Waking up in the woods in the middle of a blizzard was never a good thing. But it did leave Tim and Tony with a lot of questions. What had happened? Where were they and how had they had got there? Why someone would dump them in the middle of nowhere and who was trying to kill them this time? And just what did it have to do with their dead marine?

To find out, Tim and Tony will have to use all their wits to survive the elements, evade their attacker and find their way back to civilization, assuming that Gibbs doesn't find them first.

A/N: This story is set in season 10 sometime between You Better Watch Out and Shiva and told from multiple points of view. It's primarily told from Tim and Tony's point of view but Gibbs and Ziva have their fair share of chapters. Whoever is the last character mentioned will indicate which perspective will be used in the next chapter.

There's a total of 19 chapters and the story is complete so I'll do my best to post frequently. Although with the holidays, I can't promise that I'll post every day.

"McGee."

He slowly started to wake. He wasn't sure where he was but his senses told him that there was something strange with his predicament. He was aware of two things: that he was cold and covered with feathers.

Feathers?

He had no idea why he might be covered with feathers – that was certainly odd.

He wanted to brush them away but he couldn't seem to lift his hands. It felt as if they were made of lead. Was he restrained? Was this Abby's idea of a prank? Or worse, was it Tony's idea of a prank?

"McGee," the voice said again. He wasn't sure whose voice it was but it sounded concerned. And it was male. This was getting weirder by the second. He really needed to open his eyes and figure out what the heck was going on. "Come on, man. Wake up. You need to wake up." Tony. The voice belonged to Tony and he was shaking his shoulder. "Tim. I'm serious."

Tony used his first name. It really must be serious.

Groaning, he managed to force his hand to his face. That simple task was far more difficult than it should have been. Focusing on moving his leaden hands, he wiped away the feathers before opening his eyes. Waking up to the concerned face of Anthony DiNozzo was enough to worry him but it was made worse by the sight of bare trees wreathed in snow above Tony's head.

He hadn't been covered in feathers. It had been snowflakes. He was outside lying in the snow.

"About time there, Tim," Tony said, relieved. "How do you feel?"

He sat up with Tony's help. He was freezing, his head hurt like hell and he was confused. "I've had better days," he replied finally.

"Well, yeah, I figured that much," Tony replied as he looked him in the eyes. "How's your vision?"

"If you're thinking 'concussion,' then you're probably right. But there's only one of you," he replied.

"That's a start," Tony replied. "Can you stand?"

"We'll find out," he replied as he stood up. His head spun and he wasn't very stable on his feet but he managed to stay upright. He took a deep breath to steady himself and felt the frigid air sear his lungs. It was oddly bracing and painful at the same time.

He looked around. They were in the middle of the woods and it was snowing like crazy. He had no idea how they got there. His memory was fuzzy and full of holes. It had something to do with the Dunning case, he was sure of it, but he didn't know how or why they were in the boonies.

His phone had a GPS program on it. He would be able to use it to figure out where they were and how to get back to civilization. Reaching into his pocket, he didn't find his phone where he expected it. He quickly searched his other pockets but didn't find it. In the process of looking for his phone, he realized that he didn't have his weapon either.

"My phone and weapon are gone too," Tony said. "And whoever dumped us out here took my knife too." He checked for his knife and found it was missing as well. Tony looked around. He followed his partner's gaze but he didn't see anything that would tell him where they were or how they had come to this place.

He looked around. They were near the top of a rise so he started up the slope until they reached the top of the hill. He looked around but he couldn't see much. They were at the top of a small hill but they were surrounded by taller mountains. Between the mountains and the tall trees, he couldn't see much of anything.

"I don't see anything," Tony said.

"Me neither," he replied with a frown. "Not even a cell tower."

"You know more about the woods than me. What do we do now?" Tony asked.

He looked around. There didn't seem to be a discernable path through the trees and he didn't see any tracks that would tell him how they had arrived in the middle of the woods. The snow had obliterated any tracks that could lead them back to civilization.

He looked down each side of the mountain and picked the direction that seemed to have the easiest path to traverse. "We start walking, Tony," he said as he started walking down slope. Based on the landscape, he would guess that there was a stream.

He knew that the worst thing that could happen to them would be for them to walk in circles. With the snow, the landscape all looked the same and their trail would be obliterated in no time. They had to pick one direction and follow it.

With this terrain, the easiest way to make sure that you weren't going in circles in the woods was to follow a stream. It would never double back on itself and at some point, it would probably cross a road, which they could follow to civilization or flag down some help.

Tony nodded and followed him. After a few minutes, he paused to wrap his scarf around his face. Tony followed suit and when he was done, they started off again.

