Purgatory

Chapter 15 – Refused

"What do you mean, it's Gibbs?" Bishop looked at EJ incredulously.

"I mean, it's Gibbs," she repeated, her mind dazed. Her breathing was fast and shallow, almost hyper-ventilating, making her dizzy.

Bishop shook his head, his brow scrunching together in a frown. "Help me out here EJ," he pushed forward, his voice frustrated. "I don't have a clue what you're talking about."

Standing behind EJ, McGee moved his hands from the small of her back up to her shoulders. He stood as tall as he could and growled at Bishop, "Back off, Chris."

Brogan grabbed Bishop's shoulder, pulling him back slightly. Bishop got the message, stepping away from EJ.

McGee turned EJ around to him and pulled her into his arms. He looked down to meet her gaze and smiled softly. "Breathe," he told her. "It's OK. Just breathe. I've got you."

"Am I …," she choked, unable to speak. She took a breath and tried again. "Am I crazy? Please tell me you saw it too, Tim!"

"Yeah, EJ. I saw it. You're not crazy. It's gotta be the boss. He let us know by the date that he's alive. He somehow sent that boat toward the base, knowing it would be picked up by security and someone would figure out the number on the seat was a phone number and call it."

EJ's breathing had slowed, her trembling almost gone. McGee's voice calmed her, grounded her. He knows, she thought to herself. He knows I'm not crazy.

"I'm sorry," Cozort said, his gentle voice a contradiction to his imposing size, "but I don't understand."

"Gibbs was notorious for his 'rules'; his code to live by," said McGee. "If he's alive and had to get a message off quickly, he couldn't have done a better job."

"How's that?" Cozort said, still puzzled.

"Anyone close to Gibbs knows about his rules. Look at it – it makes sense," McGee said, his voice ringing with exasperation. "He leaves EJ's phone number in the boat. You call it and tell her that scrawled next to her phone number is 'Rule #1'. She knows it could only be Gibbs and that he's alive. Heck, even I know he's alive."

McGee glanced up at the ceiling, a questioning look on his face. "But I just can't figure out why he would leave Rule #1 in his message. Rule #1 is 'never screw over your partner'.

EJ looked up at McGee, cracked a huge grin and begin to chuckle. Her chuckle continued into a laugh, until eventually she was laughing so hard she had to push away from McGee's embrace as she gulped for air. She felt the heavy load of stress and fear leaving her body, a welcomed relief taking its place.

McGee looked at her, dumbfounded. The rest of them looked just as confused. Glancing around EJ realized they had no idea what to do with her and if she didn't pull herself together soon they might lock her up for her own safety.

She forced herself to sober, taking in deep breaths, her laughter slowly subsiding. She smiled at McGee, walked over and reached up to caress his cheek.

"Oh, Tim," she said. "Gibbs has gone through a lot of changes since he left NCIS. Changes you don't know about." Seeing the confusion in his eyes she continued.

"You're right that Rule #1 used to be, 'don't screw over your partner'. But after Gibbs left NCIS – after he and I found each other again - he tossed out his old rules and started writing a new set of rules."

"Oh?" McGee said, still confused.

"Yeah," EJ responded, hope stirring within her. "And he wrote his new Rule #1 just for me. Gibbs' new Rule #1 is, 'hold on to the people that love you and never let them go'. He's alive, Tim! He's alive!"

"Oh!" McGee exclaimed. "It was a message – specifically for you!"

"Ohhh Yeah!" she replied, her smile beaming.

He smiled back, beaming just as wide.

"OK," Bishop said, "I'll buy it. But why is he here and where is he?"

"Come on Chris, do that math," EJ said. "There are no coincidences."

Bishop glared down at the table, thinking hard. "Rathburn must have him. He must know you and Gibbs are together and he must know that Gibbs is ex-NCIS. He must have kidnapped Gibbs, faked his death and brought him here. He needs something from Gibbs for this operation."

"But what?" Cozort interjected, looking at EJ. "You said you stopped this Rathburn guy's chemical bomb attack. Could he have kidnapped this Gibbs you're talking about to hold against you, blackmail you?"

"No, that doesn't fit," Andrews jumped in. There's no way he could know EJ would be assigned to this case – or even that we would figure out he was involved. You've had no calls or anything about a ransom or blackmail, have you EJ?"

