Author's Note: It's been a while since I updated. Finally here's the next chapter. Also wanted to mention a special thanks to @Ziptiupcowboy for their lovely comment. It really means a lot that you guys love this story.
Things are getting a little bit interesting for our crime-Solving duo.
After almost one hour….
Something which started as a simple crossword game turned way too serious. Neither of them were going to admit the fact that they both were equally good at this nor give in. So there came no end to their crossword game.
Not that they complained!!
Because of course in between this charade they both were having a very good time even without their own realisation. There even came a point where they both almost forgot that they were still working, that they were on a stakeout.
After some time of playing continuously, taking his eyes off of the newspaper to get some break from it, Gibbs looked out the window and that's when he noticed the suspect who just got out of his car and was heading towards his apartment.
"Jack!!" He whispered while drawing out his gun as he gestured towards the apartment, mouthing that the suspect had arrived and nodding her head Jack drew out her gun too.
Within the next few seconds they both hopped out of the car and they stood on either side of it with their guns pointed in front of them.
Without a doubt they both indeed made a very great pair together!!
"Federal Agents!!" Gibbs said matter-of-factly as he took a few steps towards the suspect." Let me see your hands!!"
The suspect who was caught off-guard, darted his head back and forth not knowing what to do while trying to reach the gun which was tucked behind his back.
Gibbs and Jack exchanged a look before they slowly started to move in on the suspect.
"I said show me your hands!! Yelling at the man in front of him, Gibbs closed the distance between them with Jack right behind him.
After a few seconds of staring at the two agents in front of him, the suspect then reached for his gun and started firing at the agents before him, making both Jack and Gibbs run for cover.
Caught off-guard Gibbs and Jack immediately crouched to the ground and took cover behind their car. While the ricocheting of the bullets echoed all over the metal for a few minutes sending out sudden loud vibrations in a quiet street.
Once the shooting stopped, "You okay Jack?" Recovering first Gibbs asked, "Are you hit??"
" I'm fine, Are you okay??"
Without answering Jack's question, "He's making a run for it!!" Gibbs, informed as he saw the suspect fleeing the scene. Jack couldn't help but roll her eyes at his Sherlock-like observation.
Of Course he was making a run for it! They all did!!
Getting upright on his feet soon Gibbs took off in the direction the suspect was headed, "I'll go after him, You cut him off. " Within Jack could even react, Gibbs was already chasing the suspect and so getting back at her feet Jack started running too.
Gibbs chased the suspect for almost two blocks before he lost him around the corner of an alley. Jack, who took a different route, also reached the same alley a little later.
"Where is he??" Jack queried as she came to a halt near Gibbs.
"He was right here!!" Gibbs replied patting, hands above his knees while trying to catch his breath.
Maybe he was getting too old for this crap.
"Where did he go??"
After a few seconds of darting his head around, "Let's spread out!!" Ordering Gibbs immediately stood upright, " But stay close Jack!!"
Nodding her head, Jack split out and went towards the right of the alley while Gibbs covered the left side.
For the next few minutes both Gibbs and Jack looked around assessing the surroundings, trying to figure out where their suspect could have possibly gone. And that's when Jack heard some kind of weird noise coming from one of the nearby buildings down that alley. At first it sounded a little vague but soon the pitch of the noises increased as if someone was running inside the building.
Taking a few steps towards that particular building Jack signed towards Gibbs, who was standing at the end of the alley. Once she gestured towards the building, he immediately made his way towards her. Sharing a look, they both turned on their heels and made their way into the building slowly and quietly.
It looked like some kind of an old abandoned three story building at first glance. But they both were more focused on finding the suspect than care about the state of the building or its interiors for that matter. The two agents made their way as carefully and as discreetly as possible while ignoring the floor which made mild creaks along their way.
They both stood side by side to one another, their guns drawn and pointed in front of them, both their hands holding the metal steadily with their fingers placed at the trigger, ready to pull at any minute, while they cleared the place inch by inch. Their feet and the steps they took were totally in sync with the other. It came so naturally to them which even surprised themselves a little bit. But neither chose to dwell on that. After all, they had a suspect to catch.
