A/N: One more chapter after this. I so hope you are enjoying it. Sheila

The Secret Lives of Geeks

Chapter 4

Tony leaned against the sterile steel counter in autopsy. Ducky looked up from his notes. "Tony, are you sure I can't do something for you?"

"I'm hanging out. People hang out in the bullpen, but no one ever hangs out in autopsy."

"True. Think about what you just said and you might glean the answer as to why that is."

Tony shrugged. "You guys are underappreciated. I just wanted you to know I'm thinking about you."

Palmer's head popped up from the drawer he was scrubbing. "That's nice, Tony."

"Yeah, Abby tells me you're quite a runner."

Jimmy smiled. "Used to be in the day. I guess this triathlon business sort got me thinking about it again. I've been running all week. My times aren't bad."

Tony raised an eyebrow. "Tell me what they are."

"Yesterday, I ran six miles and paced at 6:43 a mile."

"Damn! That's good."

"What are you pacing at?"

Tony shrugged. "Aw well, it depends on the day. I try not to talk about it. Don't want the other teams to find out."

Jimmy nodded. "I get it. It's important to keep on the down low."

"Abby says you're going for a Geek team next year."

"We're thinking about it. Depends on if Tim will be swimming for you and then there's Abby. I showed her what a racing bike looks like, but she still wants to decorate it with a basket, streamers, a ringer, and big handlebars. She also wants to wear these white vinyl go-go boots. Not sure she really gets the whole concept of a race."

Tony nodded. "I think a Geek team is a really good idea. I was thinking that maybe you and I could start running together. Might be kind of fun, and um, we could put Ziva to work on Abby. She might turn her into a competitor yet."

Jimmy's face spread into a toothy smile. "Really? That would be so great! I would love it."

Autopsy doors slid open and McGee hurried in. He looked pale and harried. He took in the room. "Sorry for the interruption. I didn't realize you were working a case. Jimmy and Ducky, could you let me know when you have some time?"

"We have time now, Timothy. Tony was just down here exploring the world of Geekdom."

"What? I was just hanging out."

"Um, what I need is something pretty unorthodox and I understand if you can't help."

"You're shaky, Timothy. Sit down. I want to check your blood pressure."

McGee let Ducky lead him to a stool and he clasped his trembling hands together. Ducky quickly attached a blood pressure cuff. "I've been tracking a pedophile the last few days. It's hard to connect an online name to a crime. I talked to Fornell, and he said that a number of these cases have been thrown out because the chain of evidence from online persona to the actual crimes is really hard to substantiate."

"Good Lord! Your blood pressure is 185/128. Unacceptable! What are you eating? Are you sleeping?"

"Power bars and a few hours here and there. That's not important right now, Ducky."

"Oh, you're wrong about that. We're going to need to change your regimen or I'll have you pulled from the case."

"Tim, maybe Ducky's right. Sounds like a case for the FBI Child Pornography Task Force." Tony said softly.

"Talked to them. The internet is a cesspool of child pornographers and pedophiles. They are so overwhelmed that they estimate it will be at least two months before they can take over the case."

"What do you need from us?" Palmer sat down next to McGee.

"Your brother is a dentist, right?"

"Yeah. He's got a really successful practice in North Carolina."

McGee looked at him. "I thought maybe you understood that language a little bit. No one says anything very clearly on any of these sites, but the one where he's most active is a site particularly for dentists with certain proclivities. Sometimes, I can't tell if the euphemisms they are using are about dentistry or about children. I get lost sometimes."

"Absolutely. I want to help."

"Hold on, Mr. Palmer. We need to think about this."

McGee nodded. "Ducky's right. I've been nauseous for three days reading what they want to do to children and what they have already done. I close my eyes and it gets worse. I hate to ask you. You're one of the most gentle people I know, and don't want to expose you to this, but I'm scared to let this case sit for two months. I've figured out what his screen name is. It's Snape60. He has Harry Potter paraphernalia all over his office and 1960 is his birth year. From his talk, I think he's been meeting with a young girl, maybe two."

