Chapter 1

Thud! Another dull sound as a steel-toed boot impacted with his battered body. Tony squeezed his eyes shut and prayed for unconsciousness. Or death. He wasn't fussy right now. He just wanted it to end.

Tony hadn't expected this. He'd driven two hours out of his way for an anonymous sexual encounter. He wanted to get fucked, he wanted a blow job, but not ... this. He couldn't go to DC, or Baltimore, or Philly. He still had too many friends there who might see him outside a gay club and wonder. He couldn't relax with that hanging over his head.

And now he was stuck somewhere outside Richmond with three homophobes kicking his ass. Literally.

As he left the club, a couple of guys followed him, but that was part of the game. He was alert, he was in top physical shape, he could go a threesome or a moresome. And they were young and fit. He could have a fun night of fucking and sucking.

But they hadn't wanted sex. They wanted to give him an old fashioned beating. An ass kicking. They wanted to kill him, but only after they'd tortured him. They'd grabbed him and driven him to someplace quiet, a field. Even though he'd struggled, they had overpowered him after bashing his head so hard he'd seen double. His gun and ID were in his car, and he couldn't defend himself against ... this.

Tony figured shock had dulled his pain receptors. They'd fucked him with a stick and then something harder, wider, something that had burned and twisted him inside and out. They'd yanked on his cock, scored it with a knife, for all he knew, they'd cut it clean off. He just felt like a mass of raw meat down there.

After they'd maimed him, they'd put out cigarettes on his stomach and thighs, getting more and more furious when he held his tongue and avoided screaming by sheer will, by thinking of how disappointed Gibbs would be in his weakness.

His head had been slammed into the dirt. They'd pissed on him. Jacked off and forced him to swallow. And they'd all used him, fucking him without mercy or humanity.

Now, they were kicking his ribs and kidneys, one rib had already popped, he couldn't breathe deeply. Trying to get his boss out of his system was gonna kill him. He was gonna die. He just hoped it'd happen before the pain came back.

"What do you want? My car. I have a nice car. Here, take it. My credit cards? Just please stop."

A boot came into view, streaked with red and brown. His blood and something else? Mud, he hoped. "You little faggot. Rot. In. Hell." The boot impacted his face with a sickening crunch and Tony's world went black.

Some time later, Tony's world swam back into view. "God..." He tried to curl his body into the fetal position but his limbs wouldn't respond. His back seemed locked, the muscles completely tense against the ground and his hand was stuck above his head

Tony flexed his fingers and screamed. His hand was stuck to the ground. Something was in it, pinning him to the ground. He tried to scoot away instinctively, but his feet were stuck too. Only one hand was free, The pain came over him in flares, rising waves that threatened to send him to the darkness again. Forever. The human mind couldn't take this. Tony knew he only had a few minutes of rational though left.

Using every reserve of strength, he reached his left hand down and pulled out his cell phone. They hadn't searched him, hadn't even taken his wallet. They wanted him to be found, to be made an example of.

He looked at the names as they scrolled by, his vision brightening and dimming. Abby, or Ziva. Or McGee. Or Ducky? He was a doctor. But he was also a man and Tony couldn't face that humiliation.

He tried Abby and got her machine, leaving a message anyway. "Abby. Tony. Got fucked up real bad. Think they're gonna kill me. Come back and ... kill me. Just gotta say ... bye."

His eyes fluttered shut again and he gave in to the darkness.

He awoke when they came back for a second round. They'd brought their friends this time. He lost count of how many cocks had been rammed up his ass. All he wanted to do was cry, but his voice had gone a while ago.

Darkness again.

He opened his now swollen eyes. The moon was higher in the sky, it had to be past midnight. The crystal on his phone was cracked but the touch screen worked. In desperation he called Abby again, then Ziva.

"Abby. Tony. Need you. Ziva, need help. Hurt..."

His hysteria growing, Tony started to struggle against whatever had impaled his hand and feet. He didn't want to die here. Alone! Just for being bisexual. Just for having a crush on the boss and trying to get him out of his system. Gibbs! Gibbs would be so fucking disappointed in him.

He picked up phone again. At least they'd find his body, they could triangulate the signal. And he had an ass full of trace. He started laughing, then tried Ducky's number. Between chuckles that were turning to sobs, he left yet another message. "Ducky. Tony. Need hurt, Get help."

His eyes closed, his body overloaded with pain. Time must have passed but he was only remotely aware. He dimly heard his phone ring and fumbled for it. "Help..."

"DiNozzo? Tony!" Gibbs! He'd never heard Gibbs like that before, so upset and emotional.

"Bossman..." Tony blinked. There was Kate, complete with the hole in her forehead, reaching for his hand. Tony tried to smile at her. Something was wrong with her standing there but he wasn't sure what.

"Thank God! Son, where are you? We're going to get the locals involved but you have to tell us where you are. We're triangulating the signal and we know where your car is. Where are you, Tony. Tell us so we can help you, son. We're coming, Tony. You just hang on."

"No locals. You guys. Don't want 'em to see this. Boss, saw Kate. She's right here. So pretty ... And I'm a mess. She wants to hold hands but mine is stuck..."

He heard a choked sound coming from the other end of the phone. "Don't cry for me, Gibbs. Doesn't hurt anymore, except my hands, and feet. Blood and dirt make mud. Hi, Katie. So pretty. Can I go with?"

"Tony, listen to me. You hang on, son. Just keep talking to me. We're gonna find you, son. Tell Kate she can't have you. We need you. I need you."

"Kay, Gibbs. Katie, he wants me. He really wants me. Gibbs..."

He tried to wave Kate away but she turned into one of the rednecks and soon his last hand was pinned to the ground, held in place by a rusty pitchfork. He started screaming and didn't stop until the darkness came again.

"Go faster! Please drive faster, Ziva. He's in bad shape." They had all heard his inhuman howl and Jethro frantic to get to Tony.

When Abby had called Jethro in hysterics saying Tony was in trouble, he'd mobilized the team, who had all been racing to his house anyway. He, Ziva, Abby, and Ducky were in one car and McGee was meeting them in Richmond from his vacation in Williamsburg. Tony's car was broadcasting a signal from a ditch, nobody was inside. A BOLO had been placed, but their best bet was the cell phone signal.

"Got anything, Abbs?" Her face was tear streaked, her hands shaking on the laptop.

"Not yet, Gibbs. What if we're too late."

"Don't do that, Abby!" But he was worried as well. Tony's screams were agonizing, the sounds of a dying animal, before his voice had petered out, leaving silence behind. If Jethro strained, he thought he could hear the rattle of Tony's breath stuttering in his lungs.

And Ducky looked grimmer than Jethro had seen him in a very long time. Even Ziva looked resolute, as serious as he'd ever seen her, her lips pressed together, her knuckles white on the steering wheel.

"Got something. Oh my God, its nearby. I can narrow it to a quarter mile square."

She started giving directions while Ducky relayed them to McGee. They pulled off the road right near a field. Reacting on instinct alone, Jethro turned to the women. "You two stay here and wait for McGee. In case there's trouble."

He would protect them from seeing the body, if they were too late. Shining a flashlight, over the field and the forms of restless cows, Gibbs quickly became frustrated. There were miles of fields and the GPS signal wasn't accurate to more than a quarter mile.

He cupped his hands around his mouth and let out a long whistle. "Tony! We're here. It's Gibbs and Ducky and we're going to help you. Move, make a sound so that we can get you some help."

"Please, Tony." Ducky's voice and hands were shaking as hard as Jethro's were, their beams of light wavering wildly.