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Veritas
By : Kali
Category: Stargate: SG-1 > Stargate Atlantis
Views: 4567 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0Disclaimer: Kali & muses do not own any of Stargate or NCIS, nor make any profit from this work; we just borrowed them for the sake of this fanfiction. - Chapter List
Disclaimer:
The author does not own any of NCIS or Stargate, only borrows them for the sake
of this fanfiction. No profit is made by
the writing of this story.Warnings:
Anything one expects to see on Stargate or NCIS, expect it here; also, slash in
the form of Jack/Daniel, and John/Rodney; het pairings include Tony/Ziva,
Gibbs/Jenny.If
~*~*~*~*~*~Big
you dislike such things, or are underage, do not read!
thanks to Emergency70 for the beta!Chapter VII John stood back and watched as the
NCIS team geared up in the TAC vests and weapon holsters that the Odyssey crew had provided for them
all. His own people – and himself – had
gone to get themselves geared up while Gibbs and team were getting their
transmitters in the infirmary. General
O’Neill had thoughtfully gathered the equipment they’d brought with them from
Atlantis and had it beamed up for them (Rodney’s tablet laptop and whatever was
in his pack, Ronon’s gun, John’s favourite LSD, and all their black leather
team jackets – the non-descript ones that had no identifying badges or writing
on them for those missions where they wanted to keep their affiliation with
Atlantis or the SGC secret). Daniel had
asked a helpful crew member for comms and ZATS for
all of SGA-1, too.The NCIS team wouldn’t have ZATS, of
course, but they were provided guns and ammo, since none of them had their
service weapons on them. Ronon was inspecting the ZAT Daniel had given him,
curious, and Teyla was nodding as the linguist explained their use to the two
Pegasus natives. Rodney was grumbling
under his breath about how stingy the SGC was, not sending the Atlantis
expedition any ZATS ever in the last
four years (excluding the year they spent incommunicado). John kind of agreed with his friend on all
that grumbling, but didn’t say anything since there wasn’t a thing he could do
about it that he hadn’t already tried.Gibbs was ready almost immediately –
no surprise there – and helped Tony figure out some of the straps for the thigh
holster, being unused to this gear (it was a little different than the tactical
gear he was used to as an agent or cop).
Ziva was nearly as quick as Gibbs, and helped poor Tim McGee with all his
gear when he got tangled up, since he’d rarely had occasion to wear any such
gear, even at NCIS.Once they were all geared up and comm checks were completed, Daniel stood back and waved a
little, wishing them luck as they were beamed down near the payphone in
Phoenix, AZ, where Mike Franks had made his call to Gibbs.Thanks to the time difference, there
was still a bit of daylight out – but not much.
It was rapidly getting darker, which would make checking the scene out
much more difficult. Gibbs said as much
to Sheppard, and John nodded and replied, “Then let’s go. Ronon, Teyla, bring up our six.”Gibbs kept up with Sheppard as they
quickly, quietly, and with all due stealth crept through the darkened alleyway
toward the street and the abandoned service station. Tony and Ziva followed their leaders, with
McGee and McKay right behind them, Teyla and Ronon last but not least. Just before they hit the street, John called
a halt behind a couple old dumpsters and pulled out his LSD from his vest.“What’s that?” Gibbs asked, in a voice low enough not to
carry beyond their group.“Handy little thing we picked up in
Pegasus. Basically it tells me if there
are any people or whatever in our vicinity.”
John explained quietly, showing the screen to the older man. “That group of dots is us, and you can see
there’s no one else around for a good half-mile radius.” He pushed it back into his vest and motioned,
signalling an all-clear. “Let’s go. We need to make this quick.”Gibbs nodded once in agreement and led
his people to the street and around the corner.
They found the payphone, its receiver dangling by the cord, and obvious
signs of struggle. Gibbs frowned, not
liking that at all. “Look around,
people.” He directed, crouching down to
study the broken Plexiglas scattered around the booth.“Uh…boss? What exactly are we looking for?” Tony asked, doing as ordered but still unsure
what he was supposed to find. Ziva and
McGee exchanged glances and quickly made themselves scarce, checking out the
parking lot and abandoned building. They didn’t even protest when Teyla and
Ronon split off to accompany each of them.
