Woohoo! That was only, what? A week? Hope I didn't keep you waiting too long. And bonus points to Bella for her mad skills at guessing the mystery person! Thanks for all of the love y'all showed for the last chapter! For those of you that guest posted, I couldn't reply, but much, much, much love for your reviews! Have fun!
Chapter 29
Ziva and Critten burst into the Resource Center to come face to face with Phil, who looked stunned.
"What in the hell was that?" he asked.
"There was just an explosion in the forest! There's a lot of smoke," Critten said. "McGee and Greg just drove off towards it."
All three of them went back outside, Phil with his radio in hand. They shuffled to the edge of the building to look beyond, and see the smoke.
"This is Phil in the RC! We have a fire in the vicinity of Worker Trailer number three! I need all those trained for the fire line to prepare, and report to your stations! This is not a drill! The access road to the trailer will be impassible for emergency vehicles! I repeat- all those trained for the fire line, please report to your positions near Worker Trailer number three immediately!"
"We need to get EMS in here in case our people are hurt," Critten said, shooting a frantic look towards Ziva.
"Don't worry, son, that's next. We may have people hurt out there, too. Somebody was probably in that trailer." Voices began ringing out over the radio, announcing their ability or inability to respond to the scene as Phil headed back to the door in a hurry. They followed him into the building, and he got behind the counter, pushing buttons on a control panel, and flipping a series of switches. Critten and Ziva could hear the sounds of an alarm starting to blare throughout the park around them, signaling the need for assistance. Phil dialed the fire department, and started explaining the situation.
"What can we do, Phil?" Ziva asked.
"Take this key. Go around back. You'll find a golf-cart with a plow on it full of buckets on the back. Get them to the scene. Rangers should be on the way with the long hose. Be ready to get wet and cold." Ziva took the keys, and grabbed Critten by the arm, pulling him outside.
"I will take the cart. Follow me with the car. We will most likely need the supplies that are in the trunk." Critten nodded, and ran in one direction towards the car, while Ziva ran around the back of the building. After cranking for a moment, the cart finally started, and Ziva backed out of its little spot. Once she got it turned around, she flew down the sidewalk, ramping over the curb, and through a snow drift that sent snow flying up in her face.
Critten followed her out of the lot, and parked behind the other cars at the end of the access road a few minutes later. He got into the trunk, and grabbed whatever supplies he could find helpful before meeting Ziva at the cart.
The sky was a hazy gray that covered the stars now that night was falling, and they were able to see the blaze through the trees. A long line of people were forming the fire up and down the access road.
"Oh my god," Critten said. "We gotta find Greg." Ziva nodded, and they took off towards the inferno. Halfway down the road, Critten put his hand on Ziva's shoulder. "Wait! Stop!" He climbed out of the cart as Ziva pulled it to a halt, and he lifted half of the buckets out and handed it to one person with instructions to take one and pass them along. He handed the other half to the person next to them, and told them to pass them in the other direction, before climbing back into the cart. "The sooner they can start getting water over there, the better." Ziva nodded, and continued down the path towards the fire.
They both jumped out of the tiny vehicle as soon as it stopped near a group of people that were gathering closer to the fire. "Gibbs! Tony!" Ziva began shouting.
"Greg! Greg, where in the hell are you?! Boss! BOSS!" Critten started yelling.
====NCIS====NCIS====NCIS====
Tim and Parke heard the sounds of sirens going off around the park, and it stirred them on towards the smoke and flames, a sense of dread washing over them. It seemed to take forever to get there through the snow. What normally would have taken Tim seven or so minutes to run on his warm-up mile in the morning, took more than ten due to the thick blanket of snow weighing him down. Parke was right next to him, trudging through the snow furiously. Both were panting from the mix of freezing cold air, the urgent dash, and a heavy dose of fear.
Halfway down the path, Tim started yelling for his team. "Tony! Gibbs! Can you hear me?" When his breath failed him, Parke's took over.
"Boss! Agent Gibbs! Boss! Answer me, damn it!"
They were less than a quarter of a mile away when they started smelling the smoke, and realized that they were downwind of the fire. Both men found ways to cover their faces as they ran, pulling their jackets and sleeves away only to yell out for their people.
"McGee!" a familiar voice finally hollered. Both Tim and Parke froze, looking around them to find where it was coming from. McGee was baffled, sure he was hearing things. "McGee! Over here!" Both men looked to their left, and saw a man on his feet, leaning against a tree.
"Fornell?" Tim yelled, running over to him. "What in the hell are you doing here?"
"It's a long story. Gimme a hand," Fornell said, and that's when Parke realized that Fornell was hunched over the figure of his little brother, leaning against a tree.
"Shane!" he gasped, and ran towards him. "Oh, God, Shane! Shane! Are you okay?" He crouched down next to his brother, checking him over. He was a little dazed, but conscious.
"Greg? What the hell? Greg? Is that you?" The younger man looked up at him with dark eyes, squinting like he couldn't believe it was him.
"Oh, thank God! Thank God!" Parke pulled Shane against his chest, holding him close.
"Fornell! Where are Gibbs and Tony?" Tim asked frantically.
"They were running off to the right when the place went up. I can barely stand. I'm pretty sure I broke my ankle." Tim nodded, and reached out a hand as he started jumping backwards.
"Stay right there! I'll be right back!" he shouted, running off to find the others with the first aid kit in hand.