"Son of a bitch!" Tony growled.

"I want to do this, McGee. I can handle it."

Ducky sighed. "If we're doing this, then I'm supervising both of you. You will eat and sleep when I tell you."

"I want a piece of this! I dream about ten minutes with a hump like this. It would be the ultimate birthday present." Tony started pacing.

McGee shook his head. "I talked to Vance. The team is still pulling call for the next three days. He gave me a couple of guys to follow Wallon, but that's all for right now."

"Wait until Boss hears this. There is nothing he hates worse than a pedophile."

"I already know, Tony." Gibbs came sailing in. "Just finished with the director." He looked McGee over. "He said you looked like hell."

"He's on my watch now," Ducky said.

"Good!"

"Boss, we're on this case now, right?"

Gibbs sighed. "Peripherally. There was another rape this morning outside of Norfolk. That makes three in a month."

Tony pointed. "What do you think this dentist is doing to little kids?"

"Right now, he's under surveillance and we're building a case. If he goes near another child, they'll move in. We take this one slow because we need to do it right. The yeoman who was raped needs us now. Grab your gear and I'll meet you out in the truck."

Tony shook his head and looked ready to start protesting again when Gibbs gave him a look. So he slammed a hand down on the counter and stormed out. Gibbs turned to the rest of them. "If I had my way, we'd be handling this much differently. We got a resource problem right now. Balboa better get his fat ass back here pronto is all I can say."

McGee nodded. "Right now, it's a matter of gathering evidence. I'm been coding the conversations so we can build profiles on more than just Wallon."

"You're going up to interview Jennifer Prentiss?"

"Finally got permission from the Sergeant this morning. She's still pretty heated; thinks I'm not trying hard enough. I'll drive to Kentucky this evening after work."

"On the sleep you've gotten? Absolutely not, Timothy."

McGee looked at Gibbs. "If you're okay with it, I was going to ask Abby to drive. It should be about 8 hours each way. Today is Friday, and we'll be back by Sunday."

"Bet she knows how to talk to teenage girls."

McGee gave him a ghost of a smile. "It crossed my mind."

"You're not in this alone. From the looks of you, I should've been hearing from you a lot more than I have been in the last few days."

"You've been busy."

Gibbs wagged a finger at him. "Start talking to me, McGee. I want a sit rep at least twice a day from you."

McGee nodded. Gibbs reached over and slapped him on the back. "This is good work you're doing, Tim. Don't forget that."

McGee watched him leave autopsy before turning to Jimmy. "I'll set it up on your computer in here. Be good if Ducky is nearby for support. I have a program set up where we are inputting names of chat users, incriminating phrases, euphemisms we don't understand, anything that constitutes information about locations of users or identifying information. I'm also going to ask you to talk to your brother. Right now, we are only lurking, but on this site, we can join as a user, and I'd like to know if he'll let us use him as a cover."

"My brother, Brian, has three girls under the age of 10. Believe me, he'll help in any way he can."

"Good. Let's get this thing started."

…..

Ziva sat down next to Tony in the waiting room and handed him a coffee. Tony nodded. "How is she?"

"Traumatized. Angry. But she gave a good description of her rapist. We just need to wait a few minutes for the ER doc to finish his report."

Tony looked down at the steam rising up from his coffee.

"So, how did it go 'hanging out' in autopsy?"

Tony gave her a look. "I was just being nice."

"You're feeling guilty. What Abby said, got to you."

"If Jimmy and I raced five miles tomorrow, he would beat me by at least a minute."

Ziva raised her eyebrows. "Well, he's built like a runner. Does it bother you that he can beat you?"

"I don't want do the triathlon next year. Hell, I don't want to do it this year. It's not fun anymore. This thing has upset the balance on the team. McGee isn't where he's supposed to be. The geeks are staging an uprising. I don't like it."

