AN: Thanks so much for all the nice comments. I think one more chapter after this one will wrap this up. I really want to finish up "Dinner Interrupted" and then have some other things in mind that I hope you'll enjoy :)

xxxxx

"Those were outstanding, boss." Tony swallowed his last mouthful of blueberry pancakes and patted his stomach with a contented smile.

"You sure you had enough?" Gibbs asked with a smirk. He had lost count of how many pancakes his agent had put away.

"Couldn't eat another bite." Tony was completely stuffed. He knew he had overdone it, but the breakfast had been delicious.

Truthfully, Gibbs was happy to see that Tony had a good appetite after all that had happened the previous day. "You about ready to go?" he asked, eying the younger man carefully. He didn't want to push too hard, but it was important to get as many details as possible to hopefully identify the perpetrator.

"Yeah, I'm all set." Tony pushed away from the table and carried the breakfast plates over to the sink

"I'll worry about those later," Gibbs said. "Let's get a move on."

Before heading out, Gibbs left Tony alone for a few minutes, returning with a gun and shoulder holster which he handed to his agent. "I don't want to leave you unarmed, not even for a minute," he explained.

"Thanks, boss." The two exited the house, both cautiously examining their surroundings and checking out Gibbs' vehicle thoroughly before Gibbs turned on the ignition. Both men gave sighs of relief when nothing happened. Gibbs then pulled the car out onto the street and they were on their way.

xxxxx.

"At least he didn't take my car." Tony was relieved to see his automobile parked right where he had left it in the parking garage of his building. "You just going to drop me off, boss?" Tony gave Gibbs a questioning glance as he pulled his car into a visitor parking space.

Gibbs shook his head, looking a little bit annoyed. "What do you think, DiNozzo?" He turned off the ignition and opened the driver's side door.

"Sorry, boss...stupid question." Of course Gibbs wouldn't just drop him off after what had happened, especially since Tony was likely an even bigger target now. He opened the car door and the two men headed into the building. As they walked along the corridor, Tony made a realization. "Uh, boss? I...um, don't have my keys..."

Gibbs dangled his own set of keys in front of Tony's face. "I have a key to your apartment, Tony. Remember?" He had made it a point, a long time ago, to obtain keys to each member of his team's homes.

Tony nodded hesitantly as they reached the door to his apartment. He couldn't help but feel apprehensive as he watched Gibbs unlock the door. "You set?" Gibbs asked. He drew his weapon and glanced at Tony, who had also drawn his gun, as he slowly opened the door and flicked on the light switch.

They cautiously made their way through the apartment, searching each room and closet, but found no one and nothing seemed to be amiss. "I didn't really think he'd come back here," Gibbs said as he re-holstered his weapon. "But we need to be really careful." He was taking no chances with Tony's life on the line.

"I'm going to take a quick shower and I'll be good to go, boss."

"Tony? I want you to pack an overnight bag with a few days worth of clothes. You're going to be staying with me for the time being."

"Okay, boss," Tony nodded, realizing this was an order, not a request. He had to admit, it felt good to have Gibbs on his six. He had no desire to be sitting with another bomb any time soon. He went into his bedroom and stripped down then headed into the bathroom. Once he was in the shower, he was able to relax under the spray of hot water pelting down on him. Wishing he could stay longer, but knowing that Gibbs was waiting for him, he washed up quickly. He then shaved, dressed and packed a bag in an amount of time that even Gibbs would be unable to complain about.

"Not bad, DiNozzo. Not bad at all," Gibbs commented, impressed by how quickly Tony was ready to go.

"I'm all set." Tony slung his overnight bag over his shoulder and watched Gibbs expectantly as the man got up from the couch. The two then headed off to NCIS headquarters.

xxxxx

Tony sat across from Gibbs in the interrogation room. He wasn't sure why, but he actually felt a little bit nervous, as if he had done something wrong. He guessed Gibbs just had that effect on people.

"Whenever you're ready, DiNozzo," Gibbs said, his steely blue eyes focused on his agent.

Tony fidgeted a bit as he got himself comfortable, then began. "I got home from work and unlocked the door to my apartment. Just as I turned on the light, I heard a noise, but before I could turn around, I was hit from behind. Next thing I knew, I was waking up in the room where you found me. At that point, I was tied up, but not gagged. He was just sitting there, staring at me with this weird smile on his face..."

"Glad to see you awake, Agent DiNozzo."

"Who the hell are you? Where am I?" Tony asked, struggling futilely against the tight bonds around his wrists.

"That's for me to know and you to find out," the man said in a sing-song voice.

"Yeah, that's what I'm trying to do...find out." Tony knew he was in trouble. The guy was a total whack job.

"Did you make the connection right away?" Gibbs asked. "That it was the same person responsible for killing O'Hearn and Martin?"

Tony shook his head. "No, not right away, but he didn't keep me guessing for long..."

"Are you looking forward to joining your friends?" The man asked still speaking in that eerie sing-song voice.

"My friends?" Tony asked as a shiver ran down his spine, partially from the chill in the room and partly because this gut just plain creeped him out and for the time being, anyway, he was at his mercy. "You...you have some of my friends?"

"Had your friends," the man corrected, then began to sing to the tune of "Row, Row, Row Your Boat..."

