Tim looks around the group, and sees that Kate is still pondering things. He motions for a five minute break, and the others gather around Tandel. The elf is muttering something in elvish and he smiles as the group almost collectively gasps when they see five bread loaves materialize in front of her. He asks Tandel about water and she nods; Tim knows that she's already thought of that as well and waits until five small flasks of water appear. Tim grabs a loaf of bread and a water flask before asking Kate to walk beside him on at least this leg of their journey.
Kate nods thoughtfully and steps up beside him. He waits another few minutes for the food and water to finish getting dispersed before setting out into the evil trenches that make up the eighth circle of hell known as the Malebolge or Fraud. As they were flying towards the Malebolge, Tim remembered that Dante had been fooled by some of the inhabitants into thinking that the bridges that span from the cliff to the center well had been broken. He'd asked Geryon to fly over and he now knows that they can traverse the bridges and not have to go into the ditches themselves.
Kate listens absently to his explanation of why he's choosing this particular route, then asks, "She's not with you, is she?"
"Who, Tandel? No, no she isn't." He keeps walking waiting for her to come to her own conclusions.
Kate shakes her head as she glances at the rest of the team. Ziva and Tony are bickering back and forth about another mixed up idiom, something about the bells of hell. "I don't think AC/DC meant Hell's Bells quite so literally Zee."
"Nevertheless, Tony, I would not be surprised to hear these bells of hell once we get to the end of our journey."
Holding on to Tim's belt as they progress forward, Kate turns slightly so she can watch Gibbs and Ducky with Tandel. Ducky hasn't really changed much from the last time they'd met, but Gibbs? This is a side of Gibbs she's not sure she likes seeing. He's almost protective of Tandel and granted the other woman is on the short side, barely coming up to Gibbs' shoulder.
"You can ask me Kate, I can tell you what I know." Tim's quiet statement brings her gaze back to him.
"Who is she and what is she doing with Gibbs?"
Tim sighs as he tells her how a "young" female elf ended up in Gibbs' bed. Kate is still a bit confused by the story and Tim smiles at her.
"Look at it as two lost souls who finally found each other. Although she's been looking for him a lot longer than any of us could have predicted."
"But still, you're the one with all the previous experience with her sort of situation. Why would she have gone to Gibbs?"
Tim shakes his head, "Is this because he seems different with her? He totally is, but at the same time, he's not. By that I mean that when he's working with us, he's the same head-slapping, zero tolerance for idiocy, that he's always been. It's just that now he has a home life, or maybe he has someone to go home to."
"Did you ever figure out who always gave him a ride to work?"
"It's called need to know Kate and you guys never need to." Gibbs states as he walks up to them. He pulls Kate back with him and Ducky steps up to walk beside Tim.
"Oh boy, he's going to read her the riot act isn't he?"
"Hmm, not necessarily, Timothy. He might leave that up to Tandel."
Kate grumbles as Gibbs pulls her back to where Tandel is. "Gee, Gibbs, one thing hasn't changed and it's your manners, or lack thereof."
"Can it, Kate."
"Gibbs!" Kate tries to warn him that he's too close to the edge of the bridge.
"What?!" He slips and starts to fall off the bridge when two pairs of arms reach out and grab him. As Tandel and Kate pull him back onto the bridge, their eyes meet and Kate can tell that despite all her misgivings, Tandel means no harm to Gibbs or the team.
"You were a bit close to the edge." Kate says simply and Gibbs glares at her as she makes her way back to the front of the pack.
"Ya think?" he grumbles as he watches her head towards Tim and Ducky.
"She knows now." Tandel says in satisfaction.
"Knows what?" Gibbs asks as they continue walking.
"That I mean you no harm. She still doesn't believe that I should be here and that is to be expected. I am not a member of your team, yet Leon Vance insisted I should come with you."
Gibbs has been thinking about that too. Despite everything they've been through or maybe because of everything they've been through, he still has a problem with Vance insisting that Tandel has to be there. Admittedly, she's come in handy, but still, why was it so important that she come along?
"Maybe Leon Vance isn't the one who needed me to be here." Tandel muses softly and Gibbs stares at her.
"Do you think he was coerced into it? Could he have been mentally manipulated, like Lolth tried to do to Tim when you first arrived?"
Tandel nods thoughtfully, "I think it likely as I did sense something amiss when we were at the conference room. At the time I put it down to young Haswari, but it is possible that he was a vessel."
Gibbs thinks about that as she hands him a chunk of bread. "This is quite good, is it one of your earlier spells?"
"Hmm, yes, it's one of the basic spells we learned and it has come in handy more than once. These bolgies that form this stage of hell are different stations from what I can see."
"Oh indeed they are my dear, indeed they are." Ducky's presence is a welcoming one for a change, and both Gibbs and Tandel listen as the "bard" tells them about the panderers and seducers, the most noted being Jason, from Jason and the Argonauts fame. (Tandel looks at Gibbs in question and he tells her in ASL that he'll explain when they get home.) She grins as they continue listening to Ducky prattle on about the flatterers and simoniacs, the sorcerers (Gibbs looks at Tandel in mock horror), the barrators "never trust a lawyer," rings through Tim, Tony, Kate and Ziva's minds, hypocrites, thieves (I knew a nice thief once, Tandel whispers to Gibbs), councilors of fraud, sowers of discord, and finally falsifiers.
Once they get past the bolgia of falsifiers, the group can finally see the path to the central well of Malebolge and they start to breathe a sigh of relief. The central well leads to the ninth and final circle of Hell. Tim motions for them to all step closer; he's been communicating with a giant who has agreed to lower them into the well so that they can finish their journey.