AN: Editing isn't happening today, folks. Lol
*~.~*
"You can't keep me in here forever," Gideon said. "This isn't humane. I need to be let out so that I can continue my research. I must find a way to rid myself of this power, but I can't do it without your help. You must trust me. I know that I've done terrible things, but I believe, truly, if I had help we could find a way."
At first, Tony could see nothing, but the room began to brighten before him, and he found himself standing in the middle of Tim's lab, looking through the glass that separated him from Gideon's prison. He was the way they'd left him years ago.
"How are you communicating with me?" Tony asked. "You're not even supposed to be conscious."
"The mind can do amazing things, Anthony. Amazing and terrible things..."
"You weren't supposed to realize you were even there," Tony told him. "It wasn't supposed to be like this."
"I wish your plan had worked. I really do. It wasn't a half-bad idea."
"What if we could modify it somehow?"
"This...life inside of us, Anthony...it finds a way. It's remarkable, but also frustrating, isn't it?"
"Like Jurassic Park."
Gideon laughed. "See this is why I like poking around in that head of yours..."
"Speaking of my head, would ya mind gettin' the hell out of it?"
"Aw but I just got here! Do you know how long it took for that area of my brain to actually repair itself?"
"I can imagine," Tony replied. "Does this mean you're gonna be riding my channel now? I'd really hate to have to come down there and give your brain something else to repair."
"I'd tell you not to make threats, but this is the most entertainment I've had in years. No I won't be in constant contact with you. It would be nice, however, if you'd tune me in when you're watching Jeopardy or something. I mean, while you decide what to do..."
"Not really sure how to do that, Gideon," Tony said impatiently.
"Just do what I do. Do what you do when you want to talk to your Timothy friend."
"How do you know about that?" Tony asked, now worried.
"Hello...I'm in your head."
"Quit nosing around! You won't make friends if you can't respect their privacy."
"You're worried I'll make him another target. Well don't. I'm not after anyone. I never really was. It was always about getting rid of what's inside of me."
"Yeah, yeah, you wanna die. We get it."
"I don't know that I want to die," he replied. "I'd like to simply live as a human again; die when I grow too old." They were both silent for a long moment.
"Did you know we can heal people?" Tony asked. Then he found himself showing Gideon somehow, revealing that memory to him.
"You...gave him something," Gideon said. "You gave him part of your gift, and you were left with nothing. How is it that you're so much stronger now?"
"I dunno," he said with a shrug. "It was just gone. I was growing gray hairs and everything."
"You were aging..."
"Then I got myself killed. Suddenly Tim's got his psychic mojo back and I'm betting my cards for a new CW show."
"Don't you see? We can shift the power. If you could give yours to him, then perhaps there's a way to transfer my own to...something like a super-capacitor. I could finally be free..."
"You're forgetting the part where it came back."
"Semantics! It just needs to be further researched. I could be doing that now, if I was free of this watery prison."
"I tell ya what. You get outta my head, and I'll talk it over with my team and see what we can do. I'm not making any promises. If we don't feel like it's a good idea, I can at least promise that we'll look into the capacitor idea."
"They won't let me out," Gideon replied sadly. "They have no reason to trust me, and I don't blame them."
"Maybe it'd help if I wasn't stuck in here with you. I can only imagine what's going on for them right now..."
*~.~*
"It doesn't make any sense!" McGee said as he worriedly checked the surveillance in the Camper lab on his laptop. "There's no movement. He seems to be unconscious still. I don't under-" his sentence cut short when he pulled up the vitals. "There's erratic brain activity," he told them. "I..." He wasn't sure what to say to that, and he looked across the table at Tony, where the others had carefully moved him to sit down. His eyes where still white, and he remained unresponsive.
Gibbs sat right beside his SFA, being certain to catch Tony if he began to list. Ducky and Palmer were at his other side trying to monitor his vitals. Abby and Ellie were crowded on either side of Tim as he worked. "This doesn't seem possible..."
"Apparently it is, McGee," Gibbs said a tad aggravated. "How can we disconnect them?"
"Well there's only ever been one time we've witnessed that take place," Tim said grimly, meeting Gibbs' eyes. "I could drive up there and shoot him, if you'd like."
"I'm not seeing any abnormalities in his vital signs, Jethro," Ducky told him. "Perhaps we could hold off on anything drastic for the time being."
"My guess would be that if we had an electroensephalogram handy," Abby said, "We would see the same type of activity happening as Gideon here. You take a look at his readings here and tell me if it looks at all damaging to you." Ducky passed the blood pressure cuff end to Palmer as he moved to look at the screen.
