"Oh Come on, Kate. Just once. I promise I'll take good care of it" Tony clapped his hands together, begging.

"Forget it, Tony! I'm not going to let your flavour of the week borrow my old school uniform. How old is she this time? 18? Doesn't she have her own uniform?"

"She's 25 for your information, but that's not the point. Pretty please!" Tony said, leaning his head slightly to the side, and staring at Kate with those wonderful eyes of his.

"NO Tony, there is not a chance in hell that that's going to happen." Kate

"What isn't going to happen, Kate?"

Tony and Kate both jumped and spun around, none of them having noticed Gibbs entering the bullpen.

"Uh nothing, Gibbs. Tony and I were just talking about….uhm" Kate paused.

"Bungee jumping… Boss. I was thinking of going this weekend, and just wanted to know if Kate wanted to come" Tony quickly said, Kate nodding eagerly.
"But I'm not much for extreme sports, so…" Kate said, trying her best to sound convincing.
Gibbs looked at them both with penetrating eyes, not taking his eyes of them.
Tony didn't know what to do, and cautiously asked; "did you want to come, Boss?"
Gibbs finally looked down on his desk, opened his top desk drawer and pulled out his gun.
"No thank, Dinozzo. But if you wanna challenge death with nothing but a rubber band holding you up, then be my guest" Gibbs said, smiling. "But in the meantime you still work for me. Pull up the service rapport on a petty officer Kevin Hawks. Kate, pull up his driving license and home address"

"Sure thing, Boss. Any reason why?" Tony said as he walked over to his desk and started working on his computer.

Gibbs looked over at him in that special way only Gibbs can do. "Yeah Dinozzo, someone decided to kill him and dump his body in an alley down town"

Tony opened his mouth to say something, but decided not to and instead he turned his attention back to his computer, quickly finding what he was looking for.

Gibbs grabbed the car keys and threw them over to McGee. "McGee, gas the truck", McGee nodded and left, "and both of you, bring the papers with you".
Already having hit the print button, Tony smiled, "already did Boss", trying to get a responds from Gibbs. Nothing.. Kate finished her search, and started to get ready to go.

Getting in the elevator, Gibbs stood in front of Tony and Kate, and said;
"And Dinozzo, it you don't stop bothering Kate about that uniform, I'm personally going to make you wear it!"

Sitting in the truck on their way to the crime scene, Tony and Kate were going thru the petty officers records.
"Petty officer Hawks was stationed on the Eisenhower. According to this he just got back 2 days ago after 4 months at sea on a….", Kate said but she was interrupted by Tony, who was smiling all over his face, "oh ho, sweet! Boss, this guy owns a '84 Camaro Z/28! That's a smoking hot car!"

Tony was ecstatic at the thought of driving that particular car, and looked up, hoping to find the same enthusiasm in his co-workers. But all he got was en annoyed stare from Kate, basically saying grow up. Gibbs stared strait forward without a word, and McGee, sitting in the back of the truck, looked down, remembering his first car. "Oh come on! Anybody?" Tony said, his hopes dashed…
"Anything else of interest in the petty officers file?" Gibbs asked Kate without taking his eyes of the road.
"No not really. No family and he lived alone" Kate answered, closing the file.

Ducky was already examining the body, when they arrived. The petty officer was lying on his back, face tilted to the side. He was still in his uniform. Ducky was kneeling by the body, when Gibbs walked up to him.
"What've we got, Ducky?" he asked as he was putting down his case.
"Well, it's bit of a mystery, Jethro. There are no apparent injuries on this young man. Although his lips and fingernail are showing signs of cyanosis, indicating suffocation, this could just as well be from joining the Lord upstairs" Ducky said pointing a finger into the air.
"Kate, shoot, Tony, measure and sketch, McGee, bag and tag" Gibbs ordered the team, turning his attention back to Ducky.
"There are no signs of strangulation around the neck, and no bruises around the mouth. I won't know any thing specific until I open him up. Funny thing, this actually reminds me of a similar case I saw my first year…." Ducky started but he was quickly interrupted by Gibbs, "can you give me a time of death, Ducky?"
"Sorry? Oh yes, our poor sailor hasn't been dead for very long. I'd say 5-6 hours" Ducky responded, pulling his lever probe out of the sailor.

Fifteen minutes later, they had finished all their work, and Ducky was getting ready to move the body.
"I don't think he was killed here, Boss" Tony said, finishing his sketches. "Yeah, why is that Dinozzo?" Gibbs asked, standing up after searching the body. "Well, there are no signs of struggle in the alley. No turned over trashcans and no bruises on the body. Besides McGee found tire tracks about 30 feet from here"
Gibbs looked at Tony for a minute and then he said, "That's good work Tony. He's right; we're dealing with a secondary crime scene". Gibbs didn't say anything but on the inside, he was smiling. He observed Tony, who was still sketching, but now there was a hint of a smile on his lips. Gibbs thought to himself, that he made a really good choice, when he decided to hire this young smart cop from Baltimore. Sure there was the attitude, and the occasional screw-up, which required a head-slap, but Tony's instincts were some of the best he'd ever seen. And though everybody didn't like his methods, Gibbs liked them, but most of all he loved the results. Maybe he didn't give Tony enough credit and praise, but that would only go to his head. Instead Gibbs resorted to head-slapping, which also made Tony feel appreciated.
"There's nothing more here" Gibbs concluded as he closed up his bag. They cleared the crime scene, and Ducky went back to NCIS with the body. "Kate, you've got the address for our petty officer?" Gibbs asked as they were getting in to the truck. Kate nodded. And they drove off, heading for the apartment.

They arrived at the apartment building, found the janitor, and entered the apartment. Tony was looking anxious, and Gibbs suddenly saw what I was, he reminded him of: a 5-yearold child, desperately wanting to ask his parents for something. "What is it, Dinozzo?" Gibbs asked, sounding very parental with a mixture of anger and something else. Tony was surprised, that Gibbs could tell his eagerness, but then again, he always could. "I-I was just wondering if you wanted someone to go down and check if Hawks' car was still here. Cause if you did, I-I could volunteer", Tony responded, ducking his head a little hoping it wouldn't result in a head-slap. Much to Tony's surprise, Gibbs said, "You've got 10 minutes, Dinozzo. If you not back by then, and have not found anything, don't bother coming back at all!" On that note, Tony was out the door in 2 seconds. "That was nice of you Gibbs" Kate smiled, and started going through petty officer Hawks' mail.

There it was. Just standing there for everyone to enjoy. Tony was surprised, that the car was even there. The car was a classic and belonged in a garage of its own. But what a beauty! Tony walked around the car, carefully sliding his fingers over it. He even got a slight tingle in the fingers just touching this amazing car.
Totally occupied with the car, Tony almost didn't notice the sudden pain in his thigh. It wasn't painful enough to be a gunshot, and Tony hadn't heard a shot fired. He looked down, and noticed a tiny arrow sticking out. It couldn't be more than 2 inches long, but its effect was instantaneous. Tony started losing any feeling in his legs, and after a few seconds, they weren't able to sustain the weight of his torso. He fell to his knees, quickly loosing his balance, and fell to the side. He tried to break the fall with his hands, but they wouldn't listen. The pain was short when his head hit the pavement, and a small pool of blood started to form. Tony tried to move his hands to reach for his phone, but his body was no longer obeying him. The last thing he saw before total darkness was a pair of black army boots. Then darkness surrounded him.

