CHAPTER THREE

He tried to sit up, to get a better look at the room, but his hands were bound by restraints, ankles too, he was strapped down on the table…where was Gibbs? Had they hurt him? Tim quickly looked to either side, but deep down he knew Gibbs wouldn't be here, they'd done something to him...a slight shiver ran through Tim's body, please let Gibbs be okay, please let them find me before it's too late…

Tim took a deep breath, it was time to take stock…he lifted his head and looked around, this was no hospital, at least not like one he had ever seen. He could make out medical equipment, sharp blades, retractors, some kind of electric drill...suddenly he was finding it hard to breathe, was that what Carlin used when he opened the chests of Lees and Lejeune? Tim quickly turned his head away, but the view was no better, there was a small glass-fronted refrigerator holding plastic bottles of…blood. Tim pulled hard at the leather straps, he had to get away from here, he could smell death…and he was next. But hard as he tried, and he tried so hard he could feel the straps cutting into his flesh, still he couldn't move…

A door opened somewhere, and Tim heard soft footsteps shuffling across the floor, then he saw him...Alexander Carlin, Tim's first thought was, he looks so ordinary, why didn't he look like the sick monster he truly was? His dark rimmed glasses made him look more like a blonde version of Clark Kent before he transformed into Superman, this was so wrong…Tim felt his heart racing, Carlin was carrying a hypodermic, but he didn't use anaesthesia, why did he have the needle? Maybe he wasn't going to have his heart taken, maybe this time Carlin needed more blood.

"Awake at last McGee? That's good, a few more minutes and you'll be ready..."

Carlin put down the hypodermic in a stainless steel dish and picked up a blood pressure cuff. Tim couldn't hide a shiver as Carlin's fingers made contact with his skin, they seemed cold and clammy, Tim felt the goosebumps all over his body as Carlin wrapped the cuff around his arm.

"What do you want from me?"

"Come now Agent McGee, let's not pretend. You've been studying me; you know exactly what I want."

"Jethro, perhaps you should stay longer; at least until the test results are back, whatever you inhaled, there could be side effects." Ducky was concerned by Gibbs' lack of coordination, and his extreme pallor.

"I don't have time to wait, Tim doesn't have time." Gibbs was sitting on the edge of his bed, he wasn't sure he trusted his legs to hold him upright, but he had to try. "Duck, you know as well as I do what that bastard is going to do to Tim, I can't lie here and let that happen."

Ducky held out his arm. "Then lean on me Jethro, I'll take you back to NCIS, but please, if you feel any nausea or headache, let me know."

"I can't stop Duck, he's one of my people, I have to find him."

"Director Vance has everyone working Jethro, we will find Timothy." Ducky left unsaid what they were both thinking. Would they find Tim alive, or would his body turn up somewhere, just like the others?

"It's not happening again Duck, I'm not losing another one…if only the CIA had come clean earlier…"

If only...Ducky wondered how many times in Jethro's life he had uttered those words; so many regrets, so much loss.

"Blood pressure is a little high, but that's to be expected, you've had quite a shock haven't you Agent McGee? Now I have one more test to perform before we can begin. For this we will have to loosen the restraints, but my associates will be here to ensure that you don't make any attempt to get away."

Tim watched as two men approached the table, they looked to be built of solid muscle, in his current condition, heck even on his best days, he wouldn't be able to take them both on…so he lad to lie powerless as they unbuckled the straps and turned him onto his side.

"Why are you doing this? I don't have anything you need…Lees and Lejeune, they had courage…I…I'm not like them…"

Carlin's laugh was sharp and spiteful. "You are very much mistaken Agent McGee, you have something that few other people can offer. As you know only too well, I have been collecting the component parts of my great discovery for some months; I have the stamina, the courage, the endurance, all that is lacking is the intellect. I have been searching for so long, striving to find the perfect compound…everything I know, everything I feel tells me I am close to achieving my dream."

"You're insane! Listen to yourself…you're man of science, this is comic book stuff, it's not real."

Carlin leaned in very close. "You would do well not to argue McGee, I am about to achieve the greatest scientific breakthrough known to mankind, you should be proud that I have chosen you to be part of it. You must stay very still, as I'm sure you are aware by now, I cannot corrupt my…ingredients with drugs, so this will hurt somewhat…" He glanced up at the two men. "Hold him down; any movement could ruin the test."