"God, I wish I had. Then I would have known Gibbs wasn't dead," she replied.

"What's the common link here?" Brogan joined in.

Everyone stopped speaking, racking their brains for an answer.

Off to the side of the room EJ heard someone clear his throat a couple of times. She looked over and saw it was the tall MP. His hand was raised halfway in a shy attempt to get attention. She caught Cozort's eye and nodded over toward the young solder.

"Petty Officer," Cozort said, his voice impatient, "do you have something?"

"Permission to speak freely, sir?"

"Granted."

"I've been thinking about this since we were briefed a little while ago," he said. "There are two common factors in this situation that were absolutely going to happen, no matter what the circumstances," the young man explained, stepping forward into the larger group, his partner following.

"And what are those," Cozort asked, encouraging his MP to continue.

"Well, sir …, the first is this Rathburn asshole ...," he paused as his face flushed red. He looked over at Cozort. "Sorry sir," he said sheepishly.

Cozort tried to suppress a smile as he looked down at the solder, "We'll let it slide, Petty Officer. Continue."

"Yes sir. Thank you sir," his voice was snappy and precise as he affirmed his commander's lenience.

"Ah …, so this Rathburn character and his plan, which includes an attack against the Navy, is not a variable, it is the precipitating factor in this whole case."

"Go on," Cozort said.

"The other factor that isn't a variable is what happened in Virginia when Agent Barrett's team stopped Rathburn's gas bomb attack. The only thing in common between these two factors is NCIS. NCIS thwarted his earlier plan and he would know that NCIS would investigate the computer theft here at the base and any activities linked to it, because it's Navy, sir."

"Still not following you, Petty Officer," Cozort shook his head. "Let's pick up the pace."

"Yes sir. Here's how I think this played out. Rathburn got burned by NCIS before. He doesn't want to get beat again and he knew he'd be going up against NCIS when he chose this course of action. He probably figured Agent Bishop's team out of Bremerton would be assigned the investigation. Like Agent Andrews said, Rathburn wouldn't have any idea that Agent Barrett might be involved."

"That's true," EJ said. "I didn't even know I'd be on this case until twelve hours before the plane left Andrews for Whidby. But how does Gibbs figure into this?"

"Ma'am," the young Petty Officer nodded at EJ, "Mr. Gibbs fits into this because he's an ex-NCIS agent. If Rathburn had done his homework on you, Ma'am, after your team stopped him, he would have found out that your, ah...husband, Ma'am?" he looked at her questioningly, embarrassed.

"Just call him Gibbs," EJ said, a slight smile of amusement at the sailor's awkwardness curving her lips."

"Yes, Ma'am," he nodded at her. "Rathburn would have known that Gibbs was a retired NCIS agent. So, if you've been beaten by your enemy once and you know you're going to face him again, how do you prepare?" the Petty Officer paused dramatically.

Bishop jumped in, almost shouting, "You study and learn his tactics!"

Everyone looked at Bishop, their faces reflecting his epiphany.

"Of course," McGee said. "Rathburn would never have attempted to kidnap an active agent, it would be suicide. But a lone individual like Gibbs with decades of NCIS experience – he was an easy target."

"I'm not sure," Cozort said. "This seems pretty basic. There has to be more here we're not seeing."

"Sir," the Petty Officer looked toward Cozort, waiting for permission to speak.

"Go ahead, Petty Officer," Cozort said.

"Ockham's Razor, sir."

"Come again, Petty Officer?"

"Ockham's Razor. If you have two or more theories that explain the observed facts, then you should use the simplest one until more evidence comes along. Sir, this just boils down to Rathburn's ego and desire to win. Gibbs' and Agent Barrett's involvement is just a matter of chance."

Bishop looked over at the Petty Officer's name tag. "Nice work, Petty Officer, Mashiro. Where'd you learn to think like that?"

"Thank your sir. Ah..., I play a lot of chess, sir."

"Of course," Bishop smiled, nodding his head. "If you ever need a job, look me up."

The young man beamed at Bishop's compliment.

Cozort laughed, "Don't start stealing my MP's, Bishop. I know where you live."

With the mood lightened somewhat, everyone relaxed, letting some of the day's stress dissipate.

EJ stepped up to Bishop. "We need to talk to the director. We've got to get to Rathburn's farm and rescue Gibbs."

