NCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCIS
"It is going to be alright Tony." Said Ziva in an effort to calm her struggling friend. "Ducky will be up here soon. He will know what to do."
"Just keep breathing Tony." Said Gibbs
"I …don't …know if this is…." Came Tony's ragged and shaky voice in between deep, wet coughs. "considered breathing." He coughed again, this one harsher than the usual, and more bloody goop escaped his mouth as he spit into the trashcan McGee had given him earlier.
Then, the lights dimmed, and computers turned off, and the sound of heavy metal locks being automatically slammed on the doors of MTAC, then the stairwell door.
They all looked around at the strange occurrence. All of them but Tony, who was more focused on the tightening he now felt in his throat. This was not good, and he knew it.
"What's going on?" asked a stunned McGee. "Why did the computers turn off, and the lights and the doors making those noises?"
"Lockdown," said Gibbs.
"Lockdown?" said a stunned Ziva. "But why?"
"Someone has to initiate lockdown from inside the building." Said McGee, who is up on all the tech requirements for the building's emergency procedures. "We are the only ones here, except Ducky and Palmer, and…" He was cut off by Ziva.
"But they know we need help, they would not lock down the building" said Ziva in a sudden panic.
More coughs erupted from their declining team member. "Abby.." Tony managed in between gasps and wracking coughs. More blood came up, and he spit it into the trashcan. Tony's head now rested on his hands, which were propped up on his knees. He was strategically placed so his low hanging head was directly over the trashcan, so the bloody sputure he was coughing could easily be disposed of.
"That's right. Abby is still down in her lab." Said Gibbs. "She must have initiated it."
"But why?" asked Ziva. It was a question no one knew t he answer to.
For as much of a baby as Tony could be about the smallest things, he was definitely being tough about this predicament. McGee knew that if he were in Tony's shoes, things would probably not be the same.
Suddenly, the plasma turned on. Abby's lab emerged, and the look of panic on Abby's face was clearly seen. "Are you guys okay?"
"No. What the hell is going on?" asked an angry Gibbs. Mad more at the situation than Abby.
"Well, I was getting bored just surfing around on the internet, so I started doing some tests in the lab, and you know how that goes, once I get going …" she was rambling.
"ABBY!" snapped Gibbs. "Something is wrong with Tony, and we need to get him medical attention. ASAP! Now did you start the lockdown?"
"Oh, no." said Abby, panicking as she paced around her lab. She was grabbing at her hair, and obviously she knew something that they didn't."
"It wasn't me.." said Abby. "I thought it was you guys, but there's something else you should know."
"I was on my way up to warn you guys, but then the elevator doors slammed shut in my face." Abby began. "I was running some tests, as I said earlier, and I was just messing around with some chemicals, so I had the radiation detector on when I was done, to check and see if I cleaned everything up, it's SOP…"
"Spit it out Abby!" said Gibbs, Ziva and McGee in unison.
"There's a poison gas leak in the building!" she finally yelled, skipping the rest of the story.
"You leaked poison gas Abby? What kind of experiments were you performing?" asked McGee, outraged at the idea.
"NO! That was the point of the rest of the story I was trying to get at." Her mouth was moving at close to a mile a minute. "As soon as I turned it on, in the other room from my experiments, the thing was going off."
Gibbs ran over to the other side of the room where Tony was nearly passed out on his hands over the trashcan.
"That must be what is wrong with him," asked Gibbs. "Ziva call Ducky and see if he can get up here somehow."
"Hang in there Tony, we know what's wrong. Everything is gonna be fine," he said this with false confidence, almost as if trying to convince himself.
He put his hand on Tony's shoulder; he was steaming hot, and drenched with sweat.
"C'mon Tony, let's get you out of these clothes before you melt into a damned puddle."
"The phones aren't working!" said Ziva, slamming the phone down in frustration.
Gibbs was doing all the work as Tony sit back limply, gasping for some much needed air as Gibbs try and pry the wet, clinging clothes off his gravely looking agent. "Did you try your cell phone?"
"It doesn't work either!" said McGee, who had been trying to call 911 on it for EMT's for Tony as well as police for the mysterious lockdown they still hadn't solved.
"DiNozzo!" yelled Gibbs as he grabbed Tony's limp form, slowing his descent to the floor. "Get Ducky on video conference! NOW!"
"I can't, the lockdown has froze all or our computers and phones!" said McGee.
"I can do it," replied a scared Abby, frightened for Tony as she witnessed his collapse.
"Jethro, is that you?" asked Ducky.
"Yeah, Duck!" yelled Gibbs from across the room where he was trying to make the barely conscious Tony comfortable. He figured the ground wasn't a bad place for Tony, it was less taxing to lie down, and the temperature was a lot cooler.
As Gibbs stood up from Tony's side, he had to pause briefly to catch his balance and fight the light-headedness. The gas must be getting to him. Not good.
Ziva and McGee went over to take over Gibbs' place by their fallen comrade, so Gibbs could get closer to the plasma and discuss the situation with Dr. Mallard. They kept their headaches silent, as they weren't the ones in grave danger, as Tony had appeared to be deeply in.
"There's some sort of gas leak, and Tony's having a bad reaction to it I think," said Gibbs sadly. "I think the gas is getting to the rest of us too."
"Oh my!" said an exasperated Ducky. "You need to get out of there immediately Jethro!"
"Have you not noticed the lockdown?" said an upset, angered Gibbs.
"The longer you all are in exposure, the lesser the chance of survival! You must get out of there, now!" said Ducky. He began to pace wildly across the room. "What are the symptoms of Tony?"
"It's bad Duck," said Gibbs, trying to say quietly enough to keep this from reaching Tony's ears and lessening his morale. "He's wheezing, and having these fits of hyperventilating."
"Oh dear god," said a worried Ducky.
"And that's not all. He began coughing up these huge, hard, almost solid clumps of bloody guck." Said Gibbs; just realizing that Palmer must not have made it back to Ducky.
"Well, it is no doubt that young Anthony is facing harsher symptoms sooner than the rest of you because of the level of vulnerability his bout with the plague has cursed him with." Said the doctor.
"You need to keep him low to the ground. Elevate his head and shoulders; this should make it slightly easier to breathe for the poor lad. Give him some water, and try and keep his fever down. Splash with water as needed if he feels hot, and take off all the excess clothing." Said the doctor. "But most importantly you need to make a breathing barrier."
"A what?" asked Gibbs.
"Does anyone have a thin dress shirt on?" asked Ducky.
Cough Cough "Me," came the struggling voice of Tony.
"Well, first of all get that off of him, you do not want him overheating."
Gibbs had taken off Tony's suit coat and tie earlier, but hadn't bothered with the thin shirt.
"Okay Tony, we are going to sit you up." Said McGee
McGee and Gibbs lifted his limp form off the ground as Ziva unbuttoned his shirt.
"Now Tony, don't think that this will ever happen again," said Ziva in a playful tone, an attempt to keep spirits high. "Me taking off your shirt….a one time thing"
"Well… cough… cough COUGH… I can do..cough.. the undress, undressing" said Tony. Pain was evident in his scratchy and weak voice, but the slight smirk appearing at the corner of his mouth was enough to give everyone a giggle, a MUCH needed giggle.