A/N: So, I know I've been having quite a few requests to get a move on to the next chapter, but I really have too many fics that I'm already trying to update. Honestly, I'm working on it, but they seem to get done in chunks. I'll get two or three done a week, but the worst thing is that I always have new ideas for other stories. T.T I need help, truly I do. Anywho, it is practically unanimous by now that Gibbs himself should be getting involved. Let's not be impatient, people. I'm getting there, so let's all simmer back down. _ With any sort of luck, I'll have this done today. Hopefully.

Last time: Our poor Tony was taken and Spence came back to find him gone, forcing him to face the wrath of both Garcia and Abby. They (for the most part) all agree that they should somehow try and get Gibbs involved, but have to prove that there's some connection to the Navy for that to happen. So far, they have a few clues that Tony left behind which will hopefully help them in the meantime.

I have totally forgotten to do the reviews this whole time! I am such a bad person! T.T

Fanfanfiction: I'm glad you like it so far. I'll do my best to keep the momentum going.

DS2010: To sum things all up? Yeah, our favorite trouble magnet has had his fair share of issues so far. To tell you the truth, I'm not too sure it's going away to soon. Some injected drug, a hitman, a headache and being kidnapped? Not his best day, methinks.

Serena23: I am working on all my fics (including this one), so progress isn't as fast as I'd like. On top of that, my brain is always full of ideas for other stories. I got a few for Arrow the other day, in fact...sigh.

Mar91: I'm glad you liked it! I'm hoping to get things rolling and kind of progressing from now on, since it's been pretty slow going so far. .

Chapter 6: Persistence is the Key

Tony woke up in what he could only assume was some kind of back room of an apartment with no real floor to speak of or somewhere in one of those cliche warehouses. He still felt a little stiff from that shot to the neck before, not to mention whatever medicine happened to be in there. His best guess had to be something in there that was related to Lorezapam, as it tended to stay in the system for quite a few hours.* He had heard rumors that there were some mixtures of things like this and some even more deadly going on the black market, but that was back when he was still in Baltimore. Feeling his headache slowly edging back, he figured it had been at least a few hours since he'd been taken back at the hotel. Taking stock of what meager surroundings he could see, he found himself concentrating on background noises first. No cars or roads, at least from the sounds of it. So it meant that he was truly on his own more than likely. Concentrating a little more, he noticed something a little...off. He could hear some source of water, but he couldn't be sure what exactly it was. He knew it wasn't the sea or a waterfall, but other than that; he just couldn't be sure.

As much as he had tried to act indifferent to his surroundings as he heard someone come in, his mask still broke for a moment when he had to force himself not to flinch at the familiar face in front of him. If there was anything or anyone he was prepared to face at this moment, his...former partner was not one of them. So, imagine his surprise when his former friend and partner was revealed to be tied up once he stepped into the light. There were a few bruises on the side of his face that could've meant a beating from the same people keeping him captive. Or, it could be something even more heartbreaking, more so than his initial betrayal. These could be the people he was working for all along and they had either come back for revenge on both of them or his "partner" was playing him. He could be trying to get back in his good graces, just to try and make him the so-called "sacrificial lamb" for getting back into their fold. He supposed that the only thing that he could do now was to just play along and bide his time. Spence wouldn't sit by idly, and he was pretty sure that once Abby and Garcia finished reaming him out; they'd both work tirelessly to find out what happened. Tony groaned at the number of Caf Pows Abby would undoubtedly be going through and groaned inwardly..He'd have to dip into that emergency account of his and buy both of his girls something nice.

-NCIS-

Abby had gotten pictures of all of the evidence before it unfortunately got sent with the local LEOs. She needed the actual evidence to do any real testing, but both her and Garcia had been going through the list and trying to do a voice analysis on the person who took Tony. She started pacing back and forth, before getting a constant ping on her computer. It was Garcia.

"I can't stand this anymore!"

"I know, but until we either figure out who this guy is or some kind of connection to the Navy, what can we possibly-" Garcia said, stopping when something popped up on her screen. "Well, hello beautiful."

"What is it Garcia? Is it this guy who took my Tony?" Abby asked, practically begging.

"Well, it seems that our guy has been a very busy man. He's wanted by the FBI for working with several gangs, basically doing their dirty work. He's been arrested quite a few times before, but the last time he escaped he was last seen with this group." she finished, sending a picture of their guy talking to the Russian mob, otherwise known as the Bratva. Abby's eyes widened and she took a few steps back. Was Tony stuck in the middle of a gang war or something?