"Not like I have much of another option!" Fornell called after him before turning to look back down at the Parke brothers in confusion.
Tim ran off towards the trees, yelling for Gibbs and Tony. He saw debris from the trailer that had made its way into the bushes from the explosion, and tried to decipher what were track marks from that, versus what were footprints from two men running. He finally heard the sounds of Tony's groans, and tumbled down into the snow to pull him up. There were pieces of debris nearby, and Tim saw blood coming out of the side of Tony's head.
"McGee?"
"Yeah, Tony, it's me. Hold on, we gotta stop this bleeding." McGee sat the first aid bag down, and opened it up, trying to keep Tony propped against him. He pulled out a pack of gauze pads, and held it firmly to Tony's head.
"Tim, where's Gibbs?"
"I'm not sure, Tony. I found you first."
Tony reached up, and pressed down on Tim's hand on the gauze. "I got this, Tim. Go find Gibbs. Please." He met Tim's eyes for a long moment, and Tim nodded. He left Tony to try to stop the bleeding on his own, and took off on the search for Gibbs.
It only took a minute before Tim found him, passed out, face first in the snow. "Tony! Tony, I found him! Can you walk?" Tim reached down to find Gibbs' pulse on his neck, gently shaking him. "Gibbs! Gibbs, come on! Wake up!" He noticed that Gibbs' leg was bleeding, and when he supported his head as he turned him over, he felt the large golf ball-sized knot forming on the back of his head. He winced as he realized how bad that must have hurt.
"McGee?" Gibbs finally croaked.
"Yeah, Boss! It's me!" Tim let out a sigh of relief. "Hold still a minute, Boss. Get your bearings."
Tim looked up with a smile as Tony tried making his way towards them, leaning on every tree along the way. "He's okay, Tony. Take a second," Tim said, already getting into the first aid kit to get out supplies to patch together Gibbs' leg.
Gibbs tried to sit up, his face scrunching up in confusion and pain, and he felt the world spin around him. He had barely propped himself up on his elbows, and the forest began turning into a blur of brown, gray, and eerie nighttime-snow-blue.
"Just wait, Boss," Tim said. He took off his scarf, and wrapped it around Gibbs' neck gently, trying to think of anything and everything to protect his boss from the cold while he worked on his leg. There were chunks of splintered wood sticking out of it, and he cringed as he knew he was pulling a piece of the trailer from him. Gibbs was oblivious to the pain, and pretty much everything else, until Tony flopped down on the ground next to him.
"What the hell just happened, Jethro?" Tony asked, his vision blurry, and his speech slurring, as if though he'd had one drink too many.
"Tony? I have no idea." Tony scooted over so that Gibbs could lean against him, and together, they managed to sit Gibbs up.
"Did I really just see Fornell come out of that trailer, or did I hit my head that hard?" Tony asked.
"Yeah, that was Fornell. He's got a lot of explaining to do," Gibbs said, the grumpy growl making Tim move faster.
"If it makes you feel any better," McGee consoled, "He thinks he broke his ankle."
Tony snorted. "I'm so cold, I don't know how I'm feeling anything at all."
Tim paused what he was doing, and reached into the first aid kit. He ripped open the packaging to a foil looking blanket, and handed it to Tony, who tried to wrap it around him and Gibbs. A couple of minutes later, Tim started pouring antiseptic on Gibbs' leg, and the older man grunted.
"I definitely felt that! What the hell, McGee?"
"Sorry, Boss. Just a minute here, and we'll see if we can get you on your feet." Tim finished wrapping Gibbs' leg up in gauze, and taped it down. "Okay, let's hope that holds until we can get back to the main road." McGee packed up the supplies, and reached down to help Tony up first.
Tony got to his feet a little too fast, and the ground tried to come up to meet him.
"Whoa, there, Tony. I'm going to need you steady here," Tim said, reaching to steady him.
Gibbs looked up at Tony, and realized he had a bloody sponge of gauze stuck to his clotting head. "Damn it, Tony! What the hell happened to you?"
"Same thing that happened to you, I guess. The trailer spit itself at me, and it won." He reached up, and gingerly touched his head. "And I might have hit a rock on the way down. Honestly, I'm not really sure."
Tim saw the anxious look on Gibbs' face, and realized that he wasn't looking at him like a concerned boss, but a frightened lover. "He'll be fine, Gibbs. Tony's head could probably take a house falling on it."
Gibbs tried to shoot Tim a glare, but when he saw the worried look on his SFA's face, he knew that his joke was only to try to lighten the mood. Tim reached down, and offered Gibbs a hand getting to his feet. They somehow managed, but when they tried limping away, and Tony could barely walk along with them because of how dizzy his was, Tim started wondering if he would have to leave one there, and come back for them.
They made their way closer to the burning trailer, and Tim suddenly heard the sounds of Ziva's voice floating through the trees.
"Ziva!" he yelled back, trying not to yell in Gibbs' ear. "Ziva! Over here!"
The petite frame began jumping over logs, and running through the snow towards them. Tim could hear her muttering something that sounded Hebrew as she came tumbling towards them.
"You are both alright?" she asked, looking both men up and down for signs of injury. She winced at the sight of Tony's bloody head wound, and saw how badly Gibbs was limping.
"I think so," Tony said, trying to take another step forward, and swaying a bit. Ziva was by his side immediately, helping him along. Tim gave her a grateful frown, and together, the four of them made a slow procession back towards the group of people near the trailer.
