Chapter 10
Disclaimer:- I do not own NCIS or its characters. Any copyright infringement is unintentional.
Chapter Ten
At any other time, Anthony DiNozzo could have run up the incline of the large hill and his breath would not have blown out a candle. Today, he needed to stop three times as the urge to cough overwhelmed him, doubling him over and leaving him greedily gulping whooping breaths of air to try to satisfy his oxygen starved lungs.
When Gibbs walked back to assist him, he waved him away with his good hand.
"I'm…good, Boss!" he gasped. "I'll…meet you…at the top."
Gibbs shook his head at Tony's obstinacy but gave him his space and continued to the top of the hill. Tony joined him, moments later. His chest heaving and feeling light headed from the exertion.
"We're definitely on an island." Gibbs said, the elevation of the hill allowing a much better view of their location. "Can't see any streams or waterfalls but the trees are pretty dense on that side of the island. Looks like fresh water may be a problem."
The very mention of water constricted Tony's parched throat and triggered another round of harsh, chesty coughing. When it finally subsided, he looked at Gibbs with one watery green eye.
"Sorry, Boss," he said. "Was really hoping for some water."
Gibbs clasped a hand on Tony's shoulder. "Me too, Tony," he said.
Still looking at the view of the island, he placed his hands in his pockets and removed his gun and his Zippo lighter. Both would need to be pulled apart, dried and re-built but he was confident they could be restored to working order.
"You got anything on you?" Gibbs asked.
"Boss, this sweater and these board shorts are all I've….."
Tony broke off his statement as his eyes widened and he reached for the Velcro pocket in the back of his shorts. He gave Gibbs a crooked grin as he opened his hand and revealed his knife.
"Rule number nine, Boss."
"Good job, Tony."
He should have known Tony would have the knife with him. It had been a gift from Gibbs a few years back and the younger man counted it among his most prized possessions, probably even slept with the damn thing for all Gibbs knew.
"You didn't think to grab some shoes?" Gibbs scolded lightly.
Tony looked from his sand-covered bare feet back to Gibbs' face.
"If you recall, Boss, I was a little busy having the crap knocked out of me at the time."
Gibbs nodded and looked around again. "There's enough vegetation up here for us to make a large signal fire," he said. "You take a break and I'll get started."
Tony's body stiffened and he drew himself up to his full height.
"I'm not sitting in the shade, while you do all the work, Boss!" he said indignantly. "You wouldn't even be stuck here if it wasn't for me!"
"Hey!" Gibbs yelled. "I thought we settled that."
"You settled it," Tony said petulantly. "I still have some unresolved issues and one of them is not sitting on my ass like some hot house lily while you do all the work!"
"DiNozzo, you've got a broken collarbone, one eye is swollen shut and you've been coughing your lungs up since last night. I only have to look at you to know you're running a fever. Take a break and conserve your energy. You're gonna need it if we can't find any food or water."
Tony stood his ground defiantly. "What about you?" he asked angrily. "You think I didn't notice the dried blood caked over the gash at the back of your head or the way you wince and turn away from the sun because the light hurts your eyes?"
Tony was forced to stop as the tickle in his throat led to more coughing but continued his rant once he was able.
"I've had enough concussions to know the signs, Boss! But are you taking it easy? No!!" he took a few breaths and lowered his voice but the steely determination remained. "I've still got one good eye and one good arm and I can do my share."
For a long moment, it appeared they had reached an impasse. Gibbs should have known Tony would notice signs of a concussion, no matter how well he had tried to disguise them. The younger man's powers of observation were second to none.
One of the things that appealed to him most when he recruited DiNozzo was his willingness to stand his ground and fight for his convictions, even if it meant going up against Gibbs himself from time to time. He saw the muscles flex in Tony's jaw and knew that there would be no talking him down – for now anyway.
"Okay," Gibbs agreed. "We build the signal fire first and then we both rest."
--oo00oo—oo00oo—oo00oo—oo00oo—oo00oo--
Ducky and Palmer transported the corpses to the small morgue at the local Coast Guard office. The morgue was nowhere near as state of the art as their NCIS facilities but it was adequate.
They were not required to perform a full autopsy until they returned the bodies to NCIS. Today, identification was the priority. They set up their equipment to take tissue and blood samples, dental x-rays and, if possible, finger prints from the bodies.
Having placed both corpses on the tables, Ducky was about to take the blood samples as Palmer wheeled the portable x-ray machine into the room.
"Mr Palmer, would you be so kind as to pass me a syringe?" Ducky asked.
When there was no response, he called again. "Mr Palmer!"
Ducky turned and saw Palmer standing not five feet away, obviously lost in thought. He reached for the syringe himself and turned to his young assistant.
"Mr Palmer?" he asked. "Whatever is the matter?"
Jimmy looked at the doctor as if noticing him for the first time.
"Doctor," he said quietly. "I don't think I can do this."
"Of course you can, Mr Palmer. You and I have been doing this together for several years now," Ducky replied.
