Chapter 14

Tim woke up to feel hands around his neck. He panicked and started thrashing, but he couldn't speak, couldn't scream. Then, he heard the voice he'd been dreading. "You're dead, Probie."

He got out a strangled squawk, but no one heard. Where was Gibbs? Lights danced in front of his eyes as he struggled for air. In desperation, he felt for his IV, pulled out the needle and jabbed it at the man's face. It was a weak thrust, but it distracted the man enough that he loosened his hold enough for Tim to draw a breath and shout for help. In seconds, someone else was in the darkened room and the hands disappeared from around his neck. Tim heard the sound of running feet, but he didn't pay attention. Instead, he slid out of bed and into the corner, hiding himself as much as possible. After some undefined passage of time, the door opened again and the light came on.

"McGee?"

Tim tried to make himself smaller, which was hard to do with his height.

"McGee? Where are you?"

Physically, he was still in the hospital room, but mentally he was trapped in the warehouse. He started mumbling to himself, his voice hoarse. "I can't do it. I can't. It's right there. I'm so close, but I can't see it."

"McGee." Tony knelt by Tim and looked a little weirded out. Gibbs knelt down, too, and shook him a little.

Tim didn't notice. "When will he come back? Will he see me? I can't get out. I can't get away. I can't do what he wants. Don't touch me! Leave me alone!"

"McGee! Look at me!" Eyes wild and unfocused, Tim turned his face to Gibbs.

"I can't do it! Please, just kill me. Please. Don't hurt me again."

"Tim, focus! You're not in the warehouse!"

Slowly, Tim started to come out of it. His first conscious thought was that Tony would be giving him grief for this. He was surprised to see Tony looking quite nearly as concerned as Gibbs did. Neither one looked annoyed.

"Are you okay?"

Tim cleared his throat and was frustrated that he was still stammering. "H-he t-tried to kill me."

"I know. How did you get him off you?"

"I-I couldn't think what else to do. I t-tried to stab him with my IV."

Tony laughed. "Not bad, Probie."

Tim backed away from him. "Don't call me that. Don't ever call me that."

Tony suddenly realized that Robertson had called him that. Genuinely contrite, he said, "Okay, McGee. I'm sorry. Calm down."

"Can you stand?"

"Yes," Tim said, although he wasn't sure he could. He started pushing himself up the wall and was embarrassed when he fell and had to be caught by Gibbs and Tony and helped into bed. His smile was shaky and tinged with embarrassment, but he said, "I guess we know that he's after me."

"I think you're right. You won't be here much longer so don't worry," Tony said. "Since you're all situated now, I'll resume my post. The doctor should be here in a few to check your neck." After Tony left, Tim looked at Gibbs, feeling almost betrayed.

"Where were you? How did he get in here?"

"A false alarm which we were stupid enough to believe," Gibbs said with disgust. "We got back in time to hear you shout for help. Tony chased him down, but he got away again."

Tim sat up again. "I don't want to stay here anymore, boss." He tried to get out of bed and struggled against hysterically Gibbs' hands when he held him down. "No! He can get to me here! I can't go through that again!"

"You won't have to, McGee. I promise. I won't let that happen." Finally, Tim calmed down and stopped fighting. He started crying again. This time he huddled into himself rather than turning to Gibbs for help.

"I'm so afraid. I can't be like you guys. Every time I close my eyes I feel like he's right there." Tim tried to fight the tears and force himself to calm down. Gibbs watched seemingly impassively, letting him collect himself.

When he judged that Tim was back in control of himself, he said, "McGee, everyone is afraid."

"Not like me. You and Tony and Ziva, you all know how to deal with it. I didn't know what to do. I couldn't get away. If he had taken one of you, you would have gotten away yourself. I had to have someone save me." Tim looked away again, ashamed of himself.

"There's no guarantee of that." Before he could go on, the doctor came in again.

"Let's have a look at your neck, Agent McGee." He examined the abrasions and made an approving sound. "It looks like there's no permanent damage. You'll be sore for a few days, but other than that you're fine."

McGee looked incredulous but didn't say anything. Gibbs stood and said, "I'd like a word with you, Doctor Peterson."

"I thought you would, Agent Gibbs." He looked resigned but unapologetic. Gibbs followed him out of the room and Tony entered behind him. McGee ignored him and started looking at his tortured body. There were bandages on his wrists and ankles as well as stitches on his arm, torso and face. Tony watched as Tim's face became more horrified as he discovered each injury.

"Why didn't he just kill me?" he said quietly.

"What was that, McGee?"

Tim looked up, startled. "Oh. Nothing. Just thinking aloud."

In his mind, Tony was thinking of all the things he'd rather be doing than facing McGee's mental breakdown, boiling in oil was on the list. He stood awkwardly as Tim gazed vacantly off into the distance, trying to think of something to say. "That was impressive, using your IV needle. I'm sure he wouldn't have been expecting it."

To his surprise, McGee looked humiliated, not complimented. "I couldn't think of anything else to do. It wouldn't have helped if you and Gibbs hadn't come in. All I could do was shout for help."

"McGee, you did the right thing. He shouldn't have been able to get in here at all. Gibbs and I screwed up."

"It's okay," he said quietly. "Maybe I shouldn't have done anything."

"No, McGee. He might have killed you before we got back."

"I know." Tim kept looking away. "Maybe you could have caught him though instead of worrying about me."

Before Tony could answer, Gibbs came back in, Ducky in tow. "Good morning, McGee."

"What are you doing here, Ducky? It must be early in the morning."

"About four. I had some extra time on my hands and thought I'd come and keep you company."

"Thanks."

Behind Ducky, Tony leaned over to Gibbs and said, "Could I talk to you for a minute, boss?"

"Sure, Tony." As Ducky settled in and starting telling one of the many stories he knew, Tony and Gibbs went out into the hall.

"I'm worried about McGee, boss."

"I am, too."

"I'm not talking about Robertson either."

"Neither am I."

Tony stopped. "Really?"

"Really. Why are you worried?"

"In there, just now, he kept talking about letting Robertson kill him. It sounded like he wanted it to happen."

"That's why I asked Ducky to come by. I wanted to get his opinion on how McGee's doing."

"Oh. Good. I don't like how he's acting now. It's not McGee-like." He paused. "Are you going back in?"

"I'm going to let Ducky talk to him a little while longer."