Fifty Three - Centaur's Scoop
Gibbs awoke with a start at his desk. He looked at his watch. 20:00. 8 PM. He next turned his gaze across his desk. Ducky sat comfortably in a chair reading a book.
"You put something in that drink, didn't you?" Gibbs asked. He put a hand to his face. The cut in his forehead had a bandage over it. There was no blood under his nose.
Ducky looked at Gibbs and smiled briefly.
"Oh, good, Boss! You're up!" Tony said, coming into the bull pen. "There's a long line of people in MTAC that want to talk to you. Sorry, Ducky wouldn't let me wake you up."
Gibbs glared at Ducky as he got up out of his seat and climbed the stairs.
Ducky and Tony watched Gibbs go and waited for the MTAC door to close before beginning to speak.
"What do you think, Ducky?" Tony asked.
"I think this case had better be solved very soon," Ducky sighed.
"Do you think he's good to keep going?" Tony asked concernedly.
"I don't think there's anything we ought to dare try to stop him with," Ducky said.
"I'm going to go warn McGonagall. She's got to deal with him on patrol," Tony said as he headed toward the door.
"Tony!" Ducky called. "Take Timothy with you."
"I'm just going to Professor McGonagall's office, Ducky."
"Take Agent McGee with you," Ducky repeated.
Tony sighed, but went into Abby's lab and retrieved McGee before leaving.
Professor McGonagall watched Gibbs trudge on ahead of her. Just as Agent DiNozzo had warned, he moved slower, talked less, and seemed over all much more aggravated. She also noticed that he wasn't as careful as he had previously been. He left more footprints and they were much deeper. He seemed to have forgotten stealth and was focused on just moving forward.
"Prints," Gibbs said lowly, pointing at the hoof shapes on the ground. He began following them.
"Officer David's things were in the other direction," McGonagall pointed out.
"She's moved by now," Gibbs said shortly. "Our best bet is to find the centaurs."
"Yesterday you didn't want to find the centaurs."
"Yesterday Ziva and Ginny were with them and I didn't want to set the centaurs off. Ziva and Ginny are gone now, so I don't really care how the centaurs react to us. Do you have any other objections or can we keep moving?"
McGonagall considered asking how Gibbs knew Ginny and Ziva were not with the centaurs, but she looked more closely at the prints. Heading back in the direction of Ziva's things with the centaur prints were boot prints. There were none going away from the site with the hooves. "Where are Ginny's prints?" McGonagall asked instead.
"Other than this, Ziva's been ghosting. She's probably carrying Ginny," Gibbs answered.
Gibbs set his focus on the prints, backtracking. Find the centaurs, find proof of Ziva, Ginny, and their health. Gibbs' head snapped up as he heard the cracking of twigs. Immediately, he put his hand to the base of his neck, a look of pain on his face. He quickly rearranged his features and pulled out his gun.
"More humans," said an exasperated voice. A centaur came into sight, wild and aggressive looking. "I warned you, Magorian! They would be followed!"
Two more centaurs came from Gibbs' other side. Gibbs began to feel uneasy. He kept his gun aimed and ready.
"Professor McGonagall," said one of the centaurs.
"Magorian," McGonagall greeted. "It's been a while."
"It certainly has been. I suppose you are searching for your student?" Magorian asked.
"Yes," McGonagall answered.
"You, then, are looking for the woman," Magorian addressed Gibbs.
"I'm looking for both," Gibbs said.
"You missed them," said the third centaur. "We left them this morning." He looked pointedly at Gibbs' gun and his lips twitched downward slightly.
Gibbs holstered his gun, though still remained on guard. Silence reigned for a few moments as Gibbs carefully considered his next words. "How much time does the girl have?" he asked, looking Magorian straight in the eye.
"The foal is cared for," Magorian answered. "She has time."
Gibbs nodded. "Glad to hear it."
"The woman told us that she and the foal were attacked," said the third centaur.
"Silence, Firenze!" said the wild-looking centaur, stomping his hoof into the ground. "Speak when spoken to! I have lost my patience with you!"
"Peace, Bane," Magorian said calmly. He looked at Gibbs expectantly.
"They were attacked," Gibbs confirmed. "We've been looking for them ever since."
"May the fates be with you as you search," Magorian said. "Farewell." He turned and left. Bane turned back into the forest as well, but not before giving Gibbs a distrustful look.
Firenze looked up into the starry sky. "Andromeda is speaking loudly tonight," he commented. Firenze looked Gibbs straight in the eye before disappearing into the forest.
"Ziva always keeps an eye out for the Andromeda constellation," Gibbs said after a minute. "It's her favorite."
"Hagrid has said he can see the stars best from a clearing to the west," McGonagall tacked on rather casually.
"I think I'd like to see Andromeda myself," Gibbs said. "It sounds like an adventure, doesn't it, Professor?"
Professor McGonagall noticed as Gibbs turned that one of his eyes had become red and blood shot. "Perhaps the Cetus will show up early."
Gibbs headed to the west, occasionally looking up at the sky. His thoughts began to wonder. Perhaps Kort was right. The case was not being handled well. That was why Ziva had disappeared, how someone had managed to sneak into Jenny's office, and how someone had planted a bomb under Emily Fornell's chair.