McKay stuck with John, who was basically keeping watch with his LSD in
hand, awhile the NCIS team did their thing.“Gee, DiNozzo…” Gibbs answered in a
tone so heated and frosty at the same
time it came out frighteningly calm and reasonable. Tony knew that tone all too well, and knew it
was deceptively even-tempered. He
flinched and smacked himself on the back of the head, even as Gibbs continued,
“I don’t know! A clue, maybe?”“Of course, boss! Blonde moment.” Tony eased away, deciding to go look around
the parking lot with Ziva and the big guy, Ronon. It looked safer.John raised an eyebrow, faintly
amused, but made no comment. Instead, he
checked the LSD, then glanced at his best friend. “I don’t suppose doing any scans would be
useful, would they, McKay?”“Not unless you expect me to find a
ZPM lying around, no.” Rodney
retorted. But he pulled out his own LSD
– the modified one he’d tweaked himself to scan for energy readings other than
life signs (among other little things he’d found useful on occasion). “But then, it doesn’t hurt to look,
anyway.” He muttered.Gibbs stood and carefully inspected
the booth. “There’s blood around here,
but not much. If it’s Mike’s, then he’s
probably alive.”John nodded grimly, hugging his P90
close to his chest. “They’d want him
alive to get the location of the documents from him.”“Yeah.
Though, I have to wonder how they knew he even had them to begin with.”“I don’t know, but we’ll find
out.” Sheppard replied, grimly.“There’s something else.” Gibbs studied what looked like burn marks
everywhere that the Plexiglas had broken from on the booth. “This is strange.”At which point Rodney spoke up. “We have weapons’ fire, Colonel. My scans show residual energy from the
blasts.” He looked up from his LSD,
expression grave. “If I didn’t know
better, I’d have said Wraith, but more likely it’s the energy signature of a
Jaffa staff weapon. I can confirm that
on Odyssey.”John frowned deeply. “That’s not good. And you can’t tell with your scanner thing?”
“No, it’s not good at all, and no, I
can’t because I didn’t program it for energy signatures from this galaxy, Colonel. It was a pointless idea since there are no
Jaffa or Goa’uld in Pegasus.” McKay
explained grumpily.“Of course, Rodney.”
“So that means what, exactly?” Gibbs demanded, cutting in agitatedly.
“It means, Agent Gibbs, that the Trust
is looking for those documents, which means your friend is in their custody now
– very likely which means this whole debacle just got very, very dangerous and
complicated.” Rodney answered, glaring
up at the darkened, twilight sky. “let’s
just hope the NID keep their noses out of it.
I hate dealing with those idiots.”John sighed. There were times when he disliked his job,
and this was turning into one of those times.“Gibbs!”
Ziva’s voice called out and they
looked in her direction as McGee and Teyla emerged from the building.“Nothing, boss. It’s empty.”
McGee reported apologetically.“Ziva’s got something.” Gibbs strode over to her. “What is it?”
She solemnly held out a leather wallet
in one gloved hand. “It was in this tall
grass, here.”“And there are footprints and tire
tracks, boss.” Tony added, though he was
certain that this crime scene was not going to be investigated their normal
way.Gibbs took the wallet and opened
it. The first thing he saw was Mike’s
driver’s license and the worn photo of his daughter-in-law, Leyla, and
granddaughter, Amira. He swallowed back
the anger, fear, and frustration, and said harshly, “Damn it all, Mike.”“It’s his?” John asked.
“Yeah.” Gibbs confirmed, quickly rifling through the
contents to see if anything was out of place, missing, or a helpful clue. A white business card was folded between two
twenty dollar bills, and Gibbs pulled it free.“What is it, boss?” tony wondered as Gibbs read it.
“Hotel business card.” Gibbs had to smile a little. “A hotel here in Phoenix.”
“So we go there and check it
out?” McKay wanted to know.“How do you know he even has a room
there?” John was still frowning. “He might have just picked up the card
intending to go back later, after he’d contacted you, Gibbs.”“I know because of this.” Gibbs held the card out to the officer, who
took it and read the backside at a glance.“It’s a bunch of numbers…” John
blinked. “It looks like a service
number.”“It’s me, Sheppard.”
John raised his eyes, understanding
dawning. Ah. I get it.”
He handed the card back.“So we go?” McKay repeated.
“Yep.
We need a car though.” Gibbs
sighed. “As handy as it is, we can’t
beam into the hotel or anything.”“Right.” John raised a hand to his radio. “We’ll go back to Odyssey, and I’ll arrange transportation.”
“Are you sure we should go there
tonight?” Teyla asked, frowning
thoughtfully. “Perhaps our search would
be better continued in daylight.”“We need to at least check the hotel
tonight.” McGee was the one who
answered. SGA-1 looked at him, and he
glanced around at everyone. “Even if we
don’t find Mike Franks, we still should be looking for his family, too. They need to be protected.”Teyla’s eyes widened, and she
nodded. “Yes, of course. Forgive me for not understanding.”“It’s fine, Ms. Emmagan.” Gibbs waved it away. “You didn’t know about them. McGee is right. I know I won’t sleep until the girls are
safe, so we’re going to the hotel.” He
glanced at the card’s address. “I don’t
know where this is, so we should get a map or something.”John tapped his radio. “Sheppard to Odyssey, beam us aboard.