"I've never seen anything like this," he said in awe. "Whatever the Contingency properties have done to make this communication with Anthony possible is far beyond what I believe anyone could begin to understand."
"Could it be causing damage?" Gibbs asked.
"I can't give you the answer to that, I'm afraid..."
Then Tony's eyes closed tightly, and everyone was staring in silence, waiting for something to happen. After a few moments, Tony's eyes blinked back open and they were back to normal again, the green in them almost shining as he seemed to come back to himself.
"Tony, you with us?" Gibbs asked.
Tony looked at him for a moment before replying, "Yeah. That was super weird," he said as he looked around the room. "Whaaaaat happened here?"
"Your eyes went white and you were just frozen there," Tim told him. "Did he speak to you?"
Tony's eyes flitted for a second before he realized that McGee must know somehow. "Yeah," he told them. "He's sort of conscious in a way, trapped in that tank. He wants out so he can research."
"His research is what got him in trouble in the first place," Ellie said.
"But he wants to research something new, this time," Tony said. "He wants to use the experience I had with McGee as a starting point. He thinks there's a way to shift the power into a...like a big capacitor or something. It should theoretically have the same effect as when I brought Tim back."
"Doesn't he realize the powers are back though?" Tim asked.
"Yeah, but...he seems to think that there's a way around that part. I honestly have no idea, guys. I mean, he's got a good theory and it should be looked into, but..."
"Letting him out could mean bad things," Tim reminded them.
"Indeed," Ducky said. "But perhaps we can do the research ourselves."
"It'd take a while," Ellie said. "But maybe if you keep him in the loop, his expertise could make it go a bit faster."
"Yeah, he might know a lot more about this than we think," Abby said. "Getting his data would get the ball rolling in the right direction."
"Maybe there's a way we can tap into Tony's signal," Jimmy chimed in, and they all looked over at him. "I mean, if we could get access to an MRI machine, if and when Gideon contacts Tony again, we could put him in there and pinpoint exactly what part of the brain is intercepting these signals. Not to mention his link with Agent McGee as well. If we can pinpoint the location, we might be able to find a frequency that could pick up what's being transmitted."
"Like a radio signal?" Gibbs asked.
"Sort of, yeah. I mean...it's just a theory, but..."
"It's a possibility," Ducky stated. "Unlike attempts to read one's mind, there is literally communication taking place along these signals. It would prove quite interesting to at least try. Alas, wherever would we be able to access an MRI machine?" Gibbs watched Tim scratch at the back of his neck.
"You got one of those things in your lab, McGee?" he asked with a raised brow. Tim didn't answer at first.
"Oh my god, you've got one in your lab!" Tony said with an amused look on his face.
"Not...not exactly..."
*~.~*
"Could ya do me a favor and not give me crap about this, Tony?" Tim said as he, Tony and Gibbs walked through a long aisle of outdoor storage units. "Back when this all started, I kinda...began collecting things that we might need. Mostly at auctions, and online. A lot of it actually didn't cost much, thanks to friends at Johns Hopkins. When they retire a functioning machine, they give me a heads up before public auction."
"Ladies and gentlemen," Tony said as McGee opened the lock on the door to his storage space. "Announcing the next location of American Pickers!" Gibbs actually grinned at that, and Tim pulled open the door. There was a plastic curtain they needed to step through before they were inside. Time flipped the light on, and much to Tony and Gibbs' surprise, it was more like a hangar than a storage unit.
"McGee, are you Doctor Who?" Tony asked as he put his hands on his hips. "'cause this place is much bigger on the inside."
"Funny, Tony," Tim said as he began pulling plastic sheets off of the items that sat in rows across the floor.
"Oh a pool table!" he said excitedly when Tim pulled the plastic off of it. "Absolutely a necessity!" he said as he wiped his hands over the green felt.
"Actually, I was thinking of using it as a telekinetic exercise," Tim told him.
"Okay. Well that sounds fun, too. But hey! I know where I'm bringing a 12 pack Friday night! Ow!" he squeaked when he felt Gibbs' hand hit the back of his head. "Sorry, boss. I'll definitely probably be at work Friday night..." Gibbs half smiled out of Tony's sight.
"Here it is," Tim said, relieved as he revealed the machine.
"Looks broken," Gibbs said.
"It was taken apart for transport. I haven't had time to put it together. I figure I might be able to get Abby to help out."
"Okay so where's the rest of it?" Tony asked. "Monitors and computers... You need a wall or something, right? Radiation..."
"This doesn't expose you to radiation, Tony."
"Magnetic resonance imaging," Gibbs spelled out for him. "Magnets and radio signals."
"That's right," McGee said with a grin.
"Wow, boss," Tony said, astonished with his knowledge.
