Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or any of the NCIS characters.

Kelly didn't miss the worried glance shared between the two agents. She heard Ziva flick open a switchblade and slide underneath the chair. Once again, Kelly returned her chin to her chest and prayed Ziva could disengage the timer before an invisible force set it off.

"Ziva, what's your fastest time?" Tony asked Ziva light-heartedly.

"Twelve seconds," Ziva replied from beneath the chair. Kelly was immensely grateful when Tony slipped his hand into hers and began squeezing in random beats so as to distract her as well.

"Ah. Comforting," he said casually. "Dinner's on me if you can set a new one."

"That depends. Are you willing to pay for the Malt House?"

Tony scrunched up his face. "She hadto pick the most expensive restaurant in D.C."

"I take that as a yes?" she asked with a grin, righting herself and holding out several wires connected to the frozen timer in her palm.

Relief flooded through Kelly's body like a warming serum. She barely noticed the agents cutting through the zip ties when a bolt of pain ricocheted through her hand and up to her shoulder. Somehow, she had managed to bite down on her lip to stifle a scream. Kelly barely heard Tony's apology as blood pooled in the front of her mouth.

Looking down at her broken wrist and fingers, anguish filled her mind. Three more zip ties were binding her to the arm of the chair, all of them pulled painfully tight. She tilted her head towards the ceiling and clenched her jaw.

"Kelly..."

"Just do it," she huffed through her teeth.

Tony clipped the last three zip ties, each of which was followed by a pang of excruciating fire winding its way up her arm. For the next couple minutes, the only sounds heard were the snips of the plastic ties being cut and falling to the floor. Before long, Kelly was free from the chair. She took an attempt at standing up, but fell back into the seat. Tony and Ziva helped her stand, making sure she remained upright. After a couple of steps, Kelly could finally feel her legs again even though they had the stability of Jell-O. One foot after the other, she managed to make it to the stairs. At this point, Tony refused to let her climb them alone and put her arm around his shoulders, half-carrying her up the steps.

"Tony? Ziva?" called someone from the front room.

"Over here, Probie," Tony called, emerging through the trapdoor with Kelly.

McGee turned and rushed to them. "Kelly! Oh my God!" His jaw dropped when the three of them reached the top.

"I'm okay, McGee" Kelly said, removing her arm from Tony's shoulder and stretching out her stiff legs. She watched McGee as he peered down the stairs expectantly.

"Where's Gibbs?" he asked.

All of the trepidation Kelly had been suppressing instantly returned full force.

"You didn't see him outside?" she asked, panic rising in her voice. Everyone froze.

McGee had just barely shook his head when Kelly bolted for the front door.

"Kelly! No!"

Her mind didn't have time to register the pain pulsating throughout her body or the calls Tony shouted at her. She sprinted out the door, feeling the shock of the mid-winter chill on her skin. Both of her feet broke through the smooth layer of fallen snow, leaving behind a trail of prints. Following two sets of tracks created by larger, heavier strides, she rounded one side of the cabin and took off towards a dense line of trees.

With each footfall, Kelly prayed harder and harder. It wasn't supposed to happen like this. She was not going to let her father become one of Cole's victims. In her mind, she figured he had searched the entire night, pushing his team to their limits on her account. She had thought of little else while Cole had bound her, teased her, tortured her, and left her in the basement to die. Now it was her turn to ensure her father's safety – to prevent him from taking the fall as he had done for her innumerable times before.

Bare branches scratched at her arms and legs as Kelly sprinted through the forest. With the moonlight illuminating her path, she kept her eyes on the footprints in front of her. Every stride intensified the aches in her muscles and the tormenting throb in her arm, but each step pushed her that much farther in the right direction. She was certain her gut would know if her dad had been hurt. Right now, it was the only thought that kept her running, barefoot, through the snow.

Kelly followed the tracks straight west through the line of trees. After tearing through the forest, she stumbled into a small clearing and followed the remaining footprints with her eyes. The sight struck her with fear. About fifty yards from where she stood, Cole was standing ten feet opposite her father, gun drawn, aimed at Gibbs's forehead. He was speaking, but she couldn't make out the words. In his other hand, he held the now useless detonator.

No!

Kelly did the only thing she could think of.

"DAD!"

Her piercing yell turned both of their heads. A poisonous grin spread across Cole's face and, as quick as lightning, he waved the gun in Kelly's direction.

A bang echoed through the night.

"NO!"

Kelly didn't understand why she was suddenly face-down on the ground. Something heavy was keeping her there. Struggling against the weight, she pulled her face from the snow and tried to focus on the wrestling match now going on between Cole and her father. She pushed against ground, ignoring the pain shooting through her arm, and tried to stand. The body that had pinned her to the ground now aided her as she regained her balance, but it also restrained her. Kelly fought with everything that was left inside. Nothing mattered more than getting to her father's side.

"ZIVA!" Tony's voice shouted in her ear.

"I do not have a clear shot," she yelled back.

He didn't budge as Kelly concentrated all of her effort on escaping his hold.

"ZIVA, NOW!"

For the second time that night, a gunshot ripped through the air.

Kelly froze. She stared across the clearing.

Cole's body swayed and arched toward the earth, causing snowflakes to flutter in whorls around his torso. Gibbs carefully got to his knees and stood, massaging his knuckles. He slowly stepped over to Cole's body and surveyed the scene. Blood seeped into the snow under Cole's head. Bending down, Gibbs checked for a nonexistent pulse.

Suddenly, Tony's panicked yell cut into the silence.

"GIBBS!"

Gibbs whipped his head just in time to see Kelly collapse in Tony's arms.