DON'T own the characters or make money so don't sue.
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"I'm not sure I like this place Abby". Tony looked around the darkened club, glancing back and forth watching bodies dance, grind and sway to the seductive beat of the music.
"Aw come on Tony, we hardly ever go out! You look so hot as well, why waste all that now by going home! Come on, get another drink down you!" Abby replied as she moved with the music in front of him.
"Okay" Tony reluctantly agreed, "I'll be back in a minute, just don't go anywhere… Oh do you want a drink?"
Tony looked back to see Abby with some guy, she seemed happy. "…I guess not" turning and heading towards the bar Tony squeezed and shoved through the crowds. Reaching the bar he tried to wave down the bartender.
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"Can I buy you a drink?" a deep voice floated over the music towards Tony.
Looking round a tall man with deep green eyes and a pale complexion moved beside him.
The man was the very image of 16th century elegance.
He fit in perfectly with the rest of the crowd, "Erm… I… I'm sorry but I'm not… well… you know… gay. Sorry" Tony blushed slightly, it wasn't the first time another man had hit on him, but it still made him slightly uncomfortable.
The man looked at him and laughed lightly, "Oh I know that, what is it these days, all the good looking ones are straight!" Tony laughed and relaxed slightly, "I was just looking for some company as I've been ditched by my friend who seems to be leaving with yours!"
Tony looked over to see Abbey and the man leaving the nightclub, looking back at the man he apologized, "I'm sorry I got to go check to see if she's okay, don't want anything happening" with that, Tony stepped up to leave, "I'll come with you!" the man replied.
They both pushed through the crowds and to the exit.
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The cold air crashed into Tony making him gasp, he forgot how cold it can get at night, the man behind him moved forward, "They went down there, come on" moving towards an alley way the man mad his way down it, following him, Tony rounded the corner.
"Hey! Wait up!" The man turned, "Come on! They turned the corner!"
Catching up to the man Tony walked with him, "So… what's your name?"
The man kept his focus on where they where heading and Tony didn't think he would respond at first.
"My name's Thomas. Thomas Steward. You?"
"Tony Dinozzo"
Rounding the corner Thomas smiled, "I always was a sucker for Italians"
"Well, I was born in Italy, but moved around a lot when I was younger, mainly around America so… Are you sure they came this way?" Tony stopped and turned to Thomas.
"Okay so I may have lied to lead you into this dark alleyway for a bit of a make out session" Thomas smiled before moving quickly and pushing Tony up against the wall.
The air rushed out of Tony's lungs, struggling, he tried to push Thomas off of him but he was too big and far too strong, almost superhuman in strength.
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Tony felt lips crashing into his and a hand travelling down his side then stopping and gripping his hip tightly, ‘No this cannot be happening, get off me!'
Tony tried to squirm his way free but it was no use, the pain from Thomas' hand squeezing his hip really hurt but he couldn't get it off.
The sudden feel of a tongue in his mouth caused him to gag and buck, trying desperately to get free, but all it caused was Thomas to push him harder in the wall, forcing his head to bang against the wall.
Tony couldn't breathe, all the air had left his lungs and he was currently being kissed to death, literally.
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Finally, Thomas moved back but when Tony finally gathered enough energy to look up what he saw terrified the life out of him.
Two small fangs elongated from Thomas mouth right in front of him.
Gulping was all he could do, he couldn't move, he felt frozen in place.
Thomas grinned evilly, before moving closer to Tony, "I saw you enter the club and knew I just had to taste you.
When that man left with your friend I just knew my luck was in, I bet you taste delicious!"
Stroking a hand down Tony's cheek, Thomas sunk his teeth into his neck, separating the skin like a warm knife through butter.
The blood that he tasted was so sweet, like nectar and Thomas couldn't get enough but he stopped and pulled back.
Tony groaned in pain and lent his head against Thomas' shoulders. He felt faint and couldn't stand up very well.
His vision went black.
Tony awoke suddenly, sitting up and regretting the movement he fell dizzyingly back on the bed. Groaning, Tony turned to the side and opened his eyes to be met by dazzling green ones looking back at him. "Wha…!" Tony shuffled back.
"I wondered when you'd wake up" Thomas smiled sweetly, "I was beginning to think you were dead to the world!" he chuckled lightly.
Tony tried to push himself from the bed but realised with a start that he was chained to it with his right wrist. Pulling at the chains he realised with suddenly clarity there was no escape. He was trapped.
"Let me go, please!" Tony begged, sitting back on his legs on the floor beside the bed.
"I'm sorry, but that's not going to happen. Your with me now, you belong to me"
"I won't stay here! My friends… they'll be looking for me! They'll find me! You'll see!" Tony almost shouted in desperation at the end of the sentence, he was breathing deeply, he wasn't sure if it was from the adrenaline or fear, he assumed a little of both.
"They won't come looking for you Tony, forget about them, your life is with me now"
"No! They'll come! They won't leave me here!"
"To them your dead Tony, I was out looking for a similar body last night when you were sleeping, I took a vile of some blood, I hope you don't mind, but I needed it for the plan to work"
"Plan? What plan!"
"I drink the man dry, every last drop, then I but a little of your blood on the wound and a little on the floor, of course, I removed all his teeth, his finger prints are removed and I've then spilt a little bleach in the blood I borrowed so it looks like I desperately wanted to keep your identity secret. But I'm sorry Tony… I had to bash your beautiful face in, so not even your mother would recognise you!"
Tony smiled, when Thomas finished, "They'll recognise me!"
"Oh yeah? Would this be from your tattoo?"
Tony paled, "…yes…"
"Unfortunately Tony, they won't come looking. I copied you tattoo exactly; I even measured the exact place on your hip where it was. Then of course to keep up the idea that I want your identity kept secret I burned the skin of it. Of course I know they'll be able to remove the top level of the skin and identify the tattoo, but then of course they'll assume I'm not that knowledgeable and that I made my first mistake. But of course when the blood and everything is sent to poor Abby along with the picture of your tattoo, she'll come to the only conclusion and they'll all be upset together. They'll move on Tony, and you'll be with me!"
Tony was so pale, ‘No please, I want to go home, I don't want to be here!"
A tear made it's way slowly down Tony's cheek, leaving a sad trail over the contours of Tony's face.
"Please, PLEASE, don't do this to me… I want to go home!" Tony whispered shakily. Thomas moved closer to him, reaching out he cupped Tony's cheek, lifting it slightly so they made eye contact, he spoke softly, almost lovingly, "I'm sorry Tony, it's all done now… your with me"
With that Tony burst out crying, he couldn't hold back the sobs that wreaked his body, shaking him, tiring both his body and soul, he cried himself into an exhausting sleep.
Thomas moved behind Tony, lifting him up like a small child he placed him back in the bed, covering him with the sheets. Stroking the hairs that had falling forward slightly he kissed him on the forehead before leaving the room.
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Jimmy paused letting his ears adjust to the loud music that Abby was playing before stepping into the room carrying the evidence that he and Ducky had collected on the body that turned up. They had only managed to gather a very small amount of blood as the body seemed to have been drained completely. "Hey Abby, got some evidence for you!"
"Cool that's great Jimmy, you always seem to know just exactly what a girl wants!" Abby said giving him a shining smile before sucking down another mouth full of Caf-Pow.
Signing to keep the chain of command, Abby then set about sorting out the evidence, a photo of a tattoo caused her Caf-Pow to go crashing to the floor, Jimmy turned around at the sight, to see a very pale Abby, even more so than usual, shivering with tears falling from her eyes.
Walking over to her he quickly pulled her into a hug, "Abby what is it? Do you know the body? Is that it? Do you want me to get Gibbs?" Jimmy was then pulled to the ground by an Abby who could no longer keep in her tears, "Oh god Jimmy, why… w-what has he ever done… w-w-why is it always him! Oh god, i-it can't be… please tell me it's not him… TELL ME IT'S NOT HIM… oh god why him!"
Jimmy pulled Abby closer in confusion, she went from crying to shouting to an almost soundless whisper and he was growing more and more confused! Reaching round to his pocked he pulled out his phone and rang Gibbs.
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"Gibbs here" Jethro answered roughly while at his desk upstairs, he had just barked at Ziva and Tim to ‘GET TONY IN HERE NOW!!!'
"Gibbs, it's Jimmy, I'm in Abby's lab and she… she just started crying, I don't know what's going on, she… she won't stop!"
"I'm coming down!" Gibbs hung up, ‘Great… what's Jimmy said to her now!' he thought, before heading towards the elevator and pushing the button for Abby's lab.
Stepping out the elevator, Gibbs heard Abby crying, following the noise he indeed found Abby pouring her eyes out, in fact he had never seen her this upset ever.
Crouching down, he placed a hand on Abby's shoulder, "What's wrong Abby?" Gibbs whispered gently to her. Abby turned from Jimmy and grabbed hold of Gibbs as if he was her life line.
Gibbs hugged back and turned to Jimmy. "What happened?"
"I came down with the evidence Ducky and I collected, when I gave it to Abby I turned and left and the next thing I know, just as I'm nearly out the door, I hear her Caf-Pow fall to the floor and she starts crying her eyes out. That's all, there's nothing else!"
Jimmy looked confused at Gibbs who thought it over before turning back to Abby.
‘She must have know the person' he thought ‘Probably an old boyfriend'
"Abby… did you know him?" He questioned, a small nod of the head from Abby was all he got through the crying.
"Shh… it'll be okay… were all here for you Abby, were all here…" Gibbs trailed off as Abby pushed away, she was a little quieter now but tears still streamed down her face.
"I…" Abby tried to say it, she was screaming it in her head, ‘NOT EVERYONE IS HERE. IT'S TONY, GOD TONY'S…' she couldn't finish that thought, trying again, she manage to get out, "It's…"
Gibbs put a hand on her shoulder offering comfort. "It's okay Abby, was he an old boyfriend? A friend? I'm sorry Abby" Gibbs said when Abby nodded on the ‘friend'.
Gibbs went to offer comfort again when Abby grabbed him and held him tight, "It's Tony Gibbs, Oh GOD IT'S TONY" Abby screamed before giving into more sobs.
