A/N: I am still having issues responding to reviews - so a blanket thank you again! Ditto with alerts and faves. I figured if I took a vote, you'd rather I post a new chapter before trying to figure this review thing out. Hehe.

Deja Vu All Over Again
Chapter Ten

"We are not going to find Tony here," Ziva David said.

It was one of those statements that could also be read as a question, as if she were asking him to confirm or deny the words. The problem was, Dean couldn't deny and he didn't want to confirm. After five hours of searching, not even counting the wasted time of regrouping after the first short hour, they still had a long way to go. With each minute that ticked by, Dean lost more faith, which was not a commodity he had an extensive supply of anyway.

"We'll find them," Dean snapped, because there was nothing else he could say. "Both of them."

Dean didn't know why he'd thought it would be easy. Somewhere in the back of his (delusional) mind, he'd thought he and Gibbs would go into the tunnel system, find Sam and boom, be done. Then Professor Nerdly and Wonder Woman showed up and that was when it had started to veer off that unrealistic path. It had nothing to do with them, other than more civilians in the mix was never good, no matter how capable they were. The saddest thing about it was how long he'd clung to hope that around the next corner, he'd find Sam; every corner, for two solid hours. There wasn't so much as a trail of evidence to follow, no sounds out of place for a sewer. Even after the two hour mark, he'd still fooled himself into believing it on a lesser level. He was still fooling himself.

In a way, it was probably fortunate to not run into the Nix. Dean was ninety-nine percent sure Ziva had no idea what she was getting herself into, and he wasn't about to mention that the serial killer she thought she was hunting would Jedi Mind Trick her into the ocean if given the slimmest of openings. She looked like she could hold her own in hand-to-hand, but that was with people. Monsters were a whole different story. Besides all that, concern for her missing friend made her bitchy, and he wasn't sure that wasn't a natural state, only amplified just for him. Aside from an occasional appreciative glance at her bangin' backside, Dean didn't much like being stuck with her for the search.

"We had to have missed something," Dean said.

"Like what?" Ziva flung her hands out. "A secret passage? A trail of croutons?"

"Croutons?"

Croutons went on salads. Sam ate salads. Some things, at least, never changed. At the end of all things, Dean would still know what Sam ate for lunch, unless Sam turned into a vegetable himself and then salads would be cannibalism. Maybe it was his brain that was on the fritz, not his brother's.

"What're you …" Then Dean realized what she'd meant, how her voice had an accent that might make things get lost in translation. "Oh, you mean breadcrumbs."

"What is the difference?" Ziva said, sounding like someone weary of arguing semantics. "We are due back to meet with Gibbs and McGee again."

"You go ahead and do that, sweetheart," Dean said. "I'm going to keep searching."

He made it two steps. Later, he'd blame it on his concern for Sam. Truthfully, Dean had not expected the vicious arm twist, flip and knee to the back, despite definitely honing in on the badass vibe that rolled off of Ziva. It was vaguely embarrassing to find himself face down in a sewer, arm about to be wrenched off. It was also vaguely arousing, in a sick sort of way.

"I don't understand why Gibbs trusts you," she hissed in Dean's ear. "I did not like anything about you the moment I saw you, and that feeling has only grown over these long, long hours. But, Gibbs does trust you and you will not be so dismissive of his directives while I am around."

She was a tough little thing, Dean gave her that. After that momentary acknowledgement, he wrested himself free easily, flipped over and flipped her onto her back, his knees jammed into her armpits. A flash of honest surprise flickered in her eyes before they darkened.

"This is not disrespect. You can check in with him just fine by yourself." Dean eased back, only a little because now he knew what Ziva was capable of. He didn't know why she hadn't already bucked him off. He was almost sure she could. "My brother is down here. My brother, you get that?"

"I do," Ziva said. Something sparked in her expression. "And what if Gibbs and McGee have found them by now? Hmm?"

That … he hadn't considered. Damn it, and the point was a good one. Dean could continue on his own, probably get lost and spend hours wasting time. He sat more heavily on Ziva's stomach, grinning at her oofed exhalation. It was over the top I'm-the-alpha-here, but he didn't care. He wasn't sure what to do now, though. He couldn't leave. He couldn't not leave, either.

"This is stupid," Dean said.

"Perhaps. But we are literally against the wall here anyway. It is not like we have to make a full exit."

Once they'd gotten through that first hour (too long ago), it was easier to come up with a more cohesive search pattern when they did their initial sit rep. They'd still split up, but remained in close proximity, which was what they should have done in the first place. The tunnels branched off at intervals, with larger central hubs along the way. Dean figured they could go on for days, though they'd contained the search so far to tunnels that led the direction of the water. He was starting to think the docks were a random hunting spot, that the Nix had grabbed DiNozzo and Sam and hauled them somewhere else. Somewhere far, far away, where they were being nibbled on like fish food.

