Gibbs cursed at the empty interrogation room as he kicked the chair.
Tony's mouth was hanging open.
"How did-?"
"Call security lock down the Navy Yard now! If he's already gone put out a BOLO."
Ziva nodded and disappeared.
"Tony find who was guarding Larson."
Tony ran out the door and nearly ran into the agent they had left behind to watch Larson not long before. He grabbed the man's shoulders.
"Where is he? Why weren't you here? Where did you go?"
"W-what? A-an agent from legal came and said Director Vance had sent him to talk to Larson, he needed legal counsel-"
"Who was it?" Gibbs demanded.
"I'm not sure..."
"Jerry Niles?"
"I-I'm not sure, I only see him around sometimes."
Gibbs headed back in the squad room while Tony continued to grill the hapless agent. Ziva was just finishing up a call. He looked at her and she shook her head.
"He had already gone Gibbs, but I put out the BOLO. I just wish we knew which direction he was going."
Gibbs sat down shaking his head.
"This is unacceptable." Ziva spoke suddenly. "That man cannot be with McGee even one minute longer."
"I know Ziva." He said grimly.
Gibbs' phone rang.
"Yeah, Gibbs"
"Gibbs," Abby said her voice trembling, "the blood on the shirt is McGee's." As she said it she started to cry.
Gibbs sighed. Of all the turns this case could take this was absolutely the worst he could imagine. They had succeeded in capturing his agent's kidnapper only to lose him. There was a very real possibility they were heading back to the hideaway to kill Tim and skip town.
"I'm on my way down Abby." He said as he shut the phone.
"Abby's got something?" Tony asked jogging in.
"She seems to be the only one pulling up answers, I'm going to see if she can pick up anything else."
As they reached the lab Abby flew into Gibbs' arms.
"Gibbs," she begged "please tell me what is going on. I went to interrogation and no one was there and everyone was acting strange-"
"Larson's gone." he said quietly.
"Gone where? Where would he go?"
"He escaped, Abbs. His uncle probably helped him."
"What no, he-he can't, no, no no-"
"Abby, calm down"
"Why are they doing this? What could Jerry Niles have against McGee?"
"I doubt he has anything against him, he's probably just helping his nephew stay out of trouble. Somehow our murder case got tangled up in this. Since the jacket belonged to Niles I would say he killed Carrol and probably Teal then tried to steal the evidence to cover up the fact that he was there. I don't know why he killed them and right now all I really care about is getting McGee away from those two."
Ziva's phone rang.
"David. No we are not still on lockdown they have already left the Navy Yard." she said into the phone.
"Cell phone" Abby whispered.
"What?" Tony asked
"Start praying Niles has a cell phone and that it's on."
She pulled up the employee records and soon had a search running. Her cry of elation brought Gibbs closer.
"They're heading toward the south part of town, Bossman."
"That's good work Abbs. Call us with a final location."
Tony was in the front seat of the car on the phone getting an update on the coordinates. Gibbs was driving and Tony found himself in the unusual position of wishing Gibbs would drive faster. They arrived at an abandoned looking house and Tony heart beat with anticipation. Busts usually didn't make him nervous, but this time his friend could be in there dead or dying. He jumped as he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned and faced Gibbs.
"Tony I need you, McGee needs you to be on the top of your game, got it."
Tony swallowed.
"Got it Boss"
"Ziva?"
"Gibbs?"
"We take them alive if possible, you understand?"
"Yes Gibbs, if possible."
Not looking entirely convinced he positioned Tony at the back as he and Ziva burst though the front door. They quickly cleared the first floor and cautiously made their way down to the basement. Gibbs shook his head as his eyes started to adjust. There were piles of stuff everywhere. Places to hide were abundant and it appeared to be a full basement so there would be several rooms to clear. He motioned for Tony and Ziva to be careful and take it slow. Just as they all reached the center of the large main room a voice came out of the darkness.
"You found me pretty quick Gibbs, I'm impressed. We'll talk more as soon as you wake up."
The agents looked around trying to determine the origin of the voice, but were soon distracted as a canister hit the floor and started spewing out a white substance.
"Get out now! It's gas!"
Gibbs attempted to find a door to reach fresh air, but was soon finding navigation difficult. He swayed and then collapsed to the floor.
Gibbs woke up slowly, the pounding in his head in rhythm with his heart beat. He shook it and then quickly realized that was a mistake as the pounding became a sharp pain. He attempted to reach up and touch his face but found he couldn't. He took stock and realized he was sitting in a straight back chair with his hand cuffed behind his back. The room was dim, he could make out shapes but it took several minutes for his eyes to adjust. Tony spoke to his left
"Boss, you ok?"
"Tony? How long have you been awake?"
Tony sighed.
"Long enough for Niles to make me call Abby and tell her we're fine, it was a false alarm and we're going to a different neighborhood."
"So no back up." Gibbs stated grimly.
