Warnings: Dark, a little violent. Angsty. No spoilers though!

A/N: Thank you everyone! Like I said I'm stepping a little bit outside my box here. I don't usually write so much angst, but again the story wouldn't leave me. Here is chapter two. Enjoy!

EDITED 10/21/14: Changed the end of this chapter. I was tired of listening to people complain under anon reviews that I've made the injuries to Tony too unrealistic. I did do research but I guess that wasn't enough. Changing the end of the chapter doesn't change much of the plot so, please read and enjoy.

Leroy Jethro Gibbs stomped the snow from his boots before entering NCIS that bone chilling morning. It had snowed through the night, which had made traveling around the city difficult. The morning commute hadn't been much better… but he'd made it and now it was time to focus on the job.

Slipping his card through security he greeted the guard with a smile. "Agent Gibbs," the guard said, stopping him. "You have a visitor."

Gibbs looked at his watch. "At eight in the morning? The city is barely awake after the storm. Let me guess… JAG? I sent Tony to West Virginia yesterday to pick up their witness. He was staying over night out there. Should be back today."

"No. Wasn't JAG. It was Mrs. DiNozzo and little Jack," the guard said, anxiously. "She looked… worried, Agent Gibbs."

Ah hell, DiNozzo. Did you forget to call your wife last night? Gibbs thanked the guard and proceeded towards the elevator. Tony might have been married for a year and half now but he still had a lot to learn about being married. Taking a large sip of his coffee as he stepped off the elevator he found Leah standing in the bullpen wearing a cream colored wool pea coat and a crimson knit cap. Jack was bundled up in navy snowsuit, proudly displaying a Red Sox logo, and a Patriots ski cap. "I'll make sure I smack him hard this time—he should have called you to let you know he was bunking in West Virginia."

Leah bit down on her lower lip. "He did call me last night, Gibbs. Just before I put Jack down for the night."

Gibbs was confused and his gut was starting to tingle. "Leah… why are you here?"

"Tony said he was going to call me as soon as he was on the road," Leah replied, clinging tightly to her baby. "He said he was leaving by six to pick up the witness and then head back to Washington."

"Maybe he's running late," Gibbs replied not really believing that himself. "Did you try to call him?"

Leah nodded. "Yes. Straight to voicemail."

Gibbs tightened the hold he had on his coffee cup. "Leah… did he leave any contact information for the hotel?"

"He did. He said that he was having trouble getting a signal out there."

"Did you call them?"

Tears pooled in the corners of her eyes, confirming his worst nightmare. "I did. They told me that Tony had never registered there. Something is wrong! Something is terribly wrong, Gibbs! He wouldn't do this to me, he would know that I'd worry about him if he didn't call!"

He watched as a few of those tears escaped. Leah had an incredibly intuition about Tony, Gibbs had seen it in action. They be completely separated in a room but somehow, when one began talking about the other they manage to find each other with their eyes. If she thought something was wrong with Tony… then something had to be wrong… even if he was trying to find a logical explanation as to why the motel had no record of his senior field agent checking in.

Gently he reached out and guided her towards Tony's chair. He instructed her to sit down. Slowly he crouched in front of her, saw the absolute fear in her eyes and little Jack let out a small whimper. Gibbs put a hand on the baby's head and rubbed the back of it, softly. "I promise, Leah. I'm going to find him and bring him home."

"What if… what if you're too late?" Leah cried. "What if he's already dead?"

"Do you think he's dead?"

"What?"

"In your heart… do you think he's dead?"

Leah swallowed her tears and shook her head fiercely. "No," she whispered, hugging Jack closer to her, "No. He's alive. He… he wouldn't leave us… not without… fighting."

Gibbs smiled at her, sadly and kissed her forehead. "That's right… Tony's a survivor, Leah." He just has to stay alive long enough for us to find him. He pulled out his cell phone and quickly dialed. Grabbing a hold of Leah's hand while he waited for the recipient to pick up. Finally, after what seemed like hours, a gruff voice answered. "Yeah, cut the crap, Tobias. I have a problem. DiNozzo is missing—I need your help."

Every muscle in Timothy McGee's body ached but he pushed himself forward. He had been home with a terrible bout of bronchitis and to recover—as well as keep Tony from catching it—he'd been home for the last three days.

But now, Tony was in trouble. If I had just sucked it up and been here… Tim thought as he entered NCIS, blew through security and headed for the elevator. Tim was supposed to go out to West Virginia to pick up that witness with Tony and he couldn't help but think if they had been together Tony would have been fine. It was why he needed to force his way through work now… because Tony needed him and he knew that Tony would do the same for him.

Coughing, he stumbled his way into the bullpen. "B-boss… I'm here."

"Aw hell, McGee… you look like crap," Gibbs snapped with a slight roll of his eyes. "What are you doing here?"

"T-tony… needs…my help," Tim choked out as he struggled to stop coughing. Damn antibiotics hadn't kicked in yet.

Gibbs threw a thumb over his shoulder. "That's why I called Tobias. You should go home. Rest. Bishop will call with an update."

Tim shook his head, which made him dizzy. He gripped the edge of his desk. "Tony wouldn't… he'd do anything to find me." And he already had… two years ago when Daryl Crowley had abducted him, tortured him, and was going to kill him all to get revenge on Gibbs. If Crowley wasn't dead… Tim could almost believe that the man was the one behind Tony's disappearance. "Please, boss," he whispered, "I have to… I have to do this. I can… I can still work from my desk."

With a sigh, Gibbs relented. Tim was right… Tony would do whatever it took to find his partner… and quite frankly, he needed Tim to do all the computer stuff that he did so well. "See if you can trace the last time Tony used his cell."

