A/N: I was reminded that I should warn Ziva and McGee's fans here, as well; let them know that this probably is not their story. So, if you love McGee and Ziva and don't see anything wrong with their behavior, I respect you and your opinion, but please turn around and look for another story.

Gibbs is probably OOC.


Just as Tony was done struggling to pull himself to a sitting position, the bald guy pulled a gun from his waistband and pointed it at Tony's chest. "Hey, old man." he addressed Gibbs. "Keep your eyes open, you don't wanna miss this."

And just like that he pulled the trigger, once; twice and watched with morbid fascination as Tony's blood sprayed over Gibbs' face and chest; both agents looking shell-shocked.


Tony couldn't believe his luck; just that morning he'd decided that life wasn't that bad after all; the problem he'd been struggling with for the last few days was getting solved and the concern occupying his mind had finally subsided and things looked brighter.

But then the events in the office had happened and then there were those words Gibbs had spat at him in his house, and now; now he was shot, twice, in the chest and was pretty much dying there on the filthy floor of a stupid van.

All in a span of one day!

Gibbs was beyond shocked himself.

Dammit. Dammit Dammit. He couldn't believe it. He couldn't believe that Tony had been shot before his very eyes and he couldn't believe it was Tony's blood on his face. He wanted to jump up and break the neck of the bastard who'd shot his agent but he was tied pretty well and if he wanted to be honest, he was too shocked to move a muscle. He watched with morbid awe as the younger man fell back and lay there on the floor of the vehicle, his breathing sluggish and his eyes unfocused.

The events of the last few days and the words he'd said to the younger man flashed through Gibbs' mind and he winced when he remembered that the last things he'd said to Tony had been angry words that weren't even true.

Once again, he'd let his obsession take over and he'd lashed out at the most convenient target; he'd become so used to Tony taking his anger and not saying a thing that he'd overstepped the boundaries and had gone too far this time. Heck, he'd even let his other agents insult his SFA and instead of putting an end to it, he'd turned a blind eye to it. He was so mad at them and at himself at that moment that he couldn't even shake off his shock. The last words between Tony and him had been hurtful comments from Gibbs and he could clearly remember the hurt in Tony's eyes and now his best agent, his friend was dying in front of him and he couldn't do a thing about it.

He groaned loudly behind his gag and tried to get Tony's attention, but the younger man seemed too out of it to notice Gibbs' effort and Gibbs was so distracted by the dreadful situation that he didn't even notice when the van started to move again and when it stopped some minutes later. The only thing that he noticed in the darkness of the van was that, little by little, the light left Tony's eyes and the younger man's eyes closed of their own accord.

No matter how much he yelled behind the gag, Tony didn't move a muscle after that and then the door opened, two pairs of hands grabbed Tony's motionless form and moved him out of Gibbs' sight.

That was it.

Gibbs didn't remember anything after that. Not until he woke up in a damped room, tied tightly to metal chair.

The first thing he noticed was that he wasn't gagged anymore and what registered next was that he was alone, while he was sure Tony had been there when they'd been captured in the first place.

Right then the door to the room opened and the bald guy walked in. Smirking down at him, he said. "How do you like your room, Agent Gibbs?"

"Where's DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked in lieu of answering.

"DiNozzo? Your right-hand man?" He laughed humorlessly, "Why, I got rid of him, of course. You didn't think I'd tie a dead body to a chair, did you? All I needed him for was to show you that we're not afraid of killing anyone." The expression on Gibbs' face must've spoken volume, because a smirk tugged at the corner of the guy's mouth. "You still have his blood on your face, you know? Here, let me show you." With that he grabbed a dirty mirror that was on the wall over a sink and held it in front of Gibbs so he could see his own face.

Despite himself, Gibbs looked in the mirror and he felt his heart clenched in his chest at the sight of blood on his face and neck.

"It looks good on you, actually. Red becomes you." The man patted Gibbs on the face. "I kinda wish I've shot him in the head, though; that way we might've been able to find pieces of his skull and brain on your clothes... Between your hair... Well, I guess we could still look and see what we-"

"I'll kill you." Gibbs shouted angrily, interrupting the sick man. "You hear me? I. Will. Kill. You."

"Yeah, sure." He laughed, unperturbed by Gibbs' outburst. "We burned his body. Are you going to burn me too?" He laughed harder and threw Tony's half burnt ID card and wallet on the ground in front of Gibbs. "Enjoy the view, Agent Gibbs. He's dead because of you. After all, if he hadn't been at your place, he'd still be alive." Moving smoothly, he drew back his arm and then hit Gibbs in the temple; it didn't render the agent unconscious, but it dazed him enough that he didn't noticed when the guy left the room.

"Tony." He whispered under his breath and didn't bother to move his head from where it was resting on his chest.