We’ve got a lead.”“Odyssey
here, Colonel. We copy.” Daniel’s voice answered and in the next
instant they were back on the bridge of the ship, face-to-face with the
multi-talented linguist. “What did you
find?”“A wallet. Franks’.
With a card for a hotel in Phoenix.”
McKay was already moving to a computer console. “Give me the address and I’ll find it.”“We’ll have to leave most of our gear
behind.” Sheppard said as the scientist
ran the search for the hotel. “We can’t
go in fully geared up, much as I’d prefer it after what we found down there.”Gibbs nodded in agreement. “We can handle ourselves, Colonel, I assure
you.”“What else did you find?” Mitchell
asked with a frown.“Weapons fire – likely from a Jaffa
staff weapon.” McKay responded. “The payphone and the boot were blasted into
bits.”Mitchell and Daniel winced, exchanging
worried glances. “So it is the Trust – and/or
Baal?” Daniel sighed unhappily. “Jack’s gonna hit the roof.”Ziva gave him a look. “I have noticed some very…turbulent emotions
from you all concerning this – what did you call it? Goa’uld?
You have some personal issues with this creature beyond the
obvious?” Her expression said she wasn’t
quite sure she believed she as saying such things, talking about aliens and
what not like it was a common occurrence.Mitchell rubbed at the back of his
neck, one eye on his teammate as Daniel scowled behind his glasses and nodded
sharply once. “That’s one way of putting
it, ma’am.” The ship’s commander
drawled.“What did he – it – do?” Tony wanted to know, nosy as ever.
“All you need to know is that Baal is
extremely intelligent, sneaky, and dangerous. He won’t hesitate to kill you if you get in
his way – unless he thinks you can be useful to him, in which case you’ll
likely end up tortured until you talk or find yourself snaked.” Daniel paced the short space between the view
screen and consoles agitatedly. “And to
be honest, death is preferable to either one of those options.”“We aren’t exaggerating here,
folks.” Mitchell warned, seeing their
expressions and the obvious doubt of SG-1’s seriousness. “This guy and the people who work for him are
not the sort of bad guys you’re used to.
These guys are a whole new level of Bad.
They’re scary enough on their own, but they’ve also got equally scary
weapons and technology at their disposal – and Baal isn’t the sort to not use whatever he’s got on anyone who
gets in his way.”It wasn’t only the NCIS people who
were frowning about Mitchell and Daniel’s words. Teyla and Ronon weren’t looking too enthused,
either – despite their brief run-in with the Goa’uld (whoever it was) that had
taken over Colonel Caldwell of the Daedalus
a couple years earlier. Still, John
wasn’t all that concerned about their ability to deal with this galaxy’s bad
guys. They had, after all, survived
their whole lives under the Wraith threat in Pegasus, and no matter what, the
Wraith were much scarier than the Goa’uld any day of the week. Dangerous, yes. Scary, no.“They do have a weakness,
however.” McKay spoke up, joining the
discussion again, and stepping up close to sand next to John. “Arrogance.
Their egos are the biggest you’ll ever find.” Which was truly something to hear coming from
Rodney.“Baal’s certainly is.” Mitchell agreed, dryly.
“He’s also power-hungry and a control
freak with a huge dose of narcissism.”
Daniel added. “He’ll spend a lot of his time trying to get you to admit
how all great and powerful he is. They
all did – do. They called themselves
‘gods’ for millennia.”“Gods?” McGee repeated, incredulous.
“Yes.
In particular, the Egyptian pantheon.
Even some of the Greek pantheon.”
Daniel sighed at the shock on their faces. “I know.
Kind of a let-down, right?”“Uh, Daniel, I don’t think that’s why
they look so surprised.” McKay chuckled.“We should ditch our gear, if McKay’s
got our destination?” Sheppard looked to
Rodney for confirmation (the scientist nodded) and then at Mitchell. “Could you arrange for a vehicle or two for
us?”“Sure thing. Get squared away, Sheppard, and I’ll take
care of the pesky details.” Mitchell
gave a smile and a sloppy salute of two-fingers as his fellow officer led
everyone to the ready-room to change.”~*~*~*~*~*~
When Mitchell said he’d take care of
their transportation needs, John hadn’t thought much about it, figuring some
unsuspecting Airmen would drive a couple fleet vehicles from wherever, or maybe
some rental agency would mysteriously have two cars ready and waiting for them.John had forgotten Mitchell had a spaceship at his disposal – a spaceship
with Asgard beams that were capable of beaming just about anything anywhere. Mitchell also learned
well from Jack O’Neill in the use of power, rank, and position, using his ship
to requisition two SUCs from Nellis and beam them to
Phoenix. John preferred not to think
about the logistics and such this involved (to do it all without being seen by
any innocent civilians on the ground) and went with a “don’t ask” policy).McGee, on the other hand, marvelled at
it. Mitchell just grinned and shrugged,
patting the arm of the Chair proudly as he drawled, “One of the ships beamed an
entire skyscraper, once.” The young
agent goggled at the idea of that.And so they were currently driving the
two SUVs through Phoenix to the hotel, NCIS in one car and SGA-1 in the
other. The trip was made mostly silent –
both teams aware that their conversations could be heard by the other team over
the comm. Units – and with the air of anticipation that came with the territory
when in pursuit of something or someone.John could see the same
adrenaline-fuelled tension in Ronon that he was feeling himself. Really, if it had been an option, the big guy
would have run to the hotel. On foot.
