Chapter 6

From his shoes, Jimmy's heart then sprang up into his throat. Tim had not stayed where Jimmy had told him to stay. He was clearly delirious again and he had staggered into the house. The man in the room started to his feet in surprise. Then, he smiled...but any hope Jimmy had that this might be a nice person, that Tim had been mistaken in the location, was dashed when the smile turned to a sneer.

"Everyone is out looking for you...and here you are. You're looking a little worse for the wear."

Tim fell to his knees. "Let them...go..." he gasped. It didn't even seem to be an order.

"Who's going to make me? You? How's your back? I'll bet it doesn't feel so good." The man pulled out a gun and lazily grinned at Tim. He was in no hurry. Tim was alone, very weak, possibly dying. What reason was there to rush?

Jimmy had a moment of complete panic. What was he going to do? Ducky would kill him if he let anything happen to Tim. Ducky had trusted Jimmy to take care of someone who was unable to take care of himself...and Tim was in that room, confronting a dangerous man in a delirious state.

"I have to do something..." Jimmy whispered...but what?

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Ducky didn't know what to do. The men had run off through the forest, leaving him behind, yelling to each other. They had dismissed him easily. His ploy had succeeded, but it hadn't been enough to keep them away. All that remained was to run back to the cabin and hope he could be of some help.

The rain was easing off finally. Ducky barely noticed as he hurried as quickly as he could up the road and then off into the forest once more. He gave up on being silent. If there was going to be a confrontation, he felt that he had to be there.

He reached the cabin...and groaned breathlessly. It was empty. But he saw no immediate signs that they had been discovered there. Perhaps Jimmy had been too nervous to stay there...and it might have been the best idea, if it came down to that.

...but that didn't help him know where they would have gone. They couldn't have gone anywhere very quickly. Tim's injuries wouldn't allow it. He would be one step above being dead weight...but he couldn't see any sign of them.

Where to look?

Then, he heard voices. He quickly hid himself in a dense copse of trees.

"Can you tell where he went?"

"They."

"They?"

"Come on. You saw how far gone that cop was. He's not going to be running anywhere."

"Yeah, well, we didn't think he'd be able to get anywhere the way he was...and he still got away."

"He didn't have that stuff in the cabin with him when he left, either."

"The British guy on the road?"

Ducky stiffened.

"You think? He's a bit old for a rescue attempt."

"True...and if he was there to help, the broke down car isn't exactly the best getaway."

"You sure it wasn't working?"

"Looked burned out to me."

"Okay. Let's see if we can find him...or them."

"What about the old guy?"

"Forget him. If he's part of it, he's not important. Phones don't work and the car wasn't working, either. Whoever was with the cop is the one we have to worry about. Let's head back. We can regroup and plan."

The rustling and occasional snapping twigs signaled the departure of four men. Ducky took a deep breath and let it out silently. Wherever Jimmy and Tim were, and Ducky hoped it was out of harm's way, this might be the only chance to find out where the rest of the MCRT had gone and whether or not they were still alive.

Ducky knew he was taking a risk...but it was a risk worth taking when he was only risking himself. As quietly as he could, he slipped out of his hiding spot and began to follow.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Jimmy looked around, hoping for some sort of inspiration...and hoping that the inspiration would hit him in the next few seconds because he wasn't sure how long Tim had.

He started walking toward the house...and tripped on a branch. He started cussing under his breath...and then stopped.

Inspiration.

Before he could talk himself out of it, he picked up the branch...and he started to run. No more thinking. He had one thought only and he wasn't going to allow any other to penetrate.

Tim was in danger. Jimmy had no weapons...except for a tree branch. Hoping against hope that the door wouldn't repel him, Jimmy threw himself at the screen door. The mesh tore under the force of his assault. The man in the room turned from his assessment of Tim...but too slowly.

Jimmy was a man on a mission and he was swinging the branch before the man had really grasped what was happening. Jimmy swung with all his might and got a solid hit on the side of the man's head. The man staggered. Not fully in control of what he was doing, Jimmy let adrenaline choose his next course.

He swung the branch again this time bringing it straight down over his head and it broke in half when he made contact. The man fell to the floor. Jimmy wondered briefly if he'd killed him, but he couldn't take the time for that because Tim had collapsed once again, but he was trying to move.

Jimmy ran over to him and knelt down.

"Tim...are you all right?"

"Back..."

It was all Jimmy could do not to roll his eyes...but this was a chance to get more help! If the team was here and they were alive, then he could free them and they could make the decisions.

"Where are they? In the basement?"

Tim suddenly fell to the floor, trying hard to breathe.

"Okay. Okay, Tim. Please, stay here this time and don't try to move. You're too hurt for more. I'll get them. If they're here I'll get them."

Tim didn't reply, and so Jimmy ran for the stairs, down into the darkness.

"Agent Gibbs?" he called out, throwing caution to the winds.

An incredulous voice answered him. "Palmer?"

"Where are you?" Jimmy asked, ignoring the tone. There was no reason they should expect to hear him of all people.

