11th Hour by Chaos
11th Hour by Chaos
“If you had let me drive we would not be stuck in this squash,” Ziva David grumpily needled Tony DiNozzo.

Tony grit his teeth as he glared sidelong at her, his lips twitching into a slight snarl. Under normal circumstances he would have found her incorrect idiom usage amusing and gleefully correct her. But these were hardly normal circumstances. He’d just spent the past three days crammed into a tiny, dark grimy craphole of an apartment. To make matters worse, he’d managed to get no more than a total of 45 minutes of sleep the entire time. To say that he was irritable would be a massive understatement.

“This is hardly a traffic jam,” he countered. They were almost up to the speed limit, which was pretty decent for traffic crossing the 11th Street Bridge during the final stretch of rush hour. “Besides, if I had let you drive, we would be stuck on the side of the road with two flat tires. Oh wait! That’s exactly what happened when I did let you drive!”

“You can hardly call that my fault,” Ziva snapped.

Tim McGee subconsciously sank lower in the backseat, not wanting any part in their argument. Or any of the other arguments they’d had in the past few hours. It had been a long day. A long week, really, considering the relentless hours they’d spent on stakeout duty. If there was any consolation--and that was a fairly large IF--it was that the case was now wrapped up, it was 5:45 on a Friday afternoon, and in a mere 15 minutes his Ziva-David-and-Anthony-DiNozzo-free three-day-Holiday weekend would start and he wouldn’t have to see or hear from either of them for 87 glorious hours.

Gibbs had definitely had the right idea. Though Tim had no idea when their boss had possibly managed to call anyone, the moment they’d finally gotten out of the apartment a car had pulled up. Sparing his subordinates only a tiny smirk of a smile, Gibbs had jumped into the car and was gone in seconds. Though none of them had seen the driver, Tony had vocally theorized that it must have been another in Gibbs’ bevy of mysterious redheads. And that there was probably some sort of secret “Gibbs Signal” that their boss flashed into the sky to beckon one to his location. That was, of course, before the adrenaline had worn off and exhaustion crept in, leaving them all with serious cases of humor impairment.

“Not your fault?” Tony baulked, incredulously. “What part of the ‘Severe Tire Damage’ sign did you not understand?”

Tim sighed and closed his eyes as though it would somehow block out their argument. It had never worked when he was growing up listening to his parents bickering in the front seat, but it was worth a try. He frowned as he heard the thunder rumbling in the distance. He could have sworn it was supposed to be clear weather all weekend, but even if he had to spend the entire holiday inside it would still be worth not having to spend any more time with the rest of his team. 15 minutes, he silently assured himself. In 15 minutes they’d reach the Navy Yard, get the evidence logged and locked up, and be free to go their own ways. Maybe when they got back to the Yard he’d even offer to take care of the evidence himself just so they would be out of his hair that much sooner.

“I did not see the sign because you were so busy screaming and flailing,” Ziva growled.

“Yeah. In terror. Who goes racing through a parking lot at 85 miles an hour?”

“Obviously not the man who drives 55 on the Interstate.”

“Driving on two spares!” Tony angrily reminded her, though he did press down on the gas pedal, upping his speed just a bit.

“Guys,” Tim groaned exasperatedly, cringing slightly as he realized he’d done so aloud.

“What?!” they both snapped, Ziva turning in her seat and Tony glaring at him in the rearview.

Tim took a deep breath as he sat up straighter, steeling himself for their wrath as he drew their attention. But before he could get a word out, he completely froze. He couldn’t speak. He couldn’t even breathe. All he could do was stare in horror at what was happening just ahead of them as they started across the bridge.

“Spit it up, McGee!” Ziva was glaring at him intently, oblivious to the danger ahead.

Tony, however, had returned his attention to the road in front of them, and had become aware of their precarious predicament. It took a few moments for him to snap out of his initial shock before he hit the brakes.

“Hang on!” he yelped, instinctively glancing at Ziva to make sure that she was safely strapped in. Then into the rearview mirror, to check on Tim. Not that he would’ve been able to do anything if they weren’t, but he allowed himself to feel a slight pang of relief as he confirmed they were both wearing their belts. Whether it would be enough to help them? That was another story, and one he didn’t have time to tell. He pressed the pedal as hard as he dared, praying that the brakes didn’t lock and that he could maintain control of the car.