"On it boss."

"Gibbs!" Ellie shouted, running into the bullpen. "I pulled Tony and Leah's phone records. She received a call around seven last night from The Mountain State Inn."

"Which lines up with what Leah told me," Gibbs replied. "Tony called her last night from the hotel to let her know he'd arrived in West Virginia and would be staying over."

"Did you manage to get in touch with them?" Tobias asked. He was starting to get more nervous for DiNutso by the minute.

Ellie nodded. "I spoke to one of the innkeepers, Mrs. Wilkerson. She said that she had no record of Tony checking in last night. She was going to speak to her husband and call me back."

Gibbs pointed towards Ellie's laptop. "Run a background check on those damn owners. McGee… do you have anything for me yet?"

"Last time Tony used his cell was when he got on the West Virginia Turnpike around five thirty yesterday afternoon. He called you, boss."

"Yeah… to let me know roads were bad and he'd bring the witness back tomorrow."

"As long as the battery is in the phone… I can trace it, boss."

"Do it."

Tim calmed his shaking hands enough to type in a trace. "It should only take…" His computer beeped and blared and he felt his stomach flip-flop. Oh no.

Gibbs was standing in front of him immediately, his blue eyes filled with a hundred different emotions. "Tim… what is it?" he asked, seeing the pale look pass over the younger man's face. And when Tim didn't respond Gibbs felt the weight of the world crashing down on his shoulders. "Tim!"

Ellie glanced up from her work and noticed the look of horror as Tim finally managed to look at Gibbs. She hadn't been at this job very long but she knew that it meant what he'd found wasn't good. Her eyes fluttered towards Tony's empty desk, with Jack's snowsuit and Leah's jacket draped over it, and it made her heart ache. She swallowed back her tears and got to her feet, moving to stand next to her boss.

"It… the battery's been taken out, boss," Tim said in a near whisper, "I can't… I can't trace it."

"Ellie… keep working on those background checks!" Gibbs snarled at her. He grabbed his gear and threw on his coat. "Make sure Ducky sits with Leah and Jack… keep her calm, got it? Tobias… up for a road trip?"

Tobias grinned. "I thought you'd never ask!"

Gibbs chuckled briefly as they left. But only briefly because Tony was in trouble and it was his job to bring his boy home.

His hands were cold and it was making it difficult to pull out his wallet and find what he was looking for. Tony struggled with his numb digits in the dank room but finally managed to slip out the photograph.

Leah and Jack smiled back at him. He clutched it between his fingers for dear life. Just as he had clutched that cell phone when he had the plague. It gave him a sense of purpose, a reason to keep fighting.

Tony wasn't quite sure how he'd come to be here. He remembered being taken to his room and then nothing. He'd woken up cold and alone, blood on his shirt from a head wound. His weapon was gone, his badge, and his credentials. And he didn't have his cell phone. Not that it would matter anyways… he hadn't been able to get a signal out here last night. But… it meant that Tim wouldn't be able to trace him. If they even know you're gone, he thought, morbidly.

A creaking, old door opened in front of him and he had to shield his eyes from the bright light. When they adjusted Tony could see a tall, lanky figure standing before him and he realize with a twist in his gut that it was the kid from the inn. "What do you want with me?" he asked in a rasp.

"Do you know mice squeal just before you bash their heads in?" the kid asked, monotone, distant. "I like to hear them squeal before the end."

"Is this some kind of cat and mouse game?" Tony inquired, his hand tightening around the photograph.

"No. I am not chasing you."

"So… I'm the mouse? The one you like to bash their heads in?

The kid's lips quirked in a slight grin, sending a shiver down Tony's spine and he said, "I haven't hurt a mouse for years. It got boring after a while. They were all the same kind of kill. No excitement."

Tony swallowed, eyes darting about for some kind of escape. "Is that when you graduated to humans? Now that the excitement of the mice had worn off you found that humans were much more interesting to hear scream before they die? Let me tell you something, kid… I won't give you that satisfaction."

His eyes grew dark as he stepped up to Tony, the pistol held at his side reminding the field agent that he could kill him with a single shot. "We'll see about that."

"Will we now," Tony snapped, hand tightening around the photograph of his family. "What are you going to do to me?" he challenged.

"I liked to cut the tails of the mice off," the kid responded. Tony watched as he opened a knife. "But you don't have a tail."

"Keen observation. So… you didn't answer me… what are you going to do?"

In a flash the knife flew through the air. Pain shot through his left knee and Tony did everything he could to stop himself from screaming, even biting down so hard on his lower lip that it almost bled. The kid, holding onto the bloody knife snarled, "You will scream before it's over. They all do." He fired a round at the agent. Tony managed to duck, and the kid stood there glaring when Tony still didn't acknowledge what he wanted.

"Kid… I've been shot at before… I've been shot before," Tony gritted out, "Never screamed then… not going to do it now."

"Yes you will! They all do!" the kid shouted holding the gun up, aiming it at Tony's chest.

"Wayne?" a voice called out. "Wayne? I thought I told you not to shoot that gun of yours off around this house!"

Tony watched as an annoyed look came over the kid's face, as he lowered the SIG, shoved it back into his jean pocket and left, slamming the door behind him. Tony heard a padlock clicking into place and then the crunch of boots underneath snow as the kid walked away, shouting as he went, "Sorry Aunt Estelle… it was those wretched squirrels in the wood pile again!"

Letting out a soft cry of pain now that Wayne was gone, Tony desperately looked about for something to stop the bleeding. Every survival instinct began to kick in and he was going to need all of them to keep himself alive long enough to be rescued.