A/N: Here's another chapter folks! To my latest followers/favourties, welcome! To all my reviewers, thank you so much! I love hear your thoughts! & am so glad you're all loving this still. I know that it's been a bit longer than I said, over a week, but pesky life seems to get in the way. Again, I will try to update as regularly as I can, but I will have to ask for your paitence!
To my reviewers, I'm sorry I haven't been able to reply to you individually as I normally do, but I'm super busy & super tired & I just want to get this chapter up! Thanks again & I will try to get to the replies tomorrow!
Now, let's get right into it..
Tim watched as Kelly & Nix just ambled around the cellar, both just seemed to be in a daze, not really knowing what to do. He saw that Nix rarely went more than two steps away from his sister, clearly wanting to stay within arm's reach. He flashed a look to Harry who wasn't moving around as much, but was clearly trying to stay close to the pair, if he was honest, it looked like Kelly was reciprocating it, as she hovered near him too. He could see they were clearly nervous, why wouldn't they be given everything was going!
Kelly was a nervous wreck, she didn't know what to do with herself, she had too much nervous energy to sit down so she just slowly paced looking at the various things her grandfather kept in the cellar. It was really weird to be down here & not even having seen him.
"Check this out Kells" Harry motioned, he could see she wasn't sure what to do & wanted to distract her.
Kelly closed the few steps between them & looked at what he was pointing at, she smiled "can't believe they still make those, squirt have a look at this"
Nix went over & was enveloped into his sister's hold "what is it?"
"Lollipop rings" Kelly answered "we used to have them all the time, we'd wear at least 3 at a time, though I remember we once put 10 on, that didn't go down well" she finished in a chuckle, recalling that memory.
Harry gave a small laugh "yea, our mum's weren't really impressed with that one"
Nix stepped forward out of his sister's hold to inspect these lollipop rings, they looked awesome! Basically lollipops you wore as rings, he saw there were stacks of flavours too.
Kelly saw her brother eyeing the flavours "go on squirt, take one, gramps won't mind" a distraction might be good for him, something else to concentrate on.
"Really?" Nix asked.
"yea, gramps used to give us free reign down here, whatever we could grab in the space of like 2 minutes used to be ours, no questions asked" Kelly replied with a smile.
"I went straight for the giant snakes, lollipops & sherbets" Harry smiled "I was in heaven"
Nix grinned before he turned to reach for a bubble-gum flavoured one, but he instantly heard gun fire & threw himself into his sister. How could they hear it if they were unground?
Kelly took instant hold of her brother as she heard the gun fire, she tensed as she shared a look with Harry & Tim, both had gone rigid instantly too, Harry had even brought his rifle that was resting on his back into both his hands.
Tim tensed & readied his weapon as soon as he heard the gunfire, he saw that Buster, who had been lying down, had stood instantly & was just staring up at the entrance of the trap door. He saw that Kelly & Nix were not that far from him, he knew what he should do, he approached them "We're safe down here, but why don't you two sit down in the far corner, it's out of sight & all that. Harry, you can go with them, I'll stay here"
Harry agreed & herded his friend into the far corner, he crouched down, he knew his friend was scared, but Nix looked petrified again, he clung to his sister like glue "it'll be ok squirt, your dad, my dad, they know how to handle things. I know dad's entire team & none are to be messed with. They'll all come through fine & they won't let anything happen to your mum either. Think my mum would seriously hurt them if that happened, she can't wait to see your mum. You've just gotta have a bit of faith, ok?"
Nix had buried himself into his sister so much he couldn't even see Harry, but he could hear him, so he just listened.
Kelly gave Harry a sad smile as she rubbed her brother's back "he's right Nixy, they'll be fine. They'll all be fine" she finished, just praying she was right, she had imagines of something happening to both her parents, as well as her grandfather & then she would be alone, alone to raise to brother for real, that just scared her to death! She wasn't sure she could handle that.
Harry could see Kelly's nerves, anxiety kick into another gear "faith Kells, gotta have faith, it'll be fine"
Tim would have tried to help calm their nerves, but as he was on the other end of the cellar, he'd have to shout, and he knew that wouldn't be appropriate under the circumstances. He also couldn't help but feel nerves at what was going outside of the cellar, was Gibbs ok? What about Ziva? Tony? The Director? Ducky? How were they all doing? Maybe they'd need help? He knew though that he couldn't go, Gibbs had given him clear instructions & he couldn't disobey them, Gibbs was counting on him & he wouldn't let him down.
Fornell was giving chase as the two assailants charged out of the backdoor & down the outside fire stairs, he cursed as they jumped the rails & landed cleaning on the ground, which was still a floor away. He just pushed himself down the stairs as quickly as he could, knowing he couldn't follow their lead in jumping.
Gantry wasn't used to this kind of action in Stillwater, but what he was used to was chasing down teens that would flee from drinking areas, so he was pretty fit. He was glad for it too, as he charged down the alley back towards the main street, he saw them heading a particular route "Lance, take the alley, you can cut them off!"
Wallace saw the Deputy veer off into an alley "I'll go too" he called to Fornell & headed after him, he hoped they could do what the Sheriff was planning on.
Fornell saw the pair head off & just pushed into another gear, he rounded the corner & came to sudden stop, the 2 men he'd been chasing had linked back up with 2 of the other men that had gone out the front door & all four were now just standing in the middle of street staring him & the other officers down. He noted that along with him, his men, the Sheriff & his deputies, Anderson & Mackay were also there in a stand off with these men.
