Gibbs had experienced time distortion before. The adrenaline that flooded his body at the unexpected gunshots gave him the same clarity of perception. He jerked his head backward, away from the muzzle of the gun at the same time as Ketterer's hand twitched. He saw Leah, wobbling, her eyes on their captor as a third shot sounded. Frustrated, chained and helpless, he watched his lover crash to the floor as Ketterer's body twisted with the impact of a bullet.
Fury filled the icy eyes as he tore them from the unconscious woman. He felt more than saw the gun move, it brushed the side of his face as the wounded man grunted in pain. Before he could turn his head to look death in the eye, another shot rang out, this one closer still. As he watched his captor reel from a second bullet, the acceptance of his death to save Leah's life turned into renewed purpose to punish this man into eternity for the pain he'd caused.
When Kate burst into the room, Ketterer was against the wall, bleeding and struggling to even raise his weapon. He vented his rage in a howl. Everything! You took everything! She stole everything from me. He tried to advance toward Leah as Kate calmly stepped in his way, Sig drawn.
Drop it, Ketterer. Now! She watched him carefully.
He looked into her eyes. You look so much like her. Why didn't anybody listen to me? No one had to get hurt. No one had to die. I could have fixed it all. He implored her to understand, begged her for the absolution his wife could no longer give. I didn't mean for any of this to happen. It all got so out of control. Tell... tell little Ian, Daddy's sorry, okay? Ketterer's voice trailed off in confusion as he looked down at the gun in his hand.
Kate warily stepped forward and as she did so, Ketterer spied the redhead she had been shielding. Without warning he lunged.
NO! It's all her fault! The frustrated rage in his voice along with his movement triggered Kate's automatic responses. She had Ketterer on the floor in seconds, disarmed. As she was handcuffing him, she could hear the approaching sirens. It felt like hours since she'd entered the room, she knew if she looked at her watch she would find that no more than scant minutes had passed. She sat back on her heels for just a second to get her bearings before standing, and she saw Leah motionless and pinned awkwardly beneath the upturned chair.
Kate! Get Leah out of that chair, now! Gibbs' voice held all of the violence he was unable to inflict on the downed man. Dammit, move! She's been drugged!
Kate scrambled forward, fishing her keys from her pocket. She released the woman's hands easily and carefully set the chair and its burden upright. She bent to release Leah's legs, only to find the manacles required a different key, one Kate didn't have.
I have her hands free, she said, balancing the unresponsive woman on the chair. But it's not a standard cuff key for the leg irons. Kate had her fingers on the pale flesh of Leah's neck.
Check the table over there. Gibbs jerked his chin in the direction of the sideboard.
Kate stood and made her way to the table. She searched through the drawers for a key, but came up empty. In desperation, she spoke into her comm unit. Hey Tony, you guys still out there?Yeah, Kate, but we're a little busy at the moment. Tony sounded quite preoccupied.
Look, Leah's been drugged. I'm no doctor, but her pulse seems slow and so do her respirations. Send EMS down here as fast as you can. And search your downed sentry. We need the key for the leg irons.
Sure, no sweat, Kate.
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Tony was having problems of his own. McGee, come on. What movie did you and Abbs see last weekend?Movie? I don't... I can't...
Damn. The bleeding didn't seem to be arterial, at least not that Tony could tell, but it didn't seem to want to stop flowing either. He could hear the sirens, faintly at first, slowly growing louder. Come on Kid, stick with me. Not much longer.
Kate's voice in his ear was a distraction he didn't need. Some level of his brain processed her words and he heard himself respond, but all his concentration was on keeping McGee with him.
'S'Leah gon' be Tony wanted to cheer at the slurred words.
You're both going to be just fine. He looked up, loud engines and brakes above the hill making him the happiest man on the planet. Down here! he yelled in his loudest cop voice.
'S'good. Owe her McGee mumbled and faded out.
Through the sounds of crashing brush and multiple approaching voices, Tony heard someone call out, What have you got?GSW, two victims, one bleeding steadily, one minor with head injury from a fall. As the searchlights neared, he looked down in the faint illumination and saw the blood coating his hands, the large stain around the wound he fought to suppress.
Sir? You need to move, sir. The medics gently pushed Tony away as they began to work on his downed partner. Tony stood, unconsciously wiping his bloody palms on his trousers. He stared blankly for a second before remembering Kate and her request.
There are more wounded. We have a drugged woman and another man with at least one bullet wound. He crouched down and began rifling through the unconscious man's clothing, clutching the key ring with grim satisfaction as he pulled it from a jacket pocket.
The terse question came from an EMT behind him. Tony stood and spun around.
Down the hill a little further, there's a shack. The EMT gave a short nod and beckoned to a partner. As they started to move, Tony looked from the keys in his hand to McGee. Hey, guys! he called after the EMTs. You'll need these. Give them to the brunette, her name's Kate. He relinquished the item he'd held tightly, and turned back to McGee, unwilling to let the man take the ambulance ride alone.