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Jethro's world seemed to shatter, his heart felt like it had split into million of pieces before his brain decided to float down and join it. His body was numb, he couldn't move, as all his insides felt sharp, as if they were tearing under his skin, trying to scrape their way out. Until finally he burst, tears started making there way down his cheek, slowly at first until they start falling like there was no tomorrow.
A small noise started making its way from inside of him, small at first but gaining speed and volume like his tears until the cry of absolute agony was torn from him. When Abby heard the cry she held on tighter, as if they would both break if she didn't.
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Jimmy stood still as a statue, eyes wide but not seeing, thoughts running through his head, soft and gently like a ghosts whisper at first until they too, built up like everything else. ‘Abby saw the evidence… she knows evidence… Abby's smart… Abby says it's Tony… Tony's in the photo… its Tony's blood… TONY'S body… TONY'S BODY in the photo… Why would Tony lie in the photo?... Tony must be dead… TONY'S DEAD IN THE PHOTO… TONY'S DEAD… DEAD DEAD DEAD! TONY'S DEAD! HE JUST AUTOPSIED TONY!"
Jimmy turned and emptied his stomach, he just lost a friend, oh god they just lost TONY!
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Ducky had wondered up to Gibbs desk looking to see if he had any leads, and to tell him that Abby now has to do her thing, but when he got there, Gibbs wasn't there.
Turning around he looked to both Ziva and Tim who were both hard at work. "Have any of you seen Gibbs?" Noticing them both shake there heads, Ducky started to make his way to the elevator which would take him back to the morgue.
Pushing the button he stood and waited. A sudden deep scream startled him from his stance, looking up he saw Ziva and Tim jump up and look to the floor. After what seemed like minutes their eyes snapped to him and they all shouted "GIBBS" before sprinting to the elevator that had just arrived.
When they were all in, Ducky pushed the button to Abby's lab is silence, each casting puzzling and worried expressions to each other.
When Ziva, Tim and Ducky stepped into Abby's lab the sight caused them to gasp, Jimmy was kneeling down, dry heaving with his back towards Abby and Gibbs. ‘If he's sick why aren't they helping him' thought Ducky until he realised that Gibbs and Abby were clinging desperately to each other crying what sounded like their hearts out.
That's when a nagging thought came to Ducky, Gibbs! Gibbs was crying! Never has he EVER seen Gibbs cry, not even a single tear, with a sudden dread, Ducky moved past Tim and Ziva who seemed to have suddenly noticed the whole situation in front of them.
"What happened?" Ducky asked the tear soaking atmosphere.
After what seemed like 10 minutes it was Jimmy who choked out, "The body… we- we" he couldn't say it, ‘cut up?' ‘Autopsied' "… it was… it was Tony!" and with that, Jimmy finally let the tears flow.
Three startled gasps filled the room, before two more people, started to cry.
"NO!" Tim screamed to the room, "NO GODDAMNIT, I will not accept this. It's not HIM! We don't know it was him! Check the evidence, Abby hasn't even had a chance to run the blood or ANYTHING! CHECK THE EVIDENCE!!!"
Hope shone briefly in everyone's eyes but Abby's, managing to hold back her tears, Abby numbly turned to Tim in a subdued voice, "It's him Tim, I saw the photo of the tattoo on the hip. It's him!"
Tim looked at her, "Fine so he had a tattoo that you probably talked him into, but loads of people could have that tattoo, so check the evidence!"
"No, only he had this one, I designed it for him, it's the only one Tim, he's … its Tony!" Abby mumbled upset.
Tim looked round the room, all the hope from the eyes had gone, instead they all looked at the photo of the tattoo that seemed to mock them.
It was a bird, a phoenix, which had its wings wrapped around several objects in its nest. Tim moved closer to the photo, picking it up he looked at the objects.
Movement from behind him and finally Abby's voice drifted over his shoulders.
"I told Tony that a phoenix would suit him perfectly as he always survives… you know what he said? He told me the phoenix couldn't be by itself as it would go crazy… so he pick several objects to go with it. I didn't understand a first so I had to ask him about it. He told me the objects were what the phoenix would always be their to protect, as it was those that made it come back from the dead every time, those that kept the link to life." Abby wiped at her eyes before continuing.
"The spider… he said that was me, because of my web being my first tattoo; he said the spider would use its web to help catch the bad guys. The boat… well, that's obvious now, he said it was Gibbs, because only Gibbs would be able to survive in a heavy storm at sea and still come out the other end reasonably unscratched. Well, he may have said strong and stubborn"
Abby laughed a little, everyone was standing looking at the photo now. "The duck, is Ducky, which isn't surprising, he said it was a perfect nickname as you were totally quackers but he loved you anyway, he told be you were the best uncle he'd ever had!"
A smile made its way on Ducky's face, to think Tony had thought of him as an Uncle, a part of his family had touched him greatly.
"Tim he said you're the buck, that at the beginning, you were so frightened and small, that you would only attract bad things but he new that within a year you would turn into the strong sturdy stag, that was proud and would lead the family to safety, that you'd be sure on your feet and no longer need the shelter of long grass to hide in!"
"I never knew… I always thought he found me annoying" Tim whispered.
"He loved you like a brother" Abby told him gently, "The kitten is Kate, he told me that she may be all scratches and hisses but that she's a damn loyal and beautiful person. The rose is Ziva, apparently he saw your beauty and delicate nature under all those thorns so it's only right to protect you too. Finally there's the pebble, he told me that was Jimmy, he had it done 3 months ago, I remember he was so excited to show it to me, he likes to keep the family updated"
Abby said when Jimmy looked confused, "I didn't think he liked me that much, I thought he thought I was a geek!" Jimmy said shocked, "He does, think you're a geek, but he likes geeks too, he said that there's never any two pebbles alike and so your even more special than any other mineral as he gets to know more of you everyday as you turn into a polished stone."
Gibbs looked down at the photo, "It suits him, perfectly, it's not too big that it's overbearing, but it's not too small to be insignificant, it fits his personality perfectly!" Gibbs smiled a small smile.
"Yeah, he specifically told the tattoo artist that it was to be no bigger than 3 inches by 3 inches, the guy had to wear magnifying glasses" Abby told the room.
"The guy killed Tony because he was high" Gibbs said as he closed his eyes. Opening them he looked round, "God if only he hadn't been on acids Tony would be here!"
"I'm gonna kill him!" Abby said.
Gibbs stood in her way, "Believe me, I'd kill him first but it wasn't his fault, not really, apparently his friends thought it would be "funny" to drug him, the kid thought he was being attacked, he was hallucinating, he didn't know he had killed a man until he woke up and saw the body, the first thing he did was ring the police telling them. When they realised what had happened the got all his friends and arrested them, there going down for along time. They won't get out of this but it wasn't the kid's fault, he's freaked out enough at what he's done, so leave him!" Gibbs told her.
Abby nodded, "Okay, its just… I'm gonna miss him Gibbs, I miss him already!"
Gibbs pulled Abby into his arms, "We miss him too"
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Tony awoke the second time with a bit less confusion, instead he was… well lost, he didn't know what to do, what to think or feel. Looking around the room he realised that Thomas had left, lifting his right hand he looked at the chain surrounding his wrist.
There was no chance of breaking through it, not even with chain cutters, not that he had any on him anyway, and he doubted he could ask Thomas to bring him some.
‘Could you bring be some chain cutters'
‘Sure, what do you need them for?'
‘My toenails a little long at the moment'
‘Okay, I'll go get them now'
‘Yeah, because that would work' Tony thought, rolling his eyes.
Gathering himself he thought, ‘What would Gibbs do?' Firstly he would try and find a way out.
‘Oh goodie, the only way out is through a big door on the other side of the room which I can't reach. I mean what sort of person doesn't have a bedroom window! Oh wait, a Vampire stupid'
Tony argued with himself. ‘Okay step two, if everyone thinks your dead, try and make them think your not again. So how too do that. Hmm, I could phone them but I don't have a phone yet, nor a pen to write to them or anyway to send them a letter, or even access to email. There are no pigeons anywhere, or a messenger on a horse, so I guess they'll have to be kept into the dark of me breathing for a little while longer'
Tony was loving Gibbs ideas more and more, if only some of them were good ones, he'd be out of here.
‘Great Dinozzo, bitch to your other self, like that's not crazy or a sign of mental instability or anything!' Tony breathed a deep breathe before looking round the room again.
"GOD! There isn't even anything to DO!" He shouted hoping that someone might hear him, but he doubted that, punching the sheets, Tony stared at the door, until sometime later, he once again fell asleep.
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Someone licking his cheek bought Tony awake with a gasp. Thomas was laying over him, saddling his hips, bent across, and watching him. "Don't do that!" Tony cried, swiping at Thomas, who moved back slightly and pouted mockingly, before grinning, "I just wanted to wake my new best friend up from his beauty sleep and I thought ‘what better way than to be awoken by a facial licking', so… did you sleep well my darling?"
"Don't EVER call me darling! That's so… old! And don't lick me awake again" Tony ground out to Thomas.
Lifting his hand, Thomas, moved it along Tony's cheek caressing it again, before moving it down to choke Tony, "NOW, lets get ONE thing straight, DON'T you ever tell ME what I can and can't do. I OWN YOU, not the other way round. It's me who decides if you breathe or die, me who decides if you eat and drink and it's me who'll decide every other little thing, okay!"
Thomas held on while Tony gasped for oxygen, until Tony nodded in agreement, "Good, now let's go have dinner, we have your favourite, pizza!"
Thomas said before he slid an iron collar and chain around his neck before he could protest. Then he pulled out a key and unfastened the chains that kept him on the bed.
Standing up he pulled on the leash leading Tony no choice but to follow him out of bed. ‘At least now I might be able to get an idea of the layout of the house' Tony thought relieved that one good thing may come from this.
Out side of the door to the immediate left was another door, across and to the right were two other doors, then to the other end of the corridor he found himself in was another door.
Then to the immediate left of that was another door, in between this door and the one he stepped out of were stairs that led downwards. Thomas pulled him to the two doors opposite, pointing to the one on the left he said, "Toilet" then pointing to the one on the right he said "Bathroom" then turning around he pointed to the door next to the room he came from.
"That's my office, don't go in unless I say you can, if I'm in there, you knock and I'll either tell you to go away or allow you entrance."
