AN: Here's the next chapter, just a word of warning though – it's a pretty big cliffhanger – if you don't like that kind of thing, you might want to wait for the next chapter or two before reading ;) (Also, I know some of the stuff in this chapter probably couldn't happen with security and all, but just go with it lol)

Thanks very much for all your comments and well wishes – I appreciate it very much.

Special Thanks: WCUGirl, Sparkiebunny, vanishingp2000, NikaDex, medicgirl,Rena-Spatz, Tiffany331, peanutmeg, Sarahsrr, Space1Traveler, WildFire203, NickTonyK, Gloworm41, Tacpebs, julie250, OlympicStorm, AZGirl, ncismom, twomoms, newgal, combatcrazy, Detour, godsdaughter77, Meilea2010, Stroma, angeleyes46, diana teo, anci2506, GibbsGirlAbby, shirik, deidi and xenascully.

xxxxx

"Hey man...are you okay?" The cab driver had been periodically eying Tony through the rear view mirror ever since he pulled away from the hospital. The guy in the back seat of his cab looked like hell and was making the driver extremely nervous.

"I'm fine," Tony said, not even bothering to open his eyes. "You just worry about getting me to NCIS." Truthfully, he felt horrible and had quickly come to the realization that he never should have left the hospital. But, now that he had started this, he wanted to finish it.

"Whatever you say, buddy."

Lulled by the motion of the cab, Tony fell into a light doze until the cabdriver pulled up in front of NCIS. He paid the driver and headed towards the building, sighing when he remembered he didn't have his badge or ID. They'd been taken along with everything else Bellingham and his men had stolen. Fortunately, Charlie Hodges, a security guard he knew well, was on duty.

"Hey, Tony. I thought you were in the hospital," Charlie greeted Tony, inwardly noting that the younger man did not look well.

"Hi, Charlie...yeah I was, but I'm out now," Tony said, flashing a smile. "Just have to do a couple of things here and then I'm going home to rest."

"Gibbs is around here somewhere too," Charlie said. "He didn't mention anything about you being released."

"Yeah...I uh wanted to surprise him," Tony said. The conversation making him very uneasy, not to mention the fact that Gibbs was in the building. He hoped he wasn't with his father.

He said goodbye to Charlie and then headed off, only to run into Doug Watson, the requisitions clerk. "Hey, DiNozzo, thought you were still in the hospital," Doug said. "They spring you already? No offense, but you look like crap."

"I'm fine," Tony replied, giving Doug a mini version of the Gibbs glare.

"If you say so," Doug replied with a shrug. He watched as Tony started to walk off and then called him back. "Hey, I have your new cell phone and weapon. Gibbs ordered them for you the other day. You might as well pick them up while you're here."

"Yeah, okay," Tony fought not to roll his eyes. He was never going to see his father at this rate. He followed Doug to his work area and accepted the new gun, cell phone and a box of ammunition. He then stuck the gun into the waistband of his pants behind his back and put the ammo and cell phone in his jacket pockets. "Thanks, Doug. I'll see you later."

"See ya, Tony. Take it easy."

Tony then cautiously began heading towards the prisoner holding area, hoping that he wasn't going to run into Gibbs, who had the uncanny ability to always be unexpectedly popping up out of nowhere. Finally, he made it to the cell where his father was being held. He had been planning to escort him to Interrogation, but he really didn't think he'd be able to make it there. He was quickly losing whatever stamina he had. He stood outside the cell watching his father who was lying on the cot and had not yet noticed him.

"Dad?" Tony finally spoke. DiNozzo Sr. sat up and looked back at Tony, a jovial smile on his face.

"Why hello there, Junior. Its good to see you up and around. How are you doing?"

"I'm doing okay..." Tony fought off a wave of dizziness as he gripped the bars of the cell.

"You don't look so hot, Tony," Senior observed with a slight frown. "I think you'd better find a place to sit down before you fall down."

"Yeah…" Without really thinking, Tony unlocked the cell and went inside, sitting down on the cot beside his father.

