Hi! Again, sorry for updating late. As always, I wrote a third of this chapter, hated it, and rewrote the entire thing at like two in the morning. I'm starting to realize that I write most of my stories at two AM, so that's most likely when they're going to appear. Unless I feel exceptionally inspired and decide to write at noon or something. Anyways, enjoy!
Disclaimer: Not mine. If it was then the season nine DVDs would be coming out today and not in like three weeks! :P
"Abby?" McGee called through the darkness, coughing as he inhaled another wave of smoke. The blood was pounding in his ears, a constant drumbeat against the roar of the fire around him. Sweat was practically pouring off of him, soaking his blackened clothes, as he lurched through the room, screaming Abby's name at the top of his lungs. "Abby, where are you?"
Suddenly, a crash sounded through the room, shaking the house's foundations and leaving McGee scrabbling for something to hold onto as the floor practically gave out from under him. McGee wondered if everyone else was okay, hoping that Gibbs had gotten the director out in time and Justin had quickly followed suit. A shrill scream snapped McGee back to the present, the thought of Abby still trapped flashing to the front of his mind.
"Abby! Abby, where are you?" McGee yelled, struggling forward, a flash of red and orange near the staircase illuminating the room. In the center of a mass of splintered, blackened wood, was a hole five feet across where the floor had collapsed. Clinging to the edge of the hole was Abby Scuito, NCIS's Forensic Scientist, looking completely and utterly terrified as the fire licked at her dangling body. Another scream left her lips as her left wedge slipped off, landing in the orange abyss below.
"McGee!" She yelled back, tears running down her face. "McGee!" The fire reached up again, igniting the remains of the floor jutting out towards her.
"Abby, I'm coming, hold on!" McGee bellowed, rushing forward, the smoke around him filling his lungs as he struggled onward.
Tumbling forward, McGee finally reached Abby, reaching out towards her as the floor around her collapsed. Another scream, another wave of smoke hit McGee and for a moment, he didn't know which way was up and which was down. A hacking cough right in front of him alerted the Agent to where Abby was and he stretched out his arm, grabbing a piece of splintered floorboard behind him and holding on with a death grip as he reached out.
"Abby, grab my arm!" McGee yelled, feeling the wood around him shake as he succumbed to another round of coughing. "Abby!"
"I can't, I'll fall!" Abby choked, screaming again as the fire around her kicked up, another cloud of smoke surging towards her.
"Trust me! Just grab me, I've got you!" McGee shouted, the smoke rushing into his mouth as he took another racking breath.
"You promise?" Abby asked, her voice small as her green eyes searched for his face in the chaos around her.
"Wha-? Of course I promise, Abby! I'd never even dream about letting you go!" McGee replied through coughs. Suddenly, he felt Abby's hand in his and he yanked back with all his might, adrenaline fueling his motions.
With a yell, McGee pulled Abby out of the furnace below him, and a moment later, the two lay on the ground next to each other, gasping for breath. "Timmy." Abby whimpered, her hand brushing McGee's.
"Yeah, Abby?" McGee panted, struggling to his feet.
"I don't think I can walk." McGee looked down at Abby's legs to see them all but , her knee socks all but ash, only a few bits clinging desperately to her shins.
"No problem." He coughed, leaning down and lifting her up into his arms, cringing when she gasped in pain. "Okay, Abby, I'm going to go out the front way, so hold on." McGee turned, taking a step towards the door when all of a sudden, the ceiling before the front door exploded, crashing to the floor and knocking him back. "Or the backdoor, that's good too."
Spinning around, the stars appearing in front of his eyes, his lungs crying for oxygen as he took another smoke filled breath, McGee squinted through the red flashes and orange sparks, searching for door out. His eyes landing on a dark, hulking shape across the room, he started forward once more, hoping sincerely that the shape was a door. Sprinting across the quickly collapsing room, the agent reached the door and kicked it open, not taking any chances with the handle. In front of him was a brilliantly orange space, flames licking at the walls and consuming the remains of a once ornate kitchen table. The door at the end of the room was blocked by a mass of fire licking at the ceiling above, so McGee turned on his heel, looking for another way of exit.
