A/N: Disclaimer, CBS owns NCIS, United Artists owns the movie Rocky, I own nothing.

Chapter 12

"Good morning, McGee! Sleep well? I love sleeping in a crisp, cool room, don't you?"

Wells spoke loudly and nudged Tim's left arm with his shoulder as he walked around Tim's suspended body. Making sure he had Tim's attention, he continued. "It's getting nice and frosty in here now, don't you think? You shouldn't have taken off your jacket in the heat. A soldier always needs to be prepared for changing weather. You take your jacket off, you keep it with you, not throw it away. I'll bet you wish you had that jacket now, don't you?" Wells rubbed his hands together to warm them as he let out a sarcastic laugh. "Guess I'm the one doing all the laughing now, aren't I? You've been slow to learn anything I've tried to teach you. I thought you would be a quick study, but maybe you are right on one thing. Gibbs doesn't have anything to rescue, he has no MAN left behind. I did send him a new lead, we'll see what he does with it, shall we?"

Tim was conscious only to the point of being able to see and hear the things around him. He wasn't even sure he could speak, but he tried. "go...to...hell" Tim's voice was barely above a whisper, hoarse and raw. If Wells hadn't been standing next to him, he wouldn't have heard him.

"A good soldier knows not to provoke his superiors. You just like to keep pushing buttons, don't you McGee?" Wells voice was strained and his eyes flared in anger. Wells walked around Tim brushing him occasionally making him sway from the hoist from which he was hung. "I love the movie "Rocky" don't you? My favorite scene is when Rocky is training in the meat locker. Something I always wanted to try but never had the opportunity. Remember when Paulie tells him he's hitting too hard, that he's breaking the ribs?" Wells threw a hard punch that landed squarely on Tim's ribcage. Tim moaned in pain, unable to move away from the onslaught. Wells continued to assault the same area of Tim's torso. Tim threw his head back as he screamed when he felt ribs finally break. "Yeah, pretty satisfying." Wells was smiling as he nodded his head. "I have some things to take care of today, but I think you'll be fine on your own. Keep an eye on the place for me, will ya!" Wells was laughing as he left the freezer unit and closed the door with a locking click. Tim was trying to catch his breath but it was almost impossible to breathe. His ribs hurt with each breath causing stabbing pains and what oxygen he could take in was so cold it hurt. His hands and feet were numb from the cold, pain surrounded his every thought.

NCIS~~

Julia and Olivia took a cab from their home to the Navy Yard in hopes of seeing Tim. They had been very concerned that Tim hadn't returned any of their messages. Traffic was moving slow this morning due to the heavy rains. Their usual driver hadn't been available this morning, but they knew the young man driving them today and felt safe with him. Tim had checked out the cab company they use and the drivers. He had made arrangements with the manager and dispatchers to allow only a few selected drivers to pick up the fares for the ladies. Tim didn't want to see either sister harmed in any way and letting the cab company know that the ladies had a Federal Agent looking out for them didn't hurt. Checking in at the gate and then pulling up to NCIS, the sisters were worried that Tim would be upset with them for coming to his workplace. But they were more worried about his well being than his possible displeasure at their arrival.

Blanchard's team had issued a BOLO on Tim's car and was making phone calls. They went through his Rolodex even though they knew it wouldn't be complete. Tim would have his contacts stored in his phone and on his computer. Vance had pulled his personnel record and given them his contact information from his file.

"Tony, we cannot just sit here and do nothing to find McGee." Ziva was gesturing wildly as she sat behind her computer pretending to work through a cold case. "We must do something. Do you have his sister Sarah's phone number?"

"No Ziva, I do not have McGee's sisters phone number. Do you honestly think he'd let me have his baby sister's number? " Tony hissed his reply. He was feeling as frustrated as Ziva that another team was laying claim to his Probie.

Vance and Blanchard were discussing possibilities as Ramsey was going through Tim's personal belongings looking for any clues. Harris was still making phone calls but coming up empty.

Julia and Olivia made it inside the NCIS building relatively dry. Their cab driver had helped them out of the cab and walked them to the door with an umbrella. Having signed into the front desk with whom they wished to see and given visitor passes, the sisters were escorted upstairs by Security. Finding the Director staring him down as though he were accompanied by felons from the most wanted wall, the security guard presented the ladies to the Director. "Sir, these ladies are here to see Agent McGee."

"I'm Director Vance. I'm afraid Agent McGee isn't available. Is this something that another agent can help you with ladies?" Trying not to appear too anxious to be rid of the sisters, he smiled and waited.

"Oh dear, Tim isn't here? We've been trying to reach him for days." Olivia shared worried glances with Julia.

"Tim…you know Agent McGee, ma'am?" Blanchard stepped up beside the Director to address the ladies. "How long have you been trying to reach Tim?"