By the time they made it back, the line of people along the road had begun passing buckets down with water and snow it them, throwing them on the fire. They weren't doing much to put it out, but they were keeping it under control while the flames consumed everything they could. Fornell was sitting on the back of the golf cart, a park ranger wrapping his ankle. Tim and Ziva led the other two men towards the cart as well, and they both found a place to perch.
Tony nudged Gibbs, and nodded to where Greg and Shane were wrapped up in a rough looking blanket together on a log. Shane was leaning against Greg, and Greg had his arm wrapped around him as they talked. Gibbs smiled at Tony.
"Can almost imagine them doing that fifteen years ago," he murmured in Tony's ear. Tony smiled brightly at him, and had to stop himself before he leaned in closer, and exposed them.
The ranger finished wrapping Fornell's foot, and offered to drive the three men back to the main road, where the ambulances were waiting on them. Ziva nodded, and told him that they would be right behind them.
"After I drop them off, I'll come back for you, if you'd like to wait here," he offered.
"That would be very nice of you," she said with a smile. He tipped his hat at her, and Gibbs and Tony settled in for the quick ride up to the main road. Tim came to stand next to Ziva as they pulled away.
"I don't know what in the hell just happened, but I can't remember the last time I was so scared," he said quietly to her. She turned, and looked up at him, wrapping her arms around her to stay warm.
"I cannot either," she said quietly. They turned to look at Parke and Shane. "And those two- I do not remember ever being that closer to my brother. They are lucky to have one another."
"Yeah, they are. I don't know what I'd do if I had no idea where Sarah was for so long. I need to remember to call her when I get home; make some time to catch up." Ziva rested her hand on Tim's shoulder, and realized he was shaking.
"Are you okay, McGee?" she asked softly.
"We could have lost them both, Ziva." Tim swallowed hard. "Tony's always been the one to watch Gibbs' back. He's the only one Gibbs has ever let have his back like that, and now I'm going to have to do it. I don't know if I can. Gibbs is a hard person to keep up with on a good day, but when he goes off and gets himself into situations like this-"
"McGee!" Ziva said, grabbing an arm in each hand. "You found them. They are okay. You took care of them. You got here as quickly as you could, and you took care of them both. You are already filling Tony's boots nicely. You are going to do great."
"Shoes," Tim said, shrugging the tiniest bit. "But this was different. This time, we showed up after the fact. What am I going to do when we're in a sticky situation, and I have to have his back? What then? We don't… read each other, like he and Tony always have. We don't understand each other's way of thinking like they do…"
"McGee, he trusts you. There is no doubt in my mind that he trusts you."
Tim swallowed again. He knew that was what it all came down to in the end- that he was afraid that Gibbs wouldn't trust him when the time came, and he needed to. He was afraid it was going to take experiencing that kind of trust in order to make him believe he had earned it, and he was terrified of what the situation would look like that finally brought that to light.
-XXncisXX-
Greg couldn't believe that he was holding Shane in his arms. He felt his warm breath against his shoulder, and he could feel his hair against his face as he clung to him, but he still couldn't believe he had his little brother's arms around him. Shane was shaking violently, and Greg knew he was in shock. Between the fear of the explosion, and the freezing cold, it was to be expected.
Wedged between them was the photo album. The corner of it was poking Greg in the thigh, but he really couldn't care less. He had found Shane, more or less safe and sound, and he was going to be able to protect him. In that moment, Shane wasn't the stocky, muscular twenty-four year old man that had spent years in a gang; he was the scared little boy that Shane would protect from abusive foster-parents and playground bullies. He held onto him tightly while he could, and found relief in knowing that he was still trusted enough to be able to be the big brother.
Critten stood by a tree a distance away, watching the two of them together. He jumped when he suddenly felt McGee's hand on his shoulder, squeezing gently.
"That, is what we do," Tim said quietly, his hand still on Critten's shoulder. Critten looked up at him, his eyes squinting as he tried to understand what was happening. He looked back at the Parke brothers, and Tim saw the realization dawning on his face. "I have doubted my place on this team plenty of times, especially at the beginning. I don't have the undercover skills that Tony has, or the fighting skills that Ziva has, and no one will ever say that I have anything resembling Gibbs' natural sense of power and control, but what I do have, is the ability to maneuver through today's technology, and that technology lets me connect people. Whether it's connecting the good guys with the bad guys, or in cases like this, the good guys with the good guys, at the end of a case, I know that I was crucial to bringing people together. Tony always jokes with me about my people skills, and my interactions with people, but in the end, we all feel the same when we see that." Critten looked up at him with a curious smile. "We feel like we've done good." Tim smiled broadly at him, squeezing his shoulder again. "Glad you're here."
He left Critten standing there, watching the scene in front of him, and went to talk to the park rangers that were directing the fire line as they tossed bucket after bucket on the fire. As he stood off from the group as they talked, he made eye contact with one of the rangers to make sure he wasn't interrupting.
One of the men in the group broke away, striding towards him with a stern expression that made McGee steel himself.
"Ernest Cunningham," the man said, reaching a gloved hand out for McGee to shake. McGee pulled his bloody glove off quickly, and took the man's hand.
"Sorry. Had to do some patchwork on my boss and teammate. Still a bit…" he trailed off, shrugging slightly. The ranger nodded.
