Chapter 8 – How?

"Sir, can you hear me?"

McGee blinks repeatedly and lifts his hand to bat away a hand touching his forehead. He finally is able to fix his gaze on the cashier's face, which was hovering over his own.

"What's happened?"

She supports an arm around his neck and slowly helps him to sit down, and he is surprised to see the destruction around the restaurant.

"A car crashed outside… and it blew up shortly afterwards. Police and firefighters are already outside."

McGee gingerly touches the back of his head and finds a bump with a heavily bleeding cut. He looks around and sees several people with bruises and cuts, and he immediately remembers that his team was standing outside just a few seconds before the crash.

His first instinct is to stand up and run outside, but he is too dizzy to stand up on his own so he needs to be helped by the cashier. He puts most of his weight on her, until they both struggle to stand up on shaky legs.

"Are you sure you should be standing up? The paramedics will want to check you out."

"No…" He starts to walking in trembling steps towards the door - or at least what was left of it - and the scene he finds outside is horrifying. He gulps at the metallic smell of blood and gore and feels like weeping as he sees someone's hand with a sparkling diamond right in front of him, peeking from under a white sheet.

There are other bodies also covered with sheets, but he can't guess at first who might be under it so he immediately starts hyperventilating as images of his friends' broken bodies start flashing before his eyes.

He looks around and finds Ducky who slowly stands up from his kneeling position on the floor beside a badly wounded man and approaches him, while the paramedics take the last struggling victim to the ambulance. Ducky's hands and shirt are red, silent testimonies of the life and death struggle which happened just a few seconds before.

"My lad, how are you?"

Ducky asks with concern, noticing how McGee supports his back against the wall, using it to keep standing.

"Alive, apparently. What's happened? Where's the team?"

Ducky turns and his gaze lands on the team, standing on the other side of the road. McGee follows the direction of his gaze and sighs relieved when he finds Ziva, Tony and Abby talking with Gibbs. Something makes them glance toward his direction and the relief on their faces can be seen from across the street.

He walks in wobbly steps around the CSIs and the body bags and approaches them, holding his ground as Abby runs to his side and makes him victim of one of her rib breaking hugs as soon as he is in an arm's distance.

"Timmy! Thank God you are okay!"

McGee's gaze lands on Ziva, who is shivering under a blanket given by one of the medics.

"Are you guys okay?"

His question is answered with soft nods and grunts.

Gibbs' gaze meets his and studies him, trying to find any serious wounds but finding only minute cuts resultant of the glass showering over him.

"You okay?"

"Yeah… I think so."

Fornell, who had gone to speak with the officer responsible for the scene, returns with a very sour expression on his face. He salutes each NCIS agent before turning to Gibbs, his sadness almost palpable.

Gibbs signals to Fornell and both men take a few steps away from the younger agents, so Fornell can give Gibbs his report.

"The groom is dead. Two female agents from Counterterrorism are dead too. Special Agent Nikki Jardine was taken to the hospital but… her state is delicate. She might not make it."

Gibbs points to the direction the last ambulance went, taking the man Ducky and Palmer, along several paramedics had fought bravely to save the fragile life inside it. "What about that guy?"

"Friend of the groom. Badly wounded too. Only time will tell."

Gibbs turns to his team, who is silently hugging and celebrating being alive, weary of those who had died in that day.

"How did you escape?"

The agents look at each other for a moment, aware that it had been just sheer dumb luck that had saved their lives, a second more standing on that curb and…

"It was a parapraxis, Boss." McGee says, his arm going around Ziva's shoulders and bringing her against his side, not willing to let go until his shaking (or was it hers?) stopped.

"It was just a parapraxis."

There's no escape
from death's embrace,
though you lead it on
a merry chase.