Gibbs looked at his clock. It said 6.28 p.m. which meant that Tony had been gone for 20 minutes. He pinched his eyes and let out a harsh breath. Kate looked up from her search; "He's late. Didn't think he would without calling" Then she leaned over to McGee and whispered, "whau am I glad I'm not him". Gibbs looked around the room, where they hadn't found anything suspicious so far. He grabbed his phone and dialed Tony's number. When there was no answer after a minute, he slammed the phone shut, and was just about to curse at Tony, when something hit him. A strange feeling in his gut, like something was horribly wrong. He opened his mouth to say something, but instead he turned around and ran out of the apartment. Kate and McGee looked at each other, one looking more puzzled than the other. Then they dropped everything and ran after Gibbs. While running Kate suddenly remembered her own words. ‘He wouldn't do that without calling', and she got the feeling that something bad had happened.

Gibbs ran as fast as he could down the stairs. Please let him be there, so I can yell at him, and that will be it.

They all stopped at the door to the garage and pulled out their weapons. On three they entered opened the door, starting to search the garage for the car and hopefully Tony. It didn't take them long to find the car as it wasn't a big garage. But that was the only positive thing about the situation; Tony wasn't there. Gibbs felt a huge knot tying up his gut, when he saw to blood by the side of the car. Behind him he heard Kate gasp at the sight of the blood. Gibbs saw something lying beside the blood, but couldn't tell what it was. A syringe?
"Seal it off. This is a crime scene"

Tony tried to open his eyes, but without much luck. The anesthesia or what ever he had been given hadn't warren of yet. He managed to open his eyes a little. There was a faint green light around him. Then he closed his eyes again because he thought he was starting to see things because of the drugs. He couldn't be looking at dirt right above him, could he?

Back at the office Kate was going over petty officer Hawks records again. What she was looking for was not clear to her. Anything that could tell her, what happened to her partner. Why Tony went missing from the garage.
Her thought were interrupted by Gibbs entering the bullpen. Kate couldn't tell what it was in Gibbs' eyes, but something was different. Was it anger? Or fear or maybe sadness? Something was definitely wrong.

Kate got up, and walked over to Gibbs' desk, "Nothing in Hawks records indicates any problems. He got along with his shipmates, and the captain even wrote him a really good recommendation. His contract with the navy ends in 3 months". Gibbs didn't once look up from his desk the whole time Kate was talking. Kate was getting frustrated with the whole situation; Gibbs' locked up emotions, her own worries about Tony, and the fact, that they had no idea, why Tony had gone missing. Was he even alive? Or was he hurt badly? The thought of the blood on the pavement send shivers down her spine.

"Why the hell did he take Tony?" Kate blurted out, not being able to hold back her frustration. Gibbs finally look up, and Kate recognized the emotion in his eyes; worry. It was not like the time, Tony went missing with Jeffrey. Back then he knew roughly where Tony was, and why he was missing. But this time they didn't have much to go on. Who had taken Tony, and an even better question, why?

Gibbs stop her thought as he said, "maybe he saw something or someone in the garage. Someone who didn't want to be recognized". It was clear that Gibbs too was puzzled by the situation.
"But why didn't he just kill Tony then? Why take him?" the though of Tony dead made a lump form in Kate's throat.
"That would be my question too. Something about this whole situation seems hinky". Like on cue, the phone rang. It was Abby calling with news from the lab. She and McGee had found something.

This time Tony succeeded in opening his eyes, but the joy didn't last for long. He hadn't been seeing thing the first time around. The faint green light revealed dirt all around him. From what he could tell, he was in some sort of box, make of glass or Plexiglas. His thoughts were still a little slow, and it took him a while to sort things out. Like a chain reaction. Light…dirt…box… and then he realized it; he was under ground in a glass box. He had been buried alive.
All sort of thoughts went thru his mind in a second. How did he get here? And where was here? It took a while, but then he remembered; Oh that car! That beautiful red '84 Camaro Z/28 in perfect condition. But then the rest followed; the pain, the numbness and the feeling of helplessness. Then nothing. His head a little clearer his survival instinct kicked in. How the hell was he going to get out of here? And how long could he keep his growing panic under control?

Abby turned her head as Gibbs and Kate entered the lab. She searched their faces for good news, but found none. She herself had some news, but whether they were good was yet to be decided. McGee sat bended over Hawks' laptop, but stood up, as the others walked in.
"Hey Bossman" Abby greeted his with half a smile.
"What've you got Abs?" Gibbs asked and held out her fourth Caff-pow for the day. The clock was just past 9 p.m. Even with everything that was going on, Gibbs still remembered Abby's addiction to the stuff.
"Well, I tested the blood you found in the garage. I didn't get DNA confirmation yet, but it's AB rhesus negative. And so is Tony, so it's a pretty same bet, that it's Tony's blood. The good news is that there wasn't that much of it. I'm thinking be got whacked on the head, or his head hit the pavement. Head wounds bleed more than others, and whoever took him, would have to have moved him fast". Gibbs didn't like either scenario, but didn't say anything. "What about the syringe we found?" he asked instead. "Well, it's not actually a syringe. It's a bullet from a tranquillizer gun" Abby responded, showing them the object. "A tranquillizer?" Kate asked with a confused look on her face. "Yep, it's work kind of like a syringe. This small container is fired from the gun, and then as it hits the skin this small needle pierces the skin and administers the drugs. It's usually only used on animals". Kate smiled, "then again Tony always saw himself as a stallion, so…" Abby started laughing a little, but Gibbs just gave her a hard stare, "you're using past tense, Kate. Don't". Having realized her mistake, Kate stopped smiling. She couldn't give up hope already. She apologized, and Gibbs turned his attention back to Abby. "What was in it?"
Abby turned back to her old self, and pulled up a piece of paper, "well this is interesting, cause it's really powerful stuff. I found traces of butorphanoltartrat. Yeah try saying three times in a row." Gibbs gave her a hint of a smile, and she continued, "it's a really powerful sedative, primarily used on horses and other large animals." "What would it do to a 180 pound guy?" Gibbs asked. "Depends on the amount contained in the bullet. Enough of this stuff will send you right into cardiac arrest and you're history. But based on the amount in this container, it would have knocked him out for at least a couple of hours." Gibbs nodded. He hated the thought, that they didn't know whether Tony was alive or not. He pushed the thought into the back of his mind, and turned his attention on McGee. "Did you find anything on his computer?" McGee started to get nervous, as he always did, when Gibbs had his eyes on him. "Well, uh Hawks wasn't much of a computer scientist, so it wasn't hard to get into his hard drive". "Get to the point McGee" Gibbs ordered him, his stare ever more piercing, with of course made McGee even more nervous. "Of course, Boss uh Gibbs, sir. I found a lease for a storage facility down town. It was attached to an e-mail he got yesterday from an unknown sender". Gibbs raised his eyebrows, "Yeah, so?" McGee continued, "The massage in the mail says ‘to NCIS'"

Gibbs started pacing the lab, deep in thought. They all waited, none of them dumb enough to disturb him. He started to think out loud, "this doesn't add up! Nobody runs around with a tranquillizer in his back pocket, and then the e-mail. This was planned." Kate looked at him and said, "but why? Why take Tony? There was no connection between him and petty officer Hawks. Tony would have said something, wouldn't he?" Gibbs stopped his walk and looked at her, "unless this isn't about Tony. Could be about NCIS. Or me." Gibbs didn't like that thought. That Tony might be in danger because of him. Gibbs got his thoughts together again, and started planning, "Abby, find out who send that e-mail. Kate, McGee go check out the storageroom. I'm going to talk to Ducky. Call me if you find anything."

