A/N: ok folks, here's another chapter, I won't say this will allay any fears though, lol. To my recent followers/favourites, welcome aboard! So glad to have you with us! To my amazing reviewers, thank you so much, I also love reading your thoughts, they keep me inspired!
Guest reviewer: Sue Dooley: Thanks! Glad you liked it..
Guest reviewer: Momcat: glad I could give you a cliffhanger, my stories are definitely not all sweet, there's action, anguish too!
Now, let's get into it..
"This club is pretty cool" Tim admitted, while he was happy to be here with Kelly, Gibbs's comments & instructions had him remain focused & alcohol free, just as all the others were. He was sure Gibbs was just being Rambo overprotective, but he trusted Gibbs's gut too much to disregard it.
"Yea, squirt certainly has developed a great ability to get on the invite lists of all the best places" Kelly smiled, glad Tim was there with them, even if it was due to her dad being a little overprotective "where is he with the food though?"
"Here he comes" Andrews commented seeing Nix & co approach the area they'd commandeered.
"What took you so long?" Kelly asked as her brother approached, he'd somehow convinced the steak restaurant to plate up food for them & allow them to bring up here.
Nix grinned at her but looked to Mike.
Mike shook his head & sat down next to his friend "you don't want to know"
"What happened?" Kelly asked curious, she knew it was nothing bad, but she was curious.
Nix just grinned as he watched Jonas & Evans both sit themselves down, he sat down facing Mike & his sister "come on Mikey, it was cool wasn't it?"
"I have other words to describe it squirt" Mike retorted.
"Describe what?" Kelly asked, the pair of them were just staring at each other "one of you better tell me, now please"
"I refuse" Mike said categorically
Nix's grin grew even larger "Got stopped to sign some autographs"
Kelly's smile dropped & she just stared at her brother "I'm sorry?" she stuttered, huh?
"A few girls asked me for my autograph, I had to oblige" Nix said with the same grin.
Kelly just kept her stare on her brother, yea, that's what she thought she heard, she finally broke her gaze & looked at Mike.
"That's how I feel" Mike stated
Kelly wasn't sure how she felt "I think I've lost my appetite"
"I know I have" Mike remarked, this whole day was getting better & better, he was seriously at loss with what was happening with Nix.
Tim had to admit he was extremely surprised to hear that someone, no some people, had wanted Nix's autograph, it was pretty weird "how many?"
"Six" Nix grinned as he reacted for a sirloin slither.
Kelly fell backwards against the couch she was sitting on "the continent" she chuckled.
"Convertible is mine" Nix chuckled in response.
Kelly lifted her head to look at her brother "You know the run on Monday?" she needed to bring him down a few pegs.
"Yea?" Nix asked hesitantly, why bring that up now?
"Guess who your pace setter is?" Kelly smirked, but flashed a look to Mike.
Nix shifted his gaze to Mike "dad sets the pace" he did not want Mike to set it.
"Not on Monday" Kelly countered "Spoke to dad earlier, I want to do some work at the dojo & he wants to come with, but he doesn't want you to miss your morning run, so Mike will go with you as the pace setter" she finished with a grin.
Nix could see the grin on Mike's face "how can he set the pace when he doesn't know the routes?" maybe that would prevent it
"Oh, my sense of direction is pretty good, think I can handle it" Mike grinned, this was definitely bringing him down a few pegs.
"I'm going to call Stac" Nix stated rising again, though he swallowed some more sirloin slithers
"Can I make a suggestion?" Kelly asked, she received just a stare in reply "do NOT tell her about those girls you bumped into"
Nix looked at her confused "why?"
Kelly rolled her eyes "because I know what the deal is with you & her, and trust me, she won't want to hear that a bunch of girls were ogling after you & you pandered to them" no girl would want to hear that!
Nix considered it & nodded "ok, thanks" he saw though that Mike had gone to stand up, as had Jonas & Evans "you guys can chill, I'm just heading outside for like 10 minutes"
Jonas flashed a look to McGee, though they were both SFA's, he was lead right now.
Tim knew what Jonas was asking "Your dad's just being…"
"Rambo overprotective" Nix inserted
"Yea, he'll settle once this thing with Tony & his sister is sorted out" Tim remarked
Nix huffed "fine, come along, you know it kinda fells like I've got an entourage, could get used to it"
Mike smirked "We have to let out the air that's in that head of yours"
"Major deflation required" Kelly smirked.
"Har har di har har" Nix smirked "you're both hilarious!"
"Of course we are, that's why we won the duet comedy competition at college" Mike remarked with a smirk as he pushed Nix towards the exit.
Carter watched as they headed off, he reached & took another piece of food before looking towards Kelly "still can't believe you got Master Kryn here, the guy's a legend!"
