Despite their expansive home and her own graceful personality, it wasn't often that Victoria got all dressed up in expensive clothes.
The truth was, there weren't that many reasons for her to. She wasn't a vapid person and she usually preferred jeans to a ball gown. But every once in a while it was nice to find a reason to be pretty. Victoria didn't have a particular reason that night, but, on a whim, she opened her closet and found a sleek black dress that came to her ankles. It wasn'texpensive, but it was flattering. A good twirl set it in motion, and it flew out beautifully before twisting back against her legs.
Tim and Apollo had both retired for the evening; the ballroom was completely empty. Victoria flicked on the lights. Their shine, reflected in the large mirrors on the walls, cast the columns in a romantic glow. Thunder clapped outside.
She stood under the dome and stretched her arms out, spinning once or twice. It felt nice to dance without the threat of hunters, without party guests to attend to. Victoria preferred this to a grand ball any day.
She danced and spun for several minutes before someone cleared their throat behind her. She froze.
"Mind if I cut in?" McGee asked.
Victoria turned to him. "How long have you been standing there?"
"A while."
Rain began to hit the skylight, and the shadows of the drops fell onto the floor.
Tim took her hands and they began to dance. They were both talented dancers, and even without music they were perfectly in sync. It wasn't romantic, just comfortably friendly. The two flightlings performed ridiculous and out of place twirls and lifts and dips until they were both laughing. It was the happiest either of them had been in a while. That's not to say either of them were unhappy, but there was something so calm and relaxing about that night. It was easy to forget Jude Damien, the fight on the roof, or the NCIS agents in Venice.
An enormous boom of thunder followed by a crash of lightning rattled the foundations of the house, startling them both.
"The lightning's getting closer-" Victoria began, but was interrupted when the shaking of the house caused the latch on the skylight to fall open. Rain began pouring into the ballroom, almost instantly soaking the two dancers.
"Oh!" Victoria cried in surprise as the water first hit her.
"Your dress-" Tim said considerately, but she just laughed.
"It was cheap. Leave the window open, the drain will get the water. Besides, when do you get to dance in the rain- indoors?"
McGee chuckled and they resumed their melodramatic performance, laughing harder than before whenever either of them got splashed. The drain from the old fountain dutifully captured any water that hit the floor. Despite the darkness that lurked outside, they were protected by their columns, their ballroom, their home.
When Tim lifted Victoria by her waist, the muscles in his back flexed, causing his wings to spring out of nowhere. It would have been a beautiful picture: McGee holding her in a graceful lift, his wings shining in the light. Yes, it would have been beautiful, had it been intended.
"They pop out whenever I arch my back," Tim groaned, putting Victoria down and brushing water off of his wings.
"That's a good thing," the young woman said. "It means all of your muscles are working."
"Yeah, it's a great thing," he muttered, putting them away. "It'll be real great when I go to lift something in public and they spring into view."
"You'll get better and better with it. At least you've learned how to cut the slits in your shirts perfectly. Remember how just two months ago you were tearing apart your clothes every time you tried to fly?"
"True. Though it doesn't matter what I wear when we fly. We never go past the city or too far over the water."
Victoria was thoughtful. "Maybe we'll be able to fly to Venice some time this week. So you can see your friends before they leave."
By this time, Tim's shirt was soaked clear through and Victoria's dress was ruined. Neither of them cared.
"What we need is proper music," the young woman said, squeezing her hair to get some of the water out of it.
"You're right," McGee grinned. "One second."
He went to his room to get his new iPod, a recent gift from Apollo.
While he was gone, his dancing partner stepped away from the shower the skylight had created. She proceeded to squeeze the water from the end of her dress, angling it toward the drain. As it fell through the grate, Victoria heard a strange noise. She tilted her head towards the drain to listen.
The sound was like an echo...like the water was falling after it passed through the drain. It sounded like it was splashing against stone several feet down.
Victoria had never heard water fall through the drain before. In all her years as a Clark, she had assumed the drain led straight to a set of pipes or some sort of water pump. But based on the sounds her sensitive ears were picking up, this was not the case.
Tim returned to the main room to find Victoria on all fours, head to the ground. Rain was continuing to splash in her face, and it was a wonder she didn't drown.
"What are you doing?" he asked.
"Come here," she said, answering him and ignoring the question at the same time.
He moved to stand next to her. When she looked up at him expectantly, he kneeled down next to her.
"Now what are we doing, again?"
"Listen," Victoria said, tilting her own head back towards the drain. McGee did the same.
After listening for a little while, he understood what she meant. His brow furrowed.
"Do you hear that? That echo?"
"Yes," Tim said, standing. "Yes I do."
Victoria stood as well, again ignoring the fact that she was sopping wet.
"There's a space down there," she said. "It sounds like the floor is several feet down."
"Did you know about it?"
She looked up at him, confusion and interest sparked in her features. "No."
Tim shifted his weight, thoughtful. "Should we ask Apollo about it?"