Then turning to the door on the other end of the corridor, opposite, he said, "That room is secret, under no circumstance are you EVER allowed in" this was followed by a harsh tug on the lead which caused Tony to stumble slightly, he nodded.
Pointing to the last door Thomas carried on, "That's the library; you can go in there whenever you wish, and there are many books which may interest you. Now, we will be eating in my study" with that said, Thomas opened the door and pulled Tony in, turning around he looked at Tony, "Oh and if I catch you trying to go downstairs, I'm sure you'll regret the harm that Abby would come too!"
It had been 6 months, 6 absolutely god-awful months with a stupid vampire who was desperately trying to jump his bones! He had eventually gotten kind of used to the Thomas' drinking habits, and although it was still strange, it didn't freak him out as much when Thomas drunk some of his blood.
Not that he wanted it to happen or anything like that, it's just he eventually stopped fighting, okay maybe a little was down to the fact that if and when Tony had said no, Thomas went from tender to full on psychotic monster in 0.2 seconds, it was very scary, and Tony didn't mind admitting that to himself.
He just wanted to live so he could get back to his old life, and okay so it had been half a year, but he would get back, he missed everyone too much not to.
He had managed to sneak downstairs a few times in the last few months as well, and he had figured out that the room he was to keep out at all cost was where Thomas seemed to sleep; he locked the door, so Tony couldn't do anything with the information, but he realised that every so often if he snuck downstairs at midday, then he could usually wonder without Thomas ever knowing.
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It was on one of these trips that he met the house keeper, a strange man, who after two or three visits per month he warmed up to, but he eventually in an almost reluctant way became a friend and had agreed to help him escape.
"Hi Bob!" Tony greeted as he saw the housekeeper who sighed,
"Will you ever call me by my real name?" He questioned
"Maybe someday" Tony replied laughing.
Bob was what Tony had called the housekeeper ever since he met him when the housekeeper had refused to talk to him. So when Tony didn't know his name he had told him that he'd call him Bob, unless he did.
The housekeeper hadn't believed him, and now, started to regret that choice. Tony moved round the kitchen and sat on the table watching Bob preparing the meals, after a few minutes when he started to realise how bored he was, he looked up at Bob, "Will you help me?" he asked in a straightforward tone.
Bob stopped what he was doing and sighed, this was the reason he wanted to keep his distance but he couldn't seem to ignore the kid, it was like no matter how much he built the walls around him, trying to keep away his emotions; the kid would come along and seem to walk through them, "Tony… I can't. If he found out…"
"He wouldn't! You would only need to send something on, something that would tell them that I'm alive! Please! I can't stay here forever! Please" Tony begged.
"… what would I have to do" Bob replied quietly, it took Tony a moment to realise what he said and when he did he jumped up from the table and rounded on Bob before giving him a big hug, whispering ‘thank you' to him, before stepping back.
"I'm not sure, maybe if you send them some of my hair or something, or maybe a photo or … or …a letter! No not a letter, as that would be too hard as I'm sure Thomas is checking the post or something. How about some hair and a photo of my tattoo? Could you do that?" Tony asked
"Yeah, I could do that, but you may have to write something on the back of the photo, so they don't think its old or something, as if there getting a prank played on them or something. Then they could recognise that you wrote it!" Bob told him.
"Okay, have you got a camera?"
Bob shook his head, "No, just my phone, so that'll have to do"
"Okay, lets do this, you take the photo, get it printed out from your phone, then bring it back to me when it's done so I can sign it then tape some of my hair to it or something"
"Okay… drop your pants… its time for photos" Bob smiled while Tony rolled his eyes.
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Tony decided not to risk going down to the kitchen for another month after that night as he was happier and was certain that Thomas suspected something, he knew that Thomas had been watching him more carefully lately and as he was so close to getting home, he didn't want to risk anything! So instead it was a month later before he made his way downstairs whilst Thomas was sleeping.
"Hi Bob… did you bring it?" Tony asked when he came into the kitchen.
Bob nodded and walked over to him with the photo, a pen and some tape. Turning the photo over, Tony wrote on the back, grabbed a few hairs and then taped them to the side. The he looked at Bob. "You sure you don't mind doing this? I don't want you to feel you have to or anything" Tony told him.
Shaking his head, Bob responded, "No, I'll do it for you, it's the least I can do after what he's being doing to you"
Tony went red, "I didn't think you knew about that" he mumbled
"What, the blood sucking or the rape" Bob replied harshly, but changing his tone when Tony looked away hurt, "I'm sorry, I just… I wish I could have stopped it somehow, I could have helped you!"
"You are helping! You're helping me now when I need it. You couldn't have helped stop him, he's too strong but you are helping me leave, which means so much more!"
Bob nodded, not really accepting it but wanting to change the subject, he picked up the photo and put it in his pocket, "How are you Tony?" he asked instead.
Noticing the change, Tony allowed it, "I'm okay, but he hasn't seen me for a week now so I have a feeling he'll be coming for me tonight"
"Let's hope not, hope that maybe he's forgotten about you!"
"Yeah, like that would ever happen!"
"Don't loose hope Tony, NOT when your this close. Not now!"
Nodding Tony turned to leave, "I best be getting back upstairs, don't want to get caught"
"See you later Tony" Bob replied watching him leave.
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Tony was right, Thomas had decided to visit him that night, which was why Tony awoke dizzyingly with Thomas attached to his neck. Gasping at the pleasure and pain it brought to him, Tony's head fell back exposing more of his neck to his attacker.
Slowly but surely, Thomas eased himself from his neck and licked off the few drops of blood that remained exposed. Then he looked down at Tony who was squeezing his eyes shut, bending forward he crashed into Tony's lips, claiming his mouth as his.
Tony squeaked in shock when he first tasted his blood on his lips, which caused a tongue to slip quickly into his mouth. Pushing its way inside, it forcefully explored every inch of his mouth, licking, teasing and dominating it. The force of the kiss increased and the pressure caused a great amount of pain as his lips were crushed by Thomas' mouth.
This kiss wasn't about anything but dominance and all it caused was Tony to gasp, yelp and moan in pain, which just seemed to make Thomas push more. It wasn't until Tony felt a hand snake its way around his neck that he really started to worry.
Thomas hand surrounded his next and his thumb pushed down on his skin immediately cutting of his precious air supply, starting to panic, Tony started kicking out but missed completely. He was growing tired and light patches began dancing around his vision, just before he felt he was slipping, Thomas let go of his neck and moved his mouth to Tony's ear, licking it whilst whispering, "I've missed you my sweet… I want you… hard… right now… you belong to me…your all mine… it will be so good Tony… so very good!"
That said, Tony very suddenly found himself naked with a very turned on vampire straddling him.
"No, don't! Get of me!" Tony gasped, his throat still sore
A heavy hand pushed him down on his back, pinning him there whilst another stroked down his side from his hip down to his thigh and back and forth. Moving more slowly over his tattoo than the rest of its path, then it inched inward stroking the inside of his thigh so softly that Tony's body rejected the idea that this was not what he wanted.
His body betrayed him, all feelings of absolute pleasure rocked through him, causing Thomas' eyes to light up in excitement. "See, I knew you'd enjoy this" he smiled as he lowered his head and started nibbling, and licking his way along Tony's chest, teasing his body which bucked in response to get more.
Finally, Thomas pulled back, lifted Tony's legs and wrapped them around his waist then before any word could be said, plunged himself straight into Tony's warmth. Tony screamed in what could only be described as sudden pain followed by absolute pleasure that soon mixed in to each other, until the pain couldn't be identified and the pleasure took over fully.
Tony moaned, "Oooooh, please… I … I … MORE!!!" Tony gasped as he gripped the sheets tightly in his hands. Thomas sped up; pushing back so hard and deep that all Tony could do was hold on and scream in pleasure!
Tony hated Thomas for that, because when it all came down to it, no matter how much it felt good he was still a prisoner here, and he wanted to go home.
Thomas rocked himself deep into the heat of Tony and moaned in delight when Tony closed himself around him, in his opinion there was no feeling greater than a good hard fuck and that was exactly what he planned. He sunk himself into Tony hard and fast, deep long strokes that would build up to lead them both over the edge. But it wasn't enough, Thomas grabbed hard onto Tony's waist and his nails bit through the skin leaving marks, Tony cried out in pain mixed with delicate touches of pleasure. He felt the build up. His ass was tingling with need, and it needed it faster and harder, but the pain… he wanted it to stop but he also knew his body was craving it, wanting it all. Finally with one finally thrust, they were both tipped over the edge and their bodies were wracked with powerful waves of orgasm as they came together, Thomas buried deep inside of him.
________________________________________
Tony awoke later to find that he had been cleaned up and Thomas was no where in sight, thanking God for small mercies, Tony got up and dressed and headed to the library where he grabbed the first book he found and sat down to read it.
After about 10 minutes he looked up thinking, ‘This could all be over soon. I could be at home, or at work, with my friends. I could be happy again. I could do what ever I liked!' Tony smiled slightly; he liked the thought of that.
He just hoped that Gibbs and the rest would find him quickly as he wasn't sure how much more of this he could take without loosing his mind. Breathing deeply Tony let his mind wonder before finally looking back at the book he was reading.
This one was about forensic technology and the way they worked, of all things! God he missed Abby! He laughed sadly to himself, picturing what Abby would look like if when he returned he knew all about her machines or ‘children' as she called them, it would be great to see, he thought, before returning once more to the book.
Gibbs sat at his desk looking at the file in front of him, it was Tim's report so obviously Gibbs knew that there would be no mistakes at all in it, but it gave him a chance to think about everything that had happened the last few months.
Firstly, Tony died, Tony… his second in command and best agent he had ever worked with had… had died? That was where the first problem had occurred for Gibbs. He just couldn't accept it, Abby had proved the body was Tony's, everything said it was, everything but Gibbs gut.
He finally just went along with what everyone was saying because he apparently was upsetting people and they all wanted to say goodbye. So Gibbs gave in, he pretending to everyone for appearances sake, that he too had moved on and accepted that Tony was no longer alive.
But he hadn't and he never could, it was if he could still feel Tony, so he searched for any clues in his spare time but he found none. Not until today.
Seven months after he had searched high and low, but today had finally found proof that Tony was alive. Okay so he hadn't really found it, more it found him but that wasn't the point. The point was that Tony was alive and now he had a direction to search in.