Kelly smiled "I made him an offer he couldn't refuse"
"And what was that exactly?" Carter enquired, he wondered just what she'd given him to move to Naples & take over the Dojo that services their base & the surrounding community. The Dojo, the first one to open in Italy, had been open for a year this coming January but had been struggling to get the numbers, however with the arrival of Kelly & Nix, came a renewed wave to push to get more people in the doors, and shortly after they seemed to have landed one of the best Sensei's in Master Kryn. For him it was brilliant, as it was a discipline he'd always wanted to learn & now he was able to do that under him, it was just brilliant, Kelly had also been taking some of the classes in which he was in and had to admit she was kick ass!
"A beautiful place to live, the chance to really make a difference at a Dojo that couldn't seem to get going, even though there were plenty of prospective students in the immediate area annddd" Kelly drew out
"And what?" Carter pressed
Andrews saw her just smile "she sweet talked Col Marks into allowing him a ride aboard an F16 amongst other things"
"Shush you!" Kelly chuckled
Andrews laughed "you're almost as bad as your brother" she knew exactly how to play things to get the desired effect she was after.
"My head is not the size of Europe currently!" Kelly laughed "besides, Master Nagel wanted to go home to California due to the ill health of his mother, so he needed to be replaced anyway. They just weren't sure they were going to replace him or shut the place down given the poor numbers"
"Really?" Carter asked
"Yea, I may have some pull with Col Marks through dad, but I have much less with the Chuk Kuk Do hierarchy, if they hadn't planned on replacing him, they wouldn't have. Our arrival, coupled with the slight upturn in numbers anyway, gave them food for thought, and they decided to give it another push to see if they could make a go of it" Kelly answered. She knew very well that if they didn't want to pursue it they wouldn't have. They also realised that with her & Nix there it brought 2 people that were well into their discipline & could both go straight into the class teaching, which would help ease the burden on the Sensei & allow him to work on other areas of the business.
"You think Norris will be coming out any time?" Carter pressed, that would be brilliant!
"Maybe, but I haven't heard anything about it. I know he still visits troops all over the place, so maybe having a Dojo here will give more of a pull to draw him in" Kelly remarked.
"When's your exam?" Andrews asked, she was going for next degree in Black, which would also give her a greater position in the teaching ranks, not that there were many teachers to start with.
Tim wasn't into martial arts himself, so he was just enjoying holding Kelly as she discussed it. He had no issue that she shared this passion with these guys, he was glad she could share it with someone. He checked his watch, Nix & the others had been gone for 15 minutes, he'd let it go a little longer, but if they weren't back in a further 15 he'd go check it out.
"Just after New Year, same time as everyone else's exams, which is why I'm going in on Monday, need to start getting seriously ready. The list of things I have to be able to do, it's longer than my body & harder than anything I've ever seen!" Kelly replied, she'd been preparing for quite some time already, but it was time to kick it up a notch if she had any hope of doing well.
"I'm sure you'll pass Kells, you've been working out a fair bit" Andrews replied
"Except, Master Kryn won't accept me just passing, he won't accept anything other than a perfect grade mark in the exam, no perfect score, I retake the exam, the following day!" Kelly replied "having a Sensei who knows you, and has known you for over 7 years, has its draw backs. This next progression will allow me to take full ownership of all the junior grade belt classes, and he's already told me that if I don't meet his expectations, he won't pass me & let me take the classes on, because the students deserve a teacher who is a Master at the discipline and therefore must pass with perfect marks."
"Ouch" Carter remarked "he never seemed to be that tough with you though, I've seen him come down on students, and other class teachers much harder than he's ever done with you" he'd always considered Kelly was a favourite of his.
Kelly laughed "Jimmy, Jimmy, Jimmy…. You're so delusional! The man may seem to be les tough with me in front of others, but that's because it would be bad form to come down on a black belt holder in front of others. Trust me, away from you all, he is no kitten! My arse has suffered on many many occasions!"
Tim smiled, he recalled a few instances where she'd gotten back from the dojo & literarily crawled into the bath after a session with him "it has" he agreed with a smile.
"If they don't get back soon, all this food will be gone" Kelly noted as she took some more for herself.
Tim checked his watch again, ok, they'd now been gone a solid 30 minutes "let's go get them, food will be stone cold otherwise" that was the excuse he'd use, but he was nervous that they'd been gone for so long with no word given Nix said 10 minutes, Jonas should have messaged & he had decided to check on them anyway.
