A/N: To all the people who have recently become 'followers' & 'favourites' welcome! So glad to have you with us! To my reviewers, thank you! I really love hearing your thoughts & am so glad everyone is enjoying this story!
To Guest Reviewer CookieSprinkles: Thanks for your review! What will happen IN Stillwater, yea that could be messy, but they've gotta get there first!
Now, let's see how they go... can they get to Stillwater safely?
Tony had to admit it was taking quite a bit of concentration to keep up with Gibbs's driving, they'd been on the road for a good 2 & a half hours. According to Harry it was roughly a 4 hour drive, but given the way Gibbs was driving, he could see them getting there within the next hour. He couldn't help but wonder how Kelly was coping, surely with the way he was driving she'd be close to being sick.
Tony could also see Fornell behind him, they were keeping a small gap between each car, but wouldn't let anyone get in the middle. Tony had tried to point out it would be safer if Gibbs put his car in the middle, just incase something happened on the way up. They still had no lead on Quinn, but Gibbs being Gibbs said no & that he had to lead as he was the only one who knew the fastest way there, that Tony couldn't argue with, so he & Fornell had agreed to switch positions every so often & take turns in keeping an eye on the traffic behind them, it was the best they could do. They had another car that was about 30 minutes behind them at last notification. NCIS SSA Tripoli & his 2 agents, as well as Mike Franks had been chasing down some leads on the other side of town & had to wrap up there before joining them on the road.
Jenn had to admit, this car trip was a further eye opener for her into Gibbs, while they didn't speak a lot, he somehow always picked up on the moments when either Kelly was feeling close to being sick or Nix was feeling off & would just make simple comments or start small conversations, each occasion settling them back down. How he could keep Kelly from throwing up was really beyond her. She'd never seen it before, but despite her going green on a few occasions, he was somehow able to keep her from being sick, and could even get her to calm back down with such comments as 'I don't like smelly cars, remember?' it just amazed her, that the girl said said 'yes' & settled back down.
Gibbs could see his son getting nervous again, his nerves seemed to come & go "Nix bud, wanna tell me how you decided Buster was your dog?"
Nix had been staring out the window, this time he was wondering what his grandfather's reaction would be to him, he smiled though at his dad's question "he reminded me of me"
"How you figure that?" Gibbs asked.
"Young & cheeky, he made me smile & laugh straight away" Nix grinned "he likes to play around too, he can wrestle you know!"
Gibbs knew that the point about making him smile & laugh was probably the clincher far more than the young & cheeky aspect, given they'd gone to get him almost straight after coming out to DC. He couldn't help give an internal chuckle at the wrestling comment & wanted to share something with his boy. He smirked as he raised an eyebrow & looked at his son through the rear view mirror "is that so?"
Nix nodded his head "yupp"
"and do you like to wrestle?" Gibbs asked, he wanted to confirm it first.
"Yea" Nix replied.
"You know who else likes to wrestle?" Gibbs asked.
Nix shook his head "no"
"Me" Gibbs grinned "So Buster will have to get in line" he couldn't wait to see have a wrestling session with his son, it would be a lot of fun.
Nix grinned, wrestling with his dad, that would be so much fun! He'd definitely be able to learn some new moves!
Gibbs just smiled, glad he could re-settle him for a little while. He moved a hand & stroked his daughter's head, she was trying to sleep but their conversation had woken her slightly, "ssshh angel, sleep" her sleeping was the best way to help her get through this "shh, sleep angel" he smiled when he saw her eyes close again.
"Boss, still there" Johns said
Fornell looked back, damn! There were 2 black SUV's following them, they'd just turned off one highway to get onto another, he was hoping they wouldn't do likewise, it could be a coincidence but his gut was telling him it was unlikely. "DiNozzo" he called.
"What ya got?" Tony came back on the comms.
"2 black SUV's have been with us for a good 20 minutes, both made the jump from the last highway too, not liking this, they were keeping some distance, but that's closing... fast" Fornell replied.
Tony flashed a look back, given the slight bend in the road he could see the SUV's, they were only maybe a mile behind, he was wondering what the best course of action was to take, when he heard a voice.
"Fornell, hang back, if this is an issue, we want to box them in, DiNozzo, stick close" Gibbs ordered, he'd been listening to the conversation.
"Wallace, call Tripoli, see where he is, we need him stat!" Fornell ordered.
"Yes sir" Wallace replied & dialled his cell.
Gibbs was trying his best to keep an eye on the SUV's, they did seem to be getting closer, like Fornell his gut was working overdrive on this, something wasn't right, damn it! He shook his girl "Kells, angel, wake up"
Kelly had actually managed to fall asleep "we there?"
