In Too Deep Ch !4
Tiredly rubbing away the stiffness in the back of his neck, Gibbs slowly rose from the uncomfortable hospital chair and walked over to the window. The night had been long and emotionally traumatic for the lead NCIS agent spent alternatively trying to reassure his young agent that he was safe from the nightmares that were haunting him and than finding himself trapped in his own nightmares of memories every time he had dozed off into a light sleep.
Tony had woken several times during the night unable to escape from the horrors of the drug-induced hallucinations that had him trapped firmly within their grip. He had cried out in terror, struggling desperately to free himself from the restraints that held him tightly to protect him leaving his wrist and ankles painfully red and raw from his efforts. Ducky had explained that the doctors were reluctant to add any more drugs into Tony's already over taxed system, even the mildest sedative could cause more problems than help.
"Boss? Boss? Help me!"
The soft terrified cry from the man in the bed yanked Gibbs from his thoughts as he turned immediately and walked back to the edge of the bed. Placing his hand lightly on Dinozzo's arm, he leaned close to Tony's ear and spoke softly. "You're safe Tony! I'm here! I'm watching your six! It's just a dream, understand, it's a dream!"
Tony's eyes opened wide in fear and darted terrified around the room, looking at monsters that only he could see. "Boss? BOSS?"
The terrified plea tore at Gibbs' heart and he drew a deep breath as he steeled himself and tapped Tony firmly but carefully on the top of his head in a mild imitation of the head slap he used to focus the agent. "Tony, you are safe!" He growled softly, watching as Dinozzo jumped in response and seemed to focus on his face. "You are safe, Tony, we got you! There is nothing here that I am going to allow to hurt you! Have you got that, Tony?"
Tony swallowed and nodded but did not answer the question verbally as his eyes seemed to stare at something beyond his boss' shoulder.
Slapping Tony's forehead again a little harder, mindful of the concussion the young man was suffering, Gibbs leaned even closer, "DiNozzo, you are safe." He growled watching as Tony refocused onto his face. "Do you understand Tony? Nothing is going to hurt you!"
"I'm safe!" Tony whispered in response, his eyes closing from exhaustion as he spoke, "You've got my six. Nothing is go…" The words trailed away as the young agent drifted back to a more restful sleep and Gibbs remained where he was for several minutes watching, his hand resting on Tony's arm in an attempt to let Tony to know that he was not alone.
"His blood tests are looking excellent, Jethro. The drugs are metabolizing quickly out of his system. The doctors believe by this afternoon the drug tests will be negative." Ducky's soft cultured voice from behind startled Gibbs and he spun around as the older man slowly entered the room and walked to the other side of the bed, studying both the sleeping man and the lead agent as he spoke. "They are confident that Anthony will have no lasting after effects from the drugs forced upon him. We were lucky Jethro; the LSD derivative used does not have the same addictive qualities as its cousins."
Rubbing his hand tiredly over his face, Gibbs murmured, "Thank God."
Ducky nodded his agreement before quietly stating, "He may need some counseling to help him deal with the traumatic experience of this undercover assignment, Jethro, but he's young and healthy. He'll bounce back even quicker than the doctors hope."
"I let him down, Duck!" Gibbs whispered, his eyes never leaving the figure in the bed, "I promised that we would watch his six and than we lost him to those maniacs. I should have prevented it from happening. I should have kept a tighter blanket on him, even reached him sooner!"
Shaking his head, Ducky walked around the bed until he stood inches from Gibbs. Placing his hand on the agitated agent's shoulder he firmly stated, "What happened was NOT your fault Jethro. I know Anthony will agree. Things out of your control went wrong but you found him before it was too late and you saved his life by getting him to step away from the ledge- something I know young Anthony will be eternally grateful for. You have also got the man who is truly guilty of this horrific crime behind bars! Which reminds me, Jethro, I have been asked to inform you that he did not experience the most comfortable night being held in shackles nor did he manage to obtain much sleep. it seems that the guards placed a very inebriated man who decided to sing patriotic songs all night in the cell beside him!"
Encouraged by the smile that tugged at Gibbs' lips, Ducky continued, "I do believe young Anthony has finally managed to settle into a restful sleep and will probably sleep for a few hours. Why don't we grab a coffee at Starbucks on the way back to the office? I do believe there is a suspect waiting to be interrogated."
NCISNCISNCIS
Kate and McGee stood quietly near the one way mirror, observing the interrogation being carried out in the small interrogation room. Harding sat defiantly on the hard wooden chair, still shackled tightly as Gibbs sat silently in front of him, studying the contents of a thick folder on the table in front of him, fully ignoring the prisoner. The director sat motionless in the corner of the tiny room watching the proceedings.
