Hey peeps. depressing stuff but I hope it makes for good reading.


Flash-forward

"I'm afraid Timothy didn't survive. He died about 10 minutes after he was brought in"

From the second Gibbs opened his eyes he had a gut feeling.

He stared at the ceiling wondering what this feeling could possible symbolize. He lifted the sheets of his bed, got up and started getting ready for another normal day at NCIS: gearing up, getting involved in a case, solving it and then taking the murderer down while at the same time dealing with Tony's frat-boy persona, Tim's super-glued hands and Ziva's failure at idioms.

Then, unexpectedly, he remembered the events of the previous day…

18 hours previously…

Stakeouts. Most agents loved them. All that you did was eat, sleep, and watch endless amounts of people who could be their suspect living out their daily routines. It was an effective way of getting evidence. Team Gibbs, however, were completely put off by stakeouts last year after seeing the same routine day in, day out, and not getting anywhere only to find that they had been outwitted by the simplest of computer technology.

This stakeout was simple: use a witness as bait to get to the serial killer. Well, it seemed simple enough. At midday on this fine, sunny Monday, it was Tony watching the house across the street from them and Tim actually staying in the house with Annie while she lived out her normal life as if things were normal. She had witnessed the murder of her best friend by a man who targeted red-headed women who were in the Navy. Even though this witness was a brunette, she had been sent threatening e-mails and phone calls.

Annie hadn't really taken to Tim. She was sat in the couch reading her favourite book, while Tim was on his laptop. He was a bit jealous really; Tony had got on with her really well, as did Ziva and Gibbs. Gibbs was particularly taken by the case since he had a soft spot for red heads.

"So, what are you reading?" asked Tim who was trying to get at least a conversation out of her.

"Behind the Scenes at the Museum by Kate Atkinson. Its really good." She replied with obvious look of annoyance since she was trying to read.

Tim nodded back and looked carefully at her bookself. There were lots of interesting reads: Intimacy by Hanif Kureishi. Time Stops for No Mouse by Michael Hoeye. Tim continued to look at the different books on display when he noticed something he wasn't expecting and he gave a slight chuckle.

Deep Six by Thom E Gemcity.

"I figured I recognized you from somewhere" she said without lifting her eyes from the book.

Tim smiled at her, "so what's the verdict?"

"I thought it was one of the worst books I have ever read. My Dad got it me for Christmas. I knew exactly who committed the murder after the first chapter and it was one of the least realistic books I have ever read"

"Fair enough" Tim answered back. He appreciated people's opinions. Not everyone likes even the best movie or book. There is always someone who doesn't like it.

"I'm getting a migraine" Annie complained. I'm gonna have a lie down.

"Okay"

As she walked out of the living room. Tim got out his walky-talky.

"Tony she's going to have a lie down keep yourself on the bedroom window okay?"

"whatever you say Probie! Wanna trade places?" Tony joked.

Tim rolled his eyes. Only Tony…

Gibbs stood at the front of the queue of the coffee house patiently waiting for his trusty large cup. His mind had been on Tim all morning. The feeling in his gut wouldn't go away. It was then that he decided to go round to his place before going to work. He always turned up too early for work anyway…

12 hours previously…

Tim could hear his name being called. It sounded like a woman.

"Mum! Five more minutes!" he called out. His name was shouted again, this time it sounded more like a screem.

Then with a striking sense of apprehension he fully woke up remembered where he was. He looked at his watch: 6pm. Tim swore under his breath. How could he have fallen asleep on protection detail?

He lifted himself off the couch and walked to the hall, he went for his gun when he discovered his holster empty, as well as a missing walky-talky. "dammit!"

He heard a voice coming from Annie's room, a voice that didn't sound at all friendly. So he grabbed a baseball bat that was lying in a corner and went in shouting "freeze! Federal Agent!".

The image he saw when he crashed in was an image that would not leave his memory for years to come. He saw 2 men savagely stabbing Annie's already lifeless body. Even when they stopped and stared at Tim, he just stood there, frozen at what he saw, as if his body just decided to ignore is brain and do what it wanted for itself.

