AN: I was a little under the weather this weekend so I managed to get in some extra writing time,. From some of your comments, I think there may be some disappointment regarding Dinozzo Sr. but I'm taking some of my direction from Flesh and Blood and its just my own opinion. Hopefully I won't lose all my readers. As always, your reviews are greatly appreciated. :) Thanks for reading.

*****

Tony's eyes were fixed on the bottles of water in Gibbs' hand and his own cuffed hand moved along with Gibbs' as his leader opened one and offered it to his agent. Tony grabbed it and started to greedily gulp down the precious liquid, which cooled and soothed his dry, parched throat.

"Whoa...Tony, slow down." Gibbs pulled the bottle out of his agent's grasp. "Come on, you're going to make yourself sick."

"Really thirsty, boss." Tony looked at Gibbs pleadingly. It felt like forever since he had last had a drink. He couldn't remember ever havng been so thirsty before. "Please?"

"Alright, just take small sips though." Gibbs watched to make sure Tony did as he was told and was satisfied as the younger man drank a bit more then placed the half-empty bottle on the floor beside him.

"Aren't you going to drink any, boss?" Dinozzo asked, his eyes on the other bottle which Gibbs had placed down untouched.

"Not thirsty," Gibbs stated.

Tony raised an eyebrow skeptically. Even feeling the way he was, he knew that couldn't be true. Then he realized that Gibbs was likely saving the water for him which he wasn't at all happy about. "Better drink something...they might take it away from you if you don't," Tony muttered.

Gibbs sighed softly as he opened the bottle and took a couple of sips. He had to admit the water felt damn good going down. He only drank a bit though, wanting to ration it as he wasn't sure when or if they would get any more. He turned towards the guy, Sam, who was now watching them. "So, Sam...any more water in that box over there?"

Sam looked back at Gibbs with a slight glare. "Kinda greedy aren't you?" he asked. "You haven't even drank half of what you've got there."

"Just wondering. Sam," Gibbs replied evenly. "A man gets curious about that sort of thing when he's been locked away in a room without any."

"Yeah, guess he might at that," Sam agreed readily. "But I wouldn't worry about it too much. Bellingham was nuts. We just..."

"Just what, Sam?" Gibbs asked, his voice as smooth as silk as he tried to get more information from the man.

"Just nothing man. Mind your own business," Sam snapped.

Gibbs' attention went to his cuffed wrist which Dinozzo was obliviously pulling towards him as he grasped his stomach, obviously in pain. "Tony?"

"Stomach again, boss," Tony gasped as the van bounced over a pothole and he swallowed back the nausea which was once again threatening.

"You got a bucket or anything in here, Sam?" Gibbs asked, recognizing that Tony was on the verge of getting sick.

"Oh man, is he gonna puke?" Sam scampered over to the boxes, but found nothing suitable to serve as a basin.

Tony was rapidly losing the battle with his stomach. He turned in the opposite direction of Gibbs and vomited up the water that he had just swallowed.

"Oh man...that's just gross!" Sam's nose curled up in disgust.

"He can't help it," Gibbs growled, then his tone softened significantly as he turned towards his senior agent. "How you doing, Dinozzo?"

"Fine," Tony answered tonelessly. He was sick of the same old questions, sick of the same situation, sick of being sick. He was freezing again and began to shiver uncontrollably. He closed his eyes and tried to imagine he was anywhere but here. It didn't work though.

"Hey, you have any blankets?" Gibbs asked Sam after looking at Dinozzo with concerned eyes. Dinozzo was still wearing his jacket but Gibbs' had been inadvertently left behind in their prison with Bellingham's dead body. There was a definite chill in the van and Gibbs knew that Dinozzo was feeling it much more due to his feverish state.

Sam rolled his eyes. Man, these guys were annoying. He envied Sheldon and Pete sitting in the front of the van. "No I don't have any blankets or satin sheets or big fluffy pillows that he can lay his little head on, now will you shut up?"

"Just forget it, boss," Tony advised weakly. "Doesn't matter anyway..."

