At first, I want to thank everyone who is reading this story. I hope you enjoy it and the future chapters

For those of you, who are waiting for the arrival of the teams: I'm sorry, but you have to wait for the next chapter.

I don't own anything. The characters belong to CBS.

Chapter 3

"Jethro. Jethro, wake up."

Only slowly, the familiar voice came through his sleepy mind. Who was calling him? Why couldn't they just leave him alone and give him some rest?

"Jethro."

Sighing, Gibbs rubbed his eyes. Apparently, his naptime was over.

"Tony, this better be good."

"Jethro! It's me, Ducky. Anthony isn't here, remember?"

"What are you…?"

Suddenly, it hit him. This wasn't DiNozzo. It was his good friend Ducky! The team leader was awake within seconds and took in his surroundings. Everywhere he saw foreign agents, who were silently working. Immediately, he searched for the faces of his agents, his team, but it didn't take him long until he remembered what happened.

"My team is missing."

Although everyone in this room knew it, he needed to say it. As if he wished it would be a bad dream, and they would magically reappear.

"Yes, Jethro, they are missing."

"How long did I sleep? What have I missed?"

"I don't how long you slept, but you didn't miss anything. Sadly, we still don't have a clue where they are."

"How is it possible that my whole team disappears? No one is that good."

"You will find them, Jethro. I know you will."

"Sir? We think we found something," said the agent from yesterday.

"What do you mean 'you think'? Do you got something or don't?"

"We got something."

"Show me."

The agent handed Gibbs a file. It contained only a few papers.

"We found the car, which was used to kidnap Agent Bishop. The McDonalds restaurant gave us their videotapes, and we finally got a hit on the car. It was reported stolen, so, we asked the local police for help. They found it in front of a house. The police asked a few neighbors, and they admitted that they saw four men walking into the house yesterday morning. The neighbors are almost certain the men didn't leave until now."

"Did the neighbors say anything about Agent Bishop?"

"No, Sir. They only saw men and they weren't carrying a big bag. Shall I send a team over there?"

"Yeah and I come with you."

"Sir?"

"Do I stammer? I come with you."

"Sir, with all due respects, I don't think that this is such a good idea."

"This is about my team. I'll go."

"As you wish."

The agent made a small bow in front of Gibbs and then he left to organize a team. Meanwhile, Gibbs walked to his desk to get his gun and badge, followed by Ducky.

"Jethro, may I suggest something? Leave this to agent…"

"This is my team, Duck. They are my responsibility."

"Abigail won't be there."

"You don't know that."

"You would know it too if you would just listen to your gut. None of them will be there."

"I have to try, Duck. I have to."

Then he stormed off to the elevator and left a worried medical examiner behind.

They needed half an hour to arrive at the house of the alleged suspects. Gibbs wore his bulletproof vest, but his gun was still in his holster. He and the young agent – he just remembered that his name was Millers – waited for the rest of the team to get in position. The house was surrounded, and if the suspects would be clever, they would've noticed them by looking out of the window. But those guys weren't geniuses.

Finally, Gibbs and Agent Millers went to the front door to storm the house. As much as Gibbs wanted to storm in, to shoot them and to ask questions later, he knew he couldn't do that. So instead, he knocked twice and yelled: "NCIS! Open the door!"

They waited a few seconds beside the door. Just when they decided to get in, the suspects opened the fire. Immediately, Gibbs ducked and hid from the dangerous objects, while the door beside him got a few new holes. Suddenly, the shots stopped, and Gibbs and the agent went into action. They crashed the door and stormed the house. The team leader was careful not to shot any of his suspects. He needed them alive to interrogate them. They were his only lead to find his team. Well, at least they could lead him to Bishop. He didn't know yet if they've kidnapped the others too.

Ten minutes later, the four men were escorted out of the building in handcuffs. One had a flesh wound from a bullet, one had a broken nose – yes this had been Gibbs' work – and the other two had given up when they had seen that their friends were caught.

Meanwhile, Gibbs searched the house from top to bottom, but he found no sign of Bishop or the others. Frustrated he smashed a lamp. Millers, who had just walked in, stopped and watched the broken lamp on the floor.

"What did she do to you? Did she insult you?"

"Don't try to be funny. I'm not in the mood."

"I'm sorry, did you…"

"Never apologize. It's a sign of weakness."

"Pardon me?"

"Rule number 6."

"I never heard of this rule."

"I invented them. My team knows."

"Alright, did you find anything?"

"Nothing. No sign of them. I highly doubt that any of them were here."

"So we're back to square one."

