Author's note: I apologize for the lengthy delay, real life, in the form of tax season, but me in the assets...

Part III

"Ducky just blipped!" McGee announced unexpectedly in the long silent car.

"Ducky 'blipped'?" DiNozzo countered, turning in his seat to give his partner a puzzled look.

"Yeah, yeah. His cell phone just showed up for a moment on the grid," the agent explained as his fingers flew over the keyboard.

"What exactly does that mean, McGee?" Gibbs queried, fixing his subordinate with a glare via the rear view mirror.

"There can sometimes be weird pockets of connectivity, and he must have entered one," McGee explained with a frown. "Just for a couple of seconds. But…well…it seems he's no longer with Palmer," he added. "Or at least his cell phone is no longer with Palmer's cell phone," he amended.

"No way would Ducky ever abandon Palmer," Tony noted with a bit of heat. "That'd be like Batman abandoning Robin. Won't happen."

"I know that, but the fact is that his cell's location is about a mile or two away from Palmer's, according to my calculation."

"You sure about that, McGee?" Gibbs asked.

"Yeah, no way to mistake that. Can't be too precise on the distance, but their phones are definitely no longer together."

"Damnit Duck, what did you get yourself into this time?" the team leader muttered as he added pressure to the accelerator, anxious to find his old friend.

NCISNCIS

Ducky was finishing up yet another round of checking his patients. Hailey, the teenager with a compound fracture was in a lot of pain, but her vital signs were strong, and her mother was working hard to distract her daughter. Theresa, the three year old with the arm injury was a bit worse, the wound till seeping blood at a worrisome rate. Damien, the young man with the spinal injury was stable, while Joseph, the head injury at the back was critical. And Monique, the pregnant young woman was undetermined. She refused to give honest answers. Her attitude and behavior indicated imminent labor, but she verbally denied it to both Ducky and Jimmy as they checked everyone over.

"She is still saying she is fine," Jimmy reported with a concerned glance back at the pregnant woman sitting alone amongst the chaos of the overturned bus. "She flinches a lot, and refuses any offers of food,' he added worriedly.

"Yes, I suspect she is in the early stages of labor," Ducky agreed with a frown. "But I get the impression she expects she is alone in this endeavor and cannot rely on anyone for support as her time draws near," Dr. Mallard concluded.

"What can we do?" Jimmy queried, genuine concern evident in his blue eyes.

"Try to convince her otherwise," Ducky recommended in a distracted manner. "All of our patients here need to feel their needs are foremost in the rescuers' agenda."

"Understood," Jimmy replied, moving to where the young mother cuddled her injured her daughter. "I want to double check her status, make sure she's as good as we think she is," the young ME replied, a concerned frown marring his smooth forehead as he spoke. "It just doesn't feel right to me."

"I concur, Mr. Palmer. Those who are being especially stoic under the circumstances are one ones to keep a close eye on," the elder agreed, looking over their rag tag group of survivors.

The bus was crowded, and flat out filthy, mud having been tracked and everywhere during the first attempts to help the injured. Two broken windows had allowed additional debris in, and attempts to create a more 'clean' atmosphere using the plastic sheets from the ME van had been only marginally successful. Those who had minor, or no, injuries were sitting in tight clusters, to allow for room for the more injured. One group, seven ranging in age from their early 20's to late 70's had found a couple of decks of cards and were actually having a spirited poker tournament. Ducky smiled to himself, amazed as always by the endless human capacity to cope with the problems life often saw fit to throw one's way. Another group consisted of two families, who clustered around one of the mothers, who was consoling the young children by reading from a few magazines she'd found. The topics were perhaps not typical for children the ages these were, but it kept them entertained and occupied.

"Dr. Mallard," Jimmy said softly, crouching down by his mentor and keeping his voice as soft as possible. "I think we may need to stitch up her arm. The bandage is saturated and she feels cooler than normal to me."

Ducky sighed deeply. He'd been desperate to avoid having to attempt suturing the child's injury; her lack of ability to communicate plus the lack of any sort of sterile environment made it far riskier than the ME liked. "Gather the suturing supplies, and as much antiseptic as you can, I'll see if I can make her mom understand."

Approaching the young mother, Ducky tried to explain as simply as possible what they needed to do. The woman's eyes clearly reflected her lack of understanding, and when Ducky attempted to remove the child from her arms she shouted at him in Spanish.

"Oh, Dear, please, understand; we don't want to hurt her, but she's not getting better," the doctor tried to explain. He became aware of another figure looming over him.