He tried to tell himself that Tony wasn't dead, but the blood on his face, the charred card and wallet and the image of the unfocused eyes of his agent were hard to deny and all those things made him feel guilty over the whole situation. He felt like it was his fault that Tony was dead; if he hadn't been a bastard at work, Tony wouldn't have felt the need to go to his place to explain things he'd done and he wouldn't have been there when those masked men swarmed into his house, coming out of nowhere to grab him; he'd still be alive and Gibbs would have more hope of getting out of there in one piece, because as much as he trusted his other agents, Tony was simply the best there and with him leading the team, Gibbs would've had no doubt about his quick rescue.

But Tony wasn't there and it didn't bother him just because it meant a later or no rescue for him; it mattered because he couldn't imagine, didn't want to imagine, a workplace without DiNozzo by his side. Part of him didn't care if he survived this anymore if Tony wasn't going to be there to have his back. And what had been his last words to the younger man? That he regretted keeping him around; that no one cared what he needed or wanted.

Throwing his head back, Gibbs shouted his head off; he yelled and yelled until his throat was sore and then he continued shouting, promising the bastards who'd killed his agent a slow and very painful death.

...

Somewhere, in the middle of the woods, an unknown forest ranger was walking around his area to make sure everything was in its right place when he stumbled upon a body lying face down on the ground. Pulling out his weapon from its holster, he approached it cautiously and with the tip of his shoe, he gave the body a nudge in the side. When there was no movement, he slowly reached a hand down and turned the body around, only to find it covered in blood and dirt.

"Damn; the poor guy." He said and grabbed his phone to call 911, at the last moment he reached out for the guy's neck and checked for a pulse.

"Hello. This is Ranger James Richardson; I need some cops here, I've found a dead body in-" He paused, frowning when he felt something under his fingers. "Wait a second." He said into the phone. "O God, this is unbelievable. I need an ambulance. The man is still alive. Hurry up, he's in bad shape. I don't even know how he's still alive... Yes, yes. Just hurry up." He quickly gave the dispatch the exact address to his location and hung up to assess the man's injuries.

He had a head wound which wasn't bleeding much, but it seemed like it'd been bleeding bad for a while and then there were two gunshot wounds to his chest.

By every measure, the man must've been dead, but he wasn't and that was enough for James Richardson. He was determined to keep the man alive, because he was one of those who believed that everything that happened in this world happened for a good reason and if he'd found the guy while he was still alive, then he was definitely supposed to keep him that way.

It was then that his eyes landed on the dirty, almost unrecognizable badge next to the unconscious man waist. "Damn, you a cop?" He asked the man on the ground, even though he knew he wouldn't get an answer. "Who did this to you?" He winced. "Don't worry. It's not your time. If you've lasted this long, then you're not supposed to die and I'll make sure of that, man. Just keep fighting, alright?"

James still had his hands pressed against the wounds on the man's chest when the paramedics arrived, followed by two cops running towards them.

"Oh, boy. This is bad." The first paramedic informed the others.

"He's one of you." James addressed the cops.

"What?" They exchanged a look and bent down to grab the badge. "Nope. He's a fed." One of them said after studying the badge without cleaning it. "Hey, guys. Before taking him anywhere, look in his pockets, see if there's an ID or something."

One of the paramedics checked the pockets and said, "There's nothing in here. Look around, it might be somewhere here. We need to go, now."

"Hey, umm-" James called. "Where will you take him?"

"George Washington University Hospital. It's the best place for this type of injuries."

"Tell him we'll find whoever did this to him." One of the cops called after them. "We have his back."

The paramedic smiled and nodded; after closing the doors of the ambulance that was parked nearby on the road, he said, "You hear that, man?" He looked down at his patient, wishing he had a name. "You just need to fight and get better because whoever did this to you is not gonna get away with it."

.

...

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"Just what the hell has happened here?" Fornell groaned as he walked around Gibbs' living room, taking in the horrible state of it. "Doctor Mallard, I'm gonna need a copy of your report. We need everything if we're going to get Jethro back quickly."

"Certainly, Agent Fornell." Ducky looked at him solemnly. "We shall work on this one jointly." He said with a pointed look, implying that Fornell and his team had better share whatever they had with the NCIS team, as well.

"Have you guys managed to find DiNotzo?" Fornell asked McGee and Ziva who looked disturbed, but were processing the scene carefully.

"No. He does not answer his phone."

"Gibbs couldn't have been alone here. The way these bodies have fallen says that more than just one man is responsible for shooting them." He pointed to the bodies on the ground. "Three are over there. Two here. I'd say DiNotzo had been here with your boss when this has gone down."

McGee winced; that was even worse if both Gibbs and Tony were taken. "We'll have Abby to check the slugs for both Gibbs and Tony's guns."

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... TBC ...


A/N: So, what do you think?

Thanks a lot for all your reviews, PMs, alerts and favorites. This might sound so cliché, but they all do make me feel warm inside. :)

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All mistakes are mine.

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