Hi folks!
Just want to give a heads-up that I do make a slight reference to my other story "Black Ice" in this chapter. You don't need to read it to understand what's happening but I just wanted to mention it in case anyone gets confused. So when you see a reference to a car accident that never happened on the show, just know that it's from my other story.
-Moki
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Chapter Five
"Mine too, McGee. Mine too."
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The two agents got over their shock and quickly moved behind the largest stack of crates they could find. Luckily it also happened to be in a corner farthest away from both the elevator apparatus on one end of the room and the door on the other.
"Maybe it's just someone going into the warehouse next door," McGee whispered hopefully.
"Yeah right, do we ever get that lucky?" Tony replied with a roll of his eyes.
As if in reply, they both heard more noises, various bangs and clangs that they couldn't yet identify. There was no doubt, however, that the sounds were coming from the warehouse above them.
"What now?" McGee asked. Both of them had their firearms but there was no telling how many people could be up there, nor how many weapons they were carrying. Also, they had both left their gear upstairs, the backpacks too much trouble to carry through the narrow tunnel. While a few evidence bags and cameras weren't going to help much, the extra ammo was a different story.
"Well, first off we need to see how many there are," Tony replied, watching the roof above them as they heard sounds travelling from one end of the place to the other.
McGee agreed and once it was obvious that no one was going to come down with guns blazing, they headed back to the door where they'd entered. Pulling out their guns, they cautiously entered the empty room and made their way to the ladder leading above.
"Stay right behind me, but if you see an opening you get out and call for backup, got it?" Tony said, his hand on the handle of the trapdoor.
McGee nodded silently and Tony opened the door cautiously. They found the tunnel as empty as they left it and continued towards the light at the other end. When they got there, Tony poked his head out.
What he saw made him really wish that Gibbs hadn't gotten fed up with him and McGee that morning.
Sliding back into the darkness, Tony leaned in close to his partner. Nearly touching the other man's ear with his lips, he spoke in a low whisper.
"At least five. All armed. Handguns and a couple machine guns."
Seeing his partner's eyes open wide at the report, Tony put a hand on McGee's shoulder reassuringly. "Head back. We need a plan," he ordered simply, unwilling to talk more when there were so many ears about to hear them.
With no room to do much more than turn around, McGee ended up in the lead as they headed back slowly to the trap door. They walked just as silently as before and continued to avoid detection by the well-armed militia on the other side of the wall.
Well, that is right up until the point that Tony's foot caught on an old board. Unable to see anything in the near pitch blackness, Tony's arms caught McGee and the two of them went down with a crash that Helen Keller wouldn't have missed.
Still, as the two of them lay holding their breaths, Tony thought maybe the sound was only loud because they were stuck in the tunnel.
Maybe they didn't hear any…..
"What the hell was that?" a voice called out clearly from the other side of the wall.
Crap.
"Go!" Tony whispered. The bad guys may have heard the crash, but he didn't see the need to yell and give away their exact position. The small arms the men carried would be more than enough against the dilapidated wood surrounding them, let alone the heavier weapons.
Disentangling their limbs, the two men were up and running as fast as they could. Behind them they heard bodies entering the tunnel. Within seconds, the small space echoed loudly with the sound of gunfire.
Feeling a few bullets whiz by over his head, Tony pushed his partner to run faster. He didn't know what they'd accomplish by basically getting themselves trapped in the rooms below but anything was better than the shooting gallery they were in at the moment.
They reached the trap door and McGee stopped to open it, ducking his head as a bullet caused splinters to rain down on him. Feeling Tony's body right behind his, McGee struggled to find enough space to open the door. With a hard yank, he managed to wrench it open and stepped onto the ladder.
As McGee started his descent, the bad guys were getting close. At first, the darkness in the tunnel had kept their enemies from being able to see much as they fired blindly. Now with the light from below filtering in, they started shooting in earnest.
Wanting to get out of the way and allow his partner to reach the relative safety below, McGee moved as fast as he could. A little too fast. As his foot hit the second step, the thing gave way and he started falling. Unable to catch himself, McGee flew towards the floor below.
Up above, Tony was unable to stop it. He saw McGee start to climb, then suddenly the other man's head disappeared faster than it should have. He tried to reach out a hand but his partner was already falling. Scrambling down himself (avoiding the now broken step), all Tony could do was keep firing down the tunnel.
As the other man hit the pavement, Tony heard an audible (and rather sickening) pop. Staying where he was, Tony continued to shoot. He heard a couple grunts, telling him that at least a couple of his bullets had hit their mark.
Just as suddenly as it began, the shooting stopped. Apparently after a few of them went down, the bad guys decided to retreat and figure out their next step.
Once he was sure that no on else was coming into the tunnel after them, Tony closed the door, locking it behind him. The bad guys had the keys, but still, anything that slowed them down was a good thing. When he was sure that they were safe (at least for the moment), Tony went to his fallen comrade.
He found McGee holding his shoulder and groaning. The crack Tony heard earlier now made sense. The odd angle of the arm gave no doubt that the shoulder was dislocated. It reminded Tony of the first time that had happened to the Probie. They'd been chasing a Marine hyped up on steroids and the man had managed to take out nearly the entire team before they got him under control. Only Tony hadn't heard the pop that time. He'd been much too busy staunching the flow of blood to his own broken nose.
McGee rocked over to his good side and tried to find a way to sit up. The movement only brought more pain and he groaned again as he tried to hold his arm still.
