Captivity 1/1 (H/C) bingo story 3
Captivity
Seasick, that was his first though, but even that wasn't right. Tim struggled to sort out what he was feeling - he hurt, really hurt, all over and there was a burning pain just below his shoulder. Bullet wound, most likely. He was nauseous and whatever dark place he was in was rocking. More details finally reported in and the smell of exhaust was almost overwhelming.
Trunk, he was in the trunk of a moving car. His mind a little bit clearer, he took better stock of his situation. He wasn't tied or handcuffed, which was good, but his weapon and phone were gone, which was bad. Feeling around, he could tell that the knife he carried in his pocket was also gone, but his belt was still intact, the hidden knife undisturbed. The biggest surprise was the fact that his cuffs were still in their case on his belt. He struggled to remove them and tucked them into his pocket, behind his wallet. It wasn't the best option, but anywhere else would show. He left the case unsnapped, hoping that his abductors would think they'd been lost somewhere along the way. The injuries were limiting his mobility enough, if he were cuffed there would be no chance of escape.
Apparently turning off a paved road, the ride became rougher and Tim was totally unprepared when the wheel suddenly dropped and he slammed his head against the trunk lid, once again losing the fight to stay conscious.
---NCIS---
"Jethro, a word?"
DiNozzo had already left Autopsy at a run, calling in the BOLO at the same time, but Gibbs turned back to his old friend. "Yeah, Duck?"
"This is not your fault."
"I sent him out on that lunch run. Knew he didn't want to go, knew he was sick last week, and I still sent him out in that rain." Frustrated, Gibbs slammed his hand against one of the drawers, the sound echoing through the room. "Because he's the team's probie."
"Jethro, McGee has not been a probie for years." Ducky gave him a careful look before continuing. "It's easier to treat him like that, rather than admit the truth, isn't it?"
"Getting McGee back is the only thing right now." Not wanting to discuss, or even think about, his feeling for the younger man, Gibbs headed for the door.
"Agreed." Ducky waited until he was almost at the door. "But can you ignore your feelings once we have him back?"
Gibbs tensed up, but didn't slow down. He'd cross that bridge once they had McGee safely home.
---NCIS---
He screamed before he was fully conscious, but the jarring impact of being dumped onto the ground hurt like hell. Before his vision could clear, he was being dragged by his feet across the cold and muddy ground. The rain was still coming down and Tim screwed his eyes tight and tried to move one arm up to protect his face. By the time he'd accomplished that, he stopped moving.
The sound of metal against metal made his headache even worse, but more importantly he heard footsteps moving away. Slowly Tim opened his eyes, keeping his movements as subtle as possible. A door slammed to his right and Tim saw an old house. Moments later flickering lights came on inside. Candles, most likely as the place didn't look modern enough to have electricity or even running water. Knowing he was alone for the moment, Tim took in his circumstances. He was in a cage, something that had been used for animals at one time if the empty food bowls were any indication.
Heavy steel bars made up the edges with a thick gauge wire in a square pattern as the walls. Everything was either bolted or welded together and the door had a heavy padlock holding it shut. It wasn't quite tall enough for him to stand in and he wasn't sure it was long enough to lay flat in. If he'd been able to stretch out both arms, he would have touched both sides. The door faced the house, which meant if he tried to figure out the combination, he'd be in full sight of his captors. The roof was welded into place, so he turned his attention to the ground. The grass was several inches thick, but when he dug his fingers down through it, he encountered the same wire mesh. Even if he were strong enough to lift the cage, there would be no escape that way. Exhausted already, Tim turned his attention to the few bolts he could see. Heavy rust meant they couldn't be loosened without tools and time, neither of which he had at the moment. Resigned to being stuck for the foreseeable future, Tim next turned his attention to his injuries.
A concussion was obvious, even without Ducky or Tony there to remind him of the symptoms. His main concern was the bullet wound. Gently poking, he found a hole that didn't belong on him. He really didn't want to look, but he forced himself. Even without pulling the fabric away - and with the dried blood practically gluing his shirt to him, he really didn't want to do that - he could see that he was looking at an exit wound. That explained the pain in the back of his shoulder. Forcing himself to remember his anatomy, Tim was pretty sure the bullet had missed anything particularly vital. Of course the fact that he was still breathing confirmed that.