A few minutes of searching all over the building, a sudden thud sound from behind startled Gibbs and Jack, making them both jump. Gasping Jack looked around with a mild glint of terror in her eyes. The black darkness inside that building was a little bit intimidating for her. She was not a fan of dark, cramped places and this place and it's creepiness was not making it any easier. The thudding inside her heart was becoming too hard to ignore and much to her displeasure Gibbs noticed it too.
Of Course he did!
Gibbs took a few steps near her and gave a mild tap at Jack's shoulders in an assuring manner, a silent acknowledgement that he was there and that she was not alone, which Jack appreciated a lot. He then gestured to her to follow him, while slowly marching forward. Swallowing the lump that had formed in her throat, she followed him ignoring everything else. She was not alone! She told herself.
Searching around in silence for a while, once they spotted their suspect running towards the first floor, their discrete and slow moving steps soon turned into a chase once again.
"NCIS!!!" Gibbs informed as soon as sighting the suspect, "Stop!! "
But he did not budge. He kept running as fast as possible ignoring the warning. They never make it easy do they????
He did not look like someone who was going to give in easily. Well neither did Gibbs nor Jack!!.
So Gibbs once again took off after him with Jack right behind him.
After chasing the suspect through almost 2 floors both Gibbs and Jack spotted him on the third floor of the building. There was nowhere else he could go after that other than the rooftop. And because of that the two agents were confident that they had the suspect pinned inside that floor.
So without a second thought they both hopped up the stairs and ran into the hallway of the third floor, not realising what was waiting for them at the end.
Pressing himself against one of the pillars, the suspect hid behind it while our duo slowly stepped inside the hallway with both their guns drawn in front of them.
"There's nowhere to go after this, Bradford!" Gibbs yelled while darting his eyes all over the floor, "Show yourself now!"
"This will go a lot easier." Jack added,'' If you just surrendered...We just have a few questions, that's all!!"
This particular floor they were in was huge, crowded with pillars at every three feet and multiple rooms with plenty of cramped space all along the way making it a lot easier for the suspect to hide and a lot harder for Gibbs and Jack to search.
Save for the distance sound of a dog howling the whole building was filled only with deafening silence and blinding darkness, without a single source of light making both Gibbs and Jack feel as if they had stepped into a black hole. But they both had gone through so much to be intimidated by a little darkness. So without a pause they kept marching forward with their guns and torchlight mounted in front of them as they started clearing the floor.
Curling his hand into a fist Gibbs gestured Jack to go towards the left side of the floor while he covered the right.
Swallowing hard, the suspect slowly moved from one pillar to the other quickly and noiselessly while Gibbs and Jack split up and cleared the floor inch by inch.
Jack took short and quick steps as she slowly cleared the place. And even without her own realisation she was getting closer and closer to the suspect. She may have not noticed it but the man in question certainly did!!!
Laying low until Jack was within a feet distance with him, he came from behind, surprising her as he pointed the gun at Jack's back.
"NOT A WORD!!" he warned in a mild voice, "Toss your gun away, slowly and quietly."
Frowning Jack slowly loosened her grip on the metal and lowered it inch by inch while waiting for the perfect time to strike, meanwhile the man behind her pressed his gun at her back a little harder.
"You don't have to do this, you know!" She whispered, "Just turn yourself in and we can talk!! There's still time, you can make this right… Just turn yourself in..…." As she trailed off, the suspect scoffed and in a blink of an eye Jack nudged him on his stomach with her elbow and disarmed him.
"Ahhh," Groaning, he immediately swung his hands in front of Jack's face and sent her gun flying across the floor while he quickly shoved her into the nearby room. Jack tried her best to fight back but the man overpowered her and within she knew she was thrown into the ground with a thud while she saw the suspect take off running outside the room and disappeared from her sight. She wanted to get back up immediately and run behind the suspect but much to her displeasure the shooting pain inside her held her captive. She tasted copper in her tongue and felt like her head was on fire.
Gibbs, who was on the other end of the floor, immediately rushed towards Jack's direction as soon as he heard the struggling noises.