Four strong arms gripped Tim; he couldn't move however much he wanted. He felt Carlin's hands on his back, and drew in an involuntary gasp as the needle pierced his skin, and he realised what Carlin was doing. As the needle plunged further into his back, he felt hot tears stinging his eyes; it wasn't just the pain although that was bad enough, if Carlin was doing a lumbar puncture, testing the spinal fluid, it could mean only one thing…Tim wanted to scream, to run away from the needle, but he knew that even the smallest movement could result in paralysis, and so long as there was any chance that Gibbs and the others would find him, he was going to try and stay alive…

After what seemed like an eternity the needle was removed, and Tim was rolled over on to his back, the restraints were buckled once more, he tried to steady his breathing…Carlin leaned over him and Tim steeled himself to show no emotion as he felt Carlin's fingers at his neck, checking his pulse, then he caught a glimpse of cold green eyes seconds before a blinding light flicked from the left eye to the right.

"Good, very good...you are a fine specimen, trim and fit, everything I could hope for, and I know you have a first rate brain. That's what I have to take, you know that don't you?"

Tim knew his heart rate had increased, he felt hot, so hot…then he felt the bile rising in his throat, quickly he turned his head, and threw up the meagre contents of his stomach.

"Clear that up Martin." Carlin showed no emotion as he turned again to Tim. "Don't over excite yourself, you must remain calm, the test results will soon be ready, then I can begin the harvest."

"How long Tony?" Gibbs didn't need to elaborate.

"It's 11.20 now; we went to your house at 06.10 when we couldn't get a reply from either of your phones."

"I went to bed a little after midnight, Carlin could have had Tim for almost twelve hours…Tony, did you find anything at my place?"

"We figure Carlin used some kind of odourless gas, one of the air vents had been removed recently, but there was no canister, whatever he used Carlin took with him. There was no other evidence…it's like Tim just disappeared."

Gibbs swallowed more of the coffee that had been waiting for him at his desk, his head was clearer now, but he still couldn't remember anything out of the ordinary about last night. "Carlin's not working alone Tony, I don't care what Kort said; there is no way Carlin could have set up the gas and taken Tim on his own, he's working with someone, he has to be."

"Director Vance feels the same way, he called the CIA, Kort is on his way."

"Ziva, you got anything?"

"There are few traffic cameras around your home Gibbs, the pictures we were able to obtain have not shown any trace of McGee…Gibbs, when Kort gets here, I could question him if you wish; I have not forgotten what I learned in Mossad."

"I can't pretend I was expecting a warm welcome, but threats of torture? Agent David, there is no necessity; I have been instructed to read you in…"

Tony knew it was wrong, he knew it wouldn't help Tim, but he couldn't help himself. As his fist slammed into Kort's jaw a brief wave of satisfaction flowed through him.

"Agent DiNozzo, enough!" Vance's shout echoed around the stunned squad room. "Let's take this to my office, now."

They rushed up to Vance's office, and it was an uneasy group that gathered around the table. Gibbs hated having to deal with Kort again, but they needed him if they were going to find Tim.

"Talk to me Kort. You know as well as I that Carlin could not do this alone…what have you been hiding from us?"

Kort cradled his chin and slowly rubbed the spot where Tony had struck him, He hadn't been surprised by the blow, the only shock had been that Tony got in before Gibbs. "I wasn't hiding anything, as I told you at our previous meeting; I gave you all the information I could. I had not been read into the rest of the file."

"But now…"

"Now I can tell you about the two men who the Agency believes are travelling with Carlin. Two of the volunteers were US Army, Special Ops, it seems that Carlin took a particular interest in them, our experts think Carlin gave them placebos, maybe he already knew there were problems with the drugs so he kept them safe. The men you want are Simon Costello and Martin Bicknell; I have their service records here."

"Anything else you've been keeping from us Kort? And don't lie to me again, because you didn't have Carlin arrested when you had the chance one of my people is missing…you know why Carlin wants McGee, you know what he'll do if we don't stop him."

"You can hit me again if you want Gibbs, but I swear to you, I didn't know anything about these men; the full details on Carlin's projects are known to people way above my pay grade…I can't speak for the Agency, but if I can help in any way."

Vance stepped in before Gibbs' fragile hold on his self-control slipped. "NCIS can look out for our own people Kort; if you have nothing more to tell us I suggest you get the hell out of my office, and out of my agency."

Within minutes of Kort's departure Vance had every available agent working on the new suspects. BOLOs were issued on Bicknell and Costello, and the BOLO on Carlin was updated to include his accomplices.

As he took his place back at his desk Gibbs glanced at his watch, how much more time did Tim have before Carlin started his butchery, before his chest was split open?

"Tony, the other deaths, aside from Oates, was there blood evidence at the scenes?"

"Nothing Boss, they were all dump sites…"

"Then where were they killed? With Lees and Lejeune, there had to be blood. Did any of the local LEOs find the crime scenes, anyone report finding blood stains on their property, anything?"

Ziva and Tony quickly scanned the reports from the various law enforcement departments who had dealt with the other deaths.

