Quick trivial tidbit: I have this plotted out like a television show, which means a couple of things. The first is that I maintain a character billing on my profile, which I keep updated as chapters are released. It's a helpful tool to keep track of various characters' roles in the story if you're interested. The second is that I split each season into two parts. The first part of Season One will conclude with Chapter 9, and then there will be a break before the Season resumes. I will talk more about that when the time comes. For now, I hope you are enjoying the story so far.

CHAPTER 5: CHASING

After a brief discussion, it was decided that Gibbs, Sarah, and I would all go out in search of the new Anomaly while Sloane and Luca would stay here.

During preparations, I looked Gibbs up and down. "Hey, are you sure you're up to this?" I asked him. His injuries from the fight had hardly stopped bleeding before he was gearing up to head out with us.

He looked at me and nodded. "Yeah, I'm good," he assured me. We had tried to get Theas to heal him again, but Theas said that recurring exposure to the Focal Inverter in a short time span could result in serious problems.

Luca and Sloane both wished us the best of luck, and I got the impression that neither of them was sorry to be left behind. I got the car ready, and we loaded up our various weapons before the three of us moved out.

As Sarah drove towards Bloomington, Gibbs and I were in the backseat.

"Who do you think it will be?" I asked Gibbs.

Gibbs shook his head. "I don't know. It doesn't seem like there's much of a pattern to who comes over. It could be anybody."

"I'm more concerned about the Hunters," Sarah confessed. "The larger of a group of Anomalies we have, the more of a target we are for them."

"Yeah," Gibbs agreed, "but the more people we have on our side, the more of a threat we pose."

Both arguments were equally true. I sat in silence while navigating the hour-long drive to Bloomington.

"How long do you think we're going to be able to do this?" Sarah asked.

"What do you mean?" I replied.

"I mean at some point, someone is going to figure out what's happening," Sarah elaborated. "The police, or the government, or somebody. How long can we keep going before we face that?"

I honestly hadn't thought about this. I had been so wrapped up in getting to the Anomalies and fighting off the Hunters, this hadn't occurred to me.

"Well, at some point, something's got to give," Gibbs supplied. "When it happens, we'll deal with it."

I could tell by her silence that Sarah's concerns were not alleviated. Most of the journey was spent discussing tactics for meeting the Anomaly. Once we arrived in Bloomington, I took the Keeper tablet and directed us to where we needed to go. The Anomaly was located directly in the middle of the city, amidst the highest population density. As midday traffic became more difficult to navigate, Sarah parked in a public parking lot for us to get out. We left our heavy weapons in the trunk of the car, and Gibbs had his colt while Sarah had our 22A. I was unarmed. Sarah had thrown an absolute fit about this, due mostly to my lack of hesitation to dive face-first into a deadly battle. It wasn't until I promised her that I wouldn't try to throw haymakers at interspatial demons that she agreed to the idea.

We moved through downtown Bloomington. I had never been here, and I never would have guessed it was home to over eighty thousand people. I carefully tracked the position of the Anomaly, but as we came within a few blocks of its location, it started moving away. The red dot signifying the Anomaly's location cleared blocks within minutes.

"Well, that's a problem," I said. Gibbs and Sarah both turned to look at me. "They're moving. They're in a car and getting far fast."

Gibbs sighed in indignation, and Sarah suggested that whoever it was had paid cash for a taxi.

"Where are they going?" Gibbs asked. "Which direction?"

"They're heading east," I answered. Gibbs sighed again, and I knew why. Our vehicle was west of here, and who knew how far away they would get before we could get back to it.

"Well, come on, we better get moving," Sarah said, leading the way back towards the car.

It seemed to take far longer to get to the car than it did to get to where we made it to in the city. By the time Sarah started the engine, the Anomaly was already outside the city and still moving.

"Where do you think they're going?" Sarah asked.

"DC would be my guess," Gibbs offered.