Julia took Olivia's hand as her sister was becoming visibly upset. "We've been trying to get in touch with Tim since Friday. We're terribly worried about him. It's not like him not to return our calls. With Jethro's injuries, we've been concerned that Tim was hurt."

Julia's comments had brought the other agents to stand behind the Director as well.

"I'm sorry ladies, we're forgetting our manners. I'm Leon Vance, NCIS Director, these are Special Agents Jeff Blanchard, Bill Ramsey, Paul Harris, Ziva David and Tony DiNozzo. May I ask your names please?" Vance was trying to be cordial, he had a feeling the ladies may have some information as to McGee's whereabouts.

"Excuse me, I am Julia Marconi and this is my sister Olivia Hammond."

"Why don't we take this to one of our conference rooms. You would be much more comfortable and able to sit while we talk about at Agent McGee." Vance was trying to be sensitive to the ladies needs as he could see Olivia was not entirely stable on her feet. "Ladies, if you'll come with me to the elevator, we'll ride up to the conference room. Agent David, would you accompany us please? Blanchard, have everyone meet in Conference room B."

As the group settled around the table, Vance offered Julia and Olivia coffee which they gratefully accepted. "Miss Marconi, would you mind telling us why you and your sister were trying to get in touch with Agent McGee?" Julia and Olivia shared a sad smile as Julia began to tell the agents about finding Jethro on their doorstep, bloody and hurt. She explained that they had taken Jethro to the vet after they had not been able to reach Tim. They had continued trying to call Tim with no luck. "That's when I called here, Director. I believe I spoke with you, Agent DiNozzo."

Five collective heads turned towards Tony in surprise. "DiNozzo, outside, NOW." Vance stood and turned to the sisters, "Ladies, if you will excuse us for a minute." Julia and Olivia looked at each other with udder confusion.

"DiNozzo, you got a call from these ladies last Friday about McGee? Why didn't you do anything about it?" Tony could hear how disgusted Vance was by the tone of his voice.

"I thought they were a pair of sisters he was dating….you know…..you should have heard the conversation. She didn't mention his dog to me. How was I to know from what she said? Ziva, you heard my end of the phone call. Gibbs thought I was jealous of McGee's date." Tony tried to defend himself.

"Gibbs? Gibbs heard this phone call?" Vance was shaking his head. "Just what did Gibbs hear?"

"He heard my end of the call and then I..." "You what, DiNozzo?" "I sort of recapped what I thought the call meant, how the sisters do everything together, they'd been to the doctor and thankful is was only deep bruising and cuts around the collar, they wanted to make sure Tim wasn't hurt and he got upset when they didn't follow his instructions."

"She said they told you they were concerned about McGee, wanted to be sure he wasn't hurt. These things didn't raise any red flags for you?" Vance couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"Well…..honestly….no, I thought it was…."

"What DiNozzo, just what did you think about your teammate? I really want to know." Blanchard practically yelled the question at Tony.

"The whole conversation had a sexual tone to it, sisters and all. I was a little proud of my Probie actually getting…."

Shaking his head in disgust, eyes slammed shut, "That's where your mind went! The conversation you had with that older woman about McGee made you go there?" Blanchard had to turn away from Tony.

"She didn't sound like a little old lady on the phone, she had this whole sultry sexy voice…."

"You mean like her normal tone that we all heard?" Vance didn't think it could get any more disturbing.

"Well…. yeah, for an older woman, she's still got a great voice…." Tony was more than just a little embarrassed.

"When she said her name was Julia and her sister was Olivia, that didn't trip you to the ladies in his neighborhood? God, I wish we'd gotten that call." Ramsey was walking around in circles disgusted with Tim's old teammate.

"Why….how would you know who they are?" Tony wanted to know.

"He told some of the most hilarious stories about the sisters at dinner last week. How could you not put the two together." Harris couldn't believe where this whole conversation had gone.

"He has never told us anything about these ladies. Why would that be if he has some entertaining tales to tell? Would he not want to share that with us?" Ziva asked while looking from Harris to Tony.

"Maybe because he knew DiNozzo would make fun of him for trying to be nice and look after the ladies." Harris looked at Tony as he answered Ziva. Blanchard just ran his hand through his hair as he paced.

"Yeah DiNozzo...Tim said just that when I asked if you guys rolled on the floor laughing as much as we did. He said he never mentioned the sisters because he knew he would just get grief for it or some reference to that being the only age group he could date." Ramsey was looking Tony right in the eye as he replied, daring him to deny the words.

Tony turned away from the group so they couldn't see the shame in his eyes. Tim knew his teasing was in fun didn't he?