Tony started to asses his situation, and his surroundings. As far as he could tell, he wasn't hurt besides the splitting headache and a gash in his temple. A few sore ribs but nothing else. The green light didn't give him much light, so he started to feel his way around the box. The only thing his fingers found was his gun. Tony picked it up brought it up to his face. The last out of this hell. He puched the thought away, and put the gun away. He tried to raise his head but hit his forehead on the glass. He tried to look down to the end of the box, and was choked at what he saw. At the end was a digital clock, and it was counting down. 6:59:36..35..34… Then the first sign of panic set in, and Tony started to frantically beat his fists on the box. "HEEEEELLLP!" but no one seemed to be able to hear him…

"Cause of death: suffocation due to lack of oxygen. How this happened, I'm still not sure. The young sailor has no bruises around the neck or mouth" Ducky explained standing bend over the body. "So nothing new?" Gibbs asked, sounding impatient. "Unfortunately no, his death remains a mystery for the moment. I'm sorry I don't have better news, Jethro. I wish I could give you with something to help you get Anthony back."
Ducky look worried. He'd known Gibbs for years, and knew when something was bothering his old friend. Anthony's disappearance was hard on him. Not only was he his senior field agent and friend (even though Gibbs never said it out loud), but someone had taken him from right under Gibbs' nose. Someone was taunting him. Gibbs gave Ducky a look, Ducky knew to be thank you, and then he turned around to walk out.
"Call me if you solve the mystery" Gibbs said when he almost ran into Palmer. "Oh sorry special agent Gibbs!" Palmer looked up at the man standing in front of him. Gibbs was annoyed, but didn't say anything, and started to walk out again, when Palmer called for him again, "I-I have a package for you uhm agent Gibbs. The mail-guy asked me to give it to you. I think it might be about agent Dinozzo, so I wore gloves." Gibbs held his breath, as he took the package from Palmer, and walked strait to Abby with Ducky on his tail.

Abby carefully took the package Gibbs handed her. "I'll see if I can get some fingerprints of if, but I doubt it. You and Palmer were the only ones who wore gloves, so there's probably a dozen different print here" Gibbs gave her a look, "but I'll try."
Abby started to open the box, and the contents send shivers down their back. The package contained a picture series. It showed Tony lying in the garage in a pool of blood. Gibbs felt his gut tightening up. The next showed Tony, still unconscious in a glass box. But the next picture was the worst. It was the same box, but this time, there was dirt on top. You could still see Tony's face with closed eyes. When Gibbs realized, what was going on in the picture, he slammed his fist in the table and walked away from it.
Ducky closed his eyes for a minute, "My God, Anthony, what have they done to you". Nobody said anything for a minute, until Abby broke the silence. "There's a note on the bottom." She picked it up, and gave it to Gibbs. Gibbs squinted trying to read. Then without a word he gave it back to Abby, who started reading. "It's an obituary" Abby looked up at Gibbs, "For Tony":

Detective Anthony Dinozzo
* July 8th 19734 † March 23rd 2005 at 5:00 a.m.
Died a Coward
Useless
Resting Six Feet Under
May He Rot In Hell!

"We've got 6 hours to find him" Gibbs said grabbing his phone to call Kate.

Tony slapped himself across the face,"Hey! Get a hold yourself!" He almost wished he could slap himself on the back of the head, just to get the feeling that Gibbs was right there, telling him to keep it together. He didn't how long he'd been screaming, but in his throat it felt like hours. He looked back up at the timer, 6:48:37. Plenty of time for Gibbs to find him. Cause he would… He was sure of it.
He suddenly felt a light breeze in his hair. He tried to look back, and saw a small round thing, that looked like an airshaft. Thank God! That meant that air was coming in to the box. But for how long? What would happen when the timer reached zero? He closed his eyes and whispered, "Don't panic, don't panic….."

"What the hell is it, Abs?" Gibbs pointed to the thing, Kate and McGee had brought back from the storage room.
They were all gathered in the garage of the NCIS building. Ducky had joined them after finishing the autopsy on petty officer Hawks. He was hoping that the object could help him solve the mystery surrounding the petty officers death. A mystery that had been bothering him. Which actually reminded him of another case he had been working on. Fascinating case really. He made a mental note to himself to tell the story to Jethro when this was all over, and Anthony was back home safe.

The object in question was standing in the middle of the room. It was a box made of Plexiglas. It was about 7 feet long and 3 feet wide. "It's a futuristic coffin, Gibbs" Abby announced having examined the box before they came down.
"What do you mean?"
"It's big enough to fit a grown man, and it's airtight"
"Airtight?"
"Yep. Once you close the lid on this thing, nothing gets in or out. And that would solve your mystery, Duckman" Abby smiled as she turned to Ducky, who suddenly understood what she was talking about,
"Ah yes of course dear Abigail, you're right"
The rest of the team looked at the two scientists who clearly understood each other on another level.
"What're you talking about, Ducky" Gibbs asked, his patience running out. He wanted answers and suspects so he get out, do his marine thing and get Tony back before it was too late. He glanced down at his clock. He'd set the timer to count down to 5:00 a.m. The timer said 5 hours and 12 minutes. And the numbers only got smaller.
Abby and Ducky looked up from their conversation, and Ducky started to explain.
"I didn't understand how our young petty officer died of asphyxia without it leaving any marks on his body. But if the petty officer was placed in this box, and the lid closed tight, there wouldn't be any marks, would there?! He would suffocate when the air in the box ran out"
"And I found Hawks' fingerprints on the inside of the box, so it fits!" Abby continued.
"What about on the outside?" Kate asked, trying to jump their though train.
"I only got a partial, which I'm running through AFIS, but so far nothing"
"How long can a person stay alive on the oxygen in the box?" Gibbs asked
"Well, depends on breath depth, frequency and so on…"
"ABBY!!"
Abby jumped when Gibbs yelled. She hated it, but knew that this time it was only due to his frustration, and she answered "one, maybe two hours"
"If Tony is in one of these things, then…"Kate couldn't get herself to finish the sentence. Luckily Abby stopped her.
"No, he wouldn't. Which brings me to the next part of my show. This!" Abby pointed at a little machine at the end of the box.
"It's a ventilator. It's powered by a small battery here" Abby pointed "and before you all ask, it has enough juice to run for about 10 hours"
Gibbs was comforted by this knowledge. How it would help him find Tony he had no idea, but at least now he had a change. If only a small one.
"Did you find out who send to email?" he looked back up at Abby
"Gibbs, we've been through this whole superwoman idea you have of me. I can't be in two places at once. I figured the box had top priority and…." Gibbs leaned over and gave her a kiss on the four head, "Good job, Abs. Keep going"
Abby gave him a smile, "just bring him back".

