Hair of the Dog

Disclaimer: Don't own. Yadda yadda.

Once again, my muse decided the story needed to be longer. There should be at least one more chapter after this one, plus an epilogue.


Part 2

Tony spent the next hour trying to keep his mind off their current situation. He managed to find two pieces of wood to make a splint for his ankle, sacrificing his tie to complete the apparatus, and informed McGee that this little adventure was playing hell on his wardrobe. The younger man only gave a weak acknowledgment of what Tony had said, so the senior agent focused his attention on keeping Tim awake as well. They discussed the case (or rather, Tony speculated, and Tim made a few rather groggy suggestions) and finally Tony resorted to movie trivia, hoping annoyance would keep his partner awake.

The faint sound of footsteps drew Tony's attention to the room above them. It was too soon for Gibbs to have arrived, but maybe the local rescue crews had.

"Hello? Is anyone there?" He listened, but there was no reply.

"Maybe it's Norman," McGee muttered.

"Norman?"

"Bates…vacation home."

Tony groaned. "You would remember that," he retorted as he turned his attention to the younger man. He waited for the expected come-back but McGee didn't respond and Tony's worry over his teammate increased. "How are you feeling?"

"Like a house fell on me…" Tony chuckled slightly in relief. Tim was apparently maintaining his normal sense of humor, but the fact that he hadn't moved much in the past hour was concerning Tony more than he cared to admit. Before he could ask another question, he heard the footsteps again and looked up to find a long, pointed face with large brown eyes peering down at them. Tony regarded their observer for a few seconds and chuckled.

"Don't suppose your name is Lassie, is it?" The dog cocked its head to one side and chuffed softly. Tony glanced at Tim and managed a grin. "Timmy's not down the well this time, but maybe you can help us anyway." He saw Tim raise his head and shoot him a confused look before he turned enough so he could see their companion. Tim stared for a few seconds before shaking his head slightly and returning to his previous position. The dog gave one short bark and took off.

"See Timmy, no problem. Help is on the way."

"Right…"

Tony reached over and gently patted his shoulder. "It shouldn't be too much longer before Gibbs gets here, at least. But in the mean time…" He heard a soft groan of exasperation and chuckled. "Did I ever tell you about this strange woman I dated?"

"Probably…"

"Oh, no, I'm pretty sure I haven't told you this story. She was an artist, which is how we met. I saw some of her work in a gallery during one of their 'meet the artist' receptions. Her big thing was textiles: use of natural fibers to create paintings with 3D effects."

"Sounds…interesting."

"Yeah, and she was 'interesting', let me tell you. Great body, great smile…" He heard a soft snort from Tim and grinned. "Real animal lover, too. She had these two big, beautiful white dogs. I don't remember what breed, but they were kind of like huskies, just with a lot more hair."

"Samoyed?"

Tony snapped his fingers and pointed at McGee. "That's it. Knew you'd know. Anyway, she took great care of them, always brushing them, and I figured, hey, a woman that takes that great care of her dogs would take care of her man, too."

"Guess that didn't…work like you thought…"

"Well, not exactly. She took pretty good care of me, especially—"

"Stop."

Tony grinned. "Aw, come on, McVoyeur, don't you want to hear-?"

"No."

"Fine, your loss." He remained silent and waited, hoping that Tim would take the bait.

"So…why did you two not…work out?"

"Well, as I said, she was strange. The dogs I mentioned? She was taking the hair she brushed out of them and spinning it into yarn."

"To use…in her paintings?"

"No! She knitted stuff with it. How hinky is that?"

"Heard…worse."

"I'm sure you have, McSlept-In-A-Coffin." Tony waited for the expected retort, but there was none. "Tim?" After several tense moments, he finally heard a response.

"…yeah?"

"Still with me?"

"Not going anywhere…"

"Not until we get out of here, right?" Again, he received no response. He learned down to take a closer look at his partner and sucked in a surprised breath when he saw how much paler McGee had become. "Tim? How are you feeling?"

"Cold…"

Tony took another look around the room as he tried to find something that would serve as a blanket, although he feared the temperature in the basement was not the only source of McGee's discomfort. Finally he spotted a swatch of fabric only a few feet away, protruding from a pile of rubble. He crawled over to retrieve it and was relieved to find an entire blanket when he pulled it out. It was a bit threadbare, but it would do. He shook the dust off of it, returned to the prone form of his partner, and draped it over him.

"That should help. The temperature's dropped a bit. Let's hope they get here before dark or I'm going to have to build us a fire. Maybe I should anyway…I don't suppose you have any matches on you, do you?"

"No…"

Tony checked his pockets, hoping to find a stray matchbook from some bar that he might have used to record a phone number, but instead found a rather squished chocolate bar, its wrapper still intact.

"Well, at least we've got a snack," he said with a forced grin. "Hershey's with almonds, no less. Want a piece?"

"No thanks..."

"Sorry it's not a Nutter Butter, but it's better than nothing, right?" He tore off the end and broke off a piece before holding it in Tim's line of sight. His worry intensified when Tim didn't reach for it. "Probie?"

