Tony's head was throbbing. He tried to open his eyes, but the pain was too much to handle. He closed his eyes again and only now noticed that someone was talking to him.
What was going on? Had he had a rough night after partying? Slowly the memories from the last few days came back to him. He dared himself to open his eyes and meet his father's angry eyes. The eyes he looked into weren't dark, but more like his own. "Bobby?"
"Hey, sleepy head. How are you feeling?"
"Fine," he lied. He tried to sit up, but the room started to spin so he lay back down. "OK, I lied."
"The doctor should be here soon, so just stay with me."
"Where am I?"
"Back in bed." Bobby had some amusement in his eyes now. He was still worried. After all, head injuries were difficult.
"Well, when everything is right with the world." Just then a maid came in followed by the doctor. "Dr. Henderson, I'm so glad you could get here so fast."
"No problem." He gave them a small smile and came over of the bed. "Now, lets take a look at the patient."

****************

Gibbs took a deep breath before he knocked on the door. He waited a while before he tried again. Still no response. He stood there a couple of minutes debating with himself if he should unlock the door and let himself in. Maybe he just should come back again after working hours. He was just about to walk away when he heard Tony's phone ring. There were nothing that indicated any movement, so he pulled out the spare key he had to Tony's place for emergencies.
"DiNozzo?" His voice was a little sharper then he would have wanted. He stepped into the apartment. Something wasn't right. He pulled out his gun and walked carefully toward the living room. He kicked something hard. He looked down and saw Tony's gun there. He pulled out his cellphone witout lowering his gun. "Kate, pull the team together and come to DiNozzo's apartment now!" He snapped the phone shut. Something was very wrong here.

****************

"Take it easy, Mr. DiNozzo. It's a light concussion, but you should take a trip to get an x-ray on that head of yours to be on the safe side. And have someone to wake you up every 60 to 90 minute if you go to sleep."
"Thank you, doc." The doctor gave them a gentle smile and walked out.
"Thank god for that thick head of yours."
"Were you worried, Bobby?"
"You never know with you."
"Lets go see grandpa."
"Give it a rest, Tony."
"No, no, he's probably waiting for us." Tony got out of bed and started to get dressed.
"Fine. You win this round, but I think I want a part of the fun of waking you up every 60 to 90 minutes." The only reply was a groan. He couldn't help, but laugh.
"Having fun of my misery are we?"
"You know it." With that they both left with a smile on their faces.
Their grandfather had most of the west wing all to himself, so they had to walk a bit of a distance to get there. The memories came flowing on the way. The closet he had hid himself in for 8 hours after he had broken his mothers porcelain doll by accident. His mother had yelled at him for 5 days after that. Ironically enough she had locked him in that closet 3 hours a day after she was done yelling at him. That was one of the frightening ones, but there were also the depressing ones. The memories should be happy and not sad. He remembered when he was 6, playing with his brother, running through the halls and tripped on a rug and fell. He had been crying when his father had come running. He had picked him up, held him and talked to him til he had stopped crying. Would his father ever be like that again? ‘No,' he told himself. ‘You're to blame for your mothers death. How could he ever even look at you again?'
"I know what you're thinking. It wasn't your fault." Tony jumped. He hadn't even noticed that he had stopped. He was standing in front of a picture of their mother and father on their wedding day. He tried to say something, but his mouth was so dry all of the sudden. He took a deep breath gave his brother a smile and they walked on.
"You are not to blame, Tony." Tony wanted to believe him, but he couldn't.

****************

Gibbs had taken a look all around the apartment without touching anything. He had to make sure that Tony didn't lie somewhere hurt or worse. He closed his eyes. He couldn't think like that. Tony was alive. "He better be or I'll kill him!"
"What did you say, Gibbs?" Just then Kate and McGee came in.
"What's wrong? Have you found any sign of Tony?"
"No, McGee. I haven't. Someone left in a hurry and I'm not so sure Tony left willingly."
"Why do you say that?"
"His gun was on the floor, loaded. Almost every closet in the bedroom and bathroom were open. Like they didn't know where the things were."
"We'll start the investigation."

****************

"Hey, grandpa." Bobby walked in to the living room were their grandfather was, closely followed by Tony. Raul DiNozzo was a shorter and older version of Tony with brown eyes and now gray hair. If one had looked at a picture of him in his thirties and at his grandson, you wouldn't have been able to tell the difference.
"Robert and Anthony." The enthusiasm in his voice was a warm welcome and both gave him a big smile in return. "I was starting to wonder if you weren't coming to visit your old grandfather."
"Oh, you know. Late night out on the town."
"You don't look so good, Anthony." With the first happiness from seeing his grandsons gone, he could really look at the boys. And what he saw made him worried. Robert looked as good as always, but Anthony looked terrible. He recognized the round mark on his cheek was from his son's ring.
"Ah, with my line of work you h..."
"He slipped on the bathroom floor and fell. He has a concussion." Tony looked over at his brother who just grinned at him.
"Yeah, OK. I slipped on the bathroom floor and have a concussion."
"And the bruises? When did my son give you them?" Tony just looked at the floor. He couldn't deny it, so he just kept quiet. Bobby just looked sad at this. Raul sighed. He had to talk to his son about this, but he had another matter that had to be explained first. "I have something important to tell you. I have recently gotten some notes in the mail." Tony's head snapped up. The investigator in him started to wake up and go on alert.
"What kind of notes?"
"Threatening ones." He sighed again and pulled out something from his jacket. Tony took them and looked at them. Bobby looked over his shoulder.

Long time no see, old pal.
You know, I've been checking up on you. And I think you are a cinaiving little weasel, that should be hanged. But no, that would be so wrong of me. I couldn't do that. No, no, no. I don't want you to end like that. I'm sorry... Shot or maybe a knife to the throat. I had so many fantasies on how I'm going to end your life, but I want it to be a surprise. So don't ask me. Well, you probably don't even remember me, so how could you? Ask me I mean.
I know this is a short letter, but I promise I will write to you again.
Don't want you to die of old age or something, before I can end your life for you. So I wish you well, from 031278.
P.S. Another promise. You will suffer.

Tony looked quickly through the rest of the letters. They all said about the same thing. Threats to kill his grandfather.
"Have you called the police?"
Raul gave a small laugh, except it wasn't funny at all. "Boys, you know that I was a lawyer for over 40 years."
"Yes, and one of the best." Bobby and Tony had always looked up to their grandfather. Bobby had walked in his footsteps. He became a lawyer himself and a successful one. Tony wanted to put criminals behind bars, but chose another way to do it. That's why he had gone in to law enforcement.
"Thank you, Robert. You're not so bad yourself." He gave him a small smile for the compliment, but the importance of the moment made it short. "I don't trust the police anymore. It can be someone on the force whose toes I have stepped on and I have stepped on a lot of toes, just as much as it can be someone I've put in prison."
"I'll take them with me. I'll check it out."
"Thank you, Anthony. I don't like to do this to you, but at least I can trust you."
"I'll jump on a plane back tonight and I can take a look tomorrow at work." Tony looked at the letters again. He hoped that it was just an empty threat, but he couldn't be sure. Suddenly he swayed and the roomed started spinning. He sat down in one of the chairs that was closet to him.
"That's it. I'm taking you to the hospital." Tony was about to protest, but his brother put up a hand to stop him. "If you're going home tonight I want to make sure you're alright first."
"You go on, boys. I'm sorry that your stay has to be so short, Anthony."
"Me too, grandpa." He went over to his grandfather and gave him a hug. Just then his father came in. Tony instantly straightened himself up. The silence seemed to last forever.
"Come on, Tony. Lets get your bags packed." His brother took him by the arm and started walking. When they were about to walk past his father he throwd an arm out and stopped Tony. "You're leaving?"
"Yes, dad. I have to go back to work."
"Off course, I'll drop you off at the airport."
"Don't worry about it, dad. I'll take care of it." Bobby tried to drag Tony with him, but their father still hold him back.
"You don't have to do that."
"I don't mind." Tony was finally let go.
"Bye, grandpa. I'll talk to you soon."
"Be well, Anthony." His son was just about to turn around and walk out. "Phillip Anton DiNozzo, come over here." The tone in his voice always made him freeze right on the spot. He respected his father and didn't want to do anything to upset him.
"Yes, papa?"
"How can you treat your son, my grandson, like this? He doesn't deserve this."
"He killed Kelly!" The rage got the best of him. He hated losing control, but his younger son had that affect on him.
"No, he didn't and you know it. It is miracle that we didn't lose them both. Why can't you see that?"
"My wife would still be alive if it wasn't for him."
"It's unfair to blame this on Anthony. He had nothing to do with it. Or maybe it isn't about him at all." His son looked at him. He looked at him with surprise in his eyes. "When you slap your son. Who is it that you really want to hit? Could it be me?"
"Where would you get that idea?" Phil DiNozzo was starting to get agitated. He didn't like where this was going.
"You must see who he looks like. Is that really the reason?"
"No, the reason I can't look at my son anymore is that he is the reason the light of my life is gone." He had almost spat out the word son. With that he left the room and left his father with his thoughts.

****************

"It is mostly Tony's prints that you found in Tony's apartment." Abby sat in her chair spinning around. Gibbs found this peculiar, case this was after all a coworker and a friend that she was trying to find a clue to his disappearance.
"And?" Gibbs was starting to get annoyed. He usually wasn't like this to Abby, but he didn't like the fact that he didn't know where she was going with this.
"I did find some prints that weren't his."
"And?" He repeated.
"It didn't come up in COTIS."
"Abby!"
"But some of the hairs you found..." She paused. Only for the dramatic effect.
"You got a hit on that?"
"No." Before Gibbs could say anything she continued. "Well, not really."
Gibbs raised an eyebrow. "Yes, Abby?"
"I didn't get a direct hit, but he's defiantly related to our young boy."
"Related?"
"It looks like junior DiNozzo got a visit from senior DiNozzo."
"His father?" He didn't know much about Tony's family, but he did know that they weren't in contact with each other on a normal basis. Maybe there had been a family emergency that had made him leave the way he did. If that was the case Tony would regret the day he was born.

