a/n - still with me?
The survivors still huddled in the Navy Yard watched as another wave of incoming targets could be seen on the horizon. Even after they were close enough to be identified as military choppers, they did not relax. "Get your team and get out of here." Gibbs looked up as she whispered to him. "We don't know who's coming, or if they were sent by Galloway or Morshower. Get your team, get to McGee and get the hell out of here. There's nothing more you can do for us."
Gibbs looked around for a long moment, afraid he'd never see any of them again. Jenny stood defiant and strong, her broken arm supported by a makeshift sling. Never more than at that moment had she looked like the strong woman she wanted to be. Abby was to her left, writing names the injured on her arm; tracking the missing and presumed dead still unaccounted for. Just past her, on his knees was Ducky, treating the injured as if he were back in the war zone. In truth, that was exactly where he was. The war had come to the Navy Yard, but now it was time to take it to the Decepticons. He nodded in understanding to Jenny, then to Abby as he turned away. Ziva and Tony fell in behind him, as he knew they would, and a step behind them were Sacks and Fornell. When he reached the only undamaged sedan in the lot he turned to his old friend.
"Good chance this is a one way trip, are you sure about this?"
Fornell gave him a wry grin. "We can't let NCIS have all the fun, now can we? Besides, this is our car." To prove his point, he dangled the keys in front of him. Gibbs rolled his eyes and climbed in the passenger seat, leaving his two agents and Sacks to fight over who was stuck in the middle. Ziva lost out because she was the shortest and climbed over Tony after placing a metal box in the trunk. Fornell drove to the closest undamaged bridge to get them to Anacostia Park where they hoped to find McGee alive. Otherwise, all the losses suffered today would have been in vain.
---NCIS---
The troops may have been sent by Morshower, but Galloway was already on the radio they brought with them, demanding a report the moment he arrived. His arrival would depend on how soon the location could be secured. The officer in charge of the arriving troops assured Galloway he would be notified as soon as that occurred. As soon as the transmission ended he assured Director Shepard he would give her and her people all the time they needed before he made that call. A medical team arrived and whisked away the more seriously injured while treating the walking wounded. Jenny allowed a splint to be placed on her arm as she stared at the now quiet park across the river. It was all up to them now.
---NCIS---
Fornell pulled the car up next to the circle of grieving Autobots. Quietly, they exited and walked over to where McGee stood. Gibbs gave the battered agent an appraising look and immediately wished he'd brought Ducky with them.
"You okay?"
McGee didn't even look up at them. "He sacrificed himself for me. He didn't even know me and he sacrificed himself."
"So let's make sure we finish his work." That made McGee look up at him and he repeated his earlier question. "You okay?"
"I'll live." Gibbs wasn't totally convinced, but there wasn't time to argue, as DiNozzo pointed out.
"Umm, guys, we probably shouldn't be out in the open like this." DiNozzo and Sacks were looking around nervously, expecting to see a Decepticon swoop down on them at any second.
A smaller, brightly colored Autobot stepped close to Ratchet. "Keep them safe, we will distract the Decepticons as long as we can." Ratchet acknowledged him by returning to his terrestrial form and opened his doors, waiting for the humans.
Ziva was checking the equipment in the back of the FBI car. "We can't go back to the Yard, where do you suggest we go?"
"A safehouse?" Like Gibbs, DiNozzo was carefully watching McGee.
"By now Galloway will know the locations of every NCIS safehouse. Any suggestions, Tobias?"
Fornell grinned at Gibbs, much to Sacks' surprise. "Actually I know just the place, and it's got room for junior here and all his buddies too."
---NCIS---
With Abby and Ducky flanking her, Jenny watched as Galloway started barking orders, demanding the control of the damaged Autobot be turned over to him. Morshower had arrived and was arguing with him, while the troops sent by Morshower waited for the chain of command to be established. She gave a sigh of relief as the truck and trailer containing the portable MTAC pulled in and parked just past the fire trucks still spraying water on the smoldering hull of their former headquarters. Morshower glanced to the side and gave Jenny the nod she had been waiting for.
Squaring her shoulders, Jenny moved close enough for Galloway to notice her and her escorts. "Perhaps before you decide what to do with my people and my agency, you should check with your assistant. I'm sure she will have an interesting perspective on the day's events, don't you agree?"
"Alice?" Before he could come up with any excuse for her presence at the Yard earlier or where he though she'd be now, Abby withdrew her hand from behind her back and held up the remains of the android head by the blonde hair left on one side.
"You know there is no scientific evidence that blondes have more fun, but I'm pretty sure your Decepticon girlfriend didn't have a really fun day today." Abby swung the head, causing it to spark.
When Galloway stepped forward and reached for it, Jenny blocked his path. "I think she'll stay with us for a little while longer. Besides, Director Galloway, I'm sure you will be much too busy explaining to the President about the Decepticon spy you've been dragging through the White House with you." She turned her attention to the two soldiers standing next to Morshower, grinning. "Major Lennox, Master Sergeant Epps, would you two gentlemen please escort Director Galloway to the main gate? I believe he has an appointment at the White House and we don't want him to be late."
Jenny Shepard may have felt like gloating for just a moment, but a frantic call from the portable MTAC ended that impulse. As she entered the trailer with Morshower, Ducky and Abby, the Decepticon symbol was up on every screen. One of the technicians turned to them as soon as they cleared the narrow doorway. It's taken over every broadcast signal in the world. As they watched, the symbol faded to show an aerial view of an aircraft carrier. Three specks in the sky grew larger, and to the people in the trailer, very recognizable. Three of the Decepticons that had only hours earlier laid waste to the Navy Yard were on an intercept course with the carrier. The largest one shifted and formed a sphere, increasing speed until it slammed into the deck of the carrier, driving clear through the hull. The large ship tore apart from the impact, like it had been made of tissue, and within minutes it sank below the waves. Over the image of a now empty ocean, littered with debris and what Jenny hoped were survivors clinging to it, came a voice she recognized.
"Now you humans know what your government has hidden from you." The image wavered and then was replaced with Timothy McGee's official identification photo. If you wish to survive, you will do as we ask. Give us this human, or we will begin to destroy your cities as easily as we destroyed this ship. Deliver him to us within one solar day or you will see our true power." There was a pause as they all stared at McGee's image, then every monitor in the trailer, in the city, and across the world went blank.