Teyla, on the other hand, was quite calm, despite the noticeable tension
in her posture and an alertness that came from the adrenaline rather than
restfulness. Rodney, however, was
appearing very much like he did back home in Atlantis whenever some crisis was
going on that he was trying to solve without having slept for a few days. It was that sort of alertness that came with
over-tiredness. John gripped the
steering wheel tighter and sighed a little as he remembered they were running
on D.C. time – a couple hours ahead of them, now, in Phoenix. No wonder they were all getting punchy.“This is it.” Rodney suddenly declared, pointing out the windshield
at the glowing lights of the hotel’s sign. John hit his signal and turned into
the parking lot, pulling into a parking stall off to one side of the building
that had a view of the main doors but was hidden partially in shadow. He got out of the SUV as Gibbs pulled in next
to them and cut the engine.“I’ll go in with you, Gibbs. My team will cover the building
outside.” John stated decisively when
the agent joined him outside before Gibbs could say anything.“Fine.
McGee, stay with the vehicles, just in case.” Gibbs agreed easily (having figured it was
what Sheppard would want to do), and started issuing commands to his
people. “DiNozzo, David, recon inside.”“On it, boss!” Tony offered an arm to Ziva and said, “Shall
we check out the lounge, Ziva darling?”She rolled her eyes and grabbed his
hand, pulling him along after her as she stalked toward the hotel, “We are not
here to play, Tony.”“Ow! Aw, come on , Ziva!”
John smirked, and glanced at
Rodney. “You can go with Teyla or Ronon,
McKay, or you can stay here. Your
choice.” He offered, noting his
scientist looking very un-eager to go running around in the dark.“Uh…I’ll stay with the car.” Rodney frowned, glancing at the hotel
briefly. “Besides, if something happens
I’m the only one other than you who can drive.”
It was a valid, perfectly good excuse.“True.
Go.” John said, turning to Gibbs
as Teyla and Ronon swiftly disappeared into the darkness. Rodney slid into the driver’s seat with a
grunt. “Alright, Gibbs. Your show.”Gibbs nodded and headed for hotel
reception, John striding alongside.There was a moment of silence between
the two vehicles, and then McGee rolled the window down and leaned out a little
to speak to McKay.“So…aliens, huh? What’s that like?”
McKay groaned (cursing mentally and
rethinking his decision not to tag along with Teyla – not Ronon, though,
because Rodney could never keep up) and, instead of answering, shot back,
“So…crime novelist, huh? How much of what
you write is based on your real-life cases?”If the kid was shocked that McKay
knew, he didn’t let on.~*~*~*~*~*~
It was a nice hotel. Clean, organized functionally, and welcoming,
it was somewhere between not quite family-oriented like a typical Holiday Inn
and not quite fancy business chic like a Hilton. John kind of liked it.Gibbs didn’t waste time. He headed for reception without even pausing
to look around – though if he was as good as John had the sneaking suspicion he
was, the former Marine likely threat assessed the entire place within visual
range at a bare glance as he walked.
Reassured that at least the man wouldn’t be a complete liability on this
disaster of a mission-cum-investigation, John followed along with the casual,
laid-back grace that came naturally to him and garnered plenty of attention.Just not the sort that would be a
hindrance.He leaned back against the counter,
taking in the area in his own TA (spotting Tony and Ziva at the bar of the open
lounge just off the lobby) while Gibbs pulled out his NCIS identification and
badge to flash at the receptionist who came to serve them.“Gibbs.” The agent declared quietly and calmly, but no
less firmly. “NCIS. Can you tell me if a young, Middle-Eastern
woman and a little girl, no more than two years old, recently checked in?”“NCIS?
What’s that? Like CSI?” The woman asked in confusion, looking
apologetic despite her apparent ignorance.
“I’m sorry, sir, but I cannot give out guest information…”Gibbs frowned, reminding himself that
there wasn’t much reason for someone in Phoenix, Arizona to have ever heard of
or dealt with NCIS, as there wasn’t exactly a Navy or Marine base around, and
therefore not to lose it on the innocent woman.