****************

"I can't believe it." Bobby looked over at his brother. "The doctor actually OKAYED you."
"Just a light concussion. There shouldn't be any problems, if you don't count the throbbing headaches."
"No, I was thinking of your head in general." Tony hit his brother in the shoulder, who just grinned even more. "We better get going if you're to make it in time for your flight."
"A small visit. Both happy and sad."
"It was nice to have you back here. Next time you can come and say with me and maybe stay for a while."
"Maybe." Tony was left with his thoughts. He loved seeing his family again, but it brought back a lot of painful memories. He knew that if he could help it he wouldn't be back here any time soon.

****************

The next day when Tony came back to work he walked in to the bullpen with everyone there looking through files and evidence. Even Ducky and Abby was there. They all looked up when he came in.
"Hi. What's going on? Hot case?"
Everyone flew up from their seats. Abby was the first one there and she threw herself around his neck.
"What's going on?" He was surprised by the welcome. He appreciated it, but it was a bit disturbing.
"Don't you ever do that again." Abby said angrily and hit him in the shoulder. He didn't say anything, he just rubbed his shoulder. When he let his hand fall down his shoulder got another punch from Kate this time.
"What's going on?" He kept repeating himself and didn't get any answers.
"Spill it, DiNozzo." Tony was really confused. He didn't understand why they were reacting like this. Even Gibbs was up and he didn't look happy.
"Spill what?" Ducky suddenly grabbed his chin and turned his head from one side to another. "It's not a big deal, Ducky. Just a misunderstanding." Referring to his bruise.
"Where have you been?" This time it was McGee speaking. Tony was surprised by the tone in his voice. They had been worried.
"At my fathers place. My grandfather had something important to tell me."
"That's it?" Gibbs had to restrain himself from yelling.
"Basi..." He stopped in the middle of the word, because of the head slap from Gibbs. He stopped breathing for a minute. The others noticed the way Tony hunched. He took a deep breath and straightened up. "And there is the fact that I have a small concussion after a little accident."
"Accident?"
"Yeah, there was this big guy that..." He was interrupted by Gibbs calling him by his surname. "Okay, I slipped on the bathroom floor." Kate laughed out loud and McGee tried to hold back a snicker, while Abby just smiled.
"And the bruises?"
"Your thinking of the round mark." Tony thought quickly through his possible answers. "I slipped sideways head first in to the bathroom counter and hit one of the knobs. And I hit the back of my head when I hit the floor."
Gibbs looked over to Ducky. He could see that the ME hadn't believed that story either. Something was going on and he would find out what.

Gibbs looked over at Tony who was actually working and was very effective these days. That in its self was worrying. He was a good agent no doubt (alltough he hadn't said that to Tony), but he wasn't that good with paperwork.

There were some holes in Tony's story. Right after Tony's welcome, Ducky and himself had gone to the morgue and had a talk.
__

‘Why would our young boy lie to us?'

‘I don't know, Ducky. Something doesn't ad up.'

‘He said that he had got that mark from a knob on he counter when he fell.'

‘You don't believe that.' It wasn't a question, it was a simple fact.

‘When I looked on his face he said that it was just a misunderstanding. How can that fit in with a fall on a bathroom floor?'

‘It doesn't. I'll keep an eye out for him.'

‘You do that. And lets see what we can find out about this.'
___

"Boss?" Gibbs was snapped out of the memory by the sound of Tony's voice.

"What, DiNozzo?" The sharp voice surprised him, but it did nothing to Tony. He still looked sad like he had the last few days, ever since he had come back. They hadn't seen a smile or a hint of anything amusing in his eyes like they used to. Which really got to the team. Kate and McGee seemed to blame him for this. He could see it in their eyes. He didn't get angry over this. All though maybe he should, but they were just worried about their co-worker.

What really got him confused was that it didn't seem like Tony's mood had anything to do with him at all. He didn't act any diffrent to him than to the others. He was quiet, he did his work, he answered questions when asked. But he lacked the kick in his answers. He listened to Ducky when he started with one of his stories. He was way to nice to Kate and McGee. He didn't bicker with Kate, and he was actually respectfull towards everyone. Gibbs had noticed that both Kate and McGee had deliberatly said something that normally would have gotten them a smart remark at the very least. But Tony didn't take the bait. The only one that even could get a small hint of the good old Tony was Abby, but even she didn't get more than a halfhearted smile and even then it never reached his eyes. They still had the sad look.
"I think I might have found something to the Morris-case." Tony handed over two pages of the file. Gibbs took it and read what Tony pointed out to him. A smile slowly appeared on his face.

"We got him. Lets go!" They all grabed their gear and went out.

****

It had been a long day, but they had finally been able to solve a cold case that had been bugging them for months. Thanks to Tony and he did deserve the credit.

"Good work." Gibbs looked directly at Tony. "Good job, DiNozzo."

"Thank, boss." He got a small smile in return, but it was short and it didn't go to his eyes. He saw the disappointment in Kate and McGee. They had thought that this would get some response.

"Take a couple of hours off tomorrow. You've had a long day."

"Thanks, boss." They started to pack up and head out. Tony was first out as normal. Kate and McGee lingered. As soon as Tony was gone, they turned to their boss.

"What's going on, Gibbs?" Kate and McGee didn't accuse him anymore. Their voices told him that.

"I don't know, Kate. Something happend at his father's. I just don't know what. Yet."

***

When Tony finally got home to his apartment, he started cooking up something. He hadn't eaten in hours and wanted to eat something before he went to bed.

A long day indeed. He should be happy. He finally had gotten some approval from Gibbs. The remark he made wasn't gone, but he couldn't really blame him either. He was a failure and a mistake. Saying anything else would be a lie. He usually surpressed these fellings, but after the trip to his father's, all the guilt and selfhatred appeared again.

At work he could drown himself in work, so the memories wouldn't come. But the night was full of nightmares and after a few hours he gave up. That's when he took his grandfathers letters out again or just went into work. It wasn't a better place to investigate anyway and he didn't dare use company time when people were around, ecspesially Gibbs.
He pushed his plate away. He couldn't bring himself to eat much, so he gave up and went to bed.

***

Tony woke up covered in sweat. His heart was pounding in his chest and his breathing was fast. He took a few shallow breaths, before he was calm enough to breath normally. He looked over at his alarmclock. 1:26. He had only been able to sleep for a couple of hours, but he got up anyway. He knew he wouldn't get much more sleep, so he could just as well do something productive with the time.
After a shower and shave he tried to eat something. He looked at his watch. 2:17. He got the letters and left for the office. Half an hour later he sat down at his desk.

When Gibbs walked out of the elevator he had not expected to see Tony sitting at his desk working. "What the hell are you doing here, DiNozzo?" He mentally slapped himself, for being so harsh yet again.

"I'm working, boss." Tony replied stating the obvious.

"I can see that." Still too much anger in his voice. That's why the next thing he said was calmer. "Why are you here when I gave you the morning off?"

"Oh... I just... I guess I forgot. Besides it's not a big deal." Tony shrugged. "I could use the extra time on paperwork anyway."

"You could use that extra time to get some sleep." Concern started to leak into his speach. "You look like hell."

"Thanks, boss," Tony said sarcastically. "In my defence, I'm not the only one in early."

"That might be so, but unlike you I don't need the extra sleep."

"What? You fell a sleep early and didn't spend all night on that boat of yours?" Tony's tone was sharper then it usually got.

"Watch it, DiNozzo." It was a warning, but a small part of Gibbs wanted him to snap back. It still wasn't Tony, but at least he showed some emotions again.

"Sorry, boss." Tony dropped his eyes down to the work on his desk again.

Gibbs didn't know if he should be satisfied that he had backed down or disappointed. "I need coffee," he muttered under his breath and walked toward the brakeroom. He looked over at Tony one last time before he walked around the courner. Tony worked on like nothing had happend. Gibs had to find out what all this was about or else something drastic would happen to his team.

***

Kate and McGee had just arrived to the bullpen to start the day. When they walked out of the elevator they had expcted to see that Gibbs had already arrived, but they didn't expect to see Tony there. He had really been stepping up on his work lately. Normally he would do something ridiculous like teasing McGee, bothering Kate so she couldn't work or not doing anything at all.

At the moment he was talking to the mailboy as he was passing by delivering the mail. Kate's profiler side went into gear by the look on Tony's face. If he had looked sad and worried lately it was nothing compared to the face he got when he turn his attention to the envelope. He just looked at it for awhile before he got up and walked to the elevator with the envelope in his hand. If she just could get her hands on that envelope, maybe she could find out what was going on. But how?

***

Tony walked into Abby's lab, where the music was playing and the forensic was bouncing along with it. And he couldn't help but smile at the sight.

"Hey Tony, Join me."

"I don't think so, Abby," he said with a small laugh.

"Ah, come on. All work and no play. That's not the way to go." She wished she hadn't said that, because the response was that all the amusment in his eyes disapeared along with the smile.

"I..." Tony cleared his throat before he continued. He didn't like to do this to her, but he couldn't do everything alone and she was the only one that actually could help. "I need a favor."

"Sure. What can I do for you?"

"Just promise me that you won't tell Gibbs. Okay?"

"Sounds hinky, but I'm sure I can work something out."

