Chapter 3: Worrisome developments

It was way past Midnight, when Tony dragged himself tiredly into his appartment. Until half an hour ago Gibbs, he and the rest of the team had tried to connect the facts their investigation had provided with the information the FBI had collected so far. But when McGee had fallen asleep during tracking some lead, Gibbs had relented in their search for the night and sent everybody home.

Tony smiled to himself in remembering the way Abby had almost hugged him to the point of suffocation when he got down to the lab before leaving to tell her he would be away for at least two weeks due to the unforseen happenings during the day. He had not told her the real extent of those unexpected events, but she hadn't seemed to mind him being vague about it.

That was how Abby had been from the beginning: a bit strange at the first look with her gothic style, chains and tattoos, but very supportive if you needed somebody to listen. Undemanding, even if overly curious. Tony considered her the little, exuberant sister he never had, but always wanted. She was in many ways like he remembered Phoebe from their childhood days. Always fun to be with, but underneath that cheerful surface an almost empathic individual when it came to relating to his thoughts and emotions.

Sighing to himself when his thoughts drifted back to the days - and the accompanying problems - ahead, Tony couldn't help the mixed feelings of anticipatory dread and joy. He loved his cousins dearly and had expanded these emotions gladly to Leo and his two 'nephews', when Wyatt and then Chris were born. But Tony nonetheless feared, that he wouldn't be able to fulfill his destiny… that he would perhaps let down people he considered very dear to his heart and by doing that would cause not only disappointment but hurt, too.

#You will do great.# The quietly, but emphatically stated words in his mind sent a wave of reassurence through Tony and he felt gratitude for the belief his childhood companion put into him.

But nonetheless a litte nagging doubt remained and Tony questioned silently: #How do you know that, Rethron? Grandpa tried to teach me everything he knew…but that was many years ago! What if I don't remember how to use my powers correctly - and what if I cause hurt with them instead of protection? I'm…#

#You worry too much, young friend. I have faith in you - as have the others. You are beyond tired, so sleep now and stop worrying.#

While the first sentences had been warmly reassuring, the last was issued like an order. That reminded Tony of the way Gibbs would order him to stop doubting himself and he acquiesced to the command. Sending a wave of strong friendship and thankfulness for their calming presence to his invisible friends, the young Italian went to bed.

The next morning dawed bright and early mere hours later, but Tony was already up and about. After his usual morning run and breakfast he started packing for his 'vacation' and soon had everything he believed he would need stuffed into a bag. All this time his thoughts would evolve around anything that could - and perhaps would - happen during the next few days and so Tony finally found himself on his couch holding a framed photograph. It showed his beloved grandfather Lucas, who had been the one to grace him with the gift of his magic and subsequently also with his special companions.

Lucas Anthony DiNozzo had been a mysterious, strong man with a kind heart and a loving soul. Tony could remember many things about his grandfather, but his namesake's love for life in all its different manifestations and pecularities was what impressed the young agent the most as a child and teenager. And even when Lucas died a horrible death when Tony was seventeen, the Italian tried valiantly to hold up everything he knew his beloved grandfather had cherished in rememberance of the older man.

Tony's own optimistic, easy-going behaviour, coupled with an open-mindedness for other styles of life and traits of character stemmed from his interaction with his grandfather and the acceptance of others Lucas had taught him in preparation for his fate.

#He is proud of you, young friend.# The calm words invaded Tony's thoughts and he smiled slightly. Hopeful.

#I wish he could be here to guide me, Istyan#, he answered the wise voice of yet another one of his childhood friends who could finally talk to him again after so many years. #Grandpa never wavered on his way as the guardian…I hope I will master this task ahead of me as well as he would have done.#

#You will succeed in everything you really set your mind on, dear friend - just like your grandfather foresaw. And we will be with you every step of the way#, Istyan promised in a strong, yet gentle voice. And Tony then felt his mind enveloped in a cool, calming blanket which snuffed out his mounting fears and helped him to relax again. Other voices added varying kinds of Istyan's promise and Tony's own optimism emerged again.

#I missed all of you#, he confessed to his friends with longing. #And I missed talking to you.# Gentle affirmations answered his confession.

Longing to see his friends suddenly assailed Tony's senses and he asked: #Do you think you could take physical shape? I'd really like to touch each of you in reality - not only in my mind…# The young Italian trailed off, hopeful and at the same time slightly embarassed for his needs.

