Kate POV

Unconsciously, I snuggled closer to him, burying my head in his chest and breathing in his scent. I felt a strong wind whip across my face and sand blow against both my body and his and winced. It felt like it was only three degrees out, the wind cutting through our clothing and slicing into our skin was greater than any pain that I had ever imagined.

I felt his arms tighten around me as he did his best to beat out the cold whip, taking the gusts of sand and wind as if they were meant for him and not me.

"You awake, Katie?" He whispered in my ear, his lips in my hair.

I nodded, afraid of opening my mouth and letting the sand pour into my throat.

"How long?"

I took a deep breath and said, "A few minutes, it's pitch black out here."

I strained my eyes, trying to see through the black cape of the once vibrant and viciously hot desert air.

He laughed, a low chuckle, "Yeah, it is. What woke you up, the wind or the pain?"

His voice was serious again, I didn't have to look into his eyes to know that he was worrying.

I hesitated, and whispered, "The pain."

My leg felt like it was being violently ripped and tugged at, the makeshift shorts he had given me allowed some of the sand to slowly slip through the bandage. I felt each grain as if it were a hot knife stabbing me through the heart.

"Dammit," he swore, and rolled me onto my back and pulled out a flash light.

"No, Gibbs don't. The light will attract animals, and I really don't want a snake near either one of us."

I heard the rustling of a bag and a zipper closing and sighed in relief.

Then, I heard the clank of pills and felt his hands on my face, gently opening my mouth and making me swallow one.

"Pain pills, should dim you out for a while," he whispered softly, and I felt his hand run through my hair to brush it back.

I nodded my thanks and then heard what seemed like the roaring of voices and trucks.

"Gibbs," I whispered, "Do you hear that?"

He was in motion immediately, I heard him get up and grab our bag, fumbling slightly because of the dark and a low string of curses erupt from his mouth.

I rose as well, balancing on my good leg and putting as little weight as possible on my bad leg. His arm was around my waist immediately, and he propelled me forward.

Suddenly, I saw the bright beam of a flash light and jumped, preparing myself for a fight when I saw his face.

"Sh, it's only me, Katie, we need some light. Let's go."

I nodded, watching as the flashlight's beam made his blue eyes shine brighter then ever as he made us run through the once peaceful desert night.

"Who are those people, Gibbs?" I asked, trying to keep the unbearable pain out of my voice.

He shook his head in frustration, "The guys we ditched back at the shipping docks, they're looking for us to finish us off."

I nodded, and made myself pump my legs even faster than before, not caring that something hot and sticky was running down my thigh.

"Kate, when you get to the mountain, I want you to climb as fast and as hard as you can. Don't look back no matter what you hear or see, OK?" he asked, his voice was serious, like it was at work.

I felt alarm start pumping through the pain and tried to turn around, only to see that the bright beam of the flashlight and the comforting presence of his arm around my waist was now long gone.

"Gibbs?" I whispered, knowing that it was no use. I walked forward hesitantly, now in the complete dark and felt my foot bump into something.

I bent down cautiously, and felt the object. He had left me my bag. I quickly unzipped it and rummaged around, triumphantly pulling out a flashlight.

I clicked it on and slung the bag over my shoulder. I could see the mountain, so close, yet so far away from where I was.

I turned around to see that the truck was now visible, even though it was only a small dot. I had to hurry.

I sprinted full out towards the mountain, the beam from the flashlight shinning and mapping out my way. I felt perspiration slip down my face and arms, no longer feeling the intense cold and most of the pain, I made myself go even harder towards the seemingly distant mountains.

Do it for Gibbs, I thought over and over again, he'll be there when he's finished, he has to be. He won't just let you look for a way out without him. He'll come.

But no matter how many times I repeated that sentence, I couldn't believe it. I pumped my legs faster still as I heard the truck's motor approaching slightly closer.

Finally, by some bizarre miracle, I was at the foot of the mountains. I stuck my flashlight back into my bag just as the moon's rays seemed to shine through the seemingly endless banks of clouds.

