He had his back pressed into the wall behind him. Tony needed its solidity to take on his weight, keep him upright. The lights above him seemed too bright, and he kept having to blink back against them. He really needed to lie down, instead of just borrowing strength from the closest object. Tony heaved out a sigh. He looked down at the open file in his hands, read words and numbers he had already burned into his brain.
Tony shifted his fingers, flipped the first page over to read the second one again-trying to build up enough energy to go in there and rip Ajax apart for Gibbs and Kate. He slowly let the page go, watched as it slid back into its place.
"And you're sure it's not his, Abby?" Tony asked, looking anywhere but at her, while the words fell from his lips. Exhaustion had never exactly rendered him wise.
He felt Abby's glare, the way it burned into him. He also felt guilt jab at him. Tony took in a long breath. He flipped the file closed, reached down deep for some courage to meet an offended Abby head-on. Of course she's sure. She's Abby.
"Sorry, Abs," Tony said, after a moment. She huffed out a breath. Tony shook his head, tucked the file under his arm, and turned to face her. "I'm sorry, Abby. I know you're sure. It's good work. I guess I was just...hoping."
Her face lost the tension, her eyes filled with warmth. He'd hoped, what they all had been hoping. That maybe, at least this time, they'd be big enough to win against the bad.
"It's still not a good reason to question my work," Abby said, pointing at him.
"I know, Abby," he said, finding a smile. "Won't happen again. It's him, though, I know it is. I just need actual proof."
His gut might not be legendary (or even slightly acknowledged) but he knew that he was chasing the right lead.
"We'll get him, Tony," Abby said, looking him in the eye. The anger was gone, she had returned to quiet faith-the sort she gave to Gibbs daily- and he felt himself wanting to earn it. "I'm running the blood against other matches, and the other evidence is nearly done."
He nodded.
"I'm keeping McGee," Abby said, turning away from him. "Still gotta figure out the audio."
"Long as you need, Abs," he said, moving down to the door. He dropped his hand over the handle, grasped the cool metal tightly. "I'll check on you later."
"We'll nail him, Tony," she said, walking away.
He smiled at her back, nodded to himself and channeled Gibbs as he stepped into the room.
He had gotten exactly nowhere with Ajax. Which pretty much felt par for the course, really. He'd spent too many hours in there, left with nothing more than his own exhausted body to drag around. Tony paused, filled another cup with the off-colored coffee they had around the office. His hands shook. He ignored it. It had to be the lack of sleep, or too many cups filled with caffeine. Or both. The team seemed to be running on that.
Tony sighed, walked back into the office, headed for his desk. Daylight shined through the window again, and Tony glanced down at his watch. Hours were slipping away from him. Moments blurred and merged until he struggled to add up how long it had been since he had last seen or heard from Gibbs and Kate. Will I forget their voice if...
Tony slid down into his chair, refused to think on the could-be for a little longer, and glanced over at McGee's empty desk. He sighed, took a sip of coffee, then pushed the cup away from him. Tony flipped on his screen, but didn't look at it. Instead, he shifted his weight back in his chair. He dropped his head down, let his eyes close. The burning in them finally eased, and all at once sleep threatened to take him away.
Sleep, Tony.
Tony forced his eyes open. Gibbs' voice still echoed in his ears, but he hadn't returned to surprise them. Tony let out a shaky laugh, brushed it away, and closed his eyes again. If an imaginary Gibbs told him to rest, he figured that still counted as an order-one he really needed to hear. He let it all fall away, gave in at last.
"Kate!" Tony screamed out, jerking his body up and reaching out for her.
His heart beat loudly in his ears, pounded violently within his chest. His stomach rolled, and the world tilted before him. Tony's mind struggled to tell the difference between dream and reality for a few long moments. He gripped his desk, felt a hand land gently against his shoulder.
Tony waited, while everything cleared in his vision, righted itself again. He tilted his head, looked up at McGee. McGee's hand still gripped against his shoulder, his forehead tight.
"All right, Tony?" he asked, running his eyes over his face. "You look like hell."