Gibbs and Professor Nerdly were waiting for them when they arrived, Gibbs looking stone cold pissed. Apparently, the pair of them hadn't taken a few extra minutes to duke it out like Dean and Ziva had and were right on time. Though, Dean noted, McGee was smudged with dirt from head to toe. He was sure a normal person would wonder why. He wasn't normal, and even if he was, he didn't care what the story was. Ziva dusted off the seat of her pants when she looked at McGee. Dean smirked at her and very consciously didn't make a move for the dirt he was probably wearing as well.

"Damnit," Gibbs said when he saw them empty-handed.

Dean clenched his jaw, his dark mirth fleeting. He didn't know any of these people, yet he somehow also knew Gibbs wouldn't drag out this chat. Gibbs didn't seem the type to drag anything out, all business all the time.

"What should we do, Boss?" McGee said.

Gibbs glared at him in response, which made Dean believe it wasn't the first time the question had been asked. While McGee cowed, Gibbs looked like he was weighing the options. Dean knew what the options were and he didn't much care for them, either. Gibbs turned to him.

"Is it possible you and your friend were wrong about this? We can't afford to waste time."

Any more time was heavily implied. Dean knew that. He knew it better than any of these civilians, even Gibbs, who'd had a brush with the supernatural before. A brush was nothing like an entire miserable life and multiple deaths. The plain and simple truth was, if he and Bobby were wrong about the Nix holing up in these tunnels, then Sam and DiNozzo were as good as dead. There were no other places to look where they'd be found in time to save them, and no. Just, no. He wasn't allowing that to be an option.

"No," Dean said. "They have to be here."

None of them believed him. That was okay. It was better he do this on his own anyway. Dean did not have the energy or the heart to both hunt a monster and keep three other people alive. He didn't even want to bring up the possibility there was a nest of Nix; it was too much. He wished he'd been able to wait on Bobby for backup with this. For all he knew, Bobby would show up anyway, before he could find Sam.

"Boss, you're not really going to take this guy's…" McGee said.

Gibbs halted the words with a raised hand and another glare. The look he gave Dean, though, was part dread and part apology.

"I get it," Dean said. "It's not personal, and you're playing by different rules. You gotta do what you gotta do, and I gotta do this. I'll let you know when I find them."

A hand on his arm was the only thing that stopped him from walking away without any real plan or direction in mind. Hell, he'd re-search every last square inch if he had to. They'd missed something. The hesitation in his gut was gone. He knew. He knew Sam was there, somewhere.

"Hey," Gibbs said. "Good luck."

Dean didn't remind Gibbs that nothing their normal world methods could come up with would help them when it came down to it. Gibbs got it. The other two didn't, and Dean half figured Gibbs wanted to pull them away before a supernatural encounter. He couldn't fault the instinct to protect, or the logic behind that. He knew firsthand it was bad enough to have knowledge of evil, let alone watch someone previously innocent to it suddenly see. It wasn't a good feeling. His brain went to Lisa and Ben and sometimes he wished oh he wished he'd had Castiel wipe his own mind clean of them. Mentally bringing Castiel up only made his lost friend occupy his thoughts, seamlessly sliding Lisa and Ben to the side. It was a vicious, fast downward spiral and that was why it was crucial he find Sam.

"Thanks," Dean said. "If it's in my power, I'll get your guy for you."

"I know."

Of course Gibbs did. Dean gave the stone-faced Gibbs a nod and turned, knowing that no matter what happened, he wasn't ever going to cross paths with the man again.

"Gibbs," Ziva said. "Can you hear that?"

Except. Except this path-crossing might not be done.

Dean heard what Ziva called to their attention. It hadn't been there a moment ago, and it increased in volume, not much, steadily. A soft scrape. A quiet rumble. No, it was a voice, soft and muffled. Sam, Sam. All of them moved, as if something had attached them to the same string and pulled. Dean took point position, holding a hand up to signal Gibbs to keep his people back if he could. The last thing any of them needed was to be mass-whammied by a Nix or family of Nixes.

Beyond the general direction, wasn't immediately apparent where the sounds came from, the hub of tunnels serving as a bit of an echo chamber. It took Dean a full minute to determine which way to go, a tunnel Gibbs and McGee had already searched. He knew it. He knew something had to have been missed. The tunnel was empty. They crept, two on each side, as quiet as possible. The voice was definitely getting closer, as if approaching, and Dean could tell when they'd gone too far when the sounds faded again. They backtracked until they picked up the sounds.

