Chapter 1

Tony got tiredly out of his car and started towards his apartment building. It had been three months since Gibbs had quit. He and the Director had decided that Gibbs was on ‘Extended Medical leave' due to the explosion. After that leave ended he would be using 15 years worth of overtime, unused sick days, vacation and medical leave. There was enough there for him to be on leave for the next year or so. It was kind of impressive, how much time Gibbs could take off without being AWOL. Tony figured he himself had at least 6 or 7 months worth, too, so he really couldn't talk. But still…

His musings about his and Gibbs overly obsessive work ethic was ended by a noise behind him. Before he could turn around or draw his gun, he felt something large and heavy connect with the back of his head.

His last thought before darkness engulfed him was that he was in real trouble because Gibbs wasn't around to watch his six. And it was Friday. If they didn't get a case- and this would of course be the one weekend that they didn't- no one would notice that he was missing until Monday morning. This was definitely bad.

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"No answer on his home or cell! Where the HELL is he?!" Ziva cried angrily as she slammed her phone down. She took a few deep breaths to calm herself down. She looked over at the other man sitting in the office "Have you had any luck McGee?"

"Nothing." McGee shook his head. After a moment he spoke again quietly "Do, uh, do you think that maybe we should go over to his apartment? Make sure he's okay. I mean, Tony's never late." Ziva gave him a disbelieving look and McGee amended his statement quickly, "well, he's never more than a couple minutes, 20 at most."

Ziva nodded in agreement. Tony was almost always two or three minutes late, but never more than that. And ever since Gibbs had left, Tony had always been first in and last out every day. Until today. Today he was 4 hours late and counting.

"Let's roll!" She said in true Gibbs style. McGee smiled slightly, then followed her into the elevator. Ever since Gibbs had left, everyone seemed to be taking on some of his traits. But Tony the most. Tony had been pissing off people, particularly the FBI (he and Agent Slacks-sorry, Sacks- got on particularly badly), like it was his life's passion and downing coffee at an alarming rate. It was quite impressive, actually.

McGee climbed into the car and Ziva was off and running before he'd even touched his seatbelt. McGee simultaneously held on for dear life and tried to grab his seat belt while Ziva took sharp turns at no less than 20mph over the speed limit. It was times like this that made him miss the way Gibbs drove.

McGee was unbelievably relieved when Ziva screeched to a stop outside of Tony's apartment complex. He got unsteadily out of the car as Ziva strode past him to the door of the building.

But before Ziva got to the door she stopped, looking at something on the ground several feet to the left. McGee moved over to her and, following her gaze, saw a large dark colored stain on the pavement under a tree. They'd worked enough crime scenes to know instantly that it was blood.

As they walked slowly and carefully towards the stain they saw Tony's car. The stain was about halfway between the car and the door. They began to search the area around the stain, neither of them speaking for several minutes.

"McGee! Come look at this!" Ziva called. McGee turned and looked at the keys that Ziva had found lying in the dirt.

"They're Tony's." McGee confirmed grimly. Ziva took out her camera and photographed the key's location while McGee searched the bushes. "Ziva, we need to get the crime scene tape."

"Shouldn't we check to make sure that Tony isn't in his apartment first? Perhaps he simply dropped his keys. Plus we don't know that this is even human blood. Someone might have hit an animal." Ziva reasoned, unwilling to jump to conclusions.

"If he just dropped his keys, how did he get into his apartment?" McGee asked, still searching the bushes

"That's a good point. Perhaps he has 2 sets of keys, one for his car and work and one for his apartment," Ziva suggested reasonably.

"Ziva. We need to get the crime scene gear out. Now." McGee said, his voice wavering slightly. Ziva moved around the bushes to see what had freaked McGee and saw Tony's badge and gun, still in its holster lying in the dirt near the center of one of the bushes, both covered in blood. A few feet away, they found his backup weapon and his extra clips.

Ziva nodded and called Abby, telling her that they needed the truck ASAP. When Ziva told Abby the address, Abby inhaled sharply.

"But- that's Tony's apartment complex! Why- omygod! Is Tony okay? Did something happen to him? Omygod!" Abby said, all in one breath.

"Abby, calm down! We'll fill you in when we get back. Right now, we just really need you to get that truck out here ASAP." Ziva said trying to calm the goth lab tech down. Abby acquiesced, still sounding upset.

Ziva told McGee to keep searching while she headed to Tony's apartment. She tried the door and when she found it locked, she pulled out her lock picking tools and had the door open within 10 seconds. She then headed to the third floor and, upon finding Tony's apartment, she knocked on the door. When she got no answer, she started to pick the lock when an elderly woman from the apartment next door came out.

‘Young lady, what on earth are you doing to that lock?' She asked, gaping at Ziva picking the lock.

"It's alright ma'am, I work with Tony. He didn't show up to work this morning and we haven't been able to get hold of him." Ziva said, smiling at the woman in an attempt to reassure her. However, she continued to look at Ziva suspiciously and Ziva sighed and decided to try a new tactic. "Look, ma'am, I'm a federal agent and I am trying to find my boss."

Ziva pulled out her badge and showed it to the woman. "You're an NCIS agent? Your badge doesn't look like Anthony's, not exactly. His is all in English" The woman asked, still looking at her badge suspiciously, for it had Hebrew and English writing on it. Ziva smiled slightly.

"Yes ma'am, I'm a Mossad Officer currently assigned to NCIS as a liaison." She explained. She decided to try and get some answers from the woman "Ma'am, have you seen Tony lately?"

"Well, I saw him late Thursday night, coming home from work. He's been working much harder lately and I haven't actually spoken to him in over a week. Wait, did you say he was your boss?" Ziva nodded "Are you Ziva?" Ziva nodded again "Anthony said you two were partners. Isn't Gibbs your boss?" She asked curiously.

