Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or its characters.

Chapter 8 - Video Horror

With Tim leaving the remaining members of the team went back to work, Ducky and Gibbs left the younger members looking into the information from the journal that had now been fully translated, whilst they again found themselves in Vance's office discussing the situation further.

"Well young Timothy is certainly a lot stronger than we've ever given him credit for" Ducky stated simply as they settled into their seats

When he received puzzled looks from both the younger men he continued "With what we have been told today - which I believe probably only scratches the surface - and previous information Timothy has let slip about his bullying in the past, I can only suffice to say it explains a lot of Timothy behaviour when he first join us"

"What do you mean by scratching the surface, Dr Mallard" Vance questioned

"You cannot have failed to notice how young Timothy was very selective in what he told us. He skipped years, went from seven to ten, then eleven and then fourteen. You are not telling me these were the only incidents that occurred"

"So why didn't the Navy do something" Gibb maddened at the thought as to what his friend was implying

"Navy has a very clear policy on this sort of thing" Vance said for once agreeing with Gibbs

"Yes, however they also have a saying" the raised eyebrows indicated that Doctor Mallard should continue - what happens behind closed doors..." he started

"Stays behind closed doors" Gibbs finished for him, understanding spread over the faces of the group as they continued on with the discussion

"So what was your discussion with Jarvis like" Gibbs enquired, remembering what Vance had said at the beginning of the meeting in the conference room.

"Well, it would appear that after our little meeting yesterday Secretary Jarvis decided to do a little investigation of his own into Admiral McGee and it turns out that it is well known throughout the Navy that the Admiral is very quick tempered and has a very unique way of running any ship under his command"

Receiving a 'do tell look' from Gibbs the director sighed before continuing with his explanation "it would appear that it is best to avoid, at all cost, the need to be disciplined - as it is severe, the only person that seems to be able to get away with anything is..."

"Oh let me guess...Nathan" Gibbs voice was very sarcastic

Vance tilted his head indicating that Gibbs was indeed correct in his statement.

"I feel it is time to bring dear Abigail home Director" Ducky stated, receiving questioning looks he continued "Young Timothy is going to need all the support he can get and young Abigail will not be happy about being kept in the dark over this, the two are extremely close."

"He has a point, Leon" Gibbs agreed

After a moment's thought the Vance agreed "Very well",

"It may be best you don't tell Abigail anything over the phone, Director, I would hate for Mr Palmer to have to deal with her anxious behaviour by himself" thinking about it for a moment Ducky continued "it may be best if you recalled them both, as not to raise the alarm, too much"

"Very well, I will re-arrange their flights for this evening, but one of you can meet them at the airport and explain all this - I for one do not want to have to deal with her temper tantrum - guess I should re-arrange their attendance of this conference for a later date whilst I'm at it."

Receiving a silent nods from the others, Vance continued, "Oh, just so you're aware I have taken the liberty of informing Secretary Jarvis that both the Admiral and Commander McGee are no longer welcome in this building. I want to be kept informed on this one, gentlemen" dismissing them from his office.

NCIS

Things were progressing, but extremely slowly, with the case and the project Gibbs had given to Tony. It was starting to get dark outside and Tony was spending a lot of time on the phone regarding the digging around he had been doing the previous day. Gibbs could tell something was bothering his Senior Field Agent, but he waited for him to approach the topic, as Gibbs thought he knew what the problem was. He didn't have to wait long, with the ending of yet another phone call. Tony was on his feet, pacing up and down the bullpen.

Doctor Mallard had just arrived to give Gibbs his final autopsy report on Kennings before heading out to collect Abby and Jimmy from the airport and watched in amusement as Tony paced clearly agitated, but it was Ziva that finally got Tony talking.

"Tony! For crying out loud! Cut it out!"

"Its spit, Ziva, spit it out!"

"That too!" Ziva said in frustrated response

"- I can't believe Probie would do that to us!"

"Do what DiNozzo?" Gibbs questioned quietly

"Lie! He out and out lied to us!"

"Yes Gibbs, that is something you told me yourself, that McGee does not know how to lie and that he is incapable of doing so" Ziva agreed with Tony whilst reminding Gibbs of a long ago conversation between them.

