A/N Hi everyone. I just want to thank you all for your wonderful gorgeous reviews. I will reply to you all individually after posting this, but you really did make my day. For the two people that reviewed as guests, I just want to explain what happened. have changed the way in which you can chose characters. You can now add up to 4 and I wasn't aware that despite putting Tim first on the list, it automatically sorts them upon posting. This has now been rectified and the story should only show Tim rather than Gibbs and Tony as the main characters. I apologise for any confusion there.

Another big thank you to my beta, gottahavemyncis. Puppypants, you are so right, she is fantastic and you can't go wrong with her ;)

EPICINIUM Chapter 2.

"How long?" Tony asked. His voice was quiet, reflecting the mood in the room.

"I don't know, Anthony." Ducky replied. "You must have patience my dear boy. The doctors can't rush the diagnosis and treatment."

Tony nodded and stood up, slowly whilst stretching his stiff muscles. "Okay then in that case I'm going for coffee. I can't sit around here any longer doing nothing!"

"Anthony..."

"Ducky, I'll be fine. I just need to think. Tell the boss where I am and I'll be back soon." Tony started to walk out of the room but was stopped by Ziva's soft hand on his wrist. With a heavy sigh of frustration born of the need to be alone for a short while, he knelt down in front of her. "Zee, you okay?" He waited for a response but didn't get one. Truthfully, he didn't need one because Ziva's dark eyes betrayed everything she was feeling at that moment in time. "Look, Zee I know you say you're fine, but..."

"As do you, Tony and I know Director Vance wants a medical evaluation done here but…" Ziva replied softly but stopped when her voice hitched. "But McGee is more important."

Tony nodded his agreement. "Yes he is, but still, Vance…"

"Tony, we got the okay from the medics in Somalia. The director can wait. All I can think of is that Somalia didn't have the care McGee needed. They were basic."

"It might be basic, but lots of men get injured in war and those guys are the first line medics that keep people alive. They did what they could and McGoo is going to be fine." Tony hated that Ziva was so despondent and despite the negative emotions flickering through her eyes, they held a strangely blank, haunted look that would stay with Tony for a long time. "Do you want me to get you anything, Zee?"

"No…yes…I…I don't know."

"Anthony, might I suggest some sweet tea. It will help a little." Ducky suggested, hoping it would help with whatever was going through Ziva's mind.

"Tea okay with you?" Ziva nodded. "Okay, Ducky, Earl Grey, I'll get Abbs a coffee and jimmy a…huh. What does the autopsy gremlin drink?"

Ducky huffed indignantly. "You'd do well not to call him that to his face, Anthony and Mr. Palmer has become quite partial to Earl Grey. I think I might actually have converted him."

"I'd apologise but…" With a shrug and a huffed laugh, Tony stood up but didn't let go of Ziva's hand. "Eh. Each to their own. Do you know where he's gone? Abbs is with the boss, but I haven't seen Palmer for a while."

"He's with Director Vance making arrangements for our guest. I believe he will be arriving in the morning."

"Guest?" Ziva looked up at Ducky and frowned. "Who?"

Ducky sighed heavily. "I apologise, I wasn't aware that you didn't know. Saleem Ulman is to be transported to Washington tonight and will be with us tomorrow afternoon. The Secretary of the Navy hasn't specified why, but has made an order that we are to autopsy the body as soon as possible and file the report with the relevant case. I presume it's to confirm who the deceased is."

"More than likely. SecNav doesn't like leaving loose ends. What about the others working under him?"

"That, I do not know, Anthony. I do know that the deceased were taken care of in Somalia, all but Ulman. I did hear talk of the surviving members being transferred to a United States controlled facility out there, but again, I can't be sure until it has been confirmed."

"But what will happen to them. Will they be released? Will they be held? They are not on US soil; they cannot be tried the way..."

"Ziva, why do you want to know, huh?" Tony asked. "We're home; we're safe."

"Because they had me all summer. I have been a prisoner for them to use as they see fit and beat. I want to know what will happen because I want retribution. I want to know they will be punished for what they did and if my father cannot deliver that, then I have to know whether or not NCIS and the Marines will." Ziva's words were laced with a poison that Tony didn't like. It left him wondering exactly what they had done to Ziva to make her so angry and dead inside.

"Ziva, stand down." Gibbs walked into the waiting room with his arm around Abby. The Goth had her head resting on Gibbs shoulder, but as soon as they walked in, Ducky opened his arms inviting her to go and sit with him. "Abbs, go on, it's alright." Once Abby was safely ensconced in Ducky's arms, he turned to his broken team members. "Okay, listen up. The survivors are being transferred to Gitmo as we speak…"

"Gitmo? Boss, I'm not getting that."

"DiNozzo, they killed Marines and were part of a terrorist cell working within the US. SecNav had confirmation of a presidential order to have them transferred."

"No questions asked." Tony replied dryly and Gibbs nodded curtly.

"Duck's right about the body. We have Ulman's records so we can confirm that it's him." Gibbs' comment shocked them all because they were unaware that Gibbs had been listening.

Ziva gave a resigned sigh and settled back in her seat. At least that little bit of news had soothed her agitation; now all they had to do is work on getting her to open up about the past few months.

"Um…Boss, I need to clear my head. I can't think. I'm gonna grab some coffee, you want some?"

"That'd be good. Here." Gibbs reached for his wallet and pulled out some money. Tony frowned but took it.

"Thanks, Boss."

"Go." Gibbs replied but laid his hand on Tony's shoulder. "Keep your cell on."

"Always do, Boss." Tony replied and left the room. Gibbs made his way over to the chair next to Ziva and sat down before wrapping his arm around her shoulder and pulling her in. Ziva stiffened slightly, but soon melted into the comfort. "Where's Palmer and Vance?"