#I'll try#, came the female voice of Leyra and Tony sent her a wave of gratitude for her immediate compliance to his request. Seconds later one part of his amulet started to glow golden and sparks scattered over the surface of the silver medallion, gaining more and more power.

Tony realized, that Leyra pushed much of her strength into emerging from the locket and silently urged her on. But then he flinched slightly in sudden dread, when the air around him started to crackle ominously with electricity and little bolts of thunder struck aimlessly at random objects. Ducking his head in a feeble attempt to avoid being hit by the lightning currently causing havoc in his apartment, Tony flinched when he heard some explosions before something shattered loudly.

A second later he felt once more enveloped in a glowing shell of magical power, only this time it didn't consist of blazing fire. Instead it was coloured a turquoise blue, intermingling in equal parts with silvery ice-blue threads. The protective barrier sparkled with combined power and worked like a lightning-conductor, when some smaller bolts of electricity hit its surface and were absorbed without causing harm. Istyan. And Reena.

Tony felt relieved when he noticed that once again his friends jumped to help and protect him. It gave him a sense of safety to know his friends would be there to guard him until he remembered how to use his own magical powers correctly again. And even then they would remain by his side to support him through everything destiny would throw at him.

By now the unwanted thunderstorm which had been caused by Leyra's attempt to take physical shape diminished rapidly, when she realized the havoc she caused with her powers and ceased her efforts to emerge from Tony's silver locket. She managed to control her magical force a short time later and the last bit of lightning disappeared...only to leave Tony's apartment in shambles. And its sole occupant to gaze in wonderment at what his living room had become in the space of five minutes.

The young Italian winced imperceptibly at the magnitude of power expressed in Leyra's short display, glad to be loved and protected by the spirit of thunder instead of being imagined a threat. His female friend was not one to be messed with - like the demon disguised as Petty Officer Laran had painfully experienced yesterday.

Finally Tony commented dryly: "Well, that was fun. Let's do it again."

#Would you like me to try, young one?# Rethrons deep voice sounded distinctly amused in his mind and Tony had to suppress a tiny shudder at the thought what would happen if his friend acted on his humorous remark.

#And burn what's left of my home to ashes? Thanks, dear old friend, but no thanks. I would like my apartment to remain at least partly liveable.#, the young man thought back sarcastically.

While Rethron commented this with a light snort of amusement, Leyra was distressed with the amount of destruction she had inadvertently caused. When she began to offer her apologies, Tony soothed her with a gentle mental smile and reassured her, that he wasn't mad.

#Leyra, there's no need for you to apologize. It was my fault that I pressured you into trying to emerge from the amulet before it's time for that. I merely didn't realize how much I missed all of you until yesterday and in my rush to see you corporal again I forgot to consider the strength of Grandma Penny's seal on my magic.# Tony sighed deeply and clutched the silver locket for a moment.

#Soon, young friend. When your family removes that seal, we'll join you not only in spirit but in our physical forms, too. Be patient#, advised Istyan's calm voice and Tony heard his other friends add similar words of promise for a meeting in reality before long. Tony nodded in confirmation, then loosened his grip on the amulet. "Yes, soon", he whispered to himself.

Shaking off his disappointment and squaring his shoulders determinedly, Tony set the photograph of his grandfather back onto the shelf and went to see the extent of destruction Leyra's power had caused. He straigthened a chair which had toppeled over at being hit by a small thunderbolt, sighed inaudibly at the sight of some book covers blackened when lightning had hit - and than winced when he looked at his crashed tv set. The screen had suffered severe damaging, just like some of his mother's crystal figurines.

Mrs. DiNozzo loved the delicate figurines of phantastic creatures her father-in-law had created just for her - and had bequeathed some them to her son when he moved out some years ago. Now serveral of them were broken into various pieces and others showed deep fractures. Tony felt his heart clench at this inadvertent violation of something his grandfather had put so much time and love into when creating them, because even if he knew that he would be able to put them back together, it nonetheless hurt to see them broken. He needed a minute to ease the ache in his heart and promised himself to repair the lovely figurines when he came back from San Francisco.

Straightening the chaos Leyra had caused in his apartment as well as he was able to, Tony was finally ready to go and went to lock the main door. A small smile lingered on his face at the thought of what Gibbs would say if he would see his second-in-command locking himself in his apartment.

