This is the penultimate chapter! hope you enjoy :)
Tony watched the freezing water rise around him. If he had the energy he'd be panicking right about now. Out of all the ways he could die, drowning was at the bottom of the list along with being buried alive and being eaten by sharks. He'd always been hopeful, thinking he would die of old age, whilst the more reasonable side of Tony thought he'd end up dying like Kate. A bullet. To be gunned down while defending his country.
The water was up to his shoulders now. Tony could see blood from the wound on his arm seeping into the water and he began to shiver. He scrunched his eyes shut and tried to forget about the wound, the ice cold water rising around him and the fact that he couldn't move.
Tony knew it wouldn't be long before the little air that was getting into his lungs would stop when the water rose above his head and with every second the water rose, his hope of being found alive faded.
Gibbs rushed down the dark corridor without a care for his own safety. The crying grew quieter the further away he got and a new unrecognisable sound grew louder. The way Kevin had spoken, Gibbs knew Tony didn't have much time, if he had any at all, something deep inside him thought. He shook those dark thoughts away and kept running. He threw his flashlight to one side as he turned into a corridor with simple lights strung along the length of the corridor. He blinked as his eyes got used to the bright light. Something was telling him he was very close.
"DiNozzo!" he shouted, his bellowing voice echoing. He waited silently for a reply but received none. "DiNozzo!" he tried again. As he walked down the corridor the loud rushing sound grew even louder. "Come on Tony, where are you?" he muttered to himself.
McGee and Ziva watched Gibbs' figure disappear down the dark corridor before turning back to the task at hand, even though their minds were still on Tony. McGee looked down at the figure crying on the floor whilst Ziva turned and stared at the body of Nurse Windsor, her eyes staring up vacantly.
"This is going to take a while," Ziva said with a sigh.
"Let's hope Gibbs finds Tony before we finish tidying this up," McGee replied. He sifted into his coat pocket and retrieved his cell phone. He flipped it open and frowned. "I've got no signal; you?" He watched as Ziva checked her own cell phone.
She shook her head. "No bras, I mean bars," she corrected herself quickly, remembering her and Tony's time together in a shipping container.
"What should we do then?" McGee asked. Should they take Kevin back upstairs and leave the body or does one of them take Kevin back and one stay with the body. McGee didn't even know whether he could find the way back on his own.
"I'll go back and bring back help; Kevin is obviously not in a fit state to make it back and we'll need Ducky down here for her," Ziva decided. "Will you be okay on your own?"
"Sure, I'll just wait here with the crazy guy and the dead body in the dark, no biggie." Ziva scrunched up her eyes. "Yeah," McGee spoke at seeing Ziva's look, "that was me being sarcastic."
"You've been spending too much time with Tony." At the mention of his name the two agents fell silent. "I'll stay if you want," Ziva said a minute later.
McGee shook his head. "No, it's okay, I'll be fine." He didn't want to tell Ziva he really had no idea where he was. She nodded.
"I'll be back as soon as I can," Ziva reassured the young agent before disappearing down another corridor.
McGee looked down at Kevin and sighed. "Looks like it's just you and me."
Tony struggled to breathe now the water was rising up his neck. He didn't have long now. He was about to let the water just take him when he heard something over the roar of the water. Someone was calling his name and, if he wasn't mistaken, it sounded a lot like Gibbs. If only he could shout back. He took one last big breath as the water rose above his mouth and nose and hoped that Gibbs found him before his air ran out.
To Gibbs it felt as though the corridor was never ending. He ran as fast as he could, but there still seemed like there was miles to go. Even though it felt like hours it was only seconds, as Gibbs found himself outside a door, water pouring out the small slit under the door. The roaring sound nearly deafened him. He wasted no time in sliding the bolt across and opening the door. Water poured out in a gigantic wave, pushing Gibbs to the ground and then pulling him along with the current. He grabbed onto the nearest pipe and held tightly. Once the water had dissipated, he stood up and made his way back to the room.
Tony opened his mouth and took in as much air as his weak lungs would take. The pressure from the water was gone and he opened his eyes. The water was flooding out the door. Gibbs had found him in time. If his limbs were working Tony would be dancing right about now, celebrating another near miss. A second later Gibbs appeared at the door, soaking wet. He turned first to the open pipe, closing it tightly. Once the water had stopped he turned to Tony, crouching down by his side.
"Dr..dr," Tony tried to speak, annoyed at his tongue and voice box for not co-operating. In a silent whisper he mouthed drugged.
"You were drugged?" Gibbs asked. Tony blinked once for yes.
"Lucy," he mouthed again, this time using his eyes to point to the far corner where Lucy West's body lay. Gibbs turned to the far corner and spotted the skeleton.
"You found her, DiNozzo." He turned back. "I knew you would."
"Nurse?"
"Dead, Kevin killed her." Tony closed his eyes, feeling relieved now that it was all over. He felt Gibbs place a hand on his shoulder. "Stay awake, Tony," Gibbs spoke, wary of the gash on Tony's forehead. "Help will be here soon."