The ride to the boss' house was a silent one. Tim had nothing to say, too much was going through his brain; the fact that his sister's boyfriend had not only been the bad news character he'd warned her that he was; but that he'd stooped to kidnapping and beating her brother just because he obviously witnessed their fight earlier that morning, was too much of a 'Twilight Zone' reality to be real. Tim knew that Sarah had most likely called home to cry on their father's shoulder right after she'd walked away from him this morning too, knowing her the way he did; which meant he was in deep shit with his father, now as well.

While that was nothing new for him, the reality of that was just more than he needed to deal with on top of everything else. Mentally blinking, he deliberately forced his brain to shift gears to the here and now and the safety of his team and his family, no matter what they'd done. This goon meant business and Tim wasn't taking any chances with their lives, although with the team, it was pretty much a given that they'd be better able to protect themselves against him than Tim had been. Unless this bastard went after Abby, Jimmy or, God forbid, Ducky. Tim shuddered with the fear of that possibility.

"You okay?" Gibbs asked with genuine worry as he saw the shudder run through Tim. It had been impossible to miss even though the kid had been stone cold silent for a while now.

"Yeah," Tim answered quietly.

No other answer would be good enough. Strong and silent was the name of the game on this team and that's the way Tim wanted it to be with this too. He didn't need to be seen as the weak link, even if he was just that. He needed a plan to live under the radar of this goon until everything was over. Somehow, the guy being in FBI custody wasn't good enough of a safety net for Tim to feel safe or comfortably resting on his laurels. "Boss, can we make a couple of stops, please?"

"Sure. Whatta ya need?"

"Just need to stop at an atm and then the closest store, nothing out of the way." Tim requested quietly, his voice barely audible.

"Okay." Gibbs answered as he tried to fathom what his agent with a computer brain was configuring and planning.

He knew Tim's requests weren't just trivial and it was that reason that he had no problem with doing as he was asking. Gibbs was worried about the state of distraction his agent seemed to be in and because of that, accompanied him into the store after they'd stopped at the atm machine nearby. Watching Tim purchase a burn phone, a gym bag, toiletries and several changes of clothes from the drug store they'd stopped at raised Gibbs' alarm but still he kept quiet. He'd talk to Tim about this when they got to the house.

To Tim's credit, the young man stoically set about doing what he obviously felt he needed to do in the store, never letting his eyes meet those of the man who could read him like a book. His silence and lack of explanation carried on, and as they got back out to the car and headed to Gibbs' house, the boss couldn't help but continue to wonder what the hell was going on in his agent's mind. Once inside the house, Tim made a beeline for the shower after asking Gibbs where it was, leaving the boss time alone to think while he tried to whip up something for them to eat for dinner.

Firing up his indoor grill, a.k.a. his fireplace, he quickly set about grilling some steaks for them. He realized with a twinge in his gut, that while he'd done this for Tony countless times, this was the first time he'd ever done it for Tim. In fact, this was the first time the kid had ever been here without it being case related for the Agency. Judging by the emergency purchases earlier, Tim was feeling the need to hide out and wasn't planning on going back to his apartment anytime soon, The fact that the young man he thought of as one of his boys, was feeling like this hit Gibbs like a stake through the heart.

Soft padding footsteps sounded behind him, causing Gibbs to turn from his thoughts and look away from the fireplace to see Tim walk by the doorway on his way to stowing his gym bag by the front door. Hearing the lock of the front door click into place startled the boss, but only for a moment as he refused to take that necessary need to feel secure away from the young man. A mere moment later, Tim walked back by the room and disappeared.

When he hadn't returned some ten minutes later, Gibbs stood up and decided to go and find him. His first port of call was the guest bedroom and bathroom, thinking Tim had simply retreated to leave Gibbs to his normal solitude. When he saw no sign of his missing agent in those rooms, he headed back to the kitchen so he could grab a fresh cup of coffee before he faced his Agent and hopefully get him to open up. There weren't too many other places he could have gone, so, hopefully, finding him would be easy.