"Feeling better?" Senior asked, the wheels in his head already spinning when he saw his son put the keys to the cell into his pocket. He could see that Anthony was in rough shape. He would easily be able to overpower him, but would be unable to just walk out on his own. He would need to take the boy with him in case anyone spotted and tried to apprehend him. Though without a weapon, that really wouldn't be possible.

"Dad? Gibbs said you attacked me back at the beach house," Tony began, his eyes on his father. "Is that true?"

Senior hesitated, knowing he couldn't come right out and call Gibbs a liar. "You were really sick, delirious with fever, thrashing about. I was just trying to calm you down, put a cool cloth on your head to try to get your fever down. Gibbs just misunderstood the situation. I really can't blame him. I might have been suspicious too, if the situation had been reversed."

Tony nodded, unconvinced. He knew Gibbs well and knew he wasn't likely to have misread the situation that badly. He had always known his father was far from perfect, but now he was beginning to suspect that he was much worse than he had ever suspected. He began to think this was just a huge waste of time. His father was just going to lie to him anyway. He knew he should leave but he was really exhausted. He would just rest his eyes for a few minutes and then he would go back to the hospital. Maybe he'd be lucky and Gibbs wouldn't even realize what he had done.

Senior watched as Tony leaned back against the wall and seemed to fall asleep. For a moment, he had a pang of conscience, but then he thought about the boy's disloyalty to him and unswaying devotion to Gibbs and it deepened his anger and resolve. "Anthony...son, are you awake?" he asked softly as he slipped his hand into Tony's jacket pocket and pulled out the keys to the cell. He then searched Tony's other pocket and he felt a small box which he grabbed. His eyes lit up with malicious delight as he saw that the box contained ammunition. "I think you've been holding out on me, son," he said as began to gently explore underneath the boy's jacket. At first, he didn't think he was going to have any luck, but when he snaked his hand between Tony's back and the wall, he found the prize he had been seeking. He opened the box of ammo and carefully loaded the gun then slipped the box back into Tony's pocket.

"Anthony, wake up," he demanded as he slapped Tony's cheek harshly.

"What?" Tony opened his eyes in bewilderment, momentarily unsure of where he was. "Dad? What's going on?"

"You listen to me and you listen good," Senior said as he waved the gun in front of Tony's face. "I am getting out of here and you are going to help me. If anyone asks, you are taking me to be interrogated."

Tony shook his head in disbelief. "What are you doing, dad?" he asked. "You're never going to get away with this. You're just going to make everything worse."

"You will do as I say," Senior said, his eyes blazing with anger. "If you don't...I'll shoot anyone we come across...men, women...whoever. Their corpses will be on your conscience."

Tony remained silent as he stared back at his father, unsure of what to do. He knew there was no way he would be able to get the gun from his father. He was much too weak. He couldn't believe how stupid he had been. This was all his fault and if his father was to shoot someone, that would be his fault as well. "Fine...I'll do what you want..." he said quietly. He didn't want to be responsible for anyone getting hurt or worse. Once they got out of the building, he would try to figure a way out of this mess.

xxxxx

"Hey, Agent Gibbs, how's it going?" Doug greeted the agent.

"You needed me to sign something?" Gibbs asked, barely able to hide his annoyance. He really wanted to get back to Tony.

"Yeah, sorry about that." Doug handed Gibbs the necessary form. "Forgot to have you sign it the other day."

Gibbs hurriedly scribbled his name on the form and turned to leave.

"By the way, Agent Dinozzo was just here a while ago. He picked up his stuff, but by the look of him, he still belongs in the hospital."

"Tony was here?" Gibbs asked, immediately growing concerned. That wasn't good at all.

Doug nodded. "Yeah, but like I said, he really didn't look good."

"Do you know where he was going?" Gibbs asked, though he was sure he already knew.

Doug shrugged his shoulders. "No. He didn't say. I just assumed he was working."

