Chapter 2

The elevator dinged and Fornell and Sacks arrived. Tony grimaced. Would Tim be able to keep it together in front of Fornell? He knew that Fornell could be understanding, but he could also be a little tactless and brusque, and with Tim's current mental state, it might lead to another embarrassing meltdown which would then lead to the FBI questioning NCIS competence.

"Well, DiNozzo, I thought you'd be tired of us," Fornell said.

"I'd definitely prefer to have Gibbs here to deal with the FBI," Tony said, trying to keep things as light as they could be in the situation. "But we have to give you guys something to do."

"Right. Well, what's going on, now? Director Vance said something about a copycat?"

"Not a copycat. The original," Tim said softly. "We already had the copycat."

Fornell looked over at Tim and Tony saw an expression of concern that was quickly hidden. He looked back at Tony, asking a silent question. Tony just shrugged. No way to convey what was going on without talking about it.

"Ahrendson was a copycat? Who was he copying?" Sacks asked.

Tony handed over a copy of the letter Tim had received and watched as both Sacks and Fornell read it. Then, Tony saw the comprehension on Fornell's face as he put everything together.

"You sure this isn't just someone trying to get his fifteen minutes of fame?" Sacks asked. "We had a few people like that after the story first broke."

"How would he know about me, though?" Tim asked, still in that soft voice. "I wasn't in any of the stories."

"Point. So what's next?"

"Next is we have a meeting with Vance to see what happens next."

"When's Gibbs getting back?"

"Should have been today, but his doctor nixed that idea. Said he'd only be making things worse by pushing it. Next week."

Fornell nodded.

"Well, let's go, then."

Tony started to follow Fornell and Sacks, but then, Fornell stopped.

"You joining us, Agent McGee?" he asked.

Tim looked like he'd rather do anything else other than join them, but he nodded.

"You're going to be a part of it whether you like it or not. Better that you're in on the beginning," Fornell said.

"Yeah," Tim said.

The four of them headed for Vance's office. When they got there, Pamela sent them right in, and Vance's eyes quickly settled on Tim and then moved to Tony.

"Agent DiNozzo, I understand that Agent Gibbs isn't back yet?"

"Nope. Not yet. Next week, we're hoping."

"All right. Then, since you're so short-handed, I'd like Agent Balboa to be in on this as well, if you don't mind."

"I don't mind."

Tim said nothing.

Vance got on the phone and called Balboa up.

"Have a seat."

Everyone sat down and waited for a couple of minutes until Balboa arrived.

"All right, now that Agent Balboa is here, let's see where we're at. Agent DiNozzo, until Agent Gibbs is back, that puts you in charge for the time being."

Tony nodded with a side glance at Tim who still was saying nothing.

"Agent McGee was sent a letter from someone claiming to be Ahrendson's teacher and daring us to find him." Tony hesitated and then continued. "He seems to have focused in on Agent McGee for some reason and, if this is legitimate, he might be planning on using Agent McGee's fears as a guide."

Tim's hands were clenched almost in a white-knuckle grip, but he still said nothing.

"And how much of a chance do you think there is that we really have a serial killer who trained another serial killer?" Vance asked. "The scenario seems more far-fetched than someone just wanting to get attention."

"The two main problems with that, Director, is that Agent McGee was never presented as the one who figured things out. Clearly, Ahrendson knew about him, but it wasn't in the media at all. No one felt it would be a good idea to have one person presented as the one solving everything."

Vance nodded.

"And the second?"

"He knows that Tim is afraid of heights," Tony said.

It took a moment for significance of that to sink in and then Vance's eyes widened slightly.

"Agent McGee have you been talking with anyone lately, online or elsewhere?"

"Strangers, you mean?" Tim asked.

Vance nodded.

"No, sir. I don't talk about myself like that online, and I haven't made a habit of talking to new people in the last little while."

Tony was impressed that Tim almost managed to sound calm and professional. Not quite, but almost.

"Meaning that this person would have had to be watching you quite extensively to know that kind of information."

