Catch a Falling Star – Chapter 1
"Good morning McGee," Bishop smilingly said as she walked to her desk. "Tony here yet?" McGee looked up from his computer, nodded a good morning, and replied, "No not yet, but I think he was with his girlfriend last night, so…." Bishop laughed, and shook her head in amusement.
"Hellooooo, my peeps!" Tony cheerfully marched in, holding a coffee in his hand. McGee rolled his eyes, and asked, "And how was the date last night?" Tony shook his head in mock horror while replying, "What? No good morning? That's the greeting I get? And my answer is…I ain't gonna tell!" He laughed good-naturedly while McGee pretended to look disgusted.
*Ring ring*
Tony plopped his coffee down on the desk and picked up his phone. "Hey Abs, what's up?" He listened a moment, frowned, then said, "I'll check and see what we know, ok? Don't worry; I'm sure nothing's the matter." He hung up, and looked at McGee and Bishop staring at him. "Ok, so….we might have a situation, and maybe not. Abby is worried that she hasn't heard from Gibbs in the past few days since he went undercover for that drug sting. But you know Gibbs; it could be that an opportunity to contact us hasn't come up. Has anyone heard from him? I know I haven't." The other two agents looked at each other, and shook their heads no. Bishop spoke up, "Maybe Vance knows something we don't? I think we should check with him before we jump the gun on something."
A few minutes later, Vance called the team to the conference room. He looked at each one before continuing, "Well, I think you know why I called you here. Abby was right, something has happened. I sent some undercover agents to double check the site of the sting, and something peculiar happened. It seems that no one knows about it, or they aren't talking. Although we're pretty sure that this deal was in fact fake and a cover for something else. So, in other words, we have a missing agent and no idea where he could be. Agent Dinozzo?"
Dinozzo sighed and asked, "Can't we hit up on the guys that Gibbs was supposed to meet up with? I mean, we have to start somewhere! Gibbs doesn't just disappear. Well, ok, he has before, but not for something like this…" Vance replied, "We've already gone through our contacts, and no one knows what happened. I've put out Gibb's information and hopefully we can find him."
***a month later***
Vance received a call from his secretary stating that someone wanted to meet him with possible information on Gibbs. "Show him right in!" Vance stood up, and felt excited and nervous at the same time. Hopefully they'd be able to get somewhere! But what if it were a false lead? They'd been through so many possibilities. Well, it'd be better than no information, and they'd be able to eliminate something. A soft knock heralded the visitor, and a man walked in. Vance studied him a moment. This man was medium height, with soft light brown hair and brown eyes. He had a light tan, and was a little on the heavy side. The man approached with a hand outstretched, "Good morning Director. My name is Kade Nelson. I heard about your missing agent and I may have seen him, but I cannot be certain."
Vance motioned to a chair and settled in his own. "Please sit down and tell me your story." Nelson sat down with a sigh. "This isn't going to come easily. Might I see a recent photo of your agent, so I can tell if it is indeed the same man I am thinking of? I don't want to give you false….not hope, if it is he." Vance puzzled at the last statement, but procured a photo of Gibbs for the stranger to see. Nelson nodded, "Yes that is him. But I do not know him by that name. I know him as The Silver Fox, or simply Fox. I do not have good news to tell you about him, but please let me speak uninterrupted about this matter." Vance's heart had leapt when Kade positively identified Gibbs, but sank again at once again. He nodded for the man to continue.
"What I am about to tell you only a privileged few know. I used to be part of a ring, but not a drug ring. This is a sort of fighting ring, but with a twist. Your man was captured by this ring; that much I do know. The men that are used for fighting are not free. They are slaves. The people who own them are mostly women, very powerful women. There are a few men, like me, but it is rather dangerous. Eventually I found myself in trouble enough with the women that I decided I had better get out of it, or else become a slave myself. I am still in some contact with the ring; however, as I have friends there, and I can still watch the fights when I am invited to come. The last time I watched the fights, the Fox was there. I noticed him especially because I'd never seen anyone fight like him. I saw why they called him the Silver Fox, as he does have silver hair, but he was also very wily in his fights. He fought with his head and fists. But there was also such an undercurrent of rage coursing through him, so that he fought like nothing I'd ever seen before. He won his fight easily, though the other fellow was much more experienced and a good bit heavier. I don't remember who owns him now, but I can find out. When I heard through a dealer friend of mine that this man was missing, the description he had sounded like the Fox, so I decided to risk coming to you. I've seen many things that weren't right, and I'd like to help you with your agent. I'm not going to help you try to bring down the entire ring, as they are too big and powerful, and you and I and whoever helped would not likely survive the attempt. But one slave might be feasible. So, may I help you in this matter?"
Vance leaned back in his chair, horrified by everything he had heard. So Gibbs was in a fighting ring. He decided to definitely get Gibbs out of there, and then later see who he could bring down if he could. He looked at Nelson, and replied, "Yes, you can be our contact into this ring. If you please, I'd like to bring up my team to the conference room and we can discuss this matter." Nelson nodded, and Vance made the arrangements.