If they weren’t already on the bridge, at least there would’ve been somewhere for him to go, but there was no shoulder, no median.

His eyes flicked briefly to the rearview mirror and his mind raced, frantically trying to calculate whether their odds would be better if he stopped or if he tried to turn around. Too much traffic to turn around, he made the snap judgment. Which left only stopping and hoping that the cars behind him all managed to stop in time. That he managed to stop in time.

It took all his willpower not to close his eyes as he bore down on the brake, determined to stop the car before it went over the edge. They weren’t going to make it. There just wasn’t enough time! In a last ditch attempt to keep them from going over, he spun the steering wheel as hard as he could and held his breath as the car spun.

For a few moments the world seemed to stop.

Fortunately, so did the car; teetering at the edge of the huge gap where the next section of the 11th Street Bridge had been only moments earlier.

“Holy…” he uttered, allowing himself to close his eyes and relax as he saw the cars racing toward them skidding to a stop a few feet away.

McGee let out a small nervous chuckle as he let out the breath he’d been holding. He started to grin before he realized that even though they were safe…there had to be people who weren’t. How many cars had been on that section of the bridge? How many people had gone over the side? He blinked rapidly as tears welled, unbidden. “All those people…”

“We need to help them…” Ziva murmured, her voice lacking any of her usual power. She reached down to remove her seat belt but stopped abruptly as Tony’s hand lashed out, seizing her wrist in a death grip.

“Tony?” She turned to look at him, her jaw dropping slightly as she took in his pale countenance, his blatant fear. “We’re okay, Tony,” she assured him.

Tony licked his lips nervously and shook his head. He could barely hear it over the sound of the car horns and the pounding of his blood in his ears, but he could hear it. Like thunder, only there was no rain storm. Before he had time to explain, his fear became realized.

His words would have been lost, anyway, amidst the cacophony of sound as the next section of the bridge gave way and their car tumbled into the Anacostia.


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“They should be back by now,” Abby Sciuto declared. “They should have been back hours ago!” she added, a tinge of anger making her voice sharp. “Which means that something is wrong,” she surmised, her anger quickly converted to worry.

“They would have called if something was wrong,” she argued, her brow furrowing before raising sharply. “Unless they couldn’t call.” Her hands clenched into fists as she rose to her feet.

“They’ve been taken hostage,” she considered the possibility as she crossed the lab toward Major Mass Spec. But no, that just didn’t seem right. Gibbs would never let that happen. Besides, they weren’t on an active case anymore; who would possibly have taken them hostage? It wasn’t like they were going to stop at a bank or anything on the way back to the Navy Yard. Okay, so not a hostage situation. Her brow furrowed as she was no closer to figuring out where they really were.

A moment later her eyebrows rose. “They can’t call, but maybe I can call them.” She smiled, nodding as she picked up the phone to call McGee.

“We’re sorry. All circuits are busy. Please try your call again, later.”

Abby frowned as she hung up the phone. All circuits were busy? That didn’t make any sense.

She picked up the phone again, in case it was just a weird glitch.

Unfortunately she got the same message.

She hung up the phone, her worry increasing tenfold as her imagination began to run wild. Why were all the circuits busy? That usually only happened if there were some sort of National Emergency. But if there were some sort of National Emergency, wouldn’t she already know about it? Gibbs would have told her…except he wasn’t here. But he would have called. Unless he couldn’t. But then Tony would have. Unless he couldn’t either. Or Tim. But if none of them could call her then something was really wrong.

Except of course they couldn’t call because the circuits were busy! But Gibbs would’ve found a way to reach her. He would’ve gotten them all back here safely, no matter what was going on. She absently picked up Bert and hugged him to her chest as she plopped down into her chair, resting her chin against the stuffed hippo’s head.

“Abby?” Jimmy Palmer greeted as poked his head into the lab. “You are here,” he stated the obvious as he spotted her. “I saw your car in the lot and figured I’d…well…I hope you don’t plan on leaving any time soon,” he added as he dropped his bag and took his jacket off. Noting the way she was hugging Bert, he immediately became concerned. “Everything okay?”

“You tell me, Jimmy!” she demanded, rising to her feet and turning on him. “Why shouldn’t I plan on leaving?” she asked, poking her finger at him.

