CHAPTER 13: IN ACTION

I stood on a rooftop in Lafayette, Indiana. We were under an hour away from home. I was on top of the large, black Chase Building overlooking the County Courthouse as well as the rest of downtown. I felt a slight breeze from being about ten stories up, and I could see all the way across the whole city to the hills beyond. On the other side of us was the Wabash River, separating us from West Lafayette.

I looked around as Gibbs walked over to me, fitting a black earbud into his ear. He seemed to be having difficulty, evident by the annoyed scowl on his face.

"How's it coming?" I asked with a wry smirk.

"I hate these things," he grunted.

"Here," I said, reaching out a hand.

Gibbs gave me his new smartphone, and I showed him the process of dialing onto the call that got him into a shared communication channel. He nodded, although he only seemed mildly less likely to chuck the thing over the side of the building.

"Alright," Gibbs said, looking out over Lafayette. "Sabakay's disappearance. What do you got?"

I glanced at him before saying, "Well, we already know it wasn't the Keepers or the Hunters. So that means there's something else at play."

"Yeah, and what's that?" Gibbs asked.

"You said that Sabakay and the Malphen disappeared in a flash of white, right?" I asked. Gibbs nodded. "And you said that was the same thing that you saw right before you came here?"

"Yeah," Gibbs answered. His eyes narrowed, knowing where I was going with this.

"Yeah, so it seems like whatever caused you to come here caused those Anomalies to disappear," I deduced.

"So, what?" Gibbs said, "you think they went to another universe that isn't their own?"

I shrugged. "It seems like Theas would be able to find them if that were the case. This sounds like something else entirely."

"Hey, guys."

Gibbs and I both looked around, and the voice coming through our earbuds said, "Are you in position?"

"Yeah, Sarah," I answered. "Yeah, we're in position. You have something?"

Fornell's voice was next to come in. "Yeah, the Macrobreach is approaching you now."

"Okay," I replied, pulling out my phone. The screen showed a map centered around our position on the Chase Building, and there was a red, flashing dot slowly approaching us. Gibbs and I looked all around the streets surrounding the Chase Bank building. Not knowing what or who we were looking for made it difficult.

"Hey," Gibbs said after a few minutes. He pointed, and we both peered down onto the street. There was a man there, looking quite out of place. He had a buzzcut and was wearing a blue shirt with black vest and dark jeans. He moved hurriedly through the city street, glancing at each person that he passed.

"Who the hell is that?" I asked.

"I…don't know," Gibbs said.

I put a finger to my earwig and said, "Fornell, do you recognize him?"

"That would be a negative," Fornell answered. "Sarah and I are closing in."

Gibbs and I watched, and as the man continued his way down the streets of Lafayette, making his way towards the courthouse, I spotted Sarah and Fornell strolling behind him. They did their best to look as inconspicuous as possible, but Sarah's laser focus on the man made them stand out.

"What's our approach strategy?" Fornell asked. "Whoever this person is, them not knowing us is going to make it a hell of a lot harder to convince them we're not the enemy."

"He's right," I said to Gibbs under my breath. Gibbs nodded, and after a moment of thought, he said, "Come on, let's move in too."

"Really?" I asked. "We're supposed to be up here looking for signs of Hunters. You sure we want to break that?"

Gibbs motioned all around us. "You see any Hunters?"

I shrugged, and we both made our way down from the roof and onto the street. We came out across the main road from the man, and Fornell glanced over at us as he and Sarah pursued him. Gibbs and I walked casually across the street, but I couldn't stop myself from speed walking.

"Take a breath," Gibbs said softly. "Calm down. We don't want to spook him."

I nodded, taking in a great breath of air while trying to calm my nerves. We were set to run into the man as he arrived at the street corner, and he looked around and spotted us. He stopped, his mouth hanging open.

"Keep walking, look away," Gibbs breathed.

"Special Agent Gibbs!" the man shouted.

Gibbs raised an eyebrow, and I glanced at him as we approached.

"Oh, thank God!" the man said, sounding immensely relieved. "Thank God I found you! I need help!"

"Well, yeah, we know that," Gibbs said as we caught up to him. Fornell and Sarah walked up behind him, looking around us. "That's why we're here."

Gibbs studied the man, trying to figure out who he was, and the man evidently realized this as well. "Oh, right, of course. We've only met a couple of times. My name's Rob Bishop. I'm Ellie's brother."

Gibbs's eyes widened in shock, and he said, "Yeah. Yeah, that's right. Rob, you alright?"

Rob scoffed and looked around him. "Not really. What's going on? How did I get to Lafayette? And who's he?" Rob Bishop pointed at me.

"Hello," Fornell said, walking around to stand within Rob's eyeline.

"Seriously, I'm freaking out," Rob said, looking around at the four of us. "What is happening?"

"Well, here's not a great place to talk about it," Gibbs said, "let's get back to the car. We've got a place for you to lay low."

Back in our kitchen, Rob looked between us with wide eyes as though we had just informed him he had to pull out his own tooth.

"It's a lot," Gibbs said. "But it's the reality."

