Don't own the caracters etc, etc. You know it, I know it. It's my first attempt on this kind of story, so I would be happy to know what you guys think.
Tony sighed and looked around in the huge cave. He had lost track of how many times they had come back to it. It seemed like it didn't matter which tunnel or passageway they chose to get out of it, or how many times they changed direction. The mountain just didn't want to let go of them. He just hoped that the others hadn't got lost either. On top of everything, it was no reception what so ever inside the mountain, so they couldn't contact anyone, and they couldn't be contacted or tracked. God, that sucked.
"Just admit it, Probie", he said to a very confused Tim. "We are lost."
"We are not lost, Tony", Tim protested as he turned their map around for the umpteenth time. "We are precisely... uhm... well, here."
"And where exactly is here, if I may ask?" asked Tony grumpily and sat down on a rock.
"That I am not sure of, but we're not lost."
Tony snorted and pulled out his water bottle from his backpack. He took only a mouthful before putting the bottle back. No-one knew how long they would be inside the mountain before they could find a way out, or someone found them, and he did not want to run out of water sooner than necessary.
He glanced at Tim and couldn't help thinking how cute the younger agent looked when he focused. He had always thought so, ever since the day they first met. He couldn't help but smile when he thought about how his heart had began to pound when Gibbs told them that he and Tim would team up in their search for the dead marine that was said to be in here somewhere. If it turned out that they really were lost, he couldn't think of another person he rather would get lost with.
Tim felt Tony's looks on him and then felt himself blush, to his own surprise. He had done that quite often recently whenever he was near Tony. His heart began to pound, followed by a familiar jolt in his stomach. As hard as it was to even admit it to himself, he did have a crush on the senior field agent. He just hoped that Tony never found out, or he would bugging him about it for the rest of his life.
Tim took a deep breath before settling his emotions under control and lowering the map.
"Come on", he said and folded the map. "Let's try again."
Tony nodded got up on his feet. He followed Tim out of the cave and hoped against hope that the Probie somehow could find a way that didn't lead back to the cave they just left. Then he sunk into his own thoughts until Tim suddenly came to a halt, causing Tony to walk straight into him.
"Ow! Look where you're going, Tony."
"Sorry. Why did you stop?"
"Listen."
Tony tilted his head and listened as hard as he could. All he could here was the sound of his and Tim's breaths – and from a distance the sound of running -
"Water?" he asked and looked at Tim, who nodded with a broad smile on his face.
"Then what are we waiting for? Come on!"
Both men started to run towards the sound and soon they were in a small cave whit a wee waterfall falling down into a shallow pool. Tony exclaimed with joy, knelt by the water edge and drank deep from cupped hands. It was by far the best water he had ever had.
"We better fill all our water bottles", he said. "We'll never know when we might find water again."
"Tony, I...", Tim began but let his voice trail off, worriedly biting his lower lip. Tony looked up, a bad feeling gnawing in his stomach.
"What, Probie? Come on, just spit it out."
Tim swallowed. "Well, I actually think we should stay here", he said hesitantly, like he was afraid that Tony would hit him.
"What?"
Tim sighed down and sunk down on the rocky ground. "You were right earlier. We are lost. If I just hadn't forgotten the compass."
Tony was just about to say something really mean, but stopped himself in the last second. It wouldn't do any good. Instead he sat down beside Tim and gave his shoulder a reassuring squeeze.
"It is not your fault, Probie", he said. "I forgot my compass too, remember? Seems like Gibbs will kill us both when he finds us, huh?"
Tim chuckled dryly. "Yeah."
Tony dig around in his backpack and pulled out a paper bag with sandwiches.
"You want one?" he asked. "It's turkey."
"Sure. Thanks."
Tim took the sandwich from Tony and took a bite.
"This is good", he said, sounding a bit surprised. "Where did you buy it?"
"What, did you think I can't cook?"
Tim blushed and looked embarrassedly away. "Yeah", he admitted. "Sort of. It's just that you don't really seem like the kind of guy who cooks."
"What makes you think that?"
"Well, you do eat a lot of junk food."
"And because of that, I can't cook? That only proves how little you know me."
"Maybe that's because you don't talk about yourself so much."
"Trust me. My lief isn't that interesting."
He stood up and walked towards the tunnel from which they'd come.
"Where are you going?" Tim yelled after him.
"To take a leak", Tony yelled back over his shoulder. "I'll be right back."
Tim sighed. Tony was really difficult to understand sometimes, even though he was a very simple man. For some reason he just refused to let people too close to him, emotionally. Sure, the entire team was like one big happy family, but Tim didn't really think that any of them knew thereal Tony, the person behind the jokes, the person he was outside the office.