Ziva was a little surprised by how much this woman knew about their team, but pushed her surprise aside "Agent Gibbs, uh, retired a few months ago. Gibbs appointed Tony team leader before he left. That's why Tony's been working so hard lately. So you say that the last time you saw Tony was Thursday? You didn't see him all weekend?" Ziva asked

"No, which isn't that unusual, if he's working a case. If he isn't, I usually see quite a lot of him, running in the morning and he's usually in and out quite a bit, but I didn't see him at all this weekend. I don't think he's been home since Friday morning."

"Okay, well, thanks anyway." Ziva sighed and turned back to the door.

"Hang on, I've got a key…" The woman rummaged in her pockets and handed Ziva a key just as McGee showed up.

"Hey Ziva, find anything? Like Tony?" McGee asked hopefully.

"No. Not yet, anyway" Ziva sighed and turned back to the woman "Thanks. Do you mind if I keep this, just until we find out what happened?"

"Of course, dear. Just find Anthony. By the way, I'm Amelia Gotwald." The woman said smiling at Ziva. She looked over at McGee "And you must be Agent McGee, right?"

"Oh, um, yes ma'am, I am." McGee looked surprised that she knew who he was.

"Well, I'll let you two get back to work, just knock if you need anything else." She said, smiling.

Ziva turned back to the door, putting her lock picking tools away and instead used the key. She opened the door and stepped inside. It was a lot cleaner than she had expected. It almost looked like a hotel room, like it wasn't always occupied. Then again, her apartment looked like that from time to time too. Mostly when they were working a hot case and didn't go home for days at a time. Tony had been practically living at his desk since Gibbs left.

They searched the apartment quickly, but the only interesting things they found were 9 guns concealed under the mattress, inside a pillow case, in his sock drawer, under one of the sofa cushions, under the kitchen table, under the desk, behind the TV and in a coat pocket and in a safe masquerading as a VCR, which also contained ammo, two passports (only one had his name on it, but both had his picture), a second NCIS badge and ID and some cash. She was impressed, to say the least. McGee was slightly horrified.

"Wow. Tony has 11 guns. At least. And a second badge and ID. And he calls me a Boy Scout." McGee said, staring at the contents of the safe. He noticed Ziva looking at him strangely and elaborated. "Boy Scouts are always prepared. It's like their motto."

"It is a good motto. We have something like that at Mossad. Tony is smart. If he is ever compromised, causing him to lose his badge and gun, he has another for temporary use. Also, if a situation should arise where his life was in danger, he could get out of the country under an assumed name, using cash, so it will be difficult to track him. I have something similar at my place, and another location. Tony most likely has this because of the amount of under cover work he does and the number of enemies one makes as a homicide detective." Ziva explained.

"Huh. I never actually thought about that, I mean, I'm an investigator, not a spy, so…" McGee felt he should have thought of doing that.

"Tony has been doing this much longer than you have. The people he put in jail at the beginning of his career are starting to get out now. Plus Tony just has a special gift for pissing people off." Ziva smiled. Kind of like Gibbs. She thought to herself.

"Good point. And he has been pissing people off a lot lately. I think he may be channeling Gibbs." McGee said, laughing slightly.

"Probably." Ziva agreed.

"Hey… that's probably what's in that box he asked me put in my safe for him, right after Gibbs, uh, started his extended medical leave," McGee said thoughtfully.

Ziva nodded "It was probably with Gibbs until then…"

"I don't think we're going to find anything here. It looks like no one's been in here for several days. But it's not clean enough to have been wiped down." McGee closed the safe and put it back next to the very real DVD player.

"Let's go. We can interview the neighbors, see if any of them saw anything."

They interviewed all the neighbors, but none of them had seen Tony since Thursday night at around 2330, except for one man who had been out jogging early Friday morning and had seen Tony leave for work at about 0500.

They spent the rest of the day searching for anything that might resemble a lead on where Tony was or who had him. When they hadn't found anything by midnight, Ziva angrily smacked her computer. "Nothing! We have nothing!" She exclaimed.

"Yeah, well, it's usually Tony, or Gibbs that have the brilliant flashes of where to look, who to ask. And neither of us has worked with Tony long enough to know who he's really pissed off." McGee sighed, defeated.

At this Ziva got up and, without saying another word, went up the stairs and disappeared. She reappeared 10 minutes later with a slip of paper in her hand.

She sat back down at her desk, still ignoring McGee's confused expression and picked up her phone and began to dial a number.

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Chapter 2

McGee watched as Ziva returned to her desk and picked up her phone "Ziva, what the h-" But she cut him off with a sharp hand gesture as the line connected.

"I'm collecting. A case. I need you back in DC, ASAP. The director has arranged a priority flight for you…. How fast can you get to the airport?... Yes, very important… highly time sensitive…he's, um, not here right now… yeah, it's case related," Ziva hung up and looked over at McGee "That help'll be here in 2 hours. I'm going to see what Abby got off his stuff, then to the airport to pick up our help. Keep looking for… anything." Ziva turned, leaving McGee standing in the middle of the bullpen, looking very confused.

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Ziva walked into the lab and, yelling over the usual music asked "Abby, waddaya got?" Abby turned down the stereo and turned to Ziva without her usual overactive pep.

"The blood is definitely Tony's," she sighed.

"How about prints?"

"Well, my prints are on his keys-long story, your prints are on his badge and the clip from his SIG, McGee's partial is on his backup- not sure why- and, uh, Gibbs' prints are all over his backup and its holster and his keys. Tony's are everywhere, obviously." Abby rattled off quickly.

"Any others?"

"Nope."

"Oh… okay, so the perp must have worn gloves. This stuff obviously hasn't been wiped down." Abby nodded. "Did you run the serial numbers from the guns?"

"Why? We know they're Tony's." Abby looked confused.

"Just want to make sure we have our plates covered."

"It's bases and I'll check the serial number on the SIG against Tony's service record and I'll run the backup through the DC firearms registry. Should take about a half hour." At Ziva's look she said "There are a lot of people with guns in DC. Lots of feds and cops with lots of back up guns. Tony has, like, eight or something. Again, it's a long story."

