Chapter Text
DiNozzo checked his watch for the 5th time in the past 10 minutes and sighed. He was standing out in the stifling heat in the middle of Gaithersburg, waiting for some crime scene techs from the local PD to take over the scene NCIS had been called down to. Someone had thought an admiral had been shot, but it just turned out to be a guy in a costume. The stripes on the sleeves didn't match with his hat, which he had pointed out right away, and now he deeply regretted doing so as he waited to switch jurisdiction. It was the middle of July, which didn't help matters. The body was getting ripe and all he wanted to do was get back to the office.
Something rustled in a nearby bush and DiNozzo turned toward it, hoping it was just a slightly skittish squirrel. He didn't want to beat a carnivore away from the body to keep its integrity.
There was a loud CRACK from behind him, and he wondered what it was briefly before he felt fire travel up his arm. Ah, it was a bullet, he thought to himself, glancing at his arm to assess the damage. Nothing seemed to be shot in that area, and with dread he looked further up. Sure enough, there was a hole through his shoulder joint. And it was bleeding. Profusely.
He realized he should probably put pressure on it, and moved his other arm up and pressed his hand against the hole in the front. It didn't do a very good job of stemming the bleeding. Though maybe that was because there was a second hole in the back of his shoulder that he couldn't cover with his hand.
He didn't even think to look behind him for the shooter until they were long gone. He pulled out his phone and dialed Gibbs. DiNozzo's thoughts were getting more and more disjointed, but someone had to come over and cover the crime scene if he lost too much blood and passed out. "Hey, boss," he said amiably when Gibbs picked up. "I kinda need someone else to help keep watch over the crime scene."
Gibbs growled on the other end. "Why, DiNozzo?"
"Oh, it's kind of a funny story! So first there was this sort of rustling thing in one of the bushes, and I thought it might be a small animal, but I think it was actually a distraction because when I turned to check on it there was a loud cracking noise. I think it came from a gun? It probably did because there's now a hole in my shoulder about the size of a bullet. And it's bleeding a lot. I'm not compromising the crime scene, I don't think, but someone should probably make sure the body isn't moved, y'know, because I might pass out."
"Tony? Are you all right?" Gibbs asked. There was startled yelling on his end of the line.
"I think so, except for the hole in my shoulder. Someone should probably look at that soon, but I...feel..."
There was another sickening CRACK and Tony gasped as he felt another fire start, this time in his leg.
"Tony?! I'm coming right over, okay? C'mon, kiddo, stay with me now," Gibbs ordered. "I heard a gunshot, what happened?"
"...Leg..." Tony gasped, falling to his knees in the muddy ground. He watched with morbid fascination as blood dripping through his hands mixed with the mud. Red and brown, swirling together.
"Tony?! Tony, you have to stay with me kiddo. You promised me you'd look out for criminals, and that you wouldn't die, remember? Stay with me, talk to me!"
The phone slipped from Tony's fingers and he soared to the ground face-first. I know you don't want me to die, Papa. But how do I know that I'm still alive? He blinked as he heard footsteps approach him, and black combat boots came into view. But Papa didn't wear combat boots. He tried moving the arm that wasn't pinned to the ground, before remembering that he got shot in its shoulder. And didn't Papa say something about not moving gunshot wounds?
The world started to go black, much as Tony desperately tried to cling to consciousness. The last thing he head was Papa's tinny voice yelling "Tony!" through his cell phone before he fell into unconsciousness.
Gibbs' gut was churning. He didn't understand why. He had left DiNozzo at the crime scene to wait for Metro PD. Nothing he hadn't done before, and nothing that the agent couldn't handle. And yet, something felt wrong to him. And when something felt wrong, it usually involved Tony nowadays.
Maybe he should call DiNozzo and make sure everything was all right.
His cell phone rang at that exact moment and Gibbs picked it up, ready to snap at whoever was on the other end of the line. "Hey, boss," DiNozzo said amiably when Gibbs picked up. "I kinda need someone else to help keep watch over the crime scene."
Gibbs' gut was kicking into overdrive, not that he could let DiNozzo know that. "Why, DiNozzo?"
"Oh, it's kind of a funny story! So first there was this sort of rustling thing in one of the bushes, and I thought it might be a small animal, but I think it was actually a distraction because when I turned to check on it there was a loud cracking noise. I think it came from a gun? It probably did because there's now a hole in my shoulder about the size of a bullet. And it's bleeding a lot. I'm not compromising the crime scene, I don't think, but someone should probably make sure the body isn't moved, y'know, because I might pass out."
Gibbs shot up out of his chair, earning a startled jump and rush for a gun from Viv. "Tony? Are you all right?" he asked frantically into the phone. C'mon, kiddo, I need a response, if I can keep you talking, I know you're still conscious.
