*(Scene: Elevator rescue)*

"What the hell is taking so long?" Gibbs asked as he finally found the rescue workers who were working on the door.

"Gibbs!" Abby called out as she met him halfway. "The door is stuck. They're trying to fix the electrical panel so they can open it." The two of them jumped when they heard a loud screeching bang on the other side of the door.

"Cable might be starting to slip!" one of the workers said.

"Ah hell," Gibbs shoved past them and squeezed his fingers as far into the crack of the doors as he could, then began to pull with all of his strength. The workers looked at him in a bit of shocked confusion. "Well don't just stand there!" Gibbs yelled.

"Help him!" Abby ordered. One of the workers quickly pulled out of his daze and grabbed the other side of the door and began pulling in the opposite direction. "It's working!" Abby shouted, happily. But the smile left her face as the shaft shifted again, making that same awful sound. Shouting could be heard clearly now from their teammates. Fingers showed through from the inch of open doorway, as the trapped agents joined in the efforts to open it.

The car was at a higher level than the floor; maybe halfway up. But when it screeched again, it slipped to almost level with the floor. Abby's hands shot to cover her mouth. The door was pried open another foot, and the elevator dropped halfway down. Abby officially freaked. She wasn't sure who all was screaming out, but she knew she was one of them.

"Come on! Get 'em out!" Gibbs yelled. Tony was boosting Ziva up as Gibbs and the worker pulled her up. The shaft began to screech again, and Tony pushed Ziva the rest of the way out before it dropped another few inches. "Come on, Tony!" Gibbs reached for the agent.

"Trying, Boss!" Tony grabbed hold of Gibbs' wrist and attempted to pull himself up over the ledge. He'd hit his head during the initial blast, though he hadn't felt much of anything from it until now. Dizziness washed over him. "I...I can't..." he told him, out of breath.

"The hell you can't!" Gibbs reached down and grabbed his shirt, hoisting him with all his might as the shaft screeched once more. Once partway out, the workers grabbed his waist and pulled as well. Gibbs pulled so hard, that he toppled backwards; Tony landing atop of him as the elevator cable completely snapped and sent the car plunging downward. Gibbs pushed Tony, instinctively covering him with his own body as they awaited the crash.

The sound of the car hitting the bottom shook the floor and walls, knocking dust and debris loose to shower down on them. But luckily there was no explosion. Gibbs pulled away from Tony, appraising him as he pushed up.

"I love ya, Boss," Tony told him, grateful to be alive. "Thanks..." Gibbs smiled down at him, pushing up to stand, and reached down to help him up. "Not that I didn't love ya before," Tony said as he grabbed, once again, onto Gibbs hand. As he was helped to stand, Tony almost immediately wavered, and listed to the side dangerously.

Gibbs caught him and held him steady. "You hit your head?" he asked.

"Think so, Boss. Room's kinda spinning," he felt a little out of breath.

"We'll get you over to Bethesda," he told him.

"No! No I'm fine," Tony insisted.

"You likely have a concussion, Tony," Ziva argued. "You should see a doctor."

"I'm sure there are a lot of people worse off than me right now," Tony countered.

"Yeah," Gibbs agreed. "You're right. McGee's one of them."

All eyes shot to Gibbs at the statement. "What?" Tony asked. "What...what's wr... Is he okay? Boss, how bad was he hurt?"

"He was in the bullpen when the bomb went off," Gibbs told him, trying to be as vague as possible. "They rushed him to the hospital. I promised I'd go once I knew everyone else was okay."

"Then we should go!" Abby exclaimed. "We should go right now!"

TBC...