When he stepped foot in the kitchen, he paused at the sight of his basement door. He knew that he'd left it closed when he'd gotten the steaks out of the fridge a bit ago, so the fact that it was now ajar gave him cause to think. With a sigh, he walked over and gently eased the door open so that he could go down to see if that's where Tim had disappeared to like he expected he had.

Sure enough, Tim was sitting almost out of sight in the far corner of his basement. Gibbs took in the way the young man sat there on the cold concrete floor with his knees pulled up to his chest, his arms wrapped around his knees and his head resting on top of them. The normally resilient young man, at this very moment, exuded complete misery, betrayal, confusion and fear wrapped up in sheer terror, along with the still present physical pain. Seeing one of his boys like this damn near broke Gibbs heart completely.

Only one reason for him to have this look on him and that was because he'd figured out his little sister, whom they all knew, he'd have done anything for, had betrayed him after telling him something as hateful as she had. Gibbs knew now that Tim knew what he hadn't wanted anyone to have to tell him. But, the fear he was seeing in those eyes wasn't because of Sarah. The boss' gut was screaming that Tim was scared of something more sinister. The bastard who'd done this had to have threatened him somehow. It was the only thing that made sense.

Seeming to sense he was no longer alone, Tim looked up and shook his head slightly as he noticed Gibbs at the edge of his field of vision, standing there not saying a word. With a sigh, the younger man wiped his face on his sweatshirt sleeve and straightened up so that he was sitting straight against the wall and stretched his legs out in front of him. The soreness that he felt from the beatings he'd taken earlier in the day let itself be known once more and he realized that it hadn't simply gone away like he'd hoped. He'd hoped the hot shower would help with that , but it was obvious that the relief had been temporary and his muscles were starting to protest again. He took a silent minute to let the acute soreness subside and waited for it to dull down enough to leave only residual traces of itself through the areas that had been mistreated. Tim slid a half-smile into place before finally sparing his boss a glance.

"You know who he is." Gibbs quietly reasoned out.

"Yeah." The young man answered so quietly, Gibbs almost didn't hear it.

"What'd he say to you, McGee?"

Tim offered him yet another tight smile and stood up stiffly. In a split second, his mask was back in place as he changed the subject quickly.

"I need some coffee, you need a refill?" The younger agent said as he brushed the sawdust off his pants and headed toward the stairs leaving Gibbs standing there still wondering just what the hell was going on. Wordlessly, Tim trekked back up the stairs leaving Gibbs no choice but to follow, hoping against all hope, that his agent would open up to him at some point in time.


Ziva, Abby, Jimmy and Tony sat around Ducky's dining room table as their surrogate uncle served them dinner, at his request. Sarah McGee sat on his left, with Ziva sitting beside her as a buffer between the troubled young woman and Abby who hadn't stopped wanting to hurt her for what she'd orchestrated against her brother. Ducky'd made the request for them to join him for dinner as they had been in the squad room together a short hour ago. They'd been reluctant to drag him into having to deal with Sarah McGee and the mess she'd brought down on them, but the M.E. had insisted it was what was best for all concerned, even Timothy.

When Tony had thought to argue, Ducky had stepped up to him and quietly reminded him that Timothy's father may very well be on his way to the middle of this mess to 'rescue his princess', if his earlier phone call was anything to go by and that problem was not one they needed to deal with without proper support.

"It is better that we remain in numbers until this is all resolved, Tony." Ziva had seconded quietly. "Sarah will not be able to get by with anything or try to disappear from the lot of us."

"I know. I just don't want you or Jimmy or Abby drawn into this, Ducky." Tony had told him seriously.

"That is why this is the best idea for this evening, Anthony." Ducky had insisted.

"Alright. I know this bastard's already behind bars, but we're still stayin' alert! All of us, got it? We still don't know if he was acting alone."

Tony's order had been the end of the discussion since Director Vance was coming down the stairs with Sarah McGee at that point. In short order and with little discussion, they'd all trouped out together and drove to Ducky's with Ziva driving Sarah while Tony drove Abby and Ducky. Jimmy had begged off, stating he would be safely ensconced in his apartment studying for his classes. He promised not to duck his protection detail or go anywhere else for the night. Satisfied, Tony and Ziva had agreed with Ducky that it was safe for Jimmy to go.