"I think so, except for the hole in my shoulder. Someone should probably look at that soon, but I...feel..." Tony's response was sluggish. This was not good.
And, to make matters worse, Gibbs heard a gunshot over the line, right before Tony gasped. "Tony?! I'm coming right over, okay? C'mon, kiddo, stay with me now," Gibbs ordered. "I heard a gunshot, what happened?"
"...Leg..." Tony gasped.
So he was shot in the shoulder, and the leg. This was not good. He could die from blood loss in those areas.
Tony could die.
Gibbs scrambled for his gun and holstered it, not even bothering to tell Viv to follow him to the elevator. He knew she would when he was this frantic. It was then Gibbs realized he had to keep Tony talking. "Tony?! Tony, you have to stay with me kiddo. You promised me you'd look out for criminals, and that you wouldn't die, remember? Stay with me, talk to me!"
He didn't get a response for 1, 2, 3 seconds. He could have crushed his phone were it not his lifeline to his boy. "Tony?! Tony!"
He punched the number for the ground floor, and waited impatiently for the elevator to do it's job, all the while trying to get Tony to talk. "Tony, come on. Talk to me. That's an order! Talk to me! Tony!"
The line cut out and Gibbs' stomach dropped. He snapped his cell phone shut and ran a hand through his hair.
"Gibbs? What's going on?" Viv asked, uncertain.
"That was DiNozzo," Gibbs growled. "He's been shot at the crime scene."
Viv's eyes widened and she ran out of the elevator just as fast as Gibbs did when it opened. "Hopefully he'll be okay when we get there," she said.
"If he's there at all," Gibbs pointed out. "Someone could have taken him. The line was cut, at any rate."
"You don't think this has to do with the Alessi case we solved awhile ago, does it?"
Gibbs felt a strain of pure panic invade his thoughts. If this was about the Alessi case, he doubted Tony would be alive long enough for them to rescue him. The most they might be able to do is bring his body home. Gibbs jumped in one of the vans that wasn't currently in use and closed the door, slamming the gas as soon as Viv was inside.
If Tony died today, that was on Gibbs. And he wasn't one to let an agent die on his watch.
Pain.
That was the first thought that came to Tony's mind when he woke up. He was in pain in his left shoulder and the back of his left leg. Why was he in pain?
Body. Gunshots. Phone calls. Black combat boots.
Where's Papa?
Tony groaned as he lifted his head and opened his eyes a crack. He was in a dark room, but it smelled of pristine, of cleaning products and lack of use. Suddenly, everything was white. Tony couldn't explain how; everything just changed from black to white in a matter of seconds. A blurry gray figure came into his view, and he blinked to try and see the person clearer.
There was stinging across his cheek before he could focus, and he found himself looking at a tiled floor. "You don't behave, you get hit," the man said in a thick accent that Tony couldn't place. "Where's Gibbs and Blackadder?"
Tony looked up at the man, who was sneering down at him. He didn't look like a nice man, so Tony didn't say anything. The stinging repeated itself, and Tony moved his head back to its original position. "You understand English. I know you do."
No response. The sting repeated on the other cheek.
"Answer me!"
Another sting. Nothing. And another sting. And another. And another.
Tony didn't comprehend where he was. All he could think about was that this man was much like his dad when he got drunk, ready to hit at the first sign of disobedience and only asking questions later. The man morphed into the shape of his dad, and Tony recognized that this wasn't healthy, humans didn't just change shape, and he was probably sick or at the very least still very injured. He assessed his injuries, and found his shoulder and leg bandaged. So they were saving him for later. He probably hadn't gotten any new blood, though, so they weren't trying too hard.
Good to know.
Hours passed by in a blur, and Tony just sat there, not even recognizing the questions he was being asked anymore. He felt far, far too little to form words in a coherent sentence. Eventually the mean man left and Tony sat there, absorbing the stinging sensation in his cheeks.
The door opened again after a minute-or was it an hour?-and the mean man walked in with a woman. "Agent DiNozzo, my name is Laurette Alessi. I was once a...friend of your boss, Agent Gibbs. However, somewhere along the line, our interests changed, and he stole something very important from me. So now, in order to get that very important thing back, I need to know: Where are Agent Gibbs and Agent Blackadder?"
Tony opened his mouth, and croaked out his honest answer. "I...I dunno."
The stinging started up again worse than ever across his face.
"That is not an acceptable answer, Agent DiNozzo. Where is he?"
"I don't know," Tony repeated, still feeling very small.
The stinging happened again and Tony turned, biting the hand that had hit him. The man yelled obscenities that would make a sailor wash the man's mouth out with soap. The man pulled out a gun and put it against Tony's head, cocking it. The woman stayed perfectly calm. "Agent DiNozzo, if you cannot provide us with an answer, I am afraid I will have to have you shot."
