I'm sorry that I didn't upload the new chapter on Saturday. A few problems appeared, which I had to take care off. I hope you can forgive me and enjoy the new chapter
Who will Gibbs get back this time?
I don't own anything. The characters belong to CBS.
Chapter 12
Gibbs couldn't wait for the teams to solve this Sudoku. Instead, he made copies and handed them to the younger agents. They would do their best on their way to the port, while the ex-marine and Callen would drive. Pride was the only one, who hadn't a copy because he still didn't know how this riddle worked. No, his job was to warn Gibbs about the other cars on the streets. It seemed as if Gibbs wanted to break the record in fast driving, but his thoughts were already in Baltimore.
Who was in the next container? Could it be Abby? It had to be her. He didn't know how he should survive another day with the knowledge that she was still out there. Besides, the kidnapper had to have a conscience. He couldn't play this game with a woman as long as he would do with a man, right? On the other hand, this bastard wanted him to suffer and leaving his favorite for the very last riddles would make him really suffer. No, he had to believe that she would be in this container. But why was his gut saying otherwise? Why was his gut certain that he would find one of the boys? And why couldn't he be happier about it? After all, he would free another member of his team tonight, and this was a good thing.
The agents needed half an hour to solve the Sudoku, because of the bad light and Gibbs' way to drive. Yes, Callen had to drive like the older team leader to not lose him on their way to Baltimore and the young agent had to admit that he almost lost Gibbs a few times.
Impatiently, he walked up and down in front of the car, while Callen talked to Eric and Nell for the number of the new container. Finally, the young agent closed his cell phone.
"We've got the number. It's 3722. The CEO gave us the location."
This time, Gibbs couldn't drive away. He had to wait for Callen to show him the way. After ten minutes, they stopped and got out of the cars. Together they only needed a few seconds to find the container from Russia.
"Alright, this is the plan," Callen explained, "Chris and Deeks open the doors. You guys keep your guns up, in case, there is something inside we don't like. If one of our missing agents is inside, Sam and I will go in and pull he or she out before the bomb goes off. Any questions?"
"Do it," Gibbs ordered.
Chris and Deeks went to the doors, then they pulled them wide open. The light of the flashlights fell on grey walls, a mattress with a blanket and a pillow, and… Anthony DiNozzo Junior. Callen and Sam didn't hesitate one second. Quickly, they went in, grabbed Tony's arms and ran out of the container. The other agents ran away as soon as they saw Tony, while everyone was counting. The first bomb had exploded shortly after they had opened the doors, so, it was likely that this would happen again. And they were right. The container exploded with a loud bang.
"TONY!"
As soon as, he was able to hear again, Gibbs ran to his senior field agent, who was lying on the ground, while Callen called for an ambulance.
"Tony!"
"Hey, boss. That was a pretty firework don't you think?" Tony croaked.
"If you wouldn't have been kidnapped and nearly killed, I would give you a head slap."
"Lucky me. Boss, do you mind if I close my eyes for a second? Because I'm really tired."
"An ambulance is on his way. We'll get you to the hospital."
"Sounds good," the young agent murmured before he closed his eyes.
"Tony. Tony! Stay with me!"
"Welcome back, Agent Gibbs. Honestly, I didn't think that you would bring me another one of your agents that soon."
"Hello, Doctor Nelson. I hope that I can bring two more agents to you in the next two days."
"Two more? Hell, what do you do to your people?"
"I save them. They were kidnapped, and I only get one per night back. How is the latest one?"
"Not as bad as Agent Bishop. It seems as if Agent DiNozzo is a little bit stronger than the young woman."
"Can I talk to him?"
"Sadly, you can't. His condition is better than the other one, but he is still exhausted and needs his sleep. I recommend that you search for the two missing agents."
"Any news about Agent Bishop?"
"She sleeps a lot and barely eats something. Don't get me wrong, sleeping is a good thing because it means that her body has the possibility to heal. But she needs to eat too. We hope that her husband can help us with it."
"I'm sure he will. Thank you, Doctor Nelson. I'll inform the rest of my team."
"Sure, I expect to see you soon."
Gibbs gave him his hand, then he walked to the LA- and NOLA-team, which waited at the windows. Was it just him or did they look tired and exhausted? Pride was the first one, who turned to him.
"What did the doctor say?"
"DiNozzo is in a better state than Bishop, but he needs to rest. These past days had been hard, and I agree with him. I leave two more agents here to watch over them."
"Deeks and I can stay. We…" Kensi suggested, but the old silver fox interrupted her.
He was thankful for their help. His team would be still in the containers without them. But now it was time for them to take a nap and to rest. They would need their strength for the next days.
"No, thank you, Agent Blye. You already helped me more than enough. No, you all drive back to DC. Eat something, then sleep. The bastard won't call before it is morning. We meet in the office at 0700."
"What about you?" asked Callen.
"I'll stay. I have to talk to my agents, in case if anyone awakes."