"OK," Bishop said. "They've got a video communication link here. I'll get Cozort to setup the feed."

"Thank you, Chris."

He smiled down at her, "Anything for you EJ. I'm really happy for you. Don't worry, we're gonna get him back."

She nodded, running a hand through her hair.

Bishop turned, walked over to Cozort and explained their request.

A short while later EJ, McGee, Bishop and Cozort stood in a dark room facing a large video screen. A static scratching came over the speakers and then Jerome Craig's face appeared. The four of them took turns updating Craig on the new information and their theory that Gibbs was alive and held captive by Rathburn at his property across the canal.

"Wait, wait, wait ...," Craig interrupted as EJ peppered him with her ideas about how to mount a rescue for Gibbs, "this is still pretty far-fetched. Even I know about Gibbs' rules. Anyone with that knowledge could have faked that message. Rathburn could be drawing you into a trap!"

"No, sir," EJ gritted out from behind her teeth, wringing her hands together. "Rathburn couldn't know I'm here. This is not a trap and it's not fake. It all adds up. It's Gibbs and we need to get him out!"

Craig turned his attention to Cozort. "Lieutenant Commander, do you buy this theory?"

"Ockham's razor, Director."

"Excuse me," Craig said, raising his eyebrows.

EJ, McGee and Bishop looked over at Cozort, each with a smirk.

"Ockham's razor, sir. The simplest solution is usually the right solution. It makes sense to me, Director."

"Really?" Craig droned out slowly. "I see."

"We can do this, Director," Bishop said.

Craig furrowed his brow, looking down for a moment. Setting his jaw he raised his head. "Look," he said, "even if Gibbs sent that message we don't know if he's still alive. And if he is alive you can't be sure where he is being held. And if he is being held at Rathburn's property you don't know what degree of resistance you'll encounter there. We don't have the necessary intel to mount a rescue."

"But sir," EJ interjected. "I know he's there. We need to get him out."

"EJ," Craig's face grew dark, "do you remember the conversation we had just before you left on this assignment?"

"Yes, sir," she hissed out.

"Good," he said. "Then you know even if I approved some type of rescue, you would not be on that operation, for your safety and the safety of others."

EJ looked over at McGee who frowned and shrugged.

"Besides," Craig continued, "we still don't know if your theory about Rathburn planning an attack on the nuclear warheads being transported to the base is correct. We've rescheduled and rerouted the warhead convey, so if that is Rathburn's plan, the transportation schedules he stole from the Bangor server are useless now."

"Thank you, sir," Cozort said.

"And we've got a combination Ranger and Seal strike force ready to go the moment we have a tip on the location of the TOW missile," Craig said.

"Sir, you've got all the bases covered," EJ said, her voice anxious, almost pleading. "Surely we can put together a small team from the personnel here and raid Rathburn's compound."

Craig sighed. "You all know we have no intel to anticipate what Rathburn plans to do with the TOW missile. And if he figures out we're on to him and changed the transportation logistics, there is no telling what he'll do with that damn thing." His voice was tense now, showing the stress of the situation.

"The TOW is very portable and very nasty. They could run it up your ass in a speed boat before you could intercept it. Or drop in with a chopper and pop it into the base before Whidby or McChord could scramble fighters to take it out. Fact is, we have no idea what Rathburn's plan really is."

EJ felt her blood boiling. Craig was playing it safe and in the process, sacrificing Gibbs. She opened her mouth, about to blast her anger and frustration back at him, when she felt Bishop's soft grip on her forearm. She looked at him and he shook his head.

"What do you want us to do, Director?" Bishop asked.

"Bangor is in Alert Level Alpha right now," Craig said. "We need to protect the base. Barrett, McGee, Bishop, your orders are to provide support to Lieutenant Commander Cozort in whatever role he needs. We still have a serious threat out there and we don't know where it may strike. You do whatever Cozort wants, is that clear?"

"Yes sir," Bishop said.

"Got it Director," McGee added.

EJ just looked at Craig and nodded.

"Good," Craig said. "Cozort?"

"Yes, Director."

"These NCIS agents are the best of the best. Put them to good use. They won't let you down. I'll check back with you soon."

"Yes sir. Thank you, Director Craig," Cozort finished.

EJ watched as Craig made a slashing motion with his hand across his throat and the feed went blank, static once again crackling over the speakers.

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