"Of course it matters, Dinozzo." Gibbs couldn't help but be disturbed as he observed his agent. Tony appeared to be very ill, but that hadn't really changed. It was more the way he was holding himself...his posture slumped and dejected and his eyes looked hopeless... He was starting to give up. "Dammit, Tony. you've got to fight this," he demanded, staring at his agent intently. "Fight."

****

"If you want your son back alive, you have 24 hours to get us 15 million dollars."

"Wh...what? Is this some kind of joke?" Anthony Dinozzo, Sr. held the phone in shocked silence as he tried to process what the nameless voice had just said to him. "I...I don't have that kind of money..." he started to explain.

"Well...I certainly hope that's not true. Because if it is...you've just signed young Anthony's death warrant."

"No. Wait. How...how do I know you really have him?" Dinozzo Sr. asked.

"I'll call back," the caller stated. "In the meantime, you start thinking about getting that money together. And not a word to anyone, especially the cops. If you do, you're never going to see that kid of yours again, except in a body bag."

His hands shaking slightly, Dinozzo Sr. clicked off the phone. He had no idea what he was going to do...

*****

The ringing of McGee's phone intruded on the silence that lay heavily over the bullpen area. Tim quickly grabbed for it. "Agent McGee." From the expression on his face, Ziva, Ducky and Abby could tell something was definitely up. "We've got a lead," he stated grimly, a few moments later, as he hung up the phone. "Dead body was found and Tony's and Gibbs' prints were all over the place."

They arrived at the pharmaceutical company in record time and were soon investigating the room where Charles Bellingham's body had been found. "What on earth could they have been doing here?" Ziva asked as she placed Gibbs' jacket into an evidence bag. "This makes no sense."

"I have no idea. Hopefully, Abby will get back to us soon with something on this Bellingham." McGee shook his head as he looked around in dismay at the room. There was a great deal of blood spatter from Bellingham's brutal shooting. He just hoped that Bellingham's blood was the only blood they were going to find.

"Tim?"

"Yeah?" McGee looked over at Ziva who was pointing up at some sort of security camera, "Maybe that will give us some answers..."

*****

Mercifully, the van finally came to a halt. The trip had been excruciating at best. Gibbs had no idea where they were, but the roads had been very rough and bumpy, increasing Dinozzo's nausea. Tony had been in a world of misery, feverish and shuddering, with his stomach spasming painfully. Gibbs had been beside himself, unable to do anything to relieve Tony's distress.

Gibbs waited apprehensively as the van doors began to open and Sheldon appeared, flaunting his weapon brashly. "Last stop," he announced. "Everybody out. How'd they do, Sam?"

"It really sucked." Sam couldn't get out of the van fast enough. "That guy's been puking and moaning practically the whole way. Next time, I'm up front."

Sheldon chuckled. "Sure thing, Sam." He turned towards the two men who remained in the van. "Get out here. Now!"

"I need some help with him." Tony had passed out and Gibbs was unable to move the unconscious man by himself the way they were cuffed together.

"Pete, help him," Sheldon ordered.

Pete climbed into the van and immediately began to complain. "God, it really stinks in here!" He grabbed Dinozzo and dragged him towards the doors of the van then glared at Gibbs, who wasn't moving terribly fast. The older agent's bad knee was stiff and swollen and was starting to hinder him considerably. "Hurry up." Finally, Gibbs was on the ground and Dinozzo was limply slumped against the door of the van.

Sheldon wordlessly handed his gun to Pete then scooped Dinozzo up into a fireman's carry. Gibbs followed along behind, having no choice but to keep up with Sheldon's pace as he was still cuffed to Tony. Pete and Sam brought up the rear. It was nightfall and they were in a heavily wooded area. Gibbs didn't even see the cabin until they were almost on top of it. "Grab the keys out of my pocket, and unlock the door, Sam," Sheldon instructed. They waited for a few moments while Sam fumbled in the dark with the keys. Finally he managed to get the door open and the group of men stepped inside.