She pulled up Tony's service record and his SIG Sauer and compared the serial numbers "Yep, its Tony's." She grabbed the backup and started the search.

"I'll wait. I wanted to ask you, could you drive me to the airport to pick up a, uh, specialist that's flying in to help us out on this case, since its only me and McGee?"

"Sure. Does after the search is done work?" Ziva nodded.

The program ran through every registered firearm in DC and came up empty. "Hunh. I guess he didn't buy it in DC. Maybe one of his old jobs, or he went to Virginia or something. I'll have it run it against the Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania and Illinois."

"Illinois?" Ziva looked confused.

"Peoria, Tony's first job," Abby told her.

"Right. How long?"

"Hour and a half, maybe two." Abby shrugged. "I'll have it run while we go to the airport." She shrugged off her lab coat and grabbed her keys and they headed for the parking garage.

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About halfway to the airport, Abby spoke "So who exactly am I looking for, anyway?"

"You'll know when you see them." Ziva had a mischievous glint in her eye and when Abby tried to glare an answer out of her, she merely raised an eyebrow.

They found a parking spot and then headed into baggage claim. They stood there waiting, Abby looking aimlessly around with no idea who she was looking for, then "Oh my god, Gibbs!" Abby sprinted across the room, oblivious to the looks she was getting and launched herself at Gibbs.

"Hey Abbs." Gibbs laughed as he hugged the goth tightly, smiling at Ziva as she joined them. "Wow, Abbs, DiNozzo not been bringing you Caff-Pows! or something?" He smirked as she let go.

Abby looked down, sobering up immediately "No, he brings me lots of Caff-Pows!" She mumbled.

"Abby? What's wrong?" Gibbs was bewildered.

"Gibbs, Tony is missing," Ziva told him and Abby broke down completely.

Gibbs swallowed hard and took Abby in his arms. "When?" He asked finally, voice laced with concern.

"We think Friday night." Gibbs looked at her sharply and she elaborated quickly "He didn't show up this morning…" She looked down at her watch "actually, yesterday morning and he's never late." Gibbs gave her a strange look "Not anymore. He's always there before me, always leaves last. We have witnesses that say he arrived home at approximately 2330 Thursday night and left at 0500 Friday morning."

"Any idea what happened?"

"Well, we went to his apartment and we found… blood on the pavement and Tony's keys, badge and guns in the bushes… covered in blood. Abby confirmed it was Tony's. It looks like someone got him halfway from his car to the building." Ziva sighed.

"Who are your suspects?"

"We don't have anything. No leads. Nothing. That's why we called you… McGee is currently sitting in the squad room looking highly confused and trying to find… anything."

"Why is he confused?"

"I didn't bother to take the time to explain what I was doing to him."

Gibbs absorbed the information for a fraction of a second and then jumped into action, moving quickly towards the door, bag in hand, with Ziva and Abby following in his wake. "Where's the car?" he threw over his shoulder as he walked out the door. Then he saw the Hearse and had no doubt whose it was "Never mind. Found it." He made a beeline for it.

Abby drove while Ziva filled Gibbs in on everything that they had, which wasn't much, but it took a while to communicate because Abby was driving like Gibbs and Tony combined: fast and on a ‘special' shortcut.

Ziva's phone rang and she fumbled around for it, juggling it when Abby hit a particularly bumpy part of the road. "David… McGee, hang-Ow!- No, Abby is using one of Gibbs' famous shortcuts and also, apparently trying to beat multiple Indiana 500 speed record… Indianapolis, whatever, she is going very fast!... I am not speaking ill of Gibbs... I am speaking ill of Gibbs' shortcuts-Ow!..." she cried as Gibbs smacked her "Nothing… what have you got?... Okay… when?... why are we just hearing about this now? We wasted 3 hours not checking out our only solid lead!... Wait, the guy said Detective? Why?... oh, so… oh thank god! We're here! I'll talk to you in a minute." Ziva hung up.

"What?" Gibbs asked promptly.

"Baltimore PD got a call three hours ago from a guy claiming to have a Detective DiNozzo in his custody." She said quickly.

"DiNozzo used be a Baltimore Homicide detective. That's where I dug him up from."

Abby laughed "That is a reallygood story. I mean really good. Very funny."

They got on the elevator "We'll get the rest from McGee in a minute."

They got out of the elevator, Ziva leading this time, Abby just behind her. "Waddaya got, McGee?"

"Hey, Ziva, the cops say it's some guy, Julian Beck, that Tony and his partner at Baltimore PD put away. Actually, Beck shot Tony and his partner, Josh Ford, shot and arrested him. Beck is really pissed at Ford and not very up to date. He thinks Tony and Ford are still partners. Wants to ‘trade Detective DiNozzo for Detective Ford.'" McGee didn't even look up, as he was totally focused on his computer and didn't notice Abby or Gibbs standing there.

"What does Ford have to say about this?"

"Nothing. He left Baltimore PD same time Tony did." McGee answered "I've been trying to track him down. No luck so far. It's like he completely disappeared." McGee continued to stare at the computer intently.

Abby and Gibbs smirked at each other. She guessed Gibbs had something to do with that. She made a mental note to ask about it later.

"What did Abby have?" McGee asked distractedly.

"Abby confirmed that the blood was Tony's and the only fingerprints that Abby found were from us. The SIG is Tony's service weapon, I ran the serial from his backup- nothing in DC, but I'm running it in Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania and Illinois. Results should be back soon."

"McGee, keep looking for Ford. Abby, Ziva with me. I want to see everything you've got." Gibbs said briskly and turned on his heel.

"On it Boss!" McGee said automatically, then stopped typing and looked up in shock "Boss?!" He said to the closing elevator doors.

Abby, Ziva and Gibbs walked into the lab and Abby went over to her computer. "It's still running," she informed them as Ziva and Gibbs went over to the table with the evidence on it.

