A/N this was supposed to be the finale, but it's now the penultimate chapter. Hope you like it, and sorry for any typos or mistakes in tenses, just let me know and I'll edit them :)


"Why hasn't he called yet?" Abby whined to Ducky.

"Have you ever paused to consider that Jethro might be to busy at the moment to call you my dear?"

She scowled at the thought.

They had retreated back to her lab but she was still holding tightly onto Bert and her Caf-Pow, her music playing quietly in the background. Ducky had insisted on turning her music down to a reasonable volume if she wished for him to stay.

She let out a long deep sigh. He sat patiently awaiting what was to come next.

"First Tony gets shot. Then Gibbs is a marked man. Now poor Timmy could be in trouble, and I'm stuck here and Gibbs hasn't called" she paused and brought the cup up to her lips, but then lifted it to her ear and shook gingerly "and now I've finished my Caf-Pow, no more caffeine goodness" she was on the verge of tears again "I need a vacation" she muttered as Ducky gently removed the cup she had grasped in her hand and threw it into the trash where it sat along with some other six or seven empty cups.

"Ah. A vacation. Did I ever tell you of the holiday that mother and I took when I was a lad? Yes, it was a wonderful summer, glorious weather so we decided to go to Lincoln for a few days. Quite marvellous..."


Tony closed his eyes and let his mind travel through the past and recap everything that happened over the last few days.

The dream. That's where it had all began. The dream of Kate. That night sleeping at his desk where he'd once again relived her final moments. Thinking about it now he could feel the warmth of her blood as it splattered onto his face. He remembered that moment so clearly, the exact moment he'd realized that she was gone. Things had slowly unravelled from there. Jaxon Davis. Then Riley Davis's body which for him had been accompanied with another dream of Kate. Then the photos of the crash scene, Mrs. Davis so alike Kate. Then Young had entered the picture. He'd known they were onto him, and he had fled. That night had been one of the worst since Kate had died. Each dream vivid in his minds eye, then the image that plucked him from his sleep, the vision of Ziva dead and in Kate's place. Things had pretty much snowballed into the disaster they were in now from there. The e-mail. The gunfight. The explosion. He'd be shot. He'd been shot! That time in hospital nothing but a quick break to rejuvenate before back on the case. Then it'd been the letter, the photos, and the death threat. It's not like they'd never been in sticky situations before, but Young, he was different, he truly was crazy and would stop at nothing to get the revenge that he desired. So things had been bad enough with the letter but then there had been the e-mail that had put a price on all their heads, not just Gibbs. Then the ultimate nightmare, Probie had gone after this guy alone.

But what part did Ziva play in all this? After all it was her that he had been warned through his dreams to protect. Gibbs had told him to follow his gut. He'd been watching out for Ziva, but what had he done to protect McGee? Nothing. This was all his fault. A guy like Young could easily take out McGee, and if he did, it'd be all his fault.


"...yes the cathedral was..." Ducky stopped mid sentence at the bleeping sound from the laptop lying on the desk.

Abby rushed over to Young's laptop.

"Sorry Duckman but Young just sent himself another e-mail."

She opened the e-mail and with no explanation burst into tears.


"Tony? Tony! Are you even listening to me?"

"Sure I am Zee-vah"

"Well what did I just say then?"

"You said 'are you even listening to me?' which see I was" he stuck his tongue out at her, and was thankful that they were in a moving car so she couldn't inflict too much pain on him but she still managed to land a soft punch to his back.

She stuck her tongue back out at him before quickly turning to face the window when she saw Gibbs frown at her in the rear-view mirror.

They turned into an empty car park for some abandoned and derelict looking buildings.

"This the place?" Gibbs directed the question at his senior field agent but was met with a reply from Ziva.

"These are the coordinates that Abby gave us Gibbs, McGee should be here somewhere."

"Hope the probie is alright" Tony quietly voiced the thought that they'd all been thinking.

They continued to cruise through the giant car park until Gibbs suddenly slammed on the breaks. McGee's car was parked just meters away, unscathed and untouched, nothing to indicate that even the slightest thing was wrong. Gibbs turned the engine off, and the car fell into silence. The quietness seemed to engulf them, Ziva reached for her firearm and patted it gently, before drawing out her knife and running her finger along the edge of the blade. Gibbs turned to look at DiNozzo who instinctively turned to lock eyes with his Boss, in that second a silent message passed between the two men, completely unnoticed by Ziva. Gibbs was the first to look away pulling the keys from the ignition, unbuckling his seat belt and pushing open the door. Tony sat still just a moment longer, mentally preparing himself for whatever might come, his body tingled with a strange sense of excitement, he subconsciously rubbed his shoulder before joining Gibbs and Ziva who had also stepped out from the car.

