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.