It was around midnight and everyone was still working, albeit at a slower pace than usual. It was clear that they were beat, but it wasn't the first time that they had to work long hours.

Looking up from the papers in front of him, Tony noticed that both McGee and Ziva were almost asleep where they were sitting and he knew that although the case was important, they were of no use like that. Making eye contact with Gibbs, he moved his head towards the elevator.

Nodding his head slightly, Gibbs spoke up. "Go home. Get some rest and be here at 0600 sharp."

McGee and Ziva looked beyond relieved; they grabbed their stuff and quickly walked out of the bullpen; not waiting to see whether the senior agents would do the same or not, which they didn't; without any words, Tony stood up and grabbed the files from McGee's desk as Gibbs did the same with the ones Ziva was working on.

They sat back at their desks and resumed looking for anyone named 'Martin' in Tony's cases.

Surprisingly, they hadn't found many people with that name and those cases related to anyone named 'Martin' weren't worth looking into.

So far they had nothing.

The autopsy results showed nothing that would help them with the case; only that the cause of death was massive internal bleeding; Lorie, the victim, had been beaten to death, but judging by the amount of sedative in her blood, Ducky had declared that she hadn't felt a thing. She'd died in a deep sleep.

That wasn't much; the girl was still dead and the next day Tony had to go to her workplace to find an address and inform her parents of her death, but at least she hadn't suffered which was something. Right?

..

The next morning, when McGee walked back into the bullpen, Gibbs was gone to get some coffee and Tony had gone to take a shower before starting another day; or continuing the long day that had started almost 24 hours ago.

Walking back to his desk, Tony found a warm cup of coffee waiting for him. "Thanks, Boss."

"You didn't go home last night, did you?" McGee looked between Gibbs and Tony, feeling bad for escaping the bullpen the first chance he'd got. At that moment, he felt like he deserved to be called a Junior Agent; he hadn't even hesitated before walking out when he was given the permission to leave.

"Still nothing." Tony said instead of a direct answer and leaned back while savoring the fresh coffee. Something was bothering him and he couldn't put his finger on it. Of course the fact that in two hours he had to go and find Lorie's parents' place to deliver the bad news was enough of a reason to rattle him, but it wasn't what was bothering him. He didn't know how, he just knew that it was something else.

Eyeing the box of the Chinese take-out on his desk, his mind drifted to a few nights back, when things looked much brighter.

Suddenly a thought occurred to him and he shoulder stiffened. The coffee cup slipped through his lax fingers and landed on the floor, catching the attention of the two other agents in the bullpen.

"Tony? What's wrong?"

"DiNozzo?"

Gibbs and McGee asked at the same time.

Tony jumped from his seat, his eyes wide and a bit unfocused. "Martin."

"Martin?"

"O God. No. No no no." He felt his heart pounding wildly in his chest.

"DiNozzo, stop." Gibbs ordered and crossed the bullpen in three long steps, grabbing Tony by the shoulders. "What about Martin? You remember him?"

Tony's green eyes were filled with pain. "That's not our suspect. He hadn't signed his own name."

"Then what?" McGee looked confused.

Gibbs blinked as the realization hit him. "The next victim?"

Tony nodded his head and quickly grabbed his badge and gun, running towards the elevator. Gibbs did the same and joined him before the doors could close completely.

.

"Who's Martin?" Gibbs asked from the passenger side of Tony's car.

He hadn't argued when Tony'd sat behind the wheel and for the first time, it was Gibbs who was scared of someone else' driving. He, of course, wouldn't say anything out loud, but absently he wondered if Tony would crash his car any moment, considering the high speed and the way he was driving.

"The delivery guy who works in the Chinese restaurant near my place." Tony gritted out. "Damn. Is that bastard going after everyone I've ever met? Dammit." He hit the steering wheel hard.

Gibbs opted to stay silent for the moment, realizing that Tony wasn't in a state of mind to actually hear anything he had to say.

Bringing the car to an abrupt halt, Tony jumped out and ran to the Chinese restaurant. Gibbs wasn't sure what Tony would find at that hour; it was 06.40 and the place was closed.

"Back door."