John, however, was quick to jump in like the Special Ops soldier he was.“Naval Criminal Investigative Service,
ma’am. If you could help us out, it’d be
much appreciated.” He flashed his
patented Sheppard grin – the one that immediately set Rodney to sputtering and
griping about his apparently inherent charm and good looks whenever he used it
around his friend, and, typically, he charmed whichever alien Chief or princess
or whoever into whatever they wanted.
“They are supposed to have checked in here, and we really need to speak
to them.”“The Navy?” The receptionist’s eyebrows went skyward in
scepticism. “Well, without a warrant I’m
afraid…”“Listen, before you say no,” John
overrode her quickly, “you should know we’re not here to arrest her or
anything. She’s done nothing wrong. We just want to talk to her about her
father.” John leaned in conspiratorially
and continued in a low voice, wincing internally and hoping Gibbs would forgive
him later. “He’s done a lot of bad
things, you see, and we’ve come to find her and tell her it’s save for her to
take her daughter home.”Gibbs blinked, the only sign he gave
to that big fat lie, but went with it like the professional he was.
“Really, ma’am, we’d appreciate it if you could…”“Gibbs!?”
He was cut off by the accented voice of
a surprised young woman, standing in front of a closing elevator door with an
adorable little girl in her arms. Gibbs
whirled and smiled in relief, hurrying toward her.“Leyla!”
John scratched his head bemusedly and
flashed another smile at the receptionist.
“Never mind. Thanks anyway.” He said, quickly striding away to join Gibbs,
who was directing the woman, Leyla, out of the way to where they wouldn’t’ be
easily overheard. Sitting down at a
table in the lounge, off in one corner, Gibbs was still smiling as Leyla
relinquished her daughter to his open arms.“Say hello to your godfather,
Amira.” She said, smiling fondly at the
two.The child babbled happily and hung
onto Gibbs with the typical enthusiastic affection of a toddler. John couldn’t
help but be immediately charmed – by both Amira and her mother, but also by
Gibbs’ obvious devotion to the little one.
The man, John was beginning to see, was as multi-faceted as any
gemstone.“This is Lieutenant Colonel John
Sheppard, Leyla.” Gibbs introduced him,
nodding, seeing that his hands were full.
“Sheppard, meet Leyla Shakarji, and my
goddaughter, Amira.”John smiled and offered a hand to
Leyla, who shook it briefly and said, “Hello,” in return. John chuckled when Amira just played shy and
tucked her face into Gibbs’ neck.“Not that I am unhappy to see you,
Gibbs, but…what are you doing here, and how did you find me?” Leyla asked, getting right down to it.“Mike.” Was all Gibbs said in answer. He shook his head when she looked like she was
going to ask questions. “Not here. You’re checked in?”Leyla nodded. “An hour ago.
Mike said if he did not return in an hour, I was to come here and get a
room for the night. He said he was going
to try and find out what was going on, but didn’t know how long it would
take.” Her dark eyes filled with worry.Gibbs sighed and reached out, taking
her hand gently to give it a reassuring squeeze. “It’ll be alright. But right now, you need to trust me. We’ll go get your things and got out of here
to someplace safe. Then we’ll talk.”Leyla frowned, confused and scared,
but with a backbone of steel as she looked at her daughter, then Gibbs and
John. “As you wish. But I want to know what’s going on, Gibbs.”“I promise I’ll tell you all that I
can.” Gibbs vowed, standing and
motioning with one hand for her to lead the way.In their ears, they heard DiNozzo’s
voice report in. “Nothing weird so far,
boss. All clear.”Gibbs didn’t reply until they were
stepping into the elevator. “Keep an eye
open, Tony. My gut’s twitchy.”“Mine, too, but that could have been
Ducky’s Yorkshire pudding at desert.”“Ziva, smack him for me.” Gibbs ordered, followed by a distinctive, “Ow! Not so hard!”
from Tony.John swallowed back the urge to laugh
and checked in with his team, too.
“Sit-rep, kids?” He smiled at
Leyla, who was watching and listening to the one-sided conversation
curiously. “We’ve found the ladies and
they’re fine.”“All is…quiet.” Teyla answered first, though the slight pause
had John perking up.“Teyla?”
“It is nothing, John. Just some foolish young boys who have since
seen the error of their ways.” Her tone
was that very disapproving one she typically aimed at John and Rodney. He shook his head, wondering what, exactly,
had happened but deciding it was better not to ask.“Okay then. Ronon?”
“Good.
