The clock changed from 1:43am to 1:44am and Tim was still awake, still sitting in his desk chair and staring off into space. He had been there for almost two hours and his back was beginning to cramp from the position. Going to bed, though, he knew would be no help; he had tossed and turned for an hour before giving up and coming out to the living area. He wasn't sure why he thought that would help. It was only making it worse, forcing him to think about the situation.

He spun the chair around restlessly. He caught sight of his degrees, framed and hanging on the wall. Bachelors in Biomedical Engineering from Johns Hopkins. Masters in Computer Forensics from MIT. With degrees like that and his skills with computers and technology, he could be working for some high end company, earning six figures easy.

Tim shook his head at the last thought. This wasn't about the money. It was about the work. He had always enjoyed working for NCIS, especially on Gibbs' team. Even through the hazing and teasing and taunting, it had been a great job, one he considered himself lucky to have. Now, though, he felt himself growing restless and doubtful and…well, bored. Maybe it was because at first, it all had seemed so exciting for him, like a young boy watching an action movie. The guns and the chases, the criminals and the interrogations…it all gave him such an adrenaline rush.

Now, after six years of doing the same thing day in and day out, the rush was wearing off and he felt so useless.

Why had he wasted all those years in college and not really put them to use? His computer skills were used, certainly, but not to the extent he knew they could be. The only time he got that same adrenaline rush anymore was when he was asked to hack another agency.

Tim would never admit it to anyone, but his time spent in the Cyber Crimes Unit cracking that code for Vance had been the most exhilarating time he'd had in a while. Sure he missed the team and was relieved when they were all reassembled again. Cyber Crimes had been drafty, the workers, while nice, far too clingy for Tim's taste; but the code, that wonderful and complex code! It had pushed Tim and had challenged his skills in a way that they hadn't been challenged in quite some time.

He spun his chair around again and leaned against the desk, his chin resting atop his folded arms. It was 2:00am now. What time would it be in L.A., he wondered. He calculated it would be 11:00pm, the same time it had been in D.C. when he'd tried to go to bed.

He hadn't returned to the NCIS headquarters in L.A. since his trip there with Gibbs the previous year, though he'd thought about his experience there often. Much like his first couple of years at NCIS, his time spent in L.A. had been exciting and new. An entire team who did undercover work, the very notion that at any moment something could go wrong, and techno toys—God, how he loved using those gadgets! It gave him that adrenaline rush he had so missed. Best of all, not a single person on that team even thought about calling him a geek. They all saw him as an equal and a kindred spirit. They were his kind of people.

When he and Gibbs left, the idea of staying behind in L.A. hadn't even occurred to Tim. Sure, the visit had been great and he had briefly considered smuggling a couple of the gadgets out beneath his shirt, but D.C. was his home and the team was his work family. L.A. had been a fun and exciting vacation from the norm, but then it was back to work as usual.

Tim thought back over everything. He thought back to his FLETC training and how excited he'd been at the idea of being part of law enforcement. He thought back to his first day at Norfolk, his first real case, and his first time working with Gibbs. He thought back to the day he was promoted to a full time agent (albeit a probationary full time agent). He thought back to his first time shooting a gun…his first time hitting his mark…his first time killing someone. Events which had been so emotional at the time now did little to affect him.

The minutes ticked by on the clock and Tim was no sooner to ending his thoughts than he had been hours earlier. Eventually, his tired mind and body forced his eyes closed. As he slept there at the desk, his head cradled in his arms, his mind was still racing.

Even in sleep, he got little rest.

AN: This was written for the Ending Seven Challenge, the point of which was to try and guess how Season Seven of NCIS will end. This is by no means a true depiction of how it will end, just my own idea of how I kind of hope it will end. One of the challenge requirements was that the story end with a cliffhanger (as the season finales so often do) so this will have a cliffhanger. That said, I'm already working on a sequel to resolve the cliffhanger, so no, I'm not going to leave you guys hanging there.

The story is already finished. As per usual, one chapter a day!