In the Observation room…

McGee, Ziva and Gibbs stood in observation staring at Charles who was pacing back and forth on the other side of the glass. It was about 10 minutes before Ziva broke the silence.

"When was the last time you saw him?"

McGee still looking at the glass, chewing on his bottom lip.

"Summer before my second year at MIT. He…ummm…he almost got me kicked out of school."

Both Ziva and Gibbs were shocked to hear that. Anyone who knew Tim, knew that he took everything seriously especially his education. They didn't think he would do anything to put his education at risk.

"He accused me of plagiarism on a paper, on several papers actually. They were false, of course, but I still had to go through this whole process of proving my innocence and such. I had it sponged from my personal record. That is the only incident that has been sponged from my record." McGee just shrugged his shoulders and turned around to face them, including Tony who walked in while he was talking.

"Why, would he accuse you?" Ziva asked

He shrugged again. "I don't know he never gave me a legit answer. Just said he was sorry. Which I know wasn't heartfelt at all. After that I never saw him again. Tony can you interrogate him?"

Tony looked up from the file he had in his hand and just nodded.

"I just thought that you wanted to do it?"

"Yeah, but if he is still somewhat the same guy that I knew. Then you are definitely the person more suited for the job."

Tony just nodded again and left for the other room. McGee hoped that he was right, that Charles haven't changed that much. If he haven't then he knows that he made the right choice to have Tony talk to him. He turned his attention back to the window, watching the scene play out.

Charles was pacing back and forth, murmuring something that Tony couldn't catch. He slammed the door behind him, which caused the guy to jump.

"Sit down" Tony said making his way to his own seat.

"I want to see Tim."

'And to think I thought this was going to be easy' Tony thought.

"Well you can't you get me instead."

"Who are you?"

Tony just raised his eyebrows and nodded toward the still empty chair. Charles just sighed and sat down running his hands through his hair.

"Better, I'm Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo. You can call me Tony. I just want to talk, and want to know why you thought it was a good idea to break into Tim's house and storage locker."

"You have no prove of that."

"Really? That knife that you threw at his head says otherwise, it had your fingerprints on the handle. And we matched it with the prints we found."

Charles just swallowed hard and continued to mess with his fingers.

"Now, Charles is it?" Tony said while looking over the personal file he had laid out on the table. "Let's see born in VA, moved to Maryland when you were 3. Hmmm, looks like both you and Tim's dad were stationed on the same base. Then moved to California when you were 8. And again you were on the same base as Tim. Mom died a couple of years later, while your dad was overseas with Tim's dad. Who did you stay with?" Finally looking up to see Charles biting his lip.

"Tim's mom let me move in with them."

"Oh, so you and Tim were like best friends then?"

"Yeah, even though he was younger we just clicked."

"You and your dad stayed in the states while Tim's family went overseas for a year and a half. But surprise, surprise you guys ended up on the same base after that in Washington State. How you'd feel about seeing him again?"

Charles just shrugged. "Fine, I guess. Our dads were happy. We ended up in the same class."

"And how exactly did you feel about Tim being 3 years younger and smarter than you."

"He wasn't smarter than me!" Charles snapped

"That answers that question. Just stating the facts. 3 years younger and in the same grade. Yeah, I would say he was just a bit smarter than you. Oh, look you were a boy scout too. Were you guys in the same troop?"

"He was the leader." Charles said looking down at the table. "My dad who was in charge thought he was more capable."

"So your dad liked Tim more?"

"No…"

"Then why would he put him in charge?"

"I don't know."

"You didn't think he could do it?"

"I was better suited for the job"

"Why, cause you were the troop leaders son or because you were older?"

Charles just shrugged again biting his lip.

"You were on the wrestling team with Tim. Was he better at that too?"

"He was not better than me!" Charles said nearly shouting. Ignoring his outburst, Tony continued.

"I see you applied to John Hopkins, once you moved again. Rejected. Tim got in though. Guessing you guys applied at the same time."

"Yeah. That doesn't matter."

"Really? So you weren't mad?"

"I was upset for maybe a day. I went to community college. Then re-applied. I got in. Got over it."

"But, despite the fact Tim was in a car accident that set him back a few weeks. He still graduated with a higher GPA than you."

Tony could see Charles getting irritated by the minute comparing him to Tim, hoping to get more he decided to push it.

"Higher GPA, younger than you. Then you both got into MIT but Tim got in automatically while you were wait-listed. How long did it take them to tell you, you were in?"

"3 weeks before classes started."

"So you didn't even know if you were going to go. And you had to watch Tim get all ready for classes. I bet he was so excited too. Why you only stay a year?"

"According to the board, I plagiarized my work."

"So when they accused you of that, you put the blame on Tim?"

"No, he was the one who ratted me out after I accused him of the same thing. He went to the board to get back at me."

"So you accuse him of stealing your work, he says he didn't, you don't believe him. You even go as far as going to the board about it. But of course they don't believe you. Tim is the smarter one in all of this, he is the more likable. People believe him over you, so his case gets dropped. Tim confronts you about it wanting to know why, and you give him a half ass answer. Then he does a little digging on his own. Realizes that you are the real plagiarizer in this equation. Turns you in, which gets you kicked out of school and you end up at a fast-food joint. But it doesn't end there does it?"

