Chapter 7 - Warzone
They arrive at a scene right out of a warzone. The police and the first responders had isolated the area, but the cacophony of the sirens and ambulances rushing towards the scene made their progress to the scene very difficult.
People were hugging each other and crying, some people with glass cuts and minor scratches were seating here and there while a bunch of paramedics were working on someone who was bleeding heavily on the asphalt. Firefighters were struggling with a SUV still burning, as its fuel had spilled onto the asphalt and parked cars and everything was on fire.
Fornell sends a worried look to his friend, noticing how disturbed he was, despite his attempts of hiding his concern under his usual unreadable mask. Both approach the police line and show their badges, and both are granted entry to the scene.
Gibbs looks around the cluster of people trying to identify his dear Goth with her ponytails.
"ABBY!"
Gibbs takes another step and takes a deep relieved breath once he sees Abby standing up from behind a small sedan car, parked in the other side of the road away from the buzz of the paramedics.
"ABBY!"
She hears him and turns, her face smeared by her tears and black eyeliner.
"GIBBS!"
The Goth woman leaves her place near the curb and runs towards Gibbs, huge loud sobs shaking her whole body. He hugs her tightly against his chest, looking around and feeling a twitching on his gut as he can't see any of the others at first.
"Where are they?"
Abby looks back, towards a group of people sitting by the curb with blankets around their shoulders. Gibbs starts marching towards them, Abby firmly by his side, his heart almost failing as he sees them scratched, hurt and weary, but thank God, alive.
He gently touches Ziva's cheek, wiping some dirt and blood from it, noticing the glazed look on her eyes and the faint trail of blood coming from a cut in her hair.
Tony is sitting on the curb, his eyes fixed on the other side of the road, where several pools of blood could be seen and where Ducky and Palmer were working side by side with some paramedics over the body of a man badly wounded. The doctors have apparently stabilized the man and were starting to move him to the waiting ambulance just a few feet away.
"What the hell happened here?" Gibbs asks, extremely worried with the state his agents are in.
"Hell." DiNozzo muttered, his gaze moving from the blood pools to the SUV engulfed by flames and the firefighters using hoses to control the fire, which had spread to the asphalt and the parked cars close by.
Abby hides her face on Gibbs' neck, her arms squeezing his chest almost to the point of pain.
"We've left the restaurant…" Ziva starts, but her gaze turns to the façade completely destroyed by the blast and can't go on.
"And?"
NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS
Nikki and Josh were standing in front of the restaurant when Tony, Ducky, Palmer, Ziva and Abby came out of it.
The newly engaged couple is in an animated chat with Josh's few colleagues who also took the chance of coming to meet Nikki's colleagues. A very animated group stands in front of the restaurant, chatting.
Ducky turns to Tony and Ziva and checks his watch, frowning at the time.
"My dears, I can't wait for you as I have a conference call scheduled to happen in fifteen minutes."
Palmer nods and turns to the family, "And Breena gave me a bunch of contact phones that I'm supposed to ring in order to try some tuxedoes. I'm supposed to go shop hopping tomorrow."
"Man, who could have guessed, uhm? Little Palmer, getting married? I'm so proud of you. I'll help you to find a nice monkey suit so you can go all gorgeous for your lady." Tony says mockingly, putting his arm around Palmer's shoulders and walking across the road, following Ducky as he hurries towards the Navy Yard.
Ziva and Abby stay for a second in front of the door, smiling at Nikki and Josh as they say goodbye for their guests. Ziva even looks back into the restaurant, seeing McGee approaching the counter so can sign the check. Abby grabs her arm and starts dragging her towards the other side of the road, a wicked smile on her face as she studies the Israeli's glances towards the restaurant.
"What?"
"Why are you looking at McGee like that?"
"I do not know what you are talking about." Ziva turns her head and keeps her eyes on Tony's back, as he has crossed the street and reached the other side of the road, mercilessly teasing Palmer who is looking at him aggravated.
"Ah, come on, I saw how you jsut looked at him and …"
It happened in a flash: there was noise of crushed metal and all of them turned around to watch as a SUV simply takes off out of nowhere and hits those standing in front of the restaurant. Ziva and Abby watch horrified as the car hits the people and the façade before spinning again and finally hitting a parked car.
After a few seconds the gas started to spill out and before they could run to the agonizing people on the street the SUV blows up, throwing them back into the air and making both women hit violently against the parked cars, moaning as they fall like broken dolls onto the floor.
