Chapter 3

Tim called Tony, but it went straight to voicemail. He followed Gibbs to Tony's apartment, but there was no answer, and when they went inside, it looked as if the man hadn't been there for some time.

"I think Abby might still be at work. Balboa had that hoarder case and she was hip deep in evidence. Have her trace the gps on his phone," Tim ordered. Gibbs nodded and did as he said. This had to do with the pack, not work, so the chain of command was clear.

Tim growled low in his throat when Gibbs shook his head as he hung up. "Powered off. She'll keep tabs in case he turns it on."

Time for the big guns. Tim called Ari.

"I need you to find Tony," he said when Ari answered.

"Last known?" Ari asked, immediately all business, dropping even the pissed-off tone of voice he'd had with Tim since their arguments about Ziva.

"He left work at 21:00."

"I will call you back when I have him."

"Thank you."

They searched the apartment for clues and found two receipts from a gas station in Springfield from within the last month. They took Gibbs' car and went in that direction. They still hadn't heard back from Ari when they got to the Gas-n-Sip, so Tim called.

"It looks like this place has surveillance. Can you get a system running facial rec on it?"

"It's password protected. Give me ten minutes and I'll be in."

Tim walked around with his smell maxed out to full wolf levels, trying to find out when Tony had last been at the station while Gibbs went inside to interrogate the clerk.

Tim's phone rang while he was working through the vague, old scents of Tony and his car from days ago, trying to tell any useful information from it.

"He wasn't alone on the date of the second receipt. Sending you the cleanest screen caps and zipped video. He's not an Alpha. It looks like he's subservient to both other men with him. I'll try to identify them," Ari said.

"Get Abby to run them. She's still at the lab."

"Will do. One of the men looks familiar. I may have met him before."

"Figure it out," Tim snapped and ended the call. He opened the email with the stills and dismissed them, not recognizing the men, but his gut clenched when he watched the video. The taller, bulkier man with Tony had the agent cringing whenever he got close, and the shorter, stocky one kept jabbing Tony, mock playfully, but even in the poor resolution, Tim could tell Tony was in pain.

"What'ya got?" Gibbs asked. Tim was growling low and his head snapped up at Gibbs' approach, teeth bared. He shoved the phone at Gibbs and walked away, breathing hard. He rarely struggled with control of his temper, but seeing Tony in torment, head down, shoulders hunched, being hurt that way made him want to wolf out and tear the men to pieces.

"He's a goddamn slave Omega," Gibbs cursed. "Some packs use them up and have to recruit..."

"Recruit!" Tim roared, getting right up in Gibbs' face. "That bitch tricked him into believing he was going to be a fucking Alpha!" The Beta dropped his eyes but held firm against Tim's rage.

"We're getting him back," Gibbs replied, his voice low and dangerous.

"Of course we are! We just need to find him first."

"So calm the fuck down and think, Tim," Gibbs snapped. He rarely spoke that way to Tim in a pack situation and it did what he intended it to do; force the Alpha out of a near blood-rage.

"We're gonna hafta wait until Ari or Abby find us more information," Tim spat bitterly.

"Put them out through the pack. See if anyone has ever seen these guys," Gibbs suggested.

"Good thinking. How'd you become the smart one?" Tim half-smiled, starting to calm. Gibbs lightly head-slapped him.

"That's 'cause you're thinking with your heart," Gibbs said quietly. Tim could feel the sympathy through the pack bond and swallowed hard at the unusual emotional support from his Beta. He'd have Tim's back to the end of the world, but he never got mushy. Gibbs cleared his throat and spoke normally again. "Get your head back in it."

On the drive back toward the city, Tim went deeply into the pack mind and sent the images out of the two men with Tony and the sense of urgency he felt to know anything about them. It was the best he could do with the people who weren't wired. To those, he sent the pictures by email and text asking if anyone recognized them.

His phone rang within minutes.

