Kate watched as Gibbs' expression grew sombre.
Anyone who didn't know him wouldn't have seen the change, but she was a profiler, and after two years of working with him she could now, every so often, identify the few signs on Jethro Gibbs' face that gave away his current state of mind. Years of training had taught him to evaluate a response and not give anything away about his reaction beforehand. It made him formidable in court and downright eerie as a supervisor, and he and the rest of his team knew it.
But Kate knew that at this precise point in time that Gibbs was scared. No amount of training or effort could hide that.
The person on the other end of that line had not been the deliverer of good news.
Her first thought was that someone higher up was already setting in motion an investigation into the team's handling of the case. But they had done everything by the book. How could they have predicted that Billy Adala would turn into a terrorist cell assassin? She reviewed acquaintances and friends of Gibbs' she knew of in a short litany through her mind.
But it was when she saw the colour drain from his eyes that she knew something was seriously wrong. Deep baby blue slowly liquefied into a light grey, seemingly devoid of any colour whatsoever. She'd only ever seen that happen twice before. Once when he had been told that Tony had been infected with the plague and the other when he had been told that Ari had escaped from the morgue.
She began trying to think of what it could possibly be. She desperately searched his ashen face for an answer. Billy Adala was in custody. The two of them were here, in the office, and safe as far as she knew. McGee and Tony were transporting Ati to the JTTF and CTD across town. Could something have happened to his family? Then she repeated that option in her head and thought otherwise.
"Where... ? When... ? Well, who else is at the scene?" Gibbs' voice was gravely and hoarse and yet still seemed to be intimidating as he interrogated the person on the other end of the line for answers. Unfortunately, her mind was now racing too fast to stop and try and read any of the signs now appearing. Gibbs hung up and stared at his phone.
"What?" Kate asked. "Gibbs, what's going on?"
He paused for a moment that seemed to stretch on for eternity. He cleared his throat and looked up at her. "DiNozzo and McGee were attacked while transporting Ati."
Now it was her turn for the colour to drain. Her mental evaluation had ended and been replaced by a clueless expression of disbelief. "Attacked? What do you mean ‘attacked', Gibbs?" Kate felt all her muscles and cells jump to attention as she stood and walked to his desk. Gibbs was already standing and pocketing his Sig and badge.
"They were shot," Gibbs said, still not making eye contact with her and thrusting his cell phone back into his pocket. Kate suddenly felt like she couldn't breathe. Gibbs continued, "I still don't have all the details, but they're both on their way to Bethesda."
"I don't understand," Kate said, throwing her jacket around her shoulders and grabbing her weapon. "How could this happen? Were Ati's people trying to free him?"
"If they were, they're a pretty damn bad shot. Abdul Ati is dead."
- - - -
As they walked into Bethesda's Emergency Room, Kate continued to batter Gibbs with questions. "How badly are they injured? Where were they shot? Do we know anything about the shoo - - "
"Kate, I don't know!" Gibbs growled, slamming his weight against a door and allowing the two of them to pass through. "McGee called from the scene, said they'd been ambushed and gave me a location. The EMT's already have them, so it's quicker if we just wait here for them."
Gibbs jabbed his finger at the call button on the elevator several times, even after its light had flickered to life. Miraculously, it opened seconds later. Any longer and he was sure Kate would've insisted they take the stairs. She seemed to be even more impatient about her partners than he was. He turned to her and placed a hand on her shoulder, twisting her to face him, "Kate, calm down. They're going to be fine."
He didn't know who he was trying to convince more: her or himself.
"How do you know that?" she said, a little too harshly.
"Because it's DiNozzo and McGee. They're not allowed to die unless I tell them to," he said, taking a step into the elevator.
The elevator ride was quick to descend the three floors and as soon as the doors made any sign of opening once more, the two of them leapt from inside, immediately scouring the ER for someone to begin answering their questions. Kate spotted the reception desk and made a move to walk toward it before the large exterior double doors smashed open from the force of a gurney being wheeled inside. Her stomach lurched as she recognised the body lying on top of it.
"Caucasian male, twenty-eight years old, suspected scapula or clavical incomplete transverse fracture, possible anterior sublaxation, serious but stable head injury, strong pulse..."
