I'm on a roll with writing, so I'm posting as I get finished with each segment.

Chapter 2

Tony opened his eyes and blinked. "What the hell just happened," he moaned. He wasn't sure how long he'd been out nor could he decide which was blacker: the inside of his lids or what he was staring at. He tried to move, but it felt like he was in a bag, which was tightly wrapped around his lower body. "Jesus!" he winced as pain shot up his leg. Wherever he was, he was wedged in tight and he wasn't going anywhere any time soon. From the waist down, he couldn't budge, but he seemed to have a little bit more room around his shoulders.

He felt debris falling on his head and he looked up. It was difficult to judge the distance, but there was a small opening out of which he could see straight up into the sky. At least he thought it was the sky. "Hey!" he shouted, but even he could tell he needed way more force than that if he was going to be heard. It was becoming clearer to him what had happened and he remembered the loud breaking sound just before he plummeted.

Reaching into his pocket he found his phone. "All right. At least one thing is going my way." He used the light from it to illuminate his surroundings. All around him was black mud, clumped together, wet, and slimy. There were pieces of railroad ties jutting out at intervals, but mostly there was mud and more mud. Within arm's reach was an unusual formation that caught his eye. He pulled a clump of mud away, careful not to collapse a wall. He continued to dig in the darkness, shielding his eyes from flying mud bits until his fingers felt like they were on fire.

Something hard fell on him and he startled. But his reaction was nothing compared to how he reacted when he shone his cell phone on the object and saw it was a man's arm that was resting on his chest.

Chapter 3

Gibbs felt helpless just standing around and watching the hustle of soldiers as the perimeter was taped off, and makeshift tents were erected to cover some of the more expensive equipment. The crowd standing around had doubled in size and there was even a small van with the letters WKOP stenciled on the side and a large metal rod protruding from its roof. "This is going to make the five o'clock news?"

Watkins had seen the van drive up and nodded, "It's a small town, Agent Gibbs, and this is news. Hopefully by five o'clock it'll be 'old' news. You tried calling your agent?"

"Yeah. No answer." Then, as if on cue, his phone rang and he looked at the number, surprised by what it said. Flipping it open, he answered, "DiNozzo! Are you okay?"

"Found him, Boss."

Gibbs adjusted his NCIS cap and said, "What?"

"I found the guy that was in the argument, I think. At least I hope it's him and not someone else. I don't think he was shot, but I can't tell."

Watkins had brought over a small cellular phone attachment and motioned to Gibbs. "Tony, I'm going to put you on speaker phone." Gibbs shoved the handset into the device and Watkins flipped a switch. Gibbs continued, "DiNozzo! What happened?"

"I'm not really sure, Boss. I was investigating a hole when the ground under my feet gave way and I fell in."

"Are you okay?" Ziva said.

"I can't move my leg; I think it's broken. And I'm wedged pretty tightly into this space."

"How far down are you," Watkins asked.

"Maybe twenty, twenty-five feet."

Gibbs caught the slightest bit of worry flash across the Sergeant's face.

"Okay, Agent DiNozzo, hang tight. We're going to be lowering down a rope to you in a few minutes, and we'll pull you up."

Tony tried to move his legs again but it wasn't happening. "Okay," he said, but he was not terribly hopeful. "I have to tell you that I'm covered in mud and can't move too much."

"Stay on the phone, Agent DiNozzo, we'll talk you through it."

Tony was mildly amused at the idea of being talked through a rescue that was largely one-sided, but didn't say anything. He wanted to get the hell out of that pit and away from his dead pit-mate.

While he waited on the phone, McGee was fascinated by what he saw being prepped on the table. "What is it, Sergeant Watkins?"

"This is an R3T Aeronautical Droid."

"It looks like a toy helicopter."

"Don't let it fool you. This little 'toy' helicopter costs twelve million dollars to make, can fly undetected into enemy territory, recon the area, send video AND audio back to us, also undetected, and can be completely remote controlled as far away as 3000 miles."

McGee watched as its handler carried the machine to the field and prepped it. He attached one end of a heavy duty rope to its underbelly and then returned to the console to power it on. Tim watched in fascination as the blades began to spin at strength. The amazing part was it made no sound! The handler talked into his radio and soon the Droid was lifting off the ground and hovering silently.

Watkins said, "Okay, Agent DiNozzo, we're going to drop a rope down to you. Let us know when you can reach it."

