"I think he needs to go to the hospital."

"Just wait for him to wake up, Anthony."

"What if he's dying?"

"Oh, for goodness sake, he's not dying."

"How is he, Duck?"

"When he awakens, we will ask him."

Tim could hear these, seemingly distant, voices as he slowly came back to the conscious world. He groaned as he opened his eyes.

"Probie's awake!"

Tim looked around. Ducky was right beside him, then Tony near his head, Ziva at his other side, Gibbs down by his feet, and Jimmy was standing just outside of the van.

"Well, hello, Timothy. You gave us quite the scare, dear boy."

"Am… Am I in the coroner van?"

"That you are."

Tim's face scrunched, "That's a little unnerving."

"It was either here or the victim's couch," Tony said, "And seeing that our victim is on the couch…"

Tim tried to sit up, but still felt dizzy.

"Whoa, McMoveFast, why don't you stay where you are?"

"I wanna sit up."

"Then let us help you," Ducky said as he and Tony both placed their hands on Tim's shoulders. They helped him into a sitting position, then everything was quiet.

Tim looked around, everyone was staring at him, "What?"

"You just passed out, McGee," Gibbs replied, "That's what."

"I'm fine."

"Timothy, could you tell me the last time you ate something?"

Tony patted his back, "Yeah, your stomach has been growling like a bear."

"I- I just haven't felt like eating."

"When was the last time, Timothy?" Ducky asked again, but more demanding this time.

"Um," He held his forehead as he thought back, "I had pasta… two days ago… and I threw it up."

"You haven't eaten in almost three days?" Ducky asked in shock.

"Guess not. I haven't really noticed."

"Anthony, do you have a protein bar in your backpack?"

Tony thought for a second, "Yeah, I do. I'll go get it."

"Oh, I'll go," Jimmy said, knowing it would be easier for him, then for Tony to have to climb over everyone.

"Why in heavens name have you not eaten in so long?"

Tim shrugged, "Haven't felt like it."

"Are you still sick?" Ziva asked.

"No, I-" He sighed, "I feel fine. I just haven't had an appetite."

"Can't have you passin' out on the job, McGee," Gibbs said, "Go home. Get some rest."

"No!" Tim yelled suddenly. He didn't mean for it to come out so loudly, but there was no way he could go home. Not if that could lead to Sarah's death.

Gibbs stared at him, "Excuse me?"

Just then Jimmy returned with the bar, "Here you go," He said, handing it to Ducky.

"Eat this, Timothy."

"Ducky, I-"

"You can eat this, or go to the hospital. Your choice."

Tim took a deep breath, "Fine," He looked back at Gibbs, "Please don't make me go home, Boss."

Gibbs looked at him, seemingly in deep thought, then he turned to Ducky, "Can I talk to you for a minute, Duck?"

"Of course. Ziva, Anthony, watch him. Make sure he eats the whole bar. Every bite!"

"Yes, Ducky."

"Can do, Ducky."

Gibbs and Ducky walked over to the sidewalk.

"Jethro, if you are going to ask me what is wrong with the boy, I'd say it is that he hasn't eaten in so long. That is not very healthy at all, for anyone."

Gibbs stared at him, and Ducky seemed to read his mind, "You think there is something more going on?"

Gibbs nodded, "Yeah, I do."

"Yes, I believe that as well," Ducky replied as he looked back at the van, "However, there is no way we can force the truth out of him."

"Is that a general statement, or meant for me in particular?"

"Which does it need to be?"

Gibbs smiled slightly, "I won't force him, for now, but if it keeps affecting his job…"

"Then you can pry away."

"You think he's okay to stay at work?"

Ducky nodded, "I believe so. Just make sure he eats lunch, even if he doesn't feel like it."

"Okay. Better get back. Thanks Duck."

"You are very welcome, Jethro."


When Tim got back home he immediately took out Sarah's cell phone. He wondered why no one had called or texted her. He also wondered why none of her friends had reported her missing.

He started at the top of her contacts and worked his way down. Basically all of them had heard what he had said to her, about her being a failure, so they hung up before he had a chance to ask any questions. No one even seemed to notice, or care, that he was calling from her phone either.

He got down to the R's and called Randy.

"Hey, Sarah."

"Uh, this isn't Sarah. This is her brother, Tim."

"Oh… Why do you have her phone?"

'Finally, someone noticed.'

"She, uh, she left it at my house. Do you know where she is?"

"She texted me like three days ago. Said she was going to visit her parents… well, you're parents. Said she didn't want to be bothered."

Tim was silent for a moment. He had checked all of Sarah's last outgoing messages, and that wasn't there.

"Hello?"

"Oh, sorry. Thanks, Randy."

"No problem… Hey, shouldn't you already know if she was going to visit your parents?"

Tim sighed, "She… forgets to mention things sometimes."

Randy laughed, "Oh, okay. Bye."

"Bye." Tim hung up and connected his sister's phone to his computer. He suddenly felt like he needed to check everything that was recently deleted… in other words, his gut was acting up.

Tim's house phone began to ring. He immediately felt nauseous. He walked to his phone and answered, "Yeah?"

"Timothy, Timothy, how are you feeling? I saw you having to be carried out by Agents Gibbs and DiNozzo today. Please tell me everything's alright."

Tim closed his eyes, "Nothing's alright, you freak."

"Tell me, have you found part two of eight yet?"

"Yeah, I did," Tim replied, hoping it would surprise Jack and make him screw up somehow.

"Really? And what do you think of it?"

"It's… interesting," Tim replied as the phone continued to download all recently deleted items.

"Timothy," Jack replied in a disappointed tone, "I really thought you cared about your sister more than that. It's not nice to lie to me, and I can tell by the sound of your voice that you are lying."

"No, I'm not," Tim said nervously.

"Another lie! Lies are not good things, Timothy."

Suddenly a video feed began on Tim's computer. Sarah was still bound in the chair, her chin was to her chest and she looked as though she was half out of it.

The world could have been crumbling to the ground and Tim wouldn't have noticed. Everything seemed to stop. His eyes were wide with fear, "What- what is this?"

A man walked over to Sarah, dressed in black from head to toe. No part of his body could be seen, "This is me, punishing you for lying."

"No! No, don't hurt her!" Tim exclaimed.

The man took a hold of Sarah from under her chin and jerked her head up. Her eyes popped open and she gasped. With one swift motion, Jack punched Sarah in the gut.

"Ah!" She screamed and began to cry.

"Stop it!" Tim yelled, cursing at the man. He was now standing up, although he didn't even remember getting off of the chair.

"This is why we don't lie, Timothy." He pulled his arm back again, and punched her in the gut, again.

"No!" She screamed, crying hysterically and coughing at the same time.

"I won't lie to you again! Just stop hurting her!" Tim yelled.

The man walked up closer to the camera, "If you do it again, I will not hesitate to kill her." The video feed disappeared and Jack hung up the phone.

Now on the computer screen was a photo, recently deleted from Sarah's phone. It was another green block with '#2 of 8' written underneath.

Tim sat back down in his computer chair, bent over, resting his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands, and cried.


Aw! Today is my one year fanfiction anniversary! I began my first story on April 6th, 2010. It had a total of 21 chapters and 31 reviews... Wow, how times have changed in just a year. This story has 9 chapters and beats my first story haha ...I just went and reread my first story, and boy did it stink! Don't know what I was thinking... Anyway, hope this is better :)

Thanks for all the reviews! You guys are almost as cool as Bert the Hippo (almost).

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