Tony was going crazy just lying there with nothing else but his own thoughts. Why was he here? Who did this? There were so many questions, but no answers, and Tony did everything possible in that small box to keep his mind occupied with something else. He started to search every inch of the box he could reach. The gun laid to his right, and he was determined, that it was gonna to stay there. Then he started to search his own pockets. Unfortunately who ever took him, had found his knife. Gibbs was going to give him hell for not complying with rule number 9. But instead of the knife, he found something that wasn't his in one of the other pockets. A note. He unfolded it and started to read…

Kate, McGee and Gibbs were all gathered in the bullpen. Ducky joined them, hoping he could be of help.
"This has personal written all over it. Someone wants Tony dead. What does the profiler in you think, Kate?" Gibbs said sipping his coffee. He had just started number 7 for the day, and it was nearly 2 a.m.
"It's definitely personal, and it has something to do with Tony's time in the force, because the obituary said detective Dinozzo"
"McGee, call Baltimore PD, and find Tony's old partner. See if he knows anything about anybody who might have a grudge against Tony"
McGee quickly grabbed the phone and started dialing.
Gibbs turned his attention back on Kate,
"What about the obituary?"
"Well, he's certain that Tony is going to die. That's why he wrote it."
"But why send it to us? Why not just kill Tony in the garage?" Gibbs felt s shiver as he said those last words. He saw Kate have the same reaction.
"He wants Tony to suffer. Killing him in the garage wouldn't do it for this guy. Tony has to suffer the same way he or she did."
"And he wants us to know it" it was Ducky who suddenly spoke. Gibbs turned around,
"What do you mean?"
"Well, he sends you the obituary with a specific time of death. And he wants you to know, what Tony is going thru. Because in his mind Anthony did not do his job well, thou I doubt that, and he has to pay for it"
Gibbs was just about to say something, when McGee interrupted him.
"Boss, I tracked down Tony's old partner. He's still working in Baltimore, but is currently on a case in San Francisco".
"How does this help me, McGee?!?" Gibbs growled.
"He'll be on MTAC in 5 minutes" McGee had to fight to keep a smile from appearing on his face. God, he was turning in to Tony. Who else taught him to bait Gibbs like that?

"Detective Dinozzo. How many times I have written this letter in my mind, I do not know. You probably don't even remember me. It was just another case to you. You failed and you moved on. She was just another unfortunate victim to you. But not to me. She was MY daughter! My own flesh and blood. And because of you, she's no longer with me. I can't put my arm around her and hold her tight and keep her safe. Because of you! You were late. Too late to save my little girl. You didn't live up to the oath, ‘To protect and serve'. You just let her die!
But now it's your turn. Your turn to suffer. I want you to feel the terror, that she felt. The fear that she felt, all alone in that cave. And the horrible death she meet. The terror of not being able to breath. I want you to feel her pain.
I have also made sure that your family goes through the same hell, we went through. Not knowing where our little girl was. Whether she was alive or dead…
I want you to die!
May you rot in Hell!"

Tony took his eyes of the letter, and it all came back to him. It was never buried far away in his mind, but still it felt like a sledgehammer hit him full force. Pictures started to come back and Tony whispered while closing his eyes, "I'm sorry…"

"Hallo, I'm special agent Gibbs of the NCIS"

A guy about Tony's age appeared on the screen.
"Hey! Nice to ‘meet' you. I'm Jack Martinez, Baltimore PD" the guy gave them a big smile, "Heard a lot about you from Tony. My boss said you wanted to talk to me about him. What's he done this time?"

"He's missing" Gibbs said, not finding anything about the situation funny.

Martinez stopped smiling, "What do you mean ‘missing'?"

"He was kidnapped during an investigation 7 hour ago."

"Any hot girls around to distract him?"

Gibbs couldn't help but smile a little. He remembered Kate drawing of Tony. "No, actually a car"

Martinez smiled again, "had to be one of the two" Martinez took the situation a little light. He knew Tony and knew he could take care of himself.

Kate stepped into the picture, wanting to move on,
"We think it might have something to do with a case you two handled in Baltimore"

"Well, you were not wrong about there not being a hot girl in this whole ting" Martinez said, "You must be Kate".

Kate blushed a bit and Gibbs continued,
"Kidnapper send us a note calling Tony detective Dinozzo. He indicates that Tony has been buried alive. This meen anything to you?"
Martinez stopped smiling and turned pale within seconds. Then he looked down for a minute.

"Time is running out for Dinozzo. I need to know, what happened!" Now Gibbs was eager to move on. They were finally on to something.

Martinez looked up, his face anything but cheerful. He took a deep breath, trying to focus his mind.
"I haven't thought about it for some time now. But I'll bet Tony has. That case was always on his mind"
"What happened?" Gibbs asked.

"A kidnapping 5 years ago. A little girl was taken after school one afternoon. What was her name? Emma. Emma Taylor. She was the sweetest little blond-haired girl, 6 years old. Her father was a big businessman in Baltimore, and everyone knew he was good for millions. Kidnappers wanted 2 million dollars in ransom. Her father had the money and wanted to pay the money, but Tony advised him to wait a little till we knew what we were dealing with. Dad wouldn't hear of it, and went anyway. He delivered the money, but the kidnappers didn't live up to their end of the deal"

"Shocking" Gibbs commented sarcastically.

"Yeah, tell me about it. Tony worked his ass of trying to find that girl. Finally he got a break, and we raided the place. A cabin up in the woods. But we were too late."

"What happened" Gibbs asked

"They had held her in a cave by the cabin. But it collapsed, and she was died. Buried alive."

"Oh God" Kate held a hand to her mouth.

"If we had been there 10 minutes before, she might have made it. Lousy 10 minutes" Martinez looked down, "I still remember when they pulled her out. Her face was…. She looked so scared."

"What happened afterwards?"

"Her dad went ballistic. Blaimed the whole force for his daughter's death. But most of all he blamed Tony. Said it was his fault she died, because we were too late. He stormed into the office one day and jumped Tony, yelling and screaming, about what a useless cop he was, and how everything was Tony's fault. It wasn't of course, but Tony took it hard. Kept going over the situation again and again, trying to figure out, what he could have done different. He finally gave it up, but I knew it always bothered him."

"Who could blame him? Can you send us the case file ASAP?"

"Sure. You'll have it in 10 minutes."

"Appreciate it."

"Anything for my old partner" Martinez gave them a little smile again, "Hey Gibbs, easy on the head-slapping when he gets back, okay?"

Gibbs smiled, "Over and out" and the connection was cut off.

Tony kept seeing the little girls face every time he closed his eyes. Emma… The most beautiful little girl. If only…
He'd spent months in therapy after the case closed. Boss' orders. Tony had made the usual protests but he was actually glad that his boss had forced him. It did actually help to talk about it. And the therapist let him do it in his own pace. Didn't rush things, but let them come naturally. And she was hot too…. It helped him move on, but the case was always there in his mind. Right under the surface. He would still wake up sometimes, the little girls face being the only thing he could remember from the dream. If only….
Tony closed his eyes. At least this answered some of his questions. The ones with who and why. But it didn't answer the most pressing question; what is going to happen when the timer runs out?

"This is definitely our guy, Gibbs" Kate said, holding the case in her hand, "Michael Taylor, Emma's father, worked as a building constructor. He was worth millions."
McGee continued, "But after his daughter's death, everything went down hill. He ran his business into the ground, leaving him nothing but his bitterness and anger."
"And get this: After their daughter died, they moved….." Kate looked up from the file "…to DC"
Gibbs raised his eyebrows, and stood up "Kate, get me an address NOW!" he ordered, "and McGee, get me a search warrant".