Except for the stench.”“What?” John wondered, trying really hard not to
laugh when Ronon answered.“I’m using a large metal container as
cover and it reeks like Zelenka’s still.”“Oh my god! Remind me never to drink any of his home-brew
ever again!” Rodney’s voice responded to
that emphatically in disgust. “It’s a
trash dumpster, Ronon, that’s why it smells.”“Ah.
Then why does Zelenka’s moonshine smell like this?”“I really don’t want to know. Gah! That’s so gross.”
“Stay frosty, everyone.” John ordered, not bothering to conceal his
amusement. “And we’ll need our rides
in…oh…ten minutes?” He glanced at Gibbs,
who nodded in agreement. “Everyone
copy?”“Yes, yes.” McKay’s tone was impatient, but agreeable.
McGee was a little more by the
book. “Copy that, Colonel.”Teyla, Ronon, Tony, and Ziva all gave
their own acknowledgements as Leyla led them down the hall to her room.Once inside, John parked himself near
the door while Gibbs kept Amira entertained so her mother could quickly pack up
all their things. It didn’t take long,
as there wasn’t much to pack. They’d
left in a hurry, after all, and likely without any baggage since their
belongings probably blew up with their home.
John could see that what they had was all brand new.Now that he thought about it, where
were they going to go? And where could
the SGC stash them safely and without breaking any of the necessary
secrecy? Frowning to himself, he reached
for his ear to talk to Rodney again.“McKay, contact Mitchell and Dr.
Jackson, and see what sort of exit strategy and safe house we might have for
the ladies.”“Okay.
Any suggestions you want to make?”“Not off the top of my head, but
explain the situation and see what they can come up with.”“Alright. McKay out.”
“A safe house?” Leyla stopped stuffing clothes in a bag,
looking at Gibbs uncertainly. “Gibbs?”“Not like you’re thinking, Leyla. It’s fine.”
The older man assured, giving Sheppard a meaningful stare. John nodded, affirming the promise.“I just…I assumed we would be going to
your home in Washington.” Leyla resumed
packing, but kept shooting worried glances at both men. “Mike always says it’s the safest place to
be.”“Unfortunately, I can’t guarantee
Mike’s opinion of that this time.” Gibbs
looked rather annoyed by it, too.“Ma’am, you needn’t worry that you’ve
inadvertently gotten involved in anything.”
John said after a moment, hoping to alleviate some of her fears. “We just want to protect you. Our concerns for your safety stem from…the
possibility of being used as a hostage or something like that – not because the
bad guys are interested in you for other things.”Leyla stood with the bags, staring at
him in such a knowing, older and wiser than her age way that John had the
sudden insight that this woman had known the kinds of trouble and tragedy no
one should ever have to. He wondered
just what, exactly, her story was, but resolved to ponder it later. At the moment she was studying him
consideringly, trying to judge whether or not to believe in him and trust him.“Very well. We should leave quickly, yes?”
John felt some of the tension drain
away and straightened up. “Yep. Let’s go.”Downstairs in the lobby they were met
by Tony and Ziva. “Go with them,
Leyla.” Gibbs said, handing Amira off to
her mother. “I’ll check you out and be
right there.”Tony took the bags and headed for the
doors, Ziva escorting Leyla and Amira, while John brought up the rear. He listened over the comms
as Gibbs dealt with the receptionist again, asking a couple of questions he
hadn’t had the chance to earlier, then hurrying out to join them at the SUVs.Ziva and McGee helped Leyla and Amira
get settled in their seats, while John, McKay, and Gibbs conferred
outside. Teyla and Ronon were already
seated in their vehicle, waiting.“What did Mitchell and Daniel say,
McKay?” John asked.“Colonel Mitchell said we have two
options – get on a plane and fly to
either the Springs or Vegas and be met by an SGC escort, or drive to either Peterson or Nellis. Either way
he said that getting to an AF base would be best because, well, let’s face it;
you flyboys have more pull there than on other bases of other military
branches.” Rodney sighed, making a
face. “Not to mention that, really, Nellis is closer and a better bet. I
have more pull in Nevada, let alone any of you.”John ran a hand through his hair,
thinking about it from all angles. “I’d
feel better about the Springs. It’s the
next best place, short of the Mountain itself, and our people are all over the
place, there.”Rodney looked pained. “That’s a really
long drive, John. Really long. And in case you’ve forgotten when we last
slept…” It was almost a whine, but John couldn’t
blame him for it.“I’m tired, too, Rodney, and we can
switch off on the driving.” John pointed
out. “I know it’s frustrating, but…”“Why don’t we just fly?” Gibbs asked, then raised a hand, answering
his own question. “Never mind. Whoever’s got Mike – and so quickly – can
find us easily if we leave a paper trail.