"Not hungry…stomach hurts."

"How bad?" No response. "Tim, how bad?"

"Bad…enough…"

Damn it! Tony already had a long mental list of things that could be wrong with the younger man after this disaster, and now he was quickly adding another.

"Don't worry, McGee, the Calvary should be here soon. Get you fixed up in no time."

"Whatever…you say, Tony…"

XXX

Trooper Ted Elgin watched as a pair of unfamiliar vehicles approached his roadblock. He was waiting with his cruiser on one of the main routes into town, officially to keep outsiders at bay until the Captain was ready to deal with them (and for their own safety, of course). He was glad not to be part of the team in town, searching for bodies and the hoped-for survivors. The devastation he had seen before being sent to his post, as well as on the way, had been bad enough.

The lead vehicle came to a stop just a few yards from him and he walked around to the driver's side, taking in the name of the agency and united painted on the panel truck as he did so.

"NCIS? Sending in everyone, aren't they?"

"We're here for a case," said the silver haired driver, and the expression in those cold blue eyes drove all levity from Elgin's mind.

"The town's basically gone, sir. We're waiting for the official disaster area designation."

"We're not headed into town. Two of my agents are waiting for us at the scene, on Old Cemetery Road."

"Leonard Campbell's place?" Elgin felt a twist in his stomach. He really didn't want to have to give this guy bad news. "The road's impassible, but I don't think you'd find anything out there. Campbell's farm was directly in the path of one of the twisters, based on what I heard on the way out here." The man swore and then turned his steely gaze on Elgin.

"Let us through. Now."

"But sir—"

"NOW."

"Yes, sir." Elgin ran back to his cruiser, climbed in, and immediately backed it out of the way. He had just barely made a wide enough space on the road before the truck roared though, followed by the second vehicle, a van.

"Damn crazy feds," he muttered as the vehicles passed, and then, after a moment's thought, yelled after them.

"I hope you brought a chainsaw!"

XXX

Tony silently observed McGee, watching carefully for signs that his partner's condition might be deteriorating further and continued to send out unspoken requests to whatever higher power might be listening that help would come before it did. Tim's visible eye was still open, and the periodic blinks told the senior agent that he was still conscious.

"OK, Probie," Tony said, finally breaking the silence. "Your turn."

"My turn…for what?"

"Who was the strangest person you've ever dated?"

"One track mind, DiNozzo…"

"Yeah, I know, it's part of my charm. Wait, I probably know the answer to this one: Abby, right?"

"No."

"You're kidding." Silence. "Seriously? Was it the one with the Barbie dolls?"

"No."

"Aw, c'mon, Probie! Don't keep me in suspense."

Tim raised his head to look at Tony and sighed. "Junior year at MIT. She was in my fencing class."

"The one you…?"

"Yeah. She tried to help me, but I was…a lost cause."

"Must not have been if she agreed to date you."

"Yeah, well…we had a couple of things in common."

"Like what?"

"Both moved around a lot as kids…Dads weren't thrilled with major."

"Was she a Navy brat, too?"

"No."

"Army? Marines?"

"Don't think you'll believe me…if I tell you."

"Just tell me, Probie."

"Circus."

Tony let out a surprised bark of laughter. "What?"

"She grew up on the road with the circus. Father was a clown. Mother was a trick rider."

"That's…actually pretty cool, Tim. So why was she strange…other than the obvious?"

Tim snorted softly. "She made a really big deal…about meeting her parents, but she said her father…wouldn't let her date anyone who couldn't juggle… so she made me learn. A complete routine…and she wouldn't let me meet them until it was…perfect."

"You can juggle?" Tim nodded. "How come you've never shown us?"

"Figured we already had one clown," he replied with a slight smirk, the first Tony had seen since they'd been trapped.

"Yeah, well, when we get out of here you're going to have to show me, OK."

"If…"

"No, not 'if'. We're going to get out, McGee." He met Tim's gaze so that the younger man could see he was serious. "We will."

Tim opened his mouth to respond just as an ominous creaking sounded above them, and when he looked up his eyes widened in horror. "Tony, look out!"

Instinctively Tony rolled to the side, just as a part of the ceiling came crashing down. After a few moments of silence, he dared to raise his head and look around. A large beam was now embedded in the floor, just where he had been only moments prior, and several small pieces of debris surrounded it.

Damn, that was close. Good thing Tim was paying attention.

"Might be a good idea to stop tempting fate, McJinx," he muttered, coughing and wincing at the re-awakened pain in his ankle. "You OK?"

The dust settled enough for Tony to get a clear look at his partner. Tim's head was down and he wasn't moving.

"McGee?"

After one more glance at the ceiling to make sure there weren't any more surprises headed his way, Tony crawled over to the prone form. He lifted a piece of wood off of Tim's head and gasped when he saw the fresh welling of blood underneath. He gently shook McGee's shoulder.

"Tim? Come on, man, don't do this to me…"

Tony used the blanket to put pressure on the wound, his worry deepening when it failed to awaken the younger man. He glanced up at the fractured ceiling and sighed.

I really hope you get here soon, Boss…

TBC…