"A taxi all the way to DC?" I said. "That'd be a hell of a bill, if you could even get a taxi to go that far."

"Okay, then we're dealing with something else entirely," Sarah surmised.

"Well, let's get moving," Gibbs advised. "We want to catch them before they get to DC."

"Yeah, that doesn't look like it'll be too much of a problem," I commented. "For being in a vehicle, they're not moving very quickly."

Gibbs's eyes narrowed, and I glanced at him. I could tell his mind was chewing on this, but he didn't elaborate. Sarah pulled out of the parking lot, and we pursued the Anomaly. Sarah drove quickly, paying little heed towards other vehicles or pedestrians. She weaved in and out of traffic at about ten miles above the speed limit. I was sure we were going to get pulled over, but she made it to the edge of the city with no interference. We sped along the country roads outside of Bloomington. We were gaining on the Anomaly, but it would still be a while before we would get to them.

"Do you think Algaltha's people may have gotten to them?" I asked, staring at the Keeper tablet.

"No," Gibbs answered.

"I agree," Sarah confirmed. "If the Hunters had gotten there first, they would have killed them, not escorted them back to the capital."

We continued driving, coming upon a stretch of wilderness outside of civilization. Sarah gave no credence towards speeding laws here, cruising down the roads at a hundred miles per hour. It wasn't until we were nearing Columbus, Indiana that we were able to catch up to the vehicle. It was a black sedan, resembling a government car with tinted windows.

"Alright, so how do we want to play this?" Sarah asked while maintaining a few car lengths behind the vehicle.

"Wait for them to stop," I suggested.

"Yeah, and then what?" Gibbs asked, staring at me. I didn't have an answer. He grinned, and it was several more minutes before the Anomaly's vehicle came to a halt. They slowed to a stop at an intersection, and we pulled in behind them. Without a word, Gibbs climbed out of the car and started walking up to them. We couldn't see who was in the vehicle, but the driver's door opened. I didn't recognize the man who got out. He was of large frame, well over six feet tall with large arms. He was Black, in his mid-thirties, with short, dark hair and a clean-shaven face. He regarded Gibbs with an analytical expression, but he didn't seem to be threatening or malicious.

"Hey," Gibbs said with a friendly expression.

"Can I help you, sir?" the man asked, his arms folded. He wore a leather jacket with faded jeans.

"Yeah," Gibbs said, reaching into his pocket. The man tensed, but his posture eased as Gibbs pulled out his wallet. "Special Agent Gibbs," he introduced. "NCIS. I'm in the middle of an investigation, here, and the person you're carrying could be involved."

"Really?" the man said, his interest seeming quite feigned. "Involved how?"

Gibbs shrugged. "I don't know," he said. "Not sure yet. I just need to talk to them."

The man nodded, and his eyes shifted between Gibbs and our car. "Gosh, Agent Gibbs," he said, staring at Gibbs. "You know, it's funny you say you're with NCIS."

"Oh, yeah?" Gibbs said. "How's that?"

The man pulled out his own identification and showed it to Gibbs, along with a badge. "Because I'm NCIS," the man informed him. "Special Agent Lamar Alexandersen."

"Oh, really?" Gibbs said, a hint of panic in his voice. "That's funny, I've never heard of you."

"Yeah," Alexandersen said with a wry chuckle. "Hey, what's our director's name?"

Gibbs's smile steadily deteriorated. He let out a deep sigh, clearly at a loss for how to proceed. "So, it's interesting," Alexandersen stated. "I got this guy in here already impersonating a navy officer. And now I got you impersonating a federal agent. My bosses are going to hand me a lot of overtime for this. Think you can save me some hassle and tell me what the hell's really going on?"

"Man," Gibbs said in a similar voice to when he met me. "I would if I could."

"Uh huh," Alexandersen said with a nod. "That's cool. Put your hands behind your head."

Gibbs immediately did as he was instructed. "I'm armed," he informed Alexandersen. "Waist and pocket."