"Blow, blow, blow them up
With my little bombs
Now I will have my sweet, sweet revenge
Cause NCIS did me wrong"

"You know...bombs and wrong don't rhyme," Tony said with a smirk, knowing it was a mistake the minute the words came out of his mouth.

"Arrrrrrrgh! The guy had come at him again with a steel pipe in his hands which Tony, unfortunately, hadn't noticed until it was coming straight at his head.

"He clocked you twice, DiNozzo?" Gibbs growled. "You didn't tell me that yesterday...didn't tell the doctor that either..."

Tony shifted uncomfortably under Gibbs' gaze. "I...I must have forgotten, boss," he mumbled. "You know how head injuries can affect your memory. Anyhow...the doctor knew...he just didn't say anything in front of you. I think he was afraid you'd beat me up or something." Tony couldn't help the faint smile that crossed his lips, but Gibbs was very unamused and he quickly wiped the smile off his face. "Sorry," he whispered.

"Go on," Gibbs ordered.

Tony nodded. "So, after I came to the second time...that's when I saw the bomb..."

"Oooooh..." Tony groaned softly as he regained consciousness.

The man sang again, this time to the tune of "Baa Baa Black Sheep."

"Tony, Tony now you are awake.
You must have a big headache."

"Is that rhyme more to your liking?" he asked, staring at Tony in a way that made his skin crawl.

Tony said nothing. He had learned his lesson and besides now he had more important things to worry about. His gaze was now fixed on the bomb which had evidently been brought in while he was unconscious. His heart began to race as his fate became clear.

"What's the matter? Cat got your tongue?"

"Why? Why are you doing this?" Tony asked, staring back at the man. "I...I don't even know you, do I?"

"No. No, you don't know me, Agent DiNozzo. Neither did the other agents. You're all just innocent pawns. Or maybe not so innocent. Who really knows about these things."

"I don't know what you're talking about. You're fucking crazy. You'd better let me go. You're going to be in a whole lot of trouble if you don't."

"I assure you. I am not crazy." The sing-song voice was gone now. The man was serious, deadly serious. "And I think you are the one who's in trouble, not me. I assure you that I will be long gone before the bomb goes off. You, on the other hand, will not."

"Blowing up people for no reason isn't exactly the act of a sane person," Tony stated.

The man's eyes narrowed. He was tired of listening to Tony. "I've heard enough out of you," he said. He then pulled a dirty piece of cloth out of his pocket and shoved it into Tony's mouth, tying it tightly behind his head.

"He never said anything about why he was doing this?" Gibbs was watching Tony closely. The younger man looked upset, caught up in the memories of what had happened. "Never gave a reason?"

Tony shook his head. "No...no, he didn't, just revenge, but no specifics, boss..I'm sorry."

"Nothing to be sorry for. You're doing fine, Tony." Gibbs stood up and walked over to his agent, giving him a reassuring pat on his shoulder. "You up to working with a sketch artist now?"

"Yeah, definitely." Tony stood up and followed Gibbs out of the room, wanting to work on getting an ID on this dirtbag as soon as possible.

xxxxx

"Marvin C. Bittner." Tony announced as the team stood looking at the big screen plasma. Tony had spent time with a sketch artist and then the team had worked tirelessly through the day to come up with the man Tony was sure had abducted him.

"You're positive, Tony?" Gibbs asked.

"It makes sense, boss," McGee stated as Tony nodded his head. "This guy was wrongly convicted for the 2001 murder of Petty Officer Randall McCormick. Imprisoned for seven years."

"The conviction was overturned when new evidence surfaced last year," Ziva added. "He was finally released from prison."

"Guess he has a right to be pissed off," Tony said, barely managing to hold back a yawn. The slight headache which had been with him that morning had been steadily increasing throughout the day. Now his head was pounding mercilessly. All he wanted was to lie down in a dark room and get some sleep.

"Pissed off I can understand," Gibbs said. "But this I don't get. None of the agents he's abducted were even involved in his case, were they?"

"No," McGee answered, shaking his head. "I think he's just pissed off at NCIS, in general."

"Well, grab your gear. Let's see if we can find this guy and get him off the streets."

xxxxx

The search of Bittner's last known address came up empty-handed and the team headed back to headquarters, tired and frustrated.

"You sure he didn't give you any clue to where he could be holed up, DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked. He was driving with McGee sitting beside him. Tony and Ziva were seated in the back of the car.

There was no answer.

"DiNozzo?" Gibbs called again.

"Tony is asleep, Gibbs," Ziva said softly. "Do you want me to wake him?"

Gibbs shook his head. "No. Let him sleep." They had been at it for hours and hours, since early that morning. He knew Tony had to be exhausted and he strongly suspected that he wasn't doing as well as he had been leading Gibbs to believe.

They arrived back at headquarters and Ziva gently rubbed Tony's shoulder. "Tony? Come on, Tony. Time to wake up."

Tony opened his eyes and blearily looked at Ziva and then at Gibbs and McGee who had turned their heads and were watching him from the front seat of the now parked car.

"I'm fine," he grumbled, glaring at each of them in turn before getting out of the car and slamming the door behind him.

"Think its about time to call it a night," Gibbs said as the rest of them got out of the car and followed Tony back inside the building. They would start fresh in the morning and hopefully they would get to Bittner before he did any more damage.