ACT 1
Chapter 1:
2355
Gibbs sat annoyed on his coach. The news paper in his hand he had forgotten ages ago. All his senses were on the door. Every sound, every change of smell in the air, every shadow. He noted everything but nothing hinted to Tony's arrival.
„I'll be there at 8 latest."
He had said. Now it was nearly midnight and hell, where the hell was he? In the last year, the year since he had this thing with Tony going the other man often was late. Once or twice he also had forgotten to come over, but never he had said „I'll be there at 8" when he had left the office at 6 PM and didn't show up at all.
Maybe he had fallen asleep on his coach again, but it neither was a hard case nor had he had sleepless nights, no good explanation for a nap. Gibbs stood up and walked up the stairs, slowly still noting every sound.
He looked at his alarm clock. It was just about to change.
2359...0000
„RRRRIIIIINNNNGGGGGG!"
Gibbs turned and headed for the phone. Sure it would be Tony, telling him how sorry he was. Oh, Lord, this time he had fucked up!
„GIBBS?!"
He yelled annoyed.
„Hello, Agent Gibbs."
His breath stopped for a moment. This wasn't Tony, actually he didn't knew the voice but who should call him at midnight?
„Not very chatty, aren't you? Well, I just wanted to tell you that your little toy has exactly 24 hours to live. Actually it's 23 hours 58 minutes and 2, 1, seconds."
Gibbs looked at the clock. 0002.
„Exactly at midnight tomorrow he's dead, and you can do..."
Gibbs snorted annoyed.
„...nothing."
There was a silence.
„Why do you tell me this? If I can do nothing?"
„It's more fun for my master to see you trying. I'll see that you get his body. Don't bother with an autopsy, you'll get a tape of it."
Then there was only the peep after the line was cut. For a second, or two, maybe it even was a minute, who knows, Gibbs couldn't move. Normally his first move would have been to call Tony but there was no reason why he shouldn't believe the voice.
Next step, Gibbs. Office, call McGee, Ziva, Abby. Ducky, maybe. Anyway, office, move your feet, move your fucking feet.
All of them sat unmoving in Abby's lab.
„Any suggestions?"
Gibbs finally asked. But nobody even breathed louder.
„Jethro, I don't like it that I have to say it, but I think you don't tell us everything."
Ducky said and Gibbs shot him a look. Of course he didn't tell them everything. He hadn't told them that the dirtbag had called Tony „his little toy" and that he had expected Tony to come around for a night full of sex.
McGee, Ziva and Abby looked confused.
„Jethro, they need to know. We have to keep every option open."
Gibbs sighed, he tried to think of a good way to tell them.
„Tony,...and myself...we....we were seeing eachother."
McGee's mouth fell open and Abby seemed as if she would pass out, but Ziva didn't understand.
„So? I saw him, too."
Abby frowned and turned to her.
„Ziva, they were seeing eachother, as in they were dating."
Ziva's expression changed suddenly.
„Oh...ohhhh."
Gibbs nodded.
„So, now you know. Any suggestions?"
„What's your gut telling ya?"
Abby asked hopefully.
„That Tony's in the hands of a fucking dirtbag!"
Gibbs yelled and McGee and Ziva jerked.
„Ok, not really a big help."
„And that he's doing it for somebody else."
Gibbs said calm again. Abby looked sad at him.
„Somebody wants to see me trying to safe him. He said it's more fun for his master to see me trying."
Noone knew what to say. Gibbs seemed to be far away in his own thoughts. Not even Ziva had the gut to ask him for possible suspects.
„Ding!"
Abby looked at her computer.
„Abby couldn't you turn that off?"
Ducky asked. But Abby opened the E-mail she had recieved.
„It's from Tony!"
She yelled and Gibbs was at the monitor before anybody else.
„Cold. Dark. Tony."
Gibbs heart felt as if it was about to explode.
„Can you..."
„Track it down? I'll try. But Gibbs..."
„What Abby? What?"
„Don't you think that it's what the kidnapper want? I mean, Tony is kidnapped but sents us an e-mail. Maybe it isn't even from Tony."
„I know Abby, but it's the only thing we have."
Abby nodded and Gibbs headed for the bullpen but he turned before he was at the elevator.
„And Abby, if there's coming more..."
„I'll sent it up to you immidiatly."
Gibbs nodded and went.
He looked at his watch. 0059. Then he started a countdown on his computer.23 h 00 min 03 sec...23 h 00 min 02 sec...
Chapter 2:
Gibbs tapped his fingers on his desk. Ziva was checking on everybody with a grudge on Tony, again. McGee was down with Abby trying to track down the email. Then it hit him.
He pulled the keyboard closer and opened a new email.
„MSN Messanger, can you open it?"
He sent. Then he opened his own messanger.
„User Tony online."
He did a double click and a window opened.
„Tony?"
„Gibbs?"
„You're alone?"
For a moment there was no answer. He took the phone and told Abby that Tony was online talking to him.
„Yes."
Came Tony's answer. He had to believe him.
„Tony, what can you tell me about where you are?"
„Nothing."
Gibbs sighed. Normally that would earn a head slap.
„Urge to slap me?"
Gibbs couldn't surpress the laugh and Ziva looked surprised at him.
„It's dark here. I have about, well, two on two meters, and it's about two meters high."
Gibbs rubbed his hands over his face. This was not a normal room. It was a box.
„There is no light. And it is cold. All I have is this laptop."
„Is there air?"
„There are holes. Jethro?"
Gibbs swallowed at the use of his first name.
„You have any idea where I am?"
Gibbs shook his head.