"The no telling part includes Kate and McGee."

"Ah, fine... Just tell me what you want before I change my mind."

"I have a letter in this envelope that I would like you to check out. Prints, paper, stamp?"

"Yeah, yeah. I know my job, Tony."

"Thank you, Abby." In return she got a peck on the cheek, before he turn to go. He stoped in the door and turned. "I need that letter back as fast as you can, so will you give me a call when you're finished or have found something?"

"Of course."

"Keep it to yourself, will you?"

"I think we've covered that part."

"Thanks again."

"Yeah, yeah," she muttered to herself. She might hold the answer to the reason Tony had been so off lately, but she had made a promise not to tell. And she wouldn't betray his trust by telling. "Lets take a look then."

***

Working hours were almost over and Tony's eyes were stinging from lack of sleep. In fact he was having trouble keeping them open. He woke up a bit when his phone rang.

"DiNozzo."

"I'm sorry. The letter didn't give anything." Abby's voice told him that she really wished that she had given him something.

"That's all right. I didn't expect that it would, but thanks anyway."

"My pleasure. Any time."

"Thanks again." He hung up. All he wanted to do was pound his head in the desk. He was stuck. He could not find out what that number meant. ‘031278.' It made sence that it was a date, because it wasn't a case file. But he couldn't find anything about that date that had meaning. He stroked a hand through his hair in frustration. He looked up to see Kate standing infront of his desk.

"It's time to go home, DiNozzo."

"Right."

"Do you want a lift home?" Tony looked at her with curiosity. "It doesn't look like you will be able to get out of the parking space without falling a sleep."

"I'll be fine, Kate. You go on." Gibbs looked over at her. He wasn't going to leave until he as sure that Tony went home and Kate wasn't either. She walked back to her desk. Tony frowned at both of them. Almost everyone had left for the day, except the team. McGee still sat at his desk working at the computer. ‘Fine they win this one.' He packed up his things ad left the office.

In the elevator he pushed the button to Abby's lab. He wasn't leaving without that letter. The lab was empty, so Abby had gone home for the day. He found the letter in one of the drawers of her desk. He turned to walk out when his phone rang.

"DiNozzo."

"Hello, Anthony." The sound of his grandfather's voice made him instantly calm down.

"Hey, grandpa."

"How are you?"

"I got the new letter you sent. I still haven't found anything I'm afraid, but I'll keep going." He knew that that wasn't what his grandfather was refering too.

"I'm so sorry, Anthony. I never meant to put so much tension on you. You don't have to carry the weight of the world on your shoulders."

"It's nothing, grandpa. You're worried and I can help you."

"I know you can." It was pride in that sentence. "But I don't want you to drive yourself to the ground, because of me."

"I'm fine." He wasn't so sure that the old man believed him. He was good at reading people, even if it was over the phone.

"Do take care, Anthony."

"I will, grandpa. I'll call you later."

"Bye."

"Bye." Tony hung up. He had to find out of this soon. He sat down at Abby's desk to open the letter and read it. The threats were still there. Nothing different. Who ever sent these letters didn't give any clues except for that number. He read it over and over again to try and find a new clue. Slowly his eyelids dropped down. ‘Okay, I'm just gonna relax a couple of minuttes.' He barely had time to think it before he drifted off to sleep.

***

When Tony didn't return after half an hour, the others dared to finally go home. The three of them said their goodbyes before they walked to their cars.

Kate was just about to get in her car when she noticed that Tony's car was still in the parking lot.

"That son of a..." She turned on her heel and went back. She went back to the bullpen first, but it was still empty. She took a small round in the building, before she found him a sleep in Abby's lab. She was just about to talk to him when she noticed the letter.

Kate walked silently into the lab. She knew that the letter must have been in the envelope she saw before. One side wanted to find out what that letter said and the other didn't want to brake Tony's trust. She might find out what was wrong and what it was that had upset her team mate. If she read the letter. But on the other hand, if he wanted her to know he would tell her. Or would he? She stood like this by Tony's side for several minutes debating with herself is she should read the letter. In the end the nosy side won, so she carefuly took the letter up without desturbing the sleeping man. She took a deep breath before she started to read it.

Hi again.

The years are slowly going. I really wish that it would speed up, but only to slow down again when I finally get to start my sweet revenge. I'm not getting any younger and how long it will take to torture you... Who knows? But I will make it last and not to mention painfull. I just have to find out the best way to end your life. I've had so many dreams and fantasies about this. But I think it is about time that I finally start with the next part.

I doubt that the first part of my plan has done much to you. I mean a couple of letters won't scare a son of bitch like you. You're too arrogant and stuck up for that. There is no need for you to stick around anymore.

I'll give you one chance before I'll end your life. Although, it's more than you gave me. I'll think about it, but I'm not making any promises. The only promise I'll give you is that you will suffer for what you did to me.

One way or the other.

From 031278

Kate froze in place. The only thing that seemed to be working was her profiling skill. There was so much hate in the letter. It started easily enough. Quite calm and together, but after the letter went on that disapeared and by the end the writer was probably ready to punch a hole through a wall at the very least.

When the shock started to go down her other abilities started to return. She suddenlygot very angry and before her reasonable side could take control, she had hit Tony hard in the arm. With the combination of the blow and the surprise of getting hit, Tony fell out of the chair and fell down on the floor. He got himself quickly up again hand on his gun ready for whatever had jumped him.

"Kate?" His head wasn't quite with him from the quick wake up call. At first he didn't know where he was and why on earth Kate would be there.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" She was so angry with him that she just wanted to throw another punch.

"Why are you yelling at me?" He had never seen her this angry before. He didn't want to do anything to upset her even more, so he kept himself calm.

"This is why." She held the letter up. The colour drained from Tony's face.

He snatched the letter out of her hand and started to walk away.

"Where do you think you're going?" She steped infront of him and blocked the exit. Kate had stoped yelling, but she was still angry.

"I'm going home." Tony on the other hand was starting to get anoyed.

"The hell you are. Not before you explain that."

"Language, Katie. A good little catholic girl shouldn't talk like that." The sarcasm and the anger in Tony's voice made Kate so mad, he was walking a fine line before she would knock him to the ground again.

"Explain." There was a warning in that one word. Tony dropped his glance and just looked at the floor, refusing to look at her. She took a deep breath and for the first time spoke with a calm, but concerned voice. "Tony, you should have told us about this."

The concern in her voice made Tony look up. He searched her eyes for an explanation. "Why?"

"This is serious, Tony. With threats like that..." She looked for a word that could help her out.

Tony just looked confused, until the truth hit him. "You think they are for me."

"They're not?"

"No, they're not." They had both calmed down and Tony even managed to give her a reasuring smile. "I'm just looking into it for someone else."

Kate didn't know what to say. She knew that he was telling her the truth. The smile and eyes told her that. She thought that she finally had found out what was causing this, but she understood that the letter was just a small part of it.

"He has gotten these letters for awhile and just wanted to see if I could find anything."

"What's going on with you?"

"What do you mean?"

"Don't play with me, DiNozzo. You look terrible."

"Why, thank you. I usally look peachy at this time."

"Tony." The tone in her voice showed that she was just concerned and that she was not going to take the bait.

"I know, Kate." Tony pulled a hand through his hair. "I'm tired and I just want to go home." It was a plea for her to drop it.

"For now. We are gonna talk about this."

Tony rolled his eyes. "Yes, ma'am."

"Do not take that tone with me." That earned her another smile. "And I'm driving."

Tony straightened up. "What?"

"I'm not letting you drive anywhere. You'll fall a sleep before you'll be able to close the door." She pushed him toward the elevator. And before he could protest. "This is not up for discution."

"Fine, you win."

***

Tony had slept in the car all the way over to his apartment. "Come on, Tony. You're home." Kate pushed him lightly on the arm. He opened his eyes and looked at her. He did not look good.

"Thanks for the ride." He opened the door and steped out of the car.

"You're welcome. I'll pick you up tomorrow."

Tony froze in place. He slowly turned and locked his eyes on Kate's. "You're being way to nice to me."

Kate had to laugh of the suspicious sound in his voice, which only confused Tony more. "Well, you don't have your car. So why not."

"Okay." He still tried to understand what was going on, but he was just to tired. "If you're sure."

"Then that's settled. Good night."

"You too." Tony closed the car door and Kate drove away. He watched the car go around the corner before he went up to his apartment. He went straight to the bedroom, took his clothes off and got under the covers. He was a sleep before his head hit the pillow.

***

Kate walked up the stairs to Tony's apartment. She knocked on the door, but nothing happened. She knocked again and still no answer. She tried the door knob and the door swung open. She started to worry and walked inside with her gun in her hands.

"Tony." She still didn't get an answer. She looked around the apartment. She couldn't see anything out of the ordinary. Just when she was about to call for him again, she heared Tony yell. She ran over to his bedroom and knocked the door open. The noice woke Tony up and he snapped up.

"Tony, are you all right?" She walked over to him. He sat upright in bed with his hands over his face. He was covered in sweat and was shaking. His breathing was shallow and irratic. "I'm gonna go call..."

"I'm fine." The interuption didn't stop her from taking the phone up from her pocket. "You are not fine."

"It was just a nightmare."

"Just a nightmare?"

"Yeah."

"Tony, please talk to me. This isn't the first one, is it?" By the way that he dropped his eyes, she knew she was right and that gave her curage to go forward. "This is breaking you apart. You can't bottle it up like this." When Tony still didn't respond she walked over to the bed and sat down on the edge. She put a hand on his shoulder. He was hot to the touch and sweaty. He tensed up, but didn't pull away.

