Tropical Nightmare- Chapter 3: Falling down (Gibbs´ POV)

Disclaimer: I don´t own any characters or anything!

Summary: Tony and Kate are sent to Argentina for an undercover mission, but they have to take a detour.They are bound to find out that atropical island can be a real nightmare -at least if you´re on your own out there...

Additional note: I usually don´t write 1st-person narrator, but it seemed to fit rather well for this little story as the POV changes with each chapter.Also, the use of present-tense is wanted here, eventhough it may seem a bit odd. I hope it´s still readable.

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„Boss, the plane has taken off on schedule." McGee´s voice breaks through the normal sounds in the bullpen and I turn around to face him.

„Good. Do you get a GPRS signal from them?" I ask and watch the big screen jump to life. Two red dots move very slowly over a giant map. „Wonderful. That would be all for today then, see you in the morning." I note the time of departure on a piece of paper and set out for the parking lot. Tomorrow around 2 PM I would get a first assessment from them -full of complaints, I am sure, but that wasn´t anything new. The chance to send both of them off for an assignment had just been too tempting to wave it off. Besides that, both hadn´t been off for a holiday for over six months now and I reckoned that some sun would do them good. Especially Kate had been a bit under the weather lately.

-next morning-

„McGee, any news?" I inquire as I walk up to his desk. The look on his face startles me, something isn´t the way it is supposed to be. Before he can answer, I look up to the interactive map, which had displayed their position last night. It is completely blank -not the whole screen as the map is still there, but the red dots, implying the position of my two agents, are gone. I can feel how my muscles tighten and my senses start to work at peak efficiency. That´s the way I always react to surprising or unpleasant news.

„I can´t get a GPRS signal from either one of them. Don´t get the cameras either. I called up the airline and..." he hesitates -not long, but long enough for me to start to worry. „The plane was on its way to Paraguay after a short stop on Hawaii, but control lost its signal somewhere over the Calluantare -a small group of islands in the Atlantic ocean." He finishes his report. I look into his eyes and I see his worry, but also confusion. He hasn´t been with us very long, but I know he´s looking up to Kate and Tony. They taught him a lot in the past months and I´m sure they are friends.

„Did they send rescue teams out?" I ask, trying to remember my training and take one step after the other.

„Yes. They found the wreck on a submarine rift, about 30 ft under water, but they only found both pilots dead in the cockpit. No sign of Kate or Tony. A hatch in the freight area has been detached at the crash, it´s possible that they were washed out into the ocean." His voice is calm, but I can feel that he was holding his feelings back, trying to sound professional. He´s failing completely, but I´m not going to tell him.

„Right...get me the coordinates of the wreck, the planned course and weather data from last night. And I want you and Abby working on those GPRS -maybe they can get one repaired. Set up a constant observation of their frequencies." I head for Director Shepards office. She probably knows already, but I want to make sure that we keep looking for them. In front of my inner eye, I see a stormy sea and two lifeless forms drifting away, but I quickly shake that picture off. They can´t be dead. I know that chances are slim, but as long as we don´t have proof that they died in the crash, they are alive. At least in my mind they are.