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Four days later it was Sunday and Gibbs and his team weren't on call. At 1430 he was in his backyard fixing his fence when he suddenly heard a voice that sounded like Tony's.
/Ah, Boss, I wish you could see this. The stars are beautiful here- the only nice thing in this forsaken place—and it'd be so great to make love and then fall asleep beneath them. /
Gibbs let the hammer fall and sat down on the grass. Was that really Tony's voice, reaching him thanks to a mental connection? Or was he just imagining it?
There was only a way to know. Taking a deep breath he asked, /Where are you Tony? /
/Somalia desert, near a place called Baidoa, / was the prompt answer.
/You're no longer on the Damocles? / he commented surprised.
/The Damocles is no more. They sunk it. /
/Who?/
/Ziva and her boss, Malachi Ben-Gidon./
Tony was answering to Gibbs' questions promptly, with no hesitation, as if they were having a normal sit-rep. He wondered if his mate was thinking he was imagining he was having a conversation with him...By his talk about the stars, it had to be night in Somalia, and Tony perhaps was half-dozing ...which meant Gibbs had to gather as much information as possible before the younger man fell completely asleep.
/Why did they sink it? /
/Because they killed the entire crew, Boss, and you cannot govern a ship without a crew.../
/Yeah.../ Gibbs nodded softly, noticing how Tony had said 'they', not 'us'.
/Oh hell, all this sun on my head isn't doing me any good...I'm imagining things...Oh Jethro, I miss you so much.../
/I miss you too Tony, and you aren't imagining anything. We're really talking—in our minds. /
/Yeah, sure, / came the sarcastic reply.
/Tony, sometimes vampires can establish a mental connection with their mates…that's why we are talking this way. /
Silence.
Tony was quiet for a long time when he said, his mental voice full of wonder. /Are we really talking? Is it really you, Boss? /
/Yes, Tony, it's me. We're talking. / Gibbs smiled at his mate's awe. Oh God, his mate! It felt so good to talk with him!
Silence again. Then, /How do you know about the Damocles? /
/'Cause I saw it, Tony. I saw it with your eyes. I also witnessed to the start of the gunfight…This is how I realized I wasn't just dreaming about you but that there was something else at work. /
/Quite a way to realize it…/
/Tony, listen to me: I've no idea of how long we can keep on talking like this before we get too tired. What's your situation? What's your mission?/
/We must find a terrorist called Ulman Saleem and kill him. His camp is somewhere near Beledweyne, near the Ethiopian border. And before you ask it, with 'we' I mean Ziva and I. Ben-Gidon stayed in Mogadishu./
/Wasn't he the leader of the group? /
/Yep, but he was wounded in the gunfight./
/Did you contact Eli David and told him what happened? /
Tony let out the mental equivalent of a bitter laugh. /Sure we did, and the bastard said to proceed. That we had to follow the courier to Saleem. He thinks this is the best chance we have. Yeah, he included himself in the 'we'! As if he's the one actually risking getting killed! Anyway, after Ziva heard that, she told Ben-Gidon she would go alone. She wanted me to stay back too, but you know me, Boss…She's my partner, how could I have let her face Saleem and his men alone? /
/You couldn't, Tony, I know. /
He had been surprised by how quickly his mate had been able to forgive and forget the pain Ziva and the others had cause him when they had insinuated Tony allowed Gibbs to bite him because he was somehow coerced.
Gibbs had expected some tension between Tony and the others, but there hadn't been any. The younger man had been subdued and a bit more sarcastic for a few days and then everything had returned normal—until Rivkin had appeared and Ziva had started behaving strangely.
/Boss?/
/Yes?/
/We should arrive at Saleem's camp in two days. Is there any chance someone could come to help us? /
Gibbs bit his lower lip. /Tony-/
/Forget it, it shouldn't have asked. I mean, how could you ask Vance to send a SEAL team in the middle of the Somalian desert? 'Yes Director, DiNozzo and I had a talk yesterday. No Director, we can't use the GPS in his satellite phone to locate him because he hasn't got one. We used our minds… No, Leon, I didn't have too much Jack Daniels…'/
In another occasion Gibbs would have smiled listening to Tony imitate him, but not this time.
/I'll do my best to find some help, Tony. Promise. / He answered, knowing his mate could hear what he hadn't said, but it will very difficult.
/Okay./
Silence fell on them for a while, before Tony broke it with a murmured, /I need to sleep now. Today has been grueling and tomorrow promises to be the same…I don't wanna leave you but I must…/ his voice was getting softer, lower, as if the distance between them was increasing.
/Go to sleep, Tony, / Gibbs whispered, as he summoned all the love he felt for the other man, hoping his mate might feel it.
/Love you too, / come the soft reply before silence fell again over their mental connection, this time for good.
Gibbs remained sitting where he was for several minutes, pondering what he could do in order to help Tony. Going to Vance without tangible proof would be a waste of time. Leon needed evidence, locations, coordinates to convince the SecNav to give his approval to a military operation on foreign soil, and Gibbs couldn't give it.
Then, suddenly, an idea crossed his mind, and his expression brightened. There was someone who he could contact. Someone who would understand how Gibbs had got his information. Someone who had contacts in every part of the world.
He stood up and ran to retrieve his cell phone from where he had left it, on a chair in the porch.
He dialled a number by memory and waited impatiently, pacing in the garden, until a distracted voice answered, "Bill Hendricks."
"Bill, it's me, Leroy," Gibbs said.
"Leroy! What is it my friend? Are you all right?" Bill's voice was by now fully focused.
"I need help Bill- urgent help."
"For what? Are you in danger?"
"Not me—Tony."
"Your Tony?" Bill had met Tony once, when they had all gone out for dinner.
"Yes. He is in Somalia, tracking a group of terrorists in the middle of the desert. His squad has been all but decimated, and he is there with only another person backing him. They'll reach the terrorists' camp in two days and Tony asked for help...Do you have any contact in the area? Someone that might help him?"
Bill was silent for a while then answered, "The Ethiopian dean is an old friend of mine. He was born in America and we posed as master and slave before the Civil War. I'm sure he will help us if he can."
"Good. Tony says the terrorist camp in located in the proximity of the Ethiopian border, near a town called Beledweyne. Do you have something to take notes handy?"
"Sure."
"Good, then write this…" Gibbs repeated to Bill all the information Tony had given him about Ulman Saleem and the road they were taking to reach his camp. It wasn't much, but it was all he had.
"I got everything, Leroy. I'll make a couple of calls and then I'll let you know, my friend."
"Thank you, Bill," he murmured, relieved.
"Thank me when Tony is safe…But tell me, why are you asking my help? There are many American or European soldiers in the area."
"I can't go through official channels, Bill. I didn't get a phone call—Tony and I talked with our minds."
"A mental connection? Between a vampire and a human? But it's amazing. It's such a rare gift! You must tell me more about it-"
"I will, Bill—just not now."
"Yeah, of course, you're right. I'll call as soon as I've news, Leroy."
The line went dead and Gibbs closed the cell phone. He sat down on his porch steps, preparing himself for a long wait.
He desperately wished to hear Tony's voice again, but he didn't want to interrupt his sleep. So he leant against a pillar of the porch holding his phone close and murmured, "The help is on its way, Tony. Just try and not get killed before it arrives."
TBC
So what do you think? Will help arrive in time? Let me know! Reviews make my day and make me update faster.