Fornell took a deep breath "Drop your weapons, or we will open fire" he could see they were each carrying at least one weapon.
"Don't think either will happen" the man nearest him retorted with a evil smirk.
"And why's that?" Fornell asked incensed.
"Because I'm the only one that can relieve that woman of the bomb that strapped to her, before the timer goes off" the man sneered back.
Anderson took this guy in as he took up position right next to Fornell, he was pretty tall & solidly built, jet black hair & a few tattoos too, there was something he was certain of though "Our fellow SWAT Officers took care of the bomb Quinn had placed easily enough, I'm sure they'll be able to do the same with this one"
Gantry saw the man tense & flare his nostrils, he clearly hadn't liked hearing that news! "Why don't you fella's listen to this FBI Agent" he suggested "because I'm pretty sure that either you drop your weapons, or we'll shoot you."
"We don't need you to disarm that" Fornell smirked "oh & as far as your boss is concerned, he's not getting out of this either" he added.
"While I might be working on this, MacDonald Fielding is not my boss" the man smirked.
"No?" Fornell asked surprised "then why are you here?" at least if he kept the man talking, he wouldn't be doing anything else. This guy though, he didn't know at all & he'd studied the profiles of all the men on Mac's books, so he had to admit, the guy was probably right about not working for him, but then why was he here?
"Favour" the man offered "now, I think you're going to put your weapons down"
"Not happening" Fornell replied bluntly.
Gantry had to admit he was a tad nervous, he'd never been in a stand off with 4 men that had semi-automatic weapons in the middle of town, a town he was sworn to protect. He would however do whatever was required to get the situation dealt with, because he wouldn't accept any of the residents getting hurt. He just hoped that his men had cleared the area of all bystanders, the last thing he wanted was for there to be causalities.
Mackay was trying to keep an eye on as many of these men as he could, looking for any sign of movement, but the movement didn't come from them, the unmistakable sound of semi-automatic weapon fire was heard from down the road & it spurred everyone into action, with bodies going flying for both cover & in an attempt to tackle the closet assailants so they couldn't open fire like their comrades, he himself went straight for one of them, crash tackling to the ground before he'd managed to do anything.
Fornell heard the gunfire & instantly threw himself towards the man he'd been in conversation with, knowing full well this guy was the leader, he'd take him on personally. He realised he hadn't been alone in his thoughts, the Sheriff had gone for him as well, so using their combined body weights they managed to bring the guy down dead against the pavement.
"Get down!" Maurice ordered towards Jack & Ducky as soon as the gunfire started.
Jack bent over, but didn't go low enough to not see out, he had to keep an eye on his son & Shannon, he cursed when one of the men hauled him to the ground.
"You need to stay down Mr Gibbs, we've got this" Banks instructed, he knew that they couldn't let anything happen to him either.
Jack was frustrated "I am going to do my part in protecting my family!" he exclaimed standing back up "I will not lie down!"
Banks went to retort but a stray bullet came crashing through the window & caught him on the shoulder sending him down to the ground.
Ducky saw Banks fall to the ground & moved to him instantly, rolling him over he saw the wound "let me fix this"
"just strap it, I'm not going to be kept down!" Banks exclaimed.
Ducky would have preferred for him to do just that, but knew it wouldn't happen, so he taped it & strapped it as best as he could.
Banks jumped back up as soon as Ducky had taped him & like Maurice & Jack were both doing, he went right up to window & whilst taking cover as best as possible kept watched on what was going on outside, it looked like chaos! There were bodies & bullets flying in every direction, the person he was most concerned about though was Mike, he was in the middle of the street & had just engaged in a scuffle with one of the assailants, but it looked like he'd already sustained at least one hit to his right knee.
Maurice could see that like himself Banks wanted nothing more than to be able to head out there & help but they both knew where they had to remain. He watched as the second assailant traded shots with the Director, Tony, and the others. He tensed though as he saw Mike get stuck down, shit! crap! He watched as Tony & one of the SWAT officers ventured out to try to get to him & push back the line of fire.
Jack couldn't see Shannon at all, he'd lost of sight of her a little while ago, he wondered what had happened to her. He had seen his son go to the ground almost on top of Mac, but now he couldn't see them either, he gut was churning & not in a good way. He was getting extremely nervous about how they both were, he also wondered if his grandkids.. wow, grandkids! He had two! That's for another time, he wondered if they could hear the commotion? If so, they must be terrified! He took a deep breath, he certainly wasn't going to open the door & let anyone have the possible chance of getting to them, no he'd keep them safe until it was all over.
Jack been looking downwards, but his attention got drawn up as he heard the firing coming to an end, for the most part. He looked up & his eyes widened, Mac was striding towards the store, where was his son? What had Mac done to him? All the fury that had been welling inside him came to the brim as he cocked his rifle & brought it to his shoulder, he'd take care of the man, that was certain "he's mine!" he exclaimed.
A/N: Excitment is everywhere! The group in the cellar might be safe from bullets, but they're surely not immune to it! Just how will Fornell, Gantry & the others go in their stoush?
How is Joanne doing, can they get the bomb off her in time? But most espically, what on earth is going on with Mac charging for the store? Where's Gibbs? How's Shannon?
Still, so much to sort out, will everyone make it? Can they stop Mac & his men?
You know I love hearing your thoughts, so review away! More to come!