She watched him carefully. "Why?"

Tony winced. "Abby's right. We get the attention, but they do just as much as we do. Plus, I don't like the sense that the Roman Senators are throwing their gladiators, which is us, into the coliseum to fight to the death."

She shook her head. "That's a rather graphic image."

"We're not doing this triathlon for the team this year. We're doing it for some bet SecNav made with SecArm. It's not right and it's messing with our karma."

She cocked her head. "True but the one good thing that comes out of this mess is a greater appreciation of our friends."

"Ziva, I have a dangerous little idea."

….

Jimmy rubbed at his tired eyes. A gentle hand patted his shoulder and he looked up. Ducky handed him a cup of tea. Jimmy took a sip and endeavored not to grimace. Ducky favored a rather bitter brand of Earl Grey that Jimmy found to be unpalatable. Yet the gesture of his mentor guiding him through this and the hot liquid soothing his throat made up for its taste.

Jimmy turned to Ducky. "Do you think that true pedophilia has biological origins?"

"Does it matter? If your desires cause harm to others, it can never be excused."

"These…people seem to truly believe that they aren't doing anything wrong."

Ducky frowned. "I don't believe that. I think there can be some level of denial, but mostly I think there is a basic need to justify their actions."

"I told Tim a few weeks ago that sometimes I wish that I was a guy with a gun. Sometimes, I think that they have the more exciting job, but if I had to deal with guys like this…well, I don't want to be a guy with a gun."

"Do you remember how drawn and pale Timothy was when he came into autopsy today? He was very tired, but he was also very affected by what he'd been reading. I don't know that anyone can really hunt these sorts of predators for very long without losing their way."

Jimmy swallowed. "Well, I seem to be making some progress. I'm coding everything like McGee wants. I think I understand most of what they're saying. I've called my brother three times for clarifications on terms."

"Mr. Palmer, you're doing an excellent job, but you're sitting there like an sentinel unable to leave his post. Timothy has set this up so it will record everything. You have to walk away for a while. Go home. Eat something. Hug the lovely Breena. And then take the sleeping pills I'm going to give you."

Jimmy looked stricken. "What if something happens?"

"He's being followed. No child will be allowed to enter his apartment. I promise you."

"I'm coming back tomorrow."

"You'll work on this only when I am here. You are not an agent, and even if you were, no one can do this kind of work in isolation."

"You'll come in tomorrow? It's a Saturday."

"Of course, I will. I want this man caught as badly as you do."

….

She picked up the buzzing phone and put it to her ear while she was driving down the dark highway. "Hi Gibbs…No, he's sleeping." She glanced over at him gently snoring, the side of his face pasted to the window glass. "Well, it's 4 a.m. and I think we're going to get into town in about an hour. Tim said we should get a few hours of sleep and then we'll go meet with Jennifer Prentiss…Uh, I think he's fine. He's been restless. Was on the phone with Jimmy and Ducky the first few hours. He really wants this guy bad, but I think we all do…Actually, I'm kind of excited to help. I know I'm not an agent, but I've helped out at a runaway shelter and I think I know some good things to say…Gibbs, it's so sweet that you're worried about him. It's cute!"

McGee shifted and lifted his head from the glass, his eyes half-mast. "Abs, is it for me?"

"No, no, no. Go back to sleep."

McGee's head dropped against the glass again.

"Shhh!" She cautioned into the phone. "Not so loud, Gibbs…Yes, I will make sure that we call you as soon as we're done with the interview…Yes, I'm being careful on the road. Good-bye!"

….

"How's your sandwich?"

Dornegut looked over at DiNozzo. "Good."

Tony shrugged. "It's sort of the best you can get in the Navy Yard on a Saturday."

Dornegut eyed him warily. "It's fine."

"I just wanted to tell you that you've been doing a good job these last few weeks."

"Really?"