"Hey, easy, I got ya," Tony said, holstering his weapon quickly and helping the other man into a sitting position. He stood up and looked towards the door on the other end of the room.
"C'mon man, let's get into that storage space. May not help much but at least it's got a little more cover," Tony said, thinking of the crates next door.
"Okay," McGee replied with another wince, trying to figure out the easiest way to stand up. Before he could move though, he felt a pair of hands reaching under his good arm. With Tony's help, McGee was able to stand and walk unsteadily to the other room.
Once inside, Tony led his partner to the corner that provided the most cover. Helping the other man to slide painfully to the ground, he returned to the door they just exited. Finding the largest crates he could move on his own, Tony blocked the door.
"Well," Tony said, swiping his hand together to dust them off . "that might hold them off for a little while."
When his partner didn't reply, Tony squatted down worriedly. "You okay, man?"
"Yeah," McGee replied, shifting around on the floor to find a more comfortable position. Even that small motion hurt and he winced inadvertently.
"I think we need to put that thing back in place," Tony said, worriedly. "The sooner, the better."
"I know," McGee replied. He knew from grim experience that the longer the joint was out the more it would swell, making it harder to put back. He didn't relish the idea that Tony was going to be the one to do it but neither of them had much choice at the moment. "Let's just get it over with."
Getting himself into a better position to perform the procedure, Tony got onto one knee and scooted in as close as he could. Before putting his hands on the other man, he paused.
"Okay Probie, hang on. This is gonna hurt like hell."
"Yeah, no kidding," McGee said with a hiss as Tony's hands palpated his shoulder. "Why don't you tell me something I don't know?"
"Well," Tony paused, pondering for a few seconds. "Did I ever tell you that my mother dressed me like a sailor till I was ten years old?"
"Yep." McGee said with a grin despite himself.
"Oh. Well, then I'm out."
Tony's hands stopped as they found the correct position to put the shoulder back into place and McGee turned his head aside, holding his breath and closing his eyes tightly.
"Hey," Tony said softly, snaking his head around to look the younger man in the eyes. "Don't hold your breath. That's just gonna make it worse. Just try and breathe, okay?"
"Yeah right, like you would know," McGee bit out bitterly.
"Trust me, I do," Tony said thoughtfully, before turning his attention back to his hands.
McGee looked up at Tony, realizing that the other man did know what he was talking about. Not that long ago, Gibbs and Tony had been stuck alone in the snow for almost two days after a car accident. Tony had broken his leg and Gibbs had set it all the way up there on that mountain, without the benefit of an emergency room.
Finding a bit more strength at the thought, McGee decided that if Tony could do it, so could he. Nodding his head, he took a slow breath in and let it out. Closing his eyes and doing his best to relax, McGee continued to breathe slowly.
That's it, Probie. Tony thought approvingly, watching the tension drain a little from the other man's features and feeling it in the muscles of the join he was currently holding. Knowing that giving any sort of warning would only make McGee tense again, Tony decided to get the whole thing over with as soon as possible.
Getting a good grip on the other man's shoulder, Tony steadied his hands. In one swift motion, he put the bones back where they belonged. He kept his arms around the younger man as McGee leaned forward in pain, holding his partner steady.
Gasping, McGee sat up after a few moments, resting his head on the wall behind him.
"Good job, Probie. I'm proud of ya." Tony said proudly, patting the other man gently on his good shoulder. "Now let's keep it in place, shall we?"
It took a few minutes, but they finally figured out a way to keep McGee's arm as immobile as possible. With a lot of moaning and cursing (not all of it from McGee), they got the younger man's jacket sleeve off of his good arm. Sliding the injured arm inside the jacket, Tony zipped it back up again. It wasn't as good as a sling but it did keep the shoulder from moving, which did help with the pain.
When it was all done, the younger man once again leaned his head back against the wall, the entire procedure taking its toll. "Thanks," he breathed.
Before Tony could reply they heard a sound from the roof. The trap door above the elevator platform opened and they saw a man poke his head down. The head was closely followed by a hand with a gun.
The two agents began firing. A yelp was heard and the head, hand, and gun all disappeared. After losing three men to the unknown assailants in their midst, the bad guys retreated once again.
The door above closed and in the silence, both men lowered their guns. As he checked his weapon, Tony already knew what he would find. Crouching down low, he joined his partner on the other side of the crates.
"I'm out," Tony stated simply.
McGee looked at his own weapon, though he too already knew the answer. "I've got one round left."
Tony peered around the corner and both of them listened carefully for a few moments.
"Do you think that was it?" McGee said hopefully.
"Nope. Right now they don't know what the hell is going on but soon they'll figure out that there's only two of us and the fact that we're out of ammo. Then they'll be back," Tony replied. Sliding himself down the wall to sit down next to his partner once again.
"So it's just a matter of time." McGee said with finality.
"Yep." Tony replied.
"So we wait."
"Yep," Tony said again.
"Wait for what? For the bad guys to find us and kill us or for Gibbs to find us and rescue us?"
"For both."
"Yeah, but which will come first?"
"That," Tony said, holding up a finger with a cheeky grin. "is the million dollar question."
They were silent for a few moments.
"My money's on Gibbs," McGee said quietly and Tony nodded.
"Mine too, McGee. Mine too."
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Hope y'all liked it. Next chapter coming soon!
Be sure to keep checking on my blog (link in my profile page) for new reviews. I know NCIS is in re-runs but I'm still reviewing the repeat episodes. So an NCIS review will be up sometime on Wednesday morning (US west coast time).
-Moki