Gibbs grabbed his gun from the top drawer, and then he looked at Kate and McGee. Normally Kate would have objected to the home-invasion at 2.30 in the morning. But this was not another murder case. This was about Tony, and even though nobody said it out loud, they all cared a lot for each other. Someone once said, they worked like one big family, Tony and Kate being the older brother and sister, always arguing and teasing each other. McGee was the younger brother, the only one Tony and Kate could agree on head-slapping. And now the little brother was trying to step into his big brother footsteps, not taking no for an answer from a very angry and sleepy judge, he had pulled out of bed to get the search warrant.
And just then the weird cousin stormed in, her pigtails flying all over the place. She was followed by that weird uncle with all the stories. The one everybody thinks is a little off, but still love none the less.

"Gibbs, I got it! I finally had time to find out who send the email…" Abby smiled, jumping in joy, anxious to tell them what she found.

"Yeah, let me guess. Michael Taylor" Gibbs said in a calm voice, while he was holstering his gun.

Abby stopped jumping, and stomped her foot in the floor, "Okay how do you do that?!? You've got to teach me, ‘cause I hate it when that happens. It totally ruins my whole presentation" Abby crossed her arm. "But I also have something you couldn't possibly know"
Gibbs stopped moving and looked at Abby..
"There were microscopic traces of C4 on the glasbox"

Gibbs kissed her on the head on the way out. He was quickly followed by Kate and McGee. Abby and Ducky watched them get in the elevator, and Ducky put his arm around her, "Don't worry. Jethro won't give up until Tony is home safe".
"Just hope he'll get there in time"

Sometimes he wished, he'd taken Abby up on one of her offers for classes in mystical talents. Telepathy would be a handy talent right about now. But what would he say to her? That he was underground somewhere, but that he had no idea where? Or that he was scared to death? A very small part of him was scared, that Gibbs would be too late, just like he was.
But no, he quickly shook the idea out of his mind. Gibbs would find him in time. He was Gibbs. He didn't know how to fail. Not like himself: Anthony Dinozzo, king of screw-ups. If he had only thought a little faster back then, none of this would have happened. He would have found the girl safe and sound. She would have been 11 by now, and her fathers only worries would be, how to keep the boys away from her. She was a real beauty. She would be…
No! He had to stop thinking like that. He'd done everything humanly possible. It was a mistake to give them the money in the first place.
He shook his head and tried to think about something else. Something else besides these walls, which somehow seemed to be closing in on him. Music always did the trick for the Goth. He never thought he would miss Abby's music, but right now he did. He imagines her dancing around the lab, working her magic. And it made him smile. He would give anything for the silence to stop. Even one of Ducky's stories! He would welcome it with open arms. Tony sighed, and started singing the first song, that crossed his mind, "a million bottles of beer on the wall, a million bottles of beer……"

In the car Kate was starring out the window as they were driving to the Taylor resident. Gibbs' driving was a little worse than usual. He didn't pay much attention to the speed limits. But there was more at stake this time. Kate glanced over at Gibbs' watch with the timer, 1:47:39..38..37
McGee was sitting in the back, trying to wrap his head around this whole evening/night. Everything had to be done so fast, and all the time the thought of Tony underground, helpless, was spinning in his head. He was the first to break the silence,
"So Taylor wants Tony to die the same way his daughter did. And he wants us to know. What I don't get, is why he send the note to us instead of Tony's family?" Deep down McGee knew the answer to his own question. Kate looked back at him;
"Cause he knows Tony very well. I mean, he must have studied Tony for months. He knew Tony infatuation with cars. And he's patient. He waited for the perfect sailor with the perfect car. And then he took 12 hours to kill petty officer Hawks. Just so that we would investigate the case"
"And he send the note to the people, he knew Tony regards as his real family" Kate and McGee were both surprised when Gibbs spoke. He hadn't said a word since they got in the car.

Kate looked out the window again. She tried to imagine what Tony was going through right now. The loneliness and fear. Fear that no one would find him. She remembered when Ari had locked her and Ducky in the fridge in autopsy. She had only been there for 15 minutes, and she had already started to panic. Imagine spending 8 hours in there. And no one knows where you are. She closed her eyes for a second, and whispered to herself, "Hang in there, Tony, we're coming for you. Just promise me to hold on".

Tony stopped singing and opened his eyes. For a minute there he thought he heard Kate voice. "Whau" he said to himself "I must be starting to lose it". Then he smiled. Thinking of Kate always made him smile. Even thought they were always arguing and picking on each other, Tony loved coming to work and be greeted by one of Kate's snide remarks about his nightlife. He loved Kate like a sister, and then he suddenly realized something. The relationship he had with Kate was probably the best he'd ever had with a woman. It was honest. Well honest in the sense, that Tony was doing most of the telling and Kate handled all the judging. But it worked. They worked well together. He imagined her sitting at her desk, trying to put together a profile on his kidnapper. If anybody could, it would be her… Tony just wished she would get here soon….

Gibbs stopped the car just before they reached the house. He was out of the car in two seconds, gun ready. From the outside the house didn't look like much. Money must be really low, Kate thought. The light was on in the living room. They ran up alongside the house and stopped at the door. Gibbs signaled them, and broke the door down on three.

Gibbs was the first one in the house. He quickly searched the hall and went on to the living room. The light was dime. She was sitting in an huge armchair, which almost looked like it was about to engulf her. She didn't even look up when they came in. In her hands she was holding a price of paper. Gibbs closed in on her, holding his gun pointed directly at her,
"Diane Taylor? We have a warrant for your husband's arrest. Where is he?"

She looked up at him and he could see her eyes filled with tears.
"You're late. Again"

"Mrs. Taylor, where is your husband?" Gibbs demanded, gun still pointed at her.

"With our daughter. The only place in the world he's ever wanted to be"

Kate approached her carefully and sat down beside her.
"What do you mean, with your daughter?"

Mrs. Taylor didn't say anything, but handed Kate the note in her hand. Kate took the note and read it out loud:

"My beloved Diane. I'm sorry but I have to be with her. Keep her safe when no one else can. I'm sorry"

Kate looked up at Mrs. Taylor. "Where is he?"
"Out back" she whispered

Gibbs lowered his gun and signaled for McGee to go check it out. He took of his cap and rubbed his head. McGee came back and just nodded his head.

"God dammit!" Gibbs said, closing his eyes. When he opened them again, they were full of hatred. He turned to Mrs. Taylor, "Your husband took one of my men tonight. Do you know where he is?" His patience was running out.
M
rs. Taylor shook her head. "I don't know and I don't care where the hell he is"
Gibbs was about to yell, but he focused himself and instead he looked at Kate,
"Bring her in"
Kate looked surprised. "Gibbs?"
"Just do it!" and he stormed out.

Sirens were approaching somewhere. McGee must have called it in. Gibbs looked up at the night sky and closed his eyes. They were back to square one… and the clock was ticking, 1:00:00…00:59:59…58

Tony felt a sting in his chest. He lifted his head and looked at the timer, 00:59:38..37.
"God! Any time right about now would be good, Gibbs!" he yelled, hoping that on some weird level his boss could hear him. But when the yell had echoed out, there was nothing but silence once again. And once again the walls started to close in on him. And he gave the gun a squeeze, holding it tight to his chest.

