"DiNozzo?"

"M-M-Messed up, B-Boss."

"BOMB!"

****************************************************************************************************
10 minutes earlier...

Gibbs strode out of the elevator, his long trench coat swaying as he made a direct line for his desk. Behind their own desks, he could see Ziva and McGee both eyeing their computer screens with sincere dedication.

"Whaddaya got?" As he spoke those words, both agents seemed to jump into action. They gathered around the senior agent, eyes reading the plasma.

"Boss," McGee started, "Abby and I analyzed the last call to see if we could isolate anything that could tell us where it came from-"

"To the point!"

"Right, sorry." McGee looked down at his pad and clicked up a chart onto the screen. "We were able to hear very faint traces of many things, but Abby was able to detect a-"

"Agent Gibbs?" All three agents turned to see a young woman standing before them, right in front of Tony's desk. None had seen her come in, but all watched as a trembling hand traced along the edge of the senior field agent's desk. Her other was held behind her, out of view from the team.

Gibbs spoke up. "Agent Sheils?"

The woman cleared her throat and stepped forward, her hand leaving the desk. "Agent Gibbs-" Her voice was sad almost, almost as if it had been rehearsed or forced upon her. "I, uh...I have a..."

Gibbs stepped closer, looking at her. "What is it?"

All of a sudden, the plasmas throughout the room froze, the screens slightly twitching whatever picture had last been on them, then all went blank. Agents all looked at one another, some hitting the sides of the TVs and cursing the reception of the links. Others glanced anxiously at Gibbs, watching as the special agent confronted the woman. Then, as quickly as they had shut off, the TVs all came back alive, this time featuring a dimmed room with a hunched-over figure in the middle.

A harsh laugh broke the silence of the squad room, drawing eyes to the screen as another figure appeared, his back turned away. "I told you last time, Agent Gibbs, but you wouldn't believe me."

Gibbs froze, turning his back on Agent Sheils. "Told me what, Greg?" He neared the closest plasma, squinting as if to better see the person he was talking to.

Greg sighed. "So, you finally figured out my name?"

Gibbs acknowledged McGee with an almost invisible nod, and the junior agent slid over to his computer to run a trace. "It wasn't hard with all of the prints you left when you abducted Agent DiNozzo." He tensed as he spoke the name, flashes of Tony's roughed-up apartment flying through his mind.

"I left you enough bread crumbs so we wouldn't waste time, Agent Gibbs, don't you see?" Greg's body was still turned against the screen, and he slowly walked towards the hunched-over body in the middle. He placed his hands on the body's shoulders and turned around. To Gibbs' dismay, he wore a mask that covered the top part of his face. "I like to get straight to the point."

"Then what did you tell me last time that I wouldn't believe?"

Greg smiled, bringing his face lower to level with the body's. In a swift move, he pulled the head back to reveal a bloodied Tony DiNozzo. "You wouldn't believe me when I said I could break him."

Gibbs' fists clenched. Around him, others gasped in shock of how much blood was dripping off of the NCIS agent's usually-smily face. Ziva and McGee became horrified as well.

"And I have."

Gibbs' eyes watched as Tony sat up on his own, trying not to look directly into the screen. "Tony?"

His agent didn't answer.

"You lost the game, Agent Gibbs. Tony told me everything I needed to know. Just. Like. That." Greg snapped his fingers, laughing to himself as Tony slowly adjusted his eyes to look directly at the screen. Even from the mediocre reception, Gibbs could see the pain and defeat in the man's emerald eyes.

"DiNozzo?"

""M-M-Messed up, B-Boss. Bo-" Tony was drowned out by the continuing laughter from his insane captor, but he tried again. "B-Bo...bo-bo-b-"
Gibbs watched his lips, focusing on the shape of his mouth as he repeated the same word over and over. After the third time, his eyes grew wide and he wheeled around to face Agent Sheils, noticing the small, beeping object that sat in her hand.

He didn't have time to evacuate the room, to properly warn and shield his team like he felt he should have. All Gibbs could do was repeat Tony's warning and duck down behind his desk.

"BOMB!"

The world suddenly seemed to swallow up the room in a fiery blaze of heat and flames. Then all went black.

****************************************************************************************************
"BOMB!"

Tony let out a piercing scream, the pain echoing throughout the small room he sat in. His body struggled against the bonds that restrained him to a small, wooden chair, and it moved slightly as he continued to try and break free. He called out his Boss' name as tears sprung to his eyes, blurring his vision as he looked up with hatred.

In front of him, the man named Greg watched as the live footage of NCIS' MCRT squad room shriveled and turned to snow. He smiled to himself and tossed the remote onto the square, metal table between him and the senior field agent.

"Y-you bastard!"

"Call me what you want, Agent DiNozzo, but you can't change what has already been done."

Tony's head fell forward against his chest, and he let out a choked sob, stifling it as best he could. "Th-they meant no-not-thing to you! They didn't do a-anything!" His body shook uncontrollably, and he squeezed his eyes shut to stop the tears.

Greg stepped forward and grabbed Tony by the hair, yanking his head up to meet his emerald eyes. "Oh, but they meant something to you, Agent DiNozzo." With that, he let go of Tony and proceeded towards the doorway. "I'll send David in later to keep you company."

"Next time..." Tony met the man's eyes once more. "Next time, I'm gonna kill you!"

Greg let out a small laugh, shaking his head. "I admire your ambition, but we both know that isn't going to happen."