Tim McGee was strapped to the gurney accompanied by three EMT's who were quickly ushering him into one of the emergency bays. He spotted Gibbs and they immediately made eye contact but before he could say something, a doctor blocked his view and escorted the gurney away from them.
Gibbs breathed out hastily. McGee was conscious. He was alert and responsive. That was a good sign. "McGee!" he yelled, beginning to pace after his agent when a nurse grabbed him by the arm.
"Excuse me, sir, do you know the patient?" she asked.
Gibbs turned around to find a determined looking brunette nurse eyeing him carefully. He swiftly pulled his arm from the nurse's grasp and flipped out his badge. "He's one of mine. Now move," he said, taking another step to follow the group of bustling hospital staff through the doors. His mind was fluctuating between concern for his agents' welfare and his need to find out what the hell had happened and who was responsible so he could begin cleaning his Sig and inflicting some serious harm.
"I'm sorry, sir," the nurse regained a hold on Gibbs. "You can't go in there." She had a calm yet firm tone that seemed to have been trained from years of deflecting anxious family and friends.
Gibbs ripped his arm from her grasp once more and began charging toward the ER bay doors again.
"Sir!" she shouted, before rounding in front of him and placing a forceful hand on his chest. He found it hard to believe that a woman of her petite size could so abruptly stop a man of his. "I promise that as soon as he is stable we will allow you to see him. But please, until then, for your agent's sake, let us do our job." She gave him a stern but oddly comforting smile and busted through the doors following McGee's gurney.
Gibbs stood there staring at the ER doors in disbelief. It took him a few moments to finally tear his eyes away and he saw that Kate was looking dazed and withdrawn. An angry or confrontational Kate he could handle; a stoic one terrified him. He knew that she was worried about McGee but more nervous that DiNozzo hadn't arrived alongside him. Years of experience had taught them that it was never a good sign when two people are involved in an accident but they didn't arrive together.
He approached her carefully, studying her expression and trying to think of something to say. When no words came, he simply stood next to her and put his arm around her shoulders. And they waited.
He didn't know how long they were standing there when Kate finally broke the silence. "Why isn't he here yet?"
She spoke so softly, like a timid child, that Gibbs almost didn't hear her. He was searching for a response that wouldn't sound condescending when the ER doors burst open again. And there he was.
They could hardly even catch a glimpse of his actual body as he flew by in a blur of activity, surrounded by at least three EMT's, two ER doctors and God knew how many nurses. The EMT's began shouting stats to every staff member around them as they led Tony's gurney into another ER exam bay. "Caucasian male, thirty-two years old, multiple gunshot wounds, one to the chest, one to the head. Flat-lined in the ambulance on the way over for approximately one to two minutes. We revived him but he's still unresponsive. Weak pulse, right lung has collapsed, inserted a chest-tube, confirmed pulmonary oedema, suspected subarachnoid haemorrhaging, recurrence of hemoptysis..."
And as quickly as they had entered the room, they were gone.
Gibbs shot a glance toward Kate who'd gone completely pale.
Tony had been injured hundreds of times on the job. Gunshot wounds, knife slices, hell, he'd almost been beaten to death three times as a hostage. But he'd never seen him this bad. A gunshot to the head and chest. Gunshot to the head. The words repeated themselves over and over inside his head. It was a miracle that the kid was still alive at this point. But Tony couldn't die from this. This wasn't how Tony was supposed to die. Tony wasn't allowed to die. At least not while he was an agent under himself.
He walked over to where Kate stood. She was still pale and now clammy, staring at the door that had stolen her two partners from her.
"He's..." her words choked in her throat. "Gibbs, they said a gunshot wound to the head. How is he still alive?"
"Because he's DiNozzo. He's a stubborn bastard."
Kate laughed gently for a few seconds as Gibbs snaked an arm around her shoulders again. She rested her cheek against his chest as her laughs subsided, her breaths slowly labouring as she broke down and began to cry.
Chapter End Notes:
I'd just like to say a quick thanks to OzGeek for her calculation of McGee's age. I used it in this chapter, so I hope you don't mind! I also just guessed Tony's. Remember this is set around the end of Season 2.