Chapter 12: Time to start hitting the machine with a branch

Portuguese expression: Pau na Máquina
Literal Translation: Hitting the machine with a tree branch
Meaning: Start working hard, without delay

Copacabana Palace Hotel
Monday, 8:00 am

It's a very happy Tony that greets Tim the following morning, after an invigorating shower to clean any vestige of his drunken state from the night before.

He is surprised however with the state Tim is as, even though he drank nothing but a glass of beer the night before, followed with several diet sodas, he looks as he spent the night awake.

He looks as if his best friend was murdered.

Or as if the woman of his life walked away without looking back.

"Are you ok, McGee?"

He sits down beside him on the sofa, and he is worried when McGee doesn't even acknowledge his presence. He stares at the computer, and sees that he is looking at Anna's portfolio in Deviantart, watching the pictures in a slideshow.

"She left," Tim says in a monotone voice, as another picture forms in the screen.

Tony sighs deeply, and stares at his Probie, who leans forward, supporting his aching head on hands.

"Maybe if we talk to her again, we can convince her that –"

"No," Tim shakes his head, and looks at Tony with tired eyes, "we can't convince her of anything. She has to decide that she wants to come with us. Come with…" he pauses, but the end of the sentence lingers on the air. Tim wants her to decide to come with him. Tim stares again at the computer, as another artful picture appears, this time a study of textures on a brick wall.

Tony slowly sits down besides Tim, and says in a very soft voice, "this isn't only an infatuation, is it?"

Tim answers in the same soft voice, "never thought it was."

Tony chews his lower lip, trying to think what they could do. Obviously something happened between their gorgeous guide and his Probie, but it hadn't ended well if Tim's appearance was any give away.

"We could always kidnap her." He says, almost serious.

Tim looks at Tony, as if he had lost his mind.

"No, seriously, think about it. We could say that it was for her own protection. We, crazy brave Americans, coming to save her from the deadly killers tracking her down for witnessing a crime. No jury would condemn us."

"That sounds like the plot of a romance," says Tim with chuckle.

"Well, it would be romantic. Chicks dig this type of romance."

"Have I mentioned that it would be a plot of a very bad romance?"

Tim and Tony chuckle a little, then Tim sighs and becomes serious again.

"She doesn't belong to that place." He says, with his eyes closed and leaning back on the cushions of his sofa.

Tony has to agree with him. She mixed with the pimps, drug dealers and armed hill guards as well as water mixed with oil.

"So what are we going to do?"

"I don't know."

The computer pings, signaling that they have an incoming video message. Tim cuts the slideshow and smiles when he sees Abby's smiling face on the laptop.

"Hey McGee, how is it going"

"Hi Abby, we're fine. Did you find anything on your search?"

Gibbs appears behind Abby, "I'm the one making the questions here, McGee. How did it go with our witness?"

Tim sighs, "It didn't. She refuses to leave her parents, regardless of the danger that might come her way. But boss, when you consider the danger she already is, I see why she simply shrugs at our concern for her safety."

"What do you mean, McGee?"

Gibbs looks concerned at Tim, as he sees him agitated. This case seems to be affecting his younger agent more than he had expected. He sees Tim rubbing his tired eyes with his hands.

"Boss, she lives in a slum house, in a favela, governed by crime and drug traffic. The entrance of her hill is guarded by muscular men with Uzis, keeping unwanted people out as well as the cops. While I spoke to you on the phone, from the roof of her house, I've counted at least fifteen men with heavy artillery in neighboring roofs, all doing rounds on the slum house, to ensure that no cop will come close to their drug lord who lives higher up. And those were only the ones I could see, not mentioning the ones she told me were hiding, but still watching."

"Boss, she doesn't care if someone comes from America trying to kill her for seeing someone being murdered. People are murdered every single day in her own neighborhood, and she just walks by it, without blinking. Her life is at stake every single day she leaves her home, and she just keeps going. Another person trying to kill her won't make difference when you look at the bigger picture."

Tim stops to take a breath, and looks at Gibbs, "her father is sick, and from what we saw of the conditions they live in, he's not receiving proper care. She struggles every single day against insurmountable odds against her, and you expect her just to throw everything aside just to help us? Leaving her sick father and her mother alone in a place that will likely swallow them whole?"

"McGee, listen –"

"No, Boss, you listen," McGee stands up, frustrated with the situation, with Anna, with Gibbs, with Vance, with everything. Now he finally understands why Anna is so resigned with her situation. She simply expects things to go wrong, as every single thing in her life has gone wrong so far. Having hope is wrong, as it will only make it hurt more when that hope is frustrated.

"If we don't include her parents on the deal, there is no point for her trying to help us, because she doesn't care about one dead marine. It's only another corpse in a very long list of dead people she had to walk away in her very short life."

Gibbs stares at McGee for a moment after his passionate speech. He seems to consider for a moment.

"It's not only one marine anymore, McGee. We have two dead marines, both shot in the same way, both of them with millions of dollars in their accounts and no clear explanation of how that money got into their accounts. I understand your concern about her, but it is up to you two to convince her that, despite her life experiences, doing the right thing is the most important thing now. Yes, we can't offer asylum for her parents now, but once she is settled here we could plead for someone to grant them safe passage, and collect them later on."
McGee shakes his head at Gibbs, standing behind the sofa with his hands inside his pockets.

"They might not survive until later, Boss." He says softly, heartbroken.

"Then I don't know what to say to you. If her condition is so dangerous as you described, she should be jumping with joy for the chance we're offering her, not being picky about it," says Gibbs, his concern about the mental state of his agents increasing tenfold as he sees how agitated McGee is.

