Kate was standing in the waiting room of the hospital waiting for the doctor treating their nameless NCIS agent. The nurse she'd spoken with had refused to give out any information, saying that only the doctor could tell her anything.

"Agent Todd?"

Kate turned around to see a young doctor with dark brown hair a few feet away. She immediately headed over to him. "That's me."

"Doctor Mackey. I hear you're inquiring about one of my patients," the doctor said.

"Yes. He'd be listed under a John Doe. He was brought in with stab and burn wounds," Kate said.

"Yes, I know the patient you're referring to. I assume you'll be investigating his murder," Doctor Mackey said.

Kate's face blanched at the word 'murder'. "He's dead?"

"Not yet. He's alive for now, but I don't see that lasting much longer. John Doe lost a lot blood due to the stab wounds and he suffered burns on over half his body, many of them third degree. Not to mention quite a bit of smoke inhalation. Honestly, it amazes me that he's alive now," the doctor said.

Kate shuddered at the thought someone going through all that. As an NCIS agent, this man's life would've been in danger every single day, but she very much doubted he considered something like this happening when he applied. She knew she hadn't. "So what's being done for him?"

"Well, we haven't been able to do much. Normally, he would've been brought into surgery to start skin grafting procedures, but I don't think he'd survive such a surgery. He's too unstable. He barely survived the surgery for the stab wounds. Besides, like I said, I don't think it's gonna make much of a difference," Doctor Mackey said sadly.

"You don't think he's gonna live."

"No. He's barely alive now. He's not breathing on his own. He's hooked up to a ventilator, and even that's barely keeping him alive. So like I said, we haven't been able to do much. All we can really do is keep him comfortable. We've put him into a medical induced coma on the off chance that he would wake up otherwise. Because if he did wake up, he'd be in agony," Doctor Mackey explained.

"Is there any chance he'll live?" Kate asked. She sincerely hoped he would live. She didn't want to think about an NCIS agent dying like this.

Doctor Mackey sighed and seemed to contemplate how to answer. "I can give you the answer that I would tell his friends and family. There's always a chance. Miracles happen every day. But the honest answer is that there almost zero chance of that. He has a less than ten percent chance of surviving even another day. I'm sorry, Agent Todd, but I have a feeling that when you arrest the person who did this, you'll be charging them with murder."

"Was his face…? Is there anything you can tell me about his features?" Kate asked. She had to identify this guy. It wasn't about the case. She wanted to be able to give this agent his name back before he died and give his family the chance to say goodbye.

The doctor shook his head sadly. "His face was severely burned. There were no features visible except for burns."

"Can I see him?" Kate asked. She wasn't sure why she asked that. She didn't know the man at all. She had no reason to visit him. Maybe it was because he was an agent or maybe it was because he had no one else right now. She just felt compelled to see him.

"Why would you want to? He can't talk to you, Agent Todd," he said.

"I understand that," Kate said.

"Alright. I'll take you to his room," the doctor said. He led down to the ICU and down the hall. They stopped at a door in the middle of the hallway. "He's in there."

"Thank you," Kate said before walking inside. The sight that greeted her was horrifying. There was a man lying in a hospital bed a few feet away. Most of his body was covered in bandages, including most of his face. The parts that were visible were either black or red.

Kate walked over to the bed. "Hi. I know you don't know me, but I'm Special Agent Kate Todd. I'm an NCIS agent, like you. I'm here to tell you that we're gonna find out what happened to you. We're gonna make whoever did this to you pay. I work for Special Agent Gibbs. I don't know if you've heard of him, but he's good at what he does. There's no way he'll let one of our own be hurt like this without making the person who did it pay.

Unsurprisingly, the only sound in the room was the ventilator.

Kate sat down in the chair by the bed. She was going to stay. She may not know this agent, but he was one of theirs and if he did die, she was going to make sure he didn't die alone.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Tony was knocking on McGee's office door at the Norfolk field office. Gibbs had told him to come down while he dealt with the higher ups. He was hoping Tony could get the information from McGee quicker than he could. "Come on, McGee, open up!"

There was no answer.

"McGee, open the damn door! I don't have time for this!" Tony yelled.

A door opened across the hall. "Hey!"

Tony turned around to see an annoyed man behind him.

"You would think you'd get the memo after the second time you screamed. McGee's not in there," the agent said.

"Well, then where is he? He pushes paperwork. It's not like he's on a hot case," Tony said.

"He didn't come in today," he said impatiently.

Tony couldn't help the cold feeling that took over his body. "McGee didn't come in? He called out?"

"Well, he hasn't been in all morning, so that must have been what happened," the agent said.

"Is McGee out often?" Tony asked. He doubted he was. McGee wasn't the type to skip work. He seemed like the type that went for that perfect attendance record in school. He'd probably be even more punctual at work.

"No, this would be a first other than when he helps in DC. Anyway, just quit your yelling. Some of us are trying to work," the agent said before disappearing back in his office.

Tony took a deep breath to force himself to calm down. This didn't mean anything. So McGee had never called out before. That didn't mean he never would. He was probably just too sick to come in. It didn't mean he'd been attacked and left to burn to death in that apartment. After all, no one had any reason to hurt McGee. Right?

Tony walked away from McGee's office. He had to tell Gibbs what he'd learned. It might or might not be McGee fighting for his life, but either way, Gibbs needed to know.