Kate smiled as she watched Harding grow restless at the continuing silence of the two agents. "It's starting to get to him. "She murmured to McGee, never taking her eyes from the scene being played out in front of her. "He is starting to need a fix and Gibbs' silence is unnerving him."
McGee glanced at Kate before returning his attention back to the suspect. He watched Harding's body language more closely suddenly more aware of the nervous jittery movements that Harding made and the fine sheen of perspiration that covered Harding's face.
Gibbs waited a few more minutes aware of the prisoner's increasing discomfort before he finally looked up and studied the man closely. He smiled warmly and with an exaggerated concern inquired politely, "I hope you had a comfortable night last night, Mr. Harding. I trust our facilities were to your liking. Is there anything that I can do that will make your stay more comfortable?"
McGee blinked in surprise at Gibbs words but Kate grinned, "Tony would be enjoying this ‘ She thought as she watched Harding's eyes widen in surprise.
"You can take these damn shackles off!" Harding growled, rattling the chain as he lifted his hands, "They are cutting into me!"
Gibbs smiled apologetically before the smile slowly morphed to a look of disgust and contempt. "Now I thought you were deeply into bondage. I know that you kept all your victims tightly bound with ropes while you tortured them and drugged them. The three bodies that you dumped and my agent all bears the marks of the ropes you tied them with cutting into their skin. "
Harding suddenly grinned, obviously delighted at the contempt in the other man's eyes. "Should have heard them all cry out when I tied them up. Mind you your boy was tried hard not to react. I tied his arms and legs tighter than the others just to see him cry out in pain."
"You enjoyed watching them suffer didn't you Harding?" Gibbs prompted, slowly circling him like a eagle watching his prey.
Harding grinned and shook his head as his eyes glazed over, "You should have heard them scream! They would struggle to get away, cry like babies. Man the power I held over them! Awesome man! Absolutely awesome! At first they would try and tough it out, not make a sound but in the end they all cried, even your boy! He held out the longest. Kiki said it was as good as the drugs watching him struggling to not make a sound. He did cry out your name once or twice, especially when I got him with the prod. He was fun to play with! But that's not why I did it. Kiki was the one into pain, not me!"
"What were you into Harding?" Gibbs questioned quietly.
"Hey, the power, Man, the power! Do you know what its like to have the ability to hold someone's life in my hand. I could make them cry and squirm in pain or scream out in fear. at the monsters I can make them see." Harding looked up and grinned at Gibbs, "And the power of making you suffer. Of being able to force you to hear and see your own boy scream! Proves that I am stronger than you will ever be." Harding gloated triumphantly." I was so peeved to find your boy had the phone but he did me a favor. Really made the whole game worth playing, don't you agree?"
McGee gasped in shock at the suspects ramblings but Kate continued to watch and observe, her own disgust hidden almost as if she was mimicking Gibbs as she watched Gibbs slowly draw out a full confession out of the drug addict in front of him, drawing on the man's own eagerness to brag.
Gibbs ignored the taunt as he slowly circled the table and sat back down in front of the suspect. "Tell me about Kiki." He said quietly, flicking to the photos of the yet unidentified woman found dead in the alley and the artist sketches of the same woman drawn as their female suspect in the case.
"Kiki?" Harding's delighted smile turned wistful, "Kiki was a nice kid. Only sixteen when I meet her a few years ago, She was as straight-laced as they come. Mamma was a teacher! Daddy was a preacher! But I turned her on. She loved the highlife and the parties but most of all, Man, she really dug the drugs!"
Gibbs grimaced as he stared at the aged face of the photo in front of him. She was barely twenty-one, with make up and a darkened room she appeared stunning but under the stark morgue lights the abuse was more than evident, she appeared at least forty. "What was Kiki's real name?" He asked quietly.
Harding shook his head and grinned, "Don't know as much as you think, do ya?" He giggled. "Figure it out yourself!"
Gibbs ignored the gibe and continued with the interrogation. "Why Marines and why did you kidnap torture and drug them?"
"Marines were Kiki's idea. She loved a man in uniform. Said a marine were the toughest of the tough but I showed her that they were like the rest. Give them a little pain and they will cry like babies. They're not so tough. I am more powerful than a marine could ever be!" He sniffled and wiped his nose on the back of his sleeves. "You should have seen your boy. He was the best! He didn't want to show any signs of weakness, Fought me the whole way. Even when he saw the monsters he tried to call out for you to help him! Man , that was sweet! Best fun I have ever had. He screamed your name until he couldn't even talk. It took me a while to break him but I did!"" He boosted as he wiped the sweet from his face and carefully wrapped his arms around himself as if he was cold.