Without a piece of metal rattling around in him, blood loss and infection would be the two largest threats. Under the circumstances, infection was a foregone conclusion, so Tim focused on making sure he didn't lose any more blood. Luckily today was one of the rare days he'd worn a t-shirt under his dress shirt and after backing into the darkest corner of the cage he eased his knife out and poked it through the t-shirt. Tucking the knife back away so that it was hidden, he pulled on the fabric until the bottom ten inches was removed from the rest of the shirt. Only then did he ease his coat off and wrap the fabric loop around him to cover both entry and exit wounds and getting it secure. Painfully he struggled back into the coat just as the house door flew open.
This was the first real look Tim had gotten of his captors. This one was tall and muscular, a swastika roughly tattooed onto his neck. Prison tattoo, his mind offered, but he was more interested in what the man was carrying toward him.
---NCIS---
Vance had gotten the message the moment he'd finished his part of the budget meeting. His plans for a dinner up on the Hill were dashed and he had his driver take him directly back to the Yard. One look at the partial team assembled in the Bullpen and he knew his secretary hadn't over-reacted. "Status report?"
Dorneget and several others from Cybercrimes were hunched over monitors looking at various traffic feeds, but DiNozzo jumped to his feet. "The car used in the robbery was stolen three days ago from a neighborhood just north of Baltimore. Local PD is sending us everything they have."
"And the evidence from today?"
"Abby and Ziva are running it now. We've got stills from the security feed and Balboa's team is canvassing the area."
Gibbs arrived in the Bullpen, but before Vance could ask him anything, his phone rang. Gibbs barked out a terse "yeah?" before announcing that they were on their way and hanging up the phone. "Abby's got something."
---NCIS---
"Time to slop the pig."
Before Tim could work out what that meant, the contents of a metal bowl was tossed in the cage with him. Rancid meat, rotting vegetables and what looked to be some sort of dog kibble landed around him and Tim knew he'd been 'fed' for the evening. His captor laughed and went back inside as smoke could be seen coming from the chimney.
Staring at the mess, Tim remembered how long it had been since he'd eaten and wondered how long it would be before that slop started to look good. Giving a sigh, he curled up into a ball as best he could and tried to conserve his body heat. "Come on, guys, find me."
---NCIS---
"What ya' got, Abs?" Gibbs entered the lab at almost a dead run, DiNozzo and Vance almost jogging to keep up with him.
She smiled, but it wasn't a happy smile. "Fingerprints from the cash register. Gibbs meet Robert Carpenter. Don't know what he did, but he's got a sealed juvenile record."
Vance already had his phone out. "I'll see about getting a judge to unseal those records."
Gibbs nodded at that, but was still looking at Abby and Ziva. "Got an address for Carpenter?"
Ziva handed over a slip of paper. "Last address of record was with his parents."
"Good. You two track down this bozo's probation officer."
"It is after hours, Gibbs."
He was already walking away. "Don't care how you do it, Ziva. Deep background on this kid, too, and find the other one."
---NCIS---
Gibbs didn't want to talk. Luckily, DiNozzo was used to filling the air himself and didn't notice but he did give Gibbs a funny look when they arrived at the Carpenters' home. Shoving his badge in the face of the man that answered the door, now Gibbs wanted to talk.
"You Robert Carpenter's father?"
Paunchy and short, with a careworn face, the question didn't seem to be a surprise. "What's he done now?"
"Robbed a place, shot a federal agent, kidnapping, accessory to another murder, and that's just for starters."
"Shit." Carpenter stepped back, allowing them in. "Mary, the police are here. Robbie's in trouble again."
Gibbs and DiNozzo stepped inside but it took a minute for Mary to get her ancient wheelchair down the hallway and into the living room. "You have to understand, he was a good boy. He just got mixed up with the wrong crowd."
