Chapter 11

Two weeks after Tony left, disaster struck Chu Lai. Not in terms of an attack by the NVA or VC. In a way, it was worse. No rockets hit...just some bad food.

Food poisoning.

The mess on the Marine side of the base was the source and the Marines were struck down, almost to a man. The only ones who avoided it were those on duty who missed chow time and those out on recon. For once, Tim was not excepted. He was hit just like the rest of them. In fact, he took longer than the rest of them to recover. He was actually admitted to the medical barracks due to the severity of his reaction.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

"If you wanted to hang out with me, Tim, all you had to do was say so," Abby said after Tim had vomited up their most recent attempt to rehydrate him.

"I'm pretty...awkward around women. I have to throw myself at their feet," he said, swallowing hard.

"I don't think this is helping."

Tim leaned back on the cot.

"Maybe not. Of all the times that I could have been affected with everyone else."

Abby chuckled.

"Well, I think we'll have to go the IV route. At least for today. Hopefully, by tomorrow, you'll be over the worst of it. Otherwise, we'll have to move you somewhere else...to a real hospital."

"No. I'll be fine. I just have a tender tummy. Always have."

"It'd be a nice excuse to get out."

"Don't need one. I'm here because I want to be here."

"After the things I've seen in the last few weeks, I can't understand why you wouldn't want to go."

"Not quite..." Tim took a long slow breath. "...the adventure you were wanting?"

"It's still an adventure, just...harder than I thought it would be. You know...they tell you what to expect, but you never really know until you're here...and people are coming in with their faces missing...or blown in half and still alive."

"Yeah."

Abby put Tim on an IV and he fell asleep after a while.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Tim recovered, eventually, but it had been interesting to see him affected so strongly by the same thing that everyone else had suffered. There were some who wondered if he was just pretending to avoid being the exception again. However, there were enough who had seen Tim throwing up to put lie to that idea. He was pale and shaky for a few days after the worst was over. It was about the first time that he bore any resemblance to the geek he claimed to be.

By the time Tony came back, the food poisoning cause had been discovered in some supplies that had been left out of refrigeration. An accident. Thankfully, it didn't seem to be a plot since there was no attack during that time and, while more than one Marine became dehydrated, no deaths resulted. It was all just an unpleasant memory.

Tony was full of enthusiasm to share the details of his leave time. Tim and Dorneget weren't especially excited about it, but they let Tony talk. ...and talk he did.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

"...and there was this Hawaiian girl. She was gorgeous. I mean, absolutely gorgeous. She had a lei just for me."

"I'll bet that's what she told all the guys," Tim said.

"I don't even care," Tony said. "We spent time together. Lots of time."

"How was the weather?" Dorneget asked, clearly changing the subject.

"Beautiful. Perfect. Sunny days, nice breeze. I even tried surfing! Not that great, but I still tried it."

"And you still came back? You're crazy," Dorneget said.

"I know. But my timing was excellent. I had a much better time than you guys did."

Dorneget groaned.

"You would have anyway," Tim said.

"You have no idea," Dorneget added. "Tim got so dehydrated that they had to put him on an IV."

Tony looked concerned, and Tim just shrugged.

"My stomach can be a little sensitive. It just takes me longer to recover. That's all. I'm fine now."

"You sure?"

"Positive."

Gibbs walked in.

"Dorneget. You're being transferred to a permanent posting."

Dorneget stood up.

"Really? That was fast. They said I'd probably be here for a few months."

"They need you in Saigon. Protection detail."

"Too bad," Tony said. "We haven't been four for a long time."

"Pack your gear. You're leaving with the convoy today."

"Good luck, Ned," Tim said, holding out his hand.

Dorneget shook Tim's hand. Then, he smiled, stood to attention and saluted.

"Thank you, Corporal!"

It was nothing Tim could explain, but he appreciated the gesture. He returned the salute.

Then, Dorneget was gone and they were back to three.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

As 1968 ground on and on, Gibbs, Tony and Tim were sent out more than a few times. It was just them, and as they came back unscathed more than a few times, the idea of Tim being a jinx began to fade, although it never quite went away. All the events before his assignment at Chu Lai couldn't be forgotten.

By October, the rain began to fall on the coastline. When November rolled around and Operation Rolling Thunder was officially ended, it was raining nearly every day. Temperatures were still uncomfortable but nowhere near as bad as it had been in the dry summer. Activity started ramping up in the southern part of the country with Operation Speedy Express and then, in December, Operation Taylor Common began and ran for the next three months. Men were transferred in and out of Chu Lai nearly every day, it seemed, and too many didn't come back alive. For the last stretch of attacks in January, the three men were sent to An Hoa to give support for those establishing the new fire support bases. Tony complained about the swampy conditions and tall elephant grasses that made it difficult to navigate and see where they were going. Gibbs said nothing and Tim's silence was so eloquent in communicating his distaste for their situation that words were unnecessary. A number of the men were attacked by leeches, although Gibbs, Tony and Tim all avoided that particular unpleasantness.

Then, abruptly, at the beginning of February 1969, they were pulled away from An Hoa and sent up to Da Nang to fend off a major offensive. It had echoes of the Tet Offensive of the year before, only the U.S. was much better prepared for the attack. There was no trusting the NVA and VC, even during a cease fire. Even so, the Marines were fighting the NVA almost constantly, it seemed, during February, trying to get them out of their entrenched positions in the bamboo groves. It wasn't until the twenty-seventh of the month that the NVA were removed. Tet 1969 was essentially over.