After only fifteen minutes of walking through the deep snow, Tony asked, "So, got any bright ideas how to get out of this, McGenius?"

"Well not stopping sounds like a good idea right about now," he replied as they struggled through the deepening snow. There was already a good base that was at least a foot deep and due to the ever-worsening storm, at least six inches of powder on top of that. With every step they took, they sank up to their knees.

"Do you have any idea where we are right now?" Tony asked as he stopped to look around.

"I think we're still in West-by-God-Virginia," he replied sourly as he stopped and turned around to look at Tony. He looked around. He couldn't see much through the storm. He could only see bare trees perched on the steep slopes they were traversing. "Other than that, we're in the woods, in the mountains, in a blizzard. That's the best I can do right now," he said heatedly.

"I know that much," Tony retorted as he paused to collect his breath. "I don't know how we got out here though without our Sigs and cell phones. I remember Gibbs sending us to investigate Dunning's family. I remember talking to Pa Dunning and I remember walking back to the car. But that's it."

He put a hand to the back of his head and winced when he came in contact with a large goose egg. "You remember more than I do," he said as he strained to remember what had happened.

"I'm sure we talked to Jack Dunning," Tony said. "He had on that Carhartt hunting jacket with the orange shoulders. I remember thinking he was a walking West Virginia Stereotype." He nodded. He had thought that too. "I think I remember seeing Rick Dunning too. He had this ridiculous beard."

He vaguely remembered speaking with Jack Dunning about his son's death. He couldn't remember the details but he remembered thinking that Mr. Dunning was hiding something. There was only one explanation.

"I don't remember Rick Dunning, but I don't think you're wrong," he said. "We must have been ambushed and dumped out in the woods, Tony, and it would make sense if there were two doing the ambushing." Tony nodded in agreement. "Whatever the Dunnings were trying to hide, they were willing to try to kill us to keep it hidden."

"That's what I thought too. But why dump us in the woods?" Tony asked. "They could have shot us and been sure that we were actually dead."

Annoyed, he asked, "Does it really matter?" Tony didn't reply. Exasperated he said, "It's better for him if it looks like an accidental death, doesn't it? Come on, we need to find some shelter before we freeze and actually die. There are hunting cabins all throughout these mountains."

"Right," Tony replied as he rubbed his own head. "Do you even have any clue which way is the best way to go?"

"Not really," he replied as they started down the slope sliding slightly. "I'm kinda making this up as I go."

"You're kidding right?" Tony asked grabbing his arm to stop him. "You're a scout or whatever. I thought you were supposed to know how to navigate in the woods. That's why I'm following you!"

He shrugged. "Navigating in a blizzard wasn't exactly something they teach kids, Tony." He looked around. "This snow changes everything. No sun to navigate by. The snow obscures landmarks and visibility is reduced."

"So, we're just going to wander around and hope we find something?" Tony asked. He was surprised to hear a note of concern in his voice. He examined Tony. He didn't look afraid but he did seem worried.

"Unless you have a better idea?" he asked as he blew warm air onto his hands. "I looked at topographical maps of the area before we drove out here but without knowing where we are…" He trailed off. "Look. Standing around, waiting for it to get dark isn't going to help us Tony. If you're as cold as I am, you know we can't risk spending the night in the open air. We need to find a cabin or a cave. If we can't do that, we're going to have to make an igloo or something."

"Gibbs would know what to do," Tony muttered as they started walking again.

"Are you suggesting that you would rather be stuck out here with Gibbs rather than me?" he asked testily. He wasn't in the mood to deal with Tony's ribbing. He was cold, wet and his head was throbbing.

"Well yeah!" Tony replied with a grin.

"Thanks," he muttered dryly.

"Come on, McGee," Tony said seeing that he had hurt Tim's feeling. "Given the choice, you'd rather be stuck out here with Gibbs too!"

"I didn't say that Tony," he said softening.

"Well why not?" Tony asked roguishly, which caused him to relax slightly. "He's a trained marine sniper. He knows how to survive off the land and he's from the Pennsylvania mountains. He would know how to survive through weather like this," he said.

He nodded slightly. Tony did have a point. But wishing that they had Gibbs with them wouldn't do any good. Like it or not, they were on their own and they would have to do their best to survive.

"Well we're two highly trained Federal agents, Tony," he said. "We'll do our jobs."

"Somehow, I missed this part of the job description," Tony replied. "What exactly is our job in this situation other than not dying of exposure?"

"Improvising," he replied.

"Fake it until you make it?" Tony asked. He nodded. Tony shrugged. "I've come up with worse plans."

"I know," he replied. "Come on. If we follow the valley, we won't walk in circles and we might just come across a road or a cabin. I'd rather not freeze to death out here Tony."