"Starting to hurt?" Gibbs asked coldly, "Needing a fix?"
Nodding his head, Harding glanced up into Gibbs' cold angry stare. "Yeah man, I need something to take the edge off and I know my rights. I ain't saying nothing more until you get me somethin' You have to get me something!"
Smiling at the man's discomfort, Gibbs leaned forward, his hands pressed against the tabletop.'I thought you were tougher than your victims. Can't you take a little pain? You know that at this minute Agent Dinozzo is sleeping quiet peacefully in a hospital bed. He no longer is in pain and no longer hallucinating. I'm sure that he will like to know just how well you can deal with the same type of pain that you put him and your other victims through!"
"You cant' do this! I ain't gunna' say nothinb' unless you get me some help!" harding threatened as the tears began to run down his face unchecked.
Gibbs shrugged his shoulders and turned away. "Well Man I guess you ain't got nothing more to say than! " He said as he walked towards the door, the director rising to his feet and silently following Gibbs from the room, leaving Harding staring at the door as it closed behind them.
Stepping into the corridor Kate and McGee quickly hurried to where Gibbs and the Director now stood. Shaking his head with a mixture of pity and revulsion, Gibbs looked at his two agents. "That is one twisted man!" he stated quietly. "I'm sure as the drugs wear out of his system, we are going to discover that the three marines and Tony's kidnappings and tortures are only the tips of the iceberg!"
"I think you're right Gibbs." Kate agreed. "He has perfected his crimes for these to be the first cases. I believe we are dealing with a serial killer here. Both he and the girl probably urged each other on."
Gibbs nodded as he turned and walked towards the elevator. "We need to track down anyone that he or the girl has come in contact with since they meet. I can bet that we are going to turn up the names of quite a few missing people and not all of them will be marines. "
NCISNCISNCIS
One week later;-
Sitting on the edge of the hospital bed, Tony Dinozzo signed his name on the release papers with glee. The signature was almost illegible but he had never been good at writing left handed and at the moment he didn't care, all he wanted was to be able to go home.
The memories of his undercover assignment and the first two days spent in the hospital were extremely patchy and what little memories he possessed warned him that the rest were best left forgotten. His physical injuries would heal with time and the sessions that Ducky insisted that he have with the NCIS psychologist were helping to stop the strange nightmares that had plagued him the first few days after his rescue.
Gibbs had been extremely reticent about the case; only saying that the woman who had lured him and the other victims from the bar had been killed by her accomplice and that he was now in custody. He found that he did not really want to know more than that.
He grinned expectantly as the door to his hospital room opened and McGee entered the room. Tony frowned with confusion as he looked past Tim, expecting Gibbs to enter but the door closed quietly behind him. "Hey Probie, I thought Gibbs was going to be my chauffer home today."
McGee shrugged and tried to smile. He was but something came up. He wants me to take you back to his place. Said he doesn't want you wondering around your apartment alone until your ribs and arm is more healed. " McGee informed him. "And I'm not going to argue with Gibbs. He wants someone with you until he gets home with dinner so I guess your stuck with me!"
Eyeing McGee suspiciously, Tony asked, "Are you sure there isn't more? I mean Gibbs letting me stay at his house! What's up? Come on Probie, spill it!"
McGee shrugged his shoulders as he picked up Tony's bag. "Hey Tony, I can only repeat what Gibbs ordered. I'm sure he'll explain when he gets home. Now do you want to get out of here? I rented some great DVD's for us to watch- Starwars and Jaws!"
"Did you remember the beer and pizza? Tony asked back over his shoulder as McGee followed him from the room.
NCISNCISNCIS
Standing in the doorway to the cell. Kate watched silently as Gibbs angrily questioned the guard. "Just how the hell did Harding escape! I want a full report on what happened here this morning! "
The young guard nodded nervously, "Yes sir!" he answered before scurrying away.
Gibbs turned back to Kate. "I want this whole room photographed and gone over with a fine tooth comb. I want to know just who the Hell assisted him to escape!"
Kate nodded and paused biting her lip before she looked up into Gibbs' worried eyes. "Do you think he'll try for Tony again?" she asked.
Gibbs returned her glance. "He will ever get near Dinozzo again, Kate! I'm going to track him down and make sure of it. I promised Tony that I had his six with this madman and it is a promise I don't intend to have broken again!"
Kate returned her attention back to her job. Gibbs was one man who kept his word especially to his team!
The End
In Too Deep by traw
Author's Chapter Notes:
An Undercover assignment goes wrong. Can they Get Tony out before it is too late?