"I thought you heard…never mind. They stopped to make the arrangements for our guests, Jethro. I fully trust Mr. Palmer with that duty." Ducky replied." They should be back soon."

"Good." Gibbs turned to Ziva "Good to have you back, Ziver." he said gently and kissed the top of her head. "We've missed you."

"Thank you." Ziva replied quietly.

"How're you doing?"

"I'm alright, Gibbs. Worry about Tim, not me."
Gibbs sighed. "Right now, I'm worried about all of ya." Ziva just rested her head on his shoulder and closed off completely leaving the Team leader at a loss. He knew his kids, and he knew that each of them had ways of dealing with stress, unfortunately, Ziva's was to try and rationalise in her own mind and then talk.
Silence reigned as they were all left to their own thoughts. Soon exhaustion, both physical and mental settled in and both girls dozed off on the men's shoulders. Ducky and Gibbs didn't need words and didn't need to fill a silence. Their friendship was so strong that they could both sit with their own thoughts knowing that there was no malice or uncomfortable moments between them. After about a half an hour, Tony returned with the drinks and set them down quietly on the small table in the middle of the room.

"You okay, DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked softly.

"I'm good, Boss. Here." Tony handed Gibbs his change and his drink. "Finally getting some sleep then." He flicked his head towards Ziva.

"Yeah. She's finally crashed. She…"

"Agent Timothy McGee's family?" a young doctor was standing at the door. Her voice sliced through the quiet room and woke Abby and Ziva. Gibbs kissed the top of Ziva's head and stood up, letting Tony take her.

"That's us."

"I'm sorry, but you are?"

"Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs." Gibbs pulled out his ID. "I'm listed as one of his Proxies."

The doctor opened the notes she was carrying and nodded. "Of course. Please, would you like to follow me and…"

"Whatever you say, you say in front of them."

"Agent Gibbs, I can't discuss my patient with anyone else but the listed proxies or family."

"They're his family and I'm only gonna tell 'em anyway."

At Gibbs' glare, the doctor backed down and nodded her head. "Okay. My name's Doctor Ashlyn Bauer, but I prefer Ash. I'm a resident here at Bethesda. Now, we have the notes that were transferred over from the Naval medical base over in Somalia, but there is only so much they can do, being a military run emergency medical facility. From what they said, Agent McGee presented with paralysis from the waist down leading them to conclude that there was a spinal injury. They took x-rays but couldn't see anything significant and authorised travel back to Washington under medical supervision so that he'd get the best care…"

"We weren't exactly welcome over there." Tony interjected. "They wanted to send him to the Somalian hospital but given the circumstances they made a judgment call to bring him home."

"I understand." Ash replied sympathetically. "Rest assured Agent McGee…"

"Tim." Ziva but in. "His name is Tim."

Ash nodded. "Tim, is comfortable and we have him stabilised. He did present with some residual dehydration which we are treating, and the other injuries he sustained in captivity are relatively minor and will heal with time. What we're worried about is his back. He has extensive bruising in the lower lumbar area, but nothing is showing on the x-rays we have taken. It may be a case of the swelling pushing on the spinal cord, or there could be something more sinister going on. We won't know until we can run an MRI to get a clearer picture."

"Spinal injury. Ducky that's not good." Abby said sadly. "I mean, what if…"

"Abigail, let's not borrow trouble, my dear."

"Indeed." Ash agreed. "Until we know for sure what we are dealing with, we are treating the injuries as worst case scenarios. I can tell you that Tim is comfortable and is currently resting as best he can."

"Can I see him?" Gibbs asked. Tim had been put on a specially designed medical transport which had left earlier than the rest of the team. They hadn't seen Tim since then, and Gibbs needed to know for himself that his younger boy was okay.

"It's unusual, but of course. Given the circumstances I think it would be good for Tim to see a familiar face. He has asked about his team…speaking of which, I will be sending a colleague of mine in to begin the medical assessments as per your Directors request. I presume you are all here?"

"We are." Gibbs responded. "You can start with Ziva Da'vid."

Ash nodded and smiled. "Don't worry, we shouldn't take too long. Now, Agent Gibbs, would you like to follow me." She led Gibbs out into the corridor and to Tim's treatment room. "I will warn you, your agent is still immobilised and due to the nature of his injuries, there are numerous wires and IVs attached. Don't be alarmed and when you speak to him, try to get in his line of sight. We don't want him moving at the moment."

Gibbs nodded and followed the doctor in when she opened the door. Despite the doctor's warning, the sight of Tim shocked him. His boy was lying flat on his back with his head ensconced in what looked like padded bricks with straps. He had a collar around his neck and his body was strapped down to prevent any movement at all. It broke Gibbs' heart but the Team Leader knew he had to be there for his boy and had to be strong. He moved to stand next to the bed and leaned in so that Tim could see him.

"Hey, Boss." Tim's voice was quiet, almost a whisper. "You okay?"

"I'm fine, Tim. It's you I'm worried about. How're you feeling?"

"Numb." Tim paused and sucked in a deep breath. "My…my legs are…boss, they were tingling when we were in that room but I thought it was because I'd been in the same position. I knew my back had been hurt but not this badly."

"It's okay, Tim. I've spoken to DiNozzo. That last hit probably just made whatever injuries you had worse."

Tears leaked out of the side of Tim's eyes as the events and the severity of his injuries overwhelmed him. "What if I can't walk again, Boss. What will I do then?"

"You'll carry on and adapt."

"How?"

"Not on your own, Son. You've got us to help." Gibbs reached forward and wiped the tears away from Tim's eyes. "You're not alone, Tim. Never forget that."