"JACK!!!" Yelling her name Gibbs came rushing, "WHERE ARE YOU???"
On his way he caught a glimpse of the suspect running down the stairs on his way but making sure that Jack is alright felt more important for him than catching the suspect. The suspect be damned! He couldn't care less about him right now!!
"In here Gibbs!!" He heard a faint growl from one of the rooms down the hallway and so without a second thought he rushed inside it.
The moment he rushed inside the room, he froze for a second as he saw Jack on the floor, her hands pressed into the ground as she was trying to get back up onto her feet.
"JACK!! ARE YOU OKAY???" Gibbs' voice clearly betrayed the panic he was trying so hard to hide. If he noticed it he didn't care. He immediately holstered his weapon and caught her arms halfway and lifted her to her feet.
"ARE YOU HURT??"
He placed a hand on her chin and was trying to assess her wounds.
"I'm Fine Gibbs!!!" Jack growled clearly, a little ego-bruised and a little irritated by his fussing. She brushed off the dirt from her dress and her hands, "Why didn't you go after the suspect??"
Throwing her a look, without a reply Gibbs kept examining her forehead where there was a small gash wound from her fall. A few drops of blood were oozing out from the cut and it made him wince at the sight. With a concerned look he slowly stroked the area near her wound with his thumb and she gasped at the gesture. Not because of pain but because of the cold shiver that ran down her spine from the sudden feel of his warm touch. It took everything in her to not give in to his touch. His hands were warm and soft, leaving her to gasp and swallow hard at the tingles that erupted inside her. His touch was nothing at all like she imagined. It felt way better. And much more. Not that she had fantasised about the feel of his touch on her free time. Well maybe sometimes. But can you blame her? When those icy blue eyes and a very damningly handsome man was standing in front of her?? How could she not not think like that??
He caressed her forehead once again and for a fraction of a second her thoughts wandered off to how it would feel to have those warm hands on... Nope! She had to stop thinking dangerous thoughts like that. She mentally slapped herself and brought her back to reality but not before a shudder escaped her.
"Sorry!" He admitted to her reaction mistaking it for pain, feeling a guilty and mad at himself for letting this happen. He shouldn't have let her go alone! He should have been a little more careful. She could have gotten hurt badly and it was all his fault. That was all he could think of!!
When Gibbs caressed her once again she stumbled a few steps back in an attempt to get away from him before she did something stupid like press her lips to his and kiss him till they both were breathless and landed on some kind of table before he could catch her
"Careful, there!" He told her as he grabbed her by her wrist and steadied her to her feet. She couldn't trust those damn wobbly legs to be steady around him. God! Did this man know what kind of impact he had on her??
Since the room they were in was pitch dark she couldn't see what it was but within a few seconds after she stumbled onto the table a sudden whirring noise was heard as if something roared to life snapping her out from her dangerous thoughts.
"WHAT WAS THAT???" Jack eyes darted around the room, with a glint of terror in her voice and before they both could realise what was happening the room doors started shutting down.
"GIBBS!!! THE DOOR!!!" She stated and soon they both rushed towards it. But before they could reach the door frame, the metal doors were automatically locked, leaving them both trapped inside the room.
Gibbs was the first to reach the door but he was a little too late, as he missed the doors with just a second gap.
"DAMN IT!!!" Gibbs hissed as he banged his fists into the metal frame, "IT'S LOCKED!!!"
"WHAT??" Rushing towards Gibbs, Jack half yelled, "How the hell did the doors lock automatically?? Just like that??
"I DON'T KNOW!!" Gibbs growled while Jack looked at him with terror filled eyes while he kicked the door in frustration leaving his feet to get hurt from the collision with the metal. Growling, "Ahhh," he clenched his jaws and suppressed the pain while he once again banged his hands on the door, in an attempt to somehow pry it open it. But he couldn't!!!
They both then exchanged looks with the other both too afraid to acknowledge what had just happened.
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Author's note: Hey all! Hopefully you guys enjoyed the chapter. Will try to update the next one as soon as possible. Your comments and thoughts are always welcome. And Thank you so much for reading.