"Is that so hard to believe?"

Dornegut put down the sandwich and wiped his mouth. "Okay, DiNozzo, you're freaking me out now."

"You're right. You're right. I do have something I need to talk about with you."

"Do you have the authority to fire me?"

"No! It's nothing like that. It's…well, it's this thing with McGee. This triathlon thing and McGee being pulled off the team; it's not right. Dornie, it's caused a rift in the space time continuum."

"Huh?"

Tony shook his head. "Everything is off. We've woken the sleeping giant and the barbarians are at the gates. The geeks are preparing to revolt, and frankly, we've given them good reason."

"Have you been drinking?"

"No, Dornegut, I haven't been drinking. Things are in chaos and we need to put them right. You're not a geek. You wouldn't understand."

"Okay. If I'm not a geek, then what am I?"

Tony shrugged. "You are a jock…well, a special subset of jock. I mean, the gay jock is little documented but growing phenomenon that started with Greg Louganis or was it Brian Boitano? Is he even out?"

Dornegut blinked. "McGee told you I was gay?"

"McGeek knows?"

"He didn't tell you?"

"McGoo never knows this stuff before I do. Things are so screwed up! It's like matter and anti-matter colliding in-"

"How did you know, Tony!"

Tony sighed. "Easy. You've been on the team more than three weeks now, and you haven't looked down Ziva's shirt even once."

Dornegut looked at him, mouth open. "That's how you can tell?"

Tony nodded. "Even women look down Ziva's shirt. You're really on the gay end of the spectrum."

"It was that obvious."

"Maybe not to a mere mortal but I have special abilities. Surely, you've noticed."

Dornegut looked up at the sky. "You are the very definition of special, Tony."

"Now, let's get down to why we're here. We have to put everything right and I think I have just the thing.

They sat on the front porch listening to the gentle breeze of the wind. Jennifer Prentiss sat between them on the front steps. McGee had let Abby take the lead in making her comfortable. They talked about Abby's boots, her tattoos, and the skulls she'd stamped on the black nail polish on her fingernails. For the first thirty minutes, the two females had chatted away like a couple of old friends. Then the teenager, dark and petite like her mother, had gotten quiet. Abby gave McGee a look and they both waited. Then Jennifer blew out air and looked at McGee. "She sent you to ask me about the dentist, didn't she?"

He nodded.

"I don't want to get him into trouble. It's just as much my fault."

"Jennifer, tell us about Dr. Wallon."

She looked down at her bare feet. "He was really nice to me. Gave me money when I told him things were rough at home. He told me to call him if I needed anything."

"Did you call him?"

She nodded. "I told him I was going to run away. He told me that was a really dangerous thing to do. He said he had an apartment I could stay at until I was ready to go home. He was being super nice."

"Did you stay there?"

She winced. "He said he would get into trouble if I told anyone."

McGee nodded. "He was trying to keep you off the streets. That's not a bad thing."

"Yeah, I went to stay there. He had great cable channels and he got an Xbox for me to use. I could sleep in as late as I wanted and the freezer was filled with frozen pizzas."

"Sounds pretty cool. How long did you stay?"

She hugged her arms around her tanned knees and didn't say anything. Abby gave McGee a worried look. He leaned over and said quietly. "Take your time, Jennifer."

Finally she sighed. "I left after two weeks."

Abby gently rubbed her back. "It's okay, Jennifer."

"He asked if I appreciated everything he did for me. He wanted me to help him with some things. He said he was feeling lonely. Said he didn't have anyone to hug."

McGee worried his mouth for a moment before speaking. "He did a lot of nice things for you, Jennifer, but he could buy you 100 pizzas and he still doesn't have the right to touch you. Ever. He was wrong, and it wasn't your fault at all."

She buried her face in her knees and sobbed.

…..