They sat like that for awhile, when nothing happened she told him to go take a shower while she called Gibbs and tell him that they would be late. He started to get out of bed, but stopped and turned to look at her.

"What?"

"Could you please make the call outside of my bedroom?"

"Suddenly become shy have we?" She stood up and walked out before he could say anything in return. When she closed the door after herself and pulled out the phone. She dialed Gibbs' number.

"Gibbs."

"Gibbs. It's Kate." She looked around and listened to see if Tony was near by.

"Where are you?"

"I'm at Tony's."

"Why?"

"He didn't go home last night. He fell a sleep in Abby's lab. I saw his car and went looking for him."

"What?"

"I drove him home and was picking him up this morning. He must have been exhausted, cause he didn't wake up before I knocked down the door."

"That must have been popular."

"He looked terrible. He was shaking, Gibbs. It looked like he couldn't get out of bed without colapsing. We have to find out what is going on before he drives himself to the ground."

"And how do you plan to do that?"

"I'll see what I can do on th..." She stoped talking when she heard the bedrom door open. "Emm... We'll be in soon."
"Fine, we'lltalk later."

"Yes, Gi..." She looked at the phone with a frown.

"Hung up on you, did he?" She got a smug smile from him. Better then nothing.

"Like that is anything new." She took in the sight of him with a dark blue suit with a light blue shirt and matching tie. He looked more refreshed than he had done for days. "You're looking a lot better."

"Thanks, I think. Should we get going? Your carriage awaits us." He held out his hand to her. He got an elbow in his ribs instead.

"In your dreams, DiNozzo." She winced at the bad choise of words.

"Are you going to tell me?" Kate and Tony were in the car on their way to the office. Kate knew that the 20 minutes that were left of the ride, she would have to use well. And she had no intention of wasting it.

"Tell you what?"

"About your nightmare." She dared to glance over at Tony. She met his frown for a moment before her eyes turned back to the road.

"Now, why would I do that?"

"Tony, you were terrified." The lack of response made her even more determined to find out what bothered her team mate and friend. "As I told you before, you shouldn't bottle things up like this. Tell me."

"Why? Because you care so much about me?" This was more proof that something was off. That comment should have been teasing and sexiest, not dripping with sarcasm and anger.

"Tony?" She was surprised with the comment. He actually didn't think she cared? She looked at him and what she saw in his eyes broke her heart. "How can you ask me that? Of course I care."

The hurt look in Kate's eyes made Tony drop his eyes to the floor. She didn't deserve him snapping at her like this. He couldn't look at her. It crushed him to know what he did to her. What he did to the people that were important in his life.

It took several minutes before Kate tried again. After the lack of belief in Tony's voice, she had to calm herself down. That had hurt more than she had thought it could. "Tony." She talked with a very calm voice and it was full of concern for her partner. "I have never seen you this way. I've never seen you scared before." She could hardly believe the emotions that were running around in the car. She was tearing up. She refused to start crying, but this was ripping her apart. She dared another look at him. He was sitting with his hands over his eyes. They were just driving into the parking lot at the office. When she stopped the car at her usual spot. When he still didn't speak or move, she broke the silence. "Tony?"

He took a deep breath and looked over at her. The anger was gone and the sadness was back. "I can't, Kate. I just can't. At least not yet."
Their eyes locked together and the pain in those eyes was almost to much, but at least she was getting a response.
She gave him a small smile. "Okay, just know that I'm here for you." She got a small nod and a little, but genuine, smile in return. When he got out of the car she couldn't manage to follow him right away.

"Kate? Are you coming?"

Kate quickly dried away the tear that had managed to escape, before she got out and followed her partner for another day at work.

***

One night with some sleep had helped Tony's mood a lot. If he was completely true to himself he also felt better because he knew that Kate was there for him if he needed her. He had his doubts, but after the emotions that had run a little wild he understood that she was sincere. But he still had that nagging feeling in the back of his mind that said if she knew what the nightmare was about, she might not be so eager to help. It was still a comfort though. Which helped him to actually smile a little now and then, which lifted the heart on the others on the team.

Kate knew that even if she hadn't solved anything, she had at least helped him a little and that was a good start. Now if she just didn't push him, maybe he would trust her enough to tell her. That was just it. Would she be able to not do that?

Just then Abby came out of the elevator. "Hey Boss-man. Can I take your team out for lunch now?"

Gibbs frowned and looked down at the watch. "Go, eat. Be back in one hour."

While Kate and McGee started pulling on their jackets, Abby walked over to Gibbs' desk. "Come on, Gibbs. Even Ducky and Jimmy are joining us."

"No, just bring me back a cup of coffee and I'll be fine."

"You can't live on just coffee," Kate said.

"Watch me."

"For once, take a brake. Come eat." Abby actually grabbed him by the arm and tugged. She knew that she wouldn't win a fight against him, but she could maybe get away with being a tad annoying.

"Fine. For once, but you're buying."

"You got it."

Everyone started to move, except Tony. He still sat at his computer working. He was lost in his own thoughts, because he would have the bullpen to himself to work on the letters while the others were out eating.

"Tony?" McGee's voice got his attention. "Are you coming?"

"Nah, I'm not that hungry and I need to get this report finished anyway."

"Ah! Come on, Tony. Everyone else is going." Kate walked over to his desk and gave him a smirk. "My treat?"

"That's ok. Just go on." He gave her a smile in return. He was hungry, but this was more important.

"He's saying no to food. That can't be good," McGee mumbled.

"DiNozzo. If I can take lunch off, so can you. Now come on. We don't have all day."

"But..."

"Now, DiNozzo."

"Fine." Tony gave in. He still couldn't get himself to say no to his boss. Damn it! He pointed a finger at Kate. "You're still buying."

"Sure." Kate was silently cheering inside for one more victory to get Tony out of his shell. ‘Baby steps,' she reminded herself. ‘Take it slow.' They were finally going somewhere.

***
The lunch was coming to an end. Tony had mostly been quiet, but he had been smiling more in the last 45 minutes, than he had for the last few weeks. And that lightened the mood even further.

The cheerful conversation was broken by Gibbs' phone ringing.
"Gibbs." The others watched while he was on the phone. No one dared to speak. "We'll be right there." He hung up and started getting up. "We got a body, lets move it."

Tony and Gibbs left first since Kate and Abby were buying for them anyway and didn't have to pay.

"You go. I'll take care of the bill."

"Thank you, Abby my dear." The other left in a hurry to catch up to Tony and Gibbs.

***

They didn't have to go far to get to the body. Lieutenant Karen Wilson sat up against a tree in a park 20 minutes away from headquarters.

McGee was taking pictures, Kate was talking to local police officers and the one that found her and Tony was sketching the scene. Jimmy and Ducky were getting ready to transport her back to HQ.
"How long has she been dead, Duck." Gibbs came over and crouched down beside Ducky.

"Hmmm, by the liver temp I would say that she has been here for approximately 5-6 hours."

"And nobody noticed her? We're in the middle of a park for christ sake."
"I know, Jethro," Ducky said calmly. "But it looks like she was positioned to look like she was just enjoying the sun." He turned his gaze from Gibbs over to the body. "Cause you look very peaceful. I just hope your death was that too."

"Do you know what killed her?"

"No, I can't see anything that gives it away. But I'll know more when we get her home."

Gibbs left Ducky and Jimmy to do their work and walked over to Tony and McGee. "Have you found anything?"

"This is a park, Boss. We have found plenty. The question is if it has any relevance to the case. And we haven't found anything that sticks out."
Kate came over and joined them. "No witnesses as far as we know. It was a jogger that got a bit suspicious and went to check it out. I called Lieutenant Wilson's CO at JAG. Apparently she just started her vacation yesterday and she lives on her own, so she hasn't been called in missing."

"She's still in her uniform though. Maybe she didn't even make it home last night." Tony looked over to where Ducky and Jimmy were now putting the Lieutenant into the truck. "But then why doesn't she have any signs of a struggle?"

"We'll know more when we get back to HQ. Kate, McGee. Go to the Lieutenants apartment and see what you can find. Tony and I will keep looking around here for a little while before we return."

"Sure thing, Gibbs."

"Right away, Boss." By Gibbs' words they left to go to the apartment.

"Lets see if we can find anything that can help."

"Sure, Boss." They walked over to the tree where they found the Lieutenant and started there.

***

After half an hour they still hadn't come up with anything useful.
"Lets go back and get started with what we actually do have." They walked towards the car side by side. When they were getting close to the car, something caught Tony's eyes in the sun. Before he has time to react, the one in the bush with the gun fired a shot. The problem wasn't that they didn't know who the shooter had picked as his target. It was that Gibbs stepped in front of him and pushed him away.

Tony fell to the ground. He pulled himself up as fast as he could and pulled out his gun. But who ever had fired was gone. He pulled out his phone and called for backup when he finally noticed Gibbs lying face down on the ground. "Gibbs? I need an ambulance out here now!" He yelled into the phone. Tony knew that he shouldn't move Gibbs, but he had to see where he was hit and try to stop the bleeding. Tony carefully turned him over. He had a quick inhale of breath at the sight of blood from the wound on the side of Gibbs' head.

Tony was sitting in a really uncomfortable chair next to Gibbs hospital bed. It was reassuring to watch the rise and fall of his chest.
He kept thinking back to what had happened out in the park. He could still see Gibbs' lifeless body on the ground before him every time he closed his eyes.

When he first saw the head wound he was sure that his heart had stopped for a couple of seconds. He had froze right then, but training had snapped him out of it pretty fast. He was relieved when he felt that Gibbs had a steady pulse. So he was alive, but he was still worried. Was he going to survive at all? Would there be head trauma? In that case, how serious? Tony's head was buzzing with questions and worry.