"In the worst room in the place." That was Tony.

"Which one is that?"

"Just start trying to open doors, Jimmy!"

"Right. Right. Of course."

There weren't many doors. It wasn't a large basement. Jimmy tried them all and found one that was locked. He knocked on it.

"Are you in here?"

"Yes!"

"Okay!" Jimmy looked around for something to open the door. His eyes fell on a brick that had come loose from the fireplace. What else could he do? He picked it up and smashed it against the doorknob. Then, he pushed open the door.

Gibbs, Tony and Ziva were all tied up in separate corners of the room. The room reeked and Jimmy couldn't keep his nose from crinkling at the odor. ...but while they were all disheveled and dirty, none looked too bad.

"Jimmy...what in the world are you doing here?" Ziva demanded.

"Long story. How do I get you free?"

"No keys?" Tony asked.

"Uh...where should I look?"

"Is there someone in the house?"

"Yeah...well...there's the guy I smashed on the head with the tree branch."

"Way to go," Tony said, sounding genuinely impressed.

"Check him. He might have the key," Gibbs said.

Jimmy nodded and ran back upstairs. Tim was still where Jimmy had left him. Jimmy paused and knelt beside him.

"Tim?"

No response. Jimmy felt his stomach clench.

"Tim? I found them. They're going to be okay."

Tim's eyes fluttered open.

"Back?" he whispered.

"Yeah. We're back and I'm going to get the keys to get them out right now."

Tim just lay back and closed his eyes again. Jimmy knew he had to hurry; so he overcame any worry he had about whether or not the man was alive and searched him. He found a key ring in one pocket. Without another thought, he snatched them and ran back down the stairs.

"I found some keys, but I don't know if they're the right ones."

"You could turn on a light, Palmer," Gibbs said.

"I don't think that's a good idea. The others might come back at any time," Jimmy said. "They're out there in the forest. When they don't find Tim..."

"You know where McGee is?" Ziva asked eagerly.

"He's upstairs...and he's really not good," Jimmy said as he fiddled with the keys. "Ducky and I..."

"You're both out here?"

"Yeah."

"Jimmy?"

"Yes, Agent Gibbs?"

"Give me the keys."

"Oh...sorry." Jimmy cursed inwardly that he was changing into the bumbling person he always was around Gibbs. He handed him the keys and Gibbs started trying them in the locks on his chains.

It didn't take long before Gibbs was free and then he got Tony and Ziva unchained as well.

"McGee," Gibbs said, grimly.

Jimmy nodded and led them out and up the stairs. In the light of the main room, Jimmy winced at how bad they looked. They'd probably been in that room for days...but they were all ignoring whatever hurts they felt when they saw Tim on the floor. They knelt down by him.

"We've got to get him out of here," Tony said. "Now."

"But we can't leave Ducky!" Jimmy protested. "He's out there somewhere and I have no idea if they found him or not! We can't leave without him!"

Then, Jimmy's anxiety and his worry caused him to look out the windows. He dropped to the floor quickly.

"I think they're coming here!" Jimmy said. "Who are they?"

"Weapons smugglers," Ziva said. "They stole a shipment of arms. We were tracking them down."

Tony was searching around the room for their guns. "And they took us completely by surprise. If they're coming we need to fight them off this time! No more of them getting us!"

"Calm down, DiNozzo," Gibbs said. He moved away from Tim and to the unconscious man. He grabbed the gun. "Jimmy...see if there's a landline in here. Ziva..."

"I will think of something," Ziva said, crawling toward the kitchen.

They all tried to stay out of sight. The men didn't seem to be in any kind of hurry. Why would they be? They didn't expect anything to happen.

"Aha! A gun!" Tony said happily. "Hey...this is one of our guns."

Ziva found a serrated knife in the kitchen.

Jimmy looked around, crawling into various areas, looking for a working phone. At one point, he paused in his search and looked back toward Tim. Gibbs was sitting beside him, gun in hand. He was alert for the arrival of their captors...but he had one hand on Tim's shoulder, keeping him where he was. It was almost like he was asserting his position as Tim's superior.

"What's the plan, Boss?" Tony asked.

Gibbs looked at Jimmy, raising his eyebrows. Jimmy quickly looked around...and he saw a phone on a desk. Quickly, he ran over to it and picked it up. No dial tone. He shook his head.

Gibbs just nodded.

"We take them out," he said grimly. "Jimmy, get Tim out of the way and keep him safe."

"It is our turn," Ziva said. Her voice promised retribution.

Jimmy nodded and crawled over to Tim. Gibbs helped him pull Tim to a corner.

"Stay there," he ordered.

Jimmy nodded. Only twice had he been in on a takedown. He wasn't sure he liked it very much...and he'd never been charged with protecting someone before.

"Tony...turn off the light," Gibbs said.

Tony nodded.

Once again, Jimmy was sitting in the dark and he swallowed nervously. If this didn't work out right...

Jimmy wished that Ducky were here. He'd know what to do, what to say.