"Perhaps I can help?" It was the elder gentleman in the good suit. "I'm fluent in Spanish," he added.

"If you could make her understand that it's imperative we stop her daughter's bleeding, that would be most helpful."

"You want to try suturing her under these conditions?" he asked with raised eyebrows.

"We've been trying to avoid it, but the bleeding refuses to stop," Ducky informed him, watching as Jimmy approached with the materials discreetly covered on a tray.

"I'll do what I can."

Dr. Mallard and Jimmy watched the woman's expression and the elder gentleman explained what was needed. Her first response was a vehement shake of her head, but he kept on talking, and slowly her attitude changed, until at last she nodded to Ducky, handing over her child and latching on to the old man's arm with desperate strength.

"Quickly, lad, let's get this over with," he said to Jimmy as they moved with the child to the front of the bus. It was his first chance to really get a good look at the injury, and mentally he cursed himself for not doing so sooner. As soon as the sodden bandage was off and he had started to prod around the injury the child became verbal, screaming and crying. Jimmy was trying to both soothe the youngster as well as hold her arm steady, when the mother approached. But rather than attempt to remove her daughter, she instead worked on consoling the child, allowing Palmer to concentrate on assisting Ducky. Thankfully it was over quickly, and a new bandage, weirdly bright and white in the muddy bus, was in place.

'Please tell her to continue to keep her warm in the jacket, but I think it all went well and she should be fine," Ducky asked the other passenger. "And thank you for your help. Her survival will be largely thanks to your help. I'm curious, how did you convince her to let us treat he daughter."

"I'm a retired attorney. Let's just say I know how to make a good argument."

NCISNCIS

Joe paused a moment, catching his breath and straightening his back with a groan. He and Sean had continued on as well as they could, Joe alternating between moving forward himself and providing a prop so the injured Sean could also move forward. It was a slow, and painful, process, and both teens had been so completely caught up in it they hadn't realized they'd finally reached the turn in the road.

"Well, maybe this is good news," Joe said with a reassuring smile at his friend. "Could be rescue right around the corner."

Laughing at the notion, both boys were beyond startled when two men came around the bend, looking as surprised as they were.

"Whoa, man. Too weird," Sean muttered, resisting the urge to rub his eyes. The newcomers were wearing what appeared to be a form of snowshoe, allowing them to somehow say above the mud.

"Hello," the taller man said, moving toward the two teenagers. "Are you okay?"

"Sean's got an injured leg. We were on a tour bus, it got caught up in the mudslide. There are twenty some odd people on board. Oh, and the doctor and his assistant who were in something else that got hit too. We are trying to make sure rescue gets there really fast. Some people are hurt pretty bad," Joe told him in a tumble of words, grabbing on to the man's arm when he got close enough. He was reassured when he felt the reality of the person. "We promised to send help."

The second man turned away, pulling out what appeared to be a walkie talkie and barking orders into it. He then turned his attention to his companion and the two teenagers.

"The mudslide tapers off in less than a mile, we have heavy equipment already assembling in that area. How far back is the bus?"

Joe and Sean shared a puzzled look, and as usual it was Joe who replied. "I think just over a mile. We marked the spot on the road with a pink shirt. The bus is actually a ways off the road. Not too far, but a bit."

"Well it appears the entire slide area is almost four miles, so you were smart to come the way you did. Let's get you boys to safety. Ned and I can carry you son, if your friend here can do okay walking out?" he asked Sean.

"I'm good to walk, no problem," Joe assured them, smiling at Sean reassuringly.

"I've already ordered ambulances to be standing by, and they are firing up the bull dozer and loaders as we speak. You boys did good," he added as he and his partner created an 'arm chair' to carry the injured Sean out.

NCISNCISNCIS

Ducky bit back a sigh of frustration. Afternoon was waning, and it was becoming clear that night would likely come before rescue. Having checked the patients over yet again, he found himself sitting near Gail as he tried to salvage some more warm clothing from a backpack he'd located.

"You doing okay, Doc?" the middle aged woman asked quietly.

"I'm fine my dear," he replied with his soft smile. "How are you feeling?"

"Much better, thank you."

He noticed a spark of humor in her blue eyes, and couldn't resist asking. "What are you thinking about that amuses you so?"

She smiled a bit, but seemed reluctant to speak until Ducky leaned in and assured her. "It can be our secret."

"I was thinking about my youth. And one of my favorite movies in my teenage years. Airport '77, of all things. You familiar with that movie?"

"Can't say as I am," Ducky replied.