It was liked they were trapped in a bubble. It was an unusual sensation. There was just nothingness. No noise coming from any of the buildings that towered above them. No other existence in the car park with them. No sounds of normal life oozing in from the surrounding area. There wasn't even a wind rustling the rubbish scattered on the ground. Just silence. The calm before the storm.

"Get down!" Ziva's voice pierced his thoughts and he felt her roughly grab him and pull his body to the ground, he hit the cold hard surface his face inches from the tire.

Laying on the ground it took a second for him to regain his senses, and when he did he saw Ziva and Gibbs, both crouched next to him guns in hands, determination written in the eyes. The silence had enveloped them again, but now there was a ringing in his ears, and he could hear his own hard laboured breath. His shoulder was throbbing in pain and he could feel a trickle of blood escape the wound. Ziva slowly moved to take a step to the side of the car but he pulled her back, Gibbs simultaneously taking her place, she twisted round to face him, rage devouring her features, his eyes pleaded with her and he watched as she quickly got her emotions back in check and her face became an expressionless stare. Gibbs slowly revealed himself trying to lure out the shooter and as he did so another shot rang out into the emptiness the bullet flying past Gibbs as he returned fire. He hit his target, the body of a man slumped over the low wall from behind which he'd been hiding and tumbled unceremoniously to the ground.


McGee let out a low groan of pain as another punch slammed into his face. His body was battered and broken, his legs had long since ceased to support him, his right eye was swollen shut, he could taste his own blood on his lips and in his mouth, his throat was burning, and his breathing was ragged and painful. He couldn't tell how long the punches had been raining down on him, he knew it couldn't have been long, but to him it felt like an eternity.

Surely Gibbs will be here to save me soon? Gibbs wouldn't let me down. He wouldn't. He'd get there. The pain seared through his brain as another fist came into contact with the side of his head, he could feel his consciousness slipping away, and with this the first elements of doubt began to snake there way into his mind. Would Gibbs really come to his rescue? Would he get here before it was too late? Or was this to be the end? What have I done? His head filled with thoughts that he couldn't hide from, that he couldn't ignore. What fate had he led his team to? What would happen to them because of him?

Another punch landed square on his chest, pain shooting through his body and catching in his throat as a cry, and he let go, he closed his eyes and felt his body slump to the ground.


Tony looked at their car in bewilderment. The side was completely ravaged by bullets, he concluded that he must have lost consciousness momentarily after he hit the deck and had been out for the worst of the gunfire. He surveyed the damage to the car again, boy they'd been lucky.

"You ok DiNozzo?"

"Never better Boss"

"Let's go then"

"On your six Boss"

Just then Gibbs's phone rang breaking the mysterious silence that had once again fallen upon them.

"Now is not a good time Abs"

"Jethro" there was something in the MEs voice that told him not to hang up.

"Ducky?" he felt Ziva and Tony lean in closer so they too could hear the conversation.

Ducky was quiet on the other end of the line, he heard muffled cries.

"Ducky? Is Abby crying?" Ziva and Tony exchanged glances, how could this be getting any worse?

Again Gibbs was met with silence from Ducky; he was beginning to get angry.

"Dr Mallard?!"

"I'm so sorry Jethro." his voice was solemn, he'd heard that tone before, and it had never been good. "Young has just sent himself an e-mail and..." he trailed off.

"Ducky?" his voice croaking slightly he was almost afraid of the answer, but he needed to know.

"It says, I'm sorry Jethro, it says that Tim is dead."


He heard Ziva gasp, and he could feel Tony tense beside him. He closed the phone in his hand and let it drop to his side slipping from his hand and smashing as it hit the ground. It took him a second to gather up his emotions, they were not for now. He couldn't deal with them now. Tim was dead? He shook his head, and clenched his fists. Young was a dead man walking now.

He made his way carefully towards the entrance of the nearest building, knowing that Tony and Ziva followed behind. He stood to one side of the door, DiNozzo and Ziva at the other, guns drawn, he nodded silently and Ziva complied with his wordless request by pulling open the door. They were met by an eerie stillness. Then they saw it. A body lying in the middle of the floor, blood pooling around the head.


A/N: Ok so what do you guys think? And do you want the final chapter today or Monday/Tuesday? (I'm going away for the weekend! YEY)