Fornell studied Rob silently, and Sarah and I stood at the back of the crowd. Sloane was in the room as well, but meanwhile Luca, McGee, and Kyle were downstairs.

"I mean, it's cool and all," Rob said. "Jumping universes and all that, really cool stuff. But I'd really like to know how to get home."

"So would we," Fornell agreed.

"It's a process, and we're doing our best to work on it as quickly as possible," Sloane said. "But it's not as easy as you might think."

Rob stared at us. "I don't think any of this is easy. This is all completely over my head."

"Well, you're safe here, and that's what's important," Sloane assured him.

"So, like, what do you all do here?" Rob asked. "Just work on trying to get us home?"

"Among other things," Sloane answered.

"The more people we gather, the more we're able to split up our priorities," I told him. "We've got a team that's dedicated to retrieving Macrobreaches and fighting off the Hunters, and then another one whose focus is research and development."

Rob nodded. "So…which team will I be on?"

"That's up to you," Gibbs answered. "Ellie said you were in the army, so you could be a big help to us against the Hunters."

"Yeah, and I left the army after one tour," Rob said. "It wasn't my favorite place to be. I swore I would never take part in combat again."

"That's your choice," Gibbs assured him. "Sloane can take you downstairs and introduce you to R and I."

"Okay, but I'm not great with technology either," Rob said.

"That's okay," Sloane replied. "Luca and Kyle are both really good. They can teach you everything you need to know."

Rob nodded, but he still looked unsure of what he wanted.

The doorbell rang, causing us all to look around in surprise. Sarah and I exchanged foreboding looks, and I nodded indicatively to the room while strolling to the front door. Gibbs and Sarah followed me, and I looked through the peephole. I raised an eyebrow before opening the door to see a tall, Black man with short black hair.

"Agent Alexandersen," I addressed. "I didn't know you were coming."

"Yeah, and there are a lot of things I don't know," said NCIS Special Agent Lamar Alexandersen. "May I?"

I stepped aside and allowed him to enter. He nodded to Gibbs, who nodded back. He spotted Sarah, who stared blank-faced at him. Meanwhile, Alexandersen surveyed Fornell, Sloane, and Rob as he walked slowly into our living room.

"How goes the work to get everyone home?" he asked.

"We're still working on it," I told him. "Was there a reason for your visit?"

"Well, I hadn't heard from you all in some time, and when we're talking people who like to skip across universes, that makes me nervous," he said. "I had the day off, so I figured I'd come see what was happening."

"Well, you're looking at it," I told him. "We've just been going after the people that cross over, trying to get them somewhere safe."

"Uh-huh," Alexandersen said. "So, you can't tell me anything about what went down in Fort Wayne and Louisville."

I exchanged looks with Gibbs and Sarah, both of whom went a bit pale at this. "I mean, police were trying to make heads and tails of what happened," Alexandersen elaborated. "Craters, fires, destroyed buildings. Looked like a couple of damned battlezones. And yet, interestingly enough, no one heard a sound."

"Uh, yeah," I said, rubbing my head awkwardly. "Now that you mention it."

Alexandersen gave us a wry smile. "If this is getting to be too big for you, you are legally obligated to let me know."

"Oh, we will," Gibbs said.

A portal opened, allowing Theas to enter the living room. Most of us barely glanced around, but Alexandersen looked like he had just seen a bomb go off. Rob's expression was similar.

"How is it that you always manage to pop out where we are?" Sarah asked. "Like, it doesn't matter if we're up here or downstairs, you still find us on the first try."

Theas didn't respond to her. He looked around at the group of people surrounding him. He spotted Alexandersen, who seemed to be caught somewhere between attacking and running. The two of them shared some uncomfortable eye contact for a moment before Theas turned to Gibbs.

"I've got an update for you," Theas informed Gibbs.

"We're all ears," Gibbs said.

"I've found Algaltha and Chala," Theas declared.

"What?" I replied, stepping towards him. "What are you–"

We all froze. A faint buzzing sound emanated around us, like the residual machinations of some fiendish entity. Alexandersen, Rob, Sloane, Sarah, and I looked around in alarm. Gibbs, Fornell, and Theas all remained still, waiting. The buzzing intensified, and Theas's eyes widened as he turned and tackled me out of the way.

The front wall of my house exploded. Rubble and dust spewed into the living room and kitchen as screams echoed off what was left. I was covered in dust and debris, but I rose up while looking around. Gibbs, Fornell, Sloane, Alexandersen, and Theas already had their weapons drawn. They were forming up, grouping together to stand against whatever had arrived. The haze from the attack was so thick that I could only make out their silhouettes against the sunlight pouring in.

Then, a shadow loomed over them. Theas braced himself, raising his twin swords, and he called, "Form up! Stay together!"

"Stay together?" Alexandersen spluttered. "What the hell is that thing!?"

The dust and smoke cleared, revealing Algaltha framed against the massive hole he had just punched in our house. Sarah ran over and pulled me to my feet, and we both retrieved our weapons.

"Sloane," Gibbs said softly.

"I don't want to hear it," she said.

"Sloane!" Gibbs said.

"No, I will not go down and hide while all the big strong men stay and fight, Gibbs, I am not talking about this right now!"

