Thank you for the nice reviews. I love all of them :D

And yes, the shadow man is driving Gibbs insane, and I can promise you guys, you will hear more of him.

Enjoy the new chapter:)

The solution for the first Sudoku: /a/6gbWc85 (Remember to enter imgur .com in front of the link)

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

Chapter 9

Impatiently Gibbs watched the two teams. Each member had a copy of this 'so donko', and was trying to solve it. Pride and he were the only ones, who weren't working.

"How long do you think they will need?" Pride whispered quietly.

"I don't know. I have never heard of this kind of riddle. I just hope that it won't take much time."

"It seems complicated."

"Yeah, but we never saw such a thing before. They have. Maybe it's easier than we think."

"I've got it!" Brody said and stood up "It's a 6."

"Nonsense, it's a 2," Deeks replied.

"Sorry, Deeks, but she is right. It's a 6," Chris answered.

"Sam and I agree with the guys from NOLA."

"Really? But I was sure…"

"Alright, enough with this useless discussion," Pride interrupted, "The kidnapper said that we need to solve three riddles to get the location of one of the missing agents. I would say, he was talking about the solutions, because I don't think the kind of riddles nor the places we got them will bring us closer. We have the word 'AUSTRALIA', and we have the numbers 481 and now 6. How do they help us to find anyone?"

"Why don't we give Nell and Eric those numbers? Maybe they can help us," Kensi suggested, "After all, they are really good with numbers."

Pride turned to Gibbs, who had no complaints. He just wanted the location.

"Sure, I could use a coffee anyway."

Two hours later, everyone sat together in MTAC and listened to the two computer geeks.

"We tried everything we could and it took us a while, but we think we found the answer," Nell explained.

"Yes, we thought about coordinates, phone numbers, post office boxes, house numbers,…"

"I think they get it, Eric."

"You're right, sorry. I'm just that excited. We are so close to finding one of them. I mean this is the first time we are…"

"Eric! Just tell us!"

Even Callen was annoyed yet. They were running out of time!

"We think this is the solution," Nell said and clicked.

The picture of a container appeared on the big screen.

"Ehm, guys? This is a container. Do you think the guy shipped the agents to another country?" asked Deeks, who was barely impressed.

A look in the eyes of the other attendees said that everyone else doubted the idea of the geeks too.

"He didn't ship them. At least, I hope he didn't. No, it's the only thing that makes sense. 'AUSTRALIA' tells us from where the containers come, and the numbers describe the container," Nell explained, "We are 90% sure that you will find someone in there."

Everyone turned to Gibbs, who stared at the four live videos from his team. They had stopped trying to find a way out.

"What do you think, brother? Shall we risk it?"

Should they? What if they were wrong? Portland wasn't around the corner. They would lose a lot of time. But what if they were right? Who would he save?

"Let's move."

Impatiently Gibbs waited in front of the container 'AU 4816'. It had taken them a while to convince the CEO that this wasn't a joke. That they truly believe to find an agent in one of the containers. If the ex-marine was honest with himself then he would say he wasn't believing it. Who would hide his victims in a metal box? But more important was what if they were wrong? They had no other solutions. Would the shadow man call and give them a hint? Or would he let the team die?

`Think about it later. Now concentrate on the present. Maybe the geeks were right, and we find someone inside.´

Gibbs was standing with the two teams in front of the container with their loaded guns in their hands. Chris had a bolt clipper in his hand and was ready to crush the lock. Who would be inside? Gibbs hoped that it would be Abby. He didn't like the thought of his little girl being in such a container. Besides, she wasn't an agent. She was a forensic scientist, who shouldn't get involved in their dangerous lives.

"Open it," Pride said and the young agent from New Orleans obeyed.

He pulled the doors wide open with the help from Deeks. Suddenly a pillow flew out of the container and hit Sam. A blanket followed, which buried Brody, then they heard a loud scream, which sounded like the scream of a warrior, and a person left the container.

"Federal agents! Freeze!" yelled the remaining agents.

But it was already too late. The person couldn't stop anymore and crushed into Callen, which ended in a hard fall.

"Whoa!"

Everyone turned their flashlights on the poor agent, who was now lying on the ground, and on top of him was…

"Bishop!"

Gibbs felt disappointment that it wasn't Abby, only to feel guilty in the next second. He found one of his agents! This was an improvement because it meant they were on the right path! It's possible that the rest of his team is in a container too. Still, he wished they would have found Abby.

The blonde woman had a bloody wound on her forehead, while she tried to get used to the flashlights. She probably had expected that her kidnapper was coming to kill her and not to blind her. Then Gibbs remembered what Jake had told him about Bishop's kidnapping.

"One of the masked men used his gun to hit her. Unconscious, she landed on Jake."