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Abby was in her lab, bopping away to her music that was far too loud in most people's opinions, whilst sucking on the straw to her now empty Caff-Pow, "Shoot!" she said as she thumped the container down on one of the tables, now what could she do?
The case load had been almost nonexistent for the last couple of days, which left her with nothing to do but sit around. To amuse herself she made some cards to send people on their birthdays or just to keep in touch, making them from photos of bullet wounds or brain aneurism photography that she had artfully morphed on her computer.
However, she eventually got bored of that and so decided a little dance around her lab would wake her up, it did, but now she was bored again. She turned when she heard her lab door swish open, Ziva and McGee walked in, "Hey guys, did we get a new case?" Abby asked hopingly.
"Gibbs not here?" asked McGee
"No, why would he?" Abby questioned, Ziva's answer was interrupted as Ducky walked in with Palmer.
"Ducky? Palmer? Okay what's going on? Have I forgotten about a party or something?" Abby probe.
"I asked you all here" Gibbs voice answered as he entered, putting up his hand to halt the eventual questions, instead he strolled over to the evidence table and placed on it a photo of Tony's tattoo.
Ziva groaned, "Look Gibbs, I thought you put all this behind you! Tony's gone and he's not coming back! He can't regenerate…"
"Resurrect Ziva" McGee interrupted
"Whatever! He's dead Gibbs, we buried him!" Ziva shouted.
Gibbs didn't move, he looked at them all before deadly calm, told them to look on the back.
No one moved, it seemed like 10 minutes before Ducky walked over to the photo, picked it up and looked on the back. Everyone watched as Ducky's face showed first confusion, then shock, hope, pain, and guilt made a visit until finally it settled on happiness and underlying anger.
He looked up at Gibbs, "7 months! How could we have left him! He must hate us!"
Gibbs smiled slightly, "No he doesn't, because if he did he wouldn't want us to be looking for him still. He want's us to help him and I'm not gonna stop until I find the bastard who did this!" Ducky nodded in agreement while the others looked confused.
"What's going on?" Asked McGee when no one else said anything.
Gibbs looked at him, "Tony's alive and were going to find him, were not giving up on him again!" McGee, Ziva and Abby looked at him shocked, "But he can't be!" Abby said, "His body… the tattoo…"
"It must have been a very good set up, whoever has Tony didn't want anyone to look for him and they pulled it off."
Everyone looked guiltily at Gibbs, Ziva shuffled her feet, "I think it's a safe assumption that everyone is sorry we didn't believe you Gibbs" she said, "We should have trusted your Gut, it's never been wrong before".
Gibbs looked at them, yes he was pissed off at the time and he was still a little angry but he couldn't blame them, after all his Gut had been wrong once before…
"Abby run tests! Ziva, McGee try and trace where the letter came from! Ducky, Palmer… help!" with that Gibbs turned and walked out the lab.
He couldn't say anything to them as it wasn't time; he needed them to search, not to talk about everything. He needed to get Tony back home!
________________________________________
Tony flopped back onto the bed, wishing he was anywhere but here. Thomas stood across from him leaning against a wall watching his movements.
"Are you going to stand there all night watching me!" he shouted tiredly.
"I might, I find you can be quiet interesting to watch" Thomas replied in a sweet sickening voice.
Tony looked up and then rolled on his side before standing up, "What do you want" he demanded as he raised his chin to meet the vampire's eyes. Thomas looked at Tony before slowly moving towards him, once he was only inches from him, he scrapped a finger down his cheek, along his jaw until finally as it came to rest under his lips he moved it down to scrape his neck before trailing it back up to his shoulders.
Once there he tightened his grip on Tony's shoulder which made him hiss in pain, before stepping away.
"What the hell was that for!" said Tony as he rubbed his now sore shoulder. Thomas shrugged before turning to look at Tony, "I think it's about time you joined me or died" he smugly replied.
"What!!! I don't… where did this come from!!" Tony asked surprised and really worried.
"Well, you becoming boring Tony, yes I do like you but a sip every now and then is getting a little tiring and don't get me wrong, the sex is great but I can't take you as hard as I like because it would kill you. So the only conclusion is that you become mine… or die"
Thomas looked at him and smiled, "I'll let you think about that should I"
"Why… why not just let me go!" Tony asked.
"That's not going to happen, you can never be free of me Tony, unless you kill me, but that won't happen."
"It might!" Tony snarled
"Oh? I very much doubt that!" Thomas laughed as he exited the room.
Tony looked around and then screamed, letting all his anger out before falling back onto the bed once more. Why couldn't he just let him go? Why the hell did he have to choose between death or… death? Either he died for good, or he died and became a monster who would not think twice about killing others for blood!
Damn he wished that the others would find him soon, otherwise he really would be dead and he didn't like to think of what that would do to them. Not when they think he's alive now. With a new determination Tony got up and went to the library.
Looking for a book that he had not read, he wandered back and forth in front of the shelves, but then deciding against reading a book he walked back to his room and flicked on the TV that he had insisted on having.
Thomas had taken him very hard that night, he had so many bruises and even a sprained wrist where Thomas had twisted it, but it was worth it, as he could not even begin to imagine 7 months without one. Tony shuddered at the thought, and flicked onto replays of Blackadder.
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Bob was shuffling around downstairs, at the moment he was cleaning the kitchen benches, it seemed that all he ever did was clean up and cook, but he was well paid so it wasn't too bad, it got him through the boring times.
He turned and smiled when he heard Tony make his way towards him.
"Tony." He acknowledged with a smile
"Hi Bob, did you do it?"
"Yeah, I sent it to them, they should have it by now" he thought and smiled sadly at Tony's expression, he was so happy and excited, it made Bob pray that it would all go to plan.
"How long do you think it'll take them to find me?"
"I'm not sure, two… maybe three days… it depends on how good they are, but however much time it takes you shouldn't sneak down here again. It won't be worth it! If you get caught…" Bob trailed off.
"Okay… yeah I guess your right; best spend more time in the library then, fun!" Tony said sarcastically. Bob walked up to him and pulled him in a hug, "I'm glad we met Tony, although under crappy circumstances, it's been a pleasure!"
Tony sighed happily, "Yeah, it's been nice talking to you… thanks Bob" he said before making his way upstairs, hopefully for the last time. Bob watched him go then went back to work.
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Tim and Ziva were excited, they had managed to track down the envelope to post box it was put in, and they currently were staking it out.
It may have seemed strange to most people, but this post box wasn't really used that much as it was in an area that had decayed rapidly in the last few years, there were only 30 people who lived in the area as most had up and went searching for greener pastures.
So, they had sat for about 4 hours and watched the people who walked by, and took photos of them.
They were bored, but excited that one of these people would lead them to Tony.
________________________________________
Bob was making his way home from his night shift, he was tired but he enjoyed the walk home.
It gave him time to breathe and think, the chill in the air flushed his grogginess out of his lungs and he breathed deep. He did however, tighten his coat around himself only slightly, but a slight chill was worth the calm feeling that came over him.
He felt he needed this, before the preverbal shit hit the fan, and Thomas found out that he had helped Tony get back to his friends, he pushed that thought out his mind as quickly as it came.
Whatever Thomas did to him it would be worth it, for Tony's sake, as he didn't deserve this. Making his way past the post box that marked the corner of his street, he dug his hands into his pocket and groped around for his keys, finally grasping them, he opened his front door and made his way inside.
In a black car outside, two people watched with curiosity.
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Tim and Ziva watched a man returning home at around half three in the morning with surprise, there was no one about at this time, and at first they were startled to see a figure moving past the post box they were stacking out, thanks to Gibbs' ‘Don't leave until you find the person who sent me this photo!'
So when they watched the man tighten his coat slightly as he moved, they both came to the same conclusion.
This was the man!
They had no proof at all, but they just knew!
Which is why they both made their way out of the car and towards the door the man unlocked without saying a word to each other.
________________________________________
A loud firm knock surprised Bob a few minutes after he had put the kettle on to have a hot cup of coffee before he went to bed. Making his way to the door, he pulled it open to see a man and a woman, who he must admit, looked pissed, standing there, looking between them he spoke calmly, "Who are you?"
"Mr…" when he didn't speak, Ziva carried on, "…We have reason to believe you may know where our friend is. Tell us!"
Bob looked first at Ziva, then Tim. Ziva looked angry and tired, but mostly angry and a lot at him, Tim however looked hopefully at him,
Bob could tell he was definitely a worried friend so he just nodded and invited them in.
When they were all settled on the coach he sat opposite and lifted a hand to halt the flood of questions.
"I know where Tony is, and I will tell you but first you need to know who has him, so I recommend you gather all those who especially want to help get Tony back and tell them to hurry to this address, I will then tell you everything and you can come with me at the right time to get him. Please, I can't explain, and I don't want to repeat myself for hours so just tell them all to hurry!"
When he fell silence, Tim and Ziva just stared at him, until Tim picked up his phone and turned to Ziva, "I'll ring Gibbs and Abby, you take Ducky and Palmer!" Ziva nodded and they started dialling.
________________________________________
Gibbs was the last to arrive as he had the farthest to drive, but it was only by a few minutes as his manic driving seemed to make up the time.
When everyone was seated, Bob looked around and smiled, these people were who Tony had talked about with such fondness as it was obvious by the stares he was getting that the fondness wasn't just one way.
With a gulp he opened his mouth, "Well first I should probably say I know where Tony is and he's safe. My names Jonas Jackson and I've been helping Tony contact you…"
"My names Jonas Jackson and I've been helping Tony contact you…"
Gibbs interrupted straight away, not even letting the whole conversation that was to happen begin.
"Where the HELL is he! I swear if I find out that you've not done everything you possibly could to help him…" Gibbs face was that of a man who was absolutely pissed off, there was no other way to describe how he felt. Nobody threatened his family! NO ONE! With a glare that was as cold as steal and yet so hot it could melt anything, he rounded on Jonas, "…I will kill you in the most torturous and slow way possible! You will be in absolute agony begging me to kill you, but I won't! No… it will be dragged out until your mind breaks."
Gibbs snarled, actually snarled whilst backing Jonas into a wall. Jonas put his arms up in a settling matter, "Look… i-it's not me who t-t-t-took him. I swear! I'm helping him! I helped him contact you, I sent you that letter, the photo we took it, he wrote on the back so that you would know it was him! Please just listen there isn't a lot of time!"