„No, Tony. Please, tell me everything you know. Tell me exactly what happened."
Again it took some time before Tony answered. Gibbs saw that he was typing so he waited, what nearly killed him.
„I went home at 6 PM. I entered my apartment, went under the shower..."
Gibbs thought that he didn't need it that exactly.
„...it must have been 7 when I dressed and stood in front of my fridge."
Gibbs waited but there wasn't coming more.
„And then? What happened between 7 and midnight?"
„I dunno. I can't remember anything until I woke up in this, well, box(?) and all what was there was this laptop. That was around half past midnight."
Gibbs looked at the countdown. 22 h 39 min 45 sec...
„Tony, I want you to keep contact with us, ok?"
Then he thought again. Abby was right. How did he know that it really was Tony.
„Tony, what did you call me that night we did it the first time?"
First there came a smiley.
„I called you alot of things."
Gibbs was tempted to type „correct answer" but he need the one nickname.
„Was that the wrong answer, pesciolino d'argento?"
Gibbs smiled.
„Good to know it's you."
„I never told you what pesciolino d'argento means, right?"
„No, I just know that argento means silver."
„ ;-) Yeah, but pesciolino d'argento means silver-fish."
Gibbs‘ smile vanished.
„You called me silver-fish when I was *in* you?"
He could hear Tony chuckle, he would swear if he had to. That was his Tony, joking in such a situation. Wait, HIS Tony? Yes, he slept with him, but more?
„Yeah, well. Silver hair and a boat? Anyway, did I mention that I sit in a box?"
Gibbs sighed again.
„Em, Pesciolino d'argento? Could I talk to you?"
Gibbs span around and saw that Abby couldn't quite hide her grin while McGee looked extremely ashamed.
„I wanted to make sure that it's him."
„Yeah, noone else would ever call you Pesciolino d'argento!"
„Who called you silver-fish?"
Ziva asked and came over.
„You also talk Italian?"
„A bit."
Gibbs swallowed down every bit of the urge to shoot all of them only because they knew his secret nickname.
„Abby, you found Tony?"
„No, not even the slightest hint of him."
„But he is on!"
„I know Gibbs. But who ever has him they know how to hide."
He looked at the monitor.
„Tony, Abby can't track you down. You have any idea who could have done this?"
„Don't you have the list anymore?"
Gibbs felt the cynism even through the computer. Of course they still had the list from when Tony was framed for murder.
„Nobody new?"
„Not that I'm aware of."
Abby went back to her lab and McGee was on his own computer doing whatever he was doing.
„Ziva, anything?"
Gibbs asked but he didn't really hope so he wasn't very disappointed when she shook her head.
A new message of Tony arrived.
„Abby, could you give me a minute with Gibbs alone."
Gibbs smiled. He knew the Goth would do as Tony asked.
„You told them, I guess."
He asked after a few moments.
„Yeah."
Tony's avatar changed and showed the only picture of him with Gibbs.
„You remember when Kate made this photo?"
Gibbs did remember. It was the day when Tony returned from sick leave after the Y.Pestis, a day before Kate died.
„For me it was always more, Jethro. I know I never told you, and maybe it's not the right time for it, but it's more than sex, at least for me."
Gibbs sighed.
„For me, too, Tony. For me, too."
„Thanx. Means a lot to me. Good to know that it's mutual."
Gibbs fought back the tears threatening to overwhelm him.
„Tony, there is no need to say good bye! You got me?"
„Jethro..."
„No! I gave you an order! When you were in the hospital!"
„Jethro..."
„And it still stands!"
„JETHRO!"
„You will not die, Tony! Not now! Not now that I have you..."
Before he could press enter there was a new line from Tony. Then the window showed „Tony maybe will not answer because the user seems to be offline."
But Tony's last words still stood there. Two sentences. Nothing more.
„I love you. They're coming."
His gaze landed on the countdown. 22 h 00 min 05 sec...
Chapter 3:
For several minutes Gibbs didn't react at all. He just stared at his screen.
„Come back. Come back. COME BACK!"
He yelled and McGee and Ziva turned to him. McGee was at his side stopping him before he could throw the monitor off the desk.
„Gibbs, calm down. Calm down."
Gibbs pushed the younger man away from him. That was it. He would do a list of his own. With every fucking name on it.
Chapter 4:
20 h 59 min 30 sec...
He put down the pen. It was a fucking long list and it still wasn't complete. Half of the names he had already crossed out because they were dead or in jail.
„You know, it could be somebody who's in jail. At least „the master" could be in jail."
Ziva said but Gibbs waved it off.
„No. It must be somebody who can actually see me somehow. Or at least see Tony. It must be somebody who wants to see me suffer but doesn't want to make his own hands dirty."
„Ex-wives?"
Ziva suggested and Gibbs shot her one of his best glares.
„FBI?"
McGee said and soon Gibbs knew how Tony had felt when they were suggesting him who could frame him. And just like Tony, he had many people with grudges.
Somebody with grudges, somebody who knew about him and Tony, somebody cruel enough to get him on that way.
20 h 00 min 03 sec...
Story Notes:
Ok, first, I haven't seen Hiatus and most of season three, so this is kinda my Hiatus. It's in real time so there'll be 24 chapters. I have to say, I was inspired by CSI buried alife, but well...Ok, feedback, feedback, feedback
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Author's Chapter Notes:
Tony's missed but Gibbs gets a hint.
Chapter End Notes:
Ok, first, I haven't seen Hiatus and most of season three, so this is kinda my Hiatus. It's in real time so there'll be 24 chapters. I have to say, I was inspired by CSI buried alife, but well...Ok, feedback, feedback, feedback