When the paramedics had finally arrived they quickly stabilized Gibbs and gotten him in an ambulance. Tony had joined them in the ambulance and was watching the play in front of him. There was nothing he could do anymore. Just watch. And with that the guilt and shame attacked him. Why hadn't he reacted? It would be his fault if anything happened to Gibbs. The blood would be on his hands. A part of him tried to reason with that it was the snipers fault, not his. But the guilt was too strong. It was his fault.

When they arrived at the hospital the paramedics got him in quickly with Tony trailing behind. His legs wouldn't act like they should have. Everything seemed to go in slow motion. Tony was left alone in the waiting room pacing and waiting for news.

After what seemed like hours, but it was only 10 min, he wasn't alone anymore. That's when he was joined by Kate, McGee, Abby and Ducky. But he was so lost in his guilt that he didn't even notice them until Kate grabbed him. He tried to focus on her and what she was saying to him, but his ears seemed to have stopped. What was wrong with him? He was so angry with himself.

Ducky lead him over to a chair. "Anthony I need you to calm down." Ducky told him in a gentle voice. "I need you to take a couple of slow deep breaths for me." And after a few deep breaths he finally started to pull himself together.

"What happened out there, Anthony?" The quiet question from Ducky came through that still fog occupied a small part Tony's brain.

"I'm not sure. We were on our way back to the truck when I noticed something in the bushes. Gibbs must have noticed it too, ‘cause he pushed me away and got caught in the crossfire." He took a deep and shaky breath. He put his face in his hands in frustration. "I should have reacted. I saw him and I did nothing."

"I'm sure you did what you could. These things happen very quickly. You can't blame yourself for something you had no control over."

"You weren't there. You don't know what happened." He snapped back. His anger was rising.

"Tony!" The others looked quite shocked over Tony's outburst, except for Ducky. It was only natural that emotion was running a little wild. He just gave Tony a reassuring pat on his back. This small gesture drained Tony of all anger. For the first time in 20 years he just wanted to sit down on the floor and cry.

The silence lasted until a doctor stepped into the waiting room. "Family for Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs?" The group rose quickly from their seats and walked over to him.

"How is he?" They were all very anxious and worried that this could be really serious.

"He is a very lucky man. The bullet hit at an angle and only grazed his head, but as a result got a pretty decent knock to the head. Although the fall to the ground wasn't much, it didn't help either. So he has a concussion and the gash on his head needed a couple of stitches. We're keeping him over night as a precaution, but he should be able to go home tomorrow." Everyone let out a breath they didn't know they had been holding. They were relieved that it wasn't anything serious. But the guilt still weighed Tony down.

"Can we see him?" Abby looked hopefully at the doctor and was answered with a smile.

"Yes, but only for a couple of minutes and you have to be quiet."

"Of course, doc!" Abby was bouncing in excitement. The suspense was killing her.

"Nurse Yerman will take you to his room." Abby ran out of the room, quickly followed by Kate and McGee. Tony was about to follow them when Ducky grabbed his arm and held him back.

"Could someone stay with him to night?" Tony looked at him with confusion and the doctor didn't seem to like the idea, so Ducky quickly continued. "If Jethro wakes up during the night you will need someone to keep him in bed. I'm sure he won't be pleased with the thought of staying the night." Ducky's eyes sparkled with amusement and even Tony had to give a little smile by the thought of his boss scaring the hell out of the nurses on nightshift.

"I guess it could be arranged. Who do you have in mind?"

"Young Anthony here." Tony looked at him with a frown. He had no idea what Ducky was up to. Ducky on the other hand knew that Tony needed to be reassured that nothing was wrong with his boss and that he needed to talk to him. In the depressed state that Tony had been in lately this was just the thing that could ruin him. And the only one that could snap Tony out of this one was Gibbs.

So now Tony was sitting in an uncomfortable chair watching Gibbs breath. It had been several hours since the others left and Tony was starting to get bored. The guilt was still there, but seeing as Gibbs was alright, he was quite calm. His eyes were starting to slip and he soon fell a sleep.

***

Gibbs woke up with a pounding headache. He winced as he tried to open his eyes. He slowly opened his eyes again. This wasn't his room, this was a hospital. He remembered some of what had been going on in the park. He was about to jump out of the bed and get the hell out of this place when he suddenly heard someone mumble. He turned to see Tony asleep in a chair beside his bed. He looked restless and when Gibbs took a closer look he could see that Tony was covered in sweat. Gibbs knew that Tony hadn't gotten much sleep lately and was thinking that he was seeing the reason for the younger agents insomnia right before his eyes. The event earlier in the park was gone from his thoughts.
Suddenly Tony snapped out of sleep. His breathing shallow and he was shaking. He pulled a hand through his hair and frowned when he felt the sweat.

"Care to tell me what that was about?" Tony jumped by the question and he focused on Gibbs.

"Boss, you're awake. I'll go get someone."

"Stop right there, DiNozzo." Tony froze half way up from the chair. "Care to tell me why it looks like you should be the one in this bed instead of me?"

"What?"

"You don't look to good."

"And if you think that I should be in that bed instead of you, you should take a look in the mirror first. Cause you look like hell." The defensive answer made Gibbs smirk. He was sure that Tony wouldn't be able to tell in the dark though.

Tony started to get uncomfortable with the silence. "I'm sorry, boss," he finally said barely audible.

"For what?"

"For what happened out there."

"Unfortunately these things happen in this job. You can't hang up in them or else you can just quit now."
Tony was taken aback. He knew that he had screwed up, but was he losing his job for that mistake?

Gibbs saw the hesitation in Tony and decided to dig a little deeper. "What happened has happened. And if you can't let this go, then I'll have to let you go." Tony seemed to shrink in front of his eyes. "There is more than just what happened out in the park. Something is going on that is affecting you. And that affects the whole team more then I thought possible. And from what I just saw..." He just let the sentence trail off and speak for itself.

Tony looked at his boss. He was weighing in his head if he should tell him. He was sure that either way his job was on the line. As it was only dreams that had him so out of balance, but concluded it with that not telling would be more damaging. "I guess when I went to visit my family a couple of weeks ago I... Ummm..." He sighed. It was going to be tough, but maybe Kate was right. Maybe he would feel better. Of course he didn't take Kate up on her offer, so now it was Gibbs. That may not go in his favour. "Some old memories came back."

"Not good ones I presume."

Tony just gave a sarcastic smile. "No, not good ones. You know that my mother is dead. Right?"

"She died when you were 12 years old, if I'm not mistaken. In a car crash."

Tony nodded. "What you probably don't know is that I was in the car with her."

"That isn't in your file."

"And there for you did not know." There was a pause. That was the easy part. Now to the hard part. The opening up his heart part. "She had picked me up at school and had a talk with my teachers. So she was a bit pissed at me on the way home."

Gibbs interuppeted. "What did you do? Break a window or something?" He could easily see Tony as a little rascal, so when he spoke he had amusement in his voice.

"I got a B+ on a test." The look on Tony's face could almost seem embarrassed. "And that wasn't good enough. My mothers standards were high." There was a moment of silence before Tony continued. "As she had high standards, she also had a bit of a temper. She got a little heavy on the gas and as it was winter." Tony paused and licked his lips before continuing. "I woke up in the hospital eight days later. I was told she lost control on one of the curves. The car went right into a tree. I had gotten a nasty blow to the head in the crash, along with a broken leg, a dislocated shoulder and a couple of scrapes and bruises. Nothing that didn't healed with time, but my mother died in the ambulance. She never made it to the hospital." His voice trailed off.

Gibbs could see the sadness all too well. "Another thing you blame yourself for?" When Tony didn't meet his eyes, he knew that he was right. "That was not your fault. Your mother shouldn't have been driving if she was that angry. You must see that."

"How can I?" There was a tone in Tony's voice that Gibbs couldn't quite place. "My father hasn't looked at me with anything else than anger since. In his eyes I am a killer and nothing but a disappointment. When you get told that enough... You start believing it."

Gibbs was at a loss for words. He had never believed that Ton had a good childhood. But he had assumed it was because he was treated more as a trophy than a child, not as a murderer and who knows what else. If his mother got so angry when he got a B+, then what did she do when he actually did break a window?

Tony broke the silence on his own. "I've been having nightmares about it ever since I got home. Doesn't seem like a big deal, but..."

"It was your mother, you were young and you have been blamed by your father for her death for the last 20 years."

"Yup, that about sums it up."

Gibbs took a deep breath. "As far as I'm concerned neither what happened to your mother or me was your fault. But as you probably won't believe me anyway... Why don't you go home and get some sleep and we'll talk about it later if it's still bothering you."

"I can't."

"You can't what? Talk about it?"

"No, go home."

"Okay. You can take over my bed then, ‘cause I'm going home."

"No, you're not." By the glare that met him he had to smile. "You can glare all you want. Ducky is more scary than you when he gets in his protective mode. And he will kill me. I'm sure he can make it look like an accident too."

"I'm not staying here."

"Do I have to ask the nurse to come in here and give you a sedative?"

"I would like to see you try." Tony just shrugged in response and started reaching for the call button.

"If you touch that button, I will make your life a living hell."

The threat did nothing against the smirk that was now on his face. "But at least I'll still be alive."

"Fine, but just tonight."

"Won't ask for anything more." Gibbs closed his eyes and had soon drifted back to sleep.

Tony got himself as comfortable as possible in the chair and was soon asleep himself.

***

When Gibbs woke up later he winced at the headache and noticed the stiff muscles when he tried to sit up. Just then Tony came through the door holding coffee. He would never say it, but the younger agent was forgiven for keeping him in the hospital as long as he got that coffee cup. So when Tony handed him a cup, he gratefully accepted it. He took a sip and settled back in the bed.