Quickly, he put his gun away and turned his flashlight off.

"Call an ambulance!"

It wasn't an order to anyone specific. He just hoped that one of them would do it. Then he went over to the female agent.

"Gibbs? Is that you?"

She must have recognized his voice when he yelled the order.

"Yes, and the man beneath you is Special Agent Callen."

"Nice to meet you, Agent Bishop," Callen said calmly.

Gibbs was impressed with how calm the young agent stayed. It couldn't be comfortable on the ground, but it seemed that he didn't want to scare the exhausted woman, so he waited until she took everything in and realized that she was safe. Luckily for him, Bishop noticed pretty quickly that he wasn't a threat to her and stood up. Gibbs grabbed her arm to steady her when she started to sway dangerously.

"Take it easy."

"I just need a minute and then I'm okay."

"You wait until a doctor checked on you and gave his approval."

"That's not necessary, I'm…"

The container exploded before she could finish her sentence. The blast sent all agents on the ground with a loud ringing in their ears. Gibbs needed a few minutes until the strange sound got quieter and he was able to hear other noises. Callen was awake too and was trying to get back on his feet.

"Are you alright?"

Callen's voice was a little muffled, but it got better.

"Nothing is broken," Gibbs answered, "Where is Bishop?"

"Next to you. I think the blast was too much for her. I'll check on the rest of the team."

Gibbs nodded, then he turned to his other side. The young woman lied beside him, but she was unconscious again. The team leader did a quick check on her, but he couldn't see any new injuries, which were good news. Still, she needed to see a doctor. Gibbs took in his surroundings. Callen and Sam were helping Kensi and Brody. Brody had a small cut on her forehead, while Kensi was fine. Pride was checking on his agent, while Deeks was still lying on the ground. Strangely, it looked as if he was kind of communicating with his friends.

The ex-marine sat down. While he waited for the ambulance to arrive, his thoughts started to think about the new problems. Where did this bomb come from, and who detonated it? But more important was: Where the hell was the rest of his team?

An hour later, Gibbs sat in front of Bishop's room in the Johns Hopkins Hospital. The ambulance had brought Bishop here, and since then, the doctors were checking on the kidnapped agent. Brody had a quick check over at the port and had been released pretty quick.

Kensi and Deeks went with him to the hospital, while the other agents tried to solve the mystery of the bomb. The two younger agents kept their distance to the old man. He couldn't say if it was because he looked terrible, or if Callen had warned them and had given them some instructions.

"Agent Gibbs?"

One of the doctors came out of Bishop's room. Gibbs wanted to storm inside but thought it would be wiser to listen to the doctor first.

"That's me?"

"I'm Doctor Nelson."

"How is my agent?"

"She has some minor injuries. A head wound, probably from a punch with a hard object, a taser wound, which I don't want to think about how she got that one, and the skin on her wrists and knuckles is rubbed. What happened to her?"

"She was kidnapped. Can I talk to her?"

"I gave her a sedative to calm down. It was hard for us to make our examination when the person won't hold still."

"When can I talk to her?"

"Try it tomorrow in the morning. Then she should…"

"I don't have that much time. Can I take her back to DC?"

"That's impossible, Agent Gibbs. Right now, she is in no condition to make this transfer. I'm sorry, but you have to wait until tomorrow. Have a good night."

Dr. Nelson left, and Kensi and Deeks walked over.

"What did the doctor say?" asked Kensi concerned.

"They gave her a sedative, and she sleeps now."

"So, we can't talk to her about what happened?"

"No, we have to wait until tomorrow."

Sighing Gibbs went back to his chair, while Kensi and Deeks looked at each other. They didn't need words to talk. When they came to an agreement, they moved closer to the older special agent.

"Hey, man, Kensi and I, we… talked about our next moves."

Tired Gibbs forced himself to look up, although, he was certain he didn't want to hear this.

"Well, tonight, there is nothing we can do so far. So, why don't you call Callen and the other guy, and you guys drive back to DC?"

"Bishop is my agent. And maybe she has some information about…"

"What my partner means is that you are needed in Washington. You have to be there when the kidnapper calls again. He only talks to you. So you should go back and wait for his call."

"He won't call tonight."

"I'm aware, but you need sleep. Drive home, take a nap and allow us to keep an eye on your agent."

Gibbs thought about the words of the female special agent. She was way better in convincing someone than her partner. And she was right. He was exhausted and needed a few hours of good sleep.

"Fine, you stay here. But you call me as soon as something changes."

"Sure, man. This will be easy. Piece of a cake."

"Ignore him. He is a good cop, but his brain and his mouth are sometimes not connected, and then you get something like this."

"I do hope he is better at shooting than speaking."