He wasn't buying that for a second, but Gibbs had bigger concerns right now. "He and his partner kidnapped the agent he shot." Mary closed her eyes and started praying, so Gibbs turned to the father. "If we don't find our man alive..."
"When was the last time you saw your son, Mr. Carpenter?" It was a good thing Tony was keeping his cool, because Gibbs wasn't sure how much longer he could hold his as he waited for an answer.
"Month, maybe more. Robbie knows we don't approve of his ways, or his friends."
"This one of his friends?" Tony held out a screenshot of the still unidentified suspect.
"Yeah, Robbie calls him Z-man. That's all I know. The two of them were here about a month ago like I said. They ate all of our food and stole the last of Mary's mother's jewelry... and... my father's gun."
"Did you report it?"
"He's our only child. Being around the people he's with, I figured he needed the protection."
One of the stills was of Carpenter shooting McGee and DiNozzo shoved that at his father. "Who's protecting his victims?" Unsurprisingly, there was no answer.
Gibbs handed over one of his cards. "If you hear from him or think of anything else, you call us."
"Yeah, sure."
That was probably a lie, considering how they had already covered up one crime, so as soon as they were back in the car, Gibbs called in for a warrant to monitor the parents. Chances were, Robbie wouldn't make contact unless he thought he could get something out of them, but they'd cover every angle.
---NCIS---
There was food on their desks when Gibbs and DiNozzo returned. Neither man really wanted it under the circumstances, but they had to eat something to keep going. It was close to midnight, but Gibbs was glad to see that no one, not even the other teams, planned on going anywhere tonight.
Shifts were set up, allowing everyone to get a few hours sleep while the research continued and every possible sighting was followed up.
---NCIS---
"Gibbs, Robbie Carpenter's probation officer is here. Dorney just took him up to conference room four."
That got Gibbs and the rest of the team on their feet and up the stairs. The man waiting for them looked tired but immediately got to his feet. "Agent Gibbs? I'm Carter Jones. Sorry you had trouble tracking me down, but I've been out of town for a funeral. Flight arrived here at 0300 and when I turned my phone back on, I found more than a dozen messages so I figured it was pretty important. Judging from the activity, one of my boys is in trouble, right?"
"Robert Carpenter, what can you tell me about him?"
"Angry at the world, always convinced whatever is wrong is someone else's fault. What's he done?"
"Robbery. Shot and kidnapped a federal agent, member of my team."
Jones let out a low whistle. "That doesn't sound like Robbie."
Gibbs wasn't in the mood to argue about it. "We've got the damned thing on tape, his fingerprints on the cash register."
"That's not what I meant. Did he have a partner?"
"Yeah. That tell you something?"
"By himself, he's never been too dangerous, kid's not smart enough to plan something out, but he's a follower that craves attention."
That seemed to fit with what they already knew. Tony had the photos and Gibbs nodded at him. "This seems to be his current leader. You know him?"
Jones took the photo and looked at it closely. "He's familiar, I think I've seen him at the facility, but he's not one of my cases."
"Any way you can track him down for us?"
"If you give me access to a computer, I can try, but it's going to be hard with nothing to identify him."
Ziva reached over and took the folder from Tony, sorting through until she found what she was looking for. "There is a tattoo on his neck. It is a swastika."
"You sure?" Jones squinted to look closer while Ziva fingered the necklace around her own neck.
"I am sure."
"Well, that will help, but we've still got a lot of files to go through. Guy looks old enough that he's probably aged out of our program."
"If you track street names, we think he's called Z-man."
"That name sounds familiar, too. All right, get me a computer and I'll see what I can come up with. Some coffee would be great, too."
Gibbs nodded at that. He'd think clearer with a fresh cup, too. "DiNozzo, take him downstairs and have Dorney set him up. I'm going for coffee."
---NCIS---
It had been a long, cold night. Tim managed a few hours of sleep, a couple of minutes at a time, and now he was trying to stretch his muscles and get loosened up without attracting attention. His fingers were too cold and numb to feel his way through getting the combination for the lock, at least not without attracting attention. Somehow he was going to have to come up with plan B, and soon, before the infection and fever made him too weak to defend himself or escape.