"So... When can I get out of here?"

"As soon as Ducky comes here. They found a body this morning that he had to take care of first. The dead comes before the living." The smile Tony had was reassuring. He had for a moment been afraid that he would have to let him go if he hadn't pulled it together. He still looked tired, but the rings under his eyes wasn't as dark and his eyes had more of their old sparkle.

"A case comes first."
Tony was about to reply when Ducky stepped into the room. He looked sad.

"What's going on, Duck?"

"They found another body in the park."

Tony looked at Ducky "I thought the body was found in a hotel parking lot?"

"It was. This is another one."

"You think we have a possible serial killer out there?"

"Yes, and we have reason to believe that it's a antimilitary thing. All the victims have been members of the Marines, Navy or members of an investigation team associated with the military."

"Why? Was there another shooting?"

"Agent Jamer is in surgery now and agent Coller died instantly at the scene."

After Ducky told Tony and Gibbs about the second shooting, there was a deafening silence that followed. They were all deep in thought about the fellow agent they had just lost and a second one that was in surgery. It was Gibbs who finally broke the silence.

"What happened?"

"They found a female petty officer on the other side of the park from where Lieutenant Wilson's body was found. Agent Jamer's team got the case."

"How bad is he?" Tony cut in.

"I'm not quite sure, Anthony." Ducky met Tony's eyes with a sadness in his own that told Tony more than any words. Ducky was worried that he would get yet another body on his autopsy table. "The bullet caused him to lose a lot of blood and it might have caused some internal damage as well."

With a sigh Tony turned and headed for the door.

"Where are you going?" The sharp edge to Gibbs' voice made Tony stop.

"I'm gonna go in and see what I can do. If we team up and share what we have maybe we can see a connection somewhere."

Gibbs only nodded in response, before he started trying to get out of his bed again. Ducky laid a hand on his sholder and carefully pushed him back down in bed. "I'm afraid, Jethro, that you need to stay a while longer." Gibbs opened his mouth to argue, only to be stoped by Ducky. "No discusion. You will stay here until the doctor sees fit to let you go. Not a moment sooner."

Before Gibbs could protest again, Tony and Ducky had already left.

***

Back at NCIS headquarters Tony found Agents Manning and Stewart sitting at theirs desks attempting to write out their reports on what happened in the park. Tony often felt sorry of Stewart, going through life with the first name Martha.

He stood watching them for a few minutes thinking of some of the Martha Stewart remarks he had heard directed at her. *Martha what's the best way to remove a ketchup stain? Hey Stewart got any good cake recipes? My family love the pie I got from your website.

She's a good agent Tony thought, why can't people, her co-workers in particular ignore her name and let her do her job. I'll have to ask her what her middle name is. Maybe she could go by that instead.

"Manning. Stewart."

Both agents looked up when Tony called their name. "What do you want DiNozzo," asked Stewart.

Tony had decided on the way back to headquarters to be honest with Jamer's team. "Thought maybe we should share what we have and see if our cases are some how connected."

Special agent Fred Manning dropped his pen "Do you think they are?"

"We won't know until we go over everything that our teams have."

"Then lets get to work."

***

Kate and McGee had joined them an hour later and after another 5 hours with endless debate and searching for clues there still was nothing new that came to the agents.

The frustration the agents started to feel was getting to them, so Tony decided to suggest a lunch break. They were all happy to get a little breather and decided to start over again in 40 minutes.

McGee, Kate and Tony were headed for the elevator.

"This is going nowhere. We need to check over the evidence again or something." Kate was at a point were she just wanted to pull her hair in frustration. She was scared that more co-workers would be lost, and even more scared that that could be one of her own teammates or even herself.

"It would't hurt I guess if Abby looked over the evidence again." Tony had every belief in Abby's abilities and that she had done her job well. But even the best could miss something.

"I think Abby is looking over the evidence when ever she can." McGee looked Tony straight in the eye, before shifting quickly over to look in to Kate's. "After all. It was one of her co-workers as well."

The elevator slowed down as it reached gound level.

"Why don't you go get Abby and take her out to get something to eat." Tony steped out of the doors as they opened and turned, he held out one arm to keep the door from closing. "She needs a break just as much as we do."

"You're not joining us?" Kate looked curiously at Tony and McGee looked a little bewildered.

"I think I'm just gonna to get some coffee then get back here." Tony released the door and turned. "Not really hungry anyway." He said over his shoulders.

The last thing Tony heard was McGee stating that it just might be the end of the world when Tony didn't want food. He smirked to himself and walked to the nearest coffee shop.

There were a few people in the coffee shop, which was unusual. He was in and out within 5 minutes.

With his coffee in one hand and a chocolate chip muffin in the other, he started to walk down the street.

He just could't get this case out of his head. The problem being that they all were to close to the case. He hated to admit it, but they might need some outside help for this one.

It's not like the loss of an agent was anything new unfortually, but there wasn't usually a direct attack on a fellow worker or several in this case.

Every law enforcement officer was bound to get enemies, but that didn't make it any easier when the attack came. They were still casualties that were mourned and missed. It never got any easier. And that's the way it should be, how ever sad it might be.

Tony had been so lost in his own thoughts that when he came back to his senses he had ended up not to far away from the first crime site.

Even though he didn't really want to his legs started to walk off the sidewalk and in to the park.

He had liked taking a strole here every once in a while when he needed to get some air through a particular tough case. The park didn't hold the usual appeal that it once had, but he couldn't seem to stop.

He was just about to turn and go back when he noticed an officers hat in a bush. He drew out his gun and walked towards it. He carefully checked out the area. There was nothing out of the ordinary. That was the problem with being in a park. There was usually always someone around. Not so much at this particular time of day in this part of the park, but that was what made this case even harder. The park had to many people and things around, that's what was making it hard to id suspects and evidence.

He took one last look around before pulling out his cellphone. He never noticed the jogger slowly approching him from behind, he barely noticed the prick in his neck before everything turned black.

"You guys? Don't you think that Tony should have returned by now?" Abby was siting on Tony's desk watching the agents work. She had hoped to get to talk a little before she had to return to the lab. But they had returned from lunch 20 minutes ago and they still hadn't seen anything of Tony.

"I'm sure he's fine Abby. He can take can of himself. Maybe he just got hungry after all." Kate looked up from her computer screen and gave Abby what she hoped was a comforting smile.

"Tony not wanting to eat was probably just for show." McGee said. "I mean Tony without food. That's like Gibbs without coffee."

All but Abby laughd a little at that. She didn't like this at all. Gibbs in the hospital and now Tony was late. He wouldn't be late when his co-workers seemd to be in danger.

"Not that Tony is fun to be around without his coffee either." Kate said in return.

"I just got this funny feeling about it all." Kate and McGee stoped laughing at that. Abby seemd to have something similar to Gibbs' gut feeling on stuff like this, maybe there was something to it.

"Tell you what Abby I'll call him and see what's keeping him." Abby gave Kate a small smile in response.

She was starting to get nervous when the phone was answered. She gave a sigh of relief, but drew it fast in again at the unfamiliar voice that said hello.

"Who is this? This is a fede..."

"I'm sorry, miss. But the NCIS agent is currently tied up and can't get to the phone." Kate signaled to McGee to get him to track the phone call. McGee's fingers moved in a blur over the keyboard. Abby had jumped down from the desk and was now siting on Tony's computer doing the same thing. "Can I take a message? Although I can't promise that he will get it."

"If you..." Kate was cut off when the man hung up. She slammed down her phone and got up from her chair. "Please tell me you have a trace."

"It's comming from the crime site we were investigating yesterday." McGee was a bit surprised by this revalation, but quickly pulled himself together.

"Lets go, McGee." Kate and McGee ran towards the elevator with Manning and Stewart on their heals.

Abby could do nothing more than stand by and watch them go. That was killing her. That is the hardest part of this job. She loves her job. She loves it. She loves forensics. She believes in it. In the ability to tell what happend through the clues that are left behind. But she hated this part. To see her coworkers and friends go out to catch who ever might be responsible, to danger. And now Tony was the one in danger. Sometimes she really hates her job.

***

Kate and McGee ran as fast as they could through the park. Manning and Stewart were taking things a bit slower and were checking out the surroundings to make sure everyone was as safe as could be.

When they came closer to the the original crime site, they searched their surroundings looking for the familiar tall, lean built man with the messy light brown hair they knew so well and anything else that would seem out of place.

"Call Abby and see if Tony's phone has moved." At Kate's words McGee pulled out his phone. He didn't have to wait long until he heard the famliar voice.

‘Yes?'

"Abby, we need you to locate Tony's phone."

‘I've been keeping track of it and it hasn't moved, McGee. You can't find him, can you?'

McGee didn't know what to say to Abby to comfort her, but he didn't quite know what to do himself either. Tony might be missing and they had no real leads to go by. At least not so far. Hopefully they would get a break sooner rather than too late. "Abby, I..." That's when something cought his eye. "Gotta go."

‘McGee, don't you da...' He hung up the phone and walked toward what was laying in the grass. When he got closer he was sad to see that it was Tony's cell. "Kate." His eyes never left it until he felt Kate step up next to him. They looked at each other with meaningful glances before Kate pulled up her own cell. McGee looked at Kate as she made the call that they really never wanted to make. "Gibbs?.."

***

Tony couldn't remember the last time he had so much trouble opening his eyes. He really should get up. Gibbs would kill him if he was late for work and Tony hated going to work without his morning shower and not to mention coffee. It wasn't until he rolled over and felt the pain of his hands underneath him that he opend his eyes, but he quickly closed them again. The room had started spinning out of controll.