Gibbs wished they were, they were in the middle of nowhere right now "No, but I need you awake" he looked back to Jenn "can you switch with Phoenix?" he wasn't going to demand it, but if what he knew they both thought was coming, he'd much prefer to have him on the opposite side to where the car was going to come from.
Jenn smiled "I was going to offer that" she quickly undid her seat belt, and manoeuvring Buster, she & Nix switched, with him now on the far side & Jenn in the middle seat.
"I want you both to listen to me carefully, it may be nothing, but there's some SUV's following us. I'm hoping they just pass us by, if not & I tell you, I want you both to lean as far forward as you can, grip your legs with your hands & stay down. Bud, why don't you get Buster on the floor next to you"
Jenn could see the boy was nervous, so she helped Nix get him down. She was doing her best to not stare at the SUV's, but they were quickly approaching, both were now between Tony & Fornell, like the others she knew this wasn't good, something was wrong, but she did her best not to show it.
Gibbs saw Buster get down "good work bud, everything'll be ok" he saw Kelly's jumper was still tucked up to the side of the seat, she'd been using it as a pillow, it had a hood "put your jumper on please Kells, hood too" if something was to happen, the hood would help to keep the glass off her.
Kelly wasn't liking this at all, she quickly put the jumper on.
Tony was staying on Gibbs's ass as close as possible, it was the balancing act too close & if they had to break suddenly he'd go through their rear, too far back & the SUV could get in between, problem was it left the entire side of Gibbs's car exposed to being taken by the side. He saw though some movement in their car, they were moving Nix away from the side of the car likely to be hit, but that meant that both Kelly & Nix were on the same side, without any protection, he'd understood Gibbs reasoning for putting him & Jenn diagonally opposite each other,
"Harry, McGee, as soon as whatever happens, happens, you get out & get to the side of their car where Kelly & Nix are, get them out & protected" Tony ordered.
"Yes Tony" came the response for the pair.
Ziva was riding shot gun, her eyes were glued to the side mirror "I'm not liking this"
Harry thought that was an understatement, they were all feeling nervous "the second SUV is slowing! They're trying to distance us from Fornell!"
Tony tensed "Lock & load!" he ordered.
"Fuck!" Fornell exclaimed "lock & load!" he ordered, he was cursing that Tripoli was still about 15 minutes away! "Ducky, get down & stay in the car, this could get ugly"
Ducky could see the SUV in front of them had slowed down & was preventing them from overtaking again, these damn one lane highways! He would stay in the car, he wasn't trained for anything. He saw FBI Agent Johns next to him lock & load his rifle ready for anything.
McGee saw it, the second SUV broke suddenly, Fornell only managed to stop just in time "Tony!"
Tony had seen it too, but he couldn't deal with that, the first SUV was trying to overtake him & had done it with such a sudden burst of speed that Tony knew they had to have something illegal in the engine, it was already almost overtaking them "hang on!" he veered his car trying to take the SUV out before it took Gibbs out.
Gibbs saw the 2nd SUV break & then the first take off like lightning towards him "now!" he called & helped his girl lean forward, he could see Jenn had covered Nix with her own body, it served 2 purposes, kept him covered & moved herself as far away from the impending thud that was going to happen as possible.
With a steel barrier on the curb-side Gibbs knew he'd have no chance to get out of the path of the car, all he could was to try to get away from the SUV, but he knew that the rate at which the SUV came upon them wasn't likely. All he could do was try to keep as much control of the car as possible. He felt the hit too, came crashing into the back end on the side, he kept a firm grasp of the steering wheel "hang on & stay down!" the SUV kept ramming into them.
Tony had tried to take the car out, but he'd missed & watched as it collided with Gibbs's car, he redirected his efforts & rammed into the back of the car, while it gave them a jerk it didn't stop them, then he saw it, a window open, then he heard it, a gun shot! "Crap!" he put his foot down again & rammed into the back of the SUV, it sent them forward.
Ziva had reacted instantly to the gun shot, she lowered her window & moved herself a little out of it, she tried her best to steady herself as she took aim at the car & fired her weapon, she suddenly realised she wasn't alone, Harry was doing the same thing, she redirected her efforts towards the windows, tyres, anything to stop the car.
Harry had seen Ziva move to get out the window, he knew he had to do the same thing, lowering his own window he made a move himself "hold my legs McGee"
Tim was trying to hang onto his seat "you can't..." he tried to say, but the kid was already moving, so he just grabbed onto Harry's legs & held him.
"Shit" Gibbs cursed as he heard the first shot ring out "Stay down!" he yelled, again pushing his girl trying to get her as far down as possible.
