A Night to Forget 3/?

[prettybirdy979]

Another fic, because it's more interesting then sleeping...

Title: A Night to Forget 3/?
Rating: PG-13ish (some violence later on...)
Character(s): Tim, Tony, Ziva, Gibbs, Ducky and Abby (but mainly the first three)
Genre: Supernatural, Angst, Drama.
Summary: Tim, Ziva and Tony after a unusual occurrence find themselves struggling to escape a doomed ship in a night they may not survive.
Spoilers: Chimera (very slight spoilers)
Warnings: Not as yet... Maybe violence in later chapters? 
Disclaimer: I own nothing.

First part here




Chapter Two

 

It took another ten minutes to arrive at the ship. By the time they arrived it took all of Gibbs' self control to not slap his agents silly the moment they stepped off the helicopter. The only reason he didn't was the Agent Afloat who met the helicopter. And even then it was only a desire to begin working on the case that stopped him from whacking them.

 

'Agent Gibbs?' the agent asked, as he approached the team once the helicopter was gone.

Gibbs just nodded as reply.

When the agent realised he wasn't going to say anything, nor was he going to shake the offered hand he continued. 'I'm Special Agent Scott. I am the Agent Afloat on this ship.'

'What's the case?' Gibbs demanded. 'And where's the crime scene?'

'I can help you with the second part, Agent Gibbs.' A man said as he walked along the deck towards the team. 'I'm the C.O and I led the boarding party that boarded the Harp Seal.'

'What happened when you boarded her?' Tony asked, curious as to the details of the case.

'Well...'

Twelve hours ago aboard the Harp Seal

'You men ready?' The C.O asked to the sailor aboard the small boat headed for the unidentified ship. They had picked the ship up on Radar earlier in the day but it had not responded to numerous radio calls. Finally, they had given it a warning-Report in with all its details or they would board it. When it had failed to respond again, the C.O had been asked by the captain to lead a team onto the ship to check if it needed help. Or if it was a smuggler's ship attempting to illegally enter into America.

So here he was now, about to reach the ship, giving his men one final briefing. 'Remember the plan. We go aboard, detain anyone we find in the captain's quarters with Walker,' he pointed to a man on the far side of the boat, 'And only once we are sure it is clear do we start asking what happened. Are we clear, men?'

'Yes Sir!' yelled the sailors.

The boat reached the ship's side. Two of the sailors began to throw ropes onto her so they could gain access. Following his men up the side, the C.O could instantly see this ship was in no danger. There was no sign of any damage or technical problems, judging by the lights on deck. But then, maybe the damage was below decks. Or was an electrical fault that would not be known until they reached the bridge.

Even so, he was not taking chances with his men. They systematically searched the ship, room by room. He was with the group that searched the bridge, where they found the captain and his scared looking first mate. The C.O had them escorted to the captain's quarters while the rest of the ship was searched. He knew there were more people aboard, the ship was too large for there to not be.

However, when the second to last group reported in, he began to think otherwise. No amount of men could hide from his men for this long, no matter how good they were. After ten minutes had passed and the last pair of men had not reported in, he turned to his second in command.

'Hedrick!'

'Yes, Sir?'

'Who hasn't reported in?'

'Umm…Petty Officers Johns and Yandi.' The C.O nodded. He had thought so.

'Come with me then, Thomas!' he called to another sailor. The woman looked up at the sound of her last name. 'You are in charge while I take a team after our missing sailors.'

'Yes, Sir!' she replied.

Signalling to his group, he headed below decks. He knew the missing Petty Officers had been assigned a part of the lower decks to clear. Walking carefully down the stairs he noticed a body lying at the bottom. Reaching the man, he checked his identity. It was Petty Officer Johns. He was alive, but unconscious. Leaving two men with the fallen sailor, he led the remaining three down the hallway.

Spotting an open door, he motioned for his men to cover him. Opening it up, he was shocked at the sight before him.

Backing out of the room he called to one of the men. 'Call NCIS!' he said. 'We got three bodies down here!'

Present

'Why NCIS?' Tim asked when the commander was done. They were now sitting in a boat, on their way to the Harp Seal. Tim's stomach was already unsteady and this fast moving boat wasn't helping.

'Because. Even though I backed out of that room real fast, I could see two things. One, all three bodies had dog tags.' He stopped, seemingly unable to continue

'And two?' Ziva prodded.

'That one of the bodies was Petty Officer Yandi.'

The team exchanged glances with one another as he said that. 'I thought you said you cleared the ship?' Tony asked.

'We have!' snapped the C.O. 'Checked it three times already. There is no one but us, the captain and the first mate aboard that ship.'

'Then one of your men is a murderer, who tried to cover up his crime amongst another crime.' Ducky said. 'Quite a common reaction, really, to cover up a crime. In fact, it's…'

'Ducky.' Gibbs said giving his friend a significant glance.

'But perhaps this is not the time.' Ducky said in response.

Gibbs turned to the C.O, 'I want every man aboard this ship to return to the Washington. Including you.'

'Are you saying I'm a suspect?'

'We're not not saying you're a suspect' Tony retorted.

'And commander? I want every man to be kept separate from one another.' Gibbs's glare showed he meant what he was saying.

The C.O glared at Gibbs and after he did not back down, nodded as they reached the Harp Seal.

 

---

'Why the Harp Seal?' Tony asked a little while later while sketching the scene. 'Not that it's a bad name, but it's so unimaginative. Why couldn't they name it something exotic, like 'The Haiti'?'

