Chapter 18.

Tim looked at the phone in his hand and paled.

Tony's gone?

It was only Gibbs' rule number 8 Never Assume, that kept him from curling into a tight ball and screaming right there in the middle of the bullpen.

Dorneget and Baker looked at him strangely. "Agent McGee, Are you alright?"

"Keep working." Tim said and grabbed his gun and badge and strode towards the elevator doors. As they closed he leaned back against the cool metal. His hand reached down to hit the button to his wife's lab. The children were there so he hit the button for the parking garage instead.

Controlling his fear and worry, he got into his car and drove towards the hospital.


Gibbs walked up to the nurses' station, "Where are your security tapes?" he growled.

"Sir?" a nurse asked.

"Don't sir me." He snapped showing her his badge.

"My agent either walked out or was abducted from your hospital, he hasn't signed out AMA he wasn't released, so you are responsible for him. Find me security and those tapes; I need to know where he is."

Shaking the nurse picked up the phone and called security.

"And get me Dr. Samuels!" he snapped.


Tony walked on and on, he'd made it out of the hospital, only to find himself shaking as he had forgotten his coat, the fall wind was biting and he wrapped his arms around himself.

He kept his head down, ignoring the looks that he was getting from some people.

He knew he looked awful, there were bruises on his face and all over his body, some of the cuts on his back and ribs were bleeding through the bandages. He was pale and his eyes were bloodshot with huge black bags under them. His shirt had spots of blood on them and he had loafers on with no socks.

He gravitated to a fire in an oil drum down the back of an alley where some homeless people were standing, and tried for a moment to get himself warm without drawing attention to himself.

"Hey kid, you wanna drink, you look cold." An older man said, "You wanna get home where it's warm."

Tony looked away.

The old man passed him the bottle of cheap whiskey and stood nearby as Tony took a drink. "You got somewhere warm to go kid?"

Tony shook his head.

The old man walked over to a cardboard box in the corner and rooted around for a few moments and came back with gloves a coat socks and boots.

"It ain't much kid, but I think it'll fit."

Tony teared up at the generosity of this man, "T…Thank...k…you…" Tony stammered his teeth chattering in the cold.

"Ben, My name is Ben," Ben smiled at him, "You?"

Tony panicked, "L…Lee…"

"You look half starved and hurt, I can get you to the hospital…."

"NO…No hospitals…I can't…." Tony took a step back and stumbled.

Ben bent down and helped him up, "Ok Lee, don't worry, you can come with me,"

"No hospitals…" Tony said again.

Ben smiled, "Na…Not a hospital, there's a shelter, and they'll patch ya up no questions asked. You get a hot meal and if there's space we can get a bed for the night."

Tony nodded and followed Ben.


Tim skidded the car outside the hospital and rather than waiting for the elevator ran up the stairs to the fourth floor nurses' station.

"Boss!" he called seeing Gibbs pacing the floors.

He heaved a small sigh of relief when Gibbs turned to him and he looked pissed.

"Oh Thank God, he's not dead!" he sighed bending over with his hands on his knees breathing heavily from all the exertion.

"Who's not dead?" Gibbs asked

"T…Tony!" McGee gasped.

"What the hell made you think that?" Gibbs growled.

"Oh I dunno Boss, maybe, the get here 'Tony's gone'….phone goes dead, Kinda thing!" McGee spat annoyed.

Gibbs stopped and looked at his youngest boy and saw the fear, sorrow, anger and relief.

"Tim…Oh Tim, I'm so sorry, I didn't realize…no he's not dead, but he…well he…wrote ….just look!" Gibbs pushed the letter into Tim's hands.

Tim sat on one of the many chairs lining the corridor and read the note with dread.

"What the hell is he thinking?" Tim asked on reading it. "How can he do this to his kids!" he stood up and angry scowl on his face.

Gibbs knew that he had been jealous when Tony had first gotten the children, but he had not said a word, the fact that he and Abby hadn't been blessed as parents was a sad point with Tim, but he loved his wife so he'd not let her know how he felt. Instead they had poured their entire child rearing energy into helping Tony with the twins.