Tony let out a weak laugh, words thrown back at him, well deserved. He reached up, brushed McGee's hand away from him.
"Don't want to talk about it," Tony said, slowly standing up.
"Didn't ask, Tony," McGee said, glancing at him, walking back over by the plasma.
You'd still listen
"Brought you coffee, "McGee said, nodding towards his desk. "Breakfast too."
"Thanks," Tony said, dropping back down into his chair, pulling open the bag. He glanced at his watch, while the smell of egg filled his nose. His stomach growled loudly. "How long have you been back?"
"About an hour," McGee said. "Got some new evidence when you're ready."
"You could have woke me," Tony said, biting into the burrito and flipping the lid off his coffee.
Two hours felt like a full night at this point, and Gibbs wasn't whispering in his ear for a moment. He figured that had to count for something.
"You needed the sleep, Tony," McGee said.
Tony grabbed his burrito, his coffee, and walked over.
"What do we have?"
"Fibers," McGee said, pulling it up on the screen. "Cat hair."
Tony put his coffee down, reached out and snatched the remote. McGee glared at him, but Tony went back a couple pictures.
"Where'd we get this?" he asked, nodding to the car on the screen.
"Just before the video had been hacked into and looped," McGee said. "Drove by a few times, slowly. The fibers match the make and model, couldn't get a full plate though. Abby's trying to get a hit."
Tony shoved the rest of the burrito into his mouth, poured coffee in behind it, and chewed as he rounded his desk.
"Get a car, McGee," Tony said, digging his gun out. "Meet me out front."
Kate
"This isn't working, Gibbs," Kate said, lowering her foot back to the floor. It ached all the way through, and she hoped she hadn't broken anything in the last round of kicking. "If we just had-"
Anything. If they just had anything, maybe one of them would be able to figure a way out. Hell, the two of them combined should be able to best any problem they came across, but they didn't seem to be gaining any ground at the moment.
"I know, Kate," Gibbs said. His tone cut deep, and his next exhale sounded enough like a growl that Kate had to bite back the words that nearly spilled out.
The hours were weighing on her. The only thing that had provided her with any relief was the moment that Gibbs had started acting like himself again. He'd been downright soft and fuzzy-for him-for a while there, all comfort and gentle touches. Now, he had returned to being the hardest living material she had ever met-not that that didn't bring her comfort actually- a wall she wasn't allowed behind, and sure as hell couldn't even begin to figure out how to scale.
Kate ran a hand over her face. She'd never been a fan of admitting to fear, felt like denying it attention lessened its power. Now, she felt as scared as she ever had. The thought of losing Gibbs here far outweighed any fear of her own demise-not that she wanted to rush that. They were stuck, waiting for a rescue that might never come.
"Not gonna die out here, Kate," Gibbs said.
She blinked. Kate heard his chain, him shifting, another echoing blow from his foot against the wood. He winced, and she looked across the space to him. She'd always sort of suspected he had a sixth sense, but she didn't actually believe he fell into the psychic category. She'd either said too much aloud, or she'd been completely obvious. Kate felt annoyed with either possibility.
"I know that, Gibbs."
Liar.
He kicked again, then the noise stopped. She heard him moving, and he came back into the dying afternoon light.
"Sorry, Kate," he said, letting it out with his exhale.
"Don't do this, Gibbs," She said, moving out to meet him.
His eyes had never looked so blue, but she didn't believe for a moment she'd witness a tear.
"Figure I owe ya one, Katie," he said, reaching out, touching her hand for a moment. "More than."
Katie. He said it like he had the right. Though, in reality, it had been such a long time since the rarely used nickname had actually caused her defenses to rise-at least when it happened to fall from his lips. It had become affection, the rare sort Gibbs let himself give out.
She wouldn't let him give up.
"I don't know about you, Gibbs," she said, moving back towards the wall. "But I'm not waiting for Tony or McGee to rescue us. Get back to work."
She paused, waited for his anger. At least it would prove he had some fight left in him. Instead, she heard a low chuckle-heard him moving away.
Kate looked over the part of the chain hooked to the wall again, in the silence.