"She's not being picky about it, she's being realist." Tim lifts his eyes to the laptop, which is recording his image and transmitting to the headquarters.

Tony leans towards the laptop, appearing in the transmission, "isn't there anyone we could talk in DC that could expedite an asylum request boss? Maybe if you speak to the DA directly, we could offer a better deal."

Gibbs frowns as he considers his options, "we still don't know if she saw anything that night, if her testimony will be able to nail down the killer."

Tim leans over the sofa, his hands folded. He frowns as he thinks about the talks he had with Anna and her father, and the hints they dropped. "She saw the killer, Boss. And she's terrified for it. In her world, snitches are killed, so she learnt that, in order to survive, you better keep your mouth shut. That's the main reason why she doesn't want to testify. The only way she might accept helping us is if we grant safe passage both for her and her parents. Otherwise, if she rats the killers out and word reaches the hill of what she has done, her parents are as good as dead."

Gibbs stays in silence for a moment, thinking about their options. "I have some favors to collect, give me some hours. I'll contact you later on if I have any news."

Tony and Tim nod, "Thanks Boss, we'll be waiting for good news," says Tim.

"Besides, we have to go out to collect our passports still," says Tony.

"Ok, keep in touch."

"Bye, Tony, Bye McGee!" shouts Abby in the background.

"Bye."

The connection is cut, and both men stay in silence for a moment.

Somehow, the stakes have been raised. Two marines were murdered, their witness refused to testify unless a better deal was offered, and they still had no idea of the motives of the murder.

"We forgot to ask Abby about their side of investigation," says Tony, scratching his wet hair.
Tim suddenly moves, going to his bathroom, and Tony stares at his back, "where are you going man?"

"To get ready to collect our passports," comes the muffed voice by the door closed, then Tim pokes his head out, "then I'm going to Anna's workplace, I want to talk to her again, maybe have lunch with her, and I hope to have good news from Gibbs until then."

He smiles, then enters again the bathroom. The sound of shower is heard, and Tony smiles, and nods.

"That's the spirit, Probie. Positive thinking." He stands up, and goes back to his own penthouse.

NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS

The sun is starting to rise in the horizon when Anna tries to silently open the door of her home. She enters with her shoes on her hands, locks the door, and silently moves to her bedroom.

Just to receive the scare of her life as her father is waiting for her, sitting on the sofa, and speaks softly making her jump.

"Anna."

"Dad."

"Don't even think about hiding what you did, because I know."

She sighs, and leaves her shoes and backpack on the table, and comes to sit beside him on the sofa. She glances at him, ashamed of her actions the night before.

"I know that you know."

"My daughter, you were never happy here. You always dreamed of going to places, flying away from this place. I've done my best to give you wings. Now, you must learn how to fly."

"Dad, I'm not going anywhere." She looks at her father with tears on her eyes, and takes his bony hand in hers and squeezes it. "I'm going to stay here, with you."

"You will leave with them. With the green eyed man. I saw how he looked at you. And how you looked at him."

She shakes her head in denial, "It's nothing like that, Dad. He wants me to go to America to testify on a crime. But it might be dangerous."

Her father is outraged, and stands up from the sofa to stare down at her.

"Dangerous? Living here is dangerous. Facing every morning is dangerous. If you give up before you even start, you are weak. And no child of mine is going to be labeled weak."

He speaks excitedly, his hands waving on the air, his speech punctuated with painful coughs.

"Anna, I'm dying."

Anna looks at her father, her eyes simmering with tears, "Dad, please, y—"

"You know that, your mother knows that. I've known for a long time. I don't want to see you wasting your life away just watching me die. I've lived my life. I had a full happy life, and I might have regrets, but I've lived it. You are just starting your life. I don't want you to bury yourself with me. Much less waste away your years in the walls of this house filled with sad memories. You need wide open spaces. I always taught you to do the right thing. Regardless of the consequences, do the right thing. You always followed my teachings."

"Dad…"

"Remember, regardless of how difficult it might be, always to do the right thing. It might not seem the right decision at that time, and there might be consequences. But what is more important is to have a clean consciousness that you might even fail, but at least you tried."

He takes her face in his hands, and kisses her forehead.

"I trust you, Anna, to do the right thing," he says, staring into her eyes.

"Thanks Dad."

"Now go get ready for work. God bless you."

"God bless you too."

Her father leaves, and she stares at the wall, thinking about his words. She looks at the clock, curses the time and rushes to get changed to leave.

NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS

Later that morning, Tony and Tim go to the reception to request a taxi so they may go to the American Consulate to collect their new passports.

"We rescheduled our flight from the morning to the evening, we'll be leaving at 8 pm."

Tony looks up from his notes, and sees Tim staring at a small souvenir keychain hanging from a display on the counter on the reception.

"Hey, McGee, did you hear me?"

"Yeah, we're leaving at 8 pm tonight. Is the taxi here yet?"

"They said it will take some minutes." Tony studies his Probie, and notices that he's very sad.

"We could try talking to Anna again, maybe she changed her mind."

"She won't." he drops the keychain on the counter, "she won't leave without her parents, and unless Gibbs gives us a calls with a better deal, she won't desert them."

"That sucks, man."

"Yeah."

"You ok men?" Tony studies Tim, and he really looks heartbroken.

Tim takes a minute to answer, "I'll be."

a/n: Will Anna make the right decision? What will be the consequences for both Tim, Tony and her? Come back tomorrow for more!