Author's Note: Hello, NCIS fandom. This will be my first venture into your world, though I have been a fan since day one. I don't know why it's taken me so long to write one of these but it may have to do with the fact that the season opener had so much potential. I just couldn't leave it alone. I've read several other stories similar to mine so if any of you are offended by similarities, just know I started writing this before I read anyone else's.

Warnings and Thoughts: This is basically a companion with slight changes. Mostly this story fills in missing scenes from the premier and maaaaybe amplifies a few aspects. For the most part, though, it's cannon to what actually happened. That being said, there are major spoilers from 10X1 so keep that in mind. Otherwise... maybe a few mild swear words and topics (injuries) but nothing you wouldn't see in the actual show. That's kind of my policy. Finally, I jump alternate POV's but it's always clearly separated and stated whose eyes your seeing things through. Just wanted to give a fair warning ;)

Anyway, I hope others enjoy it and that's about it!

In hindsight, it may have been a better idea to get out sooner. It wasn't that Timothy McGee liked danger or racing against time, he simply knew the importance of securing the information on Dearing, especially now that everything was progressing so quickly. However, as he felt burning shards of glass pierce his body as he went airborne, he couldn't help but acknowledge the irony that he was going to die trying to get information that, most likely, no one would ever see.

But as his body slammed into the unsteady ground, those thoughts immediately became pictures of the people he most cared about. His family, yes, but given that his closest friends were all in the same building, Tim felt as though the weight of the world came crashing down on him along with parts of the room itself. Were they okay? Abby, Tony, Ziva, Gibbs…

He could feel parts of his body erupting in pain and wondered what was happening to him but ultimately decided it didn't really matter. As the heat from the blast worked to soothe him in an unexpected way, McGee allowed himself to fade away with one final hope that even if he was taking his last breaths, everyone else he cared about would be okay.

The moments following the blast were not a blur. Gibbs had been through enough situations like this to keep a clear head and a clear goal. He had to protect Abby and as he felt her squirm beneath him, he knew she was alive, if nothing else. He rolled away from her, hearing the glass crunch with his movements and took a quick inventory of his own body. Pleased to see that everything seemed to be in working order, he pushed himself up until he was finally on his feet. He swayed for a moment with the sudden head rush, but he knew he had to get Abby out of there.

He looked down and realized that while the worst visible injuries on her were some shallow cuts, she did seem to be in shock. Feeling the heat of the fire in the SUV still burning and the fact that the building could be highly unstable, he unfortunately didn't have time to ease her out of her current state.

"Come on, Abby," he said quickly as he grabbed her arms and pulled her up. She stumbled and seemed to be trying to focus, which was a good sign. "We have to get out of here."

She scrunched her eyes up for a minute but wouldn't move. "Where…? Everyone…?"

"We'll find them, Abs," he stated firmly, not giving himself the opportunity to question that statement, "But we gotta go. Now."

As he half pushed her out of the building, he was thoroughly pleased to see nobody else in that part of the structure. That meant chances were good that there were minimal causalities, also meaning that his team had a good chance.

As soon as they made it outside, however, chaos surrounded them. Sirens were already filling the air as various rescue and response vehicles barreled in. There were people everywhere, some untouched, others bleeding from assorted injuries. Most of the injuries around them seemed to be fairly superficial but Gibbs was also vaguely aware of more seriously wounded victims as well.

Gibbs continued on and pushed Abby forward to a spot far enough from the building that she would be safe and had her sit down. She looked utterly lost but after doing a more thorough look at her, he felt more certain that she had received no major damage.

Gibbs turned away from her then and took in his surroundings more carefully. It seemed like rescue vehicles were still pulling up on a near-constant basis. Listening closer, Gibbs could hear a helicopter approaching. He knew the SecNav would be arriving shortly and knew that the general chaos that filled the air would not be dying down for a while.

Gibbs turned back to Abby.

"Abs, you with me?" he asked her as softly as he could, trying to silence the sense of urgency that was wanting to push through.

She looked up at him with deeply troubled eyes and nodded in response. And, as much as it pained him to leave her like this, he knew she was currently beyond his help and he still desperately needed to find the rest of his team.

"I have to go," he told her calmly, "I have to find the others."

She looked away from him then and nodded again. He couldn't quite get a read on her and that worried him. He quickly kneeled down before her and waited until her eyes met his.

"It'll be okay, Abby."

She bit her bottom lip then shook her head and replied, "You don't know that. You see that?" she continued, gesturing to the badly damaged building behind her. "If Tony and Ziva and Tim were in there… They're probably d…"

"Enough, Abby," Gibbs interrupted. He knew she was hurting and knew she was caught up in a dark place, but they needed hope right now more than anything.

"We do not give up on them, you understand me?" he stated with more force than before.

She stared at him for a moment before nodding. "Go," she said simply, "Find them."

Gibbs grabbed her shoulder and said, "Have someone check you out ASAP," before beginning his search around the perimeter of the building.

End Note: So, as I said and as you can see, it's mostly filling in things that we either didn't see or can't really see in the show itself. Sometimes it will be actual scenes from the episode, mostly it's things we didn't see but could have happened. Also, this chapter was short but don't be misled... the story is already at 6 thousand words and I'm still going strong. Finally, if you haven't noticed, I'm a McGee fan and yes, I was highly upset with how the so-called "storyline" in this episode played out for him. So... I had to write this to fix it in my own mind. Anyway, thanks for reading and expect another chapter soonish!