Thanks to my wonderful beta Kristen! And I'm back! Still struggling to get over a nasty bout of the flu, but back. Hope this makes up for my absense.

Chapter 12: Back to the Present

Thursday evening, in the SUV

Lily fell silent after talking for the last hour. Her throat was sore, but the coffee she was sipping made her feel a little better.

Even though it was cold.

She had finally warmed up and stopped shivering. Her heels were in the back seat, and she made a mental note to stuff them with newspaper later to see if she could salvage them. She didn't want to have to break in a new pair.

Her hair had started to dry, and was clinging to her face. She longed for a hairdryer to sort it out properly, but it was low on her list of priorities. She wanted a scalding hot cup of coffee before she did anything else, although she was aware it would be impossible.

The fog had lifted from her mind. Part of her wished it was still there. LJ and his team were trapped in a cave and she had no idea if they were alive or not by now. She guessed it had been two hours since she had left them, and wanted nothing more than to dive back into the ocean and find them. She was fully aware it would be suicide, which held her back.

She felt horribly sick, probably caused by all the seawater she must have swallowed. The tech was safe, for now, lodged in her stomach with disgusting water from the ocean and a nice cup of coffee. At least it was not LJ's idea of coffee, which would completely destroy the tech.

Alex leant over and gently probed the back of her head. She winced as he found the bump. He drew her closer and pressed a soft kiss to her forehead.

"What made you come out here?" she whispered. If he had not found her, there was no doubt she would be lying dead on the beach somewhere.

"Jenny called," he whispered back. "Said you were in trouble. Her lab tech… Abby?... was able to tell me where you were heading."

"She's on her way out here too," Lily grinned. "Should only take a few more minutes."

Alex shook his head. She knew he was still getting used to the sister's connection.

Lily snagged his cell phone from his belt and started tapping in a number. "Hey!" he protested.

"Need to talk to Arbourne," she defended. "He needs to know the tech is safe."

"I would not call your stomach 'safe'," he teased.

She rolled her eyes and let the phone ring.

"Will you get a connection with this storm?" Alex asked.

The phone was answered with a curt "What?!"

"Louis… I mean Loius. How are things?" Lily inquired, putting the phone on speaker so Alex could listen in.

"Agent Shepard, just the person I wanted to talk to," her boss growled.

"I didn't do it."

"I think I have a good suspect in mind when half the toilets in the CIA have exploded!" he roared.

She smirked, knowing he could not see her. "You put me on babysitting duty," she countered. "I need to hone my skills."

"You blew up the Director's private toilet when he was sitting on it!" came the answering explosion. "I was called into his office, Darlene was called into his office –"

"Why wasn't Darlene the number one suspect?" Lily interrupted him mid-rant.

"Because Darlene was in Nevada at the time! You are still in the state!"

"I'm actually in Virginia."

"You are still nearer!" he yelled. "You have an hour to get to my office. Starting from now!"

"What about the tech?" she asked sweetly.

"I think the Director is more concerned about picking porcelain shards from his backside than missing tech!"

"It's no longer missing," she told him.

"Then where is it?"

"In my stomach. I swallowed it."

"You'd better have a damn good reason for that!"

"I was stuck in a cave and about to drown?"

"If I didn't know you better, I'd call that a lie."

"You only know better because you've read my case reports."

"Are you debating semantics with me?!"

"Nope, Loius. I need a little more than an hour to get back to you. Make it three and we'll be fine." She hung up before he could formulate a response.

Lily watched through the windshield as another car pulled up. She didn't need to glance at the plate to see who it was. She could only think of one person who would be stupid enough to drive in this weather.

Jenny.

And herself, but she counted as Jenny and she was already out.

Alex rolled his eyes as he saw her sister climb out of the car and make her way over to the SUV. He was on the phone with the coastguard, letting them know they had four NCIS agents in a flooded cave. The idiot on the other end had initially decided it was a hoax, but Alex had insisted on speaking to his supervisor.

Jenny pulled open the back door and clambered into the back seat. "Awful weather," she commented.

"Tell me something I don't know," Lily replied.

"Did you go swimming or something?" Jenny puzzled.

"Let's stick with the swimming for now," her sister shot back.

"Where's Jethro?"

Lily waved a hand towards the ocean.

"You had better be kidding."

"Nope. LJ and his team are out there somewhere. Don't worry, the coastguard are coming."

Jenny decided to ignore the 'don't worry' part. "Is he going to be okay? What happened? Why didn't you keep him safe?"

Lily snorted. "Keep LJ safe? You've got to be kidding me. Have you ever been able to get him to change his mind?"

Jenny shook her head.

"I need coffee," Lily continued. "Please tell me you bought some."

"Sorry, didn't know you'd need any."

"Hey! I always need coffee!"

Alex chuckled at the mock argument. "The coastguard is coming," he soothed Jenny. "They will get your team out."

"They'd better hurry up," Lily muttered. "They've been down there a while now."

"You are not helping," Alex hissed.

Lily raised her voice so it could be heard in the back seat. "The storm is starting to abate. The coastguard should be here any minute, and we can stand outside and watch them if you want. I think there's an umbrella in the trunk."

Lily stood with Jenny a short distance from the water's edge. Jenny was using a pair of binoculars to watch the coastguard, while Lily was talking to them via Alex's cell phone. She was trying to direct them to the cave; easier said than done when the huge waves were kicking up a spray against the cliffs.

She hoped the others were okay. LJ reminded her of Superman and she knew there was no kryptonite around. Tony was a survivor; nothing had killed him yet and he was only the second person she knew to contract the plague. Ziva had been through many similar incidents and would get through this one. McGee… well, the others wouldn't leave him behind.

She took a deep breath to calm herself. They would be fine. LJ would not give them permission to die and they always followed his orders. If Jenny were there, she might not obey, but his team would be fine.

Lily hunted for the bright side. If LJ's team died, he would have to hire new people. He would not like that and she could harass him over it. Plus she could try to sneak someone in there that she trusted. Sometimes LJ needed to be restrained for his own good. If LJ died… she struggled to think. Jenny would hit the roof. Well… he wouldn't find out what Jenny wanted to keep secret from him.

Surely that had to count for something.

One wave came perilously close to her feet, and both sisters took a step back. Alex was still holed up in the SUV, on the phone with Arbourne again. The rain had stopped and the sun was attempting to poke its way through the clouds. Lily hoped it would come out; she needed some cheering up.

She was fighting the urge to curl up in the back of the SUV and go to sleep. Fatigue and exhaustion were setting in and she wanted to sleep for the next few days. Actually, she wanted to burn the clothes she was wearing first, drink a gallon of coffee, shower for a few hours, and then sleep for a few days.

She knew from experience that her wishes were no good. Arbourne would need a report as soon as possible. Jenny would want one as well. She needed to get the tech out of her stomach; she doubted Arbourne would let nature take its course. And her Director would want to chew her out over the exploding toilets.

Could no one take a joke nowadays?

"I can see an opening in the cliff over there," Jenny pointed. "Is that the cave?"

Lily handed the cell phone over to Jenny and took the binoculars. Peering through them, she sought out the gap…

"Yes," she confirmed. "The entrance is open."

Jenny passed this on to the coastguard, who didn't seem aware that they were dealing with someone else. The sisters were used to the confusion and it no longer bothered them. Unless they were dating someone, that was.

They took it in turns to watch as the rescuers entered. Finally, they got an update.

"Three men and one woman, all alive and conscious," came the report. "We're taking them to Bethesda to be checked out."

Lily and Jenny cheered on the beach.