"We can't tell them, they've just lost Ziva, they can't lose their father too!" he got up and strode past Gibbs and over to the nurses station.

"I need access to your…."

"Yeah, yeah, security tapes, we know, I called security, they'll get back to you soon." The nurse said.

Tim slammed his badge on the desk. "MOVE" he ordered.

He turned her monitor and started typing on her keyboard.

"You can't do that!"

"Watch me…" Within moment's Tim had cued up the footage they needed and watched as Tony walked out of the hospital in just his shirt, pants and loafers. "Boss, he headed north, but he's not got a coat or anything, he's gonna freeze."

Gibbs closed his phone up, "Fornell is heading down here, he can take care of this cluster fuck, and we should go out and look for Tony."


McGee nodded. "Well we know he headed north, but we don't know where next…hold on…" Tim got his phone out. "Keating? Tim...I need a favor, traffic cam's north of Bethesda looking for Tony…yeah he's gone walkabout on painkillers." Tim lied looking at Gibbs for absolution. "You can, ok we're walking too, just tell us where…you got us?" Tim asked

Keating gave Tim directions as far as the alley way.

Looking at the same fire that Tony had spotted an hour ago, Tim and Gibbs walked up to the group of men.

"We're looking for someone." Tim said showing his badge.

"Didn't see nothin'" the men answered.

Gibbs pulled a picture from his wallet, "Please…he's my son, he's sick, he has two children at home who need him." Gibbs begged showing them a photo of Tony.

"You Lee's dad?" A man asked, "He went to one of the shelters with Ben."

"Lee?" Tim asked.

"Please," Gibbs said again ignoring Tim, "Where is he?"

"There's a shelter two blocks down, your boy looked like he needed medical attention, and Ben likes to help where he can."

Gibbs thanked the man and gave him $20. And headed in the direction he had pointed out.

They arrived just as the doors were being closed for the night.


"Hey!" Gibbs called running up to the door.

"Sorry man, we're full." A lanky African American said as he closed the doors up.

Gibbs put his foot in the door, "NCIS, we are looking for someone." He flashed his badge and scowled at the guy.

"You have a warrant?" the man asked.

"I…please I'm looking for my son, goes by the name of Lee."

The man's face changed instantly scowling, "Lee Gibbs? You his father…he said his father did that to him… right before…" the man stopped.

"I didn't do it his biological father did, I can prove it, please just let us see him." Gibbs begged.

A woman came to the door, "Jenny, this here is Lee Gibbs' dad. 'Wants to see 'im."

"Ok Tyrone, let him in."

"Leroy Jethro Gibbs, what you doing here…that boy really yours?"

Gibbs smiled, "Jenny McBride, God! You working here now?"

"Come in I still have some decent coffee, Lee's passed out, drank too much. He your son or another one of your charity cases?" she asked letting them in, past the sleeping men and back to her office.

"Not biologically, but planning on making him so." Gibbs replied accepting a cup from her, "Jenny, one of my Agents Tim McGee."

"Well Hi." She grinned.

Tim smiled and took a cup she offered him.

"So Lee?"

"Tony…" Gibbs said, "His name is Tony. He's one of my agents, been through some really rough stuff."

"He didn't want us to contact anyone, said he needed to be away from them."

Gibbs looked through her office window and through all the men sleep on the cots in the other room he could see his boy, curled in on himself looking frail.

"Jen, I need a favor…" Gibbs asked. "Can you keep him here for a few days, talk to him, and don't let him know you're a therapist or he won't talk to you. I'll be back in a few days, just need to do something…something I think he needs."

"Jethro, for you…anything. But you'll owe me Mister!" she grinned.

"And Jen, don't let him drink anymore, and give him these," He handed a bottle of antibiotics to her.

Tim and Gibbs left the building heading back to the hospital where Tim had left his car.

"Boss, what are you up to?" he asked.

"I'm giving him just what he needs." Gibbs said with a smile, "And I'll need your help. You, Abby and the twins."