Tony DiNozzo wanted to close his eyes but to do so would be to sign his death warrant. The mind-numbing exhaustion that beckoned him to sleep was constantly being countered by the desolate reality of his situation; a reality that was created for him by Jason Miller’s twisted mind. Miller had been mercilessly taunting him and Tony had been attempting to ignore his tormentor, but his nerves were raw and at times, he had allowed himself to be baited. His adversary knew exactly what to say to reopen every wound that time had begun to heal.
At the moment, his foe had elected to grant him a few moments of silence and Tony had been grateful for the respite, however brief it may be. He felt his eyes start to drift shut and the agent snapped them open, forcing them to remain fixed straight ahead. “Gotta stay awake,” he mumbled, wincing at the hoarseness of his voice. “Not…gonna let…him win.”
Miller’s laughter echoed inside his throbbing head; so much for enjoying the quietness of the moment. “Stupid earwig,” Tony whispered, momentarily forgetting that Miller could probably even hear him breathe.
“Why don’t you try and remove it?” Miller’s voice was dripping with sarcasm and Tony could envision that satisfied smirk taking up permanent residence on the demented man’s lips.
“I will eventually,” he rasped. “When I do…I’m gonna…shove it up your…”
“I see you’ve still got some fight left in you,” Miller observed. “I’m impressed. It’s been two hours and you’re still alive, but you still have four hours and I have a feeling that these next few hours are not going to be as easy as you think.”
“Bring it on,” Tony challenged.
“With pleasure.”
Tony couldn’t help but think that if Gibbs were here, he would have just received a head slap for his seemingly lax attitude regarding his well being. His willingness to voluntarily place himself in the line of fire because of the underlying belief that he was expendable had been one of the first issues that Gibbs had addressed with him when he had been a probie.
He sometimes still struggled with the idea that his life was worth something. From a young age, his father had led him to believe that he was a matter of convenience and was only a priority in his dad’s life when it suited the older man. His perception of himself began to change when he had met Sydney; for the first time someone had loved him unconditionally and he had learned he could trust someone with his heart.
That was until his world had been shattered by his wife and son’s death; he had spent the next several months wondering why God had taken Sydney and Sean instead of him. The guilt of their deaths had nearly destroyed him and he had become desperate to join them; if it hadn’t been for Steve and his other frat buddies, Tony knew that more than likely he wouldn’t be alive today.
“You’ve grown quiet, Tony,” Miller said. “Thinking about Sydney?”
“Thinking about what…I...I’m going to do to you…when I get out of here,” he panted.
“Don’t you mean if you get out?”
A tiny smile crept across his swollen lips. “Nope. I mean when.”
“Holding out hope that Agent Gibbs will rescue you?”
“He’ll be here.”
“I’m sure he will,” Miller agreed. “But will it be in time to save you?”
“Gibbs’ timing is…impeccable.”
Miller laughed once again. “You just keep believing that, Tony. Now, I’ve got a few things to do, so I’ll be leaving you alone for a little while; but don’t worry, I’ll make sure you stay awake.”
His captor’s voice was soon replaced by the achingly familiar high pitch monotonous tone from before. Tony fought against the urge to rake his ear across his shoulder in another attempt to dislodge the earwig; his face was a mask of excruciating pain as he realized that he was defenseless against this auditory weapon. “Son of a…”
Tony couldn’t hold back the tears that spilled from his eyes and streamed down his cheeks; the noise and the pain in his head were unrelenting. The agony exploding in his skull seemed to exacerbate the misery that was coursing through his body that he had managed to ignore up until now. His arms had lost all feeling from being hoisted above his head and his legs and back were on fire from standing in one position for so long.
The urge to find a more tolerable position was difficult to resist. Tony knew that he had to reach down deep within the core of his being to find the strength that would be required to make it through the next four hours. “Focus…DiNozzo…gotta live. Come on, Boss…I need some help here…have faith in you, Gibbs…”
He licked his lips, wishing for a drop of water to quench his thirst. Unfortunately, lack of water was not his biggest problem at the moment. Tony couldn’t help but wonder how his mouth could feel like the Sahara Desert and he still needed to piss. If it were under any other circumstance, he may have been able to find the humor in the situation, but at the moment, the last thing he could do was laugh.
Closing his eyes, he swallowed hard and quietly begged for the team leader to find him. “Please, Gibbs…don’t let…me down…”
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Gibbs heard the sound of McGee furiously typing behind him in a desperate effort to find Tony as the other members of his team remained occupied with the assignments that he had give them. Kate had refused to take the doctor’s advice and take a couple of days off; instead she was in Abby’s office following leads on the BOLO that had been placed on Jason Miller’s car. The Goth was standing beside him, her compassionate gaze fixed on DiNozzo as she studied Tony’s swollen and bloody lips. They were determined to find their friend and colleague just as he was determined to find his son.