Gibbs looked at the man Jonas in front of him, he was scared but seemed to be telling the truth and at the moment they didn't have much of a choice but to trust him. He was their only lead to finding Tony and he even said he knew where he was but he didn't understand how there wasn't much time.
If whoever had Tony had kept him alive this long, why would he kill him now? Moving back an inch from Jonas he stared questionably at him.
When Jonas saw that he had their undivided attention he let out the breath he had been holding and indicated to Gibbs to sit, when he didn't he shook his head and moved to sit himself. When he was comfortable he prepared for what he knew was going to be a long talk.
"Okay… I guess I should tell you that Tony really is okay. He isn't tied up or anything but he can't get out as the whole house is ridden with secret alarms that alert Thomas to anyone entering or exiting the house. I'm not even sure where all these alarms are and I have no idea how to turn them off. So the best way to get Tony out is if you get as many people as you can and storm the house from all entrances. I think it's the only way!"
Jonas stopped when Abby shot a hand up in the air; he nodded waiting to answer her question. "If Tony isn't tied up then why doesn't he just run? The way you're talking it's as if there is only this one guy… Thomas? If that's the case, why doesn't Tony just run out of there? He'd have a good head start?"
Jonas sighed; this was going to be the hard part… "He couldn't… well he could and he did but he was caught within a few seconds, you see… Thomas is a Vampire!"
Hearing the snorts from everyone but Abby who looked slightly more upset Jonas continued, "No, he is! Don't just shrug it off believe me, or even better believe Tony!" Everyone looked confused and glanced around the room thinking maybe Tony was in the corner or something.
When no one jumped out they looked back at Jonas doubtful, Ducky spoke, "Look, your telling us to believe Tony but he isn't here. He isn't the one telling us that he's being held hostage by a vampire and even if he were I'm afraid it would most likely be a trick of some sort. There is no such thing as a vampire and if there were I would most likely see a lot more death on my table with suspicious signs!"
When Ducky was finished he turned to the others, "Look I'm sorry, but this man is obviously crazy! We can't believe what he's saying, and I must get back to Mother. I'm sorry Jethro but this is just a sick joke. Tony died all those months back, the evidence you got must have been faked." With that Ducky stood apologetically and left.
Ziva and Jimmy looked other at each other before turning their gaze to Gibbs, "Ducky's right. This man is obviously crazy Gibbs, I wish it could have been a real lead but I guess Tony is just gone, we mourned him and it's over, sorry" Ziva said as she too walked out slowly followed by Jimmy who muttered apologies along the way.
Gibbs turned to look at McGee who simply responded, "For Tony"; Abby smiled then nodded, "For Tony". They both looked expectantly back at Gibbs who finally smiled slightly and sat down.
Three pairs of eyes turned back to Jonas who through everything looked so desperately happy at the three. For a short moment he had thought maybe all of them would have left thinking his ‘vampire' was a pile of crap.
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"Okay… so we wait outside the house at midday, by this time you will have gotten Tony from upstairs and brought him to the exit at the front. You will both wait there lying on the floor whilst me and McGee along with two teams enter through the front and the back. We'll move past you and with the plans of the house make our way as quickly as possible to the room in the back. Breaking down the door we will be expected to find a coffin…"
Gibbs still found that hard to take, "We then move quickly, lift the lid…"
"And stake that sucker through the heart" Abby piped in. Gibbs nodded, that was the bit he was really looking forward to, getting his hands on the one who took Tony and put them through hell thinking he was dead. He'd enjoy it, very much so.
Jonas nodded when Gibbs finished and sighed, "Do you think you'll be able to get the two teams to pull this off?" He questioned. Gibbs nodded firmly, "That's the easy part!" "What's the hard part?" Both Abby and McGee asked at the same time then shared a small smile.
Gibbs looked at them, "Getting you both to get some rest. We have two hours before it turns 10:00am, get some sleep as were going to need those two hours to set things up for the rescue!"
Abby and McGee looked at each other and settled down in the chairs they currently occupied and closed their eyes; falling asleep immediately Gibbs watched them for a moment and smiled.
Ziva, and Jimmy hadn't know Tony as long as them so he wasn't too upset that they hadn't chose to believe for Tony's sake but Ducky's walking away had hurt him. He didn't understand why Ducky couldn't stay just in case it HAD been true, why he didn't trust the handwriting on the back of the photo. It was so obviously Tony with it's scroll of 'Boss, you got my six?' scrolled along the back next to the hair that was taped near it.
Gibbs still didn't truly believe the man about the whole vampire thing, but he did believe the man knew where Tony was, as so he would listen to anything that he'd say if they got him closer to where Tony was being kept. Gibbs shock those thoughts away and also settled down to rest.
The rescue was only a few hours away and he too knew he should sleep; the problem was he couldn't get his thoughts to stop. Jonas had told him that Tony had once tried to escape and had been caught almost immediately. What were the repercussions? Had he been hurt badly?
But the main thought that plagued his mind was, if what Jonas was saying was true, Tony must have been used like a tap. What else must Tony have dealt with? Gibbs drifted off into a light disturbing sleep.
________________________________________
Tony lay in bed listening to a news report on something or other, he wasn't really listening that closely, it was just on to give him some background noise, as the silence made him uncomfortable. Lying there he thought about the things that had happened to him in the last few months.
He remembered trying to escape a few weeks after he had been captured. He had run as fast and silently down the stairs to make sure that Thomas didn't hear him. He had even managed to get the front door open but once he stepped outside it was only seconds later that he was pushed forcefully down into the ground outside.
Thomas had dropped on him from above so quickly that he wasn't sure what was happening at first but he soon felt the pain as a knife was stabbed into his the top of his thigh. It turned out it wasn't a bad wound, it was more a deep cut to the side of the thigh, but it had hurt like hell, Tony had screamed in agony both from the pain and the suddenness of the wound.
Thomas had then grabbed the back of Tony's head and forced their lips to meet where he then went about nipping and biting them to bruise them and cause him more pain, Thomas pulled back once looked him deep in the eyes and had told him that he would regreat the escape attempt.
When Tony had woke up the next day he realised that he must have fainted. When he took account of all his injuries he realised that Thomas had also bruised his ribs, arm and broken Tony's little finger. That wasn't the worst thing that happened on that occasion, it was also the first night that Thomas had rapped Tony.
Tony didn't leave the bed for two weeks after that event, and Thomas didn't visit him, which he was so thankful for, he never wanted to see him ever again, as he was terrified of what would happen next, but Thomas had been right that night, he did regreat the failed escape attempt.
________________________________________
Tony shook the memory away; he didn't want to think about the things that had happened to him when he was here. Yet they always seemed to come back, slipping into his mind every now and then at the moments where he had nothing to do to keep his mind off of them.
Right now he was alone with the TV, Thomas was asleep in his coffin, and he had the worst thought plaguing his mind at the moment. Whether he would really be willing to become a vampire if he couldn't escape in time, he didn't think he could but would he really be willing to just die from having his blood drained?
Tony didn't like the idea of that. With a sigh Tony looked at the clock. It was 8:00am, which meant either he made a choice in the next couple of days or Gibbs and the others would come and rescue him before then. Tony really hoped they would come before he had to see Thomas again, but that wasn't down to him, there was nothing he could do on this end that he hadn't tried already and that had failed.
Tony thought about going down to see Bob in the kitchen but decided not to as Bob had told him to stay away and not to risk anymore suspicious movement about the house when they were close to being free.
So with absolutely nothing to do, Tony rolled over and went to sleep for a little cat nap.
________________________________________
Gibbs, McGee and Abby stood with Jonas and three teams of 4 specially trained armed agents. Jonas would be entering the house in 20 minutes where he would go about his daily chores for an hour and a half. Then at midday he would make his was upstairs to get Tony, then make their way down to the front door entrance and lay down to the side.
At exactly 12:15pm Gibbs and his team will be making their way through the front door while McGee and his team would make their way through the back.
Abby would be waiting outside with another team to make sure that when Jonas and Tony did leave the house they were protected.
Gibbs looked around at the group and prayed that it would all go to plan for their sake and especially for Tony's!
At 10 minutes past 10, Jonas entered the house. He went in through the front door which was usual for him, he was told by Gibbs that he must not do anything that might be considered strange or unusual in his routine until the very last moment when he would go upstairs and get Tony.
But that was over an hour away and until then Jonas wouldn't do anything that might ruin the chance that they had been given. In fact as Jonas was walking through the hall that would eventually lead him to the kitchen, he knew that if push came to shove he would do everything it would take to make sure that Tony got out of this alright.
When Jonas got to the kitchen he turned on the lights, and after a small flash they came on, dimly at first but after a few minutes the light seemed to warm up and grow in power. When Jonas was able to see the whole kitchen clearly he shuffled along to the centre aisle where the sink was full of the dishes from the day before.
Jonas preferred to do the dishes in the morning rather than spending time the night before. It gave him time to think while he automatically washed and dried them before putting them back in their rightful places. He thought about all the times that Tony had come downstairs and asked how he ‘Bob' was doing; he smiled slightly at that thought.
He had grown so used to being called Bob that he was actually going to miss it slightly. When this was all over and Tony went back to his job, he liked to think that they would still keep in touch, even meet up sometimes. He couldn't imagine Tony not seeing him and calling out a cheerful ‘Morning Bob' as he moved and sat down to watch him go about his daily chores.
Jonas sighed, Tony had become like a sort of surrogate son to him, and it saddened him to think of how much Tony had been through. Black eyes, bruised ribs, bruised arms… there were lots of bruises; they covered almost all of his body at first.
Arms, legs, lots of little cuts that were made from the scratching of nails on skin, then there was the amount of blood that must have been drunk from him, all in all, if Tony didn't get out of here it would kill him.
Finishing the dishes, Jonas then moved to wipe down the benches, opening the cupboard under the sink, he reached for a bottle of anti bacterial spray. Turning the spray lid to open, he sprayed it on all the benches.
‘What if it all went wrong? What if as he was sneaking up the stairs, Thomas heard him and he was waiting for him. What if he snapped his neck and then went to Tony's room where he then sucked him dry. No! No he wouldn't do that, even worse he'd turn Tony into a vampire and Tony would spend an eternity hating himself probably trying to kill himself, which he wouldn't be able to do because Thomas would make sure to keep him alive.'