Gibbs turned to Sloane. "Chala could be down there."

Sloane's eyes widened, and she nodded. Gibbs then tilted his head towards Rob, who was petrified, trembling uncontrollably as he gazed up at the monster. Sloane nodded, and she took Rob's arm and led him down to the basement.

"What are you doing here, Algaltha?" Theas asked, standing between him and the rest of us.

"I sensed Keeper activity in my domain," Algaltha answered. "I don't like loose ends."

The blades of Theas's swords became engulfed in energy, and he prepared to attack.

Agent Alexandersen stammered, trying to control his fear as he said, "NCIS. You are…you are under…"

"Hey," Gibbs said, cutting him off. "Don't bother."

"Open fire!" Theas commanded.

We all obliged, and leagues of weapons fire bombarded Algaltha. I let loose an arrow that helped to knock him back a couple of steps, but the lethal assault didn't seem to really faze him. Algaltha charged forward, swinging his massive sword, and Gibbs and Fornell dove out of the way while Theas raised his blades in defense. Algaltha's blade slammed into his, generating a shockwave that caused pieces of the roof to fall in around us. Sarah fired a burst of gunfire at Algaltha, and while Gibbs and Fornell climbed to their feet, I fired an arrow.

The arrow hit Algaltha and exploded, knocking him back. Theas darted forward, swinging his electrified blades, but Algaltha's massive leg slammed into him and knocked him across the room. Fornell fired his assault rifle, letting loose a hailstorm of energy blasts. Algaltha took the first wave of shots, but he then raised his empty-handed arm and formed a shroud of purple energy in front of him. Fornell's assault was absorbed into the shield, and Algaltha swung his arm outward and caused the shield to rampage across the house.

I heard Sarah scream, and I ran to try and get to her just as a large chunk of the roof collapsed down next to me. I was buffeted, knocked off my feet and lost in the carnage.

Algaltha stood at the helm of his attack on our house, and he was now surrounded by a perverse group of Anomalies led by Theas. Algaltha grunted, patting his front foot against the ground as he clutched his sword tightly in his hand.

Someone stirred, and Algaltha looked down to see Agent Lamar Alexandersen rise to his feet. The man looked terrified. He was trembling horribly, and he had blood running down one arm and the side of his face. He looked around at the pile of people surrounding him, and he finally looked up at Algaltha.

"What is going on?" he asked, his voice broken.

"Human," Algaltha addressed. "You made a grave mistake in judgment choosing to assist these Anomalies."

"Man, I have no idea what the hell this is," Alexandersen said, reaching his arm to a spot on the ground at his right. "But you have no authority here."

He raised his pistol at Algaltha, but in an instant, Algaltha swung his sword into him. Blood erupted out of a massive gash in Alexandersen's chest, and he crumpled to the ground. He gasped and groaned, blood pouring out of his torso, and he looked around with wide eyes.

Algaltha stepped forward, and a gunshot went off. The blast of purple perforated his shoulder, causing him to yell out in pain while he stepped back. Gibbs laid on the floor, aiming his rifle at Algaltha. He had several injuries as well, but he kept his aim trained on the Hunter. Theas launched himself forward, swinging his swords, and while Algaltha managed to parry Theas's assault, the Hunter was forced back. More people continued to recover, and we started advancing on him and firing our weapons.

Algaltha tried to persevere at first, but when we began surrounding him and firing on him from all sides, he disappeared in his signature ash-like fashion. We lowered our weapons and looked around. Sarah and I nodded to each other, and an agonized groan made us all look around.

"Ah, shit," Theas said. We all rushed back into the house to find Alexandersen. He was pale, gurgling, his blood pooling under him.

"Call 911?" Fornell suggested.

"He'll never make it that long," Sarah said. She looked around at Theas, who nodded.

Theas pulled out the Focal Inverter, aiming it at Alexandersen and activating it. As though watching a movie in rewind, Alexandersen's flesh melded itself back together. The blood stains on our carpet remained, but within seconds, he was coughing, breathing in new air with deep breaths. Sarah and I helped him to a sitting position, and he looked down at his body. He felt his torso, the tear in his shirt, and he gasped in awestruck shock. After a few seconds of processing everything that had just happened, he looked around at us all.

Theas backed away, and his eyes widened as a portal opened. He looked around, and his face fell as he saw the woman who walked out of the portal. She was human in appearance, with long, black hair pulled back in a ponytail. She wore a black long-sleeved shirt and pants with what looked like armored padding on her chest, arms, and thighs. She examined the scene in front of her before walking up to Theas.

"Daak," he addressed, still recovering from shock. "Ma'am, what brings you here?"

"Theas, you know the regulations," the woman said to him.

"He…He was dying, ma'am," Theas said. "I had to save him."

"It doesn't matter," Daak countered. "I already informed you what would happen if the Focal Inverter was used again without prior authorization."

Theas stared at her, and he let out a deep breath. Daak held out her hand, and Theas placed the Focal Inverter in it.

"I'll be awaiting your incident report," she told him.

Theas nodded, and without so much as a glance to any of the rest of us, she turned and disappeared through the portal she arrived from.