Tim nodded.

"Did you ever have any inkling of that?"

"No, sir."

"Agent Fornell, what do you think?"

"Just being informed about this, I can't say for certain, but I'd tend to agree with Agent DiNozzo. If this guy has tracked in on Agent McGee, then, I'd say we'd better be on the lookout for someone being thrown off a roof."

Tim closed his eyes for a moment and Tony knew that he was working hard to keep himself in control.

"And how do we do that? Do we have any clues as to who this person might be?" Vance asked.

"Not right now," Tony admitted. "But if he's really seeing himself as some kind of serial killing teacher, then, he would have been in contact with Ahrendson."

"Agent Fornell?"

"We didn't have any indication of that, but we weren't looking for it, either. We'll get started on that right away."

"We never found out where he was holing up in D.C., either," Sacks said. "Ahrendson would have had to have somewhere he was staying, and it couldn't have just been in that building where he died."

Fornell nodded. "Well, we'll work on Ahrendson and see if we can chase anything down. We'll also get one of our profilers working on this new letter. There's not much to it, but it's a start."

"Agent DiNozzo?"

"We'll get working on the letter, too. Abby's already seeing if she can pull anything from it."

"Good. Is there anything else?"

They shook their heads.

"All right. Agent Balboa, you and your team are going to be working with Agent DiNozzo for the time being."

"That's fine. I know that Jensen is ready to help however he can, and Torrance will be back soon."

"Good. Agent DiNozzo, I want regular updates on how this is going."

"Yes, Director."

"All right. Agent McGee, I'd like to speak with you. The rest of you can go."

They all nodded and stood. As they filed out, Tony hesitated and turned back.

"I'd like to speak to him alone, Agent DiNozzo."

"Understood."

Tony left. When he got out to the balcony, Balboa stopped him.

"Is Tim going to be able to handle this?" Balboa asked. "Will told me what he said."

"I don't know."

"I didn't realize he was so shaky after Ahrendson. Did you?"

"Yeah, but he was working through it. He just didn't have enough time before something else came up."

"Was he actually talking to anyone besides you, DiNozzo?" Fornell asked.

Tony turned and looked at him. He hadn't realized that Fornell and Sacks had lingered.

"Not after the required debriefing."

"Why not?"

"Because he seemed to be doing okay," Tony said.

"Did he really? Because what I was seeing was not someone who was okay. It was someone who didn't think he could tolerate another blow."

"Well, how many people get targeted by two different serial killers, Fornell?" Tony asked, a little stung. "Ahrendson put all the responsibility on him, and now, this new guy is doing the same thing!"

"All the more reason for him to be talking to someone," Sacks said. "If it's that hard, he shouldn't be just working through it on his own."

"He wasn't!"

Sacks rolled his eyes. "Yeah. I'm sure you're a qualified therapist, DiNozzo. What was your degree in? Physical Education?"

"What was yours, Sacks? Does the FBI even require a degree?"

"Knock it off, you two," Balboa said. "This is not what we need. Can you guys please act like rational adults?"

"Do you want to keep sniping at each other or try to catch a serial killer?" Fornell asked. "I'd rather stop wasting my time with you and maybe figure something out before he can kill even once. Got it?"

Tony felt a little embarrassed that he'd been pulled into the argument in the first place, but Sacks always seemed able to push his buttons. He wasn't sure any amount of time was enough to get rid of the mutual animosity.

"I'm going to go and check with Abby," Balboa said. "You coming, Tony?"

"No. I'm going to wait for Tim."

"Okay."

"We'll head back to the FBI. I need to make a report and get some people moving," Fornell said. "Come on, Sacks."

Sacks just nodded and followed him out. If he felt any embarrassment, he didn't show it. Once they were gone, Balboa turned back to Tony.

"Insults aside, Tony. They're probably right about Tim. If he's this shaky, he probably needs the extra help."

Tony nodded. Balboa patted him on the arm and then walked away.

Alone, he sighed. Maybe they were right, but he knew that Tim really had been getting better. If it hadn't been for this, he probably would have been fine in another few weeks.