"And how do you wanna come back to DC if we take the cars?"
"I pick him up," Pride answered and gave Gibbs a small nod "Try to get some sleep too, brother."
"I'll try. Night."
The team leader from Washington noticed how the two women hesitated, but they soon followed the men outside. Now it was on him to protect his team.
"Agent Gibbs? Agent Gibbs?"
A gentle hand touched his arm, which woke him immediately. A young nurse smiled at him friendly.
"Good morning, Agent Gibbs. I'm sorry to wake you, but one of your agents is awake, and I thought you would want to know this."
"Oh, ehm… yes, thank you. How long did I… ehm…?"
"Sleep? Honestly, I didn't check on you the whole time, so, I don't know exactly when you fell asleep, but I think it was around 3 am, when I saw you sleeping."
Tired, Gibbs rubbed his eyes. This news was both good and bad. 3 am meant that he didn't sleep very long to miss his drive back to DC, but it also meant that he hadn't got enough sleep. And right now, this was something he could really need. No, there was no time to waste it with luxury such as sleep. He could do this when he was dead.
"Thank you. I think I'll check on my agents now."
"Come to me if you need anything."
The team leader nodded, then he went to the room of his agents. Doctor Nelson had arranged to put both Bishop and DiNozzo in one room. Jake sat in a chair beside Bishop's bed, but he was fully asleep. The other young man in the room was awake and was looking at him.
"Morning, boss."
"Tony, how are you?"
"Great, I always wanted to know how it is to lie inside the hospital of Baltimore. Those beds are just..."
"Do I really have to smack you?"
"You would slap someone, who barely got out of this container alive? Someone, who got kidnapped, beaten up and left for dead?"
"Yeah, I would if it means that you stop joking. Because right now, I don't have the time for that. I have two members of my team, who are still out there."
"Abby and Tim," Tony answered, but this time he was serious.
"Yes, so, can you tell me what happened since I've sent you home that last night?"
"Do you prefer the long or the short version?"
"Short. I need to get back to DC for the next riddle."
This caught the attention of Gibbs' senior field agent. Surprised, he raised his brow and looked at his boss as if he turned crazy.
"Riddle? What…?"
"Never mind. Just tell me your story."
"This was good work, guys. We can be proud of ourselves."
McGee raised his eyebrow, Bishop got big eyes, while Abby smiled at the senior field agent.
"Very good, Tony, but you're not Gibbs."
"Come on, this was close to the bossman."
"Maybe a little, but you still have to practice."
"A lot," the silver fox's voice appeared behind Tony.
In the next second a hand made contact with the back of his head.
"Ow! What was that for?"
"For joking around. Go home. It's late and the case is closed."
Tony threw his hands up in joy, then he grabbed his bag. Gibbs walked to his desk to get his jacket. Abby, who leaned against his desk turned around to him.
"I'll stay. I still have work to do."
"Abs, it's late. Leave the work for tomorrow."
"Gibbs, I can't. I already got it days ago, and the agents will shoot me if I don't give them some answers in the next few days."
The ex-marine put on his jacket, then he stopped in front of his favorite lab rat. She was almost as tall as him with her plateau shoes, but just almost.
"First, they have to go through me."
"You're sweet, Gibbs, but it doesn't change anything. I have to do it."
The team leader gave her his famous 'look', but it didn't have the same affection as it had on the rest of the team. Abby and Ducky were the only ones, who weren't impressed or scared of the bossman. Finally, Gibbs gave up sighing.
"Fine, just promise me that you won't stay the whole night."
"I promise that I won't stay the whole night, Sir," Abby repeated and saluted of course, with the wrong hand.
"Wrong hand, Abs, and don't call me 'Sir'."
"Sorry, Ma'am."
He shook his head slightly, then he pulled her into a hug and gave her a soft kiss on her temple.
"If I find out that you stayed, we two will have a long talk. Do you hear me?"
Abby's answer was muffled from Gibbs' shirt, so, the three agents, who were eavesdropping, couldn't hear anything. This was the time when Gibbs noticed that his team was watching them.
"Do you guys have a question, or why are you still here?"
Quickly, all three agents went to the elevator.
Sighing Tony sank on his couch and turned on his TV. Finally, home. Again, this had been a long and exhausting week, and he was really tired. He couldn't even concentrate on the movie. Soon, he closed his eyes and sleep took over.
It felt like seconds that he had been sleeping when a loud bang woke him. He reached for his gun, but he was too slow. A man with a mask punched him right in the face, which caused the gun to land on the floor. Tony saw the next punch, but this time he reacted and blocked the attack. The senior field agent landed one punch at his attacker before he got hit by a second man. Hell, how many of them got inside of his apartment? And where was his gun? Well, he could beat them with his bare hands if he had to. Two against one wasn't fair but not a problem for a well-trained special agent. Just when he brought the second man to the floor, someone hit him with a baseball bat on the head. Groaning the movie-expert fell next to his couch.
