodded, sleepily, in acknowledgment. "We'll talk more later," Gibbs patted his arm. "You get some sleep. I'll be here."

Tony relaxed against the pillows and let his eyes close, only to open them again as Gibbs sat in the chair beside the bed. "Boss?" Gibbs met his eyes again. "Thanks," he told him, then let his eyes slip closed again, giving in to the fatigue...

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"Agent McGee!" Tim turned toward the voice of Tobias Fornell as he approached him in the NCIS garage. "Glad I caught you so I didn't have to go up. I've got a copy of the video images pulled from Griswald's laptop. Found it when we took him down. Thought you might need it for Gibbs and DiNozzo once they testify. You know...evidence and all," he handed him a flash drive.

"Video of what?" he was almost afraid to ask.

"Apparently, Griswald had everything recorded. There were webcams all over the building my agents found when they were combing the place."

Tim looked at the tiny device as he flipped it over in his hand. "We have everyone in custody," he looked back up at Fornell. "So...why do you want me to have this? I can get all this information from Gibbs."

"I want you to have it so they don't have to tell you," he explained. "After watching that, myself, I think it'd be best if...well, if they didn't have to be the ones writing the report. Bad enough they had to live that once."

McGee furrowed his brow, then nodded in understanding and thanks. Fornell sent him a quick smile before turning to get back into his car. Then Tim got into the elevator and made his way to Abby's lab. He was more than grateful that she hadn't gotten in yet as he made his way into her office to take advantage of the privacy of her computer space.

He clicked the monitor on and stuck the flash drive into the usb port, opening the files it contained. He paused for a moment, scratching the side of his head as he pondered the thought of even watching this in the first place. But Fornell was right; Gibbs and Tony probably wouldn't want to talk about what'd happened in there. Between the both of them, they pretty much kept everything locked away from everyone...even if it hurt.

But McGee needed to know...needed to understand. And if by watching this footage, he could help to ease the burden somehow, then that's what he would do. He opened the first video and clicked for it to play. It started out dark, lit up by night-vision. And when the lights came on, he realized it was Tony's apartment. It didn't take long to realize that this was video of his kidnapping. But he hadn't expected to see the appearance of that box so soon...

The next video was split-screen: one of the cell as Gibbs came to open the box and help Tony out. The other side showed the other room where the familiar metal bed and machine lay. It didn't take long until Tony was being dragged from the cell and strapped down on the metal bed. Gibbs was yelling, banging against the door of the cell as one of the masked men began preparing for the inevitable torture...McGee thought he was prepared for this part; thought he knew what was going to happen. And in a way, he did know. But somehow it was a hell of a lot more difficult to see...

Imagining it was somehow less horrid than seeing and hearing it first-hand. Tim felt his stomach twist as he watched the masked man drill into Tony's chest... Tony's scream went through him like a knife. He had to look away- and he ended up watching Gibbs as he yelled louder and banged harder on the door. McGee muted the video, allowing it to play without the audio at least until this part was through. But the damage was already done... and he reached for the small trash bin beside Abby's desk and heaved into it.

Cursing under his breath, he forced himself to calm down, and opened the next video file, taking the volume off mute. The footage was just one window now; the room where Tony had been drilled into, but now the bed was upright. Gibbs was tied to a chair a ways in front of it. Wires were clamped to the little posts in Tony's chest and abdomen, and Tim watched in horror as he was repeatedly shocked; listening carefully to the questions being given to Gibbs, and his replies...each time hoping that the answer would be quick to end Tony's pain.

When Tony's body went completely limp, the video ended. Tim knew, however, what had happened after that. He'd heard Gibbs explain it to Ducky the night before. He opened the next file, which began with a full shot of the cell as Gibbs went in to get Tony from the box. What started out relatively calm, soon escalated in the hallucination that had Tony mutilating his own body in attempt to remove invisible creatures from his skin. McGee found himself wrapping his own arms around his middle, scratching at his own arms as he empathized with his friend. He was grateful when Gibbs managed to calm him down. The video ended soon after, and he noted the time-stamp before opening the next one.

Six hours had passed in between the videos, and he realized exactly what point that had been in the day. Tony had been asleep on the floor at that point, but all hell broke loose when the room flooded with the masked men. Gibbs had tried to fend them away from Tony, but there were too many of them. McGee understood the look of fear on Gibbs' face as the men lifted Tony's terrified form toward the box. Neither of them had ever seen him so scared before, even if it was because of the drugs...it was still hard to swallow.

One video remained. As he opened it, he tried hard to hold on to the control he'd forced himself to keep...well, since losing his breakfast after the drilling... The footage was, once again, of Gibbs opening the box. His heart sank, probably along with Gibbs', at the lack of reaction from Tony as he was pulled from the box. Tim intently listened to Gibbs' voice as he tried to comfort the senior agent. The sound of Tony's small sob, and watching his hand come up to grip Gibbs' shirt, caused McGee's eyes to sting with tears.

The video ended and Tim heard the office door hiss open, causing him to look over. "McGee, what're you doing in my..." Abby's look of confusion immediately changed into concern. "What's wrong, Timmy?" she asked as she quickly went to his side and knelt beside the chair.

McGee quickly swiped away the tear that he hadn't realized escaped down his cheek, then yanked the flash drive from her computer and stood. "I've gotta go start the report, Abby," he said as he stood.

She stood as well, "You're shaking," she said as she reached over and hugged him tightly. "What's wrong? What were you doing just now?"

He closed his eyes for a moment as he returned the hug. "I'm okay...really," he pulled gently away. "I need to go," he walked past her and out of the lab.

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tbc...

A/N: Know this is shorter than normal, but, like the last few days, I've been a bit busy. Longer chapter coming tomorrow hopefully:)