Putting on his shoes and grabbing his jacket on the way back into the living-room, Tony automatically reached for his cell phone in the heavy glass bowl on the shelf near the tv set. Only to curse under his breath when he saw that it also had to have been hit by the electricity his childhood friend had evoked earlier. The cell was blackened and very obviously dead. Shaking his head at this bout of bad luck, Tony dropped the cell back into its usual place, absentmindedly wondering that the glass bowl had remained unscratched.

The young Italian sighed and turned to call for Leo.

Three days later, weekend:

Gibbs was sanding his boat, immersing himself in the manual labor to try and concentrate on something else than missing Tony. The last days had proven what he had feared: without Tony to run interference between himself and the rest of his agents the team dynamics were more than a little bit off. It was easily recognizable now for everyone who cared to look that the young Italian was a major part of NCIS' best team. And without Tony's quick and sometimes unusual way of thinking, his carefree nature and generally warm presence Gibbs felt kind of…well, lost.

His sarcasm had reached new heights during the last three days, causing McGee to flinch everytime Gibbs addressed him and even Kate to regard him warily as if he was a bomb set to explode the next moment. Ducky had looked at him with a faint knowing grin, while Abby told him in no uncertain terms that she found his behaviour kind of funny, but wouldn't put up with it for long.

The silver-haired man knew deep down that he was venting his unbalanced feelings of longing for Tony to be back by his side - where he belonged - and his anger at being so deeply affected after mere days of the younger man's absence on the rest of his teammates, who didn't deserve any of it. But he couldn't help himself.

If he hadn't known before, he was sure now that he was in love with his second-in-command. Not only in lust with the young Italian's gorgeous body, even if he wouldn't deny his yearning for being able to touch every inch of Tony's lithe, muscular frame. No, it was more than that. More than lust. Gibbs felt a deep ache of emptiness and longing not only in his heart but in his very soul after Tony had left - something he hadn't known would be possible to feel after three failed marriages. It wasn't something he had ever experienced before.

A sharp ringing brought the silver-haired man back to reality and his gaze snapped to his cell laying on the table not far away. For a second Gibbs wondered if his thoughts about Tony caused the younger man to call, but then he growled in irritation at his totally uncharacteristic behaviour.

Picking up his cell, he barked sharply: "Gibbs" in his usual 'it-better-be-good-or-you-are-so-suffering-the-consequences' tone of voice.

"Hey, Bossman", Abby's voice greeted him and Gibbs frowned. The goth's tone didn't hold its usual cheer and the silver-haired agent instantly worried that something might be wrong. Abby was one of his favorite people, in a mix of exasperating younger sister and sweet daughter. Both people he had never had - but had gained in equal parts in the young woman.

"What's wrong, Abs? You alright?", he demanded to know.

"Yeah, I am ok. But I'm calling because of Tony", she replied and Gibbs' felt his heart clench at the serious tone Abby's voice still carried. He subconciously tightened his grip on the phone and asked: "What about him?" and was glad that none of his rising worry was reflected in his voice. It sounded calm and sure like usual.

"Well, he asked me to look after his apartment…you know, mostly to water his beloved jungle", Abby answered, referring to the mass of plants Tony's living-room harbored. It had come as a bit of shock the first time Tony had invited the team over into his home that the young man had quite a love for different kinds of plants. And the 'jungle' as Abby called them, thrived under the young man's tender care.

Kate had tried to tease him about it, but Tony had only looked at her with a reminiscent smile on his face and explained to his partner, that having those plants around him let him recall the times his mother had shown him as a little boy how to properly care for them. That had stopped teasing about this particular topic, because Kate had soon realized how precious said memory was for her friend.

Shaking his head slightly to push that memory into the back of his mind again, Gibbs concentrated on what Abby continued to tell him. The young woman sounded slightly disturbed and worried – which in turn did nothing to diminish Gibbs' rising fear for the wellbeing of his secret love.

"Like I said, I promised to make sure his plants are well cared for and that's why McGee and I went over here today before we have our date. But I think we will have to delay our plans because it looks like somebody broke into Tony's apartment – and whoever it was certainly wasn't here to clean it. On the contrary, its trashed totally. Gibbs…", Abby's voice wavered slightly and the silver-haired agent sensed deep worry emanating from her, "…do you…do you think, that Tony…that he was still here when…"

Gibbs' jaw clenched and he felt his own flash of fear at this possibility. But he ruthlessly sqashed every bit of helplessness which tried to arise in him and answered curtly: "I'll be over in twenty minutes. Don't touch anything, but call Kate to come over, too." His orders issued, Gibbs went up from his basement, grabbed his car keys and left.

