Hi all,
This chapter is a transition between what we've seen so far and what happens next. Not the most exciting, but needed to get on with the next chapter.
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All of a sudden, the room felt cold, the cement floor harder than it had ever been. Everything was so still he could hear himself breathe, shiver and cry.
He knew that his senses were messing with his brain, but Ziva's departure felt like a stab in the heart, pressing on his chest like a clamp.
Soon they would come. Soon the door would open, and the light would shine in, blinding him. Soon he would be relieved from the pain that surrounded him.
Soon he would feel helpless, being carried away by others never to come back to the dark room of his nightmares. He would feel stupid, guilty and useless, at least for a while. He would hate having to tell the boss what happened and why he was so stupid as to get caught in the first place.
Soon things would get back to normal again. And yet, nothing will be normal again, Tony thought. Even imprisoned within these four pitch-black walls, Tony could make up all the details of her face when she turned and looked over her shoulder to say goodbye. She was gone, and his life would never be whole again.
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Ziva needed to act promptly. The few magic words she had whispered in the agent's ear seemed to have done the trick, and she could see all of them retreating towards a back door which had been hidden from her until now.
She had three options: going through the front door, following the agents through the back door, or staying in.
Going through the front door clearly wasn't an option, and she was suspicious that Gibbs may have had the back door covered by a few agents. Actually, the few gun shots that just sparked at that point seemed to reinforce that view.
Well, I'll stay in, then. Ziva was relieved she was still wearing her NCIS jacket, nobody would question her presence there once they all came in. Whilst looking for a safe place to hide, her mind kept returning to the dark room, thinking about her partner.
Ziva couldn't forgive herself for putting him in that position in the first place, and knew that her selfish decision to come back would have major repercussions for the rest of the team. Looking forward, there was nothing for her. No hope of seeing them again, no hope of getting out of this unscathed. Her fingers tightened into a fist, and she realised that she was still clutching the keys Tony had given her.
Whilst she knew that his place wasn't the safest place she could find, it was certainly less obvious than her apartment. Her father had probably organised surveillance over there, and she doubted that he had seen her take the keys from her partner's pocket.
There wasn't that much stuff to hide behind in this almost empty space, so she opted for the electricity cupboard in the toilets next to the main entrance. The stench was horrendous, but she could easily sneak out without being seen and hide in the bushes that bordered the warehouses.
There she waited in silence, until the moment came for her to come out. Sat on the floor, leaning against the wall in the dark, she recalled being with Tony in a similar room a few minutes ago. It was too late, now. There would be no coming back.
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Gibbs was impatiently waiting outside. He had sent Delmonte's team near the back door, with the clear instruction to let Ziva go through if she ever showed up. He very much doubted she would, knowing his liaison officer would find a cunning way out without being noticed.
All the excitement and this long wait outside had got to McGee. The young agent was restless and anxious, hoping that the raid would lead them to Tony quickly, and that no further casualties would be incurred.
All of a sudden, gunshots were heard at the back of the time had come to go in. Gibbs nodded in the direction of McGee and Caroll's team and they silently took their position around the main entrance.
They all ran in at the same time, discovering an empty warehouse. Agents Montgomery and Luntley cleared the toilets and front office and all proceeded towards the back of the warehouse. Knowing nobody was left in the warehouse, Gibbs, sent Caroll's team to help Delmonte and ensure that no assailant would come back into the warehouse, and sent McGee to get the paramedics. He ran towards the far left corner of the room, where the last room in the building stood.
His hand reached for the handle. What if they have killed him? It has been 20 minutes since we last heard of him. He shook the thoughts off and turned the handle. To his amazement, the door wasn't actually locked.
There was no light in the room, so he lit up his torch before moving.
"Boss, there's no need to blind me as well."
A smile of relief crept on Gibbs' lips at the sound of his agent's voice. It was weak, but it was there.
"Glad to see you're holding on, Tony."
"Glad to see you arrive, boss, I was starting to get a bit lonely."
His senior agent didn't look good. To be honest, he looked crap. He was surrounded by his own blood, his body collapsed against the wall. His right arm and legs were lying at a strange angle, his face darkened by blows and exhaustion.
"Paramedics are on their way, son. Tell me what happened, Tony."
He has called me son! DiNozzo noticed. Amongst all things, Gibbs' good opinion ranked very high, and he was pleased to see the old man cared for him a bit more than he let on.
