Chapter 11
There was a momentary standoff as a ripple of shock ran over the NCIS agents. Federal agents? What do federal agents have to do with McGee? That Tim was there was beyond doubt. They could see him through the window, more than likely a one-way mirror. They couldn't hear him, but he seemed to be shrieking and throwing himself against the wall.
"Whatever you're doing to McGee, stop it," Gibbs said in a low voice.
The man actually laughed this time. "I don't think so...Agent Gibbs. We're not done with him yet."
"Who do you think you are?" Tony asked. It was a slightly cliche thing to say, but he didn't really care.
"Griffen."
"You said you were federal agents, yes?" Ziva asked.
"CIA."
"Figures," Tony muttered.
"What are you doing to my agent?" Gibbs asked. No one had lowered their guns...except Gibbs. He had only lowered his gun to aim at a different part of Griffen's anatomy.
"Testing him."
"Why?"
"He hacked us...a year ago."
"Stop what you're doing to him."
"Or what? You'll shoot me?" Griffen asked.
"You keep this up, you'll have a chance to find out," Gibbs said, letting out just enough of his anger that Griffen could see he was serious. "I'll bet that whatever you're doing will be disavowed or whatever silly jargon you guys use. So...no one will miss you, not that I think anyone will miss your winning personality anyway. Stop."
Griffen smiled again but gestured to the woman behind him. She turned and pushed a few keys on the keyboard. Behind them, in the white, brightly-lit room, Tim slumped to the floor. Then, he began to rub his arms and to move his hands from the floor to his arms, over and over again. He appeared to be screaming still, but again, they couldn't hear him, only see his frenzied movements.
"What are you doing to him?" Ziva asked.
"Nothing, right now," the woman said, softly. "It's all in his head."
"Why?" Gibbs asked again.
"Are you going to put your guns away?"
"Not a chance."
Again, Griffen's mouth quirked into a smile. "I didn't think so." He gave off the impression that he found all this highly amusing.
"Don't make me ask you again."
"Last year, we were hacked. We found someone snooping around highly classified material. We don't get hacked often, and when we do, we find out who it is. Last year, the person who did it was very good. So good that we couldn't find him...for nearly a year."
"Didn't searching get a little boring after the first few weeks?" Tony asked.
"On the contrary, searching gets more exciting the better the person is. Now, we overlooked Agent McGee...our fault. He has the requisite skills, but...well, he's in NCIS," Griffen said.
"Try a tack we haven't heard before, Griffen. Not interested in that," Gibbs said.
"You thought it was Morris," Tony said suddenly. "You thought Morris was the one, and you did to him the same thing you're doing to McGee. What are you doing?"
"I told you: testing him...but yes, you're right. We did think it was Morris. He was more daring. He bragged about conquests. He talked incessantly about trying to hack government agencies."
"Tony, go and get Ducky."
"Are you sure, Boss?" Tony asked, looking at the three. "You'll be outnumbered."
"Yes, but Ziva will play nice and give me a chance to take them down first."
Tony grinned and walked out.
"And just what do you think you'll do with Ducky?" Griffen asked.
"Take my agent and go."
"I don't think so. You can have him when we're done."
"Oh, really? I'm just supposed to trust you that once you're 'done' you'll just hand him over safe and sound?"
Griffen never broke eye contact. His expression didn't change as he said, "Of course." ...his expression didn't change, but the woman's behind him did. Only for a second, but it flickered...and then, Gibbs recognized her.
"Kristine Blumell?"
"That's as good a name as any," she said.
"And who's the other hulking shadow?"
"Quinn," the man said.
"First name or last name?"
"Does it matter?" Quinn asked.
"What is this test?"
"He's good enough to get in. How long can he hold it back?"
"You have his psyche profiles, I'm sure."
"Oh, please, Agent Gibbs. What good is a psyche profile? Do you honestly think that if a terrorist got ahold of him, he'd just politely ask Agent McGee to do what he wanted?"
"A terrorist? McGee's been perfectly safe from everyone except for his own countrymen."
"No one is ever completely safe, Agent Gibbs. That's why my job exists. That's why your job exists. If people were safe, they wouldn't need us...and I wouldn't need to spend my weekends breaking people down to find out what they'd be willing to do to get away."
Tony ran in, followed closely by Ducky. He ignored Griffen, Kristine and Quinn and looked into the room in which Tim being held. He was still scooping some invisible stuff off the floor and rubbing it onto his arms. The motions were jerky and his face was a rictus of terror.
"How do I get in there?" Ducky asked, urgently.
"You don't, Doctor Mallard," Griffen said, abruptly. "No one gets in until the test is over."
"I don't think so," Gibbs said. "I don't care if I have to tear down this entire room to get in there. I will."
"And even if you take him away, Agent Gibbs, how will you keep him safe?" Griffen asked, sneering. "What makes you think that you can prevent us from taking him again? You can't lock him away forever, no matter how you try. You couldn't even do it for one week."
"How do you think your superiors would feel if your work got out? No one likes the CIA. You may be a necessary evil, but you're still evil in most people's minds. We have evidence from Morris. We have evidence from McGee."
"What evidence? Nightmares? A few bruises? Anti-social behavior? These are geeks. No one cares."
"McGee will remember. He was on his way to remembering when you took him before." Gibbs smiled unexpectedly. It only made him look more dangerous. "...which of course, is why you were going to kill him this time, not just let him go. And besides, in the eyes of the public, proof doesn't matter. All it takes is one piece of yellow journalism, one gung-ho journalist wanting to make a splash. Corruption in the CIA? Torture of a federal agent? No one will care if the evidence circumstantial. Not even you can stop the presses. Not all of them."
The standoff continued. Even though Griffen appeared to be unarmed, he exuded a dangerous air, almost comparable to Gibbs'. No one moved...except Tim who had suddenly staggered to his feet and was wandering around his prison, waving his arms in the air, obviously speaking to...someone. Occasionally, he ran into the wall, but didn't seem to notice. There were black patches on his back, surrounded by livid red marks. When he faced the window, they could see scratches on his chest and arms. Other than that, just like before, he was relatively unmarked...just crazy.
"Do you plan on taking out everyone who knows about Operation Lodestone?"
Griffen didn't bother answering.
"We're at an impasse here, Griffen," Gibbs said. "Because I'm ready to assault a federal officer...if not commit murder to get my agent back. Are you ready to die to keep your project going? Agent McGee hasn't cracked has he?"
"No," Kristine said.
"Yes, he did. Last week, he did," Quinn corrected.
"No, he didn't," Kristine insisted. "He said he'd do anything, but he couldn't. He couldn't even focus on the screen long enough."
"He intended to, Blumell. That's the material point."
"He hasn't this time around."
"We haven't finished yet."
"You're so determined to break him that you're not even paying attention to the operation," Kristine said more loudly. "He's not breaking. His mind is shattered right now, and he still won't help. He knows no more about it now than he did before and this time, even if he remembered the pain, he still didn't help. Morris cracked after the first day. You used him to spy on all sorts of people...and he did it. Agent McGee hasn't...not even with the higher dosage."
Griffen turned around to confront her and Gibbs made a decision. He stepped forward and clubbed Griffen to the ground with the butt of his gun. Quinn pulled out his gun, but Tony and Ziva were on him immediately.
"We're taking McGee with us, Quinn. You can join Griffen on the floor if you'd like," Tony said.
Quinn stepped back and dropped his gun. Kristine merely held her hands in the air.
"Where's the entrance?" Gibbs asked.
Kristine pointed to the left. Ducky and Ziva followed her pointing finger to a door and opened it, stepping, without realizing it, into Tim's nightmare...
