"Boss, this grave site doesn't look like the other one," McGee told him over the phone. "It looks more like it was dug up, than dug out of."
"Name on the tombstone?"
"Someone called Ronald Woolstone. Died in 1922."
"Can you see if the body's missing?"
"The grave's been filled back in, boss."
"Call Vance; have him okay an excavation. I wanna know if we need to be on the lookout for someone else, now. You an' Ziva head back to NCIS; find out what you can on this guy. But first, drop Bobby an' Castiel here at Tony's apartment."
His first instinct would've been to question why he was at Tony's. But instead, he asked, "What about Kate? Shouldn't we...be looking for her?"
"Got that under control, McGee. Just get them over here," the call ended.
Tim shut his cellphone as he tried to decipher what Gibbs might've meant by that. The thought of one of them having to kill Kate...well, that was just flat-out wrong. This Hel chick was one sadistic bitch, so it seemed...
11 00 11 00 11
"I don't get it," Dean said in a hushed voice to his brother. They stood in the far corner of Tony's kitchen, looking at the two agents and their zombie-friend who sat in the living room. "What's wrong with this picture?"
"Besides the fact that she's not foaming at the mouth and trying to eat us?" Sam quipped. "Maybe this isn't typical reanimation, here. Hel is a demon-god. Maybe it works differently? Maybe she's just...alive."
"What the hell would be the point in that, Sam?" he retorted. "No way. The Hel-bitch is just toying with them. She wants them to suffer; have to kill their own friend. Kate is either gonna turn and she'll end up killin' someone and that's all we're gonna need to start an all-out Zombieland. Or she'll turn and if they're fast enough, they're gonna have to kill her. Either way, doesn't look good for them at all."
"Okay, first off, Zombieland was started by a quickie-mart burger infested with mad-cow disease. Secondly, you don't know that she's gonna turn at all, Dean."
"I thought you fell asleep during that movie?" Dean quirked a brow.
"I did. Probably ten minutes after that part."
"I don't get how anyone falls asleep during a movie that good..."
"I don't get how you were entertained watching a movie with content that's pretty much the theme of every single day of our reality."
"Dude, how often have we gotten to hunt zombies?" Dean held questioning hands out on each side.
"That's not the point. We hunt monsters..Pretty much the same thing."
"It's not the same thing at all! And not even once have we gotten to meet Bill Murray." Sam cocked his head to the side and furrowed his brow. "See! If you'd stayed awake, you'd know what the hell I'm talkin' about."
Before Sam could retort, there was a knock at the door. The two of them moved to the doorway leading off of the kitchen as Tony got up and looked through the peephole. Without hesitation, the senior agent opened the door, stepping back to let the four expected visitors inside.
"Just wanted to show them to the right place," McGee said as he and Ziva stood at the door after Castiel and Bobby entered. That's when Tim caught sight of her. He nearly toppled to the floor had Tony not been there to steady him. "K- Kate?"
"Whoa there, Probie," Tony calmed him. "She won't bite."
Kate looked over at the sound of her name. "Tim..." she stood from the couch and started slowly toward him.
"I...I..." Tim stumbled over something he wasn't even aware he'd begun to say.
"Still have such a way with words, I see," Kate smirked.
"Actually, you'd be surprised," Tony grinned at his former partner. "Probie here actually wrote a successful crime novel, believe it or not."
"Wow," she raised her brows at McGee. "I'm impressed. And you look...really good, by the way. What'd you catch a tape worm or something after I left?"
McGee seemed to not even have heard what Tony or Kate had said, "It's good to see you, Kate. This...this isn't what I'd...expected to see."
"Oh," she snorted, "Right. I should be decaying and falling apart, I heard. Guess I should thank whoever did the embalming, right?" McGee's brow furrowed at her. Her grin faded. "Too soon for jokes?"
"Little bit," Tony replied for him.
"C'mon," she smiled at Tony, "It's been like...not even a day in my time. I thought it was pretty funny..."
"What's...going on?" Tim looked at Tony for answers. Ziva stood idly by, knowing who this person was, but feeling oddly displaced among the crowd. She glanced over as Gibbs approached.
"We're not sure," he told him, then turned to Castiel. "Is there a way to protect her; bring her to my home?"
"Gibbs, you can't bring me into your house," Kate argued. "We have no clue whether or not something will happen with me. I'm not gonna put you all in danger."