Jimmy shifted in his chair, uncomfortable under her sudden scrutiny. “Uh…uh…sorry!” he held up his hands and let out a nervous chuckle. “I’m not keeping you here…” he quickly backpedaled. “It’s just…they’ve got all the roads blocked!”

“Why?”

Jimmy frowned. Truth was, he didn’t really know. There’d just been such a bad traffic jam, and he’d seen the emergency vehicles and road blocks ahead so he’d just turned around and come back to wait it out here instead of sitting in the middle of a traffic jam for the next couple hours.

“S-some sort of accident?” he suggested as he spun the chair around to face the computer. “Maybe there’ll be something on the news…”


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Leon Vance signed the final document and placed it on the top of his completed pile. He smiled as he checked his watch and noted that he was actually going to be home well before the 7:00 deadline Jackie had given him. He rose to his feet and absently adjusted his tie as he made his way over to the coat rack to pick up his suit jacket.

He paused, though, as he caught sight of the television screen. The footage was shaky and grainy at best, but that didn’t lessen its impact.

The toothpick in his mouth bobbed as he realized what he was seeing.

Holy Mother of God.

There was no way that he was going to make that deadline after all. He swore under his breath as he reached up and jerked his tie loose. He picked up his cell phone to call Jackie with the bad news.

It was going to be a long night.


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Tears welled in Abby’s eyes as she restarted the clip one more time. Analyzing. Searching for some sort of hint that it had been…doctored…or…or something. Anything to make it not be real. It couldn’t be real. No. This was just some sort of…sick practical joke. That was it. This was just one of Tony’s stupid jokes. So she didn’t need to worry. Didn’t need to scream or crawl under her desk to sob uncontrollably until Gibbs came to assure her that everything was okay. And he would come. Even if what she saw was real--which it wasn’t--he would come.

“It doesn’t even look like the rest of the footage,” she justified her reasoning.

“Cell phone,” Jimmy explained.

“What?” Abby asked, her eyes widening as she turned on him.

Jimmy paled. “It’s not like the other footage because it was captured on a cell phone. They sometimes air clips people send in on the news tip line.”

“No,” Abby scoffed. “I know that. It’s just--" she scurried over to the closet and yanked open the door. “Jimmy. You’re a genius.”

Jimmy blushed slightly and humbly shrugged it off before his brow furrowed. “Um…why am I a genius exactly?” He watched as she frantically dug through her bag. Then nodded in understanding as she pulled out her cell phone.

He peered over her shoulder as she quickly punched in the first speed dial number.

“What is it, Abs?” Gibbs’ wonderful, marvelous voice answered after only a couple rings.

“Gibbs! You’re okay! I knew you’d be okay. Because…you’re never not okay. I knew it wasn’t really you.”

“Abs.”

“Sorry. It’s just…there’s this stupid thing on the news. I knew it was fake. I mean you had to be okay. Because--”

“Abby!”

“Sorry. The news. The 11th Street Bridge. Part of the bridge collapsed. And…and there was this car. It looked just like the one you guys are in. You must be stuck on the other side. That’s why you’re so late. Oh! You probably have to take the long way around to get here!”

“Abby,” Gibbs’ voice was suddenly overly calm. “What happened to the car?”

“The car? Nothing. Nothing happened to the car. Because y-you’re in the car, and you’re okay,” Abby began to babble, her heart racing as a horrible feeling rose in her gut.

“What happened to the car on the news?” Gibbs asked levelly.

“It was awful, Gibbs. It managed to stop in time, but then another section of the bridge went down and…it was there one moment and…and it doesn’t matter because it wasn’t your car, and you guys are all safe. You are all safe, Gibbs? Tell me that you’re all safe.”

“I wasn’t with them, Abby,” Gibbs spoke quietly. “Stay where you are, I’m coming down there.”

Abby blinked as he hung up on her.

That couldn’t be right, because that meant that it really could have been their car. McGee. Tony. Ziva. They were…she shook her head and with shaking fingers she dialed the next number on her speed dial. Tony.

It went directly to voicemail.

No.

No no no.

She dialed the next. McGee.

She chewed her lip as it rang once, twice…again…and…voicemail.

“Damn it!” Maybe…maybe he just couldn’t get to it in time. It didn’t go immediately to voicemail so that meant that it was on and that it wasn’t destroyed. She hit redial.