"Boss," McGee whispered. "I've got something."

The something was a draft of air, barely noticeable even when standing right in front of it. No surprise they hadn't felt it on the first search, or seen the small fissure in the tunnel wall, too straight to be natural. Dean shot Ziva a look. Secret passage, didn't that just beat all? He raised a finger to his lips. They still didn't know what they were going to find behind the mystery door. He pulled out his switchblade, and had barely flicked the blade open when he found himself kissing the wall, knife hand twisted up his back.

"Seriously," he said to Ziva. "You think now is when I'd pull the psycho killer moves on you?"

"Sorry," she said, not sorry at all. She did release him. "It was an involuntary reaction to sudden appearances of weaponry."

McGee gave a nervous little giggle, which garnered him a slap to the back of the head from Gibbs.

Well, if they'd expected any element of surprise, it was gone now. Dean rubbed his shoulder, gave Ziva a glare and then retrieved his knife from the ground. He stuck the blade in the small crack, ran it up and down to see if there was any way to lever it open from this side. There had to be. Not much point of a secret passage only opening one way.

Gibbs kicked randomly at the floor and the base of the wall. His foot contacted with something that gave and, with a scrape, the door sprang open.

All four of them plastered themselves to the walls on either side of the opening, Dean conveniently or intentionally closest to it. He stowed his blade and pulled out his Glock instead, slow enough to not trigger Ziva's made-up involuntary reflex. He raised his left hand, counted to three with hand gestures only. He pushed the door further open with some effort – it was heavy- and ducked into the new passage, which was roughly hewn. More cave than tunnel. He didn't have time to care about the whys and whats, except for the what shadowing the narrow area about forty feet down, around a soft bend. Human shaped, but hunched, bulky. The Nix, even from blurry photos, was slim, short. There was a tiny snuffle and sob and the shadow shifted. Two people, one carrying another.

"It's okay, sweetheart," a man's voice, distinguishable now, said. "I know this is gonna lead us somewhere warm and safe, okay? It's got to. "

It wasn't Sam. Dean's stomach fell.

"Tony."

All three NCIS agents said it at the same time and began moving more quickly, but were still cautious. Dean followed. They hadn't yet reached the bend when the shadow's owner rounded it, at the same time letting out a hacking cough that had him double over.

Gibbs got there first, grabbed DiNozzo by the elbow. His expression somehow became grimmer when DiNozzo jerked free with a horrified cry, stumbling heavily into the wall and almost dropping the little girl in his arms.

"DiNozzo," Gibbs said. "Hey, it's us. It's just us."

DiNozzo looked ill to the point of a gray tinge noticeable even in the dim natural light, and harsh beams of flashlights being turned on. The little girl had her arms wrapped around his neck tightly, her legs around his torso.

"Boss," DiNozzo said, full of wearied surprise. "I am so glad to see you."

Then his knees started to buckle. Gibbs held him up on one side. Dean managed to grab the other before McGee could. Ziva easily pulled the little girl free, held her exactly the same as DiNozzo had been. Words gentler than Dean had imagined possible flowed from her mouth, for the little girl, but her eyes were locked on DiNozzo with blatant worry.

"Where's my brother?" Dean asked, hoping like hell DiNozzo would have the first clue what he was talking about. He shook the other man slightly even as he held him up. "Where is he?"

"Easy," Gibbs said, all about protecting his man, but also shooting him a sympathetic look. "He's obviously sick."

To Dean's surprise, DiNozzo wrenched free from Gibbs, swinging slightly so he clutched onto Dean only. Up close, the guy looked like hell. In one piece, but that piece was ragged. He gave a phlegmy cough right into Dean's face.

"Stuff. Monster. Hansel and Gretel," DiNozzo whispered, then his eyes rolled into the back of his head and he was going down.

Gibbs and McGee helped ease him down. Dean heard the whoosh of blood in his ears, and beyond that heard Gibbs snapping out orders about ambulance and for Ziva to get the sobbing little girl the hell out. He wouldn't say he didn't care about DiNozzo or the girl, but he cared about finding Sam more, so he was focused on what DiNozzo had said. It didn't make sense, until he caught a glint of silver a few feet down. He moved toward it briskly, found it was a miniature 3 Musketeers candy bar, and a few feet further down, another piece of candy.

For the first time in a long time, Dean was glad disaster had struck on this day of the year. He swung back toward the NCIS reunion, saw Gibbs looking at him. Dean couldn't stick around for the cavalry no matter what, but especially not now. Gibbs waved him off. Dean nodded, knowing this time was going to be the last time they saw each other. Both of them had to be glad for that.

He followed a trail of Halloween candy and hoped Sam would be alive at the end of it.