"It doesn't matter, anyway," Castiel told him. "She won't be able to come inside. The protection charm is specifically linked to souls, and she doesn't have one."
"What?" Kate and Tony asked in unison.
"Hel raised you," he told Kate, "Your body and consciousness. But your soul remains in Heaven. Your inability to recall the time leading from your death is proof enough of that, if you don't believe me."
"Who are you?" Kate asked.
"He's an angel, Kate," Tony told her. "Just trust us on this."
"If we can't bring her with us, how can we protect her?" Gibbs asked.
Castiel reached out and placed a hand on Kate's chest. A faint glowing triggered an indescribable and quick burst of pain, causing her to yell out.
"What did you just do?" Tony raised his voice as he held Kate's shoulders to steady her.
"That will keep her hidden," he told them. "It's an Enochian sigil. You'll be safe as long as you stay here."
"She shouldn't be here alone," Tony said.
"For more reasons than one," Dean piped in as he and Sam approached. "If she does turn, we won't be able to find her very easily."
"I will stay with her," Ziva said. They turned to look at her. "I can take care of myself, and if it becomes necessary, I will not hesitate."
None of them had any doubt of that. "But you'll be unprotected, in the meantime, Zi," Tony told her. "What if Hel shows up?"
"Then I will call and Castiel can return here. We can lay a devil's trap. This could actually be an opportunity," she replied.
Dean glanced at Sam for a moment before turning his gaze back to the unsure faces of the team. "She could be right. If Hel is lookin' for an opportunity to find one of you alone, she might take it."
"If we do this," McGee said, "We need to set up an open line of communication. There may not be time to make a call if she does show up. Tony, where's your computer?"
11 00 11 00 11
Teaming up, McGee, after setting up the laptop, left with Bobby. Sam and Dean took the Impala, of course, and Tony and Gibbs were the last to head out. This was mostly because Tony was having a hard time leaving Kate.
Eventually, Gibbs convinced him to get a move on. They had work to do, and answers weren't going to find themselves. Not to mention, it had somehow become late. For some reason, the darkness of night seemed to take on a whole new meaning for them. Maybe it was because of the fact that darkness wasn't just something that lurked in the hearts of men; a force they'd dealt with on countless occasions over the years; locked away behind bars.
No. This darkness was something that was always there but had never been so obvious to them before the Winchesters came to be in their lives. Not that it was their fault. It didn't follow them there. They were here to stop it, and the team was damned lucky for that. There was really no telling what might have happened if the NCIS MCRT had continued their investigation into the murder-suicide. Hell, they might have all ended up dead by now, for all they knew.
But there was something undeniably more creepy about nightfall, now. Having the proven knowledge that such things exist is far more terrifying than the unknown. Far more than the feeling you get after coming out of the theatre after watching a horror film, and it's dark outside, and for that short journey home you find it impossible not to be at least a little paranoid that whatever creature was on that screen could jump out in front of you at any moment. Or that few minutes you wake up in the middle of the night after a particularly gruesome nightmare, when you can't, for the life of you, think of another moment you've ever been so scared; heart racing; breathless and shaky...
Yeah, this...this life was much scarier. There wasn't the escape of going to the living room and putting on some late-night comedy hour on the television to draw your mind away from the scary thoughts. There wasn't that moment of realization that it was so stupid to even be scared in the first place. There was no calm.
"You sure you're okay to drive?" Gibbs asked from the passenger seat of Tony's Mustang.
Tony smirked, "'Course I am. Besides, I don't think my stomach can handle your particular style of driving tonight, boss. No offense." Gibbs quirked a brow. "Not that I'm...afraid for my life or anything. I know you'll get us home in one piece...more or less. But I really don't wanna throw up on the upholstery." He pulled out onto the street before glancing at Gibbs, who was still appraising him.
"Doubt you've got anything in you to throw up, DiNozzo."
Tony let out a small chuckle as he reached back for his seat belt, "You'd be surprised. My stomach will figure something out." He yanked at the belt a few times, "What the heck..." he glanced for just a second to see why I wasn't budging.
"Stuck?" Gibbs asked.
"Caught in the door, I think," he replied. That's when he happened to glance in the rear view mirror. "Uh...Boss," he warned. "Six o'clock," he indicated. Gibbs turned in his seat to look behind them. Sure enough, there was a large SUV quickly gaining toward them. Both of them held their breath for a moment, hoping it was just some idiot in a big hurry that might try and go around them. But, as they'd partly expected, the car bumped the back of them. "Hang on, boss," Tony said before gunning forward to try and lose the tail.