He had been watching Tony for over two hours, amazed at the young man’s tenacity as the senior agent remained motionless. An occasional wince was the only movement that he could detect and it tore at his heart to know that the child of his heart was in pain. Gibbs took a step closer to the monitor wishing that he could hear what Tony was saying; he would then know how DiNozzo was really handling his current situation.
Tony had been talking constantly and Abby had been doing her best to read his lips despite the somewhat grainy feed. Judging by the one sided conversation that she had been interpreting, they had arrived at the conclusion that Miller was somehow talking to him.
“What’s he saying now?” Gibbs asked, fully aware of the fact that he had asked the same question just a few minutes ago.
“He’s saying something about staying awake and that he’s not going to let him win,” she answered.
The team leader quietly applauded Tony’s resilience, knowing that DiNozzo’s stubbornness would work in his favor prompting him to fight when most people would simply give up. Gibbs absently rubbed his arms as he wondered how the agent’s strength was holding up; the strain placed on Tony’s arms had to be nearly unbearable after two hours of forced immobility. DiNozzo was always in constant motion and the fact that he had been able to stand in one spot for over two hours was nothing short of a miracle; it spoke volumes of DiNozzo’s formidable will.
“Oh you’ve got to be kidding me,” Abby blurted out, interrupting his thoughts.
“What Abs?”
“He just said ‘stupid earwig’. Miller must be talking to him through an earwig,” she reasoned. “If McGee can get a trace on the feed, maybe we can figure out the frequency of the earwig and..,
“Do it!” Gibbs barked.
“But Gibbs, it will all depend on if McGee is able to…”
His harsh glare silenced her doubts. He wanted results and he wanted to find Tony; two hours of doing nothing was beginning to wear on his nerves. Thankfully, the forensic scientist was attuned to his moods and gave him a hug. “I’m sure that McGee will have something anytime, Gibbs,” Abby quickly assured him.
As if on cue, McGee announced, “I think I’ve got something, Boss.”
Gibbs, Abby, and Kate were at McGee’s side in an instant. The probationary agent began to explain how he managed to trace the feed using a variety of technical terms that Gibbs didn’t understand or care about; all he cared about was finding Tony and bringing him back alone. “McGee!” he barked. “Short version!”
The young man swallowed nervously. “Sorry, Boss. I was just so excited about…and I’ll fill you in on how I did it some other time after we get Tony back.”
“McGee, you find where Miller is holding Tony and I’ll let you sign me up for a computer class,” Gibbs vowed.
McGee looked up, his eyes lighting up with excitement. “Really, Boss?”
“No, McGee.”
The young man cleared his throat. “Well, I’ve been trying to trace the feed and Miller was right about his abilities to…but you don’t want to hear about that. Anyway, I think I’ve got a general location but…”
“But what, McGee?” he pressed.
Gibbs’ attention was inexplicably drawn back to the monitor. His gut was in a knot that pulled tighter every time he stared into Tony’s pain filled face. “Abby! Get over here and tell me what he’s saying.”
He stepped aside and waited with baited breath for her to read the silent message. When she turned to face him, he could see fear and sadness in Abby’s expressive eyes. “He said that he had faith in you that you were going to find him. He’s in a lot of pain, Gibbs. Something’s changed and he’s having a real hard time keeping it together. I can see it in his face.”
The former Marine turned around and glared at McGee. “I need to hear what Miller’s telling him. Get me patched into that earwig and then you figure out exactly where he is.”
“Just give me a few more minutes, Boss. It would really go faster if I could have Abby helping me,” McGee pointed out.
Nodding his approval, Gibbs turned back to the monitor hoping that somehow Tony would know that he was doing everything humanly possible to find his missing agent. Kate moved to stand beside him, joining him in his vigil. He knew that she felt responsible for what was happening to Tony and if he were honest with himself, he was partially blaming her as well, even though she had done nothing wrong; maybe he was just trying not to blame himself.
“Oh my God,” Kate whispered. “He looks awful.”
“What did you expect, Kate?” he snapped.
“I don’t know. I guess I kind of thought of Tony as being invincible; that’s certainly the impression that he likes to gives.”
“Well, he’s not. He learned that lesson a long time ago.”
Puzzled, Kate looked up at him. “What do you mean?”
Ignoring Kate, he remained focused on Tony’s image. Gibbs was amazed at how clueless Kate could be at times when it came to DiNozzo. Maybe after this nightmare was over, she would take the time to get to know the real Tony DiNozzo.
