Chapter 6

Locked Down

Gibbs strolled into Abby's lab greeting McGee with a slap to the head for playing computer games and Abby with an extra large Caf-Pow! 'Watcha got for me Abs?'

'I can't find anything, Gibbs', Abby whined. 'Nothing, zip, nada. Jane doe is still a Jane Doe.'

'Where is she?'

Abby sucked absent mindedly at her drink. 'In the ballistics lab. She won't talk to me or McGee.'

Gibbs peered through the glass of the ballistics lab. Jane Doe returned Gibbs' questioning gaze with a glare and, again, he couldn't quite place her or it.

'Run her prints again.'

'But Gibbs –'

'I wanna know who she is. Preferably now.'

The ballistics door hissed open and the woman in question, brimming with confidence, strutted out of the lab.

'Now is when you will have it. My name is Luciana Kuryinev. I am a sniper for the FBI, I am an American citizen and my age is not important. May I leave now? Sir.' She added at the look on Gibbs' face.

'McGee, pull up her file. You', he pointed at Luciana, 'explain why no one has reported you missing and how you got in here.'

'I dunno how I got in here – to be honest. My team and I were on "classified ops'" so – OH SHIZA! My team!'

'What about your team?'

Gibbs was worried and a worried Gibbs is not good.

'We were ambushed – I managed to get most of us to our superiors' house but somehow they knew where to find us. They held me back and massacred those who spoke out. I don't know what happened after that but I can guess.'

She was looking more than a little worse off for the explanation and Gibbs' gut was still churning.

'Fine. Go home; don't tell anyone you're alive. Abby, McGee, get in touch with the FBI; see if you can help them process Fornell's house. If they say no, get copies off them anyway. Don't let 'em know though.'

And with that final order he followed the younger sniper out of the lab.

McGee gaped at the forensic expert. 'Did Gibbs just tell us to hack into the FBI?'

Abby just grinned into her caffeine drink.

Tony caught a glimpse of the lift doors opening and buried himself in a file. 'Hey, boss! Jane Doe –'

'Jane Doe is a Ms Luciana Kuryinev, an FBI sniper.'

'Yeah they –'

'Does Fornell know?'

'Uh, no but –'

'Good, don't tell him. Kate, you're with me.'

Kate's head snapped up from her PDA. 'Where are we going?'

'To see a man called Uncle.'

Kate winced as the tires bounced off the kerb again. Napoleon Solo was driving. Drives a lot like Gibbs. She thought. And neither of them should have their license. Once again they hit the kerb and Kate turned her head away from the road. Ducky seemed to share her opinion; his eyes were clamped shut and with every speed hump they ploughed through, the more his otherwise pale face tinged with green. Gibbs, she noticed with a tinge of resentment, seemed to be enjoying himself.

After what seemed like an age, Solo slowed the truck down and parked outside Del Floria's Tailor/Dry-Cleaning Shop. Napoleon held open the door for the others with a smile, 'After you.'

Illya barged past, making straight for the third dressing room. Before he had reached the red velvet curtain, the distinctive sound of gunfire echoed out, followed by the sound of something heavy connecting with an immovable object.

Quicker than any of the others, Illya had his gun drawn: a gun Gibbs had not realised he was carrying. Napoleon wrenched open the curtain and the agents did not need to ask what the immovable object had been. The rear wall of the shop which housed the secret door and elevator into UNCLE headquarters was missing and in its place was a solid steel slab.

'They're in lockdown. We've been compromised – again.'

Napoleon's gaze slowly swept over the occupants of the room. Gibbs was on full alert. 'What's that sound?'

Kate was feeling very jumpy. 'What sound?'

Illya put his limited use of American onomatopoeia to use. 'Beeping.'

'Uh, Illya.'

Click

'RUN!"

There was a mad dash to the door with Gibbs in the lead. Napoleon practically picked up Kate and threw her out into the street only to be shoved through himself by Illya. All four dove behind the truck and hit the tar of the road as the entire shop was blown apart. Shrapnel rained down with fiery embers and the truck rocked with the force of the explosion.