Or maybe I was completely wrong and it was inevitable.

He sighed again and leaned against the balcony. The sooner Gibbs was back, the better.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Tim waited for Vance to say what he wanted. He figured he would get a reprimand for shouting at Tony and, quite frankly, he knew he deserved it. He was glad he could say that he'd apologized for it because he really wasn't mad at Tony. He was just generally upset.

"Agent McGee, I understand that you shouted at Agent DiNozzo."

"Yeah. I already apologized to him."

"Good. Why did you?"

Tim didn't meet Vance's gaze.

"Because I lost my temper. I was upset and I let it out on Tony."

"Let what out?"

"The fact that this is going to be about me."

"No, Agent McGee. It's not. It's about whoever sent this letter to you."

Tim looked up. "No, Director. He's made it about me. He's focused on me. He wants me to find him, but I couldn't find Ahrendson! He's the one who messed up. I wasn't the one who found him. I'm not trained to deal with stuff like this, with a serial killer. It's way beyond what I know. If it's going to depend on me... I'll fail."

Vance walked over and sat down.

"Agent McGee, whether he's decided you should find him or not, you don't have to do it. You'll hardly be taking it on alone."

"I know, but it doesn't seem to matter."

"Are you saying you shouldn't be assigned to the case?"

Tim smiled painfully. "Actually, if I thought there was really an option, I would ask you to take me off the case. I'm compromised, Director. I know it. Everyone does, but if he's actually decided that I'm the important person, I don't really have a choice but to be involved."

Vance was quiet for a few seconds. Tim just waited. He felt humiliated at having to admit how badly he'd been affected, but it wouldn't help anyone if he tried to pretend that everything was just fine when it very obviously wasn't fine. He couldn't believe that just a couple of hours ago he'd been thinking that things were looking up.

Finally, Vance took a breath and leaned forward. "Agent McGee, you're right that you probably can't remove yourself from this situation, but if you need help, you need help, and I want you to get the help you need to deal with it. If you feel it would be useful to talk to a psychiatrist, it will be covered. If you think you'll be able to deal with it with help from your colleagues, that's fine, but ask for the help you need."

Tim nodded. "Okay."

"Do you want to meet with someone?"

"No. Not now. I'll see how it goes."

"All right, but remember that this isn't your fault. No matter how much this person might be focusing on you, it's still not your fault."

"Yes, Director. I'll try to remember that," Tim said, honestly. He knew it wouldn't help, but he could acknowledge that Vance was likely right.

"All right. For now, you can go."

"Thanks."

Tim stood up and walked out of Vance's office, wishing that he could just stay in there and stave off the moment when he had to deal with a potential serial killer using him as inspiration.

He wasn't surprised to see Tony waiting for him.

"I'm not in trouble," Tim said, before Tony could ask anything. "Vance was just seeing how I was doing since it's obvious that I'm not doing great."

"And?"

Tim decided not to mention Vance's suggestion that he talk to someone.

"And I'm not going to be great, Tony. I'm not even going to be okay. So instead of worrying about that, let's just see if we can find anything," Tim said, glad that he could at least speak like a rational adult instead of the quivering weakling he currently felt like.

"Have you thought about talking to someone?"

Tim raised an eyebrow.

"Hey, even just Ducky. Maybe he could give you some tips on how to deal with it while the case is going on. And maybe we'll luck out and it's all bark and no bite."

"What are the odds of that?" Tim asked.

"Don't know. But no one is dead yet."

"That we know of," Tim said. "I just got the letter a couple of hours ago. It's way too soon to say that."

"Tim, will you at least consider talking to Ducky?"

"Yeah, I'll consider it."

"Good. Then, let's get some work done."

Tim nodded and followed Tony down the stairs. It wasn't even that he didn't know that he could use something, but he just didn't think any of it would do any good with this hanging over his head. The question had been telling.

What scares you, Agent McGee?

Too many things to count at the moment, but there was one looming question in Tim's mind.

Who would die first.