I’m tired, too. And I could
really use a cup of coffee.” It had been
a few hours since his last mug.“What do you want to do, Gibbs?” John asked quietly, aware that they were
being watched by Leyla closely.“I just need to talk to her before we
take her somewhere safe while we handle the rest of this…mess.” Gibbs responded, frustration and weariness
evident, as well as temper. “I need to
ask her a few questions, too, try to put together exactly what happened to Mike
from the time I saw him off at the airport until he called me.”“Well…let’s hit the road, then.” John shrugged, stuffing his hands in his
pockets. “We’ll drive for a couple hours
then find someplace for a pit stop.”Then Rodney did that
snappy-finger-fist thing he does whenever a light bulb goes off in that big
brain of his. “Wait, wait, wait! You can talk to her in the car on the way,
right?” He asked of Gibbs, who frowned a
little but nodded. It wasn’t how he preferred
doing it, but it would have to do. McGee
could drive. “So you talk, we drive for
a couple hours, and wherever we stop we can have Mitchell beam someone else to
escort them the rest of the way to the Springs while the rest of us go back to
D.C. and regroup in the morning.”John stared for a minute, torn between
smacking himself for not thinking of it himself, and kissing Rodney for being
the genius he is. Refraining from either
of those, however, he settled for clapping the scientist on the back proudly
and saying, “That works for me. Gibbs?”“If you can guarantee that she’ll be
safe with whoever comes to meet us…” Gibbs was beginning to really dislike how
many unknown people he was being asked to trust with the lives of people he
cared about – particularly these two people.
If something happened to them, Mike would kill him, and Gibbs would let
him.“Gibbs, you know I can’t guarantee
that. Nobody could. Shit happens that’s no one’s fault,
sometimes.” John shook his head at the
older man’s darkening scowl and cut off the oncoming protest. “What I can guarantee is that whoever gets
the job will protect those ladies with their lives, if they have to, and will
do everything possible to see them safely to their destination.”It was Rodney’s quiet words that
finally swayed Gibbs vote.“Only those who are deemed to be the
very best of us are part of the programme, Agent Gibbs. Not just at what they do bust as people, too. Civilian or military. And they’ll have Odyssey keeping an eye on them, too, so they’ll be as safe as can
be.”John blinked at his friend in
surprise, since it wasn’t a very Rodney-like endorsement concerning other
people, but kept his mouth shut against the smart-assed comments he wanted to
say.“Alright. I guess I don’t have much choice. Let’s go.”
Gibbs gave in, heading for the
passenger’s seat.John slid into their SUV, glancing at
Rodney as he started the engine. “A
three hour drive should do it, you think?”“Yeah.
Let’s put lots of space between us and Phoenix.” Rodney agreed, looking around the parking lot
nervously. “I don’t like how fast the
Trust found this Franks guy.”“Me neither.” John echoed the sentiment, frowning as he
pulled out into traffic, noting that the NCIS team was following closely. “Radio Mitchell, tell him the plan.”Rodney reached for his ear.
In the other SUV, McGee was battling
his own set of nerves, having very rarely been the one behind the wheel on any
investigations – especially with Gibbs present.
So when Gibbs informed him he was driving and to follow Sheppard, he had
to stop and take a deep breath before settling in with determination to prove
he could do this simple task……with both Ziva and Tony protesting
loudly about it – Tony, because he preferred driving whenever Gibbs wasn’t and
because he felt that McGee drove like a Granny while Ziva…should never be
allowed behind a wheel for the safety of everyone,
and Ziva because she as confident in her evasion skills as a driver and felt
McGee lacked the skills to deal with a situation that would require such
evasion.Gibbs told them both to shut up and
either go to sleep or listen in while he talked to Leyla because he would leave
them both on the side of the road if they didn’t.Instant peace and quiet was the
response.Sitting in the middle of the vehicle
with Leyla and Amira, Gibbs very quietly and calmly explained what Mike had
gone to L.A. for, what had happened, and the very bare bones of why people were
after him now. He also broke the news
that it appeared Mike had been found and captured. Gibbs explained that they were concerned for
Leyla and Amira’s safety, too, because they feared the bad guys would try to
use Mike’s family to get him to cooperate.Leyla listened attentively but
silently. She hugged her daughter to her
side, unconsciously protective, and her breath caught at some points, but she
still managed to keep herself collected.
Despite being very worried and afraid, she did not break out into
hysterics as many people would at hearing such news – no doubt due to where
she’d grown up, Gibbs realized quite quickly.
The young woman was born and raised in the Middle East, a volatile
region of the world. He had to admire
her strength, much as he did Ziva’s, if not for the exact same reasons.“And you have a…lead?” Leyla asked after Gibbs fell silent, not sure
if she was using the correct term. “you
know where Mike is?”“Not yet, no.” Gibbs hesitated only a second before deciding
the truth was the only way to go with her.