Gibbs was sitting at his desk, staring into the air for a while. Kate was going over the case file from Baltimore for the 17th time in 2 hours, trying to find something they'd missed the first 16 times. McGee was with Abby, working on Michael Taylor's computer and trying to find some hint of where he was hiding Tony. So far no one had come up with anything. Gibbs slammed his fist on the desk, making Kate jump. He noticed that her eyes were filled with tears. But he wasn't going to start crying. And he was not going to give up on Tony either. He looked at the timer; they still had 45 minutes until….
There had to be something; somewhere there was a clue as to where Tony was. He just couldn't see it.
"Grab everything we've got and let's go."
Kate started to gather her files and dried her eyes, "where‘re we going?"
"Down to Abby"

They were all gathered in Abby's lab. Ducky walked in with coffee for everybody.
"Okay, we're going to go over everything again. We are missing something! Somewhere in here is the answer to where the hell Tony is." Gibbs said and pointed to Abby.
"Did you get anything of the box?"
"No, nothing new. I matched the partial I found on the outside. It's Michael Taylor's. There were no traces of dirt on the box so it hadn't been buried. I ran all the tests I could think of on the C4, but came up with nothing. Sorry Gibbs"
"It's okay. McGee?"
"Nothing on Michael Taylor's computer or in his personal file. He didn't own anything after the bankruptcy. They only rented the house. Local LEO's checked the back yard, but no signs of recent digging."
Gibbs looked even angrier than ever when he finally turned to Kate. This was wrong. You don't just burry a guy without leaving a single trace.
"Kate?"
"Nothing to tie Tony to petty officer Hawks. Looks like he was just an innocent guy, who happened to own the car Taylor needed. And there's nothing on the Baltimore case either. Everything happened in Baltimore. The cabin, the cave. The daughter's also buried in Baltimore. There's no way, that Taylor had the time to drive all the way to Baltimore to burry the box, and get back again. I don't know what else it could be, Gibbs, I'm sorry"

"Sorry doesn't help Tony get out of this. Come on, people. THINK! What is it we're missing? The answer is here! And we're running out of time"

Kate suddenly jumped down from the table she was sitting on. She went over to the table with the evidence and started looking for something.
"What is it, Caitlin?" Ducky inquired.
Kate didn't answer him, but found what she was looking for; the obituary.
"It's here somewhere. It says Detective Dinozzo. That's how we knew to find the case in Baltimore."
Gibbs walked over to her, and took the note, "wait a minute;" He pinched his eyes trying to read.
"Six Feet Under. It's gotta mean something else. What if Taylor wasn't speaking metaphorically but literally? That Tony really is somewhere six feet under?"
"I think you're on to something, Gibbs" Kate responded.
McGee looked a little puzzled, "but where is that? Where are people buried six feet under?"
Ducky came up with the answer to that question,
"That's easy my boy……..the cemetery"

"Would he use just any grave, or would he make one specifically for Dinozzo?" Gibbs asked, his question directed at Kate.
"He would get a new one. There were crucifixes all over their house, which indicates, that Michael Taylor was a strict Catholic. Whatever hatred he felt towards Tony, he would still make sure he got buried on holy ground."

"Cool! You're going grave robbing" of course Abby could see a light in this dark situation that surrounded them all.

"But, Gibbs, where do we begin? Do you realize how many cemeteries there are in DC?"

"Then we better get on it! Everybody get on the phone. Call every cemetery in the DC area. I don't care what time it is or how much they bitch and complain. We've got 30 minutes, people!"

Kate was the one to strike gold. On her fourth call she got a sweet elderly sexton who remembered the name Dinozzo.
"Why yes, I remember someone by that name. We got the request 2 days ago from his brother I believe. The funeral is tomorrow. I just had the digger finishing the grave this afternoon. Funny thing was, his brother insisted on it being ad deep as possible. Why that is, I have no idea. He wasn't very old, poor fellow. But the reason I remember it so clearly is the tombstone…" but Kate wasn't there any more. She was running for the elevator where Gibbs and McGee were waiting...

Tony tried to shift his weight around but the box didn't leave much room for comfort. Maybe he should just shoot a hole in the box. But he didn't know how far below ground he was, and he let the idea go. He could only wait…. And hope…

He was so tired, but couldn't find rest… or peace… He was just tired; and his thoughts started to drift. He'd been trying so hard not to think about it. But fatigue and the sheer exhaustion from the whole situation took over. He could no longer keep the fear away. This wasn't the first time he'd been trapped in a box…

When he was about 6, he was playing hide-and-seek with some of his friends from the neighbourhood. He was so exited, because this time Tony had found the perfect hide-out. He'd been planning it for months; the old box in the backyard, where his father usually stores the firewood for the winter. It was perfect because it was only half full, and no one would know.
The game started and he followed his plan. And it worked. Nobody came and opened the box. An hour went by and no one came. Then two. He was finally was so sore from lying on the logs of wood, and he decided that this time he had won the game. He pushed his hand against the lid… but it didn't move an inch. Tony bent his legs and push with all that he had but nothing happened. And then that familiar feeling of panic set in. He started kicking and screaming on the walls around him; crying out for help. For someone to come and find him.

Lying in the plastic box, Tony could still feel his throat tying up, cutting of his breath, and the feeling of panic came rolling over him like a wave. How long he'd been kicking he didn't know, but suddenly the box was opened and his father was standing over him, a look of relief on his face. But in his memory his fathers face started to change this time; it turned into Gibbs. The expression on his face was the same as his fathers; relief.

Tony stopped kicking the Plexiglas box, not even realizing he'd started. The panic filling his entire body; like a horrible decease, eating its way through every little piece of him. But Gibbs would come and take it away. He knew he would… he hoped he would…he wished…

Gibbs… A psychologist would have enough work for several months if he started to analyze the relationship between the two of them. Tony wasn't even sure what they were. Boss/employee? Mentor/student? Father/son?
They were more than just coworkers. That much he was certain of. There was more.
Tony admired Gibbs. Everything about him. To Tony Gibbs was everything he wanted to be. Except maybe for the bastard part…
And the boat thing…
Not to mention the whole ex-wives-thing…

For 3 years he'd tried to live up to the ex-marine. Trying to everything right. And all he'd got for it was a million head-slaps… which was actually a good thing. It made him feel wanted.
Sometimes he felt closer to Gibbs than to his own father… At least Gibbs appreciated him for who he was…

Tony looked at the timer; deep down he already knew what was going to happen when that timer reached its final destination; feelings overwhelmed him, and tears started running down his face. His worst nightmare…00:01:29…28

Gibbs slammed on the breaks as they reached the entrance to the cemetery; making McGee hit his head on the seat in front of him, and Kate had to use all her strength to keep the same thing from happening to her head and the dashboard.

The sexton was waiting for them outside, still in his PJ's. Kate felt a little sorry for him but the feeling quickly faded at the thought of Tony. They were so close now.

"Where is it?" Gibbs commanded.

"Well, it's just on the other side of that hill. You see that old oak tree? Right next to it. I could show you if……"

But Gibbs was already running towards the oak tree; Kate and McGee trying to keep up with him.

Gibbs looked down his arm; 30 seconds…..