The men reacted. And the last thing Tim remembers was a being tackled to the ground and feeling a sharp pain to his head.

The rest of the evening went pretty badly for Tim. After being shaken awake by Ziva, he saw the faces of Tony and Gibbs and feeling their eyes penetrating him like sharp knives. He stood up and looked to the bed and saw the bloody body of Annie being looked at by Ducky. And that was when he saw the killer's calling card: a number 4 carved many times onto her back, marking her as the 4th victim.

Understandably, Gibbs was furious and after a long, heated argument between the whole team which consisted Tony defending him, Ziva trying to come up with an explanation and Tim practically not saying anything except when Gibbs asked him a question, Gibbs finally yelled at him to leave and never come back. Before he did he helped sketch out the men he saw and Abby had informed them that Tim was not sedated and/or drugged although there was he chance it could have metabolized quickly. Gibbs didn't listen. Even Vance thought it was harsh to just tell him to go, so he called Tim to give him his own team, which he gladly accepted.

Gibbs drove onto Tim's street and looked up at him apartment building. The first thing he noticed was that his Porsche Boxter was still in the car park. Strange, thought Gibbs, he should have left by now.

The feeling got even worse and that's when he realised, the feeling wasn't his way of telling him it was wrong for firing Tim, but something much, much worse…

In the bullpen, Tony stared at Tim's desk. The chair was being occupied by Abby, who swore that she wouldn't talk to Gibbs until Tim was sat back in that chair. That was when Tony got the call:

"DiNozzo", he answered.

"DiNozzo, gear up and get to Tim's apartment, now!" yelled Gibbs from the other end.

The younger man answered back, "but why boss has something happened?"

But he never got an answer as Gibbs hung up pretty quickly. Something HAS happened, he thought. Gibbs never calls Tim by his first name unless it something had happened, something for the worse…

Gibbs stared at Tim front door. He took a deep breath and knocked, but as he did, the door shifted open slightly. He got his gun and lifted it as he kicked the door open and saw Tim, lying face down on the floor, with a pool of blood steadily getting bigger around his chest.

Gibbs, after clearing the other rooms of the apartment knelt next to him. There was a pulse, barely there but it was definitely there. He couldn't have killed himself, Gibbs thought, he has such a bright future ahead of him.

Gibbs turned Tim over, to help stop the bleeding, which was coming from a gunshot wound in his gut when all of a sudden, he noticed it. He lifted the rest of Tim's shirt to find a number 5 carved into his flesh over and over again on his chest…

Gibbs got out his phone, "DiNozzo, gear up and get to Tim's apartment, now!"

After processing the crime scene, the team decided to go to the hospital to check on Tim. They could tell he put up a fight, as did Tim's hands. Another team was going to continue the investigation against the serial killers. Abby found a match of the two men on the facial recognition program. Only Tim, though, can tell them if it is the right men.

In the car, in complete silence, Gibbs drove while he thought about Tim. He had been so angry at letting a witness die that he hadn't thought about getting protection for him. Is it my fault? Gibbs thought. Or course it is. I was so wound up in my personal feelings for the case that I hadn't thought about Tim. What am I gonna tell Sarah? The last thing I said to him was that he was a failure…

At the hospital, the doctor told them the news.

"I'm afraid Timothy didn't survive. He died about 10 minutes after he was brought in"

The doctor gave the team a few minutes to take in the information he gave them. Ziva gasped and clasped a hand to her mouth. Gibbs just stared into space. He offered Abby a hug, who just collapsed into tears. But she backed away from him and clung to Tony, who was still trying to process the information.

Then the Doctor started again, "However, he did regain consciousness shortly before flatlining. He said "its all my own fault Boss. Don't blame yourself" He also appreciated you staying with him when you found him"

Gibbs didn't know Tim was aware of his presence when he found him. He didn't say anything. And Tim's words, not in the slightest, made him feel any better.

After the Doctor left, Gibbs turned to the rest of the team and said "lets get this bastard…"

The End