STRONG GALE

Life is a gamble. You can get hurt, but people die in plane crashes, lose their arms and legs in car accidents; people die every day. Same with fighters: some die, some get hurt, some go on. You just don't let yourself believe it will happen to you. - Muhammad Ali

10:03 am

McGee closes his evidence kit, and puts away all equipment he used to dust the car. He is ignoring Tony's chatter on purpose, as it is better not to pay attention to him anyway.

"I wonder if the dragon lady knows about them? You know, as a couple." McGee stands up and glares at Tony, and notices Ziva, Joy and Gibbs approaching them with solemn expressions on their faces.

"We're finished here, we're ready to tow the car to the evidence garage." He lightly taps the hood of the car, and sees that Gibbs is looking at him, not really caring about the evidence gathered.

Tony notices their faces, and immediately gets on guard, "Who died?" McGee looks from Tony to Buchanan, whose face briefly cringes at Tony's choice of words before slipping her stone professional mask.

"What's wrong?" he asks, and he starts to feel very afraid of the answer.

"Give your evidence to Tony, we are leaving now, McGee," says Buchanan, without intonation in her voice.

He looks at Gibbs and Ziva, but their faces are not giving any hint of what's wrong.

"Why?"

Buchanan looks at him, and he sees unshed tears in her eyes, as she says softly "We are needed in DC, McGee, we have to leave now."

Even Tony notices something is very wrong. He looks briefly at Ziva, who shakes her head in the negative, showing that she will not talk about it.

"What happened?" Joy looks at him sadly, and sighs deeply before giving any explanation.

"There was an …" she looks into his eyes, and he sees her pain in relating it to him, "an incident at Waverly University," McGee feels cold creeping up his spine, and for a moment he could not feel his body from the waist down, such was the terror he felt coursing through his body, and he vaguely hears that Joy is still speaking, "they are not sure about the number of the victims, the FBI was called in, but Faith want us there now…"

"Sarah, Sarah is…" he can't continue, as his voice chokes and he feels tears threatening to spill.

"Unaccounted for." She looks down briefly at her nervous hands, and when she sees that she is twisting them she freezes and looks up at him again, "all I know is that there was a shooting, and that Matthew was with her then, he called in the attack and spoke briefly with Faith. He said they were safe for the moment, but that was over 40 minutes ago." She gasps trying to hold up the pain, but she says with tears in her eyes, "He hasn't contacted Faith since then, and neither Sarah nor Matthew are answering their phones."

NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS

10:20 am

It was a very sombre group that drove back to DC. After some deliberation, Ziva and Tony stayed behind to finish processing the scene, and Gibbs offered to drive McGee and Buchanan back to DC. McGee stared out of the window without really seeing the scenery speeding past, not complaining a single moment about Gibbs' maniac driving style, that shortened the trip between the cities by at least one hour, and that indifference deeply worried both Gibbs and Joy about his state of mind.

Ducky and Jimmy gave their sympathies, and wished that the young McGee was found safe and sound.

The phone rang, and Joy promptly answered, "Buchanan."

Gibbs looks at her in the rear-view mirror, and McGee turns in his seat towards the backseat where she is.

"I'm putting you on speakerphone, Faith, so McGee and Gibbs may hear you too," she touches a button on her IPhone, and both men hear Faith's voice.

"Hey Gibbs, McGee," she pauses, shouting something out of the phone, "listen, so far what we know is the following, there was a shooting in the dorm early in the morning, and the Metro Police was called in. Three students were found dead in one of the rooms. That happened approximately 6:30 am. Metro PD came in, checked the place and stayed until eight am, and left."

"Approximately 9:04 am a 911 call was received by the Emergency services, reporting a shooting in Wilsburg Hall. The person said that another student went Rambo and was shooting everyone in the classrooms on the second floor of the building," McGee closes his eyes, as he knows that his sister studies on the second floor of Wilsburg Hall, "the person was shot dead while she spoke to the emergency services, but the phone stayed on and they were able to hear everything that happened there."

Gibbs hands tightened around the steering wheel, and he stepped harder on the gas pedal, going faster.

"How many victims?" he asks Faith.

Faith sighs, and talks again to someone, ordering him to bring more gauze. McGee looks briefly at Gibbs, and his eyes cross with Gibbs' stare, and sees that he's as worried as he is.

"So far, nineteen, but we're still counting."

"What about Sarah?" asks McGee, without showing his inner turmoil.

"McGee," Faith sighs on the phone, and seems to move away from the turmoil in the background and go to a quieter place to talk to the agents, "when I spoke to Matthew, it was 9:10 am, exactly six minutes after the first 911 call was made. He told me that he was in a locked room with Sarah and twenty other students, and that he had barricaded the door. He had no idea what was happening outside, or who the shooters were, but that he was adamant about protecting both Sarah and the others with his life if necessary. That was the last time I spoke to him, and so far we haven't found the room where he and the others are hidden. So far, we found three rooms with people locked in, but no sign of Sarah or Matthew."

"Who was the shooter?" Gibbs's mind is already working overtime, imagining if that was a planned terrorist attack or if it was something much worst.

Faith stays silent for a moment, which prompts Gibbs to repeat his question, "Who was the shooter, Faith?"

"A kid, Gibbs," they can hear Faith's voice chocking with unshed tears, "it was a goddamned stupid kid, barely out of his diapers."

The occupants of the car stay silent for a moment, as they hear her trying to fight her tears, "he was barely in his twenties."

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