Chapter Thirty Three: Covering Your Six

Gibbs moved with ease onto the grassy lawn of the darkened back yard of the empty house. His gun up, sights locked on the man holding Nicole. He looked at her face; saw the wide fear ridden eyes, the dark maroon spot running down her pant leg and up the front of her shirt. His attention snapped back to the cold hard eyes of Admiral Kirkpatrick, ex-Seal.

The Admiral was circling to his left side stepping slowly. In order to keep the gun locked on him Gibbs head to also circle to his own left, turning his back towards the woods. He noticed Director Shepard checking the parked car. His mind was so focused on the man in front of him, nothing else in the surroundings matter. He would win this battle.

Gibbs saw Kirkpatrick flex his wrist and the knife pinched in closer on Nicole's neck. The girl left out a startled whimper as the blade sank slightly into her skin, nicking open a small spot. Kirkpatrick's lips curled upward in a feral smile as he saw the rage rush through Gibbs' eyes.

Gibbs took a step closer to Kirkpatrick but it only caused the man to apply a small amount of more pressure to the knife. He stopped, gun still raised deftly aimed at the man in front of him. Kirkpatrick shifted Nicole in his grip, bringing her into the line of fire for Gibbs' weapon.

Gibbs blinked and re-aimed his firearm. They stared at each other in silence, and the seconds passed into eternity. Gibbs could feel his heart rocketing in his chest, the noise of the blood surging through his head dampening his hearing, his eyes narrowed in peripheral vision as the blood flowed through his optical nerve. Hatred for the man in front of him exploded.

His thoughts were jumbled and scattered, some of Kelly, some of Nicole, some of the aftermath of before. He knew he needed to clear his mind; he needed to focus on his surroundings if he was going to pull out of this unscathed. He took a deep breath, holding it slightly before letting it out slowly. Kirkpatrick grinned, showing bright white teeth in the darkness.

The ever forward movement of time seemed to come to a screeching halt as they squared off to each other. Although only standing for a mere minute Gibbs felt like a lifetime had passed. His hands continued to grip his weapon keeping the sight locked on the man in front of him.

"Agent Gibbs, I presume," Kirkpatrick said with a sneer.

"Admiral Kirkpatrick," Gibbs replied in a steady voice.

"Seems like you've put the puzzle together," he continued.

"My team did," Gibbs replied.

"I was almost in the clear too, seems that asshole Deeves fucked me in the end after all."

"Started the ball rolling," Gibbs replied calmly.

"He was a class A fuck up for sure. How long did it take your team to come up with me?"

"Couple days," Gibbs replied circling a little to get a better angle. Kirkpatrick shifted slightly bringing Nicole into play again. Gibbs licked his lips as he waited for the moment to come.

"Couple days. Took that bitch Commander Conrad a couple months," Kirkpatrick said with another grin of perfect white teeth. Nicole kicked back with her good leg hitting the man in the thigh. "Oh, feisty one this one," he said ducking his head so his chin rested on her shoulder. The knife moved a little causing Nicole to cry out and close her eyes. His arm clamping her hips slid down slightly to hold her still. Gibbs gritted his teeth.

"Time is running out," Gibbs said through clenched teeth as he pulled the gun up slightly and took aim for the man's forehead. As he measured his shot he saw the grin widen on Kirkpatrick's face, as Nicole's eyes doubled in fear. She didn't have a chance to scream before a shot rang out.

"Only for you, Agent Gibbs," Kirkpatrick replied.

Gibbs heard the explosion of another gun and felt the impact slam into his right shoulder from behind. He stumbled forward and fell to the ground at Kirkpatrick's feet, the pain scorching through his body. His arm burned from his shoulder to his wrist where the hand was numb.

His weapon had been knocked from his hand on impact, and his brain seemed to be fuzzy. He shook his head to clear it and attempted to roll over. He felt pressure come down on the wound on his shoulder and he grunted as searing hot pain ricocheted through his arm. He then felt a boot under his chest, forcing his body to flip onto his back.

His eyes focused as he rolled, coming to a stop and looking up at the bright night sky. He looked to the side and saw Kirkpatrick handing Nicole to another man who held her in front of him. He looked the other way and saw Jen coming towards them with weapon drawn. Kirkpatrick dropped down to a knee next to Gibbs.