Gibbs picked up the backup and looked at it "I can save you some time. Its mine. Registered in Virginia. I gave it to Tony when I left." Gibbs informed them. He picked up the blood covered badge, turning it over in his hands and sighed. "Where are the crime scene photos?"

"Upstairs. McGee's sketches are there too, but you might want to stick to the photos and measurements." Ziva advised, reflecting on the fact that there was a very good reason that Tony always did the sketches.

"Did you check his apartment?"

"Yeah. Nothing. It's much neater than I expected." Ziva said.

"Gun's still in the holster and the safety's still on, clip full. He didn't see it coming." Gibbs surmised, looking up from Tony's SIG.

"That's what we figured. He was tired, it was late, dark and the guy snuck up on him. Probably didn't know he wasn't alone until it was too late." Ziva agreed.

"Did you check security footage from the squad room and parking lot here and at his apartment to get an idea of the time frame? Maybe get a picture of the perp?" Gibbs asked.

"Oh. We didn't, uh, didn't … we should have thought of that. But we didn't. Sorry… I guess we just…" Ziva looked down, embarrassed. She should have thought of that.

"You and McGee haven't ever actually been in charge of an investigation. You're used to being told what to do. I know. I'll go over to Tony's place, get the tapes and look over the apartment myself." Gibbs ordered. "Abbs, pull the security-"

"Already did. Squad room and Parking lot. Tony left the squad room around 0130, pulled out of the parking lot a few minutes later, so he probably got home around 0145 or so. No traffic, the way Tony drives." Abby smirked.

"Thanks Abbs. Ziva, with me." Gibbs turned and walked out of the lab.

Ziva followed him quickly to the car pool and they signed out a sedan. Gibbs got in the car and tore out of the parking lot before Ziva had closed her door.

Ziva's cell phone rang and she fished for it. "Officer David. What are you talking about McGee. I saw no such thing. Of course that's what Abby said, too. Because it was a finger of your imagination. Yes, figment, whatever… McGee, just keep trying to find the guy." She snapped the phone shut and grinned evilly. "It is fun to torment him."

Gibbs smirked slightly as he pulled into the parking lot in front of Tony's apartment. They got out and walked over to Tony's car. "Why hasn't this been taken back to headquarters for Abby to look at?" He sounded slightly exasperated.

"I'll… do that now," Ziva said quickly, handing Gibbs the key to Tony's apartment.

Gibbs shook his head slightly as he opened the door and stepped into the building. He took the elevator up to Tony's floor and checked the door for signs of forced entry before opening it.

Tony's apartment did appear as though it hadn't been touched for several days. He did, however, find 13 guns stashed around the apartment. The ones taped to the inside of the oven, behind the plumbing under the sink and in a false bottom in his nightstand were particularly ingenious. The false bottom also housed Gibbs' ID that he had given to Tony along with several passports. He grabbed his ID, figuring it would come in handy. He also found a VCR/safe with Tony's backup documents, cash and ammo. If the apartment had been searched, which he doubted it was either a very good or a very bad job.

When he got back to the parking lot he found Ziva overseeing the towing of Tony's car to NCIS. "Go in the truck with it. I'll meet you back there." Gibbs called as he swept past her.

He was in the car before she had a chance to respond. He drove back to the Navy yard at speeds that would impress Dale Ernhart Jr.


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He entered the bullpen to see McGee typing away at his computer, still looking confused, talking to Abby, who was smirking slightly.
"I don't know what you're talking about, Timmy. Lack of sleep must be getting to you." He heard Abby say as the elevator doors closed. Gibbs figured McGee must have been talking about his sudden appearance. He walked into the office and sat down at his computer matter-of-factly. McGee gaped, open mouthed at him.

"McGee, what have we got?" Gibbs asked, not looking up. When McGee didn't answer after a minute, he looked over at Abby in exasperation. Abby smirked and reached over closing McGee's mouth and then smacking him upside the head.

"Right, um, just that after he left Baltimore Ford never applied for another law enforcement position. He stayed in Baltimore for another year, then all I've got is that his Passport shows he came in and out of the country 4 times in the following 2 years. He went to at least 12 countries. Other then that I can't find any trace of him." McGee summarized.

"Okay. Keep looking. Ziva, see if your contacts know anything, Abby I want you to try to trace that call Baltimore PD got." Gibbs shot off. Ziva nodded and went over to her desk.

"Gibbs, I can't track a call that came into Baltimore from here. I'd have to go to Baltimore. I'd have to do it through the phone." Abby explained apologetically.

"Okay. I have to go to Baltimore anyway. Let's go." Gibbs headed for the elevator and Abby ran to catch up.

"Gibbs…"

‘We'll find him.' Gibbs said firmly.

"Actually, I was just going to ask if I could put a tracker on Tony when we get him back. It would make our lives so much easier." Abby told him firmly.

"Sure. Go ahead. He might not like it, though." Gibbs replied succinctly.

"Yeah, well, that's just too damn bad. He's the one that keeps getting lost." Abby huffed.

"It's not his fault." Gibbs said, with quiet steel in his voice.

"I know, but these things just keep happening to him. I mean, why Tony?" Abby looked at Gibbs pleadingly.

"I don't know, Abs. He's just doing his job too well." Gibbs sighed.

"Yeah, but he doesn't go around pissing people off like you do, well, he didn't used to." Abby amended.

"What do you mean; he didn't used to piss people off?"

She actually laughed at this "You'd be proud. Ever since you left he's been pissing people off like it's an Olympic sport."

"How bad?"

‘Uh, well, we've gotten multiple complaints from the FBI, CIA and basically every local PD we've come into contact with. It's oddly impressive. I hear Fornell actually used a picture of Tony for target practice." Abby smirked.

"I knew I taught him well." Gibbs voice was full of pride.

They got off the elevator and into one of the agency sedans. Gibbs pulled out of the parking lot as only Gibbs could.

"Hey! Could you try not to kill us please!" Abby shrieked as he passed a tractor trailer at 85 mph with about 6 inches between the two.

