It was the insistent ring of a cell phone that brought McGee back to consciousness. 'Why didn't DiNozzo answer it?' was his first irritable thought. Then he realized something was very wrong.
He opened his eyes to discover he was hanging upside down, the press of the seatbelt all that was holding him in place, the airbag was in his face cushioning him. He felt like he'd been hit by... well something hard. But hit by what? Now that was the question.
The ringing stopped for the barest of seconds as the caller must have been shunted to the voice mail box. Then the cell began to ring again.
What had happened? He remembered the first sign of trouble had been when the vehicle had fishtailed in the road. Then there had been the guard rail and darkness. As much as he told Tony that he drove like a lunatic, the man was actually a very good driver. He had a feeling that the fact that he was still alive now was a testament to that. Speaking of Tony…
"Tony," he called out anxiously. He forced the air bag away to find that Tony was hanging much the same way as he was, suspended in mid-air with the seat belt holding him in place. The man was unconscious. McGee could see blood dripping down the side of his face, but not much else. This could be bad. Very bad.
The ring of the cell phone continued. Someone was persistent.
He tried the handle of the door and found it was stuck. Great. He struggled with his seat belt, finally getting it unclicked. He dropped down, standing on the roof of the SUV. He moved carefully afraid that the SUV was going to shift, but the vehicle seemed to have come to a solid stop.
"Tony," he whispered. He didn't know why, it just didn't seem right to yell under the circumstances. He felt for a pulse at Tony's throat. He was almost overwhelmed with relief when he felt it there. It didn't seem quite the way he remembered it should feel, but at least he could feel something.
"I don't even want to have to go back to Gibbs and tell him that you're dead." He told the unconscious man.
McGee remembered how focused Gibbs had been when Tony had been taken by the person killing the marines a few weeks back. He hoped if anything ever happened to him, that Gibbs would be that determined to get him back. Hell, what was he thinking? He hoped that Gibbs would be determined to get them both back THIS time.
Where in the heck was the cell phone? It was making him crazy with it's incessant ring.
What was he supposed to do? Tony was the one who usually gave the orders if Gibbs didn't. He swung his head, looking frantically for something, anything to help him to know what to do. He kept hoping Tony would wake up, call him Probie, tell him he was alright. But it wasn't gong to happen. It was going to be up to McGee to get the other man out this time.
Alright, think, McGee what are you supposed to do?
'Step 1, Probie,' he could practically hear Tony's voice taking charge of the situation, 'get us out of the vehicle.' It couldn't be safe in the SUV. There was gasoline everywhere, McGee could smell it all around him, he could hear it dripping somewhere. One spark and they'd both go up in one last fireball. Tony would like that anyway.
Alright then, getting out of the vehicle.
The windshield was cracked, but it hadn't fallen out. He pulled his gun out of its holster, using the butt to finish breaking the glass. He used his jacket to sweep away as much of the stray pieces of glass as he could.
'Good job, McGee.' It was his fantasy, McGee decided, Tony better be nice to him. 'Now Step 2, get me down.'
That one might actually be doable. Reaching up, he depressed the button that was holding the other man's seat belt. He didn't think about what was going to happen to Tony's body though once it was released and it came crashing down on him. He lay for a moment, sprawled beneath the weight of Tony's dead weight. Okay, not good, He rolled and gently rolled the other man's body away.
Check for injuries, that would be next. Even though moving out of the SUV was of utmost importance, McGee knew he had to try to determine what type of injuries Tony might have. If he had a back injury and was moved, it could very well kill him.
'Hello, McGee, gasoline. Staying here can kill me, too.' he really could hear Tony's voice. Maybe he had a concussion, too.
Straightening Tony's body carefully, McGee leaned down to put an ear to Tony's mouth, watching his chest for motion. Finally he felt a tickle against his ear and saw slight movement.
"McGee?" It was weak, but this time the voice wasn't in his head. "If you kiss me, I swear I'll shoot you."
