Down the Valley of the Shadow
2011 WEE (White Elephant Exchange) Fic written for BlackSwan
Genre: Mystery/Suspense/Angst
Rating: FR15 for disturbing imagery, violence, and language (don't worry, Nat said I wasn't allowed to kill any major character ;D )
Characters: Gibbs and the team, a few guest appearances from previous episodes, and a few OCs
Disclaimer: Don't own, just playing, yadda yadda
Prompt [1] What's in the Box? There is a mysterious package sitting on Gibbs's desk, addressed to the boss . . . but he's not around. One of the team members—Tony, Tim, Ziva, Kate, Abby, Ducky, or Jimmy—opens the box, either out of curiosity, on a dare or bet, or by accident somehow. What does the team member find inside, and how will he or she explain his/her actions to an irate Gibbs when the boss returns?
The contents could be gruesome or dangerous, leading to an investigation . . . or they could be personal, humorous, ominous, or just plain baffling. Maybe there's nothing in the box but a bullet casing—or a photograph—or a bouquet of dead flowers sent by an ex-wife. It's your choice—surprise me!
Summary: The content of a mysterious package on Gibbs' desk sends the team on a desperate mission to find one of their own before time runs out.
A/N: The title is from a poem by Edgar Allan Poe, to be revealed at the end. A big thank you to Sergeant Conley for beta-ing this for me.
Chapter 1
Tony stepped off the elevator with a grin on his face, eager to share with his teammates the details of his weekend off. He could just imagine their responses: Ziva would make some comment about his choice of activities and Tim would just roll his eyes, but they would still listen, because that's what teammates were for. It wasn't often any of them had news not related to work to share, and Tony loved to make the most of any opportunity he had to brag about his recreational exploits.
He passed Gibbs desk and noticed a box sitting next to the Boss's main computer. He paused to take a closer look and saw that the box was in fact addressed to Gibbs, but bore no other identifiers.
"What are you doing, Tony?"
He looked up to see one of his teammates enter the bullpen.
"Nothing, Ziva."
"Nothing? It looks like you are checking out Gibbs' package."
Tony winced. He wasn't even going to try and explain the faux pas of that statement to Ziva.
"Just being cautious. Wouldn't want any nasty surprises. For the Boss, I mean."
"I am sure." She sat down at her desk and Tony returned to his. They both started to check their emails, but soon Tony's attention strayed to the brown parcel. Ziva noticed and snorted in disgust.
"Why must you be so nosy?"
"It's part of being a good investigator, Ziva. You never know when something so seemingly innocent could be major trouble."
"It is a box, Tony. It must have passed some sort of inspection to get here. I am sure it is harmless."
"The last time I opened a 'harmless' piece of mail-"
"Yes, I know, you were infected with the plague. I have heard that story many times."
"And it bears repeating. Wise words of caution, Ziva."
"Of course."
"So what do you think it is?"
"I have no idea, Tony."
"Maybe it's from an ex."
"In that case you should definitely not open it."
"Book of the month club?"
"Tony…"
"You're right, it's too big for that. Cake of the month? Fruit of the Month?" Ziva rolled her eyes and he grinned. "Or maybe it's a head. You know, like in Se7en? Brad Pitt, Kevin Spacey…'What's in the box!'"
She merely shook her head at his poor impersonation. "If you are so worried, maybe you should just open it."
"No way. Boss catches me doing something like that and my head will be sore for a week. Maybe I'll get McGee to do it. Where is he, anyway?"
"No idea. Maybe he is still recovering from the weekend," she added with a suggestive smirk.
"Yeah, right. This is McGeek we're talking about. He probably got way too involved in some MM..R… some online game. He'll come rushing in any minute and apologize for being late and then-"
"You will blackmail him into opening the box."
"I wouldn't call it blackmail…"
"Of course not."
Ziva returned to her work and he continued to stare at the box.
"Then again, opening mail is a Probie type of job…"
She sent him a glare. "Do not forget, this 'Probie' can kill you nineteen different ways with a paper clip."
"I thought it was eighteen?"
"I discovered another."
"Oh, come on, Ziva, aren't you just a little curious?"
"No. If Gibbs wants us to know what it is, he will tell us. Besides, you are way too curious for your own good. Such curiosity killed the rat, you know."
"Cat, Ziva."
"Whatever."
He showed her his most pleading, puppy-dog expression and she sighed in frustration.
"Tony…fine. But if Gibbs asks, it was your idea." She pulled out her knife, approached Gibbs' desk, and stopped to examine the box. She paused and looked around, but the Lead Agent was nowhere to be seen. She carefully ran the knife down the center of the box, cutting the tape, and then opened both sets of flaps to look inside. When she caught a glimpse of the contents she froze, her eyes widening.
"What is it?"
She stepped back and turned to him, her worry barely concealed. "Look."
He peered into the box and swore softly. McGee's ID and badge lay inside, along with a DVD and what looked like a jam jar filled with a dark red congealed substance.
"Is that…?"
"What are you doing?"
They both looked up to see Gibbs approaching.
"Boss, I think we have a problem…"
"Besides you two opening my mail?" He walked to his desk and looked inside the box, biting back a curse when he saw what was inside. "We're taking this to Abby's lab. Now."
Tony rummaged in his backpack for a pair of gloves and Ziva pulled out her cell phone. She dialed McGee's cell number and waited. "Not in service." She quickly dialed his home number. "Voicemail." Tony pulled on the gloves he had found and carefully picked up the box before heading to the elevator, followed closely by Gibbs and Ziva.