Gibbs was having trouble concentrating. He could feel the liquid of life leaking in profuse amounts from his wound, soaking his shirt in the front and back. His hand had absolutely no feeling in it, and the numbness was spreading up to his elbow. His upper arm thrummed with a dull ache the extended down his back and chest to his groin. His mind fluttered with incoherent thoughts as his vision started to falter.

"You're going into shock," Kirkpatrick said as he squatted next to Gibbs. Gibbs forced his eyes to round and focus on Kirkpatrick's face. "You didn't watch you six, Gibbs."

"Time to book, Rob. Fuck, there's someone coming up," the other man said pulling Nicole closer to him with his left arm as his right hand brought his firearm up. Gibbs rolled his head to the side, causing cascading pain. He saw Jen coming.

"I'll take care of her. Keep an eye on him," Kirkpatrick said standing and stepping over Gibbs' body. As his second foot came across Gibbs reached up with his left hand and gripped the heel of Kirkpatrick's boot. The man pitched forward, stumbling but catching himself with his hand before he sprawled to the ground. He turned and looked at Gibbs before hauling his right leg back and kicking with full force into Gibbs' rib cage.

The pain was excruciating as the force of the blow vibrated through his ribs. He was sure at least two cracked. The vibrations continued through his shoulder making the wound ache with unwarranted pain. Gibbs' body involuntarily shook as the pain traveled throughout.

He tried to sit up but his couldn't seem to control his muscles. He put all his effort into focusing his mind. He rolled his head again and looked at Nicole. She was crying now as the other man held her tightly. As he stared into the child's eyes he knew that there was no giving up in this one, there was no stopping. He rolled onto his side as the man watched Kirkpatrick.

Gibbs waited a moment, to let the pain subside before he summoned all his strength. He would have one shot he knew. There would only be enough strength for one attempt. He had the element of surprise but he knew if he did not succeed there was no tomorrow.

With everything he had, Gibbs lunged to his knees, pitching forward at the younger man standing with Nicole. The girl saw what he was doing and drew her elbow forward, before driving it as hard as she could backwards in to the man's groin. He doubled down bringing his head closer to Gibbs as his grip on her falter. She ran away from him as Gibbs grabbed the knife from his belt and thrust it forward. The sharp edge of the weapon punctured the man's throat, slicing him open.

Gibbs looked up at him as the other man's eyes widened in complete terror as his last breath chocked from his lungs. The blood dripped down the knife and onto Gibbs as he watched the life drain from the younger man's eyes. He then pushed with what he had left, knocking the dead man back and to the ground. Nicole ran to him draping her arms around his neck. Gibbs reached his left arm out and wrapped it tightly around her shoulders, slamming her close to his body.

"It's all right now, Kido," Gibbs said groggily. His mind was shutting down as the blood continued to rush from his body Nicole put her hands on his face and he could tell her lips were moving but he heard nothing. His eye sight dimmed, his heart was slowing and he couldn't feel very much on his right side. His breathing was becoming labored but it didn't matter much to him. He hugged Nicole, placing a kiss on her forehead as the world around him faded to black.

Jen was looking into the car window of the parked car when she heard the gun fire. She shot straight up and looked around, spotting Gibbs on the ground. Her heart panicked feeling sick to her stomach. She watched as Kirkpatrick stepped on his back, listening as Gibbs moaned in pain.

She drew her own firearm and took the scene into account. There were two men standing over Gibbs one holding the girl the other was the man from the plasma screen. She watched as Kirkpatrick kneeled over Gibbs and she started towards them with gun raised. She took aim and moved quickly across the lawn towards the crowd. She was spotted and Kirkpatrick came towards her. Jen then heard a car pull in behind her and prayed it was DiNozzo and David.

Kirkpatrick came at her seemingly unarmed aside from the knife in his hand. She aimed her weapon at his head and stopped, standing ready to take the shot. The smile on the man's face that was coming towards her was enough to make a shiver flow down her spine. He moved with ease as he showed off his knife. He stopped short of her with the feral smile planted on his face.

"NCIS, you're under arrest," Jen said as she heard a car door behind her. The car was out of sight from where they stood now.

"Nice of you to drop by, NCIS," Kirkpatrick said. "You're partner over there underestimated me. How about you?"

"Put the knife down," she said. Kirkpatrick shook his head at her as he continued to smile. He stepped closer, knife twisting in his hand. Jen steadied her self, ready to take the shot. Kirkpatrick lunged at her and she fired. The bullet stuck him in the chest but he continued to come at her, knife in front of him now.