As they sped through an intersection, Tony was grateful there wasn't much traffic out that night. "Who do you think is following us?" he asked Gibbs.
"Can't exactly make out the plates," Gibbs replied sarcastically.
"Think Hel got her driver's license?" he laughed. Gibbs ignored the comment. "I'm gonna call Dean; see if they're still on the road," he said as he pulled out his cell.
"You drive," Gibbs took his phone, "I'll call." He dialed the number as Tony took a sharp right-hand turn, fishtailing a bit before regaining control and speeding up. He watched as the SUV sped around the corner with ease and continued after them. "Dean, it's Gibbs. We've got someone on our tail tryin' to run us off the road. How far off are you?" Gibbs shouted into the phone.
"Just pulled up to the house," Dean's voice sounded on the other line. "Any idea who's tailin' you?"
"Nope. But whoever it is, doesn't like us very much and they aren't easily shaken... Tony, look out!" Gibbs shouted as a car appeared out of nowhere several feet ahead of them. Tony slammed on the brakes, but it was too late...
11 00 11 00 11
"Gibbs?" Dean shouted into the phone when he heard the crash. "Gibbs! You there?You okay?"
"Dean, what happened?" Sam asked
Dean turned to look at his brother in the passenger seat, "I think they just wrecked... We need to go back. Whoever did this might try and finish the job..."
11 00 11 00 11
Gibbs wasn't out for very long. His head hit the side window somehow and it had momentarily dazed him. But he quickly gained his bearings and looked over to and empty driver's seat. "Tony?" he meant to call out, but his throat seemed uncooperative. His gaze fell upon the windshield, mortified when he realized Tony must have gone through it.
Gibbs ripped off his seat belt and crawled out the shattered window on his side. The car they'd hit wasn't occupied. In fact, it seemed it hadn't been at all. Not even a set of keys in the ignition.
He kept walking, and when he got through the smoky steam that was still flowing from the car, he saw Tony's body sprawled out on the concrete. "Tony!" he quickly sprinted toward his agent and dropped down beside him. "You hear me, DiNozzo?" he shakily reached over Tony's body, which was face down and sickly twisted, and grabbed his shoulder, pulling him to turn him over.
Tony let out a painful groan and Gibbs couldn't help but feel the tiniest bit of relief that his friend wasn't dead. But as he got him turned over, he realized that the bloody mess of a state his agent was in, he realized he might not be too far from it.
Tony's eyes opened and focused on Gibbs. "Bo...b...boss," he choked out; blood spilling from the corner of his lips as Gibbs held the agent's limp body in his arms. "Sh...shoulda let...you drive," those bloodied lips curled into a smirk.
"Don't talk, DiNozzo," Gibbs shook his head. "Help's on the way."
"Help is already here," a feminine voice sounded and Gibbs looked up at a young, blonde woman standing ten feet away from them. "Your friend is going to die," she told Gibbs. "But I can bring him back."
Gibbs narrowed his eyes, "You're Hel," he surmised.
"I believe the people here prefer to call me 'Brianna'. I must admit, the name is growing on me."
"You caused us to wreck in the first place," Gibbs said as sternly as he was able at the moment. "Why help us now?"
"Because, I want to stay. I want a deal. Since you hid my game-piece, I had to create a new move."
"What kinda deal are you talkin' about?"
"Like I said, I want to stay. I like this place," she looked around and up at the stars. "Back home, I am a prisoner; a ruler in a world that exists purely for the dead. All because people are afraid of me. Does that seem fair?" she looked back down at him. "All I want is to stay; for you to stop hunting me, and you may keep she who I have risen, and I'll bring your friend back from where he is about to go."
"Boss, no," Tony used all of his strength to grab hold of Gibbs' arm and get his attention. "No...don't do this."
"Tony..."
"Not gonna...be the..." he couldn't finish as his body began to wrack with coughs; blood spilling faster from his mouth. Gibbs held onto him as the feeling of helplessness seemed to take him over.
"He's close to death now," Hel told him. Gibbs looked up at her with anger. "You can make the decision now, or, as I have grown to be a very patient woman, you can come and find me later. He will still be dead, after all." Her head turned further up the road as if she could sense something coming.