"Victor, you know them?" Tim answered without preamble. The fight-prone Hispanic had come to the pack with a chip on his shoulder and emotional scars from the obliteration of his former pack. He was quiet unless he drank, and he enjoyed the club scene a little too much, going home with different women every chance he got, but he was fiercely loyal to Tim for giving him a chance to be part of a pack again.

"The big one. He worked for a bookie a few years ago. Broke my pack brother's jaw when he owed money. Bad news, man. He enjoyed his work, you know what I mean?"

"Uh-huh. You know his name, his turf, anything?"

"Turf? Ah, Tim. They called him Stone, but I don't know. Probably a nickname, you know? When I saw him was in Philly, man."

"When was this?"

"Summer. Two years ago."

"That could help. Thanks, Victor."

"This gonna help you get Tony back? I miss him; Jimmy can't hold his liquor, and he orders these fruity girl drinks. He's a lousy wingman."

"I hope so."

As soon as he disconnected with Victor, he called Ari and Abby and told them about the Philadelphia connection. It would help in their search for a name.

For lack of any better place to go, they went back to Tony's apartment. It was possible he'd return home.

Two hours later, Ari called to say Tony's car was in the vicinity and heading in their direction. He'd been unable to determine if Tony was driving, or how many people were in the car. Gibbs shrugged at that news. They'd know soon enough.

"Hi Tony," Tim said mildly when the older man came into his apartment and failed to notice them. Tony jumped.

"What - what are you doing here?"

"What the hell have you gotten yourself into?" Gibbs came out swinging, and Tim mentally shook his head. That wasn't going to work.

"I've been busy. What are you doing in my apartment?"

Gibbs jabbed Tony in the same spot the man from the video had, albeit much more gently. He still winced and shied away. Gibbs growled and moved in close.

"How could you let them hurt you? Didn't you learn anything on my team?"

Tim sighed. "Gibbs, wait outside," he ordered. His Beta snarled and Tim stalked toward him on stiff legs. He left. Tim turned to Tony and let his expression subside into mild interest. "Where ya been?"

"Around. Like I said, I've been busy," Tony replied. His eyes had a cornered look.

"You wanna tell me what's going on?"

Tony's lips twitched. "Nothing. Look, I don't appreciate you breaking into my apartment."

"You gave me a key so I could feed your fish. Where is Pacci, by the way?"

Again the lip twitch and this time a flash of anger accompanied it. "Goldfish don't live forever."

Tim nodded. "Tony, we know there's something wrong. Please tell me what it is."

Tony's mouth worked silently, and Tim was certain he was trying to form words that he wasn't allowed to say. The rage at the Alpha who was doing this to his friend threatened to overwhelm his intellect again.

Tony saw it. "You should go. I'm...fine."

"Oh, Tony. You know I only want to help."

Tim watched tears fill his former Omega's eyes. "Get out, Tim," he choked. Tim wanted to reassure him that they would come for him, that they'd get him back and save him from the hell he was going through, but he knew Tony would likely be forced to repeat everything Tim said to him to his captors and he didn't want the other pack to know what was coming.

"Tony - "

"Leave! Now!"

Tim tried to convey to him that help was coming, not to lose hope, with just his eyes. Tony pressed his lips together, tears spiking his eyelashes, and Tim saw his chest heave with suppressed sobs. His expression grew desperate.

"I'm going. Don't forget we're on call this weekend. Keep your phone on."

Tim left the apartment. Gibbs fell into step with him as he marched down to the car. He knew his Beta had heard everything, and from the black fury rolling off him in waves, he knew they were on the same page. They'd do anything to get Tony back.

He called Ari from the car and told him to track any possible movement from Tony.

"His phone just turned back on. I'll keep that tracking active in real time as well as have the ATM camera across the street with recognition for his car."

"Good. I think he's in for the night at least, but we need to know for sure."

"I won't lose him again."

"Thank you, Ari. I'll be home soon."

