Tim sat at his desk, fighting to keep his eyes open. It had been an extremely long night after waking up from the nightmare. It took him longer than usual to shake the memories from his mind.
"Come on, McSerious, the joke was funny!" Tony said, laughing as he spoke.
Tim looked over at him, "Huh?"
Tony sighed, "You weren't even listening? Not cool, Probie, not cool."
"Are you alright, McGee?" Ziva asked as she rested her elbows on her desk. She had noticed Tim's blank facial expression a few moments earlier.
"Yeah, I'm fine."
"You are sure?"
"I am," Tim replied with a nod and a small, fake smile to help her feel better.
Just then, Gibbs came walking into the bullpen, "McGee, go down to the lab and help Abby."
"With what, Boss?"
"With that… computer thing she's doing- Just go, McGee."
"Yes, Boss," Tim replied as he got up and headed for the lab.
Abby smiled, "Hi, Timmy! I haven't seen you in a- What's wrong?"
"What?"
"Something's wrong with you."
"There's nothing wrong with me."
She put her hands on her hips, "Did you not sleep last night?"
Tim sighed, 'Why must she know me so well?' He thought.
"No, I didn't."
"How come?"
"I don't know, just couldn't. I'm fine though, really. Now, what did you need help with?" Tim asked, hoping to get Abby off the subject of him.
"Well, I need you to bring back up files off of our suspect's computer. He deleted a bunch, but I think there is hope for a resurrection… I just don't have time to make that miracle happen right now."
Tim smiled, "I think I can help with that."
Abby bowed to Tim, "Thank you, Timmy dearest."
For the next half hour, Tim and Abby worked down in the lab together. Abby doing her thing, and Tim doing his… It was odd. Not them being together in the lab. But that Abby never liked having people down in the lab with her for long amounts of time… besides Tim. She never cared if he was there. He didn't get in her way like others did. He had his space, she had hers, and they just worked well together.
"Okay, I got it. All the deleted files are back up."
Abby clapped, "Yay! I knew you could do it, my little hard-drive-miracle-worker you!"
Tim's cell phone began ringing at that moment. "It's Gibbs," He said before answering.
"Hello."
"McGee, we gotta go. Got another crime scene."
"Alright, I'm coming."
They both hung up and Tim stood, "I gotta go, Abbs. See ya later."
"Bye, Timmy. Thank you."
He smiled back at her as he walked out, "No problem."
"Mmm," Tim groaned as he began to wake up. He opened his eyes and, at first, everything was blurry.
Blinking a few times helped to clear his vision. He felt something cold against his ankles, causing him to looked down at them.
They were chained to two upside down, U-shaped iron rods that had been put into the cement floor.
He looked around the room... At least the part that he could see in front and beside him. Cement walls, cement floor, no windows, one door… with at least six dead bolts on it.
With his heart racing he reached down and tried to get the cuffs off from his ankles. When that didn't work he tugged at the chains, but they didn't let up.
That's when he remembered Devon. He quickly looked back, knowing that's the only place he could be… and there he was. He was tied up the same way Tim was.
Tim crawled over to him. His chains letting him go just far enough to shake Devon. "Devon. Devon, wake up! Wake up!"
"Hm?" Devon said, his eyes still closed.
"Wake up!"
Devon took a deep breath and opened his eyes. Suddenly realizing that he wasn't at home, he sat up, "Where are we?"
"I don't know."
"What's going on?"
"I don't know."
Devon looked down at his chains and, just like Tim, he tugged at them, trying to get himself free.
"It won't work," Tim told him.
"I have to try!" Devon kept pulling at the chains, but he made no progress, "Help! Help!" He began to yell, "Help us!"
Tim's eyes widened, "What are you doing?" He asked.
"What does it sound like I'm doing? Help!"
"Stop!"
"Why?"
"They'll hear you."
Devon eyebrows furrowed, "Who will?"
"Whoever got us."
"What if a good person hears me yelling? They'll get us help. They'll get us out."
"Look around, Devon! There are no windows, no anything! It's all cement."
Devon sighed, "Help!" He continued to yell, "Help!"
Suddenly, Tim heard a noise, "Shut up," He warned. Still, Devon yelled. Tim put a hand over his mouth, "Shut up! I hear something."
Devon grabbed Tim's hand and pushed it away. He started to yell again, but stopped before anything came out.
The deadbolts began unlocking.
"They're coming," Tim said, his heart pounding even harder. He hurried back over to the side of the room he had woken up on, and curled into the back corner of the wall.
Devon, seeing Tim do this, did the same thing on his side of the room.
The last deadbolt unlocked and two people entered the room. You couldn't see a face, what they were wearing, what they looked like… nothing. They were just two black blobs, cut out in the shape of people. Just an outline with no features.
At the sight of them, Tim curled up even tighter, putting his knees against his chest.
One of the shapes walked up to Tim. At first they just stood there. Then after a couple of minutes, they reached down and grabbed his arm-
"Tim! Tim, wake up!"
"No! Don't touch me!" Tim yelled as he pushed Tony back. His eyes popped open to see he was in the car… and Tony, Ziva and Gibbs were all staring at him.
"Jeez, McPushy, what was that for?"
Tim took deep breaths, trying to get his heart back to beating regularly, "S-Sorry. I fell asleep and- and I had a nightmare."
"Really?" Tony replied sarcastically, "Couldn't have guessed."
"DiNozzo, shut up," Gibbs said. He opened his car door and got out.
"We're already back at NCIS?" Tim asked. He felt like they had just gotten back in the car from the crime scene.
"We have been back for a while," Ziva replied, "It took some time to wake you up… It must have been a pretty bad dream," She said, seeing how pale he looked.
He took a deep breath, "It was just a dream," He said quietly, then got out of the car.
Tim sat down at his desk, getting the remnants of his nightmare out of his mind. He put his elbows on his desk and rubbed his eyes… That's when he felt something under his elbow.
It was a envelope, addressed to Tim.
Figuring it was the only mail he had gotten for the day, he picked it up and opened it.
Inside the envelope was a photo. There was a note on the back which Tim read before turning the picture over.
'Good memories. I am ready to make more.'
Tim's eyebrows furrowed. He turned over the picture and his heart skipped a beat. He began to shake and he felt light headed.
Tony and Ziva, who were just arriving at their desks, stopped as they noticed Tim shaking and growing paler by the second. Gibbs, who was already at his desk, noticed this too.
"Tim," Gibbs said, honestly concerned. He had never seen Tim look so... terrified, "Tim, what is it?"
So happy with all the positive reviews! Thank you guys so much :) I hope you continue to enjoy the story.
Oh, and the people being "black blobs"... I promise this is not a sci-fi story haha... The blobs will be explained ;)