Quarter an hour later he stopped his car in front of Tony's apartment building. On his way to the elevator, Kate's voice called out to him. Turning around, Gibbs saw his agent hurrying up to him. "What happened, Gibbs? Abby only said to come over to Tony's apartment as soon as possible", she wanted to know and the older agent filled her in on the situation. Brown eyes widened slightly, then she asked: "Do you think it could have something to do with our current case? Perhaps Petty Officer Laran and his friends…", Kate trailed off and bit her lip in worry. Gibbs merely looked at her silently and didn't offer an opinion. He first wanted to see the state of Tony's apartment for himself before he started to think through the possibilities.

Abby waited for them at the door to Tony's home and let them in without any comment. She was visibly shaken and seconds later her friends knew why. Kate's breath hitched in audible distress and even Gibbs couldn't hide a flinch at the chaos they came to see when they stepped into what had formerly been Tony's living-room.

Abby had been right. The room was definitely trashed – books were strewn across the floor, some of them shredded in what had to have been pure fury. Parts of broken crystal figurines Gibbs remembered he had seen on a nearby shelf during his last visit now lay inmidst of what remained from the plants Tony was so proud of. It seemed as if a hurricane had raged inside Tony's apartment, destroying almost everything of the young man's possessions.

Gibbs felt anger rise up inside him at the disrespectful way in which Tony's property had been handled and vowed to himself to find the culprit – and to make him pay for it. Dearly. Nobody would get away with causing his agent distress – and distressed Tony would be when he saw all of this. Not only did he love his plants, but Gibbs knew that the crystal figurines held an equal amount of fond memories for the younger man. For a moment the silver-haired agent pondered the possibility if he would be able to find a way to redo some of the figurines. Then he sighed to himself and concentrated on the task at hand.

He and his team had to find out what exactly had happened here – and most importantly when. Gibbs hoped that Tony hadn't been here when the burglars came to trash his apartment. He couldn't shake the feelings that this wasn't a normal break-in…too much directed him to believe it had been personal. Most of all the fury in which everything possible to break had been destroyed to little pieces.

And not only Tony's living-room had been manhandled the senior agent realized, when he carefully picked his way through the chaos around him. The kitchen and the master bedroom had also been searched for whatever the burglars had hoped to find – and most possibly hadn't gotten. This would explain the amount of destruction they had caused…their rage at having to leave empty-handed.

But did they really leave empty-handed? Or did they take Tony with them to gain whatever they were searching for? An uneasy feeling gnawed at him and Gibbs' eyes hardened in reaction. There would be hell to pay for everybody who dared to cause his agent any pain.

Kate's voice snapped Gibbs out of his silent musings and he turned his head towards her. "Did anybody try to call Tony on his cell to eliminate the possibility that whoever did this kidnapped him?", she wanted to know in a tense voice. McGee who had remained in the background until now, simply shook his head. A reaction, which Abby doubled a moment later.

Instead of answering, Gibbs growled to himself and reached for his cell. Dialing Tony's number he and the rest of the team waited in worried anticipation. They hoped their friend and teammate would answer the call and thereby make sure he was okay. But the deepening frown on their superior's face let the three younger agents realize that it was not to be that easy.

Suddenly Abby cocked her head and listened intently. Waving her hands for the others to be entirely silent, she gestured to Gibbs to hold the connection open. Then the lab tech wandered over in the direction of the shelf where she knew Tony usually placed his cell when he was at home. At the floor under this shelf lay a mess of broken shards of heavy glass. Carefully Abby began to pick up some of the pieces and put them aside. A minute later she sighed and then unearthed what she had been searching for – Tony's cell. The phone was clearly not at its best and only Abby's sharp ears had heard the very faint ringtone Tony had programmed for Gibbs on his cell.

Kate's face grew grim and she saw out of the corner of her eyes how Gibbs stiffened slightly at the sight of Tony's battered cell. The possibility that her partner had been kidnapped seemed to get more and more likely. And Kate certainly didn't like the fact that it could have been over three days ago said kidnapping had happened…nobody knew what could have been done to Tony over those three days, when his teammates thought him to be safely in Italy with his family.