Tony had taken up his phone while Gibbs was on his. "Ducky is on rescue detail, Gibbs is trying to find out exactly what the status of your building and neighborhood is, and I'm here to tell you you're going to be fine so don't worry. I brought a duffle bag with extra blankets and some sweats so we can get you out ourselves if we have to. Don't worry Kate. Gibbs never leaves a man behind."
It was another agonizing fifteen minutes before Gibbs and Tony had all the information they could gather and were as close as they could get to Kate's building. For the first time they had a real look and what had happened. Tony gave a low whistle and Gibbs jaw just tightened. "Boss, her building's half gone!" Tony, carrying his duffle, began picking his way carefully toward the half collapsed wreckage nearly a block away.
Gibbs followed his teammate slowly. Ducky had talked to search and rescue and found out they had pretty much written off this whole block. What hadn't been leveled by the plane had been taken out by gas explosions and the fires all around were proving difficult to contain. S&R's comment when told there might be survivors was a simple, "If they're not dead yet, either the fire or the fumes'll get 'em before we can. We just don't have the manpower, and by the time we can redirect one of our units, I guarantee you, it'll be too late. It may sound cold, but I'm saving as many as I can. Sorry sir." Ducky had been both sick and furious at this response, but escalating the inquiry up the chain of command had elicited little more than sympathy. "Sorry, Doctor. I know the building you're talking about. Nobody left alive in there. And if there is, they couldn't survive for long. I don't even think we could get S&R in there. Again, I'm sorry." Ducky finally relayed all this to Gibbs. Gibbs nodded to himself and thanked the doctor.
"Okay, DiNozzo, we're on our own here. S&R doesn't think they can get in, and even if they could, they don't think anyone's left alive."
"Oh, she's alive, Boss. And somewhere between pissed and panicked." This last was said away from the handset Tony still carried. "I think we'd better figure out how to do this, pronto."
"Fine, give me the phone. First we have to figure out where she is. Then we have to figure out which is the best way to get to her. Kate? I need you to do a couple of things. We're pretty close to your building, but we need to know where you are. Before you do that though, I need to know if the fire is actually in your apartment. So, first go to your bedroom door and very carefully peel back a tiny corner of the blanket you put there. Don't get your face close to it, but let me know if you see a reddish glow under the door there. Okay? Go." Gibbs held on while he heard Kate move about, but she made little sound. Was that good or bad?
"All right, Gibbs. Done. There's a faint glow but it's more orange-y, kind of like sunset through my living room windows. My floor is also getting pretty warm. If I had to guess, I'd say the fire's around me right now, but maybe not quite in my apartment yet." Kate sighed. Adrenaline rush and fear had given way to exhaustion. Either let me out or let me die, she thought. But I can't take much more of this tonight.
"Good job, Kate. Make sure that blanket is packed tight along the door. We don't want to take any chances. Then get something colorful from your wardrobe, something small, like a scarf. Open your window a crack and push the item out and lodge it in the window as you close it. That's so we know where you are. Got it, Kate? C'mon! Get up!" Dammit this was getting bad. The fumes from the fire were affecting her. They had to get her out!
Kate dragged herself over to her closet. She had one bright floral scarf, a gift she didn't particularly care for. This'll do, she thought. She struggled back to the window and opened it a crack and let the end trail out in the breeze. She pushed the window shut as much as she could and then slid down the wall. The phone was still in her hand but she didn't bother to bring it to her ear. "There. Done. I'm tired now, Gibbs. Gonna take a nap, 'kay?" She slid over into a semi fetal position on the floor, the phone too far away to help her as both Gibbs and Tony took turns yelling into it.
"Dammit!" Tony ran his hands through his hair in frustration. He began walking as carefully as he could around and near Kate's building, but the fire and debris made the going treacherous. Just when he was about to admit defeat he saw it. A faint flutter around a corner. That must be it, he thought. Now, how do I get there? He looked around the far side of the building carefully from where he stood. No wonder Kate was freaked. Tony got his first good look at the scene Kate had from her window. Not even Dante could have created a better rendition of Hell, Tony thought. He began to try to plan a way to try to get to Kate. So much of the building was on fire, he wasn't sure he could get in that way. Aircraft debris was strewn everywhere, but nothing looked usable for the situation at hand. "Gibbs! I found her room!" He saw the other man begin making his way over as quickly as possible. "Up there. But I don't know how we get in."
Gibbs sized up the situation quickly and came up just about the same as Tony. "Looks like we're going to have to use a rope." He turned and headed off toward the car at a brisk pace. He was back in short minutes with a generous length of rope looped about his body and a large storage box.
"Boss, I hate to break it to you, but we don't have any way to get the…" Tony broke off as Gibbs took a small grappling hook out of the box. "Do you always carry second story tools with you?" He cocked his head as he waited for the answer.
"I do when I'm going on potential rescue missions. Now, look out." Gibbs had expertly attached the rope to the hook and was now about to launch it up to the gutter. It took a couple of tries but it caught and held his weight. Then the two men looked at each other.
"Who goes?"