Gibbs ignored her.

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They arrived in Baltimore 20 minutes later later, which Abby was sure was some sort of international record.

"Maybe you could have driven a little faster. You only cut the drive in half." Abby said dryly.

"I know. I'm rusty." Gibbs deadpanned.

She gave him an incredulous look as Gibbs killed the engine and they got out of the car.

They walked into the Station to find it in an extreme state of chaos; no one was sitting still and everyone was talking. There were numerous whiteboards set up around the squad room and there didn't appear to be a free phone line in the place. A large man who looked like a typical rent-a-cop walked up to them.

"What are you doing here? This area is restricted to…civilians…" He trailed off as Gibbs flipped his badge an inch from his nose. Abby wondered vaguely when and how he had gotten it back. But then she realized that this was Gibbs they were talking about.

"I want to know everything about this guy," Gibbs gestured at a picture of Ford and I want my Forensic Specialist to have full access to your phone records and a computer." He told the man in his don't-mess-with-me voice.

"What the hell is NCIS?" The man asked confused.

"Naval Criminal Investigative Service." Gibbs and Abby snapped at the same time with such force and annoyance that the man actually took a step back.

"You're Navy cops? What does this have to do with the Navy?" He asked when he had recovered.

"DiNozzo is my boss," Gibbs said, causing Abby's jaw to drop, making her look surprisingly like McGee.

"Your Boss? DiNozzo's a fed? That explains why we've been having trouble tracking him down. Never thought DiNozzo'd get another job. We all thought he was burned out. How long he been at NCSI?" He was surprised. Gibbs wasn't. He thought back to the first time he met Tony as Abby snapped at the man that it was NCIS, not NCSI. DiNozzo had been heading for a burnout when the murder of a young Petty Officer had led Gibbs to Baltimore where he and DiNozzo had fought for control of the investigation from the moment Gibbs arrived. Gibbs had been impressed by how long DiNozzo held out and how far he went to get evidence before Gibbs.

Near the end of the investigation, Gibbs finally gave in, agreeing to share the investigation, but only with DiNozzo, not his partner. Ford had sat back and let DiNozzo deal with Gibbs. Ford was the Senior Partner and treated DiNozzo like he was lower than a Probie. And DiNozzo just kept doing his job, didn't let it stop him. That impressed Gibbs.

Then the PD CSI found a partial on one of the bullets from the gun that killed the Petty Officer. It matched one of the most seasoned cops in Baltimore PD. The PD tried to cover it up, but DiNozzo wasn't one to take that kind of crap. He lifted the bullet from the Forensics' lab and took it straight to Gibbs. DiNozzo knew that it was going to end his career in Baltimore, but he wasn't going to let a murderer walk free. When DiNozzo handed Gibbs the bullet and explained what it was and how he got it was the first time Gibbs had smacked his head.

Abby matched the print, they arrested the Officer and DiNozzo and his partner were fired from the force. Gibbs was waiting by his car when he walked out with his cardboard box. He told him to be at NCIS headquarters at 0800 the next morning and no matter what he said it was definitely

his best choice to date.

"5 years. So how about you stop acting like you have half DiNozzo's skills and intelligence and give me those records." Gibbs tone made it clear that it wasn't a suggestion.

"Of course, sir." The Officer said in an attempt to placate Gibbs. It didn't work and the man scuttled away as Gibbs continued to glare at his retreating form.
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Chapter 3

The first thing that he was aware of was the fact that he was wet, cold and had a killer hangover. It felt like that one night during Spring Break, only without the fun part. He tried to move and found that he was tried to a chair. Damn. This was not good. He tried to figure out how the hell he had managed to get into this one. Slowly he began to remember leaving work, then driving home and then…. Damn… that was where it went fuzzy. After he pulled into the parking lot of his apartment complex. He went back to trying to get his hands free only to discover that his hands were cuffed. And not just his hands. His captor had cuffed his ankles to the chair as well.

Then it occurred to him that his only chance of rescue was McGee and Ziva. Great. Now I just know I'm screwed. They didn't have 4 years of experience to rub together. If Gibbs wasn't in Mexico throwing back Coronas with Mike Franks, he wouldn't be worrying. If Gibbs' were still around, he'd probably be out of here by now. He tugged on the cuffs several times in sheer frustration. Crap, Crap, Crap! This was really bad.

He looked around the room. It was small with no windows and only one, very solid looking, steel door. The chair was facing the door and appeared to be bolted to the ground. Damn, these guys are getting smart. What the hell ever happened to dumb criminals?! Then again, a dumb criminal probably wouldn't have been able to get the drop on him. At least, he hoped a dumb criminal wouldn't be able to.

His head hurt like hell and he was barely managing to stay conscious. After a few more minutes he drifted back into oblivion.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~He snapped back to reality when he heard footsteps approaching the door. He waited, fully aware that his options were practically non-existent. He was, after all, cuffed to a chair that was bolted to the floor. He also had no idea how long he had been stuck in the room. The door opened and he found himself staring at the business end of what appeared to be an AK 47. Well, good morning to you, too. His eyes traveled from the gun to the man's face. He had to hold back a gasp. It was the one and only Julian Beck. Guess shooting me once wasn't enough for this guy.
"What do you want?" Tony asked, his voice hoarse.

"Your partner." Beck answered simply. Tony gazed at him. "It's really quite simple Detective DiNozzo." Haven't been called that in a while Tony thought. "I want to trade you for Detective Ford, the bastard that ruined my life."

"Wait. You think that Josh and I are still partners?! Well, I got news for you. We aren't. I don't even work in Baltimore anymore. Neither does Josh." Wow, this guy really needed to keep up. Seriously.

"Nice try. I'm not that dumb," Beck smirked.

Tony rolled his eyes. "I haven't worked with Josh for 5 years. How the hell do you expect this to work?!" It was simply amazing how these guys actually thought these sorts of things worked.