Frustrated Gibbs sat on his couch with a beer in his hand and looked at the dark TV. He had driven home after they had arrived at the Navy Yard. The live videos of his team and the countdown would wait in the squad room for him, and Gibbs couldn't look at them anymore. He was already going crazy.

Why did the kidnapper give him Bishop back? Why couldn't he release Abby first? Gibbs knew that he would feel way better when he would know that his favorite forensic scientist would be safe. Hell, he probably wouldn't have left the hospital until she would have woken up. Yeah, he knew that this wasn't fair to the rest of the team, but he couldn't deny his feelings. She was his favorite. His little girl. His daughter. And he would always protect her.

Suddenly, he heard how someone opened his front door. He pointed his gun at the intruder within seconds. Right now, he was in the mood 'shoot-first-ask-later'.

"Gibbs?" a familiar voice called.

Pride walked in and shrugged when he saw the gun. His first instinct was to pull his own gun, but he resisted.

"Hell, brother. If you are scared of unwelcomed guests, then you should start to lock your doors."

"I'm not scared. I'm just not in the mood for a visit."

"It's just me."

"I can see that. What do you want?"

Gibbs laid the gun back on his table, while Pride came closer, although he was more careful now.

"I thought it would be a good idea to check on you."

"I'm fine."

This time, Pride laughed out loud, then he sat down on the table.

"Really, you want to play this game? You forget that I was Franks' student too when you arrived at NIS. And even when you two weren't talking much about your past, I'd always seen when you felt terrible."

"That's not true."

"You are far from being good, Gibbs. Your team is missing and you only got one back tonight."

"Thanks, Pride, without you I wouldn't have noticed."

"Stop being such a bastard."

"I am a bastard. Always was, always will be."

"Does Abby think that too?"

This time, Pride got the evil eye, but he didn't care. He knew his 'brother' for a long time now, and even a blind person could see that Gibbs wasn't feeling well at this moment.

"Don't," Gibbs responded in a threating tone.

"What? Am I not allowed to speak about Abby? You do remember that I was the one, who met her first, right?"

"She belongs to my team."

"She does now. But if I'm honest, maybe I should take her back to New Orleans. I never brought her in danger. She never got kidnapped or attacked and she had a family. Yeah, I think I should talk to Vance about it."

Pride didn't see Gibbs' fist. He didn't even have a chance to react before the hand made contact with his cheek.

"Stay away from Abby! She is mine!" Gibbs said icily.

"You can't keep her safe. I, on the other hand, I can…"

Those words were too much for the old ex-marine. The bottle landed on the ground with a loud splatter, but Gibbs didn't bother. This time, he didn't punch his 'brother'. Instead, he put his hands around Pride's throat and squeezed. The surprised agent pulled back, and the two men landed on the floor.

"I keep her safe! I promised it to her!"

"Then why isn't she here?" Pride coughed, while his face started to turn red "Because you failed."

Angry Gibbs squeezed tighter when suddenly, a fist hit his face hard. Pride fought back. Gibbs got off the team leader from NOLA and held his hurting cheek, while Pride tried to catch his breath again.

"Why are you here?" asked Gibbs in frustration.

"I wanted you to face the real reason why you are depressed."

"And what's that?"

"Abby. You are angry that she is still out there, the victim of a crazy man. And you are angry because you feel helpless."

Gibbs thought about his next words. Finally, he remembered that this was Pride. His friend, his brother. This guy was one of the few people on this planet, who really knew him.

"I failed her."

His words were barely a whisper, and when it wouldn't have been that silent in the house, Pride wouldn't have heard him.

"No, you didn't. She is a grown-up woman. You can't protect her forever. She has a personal life too, and I'm pretty sure that there are a few things she does without you."

"You don't understand. I promised her to keep her safe."

"You couldn't know that there was a psychopath, who is obsessed with you."

"Our job is dangerous. Every day we could get killed, but Abby is a forensic scientist. She shouldn't even know what danger is."

"Gibbs, I promised you that we will get them back and I keep my promises. You will see your girl again and then it is up to you if you want to lock her in her lab, or in your basement, to keep her safe."

"I thought you wanted to take her away to New Orleans."

"Oh come on, as if Abby would ever leave you. She adores you. You are her hero, her knight in shining armor. The only way for me to bring her to New Orleans is to cuff her. There is no way she would come with me on her own."

The men got quiet again, while Gibbs thought about Pride's words. He knew that Abby liked Pride, just as she had liked Franks, but there was no way she would leave Washington. She loved her job, the team, her lab, and yes, she liked him – the old ex-marine – too. She was his little girl, his favorite, and she knew it.

"No, she wouldn't," Gibbs confirmed finally, which made Pride smiling.