"Phil said you guys are with NCIS," he said rather brusquely.
"Yes, we are, and Agent Fornell is FBI. We came here to locate Shane, after his brother, Greg Parke, one of our agents, found out that he was in danger. The situation is still unclear as to what's happening. We had no idea an explosion was even a remote possibility. We were made aware of a person tracking him down, but there was no indication for our agents that the type of person we're investigating would have had access to anything that could do this. I'm hoping Agent Fornell has more information, but again, we hadn't been made aware that he was investigating the situation either. This was sprung on us rather suddenly."
Tim looked past the ranger towards the burning rubble of the trailer. The flames were decreasing as the small structure was reduced to ashes and embers, and the way the flames were melting the snow off of the trees around it helped to extinguish it. "Never thought I'd be so happy to see so much snow. It probably protected the trees around here. Any other day, and I would have expected the damage to be much worse."
The ranger looked a little surprised by McGee's concern for the habitat. He looked up at the branches above the trailer rubble, and then back at McGee.
"Yeah, some minor damage, but nothing too extreme. We're all thankful it didn't happen a few months ago. After such a dry summer, everything would have gone down. The force of the explosion sent chunks of wood everywhere, and the fire would have spread quickly. The snow is so thick, everything tossed was extinguished."
McGee nodded at the ranger, visions of the entire forest being on fire with Tony and Gibbs lying in the brush racing through his head.
"I need to get back to the road so that I can check on my boss, and find out what we're going to do with the scene. What do you need from us?" he asked, trying to think about something, anything, else.
"We'd sure like to know why this happened. Park Director said it was about Shane, but I didn't even know Shane had brother, nonetheless that he's a Fed. We're pretty fond of the guy around here. Dr. S calls him her protégé. Other than that, a basic report would suffice, so that when we put in to have the trailer replaced, it will be covered under the insurance. Those are your cars down there, I take it?" he asked.
"Yeah, we'll get them out of the way, and back to the resource lot for you," Tim said, looking down the road, and seeing the line of people stretching down, still passing buckets.
"I'm going to send some of these folks back with you, if you wouldn't mind getting them to the resource center, and help them start getting warm."
McGee nodded. "Sure, anything we can do."
They started walking towards the line of people. "The Director will be there with blankets, a change of clothes, towels and coffee for everybody. He's got bad lungs, so he had to stay away from the fire. Got caught in the wildfires down south back in '85, and scarred his lungs pretty badly."
Ernest began pulling people from the line, and sent them walking down the road. McGee watched as Ziva got Parke and Shane into the golf cart, and they headed off as well. Critten came to stand with him.
"What are we doing?" he asked.
"We're going to get these people down to the road, put them in our cars, and start shuttling them back to the resource center. We'll need to check in with Gibbs, Tony and Fornell first to know what the steps will be after that." McGee watched as Critten took in the scene around them. He felt like something was different about him, and knew that something was changing for the younger agent that night.
McGee and Critten checked in with Ernest before leaving.
"How many are you sending?" McGee asked.
"Half the line. Another group is preparing to replace them, and should be here pretty soon," Ernest said, tapping a blonde woman that was soaked and shivering.
"What is the Parke Director's name, so we know who to talk to when we get in there?"
"Phillip Jenkins. Everyone just calls him Phil though. Thought you met him already?"
McGee looked at Critten. "Yeah, we met him, but he didn't tell us he was the Park Director," Critten said.
Ernest chuckled. "He's not what anyone thinks of when they consider the person responsible for the whole park, at least not when you first meet him. He's the kind of guy that would prefer to be in the trenches with everyone, does his fair share of the work load, and when weather is bad, he fills in at the RC, and makes sure everyone is somewhere safe and warm. On top of that, he's friendly, personable, and yet manages to instill the fear of God into you when push comes to shove. And you should have seen him take on the suits when they tried to pull funding for the park a couple years back! Whew, do not mess with his parks! No, sir!"
McGee smiled at Critten, and nodded at Ernest. He decided he liked both Ernest and Phil, and would make sure their toes weren't stepped on during their investigation. "I'll be sure not to do that," he joked. "We'd better get going. Gotta check in on Gibbs and Tony, and find out what we're going next, then get your people back to the center to get warm before they need more than blankets and coffee."
Ernest nodded at him, and slugged his shoulder before he and Critten took off down the road. There was a trail worn into the snow by time they started making their way that made things easier, and both men were grateful.
"People are never quite what they seem, I guess," Critten said quietly as they started off.
"That's one thing that has never really stopped surprising me," McGee replied. "Probably never will."
-XXNCISXX-
Gibbs, Tony and Fornell found ambulances waiting for them back on the main road. The park ranger they were with, helped Fornell hobble over to one of them. Tony and Gibbs wrapped their arms around one another's waists, and together, they managed to get to the other. The paramedics jogged up to meet them as they sat down in the back of the open vehicles. Even as they sat there, Tony's arm stayed around Jethro, and Jethro's arm stayed around Tony. Neither of them were aware of it, and they didn't see the little smile on the paramedic that began looking them over.
She saw that Gibbs' leg had started bleeding again, and hopped up into the truck to pull him to his feet, and help him into a seat. Tony stood up to try to get up there too, and suddenly turned, hanging on to the ambulance door, while he puked around the side of the vehicle.
"Tony?" Gibbs asked, trying to get to his feet before remembering he wasn't well either.
Tony held up his hand to tell him to stay put while he threw up the meager contents left in his stomach, most of which was coffee from their ride up. He had already known that he had a concussion because he was so dizzy, and he could tell his words were jumbling, but this confirmed it for him. The second paramedic from the truck had been helping Fornell get up into the other ambulance, but he ran over to Tony, motioning for the woman assisting Gibbs to hand him something.
Gibbs looked up at her as she reached into a cabinet, and grabbed a bottle of water and blanket. The man took them, and opened the blanket up to wrap around Tony, then opened the bottle of water to let him take a mouthful. "Don't swallow this, just rinse." Tony nodded, unfortunately familiar with the procedure. After Tony had followed his instructions, he helped him up into the ambulance, and sat him down on the gurney.
Gibbs sat back again now that he knew Tony was okay, and the woman placed a blanket around him as well. She smiled at him, and Gibbs felt her genuine warmth and concern. He tried to let go, and allow her to do what she had to do. "I'm Alexis, and this is John. We'll get you guys taken care of, don't worry Mister…?" She paused, waiting for Gibbs to fill in the blank.
"Special Agent Gibbs, NCIS. You can just call me Gibbs, everyone else does. That's Special Agent Tony DiNozzo."
"Right. Well, don't worry Agent Gibbs. Let's see what's going on. Looks like your leg got it pretty bad, and you're probably going to need sutures. Let's see your eyes." She pulled out a penlight, and flashed them in Gibbs' eyes. He pulled back, and she noticed his left iris barely constricted under the bright light. "And it looks like you've got a concussion as well. How's your head feel?" she asked. "Got any bumps or cuts?"
Gibbs reached up, touched the spot where the large lump was forming on his head, and winced. "Oh, yeah." Alexis looked back to where he touched, gently fingering some of his short silver strands away without touching the actual bump.
"That looks like a doozy. Sounds like you're taking a ride with Tony." She turned to look at John, and he nodded seriously as he checked both of Tony's eyes.
"Let's get you both buckled in," John said, leaning Tony back on the gurney.
Parke came over to the back of the bus, and leaned in. "Boss? You okay?"
"I'm alive. Your brother okay?"
"They're taking him in. He's in some pretty bad shock. I'm going with him."
Tony looked up at John, "We all need to go to the same place. Don't let them split us up, and call in an escort. His brother is under protective custody. Someone just tried to kill him." John looked at Alexis, who nodded and jumped out of the bus, jogging around to the front seat to make the call.
Parke jumped up and in to look Tony over really quick. "I've got my satellite phone. Do you want me to call anyone for you? Next of kin, or someone who can do your paperwork?"
Tony chuckled, and it made his head throb. Parke turned when Gibbs' voice startled him from behind. "Agent Parke, I'm his proxy. Don't worry, he'll be fine. Go be with your brother."
Both Tony and Gibbs saw the look of confusion on Parke's face, and Tony winced as he tried to sit up. John lifted the gurney so he wouldn't be laying so flat. "Greg, go. I'll be fine."
Parke nodded slowly, and jumped down to go back to Shane.
"Wait," Gibbs said, reaching into his pocket, and wincing at the motion. "Tell Ziva to take our car, and meet us at the hospital." He tossed the key to the younger man, who nodded again, and ran off to hand the key over to Ziva.
Alexis came back to join them, and she and John switched places so that she'd be riding in the back as John drove. The doors to the ambulance closed, and she strapped Gibbs into his seat. He and Tony locked eyes.
"What?!" Gibbs said. "What was I supposed to say with you sitting there laughing like a maniac?"
"I don't know. Are we going to tell them? I mean, I want to tell them. I'm going to be working with them, and I need to know that they trust me, but can they really trust me if I don't tell them?" He held up his finger to hold the thought as the vehicle started moving, and they bounced along the drive.
Alexis handed him a kidney shaped cardboard pan, and he immediately ended up using it. "Thanks," he said as she handed him his bottle of water to rinse with. She smiled, and took the pan, dropping it into a biowaste can, and handed him a fresh one in case he needed it again. Gibbs looked at him like he wanted to do more, anxious about how bad Tony must have gotten hit if he was so concussed to be throwing up. He had learned the levels of damage over the years, and the way Tony's words were just slightly off, and the heavy glaze on his eyes, told him that his lover was much worse off than he was letting on.
"I don't care if they know, Tony. Leon might though, so be sure you're ready for this. I'd hate to see this come down wrong if for some reason word got out." Gibbs leaned the good side of his head against the cabinet next to him.
"I'm tired of hiding already. To hell with it. If he tries to put me somewhere else, we'll build a boat, and sail away to somewhere warm." Tony leaned back against the gurney, closing his eyes.
"Tony!" Gibbs snapped.
Alexis turned around from the report she was filling out, and shook Tony's shoulder. "No sleeping, Agent DiNozzo." Tony's eyes snapped open. "No one slips into a coma under my watch."
"Sorry, just so tired this time." Tony swallowed hard.
"This time?" she asked, then looked at Gibbs. "How many times has he done this?"
"You mean how many concussions have I had? I stopped counting at a dozen, but McGee has been keeping tally, and I currently hold the NCIS record." Alexis looked at him sternly.
"You know how important it is then for you to stay awake and alert. Sounds like you have something important to figure out anyway, and soon. We'll be there in ten. If you two want to be in the same room, your agent is going to figure y'all out. So, decide." She gave Gibbs the same stern look she was giving Tony, and he realized their lack of discretion. "Hell, I had the two of you figured out the first moment I saw you. Your agents are going to figure it out soon enough if you keep acting all protective of each other." She waved a hand in the air, and went back to filling out her report. Tony laughed again, and Gibbs sighed heavily.
"I'm going to tell them. I'd prefer to tell them together though, so hopefully Critten is following us."
Gibbs smiled at him. He wasn't quite sure what he was feeling, but it was something good, and it ran deep.
"You look surprised," Tony said, a small smile on his own face.
Gibbs shrugged.
"I'm not ashamed of us, Jethro. They're my team now, and it's already becoming personal. It took our team years to get that way, but I've been over them, what? A week now? And already I've got a concussion for 'em. I've got a feeling we're going to be pretty tight knit, and in that case, not telling them about the most important person in my life would be…"
"Betrayal," Alexis supplied, finished with her report.
Tony looked at her in shock, gesturing with his hands at her interjection into their personal conversation. "What? I've been there!" she snapped. "And you can't talk, and not expect me to hear. I'm standing right here." Gibbs chuckled, and Tony looked at him in shock as well, but he couldn't help but smile broadly.
The ambulance slowed down, and Alexis braced herself. A moment later, they bumped over the entrance curb to the hospital, and came to a stop. As the door opened, Tony saw the flashing blue and red lights reflecting off of the building, and knew that they were given the requested police escort. Nurses came along with a wheelchair for Gibbs, and then Tony's gurney was pulled out of the bus. There was a flurry of nurses and paramedics as they were all unloaded, and taken into the hospital.
Tony saw Alexis talking to a woman that appeared to be the head nurse, and they pointed to both him and Gibbs. He watched their discussion curiously. Gibbs was leaning forward in the wheelchair they had put him in, watching as Fornell was wheeled in, chewing out his nurse. Tony was distracted by Gibbs' snickering, and he looked at him.
Gibbs shot him a look, a silent invitation to watch the events unfolding, and Tony craned his neck to see. Fornell was complaining about having to be wheeled in, demanding a set of crutches so he could be on his way. The further down the hall they wheeled him, the paler he got. Gibbs looked back up at Tony and whispered, "He's afraid of hospitals." Tony struggled to keep the bark of laughter in, gasping for air as he turned his head towards the wall, and tried to desperately contain himself.
"Having fun yet, Tobias?" Gibbs asked, the smirk obvious in his voice. That broke all of Tony's restraint and he burst out laughing, grabbing his head as the bandaged area of his temple began throbbing.
Alexis came to stand next to him, checking the bandage with a nurse. His head wound had begun bleeding again, and he moaned. The laughter left Gibbs' voice. "Tony? You okay?"
"Yeah, Jethro. I'll be okay." His words slurred a little more this time, and he laid back to try breathing slowly. He chewed on his lip, concentrating on letting the pain subside.
Alexis' voice was soft near his ear. "I told the head nurse to make sure you and Agent Gibbs are kept in the same room, since you're each other's medical proxies. That way you can be sure of the other's condition." Tony smiled faintly up at her.
"Thanks for everything, Alexis."
"Good luck, and take care of each other," she said quietly, and squeezed his arm before smiling at Gibbs, who nodded at her. A moment later, she was gone, and Tony and Gibbs were both being moved into a room.
They saw Fornell, Shane and Parke go by their room, and be placed in the room next door. The officers that escorted them to the hospital took up a post outside of their rooms, and Tony turned to look over at Gibbs. "I know I should really want to know what's going on, but all I really want, is to be curled up on your couch in front of the fireplace, sleeping."
"Am I there, too?" Gibbs asked, looking at Tony's pale face and glazed eyes. He wanted to forget the entire day, starting at the moment they had been awakened by Tony's phone ringing.
"Oh, you're definitely there." Tony winked at him, and then let his head fall back and his eyes close.
"Tony! Wake up! You can't sleep. Come on, stay with me." Gibbs sat up in the bed they had put him in, and winced when his own head swam. He picked up the box of tissues on the small table next to him, and pelted it at Tony's stomach. Tony sat up startled. Gibbs sat back in relief.
The doctor and two nurses walked in, and headed over to Tony's bed. They began setting up an IV, and Gibbs watched as the doctor examined Tony, and asked him questions. He saw Tony look at him a couple of times, and wondered if his answers would have been different if he wasn't in the room. Everything he was saying sounded truthful though, and he tried not to stress. Tony would be fine, and he knew that, but he hated seeing him in pain, and the fact that he wasn't hiding how much pain he was in this time meant it was bad.
"We'll get you in for a CT shortly. For now, we're going to put some Tylenol in your IV for the pain, and something for the nausea. Linda here will get the gash on your head cleaned up, and we'll see if you need sutures if the bleeding doesn't stop. It's not a fun place to have stitches, so if we can butterfly it, we would rather." Tony nodded, wincing as he instinctively touched the area they were talking about. The doctor took his hand, and pulled it back down. "And touching that probably won't help," he said with good humor.
"Yeah, figuring that out," Tony joked back. The doctor nodded, and then turned to Gibbs, pulling a stool up next to his bed.
"How you doing over here Agent Gibbs?" he asked.
"Been better, Doc." Tony turned to watch Gibbs' evaluation as intently as Gibbs had watched his. He ignored Linda's shuffling around him as she loaded his IV with the medications, and looked past her as she cleaned his dressing. She was the nurse that Alexis had been talking to, and she made room so that Tony could watch Gibbs and the doctor talk.
The doctor examined Gibbs' eyes with his light, and told him that he'd have the joy or a CT as well, and then looked at the knot on the back of his head. After that, he moved to Gibbs' leg, and unwrapped the dressing. He nodded, and turned to the other nurse. "Hey, Sylvia? He's going to need sutures, and there's still some smaller splinters in here we're going to have to dig out." He met Gibbs's calm expression. "This isn't going to be pleasant. Would you like a local?"
"Why not? If I'm going to be stuck in this bed all night anyway, it's not going to hurt anything."
The doctor looked at Sylvia, and she nodded, leaving the room to gather what they would need. Gibbs looked at Tony, who looked to his leg, and then back. Gibbs gave him a faint smile, and leaned back to stare at him. Tony did the same, and they locked eyes while they waited for Sylvia to come back, and Linda to finish cleaning and bandaging Tony's wound.
-XNCISX-
Ziva drove a car full of people back to the Resource Center, and led them inside. They were met by Phil with towels, blankets and clothes, shuffling them off into the back offices to change and dry off. Tim and Critten each showed up with more, and Critten said he was going back for another load.
Ziva stepped outside, and pulled out her satellite phone. Abby answered on the first ring. "This is Abby!"
"Abby!" Ziva started, not looking forward to delivering the news of what had happened so far. "Abby, I have to tell you something, but before I do, let me tell you that everyone is safe."
"Ziva, I don't like the sound of that. What's going on?" Abby's voice was suddenly shaky and quiet.
"There was an explosion. Gibbs and Tony were running from the blast, and both got hit with debris. They have been taken to the hospital, but both are conscious, and able to hold conversations." Abby sighed on the other end, and Ziva continued. "Agent Fornell was there as well, and he hurt his ankle. It appears to be broken. We have located Shane Douglas, though he is going by Shane Parke. He was also taken to the hospital, though it appears that was for shock."
"Wait, why was Fornell there?" Abby asked.
"That has not been determined yet. With the chaos of the explosion, and all of the people it took to put the fire out, we had to start getting those that were damp and left out in the cold, to some place safe and warm. McGee, Critten and I are at the park's office. We are going to be heading over to the hospital soon to figure out exactly what happened, but I wanted to let you know before the notification came through."
"How is Timmy doing?" Abby asked.
"He is doing well. He located both Gibbs and Tony after the blast, and managed to get them back on their feet. When I found them, we got them out of the woods, and then he started talking to the park rangers." Ziva looked around to make sure no one was there to hear her, and then began speaking softly into the phone. "He is actually doing much better than I expected him to. I knew he would be able to do the job, but I had not expected him to take control so easily when it was needed. He does not feel so confident, but he has no reason to doubt himself. For his first real case as Gibbs' Senior Field Agent, he has certainly proven himself worthy."
"Ziva! How could you doubt him?!"
"I only doubted he would do so as naturally as he has. You would be very proud of him, Abby."
"I always am. So, what hospital are our guys at?" Abby asked, already tapping away at her computer.
"I am not sure. I was hoping you could tell me. We were trying to get people to some place dry when the ambulances left, and my cell phone does not work at all out here." Ziva could hear Abby clicking away on the other end of the line. She pinged Gibbs' cell, and got a response.
"They're at Williamsport Regional. I just sent directions to your phones, and the car's GPS units. You'll basically get back on 87, and take it south into Williamsport, and my guess is there will be signs, because it's like, right by some little airport. Has anyone told the Director yet?" Abby's mind was racing with a million things, but she was hoping that there might be a way to take a plane out to that little airport, and get over to the hospital.
"I believe McGee is doing that right now. I am going to go find out if we are able to leave. I just saw Critten come back with the last group of volunteers for the fire line."
"Fire line? As in, person to person, bucket to bucket, that kind of fire line?" Abby asked, her fingers stopping their investigations on her keyboard.
"Yes. The explosion was in the middle of the forest, and they were running buckets to put it out because the snow would not allow any vehicles to get close to the fire. All we had was a small cart with a snow shovel on it that they use for the parking lots."
"Huh!" Abby exclaimed. "That's kind of nifty that they still do that. I suspect I had better start digging so that way when the Director asks me to find out what happened to Gibbs and Tony, I have something I can tell him. Send Timmy my love, and let Gibbs and Tony know when you see them that I'm doing everything I can, and they had better call me as soon as they are able! I want to hear that they're okay!" Abby said, sounding somewhat distraught as her voice broke.
"I will make sure they call you as soon as possible. You will probably hear from them before I see them," she said, trying to comfort her.
"I'm sending you all mental hugs!" Abby said.
Ziva laughed as the phone disconnected, and she headed back in to find McGee.
"We're in the clear to head over to the hospital," he said. "I called Vance, and he said that he had just gotten word from the FBI that our investigations had stumbled into one another. The FBI will be coming in to take care of the scene. Apparently, they were following a trail of bomb making supplies, and somehow, that crossed something to do with Shane. Fornell will have the details for us."
Ziva nodded.
"I spoke with Abby. She says to send you her love, and made me promise to have Gibbs and Tony call her." She watched McGee's face light up at the mention of Abby. She made a note to herself to call Dion once they got the information on the case at the hospital. Making sure Gibbs and Tony were okay was first priority, and it was a priority that she was getting more and more anxious to take care of.
Tim talked to Phil for a few minutes, and then collected Critten from the throng of park employees that he was taking care of. On the way out, Phil stopped them. He handed them each a large plastic thermal cup with the park's logo on it. "For the road," he said. "Good luck." They all smiled at the cup of coffee in their hands, and Tim shook his hand again, thanking him before they turned to leave.
They each took a car, and caravanned out of the park. Critten turned the radio up, a little hard rock playing that he jammed to. He thought about what McGee had said to him in the forest as he pounded out a beat on the steering wheel, and intermittently sucked down some of the strong coffee in his new travel mug. He had seriously doubted his place on the team for the past six months, constantly wondering if that was where he really needed to be. When he was able to track down the missing boys with Parke in the Northridge case, it felt wonderful, and then Simmons had doused the spark of hope that was being kindled within him that maybe he was where he belonged after all.
Watching Greg and Shane together had been even more fulfilling, because he personally knew how crucial his work was to finding Shane's location, and just how much it meant to Greg to find his brother. There were those few magical words that McGee had said though, that meant the world to him, and he let them sink deeply into him, making him feel like he finally belonged: Glad you're here. Nothing had ever felt so right as being there tonight, and he realized right there, in the middle of the forest, that he was happy, and NCIS was home.
-XXXNCISXXX-
Tony came back from his CT to an empty room. He had just passed Gibbs in the hall as he waited for his. He'd watched the doctor pull piece after piece of wood from the deep gash in Gibbs' leg. McGee had pulled as many of the larger chunks out as possible, but without light, there was no way he could have gotten the slivers that the doctor had spent half an hour working on. Tony realized that Gibbs had been in real pain when he said okay to the local, and that had made him hyper vigilant, helping him over the sleepy hump that the concussion had been trying to pull him under by.
When the nurse came in, she brought Parke with her. The young agent pulled a chair up next to Tony, and sat down.
"Hey, Boss. How ya feeling?" he said quietly.
"I'm fine. Cat scan says that nothing fell out, but damn does it hurt like hell. Not my first knock over the head though. Doc isn't too happy with that. We're starting to wonder how many more I'll be able to take." Tony laid back, sipping on the water they had finally cleared him to have. "How's your brother?"
Parke smiled. "He's much better. They gave him something to help him relax, and he's sleeping. I've never been so relieved as when I saw him sitting there next to Agent Fornell. He wasn't really able to tell me everything that happened. First, there was the shock, and then the drowsiness of the medication. I'm hoping we'll get more information soon."
"I'm hoping to get some sleep soon. I can't even begin to tell you how tired I am," Tony admit. He kept looking towards the door, hoping that Gibbs would come through.
Parke looked over his shoulder at the doorway to see what Tony was looking at, and finding nothing there, he turned back. "So, how is Agent Gibbs?"
"Not sure. Waiting for the CT scan. His leg was pretty tore up, but he should be fine. Any word from the others?" he asked, trying to change the subject.
"They're on the way. Should be here soon."
"Good. Hopefully they'll get here, we can all find out what the hell happened, and I can pass out for a couple of hours. Gibbs hasn't had coffee in going on six hours now, and I think he's about ready to kill somebody." Tony let his eyes shut, and the room immediately felt like it was spinning. "I used to love the spinning rides when I was a kid. My mom would take me to the boardwalk, and to the fairs that would come around, and I would ride anything that spun. I'm pretty sure it was preparation for all of the head injuries. Dizziness is now my least favorite symptom of any illness or injury. I'd rather bleed profusely, be nauseous, in pain… but the dizziness makes everything feel unreal. I hate it."
The nurses wheeled Gibbs' bed back into the room, and locked it into place. Parke stood up to leave Tony and Gibbs alone to talk about Gibbs' CT scan, getting the feeling that he was intruding. "Careful, Agent Gibbs. I think they gave him painkillers. He's talking about amusement park rides."
Gibbs raised an eyebrow at Tony as Parke left. Tony shrugged. "Just a little bit of something, not a full dose. This one really hurts, Jethro."
"Yeah, I know." He watched Tony try to settle in, and he yearned to touch him. He looked at the door, and he sat up. Tony watched as Gibbs limped over and shut the door, then hobbled over to him. He brushed the hair away from Tony's bandage, sitting on the edge of the bed. His fingers slipped between Tony's, and their hands locked around one another tightly.
"This feels like it was meant to be- meant to show us what we're going to have to deal with when we're not able to be there for each other in the field. I don't like it," Tony admitted.
"I don't like it either, Tony. If it had been McGee and I going to that door alone, and Ziva had been the one to find us, I don't know if she could have done what McGee did. The whole dynamic of things, the balance, is going to be off now…"
"I'm going to miss you," Tony said, flat out stating what they both were thinking. "I'm going to miss you, and I'm not ever going to feel as safe as I feel as when I know you're there with me."
Gibbs swallowed hard. "I'm going to miss you, too, Tony," he said softly. He very gently leaned forward, and let his forehead lean against Tony's. Tony's hand came up, and grasped Jethro's neck, holding him there. A moment later, their lips touched, and the gentle kiss they shared conveyed the desperation they both felt, and the resignation to the fact that they were losing something very important to them.