"Promise..." Tony pulled Gibbs' attention once more, "Promise me you won't," came out like a gurgling moan. "Not from her..."
Gibbs frowned. "I must go," Hel said, bringing his attention back up to the demon-god. "I'll know when you wish to find me." Gibbs was in a sudden state of panic as the woman ran off. His eyes darted around in indecision before finally settling back on his agent.
Tony's breathing now came in short, shallow bursts. But his eyes still focused clearly on his boss's. Gibbs held him tighter, "You will not die, Tony," he said through gritted teeth as his voice cracked.
"'M s..s'ry...boss..." his body shook with his final breaths, and then went still in Gibbs' arms. Tony's grip on Gibbs' sleeve loosened and his hand fell to the street below him.
Gibbs wanted yell out; curse the heavens; scream...anything. But he couldn't find it in himself to even try. Not even so much as a sound to accompany his sorrowed breaths as he picked Tony up further in his arms, holding him against his chest as he willed himself to believe...this wasn't the end.
It couldn't be. He knew that, somewhere deep down inside. Things weren't the way they'd always been; not for them...not anymore. Death wasn't death. Not for Castiel's army. Somewhere deep inside, he knew that. But, being the perpetual pessimist he was, he couldn't quite place his hope completely in that corner. Facts were facts. And the fact right now was that Tony DiNozzo was dead in his arms. Dead...
11 00 11 00 11
"Oh shit," Dean exclaimed as they spotted the agents in the road ahead.
"Is that..."
"Sam, call Cas... Tell him to get here, right now!" Dean said as he threw the car into park and got out. He all but ran to the two men that had become like his second family. "Gibbs..."
The older man looked up at him, "Tell me he can fix him."
"God...is he..." Dean knelt down beside the obviously broken body in Gibbs' arms.
"TELL ME HE CAN FIX HIM!" Gibbs shouted.
Dean swallowed as he appraised Gibbs' face. He wasn't sure the agent was even aware of his own tear-streaked face. "I'm sure he can," he told him. "Sam's callin' right now..."
"Okay," Gibbs reinforced his hold on Tony's body. "Everyone else get home okay?" his voice and face softened.
"Yeah," Dean nodded. "You okay, Sir? You were in the car with him..."
"My belt was on," he replied vaguely. But Dean understood immediately and he looked over at the wreckage.
"What happened?" Castiel's voice boomed from behind them.
Dean stood, "Someone was tailing them."
"It was Hel," Gibbs told them. "She wanted to make a deal."
"What kinda deal?" Dean asked as Sam approached the scene.
"You bring him back; then we'll talk," Gibbs ordered.
"I need to know what Hel told you," Castiel insisted. "This could've been planned..."
"We didn't take the damn deal!" Gibbs shouted. "She offered to bring him back in exchange for letting her stay! Tony refused to let me make the deal."
"Where did she go?"
"She drove off! Who cares? Just...bring him back!" Gibbs yelled.
"Did she say anything else?"
"Listen! We've done everything you've asked us to do!" The fury in Gibbs' voice was clearly evident. "This is your army! Your hunt! And Tony turned down help for the sake of all of it! You will help him, now! You don't leave one of your men behind... Not when you have the power to save him..." Gibbs pleaded.
"Cas, what're you doin'?" Dean queried the angel.
Castiel looked to Dean, "This could be a trap. Hel may have set up some kind of loophole. When Tony is raised, she could have some type of binding power to us that makes it impossible to banish her."
"Think about this for a second," Sam said. "Why would she have gone after them? Why not us? Cas, I don't think she even knows you're here, or she might not have made this kind of offer."
"Sam's right," Dean said. "If she wanted to trap us, she'd be here right now. I think she's as blind as we are on this. She lucked out running into them, and took an opportunity while she had it."
"And if you're wrong?" the angel asked.
"Doesn't matter if I am," he scowled. "You don't get to leave him like this because of a hunch, Cas. If I'm wrong, we'll figure out how to fix it. But you're not leavin' him like this."
Castiel looked down at the two agents; one lifeless and the other sitting somewhere on a thin line between desperation and homicidal rage. Sam's jaw nervously clenched and unclenched as his gaze shifted from Castiel to Tony, then back again. Then to his brother.
Then, finally, Castiel reached out his hand...
11 00 11 00 11
Tbc...