"No. Yesterday I didn't know, who had taken my team. Now I know, who took Agent Bishop, and we even have her kidnappers in custody."

"What's your next move?"

"One of them will tell me, where they hide my agent."

"Where is she?!"

It hadn't taken Gibbs long to convince the director that he could interrogate these men. Maybe because Vance knew that the furious ex-marine wouldn't take no for an answer. So now he was talking to his first suspect. An ugly guy, whose hair was a mess, his face looked dirty, and his teeth hadn't seen a dentist in decades.

Gibbs didn't bother to ask this guy if he knew Bishop. He preferred it not to waste any more time and instead came straight to the point. The only problem was that this guy didn't seem afraid of the team leader. Honestly, he looked as if he was sure that Gibbs couldn't prove anything. He sat in his chair with a big smile on his face and arms crossed.

"Look at her! Her name is Eleanor Bishop and she is a federal agent!"

The man took a quick look at the photo, but then he shook his head.

"Sorry, I don't know her."

"Stop playing stupid! I know that you and your friends kidnapped her before yesterday! So I ask you one last time: Where is she?!"

"Not a clue."

"Do you think this is funny?! In the end, one of you will talk and will tell me what happened! And this person will get a deal. Will you be the one?"

"Maybe she ran away. I mean, I wouldn't want to work for such an old man like you. I would definitely run away," the man laughed.

This was too much for Gibbs. He jumped up, grabbed the asshole by the jacket and slammed him against the wall.

"You ignorant, self-adoring bastard! This is my team! Do you hear me?! MY TEAM!"

"Agent Gibbs!"

Millers opened the door, but the team leader didn't care. He only had eyes for the guy, who had his answers but refused to spill them. Gibbs was angry. Really, really angry.

"TELL ME WHERE THEY ARE!"

"I don't know what you are talking about," Gibbs' suspect answered calmly.

Luckily for him, the young NCIS agent reacted quickly and pulled Gibbs away before the situation could escalate.

"Agent Gibbs, that's enough! You won't get your answers like that! Let me talk to him."

"He knows where my team is!"

"Then I will find it out. But for now, please let me do this interrogation."

"He won't tell you anything! You need to beat it out of him!"

"Well, I don't work like that. I have my own methods."

Gibbs gave his suspect one last evil eye before he stormed out of the interrogation room. The door closed with a loud bang. Outside Vance waited for him.

"Do the others talk?" asked Gibbs, but deep down he already knew the answer.

"They pretend to not know anything. The forensic team I ordered, is right now working on the evidence from the raid on the McDonalds restaurant. If they can connect those four to the masked men, then they are trapped."

"But it doesn't help me to find my team. I can't wait for evidence. I need to find them now."

Gibbs turned around without hesitating a moment. He heard how Vance told him to stop, but he didn't care. He was running out of time. The team leader went back to the squad room, where the new agents were still working on finding any hints.

"I need a coffee," Gibbs sighed depressed.

When he returned with a fresh coffee, the young agent Millers was back in the office, too.

"Where were you? I thought you wanted answers."

"I still want them. Talk. Did he tell you anything?"

"No."

"Like I thought. What else?"

"We wait for the results from the forensic. Maybe they can help us."

"I don't like the sound of this."

"I understand you, but we can't do anything else. We tried everything we could've thought of. Now we have to wait for the forensics."

Suddenly, the phone from the agent rang and interrupted the conversation.

"Millers. Really? Who is it? We're coming."

He closed his cell phone and looked at Gibbs suspiciously. As if the old man would know more than he admitted.

"You have an anonymous video call in MTAC."

"Are they sure that it is for me?"

"Yes."

Curiously, Gibbs looked up to the upper floor. Who was calling him over MTAC? Could it be Tony? Or Tim? No, his gut told him that it wasn't anyone from his team.

"Well, let's find out, what the mysterious caller wants from me."

MTAC was dark, while Gibbs waited in front of the screen. The only light came from the few electrics in the room and the turning emblem of NCIS. Although Gibbs looked as if he would be as cool as a cucumber, he was impatient.

"Is there a problem?" asked he the technicians.

"Just one moment, Sir," a woman with a headphone said, "Here we are."

The emblem disappeared, and instead, the screen went on, and a dark figure appeared. It looked as if the background was from a living room, but someone must have closed the louvers because Gibbs could barely see anything.

"Hello, Agent Gibbs. I almost thought you don't want to talk to me. You look good."

"Who are you?"

"Oh, I'm hurt. Don't you remember me?"

"Why don't you put on the lights? Maybe then I'll remember."

