Title: "Trapped"

Author: AbbyGibbs [Stephjag] (Stephrabb@hotmail.com or flygirlstephjag@yahoo.com)

Disclaimers: Well, I do not own them and that is pretty unfair - they again belong to DPB! Why does he always have to own the best shows and the best characters? Could someone explain that to me? His characters are always suffering too much. So I have decided to borrow them for a little while, the length of a story, but I promise to give them back though I really wish I could keep them for myself.

Classification: I don't really know, except that it is a Navy NCIS fic. There will be some romantic moments. Love comes when you're expecting it the least. Oh yeah, and there will be angst.

Rating: T or maybe K+ (+13 or maybe +16 as always to be on the safe side, isn't it?)

Spoilers: none, but every moment involving Gibbs and Abby

Summery: Gibbs doesn't show up at work and for some reason it doesn't really bother anyone; maybe Jethro finally got himself a private life, who knows? The only member of the team that gets worried is Abby Sciuto; she has some sort of bad feeling about it.

Big thank you to Beth for helping me out with this. You're the best, hon! Any remaining mistakes are mine, and mine alone.

Feedbacks: well, I'd love them, of course - who wouldn't? But please, only if you respect my work because it takes a lot of time and energy to get a story together. I love writing; I wouldn't allow anyone to discourage me from doing so, never. I don't have any problems at all with readers who choose not to go for this, but I decidedly do with those who write disrespectful mails just because they didn't get the ending they would have wanted. If you want to tell me what I might have done better within the story I made up, you're always very welcome to let me know. But if your only concern is to rant about it, then please, do it in private, okay? Thank you.

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CHAPTER THREE
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"No, this can't be Gibbs's house. It can't be. What the hell happened in here?" Tony whispered. "The person who did that must have been pretty angry at our boss, Kate…"

Kate gazed at him incredulously; Tony had just stated the obvious. "Do you think he's..." Her voice trailed off. She couldn't voice the somber thoughts she had in mind - it was horrible to think about such things, but she couldn't stop the thoughts from spinning in her head over and over again.

Tony hated to admit it, but he was thinking that the worst had already happened. It wasn't like Gibbs not to show up at work, or not to answer his cell phone. The house resembled a war zone. Shards of glass from broken windows littered the floor, and furniture lay at odd angles as if it had been tossed aside.

Tony and Kate moved through the house, finding the same chaos in each room. The hardest thing to see, the sight that made DiNozzo's heart sink and Kate's heartbeat rise, was the blood traces on the walls.

Abby's words went through both their minds once again. She had described every single thing that had happened. "He pulled down everything that's in the house. Gibbs is badly wounded - on the head, on his arms, almost everywhere…"

Kate decided to go check Gibbs's bedroom, hoping to find some piece of evidence as to where her boss and friend could be. She slowly walked toward the room and found the door slightly open. In a split second Kate had her gun aimed in front of her. She carefully pushed the door wider open and leaned a little forward to take a look inside, still firmly holding her gun in front of her.

She slowly moved in the room and was about to step around the bed when she stopped short. Tears were beginning to sting her eyes. She wanted to run - run as far as she possibly could, but Kate knew she couldn't do it. She took a few deep breaths before she could call Tony.

"TONY, GET OVER HERE!"

Hearing Kate's yell, Tony rushed over to her and stopped dead next to her. He couldn't believe what he was seeing: a pool of blood was on the floor at their feet. Tony's heart stopped beating in his chest, and he struggled to breathe.

"Please, tell me the worst didn't happen. No, this isn't really happening…" they both pleaded in silence.

Gibbs's house had definitely been the scene of a huge fight, and obviously a fight for life. Whoever had attacked their boss had wanted to make sure to injure him, if not kill him, and judging from the blood traces on the wall he succeeded very well.

"What do we do now?" Kate whispered, turning to face Tony.

Tony looked as helpless as she felt. They were both shocked. Ever since coming to work with Gibbs, they'd always seen him a bit like some sort of invincible hero - they would never admit it, of course. Now… the fortress image was beginning to crack; he was still definitely a hero for them, but they realized that he wasn't invincible. Gibbs was a human being made of flesh and blood like anybody else, and not a superhero.

They both also knew that someone on their team would be devastated if she heard the news. In truth, she already was, but knowing that what she saw really happened would kill her. Tony was sure of it. Abby Sciuto was a strong young woman, but she and Gibbs shared something special - there was no denying that.

The two of them had already been working together when Tony joined NCIS. No one who knew Abby had ever been able to dislike her; she was so smart and full of life, and she was the only able to bring a smile to Gibbs's face. DiNozzo had noticed it several times, and now they would have to tell her that something like this had happened…

"I guess we should call Ducky to tell him and call a team…" Tony said suddenly, breaking the heavy silence that had fallen in the bedroom.

"I'm scared, Tony," Kate whispered.

Under any other circumstances Tony would have kept up his cocky façade, but this was too much to bear. He slowly approached Kate and took her in his arms. She clung to him as if he was an anchor and let her tears freely fall. She found some kind of safety in Tony's strong embrace.

"Shhh… Kate, it's going to be okay. Gibbs is strong. He'll find a way to come back…" Tony tried to soothe her.

"But what if it's his blood at our feet? What if he's… dead?" Kate asked, her voice suffocated by tears.

"I'm sure he isn't, Kate." Tony wanted his voice to be strong, but it was no use. For the first times in years he felt tears forming in his eyes…

Tony and Kate stayed like for a couple more minutes, holding on to each other, then tried to calm down and erase the worst thoughts from their minds. Kate Todd disentangled herself slowly from Tony's arms and looked at him; she could see her own fears reflecting in his eyes, and she silently thanked him for what he'd just done.

Taking a deep breath, Tony took his cell phone out of his pocket, flipped it open, and dialed Abby's phone number. First he thought to call Ducky, but knowing his friend, he knew better. Besides, she would find it out anyway.

Abby picked her phone up almost immediately. "Tony? Did you found him?" she asked, her voice shaking.

["…"]

Tony's silence on the other side of the phone was telling. Abby knew that what she'd seen the night before in some sort of a vision had become reality. Tears started to sting at her eyes… and she felt a felt a wave of pure rage build within her.

"Damn it, Tony! Say something!" she yelled through the phone.

Tony didn't know what to tell her except that she'd been right. Everything she'd said had come true. Gibbs's house was nothing but chaos. He decided to go for the truth.

["You were right about everything… I'm sorry,"] he said slowly.

The receiver slipped out of Abby's hand and her face paled even more. Ducky, who was by her, side took the receiver that fell on the desk.

["Abby… Abby?"] Tony called her name.

"Tony, what's happening?" Ducky asked, concern evident in his voice.

["What's happening? You really want to know, Ducky? I'm going to tell you what's happening. Gibbs's house is a mess and there's a pool of blood at my feet, and if this is Gibbs's blood, I doubt we'll ever get him back alive."] Tony told him sharply, suddenly overwhelmed by a flood of emotions at the realization that there was a real possibility that Gibbs could indeed be dead.

Hearing the tone of Tony's voice, Ducky knew things were pretty bad, and for the first time in years, he feared for his friend.

"We'll get him back, Tony…" he told the young agent.

["Watch over Abby for us until we get back, okay?"] Tony said, his voice softer now.

"Gibbs wherever you are… hang on, and don't give up on us. We both need you and there's someone here that needs you even more so hang on. We'll find you." Ducky pleaded silently.

To be continued…

To be continued…