The Trail of No Return
"Come on Tony, you of all people must have something to say, you always did before." Kate took a step forward and reached out her hand to Abby. "I've missed you all so much."
"How...it is you, how can it be?" Abby's hesitant whisper was barely audible, she shivered as she took Kate's hand, it was cold, cold as ice.
Kate gave a sad smile. "Sorry Abby, there's no way to soften the blow. I'm dead, nothing can change what happened, but I've come back because we have a problem." She saw the mixture of hope and uncertainty in their eyes, how could she explain? She also saw the exhaustion etched on their faces. "Listen, this...situation is complicated, you're all worried sick about Tim and the boy, if you want to get them back you'll need help, and that's why I'm here. We need to work together to bring them home, but Gibbs was right before, you should try to rest, I know my being here hasn't exactly helped with that." She smiled briefly. "Why don't you meet me at 06.00 right where they disappeared, and believe me, you can cancel the search parties, traditional methods are no help to us now. I'll tell you more in the morning, if you're thinking of coming with me you should bring supplies for at least three days."
"Of course we want to come, we have to find Tim."
Kate shook her head. "Not you Abby, we can only take fully trained agents, even for them the risks will be great, for you, or for Ducky, it would be suicide. I would still like you both to be there in the morning, you deserve to hear what I have to say,"
NCIS NCIS
Kate had gone without another word, leaving her friends and former colleagues in a state of total bewilderment. For a few seconds there was total silence, then Tony muttered. "Am I going crazy, or did I just see Kate?" It opened the floodgates of exclamations and questions, for Ziva especially seeing he woman brutally cut down by her own brother was a more than disconcerting experience. Gibbs had silenced everyone with a piercing whistle.
"I don't know what just happened here, but it doesn't change what I said before. We're no good to Tim and Caleb if we're out on our feet."
Reluctantly, they had all gone their separate ways, caught what little rest they could and were all waiting at the roadside to see whether last night's 'visit' had been real, or a group hallucination.
At exactly 06.00 they were aware of a subtle change in the atmosphere and Kate was beside them, and she wasn't alone. "Time is of the essence, so I thought we'd get all the shocks out of the way early. Paula Cassidy you all know, Tony and Ziva, I'm not sure you ever met Brent Langer."
"We met him a long time ago, what I am I saying? Okay, enough already! You tell me you're dead, yet here you are, and now you've got more...heck I don't even know what to call you."
"I know this is tough to accept Tony, believe me I do. We...the three of us, nothing can change the fact that we died, and under normal circumstance we would never have met again, at least not in your lifetime. But these are very special circumstances." Kate looked to her colleagues for support.
Paula moved toward Tony, her gaze never leaving his face. "They need us Tony; Tim and the boy; you can't get to them without us. You've tried conventional methods and come up with nothing, face it; you're pretty much out of options. If there was any other way we wouldn't be here, but there's a possibility someone is challenging the Law of Laws and we have to stop them."
"How does that affect Caleb and Tim? Where are they?" Gibbs glanced at his watch. "We can't waste time talking Kate, we have to get out there and find them."
"I couldn't agree more, just give us a few more minutes and we can all get moving."
"I do not understand all this, how is it we can see you, if you are...we saw you Paula, after the explosion, you were..."
"A mess, I know. What happened after...Ziva, it's hard to explain."
Ducky found his voice at last. "It has been my sad duty to perform autopsies on each of you, and much as it does my old heart good to see you all whole again, I struggle to comprehend what is happening."
"We all felt just as confused when we got to the other side." Langer laughed quietly. "Heck, after the life I'd lived I expected to be feeling some heat, let me tell you. But that didn't happen, the world I was in, well, let's just say it's not hell, but it's not heaven either. Kate approached me to join a group called Evenfall, we...I guess you could say we police the afterlife. Not every soul we meet is bound for heaven."
"What does this have to do with Timmy, he...please tell me he's not dead?"
Kate laid a hand on Abby's shoulder offering what she hoped was a touch of comfort. "We have no reason to think that, if they wanted him dead, they wouldn't have taken him with them."
Gibbs gave Abby a brief hug."We're going to find them Abs, count on it." He turned to Kate, his expression as severe as she had ever seen. "You mentioned the Law of Laws..."
"We did, to those of us belonging to Evenfall it is of paramount importance. Brent was maybe understating the case when he said not all the souls we police are bound for heaven, some...they are beyond redemption. However, we have to try, they are given every opportunity to reform and find their way to a better place."
"Do they?"
"Some, and they are welcomed with open arms, but there are others...evil through and through, they have power to bend weak minds and can always find willing acolytes. But their power can only work in our world, not in yours, because the Law of Laws binds them to the ethereal plane. If they were ever able to break through and enter your world permanently, the consequences would be catastrophic. We have to stop them, and to do that we have to get Caleb, and Tim."
"Then let's quit talking and get moving."
"I can see you are ready Gibbs, and I know you want to help, but I must tell you, this could be a one-way trip. The journey is arduous, and our destination is full of danger; the creatures we'll be up against, they have powers beyond anything you have ever known."
So engrossed were they in what their erstwhile colleagues were telling them they almost missed the sound of a car coming to a halt behind Ducky's Morgan. Gibbs had his gun ready in a heartbeat, but the tall, muscular man with the unmistakable haircut of a serving Marine put his hands in the air immediately.
"Don't shoot! I've come to help."
"Jacob Asher? We've been looking for you." Gibbs pointed his weapon to the ground, ready to use it if necessary.
"I heard, I'll answer any questions you have later, right now we have to find Caleb."
Kate cast a questioning glance in Gibbs' direction. "This is Caleb's brother? I'm not so sure it's a good idea for him to join us."
"I have to! Don't you see, he's my baby brother, and it's because of me he's gone, I can't sit around waiting to hear, I have to do something."
"Very well, then I'll ask you the same question I was about to ask the others. Gibbs, Ziva, Tony...Jacob, are you prepared to join us knowing you may never return. The fissure between our worlds will remain open so long as we are on our mission, and if we succeed it will remain open for the return journey, but if we fail...it will close and you will never be able to return. You should all think long and hard about what that means, you'd never see your families again, never see Abby or Ducky..."
Without hesitation they reached for their go-bags. "They'll understand Kate, if there's even the smallest chance we can get them home, we have to take it."
Ducky held Abby close to still her trembling although he felt pretty shaken himself, this had been a morning like none he had ever experienced in his long life. "We will wait for you, if there's anything we can do..."
"You can't help once we cross over, and waiting here is pointless, come back in three days, if we're not back by then, none of us is coming back." Langer took a step closer to the trees. "It's time we were moving, Gibbs, do you have enough supplies to share with our newcomer? You won't be surprised to know we don't have any food or drink."
"We packed extra for Tim and Caleb, there's enough."
"Then say your goodbyes and let's go get them."
There were hugs and brief kisses, but few words, what could you say in a situation you could still hardly comprehend? Gibbs and his earthy companions followed the Evenfall team into the trees and within five paces they all felt a change, a slight cooling of the air around them. "Is this...?"
Kate nodded briefly. "Yes Gibbs we have left the corporal plane and entered the ethereal realm. From here on in we stop only for you to take refreshment, if our suspicions are correct Caleb and Tim are in the hands of the most despicable this world has to offer. They are three of the cruellest I've ever seen; if they get the power to cross over, heaven help us all."
