3. Brave new world
*****
It was an anticlimax in the end. The two men hiked to the dirt road, anticipating a long trek to the nearest highway, but luck was with them for once. After less than an hour of walking, they both heard the sound of a truck in the distance, and a few minutes later, a big canvas-covered army truck pulled up alongside them. In the two weeks since the explosion, the armed forces and FEMA had managed to organise supply runs to the area, though they had been hampered a great deal by the damage done to thousands of vehicles by the explosion. Clearing the roads of abandoned cars was a major drain on resources.
"Need a hand, guys?" The national guardsman grinned down at them. Gibbs pulled out his NCIS id.
"Gibbs. NCIS. We need to get to Washington." The guardsman shook his head.
"Believe me, you really don't want to go there." At Gibbs' glare, he shrugged. "I can take you as far as one of the checkpoints outside the city. But you really don't want to go into Washington at the moment. The dead outnumber the living..." His face seemed to take on a shade of grey as he spoke.
"A lot of people in Washington died within the first 24 hours after the blast. There are bodies everywhere... The smell..." He shuddered. "And those who survived bring a whole new set of problems. Riots. Shooting. Worse than New Orleans after Katrine. And I haven't even mentioned the weird shit going on there too. They say that there are guys there that can make you burst into flames just by looking at you, or make the ground turn to liquid under your feet. Mutants! The brass set up an exclusion zone around the city after they lost several aid convoys. They evacuated everyone who could walk to the checkpoints."
"We need to go there. We have people who depend on us." Gibbs said. The driver jerked a thumb towards the back of the lorry with a shrug.
The two men climbed into the back of the truck and sat next to the half dozen or so National Guardsmen who were there. Gibbs found himself directly opposite DiNozzo, which meant that he kept sensing Tony's eyes on him. He knew the younger man well enough by now - Tony was curious about something. After a while, the way Tony was watching him began to get on his nerves. With a sigh, he reached out to the young agent with his mind.
*What!?*
*Last night...*
Gibbs sighed. After their embarrassing sexual moment yesterday morning, he had been reluctant to cosy up to the younger man last night. No matter how strong the temptation was. At least he had kept his deepest desires hidden from Tony, locked away behind his strongest barriers. And Tony had avoided him for most of the day - and the night. No surprise there. Gibbs felt as if the ground beneath him had turned to quicksand - their relationship was that uncertain.
He had managed to get some uneasy sleep. At least until Tony's screams had woken him just before dawn. He hadn't intervened this time, though he had wanted to, and eventually, the young agent had emerged from his room, red-eyed and miserable. His conversation so far this morning had been monosyllabic and subdued, definitely not his usual, spirited self.
*We need to work things out Tony. This can't go on...*
*Yeah boss. I know. It's just that I hate to sleep alone. Every time I close my eyes...* He faltered.
*Tony?*
*I see Kate. I see her dying, over and over again.* Gibbs sensed a feeling of desolation sweep through his young subordinate. A pause. *Then something starts hunting me. It's not Kate but it has her face. It hates me...* He saw Tony shiver. *Every time I fall asleep it comes for me. Except when I'm with you. You make me feel safe*
Gibbs might have dismissed Tony's fears as ridiculous, but then he was reminded of how much suffering the young agent had been through in the past couple of months. The plague, Kate's death and now having his brain fried by the strange light they had been exposed to. No wonder Tony was falling apart. His protective instincts flared.
Their minds slid into the Link, Gibbs letting his strength and protectiveness enfold the young agent. It was more spontaneous this time, Gibbs reacting to Tony's vulnerability in the only way he knew, instinctively soothing his distress. After a few minutes, Gibbs sensed Tony relaxing, accepting his support. With a smile, he pulled out of Tony's mind. The young man had a natural resilience and humour that usually made it hard for him to stay miserable for long.
As he drew away, Gibbs mentally sent an image towards Tony of a hand smacking the back of his head, knowing Tony would sense the affection in the gesture. *Don't start thinking of me as warm and cuddly, DiNozzo. That would be a big mistake!*
*****
Tony could smell the city, even before he could see it. The stench of death. God knows how many people had died because of the Pulse. Tony shivered. A strong hand descended on his shoulder and briefly squeezed; Gibbs offering reassurance because he could feel Tony's unease. It still surprised Tony that Gibbs was willing to show him that he cared. And touching him more often: that was new and oddly reassuring.