Tim rubbed his eyes. Adrenalin had kept him going, but he was tired and hadn't had a caffeine boost since the team had still been at work together.

Gibbs silently dropped him at home, then swung by a shop for coffee before he went back to watch Tony's apartment. At least they'd know he was safe this one night.

~~~NCIS~~~

Early Sunday morning the team got a callout. They met in Rock Creek Park, and Gibbs snapped at Tony when he was late arriving. Then silence fell among them when the team saw Tony's black eye and tentative step. With how quickly a wolf healed even without his Alpha doing as Tim did for his people and giving him energy to speed it along, Tony had to have been beaten badly to still look as he did. Neither Tim nor Gibbs could speak with the rage that filled them. It bounced between the two, rising higher, until Tim realized they both were a heartbeat away from transforming right in front of the park rangers who'd found the body. He sent an Alpha order to Gibbs, a lupine head-slap if sorts, to snap him out of it, and locked his own emotional reaction down, hard.

"Nice shiny, Tony," Ziva said.

"That's shin-er, Ziva," Tony corrected. He was avoiding looking at Gibbs or Tim and went straight to sketching the Petty Officer where he lay in the dry creek bed.

"Oh my god, what happened, Tony?" Jimmy blurted upon his arrival. He carried the coroner equipment box as he followed Ducky.

"Bar brawl. It's nothing, Palmer."

"My dear boy, I hope you gave better than you got," Ducky said, smiling and gesturing with his fists. It was disconcerting to have him so oblivious to the tensions the wolves were all feeling. Tony was obviously aware of Gibbs and Tim as they stood, frozen, staring at him.

"Of course. Couldn't let him paw at my girlfriend and get away with it," Tony tried for a light reply, but it fell flat.

"Is the dear Kylie all right?" Ducky asked. Tim clamped down harder on his control of Gibbs and himself when his vision washed out red. The camera in his hands was in danger of cracking from the grip with which he held it. Kylie had spent weeks wooing Tony under false pretense. Next to the men from the video, she was the person Tim most wanted to punish.

"She... Kylie's fine. I'm fine. Can we get to work here?" Tony's voice was tense and the question held an edge of desperation.

"At least you have someone to defend," Jimmy chimed in. "I haven't had a date in months." He'd sensed the fury in Gibbs and Tim and was trying to change the subject, break the moment, anything to help his Alpha and his Beta get control back. Tim shook himself physically at having to be rescued that way and cleared his throat.

"Any idea what killed this guy, Ducky?" Tim asked, trying to keep the strain from his voice.

They worked the scene stiffly, like automatons, and Tim could tell Ziva noticed. He'd felt her watching them, but he couldn't do anything about that right then. He determined to talk to Ari again, to try to at least convince him she should know about them.

~~~NCIS~~~

Monday morning, Tim walked into the squad room exhausted from yet another fight with his mate. He was deeply concerned that their relationship might not survive this struggle over Ziva, and worried what it would mean for his pack if they lost their protective hacker, and for himself if he had to face the rest of his life without the staunch support he'd had since he was a teenager. He hit Gibbs' emotional maelstrom as he exited the elevator and stopped short.

"Tony took the next two weeks for a personal emergency," Gibbs informed him shortly. Tim's tolerance for waiting to rescue the senior field agent snapped. His eyes darted to the stairs, giving an order, and Gibbs bounded up them. He'd do or say whatever he had to to the Director get the team pulled from their case and the duty roster, and they'd somehow get out of work for the day. They were going for Tony. Now.

Tim made vague excuses to Ziva as he sent out an alert to his pack. They might need backup from their strongest members, and he'd definitely need to be able to draw energy from everyone to pull this off.

Tim and Gibbs headed out, looking like they were going to war, and Ziva waited until it was safe, then silently followed.

~~~NCIS~~~

A/N I hope you are all enjoying this, and you aren't too disappointed that Tony didn't get to be an Alpha.

Remember, reviews keep me motivated, so please let me know what you think of this!