It was late afternoon when they returned to the hotel. Abby was silent through dinner, pushing her food around the plate. McGee had little appetite himself. It was in times like these that he wondered why he hadn't chosen an easier path for his life's career. He had the intelligence to excel at most any field, but instead, he'd chosen work where he saw constant pain and heartbreak.

Abby looked up after the check for dinner came. "She actually believed it was her fault that he raped her."

McGee nodded. "And she was too ashamed to tell her mother so she ran off to Kentucky."

"Why aren't we arresting that bastard right now?"

McGee sighed. "If we did that, the case would hinge largely on her testimony. Can you imagine that poor girl having to stand up in court and tell a bunch of strangers all the details she told us?"

"I want to help you and Jimmy."

He nodded. "We'll wage a geek war and we'll take him down hard."

"Can I be there when you arrest him?"

"Abs." He shook his head.

"It's just that I don't ever get to meet the victims, and I didn't realize it would be so hard."

"I'm sorry, Abs. I shouldn't have brought you."

She reached across, grabbing his hand. "Are you kidding? I'm so glad I could help."

He squeezed back. "I don't know what I would've done without you today."

"Are you going to call Sergeant Prentiss?"

"I talked to Gibbs. He's going to go see her in person. We tell her something like this on the phone, and we're going to find Wallon with a bullet hole between his eyes."

"Hmm. If I processed those forensics, I'm not sure I would be able to make a match to the Sergeant."

He laughed.

At first, the crying was part of his dream and he was doing it. Everyone was lined up at the edge of the pool for the race, but there wasn't room for him. He asked Gibbs to move over, but the boss didn't even look at him. He turned over in frustration and heard the sniffling and the hiccups. This time he opened his eyes, and tried to remember where he was.

It was dark but he could smell the slight mustiness of hotel drapes, and he remembered that they were in a hotel along the highway on the Kentucky Virginia border. Abby was in the next bed, and he could hear her try to stifle sounds.

He climbed out of his bed and crawled onto hers. "Abby, you okay?"

She kept her head turned away. "Sorry. I didn't mean to wake you."

"Hey, what's wrong?"

She turned to him. "I was just feeling so bad for Jennifer. She's a little girl. What's wrong with people?"

He stroked her face. "I don't know, Abs. I think, in the beginning, I thought I could be a part of changing things, but now I know that there will always be predators. I've had to accept that that will never change."

"I know."

He started to roll away from her but she grabbed his hand. "Stay here with me. Talk to me."

McGee froze. "I don't know. It kinda' scares me being so close to you."

"Never used to."

"That was a different time, and when that ended…I really had a broken heart. I promised myself that I wouldn't let that happen again."

She looked at him for a long moment, her eyes adjusting to the dark. "I didn't think you still cared about me like that."

"Come on, Abs. You don't see me watching you? Seriously?"

She gripped his hand. "You've changed so much. You seem so confident. I just you'd moved on."

"Well, I've tried, but you're pretty special to me, Abs."

"You're special to me too."

"Like a brother."

She shook her head slowly. "You should never feel what I feel for a brother."

He cocked his head. "Abs?"

"You scare me too."

He pulled her to him and hugged her tightly. "We may both feel something for each other, but that doesn't mean we want the same things. You know that I want something solid, something permanent. You have to ask yourself what you want."

After a few moments together, he nuzzled her neck. "I want you so much."

She pulled away, her eyes teary. "We both have a lot to think about then."

He nodded and eased off the bed. He lay down on his bed and looked at her. "Let's talk until we fall asleep, okay?"

"Okay."

"So tell me about this geek team you and Jimmy are planning for next year's triathlon."

"It's going to be great! I was thinking we could have team logos and t-shirts."

"What do Tony and Ziva think about your efforts to recruit me?"

"Distinctly unhappy. You are one sought after free agent. The last time I saw Tony I could tell he was scheming. Don't know what he's up to, but this time the geeks going to be heard."

He smiled a little in the dark. "That would be nice, Abs."

…..

TBC….