Tim's mind blanked.
*Go - just GO*
His internal mantra echoed as he put one foot in front of the other, running with energy he knew he didn't have.
*Go - just GO*
He didn't bother to glance at his watch - either they would make it in time or they wouldn't.
*Go - just GO!*
He didn't look back to see if they were being pursued; it didn't matter - he wasn't sure many bullets were left in his clip. He had shot their assailants with blind adrenaline and there had been no space for something as simple as tracking bullets. He may have shot two or sixteen, he honestly didn't know.
*Go - just GO!*
He forced himself not to get his hopes up or focus on how their luck seemed to have suddenly changed. Being given access to a computer, Gibbs getting the knife, Ellie calling, the alarm going off at the right time, the sound of the approaching helicopter - it was too good to be true.
*Go - just GO!*
He doggedly followed Gibbs as they turned up the next flight of stairs, not questioning if the older man knew where he was going or not. Up was a good enough direction for him.
*Go - just GO!*
He refused to allow the sudden brush of fresh air to falter his steps, nor the first sight of unobstructed sky, nor the light of the incoming helicopter.
*Go - just GO!*
Was Gibbs hesitating? Why? Did he see something? Know something? Tim didn't stop. Pushing up the stairs at the same pace, his body prodded his boss to keep moving forward.
*Go - just GO!*
He didn't pause to try and evaluate the men who were shouting from the helicopter or process what they were saying as they urged him across the deck of the old ship. "¡Venga! ¡Venga! ¡Darse prisa! ¡Vamonos! ¡Te tenemos! ¡Venga!"
*Go - just GO!*
He didn't question it when Gibbs stopped short and turned, gesturing for him to board the helo first. He just raised his arms and allowed himself to be pulled inside.
*Go - just GO!*
His legs collapsed underneath him and he barely managed to get up and collapse back on to one of the canvas benches before the Paraguayans had pulled Gibbs in to the spot he had just vacated.
"GOOD?" The pilot shouted back.
Tim looked out the door to the ship that had been their prison, then down to his boss who was still laying across the floor, catching his breath and blinking rapidly with his one good eye.
McGee nodded, to the crew "Go - Just GO!"
**A/N – The Linen Closet Metaphor is one commonly used in therapy with trauma victims; if a mind is a linen closet and memories are sheets, trauma is like a crumpled quilt that has been tossed in, disrupting the order of the whole cabinet. You can close the doors, but it's still a mess inside until you take out each rumpled sheet and attentively go over it and refold it to restore order.
This story starts with the escape from Paraguay and follows McGee & Gibbs on their trip back to the US and back to normalcy prior to the first scene of the second episode of season 15. It's going to dig in to a lot of what is implied in that second episode. It is *not* tied to my other story 'Blame'.
Chapters are grounded in either McGee or Gibbs' point of view; it doesn't exactly alternate every other chapter but it gets close - the title will indicate who we're following for the chapter. Most of the other characters will be mentioned or make guest appearances or cameos through the story. This sticks to canon best I can so no worries about surprise twists and appearances.
Some chapters are short, some are long; it's about 85% written and is sitting at about 30,000 words with some beta'ing still being done. It's all one word document so I am not even sure of how many chapters but it will be posted at roughly 1 chapter a day for a few weeks. Feedback always welcome. Thank you!
~ Terry **
PS! The cover art for this story is by Spec. Angel Espino and was done in a program which uses art to help service members dealing with trauma to express themselves.