Tony closed his eyes and imagined he was back in at the office. Probie was lying on the floor, working once again on the office-computers; probably installing the latest software. Tony gave him a smile, and poor probie didn't know what to do. Then he smiled. Kate was on the phone, shushing Tony away. Probably a private conversation with a date. So naturally Tony did everything to try and eavesdrop. Then he felt the familiar slap on the back of his head. Gibbs walked past him, coffee in his hand. He turned and smiled. ‘Weird seeing Gibbs smile'. Somewhere in the distance he could here Abby and Ducky's voices, and they walked in seconds later, bringing lunch for everybody. Everyone else gathered around Gibbs' desk. But Tony stood still, watching them.
Then they all stopped and looked up at him, and asked unanimously, "What?"

Tony tried so hard to keep this image in his mind. The only people he really regarded as his family. All together like always…
But then the image started to change and he saw Emma's face. The expression on her face, when they found her. She must have been scared to death, when the cave started to collapse around her. That was what's going to happen to him too.
When the timer reached zero, it would all collapse and he would be trapped….

Tony held the gun up to the side of his face…It would be so easy… one little squeeze of a trigger and it would all be over. No horrific death; no fear. It would just be over in a second.
But he couldn't do it. There was still a chance that he would get out of here. A long shot granted… but still a shot…

Gibbs was running as fast as his feet would carry him; his flashlight dancing around wildly. He almost stumbled over a tombstone but just kept running. He had to get there in time.
Tony was counting on him… He knew the young agent expected him to come… And his feet carried him just a little bit faster…

Then a beep echoed in the night….

The sound Gibbs had feared the most all night echoed in his mind…Time was up

Tony tightened every muscle in his body…5 seconds… He was still holding the gun close to his chest… "Our Father, who are in heaven…Give me strength…" and then the timer reached its final mark….Time was up

A small explosion made his ears hurt and he tried to cover them. But the sound that followed made Tony stop every movement.

The sound of glass shattering…

Tony frantically turned his head from side to side as the whole box turned into pieces…. And then it gave in to the pressure of the dirt.

A heavy load fell on his chest, stopping his breath and everything faded to black….

Gibbs stopped at the old oak, short of breath. His flashlight started to frantically search all the tombstones. Kate and McGee caught up with him, and started to search…

"Over here!" Gibbs' yell echoed through the cold autumn air, and they came running.

The Tombstone had the same inscription as the obituary. The grave was covered but the soil on top of it had sunk about 20 inches. Gibbs heart dropped to the ground; the box must've collapsed. Gibbs dropped to his knees and started to remove the soil with his hand. They couldn't use the shovel out of fear of hurting Tony. Kate and McGee joined in, and they were all work in a heart racing pace.
"You call the paramedics?" Gibbs asked the rest of his team.
"I did, Boss. They're on their way" McGee answered, digging a little harder and a little faster.
"Come on Tony, hang in there" Gibbs spoke softly; like a prayer…

"GOD DAMMIT, you hang in there!" this time it wasn't quiet. It was an order…

Suddenly a pain shot through his hand… He'd cut himself on a piece of the box. But he ignored it and kept digging.

"TONY, can you hear me?" There was no answer.

Gibbs's hand found a piece of cloths, and he yanked it. Tony's leg appeared.
Kate removed the soil from the other end, and Tony's face became visible. But nothing happened. There was gasp for air or any signs of life. Tony was way to quiet.
"Oh God.."
"Let's get him out of here" Gibbs grabbed Tony's feet and McGee out his hands under the shoulders and they lifted his out of his grave.
They gently put him down on the ground, and Gibbs placed his fingers on the side of the neck. He prayed that he would find what he was looking for; a pulse.
But there was nothing…

Gibbs removed Tony's shirt and placed his hands on the young agent's chest.
"McGee, get the paramedics up here!" McGee was already gone.
Kate lifted Tony's head into position, and placed her mouth over his. God, how Tony would have loved it.

"1..2..3..4..5..6..7……" Gibbs started counting till he reached 15.
"Come on, Tony. Don't do this!"
Kate blew air into Tony's lungs.
"1..2..3..4…" Gibbs was working frantically to get the blood going again.
And then they did it over and over again, and again, and again….

McGee came running, paramedics right behind him…
They threw their bags down and Kate got out of the way.
But Gibbs wouldn't stop. He kept pressing his hands down on Tony'chest, trying to get his heart to start up.
Kate and McGee had to grab him on each side to get him away.
"Come on, Gibbs. Let them do their job!"
Gibbs got up… in his head he was still counting…1..2..3..4..5

Paramedics placed the paddles on Tony's chest. His body jumped as the electricity surged through him.

Nothing….

"Again" the paramedic ordered as he was giving Tony an injection.

Then the second jolt…..nothing…..

Third jolt…..nothing…

The paramedics looked at each other…

"Again!" this time Gibbs was the one to give the order…

Tony's body rose once again as the forth jolt of electricity surges through his lifeless body…. The paramedic placed his fingers on Tony's neck in search of a pulse…

He always hated the smell of hospital. Ever since he was a kid and broke his arm in two places after a tumble from the tree in the backyard.
The waiting-room was filled with people. Even at 7 a.m. Some of them recieved good news. Their loved one had made it through the difficult surgery and was going to be fine. Others broke down crying and everyone knew the news wasn't good. To Gibbs a waiting-room was one of the worst places in the world. In here you could do nothing but wait. You just sat there, waiting for news; good or bad. And for a man of action like Gibbs, nothing was worse. Nothing to do… just wait….

They'd been there since the paramedics brought Tony in almost two hours ago. They'd finally got his heart going after 5 attempts. There it was. It was weak and thready, but he had a pulse.
But Tony hadn't opened his eyes. And he was still not breathing.

When they got to the hospital Gibbs wanted to go with Tony, but was stopped by the doctor. "We'll take care of him. Please wait here".
Wait, just wait. He was the one who was supposed to take care of Tony. The one who was supposed to protect him. But he couldn't. All he could do now was waiting.

Kate had called Ducky and Abby on the way to the hospital, and they had arrived 5 minutes after the ambulance. Abby had been in tears and Gibbs held her tight. "He'll be okay" he whispered. He had her convinced. Now he just needed to convince himself.

Ducky had tried his best to get some information out of the trauma room, but no luck. Now they were all sitting together in the waiting area. Abby and McGee were asleep, her head resting on McGee's shoulder, and his on hers.
Kate couldn't sleep. She was way too worried and had had too much coffee to sleep anytime soon.
Gibbs had already been at the nurses' station 15 times asking for news.

"Special agent Gibbs?"
"That's me" Gibbs jumped from his seat and approached the man in the white coat.
"Hello, I'm Doctor Danielson. I'm a neurologist. I was called down to assist in the treatment of Anthony Dinozzo. There are some things I would like to discus with you, as you're listed as Mr. Dinozzo's next-of-kin, so if you would come with me"

"What ever you have to say, you can say in front of them," he nodded his head at the group standing behind, anxious for news, "they have just as much right to know".
The doctor nodded in agreement and asked everyone to take a seat.

"I have to be honest with you all. Anthony's condition is severe. Right now he's in a coma. We've had to put him on life-support, which means he has a tube down his throat to help him breath. As you know it took a while to get his heart started again. They had to shock him several times, and it might have done some damage to his heart. We won't know that until later. Other than that he's got some minor burns to his feet, and 3 broken ribs. Nothing that won't heal in time. What we are most concerned for is the lack of oxygen-flow to the vital organs. He was without oxygen for quite some time, and that may become a problem."

"Are there any signs of brain damage?" Ducky knew what the doctor was about to tell them, "I'm Doctor Mallard, and a friend of Anthony's"

"Oh. Well we don't know for sure yet. When the brain and the heart don't get the oxygen they need, it causes severe damages to the tissue. There are no signs of any brain damages yet on the test we did. We'll know for sure if he wakes up".