"Thanks."
She might have imagined it, for as low as it had been. She sort of hoped she did. Manners and apologizes were too far off his normal behavior and she'd very much like to keep the Gibbs she knew-the one she trusted to the end of the universe.
Gibbs
He glanced over his shoulder at her, then returned his attention to the chain.
Not sure we're gonna win this one, Katie
Of course, he couldn't admit defeat to her- not while she was the unstoppable force that kept tugging him along, refusing to leave him behind. He needed her. Always had.
If it were just him...he'd lay down and sleep. He'd already done enough, fought enough, lost enough. He had to think of her though, she still had a future- a damn bright one too.
"Fine," Kate said, and he turned his attention back to her. "I've tried everything. Just gonna sleep a bit."
'Stay awake, Kate," Gibbs said, moving out.
"Just a few minutes, Gibbs," she said, relaxing back against the wall.
Night had nearly taken over again. Gibbs struggled to keep her with him, afraid that sleeping now-despite their actual exhaustion-might be the last thing they did.
"Why'd you say yes?" Gibbs asked.
Kate's eyes slowly opened. She yawned widely, shifted herself up.
"Say yes to what?" she asked, drawing her legs up.
"Workin' for me," he said, shrugging the shoulder that would allow it.
"It was a good job opportunity," she said, matching his shrug.
"Not the best."
"It suited my needs," she said, after a pause. "Why'd you ask?"
"I thought that-" he started, coming up short when he heard the sound of feet.
Kate's head jerked up, body drew straight and tense. Gibbs listened, forced himself to focus.
Gibbs held up two fingers, before quickly and silently moving back to his wall. He rolled down onto his side, as he had been when he'd been unconscious. He glanced at Kate, waited until he was sure she had a plan, and then closed his eyes.
See ya on the other side, Katie
Gibbs forced his heart to slow, kept his breathing shallow. It had to be believable.
"Thought we were supposed to let 'em die," a man said, as the door slid open.
"Plans changed," the other man said. "Just help me do this like the boss wants."
Gibbs didn't move, felt them instead of seeing them, hoped like hell he and Kate could get out of this alive. He had no doubt she'd go down swinging.
"Get the girl, Brad," one man said, moving closer to Gibbs.
"Blaze called," Brad said. "Said they were at his place."
"Just shut up, already," the man closest to Gibbs said. Hands grabbed him, rolled him, before reaching down and laying two fingers against his neck. "This one's barely alive."
"Boss wants them alive, Jack," Brad said.
Jack let out a long sigh, and Gibbs' arm was lifted. The chain was released, and air washed over the battered skin and stung like hell. Gibbs waited, until he heard Kate's chain fall away.
He heard the movement, a solid blow land and a grunt.
"Damn it!" Brad groaned out.
"I'll get her," Jack said, dropping his hold on Gibbs and turning away.
Gibbs opened his eyes, reached out and yanked him back. He used Jack's weight to pull himself to his feet. He slammed his fist into Jack's ribs, throwing him against the wall. Kate was behind him, inflicting her own damage. The world spun around him, but he kept his eyes on Jack.
He swung again, Jack ducked and Gibbs' knuckles grazed the wood behind him.. Hands grabbed him, shoved him back. He stumbled, only managed to avoid collapsing into a heap on the ground.
"Gibbs," Kate said, moving to his side. He glanced at her, forced air back into his lungs, and willed away the fogginess of the world. Kate stepped up, grabbing Jack, dropping him to the ground. He fell hard, and Gibbs dropped down on him.
He pinned him with his body weight, reached out and grabbed his head. It'd be so easy to twist, to end it all right here, but instead he landed a quick blow and saw the man go blank beneath him.
Kate's hand wrapped around his arm, she tugged. He looked up at her, blood running down her cheek again.
He stood, reached out, wiped the blood away with his fingers.
"We gotta go,' she said, and he wrapped an arm around her.
He didn't know who needed the help more- her skin so hot against his palm where her shirt and ridden up. They stumbled for the door, stepped out into the cool evening air.