"What are we doing here again?" Wolverine flashed his torch around the Hotel Boiler Room.
"Duct tape. I told you."
"Duct tape? Are you sure that will fix the screen? And the projector shelf?" Batty sounded doubtful as he was consumed with guilt.
"Yes. Duct tape is like the Force. It has a dark side, a light side and it holds the world together. Trust me Duct tape will be perfect. We just need to find some." Buzzard attempted to assure his disaster prone friend.
"It's all my fault. Elbee has come all this way to do his big presentation and I know he was worried about it even though he said he wasn't. I didn't realize it had caused such a big problem. He will be devastated if he has to get up there and…."
"Are you sure we won't get mistaken for terrorists or whatever for lurking around in the boiler room with flash lights in the middle of the night?" Reynolds peered at his hands which appeared to be covered in grease. He smeared them across his cheeks Comanche style with a grin.
"Don't be silly" Buzzard tripped over some metal buckets with a painful crash
"Actually when I was in Nicaragua I stumbled on the local War Lords ammunition stash when investigating a cave for a rare Albino Repsetaruous. When I reported back to town I found myself arrested by the local constabulary under charges of …what was it again? Oh yes. Most interesting. Tax fraud it turned out. They didn't mind that I appeared to have machine guns just that I didn't have the paperwork to prove I had paid the tax on them."
"Oh well that's not a very reassuring story Batty is it? Getting mistakenly arrested? I don't want to have some mistaken incident splashed over the tabloids portraying some sleazy boiler room sex romp. I have a funding application due" Reynolds frowned which was completely missed by the others in the dark.
"Oh no we can't be accused of a sex romp. My wife has her Country Craft Convention in a fortnight. She will never win Patchwork Quilt Queen if there has been a scandal. Especially a sex scandal. The patchwork girls are very particular about what goes on under their quilts." Wolverine replied anxiously.
"Look neither of you are famous enough for the tabloids to be interested in what you do in the middle of the night. Besides we are four either seriously underweight or overweight scientists. I don't think sex romp is what is going to pop into anyone's mind if they find us down here." Buzzard was firm as he dragged someone around the other side of a tool strewn table in the dark.
"What was that noise?"
"Someone is coming down in the elevator!"
"Good. Let's ask them if they have some duct tape."
"No I say we hide!"
"Where?"
"Why?"
"Ouch. I banged my knee! Ow ow ow ow "
"Shush. Be quiet!"
"But I hurt my KNEE!"
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"Blood Boss"
Tony's keen eye caught the drops of blood on the thick carpeted floor of the elevator. His gut churned as he wondered which of his co workers it belonged to.
Tony and Gibbs stood together in the center of the elevator their eyes scanning the floor and walls until they both looked up at the hatch in the ceiling.
"They MUST have gone up through here. There is no other way they could have got out."
Tony peered closely at the edges. "Screws are missing Boss. They couldn't have had time to replace them."
Gibbs smiled "Give us a boost Tony"
Tony clasped his hands together and with a grunt shoved Gibbs up and through the hatch as Gibbs pushed the metal lid aside. Reaching down he helped pull Tony up until within a few moments they were both standing on top of the elevator in the dark shaft watching as the elevator on the other side of them whizzed up and down delivering its passengers.
"Jake? Jake? Can you hear me?" Tony tapped his ear piece his voice echoing off the bare concrete and metal.
There was a moment's hesitation and then Jake came through the ear piece.
"I've got you Tony. What can I do?"
"Can you shut down all the elevators? Not just our one but we need to look at all of them. It looks like they must have been taken into another elevator. Oh and can you bring up the lights in here? It's too dark to really see anything"
There was a quick wait and Tony could hear all the back round chaos of the Comms room as agents flew everywhere pulling up information and shouting out information to others.
"Ok done. I have shut it off so it should stop just below you"
"Thanks"
There was a series of loud clicks and lights came on around them throwing the bottom of the shaft into deeper shadow. Now they could see the shaft was a large one with a third elevator, a service elevator that could only access certain floors. Gibbs and Tony jumped down onto the next elevator and peered down the shaft into the open space with the roof of the service elevator far below them.
Jakes voice suddenly sounded in Tony's ear and he jumped.
"I can't seem to get the service elevator to respond. It appears to be shut down or has been disabled in some way."
Tony relayed the information to Gibbs who nodded.
"That's the one then. Less chance of being seen or interrupted if they took the service elevator. Come on Tony"
Tony turned to Gibbs uncertain
"Come on…?"
But Gibbs had already taken a few steps back and launched himself across the open space and landed on the flimsy slim emergency ladder running down the outer edge of the elevator shaft.
Tony sighed as he watched Gibbs already rapidly disappearing down the ladder into the darkness towards the stationary service elevator.
"Oh. Come on."
*******************************************************************
"You know if we're going to die now then there is something I need to do."
Tim quickly reached up and placing his finger onto his eye he pulled out Toby's blue contact, blinking rapidly before removing the second one and flicking them to the floor.
He smiled at Ziva "If I am going to die in a minute I want to see you with my own eyes."
Ziva smiled back pleased to see Tim and not Toby back before her. "Well then there is something I want to do as well"
She pulled Tim in close and kissed him gently but with an unavoidable growing passion. He was naked under her hands as they roamed up his back. She felt him slipping his hands around her waist and ….
"Hey! Are you trying to piss me off?" Bob growled angrily.
Ding
The elevator doors slowly opened and Bob shoved his gun into Tim's back.
"Are you trying to stall me? No one knows you're here so if you wouldn't mind getting the hell out of the elevator?"
**********************************************************************************************************************
Gibbs heard the gun sound once, twice, three times and the violent sound reverberated loudly through the concrete shaft. No! His people were down there! Was he too late?
With a curse and a prayer he let go of the thin ladder and dropped down into the depths of the dark elevator shaft. The last thing he heard was Tony's cry.
"Gibbs! No!"