A/N: This is a bit of a departure for me. It's written for the NFA We Love Tony challenge, i.e. Tony is the star of this story, and I don't do that very often. In fact, I've never written a multi-chapter story in which Tony is the main character and not Tim. :) But here it is. It's only 6 chapters and an epilogue, but that's more than I've ever done before with Tony as the main character. I hope it's okay.

Disclaimer: As always, I do not own NCIS and I'm not making any money from this story.

One That Is Lost
by Enthusiastic Fish

Chapter 1

It had seemed like such a good idea at the time.

That thought kept running through Tony's mind as he made his way down the mountain. He hated that he was going down the mountain alone, but he couldn't see any other option. He was lost. It was getting dark. His phone was gone, and there'd been no service anyway.

...and Tim needed help.

He had tried to get down to him, but every attempt had almost led to Tony joining Tim in the worst possible way.

The only possibility for getting Tim the help he needed (if he was still alive...but no, Tony wasn't going to admit that Tim could be dead. Nope. No way.) was if he got someone who could do more than he could.

That was why he was trying to get down the mountain in the darkness. He hoped he didn't run into animals. He hoped that no animals would find Tim, although he couldn't see how they'd get to him. He hoped that he didn't step on something and hurt himself because then Tim would still be injured (not dead) and he wouldn't be able to do anything.

And he really hoped that he wasn't making a mistake by leaving Tim where he had fallen and trying to find help.

As he went down the mountain, as fast as he possibly could without being able to see where he was going, he thought again.

It had seemed like such a good idea at the time.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Two weeks ago...

"Come on, McGee!" Tony wheedled.

"Why in the world would you think that I'd want to go hiking in the Rocky Mountains?" Tim asked. "When have I ever even intimated that I'd want to do that?"

"Never. You've never suggested that you like hiking," Tony said, easily.

"Then...why do you think I'd want to go?"

"Because my hiking buddy finked out on me and I don't have anyone else to go with?"

Tim raised an eyebrow.

"So I'm just your last desperate attempt? That's just great."

Tony grinned, grabbed Tim by the shoulders and shook him dramatically.

"You're never last, Probie."

"Do you two need a room?" Ellie asked as she sat down at her desk.

Tim pulled away and rolled his eyes.

"No. Tony is trying to talk me into going hiking with him."

Ellie smiled.

"That sounds like fun! Why aren't you excited?"

"Because the only hiking I do is with scouts who are nine years old. That's not the kind of hiking Tony is talking about," Tim said. "He's talking about in the mountains, the Rocky Mountains."

"You should go, McGee," Ellie said. "I've done some hiking in the Rockies. We used to go out there on family trips. The views are absolutely amazing. Nothing like them."

"Then, you go with Tony."

"I think Jake might have an issue with that," Ellie said, laughing.

"Please, McGee?" Tony asked. "I'll never ask you to do something like this again."

"Yeah, I'm sure of that. I can't believe you're going hiking in the first place. That's not your thing."

"I'm a man of hidden talents. Come on! Please? Pretty please? It's not safe to hike alone! You wouldn't want me to wonder off and get lost, would you?"

Tim rolled his eyes again and sighed, a sure sign of capitulation.

"You won't regret it!"

"I'm regretting it already," Tim grumbled.

But he smiled a little and put in the request for leave to HR. Tony felt triumphant. He'd never tell Tim, but the hiking trip had actually been his friend's idea. They'd planned it and got the hotels...and then, his friend had backed out. No cancellation on the hotels, and Tony wasn't about to eat that cost. He'd just needed to find someone to go with him, and Tim was probably the only person he could have talked into it at such short notice.

It was a great idea, and he was sure they'd have fun.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Present...

Tony took a wrong step and there was nothing where he thought there should have been a trail. He stumbled forward and took a brief tumble down the mountainside. Luckily, it was brief. The ground leveled out, and he lay on his back, breathing heavily through the adrenaline rush.

"Okay, Tony. Get up. Can't stay here, and you have to find help."

Tentatively, he sat up, checking for serious injury and, thankfully, finding none. He might be scratched and bruised, but nothing was broken.

Thank goodness.

One last, loud whoosh and he got to his feet, resuming his downward trek. He really had no idea where he was. He hoped he was still on the same trail they'd been on before because that would lead him to the campground where they'd parked that morning. Surely, someone would be there.

...but he didn't know if he was.

They weren't supposed to be out on the trail at night. That was never part of the plan. That meant no flashlights. They weren't going to camp on the trail. That meant no tents, no big food supply. They weren't going rock climbing. They had no climbing gear. Tony had intentionally picked a trail that wasn't popular because he hated fighting through crowds.

That meant no people to find them.

Over and over, he cursed the circumstances that had led to this.

Over and over, he replayed, in horrific slow motion, a scene he'd probably never forget.

Over and over, he wished that he could have stopped it.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Earlier that day...

"How much further up is it?" Tim asked, puffing a little.

"Shouldn't be too far," Tony said. He was a little winded himself, but he was trying not to show it.