"We were lucky," Gibbs said. "Though it didn't feel like it at the time." Tony nodded. They had both seen enough sickness and pain recently. As the lorry rumbled towards the checkpoint on the eastern edge of Washington, they had begun to see signs of the hell that had descended on Washington when the radiation blast had hit it. Deserted vehicles, some crashed or burned out, bullet holes in them, debris, broken glass covering the highway...
The lorry had pulled up at the barrier which stretched across the road. There was nothing makeshift or flimsy about the wood and barbed wire structure that blocked their path - complete with armed guards. Somebody high up in the chain of command was nervous about the thousands of people still alive in the city, that was for certain. Mutants, the driver had called them. Gibbs didn't really agree with the decision to abandon them; he could sense their misery and fear. It hung like a miasma over the city, for those who could sense it.
Gibbs was troubled. At first he had thought it was the signs of violence he could see all around them, but then it finally occurred to him what the real source of his unease was - there should have been refugees leaving the city - but the streets were apparently deserted as far as the eye could see.
The two agents climbed out of the lorry and headed to the checkpoint, and a few minutes later, they were heading downtown at a steady pace. Neither one of them was 100 percent fit yet, but they made good progress, at least for the first hour. The trouble came later.
"That's a big damn barricade!" Tony said quietly, staring at what blocked the road ahead, one of the main crossing routes across the Potomac. A big rig had been manoeuvred into place across the road along with a dozen cars and a whole lot more. (Tony noticed irrelevantly that someone in these situations always found the opportunity to dump a house full of chipboard Swedish furniture from a famous store.)
"Uh huh," Gibbs acknowledged. "We go round. This place is just right for an ambush!" The two of them turned, intending to try another route into the heart of the city.
Too late.
About twenty men had appeared silently from the shadowed doorways of the buildings behind them, trapping the two agents between their guns and the barricade. A small man stepped forward, apparently their leader.
"You're government. You aren't welcome here!" His voice was cold. There was an absolute certainty in his tone and Tony shivered as he realised that this guy was a telepath. He *knew* what they were.
Gibbs gave the guy the stare. The patent Gibbs "Don't fuck with me" stare.
"Why do you hate the government so much?" he asked.
His question seemed to enrage the little guy.
"Look around you! They just left us to die after the explosion fried the city. No food. No medical supplies. Oh yeah, and all the VIPs were evacuated but the poor were left to fend for themselves!"
"Just like New Orleans!" someone else yelled from the crowd.
"You think you were the only ones to suffer?" Gibbs snarled. "Get over it. Go do something to make things right instead of this crap."
The little man smiled coldly. "Welcome to the people's Washington. Mutants only in the city. Take yourself back to your government in exile. Washington is ours now. Oh yeah, and we'll take your guns, your coats and your shoes."
Gibbs gave a snort. "Maybe we're mutants too," he said softly.
Tony felt him reach out and their minds dropped into link with an ease that still surprised him. At once, the world seemed sharper and brighter. They had done this before for emotional support and need, but never before for defence. Tony saw what Gibbs wanted him to do immediately, if it was possible, sinceTony had been practicing using his ability. He grinned.
*Oh yeah. I can do that!*
Especially with Gibbs' strength to draw on as well as his own. He reached out with his new ability and seized hold of the lorry that formed part of the barricade, then *pulled*
The lorry rose about thirty feet straight upwards into the air and then began to drift towards their opponents
"Walk away!" Gibbs said in a voice carved from ice. He needn't have bothered, most of the men were already running in the opposite direction. The small man however stood his ground.
"So you're mutants too," he said. He made a gesture of invitation towards the city. "Welcome to New Washington, fellow mutants." There was a hint of mockery in his tone. "I hope you have the stomach for it!" Then his body flared with light and he vanished into thin air.
Tony let the lorry down slowly, then swayed a little unsteadily on his feet. He let out a long, shaky breath.
