All Things Eldritch
Written for the NFA Fifth Anniversary Challenge.
Characters: Tim, Tony, Gibbs
Genre: oh, take a wild guess… ;D
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the NCIS characters, for which I am sure they are extremely relieved.
Tim McGee woke with a start and sat up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes as he did so. He shook his head as he tried to clear the remnants of the dream, no, nightmare from his mind. Unable to shake the feeling that something just wasn't right, he swung his legs over the side of the bed and headed for the bathroom.
After splashing water on his face, he looked up at his reflection in the mirror, hoping he didn't look as bad as he felt.
His reflection smiled back at him.
Tim gasped and stepped back, giving his reflection one last terrified look before he ran from the room. He faintly heard his own voice saying "Come play with me…" before he slammed the door and leaned against it, his heart pounding in his chest.
"Not real…"
After a few moments, when no other voices emerged from the small room, he cautiously opened the door. The room was empty. He moved to the mirror and checked his reflection, relieved to find it showed his own rather freaked out expression. Tim shook his head and let out a small, humorless chuckle. He took one last look before heading back to bed, hoping the nightmares would leave him alone for the rest of the night.
Tim woke again some time later and a small curse burst from his lips when he realized he was going to be late for work. He hurried to get dressed and was just about ready to leave when he took one last look in the mirror.
His eyes were solid white.
This time he actually let out a small scream and backed away from the mirror, only to find his reflection had once again returned to normal.
"What in the hell is going on?"
He stared at his reflection, daring it to show some sort of weirdness, but it remained the same. Shaking his head and wondering if it was time for a vacation, he left the bathroom and headed for the front door.
The ride to work had been relatively routine, and when he arrived Tony was already at his desk, waiting.
"Morning, Probie!"
"Morning" he replied, with much less enthusiasm than normal.
"Whoa, McGrouchy, what's up with you?"
"Nothing. Just need more sleep."
"You can get it in the car," Gibbs replied. "You and Tony are heading out to Mongothsberd to interview a witness."
Tim froze, unable to believe what he had just heard. Gibbs gave him a strange look.
"What?"
"W-where did you say we were going?"
"Monongahela. Why?"
"Oh. Sorry, I thought you said something else."
Tony chuckled. "Time to get your hearing checked, Probie…thanks, Boss."
Gibbs gave Tim a folder on information on the witness. "Get going."
Both men grabbed their bags and ran to the elevator.
Once they were on the road, headed for Pennsylvania, Tony turned his attention to his partner.
"What's up with you, McGee?"
"Nothing."
"Yeah, right. You looked completely freaked out when Gibbs said where we'd be going. What did you think he said, anyway?"
"It's not important, Tony. Just drive."
"Fine. Tell me where we're going, McGPS."
Tim snorted softly and opened the folder. He saw the name and gasped. Greta Louhi.
"What?"
Tim blinked and read the name again: Graham Loudon.
What in the hell? He shook his head and read the name again. It stayed the same.
"Nothing. I just thought…never mind." He gave Tony the address listed below the name and snapped the folder shut. Tony shot him a worried look.
"What is your problem, McGee? Seriously, you've been acting weird all morning."
"I told you, it's nothing. Lack of sleep, that's all."
"Well then you better get caught up, McSnooze."
"Fine." Tim leaned back and closed his eyes, hoping that a couple hours of sleep would erase the weirdness he'd been feeling since he'd woken up that morning.
A few hours later Tim woke to find they were driving through an unfamiliar wooded area.
"Where are we?"
"Middle of nowhere, basically. The GPS says we're almost there."
"Good to know."
A few more miles of single lane blacktop brought them to a gravel pull-off. The only structure visible was a long wooden boardwalk leading off into the forest. The sight of that structure brought forth an unpleasant memory from Tim's dreams, and he shuddered.
"What now?"
"Nothing. Where's the house?"
Tony grabbed the folder and opened it. "Says we have to walk a couple of miles, through a swamp."
"Wonderful." Tim pulled a couple of pieces of paper from his backpack and carefully drew a seven-pointed star on each one before handing one to Tony.
"What's this for?"
"Better safe than sorry," Tim muttered as he climbed out of the car. Tony just stared at his partner for a moment before responding.
"OK, I repeat, what is with you today? You're acting even freakier than normal."
"I just…I've had a weird feeling about today."
"OK…why?"
Tim sighed. "Bad dreams last night. It's thrown me off-kilter."
"I'll say."
"Are we going to talk to this witness or what?"
"Fine. We'll go, but you're explaining this to me when we get back. Alright?"
"Fine. Let's go."
A hour later they were back at the car and headed towards D.C. The witness had been surprisingly helpful, providing several pieces of information that would need to be further researched once Tim was back to D.C.
They had been driving for a couple of hours when a strange sound coming from the sedan's engine pulled Tim from his reverie. He glanced out the window and saw that it was now nearly dark, and they were still far from civilization. The sound grew louder, followed by a clunk and the car started to slow dramatically.
"Ah, crap," Tony growled. Suddenly Tim noticed a lighted sign off in the distance. Tony managed to keep the car going until they reached a small parking lot in front of the building that held the sign. Tim noticed that it was a bar, and when he read the name of it, spelled out in flickering neon, he felt his heart fall in his chest.
"The Colorado Lounge," Tony read, a slightly puzzled expression crossing his face. "Why does that sound familiar?"
"We're not going in there," Tim declared, and Tony turned to him.
"Why not?"
"Trust me."
"Fine. You want to walk back to NCIS?"
Tim looked down the road and saw another hauntingly familiar sight. The road narrowed and disappeared into a grove of trees which formed an arch over it, blocking out the moonlight and creating a tunnel of blackness.
"No. No way…"
He turned and saw, standing at the edge of the road a figure of a woman with thin, stringing white hair, red lips, and white, dead eyes. He gasped as he felt a burning sensation on the palm of his hand and looked down at it, only to find that he had a strange, three-headed dragon tattoo burned into his palm. As he watched, blood started to leak from it.
"No, please, no…"
Tim looked up where he had seen the woman and she was now only a few feet away, grinning at him, her white, dead eyes even more terrifying up close. He turned to run from the horror in front of him and saw a pair of yellow gleaming eyes peering out of the darkness of the woods. He turned in another direction and saw the shadow of a man who appeared to be holding a large knife, raised and ready to strike.
"No! Leave me alone! No!"
Suddenly he felt something grab him and he struggled to pull away from the vice-like grip.
"NO!"
"McGee, wake up!"
Tim gasped and bolted upright, his heart pounding in his chest and he frantically took in the scene around him. Gibbs was crouched to his eye level, gripping Tim's shoulders as he watched him with a concerned expression on his face. Tim blinked and looked again, slumping in relief when he realized that he was back at his desk in the bullpen. He met Gibbs gaze and blushed.
"I…it was just a nightmare."
Gibbs released his grip on Tim's shoulders before reaching up and smacking the back of his head, albeit more gently than normal.
"What have I told you about reading horror stories on the NFA, McGee?"
"Sorry, Boss. Won't happen again."
The End
Virtual cookies to anyone who can name all of the stories referenced in this fic ;)