"They found no evidence Gibbs; so where did these men die?"

"That's a good question Ziva, how about you find me an answer."

Tony clicked the remote and put on the plasma the map showing where the victims had been found. "Boss, this may sound crazy; but what if Carlin and the others were on the move the whole time…would there be enough room in a truck or an RV to do what they did?"

Gibbs picked up his phone. "I don't know Tony, but I'm going to find out…Duck, I've got a question."

Carlin and the others men had left the room and Tim was alone…he had no idea how long they'd been gone…maybe he blacked out for a while. He made another attempt to free himself from the restraints, but they were fastened on as tight as before…he could do nothing to help himself, all he could do was hope and pray that Gibbs was okay, and that they were looking for him…how much time did he have? When the test results came back clear, Carlin would start work on getting what he wanted. Tim took a few shuddering breaths as he thought of his what was to come…how long would he remain conscious when they were cutting open his skull? How long before blissful oblivion took away the pain forever?

There had to be something he could do…the table, he could use the table. Tim lifted his head slightly to make sure he was still alone, no one else around…it was now or never, he lifted his head as far as he could from the table, took a deep breath and slammed his head back down, the noise echoed all round the room, or was it only echoing in his head? No one came, Tim tried again, if he did it often enough, maybe he'd damage the very thing Carlin was after…he turned slightly to one side and tried again…it was hurting, but he was still conscious.

Tim grew more frantic in his attempts to render himself useless to Carlin, but he simply couldn't apply enough force…

"What the hell are you doing?"

Tim saw the fist coming toward him; he felt the impact and was sent into the blissful state of unconsciousness he had craved.

"Simon, why did you hit him so hard? I just wanted him to stop, and now you've made things worse."

"Guess it's like you said before Alex, I don't know my own strength; you'll still be able to use him, won't you? It took us so long to find him, and you said his brain tissue would be the final ingredient to make the elixir work."

Carlin's anger died as quickly as it had sprung into life, Simon and Martin had been with him through so much, they had done things for him that he would never have been able to do for himself. He checked Tim's pulse...a little erratic, but nothing to worry about.

"He'll be okay, I will have to do another lumbar puncture, make sure there's no blood in the spinal fluid, then we can start the procedure."

Costello heaved a sigh of relief; he had put all his trust, his hopes for the future in Carlin's hands. He had gone way too far to back out now. "Do you want us to get the instruments ready?"

Carlin shook his head. "We should wait for the test results; let's go get something to eat and we'll be ready when McGee comes round."

The clock moved on relentlessly and Gibbs could feel the frustration growing, not just in his team, but all round the agency. Every minute that passed without news of Tim's whereabouts was a minute closer to his death…Gibbs refused to believe that Tim had been killed already, surely he would feel it if one of his team was dead, and he didn't feel it, so they kept on looking.

Ducky had confirmed that the first two deaths could have occurred in a vehicle, but the last two…

"There simply would not be enough space Jethro, Carlin would need sophisticated medical equipment, if he had assistance, they would require room to work. In order to carry out such complex procedures even as crudely as he did, would require a fully equipped operating room."

They had discovered that Costello owned a beat-up RV that he'd barely used since he joined the Army. It wasn't at his home now, and had been added to the BOLO. So many BOLOs out there, and not one single sighting in the last 24 hours…where were they?

Vance had told them that cyber crimes had discovered a breach in the NCIS firewall, someone had hacked into the personnel files, several files had been accessed, but Gibbs was convinced that had been done simply to cover their tracks, there was only one file they were interested in, and they'd found it…they had known everything about Tim for five days, even as they were dumping the body of Sergeant Lees, they were searching for their next victim.

"How do they move around cities like Baltimore and DC without being seen Boss? It's like they're invisible."

"Special Ops Tony, Costello and Bicknell have had years of training in covert operations, their lives depend on not being seen. With their help Carlin can move around completely unnoticed."

"Then how do we find McGee? We cannot leave him out there with these…fiends."

"We keep doing what we're doing Ziva."

"Special Agent Gibbs?" The voice was so quiet Gibbs almost missed it in the noise of the squad room; he looked up into the nervous face of a young man who seemed vaguely familiar.

"You want something?"

"I...you probably don't remember me, I'm Aaron Fox...cyber crimes." Now Gibbs remembered, he'd seen Fox in the basement when Tim was working down there; he tried to give a reassuring smile, and Fox continued. "The Director asked us to help Ms Sciuto with the background checks on Costello and Bicknell, I think I found something."

"You think?"

"I know what I have Agent Gibbs, but I'm not an investigator, I don't know if it's as significant as I hope..."

"Ziva, Tony, Abby's lab now." He grabbed Fox by the arm. "With me, let's see what you've got."