"I've already made it perfectly clear to them that if Detective Ford isn't at the meeting place at 9:30 tomorrow night, you die."

"Ah. So you've already called Baltimore PD. Smart. Really brilliant. Only back to the small problem with your plan. The one that involved me not working there anymore."

"Yeah. You're not a cop anymore. That's why you had 2 guns, handcuffs and a badge on you. Uh-hunh."

"Did you even look at that badge?!" This was just stupid now.

"Why bother. I already know you're a Baltimore PD Homicide Detective."

"Okay, let's try this one more time. I. Am. Not. With. Baltimore. PD," Tony said very slowly.

"Alright. Let's say I believe that. Where do you work now?"

Tony debated for a few seconds before "NCIS." Beck probably wouldn't know what it was, anyway. Nobody ever did.

"NCI What?" Bingo.

"NCIS. Stands for Naval Criminal Investigative Service." Beck continued to stare at him in confusion. "We're Feds." Beck's expression turned to horror in a matter of seconds.

"You're a… but… oh god." He stood up quickly and exited the room. Tony watched the door close and wondered if the fact that Beck was in over his head was good or not. On one hand, if Beck panicked, he might just let Tony go in hopes of actually getting away. Or he might just decide that it wasn't worth the trouble and shoot Tony. The second option didn't really bear thinking about. But he could always just continue with the plan. Hope to make the trade and get Josh. Yeah. That was going to work out fantastic.

He heard footsteps in the hall outside the door again before the door was thrown open and Beck reappeared, this time with a needle.

"I really don't need you screaming… or escaping," he told him as he approached with the needle.

Escape? Yeah, just how do you expect me to do that. Who do you think I am? Ziva? Houdini? He winced slightly as the needle was shoved into his neck. He began to drift within seconds. Damn. The man has got some good stuff…The door closed as Tony fell back into darkness.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter 4

"I got it!" Gibbs stopped his furious tirade that was directed at the Police Chief when he heard Abby's call. He quickly made his way across the room to her.

"Where, Abbs?"

"The call came from a cell phone, belongs to a Julian Beck. The call originated from a cell grid in a Warehouse district in Fairfax, Virginia. That's the best I can do," she told him apologetically.

"Thanks, Abbs," he said, pulling out his cell phone and dialing Ziva's number. "Ziva. We've got a fix on the call. Fairfax. I'll have Abby send you the coordinates." He snapped the phone shut, ending the call in his usual abrupt manner and turned back to Abby. "Stay here."

"Just… find Tony, kay?" She said quietly, looking down, tears in her eyes.

Gibbs kissed her cheek "We will, Abbs. Promise." Gibbs turned and walked out of the Squad room, leaving Abby alone to, once again, sit and wait for news.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Tony woke up slowly and it took him a minute to remember where he was. Then he remembered Beck. Damn. He had no idea how long he had been tied to the chair, but it had to be a couple of days, at least. His whole body felt stiff from being in the same position so long and his hands were almost completely numb from the cuffs. His lips were dry and starting to crack. What he wouldn't do for something to drink right now. Hell, he'd even take a drink of Gibbs' coffee. Suddenly the door banged open and Beck entered the room, this time with a baseball bat in his hand. Oh, crap.
"I figured that while I've got you here, I might as well enjoy it." He grinned at Tony before taking a hard swing at Tony's stomach. Tony felt all the air being knocked out of him and he began to cough, trying to draw air. Beck pulled the bat back and swung it again and again until Tony finally lost consciousness.

Sometime later he was woken abruptly when he felt himself being drenched in cold water. "Time to wake up, pretty boy!" Beck said, picking up the bat again. Just as he was about to swing it again, the shrill ringing of a cell phone filled the small room. Beck growled and dropped the bat again and pulled out the phone, glancing at the caller id he turned and left the room, slamming the door behind him.

After a minute or so Tony heard the sound of gunfire coming from somewhere in the building. Maybe I didn't give Ziva and McGee enough credit after all. But then Beck burst into the room, gun pointed at Tony. His world exploded in pain as the bullet ripped into his stomach. He cried out in pain, welcoming the darkness.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Gibbs reached the warehouses just as Ziva pulled up and she and McGee, who looked faintly green, got out. They all pulled out their weapons and separated, Ziva and McGee going to the left and Gibbs to the right. After ten minutes of finding nothing, Gibbs saw a man standing inside one of the warehouses, talking on a cell phone. He quickly moved to the door and kicked it in and entered the room gun first.
"Federal Agent! Put your hands on your head! Now!" he instructed the shell-shocked man, whom he recognized as Beck from the mug shot he had seen. Suddenly he turned and darted out of the room, dodging the bullets that Gibbs sent his way and dropping the cell phone. Gibbs quickly chased after the man, occasionally aiming a round at him as he rounded a corner. Suddenly Gibbs heard a shot coming from up ahead. He rounded the corner, gun raised and saw Beck pointing a gun at an unconscious Tony, who was tied to a chair and bleeding profusely from his abdomen. Gibbs emptied the last two rounds of his clip into Beck's head and rushed to Tony's side and quickly removed the handcuffs. He lowered him to the ground and started applying pressure to the wound. He pulled out his phone and called for an ambulance. He was about to call Ziva and McGee when he heard a low moan.

"Tony? Tony, can you hear me?" he asked gently.

"G-Gibbs?" Tony opened his eyes slightly, and looked up at him in confusion.

"Yeah, Tony, it's me," Gibbs assured him.

"B-Beck?" he asked weakly.

"Dead," Gibbs said simply.

"Josh?"

"What about him? We never found out where he was," Gibbs informed him.

"I kind of… figured you… wouldn't…"

"Why not?" Now Gibbs was curious.

"Long story..." Tony's eyes began to close

"Tony. Stay with me, okay? I need you to stay awake. The paramedics are on their way." The concern in Gibbs' voice made Tony open his eyes again.

"Aw.. Boss, you…do… care," he tried to smile at Gibbs, but it was more of a grimace.