"What would the Bratva want with Tony?" Spencer asked, coming through Garcia's door. He had been listening at the door for the last few minutes, but no one had noticed him come in. Garcia jumped a few inches out of her chair and glared at him.

"You scared me! I've got some words for you, Spencer Reid, but that can wait." Garcia said, scooting to the left so Spence could see Abby as well. She looked agitated with him as well, but decided to let it pass for now.

"I don't think that Tony's ever had anything to do with any of them, but we should cross reference them and any arrest he's made, just in case. More than likely it would be in Baltimore, but you can check Peoria as well." Spencer said, trying to make sense of any of this. "I wonder if Fornell could get a handle on this, since it's such a high profile looking case. The BAU doesn't have any reason to, from what I can see."

"You should print out a file and give it to him directly. I'm going to look into any possible Navy connection, no matter how thin of a line it is." Abby told them, scanning through the files alongside Garcia. Spencer grabbed the printout and started to prepare a file to give to Fornell.

"I'm going to give this to Fornell. Please keep me posted if you find something important." Spencer made to say more, but was also busy looking through the file to make sure all of the evidence was there.

There was very little light, so Tony didn't have to look to make sure that he was being watched. He was positive that his "friend" knew that he wasn't the same person he used to be after they parted ways. He was sure because of the uncertain way his former friend and partner looked at him occasionally, as if to try and figure this new version of him out. The old Tony never carried a spare weapon, besides his guns. This Tony knew that getting surprised once was sometimes just his fault for being unprepared for the unplanned. It didn't mean that he was going to just stand by and be tortured for information that he clearly didn't have. A part of him knew that meant keeping an eye on Danny and quite possibly end up dragging him out. It had been almost ten minutes and neither one of them had said a word to the other, undoubtedly thinking of their last meeting at the house before Tony left.

"I came all the way here because of what I saw in Floyd's eyes when you got the drop on him. Something that I spent the last two days trying to pretend I didn't see." Tony said, looking quite agitated.

"And what's that?" Danny asked, appearing only somewhat interested.

"Betrayal. 'Cause he knew you. And I'm wondering to myself 'How can that be?' It didn't make any sense. So I pulled your phone records. The two of you, a couple of chatty-patties, huh? 15 calls over the last two months. I know there's plenty of ways to explain that, right? There's only one reason you never mentioned it."

"What's that?" his partner somehow found himself repeating, even though he knew where this was leading.

"'Cause you're a dirty cop, Danny."

"Tony-" Danny started, only to be interrupted by the other.

"Be careful. Be very careful." Tony said, taking deep breaths to control himself. "I'm not feeling the love right now." *

It really hadn't been that long since they had last seen each other, but Tony's trust in him hadn't increased in the slightest and he wasn't about to change his mind about having a partner anytime soon. As the saying went: "fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me."

He wasn't about to turn his back on the man, but he might just work with him or use him to escape. He'd rather use him to avoid torture and prepare for the worst than deal with him and the torture. Danny was still looking at him silently, obviously waiting for him to speak first. Tony was sorely tempted to yell at him for everything and tell him this was obviously his doing, but he didn't want to give him the satisfaction. That, and he had very little of an idea as to his surroundings or why he had been taken prisoner this way. Just as he was thinking about saying something, the door opened. It was just as he had expected, in a way. Two bodyguards of sorts appeared in the doorway and looked at both looked at the two of them, as if expecting some sort of fight.

Well, they aren't exactly wrong.

The two bodyguards were dressed in a semi-casual way, from what Tony could see; however, there was little light and his point of view was minimal at best. As the two moved aside, Tony had to squint at first to get a good look at the person who was most likely in charge. His first impulse was to call the guy out and demand information in a roundabout way. But with the way this person carried himself and was dressed, it definitely made Tony wish he had a gun. As it was, his first instinct was to take his knife and just run as fast as humanly possible. However, there were too many variables that were playing against him at this point. He was outnumbered and knew for sure that this guy had no problems torturing people for information, even if they didn't have any. He also couldn't guarantee that his partner wouldn't just shove him under the proverbial bus the first chance he got. For all he knew, Danny could be on their side and faking his kidnapping. It had unfortunately not been the first time he had seen something like this. Tony sighed inwardly, knowing he might just be in this for the long haul. He had left all the clues he could with Spence, but even Garcia and Abby wouldn't be able to be quick enough to save him from at least one or two rounds with these guys.

