ACT 6:
Chapter 21:
03 h 57 min 14 sec...
Gibbs put the fresh cup of coffee on his desk. Annoyed he clicked on the new mail he had recieved in his absence.
„How are you holding up, Gibbs? Do you seem to follow the same footsteps you walk everyday? No? Hmmm...I guess things can change. Maybe the world is coming to an end...Nah...Just your little boy toy."
He threw the full cup against the next wall and again, all eyes were on him.
„WHAT?"
He barked and everybody turned back to their work.
„Ok, Gibbs, there must be a code. Follow the same footsteps...."
Gibbs thought hard but he didn't get anything out of it.
When he was at the door to Abby's lab he already heard her yelling.
„YOU FUCKING BASTARD! WHERE ARE YOU?!"
„I guess you still haven't found the computer."
Gibbs said toneless and put the oversize cup of Caff-Pow! on her desk.
„It's pointless, Gibbs! It's worse than when Tony was in jail, I mean, I have nothing, absolutey nothing!"
„I know, Abby. Something we both aren't used to."
She sniffed.
„You smell extremely after coffee today!"
He showed her his jacket.
„I threw it against the wall and it spayed back."
He shrugged. He didn't planned on wearing those things ever again anyway.
„The newest mail?"
Abby asked and Gibbs nodded.
„We only have three hopurs left and there's nothing but those mails leading us to Tony."
Abby nodded and tears showed in her eyes.
„We have to find him, Gibbs."
She said when she put herself in Gibbs‘ arms.
„We will."
He said and kissed the top of her head. He wished he would be convinced himself.
Chapter 22:
„I thought about drowning the fed in coffee instead of water. A bit expensive though. But then...It would kinda be like drowning in you...All hot and bothered..."
„I would really appreciate to wheigh his liver."
Ducky said as he read the mail over Gibbs shoulder.
„Prepare for two livers."
Gibbs said and stood up. Then again he stopped. He didn't really knew where he should go. Not even three hours were left and they still had no clue. He sat back down.
*Flashback*
„Kate wouldn't want you to sit around alone in the dark."
Tony said from the door of Gibbs‘ living room.
„Yeah? What do you think she'd wanted me to do?"
Tony fell next to Gibbs on the couch and showed him a bottle of Jack.
„She'd wanted you to drink in the dark with me!"
Gibbs laughed shortly.
„Yeah? You think so?"
„Yup!"
Tony said and gave Gibbs the bottle.
„So, and what are you gonna drink?"
Gibbs asked and opened the bottle without bothering for a glass.
„Haha! I brought my own!"
Tony said and pulled another bottle out of his bag.
„Sheers, boss. To Kate."
„To Kate."
Gibbs said and the two bottle made hard contact.
„I don't know if that's what Kate wanted us to do...."
Tony said when Gibbs gave him enough time to breath and form a sentence.
„Hell, that's exactly what she'd wanted!"
He said before taking Tony's mouth into yet another hot kiss.
„She'd want us to be happy, at least for a hour or so...."
„God, boss. I never expected you to taste that much like coffee. Nearly a bottle of Jack and you still taste after it!"
*end flashback*
„Thinking of old times?"
Gibbs looked up and saw Tom Morrow.
„Tom, what are you doing here?"
„My duty, Jethro. I'm back as the Director until they found a new one. I'm very sorry about Agent DiNozzo."
„He's not dead, Tom! Not yet anyway!"
„You've got a lead?"
Gibbs only sighed and shook his head.
„Good luck, Jethro."
Morrow said and left for the office. Gibbs looked at the countdown to check how long he had been in another universe.
02 h 01 min 58 sec...
Chapter 23:
„Water is transparent,
Blood is red,
coffee is black...
....just as death."
„Cryptic nonsense!"
Ziva said annoyed and threw the mails into the bin. Gibbs looked at McGee and the younger Agent nodded and printed the mails again. He carefully put them on her desk and she gave him a look of death.
Somewhere in his mind Gibbs started to give up. He didn't want to and fought with every bit of his heart against it but his mind kept telling him that there is no way to save Tony.
He rubbed his hands over his face and all he felt was regret. There was so much he regretted. Most of all that he never had told Tony what he meant for him. He never had said I love you. Gibbs thought of all he had never told him. He never had told him how Ari really had died. He had never told him about his life as a Marine, he never told him the reason why he had assigned. He regretted all the time he could have spent with Tony but didn't because he feared to let the younger man know that he cared. And he regretted those three years he had never tried anything with Tony.
Right now he regret that he ever slept with Jenny Sheppard. He regretted that he didn't listen to her when she wanted to talk. It could have saved Tony.
Chapter 24
00 h 59 min 29 sec...
„If you could ever choose a road which would you take? What would you choose? The one that leads to the family you lost and cool lemonade? Or to the fed in the cube and hot coffee?"
Gibbs nearly burst when he read the words. He already had that suspicion that there's something wrong with Jenny Sheppard but this!
„You never told me about your daughter."
Tony said looking at the picture.
„She really was lovely."
„I don't talk about my private life at office."
Gibbs looked at his lover just in time to see the hurt. Why did he say that? He knew that Tony meant that he hadn't told him after they'd hooked up.
„Yeah, right. There's only one place you're chatty."
Tony grinned.
„You really want to hear the story?"
Tony's grin vanished. He could see that this was serious and he nodded.
„Kelly was eight. She played the piano very good."
Tony nodded again, now he knew why Gibbs was so off at the Watson case.
