Death Of A Conspiracy
AN: THankyou all for the reviews, i love them! Keep 'em coming :-D
Also a huge thankyou to Kate for her ongoing help and good work!
The chapters should be coming faster now, I've finished uni for the year...well, unless I get stuck...again... anyways, on with the story
"…so we came down here to call her," Tony ended his explanation to the team
"That's all very interesting, Tony, but I don't think it's very funny, or appropriate," McGee said tersely
"Huh, you think I'm kidding," Tony deduced
"Well yeah, I'm waiting for you both to give each other a high-five and start laughing at us," McGee replied
"I can assure you, McGee, this is real," Ziva answered, "I am not one to kid around about something like this,"
"Yeah, like you weren't kidding around when you said there was a dead guy in my car," McGee argued
"I wasn't" Ziva responded
"It was a plastic skeleton, Ziva," McGee replied
"It was Tony's idea," Ziva said
Tony managed to look slightly guilty, "Hey, it was on special – "
"Not the point – " McGee argued
"Exactly, the point is Kate is still alive, Gibbs has been kidnapped by the Director, and the President's life is in danger," Ziva interrupted
"The account does have it's merits and I would be interested to see who they call," Ducky said, "Ziva and Tony may be pranksters, but Ziva knows how…delicate this topic is, and I believe even Tony would not think lightly on this topic,"
"Well, I for one am a bit skeptical on the whole 'conspiracy theory'," Abby butted in, raising her hand, "I think I would have believed it more if you said she'd come back as a ghost or something. But in the meantime, I'm willing to be surprised,"
"Indeed," Ducky agreed
"Tony, this better not be – " McGee began
"Hey, you guys are all acting like I'm part of this. Ziva only explained this to me about 10 minutes ago. Hell, I'm not even sure I believe it, I'd like to, but…" Tony replied
"Can we get this over with? Please?" Ziva asked, "Abby, can you set up a secure line?"
"Ah, one moment Ziva," Ducky began, looking concerned, "Can you explain to me how I performed Caitlin's autopsy?"
"Of course, Doctor Mallard, you didn't," Ziva replied, "A different doctor signed off on the autopsy report. No doubt you believed you did the autopsy because it's normal procedure,"
"But I have detailed accounts and vivid memories of performing it," Ducky argued
"Ooh, this is so memory distortion," Abby commented as she typed on her computer, "It's like if you ask somebody where they were and what they were doing when they heard about the 9/11 attacks, they may reply incorrectly. For example, one of my friends in Australia said she heard about it when the TV program she was watching that night was interrupted. But I know that incorrect, she'd gone to bed early – we were chatting on the net – and found out in the morning when her boyfriend woke her up…"
"Actually I've heard similar accounts," Ducky commented
"I was on a bus, the driver heard it over the radio and told everybody…then Gibbs called," McGee remarked
"I was on a date – " Tony responded
"Okay, we're ready!" Abby exclaimed
"Ziva?" Tony said, gesturing to the phone
As Ziva stepped forward, Ducky told Abby to put on the speaker phone. Ziva dialed the number and they all waited impatiently for an answer.
Eventually they heard somebody pick up, "Hello?"
Tony frowned at the unfamiliar voice, glancing at Ziva, who held up her hand, also frowning, "Hi, could I talk to Katherine?"
"She's in the shower at the moment, can I take a message?" the man on the other end replied
"Who am I speaking to?" Ziva asked
"John, who am I speaking to?" John replied
Ziva rolled her eyes, "An old friend. I was hoping to talk to her; I'm calling from overseas,"
"Hang on," John told them as they heard voices in the background. After a while John talked to them again, "Here she is,"
The line went silent for a moment, then they heard the unmistakable voice of Kate, "Hello?"
"Kate!" Abby shouted into the phone in excitement
"Whoa," they heard her reply, obviously pulling the phone away from her ear, "Hi, who is this?"
The team began talking in unison, before stopping and chuckling as they realised she probably hadn't heard anything. Eventually Tony spoke up, "Kate, its Tony, and Ducky, Abby and McGee,"
They heard a gasp from the other end of the phone, followed by, "Oh my god!" then a small sob
Tony grinned, tears shining in his eyes, "How are you?"