 

'Because they are smugglers, not writers, Tony.' Ziva answered.

The team was below decks on the Harp Seal, investigating the scene. The room they were in was almost bare, reminding everyone of a prison cell. The only reason it was not bare was the three bodies in the room, two of which were chained to the wall by their ankles.

The third was lying in the doorway, facedown on the floor. Ducky was currently examining the bodies.

'So Duck? What is the cause of death?' Gibbs demanded.

'Jethro! Give me time to examine these poor fellows.' Ducky bent down to examine the closest body to the walk. 'Oh dear, you poor fellow. I'll have to wait until I get him back to my domain but I believe this poor man died of starvation. See how little weight he has, though that could be from decay.'

'T.O.D on him?'

'I would say at least a week, maybe more. I'll have more definitive results when I get him back to Autopsy.'

'And the other two bodies, Ducky?' Tony asked.

'Well this body,' he said, pointed to the other chained man, 'was killed recently. In fact,' he stated as he checked his liver probe, 'he died around twelve hours ago.'

'That's about the time this ship was boarded.' Ziva added.

'Cause of death Ducky?'

'I would guess that the gunshot to the head was a major factor, but once again I will have to confirm that back at NCIS. Now, as for this body…' As Ducky moved towards the body in the doorway, there was a muffled groan. Turning, the rest of the team looked at Tim, who had been very quiet for the last ten minutes. His eyes were screwed up and it was obvious he was trying not to throw up.

'McGee!' Gibbs called out.

Tim opened his eyes slightly so he could see Gibbs. 'Yes, Boss?'

'You alright?' the concern in Gibbs' voice was barely noticeable but it was still there.

'Not really.'

Gibbs surveyed Tim for a moment then turned to Tony. 'DiNozzo. Take McGee and search the rest of the ship. Start with the top decks.'

'But Boss…' Tony started to protest, when he saw the look Gibbs was giving him. He nodded to show Gibbs that he understood, then turned to McGee.

'Come on Probie, lets go search this ship again.' Sighing, McGee followed Tony out.

 

---

Without Tony's comments to distract them, Ziva and Gibbs completed the crime scene photos, sketches and collected all the evidence they could find in no time. Ducky finished his preliminary report and was ready to move the bodies onto the other ship. Gibbs looked for Tony, who should have been back or at least, should have reported in. Grabbing his radio, Gibbs called for them.

 

'DiNozzo, report!' he barked into the radio.

However, all he got was static. Trying again, to the same result, Gibbs cursed. 'Damn it. Ziva! Go find DiNozzo and McGee. And get McGee to fix the radios!'

Ziva nodded and scrambled out of the room.

Gibbs watched her go, hoping that she found Tony and Tim soon and reported in. Then maybe the feeling in his gut would disappear…

 

---

Ziva found Tony standing outside the toilets, a smile on his face.

 

'Already?' she asked.

'Beat his previous record. Plus he's been in there for a while, with no signs of him resurfacing.'

Just then the door Tony was leading against opened. Tony caught himself before he fell backwards into the open doorway. Turning, he looked at Tim, who had a sheepish look on his face.

'Sorry, Tony. But how was I to know you were standing there?'

Tony glared at Tim. 'I don't know McBarfer. Maybe you should have used your investigative skills?'

Deciding to cut the argument short, Ziva threw the radio at Tim, who caught it and examined it with a puzzled look on his face.

'I already have a radio, Ziva…'

'I know. That is Gibbs' radio. It is not working. He asked me to tell you to fix it.' Ziva replied.

Shrugging, Tim turned the radio on. He then dropped it when a loud feedback sound came from it.

'Ah! Turn it off McGee!' Tony yelled over the sound. One hand over his ears McGee turned the radio off.

'What was that?' Ziva asked.

'Feedback.' Tim replied.

'We knew that McGee.' Tony stated. 'But what caused it? Don't radios have to be near something electrical to do that?'

Tim nodded. 'There's usually a visible cause. Or a reason for inference of that kind. But we're in a ship in the middle of nowhere and there's no equipment near here that could do that…'

Ziva suddenly jolted and took off. Exchanging confused glances, Tony and Tim followed her. As they ran they noticed she was drawing her gun. They followed her lead. When she stopped and pointed her gun at something, they did the same. Then they spotted what had made her run, a man was standing in the middle of the room. He had a gun too, and it was pointed at them.

'Drop your weapon! Federal agents!' Ziva called out.

'You're outnumbered buddy. I would do what the lady said.' Ziva shot Tony a quick glare for that comment but kept her gun trained on the man.

The man smiled. 'Maybe I am…Maybe I'm not.' Just then three men emerged behind him, each pointing guns at the NCIS agents. 'I think you should drop YOUR weapons.'

Tony and Ziva kept their guns up but Tim began to lower his a confused look on his face. Ziva and Tony glanced at him then looked where he was looking, at a point behind the men. There appeared to be a kind of wave of light coming towards them. As it did, everything it touched changed from a dingy old boat into a fancy looking cruise ship.

That was when the wave reached them.

It was like an extreme wind storm, with everything being blown around. When the wind reached the team, Tim found himself slammed against the wall, knocking him out. Ziva was pushed into the hallway, landing on her arm. She also lost consciousness. Tony managed to stay upright in the initial wave but found himself losing his balance when a second wind blasted though. He hit the wall and found himself sinking into the darkness.

Part Four here