AN: As always, thanks so much for the reviews. They mean a lot to me. Hope you enjoy this chapter. :)

*****

The next couple of hours passed unbearably slowly. DiNozzo Sr. sat in the bullpen area anxiously waiting for his cell phone to ring. Ziva and McGee were there as well. One or both agents had been with him at all times so that he would be accompanied when the kidnapper called back. They had explained the situation thoroughly and he had become even more upset when they told him about the drug that had been injected into Tony and his son's condition. Although he had been irritated when he first heard that Gibbs was with Tony, he now was grateful that his boy was not alone. He knew Gibbs would move heaven and earth to make sure he was safe.

"Mr. DiNozzo? Can I get you some coffee or something?" Tim asked.

"No thank you, Agent McGee." The ringing of the cell phone startled both men and Ziva was instantly at DiNozzo Sr.'s side.

"Hello Mr. DiNozzo. I trust you have my money?"

"I...I don't have all of it yet...I need more time..." DiNozzo Sr. said, repeating what McGee and Ziva had coached him to say.

"How much do you have?" Sheldon asked.

"Six million…" Prince Omar had been incredibly sympathetic when DiNozzo Sr. had informed his friend about his son's situation and had immediately wired the funds to him, not saying a word about how or when it would be paid back.

Damn...that was nowhere near the amount he wanted, but Sheldon knew time was running out. DiNozzo wouldn't give them a cent if his kid was dead and that seemed a real possibility if they didn't move fast. "Fine...I guess that's going to have to do. This is where we'll meet..." He proceeded to give directions on where the trade was to occur as DiNozzo Sr. scribbled them down on a piece of paper.

"What about Tony? How do I even know he's alive?"

"He's not with me right now so you're just going to have to trust me that he is. He's not really in the best of shape though, so don't be pulling any funny business or you won't be seeing him alive ever again.

"I'll do whatever you say."

"Good. Be there at 4:30 and you'd better be alone, no cops, or your kid is dead."

The connection ended abruptly and DiNozzo Sr. looked at McGee expectantly. The young man had been frantically typing away on his computer keyboard trying to trace the call. "I couldn't get it," Tim said in obvious dismay. "Damn. Something was blocking the signal."

"We cannot worry about that now, McGee," stated Ziva. "We do not have much time. We must come up with a plan..."

*****

"Gibbs! Boss, can you hear me?" Tony's shouts were becoming more frantic as the flames grew closer. The explosion had caught the team unaware. Tony had found McGee and Ziva relatively quickly, both having sustained only minimal contusions and scrapes. He had ordered them from the building while he continued to search for Gibbs. At first, the two agents had flat out refused to leave, but Tony had threatened to write them both up for disobeying orders and they had reluctantly made their way to safety.

"Boss, where are you?" The smoke was beginning to choke him now and he could hardly see. Then finally he caught a glimpse of his leader. "Boss!'

"DiNozzo! Get the hell out of here now!" The two were separated by a wall of flames. There was no way for Tony to reach Gibbs.

Tony shook his head, refusing to give up as he desperately tried to solve the impossible dilemma. "I'm not leaving you, boss" he shouted just before the flames engulfed Gibbs. In a matter of seconds, he was gone.

"Gibbs!" Tony screamed, his voice filled with grief that the man he loved like a father had been taken from him. Coughing harshly, he turned around to make his escape, but the flames were behind him now too. Totally surrounded by fire and smoke, Tony knew there was no way out and he succumbed to the flames and unbearable heat...

"Noooo!" Tony was sobbing in his sleep, his body drenched in sweat from a fever that Gibbs was unsuccessfully trying to bring down.

"Tony, wake up." Gibbs had draped a water soaked towel over his young agent's chest and was constantly bathing his face with cool cloths. Nothing was helping though.

"I'm sorry, boss...I'm sorry...burning...we're burning..."

"God, Tony." Gibbs helped Tony sit up as his body was once again wracked with coughs. After the coughing had abated, he gently laid his agent back down on the cot. He then turned towards Sam and Pete, his body tense with barely controlled rage. "Unless you two want to be charged with the murder of a federal agent, I suggest you think about getting him to a hospital now."

Pete had been watching the deterioration of the young agent's condition with growing anxiety. He'd been doing what he could to help Gibbs, providing him with a couple of towels and fresh water from the well. This was becoming much more than he had bargained for. Sheldon had told them it was an easy way to cash in on some major dough, but he'd never expected the guy to croak. "We didn't poison him..."

"That doesn't matter," Gibbs retorted. "You're refusing to get him help. That's just as bad."

Sam was watching the two agents dispassionately. He didn't share Pete's feelings of guilt. He had killed before and wouldn't hesitate to do it again. "You want me to put him out of his misery?" He laughed crazily as he waved his gun in the air menacingly.

"Go to hell." Gibbs was very quickly reaching the end of his rope

"Somebody help us...we're burning up..."

"Shhhh...its okay, Tony."

"I'm hot, boss," Tony panted..."I'm really hot...want...want to go outside."