"Ya think, DiNozzo?! Do you really think I came all the way from Mexico because I don't care?" Gibbs rolled his eyes slightly.

"Th-thanks…boss…"

"Anytime, DiNozzo, anytime." Gibbs smiled softly down at him as the paramedics burst into the room.

"What happened?"

"He's been shot and it looks like he was probably beaten with the bat," Gibbs said, jerking his head at the blood-covered Louisville slugger that was lying near the door.

"We need to get him to the hospital ASAP," Gibbs resisted the urge to respond sarcastically to this obvious statement and simply nodded.

Gibbs was pushed aside as the paramedics loaded Tony onto the stretcher. He pulled out his phone again and dialed Ziva.

"Gibbs! Thank god! We heard sirens! What the hell happened?!" She asked the moment the call connected.

"I found Tony and-" but Ziva cut him off.

"Is he okay? Tony I mean."

"Beck shot him and it looks like he might have tortured Tony, too." Gibbs told her.

"That Bastard!" Ziva spat and he could hear McGee questioning her in the background and Ziva shushing him "Did you get him?"

"Yeah. He's dead."

"Good." She paused "Me and McGee will stay here and process the scene. You go with Tony."

"I'll keep you informed." He snapped his phone shut before she could reply.

One of the paramedics approached Gibbs as they prepared to move Tony to the ambulance "Did you want to ride with him?" Gibbs gave a curt nod and followed him out of the warehouse and into the ambulance.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter 5

Gibbs hated waiting.

They had taken Tony into surgery 3 hours ago and Gibbs had been pacing around the waiting room like a caged lion since then. He had taken to growling at anyone who dared approach him.

"Jethro?" Gibbs turned to see Ducky walking towards him, a large cup of coffee in his hand. Ducky handed him the cup deftly and allowed Gibbs to take a large swallow before continuing. "Any news?"

Gibbs rubbed his eyes tiredly "No. They haven't told me a damned thing." Gibbs growled.

"I'll go and see what I can find out." Ducky said, giving him a reassuring pat on the shoulder and walked off toward the desk.

Gibbs sighed and took another drink of the coffee and sat down, resting his head against the wall and waited for Ducky to return. After a few moments Ducky sat down next to him.

"They've just finished the surgery. I have been informed that a doctor will be out to speak with you in a few moments."

"Good." Gibbs growled and Ducky smiled slightly.

"Young Anthony does have a special ability to get himself into sticky situations, doesn't he?" Ducky said, smiling sadly.

"He's too damn good at his job is what it is. He's just too damn good at pissing people off," Gibbs shook his head slightly.

"Indeed," Ducky laughed softly.

At that moment the doors opened and a doctor approached them "Mr. Gibbs?" he inquired.

"That's me." Gibbs stood up quickly. "This is Doctor Mallard."

"Special Agent DiNozzo came through the surgery without any complications. While his injuries are severe, we anticipate that he will make a full recovery," the doctor smiled at them.

"Can I see him?" Gibbs asked.

"Sure. Right this way." The doctor gestured for them to follow him down the hall. They stopped outside on of the rooms and the doctor turned to them. "He's in this room here."

Gibbs nodded to the man and walked into the room, but Ducky remained behind. He wanted to get a full report on Tony's injuries from the doctor.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Gibbs stopped short when he caught sight of Tony, lying in the hospital bed. He looked like a giant bruise. Gibbs sighed and walked over to the bed and sat down in the chair next to it.
"DiNozzo… you sure have a talent for pissing people off…" he said, shaking his head

"And you… don't?" Gibbs head snapped up at the sound of Tony's voice and he saw Tony staring blearily at him, a small smile on his lips.

"Never said that. How're you feeling?" Gibbs got up and perched himself of the edge of the bed.

"Never better," Tony told him and Gibbs rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, well, you look like hell," Gibbs said matter-of-factly.

"Thanks. It took me ages to get just right," Tony replied sarcastically and Gibbs smirked.

"Seriously, Tony, how are you?" Gibbs asked, turning serious once again.

"I feel like I got run over by a bus. Repeatedly."

"Better than a train." Gibbs told him and he laughed slightly.

"I guess it is, isn't it?" Tony said, still smiling. After a moment he spoke again "Beck?"

"Dead." Gibbs stated simply.

"Josh?" He questioned more hesitantly.

"Don't know. Beck never found him and we're still looking for him."

"Might as well give up on that. You're never gonna find him if he doesn't want to be found. Which he doesn't."

"You wanna tell me what the hell is going on, cause in the warehouse you said it was a ‘long story'. Well, I've got time. So talk," Gibbs told him.

"Ah, right. Uhm, about a year after I started working for NCIS I got a call from Josh. He said he wanted to meet. Said it was important," Tony paused and looked up at Gibbs "Boss, this has to stay in this room, okay. You can't tell anyone. I'm not really, technically supposed to know."

"Sure Tony," Gibbs nodded, wondering what the hell was going on.

"We met at a bar and he told me that the only reason he was even allowed to talk to me was because I was a Fed and I had clearance." He saw Gibbs open his mouth and quickly continued. "Not enough to find out through official channels, but enough for them to be able to trust that I could keep my mouth shut."

"Jeez, it's staring to sound like one of the ‘A's' is involved here," Gibbs said.

"CIA, actually." Tony said and Gibbs stared at him incredulously. "Wow, Boss, you kinda look like McGee right now." Gibbs rolled his eyes and motioned for him to continue. "So anyway, he told me that he was working for the CIA. He appointed me as his emergency contact if anything ever happened to him in the field. He figured that I was creative enough to come up with a plausible story as to why, where and how he died."

"That explains why his passport was in use so much," Gibbs said.

"Well, yeah. But he has a ton of fake passports, too. I've actually got a couple of them at my place, just in case." Tony glanced at the badge on Gibbs belt. "It appears you found them."

"What?" Gibbs asked, confused.

