Ethereal

Written by DNAchemLia and thecookiemomma for the NFA AU Times Two and Four Rooms/Trust Fall Challenges. Alternate ending to Lia's As Rare Things Will.

Genre: Supernatural

Rating: FR-15/T

Characters: Tony, Tim, Gibbs and the rest of the Team, Fornell

Warnings: Major Character Deaths. Yes, Tony and Tim are still dead. They're really not happy about it.

Disclaimer: All recognizable characters are the property of their respective copyright holders. No infringement intended. The original characters and places mentioned are the product of the authors' imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to those living, dead, or undead is completely coincidental.

Summary: Gibbs gets information pretty easily. Thanks to something hinky that just got even easier. Every cloud has a silver lining.


Chapter 1

Tim McGee slowly opened his eyes and blinked a couple of times to clear the haze that clouded his vision. When he finally registered what he was seeing, he bolted upright with a sharp gasp of surprise. Instead of lying in his bed, as one might expect upon waking, or slumped over at his desk, an all-too-frequent occurrence, he was sitting on the edge of a two lane blacktop road, surrounded by a dense forest. At first glance it appeared that he was alone, but a second look revealed a familiar form lying at the base of a thicket of trees a few yards away.

"Tony!"

Tim scrambled to his feet and dashed over to his partner. He paused a moment, fearing the worst before he reached down and gave Tony's shoulder a good shake. "Tony, wake up…"

With a startled grunt, the older man jerked awake and rolled over to look up at his partner. Fear, then surprise crossed his face before he finally managed to speak.

"Tim? You…you're OK?"

"Yeah, I think so. You?" He helped Tony to his feet and when the senior agent was steady he grasped Tim's shoulders and gave him the once over.

"You sure you're OK? I could have sworn… Never mind. What happened?"

"I was hoping you knew. The last thing I remember was walking down this road in the dark."

"Yeah, me too." A strange look crossed Tony's face. "You really don't remember anything else?"

"No, why?"

Tony shook his head. "Must have been a dream…or a hallucination."

"Hallucination? What, you think someone drugged us and dumped us out here?"

"It's possible. I'd prefer that to…" A strange expression crossed Tony's face.

"Never mind."

Tim felt an inexplicable chill down his spine. "Tony, what do you remember?"

"Not important, Tim. Now let's get the hell out of here."

Tim was about to ask where 'here' was when suddenly a memory clicked into place. "Our car. It died, and we were going for help. Which direction did we come from?"

Tony looked around and groaned. "No idea. Should we flip a coin?"

Tim studied their surroundings for a few moments before pointing towards the forest on the opposite side of the road. "That way is north. Do you remember which direction you were driving when the car died?"

"East, I think. That detour got me pretty turned around."

Tim remembered that he had been sleeping and missed the detour, so he wouldn't be much help. "West should take us back to the car, then. Right?"

"I sure hope so. Come on."

Both men started walking along the edge of the road. The woods surrounding them were silent, and even the expected sounds of distant traffic didn't reach them. It was a little creepy in Tim's opinion, and he would certainly be glad to return to civilization. Speaking of which… Tim reached into his jacket pocket to retrieve his cell phone and was startled to discover that it wasn't there. He searched his other pockets to find that not only was his cell phone missing, his wallet, badge, and gun were all missing as well.

"What are you doing, McFidget?"

"Everything's gone. Someone went through my pockets and took everything." Tony's eyebrows shot up in surprise and he checked his own pockets.

"Mine, too. They also took the car keys."

"Not that they'd do us much good since the car's dead."

"True…"

They walked in silence for a few minutes before Tony spoke.

"Gibbs is going to kill us. You realize that, don't you?"

"I can already feel the head-slap."

Tony chuckled. "Yeah, I'm not looking forward to explaining this, especially since we have no idea what happened."

"I guess we'll have to figure it out. If we go with the 'drugged and dumped' theory, we've got tests to look forward to when we get back." Tim gave Tony an evil smirk. "And we know how much you love needles."

Tony shuddered. "You would think of that. And you better hope you didn't manage to roll in a patch of poison ivy."

Tim rolled his eyes. "Believe it or not, I do know what that stuff looks like."

"Now."

"Yes, now. I didn't see any around either of us."

"Lucky for you, then."

Tim ignored the comment and kept on walking. After nearly an hour they rounded a bend in the road and a welcome sight met their eyes.

"At least we found the car," Tony muttered in relief.

"Now what?"

"We'll wait until someone comes along. It's daytime. Someone has to come along eventually."

"I hope so. Not looking forward to another night out here."

That same odd look that had crossed Tony's face earlier appeared again. "Me either."

Tim stopped walking and grabbed his partner's arm, bringing the other man to a halt. "OK, Tony, what's going on? What's got you so freaked out? And don't tell me it's nothing. You remember something from last night, don't you?"

"It wasn't real. Couldn't have been."

"Why not?"

"Because…I remember you being dead."

Tim froze, his eyes widening in disbelief. "What?"

Tony sighed. "We were walking down that road, it was pitch black, and suddenly you weren't beside me any more. I…I heard you scream."

"I don't remember any of that."

Tony chuckled weakly. "That's probably a good thing, Probie."

"Then what happened?"

"I was feeling around in the dark and I found, well, at least I thought it was you. You weren't moving, and…blood. I could smell blood."

Tim felt his stomach twist as nausea started to tighten his throat. "That's one hell of a vivid hallucination."

"Yeah. Guess you got lucky this time…not seeing anything like that."

"What happened next?"

"No idea. I don't remember anything else. Just darkness."

"Sorry."

"It's OK. Just promise me you won't do that to me for real."

Tim managed a smile. "I'll try not to."