Jenn was keeping Nix covered, he'd screamed a few times, she understood why, the car kept being slammed, she'd heard Kelly's cries too. She knew Gibbs was doing his best to get away from them, but right now, with a steel barrier on the other side he had no where to go. She saw that her window had shattered already & drew her weapon, opening fire on the SUV.
Fornell had slammed onto the breaks, just managing to not go up the rear of the SUV, he'd also caught sight of the other SUV propelling itself forward towards Gibbs, he wanted to help them, but had to deal with the occupants in this vehicle first "Tyres!" he yelled.
Instantly his 2 agents, manoeuvred themselves out of their respective windows, they'd have gotten out, but didn't want to do that given the SUV could have sped off before they had a chance to shoot the tyres, they both took aim & began shooting at the tyres.
Fornell tried to get past but the SUV kept blocking him, he finally saw that his men had managed to shoot the tyres, effectively bringing the SUV to a stand-still, he swung his door open for protection & stepped out behind it, he saw both his agents do likewise, with the one from the rear joining him behind his door "FBI! Toss the weapons & come out, hands up!"
Gibbs was beside himself, he was boxed in, this was either Mac or Quinn, he was betting on Quinn & the bastard choose this section of the highway purely to be able to box them in! "It's ok, it's gonna be ok!" he said, trying in vein to sound assured of himself.
Gibbs saw the barrier was finishing up ahead, he just had to get there! "DiNozzo!" he yelled into the comms.
"yea boss?" Tony yelled back.
"Barrier is finishing soon, stop ramming him. As soon as it finishes, I'm veering off. Once I have, push through between us & let them have it!" Gibbs ordered.
"Ok!" Tony called back, for this to work he'd need all bodies inside the car "Inside! Ziva! Harry!" he yelled, as soon as they were inside he continued "barrier is finishing, Gibbs is going to veer off. Harry, McGee previous orders stand, get to Kelly & Phoenix. Ziva, we are going to deal with them!"
Fornell hadn't really expected the occupants to readily agree & sure enough, their reply was gun fire, taking cover he waited for the lull, then along with his men returned fire, he knew the main thing was to keep them busy, if they could keep them here they couldn't go off towards Gibbs. There was one thing they desperately needed & that was Tripoli & his team!
Wallace ducked out of a shot that came ringing past him, they needed... he spied a tree on the other side of the road, if he could get there, he could possibly draw cross fire & they'd stand a better chance of taking the men out "Sir, I'll go over there... draw cross fire"
Fornell agreed "Ok, wait until we cover you" he motioned to Johns "on 3, one... two... three!"
Wallace bolted across the empty terrain to the cover of the tree, just missing a few bullets by inches.
"Where the hell is Tripoli?!" Fornell vented, he motioned to both Johns & Wallace, they'd all fire in sync, he took a deep breath & opened fire again on the occupants.
Wallace was using his new position to great advantage, firing straight into the drivers side window, he was easily able to subdue to man.
Fornell finally realised they were getting the upper hand over what he presumed was a 2 man team inside the SUV, with Wallace pinning the driver, he & Johns were able to suppress the passenger, he was able to steal a look towards the others. His eyes widened, he saw Gibbs's car burst out from the road where he'd been boxed in & veered off onto the grass, he took a wide berth obviously trying to get far away from the SUV, he saw Tony make an obvious push between Gibbs & the SUV, it worked, instead of the SUV careening into Gibbs's vehicle, it did so into Tony's, they appeared to be lodged into each other as they moved further along the grassed area on the road side.
Fornell's eyes went back to Gibbs's car, in his attempt to veer off fast, the car had gone into a spin, he held his breath, not even wanting to think about what was going inside that car.
"Hang on!" Gibbs yelled, he was trying to get control back of the car, he'd been too quick to veer & the car was now spinning, he was afraid it would tip, or worse, go crashing down into the ravine he saw not far off, he could hear both his kids give screams of terror, hating he couldn't stop what was happening to bring fear to them, all he could do was use all the skills he'd gained over his decades of driving to regain control.
"Ahhh" Kelly yelled, she was petrified, she was still head down with her arms wrapping around her legs, she could feel the car now spinning, she knew as soon as it all stopped she'd be sick.. she actually welcome it, because that would be the end of the spinning "daaaaaddddd" she cried.
Nix was gripping Buster for dear life "ddddaaaaadddd" he sobbed, he knew the Director was still holding onto him, but he was soo scared, he only wanted his dad, he had no idea as to what was happening, he just sobbed into his dog.
A/N: What a place to leave it... I know, I'm mean! lol But seriously, uh oh! Things are not going well, at all!
Can everyone get through this mess unscathed? Is it Quinn? Will Tripoli & Franks get there in time?
You know I love to hear your thoughts, so review away! More up soon!