"Lied about what exactly" Jacobs enquired bring himself into the conversation for the first time

"The accident - in the Camaro" Tony exasperated

"Antony, really….and Ziva my dear, have you not thought as to why?" Ducky admonished them lightly

Taking a moment to think back through everything Tim had informed them that morning, Ziva came to a realisation "It was not such a lie, as more a bending of the truth per se, to explain his injuries"

"Correct Ziva, my dear, young Timothy realised that there may be a time when you or someone else he knew, would see the damage from his injuries and that it would be questioned, so he used the accident of the Camaro to cover the real reason" Ducky explained to the younger members of the team

"Accept, it might not have been an accident" Tony answered, suddenly feeling guilty, as he realised Ducky was correct

"Explain, DiNozzo" Gibbs ordered

"Just finished talking to one of the local agents - names Sanders - that worked the accident scene; he's a couple a months away from retirement. He wasn't the lead agent, but remembers the incident like it was yesterday. They investigated and found that the brake line had been cut part way through, but they only ever got particles, which brought up no matches, so the lead agent put it down to faulty maintenance - which sounds suspect to me, but he's sending me the report and evidence, it should be here tomorrow"

None of the team had noticed the ding of the elevator during the latter half of the discussion bringing the arrival of Tobias Fornell and Ron Sacks from the FBI, both of whom looked very tired and uncomfortable but said nothing to announce their arrival as they made their way into the bullpen. Tobias strolled over to the plasma and DVD player in the middle of the bullpen "Gibbs we got a problem" he stated plainly, with no formal greeting, as the screen flash on it showing Timothy McGee collecting something from the boot of his car before being confront by several men and a fight breaking out.

"But that's..." Tony quieted and a long with the rest of the group watched the fight first with pride at how well Tim was handling the multiple assailants, but the pride soon turned into horror at the way that the fight came to an abrupt end. Tim's body was unceremoniously picked up and thrown into the back of a large black van, with the van then driving away at a high speed, but not before seeing two small items being thrown from the window.

Tobias stopped the DVD and turned "we found out about this ten minutes ago, after the stake-out we were on finished and came straight here, that" he indicated to the screen "Happened late this morning, right outside his apartment block, time stamp indicates around 11.45am. These where found near the scene, think they're what was thrown from the van as it pulled away" Tobias said holding out was holding Tim's badge and Sig

"That wasn't long after we sent him home Jethro" Ducky's voice was filled with concern, then realising he was now running late to meet the plane he made a hasty retreat.

"Where the hell was Harrison, whilst this is going on?" Gibbs demanded, as Agent Balboa and his team joined the group.

"From what the Local Leo, that's at the hospital, told us over the phone, the witness they spoke with said he had a few problems of his own" Sacks spoke up holding up another evidence bag which contained a syringe "They injected him with a heavy sedative, he was just coming around as we arrived here, according to the doctors, he's going to need a night in hospital"

"Oh, he'll need more that a night in hospital by the time I'm finished with him!" Gibbs growled

"Gibbs" Vance's voiced warningly as he leaned over the railings of the balcony, before quickly making his way down the stairs

"It's called protection detail for a reason!"

"I'll deal with Harrison later" Balboa interjected before Vance could say anything "Why don't we all just concentrate on finding McGee, for now, shall we" indicating to both teams hoping this would appease Gibbs

"Ziva see if you can get a license plate of that thing" Gibbs instructed as he point towards the plasma before taking Tim's badge and Sig from Fornell.

"What have you guy's gotten yourselves into this time?" Fornell enquired

NCIS

There was now a real sense of urgency in the bullpen as the two NCIS teams and the FBI combined their efforts, Gibbs and Vance were talking with Fornell, over to the side of the bullpen, near the window, enlightening the FBI agent as to what had been going on.

Realising it may be a long night Balboa sent two of this team out to get coffee and snacks for everyone, before he joined up with DiNozzo and Sacks to look at the remaining pages of the journal of Kennings, splitting the print out between them, all three hoping it may reveal something to help with a location. Whilst Jacobs was trying to help a frustrated Ziva, with the video of the abduction. Ziva kept missing the point in which the license plate of the van was at its clearest in the video, by either going forward or back too far. Gibbs smiled as he remembered seeing something similar happen between McGee and Ziva, whilst the team had been investigating a suspected bank robbery which actually turned out to be a hit job.

"Penny for them" Fornell says quietly bring Gibbs back to the present

"Oh, for crying out loud Ziva let the man help" Gibbs growled. Ziva sighed and hand over the control unit to Jacobs who quickly got the video in place, once the license plate was up it still wasn't particularly clear.

"Couldn't you have got another video with a better angle, from this we can only get the last five characters" Ziva ranted

"Think yourself lucky we got that one, the coffee owner only had the equipment installed a few weeks ago, there is no other surveillance or security cameras in the area" Sacks replied evenly

This information did not sit well with Ziva; however she returned to her desk to issue a BOLO and then continued working with Jacobs on the listing from the Journal, trying to match ranks with what they believed were initials, now they had finally received the personnel listing for the fleet.