“Abby!” McGee practically yelled in her ear.

She smiled in relief. “Timmy! You’re okay! You’re--"

“Abby trace this call! We need help and I don’t think…I don’t think they can see us!”

“Tim--"

“Ziva’s unconscious. And Tony’s…”

“Tony’s what? McGee?” Abby paled as she realized the phone had gone dead. She took only one moment to pull herself together before thrusting the phone into Jimmy’s hands. “You. Try to get them back on the phone. If Tim doesn’t answer, try Ziva’s, it’s speed 5.” As she gave him the instructions she turned and began frantically pulling up the screens she needed to try and trace the call. It might not work…it depended on why the call dropped. If the phone was dead, so was her ability to track McGee.

“Come on…” she urged as the tracking system searched for the signal.

Nothing.

She let out a growl of frustration.

Then quickly changed the parameters and tried again, searching for a signal from Ziva’s phone.

“Gotcha!” she let out an exuberant cry as the signal was detected and the software began honing in on it to lock down its location. She spared a glance at Jimmy, who shook his head, having failed to reach either Tim or Ziva. Abby took a deep calming breath. That was disappointing, but not entirely unexpected. And it didn’t matter. What mattered was getting a lock on here they were. And then getting help to them. Ziva was unconscious. That couldn’t be good. And whatever Tim was going to say about Tony…she couldn’t focus on that. She needed to focus on--

The screen blipped as it pinned down the location. Right in the middle of the Anacostia. If she hadn’t known better, she would’ve thought the calibration was just a little bit off because it looked like they were just off the side of the 11th Street Bridge. She swallowed the lump that tried to form in her throat. “Okay, McGee said that they--the rescuers, I’m guessing--couldn't see him. So…we have to make them see him.” She grabbed up one of the handhelds and quickly downloaded the information. “Come on, Jimmy we’re--"

“Not going anywhere, Ms. Sciuto.”

“It’s after hours, Leon,” she protested, whirling to glare at the Director as he appeared in the doorway. Her eyes narrowed as he stepped into the room, his gaze not faltering as he glared right back at her. “The rescuers can’t find McGee, and I know where he is. You can’t stop me from going down there.”

“No,” he agreed, his toothpick bobbing as he spoke. “But who are the rescuers more likely to listen to?” he asked as he rolled up his sleeves. “You, or the Director of NCIS?” he held out his hand, nodding toward the handheld.

Abby frowned, and hated to admit that he was right, but he did have a point. She hesitantly started to hand it toward him but then held back. “I’m going with you.” Leon sucked in his breath, but then gave her a curt nod, conceding. “You’re coming, too,” she added, turning to Jimmy, who quickly agreed. “McGee said that Ziva was unconscious,” she informed him.

“I’ve got some supplies in my bag,” he replied as he grabbed it up from the ground. “We’re not going to get anywhere close by car,” he informed them. “It’s gridlocked, and they’ve got everything even remotely close to the bridge blocked off.”

“We’ll get through on foot,” Vance assured them.

“Or…” Jimmy started, but hesitated as his gaze darted toward Vance, then nervously back at Abby.

“You have a better idea, Mr. Palmer?”

“Actually, I do.” Jimmy let out a small grin as he unclipped the helmet from his bag and held it out toward The Director.

Leon hesitated for a moment before pursing his lips and reaching out to take the offering.

“There’s another one down in Autopsy,” Jimmy informed Abby. “It was…Agent Lee’s,” he hastily explained. “We can pick it up when we get some more bandages.”

Abby nodded, but then came to a reluctant decision. “But you should use it…”

“What about you?”

Abby took a deep breath. She would not be help on the scene, and would definitely be a hindrance while trying to get there. “When you guys get back here, Tim, Tony, and Ziva are going to need warm blankets and coffee. And they’re probably going to be really hungry. I’ll get pizza and have it ready for you when you bring them home.”

She looked to Director Vance and reached out to press the handheld into his grasp. “You will bring them home.”

More than likely his agents would be taken directly to Bethesda rather than coming back to the Navy Yard, but Leon nodded in affirmation. He had no doubt that Abby knew that as well. “They will ALL be fine, Ms. Sciuto,” he assured her.