Vance took over the conversation, "As much as I may enjoy seeing DiNozzo squirm on this one, we're not getting anywhere as to when McGee went missing or where he may be now. We know McGee was accounted for Thursday night for dinner with Blanchard's team. The sisters said they found McGee's dog at their doorstep Friday morning. DiNozzo, you said Palmer mentioned that McGee was supposed to spend Friday with his sister. Do we know if he saw his sister?"

"Her number was in the list of contacts from his personnel file that you gave me earlier but we haven't been able to reach her. She's a college student, right? She may be in class." Blanchard offered. "Do we know where she's going to school?"

Ziva glanced Tony to see if he would answer, but he had still not turned to completely face the group. "Yes, she attends Waverly. Tony and I have met her but we do not have her phone number." Ziva could tell by Tony's expression that he was taking this badly. He quietly walked away from the group wondering what he could do to make things up to his friend.

"Paul, call over to Waverly and get his sister's class schedule. Ziva, what is his sister's name?"

"Sarah….Sarah McGee."

"Paul, Sarah McGee, find out where she would be this morning. We need to know if she saw Tim on Friday. If so, what time and if she knew what he was doing after that." Blanchard was spitting out instructions as his agent moved off to start his search for Sarah McGee.

NCIS~~

Sarah paid the cab driver as he dropped her at the gate of the Navy Yard. She dashed through the rain to the walk-in gate and ran to the NCIS building. Her umbrella was almost useless in this downpour. Shaking off as she signed in at the desk, she informed the guard that she was there to see her brother. As she was escorted upstairs, two other guards chuckled to themselves as they commented "The Director will have McGee's hide that he's had so many visitors today! And he's not even here yet!" "Yeah, good thing Gibbs isn't here!"

Walking into an empty bullpen, Sarah and her escort looked for signs of the MCRT. Instead of Tony or Ziva, they found Abby exiting the back elevator headed their way. "Hey, Sarah…right? McGee's sister?"

"Yes, I'm Sarah McGee."

"Hi, I'm Abby. We met once, when you were….well... when we cleared you of that murder charge." Abby looked around the bullpen for the first time and realized it was empty. "Hey, where is everybody? Did they get a call out?" Walking around the desks she stopped at Tim's desk. "Why is McGee's desk empty?" Turning around to Gibbs desk, "No coffee cup in the trash, why hasn't Gibbs been at his desk today?" Abby was now walking from desk to desk. "Tony is here and so is Ziva. Their backpacks are still here so they're not out on a call." Whipping around again Abby exclaimed, "Where is everyone?"

Sarah was a little taken aback by the quick talking Goth. She remembered stories Tim had told her about Abby. He had once told her that when Abby got on a roll, don't even try to interrupt. She could see why he said that. The guard next to Sarah had tried to interrupt several times but just gave up.

Just as Abby had finished, Tony started bounding down the stairs. "TONY!" Abby was bouncing on her toes as Tony made it to the bottom of the stairs and gave him a bone crushing hug. "Where is everybody Tony? I need to catch up on hugs. I missed everybody! Where's Gibbs, his desk is too neat. And why is McGee's desk cleaned out? Tony what's going on? Has something happened? Why didn't anyone call me…" "Abs…" "….you know you're supposed to call me…."

"Abs…." "….is Gibbs alright? He didn't get hurt did he? I'll kill you if he got hurt and no one called me…." "ABBY!" Abby stopped and looked at Tony like he had two heads.

Tony looked at Sarah and asked, "Sarah, right? We met once before, it's been a while. I'm Tony. We've been trying to reach you this morning."

Abby's eyes went wild, "Tony! McGee?…..McGee! What's happened to McGee? I go away for a week and I come back and everything is wrong. Tony, what's happened to McGee? Is he hurt? But why is his desk cleared? Why didn't you…"

"ABBY!" Turning back towards Sarah, Tony calmed his voice again as he spoke to the guard. "I'll take Miss McGee with me now, thanks." "Sarah, can you come with me please? Director Vance would like to see you."

Sarah stood rooted to the floor as Tony tried to steer her towards the elevator. "Why does the Director want to see me? Where's Tim? I knew something was wrong. Where is my brother?" Her voice was shaking as her thoughts ran wild. She had felt something was wrong with Tim ever since he came to see her in the middle of the afternoon last week.

"TONY! What's going on? What aren't you telling me?" Abby was desperately trying to get Tony's attention.

"Abby, I need to take Sarah upstairs to the conference room. Vance and Blanchard….you can come but I won't guarantee they'll let you in." Tony was getting frustrated with his Goth as he once again tried to lead Sarah to the elevator. Sarah let Tony take the lead, she wasn't really registering where they were going, her feet just moving automatically.

Vance and Blanchard were still outside the conference room when Tony came down the hall with Sarah McGee, Abby on his heels. Surprised, Vance looked at Tony and then the young woman he was escorting. "DiNozzo?"