“He’s strong, Gibbs,” Kate said, “and I’m not just speaking in the physical sense.”
“He’s had to be strong,” Gibbs stated. “Life didn’t give him much of a choice.”
Not giving Kate an opportunity to answer, he called over his shoulder to McGee and Abby. “Tim? Anything yet?”
“Still working on it, Boss.” McGee obviously was not ready to admit failure to the team leader.
“Work faster, McGee.”
The ringing of his cell phone seemed to exacerbate the tension in the lab. He didn’t have to look at the caller ID to know that it was Miller. Signing to Abby to trace the call coming in, he gruffly answered, “Gibbs!”
“Have you been enjoying the show?”
“Where is he?” Gibbs demanded to know, refusing to be baited by Miller’s taunt.
“You mean you haven’t found him yet?”
“We’re closer than you think.”
“I doubt that.”
“You just keep thinking that way,” the team leader growled.
Gibbs couldn’t help but cringe at the sound of Miller’s maniacal laughter. The man was too arrogant and that arrogance was going to lead to his demise; Gibbs would make sure of that.
“I still can’t believe that after two hours, your people can’t find your missing man. You might want to consider getting yourself a new team.”
The sound of pecking became more frenzied as McGee and Abby’s determination doubled as they attempted to ignore Miller’s insults. Gibbs knew that the gauntlet had been cast and that they would not rest until they had found Tony. “My team’s just fine,” he proclaimed.
“Whatever you say,” Miller sighed. “Anyway, I thought I would extend a good will gesture.”
“And what would that be?”
“I’m going to let you talk to Agent DiNozzo.”
“What’s the catch?” Gibbs warily inquired.
“Did I say that there was a catch?”
“No,” Gibbs icily countered. “However, knowing you there has to be one.”
“I’m not sure what you’re insinuating, Agent Gibbs, but I’m sure it isn’t nice.”
Gibbs pinched the bridge of his nose as he began pacing. He couldn’t afford to lose his temper but the longer he talked with Jason Miller, the harder it was to control the anger that was rising to the surface. “Let me talk to Tony,” he insisted.
“You have one minute and then we’ll talk, Agent Gibbs. I’m patching you through now.”
His gaze was riveted to the screen as Tony’s expression relaxed. “Tony?” he quietly called out, not wanting to startle the injured man. “Can you hear me?”
It was only a few seconds before Tony finally managed to answer, but it seemed like an eternity to the father who was out of his mind with worry for his son. “That you, Boss?” DiNozzo asked.
“Yeah Tony, it’s me,” Gibbs assured him. The exhaustion was evident in Tony’s voice and the fact that he wasn’t rambling concerned him greatly. “Listen to me; I’m gonna find you so you hang on.”
“I’m tired, Gibbs,” Tony gasped.
“I know. I wish I…” The normally unflappable man was forced to choke back a sob. “I wish I could tell you to rest, but I need you to stay with me, DiNozzo. You can rest soon.”
“I know. I’m trying, Boss.”
Gibbs swallowed hard. “You’re doing a good job, DiNozzo.”
“A compliment, Boss?” Tony weakly grinned.
“Yep, but don’t get used to it,” he chided.
“Wouldn’t dream…of it.” Tony licked his parched lips. “Boss?”
Gibbs took another step towards the monitor, sensing DiNozzo’s increasing discomfort. “Yeah, Tony?”
“I really…I really gotta…piss. How much longer do…I…have to wait?”
“About three and half hours.”
“What if I can’t…hold it? Will the bomb…”
DiNozzo was clearly struggling physically and mentally. Gibbs could tell it was becoming difficult for Tony to concentrate and if he lost his concentration, he would more than likely end up dead. “Tony, I want you to listen to me,” Gibbs ordered, hoping that the younger man would not take his harsh tone to heart and that he would realize that the team leader was trying to keep him alert and centered.
“Time’s up, Agent Gibbs.” Miller interrupted. “I can’t let you provide Tony with too much inspiration.”
Gibbs could no longer hear Tony but he could see him calling out for him. He wished that he could reach through the monitor and pull DiNozzo to safety and out of the clutches of Jason Miller. “You’ve had your fun,” he growled. “Let him go.”
“Nope, but I tell you what I’m going to do.”
“And what would that be?”
“I’m going to give you a chance to play our little game.”
The team leader glanced over his shoulder to see his team feverishly working, thankful that they couldn’t hear the offer that Miller had just made to him. There wasn’t a doubt in his mind that McGee and Abby would be able to trace the feed to Tony’s whereabouts, but time was a luxury that Tony obviously didn’t have. Gibbs turned away from the others, his voice barely audible as he tersely replied, “I’m listening.”
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended.