A/N: Okay, so...this is shorter than I'd originally anticipated. The stuff I'd planned to have in here, would've taken another day to get out. So I'm giving this as a part one of a two-part chapter... Does that work? Rofl well that's what's happenin'! XD
Thanks, as usual, for the reviews/support :) More tomorrow, assuming nothing comes up that I can't write...
11 00 11 00 11
It was nearing six o'clock, and still no word from McGee. "Must be a pretty big case," Tony thought. Not this it was unusual, or even rare, for the team to be working past six.
Tony had talked to Jackson for a couple of hours, before the older man needed to hang up. Then he'd busied himself with a movie, until his stomach started growling. Now, he was fixing himself something for dinner. He really wanted something Italian. Mags was a decent cook, but she didn't really do wonders with pasta dishes.
He really wished someone was there to eat with him. Eating alone seemed...well...lonely. Ordinarily, when he'd be at his apartment, and knew he was eating alone, he'd order out. But he really had a hankering for some marinara...
11 00 11 00 11
"I want a car," John spoke into the phone as he paced back and forth in front of Jimmy. "An older model, without those damn GPS tracking things. Full tank of gas, and a gas can full in the trunk. Bottled water in the back seat. No tricks. I'm taking your man with me."
"I can't let you do that, John," Gibbs told him on the other line.
"You will. And you won't follow me. If I see anyone following me, he dies." Jimmy swallowed, nervously, as he watched and listened. "Once I feel like I'm far enough away, and safe, I'll let him go. I'll tell you where to find him, and you can come get him. But if you try anything funny beforehand, I will kill him, and then myself. And you lose."
"You do that, John, you make Alicia an orphan. You really want that? After all you've done to protect her?"
John was silent for a long moment, before replying. "Get me the car, Agent Gibbs. You've got one hour," he shut the phone...
*~.~*
35 minutes later...
"We really gonna do this, Boss?" McGee asked, as he slid the package of water bottles into the back seat.
"We don't have much of a choice, if we want Palmer back, alive."
"How do we know he will not just kill him, once he is far enough away?" Ziva questioned.
"What happened today, was done out of fear," Gibbs told them. "John's not a killer, at heart. He just wants to get out of here."
"He's off his meds," McGee chimed in. "That bottle of antidepressants we found in his glove compartment, they were refilled last week. It's a full bottle. He's been off of them for at least that long."
"That could explain a lot of why he reacted the way he did, today," Ducky chimed in. "Withdrawal can cause a wide variety of symptoms, including anxiety, agitation, aggressiveness, depersonalization, confusion..."
"Could it cause him to kill?" Gibbs asked.
"I suppose a combination of these symptoms, depending on how severe..."
"Could mean that he's serious when he says he will kill Palmer, if we don't let him leave," Gibbs told him. "But as long as he thinks he's safe, Palmer has a better chance of survival."
Ducky took a breath, "I agree."
McGee looked apprehensive about the decision, but was ready to follow any orders, and trust in his colleagues' judgment. He watched as Gibbs pulled out his phone and dialed. A few moments passed, before the line picked up.
"It's ready," Gibbs said into the phone.
"Make the cops leave," John demanded. "If you wanna stay and make sure your man is still okay, fine. But they leave. No one follows me."
"Okay. Give me ten minutes," he replied, before ending the call.
The next five and a half, were spent convincing the head officer to clear out his men. It took almost as long for the street to be cleared of any and all police personnel. It was another three, before John decided to come out, holding Jimmy in front of him like a shield.
Gibbs made eye-contact with the youngest member of their team. He was scared, but otherwise seemed well-composed. There was a bruise forming on his left cheek, he noticed, before making eye-contact with John.
John pushed Palmer into the car, through the driver's side, then climbed in, himself, pushing Jimmy over onto the other side.
The team watched as the car sped off, out of sight. McGee looked to his boss, about to ask what they should do next, when Gibbs picked up his phone.
"Got it, Abs?" he said into his phone.
"I'm on him, Bossman," she replied.
"Keep me posted," he said, then ended the call.
"Boss?"
"He's confused, alright," Gibbs told them. "Didn't want a GPS in the car, but he forgot there's one in his phone. We'll keep a mile behind him. Abby will tell us if he stops, so we don't get much closer. Once he lets Palmer go, we get him to safety, then catch up to John."
"We've only got one car, Boss," McGee said.
"I've got the van," Ducky informed.
"You need to get back to the Yard," Gibbs looked to him.
"I'll do no such thing, Jethro," he protested. "If that man decides to have an 'episode' before dropping young Mr. Palmer off, he could need immediate medical attention. I said it before, and I'll say it once again; I'm not leaving until he's safe..." he matched Gibbs' glare. "Besides, you'll need to be able to go after him, once Jimmy's been set free. It's a logical choice."
After several long moments, Gibbs replied, "Fine. You stay back farther from us. That van is a dead giveaway. He sees it, it could blow this whole op."
"You'll be a mile behind him. I doubt he'll see me."
"The LEOs were told not to inform the media," McGee stated. "But that doesn't mean it won't get leaked."
"If it does, Palmer's dead," Gibbs said, as they piled into their vehicles...
11 00 11 00 11
"He's stopping, Gibbs," Abby's voice sounded over the speaker. "He's still a mile ahead of you, but where he's stopping is in the middle of nowhere, literally."
"Maybe he's stopping to use the gas from the trunk," McGee suggested.
"It would be most ideal if he let Palmer go, now," Ziva chimed in. "Not only for us, but for him, if he wishes to continue after dropping him." It had been three hours that they'd been following him. Not really long enough to need gas, yet.
"Getting a call in, Boss," McGee said, when he heard the beep.
"Call ya back, Abs," Gibbs told her, before switching over. "Gibbs."
"You can pick up your man, Agent Gibbs," John told him. "Just inside Reading, Pennsylvania. I'm leaving him with a few bottles of water, but there's nowhere for him to go. So you best get there."
"Where will you go?"
"It's not really your problem anymore, is it?" the line cut off.
"McGee, call Abby. I wanna know where he's heading. Ziva, call Duck. Let him know where Palmer is..."
11 00 11 00 11
Jimmy sat, cross-legged, in the rocky dirt off the side of the road. He bit down on his lower lip as he stared somewhere across the road. Three bottles of water sat in his lap, unnoticed. John had driven them approximately three hours, North. It should be that long for the team to find him, he assumed. He had this lingering, unnerving feeling that John might backtrack and decide to come pick him up again, and this time, kill him off.
Suddenly very nervous, Jimmy pushed himself up onto his feet and looked around. There was nothing; nowhere to run to. Just a bunch of trees and road. Trees were better than nothing, though. The way John had been acting on their car ride, made it clear that the man was at his wit's end. He had no direction; no idea what he was going to do from that point on. And being killed by machete, wasn't on Jimmy's top favorite ways to die...
*~.~*
"He's headed West, Gibbs," Abby told them, over speaker. "He's stuck in traffic, so it seems. He's moving really slow."
"Let the local PD in the area know he's there. Put an APB out on the car. Ducky should get to Palmer in a couple of minutes," Gibbs relayed.
"On it," she said, ending the call. Gibbs pulled the car into a hard left, to get onto the interstate to take them West...
Tbc...