Tony looked up at the miniscule opening and wondered if a rope could even fit, but he had, so he simply replied, "Okay."

Watkins gave the signal and the operator sent the helicopter off in the direction of where the agent had disappeared. Staring through binoculars, the team watched the helicopter fly away.

Tony looked up and saw the rope being dropped into the hole. "I see it. Keep lowering it." Eventually, he was able to grab hold of it and, with some difficulty, managed to slide it over his head and under his arms and tie it off. "Okay, I'm ready."

Watkins waved his finger in the air and the truck to which the rope was tied slowly rolled forward, taking up the slack.

Tony thought this might hurt, given the condition of his leg, but he was entirely unprepared for the excruciating pain as his body seemed to be ripping in half.

Watkins yelled to the truck driver, "Stop!"

"Tony?" Gibbs yelled at the phone, and then waited rather impatiently for his agent to catch his breath.

"Sorry, Boss, I'm—I'm stuck in here pretty good."

"S'okay, Tony. We'll think of something else."

Watkins rested his knuckles on the table and asked, "What's got you stuck, Agent DiNozzo?"

Tony felt the dirt covering his legs and tried to determine what exactly was clamped around him. "I don't know what's got me…. A lot of clay and dirt, maybe a timber, but I can't make it out."

"We're going to send down a small shovel. Can you try and dig yourself out enough to free up your legs?"

"I can try." There was a momentary pause and then Tony said, "Hey, Boss, you still there?"

"Yeah."

He took a minute to catch his breath before saying, "I'm gonna send you a picture of this guy. Maybe Abby can ID him?"

Chapter 4

Ziva paced the small area, feeling helpless. "Why can't someone be lowered down to help him?"

"There's barely enough room for him to move, much less another person, Ma'am," Watkins patiently explained for the second time.

"I still don't understand," she said, but it was more to be saying something than really not getting it. "And what about your… your Core of Pioneers? What are they doing?"

McGee looked at Watkins and translated, "She means Engineers. Core of Engineers."

"Oh. They're doing their job, ma'am. Right now they're using sonar to measure the density of the land so we'll have some idea of where we can, and cannot, walk."

Ducky asked, "I'd like to send down some medical instruments, perhaps get some vitals on our agent."

"Get them ready and I'll see what I can do."

Watkins studied the NCIS personnel. He didn't know a lot about the agency because, fortunately, he had never had any dealings with them. But he didn't expect what he saw. The group of federal agents didn't exactly work as a team, but rather as a family. They took direction from the one they routinely called Boss, otherwise known as Gibbs, and at times, it appeared as though they didn't even have to speak in order to understand what he wanted. The one thing that they all had in common was a deep concern for the man trapped in the mine shaft. He thought it best not to share some things he already knew.

Watkins looked at his watch; it was now past three and the sun was still bright, and the early October day crisp. The parking lot had more vans sprouting antennas, and more reporters dressed in suits and high heels were milling about. He wondered how long this event would keep everyone's interest. Then he wondered how long the base CO would allow it to be covered. None of that was his concern, so he turned his attention back to the problem at hand and was very relieved to see one particular man walking his way. "Dr. Payne! Glad you could make it!"

"I saw it on the news and half expected to get a call."

Gibbs watched the greeting with interest.

"Let me introduce you," Sergeant Watkins said. "Dr. Payne, this is Special Agent Gibbs with NCIS in DC. And this is Dr. Mallard, their Medical Examiner."

Ducky said, "Doctor? Are you a medical doctor?"

"No, I'm afraid not. I'm a research doctor with a PhD in Geology and History."

"Dr. Payne is our resident guru on the area. He knows its history and he knows the lay of the land. He'll be able to help us determine if there is a different ingress to your man."

Payne unrolled a stack of papers which seemed to be a hodgepodge of older geological maps mixed with newer land surveys. Gibbs studied the papers and made mental notes of the various landmarks. He listened to the recitation by the doctor, until they were interrupted by Petty Officer Phillips, "Sarg, I think we're ready to drop the camera."

McGee approached Gibbs and reported, "I've been working with the engineers setting up a transmission between Tony and us. We'll have a video feed and comm link when it's complete."

Gibbs looked around the tent at the various monitors, the massive number of cables, generators, and audio equipment that he'd watched being set up and configured, and observed, "It's MTAC without the satellite."

McGee shrugged, "Actually, Boss, we do have satellite."