Abby picked up Bert again as she watched the two men disappear into the hall. “They will be,” she assured him, giving him another squeeze as she sank into her chair.


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“I don’t care what agency you’re from. We’re not letting anyone through,” the LEO informed the man in front of him.

“The hell you’re not,” Gibbs growled. “My people are out there.” He pointed toward the disaster site for emphasis.

“It’s not safe. The structure isn’t stable.”

“Chance I’m willing to take,” Gibbs countered.

“Search and Rescue is on site and they’ll get your people if…” the officer gulped when he realized what he was about to say.

Gibbs honed in on the word. “If?”

The man paled. “I just mean…”

“There is no ‘if’. My people are there and I WILL be going through.”

“Sir, you’re more likely to get in the way than help.”

Gibbs wasn’t about to argue with the officer. Not because he agreed, or because he couldn’t easily win the argument, nor out of any sort of respect for the man’s authority. He didn’t argue because it was simply wasting time that he didn’t have to waste. He held up his hands as though surrendering and was about to back away so that he could find another way past the barricades--he'd swim the Anacostia if he had to--when he became aware of an approaching motor.

He glanced over his shoulder, his head cocking to the side as he got a good look at the vehicle and its passengers.

“Not one word,” Director Vance commanded Gibbs the moment Palmer stopped the scooter directly beside Gibbs. In one fluid movement, Vance was off the back of the bike and standing before the LEO. “Leon Vance, Director of NCIS,” he introduced himself briskly.

“As I was telling your agent,” the officer warily started to explain, but Leon cut him off with a cold stare.

“You want to stop us, you’ll have to shoot us. I’d like to hear you explain that to the Secretary of the Navy.”

“You heard the man,” Gibbs informed him with a smug grin as they pushed past the barricade.

Jimmy hesitated for a few moments, then thrust his helmet into the officer’s hands. “Sorry…I’m…” he motioned toward Gibbs and Vance before taking off after them.


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It took only a few minutes for them to locate Captain Parker of the Search and Rescue team. And a couple minutes longer for them to convince them of their credentials and to be briefed on the situation. So far it seemed that 13 people had been pulled from the river, all alive, but none matching the descriptions of any of the missing agents. They’d checked the vehicles in the water for other victims but they’d all been empty. From their initial information it seemed that all inhabitants of the vehicles found were accounted for.

The team was searching the river in case anyone had been missed.

“Yeah, I’ll say someone’s been missed!” Gibbs scoffed, scowling as Vance held up a hand to silence him.

“Tim said that the rescuers couldn’t find them,” Jimmy spoke up. When Parker turned to him, he explained, “Tim McGee. He’s one of the…we talked to him a few minutes ago. He said that the rescuers couldn’t find him. We know he’s here.”

“And if the signal is correct, they should be right…over there,” Vance pointed to where the handheld indicated. He frowned as he saw only large hunks of metal and concrete sticking up out of the water.

Jimmy’s shoulders slumped as he saw where Vance was looking. There was no way...Maybe it was only Ziva’s phone that was over there. Maybe it had somehow fallen out and…

“Can we get some light over there?” Gibbs asked, determined to find his people.

Captain Parker quickly motioned for his crew to direct the searchlights over to the debris.

Jimmy held his breath as he tried to search the wreckage for any sign of the Agents’ car. He didn’t see anything, but then he didn’t have terribly good vision. He glanced nervously at Gibbs, who was squinting as he peered down into the dark water.

“There.” Vance announced. “What is that…right there.” He directed Parker’s attention to the spot. It took a few moments for Parker to see what he was talking about, but when he did he sprang immediately into action.

“I’ll be damned…” he swore. “Franklin, Patel! Get the equipment over here,” he called out to two of his men.

“So much for no casualties,” the one called Franklin pessimistically sighed as he peered down at the scene.

Gibbs snarled and grabbed the radio and harness out of his hands.

“Sir, you can’t--"

“Watch me. Am I doing it with or without the harness, Captian?”

“I’ll take any heat,” Vance assured the man. “May as well let him use the harness because either way I assure you, he’s going over the side.”

The Captain nodded and motioned for the rest of his team to fall in place.

“You know there’s not much chance anyone survived that,” Parker quietly tried to warn Director Vance as his men lowered Gibbs down to the car that was wedged in amongst the debris.