Jonas shivered, that would be worse, Tony would suffer greatly if he didn't manage to get up those stairs, get Tony and get them down to that front door in time. Wiping down the bench with a wet cloth Jonas pushed all negative thoughts out of his head and looked at the clock.
Less than one hour left before he would walk up those stairs and he would either get Tony out of the house or he would fail. The clock seemed to slow as the seconds passed ridiculously slow.
________________________________________
Gibbs, McGee and Abby stood outside, they had just watched as Jonas wandered up to the house where Tony was being kept. ‘God! They could have Tony back within less than 2 hours!' Gibbs thought. He couldn't wait; he had a major adrenaline build up in his system, which had his thoughts flittering like a butterfly from one thing to the other.
Usual people might get the shakes but he was too well trained for that so instead he just tried to focus on Tony.
‘Tony was in there. Tony could be out any minute, making the same usual jokes and give Abby a massive hug, McGee will be teased and he… Tony would give him the look that says, ‘I'm alright Boss… I knew you had my six'… Yes, everything will be fine'
Gibbs thought, he also thought that he might be starting to sound a little naïve but he didn't want to think about anything that might have hurt Tony.
Abby stood looking at the house and shuddered, it looked creepy. Not the creepy that would typically be thought evil, more the fact that it was an ordinary house that seemed to have several windows bricked up and others that seemed to have been painted with thick black paint that gave the overall impression of darkness. Abby hated it!
On most occasions she would have most likely loved it, found it interesting and "funky", but at the moment, she hated it with all her passion. It encompassed Tony and kept him hidden from the rest of the world.
Her idea after the rescue was a bulldozer; she wanted to crack the building into tiny little pieces. To let it collapse like her heart had when she had thought Tony was really gone. She hoped that's how vampires really did die as well, it was what Thomas deserved, she hoped for lots of pain.
McGee stood watching the door where Jonas disappeared into and where in one hour and thirty minutes, Tony would be making his way out. He looked at the door… really looked at it. It was nothing special, yet it would become so, because it would be the exit that Tony would come through.
It would bring Tony back to his friends, back to his family, because that's what they where. They were a family and Tony needed to come back because the team seemed to have grown slightly apart without him. They were strained without him, there was no-one to mediate and ease the tension.
That door was special because Tony would finally come through it and be back to where he belongs.
________________________________________
It was time; Jonas put down what he was doing and moved swiftly to the bottom of the stairs. Gripping each of his hands tightly on the banisters on either side of the stairs he pushed up putting most of his weight on them rather than on the stairs below him. His arms strained slightly with the effort but there was no way he would risk not doing this and then getting caught by Thomas.
Taking his time as much as he would allow he moved carefully from step to step, pausing halfway through when he heard movement. If Jonas was a cat, his ears, whiskers and tail would be twitching, but as it was Jonas just froze until he was sure the noise was gone before resuming his journey.
When he was at the top he let out the breath he had swallowed and turned skillfully to the right and opened the door to Tony's bedroom. Moving like a shadow he slipped quietly into his room and made his way to Tony's bed. He wasn't there! Jonas turned quickly and looked around the room.
It was empty.
Quickly realizing he had little time he walked out the room and made his way to the library. He didn't bother trying to hide any noise; he just hoped that if Thomas heard anything he would think it was Tony moving around. Swinging open the door to the library he moved quickly inside.
That was the moment he heard two doors creaking and collapsing in on themselves, Gibbs teams were moving in and they weren't in place. He should have been quicker up the stairs.
Tony jumped in front of him, "Wha…?" Jonas quickly shushed him and grabbed his arm, pulling him quickly down behind a chair. "Shh!" Jonas mouthed to Tony before pulling him closer which was just in time as the door to the library was violently pushed open.
________________________________________
Tony looked up suddenly as he heard a bang and the door was pushed open suddenly, "Wha…?" Jonas looked panicked and when he saw him he ran over to him and grabbed his arm before pulling him down to the floor and telling him to keep quiet. He then pulled him into himself and then the door to the library slammed open.
Tony held his breath and didn't move a muscle, he looked and Jonas questionably confused to what was going on when he heard movement from downstairs. That when he it clicked and he realized that this was it. This was his rescue which meant that it was Thomas standing behind them, Tony looked and Jonas panicked. What if Thomas found them?
Tony looked desperately at Jonas who pulled him tighter, when there was movement behind them they sucked in an even deeper breath. The sound moved away swiftly to Tony's bedroom. Slowly they let out the breath they had been holding but didn't move an inch; they heard Thomas in Tony's room.
He was screaming, "TONY! WHERE ARE YOU! YOU'LL REGRET HIDING FROM ME! YOU'LL NEVER BE FREE… I OWN YOU!" Tony looked scared; in fact if it wasn't for the fact that Jonas had he held in a tight comforting hold, Tony was sure he'd be rocking back and forth in a corner some where.
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Thomas ran from room to room, he could hear people at the bottom of the stairs, making their way up them, obviously coming for him and Tony.
Tony wasn't anywhere; he wasn't in the library, his room, not even the office.
He had sworn to Tony that he should never be allowed in their without his permission, but if he had found him there now he wouldn't have cared. Thomas turned around in his office to find the exit cut off, he smiled, "Well well well… do you really think that a gun will stop me" Thomas said as he straightened his stance and all but snarled at Gibbs.
"No, but I'd expect it to slow you down as I stake you repeatedly through your little black heart!"
"Hmm… let's get on with it then"
Gibbs and Thomas looked at each other straight in the eyes for a long moment, calming themselves before the big fight that they knew was about to take place. It was Thomas who moved first, he flung himself at a startling speed at Gibbs, but no matter how fast he was, Gibbs was faster.
Lifting his arm he quickly trailed the weapon on his target, five shots ran out. Thomas gasped and fell back, then let out an ear piecing scream when a wooden stake slid smoothly into his heart. Thomas looked up as Gibbs loomed over him still grasping the stake, he was smiling cruelly, savoring the moment, before he leaned over and whispered smugly in his ear,
"Nobody takes away my family… my SON! And those that attempt it… well lets just say they don't live to long after I meet them… Nobody gets away with hurting my family!"
Once finished Gibbs twisted the stake and Thomas cried out once more, before finally succumbing to the darkness that swept around his vision.
Thomas' body imploded and turned to ash, Gibbs didn't show any outward emotion to this, but inside his was stunned. He was actually a vampire, he couldn't believe it… pushing his view on the world aside for the moment he stood up and turned to McGee and the others who looked stunned.
"Any sign of Tony?" Gibbs asked the room, he didn't care who answered.
"None yet… we'll look now…" McGee trailed off as he and the others started searching the rooms. He couldn't believe it when they past the threshold and Tony weren't there; he stopped for a moment before continuing.
It didn't mean anything… they could have gotten caught up, deciding to hide somewhere else instead. Splitting up they searched all the rooms, it was Gibbs who entered the library. Standing at the door, he looked around before moving further into the room, "Tony?" he called out lightly, wondering why he didn't just shout for him earlier.
"Gibbs? Is that really you?" Tony whispered, before peaking his head up from over the chair. When he saw Gibbs he almost stopped breathing before he got up and ran to him, rapping his arms around him in a hug before realising that this was Gibbs, but as he moved to pull back and apologise Gibbs tightened his arms around him and said words that startled and cheered Tony instantly, "Good to have you back son, the team… the family missed you. I missed you"
A tear made its way down Tony's cheek, when he did move back from Gibbs, he wiped it away. A squeeze on his shoulder made him turn, Jonas stood their and smiled, "Your going home."
Tony nodded, "Thank you… I don't think I can tell you that enough but… thank you" Jonas nodded and went to make his way out of the house, before leaving the room he turned to talk to Tony once more, "You deserve this Tony, Goodbye"
When Tim heard Gibbs call of ‘We've found him' he practically ran towards the voice, when he actually saw Tony, he ran so fast, he tripped sending both him and Tony to the floor. Tony looked up at McGee and laughed, "I always thought we'd end up like this someday, but I always thought I'd be in a boxing ring, and i'd be a lot older" McGee looked down grinning like the Cheshire cat,
"Good to have you back Tony… the place wasn't the same… oh and thanks for the catch." Tim stood pulling Tony up with him, and looked to Gibbs.
"Okay people; let's get out of here… people to see." Gibbs said in all his Gibb-ness.
"Sure boss, on your six" Both Tony and McGee said proudly.
Gibbs turned and made his way outside, smiling as he went.
The Next Day…
Gibbs opened the fridge and grabbed a pack of beer from the fridge before making his way back to the sofa, chucking one at Tony he sat down beside him and started up the DVD, he wasn't too sure what it was but that didn't matter, it was just there to look at when he talked to Tony.
"What happened?"
Straight to the point, typical Gibbs Tony thought.
"A lot happened Gibbs… and I'm not sure if I'm ready to talk about all of it so could you be a little more specific?"
"How did he hurt you?"
Tony didn't move, the one question that he didn't want to be asked, Gibbs asked first.
"I… he hit me, bruised a few bones, sprained a few wrists and ankles… nothing much"
"I don't think that's really all…" Gibbs trailed on, "… I want to know. I need to know all of it."
Tony looked at Gibbs and told him, everything. Halfway through Gibbs had moved closer to Tony to offer more support, he had even punched the sofa at one point, but he never looked pitiful at Tony for which he was thankful.
When they had finished Gibbs had pulled Tony into the longest hug he had ever had in his life before pulling him up and moving him down the hall to the spare bedroom. Tony smiled at him as much as his emotional state would allow before moving to lie in the bed.
"Sleep well Tony… I'll be next door, no one will ever get you again son" Gibbs turned off the light and shut the door to.
Tony snuggled deeper into the covers, Gibbs had called him ‘son', yes he was finally home, back amongst his friends, his family. Tony sighed happy for the first time in seven months, unafraid that someone would come into the room when he was asleep.
Finally he was home.
Tony awoke sweat dripping from his brow and the covers soaked through, getting up he pushed the covers aside and looked around confused for a brief moment before turning around and fleeing towards the door. Muffled voices and shadows that twisted with ghostly impressions followed his movements.