"But Doctor, this could be Tony and Agent Gibbs," Jimmy said, his voice a little above a whisper.
Ducky sighed audibly, his eyes revealing the grief he was valiantly trying to suppress.
"Yes, yes it could be," he said nodding his head sadly. "And that's what we must determine, Mr Palmer. It's no different from the time you assisted me with the autopsy when Anthony's car exploded."
"I know, Doctor," Palmer replied, "but the better I get to know them the harder this gets. I don't know how you do it?"
Ducky removed his gloves and grasped his assistant by both biceps.
"Nonsense my boy. If these bodies are, indeed, Jethro and Anthony's, would you prefer that someone who doesn't care for them performed their autopsies? Someone who may not treat them with the love and respect they deserve?"
"No!" Jimmy replied. "Of course not Doctor."
"Did you think it was easy for Ziva and Timothy to investigate and photograph the crime scene, knowing that these bodies could belong to their teammates?" Ducky asked gently. "Don't you think that Abigail will be horrified at the thought of running the tests that may prove that two men she adores are dead?"
Ducky released Palmer and walked back to look at the bodies.
"This is what we do, Mr Palmer," Ducky said softly, "but if you would rather not assist me today, my boy, I do understand."
"No Doctor, I want to assist you – for Agent Gibbs and Tony," he said sadly.
"Good lad!" Ducky replied with a nod.
--oo00oo—oo00oo—oo00oo—oo00oo—oo00oo--
Ziva, McGee and Agent Fornell returned with the evidence, sketches and photographs taken from the crime scene on the boat. They met Director Shepard at the entrance to Coast Guard Head Quarters.
Abby's "babies" had been set up in a large vacant room to assist with the identification of the bodies but Abby was nowhere to be seen.
"Where is she?" McGee asked.
"She's sitting in the far corner. I've been trying to coax her out of there for an hour but she wouldn't leave," Jenny replied.
McGee walked into the large room. Looking around he saw the forensic equipment and computers that had been transported from Abby's lab. Even Major Mass Spec had made the trip. They had all been set up and were waiting for Abby to call them to action.
McGee walked further into the room and heard the soft sounds of Abby crying. He found her sitting cross-legged in the corner of her temporary lab.
"Abs?" he spoke her name softly as he sat on the floor next to her.
She looked up at him, eyes swollen and shining brightly with tears and her mascara running down her pale cheeks. He pulled her closely to him in a tight embrace and she buried her face in his neck.
"They're not dead, Tim!" Abby sobbed. "They just can't be!"
"I know Abs," McGee replied, wrestling with his own composure.
"I don't want to run the tests," she said shaking her pig-tailed head furiously. "I mean, I know it's my job and that's what I do and normally I love my job so much! But I don't want to be the one to prove that Gibbs and Tony are dead. I won't do it, McGee. I cant do it!"
"Abs, listen to me," McGee said looking Abby directly in the eyes.
"Gibbs always tells us to listen to our guts, right?" McGee asked and Abby nodded.
"What does your gut tell you, Abs?"
"It tells me that Gibbs and Tony are alive," she answered.
"And if your gut is right, Tony and Gibbs may still be somewhere in the ocean and in need of our help," McGee said. "The sooner we know Abs, the sooner we can go and look for them."
Abby's resolve changed like someone flicked a switch. "You're right, Timmy!" she said with the glimmer of hope reflecting in her eyes. "They could be floating around out there right now and, like, totally needing our help," she said climbing to her feet.
"Bring me the evidence! I have tests to run!" she demanded impatiently.
As McGee turned towards the door, she ran to him and wrapped him in a huge embrace. Her voice was barely above a whisper as she said. "What if it is them?"
"Then we'll deal with it together," he whispered back and kissed her on the cheek.
--oo00oo—oo00oo—oo00oo—oo00oo—oo00oo--
Building a sizable signal fire in the heat of the day had proven to be more arduous than Tony thought. His shoulder ached mercilessly despite his efforts to immobilise it. The effort required to suppress the constant urge to cough left him listless and dizzy but he refused to take a break until the job was done.
They worked together in silence and gathered enough dry foliage and branches to last the rest of the day and through the night. Gibbs watched Tony's body language slowly deteriorate.
Having completed the signal fire, they decided to take a break and walked towards the shade of a large tree. Gibbs cringed at the nasty hacking coughing fit that brought Tony to his knees. He was quickly at his side steadying the younger man as they made their way to the tree.
"Come on," Gibbs said. "Let's take a break before you pass out."
"I keep…telling you…Boss," Tony gasped. "DiNozzo's…don't… pass out! It's a rule!"
"A rule?" Gibbs said with a surprised tone in his voice.
"You've got…your rules, Boss, and…I've got …mine," Gibbs helped Tony sit down – propped up with his back against the tree to assist his laboured breathing.
Gibbs used the time to pull down the gun, ensuring it was clean and dry and putting it back together with expert precision. He was surprised to find that the Zippo lighter worked perfectly, it's casing obviously protected its inner workings from the water.