To his right Ziva moaned as she slowly came to consciousness. She attempted to move her arms and, when she she couldn't, immediately tensed up.
"Ziva"
"Gibbs?" She frowned and opened her eyes. "What happened? Where are we?"
"The basement, he gassed us."
His eyes had finally adjusted enough to make out more objects in the room. Tony was to his left and Ziva was to his right, but someone else was straight across from him. Looking at the still figure Gibbs felt a deep pang of sadness. He wanted more than anything to find his agent, but not like this.
Tim McGee had obviously been through the works. He was also in a straight back chair but not only one were his hands restrained behind his back, his upper arms and ankles were held fast with zip ties that appeared to be cutting into this skin. There was a tub of some sort behind him, but Gibbs couldn't figure out what it was and was too busy looking over his agent to care.
McGee's t-shirt was torn open revealing several days worth of bruises across his entire chest. Aside from that, areas too dark to be bruises covered his torso and arms, even a few on his neck. Gibbs couldn't be sure in the dark but they looked like burns. His face was bruised and swollen, caked with dry blood. The left side of his face was the worst and most disfigured and his breathing was ragged and uneven. Part of his chest didn't seem to be rising with the other side. It was freezing outside and not much warmer in the basement but despite that there were bead of perspiration on his face. Gibbs swallowed the lump in his throat.
"McGee? McGee, Tim, wake up."
No movement
"McGee!"
He tried again and thought he saw a slight twitch. He had just decided that his hope had made him imagine it when he heard a groan. Not wanting to startle the man now that he was waking up, Gibbs tried to get his attention more gently.
"Tim can you hear me?"
"B'ss" A slurred voice answered but before Gibbs could respond what was said another voice began speaking.
"Agent Gibbs, I'm glad you're awake. I'm sorry it had to come to this, I would preferred for no one to be involved at all."
Gibbs set his jaw in anger.
"Well kidnapping one of my people and killing two Marines does generally get me involve. What happened, Jerry, legal get too boring for you? Decide to spice it up with murder and kidnapping?"
Niles just smiled as he pulled up a chair and sat in front of Gibbs.
"Funny Gibbs"
"You want to tell me what's going on?"
"The great Leroy Jethro Gibbs team hasn't figured it out?" He taunted clearly enjoying his advantage.
"Humor me"
Niles' face darkened for a moment.
"That idiot Carrol tried to blackmail me over and incident a few years ago. I'm afraid it came as quite a shock when he died. I thought Marines went down fighting but not him. Teal just found out too much, had to off him too. I'll cut right to the chase though. You have something of mine."
"What's that?"
"I think you know."
Gibbs did know but he was hoping he could stall for time to think of an idea.
"You have more of the evidence than we do Jerry. In fact you have all the evidence. Or are you going to deny you stole it last week."
Niles just smiled again.
"I must confess that I missed one very important piece. A jacket I had the misfortune to leave at the crime scene is what I need. It's the only thing that wasn't there when I went to retrieve the evidence. I want to know where it is."
"You're going to kill us anyway." Gibbs said. It was a statement not a question.
"Seriously?" Tony goaded. "You expect us to tell you where damning evidence is just so you destroy it and then kill us? Wow, are you stupid."
Niles smiled again and leaned forward. Gibbs began to feel uneasy.
"Do you care about your agents, Gibbs?"
"I do"
Niles nodded behind him at McGee.
"Would you like to know what he's suffered the past few days?"
Gibbs didn't answer; he didn't know what to say so Niles continued.
"My nephew hates him. He has this obsession with keeping him alive for five days. Five, that's how many hours his sister lived after she was taken off life support. I think it's a little...disturbing, but I agreed to help him because he's family and I did need your team eliminated."
"Is there a point to this?" Ziva asked tersely. She didn't like where this was going, but she wanted it to get there.
"There is Agent David, thank you for getting me back on track."
"I want the jacket and here's why you're going to tell me where it is. You can watch your friend endure for two more days or I can put a bullet in his head right now. Danny won't be happy with me, but I would be willing to do it for the jacket."
"Hell of an offer." Gibbs said sarcastically thought that wasn't how he felt. The idea of watching his already seriously injured agent tortured further made him sicker than he would like to admit.
"It is when you think about it." He turned to Tony. "You're right Agent DiNozzo I am going to kill you, the question is how much more is your partner going to have to suffer. Will he die quickly and in peace or simply because his body can't take anymore torture?"
Tony didn't look at him.
"Boss" the quiet voice that came so unexpected made them jump. McGee struggled for the words.
"Boss I-I'm ok, d-don't tell him where it is."
Ziva's heart broke at the seeming amount of effort it took him to even get those words out.
Niles laughed.
"I'll let you talk this over while I find out where Danny went."
As soon as Niles was out of ear shot. Gibbs started to whisper.