"Thanks," Gibbs said as he quickly headed off. He hoped to God that Tony wasn't in trouble, but the feeling in his gut told him that he was.

xxxxx

"Where's your car?" Senior growled as he roughly dragged Tony through the garage. Getting out of the building had been a piece of cake. The only person who had shown them the slightest bit of interest had been the guard in the holding area, but he had gone back to reading his newspaper before Tony had even finished his explanation.

"I...I don't know," Tony stammered, totally forgetting that he had left his car there the day of Gibbs' dinner invitation. He was starting to feel really sick again. "I mean, I took a cab here."

"You what?" Senior tightened his grip around Tony's neck causing his son to gasp in pain as he struggled to draw a breath. "Why the hell didn't you tell me that? You're worthless to me! Always have been. Good for nothing."

Tony was weakening rapidly as he desperately tried to squirm out of his father's ironclad grip.

"Stop fighting me!" Senior screamed.

"I…I can't breathe. Please let me go." Tony again tried to escape from his father, but his struggles were futile.

"You'd better stop defying me." Senior did loosen his grip slightly, allowing Tony to take in gulps of air, but shoved the nose of the gun sharply against the side of Tony's head. "You will do as I say or I swear...I will not hesitate to use this."

Tony's blood went ice cold at his father's words and in a shocked moment of clarity he realized that his father was telling the truth. He wouldn't hesitate to kill him. Gibbs had been right about him all along. He really wished he had listened to him.

Senior's eyes were wildly roaming around the garage as tried to figure out what to do when he suddenly saw what appeared to be Tony's car. Enraged, he dragged his son over to it. "I thought you took a cab here?" He shoved Tony up against the side of the car. "You're a fucking little liar, just like I told Gibbs!"

Tony stared at his father, utterly confused as to why his car was there. "I...I did take a cab...I..."

"Shut up! I don't want to hear any more of your lies!" Senior viciously slammed the back of Tony's head against the top of the car causing him to see stars. Senior then grabbed his son around the neck once again, placing him into a choke hold with the gun up against his head. "Where the hell are the keys?"

Dizzy and dazed, Tony looked up into his father's furious eyes having absolutely no clue where the keys were. At this point, he barely knew where he, himself, was.

"Let...him...go..."

Immediately recognizing the voice, Senior sneered as he turned to face Gibbs, being careful to keep Tony in front of him with the gun firmly held to his head. "I Don't think you're in any position to be telling me what to do, Gibbs, unless you want a headless senior field agent."

Gibbs kept his gun aimed at Senior, inwardly debating what to do as he locked eyes with Tony.

"Sorry, boss," Tony said before hissing in pain as his father tightened the grip around his neck.

"Shut up, Anthony," Senior said, his tone threatening.

Gibbs tightened the grip on his gun and sent a reassuring look to his agent. "Its okay, Tony."

"Both of you, shut up!" Senior roared as he pushed the gun even harder into Tony's head, causing him to wince.

"I said, let him go," Gibbs ordered.

"You think I won't do it, Gibbs?" Senior asked with a mirthless laugh. "I will. Got no problem doing it. You took him from me and I will take him from you. Even Steven."

"He's your only child..your flesh and blood," Gibbs said softly. "I know you don't want to kill him,"

Senior shook his head quickly. "No...no, you're wrong I'll do it. I will."

"NCIS. Mr. DiNozzo, we have you surrounded. Drop your weapon and let Agent DiNozzo go."

Momentarily panicked by the unseen voice, Senior loosened his grasp on Tony who took the opportunity to elbow his father's stomach as hard as he could and managed to escape from his arms. Infuriated, Senior pointed his gun in Tony's direction and as he did so, gun shots were fired. Senior slowly began to fall, but managed to squeeze two shots off before he hit the concrete floor of the garage. His bullets found their marks. Tony gave his father a look of shocked realization as he grabbed his abdomen and his hand came away soaked in blood. His pain-filled eyes sought Gibbs as he tried to speak, but couldn't, and he dropped to the ground, landing in a heap beside his father.