“You don’t know my people,” Vance replied with a small smile. “They wouldn’t dare die without Gibbs’ permission.”


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Gibbs grimly made his way toward the car that was on its side and nearly crushed between two cement slabs. He was about to call out for his team when he heard their voices.

“You could squeeze through there, McSkinandbones.” Though something didn’t sound quite right, the voice was unmistakably DiNozzo’s.

“Tony…”

“No, really. You could get out.”

“But you can’t.” Tony didn’t seem to have an answer for that. “And you can’t hold Ziva up out of the water.”

“Yeah…I know,” Tony sounded more defeated than Gibbs had ever heard him.

“So I’m not getting out of the car until you can.”

“I don’t know, McGee. It’s going to get awfully crowded in there pretty soon,” Gibbs informed him as he looked down into the window. Tim looked up, a wide smile spreading across his face as he realized that they’d been found.

“Boss?” Gibbs grinned at the awe in DiNozzo’s voice.

Gibbs’ smile faded, though, as he took in the state of his team. Tim had fared the best, though he was still quite battered and bruised. He was holding Ziva’s upper body up out of the water that had filled the lower half of the car. The blood on her temple told Gibbs why she wasn’t sitting up on her own. His eyes flicked to Tony who was pinned in the driver’s seat by the displaced steering column. In addition, his right arm was dangling at an impossible angle.

“Hang on, McGee. I’ll be right back.” Gibbs moved a few steps away then pulled out the radio. “We’re going to need medical down here,” he informed the crew waiting up top.

“That may be a while,” Parker admitted, explaining that all of the medical units had already been released for transport once all the known victims had been pulled from the water and stabilized.

Gibbs swore softly before he came up with another idea. “Good thing we brought our own. Doctor Palmer?”

It took a few moments for Jimmy to realize that Gibbs was talking to him. He wasn’t technically a doctor yet, but he was the closest thing present. “Yes, Agent Gibbs?”

“Think you could come down here for a minute?”

Jimmy froze for just a moment before he swallowed his fear and nodded. “Yes, Agent Gibbs. I’ll be right down.”

“We’ve got a head injury and a probable chest injury.”

“Understood.” Jimmy turned to Captain Parker and immediately went into what he could practically hear Tony referring to as ‘full on doctor mode’. “Do you have a backboard?”

“You okay, McGee?” Gibbs asked as he returned to the car.

“I’m fine, Boss,” Tim assured him. At Gibbs’ prompting silence, he elaborated. “I got a little cut up when the window shattered, and my legs are a bit bruised from hitting the seat…”

Gibbs nodded his approval at the more reasonable assessment. “And Ziva?”

“We think she hit her head on the dash,” Tony answered, his voice strained. “The airbag didn’t deploy…not sure why.”

“And you, DiNozzo?”

“Can’t move. Think my airbag hit me a bit weird…and I think the…steering column got pushed in a bit…”

“You think, DiNozzo?” He knew the senior field agent couldn’t see it from his position, but the front end of the car was severely damaged. It was nothing short of a miracle that the passenger cabin hadn’t been crushed, too.

“Yeah…kinda makin’ it…hard to breathe…” Tony admitted, which concerned Gibbs greatly. He moved to try and get a better look at the problem. He knew better than to move it until they knew for sure what DiNozzo’s injuries might be. At the very least, he suspected a few broken ribs.

As soon as Jimmy was lowered to the wreckage site, he began quickly assessing Ziva’s injuries. Her pupils were equal and reactive, which was encouraging. And it didn’t feel as though she had any broken bones in her neck or back, but he talked McGee through helping get her secured to the backboard to be on the safe side. Gibbs took over the task of extricating her from the car and sending her up with the rescue team.

Once Ziva was cleared, they got to work on DiNozzo, who--though he would deny it later--mercifully passed out as Jimmy worked to secure his broken ribs. Once Jimmy was certain that Tony’s neck and back were uninjured, he stepped back to let Tim and Gibbs work on getting him freed from the steering column, and carefully got him extracted from the car.

And finally there was only Tim. Gibbs reached down to help him out of the car. “You okay?” he asked as he noted just how pale the younger man looked as he waited for the harness to be sent down for him.