"Ziva, directly behind you is a work bench. I think I can see some finish nails on a lower shelf that you should be able to reach. You can try to pick the lock with that."
Ziva nodded and began inching backward as quietly as possible. She reached her hands to feel for the nails.
"Are you ok McGee?" Tony asked. It was a stupid question but it was all he could think to say and he needed to say something.
McGee nodded though no one believed him.
"Hang on McGee, we're gonna get out of here ok." Gibbs said trying to give him some hope; goodness knows he probably needed it at that point. "A little to the left, Ziva." He said guiding her. She finally got it in her hand and inched forward to avoid suspicion at being caught too close to the table.
McGee seemed to have slumped lower in his chair. Gibbs had hoped that their being there would help him a little but it didn't seem too.
"Tim, look at me."
McGee hesitated.
"I can't."
"Excuse me? Tim you haven't done anything-"
"I can't see" he interrupted.
Gibbs was sure he'd heard wrong. Prayed he had heard wrong. He glanced at Tony and saw his mouth hanging open. He cleared his throat.
"What do you mean you can't see? Do you mean you can't open your eyes?"
He hated to patronize the man like that, but that seemed like it could be a plausible explanation and he couldn't wrap his head around what else he might have meant.
"No Boss. One night... I tried to call you . Niles found me and... knocked me out. I haven't been able to see since. Probably concussion...swelling..."
He was struggling for breath as he trailed off. Tony was internally cursing. McGee blind! He tried to think of something comforting to say, but every word died on his lips. He finally settled on the reason they came.
"Don't worry Probie, the Calvary is here. We're going to get you out of here."
It would have been comical since all three were still handcuffed to their chairs, but there was nothing even remotely humorous about the current situation
McGee tried to smile, but it looked more like a grimace.
"You don't have to promise that Tony, I'm fine."
Ziva suddenly muttered something in Hebrew and started inching backwards.
"Problem Ziva?"
"I dropped the nail. I am getting another." she muttered.
"Come on!" Tony exclaimed.
Ziva started to retort back but before she did she recognized the fear in Tony's eyes. Fear not for himself but for his friend. She swallowed the harsh words and continued backwards.
"I am sorry McGee."
"S'ok"
Ziva reached the table and Gibbs guided her to another and the process started over again.
"Did you say you're fine?" Tony asked wanting to find out what exactly McGee had meant. The calm in his voice had worried Tony but he decided to see what McGee had to say.
"I'm going to die, this had be-been- been a long... time coming. You don't have to waste the effort to save me. You-you shouldn't even be here."
Now Gibbs was angry.
"McGee if this is about what happened when you were a kid it wasn't your fault and when you get out of here I'm gonna headslap you for even thinking that."
"It was my fault, you don't-"
"I don't what McGee? You were a kid there's nothing you could have done to have prevented it, so unless you pushed them into the water, which I know you didn't, no person in their right mind blames you."
McGee was silent, he didn't accept what Gibbs said but he knew it would be useless to argue. He always had this same conversation with his father. Tim felt guilty; his father insisted he had no reason too. That was where the conversation always ended. Logically he knew they were probably right, but he just couldn't accept it. He tried to straighten and sigh but it came out as a groan
"I wish..." He trailed off and went quiet.
Gibbs closed his eyes trying to figure out the best way to make his agent keep fighting.
"I know, McGee, I know. Just hang on a little longer."
"For what, if I'm blind what does it matter?"
Gibbs was a little surprised at the bitterness in his voice, thought he could hardly blame him. He was actually a little glad to hear some emotion. Until now McGee had been very...calm. Gibbs expected him to be more upset, but he seemed to have accepted his fate. He opened his mouth to say something else when Danny walked into the room. He barely glanced at Gibbs but directed a glare of hate at McGee and kicked him as he passed. Tim groaned then gritted his teeth against the pain.
"Hey man, you left us; we weren't even done talking to you. What's the matter, find cooler people to hang out with?" Tony started talking to Danny hoping to direct his attention away from McGee.
Danny didn't respond, he seemed to be on a mission. He walked to a small sink in the corner and turned the water on. The transformation for McGee was almost instant. Shock and terror filled his face. He began to mumble and tremble violently.
"No no please no."
Ziva had been busy picking the lock and she felt close but she paused for a moment before redoubling her efforts. McGee was struggling against the bond and she wondered what was so much more terrible than what he's already endured to cause that reaction.
Gibbs, on the other hand was pretty sure he knew, the tub was starting to make sense, and Tim's next begging words ripped though is heart and confirmed it.
"Please don't drown me, please don't no, no..." Tim continued pleading and struggling in vain to get away as Danny walked over with a jug of water and a wet towel. He tipped the chair back that was holding McGee until it rested slightly against the tub.
As soon as the chair started backward Tim slipped into hysterics crying and speaking in sentence so garbled no one could understand. They didn't need to try for long. Danny threw the towel over his face muffling his cries as he began to pour the water.