The echoes taunted his movements giving rise to feelings that terrified him. Finally twisting the door handle open, Tony ran down the corridor looking behind him every so often as the shadows twisted and turned to follow him. Finally making his way to the front door he pulled frantically on the door handing, pulling with desperation to open the door.
The sounds followed him beginning to gain in volume as they came steadily after him coming to get him, to hurt him. Crying out Tony couldn't get the door open, he looked up to see another lock, reaching up he managed to gain a grip on it and yank it open, but still the door wouldn't open.
They were almost near him now, they were so close, he was terrified what was about to happen, he had to get away. His life depended on it. Finally managing to get the door open he pulled it towards him, but a sudden force closed it shut again. He tried again but the force kept it shut.
They were almost upon him now, they were nearly here, screaming and shouting at him, telling him how he was going to die, about what they would do… but then a new voice joined them, faintly, he could just make it out. It sounded familiar to him but he wasn't sure, he focused on it as it was the only sound that felt friendly, it got louder, "Tony, you're safe, it's okay, I'm here" Tony listened to the voice as it started to drown out the others, it was so much clearer now, "Tony please, everything is okay, nothing's going to hurt you, wake up!"
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Tony suddenly became aware all too suddenly as he went from dream state to fully awake in very little time. He looked around and found himself at the front door of Gibbs house. The force that had previously kept him from opening the door and running away in terror was Gibbs arm pushing the door closed and keeping it like that.
Tony turned in shock and looked at Gibbs who in turn looked at him with shock, horror and so much confusion that Tony thought for a moment that it might really be a dream still. He reached out and when he felt solid flesh under his palm, he brought it back to his side suddenly as if it had been burnt and then let out a most powerful cry of desperation as he slid shakily to the floor and wrapped himself in a ball, crying.
Gibbs looked down at Tony not really sure what exactly was going on but knew that it was causing Tony a lot of pain, he moved quickly to Tony's side and sat down next to him. Gibbs didn't fully understand the situation yet, but he was pretty sure that Tony would have probably been in a lot of trouble if he had left the house.
When Gibbs awoke to hear a cry from somewhere in the house he had wasted no time in reaching for his gun and running to where it had came for. When he saw Tony in the hall trying desperately to leave he put the gun down quickly and pushed the door shut. His gut told him that Tony was not himself at the moment, and he thought better than to grab him in case one of them got hurt, so instead Gibbs did the only other thing and try to get Tony to hear him.
He could tell the exact moment that his voice had got through to Tony as the pulling on the door handle stopped and he had went still before looking around in confusion. Then Gibbs saw his face, there was fear, a lot of it, as well as confusion and finally a desperate person who then let out a cry and slid to the floor, closing in on himself.
Gibbs looked across at Tony and did the only thing he could think of; he wrapped an arm around him and pulled him as close as he could. Tony responded by opening his self up and pushing his face into Gibbs shoulder as he grabbed hold of Gibbs and held on for his dear life. Gibbs pulled Tony closer and rubbed a comforting hand along his back in small circles, "Shh Tony, its okay. Everything will be okay, I'm here... I'm here. You're safe." Gibbs whispered soothingly to Tony as he cried.
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It was over ten minutes later before Tony started to settle, he looked up, bright red eyes from crying and looked at Gibbs, "I'm sorry Boss… I don't know what happened" Gibbs pulled Tony closer and sighed, "I think you do know Tony… tell me…"
"I… I guess it started a while ago, when I was younger. I think I was about 7 at the time. My mother had just died and I was obviously upset… my dad, well you know he drunk a lot… I guess it just got too much. I started getting night terrors, I would wake up so scared and I thought something was coming for me. I would run, it's the only thing I could think of doing, I just had to get away from it. The first time it happened I remember waking up a couple a miles away from the house. I was scared then too because I didn't know where I was and I had no way to get home. Eventually someone found me and took me home, but…"
Tony swiped a hand across his eyes as a tear escaped. "My dad eventually found out a year later after the teachers had pulled me aside to ask what was wrong… he took me to the doctors who told me what it was. Well, when I got home my dad showed me how much he thought I was pathetic… They eventually stopped after a while. I haven't had this happen to me for along time Gibbs… There just so scary, at the time I'm so sure that I'm about to die that all I want to do is get away! I nearly did die once!" Tony shuddered in Gibbs arms.
"What happened?" Gibbs asked calmly, he couldn't believe how much Tony had been through as he was growing up and with what he had been through recently. Gibbs had never known anyone who was as strong as Tony, and he knew a lot of strong people.
"I was on a business trip with my dad, he took me to this five star hotel in Edinburgh, it was a long meeting my dad went to, so I decided to just go to sleep without waiting up for him. I learnt later that my dad had gone to an after meeting with his business associates. My dad brought back a friend with him that night, I had never been so happy in my life that he did because if he hadn't I'd be dead now. When they came in, I had somehow managed to open the balcony door. I was standing up on the ledge."
Tony took a deep breath, "Martin Graham… the man with my dad, as soon as he saw me he ran towards me, at that moment… I stepped off the ledge. God! I actually woke up at that moment, and I was hanging above the street on the 27th floor. I remember crying and Martin telling me that it's okay, that he's got me and that I shouldn't move. He pulled me up by himself and I remember clinging to him. When I looked round my dad was in the exact same place. He hadn't even moved Gibbs! Not an inch!"
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Gibbs couldn't believe that someone could care that little for their own son, their own flesh and blood! Sometimes, Gibbs felt like hunting down that bastard and teaching him a lesson! "Tony, your dad may have been an absolute jerk but I want you to know that I'm proud to call you my son. Very proud!"
Gibbs watched Tony's reaction, he had never seen anyone so emotionally desperate for any sort of affection, and to see Tony's eyes light up with the praise and a smile swim over his face, he couldn't help but feel warmth himself. "Thanks boss… I, thanks"
Tony had never felt such pleasure at such simple words, but it made him feel a lot better than he had in a long time. "How about we go watch a movie on some actual furniture?" Gibbs said as he moved to stand, Tony nodded and stood up with a lot more ease than Gibbs. "Tony, we have a lot more to talk about still… you know like what happened to you, the whole ‘vampire' thing!"
Tony sighed, "I know Gibbs,but how about we just forget it?"
"Yeah right, and have you freak out in silence with nobody there to help you… you really think I'd let you deal with this on your own?"
"Well… when you put it like that... look I really am okay" Gibbs just looked at him with a raised brow. "Fine! I'll talk! You win!" Tony shouted and then looked surprised with himself. He wasn't angry at Gibbs, but the anger seemed to come out of no where. Confused Tony looked at Gibbs who just smiled and shock his head.
"It's a symptom sometimes, when someone has been missing for as long as you have you might feel angry that I didn't get to you as quickly as I could have. Add that to the fact that Thomas also… raped you… the anger might be from the feeling of not being in control" Gibbs finished, Tony just nodded and walked into the front room and sat down on the sofa. Gibbs followed him but then steered off to make some coffee, once done; he placed a cup in Tony's hand and sat beside him, sipping on his own cup.
"We need to discuss it Tony, otherwise it might creep up on you at the worst possible times."
"It won't. I won't let it!"
"What if your searching a scene and a man comes up to you and he reminds you of Thomas, what if the man is a suspect and he sees that you have a weakness and he uses it? What if he…"
"OKAY! Okay I get it! It just doesn't make talking about it any easier!" Tony said raising his hands up to halt Gibbs in his sentence. "Look… I just don't know where to start, Gibbs, it's all jumbled and I'm not too sure on the timeline anymore!" Tony said, trying desperately to get out of the up and coming discussion.
"Start anywhere Tony, it doesn't matter, just as long as you talk and let things out"
"Fine… well I guess the time that jumps out the most is when he came into my room, he just walked over to me and I just lay there. God I didn't even move, I didn't fight, just lay there and let him do what he wanted. At first he just pushed my head to the side, he bend down and smelt it and I remember thinking ‘why the hell aren't I doing anything?' He pushed his teeth into me and started drinking and all the time I'm thinking, ‘it's not too bad, it doesn't hurt'. I just let it happen! After a while he just grabbed my legs and… you know."
Tony turned away from Gibbs embarrassed over what had happened to him. He hated feeling like this and what annoyed him more was the fact that he was telling Gibbs that he didn't fight back after a while. He heard Gibbs' intake of breath and turned, waiting for Gibbs to tell him how weak he was, that he was ashamed of him, but instead all Gibbs did was reassure him,
"Tony… I can't believe how strong you are… after everything that's ever happened to you… to say I'm proud of you is an understatement, but I want you to know that everything that happened was not your fault, and everything you did was the right thing to do… it got you out alive so for that I'm thankful. Understand?" Tony nodded and Gibbs continued, "What else do you remember?"
"I remember he had my pinned back against the wall once and kept touching my hip, stroking it and tracing the outline of my tattoo. It unnerved me… I felt like… I don't know… like I was his pet or something, a possession. Then he just dug his nails into it, it hurt like hell… I felt like they were burning a passage through me, splitting my skin and turning the muscle around it into acid, but when he stepped back I looked down and there wasn't a mark on me or anything. I think it may have been lack of oxygen or something because there was no sign of him ever touching me at all."
Gibbs shook his head, "No, I think he did what you said but he must have covered it somehow, he was messing with you. Toying with you, seeing how you would respond most likely."
Tony nodded and then noticed the time, "God Gibbs its 0300! We should catch a few more Zzz before we have to get to work!" Tony jumped up and started heading for the bedroom but the hand around his wrist stopped him in his tracks, Tony panicked slightly before telling himself to calm down, that is was only Gibbs. Gibbs saw the reaction, but chose to ignore it whilst inside he praised Tony for overcoming the initial reaction,
"You will be coming to the office with me, but you won't be working Dinozzo, you'll just sit there playing those games you delete off your computer and then load back on when I'm not looking." Gibbs said in a finite tone. Tony rolled his eyes but just nodded, actually quite pleased, "Okay Boss will do."
Gibbs looked once to make sure that Tony would indeed do as he said and when he was happy with it, let him make his way back to the spare bedroom. They still had a few things to work on, but all in all, Gibbs was pleased at the progress Tony had made, he just hoped the night terrors was a one off thing.