The remainder of the evening was full of nerve wracking tension, no matter how much Ducky tried to break the ice between the team and the guilty woman who'd yet to find herself back in their good graces. Sarah, for her own part, kept to herself, barely ate her dinner and retreated to her assigned sleeping quarters as soon as dinner was over. She had no intention of spending any more time around Tim's teammates than necessary, at least until they remembered what she'd said to them earlier; all of them had treated her brother disgracefully at least once and really had no room to judge her. An early night of sleep suited her just fine. Besides, she really did have a lot to think about.


Although Gibbs was wide awake at the crack of dawn, it was more from long-standing habit than from being rested. As he made his way to the kitchen and poured his first cup of coffee, he still felt the remnants of a near sleepless night; having spent the normally restful hours, calming the troubled young man still sleeping on his couch; as his nightmares rolled through. After jumping up out of a near sleep state the 3rd time, the Team Leader had given up trying to sleep in his own bed; mentally admitted defeat and simply got as comfortable as he could in the easy chair near the couch in his living room, while keeping watch. It had been a long night.

Even now; with a large cup of his favorite coffee nestled between his hands while he stood on the back porch looking out over the railing; his ears remained trained on the young man still sleeping on the couch in the room behind him; listening through the open French doors for any signs of his stirring or having more troubled dreams.


Returning to consciousness, the atypical feel to the surface he felt underneath him, as well as the unusual lighting hitting his eyes from windows on places in the walls that he didn't have in his own apartment, helped remind Tim that he wasn't at home in his apartment. The countless aches and pains he felt as soon as he moved any part of his body, sharply reminded him why.

As flashes of what yesterday had been for him; and the recalled promise of worse things to come for him and for those close to him if he didn't do as that bastard ordered; played through his mind in vivid color; his own vulnerability and inability put a stop to it all; felt like yet another physical punch to the gut; coming on top of the beatings he was still feeling the effects from, from yesterday. All in all; it left Tim feeling completely beaten down and worthless. A Liability!

With a rush of determination he didn't realize he possessed, he slammed the lid down on the emotional overload that threatened to swallow him whole, and deliberately forced himself to refocus; this time on the things he needed to do to minimize casualties in this craziness as well as put a stop to it. Maybe with the guy already caught and behind bars, the worst was over.

Just because the guy's locked up, doesn't mean this is over! Don't let your guard down, Tim!" His inner voice was screaming at him as if he couldn't be heard loud enough. As Tim ran through everything he could think of to do that would keep everyone away from this maniac, that voice reminded him of the one thing he hadn't done that he'd been told to do in order to avoid himself or anyone else being this guy's target. Sharply reminded now, that he'd left something undone yesterday, he bolted upright in fear as panic began to march on in behind it. He gasped for air as the reality of what he probably had set in motion settled in the pit of his now upset stomach.

"McGee! What is it?" Gibbs demanded sharply as he hurried in from the porch upon hearing Tim's sudden fight for air.

The boss' snapped out question broke the hold on Tim's panic, allowing him to work toward getting his breathing under control. As he sucked in more air for his struggling lungs, he forced himself to calm down until after a few minutes, he was finally breathing normally again. Even as calm returned to him, the ability to look his boss in the eye or talk to him about any of this madness did not. Closing his eyes, he continued to take cleansing breaths and let them out slowly, as if preparing himself for something bigger than himself.

"McGee, look at me!" Gibbs demanded with a touch of anger.

Tim silently looked at the boss with abject apology for the space of a few heartbeats and then silently got up from the couch, disappearing down the hall with only the sound of the guest bathroom door closing explaining where he'd gone to.

Frustrated and angry, Gibbs took himself to the kitchen for more coffee and to serve up breakfast for them so they could get to work on time. The stubborn kid might not be coerced into talking about what was going on his head; but he was damn well gonna eat a decent meal! Gibbs had to admit that he and McGee had never had an easy time of it; trying to communicate outside of work related issues. Well, hell! Who was he kidding; the two of them had never talked about anything but case work! Yeah, and whose fault is that?