Abby snapped her eyes shut, putting her faith completely in McGee and trying to ignore every scientific thought in her mind yelling at her that McGee's plan wasn't going to work and they'd be consumed by the fire. She felt McGee stumble forward and her eyes flashed open, searching McGee's face for any sign of insanity as he barreled straight for a pair of flaming curtains.
"McGee!" Either McGee didn't hear her over the pounding in his ears, or he choose not to listen as he neared the flaming drapes.
Taking a deep breath and bracing himself, McGee grabbed the curtains and yanked at them, ignoring the searing pain in his hand, feeling a surge of accomplishment when they ripped in half, tattered, smoking pieces hanging in front of a darkened window.
"Abby, you trust me right?" McGee asked, his heart pounding in his chest.
"McGee? What're you-" Abby began, her eyes widening as she put the pieces together.
"I'm taking that as a yes." He said before slamming his shoulder against the glass, watching as it shattered before him, and finally jumping out into clear air.
…
"Abby! McGee!" Gibbs yelled, sprinting to the back of the house, his eyes searching for any sign of the two people. Jenny followed close behind him, also yelling for the two, as did Tony and Ziva, Tony acting uncharacteristically concerned and Ziva in full on Ninja mode. She spun around, on full alert when she heard an ear-splitting crash, knocking her parter to the ground as she ducked from the glass.
"Is this going to become a regular thing with you?" Tony asked, looking up at Ziva who was, per usual, lying on top of him.
"If you keep getting yourself into life-threatening situations, then yes." Ziva replied, smirking at him. Tony rolled his eyes, opening his mouth when Ziva cut him off. "Let me guess, just your knee again?"
Tony smiled charmingly at her, raising his eyebrows. "You gonna get off me now?"
"I suppose…" Ziva replied, sighing deeply. Tony's face lit up, noticing her reluctance. "If I don't now, I might be tempted to kill you." She finished, grinning at his pouting expression.
"Ha ha, very funny." Tony replied in a monotone, as Ziva slid off of him, flashing him a smile before she ran over to join Gibbs and Jenny.
"What happened?" She asked breathlessly, gasping as two dark shapes toppled out of the window, clutching to each other. They landed at the base of the house, rolling away from the shards of broken glass before coming to a rest a few feet away from the group.
"McGee? Abby?" Tony called, sprinting past a dumbfounded Ziva, Gibbs, and Jenny. He fell to his knees, pulling the two choking shapes apart, a look of elation crossing his face as he realized they were okay.
The three others rushed forward as the sound of sirens finally stopped at the front of the house and firefighters came streaming towards the house, yelling at each other. Ziva looked around at her 'family', realizing that none of them were planning on going to talk to the firefighters any time soon. Tony caught her eye, nodding and standing up as Gibbs and Jenny frantically shook a half-conscious McGee, trying to calm Abby down as she openly sobbed.
"Do you think they will be okay?" Ziva asked Tony, glancing back at where McGee was shaking his head, blinking frantically.
"Tim will pull through, he always does." Tony said, acting more mature than Ziva he'd been in months. "Abby's the one I'm worried about." The two finally reached the paramedics, who were hopping out of their car, looking around agitatedly. "They're back there." Tony said, nodding towards the back yard.
"Thanks!" A cheery looking paramedic said, rushing towards the back of the house with another man, a woman, and a gurney.
"No problem." Tony replied, glaring at the back of the man's head. "How can he be happy at a time like this?"
"People deal with situations differently." Ziva answered, leading Tony towards the firemen. She glanced over at where Justin was staring at his mom with a disgusted expression on his face, and for a moment, Ziva felt sorry for Ryan. After all, her son was looking at her like she'd just killed someone, which, granted, she almost had. Then Ziva remembered what Abby and McGee had looked like tumbling out of the window, blackened by smoke, gasping for air, and immediately felt a surge of anger towards Ryan.