McGee fell back on his heels in surprise. Tony's eyes were open and trying to take in their surroundings.
"What happened?" He squinted up at McGee.
"You lost control of the car, we crashed." For an insane moment, McGee wanted to hug Tony. This meant he didn't have to report to Gibbs that the other man was dead.
"First of all," Tony started to put an arm out to push himself up, but stopped. His face turned green. He swallowed before he continued, "I didn't lose control of the car. I don't know what happened, a tire blew or something." There was silence as Tony blinked up at McGee. He closed his eyes, and McGee patted his cheek.
"Stay with me, Tony. Second of all?" Quickly he began checking Tony for obvious injuries.
"Second of all?" He was having trouble focusing, McGee could see that much.
"You said first of all. Isn't there always a second of all after the first of all." McGee continued his check feeling Tony's legs. One of them was canted at a strange angle and there was blood soaking the pant's leg.
Tony frowned at him, "You're confusing me, McGee. My head hurts, so just stop it, okay. Would you answer the phone?"
The phone had stopped momentarily, but it was ringing again.
"I don't know where it is," he told Tony impatiently.
"Oh," he pauses as if trying to process the information. He twisted his head, trying to see, "Where are we?"
"We're in the SUV still. I was trying to assess you for injuries before I moved you." McGee was amazed at how calm he was. He knew that if they were going to get out alive, it was up to him. The whole situation was so surreal.
"That's good, McGee, just great. But I'm afraid we're going to blow up any minute here. Maybe you should get me out." Tony's eyes closed again, and this time McGee was sure he stopped breathing.
"Tony, Tony…" He didn't care what Tony said about shooting him, he had to do something. He tilted his head back and checked his air way. He pinched his nose and leaned in to begin rescue breathing when he felt a weak tug on his sleeve.
"It's alright, McGee, I'm still here. What say we take this conversation outside?"
Relief flooded his body, and he took a second to just feel the relief, but he knew Tony was right. Every minute they spent inside the vehicle was another minute that they were closer to blowing up. Still… "Tony, how badly hurt are you?" he asked urgently.
"Don't worry about me, McGee, let's just get out of here, okay?" Tony smiled at him. It was supposed to be reassuring but McGee could see how much effort it cost him. "I just don't think I'm going to be much help." He laid his head back and shut his eyes. He was gone again.
"God, Tony," McGee breathed. It was now or never. Their seconds were ticking by. He gripped Tony by the shoulders, dragging him out through the window of the SUV. He winced as Tony's body slid through the shards of glass. Their was a crunch under his foot that was different than the glass. When he picked up his feet to see what he'd stepped on, he was chagrined to find the errant phone. Well, at least it would stop ringing now. Picking it up, he stuffed it in his pocket anyway.
He managed to pull Tony what he judged to be a safe distance away from the SUV. He was out again, but at least McGee could see the regular rise and fall of his chest. He shrugged out of his jacket and draped it over the other man, tucking it in securely around his body.
He surveyed the crashed vehicle. It was upside down, it's wheels spinning. The smell of gasoline was strong in the air, and he could see it dripping from the rear of the vehicle. There were sparks from the vicinity of the engine, it was a miracle the whole thing hadn't gone up in a ball of flame yet.
He surveyed the injured man at his feet. Now that there was some moonlight to see by, he could see that Tony looked worse than he had even thought. His face was white except where the blood oozed from his head wound. His leg was soaked in blood, too. And McGee was sure that his breathing wasn't right.
He needed the first aid kit out of the SUV. He had to start some sort of first aid or Tony might not survive until Gibbs could get there.
Making his decision he turned back to the vehicle. He only took two steps when the SUV exploded. The force of the blast hit him like a wave, knocking him backwards. He hit the ground; his head impacting with something hard. He tried to hold onto consciousness, he really did. Tony needed him. But it was a losing battle, and the darkness took him.
Thanks so much to everyone who's been reading and reviewing. Should I warn you guys that we still have a ways to go before we get to the end?