They exchanged worried looks but the ride down was silent. When they reached Abby's lab, the music was blaring and Abby had her back to them, bouncing slightly with the beat. Gibbs unceremoniously pulled the plug on the radio and she turned with a look of extreme annoyance.
"Hey! Gibbs? What are you-?"
"Evidence, Abby," said Tony. "We need you to check this immediately."
"That's an unusual packaging method, Tony," she said with a grin, which faltered when she saw his expression. "What's going on?"
"We need you to check everything in the box: prints, what's on the DVD, ID the stuff in the jar. Now, Abbs," said Gibbs.
"OK…" She looked in the box and gasped. "But that's…that's McGee's ID. What… where is he?"
"Abby, you must remain calm-"
"I am calm, Ziva. Now tell me what's going on or that will change real quick!"
"We have been unable to contact him."
"You think he's…no, no he can't-"
"We won't know until you check the evidence, Abbs."
She took a deep breath. "OK, OK, I can do this. Positive thoughts…"
She retrieved the Alternate Light Source and goggles for herself and the team. "Someone hit the lights," she said and Tony did as she asked. She scanned the ALS over the package. "Lots of prints. This is going to be messy." She scanned the items in the package. "None in here." She put the equipment aside and took out the jar, paling when she took a better look at the contents.
"Oh God…" She set the jar on the table and went to retrieve some reagents and a couple of test kits. She opened the jar and swabbed the side to collect some of the substance, then added drops from three separate reagent bottles. When the swab turned bright pink they all winced.
"It's blood." She removed some more of the blood and added it to an OBTI test tube, mixed it, and then added to the test bar. After a couple of minutes, two blue lines appeared in the window. "Human blood. I'll do DNA to confirm, but that's going to take time…I can type it, at least." She opened the Eldoncard kit and added the blood to the card. "It's Tim's blood type," she said in a shaky voice. Gibbs and Ziva both swore and Tony looked as if he was going to be sick. "But it's a fairly common type, right? I mean, it could be someone else…"
Gibbs put a hand on her shoulder. "What about the DVD?"
"Right, OK." She opened the case, inserted the disk into the drive and waited for a prompt to open the files. "It looks like a video." She clicked on the file and opened it, as Gibbs put his right arm around her shoulder. Tony and Ziva moved to her right side and leaned in to get a closer look at the screen.
At first, the screen was dark, but then the fuzzy image lightened and focused to reveal a sign with a hand-printed message:
I must not only punish, but punish with impunity. A wrong is unredressed when retribution overtakes its redresser. It is equally unredressed when the avenger fails to make himself felt as such to him who has done the wrong.
The image lingered long enough for them to read the message several times. The camera then panned away from the sign and focused on a dimly lit room. In the center of the room was a table. On the table was a male body, clad in sweat pants and a t-shirt. The camera started to move closer, as if the person operating it was walking towards the body, and soon it was clearly recognizable.
"Oh, God. Timmy…"
The camera moved to focus on McGee's face, showing his lax features all too clearly. Suddenly, a gloved hand entered the screen and slapped him. His eyes immediately snapped open and then closed as he winced in obvious pain before opening them again. The confusion in his expression soon gave way to fear and he started to speak.
"What…what are you doing?" The view shifted as the camera was placed off to the side and they heard a faint tearing sound, followed by McGee's still groggy voice.
"No, wait-" They heard a muffled cry and soon the view of the camera shifted again and refocused on McGee, who now had a piece of duct tape over his mouth and his eyes were wide open. He tried to speak but his voice was too muffled to understand, and a look of panic and fear crossed his face as the hand re-appeared, this time holding a scalpel.
"No!" Abby cried and covered her eyes. Gibbs tightened his grip on her shoulder as he watched the screen, while Tony and Ziva were unable to tear their gazes away.
The camera followed the hand as it moved down to McGee's left arm, which they could now see was bound to the table with a leather restraint. They could also see that McGee was struggling against his bonds to no avail. The scalpel was pressed against his skin, but before it penetrated the view shifted again. They could no longer see what was happening to him and they soon heard a muffled cry of pain. After what seemed like eternity, the view shifted again and the camera focused on another printed sign.
This is my game: follow the clues, find your agent.
Don't be late, or he will be.
Your move.
I'll be waiting.
The screen went blank and suddenly they were looking at a picture: a silhouette of the lady justice next to a picture of a cross. The camera focused on it briefly before shifting once again to show McGee's face, pinched with pain, His eyes opened and he stared directly into the camera, sending a silent plea to his audience before the image went black.
The clip ended and the group stared at the screen, unable to immediately deal with what they had just seen. Abby was shaking as Gibbs unconsciously started to comfort her before he gave her the bad news.
"Abby? We need to see it again."
"I…I can't watch it, Gibbs."
"It's OK. Just get it started for us."
She nodded, started the video. She closed her eyes for a few seconds and quickly opened them again. "No. I have to help find the clues. I can do this for Timmy." She stared at the screen with intensity as the others took a deep breath and prepared themselves to watch it again.
After viewing it a second time, Gibbs turned to his agents.
"Well?"
"I recognize the quote," said Ziva. It is from 'The Cask of Amontillado', by Edgar Allan Poe. It is a story about revenge."
"Revenge? So this…this is about revenge? For what?"
"Guess we better find that out, DiNozzo. Anything else?"
"Scales of justice and a cross? I have no idea…but we'll figure it out. Come on, Ziva." He turned to leave and paused. "Are you going to be OK, Abby?"
"Not until you bring Timmy home. You're going to bring him home, right, Gibbs?"
He nodded, fully aware that the truth depended on too many things, and they were running out of time.