Gibbs picked up his pace unconsciously as he began to get angrier and angrier with himself. Had he lost complete control of the situation? What had he been doing wrong? He had been on the same person's tail for a month. How was a person no older than eighteen getting around with such ease and stealth?
Gibbs' head began to throb and he felt the cut on his forehead reopen. He put a hand to his neck and felt his blood move rapidly under his fingers. The agent began taking deep breaths, trying to calm himself.
"You came," said Firenze's voice.
Gibbs snapped his head up, ignored the pain he felt with it, and looked at the young centaur. "Hello."
"I am glad to see the Hogwarts staff knows each other well," Firenze said, addressing McGonagall.
"I've known Hagrid for a long time," McGonagall said. "The forest and grounds are his life."
"Why did you have us come here?" Gibbs asked Firenze, cutting straight to the point.
"You want to know more than Magorian or Bane will tell you," Firenze stated.
Gibbs' eyes shone with hunger and want. "That'd be nice," he managed to say calmly.
Firenze nodded and looked at Professor McGonagall. "Your student is fairly well," he said. "She has a leg wound, but that has been cared for. She has also been given food that can last her several days."
Professor McGonagall looked visibly relieved.
"However," Firenze began again, "she is only well as long as the woman is." He turned his attention back to Gibbs. "I fear your friend will not last long. She eats very little and does not sleep well. Her eyes are dark, her skin is beginning to change. Her hair is matted with blood and dirt. She cannot remember her own name. You must find her, for the foal will die shortly after her. The foal cannot walk. The woman's legs are her's."
Gibbs kept his mouth shut and merely gave a short nod as response.
"Thank you, Firenze," McGonagall said.
"Be well, Professor, stranger." Firenze disappeared into the forest.
Gibbs walked the length of the clearing several times.
"She's losing strength," McGonagall said in a monotone.
"She's going to starve to death, the way she's going," Gibbs said agitatedly. Ziva had only been missing three days. She was rolling down hill quickly. His frustration had reached the point at which some of it needed to be spent. Gibbs pulled his knife out of his pocket, flicked it open, and threw it across the clearing. The knife hit the tree with a satisfying thud. Gibbs retrieved his weapon and shoved it in his pocket.
"We're done here," he growled.
"So soon?" McGonagall asked condescendingly.
"I'll send DiNozzo to check out Ziva's last known location. Are we happy?" Gibbs snarled, moving forward.
"Far from it, Agent Gibbs! Don't you want to find your agent?"
"Ziva can't remember her name. Do you really think she'll be able to recall mine? Without remembering me, she can take that note I left her as a threat. Strategies need to be rethought. If we try to approach her now, someone will not get out of this forest alive, I guarantee it." As Gibbs continued pushing forward, he pulled out his phone. "Ducky? Get whatever psych profiles you can on Ziva. We've got a problem. ...Yes, another one."
He was furious. He had been thwarted once more. It was getting tiring.
He slammed his hands down on the table in front of him and hung his head as he began to rethink things. He had taken out the so called "ninja", the director, and had seen the FBI man and his daughter leave. Still, that was not enough. The rest remained.
Getting rid of the fat one would accomplish nothing, he was not high enough up in rank to make that much of a difference. The obnoxious one that was always getting slapped would have a bit more impact, but not enough. The Army woman had no ties to the main team. She would have a smaller difference than the fat one. The doctors were already weak, easy targets. Them going would be no surprise.
He considered going straight for the throat, taking out the leader. Without the leader, the entire operation would shut down and move no where. Then again, the leader had to pay. It was the leader who had ruined the brilliant set-up in the Great Hall. No, the leader had to stay alive and feel the consequences of his actions.
An evil chuckle bubbled out of his throat and a sadistic grin took over his face. How had he not seen it before?
The scientist! That was his ticket. She was never allowed anywhere by herself, and nine out of ten times it was the leader guarding her. She was important. She would teach a lesson. All he needed to do was lure her out of the protective bubble built around her.
His plotting was interrupted as the door to the room burst open.
"Past curfew. Get to your dorm," the Army woman said shortly. "What do you think you're doing out here at this time by yourself?"
"Venting!" he raged quite convincingly. "My school mates are dropping left and right, and what's being done about it? Eh? You lot were brought here to protect us! You can't even protect yourselves!"
He felt satisfaction well up inside as he saw the woman's shoulders rise and fall with deep breaths as she tried to keep herself from yelling. All he had to do was not back down and he would win. They were all losing patience.
"We're doing what we can. You aren't helping by sneaking around after hours. Go back to your dorm!" the woman said waspishly.
"There's that temper, Colonel," droned a voice around the corner.
The woman looked skyward as if asking for patience.
He stomped past the Army woman in a false, but convincing fit, passing the potions master on his way down the hall.
"Hey!" the Army woman called. "Your dorm is the other way! I'm not stupid enough for you to get away with that trick!"
"Could have fooled me," he muttered, turning and going the way he was supposed to. He heard heavy boot falls going the opposite direction of him and let his maniac grin spread over his face once more. Oh, yes! He was definitely winning.
Author's Note
Next chapter - One Bird, Two Stones
In fun news today, my internet is playing games with me! Depending on how soon it is fixed, updates may slow down. -sad face-
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