Chapter 11: A Moment of Joy...

Thom slept.

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

"You lied to me, Tim!"

"No, I didn't. I just didn't tell you everything."

Thom walked all the way to the wall separating him from Tim and glared.

"I don't want you to disappear because you're going to be a martyr!"

"That's what you are, Thom. You're the real person, the real McCoy. You always have been...just because I didn't know about it..."

"Tim, you're real! You are!"

Tim shook his head sadly. "No, I'm not. Thom, I'm not. I'm not a real person. I'm a creation. You know that. I know that. We all know it. I'm not real."

Thom reached out across the divide. For once, he felt the older and more experienced of the two of them.

"It doesn't matter that someone created you. Someone created me. It just happened to be my parents, not some guy with a machine. We're all creations, Tim. What happened to us isn't fair. ...but you don't have to pay for it."

"And you do?"

"I've already paid the price. Can't change that."

Thom stretched. Tim looked at his hand.

"You don't have to be miserable, Thom. Don't give up the chance you have to...to see something beautiful."

"I won't let you die."

Tim reached out his hand. They still couldn't touch but they were close.

"I won't. I promise. I'll still be here. Try and be happy."

Then, he withdrew his hand and picked up the soldering iron again.

"I think I might see what the problem is with the wiring in this section." He bent over it and began to work.

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

Thom woke up and felt more ideas flooding into his mind. He really was amazed at what Tim could do. He didn't know much about electronics. It hadn't interested him as much as astronomy had, but this stuff that Tim was doing. It was really cool. He was feeling his way through the structure of the machine based on what it could do and what he had seen of its operation. ...and it was working! Thom knew that he'd have the machine finished soon. He was both happy and sad about that. He tried not to think about himself and to focus...not on Tim but on the innocent figure in all this: the man in the hospital. He had no identity that they knew of, but he could still be in there, trapped as Thom as had been but without a personality laid over him...a personality like Tim.

It's all right to want to live...

The thought arose out of the miasma of his mind...and he knew it was Tim saying it...but that thought swung both ways. Both of them could want to live even if, in the end, only one could have that chance.

The elevator dinged behind him and while he jumped a little bit, that was all. He didn't bother turning around.

"Thom E!"

That was Tony's voice.

"What?" Thom asked, wary now.

"Okay, look, I know we went through this before about you not trusting me and stuff, but would you listen to me for just a minute?"

Thom thought about it, put down the soldering iron and turned around to face Tony. He wasn't quite as frightening as he'd been imagining he was.

"What?"

"Would you trust me...enough to come with me for a while?"

"Where? And why?"

"It's a surprise...and because I want to."

Thom looked at Tony, his own instinctive distrust warring with Tim's equally instinctive trust in Tony when he acted like this. Sincerity was a hard thing to get from Tony...and when he was sincere, he could be trusted all the way.

"Please?"

Thom sighed. "Okay."

"Excellent! Come on!"

Tony acted like a little kid on Christmas Day and Thom tried not to roll his eyes at Tony's antics. He followed him out of the building and to the Porsche.

"Do you want to drive or should I?" Tony asked, dangling the keys.

"Um...I don't have a driver's license."

"Tim does and since you look like him...or he looks like you...it belongs to both of you."

"I don't know where we're going," Thom pointed out.

"True enough. Okay, I'll drive. I don't get to drive the Porsche very often." He got in the car and Thom got in on the other side.

As they pulled off the Yard, Thom wondered where they were going and why.

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

They drove for about an hour in silence. Tony looked over at Thom every so often but made no effort at conversation. This wasn't really the time for it. Besides, what could he say?

Oh, I'm sorry that you've been kind of dead for years and now you're alive but are going to sort of die again?

Yeah, that was just stupid...but they were almost there. The turnoff was coming up on the right.

"Here we are," he announced.

"Where is here?"

"Our destination."

"And what is that?"

"I'll show you...and you can show me a few things."

Thom's eyes opened wide and he was afraid. Tony realized how that must have sounded.

"Okay...that came out wrong. Whatever you're thinking, Thom, that's not what it is."

The fear didn't dissipate as Tony pulled the car to a stop.

"Thom E, I promise. I wouldn't lie. I have no intention of doing anything to you at all."

Thom nodded without speaking and got out of the car, looking around as he did so. Tony mentally kicked himself for being so thoughtless.

"You know...I'd never mistake you for McGee now."