He kept his eyes closed and then he did an internal checkup. His arms hurt like hell, most likely because they had been tied behind his back and probably for some time as well. He felt a few cramps here and there, which wasn't unusual when you have been tied up on the floor for some time. Other then that he couldn't feel anything wrong. Now he just had to get up and look around.

When he opened his eyes again the room started spining again. He blinked rapidly for sometime and then when the room finally started to settle, he looked at his surroundings. If he didn't know any better he would have thought it might have been Gibbs' basement. "Maybe he got sick of me." Except there was no boat or tools or workbench. It was really just a basement with nothing but Anthony DiNozzo in it.

With a sigh Tony tried to sit up, but lay back down again when his vision became very blury and the room started going around again.

"Come on, Anthony," he whispered to himself. "You don't know how much time you've got, so lets get going."

After a few minutes he finally was able to pull himself up to a siting position without to much spinning and bluring. Which was not good as he got to cocky and stood up on his own two feet to quickly and the spinning returned in full force. By the time he landed on the floor, he was out cold.

Getting signed out from the hospital had taken ages. The goddamn doctor hadn't been happy until he had given Gibbs a through check-up, then given him a lecture on not doing anything tiring. Little to no work, no staring at computer screens for hours (not that that was the biggest loss). Basically he wanted him to stay in bed for a couple of days and just relax. Gibbs had hoped that if he stayed quiet and didn't protest, he would get out sooner and back to work. He barely managed to keep his hands to himself and not strangle that doctor from hell, when he decided to do another checkup before releasing him. So by the time he finally steped out of the hospital with Ducky, he was still without coffee and thouroughly pissed.

Gibbs managed to get three steps away from the frontdoor when his cellphone rang. He pulled it out from his pocket to answer it. "What?"

‘Gibbs?...'

"Were you expecting somebody else?" Gibbs snapped back. Maybe he should consider some anger management classes, he thought to himself. Although that thought was thrown away petty quickly. Why ruin something that worked? Plus the class itself would anger him plenty.

But when there was no answer on the other end, every instinct he had started going off. "Kate?" His voice was sharp and he knew it. Worse so, he knew he was about to get some terrible news.

"Gibbs..." There was an audiable sigh before she continued. "Tony seems to have been kidnapped."

"Seems?" Every fiber of his being wanted to scream. "Tony seems to have been kiddnapped?"

"He never returned from lunch, so we called him. But somebody else answered his phone." He heard her take a long and deep breath before she continued. "We traced it and we ended up close to the crime site where you were hurt. We found his phone and a syringe, but there are no other obvious leads to what happend or where he is."

"I want you to go through every inch of that park. You better have found something by the time I get there." He snapped the phone shut before Kate got say anything else.

"Jethro?" The sound of Ducky's concerned voice snapped him out of the building rage he was feeling. Right then he relised how much the older friend grounded him and he was thankful for it.

"That was Kate," he said with a cold voice. "Tony is missing."

"Oh dear." They hurried over to the car and were quickly on their way to the crime site. "When you say missing..."

Gibbs took a deep breath. "Kidnapped." He looked over at him before he turned back to the road.

"That boy can find more trouble then..." Was all Ducky could say before he took a hold of his seat for dear life as Gibbs drove past one car after the other. "Thank goodness I didn't drive my car to the hospital," he mumbled to himself.

***

When Tony woke up again he had a terrible headache. And that was just the top of the list. He was now siting in a chair with his hands handcuffed behind his back. Not that he could feel them much, since there didn't seem to be much blood left in them. He was tied around his waist and over the elbows to the back of the chair. Even his legs where tied to a leg on the chair. The only thing he could move was his fingers, wrists and head. But it hurt like hell to try and move anything.

He thought about knocking the chair over, but no matter what angle he could try he would land on some sort of bodypart and most likely break something. So he looked around the room to see if there was anything he could see that could help him.

He was still in the basement that he had woken up in the first time. But now there was a chair, obviously as he as siting in it. And of what little he could see behind him, he could see the edge of a table.

"Ok, so no obvious help anywhere." Tipping the chair it is. What might be less painful? No tipping backwards, cause that would most likely crush his wrists. Forward then. The fall wouldn't be that far for the knees. They might be able to take the blow the easiest. But then again, he would probably just continue downwards and land on his face. ‘I like my nose the way it is,' he thought to himself. So that left sideways. A broken arm and/or a dislocated shoulder were the lesser of three evils.

He took a deep breath before he threw himself as much as he could to the side. He closed his eyes as hard as he could, like that would help keep the pain at bay. But when the world didn't seem to tilt over and there was no pain in his arm like he expected, he opened his yes he realised that nothing had happend either.

"Hmmm." He threw himself to the side again. This time with his eyes open.

Nothing.

So he tried again and again. The rope was cutting painfully into his arms now, but this was the only way he could see that might help him get out of that damn chair.

"That's not going to work." Tony froze by the sound of the voice. He turned sideways and looked up to the top of the stairs. There a man stood and looked down on him with a vicious smirk on his face. He was tall and quite muscular looking. Didn't look like he would have much trouble dragging him around and that's not a good thing. He also had greyish hair and looked to be in his late fifties. He was probably very popular with the ladies when he was younger. Maybe still was if not for the frightning cold, dark eyes he had. "It's nailed to the floor."

"Who are you," Tony asked confused. He had never seen this man before in his life. He was pretty sure he would have remembed in that case.

"That's none of your business." He said coldly. He started walked down the stairs and stood in front of him.

"I think it is. As I am locked and tied in your basement." Tony's head snapped to the side by the blow that followed his words. He did everything he could to bite back the groan that wanted to come out. He could feel the coppery taste on his tounge from the split lip that he had gotten from the blow. "Why do I have a feeling that's not gonna be the only blow?" The vicious smirk turned into an evil grin that got the hairs on his neck to stand up.

The first thing Tony noticed when he started to come to was that he was in a lot of pain. And the more he woke up, the more pain he felt. The memories were flooding back as well.

The man had started easy with just a blow now and again, but he soon grew tired of that and walked behind his back. Tony didn't like it at all. He had no way of stopping anything that that man wanted to do to him, but he would at least like to see it coming. What came next was the only comfort he had at the moment. Not much of a comfort though.

He soon came back into view and this time with toys. In one hand he held a steel rod. He gave a sigh of relief when the man continued up the stairs and out of view.

He thought he had gotten off quite easy on this one. A few bruises, but nothing that serious. Painful though. It seemed like every inch was throbbing.

Then he came back. Tony could see that the steel rod had been switched with something else. He couldn't see what it was until he was at the bottom of the stairs tough.

"Didn't your mother ever teach you not to run around with scissors?" He smiled and he was quite suprised when he got one back.

"Oh, she did." The man crouched down in front of him and looked at him with a spark in his eyes that frightened him. "But I‘m sure your mother ran after you with a pair of scissors."

If Tony hadn't been tied to the chair he would probably have fallen off. The sad thing about that statement was that it wasn't to far from the truth. She hadn't run after him, she had just thrown it them at him when he had spilt some soda on his sailor suit. ‘I hated that suit, so it had kinda been worth it.'

"I hit a nerve there I see." He looked at him with glee and then he laughed. "Well, then lets see if we can't find some use for this then." The man held up the scissors in front of his face. "The blades are sharp."

Tony really wished that he could have gotten a hold of the knife he had hidden in his belt. "What's the matter? A knife is too much for you to handle?"

He barely registerd that the man jumped up and took a swing at him with the scissors. He felt a slight pain on his cheek and the feel of his blood runing down the side of his face. Damn, that man was quicker than he looked.

"Oh, don't you worry. We'll get to the knives soon enough." The man was only a few inches away from his face at this point. Tony collected every ounce of will power within him to keep himself still, and to try and not pull away.

"Yay for me then." The sarcasm was dripping from his voice.

"Hmmm..." The man looked at him thoughtfully. "I was planing to wait with this one, but I think you deserve it now."

"What? I get a reward," Tony said as the man went back upstairs.

"If that's what you want to call it." Tony could hear the smirk the man must have.

He knew what ever came next couldn't be good. In desperation he started to pull at his bindings as much as he could, but all it did was slice into his already raw skin.

And then he returned. With the steel rod. Only this time it was glowing bright red at the end with heat and a promise of pain. All Tony could do now was hope that he had enough controll so that he wouldn't scream.

***

"I think we can come to the conclusion that this was what the killer/kidnapper wanted." Kate was was pacing the floor in of the bullpen. "The killing of the officers was to lure NCIS out. He also shot at you or Tony at the first site. He then killed a NCIS agent and hurt another on a second site in the park. The killer then changed his MO." She stoped and locked eyes with Gibbs. "He got what he wanted. He found Tony on his own. He saw an opening to take what he originally wanted to hurt or even kill. A possibility to inflict more pain and he took it. He was after Tony all along. Everything else was just to get to Tony."

Gibbs was resisting the urge to pull his fingers through his hair in frustration. It's been several hours since Tony had disappeared and no clues had been found, only speculations.

"There are no obvious clues that we found," McGee said and paused, but quickly continued when Gibbs sent a glare his way. "But Abby is still going through everything that we did find and we are still checking through Tony's history to find people that might have a grudge. Then we can crosscheck with what Abby might find."

"But that list is long and it's getting longer by the minute," Kate said sadly. "Tony has been involved with a lot of big cases over the years, but we are consentrating on the ones that mostly involved Tony, as there hasn't been any reports about anyone going after anyone Tony has worked with and who would possibly have the same enemies."

"Have you found anything at all?" Gibbs looked from one agent to the other. "How inconclusive it might be. Is there anything that can at least point us in the right direction?"

