Dangerous Measures
AN: Thankyou all for your reviews!
Thankyou also to Kate for her ongoing help and support
Parking the car on another deserted street, Gibbs sighed and rubbed his hands over his face. He sat in silence as he let his thoughts and worries take over. There was no reason to run, he hadn't done anything wrong and running was only a sign of guilt, or at least, that was how the Feds would see it. What he was doing was crazy. It still wasn't too late to give up and turn himself in. But what would happen then? If what Fornell said was true, he would be arrested and charged with something he hadn't done, no questions asked. And if it was a sex crime like Fornell had said, then he would be victimized and probably killed long before his case went to trial, and that was even if he was put in protective custody. They would still get to him. But that wasn't to say he couldn't defend himself or that he was scared, it just wasn't something he'd want to experience or go through.
Gibbs shook his head, chasing away his thoughts. He grabbed his overnight bag from the passenger seat, making sure the money was in a safe place. Grumbling again, he got out of the car and locked it, walking away. He knew that he couldn't keep the car if he didn't want to be caught; it was too easy to find. Easier to find a car, than to find a person on foot. And by the time they found his car, he'd be long gone.
As he briskly walked down the deserted street, his cell rang. He froze, cursing himself for his stupidity; he'd forgotten he still had his cell on him. Pulling it out of his pocket, he looked at the ID and decided whether to accept the call and possibly alert the police to his location. He sat down and sighed, this would be his last contact with the life he'd led for almost fifty years.
He pressed the green button, "McGee," he greeted
"Boss, it's McGee," McGee replied, making Gibbs smiled, "But you already know that,"
Gibbs chuckled, "Yeah. So I guess you've heard by now,"
"Did you do it?" McGee asked
"McGee!" Abby exclaimed in the background
"Hey, Abs," Gibbs greeted
"Hey, Boss-man. We've rerouted the call path to make it harder for the Feds to trace it," Abby said, "Everybody else is here too"
Gibbs squinted at the horizon; the sun would be rising soon, "You're all up early,"
"The Feds dragged us outta bed and interrogated us," Tony replied
"They what!" Gibbs exclaimed
"Yeah, they tried to do the same to Morrow, but he had other ideas, shot two of the agents, then yelled at their director," Tony responded
Gibbs chuckled, "Good to hear,"
"Jethro, why are you running away?" Ducky asked
"Ducky, I didn't do it, I've never heard of that doctor in my life" Gibbs responded
"So, why?" Ducky asked again
"I don't know," Gibbs confessed
"How did you know he was a doctor, boss?" McGee asked, "I mean, if you didn't do it, how do you know about the case at all?"
"Somebody rang me, gave me a heads-up" Gibbs replied
"Who?" Kate asked
"I can't tell you that" Gibbs replied, "You just have to trust me. Look I have to go; I don't want to stay on the phone too much longer"
"But it's a secure line, Gibbs," Abby argued
"Yeah, but I gotta get going, Abs," Gibbs responded
"Where are you gonna go?" Kate asked
"I can't tell you that. I may call in a few days, see if this mess has been cleared up," Gibbs told them, standing up
"Okay, Jethro, we'll look forward to hearing from you," Ducky replied
"Okay, well, I'll talk to you all later," Gibbs said before hanging up
Gibbs was putting his cell back in the pocket when he felt a gun press against his back.
"Put your hands up!" a man's voice told him. Gibbs did as he was told, raising his hands. "Slowly!" the man commanded
Gibbs was pushed against the side of the building and the man began patting him down.
"Keep your hands up!" the man said again
The man took his cell out of his pocket, then continued searching him. He took Gibbs' wallet out of one of his other pockets, then stood back, "What's in the backpack?" He heard the man open the zip and look through it.
"Clothes, food," Gibbs answered
The man threw the bag aside and Gibbs felt him press the barrel of the gun against his back again.
"I want your jacket as well," the man said
Gibbs thought about it for a second, before deciding that it would be better if he didn't draw attention to himself. Slowly he took off the jacket. The man pulled it from his shoulders and ran off. Gibbs sighed in relief and turned around, watching the man run down the street and around a corner.
He quickly stuffed his clothes back into the bag and continued walking in the direction he was going before. As the sun began to rise, he broke into a jog. He ran down several streets until he reached the main street, then slowed to a walk so as not to draw attention to himself. There were a few people around, starting there days early and he didn't want them to remember him. He walked briskly to the end of the street, on the outskirts of the town and continued walking till he crossed train tracks. Looking both ways, he sighed and walked under a nearby tree to wait.
Tony sighed and rubbed his eyes, the day had gone slower than usual and he felt more tired than he'd ever been in his life. It had only just turned four o'clock and Tony felt like he could curl up on the floor and fall asleep forever.
He picked up his phone on the first ring, "DiNozzo, yes sir, I'll be right up"
Tony got up and ran up the stairs to Mtac. He strode in and greeted the Director, who kicked all the tech-guys out, leaving just Tony and himself in the room.
"What've you found?" Morrow asked
"We have a profile of the victim, we're still checking to see if Gibbs and the vic had any prior contact. We're reviewing Gibbs' movement over the last two weeks and have looked through old cases to make a list of people who have a grudge against him," Tony responded
"Any luck?" Morrow asked
Tony smiled, "The list keeps getting bigger. Gibbs pissed off a lot of people over the years. Abby's still gathering names, she's gone back four or five years so far"
Morrow sighed, "Anything else?"
"McGee and Kate are out interviewing Wicks' girlfriend, parents and co-workers. They should be back soon," Tony replied
"Okay, tell me if you turn up anything…" Morrow said, getting interrupted when the door opened. Tony turned around and saw Fornell enter, "Agent Fornell,"
"Director Morrow," Fornell responded, approaching the two men, "You're not investigating Gibbs' case, are you?"
"No," Morrow replied, frowning
"Good," Fornell smiled, "Then I'm not giving you copies of our files," he said as he handed over a big file
Morrow took the file and flipped through it, "Why?"
"Because I believe he's innocent and I owe him," Fornell replied
"You were the birdie who called Gibbs to tell him what was going down, weren't you?" Tony asked
Fornell smirked, "Would I do that?"
"Thanks, Fornell," Morrow said
"Don't mention it. I've gotta scoot, before they work out I'm here," Fornell said, before leaving the room
Gibbs yawned and opened his eyes. He looked around the room, disorientated, wondering where he was. Sitting up, he squinted in the semi-darkness until he remembered. He heard the train screech and blow its horn. Rolling over, he pulled open the door to the carriage and looked out, watching the landscape go by. He sighed and turned to the inside of the carriage, wishing there was something to distract him from his thoughts. After he'd jumped on the train as it went passed the place he'd sat under the tree, he'd laid down and promptly fell asleep. He looked back out of the carriage and looked to the horizon, seeing more landscape and in the distance, a township.
Grumbling, he got up and started pacing the carriage.
"This is stupid," Gibbs muttered as he opened his bag, getting out a banana
As he pealed back the banana, he tried to decide on a course of action. The logical place he would start was to find out more about the Wicks case, followed by the cases which were possibly linked to the same killer. He'd take it from there, discreetly following leads and could hopefully report his findings to Fornell or his team.
Gibbs threw the banana peeling out the side of the carriage and tried to find a more comfortable spot in the carriage. Next stop, Baltimore…
That's it for chapter 3!...Hope you liked it! Please review!
