Chapter 16
“My…what?” Gibbs asked, turning to the screen, walking close. Shannon was dead here…and home. She was dead. But there she was on video, walking…His hands shook as he reached out, tracing the curve of her cheek. Shannon and Kelly were here! Alive!
“How?” he managed to choke out.
“As far as I have been able to discover, someone from my world brought her here. To what ends, I do not know. What I do know is that this someone has the power to pull her through not only through dimensions, but also time. Regardless, this is your Shannon, Gibbs.” Walking towards the television, she stopped when she was next to him, grateful that McGee had gone quiet.
“Not a Shannon from an even different world from the two of ours, but the Shannon you met and married. In the instant of that crash, the crash that took your daughter’s life, this person pulled Shannon here.” There was no other way to tell him Kelly hadn’t survived, but she wasn’t cruel enough to let that hope live long. “You didn’t ID the bodies, Gibbs. You didn’t see for sure that it was Shannon or not. It wasn’t. She was dragged here in the throes of that accident to become a slave.”
Clicking again, she pulled up a closer view of Shannon’s arms, highlighting the bands there. “From what little I know of the technology, those bands keep her prisoner. Unable to run away, unable to resist being called home. If she does resist, and she did in the beginning"a fighter, that one"the pain that results is excruciating.”
Turning away, she walked to the window that normally showed her a scene that gave her troubled mind a measure of peace. “I tried to free her, Gibbs. I can’t stand seeing the slaves that have been captured and detained because of this technology. Normally, I can free them. It’s helpful to live on the edge of the bayou. Easier for people to disappear out here. But I can’t get around the combination of that technology with the addition of the unknown’s power.”
She turned back around, leaning on the windowsill. “That is why I have created this chaos. I can’t do this alone, and there is no one here in this world I can trust. I pulled you here, Gibbs, to help me save your wife. And do not doubt me, she is your wife. This Shannon is the woman you shared vows with.”
It was all so much to absorb, even with his mind being as agile as it was. He tried to shove his shock away and focus on what she was saying. Kelly was dead, that was clear. Having that little bit of hope taken away cut deep, especially seeing Shannon here; a Shannon who looked as young as she had been the day he’d shipped out to the Middle East almost twenty years ago. It was impossible, and yet Gibbs knew it was her.
He swallowed hard, blinking back emotion to focus on her and concentrate on what was being said. Shannon was…being kept by someone?
Gibbs didn’t question, didn’t doubt. He knew the look in his wife’s eyes, even though they were clouded with fear. There was something primal and elemental that called to him. This went beyond gut and into soul. He had a soul connection with his wife. And that was his wife!
“Where? Where is she? How did you find her? Kelly….” He had so many questions and he wasn’t a talker, had never been good at that. He turned, taking in McGee as well. “You start helping,” he ordered, vaguely gesturing around, barely able to hear over the pounding of his heart.
Seeing McGee absorbed in his own thoughts, and having a good idea why, Abby took the initiative. “She is nearby, Jethro. A twist of fate, I guess, that has her living so close to me. Or perhaps a better term would be destiny, that all of our lives were meant to intersect. I was exploring your world through my window,” she explained, meaning something beyond the window she was standing in front of.
“I learned about you, about your team, about my other self. I knew of Shannon and what had happened to her and Kelly. And when I saw her in my own world, it was a shock. I already knew her counterpart in this world was dead, cancer. My journey to free her, to bring you here began in the moment I realized who she was.”
He looked at the screen again, shock bleeding away to a sense of purpose and need. “Who has her? What’re they doing to her? Where…I need to do recon, I need a goddamned team.”
“You don’t have one here, Jethro. You have…” With her arms out she gestured to encompass her and McGee. “I can’t fathom what they’re doing to her. But I can feel them. Their power and mine are drawn to each other.”
“Was the other me a Marine? If so, we have brothers, men who’ll help…” He didn’t care that he was grasping at straws, there was no other choice. He had to save her.
He stared back at the screen, looking at the cars, studying the visual cues, landscape, anything he could use to narrow down her location. “Have you traced the license plates? That’ll narrow it down.”
“I know who it is, Jethro. Rather, I know where they are. I have ways of finding people beyond even your skills. However, they are expecting an assault on their…compound. What we need to do is something sneakier, something more in line with the experience of a sniper.”
“Fine. Tell me where and I’ll start recon, but you can be damned sure if I see her, all bets are off. I will rescue her however I can.”
“Go walk along the bayou, Jethro. Take some time to absorb what you now know. You may find her there. This time of day, sometimes they allow her to wander along the water. Makes her easier to handle, giving her that false sense of freedom. And while you do that, I will prepare to protect what you rescue. But know that those bracelets…those bits of medal could kill her if you are not careful.” Moving away from the window, she added, “Keep in mind, I will need some time to gather what I need to send you both home. I am, of course, assuming you will be taking her home with you.”
“Damned right I am,” Gibbs insisted. He looked over at McGee. “Stay here, okay? She doesn’t bite. Abby…go easy on him.” With that said, he rushed out.
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