Gibbs' small squad went back to normal operations. Other Marines got rotated in and out for periods of a few weeks or months, but it was always back to the three of them. Tim had learned to relax around Gibbs and Tony, but he was still overly tense whenever they went out. Whatever he'd been hiding, it remained hidden. As long as it didn't affect his ability to do his job when they went out, Gibbs decided to let Tim keep the secret. For all he knew, it could just be that Tim had a Vietnamese girlfriend. Maybe the dancer really was his girl like the men on the base liked to suggest in the lewdest possible terms.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

"Another little message from your girlfriend, McGee?"

The dancer headed off base without a backward glance. She seemed utterly unconcerned at the catcalls from behind her.

Tim flushed and tucked the note away.

"Come on, McGee! If you're getting a private show, that's okay. We won't tell anyone back home that you're..." He cleared his throat. "It's like the Vegas prostitutes, right? How much are you paying her? Or does she just like the white boys a lot more than the zipperheads?"

Tony rolled his eyes and urged Tim out of the mess hall. Tim was getting angry. Tony could see it. He was way too sensitive about this kind of thing.

"Oh, I know. McGee's buckin' to be a double veteran. Is that it, McGee? That must be your real turn on. Court her for a while and then..." He mimed a knife across his throat.

There was a burst of laughter from around the mess.

Tim turned around and lunged at the one doing most of the talking before Tony could stop him. In an instant, there was a fight going on. Tim was furious, and the words coming out of his mouth displayed a versatility that Tony was almost jealous of.

However, he headed into the fray, trying to get a hold of Tim and pull him back before any of the highers got wind of the fight.

There hadn't been any real occasion to see Tim fight because they were generally trying to avoid altercations when they went out. He was evenly matched with his opponent and he had rage on his side.

"McGee! Stand down!"

Tony winced, but Tim instantly responded to the unspoken command. In fact, he stopped fighting so quickly that his opponent got an unexpected swing in that sent Tim reeling back into Tony. He turned around after regaining his feet and straightened to attention, shaking his head a little bit after the heavy blow. Everyone quieted down in the face of the command.

Gibbs was standing there, looking stern. He raised an eyebrow and then walked out of the mess hall.

"On your six, Gunnery Sergeant," Tim said and followed after him.

Tony came along behind.

When they got back to the barracks, Gibbs turned around.

"Explain yourself."

"I'm sorry, Gunnery Sergeant," Tim said, still at attention, eyes straight ahead. "I lost my head. Won't happen again."

"How many times do I have to tell you not to call me that, McGee?" Gibbs asked.

Tim didn't answer...and he didn't get a chance to.

"Gunnery Sergeant Gibbs."

Gibbs turned around.

"Major Morrow would like to speak with you, sir."

Gibbs grunted his assent and then looked at Tim.

"This isn't the end of it, McGee."

"Yes, Gunnery Sergeant."

Gibbs strode out. When he was gone, Tim sat down stiffly on his cot.

"What was that all about, McGee?"

"I don't want anyone suggesting that I'd do that."

"Come on, they were just razzing you. No one seriously thinks you'd kill her after having sex with her."

Tim grimaced.

"No. It's not just razzing. What he said is never okay."

"Hey, McGee..."

"Don't even start," Tim said. "Don't even try, DiNozzo."

He got to his feet, refusing to look at Tony.

"I need to work off some of this," he said. "I'm going to run. I'll watch for Gibbs to come back."

"Okay."

Tim left, and Tony blinked. That was a side of Tim he hadn't seen in a long time. That repressed rage was almost genuinely frightening.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

"There are discrepancies in the account Corporal McGee gave regarding the recon team he was on before transferring to your squad," Major Morrow said.

Gibbs looked at him and then at Major Vance.

"What discrepancies? And why now? It's been over a year."

"Analysis of his account took a backseat to other operations. It's now coming up. Have you seen any indication of treachery?" Major Vance asked.

"No. None."

"This source of his?" Major Morrow asked.

"If he's seen her, he's way better at covert action than I am."

"We're worried that Corporal McGee may be playing the part of a traitor."

"He's not a traitor, sir."

"He claims that they were ambushed and then driven into a landmine. The bodies, when we looked at the reports, don't fit with an ambush. He states that two others survived but died en route and he was able to bring people back to get the bodies. No sign of the ambushers. The weapons were all there. None missing. Whatever happened out there, whatever Corporal McGee's loyalties really are, he has lied, and we need to know why."

"Understood. Would you like to question him now?"

"First, we want your assessment. Do you know why he would lie?"

"I don't."

"Do you think he could be covering up betrayal?"

"No, sir."

"Do you think he would trust you enough to tell you what really happened?"

The word trust triggered something in Gibbs' mind. Ducky had said, over a year ago, that Tim was hiding something and that maybe he would eventually trust enough to reveal it. Had that time come?

"I don't know, sir. Would you like me to try?"

Major Morrow looked at Major Vance who nodded.

"Yes. He has a good record, but if he's a coward, if he killed those men himself, if there is something else going on that we don't know about, we need to know. The situation out here does not allow for betrayal of any kind. Rot from within is as dangerous as attacks from without."

"Understood."

"Good. You're dismissed."

Gibbs saluted and walked out of the room.

This was worse than a fight in the mess hall. If things got as bad as they looked right now, Tim could face a court martial, and possibly, execution.