“Fine, boss,” Tim replied automatically. Gibbs raised an eyebrow, but didn’t push it. It had to have been a terrifying situation to be stuck in the car like that. And Tim could’ve gotten himself out at any time. Instead he’d stayed with his team, making sure they all made it out. Gibbs had never been prouder of his team.

“Palmer.”

“Yes, Agent Gibbs?”

“Good job today.”

Jimmy beamed and nodded his thanks. “You, too.”

Gibbs clapped Tim’s back, silently telling him the same. Tim smiled and started to turn toward him, but suddenly went deathly pale. Before Gibbs could register what was happening, he watched with horror as Tim dropped like a lead weight, sliding from the bridge debris and into the water.

“McGee!” Gibbs quickly went into the water after him.

Jimmy watched in horror as they were both quickly whisked away by the current. After hesitating only a few moments he dove in and began swimming toward them. By the time he reached Gibbs, the man had managed to get a hold of Tim, but was struggling to try and swim back to safety while hanging onto the unconscious man. Jimmy grasped him by the shirt and began swimming with the current, pulling Gibbs while the other man held onto Tim. Though he could feel his strength rapidly depleting, he didn’t stop fighting until he managed to get them close enough to shore that Gibbs could get Tim up on the bank.

Once Tim was safe, Gibbs managed to haul himself and Jimmy out of the water before collapsing to the ground, struggling to catch his breath.

Jimmy flopped down beside Gibbs, ready to give in to exhaustion until he remembered how Tim had gone down. He guiltily struggled to his feet and went to check on the other man. He should’ve checked him. Sure Tim had said he was fine, but he’d just been in a crash. Not just any crash. He should’ve probably been killed. And Jimmy hadn’t even checked him over before letting him get out of the car. Just because he was conscious and talking didn’t mean he wasn’t injured.

Jimmy was startled as he realized just how hot Tim was to the touch. “He’s running a fever…” He looked down and winced as he saw Tim’s legs. His pants were torn and bloody. Which meant that he had cuts. Which had been submerged in the river water...who knew what sort of infections could be setting in. They needed to get him to the hospital. And quick. He looked up the bank and saw Captain Parker and Director Vance hurrying toward them.

“We need to get him on antibiotics as soon as possible,” he called out to them. “How far out is an ambulance?”

“About ten minutes,” Parker estimated.

“We’ll take him in my car,” Gibbs declared as he moved to get Tim.

Before he made it, however, Vance stopped him. He turned, eyes blazing as he prepared to argue. “I’ve got your boy, Agent Gibbs. Go get that car of yours.”

Gibbs allowed him a small smile before nodding his approval.

Vance helped Gibbs and Jimmy get Tim into the car, but he declined to join them as they headed to the hospital. He had something else he needed to tend to.

“Need any more help here?” Captain Parker looked quite uncomfortable until Leon flashed a wan smile. “Kidding. Thank you for saving our people.”

Parker smiled and extended his hand to shake the Director’s hand.

Vance rolled his eyes as he re-donned Jimmy’s helmet and collected the medical examiner’s scooter to take back to the Navy Yard. As he made his way into the building to collect Abby he made a few calls. Ziva was awake and alert. She had a severe concussion and they were keeping her under observation in case of any brain swelling, but her prognosis sounded promising. DiNozzo was likewise in reasonable condition with a broken arm, a couple broken ribs, and a bruised lung. He was expected to have a full recovery. McGee was still being examined, but Vance was confident that soon they would get the good word on his condition as well.

“Ms. Sciuto?” he called out as he made his way into the dark lab.

She looked up from her chair, where she sat, still holding her stuffed hippo. Her eyes were red, her makeup streaked. “Director?” she asked, her voice raw as she rose nervously to her feet.

“Better order those pizzas, Ms. Sciuto,” he informed her.

Abby let out a relieved squeal and before Vance knew what was happening, he found himself the target of a full-on Abby hug. After a few awkward moments, he relaxed and hugged her back. When she finally backed away, he gave her a steely look. “A word to anyone about that and I deny everything,” he informed her.

“Your reputation is safe with me,” she replied, though she couldn’t resist reaching out and tapping his nose as she gave him a big grin. “So they’re all okay? What happened? Did they really fall off the bridge? Where are they now? There’re at Bethesda right? Right, they’re at Bethesda. So what are we doing still here?”

Leon Vance sighed as he followed Abby into the hall.

This was going to be a long night…


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