Impressed with the availability of such high tech equipment, he asked, "When do we go live?"

Watkins answered, "Now. Get the Droid ready, Petty Officer. And Agent Gibbs, get your man back on the phone."

Gibbs punched the number into the speaker and waited.

"Yeah, Boss."

"We're setting up a camera to survey the shaft." He wasn't sure what he expected, but he knew silence wasn't it. "Tony?"

"When am I getting outa here?"

"Soon. We have the Corps of Engineers working on a plan."

Ducky added, "We're also sending down some medical equipment so you can give me your vitals."

"Okay. Did Abby find out who this guy is?"

"Not yet."

Ziva heard the chill in her partner's voice and asked, "Would you like something to drink, Tony? Maybe some hot coffee?"

"Sure."

Watkins gestured to Phillips who double timed it to get a thermos of coffee. "Agent DiNozzo," Watkins said, turning his attention to the phone, "in about five minutes, the Droid will hover over the opening and drop a wire down. It'll allow us to see the inside of the shaft. Once that's in position, we'll lower the medical supplies and coffee. Are you hungry?"

"No, just cold."

It's going to get a lot colder, Watkins thoughts. "Hang tight."

"I ain't going nowhere."

Gibbs stood behind McGee and they both watched the monitor intently, which displayed the Droid flying low over the terrain towards the shaft. The picture was crystal clear and McGee marveled, "Boss, I've only read about this kind of technology. I've never actually seen it."

Ziva said, "Let's hope it tells us what we need to know to rescue him."

"Did you forget I'm still on the line?" Tony asked.

"Not at all," Ziva replied, "But you should save your battery life."

"Why? Just drop down another phone if this one runs out."

Gibbs smiled; couldn't argue with that.

"Tony?" Watkins said from the far side of the tent. While the others were tracking the progress of the Droid on the monitors, he was tracking it using binoculars. "You should be seeing the camera descending any moment now."

Had there been anything else to look at, Tony might have actually thought the information was ridiculous, but he continued to stare up at the hole until he saw the small hovering device. With little arms that were being controlled from afar, the robot dropped down two metal rods forming an X over the hole and then attached a wire. Once that was done, it disappeared. Tony could see a small beam of light shine down on him causing him to squint as his pupils adjusted.

Watkins yelled, "Tell us when it's halfway down!"

Tony had no idea when it made it halfway. He could barely see as it was difficult to focus. Nevertheless, he took a guess and said, "Stop."

"Okay, we're going live with this thing in three, two, one. Turn off your phone, Agent DiNozzo, and let's check the audio."

Tony flipped his phone closed and stared up at the small dot of light.

"Can you hear us okay?"

Tony nodded, "Yeah. Can you hear me?"

"This is remarkable, Tony," McGee gushed. "You're coming in crystal clear, both visually and auditorily."

"I'm impressed, Probie, but what I'd really like now is—" Startled by the interruption, he stared at his ringing phone. Absentmindedly, he said, "Hold that thought, Probie." Then, recognizing the number he forced a smile, flipped it open and said, "Hi, Candace."

Watkins stared at the monitor, stunned, "Is he taking a phone call?"

McGee shrugged, "Yeah."

"From a girl?"

McGee shrugged again, "That's Tony. He has lots of girlfriends."

Gibbs smiled. There're parts of Tony's life that reminded him of his own.

In the stunned moment, they listened in on the private conversation, "Last night was fantastic, but now's not a good time to talk… Yes…I promise I'll call you—"

"—Clear the line, Agent DiNozzo!" Watkins said, cutting across the conversation.

"Gotta go!" he said, flipping the phone shut. Turning his attention back to the small light, he asked, "So now that you can see the situation, how are you going to get me outa here?"

Watkins felt all eyes on him. "We are working on it. You have to be patient until we come up with a new plan."

Tony tried again to move his lower torso, but without any luck. He lay back, breathing hard from the exertion. The camera focused clearly on the trapped agent, and for a minute, the team just stared. For the first time, they took in the gravity of the situation. Tony was at least twenty five feet down in an old mining shaft, on his back, covered in mud and unable to free his legs. When he looked up and into the camera, little did he realize his own eyes betrayed him, and his teammates saw an emotion Tony rarely displayed: fear.

TBC: Any comments are welcomed. I use them to feed my muse and it keeps my creative juices running. Thank you to all who have reviewed!