"Sometimes ya run outta things to do when you're waiting at the ER," he replied with a shrug.
"As for the rest," Tim said as he began pulling at another sheet of plastic. "Here it is." It was like something out of a science fiction movie, Tony thought. A white metallic cabinet lined with monitors and other little gadgets stood about a foot away from the dismantled machine. "The actual computers are in here," he said, tapping a knuckle on the cabinet. "It's pretty old, but with some upgrades, it'll do what we need it to do."
"How the hell could you afford all this stuff, man? I know you wiped out your book money years ago."
"Eh...that Western Gibbs magically knew I was writing? I got an advance. A really REALLY big advance."
"And you spent it on out of date medical equipment?" Gibbs asked with narrowed eyes.
"I spent like a quarter of it on this stuff," Tim insisted. "And it really wasn't that much. The fact that Abby and I can do all the upgrades and repairs cuts way down on the cost, too."
"You got all this for researching Contingency," Gibbs surmised. "There's a lot more stuff in here. Is that all research stuff?" Tim stared at him for a moment.
"Gibbs, are you sure you don't have some of this Contingency stuff in your system?"
"It would explain so much," Tony said, his eye twitching at the thought. Gibbs glared at Tim.
"Okay so it's not all medical stuff," Tim confessed, then began walking further back into the unit as he spoke. "I kinda got inspired watching an Arrow marathon, and got this idea..."
"Oo was it the one where he got the-" Tony started.
"Arrow marathon?" Gibbs asked.
"It's this really great show about this guy who learned all these fighting techniques and now he's like a superhero, but-"
"Please tell me you didn't buy DiNozzo a supersuit," Gibbs growled, interrupting Tony's ramblings.
"No, boss," Tim replied with a laugh. " I uh..." he said as he started pulling a large sheet of plastic that laid over a larger expanse of floor space. "I kinda started making us a secret lair." The sheet slipped the rest of the way off to reveal a long table equipped with several monitors, computer casing installed on the underside of the table itself. The screens started flashing on when McGee hit a button.
"Whoa, McSmoak," Tony said as he admired the layout.
"Secret from who, McGee? Super villains?" Gibbs asked sarcastically.
"Well not...exactly," Tim attempted to defend himself. "Actually, the idea came to me when Tony told me about the apocalypse nightmare. Thought it might be a good idea to have access to city surveillance and then some eyes of our own where you wouldn't normally have it. At least...in the surrounding area, anyway."
"The only super villain there is, is locked up right now."
"That we know of," Tim said. "Who knows how many of Gideon's experiments are out there?"
"He never got any of them to survive," Gibbs countered.
"Or...he didn't think so."
"Like he disposed of them, but some of them regenerated?" Tony asked curiously.
"Maybe. Or maybe he just doesn't remember any of the ones that survived," Tim suggested.
Gibbs closed his eyes for a moment and shook his head. "Even if this was so, what makes you think they'd be anywhere near here?"
Tim's phone started to buzz then, and he pulled it out to look at the screen. "It's Camper," he said. "There's been a breach." He quickly moved to sit in the chair in front of the computer screens and began typing at high speed. Gibbs and Tony walked toward him to watch.
The screen in front of him lit up with live surveillance of the outside of the camper, and the screens on either side of it showed the inside and the lower level. The door to the camper was lying on the ground completely separated from it.
They all spotted the perpetrator on the other screen in the ground level footage. It was impossible to see who it was, the figure in black with a motorcycle helmet. Whoever it was, they were trying to get into the sub level. Tim dialed Camper.
"Awaiting command," the voice said as Tim put it on speaker and set it down on the table top.
"Put up audio!" Tim said.
"Audio engaged."
"Who are you?" Tim said, and the figure abruptly turned around in search of who had spoken.
"I don't know who you are," the woman's voice sounded from the screen. "But I know what you're keeping here, and I intend to destroy it!"
"If you think you'll be able to kill him, you're wasting your time," Tim told her. But the woman continued to try and get the hatch to open. "He can't be killed. That's why we're keeping him there. He can't get out, but if you go down there and mess with his containment, you're gonna set him free and bad things are going to happen." She seemed to pause in her movements.
"He's not just hiding out? He's imprisoned?" she asked.
"We shot him in the head and got him into an impenetrable tank. He's been down there for years now. He can't get out." The woman was still and silent again, seeming to think it over. "Ma'am, can you tell me who you are?"
"I'm one of Frankenstein's monsters," she replied, then removed her helmet. Her skin was dark, but patched with white, like she had vitiligo. Her curly hair was just down past her ears. But the thing that stood out the most was her left eye. It was completely white, like Tony's had been earlier that evening...
*~.~*
tbc...