The questions coming from his own inner voice did little to put the Team Leader in any better of a mood; but they did bring into focus, the fact that Tim wasn't to blame for the mood Gibbs was in. And while being rather careless of who he took his bad mood out on, was the normal way the ornery former Marine operated; this time, he just couldn't bring himself to operate that way. With everything the young man was already going through and still needed to deal with, the last thing he needed was the boss taking anything out on him. If he couldn't or wouldn't talk about it; he had to have a damn good reason. Gibbs wished like hell that Tim would let him in. He hated to see the kid try to deal with all of this alone.

Breakfast was no different than the brief standoff between them earlier had been. The tension filled air between them was now more quiet than even Gibbs had thought possible. And considering how much the boss appreciated peace and quiet, that was saying quite a lot! When Tim had come downstairs earlier, some fifteen minutes after leaving Gibbs in the living room, he'd been on the tail end of a phone conversation and had snapped his phone shut, pocketed the phone and silently given him that small apologetic smile of his that didn't reach his eyes, but that had been it.

Gibbs reluctantly resolved to let Tim handle this in his own way; but was at least able to find some relief in the fact that the young man ate a decent meal without a fight. With the day he'd had just yesterday, the boss hadn't put a whole lot of hope into the kid having a decent appetite, but had been happily proven wrong on that score.

Riding into work was yet another exercise in silent tension. As they passed through the Navy Yard Front Gate, Gibbs had had enough. The silence he could handle any day of the week. It was the tension that had to go. "Relax, McGee. I get that you don't wanna talk about it."

Surprisingly, Tim seemed to want to argue the point; but stopped short of allowing himself to do so.

"You decide you 're ready to talk about it, you know where to find me." Gibbs offered almost offhandedly, hoping to move things along.

Once again, the small smile was offered, this time a small nod of the head accompanied it; just enough of a non-verbal response for the boss to not only understand it but also relate to it. Somehow, the air seemed to clear between them, allowing the rest of the ride in to be an experience in things settling back down to normal between them.

By the time they'd reached the squad room, things had returned to normal between them, albeit silently. With coffees in hand for Tony and Ziva as well as themselves, they both got settled in behind their desks and got started on their day. The peace and quiet continued to rein and both of them relished it.

Tony and Ziva's joint arrival heralded the official start of the workday and the typical end to the peaceful silence they'd walked into. Soon the room was filled with the normal sounds of the daily banter and grind of the day. All of yesterday seemed to have been put behind them. Even Tony and Ziva's mention of it had been brief and had come only in the form of the question as to how Tim was doing.

Tim's response had been equally as brief but sincere enough that no one questioned him further. As soon as he said he was fine and he thanked them for their concern; the day moved forward. No one looked back. Normalcy had returned to the team. Twenty minutes later, chaos returned.

The peace and quiet of the team of four perusing cold cases was shattered by the ringing of not one desk phone, but two.

"Yeah, Gibbs." The boss said into the phone as he stood from his chair, needing to stretch his legs.

"Jethro, have you seen or spoken to Abigail this morning?"

"No, Duck. I haven't. I take it you haven't either?"

"No, I have not. I have even spoken with the main gate. I'm told she has not come in as of yet. I thought perhaps you had spoken to her and knew of her not coming in?"

"Nope. You ask Vance about it?"

"Yes, She has not spoken with him either. He was unaware she had not arrived until I informed him of such. Jethro…."

"Yeah, Duck, I'm on it. Let me know if you hear from her."

"Absolutely. I hope she's all right."

"We'll find her, Duck. " Gibbs hung his phone up and snatched his coffee cup off his desk as he spoke. "McGee track Abby's cell , Ziva, you and Tony gear up! Go check her apartment. Find her! She's not here, she hasn't called and she's not answering her phone."

"Ah, Boss?" Tony said nervously as he set his own desk phone back down on its' cradle.

Gibbs glared at him as he waited for Tony to get to the point.

"I don't know how to tell you this, but…"

"But, what DiNozzo?" the boss asked impatiently.

"Pike is out."