"What is wrong with you two? Are you too weak to beat one man?", someone asked behind him.
"And what about you? You need a baseball bat to knock him out."
"Yeah, if I were you, I wouldn't hit him with that again. The guy said he wants him alive."
Tony wanted to ask about who they were talking, but he had problems to stay awake. His head was hurting pretty much. Carefully, he tried to stand up, only to be sent to sleep by the third man.
"So, you were kidnapped by three men? Could you see their faces?"
"No, they always wore masks."
Slowly, Gibbs walked up and down, while he thought about this news. It seemed as if every one of his team was kidnapped by a different group of men, who were hired by one person. And Gibbs was pretty sure that this was his mysterious shadow man, who left him riddles.
"What about this 'guy'? Have you ever seen his face?"
"No, he wore a black mask like those bastards. And there was nothing special about him either. I checked him for tattoos or scars, but nothing."
"Damn it!"
"Although… I don't know."
"What? Spit it out, Tony! Maybe this information helps me to find him, and when I find him, I can save Abby and McGee."
"I kind of recognized his voice, but I can't tell where I heard it before. It wasn't recently, but I definitely knew it."
Gibbs looked as if he was ready to throw something out of the window. Luckily, someone knocked before this could happen. A second later, Pride shoved his head through the door.
"Gibbs?"
"In here."
"Oh good, they're awa… alright, half of them are awake. Good morning, DiNozzo."
"Morning, Pride. So, you guys flew over to take our jobs?"
"Well, we and the team from LA. Gibbs called the best agents he could get. All just to find you."
"Alright, that's enough. Tony, I'll leave agents outside, who will protect you two, but in case they can't stop whoever wants to get you…"
The team leader pulled out two guns from under his jacket and placed them under Tony's pillow.
"…then give Bishop a gun and shoot. Do you hear me?"
"Understood. What are you gonna do now?"
"I have to go back to DC for the next riddle."
"You still haven't told me about those riddles."
"I will, I promise. But right now, I don't have time for this. Try to sleep and listen to what the doctor says."
"What? Boss, you can't…"
"I'll be back soon. Hopefully, with another member of my team."
Tony opened his mouth to protest, but Gibbs and Pride were already at the door. Shocked, he watched how it closed behind them.
"Isn't this a wonderful morning, Agent Gibbs? You have two agents back, which means you've got the half of your team. But I suppose that you want the rest too."
"Good guess. Where is the new riddle?"
Again, they stood in MTAC, and Gibbs was tired. This case was eating his nerves, but more important, he was tired of this stupid game. Why couldn't this guy give up and give back his team? It had been too many days since he had his little girl in his arms. He couldn't even remember when it had been the last time, he hadn't seen and hugged her for such a long time period. She was always there and even when she wasn't, he knew that he could always call her, and she would answer it.
"Patience, Agent Gibbs. You need to learn to be calmer."
"I will try that as soon as I have my whole team back. Now give me the next riddle."
"Fine, it's on your desk. As always. Have fun."
Crossword Quiz 3
/a/NQUrT8s
It seemed as if they finally got some routine with those riddles. The younger agents did their best, while the old ones stayed out of it. Gibbs stood in front of the screen and looked at his remaining agents. They didn't look very well, but they didn't give up. They had examined every inch of these damn container walls, but they had found nothing. He needed to find his family!
"I've got it! It's Spain," Chris yelled.
Gibbs turned to the other ones for confirmation. The first one, who was also done with the riddle was Sam, and this was all Gibbs needed.
"Send him our answer. He will take his time anyway."
Deeks stood up, while his partner typed the message.
"What do you guys think about breakfast? This guy will need a few hours until he calls back, and I'm hungry. Anyone else?"
"I could use something too," Brody admitted.
"Alright, write it down. Kens and I, we will go and get it."
"What? Who said that I'm coming with you? It was your idea."
"And how am I supposed to carry all this stuff?"
"That's not my problem. You made the suggestion, so, you have to find a solution."
"But I already did. You help me."
"I speak of another solution, Deeks."
"I call Nell and ask her if she and Eric want something," Callen offered to escape the situation and took his phone.
"I call Sebastian," Chris said and followed Callen's example.
"Fine, Sam would you…"
"Don't even think about it. I won't help you."
"Really? I offer you to get breakfast, but no one is actually willing to help me?"
"It was your idea, Deeks. It sounded as if YOU would go, and not that you ask Kensi or me for help."
"And I will go I just…"
"Good, here is the list."
Of course, Callen stood behind his partner and continued the little game with Deeks. The poor detective watched his friends with his best puppy dog eyes until Kensi gave up.
"Fine, let's go, Deeks. I'm hungry, and this takes too long."
They made it to the elevator when suddenly Nell appeared on the stairs.
"We got the next riddle."
Crossword 3 - Solution
/a/n8R6rne