Title: Snatched

Alternate Crack!title: Rule 40: The McGee Edition

Summary: They've rescued Jackson and gotten Gibbs' rule 40 situation under control. But now Tim has his own…and he's gone off grid. Someone has taken Abby and Sarah and is forcing Tim to choose between them. Can he save both girls? What will it cost him?

Written for: The NFA Community's Anticipating Season 8 Challenge.

Notes: S7 Spoilers, Finale Spoilers, Major hints of McAbby, slight Tiva undertones at points.

On the way back to NCIS headquarters from Stillwater, PA, Timothy McGee could breathe much easier than he had been able to for a 50-plus hour period. It was hard to believe that just over two days before he, Abby, Ziva, Gibbs, Vance, Ducky, and Jimmy had been celebrating Ziva's new status as an American citizen. At eleven, they had all met at Ziva's favorite restaurant following the ceremony, well Gibbs had met them there since he hadn't shown up at the ceremony. Neither had Tony and since no one had heard from him they were all worried. It was at noon that the call came into Gibbs' cell phone: Paloma Reynosa had Jackson Gibbs captured in his general store and would kill him unless Gibbs came. There was no chance of dissuading either him or Ziva from going along with Gibbs. They had raced to headquarters to grab their emergency bags and change into clothes that were more appropriate for what they were about to do.

Only Gibbs had been allowed inside of the general store so he and Ziva had set about setting up a perimeter and keeping everyone away from the area since they had no idea what was coming. They knew that only one side could leave the store alive and in the off chance that it was Reynosa who left Ziva would take the shot that would end her life. But twelve hours after the call came and six hours after Gibbs had gone inside alone it was the duo of Gibbs and Gibbs that exited the store. Ducky was already on his way with Palmer sine he had been called two hours prior and Tim called them to say that the body they would be picking up was Paloma Reynosa's. After taping off the door to the store and commandeering a local deputy to make sure no one entered unless they flashed an NCIS badge, Tim and Ziva headed to the hospital to check on their boss and his father. All of the elder Gibbs' fingers had been broken and Gibbs had been shot in the shoulder. It was a through and through but the doctors still wanted to keep him for awhile and he wanted to stay with his father for a day.

A few hours had passed before Ducky called with the news that he and Jimmy were nearing the large town with a hospital closest to Stillwater. Tim and Ziva met them on the highway to lead them to the store. He and Ziva went through the scene in an hour—bagging and tagging everything that needed to be bagged and tagged and taking all of the shots in an hour. They returned to the hospital and Ducky decided to ride back to HQ the following day, after all it was not like there was any rush to do the autopsy of the woman who had wanted to kill Gibbs. He would be with McGee, Gibbs, and the evidence so it would be Ziva and Jimmy with the body in the ME's truck. Not much happened while they waited to leave or on the ride back to DC.

Almost as soon as the car was in park Tim was clambering out and toward the trunk to grab the box of evidence to bring to Abby's lab. He was glad everything was almost over now—they only needed to know where Tony was and find out what had happened to Mike Franks. Once those mysteries were solved everything would be back to normal. There would be no more foreign cold cases involving any of the team, no more sudden trips to Mexico, and no more revenge bent leaders of drug cartels after them. He found himself in front of the lab and walked through the open door. He paused when he noticed the lack of music…that wasn't like Abby at all.

"Abby?" he called, "You here?"

He didn't get a response and so he pulled out his cell phone to call her again. He had called her when they were an hour away from arriving so there was no reason she shouldn't be here already. He walked around the table as his phone rang when he stepped in sight of the pneumatic doors to her office. They were closed but the glass in one of them was broken just enough for someone to step through. He ended the call to her cell and waked over. He could tell that the room itself was a mess. Her desk had been knocked over and both of her computer monitors were smashed on the floor as if they had been thrown at someone. Her chair had been dragged into the middle of the room and attached to it was a note.

She's not the only one missing McGee.

Tim sucked in a breath. This couldn't be happening, not now, not with the Gibbs situation, not with everything finally starting to be resolved, not with Tony MIA—Tony! Could Tony be other person that had been kidnapped? Or could someone have snatched Ziva when she had gotten back the day before? But why was this note addressed to him? He wasn't Tony, Gibbs, or Ziva—he didn't have enemies. He was the nice guy who everyone liked. He was brought out of his musings by the sound of his phone ringing. He answered it without thinking.