---NCIS---
"Got him." Jones' words got them up on their feet as Dorney took over and sent the image up onto the plasma. "Thomas Zablocki. I was right, he aged out about six months ago. Don't know the details and his file is sealed, but I know his PO was convinced that he'd re-offend pretty quick."
Now they were getting somewhere. "Tony, BOLO on Zablocki. Jones, need to talk to his PO."
---NCIS---
"Hey, little piggy."
The words didn't bother him too much, but the long piece of steel rebar in his hand worried Tim. Painfully, he shifted around so that he was facing his visitor. It was the taller one again, the one that seemed to be in charge. "What do you want with me?"
"Gonna make you squeal like any good little piggy, but first I'm going to have a nice breakfast. You smell that?"
He hadn't, not until it was mentioned, but now the scent of frying bacon reminded him of how hungry he was and he couldn't help but moan. That earned him a laugh as the long rebar was poked into the cage to stir up the slop that had been thrown in the night before.
"I'd offer you some, little piggy, but you never ate your dinner." Laughing, he poked again, this time catching McGee on the leg. The scrape hurt and through the new rip in his slacks he could see the blood welling up, but he knew this was just the beginning.
---NCIS---
"Well?"
The newest arrival, Peter Hughes, shook his head. "Carter told me what Zablocki did. Can't say I'm surprised. I've had some bad ones over the years, but he was the worst."
That wasn't what Gibbs wanted to hear. "Worst, how? Anything you can tell us would be a big help." Ducky joined them with a nod. With any luck, he could piece together what their suspect would do with McGee.
"Parents and little brother killed in a house fire when Zablocki was ten. Possible arson, never solved."
"You think he did it?"
"Yeah, but it could never be proven. Suspect that young, by the time law enforcement takes it seriously, most of the evidence is gone. Couple of dozen foster families, nobody could handle him for more than a few months. Caught torturing animals when he was fourteen, that's when he ended up in juvie the first time. From there he bounced between juvie and group homes until he aged out. Spent the last six months of his sentence in the big house. Since I knew his background they kept me as his PO for the first few months until his file was fully transferred to the adult system. I checked on my way in, his new parole officer hasn't seen him since his first appointment."
Gibbs was furious that he hadn't been picked up earlier, before he and Carpenter had had a chance to hurt McGee. "And that didn't raise any red flags?"
Hughes gave a shrug. "It would have in our department."
"Great. Ziva, you and Abby start a deep background on this guy. I want to know every move he's made since he fell off the grid."
---NCIS---
His tormentor was back, but this time he was building a fire in a metal barrel, after he handed McGee's SIG to his partner. Tim watched nervously as his other abductor danced and cackled in glee.
"This is going to be so cool, Z-man. You going to let me play, too?"
"Maybe. He squeals for me first, though."
He was so cold and it was so tempting to move closer to the fire, but Tim had a very bad feeling about what the two of them had planned for him, so instead he stayed in the far corner of his cage and watched. Eventually the fire was hot enough that the warmth even reached him. Then Z-man stuck the piece of rebar into the fire and Tim knew he was in serious trouble.
"Is the little piggy cold? You want to be warm?"
Yes, but not like this. Biting his lip, Tim tried to shift around enough that he could move, but the wave of dizziness threatened to put him flat on the ground. As cold as he was, he had to wipe the sweat out of his eyes. The infection was taking hold and Tim knew that he was rapidly running out of time to do anything to save himself.
As he suspected, when the metal rod was removed from the fire, the end was glowing red. Tim tried to bat it away when it was shoved through the wire mesh, but he wasn't quick enough and screamed as the skin on his side burned and blistered. He had just enough time to slap the smoldering embers out on his shirt before he was attacked again. This time instead of trying to stop it, he turned so that the thicker fabric of his jacket blunted the burn.
The rebar was returned to the flame but judging from the angry look, things were far from over.
---NCIS---
"I might have something, Gibbs."
Ziva's words brought the team to her desk. "What is it?"
"A few weeks before he went off the grid, Thomas Zablocki's grandfather died."
