The sun was going down. Most of the rubble had been pulled out of the destroyed house. Neither agent had been found yet.
McGee had almost collapsed from pushing himself too hard, hands bleeding from the debris he'd pulled out for hours. He was now seated on the back bumper of an ambulance, watching the manned machines as they continued to work.
"Timothy," Ducky's voice sounded beside him, "Do try and drink some of this." McGee glanced down to Ducky's hand to see a bottle of water being offered to him. Shakily he reached over to take it. "Everything will be alright, my boy," the doctor told him, and Tim met his eyes.
"You don't know that," he replied, flatly.
"No, I don't. But I believe it," he told him. "And so must you. One mustn't force the heart to dwell in sorrows for things not yet known."
"I'm...I'm just..." Tim's eyes darted back and forth in the air between them.
"Afraid," he finished for him.
"Yeah," Tim let out a breath.
"As am I. But we must have hope, and we must be able to get through whatever might happen when this is all over. In the very worst outcome, Tony will need our help getting through this. We have to be available to him, don't you agree?"
"That's just what I'm afraid of, Ducky," he said in a low voice. "I mean, yeah I'm...I scared that Gibbs could be..." he couldn't even finish that sentence. "But what I'm really afraid of is that...what if I can't help Tony? What if...what if Gibbs is gone and Tony can't be helped? What if I can't..."
"We've got something!" they heard a man yell near the debris site. Both McGee and Ducky turned, Tim standing and making his way behind the doctor toward the man.
..
Once Tony could see light peeking through the debris, he started to let go, slowing allowing some of the remaining items to rest down upon them, inwardly glad they weren't heavy enough to crush them. "We're gonna make it, Boss," Tony turned his head for the first time since the explosion, looking over to find Gibbs. He'd been quiet for a while, and now Tony saw the man's eyes were closed. "Boss?" he called out. When he got no response, his insides felt like there were suddenly thousand of little hot needles pushing outward. He couldn't breathe. His mind went blank.
"We've found them!" a voice sounded somewhere in the recesses of his mind. The light was suddenly brighter. People were standing over them, but he couldn't take his eyes off of Gibbs.
..
McGee was standing over the site as they removed the last big piece of debris, revealing the two agents. Tony's face was covered in drying blood, some looking a bit more fresh, and he seemed panicked as he looked over at the still form of their boss. Tim's heart clenched in his chest at the sight.
"Let's get them out of there, now!" Ducky yelled from beside him, and he watched as the rescue workers scrambled to get to them.
As Tim watched, helplessly, Tony seemed unaware of anything aside from Gibbs. Until, of course, he was being hoisted out of the remains of the house. At that point, he began flailing and struggling against the workers. "You need to help him!" he shouted, voice rough and cracking from his ordeal. "Please!"
"Sir, he's being pulled out of there, now," one of the men told him.
"I need to know if he's okay," he replied, pleading clearly shown in his eyes. "Please...can you... Please just... Is he okay?"
"We'll find out for you, Agent DiNozzo," he replied.
"Tony," McGee approached quickly as soon as they were clear of the house, trying to get a chance to check on him as they secured him to a gurney.
Tony's hand shot out to grab his arm before he even had the chance to look up and see his face. "McGee," his voice cracked as he met his eyes. "Gibbs...Is he...?"
"I dunno," Tim's eyes welled. "They're pulling him out, now."
"I need to know if he's okay, Tim. Please. Please go..."
McGee nodded quickly and nervously, not even waiting to ask Tony if he was okay. He knew it wouldn't do any good. He tore away from the senior field agent and ran toward the other team of people, including Ziva, as they cleared from the debris with Gibbs. "Is he okay?" he asked them.
"We've got a slow but steady pulse, Agent McGee," the worker told him. "Slowed breathing, but it's all expected. We're gonna get him on oxygen and straight over to Bethesda. I'm...honestly it's some kinda miracle they weren't crushed to death," the man shook his head. But Tim had stopped listening at that point. After sharing a glance with Ziva, he turned to head quickly back to Tony.
The EMTs were loading the gurney into the back of one of the ambulances as he approached. "He's alive, Tony!" he shouted. And he watched as Tony's head came up to look at him, as if to make sure the voice he'd heard was real. Tim nodded, and he watched the relief wash over Tony's face before his head fell back on the gurney once more...
TBC...