Chapter 9

It was exactly 0730 when they reached the town of Richmond. The journey there was mostly silent except for McGee giving the road instruction to Gibbs. They were both lost in their thoughts on how they should react when they find Tony. Gibbs was mostly feeling guilty for not realizing sooner while McGee was having a couple of feelings jumbled up together.

"Maybe we can stop for gas, boss. And we could ask around at the same time." McGee suggested as he saw a gas station sign a couple of miles from there. Gibbs just nodded and steered the car towards the station.

The moment the car stopped, both Gibbs and McGee got out of the car to stretch themselves. McGee headed towards the counter to pay for the gas and to ask about Tony at the same time.

"Hi. My name is Agent McGee from NCIS. I was wondering if you've seen this guy around a couple of days ago?" McGee asked the blonde teenage boy working behind the counter. He showed Tony's face on his phone to the teenager.

"Um... Is he some kind of criminal or what?" the boy asked back before answering McGee's question. He looked at the familiar face of the mischief smiling guy on the screen.

McGee shook his head. "No, no. He's one of ours. He's a friend of mine."

"I think I saw him a couple of days ago. He stopped for some gas and a bottle of drinks. I was working the afternoon shift that day. He kinda looked different though." the boy explained to McGee. The guy he saw the other day and the guy on the phone seems like the same guy physically. But there's just something different with the guy he saw. Like there's something missing.

"How different?" McGee was worried. Could it be that Tony was sick at that time?

"It's like his head was somewhere else. Like he's moving in autopilot, you know." explained the boy about Tony's behavior on that day.

"Could you remember where he was headed?"

The boy nodded his head. "I think he went that way." He pointed towards the south. "I was bored that day and I have a pretty strong memory." He explained smiling, feeling proud that he could be of some help.

McGee thanked him before heading back to Gibbs who's already waiting in the car. "Good news, boss. The attendant saw Tony and said that he headed down south. Probably we could follow the path and asked around." Gibbs nodded and started driving.

They made another stop a few minutes later as Gibbs noticed a crowd of people was gathering at a market. He and McGee got out from the car to try and talk to some of the people. Gibbs mind was somewhere else when he accidentally stumbled upon an old lady with a nice pretty smile.

"I'm sorry madam. Didn't notice you for a second." Gibbs was kneeling helping the old lady picking up her groceries.

"It's okay dear. You're not from here are you? What brings you to this town?" The lady asked upon seeing Gibbs face for the first time.

"I'm here looking for a colleague. A friend." Answered Gibbs showing the lady a picture of Tony he kept in his jacket.

The lady gasped as she saw the photo shown by Gibbs. "Oh dear. You must be Tony's co worker." Gibbs' expression changed at the mention of Tony's name. How could this lady possibly know Tony's name when Gibbs hadn't mention anything about it.

"How did you know his name? Did you know him? Is he here?" Gibbs bombarded the lady with questions as he was curious on how she came to know his younger agent.

"I know you have a lot of things you wondered about at this moment. And yes, Tony is here but he's at my house. Why don't you come with me?" She gestured Gibbs to follow her as McGee made his way towards them.

"What's wrong, boss?" McGee asked the moment he saw the bossman's facial expression changed.

"She said she knows about Tony." He answered McGee pointing at the lady. McGee looked confusedly at both of them. What's going on here? He thought to himself.

"You must be fairly confused dear boy. My name is Beth and yes, I do know about your dear friend, Tony." Beth explained as she looked at the confused look on McGee's face. "Now follow me back to the cottage and I'll tell you everything." With that, all three of them made their way towards Beth's cottage.

First and foremost, he was utterly thankful to both Beth and Ian for keeping the atmosphere in the room as soothing as possible. No loud noises, minimal lighting and everything he might need are within reaching distance. Second, he was glad that the metal band in his head decided to take it easy for the morning. No pounding headache. No sharp stabbing pain. Maybe just a little bit of throbbing every now and then.

Tony got up from the bed. He was feeling a little guilty for overstaying his welcome at the cottage. He did plan to move along yesterday. Going somewhere else before maybe finally going back to DC. But everything changed when he collapsed in the morning. Another night spent at the cottage. Whatever it is, he did feel glad for the fact that he passed out at Ian's home. Who knew what would happen if he passed out while driving somewhere. Probably he'll end up crashing and worst, involving someone else's life.

The journey to the bathroom was better than yesterday's. He made it just fine and again, since the last three days, he cursed when he saw his reflection in the mirror. He looked like he just woke up from the dead. Okay, maybe that's not an appropriate expression to use right now. He said to himself in his mind. Tony then decided to at least make an effort to look okay and lessen Beth and Ian's worry.

Around half an hour later, he was already dress in fresh clothing looking more like his usual self. His stomach was grumbling knowing that the last thing he ate was just a few spoons of chicken porridge the night before. Tony stepped out of the room making his way towards the kitchen when he suddenly heard two all too familiar voices talking in the living area.

"What the fuck?" he cursed loudly when he saw Gibbs and McGee sitting on the couch talking to Beth. All eyes focused on him upon hearing his voice. McGee looked shocked while Gibbs was being his usual stony self although there's a hint of worry in his eyes as he looked at Tony.

"Hey, Tony." McGee stuttered not knowing how to respond to Tony's reaction.

"I asked you for one simple thing! One simple request to be left alone! And you can't even respect that?!" he lashed out looking at Gibbs before storming into the room and locked the door. He was utterly pissed right now. Pissed that they found him when he's not ready to talk to them. Pissed that they did not respect his request for some time alone and pissed at himself for not having the guts to face them. He just hates this situation he's in at the moment...

A/N : I got caught up in RL and somehow my muse is all over the place. Promised I'll update more soon. :)