*He teleported!*
*I noticed.* Gibbs' mind-voice held awe. Then he sent an image along their Link that made the young agent gasp, even as he felt Gibbs' sense of wonder.
*Himself, lifting the lorry, his eyes glowing with light*
"I didn't know you could lift anything that big," Gibbs said. "I was hoping for a small car, maybe."
Tony grinned shakily, wiping away the small thread of blood that trickled from his nose. "Neither did I, boss. Apparently we have a lot to learn about this psi stuff," He swayed unsteadily and Gibbs put an arm around his shoulder to support him; his touch, as always, made Tony feel safer.
"C'mon, before they decide to come back."
They headed deeper into the city, crossing the Potomac, moving closer to their goal.
*****
Tony was exhausted. He had stumbled twice in the last five minutes and Gibbs could sense that his thoughts were less than alert. Gibbs frowned. At their present rate, it was going to take them hours to get to the Navy Yard. It wasn't just finding a way through the street barricades that slowed their progress. Sometimes Gibbs could sense watchers in buildings close by and he instinctively found himself avoiding those routes. The whole place set his nerves on edge, not least because of the dead - how many people had died lonely, agonising deaths?
He knew that if he hadn't been with Tony, both of them would have died. Only their support of each other - their strange new link - had saved them. He repressed a snarl with considerable effort. When somebody tried to kill Leroy Jethro Gibbs, they had better watch out. He didn't know who was responsible for the attack on his country, but he was going to find out and make them pay!
However, right now, he had other priorities. Tony was exhausted. The earlier confrontation had drained his already depleted reserves of energy.
Time to find a place to hole up for a while. A few hours rest wasn't going to make much difference to their friends after two weeks. Besides, if they met any more "mutants" he and Tony would need their strength.
With a wry grin, he headed for the nearest residential building and kicked the door open.
"C'mon, DiNozzo. Let's find a bolthole."
"Whatever," Tony mumbled. It was a measure of the young agent's exhaustion that he didn't comment on Gibbs' decision, just accepted it wordlessly. Gibbs having to break into someone's apartment didn't raise a response. The young agent just stumbled after Gibbs, up several flights of stairs until they found a place that overlooked the street. Just in case.
A quick search found some useful provisions, including a couple of bottles of "Sparkling Appalachian Spring Mineral Water." He seized on the bottles eagerly - he just didn't trust the water supply right now - and shoved a bag of cookies at DiNozzo.
"Eat something. You need the energy."
While Tony did as he was told, Gibbs checked out the rest of the apartment. For security, he shoved a piece of heavy furniture across the doorway. Paranoid maybe, but he wasn't going to take the risk.
He stared at the bed. It looked incredibly comfortable. It would be easy to relax there, with Tony curled up against him, warm, his mind purring with contentment. Except that...
No. He wasn't going to think about how good it felt to have Tony spooned up against him. That wasn't a place he wanted to go. So instead of the bed, he grabbed a great handful of blankets and headed for the big old couch that rested against one wall. Tony could have the bed if he wanted it.
The young agent had stumbled into the bedroom, so tired he could barely put one foot in front of the other. He had stared confusedly at Gibbs on the couch.
"Get some sleep, Tony." Gibbs' voice was gentle. Green eyes had stared miserably at him.
"I don't want to dream!" Tony said softly. His eyes pleaded silently for Gibbs to understand. The older man sighed. Well, at least on the couch there would be less temptation. He pulled back his blankets and Tony slid in next to him. It was easy to put his arm around the young agent and let Tony rest his head on Gibbs' shoulder. So once again, Gibbs found himself sleeping with his young subordinate. Well, at least this time, he could distance himself from the sweet temptation of Tony's body; a head on his shoulder was a fraction less intimate than the way their bodies had been tangled together the other morning.
This way, there was deniability. Though whether he was trying to convince himself or Tony, he wasn't sure.
*****
FEMA Memo #15256 Top Secret
Consequences to the general population of exposure to Omicron Radiation:-
Estimated deaths 23.7%
Estimated psi mutation 13.6%
Estimated number of the population significantly exposed - at least 3 million in Washington DC and the surrounding states.
