Chapter 8

Half an 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.

McGee gasped. No way! This cannot be true. He was frantically typing again to make sure everything is correct. He banged his head on the keyboard when the screen showed the same result. Abby diverted her attention from her computer screen.

"What's wrong, McGee?" she asked when she saw McGee's eyes fixed on the screen while repeatedly chanting the word 'no'. McGee looked at Abby. How was he supposed to tell her? How was he supposed to tell Gibbs? And Ducky? He got up from his seat and pulled Abby into a hug.

"McGee…?" Abby was starting to feel uneasy at McGee's behavior.

"Abby, I need you to calm down. I… I…Ummm… found out about Tony's problem." McGee was lost on how he should continue telling Abby.

"What McGee? What's wrong with Tony?" Abby was partially screaming at the moment. McGee stuttering and looking lost, that must be some really bad news.

"He…Abby…he had brain cancer. He only got 6 months, Abs." Abby's face paled upon hearing the words. There must be some mistake. She almost passed out on the floor before McGee grabbed her and supported her weight. She burst into tears as she buried her face in McGee's chest. This is not happening! Her Tony. Her Tony cannot possibly be dying in 6 months.

McGee was lost. Abby was crying like a baby. McGee snapped out of his shock when he remembered about Gibbs. Still holding Abby in his embrace, he hit the speed dial for Gibbs.

"Boss, I think you need to come down to the lab now. And bring Ducky too. It's about Tony."

Gibbs was on his way back to the office getting his fifth cup of coffee when he received the call from McGee. Ending the call, he picked up the pace while dialing the morgue's number.

"Hey Duck. We're needed at Abby's lab right now. McGee said it's something to do with Tony."

A few minutes later, both Gibbs and Ducky made their way towards Abby's lab. Both were taken aback at what they saw inside the lab. McGee was sitting on the floor while Abby was sobbing in McGee's chest.

"What the hell is going on here?" Gibbs asked the moment he was standing a few inches away from McGee. He squatted and pulled Abby from McGee and faced her.

"Hey, Abs. What's wrong? Are you okay?" Abby shook her head and hugged Gibbs tightly. She can't even form a word without bursting into tears.

"My dear, Timothy, what's really going on here? Why is Abigail crying like a baby here? And what do you want to tell us about Anthony?" Ducky tried to understand the situation they're in.

"You found where Tony is?" McGee shook his head at Gibbs question. He really didn't know how to break the news to the boss. He knew how much Gibbs care for Tony although sometimes he acted like he didn't care. To hear what he's about to tell them, he was afraid of what might happened.

"Um… We still couldn't locate him, Boss. But…"

"But what, Tim?" Gibbs was starting to become impatient. Abby's crying, McGee's stuttering and Tony's still missing in action. He took a deep breath trying to calm himself down.

"We knew what's wrong with him. He was at the hospital yesterday." Gibbs was dumbfounded. Why would Tony go to the hospital without informing him? And why would he lie about going to the hospital?

"And?" McGee wiped the sweat forming on his forehead. He didn't think he could tell the bossman and the duckman the extremely bad news.

"I really don't think I can break this to you guys. This is so hard for me to say. But I think you need to see it for yourselves on the screen." McGee pointed at his laptop screen.

Gibbs got up slowly as his bad knee popped and faced the laptop screen. He squinted his eyes trying to make sure he's actually reading what he's reading. What the hell?

"McGee, are sure this is not some kind of mistake?" Gibbs sat on the chair covering his face with both his palms. How could it be true? His younger agent is out there somewhere with a tumor in his brain waiting for it to kill him slowly.

"I'm sure, boss. I've rechecked several times before confirming it." McGee was having a mixed feeling. Frustated that Tony decided to keep the news from them, afraid that they might be losing Tony and anxious to find Tony as soon as possible.

"My lord. We have to find him. We cannot let him handle this matter all by himself." Ducky was still shocked by the news he just got. His mind was working on overdrive trying to come up with anything that could possibly help his friend.

Gibbs was still silently thinking to himself. How could he not see this coming? He was Tony's next of kin for god's sake. And Ducky was Tony's physician. How could both of them missed any signs that that younger man was sick. Gibbs almost freaked out thinking of all the headslaps he'd given Tony for the past few months. Oh God! Could it be that I made it worse?

"Oh Duck. How can I not noticed it earlier? Could it be because of my stupid headslaps that he's getting worse?" Gibbs voice was full of guilt.

"No, no, Jethro. You have no blame in all this. Some people tend to ignore the signs of the early brain cancer. They just considered it to be just a minor headache or stress headaches. Unfortunately, knowing our dear Anthony, he must've dismissed the signs as just a mere headache." Explained Ducky not wanting Gibbs to blame himself. If anyone should be blamed, it should be him. He is the young lad's physician. He should've been more alert to Anthony's wellbeing.

The gloomy atmosphere disappered with the loud ping and repeated blinking on Abby's computer screen. Abby jumped up quickly facing the screen in just a second. The loud ping meant she's able to locate Tony's last known location. It meant there is hope that they will find Tony.

All eyes were now focused on the screen as Abby was typing madly. A few seconds later, Abby shouted a loud 'yes!' indicating that she succeeded in finding Tony's last known location.

"According to this, he was last located at Richmond, Virginia. That's about two to three hours drive from here." Abby told the rest.

Gibbs looked at the time. It's almost four p.m. If he make a move now, it'll be almost dark by the time he reached Richmond. Then it'll be hard to look around to find Tony.

"McGee, go home, pack and be ready at 0500. We'll make a move to Richmond early in the morning tomorrow." McGee nodded at the orders. He was thinking the same as Gibbs. There's no way it be easy to search for Tony at night time.

"Hey, Abs. Look at me." Gibbs hold Abby's face and looket at her straight in the eyes. "I promise you I'll bring him back and we're all gonna figure this out together. Okay?" Abby nodded and hugged Gibbs before turning around. She picked up Bert and squezeed him tightly. Tony will be okay. He will be and he better be!

A/N : I don't live in the USA. So I was just guessing the distance from DC to Richmond based on Google. Do correct me if I'm wrong.

Next up, the long awaited confrontation!