Author's notes: I rewrote the first chapter to this one, it made it easier to continue.
A/N: A tale about surviving lost in the woods and with no food. And your only company is the one person you just can't get along with. But while on the run from villains, who knows what can happen in the woods at night…
Gibbs groaned, his hand flew directly to his forehead, finding drops of perspiration covering his skin. Arrows shot though his head with the movement. Aaargh, what the hell's happened to me?! Where am I? He was starting to regain his senses and could feel his body was lying uncomfortably bent, when he inhaled, the air was thick, and a sticky smell went up his nose, making his stomach turn. Have I been drugged? Damn it, what happened? When he tried to open up his eyes, all he saw was black and white spots covering his sight. He shut his eyelids tightly, trying to clear his mind, trying to reach beyond the fog that was hiding his memory from him. Thinking back, he remembered the sound of shrieking tires, a woman, and blackness.
6 hours earlier.
As Director Jenny Shepard exited the NCIS building to go home for the night, she heard someone calling her name from behind her. She pulled to a halt and waited patiently for Agent Gibbs to catch up with her.
"What can I do for you at this hour, Special Agent Gibbs?" she asked politely while digging through her purse for her car keys.
"I wanted to talk to you about the case we had today," he said as soon as he reached her, panting slightly from having hurried after her.
"Jethro, if this is about me getting involved in your cases…"
"It is…"
"Then we have nothing to talk about. I have the right to take part in any NCIS investigation that I want to," she explained in a stern voice, "Including yours, Special Agent Gibbs," she added, already knowing what he had been about to say.
"Jen!" he burst out in anger, glaring at her. Jenny merely ignored him as she continued to rummage through her purse in her hunt for her car keys.
"End of discussion, Agent Gibbs," she rose her head and met his ice cold gaze with her own equally chilly stare. She held her keys in a firm grip, throwing the purse back over her shoulder and made an attempt to head off toward her car.
"Jen!" he repeated, watching her stop, and then, slowly, turning around to face him again.
"What, Jethro?" she sounded annoyed, and he figured she'd rather be on her way home than argue with him in the parking garage at NCIS.
"If I were Director, I'd probably be doing the same thing," he added in attempt to ease the tension between them. But he found her glaring right back at him, one hand on the purse resting over her shoulder, the other on her hip.
"I'm sure you would," she replied, slight sarcasm in her voice as she turned to leave.
"Damn it," Gibbs mumbled under his breath, watching her walk off toward her car. Her coat rippled behind her and the heels clinked loudly against the cement floor. Why can't the damn woman be reasonable for once? He thought, still gazing at her figure as she began to disappear in the half-dark parking garage. He shook his head, knowing the fight would probably continue tomorrow, and turned to find his own car.
Five minutes later, he sat behind the wheel, slowly driving through the nearly empty parking garage, it was late in the evening, not that many people where working now, mainly just the night shift and some security guards. He got frankly surprised upon seeing Jenny's car still there; he'd expected her to be long gone already. He got even more surprised, not to say shocked, when he noticed a figure lying in a crumpled heap beside the car. The headlights of his car lit up the scene in front of him, and his throat contracted unpleasantly as he recognized the red coat and short, auburn hair. Her purse had slid off her shoulder and was wrapped around her wrist. But it was still Jenny Shepard, lying there, knocked out and unconscious next to her car in the parking garage at NCIS.
He hit the brakes, the tires shrieked and he was out of the car before it had even stopped properly. He didn't bother to shut the door, none of that seemed relevant at this moment. He was by her side faster than it took to blink an eye; he sank to his knees next to her slumped body.
"Jen! Jen, are you ok? Can you hear me?" he called out in desperation, his fingers fumbled trying to find a pulse. He felt a weak, but steady, beating under the skin in her neck. He crouched at her side, attempting to roll her over onto her back.
"Jen, co…" the dang when something metallic hit against the back of his head cut him off mid-sentence. He immediately sank down to the ground, limp like a rag doll. His body rested heavily on top of Jenny's, both unconscious, hit over the head by the man that now stood in the shadows by her car. Someone turned off the engine of Gibbs' car, it became completely silent.
End flashback
Her world was black. Airless. Paralyzed. She was lost in darkness, unable to move or breathe or see. Her reality was more hellish than she could have imagined. Jen tried to open her eyes, found they had been taped over. Her mouth was taped shut as well. Panic rustled through her body. Attempting to move her hands, she was hit with the realization they had been tied together across her chest. A burning sensation around her eyes suggested that if she could, she would have cried. I can't breathe! Her heart raced in panic. Her nostrils were free; she drew a deep breath through her nose, trying to piece together the fragments of memory that started to come to her.
The parking garage. Gibbs. Unidentified shadow coming up behind her.
She wriggled her fingers in attempt to reach the tape that bound her wrists. It wouldn't budge. She tried to move in her blindness, pain rippled like flames through her body. Breathe, breathe… As the pain subsided, she tried to get the brain cells working. They reluctantly began to connect what was going on around her. She had to rely on hearing impressions and smell. A soft layer was covering her, she realized she was either stuffed in a bag or wrapped in a blanket. Her brain cells slowly came to, and they were screaming, Get the hell out of here! Another brain cell was debating the others, How will I manage that?
She tried to get her racing heart to slow down, its pounding echoed in her ears. She clenched her teeth to bite back a groan as her wrists burned when she tried to twist them free. She needed to determine her whereabouts. As her pulse slowly wound down, she focused her ears on the surrounding environment. The rustle of dead leaves. Wind winding through branches. Her nose caught the scent of moist soil. They were forest impressions. And she was possibly alone.
Gibbs' eyes fluttered open yet again, though it didn't matter if they were open or shut, it was still equally dark. Where the hell am I? With great caution, he stretched out his hands before him, feeling around, trying to determine his whereabouts. Next, a thought stuck him that made his mouth go dry and he felt an uncomfortable tremor below his tongue. Jen! Damn it, where is she? His thoughts were of desperate nature, and considering what condition she had been in the last time he had seen her, he had every right to be worried. He bit back a groan of pain as his searching fingers hit against something solid not far above his head. He was trapped. Possible locked in somewhere. Damn. He tried stretching out his legs that were stiffly bent; his foot hit a possible wall. He felt close to retching, until this point he'd been unaware of any injury he might have sustained, but as he moved, a knife might was well have been thrust into his back, and his head felt like it was on fire. His heart sank in his chest as he realized Jen was nowhere close, this space was too damn small, and he was there alone.
His body suddenly tensed. A sound broke the silence. The thump of a car door. This made the realization on his whereabouts hit him flatly in the face. The trunk of a car!
No! Jen… I gotta find Jen… his mind screamed, his fingertips clawing feebly against the ceiling. She's alive, damn it! She's somewhere near…Need to get out… Need to find her… he refused himself to think any negative thoughts.
To be continued…