He walked back to the signal fire and lit it, ensuring that the greener foliage produced a thick black smoke that would be more noticeable in the sky.
"When you've had some rest, we need to look for water," Gibbs said, with his back to Tony. He knew they could survive several days without food but they both needed fresh water desperately.
"Tony?" he said.
Turning his head in Tony's direction he saw the younger man had fallen asleep. His head lolled at an awkward angle that guaranteed him a stiff neck and his mouth was open a little allowing short raspy breath sounds to escape. Walking back to Tony, Gibbs placed the palm of his hand on Tony's forehead and frowned as he felt the heat of a fever.
The fire was well alight now and should burn for a few hours without requiring extra wood. Gibbs looked around and found a stick, then wrote a message in the sand in case Tony woke. "Gone to find water. STAY PUT!!"
--oo00oo—oo00oo—oo00oo—oo00oo—oo00oo--
Ducky and Palmer had delivered the blood and tissue samples and the dental x-rays to Abby for analysis and comparison. There were no salvageable fingerprints on the bodies. They also delivered the bullets removed from the chest of victim number one.
During a rousing, motivational oratory, Abby summoned her "babies" to concentrate all of their efforts on processing the tests faster and more accurately than ever before.
Despite this, she knew that even with her state of the art equipment, it would be a few hours before they would have a definitive answer on the DNA and an hour before for the dental records would be faxed from DC.
Abby began the process of matching the blood types and her heart sunk when the blood samples taken from the victims matched Tony's and Gibbs'. She was almost inconsolable until Ducky convinced her that the blood types were the most common known. These results were not irrefutable proof that the bodies belonged to Tony and Gibbs.
Ziva, McGee, Jenny, Palmer and Fornell all gathered in the Coast Guard conference room, discussing the case while anxiously waiting for the results of Abby's tests and any news from the search parties. The Coast Guard and Navy continued their air and sea search at least 40 miles from Gibbs and Tony's actual location.
"It does not make sense." Ziva said.
"What doesn't?" McGee asked.
"Tony wearing such expensive shoes," she answered.
"All Tony's clothes are expensive, especially his shoes," McGee stated. "The guy looks like he stepped out of Men's Vogue Magazine!"
"Yes, I know but I do not believe that Gibbs would allow Tony on his boat wearing expensive Italian loafers," Ziva insisted. "He would make him wear something more, practical, yes?"
They all jumped to their feet as Abby came bounding out of her temporary lab with Ducky hot on her heels.
"We have good news!" she said.
"The blood samples don't match," McGee said hopefully.
"The blood samples do match," Abby said.
"So, why is that good news?" he asked.
"It's not," Abby answered.
"But you said you had good news," McGee said.
"I do!" Abby insisted. "But it's not the blood types."
"Then, what is it?" McGee asked.
"It's the dental records," Abby told them.
"You received the dental records from DC already?" McGee inquired.
"No, at least, not yet," Abby replied. "They should be here in an hour."
"And that is your good news?" McGee stated.
"No, silly," Abby said, rolling her eyes.
"Abby, please tell us," Jenny asked. "It's been a long couple of days and we could all use some good news."
"I'm trying to Director but McGee won't let me get a word in!!" Abby defended, punching McGee in the arm.
"You all need to come into my lab…that is…my interim, temporary, alternate lab."
She grabbed the hands of Ziva and Jenny, pulling them along behind her. Fornell, Ducky, Palmer and McGee followed, the latter still rubbing his sore shoulder.
When they were all in the lab they noticed a three-dimensional graphic of a set of teeth on Abby's computer monitor. When she had their undivided attention, Abby began.
"This is the drop dead gorgeous smile that belongs to our Very Special Agent, Anthony DiNozzo," Abby said.
"Abby, I thought you said the dental records hadn't arrived?" Jenny asked.
"They haven't. This is the mock up of Tony's teeth we made when he was framed, wrongfully accused of a murder he did not commit and incarcerated by the FBI!" Abby's eyes shot daggers at Fornell. "I'm sure you remember that Agent Fornell."
"She's never going to forgive me for that, is she?" Fornell whispered to the others.
"No," they replied without hesitation.
Abby continued. "These teeth, do NOT match the dental x-rays Ducky took of victim 1 OR victim 2. Neither of the bodies is Tony's!!"
Smiles of relief showed on every face. Abby was practically pulsating with excitement.
"Wait! I'm not done, yet. Ducky checked both victims for a gunshot wound to the left shoulder. Neither victim had ever been shot there."
Realisation began to dawn on the team as Abby explained.
"Ari shot Gibbs in the shoulder! It was a through and through. He has a scar of the front and back of his left shoulder and a large calcium deposit on his shoulder blade where the bullet penetrated and the bone healed. Neither of these bodies is Gibbs'!!"
"The bodies found in the boat, do not belong to Tony and Gibbs!!" Abby concluded.
Fornell asked the question they were all thinking. "If Gibbs and DiNozzo survived the explosion on the boat – then where the hell are they?"
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