Gibbs, who was the first out of the building, shook soot onto the ground as he pushed himself up onto his knees. 'Everyone alright?'

Kate wiped blood off her brow with her least dusty hand. 'I'm okay.'

Napoleon pushed his back against the truck. 'I hate THRUSH bombs. Illya, you alright? Illya?'

Their silence was met by a fierce coughing fit as the blond struggled onto his hands and knees. Being the last out, he had received the worst of the blast. 'I'm – not – дерьмо.'

Napoleon held his partner steady while his coughing fit continued. 'Next time, I'll call ahead.'

'So Doctor, How bad is it?'

Illya was not in the mood for Napoleon's bad taste in jokes – not with this headache.

'Ask that one more time and you will find this needle sticking right –'

'Just asking.'

Napoleon was not one to just sit still and let you get on with your work.

'Who was in headquarters?'

Napoleon seemed reluctant to answer directly. 'I should have been there – I should have called.'

'We do not come with built in radars and surveillance systems.' Illya countered, 'Except for Gibbs.' He added almost as an afterthought.

'Radars are overrated.'

Later on, both men would swear the door never opened.

'So what was it, Duck?'

He finished sewing up the gash in Solo's arm before he answered. 'A typical THRUSH bomb, Jethro. In one word – overkill. I don't know what they use now but their compounds generally included every type of high explosive they could get their hands on, either legally or illegally. They don't come with timers.'

'Someone knew we were coming.'

'I'm afraid so, Jethro.'

'Do you know who was in there?'

Napoleon slid awkwardly off the autopsy table. 'Don't I get a chance to answer?'

'No! So sit back down and shut up!'

Napoleon was taken aback and obediently climbed back onto the table. The only times his Illyusha ever sincerely yelled at him included life threatening situations with THRUSH – no – he didn't even yell then.

Thankfully, both Solo and Gibbs were spared the wrath of the Medical Examiner by an apologetic and rather terrified sounding McGee on the phone from the bull pen. 'Uh, Boss. There's something up here you should see. And that includes Ducky and Solo.'

The trio had barely exited the elevator when they were waylaid by a disgruntled Fornell. 'What's this I hear about my best sniper squad? If –'

'We've got a BIG problem guys!' Saved by Sammi, 'And I mean a problema muy grande! A molto grosso problema even!'

McGee came out from behind his computer and handed Gibbs a sheet of paper. 'This just got faxed to us.'

The letterhead was distinctly that of THRUSH and the writing was not dissimilar to the scratchy, blood red etchings of the first note. It read, "How's your head, Kuryakin? Smile for the camera. I can see you all and your pitiful team. Say goodbye Kuryakin – before I say hello."

Not even Tony could come up with a movie or TV quote or even a smart ass comment.

Beep

Bing

Whir

Kaching

The fax machine had started up again and the first thing that printed was the legend. Kate snatched it up and gasped. It simply stated: "Turn on the plasma, Caitlin Todd. Turn it on for your precious 'Ducky'."

She didn't need to: by the time she had passed the sheet to Gibbs the screen sprang to life. After the usual utterances of "Oh my", "What the" and "Huh" died down, the picture cleared and the next collective thought of the room was somewhere along the lines of, "This guy's a maniac." Even though it wasn't a guy at all.

'I'm disappointed in you, Kuryakin. I thought you had better taste." She gestured vaguely to where the others stood and smiled. It was a chilling, psychotic smile which made even Gibbs shiver inside. Green eyes protruding from a face framed by black frizzed hair only added to her stereotyped appearance of a mad-woman with far too much power.

'You can't run, Kuryakin. I can see you, I can hear you but I'm not coming to get you. Not personally anyway. THRUSH is back and this time there is no UNCLE to stop me!'

Gibbs grabbed a phone and dialed security. 'Gibbs. Full lockdown! Repeat, full lockdown NOW!'

The power cut out and the echoes of her blood chilling cackle of glee faded away.

The last thing anyone heard before the entire building shut down and left in darkness was Fornell's sarcastic growl. 'Well this should be fun.'