Bright and early Tony followed Gibbs out of the elevator, it had been a relaxed atmosphere with Gibbs for the last few days and their discussion in the early hours of the morning hadn't seemed to make things awkward between them. In fact, Tony even felt more comfortable around Gibbs than he had ever felt previously.
Tony sat at his desk when Gibbs stopped in front of it; Tony just rolled his eyes and stepped round him because if Gibbs wanted to act like this, then for the moment Tony was okay with it. He didn't mind the fatherly way he was acting towards him as it just made him feel comforted and wanted.
When Tony sat down he watched Gibbs move towards his own desk, it wasn't long before Tony was bored.
Tony looked left, people were walking back and forth, busy at work, nothing special, they didn't appear to be rushing any more than usual. Ziva and McGee were out talking to a witness on a case that Tony wasn't allowed to know anything about as were Gibbs orders.
He also announced to the whole building that if anyone even suggested to Tony what the case was about that he would come down upon them like a tone of bricks and they'd be out of NCIS in less than a minute. Tony actually heard the whole building gulp together.
Thinking about maybe going down to see Abby or even Ducky or Palmer, Tony started to rise from his chair, and out of nowhere came the slap to the back of his head. "Your not thinking of going somewhere are you Dinozzo?" Gibbs asked in a polite tone. "No Boss, just erm… thought I saw something moving over their…?"
Tony's face showed how poor he thought that excuse was, he cringed. Gibbs just shock his head and smiled, "Come on, I'm heading down to see Abby, I'll drop you off at autopsy on the way." "Boss, can't I just see Abby…" Tony asked, hoping that Gibbs would say yes just so he could find out about this mystery case.
"No, and you know why Tony."
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"Anthony... Jethro… I didn't expect to see you down here" Ducky all but stuttered out the words, he felt extremely guilty for not believing that Jonas knew where Tony had been kept, and after they got Tony back, he had heard all the rumours that had been floating around the building.
He wasn't sure if they were true but by the way Jethro had been acting recently, he guessed that something extremely bad had happened. So when he saw Jethro bringing Tony into autopsy, he wasn't sure what to say. He had talked to Jethro the other day but that conversation hadn't gone down to well.
It had ended with Jethro telling him that he was a ‘complete and utter bastard who had let his stubborn inflexible look on life get in the way of helping a family member'. Ducky was sure that if he was a few years younger Jethro would have went for him. By the look of Tony, he was also pretty sure that the poor lad had no idea what had happened in that meeting of Jonas', he was glad of that, but it also made him feel gut wrenchingly guilty.
"Hey Ducky, guess who I get to spend the rest of Gibbs' time at work with… ding ding ding… got it in one!" Tony smiled, as he jumped up to sit on one of the empty autopsy tables and swung his legs back and forward whilst he watched Gibbs do a 180 degree turn and leave without so much as a nod to Ducky.
The smile that was once on his face turned to a frown, ‘what the hell?' Tony turned to Ducky about to make a comment on Gibbs' odd behavior but saw that he was looking at him, with an odd guilty look on his face.
"Ducky? Are you okay?" Tony asked with a furrowed brow.
"I'm sorry Tony. I know you don't know what I'm going on about but I need you to know that I'm sorry for it" Ducky asked desperately in a slightly depressed tone.
"Duck, your right, I don't know what your talking about but you don't have to apologise, your already forgiving! So don't worry about it" Tony said, waving a hand as if to brush the whole previous conversation aside.
Ducky shook his head negatively and moved forward to stand in front of Tony, lifting an arm he placed one on Tony's left shoulder and squeezed slightly in a comforting gesture. Then he made eye contact, Tony saw that whatever was going on had upset him greatly and made a note in his head that no matter what, he would forgive Ducky, as he had already paid any price.
"Anthony, when we found Jonas we all were called to a meeting at his home. He told us about Thomas, and that he had you trapped in a house. I didn't believe him… I didn't believe that Thomas was a vampire; I didn't believe that Jonas knew where you were! I didn't believe that you were alive! I think… I think I didn't want to believe you were alive!"
Tony looked at Ducky wide eyed, "You… you wanted me to be dead" he whispered in pain from the idea that someone he thought of as an uncle would be so… harsh!
"NO! No never… I think it's the idea that we had left you for 7 months! We didn't look for you for seven months and in that amount of time, things happened to you…" Ducky lifted Tony's chin so he could again speak to him whilst looking at him, he saw the pain that those seven months did to him. They reflected from Tony's eyes as easily as if it was mirrored glass,
"…Anthony… I need you to know that I have never wanted you dead, but it was easier for me at that time to hope you were because then I wouldn't have had a helping hand in letting that-that monster do those things to you!" Tony held a breath for a long and agonising moment then let it out slowly, gulping, as his salivary glands seemed to be going into overdrive, he finally spoke,
"Duck… I know this was hard for you to say and I know you didn't have to say it but… its okay, I understand… in a strange sort of way. Let's just put this behind us okay?" Tony flustered trying to get the right words out but when Ducky smiled slightly he relaxed.
"How bout you just sneak me up to Abby's lab…. Or even better! Tell me what the case is about… come on… no one will know, it'll be our little secret" Tony lifting a hand, indicated with his thumb and finger a space of about an inch, whilst tilting his head and making puppy eyes, Ducky just shook his head. "Sorry Anthony, but Gibbs has warned everyone not to mention anything, no mater how small the detail."
"For the love of God! I don't even know if the body is male or female!" Tony shouted in expiration. Ducky saw that Tony was getting slightly annoyed at being kept in the dark, but as he looked closer he saw dark circles surrounding his eyes.
"Anthony, are you sleeping well?" he asked politely. Tony just waved his hand to bat the question away, "Night terrors. Nothing to worry about" he jumped down from the autopsy table and wandered round the room.
"There's nothing to do here" he said changing the question with ease, ignoring Ducky's shocked face, "Gibbs could've at least left me some toys!" Tony joked, but when hearing no response looked back to Ducky, "What's wrong now?"
"Night terrors? When did this start? Never mind, stupid question. Would you talk to me about them?" Ducky asked alarmed, he knew the effects that came with them as he had seen many people with them in his lifetime, but few had them at Tony's age, although it wasn't heard of.
"There's not much to say really… Gibbs says that there back because of the whole Vampire kidnapping" Tony said exaggerating the last two words.
"Anthony, I want you to tell me what happened, please" Ducky asked sympathetically.
"Duck…" seeing no backing down Tony sighed, why did he have to keep telling people, "look he hurt me, I'm not denying that, but… there were times when it wasn't too bad you know? I mean I know it was… r-rape, but I'm just saying that at times… Gawd, at times I liked it!"
Tony looked at Ducky, eyes pleading for him to understand. Ducky heaved a sigh, "Dear boy, you know as well as I do that sometimes the body reacts to stimuli against the will of the mind" Tony shook his head dramatically, "No, I mean I know that, but it wasn't always like that all the time. Once, when he bit me I swear I actually enjoyed it. I just lay there thinking that maybe I could grow to love it, love him. At some point in time I started feeling attracted to him and I tried not to, I did try, but in some sick twisted sort of way… I miss him... the feeling..."
Tony watched Ducky's reaction to his words, hoping that he wouldn't just laugh them off or try and tell him it was just a reaction, as he knew that over time a person can become attached to their kidnapper but he just didn't think that it could all be due to this. "Anthony, I don't really know what to say, or tell you, but I just want you to know that no matter what… I'm just glad your back safe and somewhat sound"
Ducky smiled and Tony felt slightly better, it wasn't what he had expected Ducky to say but it had been so much better than anything his mind had come up with, smiling slightly he moved the conversation onto more insignificant things.
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Gibbs stood in Abby's Lab watching as the rest of the gang worked out the finally preparations. He had noticed how the grouped had seemed to immediately fuse back together once Dinozzo had returned to the everyday background of the job. Sure he had to do some retraining to make sure he was up to scratch but so far he had excelled through it all, even going so far as to set new personal best scores on some of the more scientific aspects of the job.
Apparently Tony had been doing a lot of reading the last few months and had picked up a lot of useful information on the way. When Tony was presumed dead, the team had almost lost all sense of friendship. Abby spent most of her time going out to parties and not really talking much when someone came down to check on evidence, she started keeping her questions to facts, straight to the point, not her usual round about way of getting there and no explanations on how things had turned up.
McGee became so inward, hardly speaking at all, and yet there would be times where he would crack. Gibbs had once walked by the break room and seen McGee shouting his head off at a younger, new NCIS agent who had been almost in tears.
The team had appeared to form cracks and Ziva's behaviour was no improvement, she had started making jokes, inappropriate jokes at the worst possible time that had made Gibbs have to give her so many warnings that she was unbelievable close to loosing her job, but thankfully before that had happened they had found Tony again and now they all appeared to be mending.
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When Tony walked through the front door to Gibbs' house, he jumped in surprise. McGee, David, Palmer, Ducky and Abby were all standing there in spectacular outfits underneath a sign that had the words ‘welcome back' inscribed on them. To one side of the room was a long thin table adorned with many kinds of pizza's and pasta dishes and on the other side was another long thin table that was covered in bottles of alcohol.
Wines, beers, lagers, mixers, you name it; they were all on the table. Tony's mouth hit the floor; balloons were littered all around the room, some hovering with brightly coloured tassels spinning off from the ends, the whole room looked amazing. "Wow…" Tony managed to spit out, he was speechless and couldn't describe how loved he felt at this very moment, so instead he just bolted towards the crowd and grabbed them in a group hug mumbling ‘thank you' to them all.
This just made everyone laugh and pull the group hug into a much tighter embrace. Everyone thinking the same thing, ‘Thank God for bringing Tony back to where he belongs!' The party began.
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It was late by the time people started to drift home, they had all called for a taxi as they had left their cars at work, due to the fact that they knew there would be drinks. When the last person left Gibbs closed the door and turned to Tony,
"So this case we were on, male body, aged between 35 and 40… found dead in the forest…" Tony put up a hand to halt Gibbs in his tracks, "Does this mean I've passed all my tests?" he asked, Gibbs smiled, "Yes Dinozzo, you're officially an NCIS agent again"
Tony grinned widely, "Cool!"
‘Yes' Gibbs thought, ‘Definitely glad to have his senior agent back, cool sums it up pretty well'.

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