There was a quiet that followed, that finally Kate broke. "Nothing so far I'm afraid."

"We need to find out what the connection to Tony is and we need to find it NOW."

"Actually it has nothing to do with Anthony at all," a voice said. Gibbs turned around and looked at the other man.

"Then who does it have something to do with?"

***

Tony felt terrible. He wasn't quite sure what had happend with the steel rod. But it hurt like hell now and the pain it had caused was enough to make him pass out. He wasn't quite sure if that was a good or a bad thing. He was just so tired. Both in body and in mind.

When he looked over himself he could see that he had several injuries now and he was slowly losing blood from several wounds. Shallow stabs and cuts as well as the burned flesh he knew was on his shoulder.

He had been trying to get lose from those ropes for what felt like hours now, but that only opened up more wounds and it didn't get him anywhere. He was still stuck to that damn chair that was nailed to the floor.

He cried out in a wail of desperation and aggravation. Everything was aching and his vision was bluring. He closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths to calm himself.

The chair was nailed to the floor. He could barely move a finger, let alone an arm. He was losing blood. Probably not fatal. He would probably get an infection. If he hadn't already gotten several.

He knew he was helpless and that made him angry too. He was starting to lose faith in himself, but the faith in his team mates was still there and still strong. He had every belief that they would get him out. He just hoped he wasn't in much worse condition than he already was.

So then there was just siting there and waiting for someone to come. Either it was the team or the man. He was really hoping that it would be the former. But it appeared that he wasn't that lucky.

He could hear someone stepping closer and then the thud like something heavy had been droped. And then the door opened. The man came into view and leaned over the railing. "I got you a friend." He then steped out again, but Tony could hear that he didn't walk far before he came back.

Tony was starting to breath heavier and it felt like his heart would burst through his chest. ‘Maybe that would be enough to loosen up the ropes,' a little sarcastic voice said. But the fear of what would come through that door was overvelming. And what he saw made him lose the little breath he had.

"Then who does it have something to do with?" Gibbs was staring at an elderly man that was glaring at him with cold eyes. There was something very familiar about him. It took a few seconds before it hit him. "Mr. DiNozzo."

"That obvious, agent Gibbs?" The man looked him straight into his eyes. "or all you know I could have been Tonys grandfather on his mother's side."

Gibbs could here the gasp from his other agents when they too could see the remarkable resemblance. "But you're not."

"No, I'm not." The mans eyes softened a bit from their earlier cold glare. "I am Anthony's grandfather Raul DiNozzo." He put out his hand which Gibbs took and shook.

"You know who took your grandson and why?" Gibbs then said.

"I don't know who it is and I don't know why." He then smiled a humourless smile. "But I do know that it has something to do with me."

"You?" Kate looked confused for a second, then there was a spark in her eyes that told Gobbs that she had figured something out. "Those letters were to you."

"Yes, and apperiantly the first real step after the threats of making me suffer was to attack my grandson. You might have noticed that there is some resemblance between our apperiance."

"We have noticed." Gibbs stated with a small nod. "We need to see those letters, Mr DiNozzo."

"Call me Raul, please." He flashed a smile that was indeed a copy of the one they all knew so well. "And I don't have them. I gave them all to my grandson."

"Kate. McGee." Gibbs barked. "Go to DiNozzo's place and find those letters!"

"On it, Boss." McGee scrambled to get his gear together, while Kate was already on her way to the elevator.

Gibbs turned back to face the only one that could help him get his senior agent back. He gestured him to take a seat. "Tell me everything you know."

***

Tony couldn't get a word out. Not anything at all really. He wasn't sure if he was even breathing by this point. He could only watch as the two men came down the stairs towards him. He couldn't for the life of him understand why he was there. When they reached the floor it was like a lightbulb was turned on in his head. "You're the one that has been sending my grandfather all those letters."

"Indeed. You know," his tormentor said thoughtfully. "You look just like he did when I first met him." He smiled an evil smile. "Kinda feel like I hit the jackpot. I get to torment the man I see everytime I remember that beautiful life I once had and the man that actually caused me to loose that beautiful life. Killing two birds with one stone."

Tony looked at him in horror. The way he had said killing had sent shivers down his spine. "Then why bring him into this?"

The man laughed a bone chilling laugh in response, before turning coldly serious again. "Because I'll take you all out painfully before I take care of him." He practically spit out the word him.

"You stay the hell away from my son." That was the first time the other man had said anything, and Tony felt a familiarity of the force behind those word, as he had had it directed towards him several times.

"Oh, I can't do that. You see..." Tony couldn't help but think about how unpredictable the man's mood was. He went from laughing to cold to thoughtful with in mere seconds. "I want you all dead. No more DiNozzo's to ruin somebodies lives." He paused again and smirked. "Besides... It's fun." Now it was Phil DiNozzo's turn to look horrified. "I must say that I have doubts that you and Bobby will be able to stand up to Tony's standards here, but he is still a live... I can have some more fun with him." He shuckled. Phil DiNozzo finally took a good look at his youngest son and saw the state that he was in.

"You will not get away with this." He said with menace.

"We'll find out soon enough." The man said before grabbing him and then slam his head into the wall. Tony could only watch as his father sank down to the floor in a heap.

***

"Got the letters, Boss," McGee said as he and Kate came storming into the bullpen.

"I looked over the letters on the way over," Kate said as she pulled out the labled evidence bags, each showing a letter. "Who ever the writer is attacking the ones who are the closest to you to hurt you even more. He wants to ruin your life like he accuses you of doing." Kate practically studied the man before him that was her partner's grandfather.

"I kinda already got that from reading the letters," he replied sarcasticly.

Another thing that seemed familiar. "He is angry and very unstable. We are runing out of time. He will make it as painful and long as he can. Who knows what kind of shape Tony is in now."

"Anything that will help us find him, agent Todd." Gibbs resisted the urge to drag his fingers through his hair.

"They are all signed with a number." She picked up one of the letters. "031278. A case file?"

"Or a date." He turned towards Raul DiNozzo. "Had a case then?"

"Yes, but we won that and the counter party was an elderly man that past away a decade later. You didn't think we had thought of that already?"

"Tell me about it anyway. Do you know what happend on that date?"

"My client was being sued by an elderly gentleman that ment that he had nearly run him over when he was out walking his dog and by doing so causing him to break his hip and arm.

"What was his name?"

"Jude Letterman."

"Check him up, McGee." He snapped to the youngest member on the team before returning his attention to older man. "Would he have an reason to be angry with you?"

"In the settlement case I did get him 800 000 dollars for the trouble the case caused."

"That wouldn't be a motive no." Gibbs' mind was in high gear trying to find something to help find his senior agent.

"I think I might have found it, Boss." Everone turned towards the typing McGee.

"What, McGee?"

"Not long after the supposed date in the letter Letterman's wife filed for a divorce. She also got custody of their son, Matthew. She also got 75% of the money in the other lawsuit you won for him,Mr DiNozzo." He looked up from the sceen. "Maybe he blames the case for the loss of his family."

Gibbs nodded and gave the younger agent a pat on the shoulder.

"Well, it wouldn't be the firs..." Raul DiNozzo was interpted by his phone ringing. "Hello?" The others was looking at a man that was steadily becoming paler. "Bobby, stay where you are. Do not go anywhere alone. Do you hear me?! Good. I'll make sure that we find them, don't you worry." He hung up then looked at Gibbs with the most defeated eyes. "My son has gone missing as well. He and my other grandson was in DC on business. Please find them, agent Gibbs."

Gibbs gave a sharp nod. "Find me an adress, McGee."

"On it, Boss."

***

The man steped over to the older DiNozzo and grabed a hold of his colar. His father was limb in the other man's hands. He then droped him back to the ground and yet again could hear a thud as his father head hit the hard surface.

"Well, he is out of it." He turned away from his father and turned back to him. "I guess we'll be having some more fun first then."

Yet again the man disapeard behind his back and returned with a huge hunting knife. Tony was sure the man was ready to end him then and there. But was shocked to find him cutting the ropes. When all of is bonds were off he could only sit there and stare.

"Oh, common. You can't just sit there all day. You got to attack me if you want to save your father."

Tony got to his feet, but he had to bend over and take some slow delibriate breaths when the room started spining. It felt like every inch of him was protesting. His vision was greying at the edge and the pain was almost unbearable, but he still managed to straighten himself up.

"Now, you see. I knew there was some fighting power in you."

Before Tony had much time to react the man jumped forward with the knife. In an attempt to protect himself, he brought his arm up infront of him. When he felt the knife slice into his armed he pulled it protectively into his side.

The other man was lauging and jumped him agan. This time Tony managed to get a hold of his wrist, but as he was so tired the other man had the upper hand and sent them tumbling to the floor. He gasped when he felt the knife slice into his stomach. The pain was excrusiating. He shuddered when he felt the hot breath on his ear.

"I was hoping you would last a bit longer, but you did give one hell of a fight. I'll give you that."

The man was about to get off the ground when they heard some noice on the first floor. Tony felt like laughing when he heard a voice call out 4 wonderful letter, NCIS.

The other man got quickly to his feet with a growl and turned towards his father. He had to help him. He couldn't let him be hurt anymore.

With his last bit of strength and a huge adrenalin rush he kicked out. The other man gave a yell as he fell to the ground.

After that everything seemed to go so fast. He so several figures move around him. They got a hold of the man and cuffed him.

He saw that Kate was beside him, talking to him. Probably telling him to hold on or something. He couldn't really her her. His head was buzzing an his vision was bluring.

Tony looked over to where his father had been before. He saw McGee standing there supporting him.

His dad was alright. His team would make sure he was. He could finally let go, and then the world faded to black.

The end is here...