Victoria shook her head. "I heard him snoring when I passed his bedroom. He's finally sound asleep. He's had some trouble sleeping all week, what with Jude and the other one your team took down. Let's not bother him."
McGee nodded. "Then I guess that's that. We can ask about it in the morning...but just because he isn't here doesn't mean we can't explore it ourselves."
There was a pause. Only the sound of the rain hitting the floor could be heard.
Victoria looked down at the drain, then smiled up at him. Bending over, she was able to move the grate easily with one hand, a feat that would have required the efforts of both Tony and Gibbs.
"I can fit through that," she said, gesturing to the remaining hole in the ground. "But can you?"
"I should be able to fit," McGee said, kneeling down next to it. "Do you want me to go first?"
"That's ok, I'll go. Lower me in."
He took her hands and gently eased her down into the darkness.
"Can you see anything?"
"Barely. Drop me."
He let her hands go, and she deftly landed on her feet in the cavern. She looked around her in wonder. It was dark, but her fascinating eyes could see.
"Move out the way, I'm coming down," Tim called.
Victoria stepped to the side and he dropped down next to her. Then, it was his turn to look around in wonder.
They were standing in an expansive underground tunnel. Cobblestone lined the walls. Rings were nailed into the wall every few feet, perfect for holding torches. The stones reflected in the dim light that was leaking in from the ballroom above. Little specks of gold peeked out from every individual rock.
"Is this...gold?" Victoria asked, inspecting the wall closest to her. McGee came up behind her and looked at it.
"I don't think so. This is fool's gold."
They turned back to the room in front of them. The ceiling was eight feet from the ground, and the floor was decorated with a colorful mosaic pattern, faded behind a screen of dust. The water that fell from the drain collected in its own little brook that ran on the edge of the path, just bordering the wall. At a slight slant, it ran with a current into the darkness of the tunnel. The tunnel in question split in two, the little stream following the path on the right.
"Where do you think this goes?" McGee asked.
"No idea. Which one should we take first?"
"The right."
Tim began to walk into the darkness, his eyes quickly readjusting to the pitch. The tunnel remained the same as they walked. It seemed to stretch on forever, though they had only walked thirty yards or so before they came to a block in the wall. The path was all sealed up with more cobblestone, right in front of them.
The water crept through the spaces in the rocks and continued moving.
"I wonder why this is here?" Victoria thought aloud.
"...Should we try the other path?"
"May as well. It might be blocked, like this one."
"It is," a new voice said, thouroughly frightening them. "Woah, relax. It's just me."
Tim turned to Apollo. "Did we wake you?"
"No, I was heading to the kitchen to get something to drink, when I saw the skylight open, and the drain moved."
"What is this place?" McGee asked.
"Honestly? I have no idea."
"Why didn't you tell us about it?" Victoria asked.
"I'm sorry, my dear, I suppose it simply slipped my mind. Actually, I originally intended for it to be a surprise for you, but...Well, I didn't discover it myself until several years after moving here. And then, I saw the barriers, and decided to find out where they led. But I was hesitant to ask people about it, not wanting to spread the secret of the tunnels. And then, I came back into contact with my mother, and she took up most of my time and thoughts. She didn't know a thing about the tunnels, either. After that, I moved back to America and found you, Victoria. All of that took time. When we came back here, I remembered it, and I wanted to take down the walls so that we might explore them. But I was busy with one thing or another, and then it went to the back of my thoughts, and then I forgot about it altogether."
McGee studied the walls of the tunnel. "I'll do it for you. In fact, I'll start tomorrow if you'd like."
"I will too," Victoria said.
Apollo smiled at his little family. "Excellent-" he began, but was cut off by panicked knocking on the front door, which was surprisingly strong. The sound echoed through the ballroom and bounced along the tunnels underneath.
"Who could that possibly be? It's too early in the morning for anyone to be out. And with the storm..." the eldest Clark trailed off as more knocking was heard.
"I'll get it," Tim said. He wriggled his way up through the drain and back into the main room of their home. Taking care not to slip on the wet floor, he hurried to the front door and pulled it open. Nothing could have prepared him for the sight he found.
Tony was standing there, panting as if he'd run all the way from Venice. His clothes were torn and his hair disheveled. A small cut traced his cheek. He was soaking wet from the storm. From his exhausted, frightened look it was clear that he didn't register the fact that McGee was soaked too.
Victoria and Apollo were just closing the drain when they heard Tim exclaim, "Tony! What're you-"
"They got Ziva and Gibbs, Tim. I...I..." Dinozzo stuttered, clearly going into shock. There were no tears in his eyes, just a bewildered and trapped look.
"Tony, come in, what-"
In a better condition, DiNozzo would never say that he fainted, at any time in his life. Fainting, passing out, whatever it was, unconsciousness gripped him and he fell forward. Tim had the god sense to put his arms out, and as he caught his old friend, he noticed the blood caked on the back of his head.