It is expected that these casualty rates will quickly overwhelm federal aid networks. The large number of deaths has implications for the health of survivors. Without power supplies, and with water supplies subject to pollution, evacuation is recommended, except for high security areas such as the Pentagon, Bethesda Naval Base and the Quantico Federal Zone.
The President and his advisors have relocated to the secure underground bunker under a certain hotel in White Sulphur Springs.
*******
Gibbs woke abruptly from deep sleep, reaching for his gun, his mind instantly alert for danger. Something had woken him, and he had no idea what it was. The early morning light told him it was around 6 a.m. Tony was curled up next to him, the sound of his breathing slow and regular.
So it wasn't a nightmare of Tony's that had woken him. Gibbs frowned, even as his hand absently stroked the young man's tousled hair. What was it that had alerted him?
Silently, he detached himself from Tony and rose to his feet. Tony murmured something softly in protest but didn't wake. Gibbs moved towards the window that gave a view down the wide, tree lined avenue outside. He was careful however, to conceal himself so that an outside observer wouldn't notice him.
Below him, a dozen figures ran down the middle of the street. They moved oddly, synchronised, almost too pack-like to be human. Gibbs realised that he could feel a curious buzzing inside his head.
Whoever they were - young street gang members, most likely - they were linked. The same kind of link that he and Tony had, perhaps. Their movements were almost perfectly coordinated. He shook his head, bemused. The light that had burned in the sky had changed more than he had imagined. He thought that linking minds might be one way people had found to survive. Call it a survival strategy. It had worked for the two of them. Still, he had no desire to find out whether the "pack" below were hostile or not. Not without a good supply of weapons, just in case.
He took more care than he had previously, when he and Tony headed out of their temporary refuge. He was pleased to see that Tony's night of undisturbed sleep seemed to have revived him considerably. So it wasn't long before the young agent noticed how cautious he was being.
"You're being weird, boss!" Tony grinned at him. Tony being Tony, this earned him a Gibbs-glare.
"You want to explain that remark, DiNozzo!"
"The route you're taking to the Navy Yard. You're not taking the quickest route there. You care to explain why?"
Gibbs opened his mouth to do just that, then paused. Tony was absolutely right. He had avoided certain routes. But why, exactly. He hadn't really thought about it, just followed his instincts.
"Yeah," Tony acknowledged. Another grin. "Take the choice you made at the last intersection. Why did you choose to turn right, and not straight on?"
"Er..." Gibbs paused. "Because of the hotel halfway down the block."
"What about it, Tony said softly.
"There were men with guns inside, holed up in there. They're only trying to protect their families, but I didn't want to take the chance of them firing on us..." Gibbs said.
"And you knew this how?" Tony asked. "We certainly couldn't see them."
"I could feel them..." Gibbs said, then what he had just said sank in. God, he had been so slow on the uptake.
"In the pulp science fiction novels I used to read, they called that Far-sensing," Tony said quietly. "Though if you prefer a movie reference, I could say your spider sense was tingling! Ow!" He rubbed the back of his head and glared at Gibbs.
"Just so you know, DiNozzo. Nothing is tingling!" Gibbs scowled. "Though I get your point." A frown. "I didn't even realise I was using psi till you pointed it out. It's like the instincts a soldier uses to advance across a hostile zone, only more intense. I just know there's a threat there."
"I trust your instincts, boss." Tony's young face had turned serious. "Always."
"I know."
*****
Ten blocks later and Tony was beginning to wonder whether it would have been easier to hotwire a car. Except that the car electrical systems were all burned out, fried by the airburst of the mysterious weapon.
Damn. He would have preferred a pair of good trainers rather than his brand name shoes. They weren't the most comfortable shoes for long distance walking. Still twenty blocks to go. Well, maybe they would pass a sports shop. Abruptly, Gibbs froze again, sensing something close by. Tony looked at him expectantly. Then, for the first time in weeks, it seemed, Tony saw Gibbs relax and give a big grin.
"Cavalry's here, DiNozzo. You can rest easy."
The two of them rounded the corner and savoured the sight of the checkpoint manned by US Marines.
*****
End of part 3.
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