"I was wrongly accused."

"No, I don't think so. You went into FLETC a few years ago but flunked out. Did you know Tim went through FLETC with no problem at all? Passed with flying colors."

Charles begin gripping the ends of the table which begun to turn his knuckles white.

"My dad told me. He kept up with Tim's family."

"He was proud of him, wasn't he? That is probably all he talked about with you. Tim this, Tim that. Gets annoying, doesn't it?"

Charles only gripped the edges more.

"So now you work in the pentagon as a janitor after you lost your job as a security officer at the airport. So, I am just going to take a wild guess here. You're at the pentagon, doing your thing and you see NCIS people come in. Probably to talk to people about a murder, typical. But who do you see out of the corner of your eye…Tim! So you see him and emotions start coming up."

"It wasn't like that…"

"Sure it was. Your life stinks, you can't hold a job, and you have been under the shadows of this guy your whole life. So you see him and he looks great, better than great. He's confident at what he's doing, not a hint of the guy you use to know. And that makes you mad. He moved on and made something out of himself. He's an NCIS Special Agent and by what you can tell, even with the short time you saw him, a damn good one. For some reason you think he doesn't deserve such a good life."

"I never said…"

"It's probably because you're older and you think that has something to do with success or the fact that your dad is more proud of Tim than he is of you. Even after all these years, it's just not fair. I get it."

Charles looks up and his face begins to relax. "You do?"

Tony just nods and casually leans his chair back. "Yeah, I mean I was even a little envious of the guy when I first met him. He's younger than me has more degrees than me. His knowledge on computers and science exceeds me by a long shot. Pretty sure my boss liked him better at some point."

Charles finally let go of the table and seemed to relax. "See it's not fair. Everyone loves him, he could do no wrong but I know the truth."

Tony put his chair back up and put his elbows on the table, placing his chin on his hands.

"And what truth is that?" Tony said still sounding casual.

"He's a liar and a cheater. His work is not his own, he takes credit for others people's work. He gets close to people and then bam betrays them just like that."

Tony just nodded, trying to keep up his casual persona.

"How would you know? You haven't talked to him in a while."

"I met someone who feels the same way, he knows Tim well."

"So you were going to pair up with this person and expose Tim?"

Charles shook his head quickly. "No, we were going to stop him from deceiving anyone else. Ruin his life, just something to knock him down a few notches that would teach him a lesson."

"Set him up for murder?"

"No, a bomb."

Pretending to get it, Tony snapped his fingers and smiled slightly.

"Oh, I get it. When you broke into his house you were looking for his badge and ID, his gun, probably some other things to put in the place. That would make him look guilty as hell. He would be charged, probably prison for a few years, when he comes back he can kiss his job away or any high respected job really. Smart. I mean with his knowledge he can easily build one, it would take some time but still. So who is this mystery person?"

"He's an ex-worker of Tim, Tim stole his job. Then had the nerve to say his project was not "good enough""

"I need a name."

"Roger. I don't know his last name, we met and our conversation came to Tim and him and his cousin agreed to help."

Tony just nodded again and begin to pack his stuff. "Okay, you're under arrest." He said in the calm voice he has had all throughout the interrogation.

"Wait, what? But you just agreed that Tim…"

Tony didn't let him finish the sentence, he lifted himself out of the chair and invaded Charles personal space in a matter of seconds.

"First, you have no right at all to call him that. His name is Very Special Agent McGee. Second, you threw a knife, a very sharp one to be exact, at his head. Third, you broke into his apartment as well as his storage unit. Last time I checked breaking and entering is against the law."

Charles didn't know what to say, Tony's voice went from casual to beyond serious in a matter of seconds. Tony used this opportunity to back away, grab the file and head toward the door before turning back to face Charles who was still a little in shock. "Oh and one more thing. I may not have known Tim as long as you. But if there is one thing I do know is he is loyal as ever and one of the hardest and best people I ever worked with. If someone is giving him praise, know he deserves it."

"But you…"

"No! You don't get it! I trust him with my life, every single day and nothing will ever change that. He is beyond an amazing person. And if I find out this bomb is already assembled and put into place. Prison will be the least of your problems."

Tony then turned around and slammed the door shut behind him. He let his head fall back on the door, closing his eyes for a second before hearing the sound of Abby's boots coming down the hall. He quickly sat up straight.

"Hey! Where are the others?" Abby asked bouncing from one foot to other seeming to busting with information.

Tony just tiled his head toward the observation room and went in after her. Getting a quick glance to McGee who was leaning on the wall, having a face of relief or shock. Tony couldn't tell.

"What do you got Abs?" Gibbs asked.

"Well, I ran the fingerprints through the NCIS debates because that was the last thing I could think of. I got a match. The prints belong to a Roger Popper. He worked in Cyber Crimes for 3 years until…"

"Until Vance assigned me down there. I was over him and he came to me with a project that I knew wasn't going to work. So I declined it, he resigned the next day." McGee finished

"Do you have an address?" Ziva asked.

"Yep" Abby said while handing the address to her.


Sorry, if Tony seems a little OOC. Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Reviews are greatly appreciated and thank you again to everyone following and giving feed back.