As he led the others out the front he scanned the area, they were right down on the port, he looked up and down the promenade. There were heaps of people around, but he couldn't see their people at all "why don't you two…" he started to say to the marines, but was interrupted by his phone, he cast his eyes down & they widened instantly, it was an agent in distress alarm, and it was Jonas! Instantly he hit the button for his GPS location, they were around the back at the far end of the car park "Carter, take Kelly back inside, Andrews, around the back! NOW!" he yelled taking off like lightning.
Kelly ignored Tim's order & took off right on his heels she was extremely worried now Tim was looking far too concerned for her liking.
Carter cursed that Kelly had gone straight after Tim, he knew he'd have no chance in getting her back, so he like Andrews simply followed as fast as he could, but he saw a few of his marines nearby "Sanderson! Nikos! Chen! Fall in!" he yelled at them whilst still running. He was glad when the marines instantly started running to follow them.
Tim wished Kelly had done as asked, but couldn't delay going to find the others, he'd just have to stay in front of her. As he raced down the car park he wasn't sure where he needed to look, his eyes kept darting all over the place, the street lighting was pathetic here, but he finally zoned in to the area he knew was the source. There was a flurry of movement around 2 vehicles still a distance away, and they looked like large SUV's, his eyes widened "JONAS!" he yelled, he'd seen his fellow SFA get unceremoniously shoved out of one of the SUV's and was then shot at. Watching the SUV's take off from the other end he knew that he no chance of catching them, their cars were in a whole other car park, fuck! He sprinted towards the scene.
As Kelly raced around to the car park, which didn't really have ample street lighting, she just kept running as Tim was still going head first towards the other end, as they got closer she screamed "MIKE!" she'd watched in horror as he got kicked out of one of SUV's, shot at and then run over by another "MIKE!" before both SUV's took off.
Carter couldn't believe his eyes as he watched Captain Bond, the guy had been thrown out of the SUV, but he'd managed to pull a man with him, but that guy had somehow managed to break free & was making a run for it "Sanderson with me!" he ordered taking off after him.
Sanderson wasn't sure what was going on, but he'd noticed that it was NCIS Agent Jonas Quinton that had been one of the men thrown from the vehicle "what's going on?" he yelled
Carter had a very bad gut feeling "Phoenix Gibbs was in that SUV!" that was the only thing that made any sense as to why both Jonas & Bond were trying to get into it "we've gotta catch this guy!" he yelled, pushing himself faster.
Sanderson's eyes widened, Phoenix Gibbs had just been kidnapped by these men? That wasn't good! He kicked himself into a higher gear.
Carter saw the guy was going straight for the back alleys, if he got there they'd loose him, he saw the path ahead split, with one having a slight incline versus the other, he ran straight for it at full speed, he'd gained ground & threw himself down onto the man, pinning him.
Sanderson was half a dozen steps behind his LT & saw the guy get pinned but he could see the man was struggling against the hold, so threw himself down onto the guy as well. Between them they now had him squarely in their hold.
As Kelly raced towards Mike a giant lump formed in her throat "Where's Phoenix!?" she yelled.
Tim had a very bad feeling, both Jonas & Mike had been shoved out of the same SUV, there would only be one reason the pair of them would try to get into it, "Andrews! Check Jonas! Find Evans!" he ordered, as he raced towards Mike just as Kelly was getting to him. He noted that Carter & another man had taken off after the guy that Mike had managed to pull out of the SUV with him, and that Andrews had 2 other men hot on his heels too.
"Mike" Kelly cried as he dropped down to him, he was looking like a utter mess, it looked like he'd had a head on collision with a semi-tone truck & lost "Mike! Where's Phoenix?!"
Tim dropped down next to her, he surveyed Mike, he really didn't look good "Mike!" he stripped his shirt off & used it to try to stop the bleeding, he'd been shot in the chest at least once, amongst other things. He really didn't want to know the kind of damage he'd gotten from getting run over, but it also looked like he'd gone 10 rounds with Mike Tyson before he was even shot, the cuts were aplenty, and his knuckles looked severely damaged from a fight.
Mike groaned, and did his best to open his eyes, he thought he saw Kelly "sorry" he coughed.
"What do you mean sorry!? Where's Phoenix!? Where's my brother!" Kelly half demanded, half cried.
"Tried… tried to stop them…. Out of nowhere… Too many…. Too many.." Mike stuttered as he moved his head left & right "too many…. Too many.."
Tim's stomach dropped about 10 feet as he pressed down on the wound, he thought this was the case, but fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Mike was already drifting in & out of consciousness, but had caught his attention.
"Keep her safe" Mike got out to Tim before succumbing to the darkness.
A/N: Yea… I think I will leave you all to ponder on that… ;p
The next chapter is already in the works, so I will try to get it up soon for you all.
You know I love to read your thoughts/comments, so review away! More up soon!