Tim sighed again and unfolded the map, which he still held in his hands, and once again tried to find out where they might be.
"Why do you waste time on that thing?" Tony asked as soon as he got back. "We are lost. Just face it."
"Well, I thought that maybe I could figure out where we are now. Not many caves have water in them."
"But there are still more than one, right?"
"Yeah..."
Tony sighed and snatched the map out of Tim's hands and shoved down his backpack.
"Hey, what did you do that for?" Tim asked angrily.
"Tim, we can't run around down here forever. Let's just stay here and wait 'til someone finds us. Gibbs should know that we are missing by know. By the way, our batteries are running out. I think it's best that we get some sleep so we save them."
"I agree, but we should try and find a drier cave nearby. It's so damp in here that we would be soaked in a couple of hours if we sleep on this floor. I don't think that it would be good for any of us if one of us get sick, and you have still not recovered fully from the plague."
"You're right. Let's go."
This time, Tony led the way and soon they actually found a cave that was more or less dry. It was only a five minutes walk from the waterfall cave, so now they would be fine for a while.
The cave wasn't big at all, actually even smaller than a normal bedroom, but it was still big enough for them to stretch themselves out on the floor completely. Tim put his backpack down beside the cave wall and lied down. He watched while Tony did the same before turning off his lamp.
"Night, Tony", he said and pulled down his cap over his eyes.
"Night, Tim."
The darkness that fell upon them when Tony turned off his flashlight was almost so think that he could feel it pressing against him. In that moment he remembered that he hated this kind of darkness. He wasn't afraid of the dark when there was some light around him, but he had never liked it when he couldn't see anything at all. It made him feel more vulnerable than he liked. Every sound that came to him in the darkness was transformed in his imagination to something dangerous. When Tim suddenly cleared his throat in his sleep, Tony gave up a shriek of fear and turned his flashlight on again, panting and with his heart pounding wildly in his chest, like some panicked and caged animal.
"Tony, are you okay?" Tim asked worriedly and sat up,
"Of course I'm okay, Probie", Tony snapped, but even he could hear the sound of nervousness in his voice.
"Are you sure? You don't sound like you're okay."
"But I am okay, okay?"
Suddenly, Tim's flashlight began to shine and Tony saw Tim heaving himself up on his elbow, looking over at him with a worried frown on his brow.
"Tony?" he asked carefully. "Are you afraid of the dark?"
Tony thought about denying it, but changed his mind and nodded. He waited for Tim to start laughing, but his partner didn't make a sound to mock him. Instead he said:
"Tony, why didn't you tell me?"
"Would it have made a difference? I am not afraid of all kind of darkness, just this one when I can't see a thing."
"You still should have told me."
"It wouldn't made a difference. Now go back to sleep."
Tim frowned as he saw Tony lie back down and stare up on the ceiling. He felt that Tony just wanted to be left alone right now, but he wasn't going to do that.
"Tony, dark is just the lack of light, you know", he said carefully.
"You think, Probie?" Tony snapped in such a good imitation of Gibbs that Tim couldn't help but smile.
"You think it would be easier for you to sleep if I lay beside you?"
Tony sucked in air and held it. His heart began to pound again, but for a different reason this time. God knew how much he wanted it, but he was also afraid of what might happen. But he was tired and most of all he wanted to get some sleep, so if it meant sleeping next to Tim, so be it. He would just lay on his side and not move for the rest of the night. Yeah, definitely not moving. That would work, right?
He sight and gave Tim a sour look.
"If you touch me, I'll beat the freakin' daylights out you", he warned.
"Got it."
Tim got to his feet, picked up his back pack and put it down next to Tony. Slowly, he lowered himself down on the ground and sighed before turning his back on Tony. He actually wanted to turn around on his other side and put an arm around Tony's waist and hug him close, bury his nose in the nape of his neck and breathe in his scent all night. But that was not gonna happen. Ever.
"Do you think you can sleep now?" Tim asked over his shoulder.
Tony sighed heavily and rolled over on his side. "Maybe. Thanks, Tim."
"You're welcome. God night, Tony."
"God night."
The darkness fell over them for the second time. Almost immediately, Tony tensed his muscles, but soon he relaxed again when he felt the warmth from the body behind him. He closed his eyes and sighed with relief. He knew that with Tim watching his six, even though he was sleeping, he could feel completely safe, and it didn't take long before he was sound asleep.
So you've read the first chapter. Now please review and let me know how it was. And please tell me if you think I should update or not.
Review people!