"McGee."

"Hi, Agent McGee, it's Elisabeth, y'know…Sarah's roommate? I'm a little worried because she's not here even though we had plans to watch a movie tonight and there's a note here that's addressed to you."

Tim paused. The bastard (or bitch his mind vaguely noted) was not only going after Abby, who he still loved mo matter what he told Tony, but his sister? This meant it was personal and had nothing to do with NCIS.

"Listen I'll be right over Elisabeth. Don't touch anything, alright?" he said pulling a Gibbs and hanging up before the other party could respond.

He quickly headed up to the bull pen to grab his car keys from his desk and then raced down to the parking lot. He made the sixty minute drive to Sarah's apartment in half the time—though he knew that if he'd told Ziva or Gibbs it would have been less than even that. He raced up to the fifth floor where her apartment was and knocked on the door.

"Elisabeth, its Tim, Sarah's brother." he called as his fist pounded on the wood.

The scared young woman opened the door and breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing Tim's face.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"I don't know." Tim responded, truthfully, "But I'm going to find out. You're safe I have no doubt about that."

He picked up the note with gloves that he had stashed in his pocket before leaving NCIS.

I have your sister AND the woman you're closest too.

Now what are you going to do, Agent McGee?

"Listen Elisabeth, in a couple of hours some agents from NCIS are going to be here to take fingerprints. You can trust them. Make sure that one of the agents is Special Agent Ziva David. If she's not with them say that you have to speak to her and have them call her. Tell her this: emergency emergency spot. It's a code that only she and one other person besides me will understand. If one of the agents is Senior Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs just tell him that you need to speak to Ziva. If he asks just tell him I said plausible deniability. Can you do that?" Tim asked.

"Yes. Ziva David. Emergency emergency spot." Elisabeth repeated.

"I have to go now. Don't touch anything you don't have to touch."

With that Tim raced back down the stairs to his car and sent a text to Ziva.

Back at NCIS headquarters Ziva David was awaiting…something to do. Since he wasn't in the bullpen she assumed that Tim was down in the lab with Abby helping her and Gibbs was nowhere to be found. So Ziva sat behind her desk wondering if she should just head home since it was nearly 6 and she hadn't even needed to come in. She had just stood up and was facing the elevator when a familiar head poked out of it and beckoned her over. She walked in and once the elevator started moving she reached out and hit the emergency stop switch.

"Where have you been?" she hissed.

"Vance sent me on a mission that couldn't wait." Tony said reaching a hand out to place on her arm. "I pleaded with him to let me leave after your ceremony but he wouldn't listen. Said that he needed someone on it right then and I was the only person for the job."

"You have missed a lot more than my ceremony." She replied, "What did he send you to do?"

"I had to follow that federale. The one who Gibbs and Vance were setting up. But I do have some good news for Gibbs. Franks is alive. He…ah…took over….my tail. What did I miss?"

"You missed the head of the Reynosa Cartel trapping Jackson in his store. He took over your tail?"

"Is he alright? What about the Boss? Do we have her in custody? He plans on killing the federale."

"She tortured Gibbs and Jackson by breaking all of Jackson's fingers…but other than that he is fine. Gibbs was shot once in the shoulder but he is fine. We have her…in autopsy. Jimmy and I brought her back yesterday. How can he shoot? He is missing his trigger finger."

"Franks claims he can shoot with his thumb." Tony said turning Ziva to face him. "I really am sorry about missing your ceremony Zi. You have to know that I wished I was here watching you take that oath and not tailing Alejandro…even if I did get to wear a Hawaiian shirt for that assignment."

"I understand, Tony. I was more worried than angry at you as it was. I knew that something was up when Vance asked you to come into his office." She said as her phone began ringing.

She pulled the device out of her pocket to find a text message from Tim.

"This is very bad. We have to tell Gibbs." she said looking up at Tony with wide eyes filled with worry.

"What does the message say?" Tony asked.

Ziva turned the screen of the phone to face him. He already had a sinking feeling in his gut and it only increased after reading the text.

"Not again so soon." He said re-reading the message.

To: Ziva David

From: Tim McGee

5/27/10 17:54:10

Going off grid. Abby and Sarah kidnapped. Rule 40.