"That's a really good idea. Let me think about it… Ehm, no. I don't want to make it too easy for you. It would be no fun if I would tell you now."

Gibbs sighed and shifted his weight. Now he wished he would have a coffee here. This was a waste of time, which he could use to find his team.

"Well, if you don't tell me who you are, then why did you even call? I'm a little busy, and…"

"I heard that you miss a few people."

Those words made Gibbs freeze. Angry, he clenched his teeth. What did this guy know about his agents? Was it possible that he was the kidnapper?

"What?!"

"Am I wrong? I have a young man here, and I wonder, does he belong to you?"

The camera wiggled, and the shadow man disappeared. Gibbs held his breath, while he watched how the man turned on some light and walked through a floor. Finally, he heard how a door was opened. The camera went back up again, but all Gibbs could see was darkness. He even squinted his eyes, but it didn't help.

Suddenly, the brightness of a flashlight appeared and lightened the way. The picture went to the ground again, so they could see a pair of black shoes. They moved into the dark room, then the flashlight found the head of a body. The team leader needed only a second to recognize his agent. It was Tony! And he was beaten up pretty bad. The senior field agent had a black eye, a bloody lip and a purple bruise on his cheek. Gibbs couldn't see his hands, but he was pretty sure that Tony hadn't allowed the person to just beat him up. The other one had to look just as bad. Or maybe this guy had cheated. Maybe he used a taser and used Tony's face later as a punching bag.

"What do you say, Agent Gibbs? Isn't he a part of your team? Or what about her?"

Again the image changed, and only a moment later Gibbs saw his youngest agent: Bishop!

"She is really beautiful. Such nice long blonde hair. She was tough. Fought against me, although she knew she had no chance. But you want to see someone else, right? Well, don't panic. Here she is. Isn't she lovely?"

This time the view broke Gibbs' heart. The guy showed him his beloved Abby. She was lying on the ground, just like Tony and Bishop before. Like Tony, she had a bloody lip, and Gibbs saw a wound on her forehead. This bastard must have pushed her head against something hard or hit her with something. Suddenly, Gibbs felt how his hands started to hurt. Without noticing it, he had made a fist and had pushed his fingernails into his palms. Slowly, he unfolded his fists before he started to speak again.

"What do you want?"

"I want you to suffer. I want you to lose everything that is important to you."

"Why?"

"Because you took everything from me! You ruined my life, and now I will ruin yours! But don't worry, I will give you a chance to save your team."

"How?"

"Oh no, Agent Gibbs. Not now. I will call you again and then I'll explain it to you. I promise that you will hear from me again."

"How do I know that my team isn't already dead? They look pretty dead to me."

"Do you have so little trust in me?"

"I don't know you. So, why should I?"

"I told you, you know me, but that's a different story. Fine, I will prove you that your team is still alive. Watch closely."

The camera went closer to Abby's face. Gibbs' heart beat faster. What did this psychopath want to do? A male hand appeared, and only a second later one of his thick fingers pushed on the open wound on her forehead. Gibbs saw how his favorite lab rat pulled a face and heard her making uncomfortable sounds. It was obvious that this action hurt like hell.

"Leave her alone! I believe you!"

"Are you sure? Because I can push harder and…"

"STOP IT!" Gibbs yelled.

Abby pulled her face away from the hand, but she didn't wake up. The team leader could only imagine what this man did to his team. Did he drug them? Did he use chloroform? At least he removed his hand from Abby's wound.

"I think that is enough for today. Expect my next call, Agent Gibbs. I will call soon."

Gibbs opened his mouth to say something, but the screen went dark. The shadow man had ended the call and had left the poor ex-marine alone with his thoughts and worries.

"Sir?"

Suddenly, Gibbs remembered that he wasn't alone in MTAC. Millers and the technicians were with him, and they had heard everything.

"Are you alright, Sir? Do you want to sit down? Or do you need a glass of water?"

"I need some fresh air," Gibbs murmured before he quickly left MTAC.

He didn't care for the looks he got from the others. All he needed was to get out of there. Away from the young agent, who just wanted to help, and away from the squad room, where the empty desks of his agents were mocking him.

Outside he slowed down and walked through the park. He kept walking until he found an empty bank. Exhausted, the team leader sat down and looked up to the sky.

"I need help. Real help," he said to himself.

Normally, he didn't talk to himself, but today wasn't normal. Gibbs pulled out his cell phone and went through his contacts. When he finally found the name he was looking for, he pushed the green button and listened to the familiar ringing sound.

"Hello?"

"It's me. I need your help. When can you be here?"