"Well, it was the third of the Airport movies, all disaster movies, and each one worse than the previous one. But '77 was still my favorite for some reason. This rich guy owns a luxury jet, has all his friends, family and business associates on it, flying them and a bunch of priceless art stuff to some remote island. But the bad guys plan to hijack it, take over the cockpit and take the plane so low radar can't track it. They figure to land it, steal the art, and be done. But they hit an oil rig and the plane goes down, sinking. Folks all over the plane injured, dying, dead, all the usual disaster movie concepts. One doctor on board, going nuts trying to treat everyone. One fella, only mildly injured, thanks him and says something like 'you must be the best doctor in California.' To which the doc replies, 'Well, perhaps the best veterinarian.' Seems his job was taking care of the rich guy's race horses."

Ducky laughed appreciatively as Gail smiled at him.

"So give it up, Dr. Mallard. Something tells me you are neither a surgeon nor a GP. Exactly what kind of doctor are you, Doctor?" she prodded with a playful grin.

Ducky leaned in closer and winked at her. "As it happens, you are most correct. I'm a Medical Examiner for NCIS. And Mr. Palmer is indeed my assistant," he said very quietly.

"I will consider that privileged information and not share it until we are all safely out of here. I thank you for confiding in me. However, just be warned, it only serves to make you more heroic in my mind," she teased him with a wink of her own. "I may have to start stalking you or something."

"My dear, the true heroes are those two young lads who volunteered to walk out of here," he countered, looking toward the front of the bus as if he expected them to come back in any moment.

"They will be fine. I just know it," she reassured him, lying a warm hand on his forearm.

Before Ducky could reply Jimmy arrived with words that only added to his worry.

"Her water just broke."

NCISNCIS

Joe waited until he'd seen Sean being taken into the ambulance and off toward the hospital before he darted up the steps of the lodge, which appeared to be being used as a staging area for the rescue. He'd refused the offer to ride to the hospital, wanting instead to be there when the others were gotten out. Now he sought out the owners of the lodge, Dr. Mallard's cell phone in hand. He'd already found he didn't have connectivity, but he figured a place like this had land lines.

"Hi, can I please use your phone?" he asked the middle aged couple who were talking to the local sheriff.

"Of course, you want to call your parents?" he woman asked.

"No. Well…yes, actually, yeah, but first I promised the doctor I'd call the number one person on his cell phone. He seemed to think it was very important. Then I need to call my folks, and Sean's as well," he added. "I can pay you for the calls," he noted.

"Nonsense, young man. Forget that. Make your calls right here, we'll leave you your privacy," she added, ushering the others out of the room.

Picking up the handset he hastily punched in the number from Ducky's phone, startled when a voice barked one word at him.

"Gibbs!"

"Um…uh….do you know a Dr. Duck?" he finally managed to ask, the events of the day suddenly coming to a head for him.

"Who is this?" the voice demanded, albeit more gently than before.

"Um, I was on the bus, and we walked out but Sean got hurt, and I'd promised the Doctor I'd call this number, so you know him?"

In the sedan now less than an hour from the lodge the three agents shared a confused look at the youthful, uncertain voice from Gibb's cell phone.

"Dr. Mallard?" Gibbs prompted, biting back his impatience.

"Yeah, yeah, that was his name, not Duck. Sorry. And Jimmy, I think the other guy's name was. They are taking care of the passengers on the bus. So you do know him?"

"Yes. Are they okay?"

"Yeah, sure. Some of the other passengers are not so good, but the doctor and Jimmy seemed fine. And now the rescue people are going to get to them, or so they say, and Sean's on his way to the hospital," the young man rambled.

Gibbs considered what he'd been told carefully. The voice was young, and for the most part uncertain. His gut told him he was dealing with a victim, not a perp, and allowances must be made for the emotional toll already taken.

"So, let me see if I have this straight: Dr. Mallard and Mr. Palmer – Jimmy – are uninjured and helping victims of a bus crash in a mudslide?" he asked at last.

"Yes, Sir." Gibbs's no nonsense approach was helping the teenager regain control.

"Where are you calling from, Son?" he asked.

"Um…it's called the Mountain View Lodge. Right on the highway. The mudslide starts about two miles from here."

Gibbs glanced in the rearview mirror, eliciting a reply from McGee to the question he didn't even have to ask. "About 50 minutes from here."

"We'll see you there in less than an hour. I appreciate you calling me. What's your name, by the way?"

"I'm Joe. And I guess I'll see you here, Mr. Gibbs," he said, feeling a strange comfort in talking to the no-nonsense man. "I'm not leaving until everyone is out."

TBC