"Is there anyone inside?" A firefighter barked, pointing the hose at the house and watching as water slowly extinguished the fire on the porch. Ziva snapped back to the present, looking at the flames slowly dying down as the house finally collapsed, the only remains of it standing being the mangled front door and half of the staircase sticking up out of the rubble.
"No, they got out by themselves. You know, you guys have a really slow response team, you might want to work on that." Tony said sarcastically, staring at the man with a cold expression.
"Hey, there's not much we can do with Washington traffic, even with the sirens on!" A firefighter behind him yelled, attempting to retie her hair while holding a hose.
"Yeah, well people could have died." Tony replied darkly as the group of paramedics sprinted towards the ambulances, Abby on the gurney and McGee limping behind them. "Hey, McGee, you okay?" Tony called.
McGee nodded mutely, shaking his head as the overly-cheery paramedic tried to force him into the second ambulance. "Just let him go with her." Gibbs said, coming up behind the agent and giving the paramedic a death glare. "I'm coming with you too, I'll look out for him." Jenny nodded for Gibbs to go with Abby before turning and joining Tony and Ziva, sharing worried looks with the two.
"Hey were you all in the fire?" The female paramedic questioned, walking over to where Tony, Ziva, and now Jenny, were standing.
"No, just me." Jenny stated, her eyes following the ambulance as it slowly drove away.
"Okay, well you're going to have to ride in an ambulance as well, it's the rules." She said, giving Jenny a sympathetic smile.
Tony and Ziva watched as Jenny climbed in to the ambulance, a resigned expression on her face as she sat down on the gurney and the doors shut behind her. "I guess the only thing left to do is bring Ryan back to NCIS and interrogate her, charge her for crimes, etcetera, etcetera." Tony said, walking towards Justin and Ryan, followed by Ziva.
"Finally. Ryan will be gone. For good." She said, smiling at Justin as they loaded Ryan into the car, ready to just drop her off at the city jail and never, ever, see her again.
…
"Do you think the baby will be okay?" Jenny asked, staring at Gibbs with a worried expression. For the past four hours while she'd been getting numerous tests performed on her, Jenny had been blaming herself for everything that happened. After all, she was supposed to be the director of NCIS, yet she managed to get kidnapped? And not only once, but twice? Even though she loved her job, minus the politics, annoying people, meetings with Sec-Nav, paperwork, and having to listen to every single complaint from every whiny little person, Jenny was seriously thinking about taking some time off, at least until after she'd had the baby and installed an alarm system into her house.
"The baby will be fine, Jen." Gibbs replied for the fifth time that day, trying to convince himself as much as he was her.
"I wish I hadn't been so… Naive." Jenny finally settled on, sighing deeply and leaning back into the pillows of her hospital bed.
"How were you naive?" Gibbs asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I expected our house to be secure and didn't think for a second that a crazy lunatic might be hiding in the shadows, waiting to pounce." Jenny replied as the doctor slipped into the room.
"So I've reviewed the test results we took earlier today." The doctor said, looking up from his clipboard the stair at the anxious looking couple before him. "And I've concluded that the baby will in fact be fine. He or she may be born earlier than expected, but only by a few weeks, a month at the most."
"So, the baby will be fine?" Gibbs asked, glancing down at Jenny, a smile playing at his lips. Jenny looked up at him, her eyes wide, wondering if she'd just heard the doctor correctly or not.
"I have to go check on some of the medical records." The doctor said, making for the door. "Just push the red button if you need anything." With that, he exited the room, shutting the door behind her.
"Jethro." Jenny breathed, a smile making its way across her face. "We're going to have a baby. Oh, and don't say 'I told you so',"
"I won't." Gibbs replied, kissing the top of her head before leaning down to look her in the eyes, a serious expression on his face. "But I seriously think we should name it Café."
Okay, so I'm thinking along the lines of two more chapters! I might be skipping ahead in the next one to in a few months, but I'm not sure yet. Oh yeah, and I won't be able to update for the next week because I'm going on vacation and I most likely won't have internet… Or a computer. But if I do I'll most definitely update! If not… See you in a week! As always, review please! :