A/N: Originally written November 2007. Yet another NFA Skills Challenge oneshot. This one was to work on developing suspense. You can decide whether or not I succeeded.

Disclaimer: Still don't own NCIS. Still not making money off my stories. 'Nuff said.

The Maze
by Enthusiastic Fish

He opened his eyes and couldn't see anything. It was hard to breathe. There had been a moment where he thought he knew, but the moment was gone, replaced by this maze.

It was a long corridor, the walls featureless, smooth as marble. The darkness was complete, a defect in his eyes or in the lighting, he wasn't sure. There was nothing there but himself... and that was terrifying... because something else was there. Someone or something was watching him. It was as if he was a rat in a maze, but the end of this maze would not be a reward, it would be death. He could feel it. He knew it was coming. Death was everywhere; the air was saturated with it. For a long time, who knew how long, he sat curled in a ball on the floor, as featureless and smooth as the walls. The silence broken only by his harsh breathing. He couldn't move. He couldn't think. He just lay motionless, praying that he woke up from the nightmare.

"McGee..." The whispered word echoed from every quarter and sent shafts of fear rushing through his body; his hair stood on end and he shivered as though against the cold.

Who is it? Who... what is here? he asked himself, afraid to break the silence with his own voice. The corridor was still there, of unknown length, unknown threats at every turn, at every inch. The corridor was just wide enough that he couldn't touch both walls with his hands. He would have to choose one or the other.

...Or he could stay where he was and hope for rescue from an unknown savior.

"McGee..." The voice seemed to be right in his ear and he surged to his feet, backing away from the unseen presence until he hit the wall.

Who... who are you? he thought.

The voice was right at his ear again. "I am Death."

His breathing sped up and he backed away from the voice, into the opposite wall.

"There's no escape..." The whispering voice echoed through the corridor.

Tim's sanity broke and he began to run. One hand trailed along the wall as he fled from the voice, from the threat that haunted him. The darkness continued, as oppressive as the silence had been when he had first awakened. Without warning the corridor ended; Tim's hand flailed against empty air for a fraction of a second and then he collided with the wall... hard. He fell to the ground unconscious, briefly grateful for the respite.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

He dreamed.

Light shone on him from every angle, a soft natural light, not coming from any identifiable source. Just the light. He lay on his back on a rock, looking up at the empty sky, a soft breeze ruffling his hair.

"McGee..." This time, the whispered voice was not a threat. It was a searching voice. Someone looking for him, someone who had missed him. "Where are you?"

Tim sat up and looked around, trying to find the source of the voice. The light began to dim, the breeze slackening to nothing.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

He opened his eyes in the darkness.

He reached out his hand... and touched nothing. Slowly, deliberately, he sat up and turned around, reaching his hand out to its fullest extent, trying to find an anchor, half-afraid that he would touch... something else. There was nothing.

"McGee..." The voice was back. Whispering, dangerous... Death.

Tim stood again, spun in a circle. He stepped one way and then the other.

A mocking laugh echoed through the darkness. "No escape... no escape..."

Fighting the panic, the sheer terror, Tim put his hands out in front of him, like a zombie, and began to walk, praying that he'd reach the wall again. He seemed to walk for hours, touching nothing. He started to hyperventilate and tried to hold back the tears.

"Nowhere to run... nowhere to hide..."

Tim spun around to confront the voice in his ear, his hands still extended.

He touched nothing. He backed away... and hit a wall. Immediately, he spun back around, grasping at its smooth, cold surface. He slid down it to the floor, tears flooding down his cheeks. He drew his knees to his chest and sat with his back against the wall.

There was someone there... near to him... so close. He could feel the warmth from the nearby presence. He began to shake with fear. Was Death so near? Timidly, he reached out his hand...and felt nothing.

"There's only me..." Death whispered in his ear.

Tim jumped up and ran away again. Running with no guide as he left the security of the wall. He ran and ran, all the while feeling Death pursuing him. Through the darkness, Tim ran, trying to escape something he could not see. Again, a wall stopped his progress and he fell senseless to the ground.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

He dreamed.

His eyes were still closed, but he could see the light leaking through his lids. There was a feeling of safety, of love.

"Come back..."

Back where? Tim thought. I need someone to come to me.

Again, the light faded to darkness.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

In the dark, Tim reached out for the wall and felt its comforting presence. He pulled himself unsteadily to his feet and began to walk, one hand on the wall, searching.

"What do you think you'll find, McGee?"

The mocking voice, whispering in his ear.

"Give up. You can't win... there's no prize... there's nothing but me..."

Tim whirled around...and touched...something. He whirled back and began to run from that definite presence. Only Death was here. He could hear its pursuit behind him, gaining, always gaining.

Then, he ran headlong into...Death... He fell to the ground, momentarily stunned. He felt Death reach out for him.

"No matter how far you run... you always come to me..."

"No!" Tim screamed, making a sound for the first time since he had woken in the darkness.

He felt a hand on his arm.

"No!"

Death began to pull him closer.

"I am the only way..."

"No!" Tim fought Death, fought with every ounce of strength he had against that iron grip.

"You can't fight Death..."

"No!" Tim shouted desperately.

Suddenly, there was a blaze of light, so bright he was as blind as he had been in the darkness. Death's grip weakened.

Then, the darkness was back and Death pulled him closer.

"No one beats Death..."

Another blaze of light and Tim felt as though he was on fire. Death screeched in pain and anger, its voice no longer a mocking whisper.

"Come back, Tim..."

Another voice. The darkness was not so complete as it had been. Death was a discernable dark shape.

"No, you are mine!" Death said and stepped toward him, bringing the darkness closer.

Tim backed away...into other arms. Death was still in front of him, but the other arms were holding him.

"No!" Tim said again. He felt weaker than he had been before.

"Come on, Tim... You can do it!"

Death began to fade away, taking the darkness with it. "You can never win against Death!" it said softly, its voice fading along with the darkness. "You can only get ahead for a moment. I always win in the end." Then, Death was gone.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Tim opened his eyes.

"That's it, Tim. Stay with me, now. Come on; stay with me."

Tim felt hands on his shoulders, hands holding his own hands, pain along every inch of his body.

"Where did it go?" Tim breathed, his voice barely more than a whisper.

"What, Tim?"

"Death... it was here...in the dark..." Tim's eyes shifted around, still not seeing clearly.

"No, Tim." The voice sounded frightened. "Death isn't coming for you today."

"He...he did."

"No." That was Gibbs speaking.

Tim looked above him and saw Tony and Ziva, both frightened. He looked to the side and saw a paramedic packing away a defibrillator.

"What..." He couldn't say the words.

"You fell, Tim. Austin shot you and you fell out the window."

"Got...him?"

"Yeah."

Carefully, the paramedic began to prepare Tim for transport now that his heart was beating again. Pain exploded in his head as the paramedic, Tony, and Ziva began to shift him to the stretcher. He took a deep painful breath.

"Sorry, McGee," Ziva murmured. "You'll be okay now."

Tim reached out for a hand, something stable against the madness. "Keep it away..."

"What?"

"Keep Death away," Tim said as his eyes closed.

"We will, McGee," she whispered. "Death won't find you. Not this time."

FINIS!