"Director, I'd like you to meet Sarah McGee, Tim's sister. Sarah, this is Director Vance and Special Agent Jeff Blanchard." Tony nodded at each man as he introduced them to Sarah.

"DiNozzo, how did you find Miss McGee so quickly?"

"I didn't find her, Director. Sarah came to us. I think she had just arrived downstairs." Looking at Sarah for confirmation, Tony saw her nod her head.

Smiling at Sarah, Vance gestured to the conference room "Would you please come inside Miss McGee?" The group started to enter the room as Vance stopped and turned to Abby. "Miss Scuito, it's nice to have you back. I believe you'll find there are several items waiting for you in your lab. If you'll excuse us." Vance closed the door behind him before Abby could enter the conference room.

Clearly upset at not being included in the meeting with Sarah, Abby pouted as she slowly walked away. She wasn't used to being shut out, Gibbs never shut her out. She decided that her only course of action right now was to see Ducky.

Entering the conference room Sarah was a little more than scared. Looking around the room she finally found two friendly faces. Quickly moving to their side of the table, Sarah quietly sobbed, "Miss Olivia….Miss Julia…..what's going on? Where is Tim? He hasn't returned any of my calls."

Both women had their arms outstretched to bring Sarah into a hug. She leaned down between the two ladies as they wrapped her in a comforting embrace. "We don't really know dear. I think that's what we're all trying to figure out. " Olivia took Sarah's hand as she guided her into the chair she vacated so that Sarah would be between the sisters. They both helped settle the young woman by making sure she had constant contact.

"Obviously, the three of you know each other. Sarah, I am Ziva David. Your brother is my teammate….and friend." Tony took the chair next to Ziva and made the introductions to Ramsey and Harris.

Vance sat at the head of the table. "Miss McGee, you told Agent DiNozzo that you felt something was wrong with your brother. Can you explain that us please?"

Sarah nervously looked around the room at all the expectant faces staring at her. Julia gave her an encouraging nod while Olivia stroked her hand to calm her. "I knew something was going on with Tim last Wednesday. He stopped by my dorm in the middle of the afternoon when he should have been here. He was soaked to the bone."

Tony interrupted to ask, "Did he say why he stopped to see you, Sarah?"

"I asked him why he was there, I guess I looked annoyed that he'd shown up without calling. He said he'd had a crappy day and just wanted a smile from his baby sister." Sarah's voice broke but she continued. "He was checking on me like he always does, making sure I didn't need anything, that I was alright. I couldn't find any of his sweat clothes that I'd borrowed so that he could put on dry clothes but he said he was going home to change anyway."

Blanchard was taking notes and looked up at Sarah as he asked, "Have you seen him since then? Spoken with him at all?"

"We emailed back and forth Wednesday night. I was worried about him catching a cold. Thursday I tried to call but he never picked up. He emailed me later that he'd lost his phone. We'd made plans to have lunch on Friday. I hoped to spend the afternoon with him to try to get him to talk." Sarah's eyes glistened with unshed tears.

Seeing Sarah's pain, Ziva spoke softly, "Sarah, did he meet you for lunch on Friday? Did he say what he had planned for the weekend?"

Sarah's mouth quivered as she spoke,"We didn't have lunch on Friday. It was my fault. He had emailed me early that morning and we set up a time for lunch. I was supposed to meet him at 11:30 at my favorite deli. He reminded me that I wouldn't be able to reach him once he left his apartment, he still hadn't found his phone. I stayed after class for a discussion and I was almost an hour and a half late getting to the deli. He wasn't there when I got there." She had to stop, a small sob had escaped as she whispered "I should have met him." Olivia had Sarah in her arms as Julie rubbed small circles on the young woman's back.

"Sarah, have you heard from your brother since that email Friday morning?" Ziva was pretty confident of the answer but had to ask the question.

Sarah looked up from Olivia's embrace, "No. I've tried all weekend to reach him. I've emailed and left messages on his answering machine. Saturday I went to his apartment to check on him but he wasn't home. I figured he was on a walk with Jethro, they were both gone. I waited for over an hour but had to get back to campus. Why haven't I heard from Tim?" The tears finally made their way down her face.

Blanchard looked from his notes to Vance. "That gives us a time line. Friday morning. No one has heard from Tim since Friday morning."

NCIS~~

A package about the size of a shoe box had been delivered to NCIS by private courier. As with all packages delivered, the box had made its way through the incoming mail procedures of x-ray and inspection. Along with inter-office mail, the inconspicuous box was delivered to the desk of Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs landing quietly in his in-box. The building was anything but quiet as the structure was assaulted by hail. Each blow sounding like it was causing physical pain.