Gibbs and Ducky had just made it to the squad room when Abby called.

"Gibbs, Gibbs, Gibbs I found something, really someone, it's important-"

"Abby slow down and tell me what you found!"

"The messages on the machine were from a man named Danny Larson. I ran McGee's phone records and Larson called him 342 in the past week. Which is weird because McGee has a restraining order against him and calling is not allowed based on the terms. I've sent it to Tony to put out a BOLO for him."

"I'll do it myself Abby, we need to find him."

Abby started up again

"Oh my goodness! These messages are so mean! Why does he hate Timmy? Ok apparently he blames McGee for his sister dying, but-"

"Abby, find me information."

He hung up.

Thirty minutes later Gibbs got a call.

"Send him up"

"Going to be difficult Jethro?"

"First time I've met one of my agent's parents in a situation like this. I'm not looking forward to it."

Sean McGee stepped out to the elevator and immediately his eyes landed on Gibbs. He stepped forward.

"Commander McGee, I'm Agent Jethro Gibbs, this is Dr. Donald Mallard sorry we have to meet under these circumstance."

"So am I Agent Gibb." He said shaking both of their hands. "How long has Tim been missing?"

"We believe since Friday, we're following up on some leads. Why don't we go up to the conference room and talk?"

Sean McGee nodded and didn't say anything else until they were settled in chairs around the table. He refused any coffee or refreshment. Gibbs had difficulty telling if McGee's father was shocked into silence or was just quiet by nature. He had a feeling it was the latter. Before they began he took a moment to study the man. The resemblance to his agent was remarkable. Same height, same facial structure, same green eyes. Gibbs was also amazed at the likeness in the mannerism. He had only known the man a few minutes and already he had to hide his surprise several times at the similarities in gestures and facial expression.

"Commander-" Gibbs began until the elder McGee interrupted.

"I'm retired; please just call me Sean,"

Gibbs nodded. "Do you know a Danny Larson"

Sean narrowed his eyes in anger, a look rarely seen on his son.

"I know him, he's been harassing Tim for years."

"About what?"

"A childhood…incident that wasn't Tim's fault but Danny Larson believed different."

Gibbs was silent.

"Would that incident happen to be the drowning at Bethesda?"

Sean looked up in surprise

"Yes, how did you know?"

"There was a similar situation recently. McG-Tim seemed to take it hard."

Sean smiled sadly.

"Yeah he does still take it hard."

"Could you tell us what happened?"

Sean sighed, then abruptly stood up and walked to the window.

"I was on duty, we were working on a new processing system and I was overseeing that everything went as planned. I got a call that there had been an accident. The kids on base usually played on the ice, it had always been cold enough to ensure that is was frozen all the way through. But this winter, it was unusually warm. Kids don't think of that though, don't reason it out. The ice was a fun place to play and that's all they saw. From the investigation they concluded the two boys, Brian Deeming and Scott Linden, had fallen in first. The girl, Scarlett Linden, fell in shortly after. Tim ran over and tried to pull her out, but he got pulled in too."

"He was pulling her out?" Gibbs asked wanting to know all the details to try and find a reason Tim might feel guilt.

"Yeah, by that time some Marines had spotted the kids and they both told investigators that Tim ran over and almost had the girl out. I guess a current caught her and pulled him in too. That's why the boys had no hope; they were pulled too far under."

Sean shook his head sadly.

"Mary Linden lost too kids that day. Anyway I got to the hospital as fast as I could. Olivia , my wife was hysterical. No one would tell her anything. Someone finally came out and talked to us. Both kids, Tim and Scarlett, were on life support, little brain activity. The next day the doctor sat down with us and told us there was almost no hope of Tim waking up. He suggested-" Sean faltered and took a breath.

"Take your time" Gibbs counseled

"It's been over 20 years and still…" Another deep breath.

"The doctor suggested we take Tim off of life support. We said no. We found out later Mary decided to take Scarlett off. She died in a few hours."

Sean was staring at the table.

"They said we were selfish," he said absently, "to allow him to lay there and suffer with no hope of recovery. Maybe we were. We just couldn't-We just couldn't let him go. He woke up the next day, no reason, no explanation, his brain just clicked on started breathing on his own. We should have been happy, we were happy, but always in the back of your mind."

"Three children dead." Ducky finished.

Sean swallowed and nodded.

"Yeah"

Gibbs didn't really want to go into this but he knew dredging up the bad memories were necessary.

"He was attacked after?"

The elder McGee frowned deeply

"Yeah about 2 week after he left the hospital he was jumped by some kids coming home from school."

"Any idea why?"

Sean stopped for a moment and seemed to be trying to find the right words and then work up the courage to say them.

"Tim tells me you were a Marine, so before I get into this I want to clarify that I have nothing but the greatest respect for the Corp. I have friends who are Marines. I can take the kidding between the branches; it doesn't bother me a bit."

He paused. Gibbs and Ducky exchanged glances.