Knowing he had an important message to pass on, Tony desperately tried to cling on to consciousness, but the single thought that Gibbs had come seemed to sweep away all his worries and pains. In a last ditch effort, he stared at the man's blue eyes.
"Not important. Listen, it's really... important... that..."
Gibbs cradled his agent's head with his hand, repressing from grabbing his shoulders and shaking him.
"Tony, what happened to Ziva. "
"Boss, she's... must not... kill..." Tony faded away before finally passing out.
Gibbs sighed and sat next to his agent, waiting for the paramedics to arrive.
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"Agent McGee, where's the casualty?" one of the two paramedics enquired.
McGee was slightly startled by their presence since nobody had told them it was safe to come in."
"He's in the room over there", he pointed.
They ran over to the room, where they found Gibbs sitting next to his agent. "He's lost consciousness about 30 seconds ago. Two shots in the knees..."
"Yes, we know, Agent Todd has given us the full picture outside", said the second medic, unceremoniously shoving Gibbs out of the way.
For a second, Gibbs' eyes betrayed his surprise but he regained his composure quickly. McGee was still standing there with his mouth opened, utterly puzzled at the mention of Kate's name.
Before he could say anything, Gibbs, was running past him and towards the front of building. When McGee managed to catch up, he was simply standing there, looking around. He sighed.
"Do you believe in ghosts, McGee?"
"No, boss."
"Me neither."
Gibbs sighed once more, scanning the horizon through his piercing blue eyes. Ziva was here, somewhere, but with her skills, he had no chance of finding her. He turned around to get back to his senior agent, looking back over his shoulder in case he spotted something. McGee stood there for a moment, bewildered, before following him.
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"Abs, it's Gibbs."
"Gibbs, how are Tony and Ziva. Have you found them?"
"I've found Tony, Abs."
His voice was dark and for a second, she feared for the worse.
"Gibbs, tell me he's not dead."
"He's not dead Abs, but he's not very well. I'm gonna ask the medics to send him to Bethesday. Tell Ducky to drive you there, I will see you in half an hour."
"But, what about Ziva."
"I don't know Abs."
"What do you mean you don't know."
"I don't know. But Tony does. So we'll have to wait for him."
An anxious Abby prompted him again. "But do you think that she's injured, that she's been kidnapped?"
"I don't know where she is, but I'm sure she's ok." He sighed, dissatisfied with his own answer. "Don't worry, I'll make sense of it."
He hung up, before climbing in the bus with his agent, throwing the car keys to McGee. The young agent ran back to the car, throwing the coffee cup that littered the car on the back seat and turned the ignition on.
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Ziva noticed all agents had gone past the toilet door. She had startled when she heard the familiar voice of agent Luntley bursting the door open and shouting "Clear" without even casting an eye on the electricity cupboard but immediately got up to look past the door.
They were all gone towards the other side of the warehouse and nobody would turn back at this point. She decided it was now or never.
Ziva came out into the light and started running towards the bushes when she realised that two paramedics were actually watching her from their bus. She instinctively continued running but moved towards them.
" Hi, I'm agent Todd, she said confidently. It's safe out there, now. You're needed at the other end of the warehouse. Two shots in the knees, one dislocated shoulder, broken jaw and nose. Substantial loss of blood. The agent was conscious a minute ago."
They gathered their kit as she was listing the injuries, and she proceeded towards Gibbs' car. She grabbed his coffee cup, now empty and a pen that was lying around and scribbled a few words on the cup before leaving it prominently on the driver's seat.
All of a sudden, she heard footsteps coming towards them. She moved silently behind the bus, sheltering in the bushes behind it. That way, she would have a perfect view when all the agents would come back.
From the bushes, she could also see Gibbs standing with McGee, about 50 meters in front of the vehicles. Gibbs was scanning the horizon. He knows I'm here. He quickly returned inside only to come back out a few minutes later, accompanied by the medics. He heart sank. Tony was on a stretcher, his left arm limply falling by the side.
"He's not doing very well, agent Gibbs", one of them said. "He's lost a lot of blood. We've put him on 100% oxygen and given him some morphine, so he should be comfortable. How long has he been in there with those injuries?"
"Not sure, probably 5-6 hours"
The other medic sighed and shook his head in disarray, much to Gibbs' displeasure.
As they arrived to the bus, Gibbs jumped on board and threw the keys to McGee. Damn it. She saw Mc Gee running to the car and throwing her message away on the back seat. Damn it. Damn it. Damn it. Now she'd have to resurface to let him know.