"You think that's what set him off?" Even as Gibbs asked, it didn't sound right. Zablocki didn't strike him as the kind of lowlife that would care about anybody.
"No, but his grandfather was a - what do you call it - a hermit. He had a cabin out in the woods."
"Perfect place to hide a hostage, Boss."
DiNozzo was right and Gibbs felt a little glimmer of hope. "Ziva, Abby, get a location for us. Tony, see if you can find any of the grandfather's friends that might still be alive, see if they know where it was."
"Yes, Gibbs."
"Got it."
"Aye aye, Bossman."
---NCIS---
At this point Tim didn't know what hurt worst, the burns to his chest or the hard jabs to his back. His attacker had too tight of a grip on the rod to really deflect it, considering how the small openings in the mesh helped to line up the hits.
Finally a deer came through the woods and caught Zablocki's eye, distracting him for a moment. Tim grabbed the rod and shoved, using the opening in the mesh as a pivot point. That not only knocked the rebar out of Zablocki's hands, it hit him in the process.
Laughter chased the deer back into the woods. "Well look at that. Little piggy wants to play after all."
Painfully, slowly, Tim used the rod as a support and dragged himself to his feet, straightening up as much as the confined space and his injuries would allow. "Bring it on."
---NCIS---
"Leesburg." Tony was scrambling to his feet and grabbing his weapon and gear even before he dropped the handset back into the phone's cradle. "According t the nurse that took care of him, Gramps had a place somewhere north of Leesburg."
North of Leesburg still covered a lot of area, but it was at least a direction. Gibbs was into his coat before he was fully standing. "Let's move it, people."
Ziva was also on her feet and Abby was taking over fully at the computer. "Go! I'll get into the land records of Loudoun County and send you the exact GPS location."
"Get the locals out there too, but tell them not to move in unless they have a visual on McGee. Ziva, you're driving." The three remaining members of the team loaded into the elevator, pulling on hats, coats and gloves as they went.
---NCIS---
McGee was standing in the middle of the cage, leaning heavily on the metal rod he'd wrestled away from his abuser. He couldn't use the rod to defend himself, but there wasn't another piece of metal long enough to hit him with either. It might look like a stalemate, but Tim's plan was to get one of them to open the cage door to try and reach him. He slid his least injured arm into place so that his hand was close to the knife still hidden in his belt. It was small, too small to hit any vital organ in a man's torso, and he'd probably only have one shot at disabling someone, but he had a plan.
As he suspected, it was the ringleader that unlocked the cage, the one called Z-man. "Ready to dance, piggy?"
Tim didn't bother to answer, just adjusted his stance and prepared to be rushed. Zablocki made a showing of dancing around before he stepped closer. Tim needed to be out of the cage so he made an attempt at jabbing the rebar at him. As suspected, Zablocki caught it and pulled. Instead of fighting, Tim went with it, finding himself toe to toe with the other man just past the door. With what felt like his last bit of strength, he pulled the knife out of his belt and slashed at Zablocki's throat. The splash of blood that hit his face told him that he'd been successful.
"Robbie! Robbie!" Zablocki staggered backwards as the blood continued to spray with each heartbeat. Robbie was staring, momentarily memorized by the blood, but Tim knew it wouldn't last long. Robbie was between him and what looked to be the driveway, so Tim turned the opposite direction. Praying he'd have more than a two second head start, he started running for the woods, hoping to get well hidden before the adrenaline was gone.
---NCIS---
The silence in the car was tense as it flew down the highway. Tony's phone rang, making both he and Gibbs jump. Tony didn't have time to analyze Gibbs' reaction as he answered the call, Abby's voice loud enough for all of them to hear.
Tony, Tony, Tony, I found the place. It doesn't even have a actual street address, but I'm sending you the GPS coordinates. Now find McGee and bring him home.
He was already reaching for the on-board GPS. "On it, Abs."
Ziva glanced down at the device and prepared for a sharp turn. "What if McGee is not there?"
Gibbs didn't answer, but that look was back on his face, so Tony answered. "He has to be, Ziva. He has to be."