I looked up to see the moon making the sand turn strange silver and reflecting the moons beams. I ignored the beautiful sight and looked up at the mountain, searching for a foot and a hand hold.

Finally, after a few seconds, I found the small holes. I reached up and pulled myself up, hissing in pain as my injured leg was forced to bend and take on my weight. With every ounce of my strength, I pulled myself upwards.

Left, right, left, right, I thought in my head, as if it would help me climb this mountain any faster.

I felt the images of Gibbs fighting the men in the truck streak through my mind as I was halfway up and looked down.

Big mistake.
I was several feet up in the air now, the idea of jumping back down and helping him would surely kill me if the pain didn't. I felt the ground blur through my tears and clung to the surface of the mountain tighter, hoping and praying that he would join me soon.

"Gibbs?" I whispered through my tears, hoping by some miracle that he would hear me, "Be careful."

I tore my gaze away from the bottom of the mountain and continued up, my tears streaming down my face and blurring my vision.

My arms and legs felt sore and I wanted to sleep away all the pain, I wanted to sleep and wake up in my own bed to discover that this was all just a dream and that I would have to go to work and fight a seemingly endless battle of ignoring my growing feelings for my boss.

Even that seemed better then climbing this damn thing and hopping and praying that he was still alive, and that he would be following me up the mountain soon.

Gibbs POV

As soon as I left her, I knew that I was leaving her blind, with just her instincts and her bag, there was a slim chance that she would make it up the mountain. I was hoping that she wouldn't have to climb it before I got there to help her.

I ran towards the growing roar of the engines and ducked behind a few ferns and brackets that were growing. I took my gun out and aimed it, waiting impatiently for them to draw closer.

I felt sweat and a strange nervousness over take my body and my senses, making my hand tremble slightly. This was the only shot I had at stopping the truck. If I missed, then they would know that we truly were here and then they would search even harder.

God Katie, I thought, I hope you're safe now, I hope that I'll be able to join you soon.

I watched the black truck pull up, leaving a trail of dust behind him. I cocked the gun, and took aim at the driver. Everything seemed to slow down all of a sudden. The truck, once going a hundred sum miles per hour seemed to slow down to a small crawl, and my finger that was about to pull the trigger seemed to do so in slow motion.

The sound of the bullet leaving my gun was deafening. Suddenly, the windshield was now stained a bright red. I smiled in satisfaction and shot the second driver easily, who was now paralyzed and in a state of shock.

The truck came to a stop and I heard the back doors open and held my breath.

I heard a dozen or so men conversing in rapid Arabic, their voices angry and cutting through the once silent night.

"Where are they?" I picked up, and ,"Who shot them?"

I sighed, this was going to complicate things a good deal. I heard their footsteps on the dry sand approaching my hiding place and tried to make myself as small as possible.

I heard the clack of machine guns being handed out and loaded.

"They are nowhere to be seen," a burly Arabic man said, his voice just above my head.

"We saw their car a few miles back," another argued, joining the man.

I couldn't risk making a dash for the mountain now, because they would most likely begin shotting at me the minute they saw my face.

Kate POV

I clawed my way up the mountain, my arms aching form the strain and both my legs throbbing from the pain.

Once I reached the top, a sudden sense of fear seemed to overwhelm me again. Why wasn't he here yet? Surely climbing the mountain had taken a few hours, at the very least. He should be at the bottom now, at least, making his way up.

I had paused in between the span of the hours, looking down and giving myself a headache each time, searching for anything that was moving up the mountain, but to my devastation, he wasn't there.

What if they had found him and killed him?

No, I immediately thought, don't think like that Kate, Gibbs can take care of himself, he's proved it over and over again in the past, he can take them.

Despite the logic, my body reacted. I curled up into a ball at the top of the mountain, tears pouring down my face and trying desperately to get the image of blood pooling around his white body and men looking down at him, laughing their hearts out.

I began trembling, and choked on my sobs, shoving a fist in my mouth to quiet myself, I waited for him to come up this damn mountain and prove me wrong. I waited . . . and waited . . . and waited . . . but he never came.