"What do you mean he never showed up?" Asked an angry Gibbs.
"I'm at his apartment now. I left ahead of him and took his house key with me. I told him I'd check out his place and be waiting in the parking lot when he arrived… He never arrived. I'm still sitting in the parking lot."
Gibbs let out a deep, frustrated breath. "Why didn't you follow behind him?"
"I told you, sir, so I could check out his place before he arrived."
"And what if someone snuck in after you checked his place but before he got home? Then what?"
"Sir, I understand I screwed up. I get that. But he never made it home. I think we need to deal with that instead of what might have happened."
"You listen to me. I put you on protection detail because I heard you were one of the best. Now, I don't know where your head is at tonight, but it is definitely not screwed on right! Let me tell you something, if I find him and he's already dead, I am holding you personally responsible for his death. Do you understand me?"
"Yes, sir."
"And if he is at all injured, you will not be able to get a job working as a security guard for the midnight shift at McDonald's! Think about your massive screw up tonight at home. You're not needed anymore."
"Yes, sir."
Gibbs hung up and slammed his phone down on his desk. "Tony, grab your gear. We're going down to the parking garage."
"Hey! Hey, wake up!"
"Mmm… What… Where am I?"
"Jimmy, it is us. Ziva and Ben."
"Ziva and… Ben?.. Ziva and Ben! You guys are missing!"
"Yes," Ziva replied. "And now you are as well."
Jimmy sat up a little bit. "Where are we?"
"Don't know," Ben answered.
"But we will get out soon," Ziva reassured him.
Ben rolled his eyes, but Ziva couldn't see that… which was probably good for him. "We were supposed to get out when she was bringing him in."
"I thought I was right by the door!"
"You were about as far away from the door as you could get."
"Yes, I know that now."
"Why didn't you go for her while she was bringing me in?" Jimmy asked. "...Whoever "she" is."
"I would have," Ziva replied, "but it happened too fast. My eyes did not even have time to fully adjust to the light from outside of the room."
"Jimmy, do you have any idea what's going on?" Ben asked. "Have you heard anything from the team?"
"I know someone installed an encryption code onto your computer. Tim's trying to decrypt it, but Gibbs sent him to his motel for the night to get some rest. Tony and Gibbs are still working, but everyone else was sent home. We're all under protection detail."
"It seems they have done a very good job," Ziva said sarcastically.
Jimmy shook his head… just another movement no one could see. "No, he couldn't help it."
"What do you mean?"
"I… I remember talking to Dr. Mallard as we were heading to our cars. We each had one officer to follow us home. I remember getting into my car to leave and something poking my neck… then it all went black. Whoever it was must have been hiding in my car."
"The officer should have checked your car first," Ziva pointed out.
"Maybe, but he didn't, and now I'm here with you guys… We're not gonna die are we?"
Ben sighed. "The million dollar question."
Tim laid back in his motel bed. It wasn't the best place to be… it was actually a horrible place to be. The walls were dirty, the floor was dirty, he was pretty sure the sheets on the bed hadn't ever been washed, even the tub was dirty… but they did have a mini-bar. That was all Tim seemed to care about right now. It had been a long, frustrating day and he desperately needed to forget about it for a while.
Before opening up the mini-bar and getting himself a drink, Tim set his alarm clock for 5:30am. No matter how much he wished he didn't, he still had a job to do the next day. He knew that if he started drinking before setting the alarm then he would never set the alarm, and he didn't want Gibbs banging on his motel room door tomorrow morning.
With the alarm now set, Tim opened the mini-bar and got a drink. He went back to his bed and sat down with his back leaning against the headboard.
He began thinking about his day, then realized that that was the last thing he wanted to think about right now.
Tim then remembered that he still hadn't called into work to tell them he wouldn't be coming in for a few days. He looked over at the clock and saw it was almost ten thirty. "I'll call tomorrow then," He said before taking a sip of his drink.
Two hours and five entire mini-bottles of hard liquor later, Tim picked up the hotel phone and called his boss' work phone.
After about seven rings, the machine picked up.
Tim waited for the beep, then began. "This is Tim-o-thy McGeeee. I will not be able to come into work yesterday as I am not there. I am in Washington District of Colombia. My old work needed me. They forced me to come here! Cause I'm smart! I. Am. Smart." Tim burped and looked over to his right, where Burt sat beside him. "There's a hippo on my bed! You don't have a hippo, but I do. You don't have a hippo because you don't have an Abby. If you had an Abby then you'd have a hippo! I'm not coming to work today either because I am in Washington District of Colombia still. I am decrypting encrypted things. Shhhh! I don't know when I'll be back… I'm gonna hang up now… Feliz Navidad! Goodbye!.. I think I'm drunk."
Tim hung up the phone and promptly slumped down in bed, passing out.
Gibbs looked at his watch. It was ten o'clock in the morning. He looked over at the empty desk that Tim was supposed to be sitting in.
"Shouldn't we make sure he's okay, Boss?" Tony asked tiredly. Neither of them had had any sleep.
"Yes."
"Gear up, then?"
"No."
"Gibbs!" Abby exclaimed, stopping in front of his desk. She had been pacing back and forth in the bullpen. "What are you talking about! Of course you gear up! What if he was taken?"
"He wasn't taken, Abby."
"How do you know?"
"Because, Jimmy was taken last night."
"That doesn't mean they didn't take Tim."
"There's no "they", Abby. It's one woman."
"How do you know?"
"My gut told me."
Abby put her hands on her hips. "Well, something is wrong. He wouldn't just not show up."
"Not the old Tim. Not the sober Tim."
Abby took in a deep breath. "No. No, he wouldn't get drunk. Not knowing how important this is. Gibbs, you can't just not check on him."
Gibbs stood up and grabbed his keys. "I know, Abby. I'm going. Tony, stay here and keep working."
"Yes, Boss."
Gibbs headed for the elevator. With each step he became more and more angry with Tim. He knew Tim hadn't been taken, and he knew that this "new" Tim seemed to like alcoholic beverages a little too much… but if he went into Tim's motel room and found him passed out from being drunk… he wasn't sure what he might do to him.
It felt so good to write this chapter! It has been too long! I've missed this, and all of my other stories. I have no college work for this weekend so I finally get to update some stories :) YAY!
Hope you guys liked this... even though even I wanted to tear into Tim this time around :)