“But we will, and we will find
him and bring him home, Leyla. I
promise.” He squeezed her hand, and she
gave him a weary, sad smile that said she knew better than to expect perfectly
happy endings, and that she understood everything he wasn’t saying.Still, she replied, “I know you
will. Thank you, Gibbs, for once again
protecting my family.”“Boss?” McGee interrupted apologetically. “Col. Sheppard is asking for you.”
Gibbs nodded and reached for his ear
to tune back in to the frequency they’d been using. He’d turned off the comm
to speak to Leyla, so as not to be distracted.
“Sheppard, this is Gibbs. You
need something?”“Rodney is making noises about coffee
and Ronon’s got the munchies, so I thought I’d check in with your car and see
if we need a pit stop.” The Colonel’s
reply came quickly. “We’re about a
little less than an hour out of Phoenix now, and headed for Flagstaff.”Gibbs blinked (not realizing how much
time had passed) and rolled his eyes at the “munchies” bit, but whole-heartedly
agreed that coffee would be fabulous
right then. “Yeah, sure. Coffee would be good.”“Alright. There’s a service area coming up in a couple
of miles. We’ll go there.”“Copy that, Colonel.” McGee responded for Gibbs.
“Did you and Amira get something to
eat, earlier?” Gibbs asked, glancing
down at his goddaughter (who had fallen asleep cuddled up to her mother’s
side).“Yes, thank you. But some water would be welcome. And coffee, also.” Leyla smiled.
“We stoppin’,
boss?” Tony inquired from the back seat.“Yes, DiNozzo.”
“Excellent.”
~*~*~*~*~*~
Once they were back on the road, Gibbs
waited until Amira was asleep again before questioning her mother about what
had happened in Mexico. Unfortunately,
she didn’t know much, as she wasn’t present when the explosion had occurred.Leyla told Gibbs that Mike had come
home tired and upset, but relieved to be home again. She hadn’t asked about any of it, knowing it
was likely something he couldn’t talk
about even if he’d wanted to.Mike had taken the rest of the day to
rest and play with Amira, and in the morning they’d went to town together to go
to the marketplace to shop for groceries and things. Leyla told Gibbs that around noon, when
they’d decided to have lunch before going home, she’d noticed Mike became tense
and alert, even wary. When she’d asked
what was wrong, he’d told her it was nothing and not to worry. She’d accepted that, even if she didn’t
believe him. She’d kept her eyes open,
trying to figure out what was putting her father-in-law on edge, but could not
seem to spot the danger.Leyla related how she’d spotted
several strangers around town that day in the marketplace, and that though this
wasn’t unusual on a market day, these strangers did stick out rather
obviously. They were white men (and
possibly two women), dressed well – but not like tourists. When she’d pointed them out to Mike at lunch,
he’d given in and confided that it seemed like they were being followed. When she asked him why, he’d said it had
nothing to do with her or Amira, and that they should remain in town for a
while longer while he sought some answers.
Mike had left them at his favourite cantina, and went to get those
answers for himself.Not ten, maybe fifteen, minutes later,
Leyla continued, they’d heard an explosion.
She had no idea what happened, nor did anyone else. It had drawn the townspeople toward it,
though, and she’d been worried about Mike, but resolved to stay put until he
either came back for them or contacted her somehow. Thankfully, she hadn’t waited long. Twenty minutes after the explosion, Mike
returned to the cantina and took them out of town. From there, after telling her that the
explosion had been their home and people were after him, he got them to the
airport and they’d flown to Phoenix – this being the first available flight
back to the States that he could get.Beyond all this, Leyla knew nothing
else. She hadn’t asked questions,
knowing it was probably safer for all of them, and because she knew Mike likely
wouldn’t tell her anything.“He did tell me to call you if
something should happen to him, however.”
Leyla informed Gibbs quietly, stroking her daughter’s curly hair. “He was already late when you found us. I was going to wait another hour or so, and
if he did not return, then I would call you.”Gibbs absorbed it all, thinking it
through carefully, trying to piece together the puzzle. Unfortunately there was a large piece
missing, from the time between leaving Leyla and Amira at the cantina and
coming back to pick them up. Until they
got Mike back, there was likely not going to be a way to fill in the hole.Which led Gibbs to wonder how, exactly, they were going to find Mike.
Sure, they’d recovered his wallet from the scene, there’d been tire
tracks and other evidence – but none of it pointed in any direction that said
“Mike is here” for them to follow.
Especially as they hadn’t had the chance to work the scene properly.Glancing ahead, out the front
windshield, as if he could see the other SUV in the dark, the NCIS agent
wondered if Sheppard and his people knew things that he did not, or had some
fancy alien gadget that would let them track Mike down. It was a discussion they would have to have
sooner rather than later.~*~*~*~*~*~
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