Tony pulled on the restraints he was in desperately, causing pain to flare up in his shoulder, and he writhed in pain. His eyes stung furiously, but he was attempting to keep his tears at bay. "I'm tellin' the truth! I don' know!"
The man laughed. "Not an option."
"I don' know where he is, I really don'! P-p'ease, don' shoot me! I don' know!" he sobbed. He was too little to die! And he had promised Papa that he wouldn't! He just wanted to go home, and lie on Papa's couch and watch I Love Lucy with him until dawn. If all of that wasn't enough, he could feel warmth in his crotch area, and he cried harder when he realized he had wet himself in fear in front of the bad guys. "I-I-I d-don' kn-know..."
He was sure the man was going to shoot him, but the woman held a hand up and walked over to him moving the cold metal away from his face. "Well you have gotten yourself quite worked up. I think we should take a break for now and come back to this later, hm?"
Tony didn't reply, mortified into silence by his adult side, and shaking with terror from his little side. The woman touched his cheek in what could be described as a maternal way before turning to the man. "Clean him up. And put him in one of the diapers we have lying around from previous...guests, will you? I don't want urine across my floor all the time."
The man made an indignant noise as the woman walked out, before roughly grabbing Tony by the hair and growling, "If you try to escape while I deal with your mess, I'll shoot you."
"I-I won'," Tony promised.
The man silently released Tony and calmly threw him off to the side of the room, before leaving the room and returning with a mop and some bleach solution. Tony sat up and whimpered, rubbing his head. He watched the man clean up his mess, having nothing else to do. He could feel his pee cooling on his pants and underwear and squirmed. This was really uncomfortable.
It only got worse, however, when the man left and returned again with a diaper, and reached for Tony's belt. Tony shied away and the man growled. "I am allowed to shoot you if you act up, you realize?"
The boy stilled and closed his eyes as this complete stranger stripped him of his pants and underwear, wiped him down, and put a diaper on him. "Someone is just a big baby, eh?" the man asked with a cruel laugh. "Be good and stay right where you are for me until I come back."
The man laughed and walked out of the room, while Tony tried his best to be very still.
Gibbs and Viv reached the crime scene in record time. Viv looked around and tsked. "Those crime scene techs from Metro never got here. Where are they?!"
"Worry about that later," Gibbs ordered. "Tony's our first priority."
"Right," Viv said, inspecting the scene.
It was on the side of a road, with the body lying in a ditch by some bushes. Gibbs looked around. Tony would be standing by the road so the techs could see him, but he'd want to stay by the crime scene...he stopped. There was a sizable amount of blood by the bushes. "Viv, we're going to need a sample of that blood, to verify it's Tony's," Gibbs said. His voice almost broke as he did. He was so shaken up about what happened with Tony. He couldn't lose another of his kids.
Not again.
He looked at the pool of blood. Tony had said he was distracted before he was shot, so he was probably shot from the back. He turned his back to the blood spray, saw a cluster of trees off the side of the road maybe 20 feet away. He walked over, putting on gloves as he did to inspect the area. He slipped through the trunks and found the perfect spot for a professional hitman to wait for the exact right moment to strike. He also found 2 shell casings on the ground, and bagged them both. Upon further inspection, he didn't find anything else he could use as evidence, not even gunshot residue on anything near the gun when it might have been fired. Whoever they were dealing with, these people were pros.
Gibbs' stomach twisted at the thought that he might be dealing with the Alessi family. Thoughts of finding Tony's lifeless body invaded his mind and he couldn't shake them, much as he tried to. He walked out of the trees and back to Viv, hoping she found something else. She held up 2 bullets, though she looked sick as she did so. "Found the bullets that hit Tony. One's got more damage than the other, meaning one probably hit bone or something else to damage it, the other only dealt with tissue. Which means Tony might only have one serious wound to deal with, and the other could be a graze."
"We should prepare for the worst, Viv, not the best," Gibbs said, agitated.
"I know we should prepare for the worst. But we should also hope for the best," she replied, taking the bag with the shell casings from Gibbs. "I have a sample of the blood, and the surrounding mud so that Abby knows which is which, and I'm sure she can run the bullets whether or not there are prints. Also, I found a boot print. Took a picture with its measurements, so that could narrow our suspect pool depending on the shoe size. Other than that...this crime scene is pretty clean, Gibbs. We're not dealing with amateurs."
"I know," Gibbs sighed. "And I don't like it. We're taking these back to Abby right away. Metro PD obviously doesn't care enough about this body to send someone down to secure it right away, and if they ask why we weren't there, we can explain an agent got shot while waiting for them, and that takes priority."
"Morrow won't like that," Viv warned.
"Screw what Morrow likes, I'm getting my agent back. Let's take these to Abby, and fast."