„My marriage with Shannon was going well, I really loved her. And then, one day, one of those guys I arrested thought he'd need some revenge. Instead of shooting me, he chose Kelly..."
Tony saw tears in Gibbs‘ eyes but they would never fall. It was hard enough to let one wall fall, he couldn't expect them all to go down.
„After that Shannon and I couldn't go on. We both knew it was better to go seperate ways instead of waiting for all to go to hell."
Gibbs felt a tear rolling down his cheek. He quickly wiped it away.
„The one that leads to the family you lost and cool lemonade."
What the hell did that mean? Then it hit him.
„McGee! Ziva! Grap your gears!"
They went into the elevator.
„Where are we going, boss?"
„Coffee shop."
Ziva looked at her watch.
„We have only twenty minutes left and you want to get coffee?"
„Next to the coffee shop is an empty store. Sellers wrote in every mail something with coffee! Tony is there! In that store!"
Five minutes later they were at the store. McGee and Ziva took the back entrance and Gibbs the front. They cleared the ground level but no sign of Tony.
„Want to check the first floor?"
„No, the basement."
Gibbs answered and headed the way.
„Nice try, Jethro! Only you might go in!"
Sheppard stood at the door with a gun drawn at Gibbs.
„And no gun!"
He put his gun down and entered the room.
There, in the middle, stood the cube. It nearly was filled with water and Tony fought for the last bit of air at the top of it.
„I give him five minutes, what about you?"
Gibbs turned and spotted Sellers in a corner at the left.
„You fucking..."
„Now, now, now. Agent Gibbs. I told you that there's nothing you can do! How did you find us anyway?"
„I'm not as stupid as you think! Your mails, of course."
Sellers sighed.
„Yeah, Jen told me it's not a good idea, but hell, it was a lot of fun."
There was a shot. Gibbs saw Sellers falling and blood radiating his head. He looked at the door and McGee threw him his gun.
They all stood in front of the cube.
„On the count of three. One...Two...Three!"
All of them fired and the glass burst. The water shot out right over Gibbs and Tony landed right on him.
For a second Gibbs breathed through.
„Not breathing!"
He cried out when he realized that Tony's chest didn't raise and fall. He lay him flat on the floor and did mouth to mouth.
„C'mon Tony! Can't lose you!....C'mon, breath!"
He whispered when he tried to get his heart beating.
„Wake up! You can't leave me!...Fuck! Wake up, baby!"
„Cough, cough cough..."
„GOD!"
Gibbs threw himself in his lover‘s arms.
„Baby? You called me a lot but never baby!"
Oblivious to everybody else Gibbs just pulled Tony in for an aggressive kiss. After only seconds Tony broke the kiss and coughed again.
„So, is this how you want to end your career?"
Tony asked grinning and nodded at McGee and Ziva.
„Yeah, it is."
Gibbs answered and Tony looked shocked.
„Gibbs, that, that was just a joke, I didn't mean..."
„No, Tony. I'm gonna resign. We will talk about that later. Now we have to get you healty!"
„Peep peep, peep peep, peep peep..."
Gibbs hit the button at his watch.
„I don't think we need that anymore."
Chapter 25:
Countdown – 01 h 23 min 34 sec...
Gibbs shut the countdown and sighed.
„Hmm, I'm one hour and 23 minutes dead? Feels quite normal, though."
„Smart ass!"
Gibbs said and looked at Tony.
„Ducky cleared you?"
„You think I would be standing here if he didn't? He said everything seems fine. I just have to rest, to eat and to stay away from germs."
„So, no hyperthermia?"
„The water wasn't that cold."
Gibbs frowned.
„You shivered!"
„You ever were in panic? Your body does things you can't control then. You're ready here? And before you say something, Ducky said no report until monday."
„But it's thursday, DiNozzo!"
„Talk to my doc, boss."
Gibbs drove straight to his house. Tony didn't complained so he figured his intuition was right.
„You want to tell me what you meant?"
Tony asked when he sat at the kitchen table and Gibbs took some left over out of the fridge.
„What?"
„You said you want to end your career."
Gibbs didn't answer until he said down with two plates.
„I won't set you in danger anymore."
„That would mean I have to quit, not you."
But Gibbs waved it off.
„No, you can deal with the things coming up during the job. I mean those enemies I have. I already have enough and I don't need to make new ones."
Tony ran his hand through his hair.
„Ok, so you want to quit NCIS because you don't want me in danger? But you're the one always saving my ass."
„I'm the one always bringing your ass in danger."
They stared at eachother. Somehow Tony knew there was no point to argue. He knew Gibbs well enough to know that if that man had come to a decision it would need a lot more than words to change his mind.
„Ok, I'll accept that. But I want you to think about it, first. At least a day or two! But now, I'm really tired. You can think of a nice, warm, dry place I can get some sleep?"
Gibbs smiled and took Tony's hand before he pulled him up.
„I think we can arrange that."
He said and pulled Tony into an affectionate kiss.
THE END
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
This is the end of Cube, but there'll be a sequel about Gibbs and Tony's life after the incident. It'll be called „Effects" so keep your eyes open if you like this one. Thanks for all the positve feedback, and I hope there'll be more.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Times running up, will Gibbs get behind the mails?
Chapter End Notes:
This Act has 5 chapters, that's the only change.
And, I haven't seen Honor Code, so sorry if it's wrong what I said about Gibbs' daughter and wife.
And, I haven't seen Honor Code, so sorry if it's wrong what I said about Gibbs' daughter and wife.