"Back door?" Tony looked back at him with confusion in his eyes.

"The place is closed; we can get in through the back door and check the files to find Martin's address." 'Or see if there's anyone who'd heard from the kid.' He didn't say the last part aloud, but knew that Tony'd heard it nonetheless.

'Right.' Tony thought. "Right." He repeated his thought aloud.

They both rushed to the alley next to the restaurant to get to the back door but what they saw there made them freeze in their tracks.

There, behind the large bins, was another battered body with his throat cut and a business card embedded in his throat.

Tony was sure he was about to pass out right then and there, no matter how many times he'd said that 'DiNozzos don't pass out.'

Gibbs closed his eyes for a second and ran his fingers through his hair. They'd failed the boy and now Tony would feel even guiltier. Could this day get any worse?

Grabbing Tony's arm, he gently ushered him towards the car and sat him down, telling him to stay there. Tony complied without complaining; showing no resistance at all which caused Gibbs to get worried beyond words but he didn't know what to do at that moment.

Pulling his cellphone out of his pocket, he called McGee and ordered him to inform Ducky and get there. He then walked back to the alley to take another look at the body that had been inhumanely dropped there. They had wasted a full day looking for the wrong Martin.

"I failed him."

Tony's voice startled him; he wanted to growl at the younger man, telling him that he was supposed to stay in the car, but somehow he was happy that Tony had snapped out of it and was at least talking.

"Tony-"

"Don't, Gibbs. Just don't." Tony shook his head sadly. "Why did it take me so long to remember him? Why didn't I remember sooner? I might've been able to save him."

"You don't know that."

"This isn't right."

"No, it's not. But it's not your fault either."

"These people are getting killed because I have enemies." Tony growled.

"You're a federal agent, DiNozzo and you were a cop before that. You've done a great job all these years. You can't help it if some bastard, who should rot in jail, somehow gets free and hurts people in the name of revenge against you." Using so many words wasn't Gibbs' style, but sometimes it was necessary and Tony was definitely worth it.

Those words somehow felt right and Tony knew that his boss was right, but it didn't make him feel any better. "What am I supposed to say to their parents? Look at him; he's basically just a kid."

Gibbs swallowed. That boy was a kid and he knew better than anyone else how hard it was for a parent to hear about their child's death. "You'll tell them that some bastard had killed their kids and you'll tell them that you'll make sure he'd pay for it."

"And if they asked me why their kids have been murdered? What am I supposed to say to that?"

'Damn. That was hard. He knew if they told them the truth, it wouldn't help anyone, but could they lie?'

"I can't lie. I won't be able to live with myself." Tony said as if he could read Gibbs' mind, which probably was true.

"That's not a lie. It won't help their families to know their loved ones had died for no reason. This is DC. Crimes happen here every day."

Tony finally locked eyes with his boss. "I-"

"Let me handle it." Gibbs said gently.

"I'm-"

"Not a suggestion." Gibbs stopped his agent. "You need to concentrate on finding this rat. Their families would want closure and you're going to give them that. And you're not gonna blame yourself for something that you had no control over."

Tony didn't say anything.

It wasn't that easy and he knew that Gibbs was aware that this discussion wouldn't be over just like that, but he was tired and didn't feel like arguing with Gibbs; so he bent down and pulled the card out of Martin's throat with a handkerchief.

Gibbs looked at it and saw that this time the note wasn't written with invisible ink. It was a printed note which read: "Who's next?"

"No name. That bastard." Tony cussed and barely stopped himself from throwing the card away. "I'll get this to Abby."

Nodding his head, Gibbs walked with him to the street. "Do not try to find these kids' parents. You hear me, DiNozzo?"

"Concentrate on finding this lowlife. Got it." Tony threw over his shoulder as he climbed into his car. He saw in the rear-view mirror that Ducky's van and the NCIS sedan pulled over as he started the car and drove away.

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... TBC ...

A/N: So, tell me what you think now that you know more about the case! :D

Sorry for another short chapter, but I'm sure you know how time consuming RL is.

Thanks a lot for your support and a special thanks to XX-Samantha-XX.

All mistakes are mine.

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