"There was something about that base, I don't know…Actually I do know." Sean said self correcting.

"There was a Marine Lieutenant who took that friendly rivalry to extremes. He conditioned the Marines under his command to believe that not only were they better but that Navy personnel were less. Several of my sailors were attacked and hazed beyond the normal, so much so that they ended up in the hospital. I'm afraid that attitude transferred to their children. The three children that died were Marines, the only one that lived was Navy."

"You think the adult condoned this?" Ducky asked shocked.

"Taken that far, against a child? No I don't, but I think they taught their kids they were better, the kids were hurting and looked for a place to place that blame and guilt. This attack had been building for weeks; Tim was being harassed at school. I put in for a transfer shortly after he got out of the hospital. It just wasn't a good environment to be in. Add that to the fact that Scott and Scarlett's brother Danny was on base at that time spreading stuff around and that fanned the flames.

"Danny was mentally unstable, he had been in and out of psychiatric wards. His father was deceased; Sergeant Linden was his step father. He was devoted to his sister and really took her death hard. I think he was also looking for someone to blame. Tim didn't help the situation by being so willing to accept that blame and guilt, but he did. I've been on other bases and I've known a lot of Marines and I've never seen anything like this.

Gibb's gut was churning. He wasn't sure he wanted the answer to this, but some things were starting to fit together.

"Who was the Marine Lieutenant?"

"Robert Wilson"

Gibbs suspected, with it all tying together, he almost knew, still he could hardly hid his dismay. He quickly asked another question to disguise any lull in conversation.

"Could you tell us about the attack?"

"Olivia called me at work from our house. She had come home and found blood on the door handle and in the hallway. I'm amazed she didn't pass out, Livia never did handle blood well."

He almost smiled

"She found Tim, um…he was-he was hiding in his closet. She said he wouldn't even let her touch him at first." Sean said bitterly

"Took him to the hospital. Ten stitches in the head, fractured right wrist. Cuts and brusies all over. He would never tell me who did it."

"Never?" Gibbs asked surprised.

"He told me about five kids, one finally stopped the others long enough for him to get away, but he refused to tell me who it was. At first I was angry, I couldn't believe he was just going to let them get away with this, but then I decided at what cost. Tim had never lied to me and I'm sure I could have forced him to tell me, but did he really need it at that point? It's one of the few things I have let slide."

"It was probably a wise move." Ducky assured.

Sean only nodded.

"How long until you were transferred?"

"Five weeks"

"Goodness he stayed on base for 5 more weeks?" Ducky asked in surprise.

"No" Sean's mouth twisted a funny way in anger and disgust. "He didn't stay on the base. As soon as he got out of the hospital I took him and Olivia to my parents a few hours away. They stayed there until I got my orders. I should have done that from the beginning, but I never dreamed this would happen."

"No" Ducky agreed "I don't imagine anyone could."

Tim guessed by the light he felt that it was day. If his mind was still working correctly that meant he had been here for three nights and almost three days. It was Monday. He knew it was an impossibility for his team to be looking for him, after all he couldn't come back to the office until the case was over. He prayed there had been some resolution on the case over the weekend and someone would be looking for him by now, but he knew the probability of that was almost zero. He felt a pang of guilt as he chastised himself.

The reason the case is taking so long is because screwed up the evidence. I hope Gibb's gut kicks in and he runs a trace on the phone. I don't know that it will help me much since we've moved, but at least maybe they'll know I'm missing.

Tim tried to shift and groaned. Every part of his body ached, throbbed, was numb or stiff. His captor was seeing to it that he suffered in every way. Breathing was extremely difficult as was staying conscious.

I deserve it, it was my fault. He thought miserably.

Suddenly he heard a noise behind him and involuntarily flinched sending an almost indescribe wave of pain through his body.

"Hello McGee" A calm voice greeted him. "Danny stepped out for a minute so why don't we take this opportunity to pick up on our last conversation?"

McGee was silent. It hurt to speak and he was difficult to understand so he had been saving his strength and breath for something more worthwhile then talking to this scum.

"Have you made a decision?"

No answer

"McGee I can end your suffering. My nephew is going to torture you for two more days. Think of two more days of agony and pain. I will end that now with a bullet in your head if you help me."

McGee couldn't stand it any longer.

"I can't believe you think that's a good offer." He managed to get out.

A laugh

"It's a great offer. You're going to die anyway. You can choose to die slowly and in pain or I can end it quickly and mercilessly. Just tell me where the jacket is?"

"Don't know."

"My offer won't last forever. Tell me where it is and I might spare your team."

"No you won't. You're going to kill them too."

"True, but they will also have the option of quickly or slowly depending on how they cooperate."

Upstairs a door slammed. McGee started to tremble. He hated that he couldn't stop; he hated the fear he felt.

"I think I hear my nephew. I'll let you two talk about old time. Think about my offer McGee, while your senses are still intact."

McGee heard footsteps on the stairs and had never felt more alone than at that moment.