She tried to pull the trigger again but the distance was closed and he was on her. The knife slid into her shoulder and she cringed with pain as she fought with him. The knife was pulled out quickly, ripping her flesh even more as her hand sprang forward to stop the second blow. She tried to bring her gun up to fire again but Kirkpatrick's other hand knocked it from her grip. She fought with him as he attempted to stab her again. She heard footsteps and yelling behind her but she was so enraptured in the battle before her she didn't understand what was being shouted, and she couldn't respond.

His strength was greater than hers as he forced the knife slowly down towards her throat as she fought with everything she had to keep him away. The grin on his face increased, his eyes dancing with pleasure as the tip of the blade scraped against the skin. It was then that she heard the report of another firearm behind her. Kirkpatrick's eyes widened as the life drained from them. She felt the blood splatter from the hole in his neck as he slumped to the ground at her feet. The knife fell as her hand came up and tested the skin on her neck it had kissed.

She turned and saw DiNozzo running past her as Ziva came up next to her, a gentle hand slipping to her shoulder. Jen looked at her friend and nodded she was ok. As she pulled her hand from her neck there was blood on her fingers. Ziva examined the wound but it was superficial.

They heard DiNozzo yelling and both looked up. They saw three bodies slumped on the ground, and Jen felt another surge of panic grip her chest. She turned from Ziva and ran, with the Israeli on her heels, towards Gibbs. When she came up next to him DiNozzo was on his phone calling for paramedics. Jen dropped to her knees next to him and placed a hand on his forehead. Nicole looked up at her with desperate eyes.

"Is he dead?" she asked through ragged breath. Jen felt tears stinging her eyes as she reached down putting her fingers to his neck feeling for his pulse. She took a deep shuttering breath when she felt a weak one and looked at Nicole.

"No," she said softly as the girl leaned down again and hugged the unconscious Gibbs. Jen took his left hand in hers and held it while Tony yelled into his phone. He finally shut it and looked down at Gibbs with his hands on his head, eyes wet with emotion.

"Paramedics are on the way," he said before pursing his lips. He then walked over to the other man lying on the ground, nudging him with his shoe. He found the knife still sticking deep in the man's throat, his eyes widened forever in the fear of death.

Nicole slumped down on Gibbs and tried to listen to his heart beat. She couldn't hear it. The Director had told her he was still alive but she couldn't hear his heart beat. She was crying now, her eyes useless against the blinding power of her tears. She held to him tightly unwilling to let him go.

"You can't leave me, Gibbs, you just can't," she whispered leaning close to his ear. She buried her head on his chest as the Director sat next to them with Gibbs' hand in hers. She had heard Tony say the paramedics were coming and she prayed they made it on time. He was still alive, but for how long.

Gibbs drifted through the black. He couldn't see anything in front of him but he knew he had to go that way. There was something there drawing him closer and closer to whatever lay in front of him. He followed his heart, letting it lead him through the maze of darkness. Finally there was a light ahead, a beacon calling to him as he stumbled through the haze of his alternate reality. The pain in his shoulder was gone now, the numbness a memory of the past.

He entered through the portal feeling the warmth of the light hit his face. He closed his eyes and basked in the glow. It felt so warm and right he didn't want it to stop. He moved a little further into the room now, soaking up the light as it bathed his body. It took away the hurt, the fear, the sorrow of his heart. He felt like he could stay where he was forever and never have another worry in his life. The harness capturing the burdens of his guilt was lifted from his heart as he stood in the strange room under a light that seemed to have no source. He felt at peace for the first time in a long time.

DiNozzo stood after checking on the man he recognized as Travis Mann. They had all the components now; everything seemed to be falling into to place. They would be able to bring down the weapons ring with what they'd gathered in the last half a week. He should have felt the pride of a job well done, case solved, but instead he felt the pain of loss instead.

He stared at Gibbs again and felt the tears falling down his face as he squatted next to his mentor and boss. Ziva came up behind him and placed her hand on Tony's shoulder, causing Tony to look up at her with pleading eyes. She closed her own and shook her head. He looked back at Gibbs.

He took stock, Gibbs shirt was soaked in dark sticky blood, coming from a wound in his shoulder. He thought about prying the girl from Gibbs' chest and examining her as she too seemed to be covered in blood, but he didn't have the heart to separate her from him just yet. They heard the distant wail of sirens and three silent prayers were sent to the heavens to bring this man through this alive.

TBC…