**Since the Bratva is supposed to be a Russian organization, they will be speaking in their native tongue obviously. Since Tony has had several run-ins with them, he'll know how to speak it. Just go with it. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Plus, I've done all the research I could to make it accurate, but it might end up a bit sketchy since they're (supposedly) still active.

"So, you are the infamous Entoni who went from a mere Shestyorka* to a Patsan** within the Bratva in such a short time."

Tony narrowed his eyes a bit, hearing the Russian and the mentioning of his "accomplishments" in the Bratva. He wasn't proud of the things he had had to do in Russia, but it had been necessary. He'd been...recruited temporarily by the FBI to go undercover after they had heard of some of the other undercover work he'd done in Peoria. However, that didn't explain what his former partner was doing here; and by the looks of it, he didn't know either. Maybe he was in the dark about it, but it was more likely that he was in too deep with someone he didn't know was so involved in the black market.

"I should kill you, Entoni, for betraying us this way. We are supposed to be brothers, but" he paused, looking purposefully at Danny "I guess you now know what that betrayal feels like."

Tony tried to keep the anger off of his face at the mention of the betrayal, and barely managed to look indifferent. He settled for clenching his fists, knowing that it was the least that he deserved. He had never met the man in person, seeing how he had just risen to power after the last Pakhan*** had died a few years ago; but it wasn't hard to see why he would hate him or at least be angry at his betrayal several years back. He had, after all, been responsible for no less than 33 of them being thrown in jail for all sorts of crimes. Some of them had become like friends, even though he had tried to distance himself. He knew the outcome would just hurt everybody and didn't want to become anymore involved than necessary, which is why he took such a long leave of absence afterwards. He was ashamed.

"I did my job." Tony muttered, looking down at the floor feeling the guilt come rushing back with a vengeance. He saw the man approach, with his bodyguards flanking him in the background. In the back of his mind, he couldn't help but wonder what had taken them so long to come for him like this. His thoughts were rudely interrupted when his hair was yanked harshly, making him look directly at the Pakhan. He had to suppress the urge to flinch when the man patted his cheek with what seemed almost endearingly.

"Entoni, Entoni, Entoni. You misunderstand me." he said to him, in a reprimanding and yet deceivingly quiet voice. Tony had to bite his lip to control not only his temper, but his mouth that always seemed to get him in trouble. He was pushed back harshly and hit the back of the chair, only to be untied and pulled out of the chair by the two guys who had obviously been waiting for this. Tony had his knife that he had now hidden, but he wasn't sure if he could take them out before getting shot; not that he wouldn't be eventually at some point. He knew that being a mole, let alone an undercover cop in the Bratva was a serious offense. He'd be lucky if they didn't torture him slowly before eventually giving him the luxury of slowly dying.

"So, it's to be torture for betraying my brothers, then?" Tony answered, knowing the eventual outcome. "If this is about me going against you, then why is he here? Are you going to make him watch or something?"

The Pakhan, named Temuri...Mirzoyev, he believed, merely smirked in a way that sent chills up his spine.

"No, my sweet Entoni. His last betrayal was not only towards you. It was towards one of my most loyal Patsan. I take it that you know what I mean."

Tony shook his head, not able to process just how deep of a well his ex-partner had shoved himself in. It just wasn't possible, and yet it was. The man had been in the States for a while before he started doing what was classic Bratva work. If he had the ability, he would've slammed his fist into the wall in outrage. That meant that they were back in the U.S. again, and not just Europe. That idiot had gotten himself involved in one of the most dangerous organizations, and all for some money. He should have throttled him while he was still at the house. Now it was too late and they were probably going to die...slowly.

TBC...Okay, I'm going to stop it here for now. I guess we now have a very thin stretch of a line that can get Gibbs involved in the case...kinda. I mean, the Navy was involved in that case because of it. But the FBI will definitely get involved, that much is sure. I really didn't mean for Danny to be so...well, horrible; but he hasn't actually tried to bother defending any of his actions as of yet. Okay, so for those of you who haven't bothered looking those words up.

*Shestyorka- basically the equivalent to an errand boy, with the lowest rank

**Patsan- essentially soldiers, who work for the Brigadier, who is a rank above them

***Pakhan- the boss and leader