Alexandersen nodded, and he relieved Gibbs of both his Colt and his pocket knife.

"Oh, hell," I said as I unbuckled.

"Hey!" Sarah hissed. "You really think it's a good idea to get involved with this?"
"No," I answered, "but I'm going to anyway."

I climbed out of the car, leaving Sarah to look after me in exasperation. "Of course you are," she said as she followed me out.

"Stop," Alexandersen ordered. Sarah and I both came to a halt while he searched Gibbs. After finishing his search, he pulled out a pair of handcuffs, pulling Gibbs's arms behind his back. Gibbs did not retaliate.

"Hold it."

I looked around in surprise, and my jaw fell open as I saw Sarah aiming her pistol at Alexandersen. Alexandersen raised an eyebrow, staring at her with a bewildered expression. "Ma'am, you do not want to do this," he assured her.

"He's right," Gibbs said to us firmly. "Lower your weapon." I saw Alexandersen reach for his waist, and Gibbs yelled out, "Hey, come on! We don't need to do this!"

"Well, that's up to you guys, isn't it?" Alexandersen said with mounting tension.

I held out my hand to Sarah, indicating for her to lower her weapon, but she didn't listen to me. I knew her well enough to know that, for better or worse, she would never shoot someone in cold blood. However, this situation was steadily turning into something we didn't want to be a part of. Sarah didn't waver, keeping her aim trained directly on Alexandersen's chest. The agent's teeth were gritted, and he was furiously analyzing his situation, his chances in combat.

"Sarah," I said to her with building desperation. "Sarah, come on."

Sarah's eyes narrowed, and after some quick deliberation, she finally lowered her gun. In a flash, Alexandersen drew his weapon and aimed it at her. "Put your gun on the ground and kick it to me."

A flit of anger crossed Sarah's expression, but she did as she was told. As the 22A slid across the ground and under Alexandersen's foot, he lowered his weapon as well. "A'ight, now somebody here's about to tell me what's going on. Who are you people? Where'd you come from and what are you doing here?"

Gibbs, Sarah, and I all looked at each other. None of us had any idea how to explain this.

"So, this guy's with you, right?" Alexandersen said, pointing at whoever was in his vehicle.

"Yeah," Gibbs said. "Yeah, he's with us."

I was very curious who Gibbs suspected to be in the vehicle. Apparently they had been impersonating a navy officer. This didn't make a whole lot of sense. There was only one person I could think of who would even marginally fit that description, and that was Leon Vance. If the fictional NCIS director had crossed over, his political savvy would honestly be a tremendous help in navigating the conversation with Alexandersen, or anyone else from our universe that we confronted.

"Let us talk to him," Gibbs requested.

"No," Alexandersen replied, regarding Gibbs as though he had forfeited his sanity. "No, you want some buddy time, you start talking."

Gibbs let out another sigh of frustration. I agreed with him. If we started telling Alexandersen about the war between the Keepers and the Hunters, we were quite likely to be institutionalized.

"Why are you impersonating navy personnel?" Alexandersen asked, his patience degrading.

We all looked at each other again, somebody hoping somebody had a justifiable explanation that would get us out of this.

"Boy, the more y'all make me wait, the more charges I feel like putting on," Alexandersen growled.

"Alright," I said finally. "Alright."

Sarah, Gibbs, and Alexandersen all looked around at me. I reached into my back pocket, and Alexandersen rested his hand on his gun in its holster as I pulled out my phone. Sarah's jaw fell open, and Gibbs grew a small smirk, yet I couldn't place what he was thinking. I pulled up the NCIS intro, and I walked over to hand my phone to Alexandersen. Alexandersen watched the montage, but his expression remained stagnant.

After he gave my phone back, he said, "Yeah, alright, I've heard of that show." He then looked at Gibbs and said, "So you're really up in here trying to use your fictional character like he's the real deal."