"If he wakes up? You mean he might never wake up?" Gibbs started to feel like his heart was being ripped out.

"Like I said, we really don't know. The brain is one of the most mysterious organs in the human body. Some make it through without permanent damages. Others don't. We have to wait and see"

More waiting. "What are his chances?"

"I sorry to have to tell you this, but the chances aren't good. Tony had about 10 percents chance of making it through this without permanent damages. I wish the news were better" the doctor closed his file and looked around the group of people sitting in front of him.

"He's beaten the odds before. He can do it again" Gibbs reassured them. Kate's eyes were filled with tears and so was Abby's. "Can we see him?"

"Sure. I'll have a nurse show you up to the ICU. If you have any questions, just have one of the nurses page me".

"Thank you, Doctor" Gibbs shook him hand.

"I'm sorry but you can only stay for few minutes." The nurse led then into the ICU-room.

"Can one of us stay?" Gibbs asked.

"Sure, but only one at the time".

"Thank you" said Gibbs and turned his head towards the bed in the middle of the room. The room dimly lit. The curtains were closed and only a small light was on at the end of the bed. There were a lot of strange sounds in the room, coming from all the different machines Tony was hooked up to. A single beep to indicate his heartbeat, and a wheezing coming from the respirator.
Tony looked asleep. But something about his expression had changed. He didn't look at peace like he usually did when he fell asleep in his office-chair. There was fear in the young agents face, and it scared Gibbs. The thought of Tony waking up as anything but the old Tony was so distant.

Abby didn't dare touch Tony, afraid she might do something wrong, so Ducky took her hand, "It's alright, Abigail. You can touch him" Ducky walked with her, and she leant in and kissed him on the cheek. "Come back, okay?" She took his hand and held it between hers. It was so cold. She kissed it, and Ducky led her out of the room. McGee didn't know what to do, so he looked at Gibbs, "I'll get started on the rapport, Boss. If you want me to, I'll inform the director".
Gibbs hadn't move from his spot and hadn't taken his eyes of Tony. Now he looked up at McGee, "Go home McGee. Get some sleep. It can wait till tomorrow".
McGee nodded and was about to leave. But then he turned around and walked up to Tony's bed. He put his hand on Tony's, "See you, okay?" and then he walked out.

Kate could no longer contain her tears and they began rolling down her face. Gibbs walked over to her and put his arm around her. She welcomed the embrace and leant her head on his shoulder.
"What if we were too late?" she whispered.
Gibbs knew the right answer to that question was, ‘we weren't' but deep down inside he wasn't sure. What if they were too late? What if that wasn't even Tony they'd saved? If the real Tony had died in that grave and left nothing but an empty shell?
He squeezed Kate a little, "You go home too. Get some sleep. I'll stay here".
Kate dried her eyes and nodded. She walked over to Tony's side and kissed his forehead. When she held his hand, she didn't really wanna let go again. They'd just found him again and she couldn't let go. He wasn't out of the woods yet. She still felt a need to back her partner up.
"I'll call if there's any news" Gibbs said
Kate gave Tony's hand a squeeze and left the room. But Gibbs knew she wasn't going home. She went back to the waiting-room…and waited…

Gibbs took a chair and placed it next to Tony's bed. He sat down, not knowing what to say. He'd once heard that people in a coma heard what people told them. He leant in and placed Tony's hand in his. It was so cold, and he tried by warm it with his own hands.
"I'm sorry"
He looked down, trying to gather his thoughts.
"I'm sorry it took so long to get to you. That I couldn't stop this from happening. Come back to us, okay? That's an order"
And then he gave Tony a little pad on the head. Just so things would start to get back to normal.

Then he leaned back… and waited…

They spend the next few days like this. They all took turn sitting with Tony while the rest sat in the uncomfortable chair outside in the waiting-area.

Abby would tell him stories, and be begging him to tell her all about what it's like being in a coma, when he woke up. Ducky would, as always, tell the oddest stories from autopsy. Even McGee came to visit, even though he felt it odd to talk to Tony. A Tony that didn't talk back or teased him. He even brought his book one time read some of it to Tony.
Kate teased Tony about all the hot nurses, who were giving him spongebaths. And that he'd better wake up to hit on them.
Gibbs didn't say much when he was there. He stayed longer than the others. He just sat in the chair; watching over Tony.

The doctors did al sorts of tests, but there were still no signs of improvement.

It was Saturday evening. Gibbs had sent everybody home for the night and sat in his usual chair. It'd been 8 days since they'd found Tony. 8 long days of waiting.
Gibbs was just about to close his eyes for a minute, when he noticed Tony's fingers moving. He was up in seconds, and held Tony's hand.

"Tony, can you hear me?"

Tony's eyelids flickered. Gibbs felt Tony's grip around his hand tighten. Then he opened his eyes.

"Hey" Gibbs said and squeezed Tony's hand back. Tony moved his other hand up to his mouth and tapped the tube.
"Hold on, I'll get someone to remove it" Gibbs said and pushed the call button. Then he looked straight into Tony's eyes; searching for answers. And he found them. The green eyes still had a special spark.
He was back…

"I don't know what to say, Mr. Dinozzo" Dr. Danielson looked thru the chart, "You are one lucky guy. The test indicates no brain damage, but we'd still like to keep you here for a few days to make sure"

They were all gathered in Tony's room. He'd been moved from the ICU to another ward.
"Do I have to? I mean I feel fine other than a few sore ribs and a little dust every time I cough" Tony gave the doctor a big smile.
"Not going to work. You're staying" the doctor smiled and left the room.
"I'll bet if he was a woman it'd worked" Kate couldn't help herself.
Abby was sitting at the end of the bed, "So, do you remember anything from when you were out?
"Some things. I don't remember anything specific. Just voices"

"Yeah, but I mean, did you like flow out of your body and looked down on everything?"

"Abs, give him a break. He's been awake for less than 24 hours" Gibbs stepped in, rescuing Tony from Abby's interrogation.

Thankfully no one had asked Tony about the hours in the box. They all knew, that if he wanted to talk, he'd come to them. Tony hadn't asked much about their investigation. Gibbs told him about Michael Taylor's suicide, but that was it. Tony didn't need to know more than that. He didn't want to.
"Okay, everybody out. Tony needs his beauty-sleep" Gibbs ordered.
Kate and Abby both walked up, and gave Tony a kiss and a ‘take care'.
McGee stayed at the foot of the bed, and gave him an awkward wave. As he turned his back, Tony stopped him,
"Hey Probie, keep writing. I want to know how it ends"
McGee didn't know what to say or do, much to Tony's amusement. He finally decided not to say anything but left the room.
Ducky smiled, and shook Tony's hand, "Feel better, my boy"
Gibbs looked as Ducky left, and he was about to say his goodbyes what Tony beat him to it.

"Uh Gibbs, can I talk to you?"

"Sure. What's up?"

"Maybe it's just my imagination" Tony said with a smile on his face "but did I hear you say you were sorry, when I was out? Cause if you did, you know, it would really mean a lot" Tony smiled, already knowing what Gibbs would say.

Gibbs started to laugh for the first time in days as he turned to leave to follow the rest of his team.

"In your dreams, Dinozzo. Must've been in your dreams"