"Good." Tony patted his shoulder before walking over to examine the sedan. It didn't look like it had been damaged, but without keys or a working engine they had no choice but to wait for another car to come along.

"Everything OK?"

"Looks like it. At least Gibbs can't kill us for that."

"Small mercies." Tim started to lean against the car but stopped when he felt nothing against his back. Wondering how he could have misjudged the distance he turned to look at the car and froze.

Instead of hovering just above the surface of the sedan, as he expected, he had…phased through it, as if the car wasn't even there. He blinked and looked again, but the scene remained the same. He jerked back, expecting to feel something as his body passed back through the car, but there was nothing. No pain, not even a twinge. Cautiously he extended his arm to touch the hood of the sedan and watched in horror as his hand sank through the hood with no resistance.

"Uh, Tony?"

The older man had moved a few yards down the road, presumably to search for approaching vehicles. He turned to Tim with a rather annoyed expression on his face.

"What?"

"Look." Tim pulled his hand out of the car and then pushed it back in. Tony's eyes widened almost comically when he realized what Tim was doing.

"What in the Hell? Your hand…how are you doing that?" He walked over and grabbed Tim's arm, pulling it from the car. It was almost a relief to Tim to feel Tony's grip, but the relief quickly evaporated when Tony tried to put his own hand on the hood of the car and it, too, sank through the top with no visible resistance. Tony jerked his hand back out and stared at it for a moment before trying again with the same result. "What in the Hell…"

"Hallucination?" Tim asked and winced at the plaintive note in his voice. He was desperately trying to keep his grip on reality.

"Can two people have the exact same hallucination?"

"I don't know… I don't think so." He searched his memory for an alternative explanation. "Maybe it's some sort of…I don't know, virtual reality projection? Everything we're seeing is part of the illusion, right? It's not really there, and that's why it looks like our hands are passing through what we're trying to touch."

Tony shook his head as an agonized expression appeared in his eyes. "I think you're ignoring the obvious, McGee."

"The obvious? What are you talking about?"

"Everything we're seeing is real, and solid, but we're not."

"That doesn't make sense, Tony. We can touch each other. We have to be real. What other choice is there?"

"We could be dead, Tim."

"Dead?" Tim couldn't help but scoff. "You mean we're ghosts? There's no such thing, Tony."

"And there's such a thing as a virtual reality projection that's this realistic?"

"Well, no, not that anyone has published, but there at least a possibility that it exists."

Before Tony could respond they noticed the sound of a car approaching. Soon the vehicle appeared and slowed when the driver apparently caught sight of the sedan. Tim stepped out and waved to get the driver's attention and the car slowed to a halt, much to Tim's relief. The door of the car opened and the driver, an older man, stepped out and turned to stare at the sedan, a thoughtful look on his face.

"Excuse me, sir? We're federal agents. Our car broke down, and we really need to get in touch with out boss. Can I borrow your cell phone? I'm afraid we both lost ours, and…" Finally Tim noticed that he was being ignored. "Sir? Can you hear me?" The man reached into his pocket and pulled out a cellphone. "Oh, good." Tim held out his hand but the man ignored him and dialed a number before putting the phone to his ear.

"Clara? It's Walt Hoskins. Can you tell Gary there's an abandoned car out on Old Cemetery Road, about eight miles from the turnoff? No, looks brand new. Hang on, let me check." Still ignoring the two men, he walked to the front of the sedan and looked down at the license plate. "Virginia, XXJ 6610. Looks like a government plate." He looked up and scanned the area, his gaze passing right over Tim and Tony. "No, there's nobody around. Alright. Will do. Thanks, Clara." The man got back in his car and drove off. Tim watched him disappear around a bend in the road as he struggled to comprehend what he had just witnessed.

"Still think this is a virtual reality?"

Tim turned to Tony. "W-what?"

"He didn't see us. He didn't hear you. I hate to say I told you so…"

"You love to say 'I told you so'," Tim snapped as the fear he had been trying to keep at bay finally boiled to the surface. "This…this is impossible. I don't believe…"

Tony grinned. "You best start believing in ghost stories, McGee. You're in one."

Tim stared at Tony in disbelief. "Seriously? I thought you hated that movie?"

"I didn't hate it. The special effects were pretty cool…"

Tim shook his head. It was almost a relief that at least one thing in this whole crazy situation was normal…

"This is crazy. We can't be…dead."

"It fits the evidence."

"Evidence? There's no evidence. There's nothing that makes any sense!"

"Tim…"

"No! I don't want to hear it. I'm going to figure this out…" He could feel panic clouding his mind, but something else was wrong and after a few moments he realized what it was. Tim put his hand up to his neck, expecting to feel the evidence of his distress. He pressed harder, still not experiencing what he expected. Finally he turned to Tony, only to see a sad, knowing look on the other man's face.

"Tony, I…I can't feel my heartbeat."

Tony nodded. "I know. Can't feel mine, either."

"But…" Suddenly the strength left his legs and Tim fell to his knees. Tony was at his side almost immediately, helping to hold him upright. "Oh god…" He looked up at his partner. "How…how did this happen, Tony?"

"I wish I knew, Tim."

Finally he was steady enough to stand up again. He glanced around at the silent woods before returning his attention to Tony.

"So what do we do now?"

"Well, I don't know about you, but I have no great desire to spend eternity in the middle of nowhere. I suggest we get out of here."

"Can we even do that?"

"Don't know. I guess we'll find out."

"But where should we go?"

"Only once place I can think of. How about you?"

Tim thought for a moment and nodded. "Yeah, me too. Let's go."

The two men started walking towards the east, to the road they hoped would lead them back to their home. Back to NCIS.