"That's...not quite accurate," I told him. "That's not the actor, that's not Mark Harmon. He's...he's Gibbs."

It took a second for Alexandersen to register what I had said. He then chuckled and said, "You're playing."

"No," Gibbs interjected, "no he isn't."

Alexandersen glanced around at Gibbs before looking back at me, and he had a small smile that quite plainly conveyed his opinion towards our higher cognitive functions.

"Prove it," Alexandersen demanded.

This might be a problem. How did he want us to prove it? It's not like Gibbs had magical powers he could perform that would make Alexandersen believe us.

"Here," Sarah said. We all looked around at her, and she opened the trunk of our car. She motioned for Alexandersen to come take a look. I started to see where she was going, and Gibbs and I remained within Alexandersen's line of sight as he slowly walked over. His hand was once again resting on his gun, and Gibbs and I walked over to stand beside Sarah.

Alexandersen peered inside the trunk, and his eyes widened in surprise. Inside were our weapons we had acquired from Theas. My bow, Gibbs's sniper rifle, Sarah's assault rifle. All futuristic, well beyond the technology of Earth. Alexandersen gawked at all of the weapons for nearly a minute before he looked up at us. "Where the hell'd these come from?"

"Look, it's a lot to explain," I said to him. "There's a lot going on here that's hard to digest. You're going to need to trust us."

"Man, I don't need to trust anything," Alexandersen countered. Far from being convinced of our innocence, he seemed quite sure that we were the most hostile things he'd ever encountered.

I pulled out my phone, quickly skimming through it before finding what I was looking for. I showed it to Gibbs, and he watched. It was a scene with three people engaging in a gun battle on a rooftop with several hostiles. One of the three people was Gibbs. He appeared to be around fifteen years younger than he was today. Gibbs watched, and his focus was on the female agent in the scene. She dove in front of Gibbs to protect him from incoming fire. She collapsed to the ground while Gibbs and the other male agent quickly cut down the shooter.

Gibbs and the other male agent helped the female agent back to her feet. They had a quick exchange, a laugh. A gunshot was fired from afar, the female agent was hit square in the head. I saw Gibbs next to me tense up, his eyes close as his breath seemed to stop. He couldn't watch anymore. I put the phone away, and I watched him in a mixture of guilt and empathy as Gibbs went through a cacophony of emotions. He did his best to keep his expression even, but the waves of grief were quite evident. Alexandersen watched, and he came to the realization that this wasn't an actor reacting to a scene he'd shot years ago. This was real to Gibbs. This was an agent he'd lost that still haunted him today.

I put the phone away, and I took a step back from Gibbs. Gibbs finally managed to regain himself, and he looked around, taking deep, sharp breaths. He saw the three of us staring at him, and he avoided making eye contact with anyone. I looked over at Alexandersen, and he seemed unsure of what to make of the situation. Finally, he nodded. "Alright," he said in a soft voice. "Alright, I believe you."

I nodded, and Alexandersen walked back over to his car. Gibbs followed him, and he didn't look at either Sarah or myself. "Look, this is still really hard for me to comprehend," Alexandersen said as he opened the back door of his car. "But I guess if fictional agents and admirals are coming to life, then you deserve the chance to discuss it with each other."

"Admirals?" I said, bewildered.

Gibbs walked closer to Alexandersen's car, but as the occupant climbed out, Gibbs's face tumbled into complete abstract, bordering on horrified shock.

"You know," said the man in his sixties with a bald head. "I was at the hospital getting my next round of chemo this morning, and next thing I know I'm in the damned middle of nowhere."

He wore United States Navy dress blues with around twenty ribbons pinned to his chest and four stripes on his jacket. He looked at Gibbs with a shrewd, yet somewhat bemused smile. Gibbs looked back at him with eyes wide, jaw hanging half open, unable to believe what he was looking at.

"What's the matter, Gunny?" asked United States Admiral John McGee. "You look like you've seen a ghost."