"You can't go outside right now, Tony." Gibbs was doing his best to calm the agitated agent, but wasn't having much success.

"Why can't I? You...you let Ziva and McGee go outside...why can't I? You...you like them better than me."

"He sounds like a two-year-old," Sam scoffed. "Does he think you're his father or something?"

"Why don't you keep your mouth shut," Gibbs said, his eyes icy cold and dark with fury. "He's delirious and it sure as hell isn't his fault he's like this."

"Not my fault either. Like Petey boy said, we didn't give him that poison."

"But, you just sit there and watch while he's getting worse and worse..." He didn't finish the sentence, that Tony was dying. He didn't want to say it out loud, didn't want Tony to hear him say those words...couldn't bear to think it was true, himself.

"Hey Sam, maybe he's right. Maybe we should do something," Pete said nervously. "I don't want this guy to die...I don't want to be charged with murder."

Sam laughed. "You going soft, Pete? They're not going to catch us. As soon as we get the money, we'll get rid of these two. No one will be able to identify us."

Pete shook his head frantically. "No way. Sheldon didn't say anything about killing them."

"Somebody mention my name?" Sheldon asked as he entered the cabin, closing the door behind him. He surveyed the scene in front of him. DiNozzo was obviously getting worse, Gibbs looked like he wanted to tear someone's head off, Pete had the appearance of a scared rabbit and Sam was just sitting there with a smirk on his face.

"This guy's really sick, Sheldon," Pete started. "He needs a hospital. I don't want to be charged with murder. You never said anything about that."

"I told him it doesn't matter," Sam said with an evil grin. "That we're going to kill them anyhow, just saves us the trouble of killing one of them...not that it's really any trouble to kill them. I'll be more than happy to do the honors myself."

"Is that true?" Pete asked. "You're going to shoot them?"

Sheldon didn't answer. He just stood there rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

"What's with the sudden change of attitude anyhow?" Sam asked, looking at Pete expectantly. "You sure as hell didn't say anything when Bellingham was shooting him full of drugs."

Tony had momentarily quieted down and Gibbs took the opportunity to interrupt. "You know...killing us really isn't going to make any difference as far as your identities go. If my guess is correct, you've already been identified."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Sam asked.

"Your so-called boss, Bellingham had a surveillance camera in our little prison back in the lab. Guess he got a kick out of watching us. Whole lot of evidence on that video, I'd imagine."

"What the hell!" Sam angrily turned towards Sheldon. "He had a camera? That means it taped you taking out Bellingham. You're already on the hook for murder, man. It doesn't matter if you kill one guy or twenty, the punishment's the same."

Gibbs was quick to intervene. "It wasn't murder. It was justified. Bellingham was going to kill DiNozzo. Sheldon shot him to protect Tony."

"Enough!" Sheldon shouted. He'd known about the camera, but hadn't even thought about it before shooting Bellingham. Everything had just happened so fast. "I don't want to talk about it anymore. Anyhow, its time to leave."

"Leave for where?" Gibbs asked apprehensively.

"Its time to collect Daddy DiNozzo's ransom money," Sheldon replied. "Get your pal ready to go."

Gibbs glanced at Tony who was moaning and twisting about in obvious discomfort. "Can't you see he's in no condition to be moved? What he needs is an ambulance, not to be bounced around in that damn van again."

"Well what I need is something to trade for the money and he's it so get him ready, now," growled Sheldon, who was quickly losing patience. "Or if you'd like, I can get him ready myself and leave you here so you don't have to ride in that 'damn van'."

Gibbs stared at Sheldon for a long moment before turning his attention back to his agent. "Come on, Tony," he said as he helped him to sit up. "It's time to go."

"Where...where we going?" Tony asked, looking at Gibbs through fever-glazed eyes. "Can...can I get some ice cream?"

Gibbs noticed that the younger man was breathing very heavily and audibly wheezing. "We're going to get you some help, Tony" Gibbs replied softly. "Then you can have all the ice cream you want."

"Good. I'll have chocolate," Tony whispered before leaning his head against Gibbs' chest.

Gibbs picked up Tony's jacket and guided his arms into the sleeves. He didn't bother with the shirt which was drenched with sweat. "Don't want to wear this. Too hot," Tony complained. He momentarily struggled to get the jacket off, but his attempt was feeble and Gibbs easily intercepted him.

"We're going outside, Tony. It's cold out there. You have to wear it," Gibbs said coaxingly. Exhausted, Tony slumped against Gibbs, the fight totally gone out of him.

A few minutes later, Sheldon approached and moved to pick Tony up.

"I'll carry him myself," Gibbs asserted, glowering at Sheldon defiantly.

Sheldon gave him an amused look. "You sure about that? He's no lightweight and honestly you look like you've seen better days."

"I said I've got him," Gibbs growled as he painstakingly managed to lift DiNozzo into his arms. He didn't trust any of these men not to hurt DiNozzo. He was going to protect him as well as he could for as long as he could or die trying. "Let's go."