"I don't know," Tim said, looking around. "I would have thought that there would be somebody around here. We haven't seen a single other hiker on the trail. Maybe we're lost."

"Doesn't matter if we're a little off the trail. As long as we get back down."

"Yeah, well, I'd prefer to get back down to the car, rather than in the middle of nowhere," Tim said.

He sat down and arched his back.

"Admit it," Tony said. "This has been fun!"

"Yeah...a little," Tim said and smiled. "Tiring, though. And my feet are starting to hurt."

"You won't even notice once we start going down. We'll be able to sprint down the mountain."

Tim laughed and shook his head. "No way, man. You can sprint all you like, but I plan on keeping myself fully in control of my descent. That would bring on my fear of heights, for sure."

"Nothing else has."

"That's because we haven't been near the edge."

"We will be soon."

Tim grimaced. "Don't remind me."

They rested for a few more minutes and then started on the trail again. Privately, Tony was wondering if they'd got off the trail, too, but he wasn't going to admit that to Tim. He was determined to get to the top of this mountain, if only so that they could say they'd done it. Then, surely, they'd see the real trail (if they were off the trail) and be able to follow that back down.

It was clear that they were getting to the real mountains, now. The trees were gone, and there were crags and sharp drops. Tim was clearly starting to get nervous, but he didn't complain. Tony was actually impressed that he was doing so well. He'd thought that Tim would give up halfway to the top. He hadn't.

Ten minutes later...

The trail was basically gravel and they'd skidded more than once. Tony was ahead, blazing their path. He could see the end of the rock field. He turned back to encourage Tim and tell him they were almost through.

"Hey, Tim! We're almost..."

Tim took a step, but instead of leaning forward, for some reason, he leaned backward.

...the wrong way...

As if the world had slowed down, Tony watched as Tim began to topple backward. His arms were waving frantically as he tried to regain his balance, but he was tired and the backpack was just heavy enough.

"Tim!" Tony shouted and began to scramble back, trying desperately to get to his friend before he fell.

It was a long way down.

And Tony was just barely too far away.

He got there just barely too late.

Tim fell off the mountain.

Tony grabbed for him, but he missed. Instead, he could just watch. Watch as Tim fell.

It was a sheer drop for about 15 feet. Then, it was a steep crevice for a lot more.

Tim fell, hit the side of the crevice. Hard. Then, he slid until he was almost out of sight and stopped. Tony could only barely see him.

"Tim! Tim! Can you hear me?"

There was no response. Tony couldn't see that Tim was moving. He quickly took off his backpack and tried to find some way to get down to Tim, to get Tim back up. He kept calling down, hoping that Tim would respond.

There was nothing but silence.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Present...

Tony grimaced. Three times, he had tried to get down without falling himself. Three times, he'd failed. He had looked around for someone to come and help, but he hadn't seen a single sign of any other human being around. He tried again and again to come up with some way of getting down to Tim, of saving him...but he couldn't.

And Tim had never responded to any of his calls. Tony knew that Tim could have died in the fall, but he refused to believe it. That was why he was determined to get down and find help. No one would miss them. No one would think to look for them. He had to get help himself.

He had debated whether it would be better to go up to the summit and see if maybe they had got off the trail and someone might be up there, but in the end, he didn't want to risk it. If he went down, he'd get to the campground.

...at least, that's what he had thought before the sun had set and he was making his way in the dark.

Tony wasn't a big prayer, but he hadn't stopped praying that Tim had survived since he'd made the decision to leave and go down the mountain for help. In the hopes of making sure he knew exactly where Tim was, he had cut off a strip from his shirt and tied it around rock. It was bright; so hopefully, it would be obvious when he came back with help.

When.

At this point, it was full dark. Tony couldn't even see his hand in front of his face. He had long since got back into the trees, and there were no city lights to guide him. There weren't even stars. The clouds had come in at some point. He didn't know when.

In fact, it was pretty cold.

That meant it would be even colder further up the mountain. Tony's stomach clenched with worry.

A strong wind came up out of nowhere, whipping trees back and forth. It sounded dangerous, but Tony couldn't stop. He had to keep moving.

Branches fell and, soon, they were accompanied by raindrops.

"Come on! Not a storm, too!"

Tony reined in his panic and increased his pace. He tripped multiple times, fell to the ground multiple times. His hands were torn and bleeding, but he refused to stop.

He thought briefly about wild animals and, then, dismissed the thought. It wasn't going to change anything.

Finally, after who knew how long, he ran out of steam and the next time he tripped, he fell to his knees and gasped for breath. He was wet, cold and extremely tired. As he tried to get his breath back, he thought he heard something above the wind. Something he wouldn't have thought about hearing on a mountainside.

Baa! Baa!

"Sheep?" Tony said aloud.

Were these wild sheep or were they someone's flock? It was worth finding out.

Tony forced himself back to his feet and began to stagger toward the bleating sheep he could hear.

Then, he heard a sound he didn't care much for.

A growl. A deep, menacing growl.