"Well, I'm guessing that you searched my apartment when you got back and during that search you found your badge. Which was sitting right next to his passports."

"Oh. I didn't even look at the inside of the passports. I was in a hurry," Gibbs said and Tony smirked. "Don't," Gibbs said simply.

"Wouldn't dream of it, Boss." Tony said, holding his hands up in mock surrender and then wincing.

"You okay?" Gibbs asked, his concern evident.

"Yeah. Just a little sore," Tony said.

"Being hit with a baseball bat will do that," Gibbs nodded.

"Yeah, you would know, wouldn't you?" Tony knew that the only thing saving him from a head slap was the fact that he had almost died. And he was sure as hell going to take advantage of the opportunity.

"Watch it, DiNozzo." Gibbs growled and Tony just grinned back at him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter 6

Tony had drifted off to sleep some time ago and Gibbs was currently sitting next to the bed thinking about how close he had come to losing him, yet again. Annoying as Tony could be, he had a certain quality about him that made people like him. Everybody believed that Tony was simple minded, so they trusted him, let their guard down. Seriously, Gibbs had seen Tony get a confession out of a guy by playing a game on his cell phone. Tony had just walked into the interrogation room, sat down, pulled out his phone and started to play, ignoring the suspect completely. After 10 minutes the guy was so obviously unnerved that he gave a full confession in a voice that was borderline hysterical. Watching Tony conduct interrogations was always entertaining.

Just then the door opened and Ziva, McGee and Abby all filed in. Abby took one look at Tony and burst into tears. Gibbs quickly got up and moved across the room to her. "Abbs, he'll be fine. Trust me." Gibbs kissed the top of her head and she sniffed slightly.

"But-"

"Abby, shhh. This is DiNozzo we're talking about," Gibbs said and she laughed slightly.

"Yeah, Abbs, you didn't really think that some moron with a Louisville Slugger would stop me, did ya?" Tony asked from the bed.

Abby squealed loudly, causing the other four to flinch visibly and darted over to the bed and tackled Tony. He winced slightly and she quickly let go. "Sorry."

"Nah, ‘s okay. You should play football. You'd make a great linebacker." Tony smirked and Abby grinned and threw her arms around his neck again, this time more gently.

"So, My Little Hairy Butt, how are you doing?" Ziva asked him, moving to stand next to the bed.

"Never better, Zee-vah." Tony smirked at her.

"Yes, well, that's debatable." she said, looking him up and down.

"So tell me, how many guns did you find when you searched my apartment, Zee-vah?" Tony asked her.

"Eleven. I must say, I'm impressed Tony."

"I'm not," Tony said simply and Ziva looked outraged.

"What? I-why-," she spluttered indignantly.

"Ziva, there were 12 guns in that apartment. Not to mention the three in the car," Gibbs told her matter-of-factly.

"What he said," Tony agreed.

"What? But that means that you have… 17 guns!" McGee looked slightly horrified.

"Yup. Actually, I had 18, but I gave one to Abby." When Gibbs, McGee and Ziva stared at him with abject terror he continued. "I gave it to her after that whole crazy stalker guy thing."

"He even took me to the range and gave me a few lessons!" Abby said excitedly. "Said he didn't want me to blow my foot off or something."

"Abby's got a gun?!" McGee looked truly horrified now.

"Damn straight, Timmy!" Abby said in a ‘mess with me and I will shoot you' voice. Which she could now back up with Tony's back up. She idly considered how hard it would be to say that three times fast and made a mental note to try it later.

Tony, Abby and Ziva all burst out laughing at the expression of sheer terror on McGee's face. Even Gibbs smirked. He didn't think that even he had managed to instill such blind terror in McGee.

Gibbs watched as the rest, (except for McGee, who was still looking frightened), continued to laugh and talk for the next 20 minutes before standing up. "Okay, DiNozzo needs his beauty sleep," he said, ushering them out. Abby quickly gave Tony a kiss on the cheek and whispered something in his ear that made him smirk and roll his eyes.

"Good night, My Little Hairy Butt," Ziva said, smiling at him. Ziva looked at McGee who still looked extremely off balance. "What, rat got your tongue, Tim?"

"Cat." Tony, Abby, Gibbs and McGee corrected.

"Whatever." Ziva rolled her eyes and walked out. McGee waved vaguely at Tony and followed her out. As soon as he was out of the room Abby and Tony promptly burst out laughing.

"Messing with him is fun." Abby said between giggles.

"Always," Tony smirked at her.

"C'mon Abby, Tony needs rest," Gibbs told her.

"You and Ziva can torment McGee all you want. And Abby … did they really not pull any security footage or take my car to NCIS until Gibbs told them to?!" Tony needed confirmation that they had actually been that dumb.

"Oh, yeah. I almost shot them for pure idiocy. How'd you know about that, anyway?" Gibbs questioned, wondering if Tony was developing the omniscient quality that the team seemed to think that he possessed.

"Abby told me," he said simply. Gibbs looked from Tony to Abby, confused.

"When?!"

"Like, 2 minutes ago. That's what I whispered in his ear," Abby explained. She was thoroughly enjoying Gibbs' rare moment of confusion.

"Are you kidding me? They seriously didn't think of that?" Tony asked, looking at Gibbs.

"That's what I said." Gibbs shook his head.

"Well, in that case, Abbs could you tell them that I want their reports on my desk by-" He looked at the clock "2300."

"Pleasure. I'll also let them know that I will be up, in the bullpen at your desk to collect said reports and bring them to you," she grinned evilly.

"Thank you, Abby."

"No problem. Really. I'm actually going to enjoy this. And you said I could harass them as much as I want?"

"McGee you can torment endlessly for all I care. Ziva, I wouldn't suggest annoying, not directly, at least. Now, her computer …" he left his sentence hanging.

"Gotcha!" she said gleefully and bounced out of the room.

Gibbs shook his head. "That was… Inspired." Tony grinned.

"I learned from the best, Boss."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~