A/N: I don't really know how to write the female characters except for Abby. So, let's just say this is somewhere between after Ziva left and before Bishop joined the team.

Chapter 6

It was four in the morning when Gibbs suddenly woke up from his slumber. His heartbeat was racing fast as he remembered the dream he had earlier. He was staring at a coffin and Tony's body was inside it looking peaceful. They were all there, saying their goodbyes to him.

No! It's just a dream. Gibbs headslapped his own head.Stupid Tony for missing in action. He took his cellphone to check the time. His stomach was doing a backflip when he noticed he got a text message from Tony's number.

Hey, Boss. Sorry for leaving just like that. Something came up and I need some time off. Promise I'll be back when I'm ready. Don't worry about me and tell the rest to do the same.

-Tony.D

Gibbs called the number but to his disappointment it went straight to the voicemail. Something came up? What something? He was about to smash his phone from frustration before deciding against it. He flipped the phone back on and dialed McGee's number.

"Hey, Boss. We got a case?" McGee yawned on the other line. It's way too early for his boss to call unless theyhave a case.

"Nope. It's Tony. Get to the office as soon as possible. And tell Abby to come too." That was all that Gibbs said before disconnecting the line.

Upon hearing that, McGee's eyes went wide. All trace of sleepiness was gone in mere seconds. He dialed Abby's number and put the phone on loudspeaker as he rushed around the room getting ready.

"Go for Abby. Do we have a case, McGee." Abby's sleepy voice was on the line as soon as she picked up the call.

"Hey, Abby. It's about Tony. Gibbs wants to see us at the office as soon as possible." McGee shouted as he was on the way from the bathroom when the line connected.

"What? Alright. I'll be there in fifteen minutes. Is it good news or bad news?" asked Abby as she frantically trying to get ready.

"I have no idea. I'll see you at the office and we'll find out together."

"Okay. See you in a bit." With that, both of them rushed towards the office as fast as possible.

Gibbs was already at his desk with a cup of coffee in his hand waiting for McGee and Abby. He kept rereading the text message for the tenth time trying to get something from the text. Some clue or some hint on what's really going on with his SFA.

The elevator dings and the door opened revealing one exhausted looking field agent and one sleepy looking goth forensic scientist. They both hurried towards Gibbs' desk upon seeing him already there.

"What's up with Tony, Gibbs? Is he okay? Where is he? Is he coming back? Is he here already?" Abby was shooting series of questions like she always did when she's nervous.

"Abs, Abs, calm down." Gibbs said as he hugged his favorite goth. Gibbs opened the text message he got from Tony and showed it to both of them.

"I got this last night. Didn't realize about it till earlier this morning. Tried calling him back but the phone's switched off already. Think you guys can try to trace it?" Abby and McGee looked at each other. Gibbs was actually asking them nicely. He must be really worried about Tony.

"Don't worry,bossman! We will try our very best to locate our missing agent. Probably you can talk to the director about Tony's request for some time off." Abby said determine to do her very best to find Tony's whereabouts. Gibbs just nodded and both Abby and McGee made their way to Abby's lab.

"Hey Abs. Do you think it's okay for us to do this to Tony? I mean, he did tell us that he wanted some time off." McGee was feeling a little guilty for invading Tony's privacy by tracing his cell and back tracing his phone records.

"I don't know McGee. I know he wanted some time off. But leaving just like that without telling us first, there must be something really wrong with him." Abby said as her eyes were fixed on the screen and her fingers were doing their thing on the keyboard. At this moment, they were thankful there are no crazy navy & marine killers on a killing spree out there.

McGee was going through Tony's phone records when his eyes caught a number on the incoming list yesterday afternoon. It was about the time Tony said something about his father getting into some trouble. He tried to call the number to see whether the person knew anything about Tony's missing act.

"Hello, Bethesda Naval Hospital. How may I help you?" McGee's heart started to race fast. Could it be that Tony's dad was in an accident?

"Um. Hello. This is Agent Timothy McGee from NCIS. I was wondering if you have a patient with a name of Anthony Dinozzo Sr. checking in yesterday?"

"Can you hold on for a second while I checked the records?"

"Yes, please." Abby was already hovering over McGee hoping for some news about Tony.

"Hello Agent McGee. Thank you for waiting on the line. According to our record, there is an outpatient checking in for an appointment yesterday with the name Anthony Dinozzo Jr. not Sr." Abby and McGee were both in shocked. It was Tony and not his father. But why would he lie about going to the hospital?

"I'm sorry. I meant Anthony Dinozzo Jr. Which department is he referred to?"

"I'm sorry but I cannot disclose that information to you. But I can forward you to his attending doctor if you would like to." Said the nurse on the line.

"Yes. I would be glad if you could do that." Both McGee and Abby was already nervous waiting for the line to be connected to the attending doctor.

"Hello, Dr. Marcus on the line." Dr Marcus? Isn't that Tony's doctor when he was admitted due the fall during the wall climbing? McGee thought to himself.

"Uh, hello Dr. Marcus. This is Agent McGee, Agent Dinozzo's partner. I was wondering if you could tell us about Tony's condition." McGee was trying to act as if he knew about whatever it is that Tony is dealing with.

"Oh hello Agent McGee. Unfortunately, I cannot tell you anything about Tony as it is part of the doctor-patient confidentiality and also I've promised Tony to keep the news between the two of us." So I see he still hasn't told his team about his condition. Oh, Tony. What have you got yourself into…

"But this is important to us. We cannot find him and we need to know what his dealing with?" Abby was on the line trying to keep herself from going hysterical for not knowing what's really wrong with her Tony.

"I'm so sorry Madam. But I really can't help you on this one. It's his decision and as a doctor, I need to respect that." As much as he wanted to tell them about Tony, he had promised him and he intended to keep that promise.

By the time they were done talking on the phone, McGee was already on his way to hack the hospital's database. He knew what he did was wrong but he really need to know about Tony's problem. There's no way he's leaving his friend dealing with whatever it is all by himself.

Half and hour later, Abby was still tracking Tony's last known location while McGee was almost done hacking through the hospital's database. As soon as he managed to get into the database, he wished he's never done it in the first place.

Anthony D. Dinozzo. Brain cancer. Stage four. Estimation 6 months. *patient refused treatment at the moment.