Thom turned to him.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean...McGee would know exactly why I was bringing you up here. He wouldn't even half expect something to be wrong."

"He trusts you," Thom said.

Tony was unexpectedly touched by the simple statement. He remember when Thom had first made himself known. He had said that Tim trusted Ziva but he hadn't said that about Tony.

"He does?"

"Yeah. Tim knows when you're sincere. ...and right now, you are. He trusts you when it matters."

"Well...he's right. I am sincere. Come on."

Tony began walking. It wasn't far, just a little ways into the trees, away from the road. An abrupt clearing and wide vista...of the perfect night sky. Then, he saw something else that told him he was looking at Thom not at Tim. Thom stopped and was entranced by what he saw. Tim would have been interested, would have enjoyed it...but Thom was enthralled. He was taking in a sight he hadn't seen in years. He was seeing the stars and it touched something deep inside him.

"Wow," he whispered.

Tony smiled. That was the reaction he'd hoped for. Maybe it was a bit selfish of him, but Tim would still look like this sometimes. He wanted to see Tim's face without the distrust, without the fear and anxiety that ruled him.

"Is this what you wanted to show me?"

"Yeah. The stars don't cost anything to look at. See...now, McGee would have been suspicious right away. He would have known what I was doing from the moment I asked what you wanted most. ...but I'm glad I could surprise you."

Thom walked forward further into the clearing.

"So...Thom E..."

"What?"

"Show me."

"What?"

"Show me what it is that you see up there. I don't know anything except for the stuff I faked my way through in intro to physics."

Thom wasn't looking away from the sky...and his voice changed. It became...younger, and yet more like Tim's voice at the same time.

"What do you want to know?"

"Anything."

Even though it was dark, Tony's eyes were adjusting and he could see Thom's face...and he was smiling. There was no conflict right now.

"Okay," he said, almost breathless. "We'll...We'll go on a tour of the stars. We'll start with the Big Dipper. Everyone knows that one."

Tony smiled and nodded.

"Okay, yeah, I know it, but where is it?"

Thom actually grabbed his arm and turned him in the appropriate direction and pointed to a spot near the horizon.

"There. Ursa Major, the Big Bear, better known by the aphorism the Big Dipper. If you follow the line created by the end stars in the cup, it will lead you to Polaris, the North Star...which is also the end of the handle of the Little Dipper. Ursa Minor, the Little Bear."

Tony smiled.

"Okay, I'm with you so far. Tell me more."

Thom was more than happy to oblige. It was a moment of transcendent joy.

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

Jimmy opened the door of the restaurant and let Michelle walk out in front of him. She smiled at the gentlemanly gesture.

"We can walk side by side, Jimmy," Michelle said. "It doesn't have be you as my regal escort every time."

Jimmy grinned. "You deserve it. We can walk side by side after getting through the door."

She linked arms with him and they started off toward the public lot where Jimmy had parked. However, the lighthearted feeling couldn't last.

"It's not fair, Jimmy."

He knew what she meant. "No, it's not. ...but I can't see that there's anything we can do. One of them has to be dominant."

"I know. I know we're doing everything that we can...but..."

"It still sucks."

"Yeah." Michelle sighed and looked back over her shoulder and then quickly looked forward again. Her hand tightened on Jimmy's arm.

"What is it?"

"Someone's following us, I think. How far is it to your car?"

"Another block," Jimmy said, feeling his stomach clench with fear. "Are you sure someone's following us?"

"I think so. Jimmy, I think I know who it is."

"Who?"

"That guy who's been trying to get to the will we've been processing in Legal."

"The one who threatened you?"

"Yeah."

Jimmy swallowed. "Okay...I have my phone in my pocket. I'll dial for...help."

Michelle nodded and moved closer as Jimmy casually slid his hand into his pocket, feeling for his phone and beginning to dial.

Suddenly, there was a painful impact which thrust him forward. Michelle started to scream as Jimmy felt searing pain rush through his nervous system. His hand spasmed and he staggered a few steps before his legs refused to hold him up and he began to sink to the ground.

"Michelle..."

Jimmy began to tremble and his mind caught up to what had happened.

Someone stabbed me...they threw a knife and stabbed me...

Michelle was screaming his name but Jimmy couldn't stave off the darkness and he slumped to the ground, conscious only long enough to feel the added pain of someone yanking the knife out of his back. He added his scream to Michelle's and then passed out.