They heard a half laugh, half sob, "Better now. I thought you all thought I was dead,"
"We did!" Abby exclaimed
"But Ziva told us what happened," McGee commented
"Ziva?" Kate asked in confusion
"The young woman who replaced you and helped maintain your cover," Ducky explained
Kate chuckled again, "So, why is she telling you now? Is it over?"
"Not yet," Ziva replied, "But it will be soon,"
Kate sighed, "Is Gibbs there?"
"Ah, no…there have been some, ah, complications," Ziva replied
"Complications?" Kate asked, "What kind of complications?"
Gibbs gasped and squinted his eyes open, as he tried to ignore the pain in his head. As he took in his surroundings, he heard people talking not too far away in loud voices. One of them was the familiar voice of Jenny Sheppard, the other was male, but he didn't recognize it.
As Gibbs tried moving, he noticed that he seemed to be in a seated position, with his hands tied behind his back. He let out a silent groan of frustration and closed his eyes so that the Jenny and the unidentified male wouldn't know he was conscious. As he tried to work his hands free, he failed to stop his cry of pain as he twisted his left hand. Biting his lip, he waited for the sharp-pain to reduce to a dull throb. In the background he heard that the two people had stopped arguing, until he heard somebody step close behind him.
"Jethro, I see that you're awake," the cool voice of Jenny said
Gibbs kept his mouth shut as he heard her move closer. Abruptly she snatched the rope restraining his hands, and held it up, putting his hands at a strange angle. Gibbs grimaced in pain as Jen leant down to whisper in his ear, "Hope those restraints aren't too tight…"
"Not at all" Gibbs croaked, his voice harsh from not using it
He heard Jenny chuckle before tightening the rope and dropping it, "Now, Jethro, where is Kate?"
Gibbs frowned, "The naval cemetery where we buried – "
Jenny slapped Gibbs across the face, growling, "Don't get smart with me. Now tell me where she is, or you can deal with Lenny over there," she nodded her head at the man she'd been arguing with earlier
Clearing his throat, Gibbs looked at Jenny, "I don't know where she is, Jen, hell, I don't even know if I did even see her,"
"Don't lie to me, Jethro," Jenny warned
"I'm not," Gibbs said with an honest face, "But even if I did, what makes you think I'd tell you?"
"Oh, you will tell me, Jethro," Jenny assured, motioning for Lenny to step forward
"Not gonna happen, Jen," Gibbs hissed her name
Jenny narrowed her eyes at him as she tied a rubber strap to his upper arm, "We'll see about that, Jethro,"
Lenny stepped forward and unsheathed a syringe, flicking it a few times and squirted it a bit before sticking it into Gibbs' arm. Gibbs grunted as the tip of the syringe went into his arm, but kept his gaze locked with Jenny's.
Jenny eventually grunted, smirking a bit before walking off, taking Lenny with her. Gibbs watched them go, then tried to figure out how to get out of this situation, and what did they want with Kate?
As he tried to focus his thoughts, they became jumbled and he found it hard to hold onto them. His head began to swim as he vision blurred and he became lightheaded. Blinking a few times in quick succession, he tried to look at the door Jen and Lenny had gone out, but its shape was distorted and blurry. Out of his peripheral vision, he saw Kate walk forward and eventually stand in front of him, with a concerned expression on her face.
"Just hold on in there, be strong," Kate said to him
Gibbs frowned, mumbling, "I'm hallucinating,"
Kate chuckled, "Yes, you are. But doesn't it seem better when there's two of us?"
Gibbs grunted, "Why do they wanna know where you are?"
"I don't know. Jethro, you need to hang on in there, I'm counting on you," Kate replied
Gibbs chuckled, "Good to know I can count on myself,"
"We'll be there to rescue you soon," Kate responded
Gibbs tried to focus on his hallucination of Kate, but found even that difficult, "They don't know I'm missing,"
"They're good investigators, you hand-picked them – except Ziva. But they know how to do their job…we're coming for you Jethro, just hang on…" Kate's voice followed him into unconsciousness.
That's it for chapter 12!...Hope you liked it! Please review! Tell me what you think! Hopefully it shouldn't be too long til I post the next chap (fingers crossed)
