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He knew he was getting closer to Gibbs as he was starting to get a whiff of Gibbs’ scent mixed in amongst the stink of whatever else was in this cave. He still hadn’t found anything else in the cave. Well that wasn’t entirely true.
The entire cave was lined with dragon lilies. Normally, lilies smelled decently though most were toxic to cats, but the dragon lily smelled of rotting flesh. The smell was only supposed to last a day, so Tony guessed they were just especially unlucky or that Kasey had done something to the plant to make it’s stench last much longer when she planted it in this cave system. That’s assuming, of course, that she set up this cave and it wasn’t set up by someone else.
Tony was pretty sure his nose was going numb from this scent. He’d started to not be able to smell it and that scared him, especially as it meant he couldn’t smell Gibbs either. Nor could he sense Gibbs in their bond.
Still all he could do was go forward and hope that whatever awaited him wasn’t anymore deadly than the plants, which would kill him as a cat if he attempted to eat them which he would never do. After much walking, he finally reached the end of the cave. He hadn’t seen any sign of Gibbs with his eyes and wondered if he was barking up the wrong tree per se.
Still the cave had multiple places where he’d been forced to choose one of two paths, so maybe he chose wrong. With a sigh, Tony turned around and started back through the cave hoping he didn’t end up getting himself lost in this cave system. He spent hours searching and still no sign of Gibbs.
He had no idea where he had and hadn’t searched by this time and he was quite frustrated. He growled under his breath before deciding to chance it as he’d not seen any sign of any creatures in this cave and yelled Gibbs’ name. He listened really intently, hoping that Gibbs would answer back and he could follow that.
He did hear a meow back, but it echoed off the cave walls so badly that there was no way he could trace it back to the original owner. Tony frowned and contorted himself, so that he could reach into one of the packs and grab a pencil and a piece of paper. Gibbs was clearly in the cave with him, so he would draw a map of the cave, so that he could be sure he’d explored every part of it.
It was beyond tedious, but it was the only way to be sure he covered every inch of the cave system. When he found himself back at the entrance with a completed map and no sign of Gibbs, he wanted to scream. Of course, Kasey chose that exact moment to appear.
“He’s not here, you know?” Kasey cackled.
“Where is he?” Tony demanded.
“I shan’t tell you, though you could try begging.” Kasey informed with a smirk.
Tony considered it for a moment as he watched Kasey. Could she really be swayed by begging? If it would get Gibbs back, he would do it, but as he continued to examine Kasey he knew it wouldn’t work.
While she was attempting to appear open, he could see the hardness in the corner of her eye. She wasn’t going to give in. She was just trying to cover her obdurate nature for her own pleasure of watching him beg. “I don’t think so.”
Kasey actually pouted before vanishing. Tony shook his head. He had no idea what she was up to.
Of course, he was still no closer to actually finding Gibbs. Now, he didn’t even know where to start. With a sigh, he slumped down on the ground.
”Tony?”
“Gibbs?” Tony stood up and looked around. “Where are you?”
“Tony?” The voice repeated.
“I’m here, Gibbs. Where are you?”
“Tony?” The voice whimpered.
That’s when Tony realized it wasn’t Gibbs. It was a trick. Gibbs would never whimper like that. Still Gibbs was out there somewhere and it was up to Tony to find him. He just wished he knew how.
It was time to take a step back and reassess. It was time to invoke rule 3 and double check what he was told. Just because Kasey said Gibbs wasn’t in the cave, didn’t mean Gibbs wasn’t actually in the cave.
Tony had searched the entire cave, but now he wondered what he’d missed and what he’d taken for granted. He entered the cave, now questioning everything. He started with the dragon lilies.
What if they weren’t just there to cover up Gibbs’ scent, but to cover up something else too. While Tony had avoided the dragon lilies before, this time he peered closely at them. He looked behind them. He looked under them.
He didn’t find anything in the first section of the cave, but that didn’t stop him. He continued deeper searching with a fine tooth comb for any sign of Gibbs. After a few false paths, he finally found some footprints in the dirt behind one of the voodoo lilies.
He didn’t see any reason for footprints to be here, but he stepped closer and blinked in surprise as a section of wall opened. He walked into the room he’d discovered. A quick glance showed no Gibbs, but the room was far from empty.
There were papers stacked from floor to ceiling. Tony found that odd for a cave and couldn’t help wondering what he’d just gotten himself into. Was this related to Gibbs’ disappearance or had he just found a treasure trove of information that mattered little?
Tony picked a stack of papers and started looking at it. There was nothing here, but claw marks. What on earth was going on?
Why was there a room full of paper ripped by claws? How did the paper stay stacked up when all of it had been scratched? That was perhaps more mysterious then why the papers were all ripped.
Cats would be cats, after all. Though why the cave would have a room full of used paper from cats playing, Tony couldn’t fathom. Or wait… had they tried to keep Gibbs entertained and this was the result?