Chapter 26

The staring contest seemed to last for hours, but then, the man started to move, bringing his hand to his wristband, ready to call for the cavalry. Before his hand had made it even halfway, however, Ziva spun around, grabbing his hand and wrenching it around behind his back, wrapping an arm around his neck and squeezing. He was unable to speak or move...until he fell to the floor, unconscious or dead. Then, Ziva stood erect and looked only at Tim.

"Do you need help?" she asked, acting almost hesitant.

Tim's head raised in disbelief. Gibbs glanced down at the man on the floor.

"Is he dead?"

Ziva shook her head. "No, but we should kill him. He will awaken and sound the alarm."

"No," Tim said, struggling to stand without Tony's help. It wasn't working. "No, you're not going to...kill him."

"Why not?" Ziva asked.

"Because it's not necessary."

"You were ready to kill those men to save Ducky at the time of your arrest."

"Because it would have helped him get away. Killing this man will only delay our discovery by a minute or two...if that. Kort won't leave me alone for long. He'll come to the cell and he'll know." Another spasm took Tim by surprise and he gasped and sagged toward the floor.

Tony just managed to keep his grip. "Whoa, there, McGee. Warn me next time."

"Leave him...alive," Tim ordered. It was strange at first glance that Tim was giving orders from his rather weak position. It wasn't as though he could do anything to stop Ziva were she determined to do it...but she listened.

"Very well. Do you need my help?" she asked again...still looking only at Tim. It was his permission she needed to get. He was the one she had betrayed in the course of doing what she had thought was her duty.

Tim couldn't seem to answer that question...whether because he didn't know the answer or because he was just too tired to do it was uncertain.

"Guys, you should get moving."

"On it, Abbs," Gibbs said...and made Tim's decision for him. "Yes, we could use your help. Tony's not in much of a position to fend off attackers." He turned toward the door to the stairwell and paused. "What is your father going to say about this?"

Ziva looked down at the unconscious agent on the floor, hiding her face from view for a moment. When she looked up, there was a carefully crafted expression of nonchalance.

"Once he hears about this, he will no longer be my father...or my employer. Perhaps he is not anyway. Perhaps he never was."

Gibbs nodded and gestured. "You take the back. I'll take the front."

"Yes, Agent Gibbs."

"You know each other?" Tony asked, awkwardly pulling Tim toward the stairwell door.

"No," Ziva said. "We have merely...crossed paths."

She cast one more glance over her shoulder...looking at more than the downed agent. She was looking at the life she had very permanently abandoned. There was no going back now...and she knew it. She said nothing more, however, and simply took up position at the rear of the group.

"What about him?" Tony asked gesturing back over his shoulder.

"If he does not matter later, he does not matter now."

Tony tried to shrug, but even he was a bit uncomfortable with the idea of leaving the man lying in the middle of the floor.

"How far behind schedule are we, Erin?" Gibbs asked softly as they began their descent.

"You are not. With the additional aid of Ziva David, you will be better equipped to make faster progress."

"Good."

"Not so good, Boss," Tony called. "We're slowing down quite a bit for this, I think."

Gibbs looked back over his shoulder and saw that, if Tim had been pale before, he was now paper white, shaking badly...and the cramps seemed to be increasing in frequency once again.

"Ducky, are you sure that was the right antidote?"

"I am certain. It is the exertion that he is not ready for. It is hampering the antidote's effectiveness." Ducky looked anguished. "But we cannot wait for him to recover as I said before. There is not the time."

"I'm...fine," Tim whispered.

"McGee, why don't you steady yourself on the railing. That'll give me a bit more stability and maybe we can get you down a little bit faster."

Gibbs watched Tim's exhausted nod and wondered if he would make it down even one flight, let alone four. Unfortunately, there wasn't room for three abreast on these stairs. Put Tim on Tony's back and he'd still have to be able to hang on. What they were doing was the best they could do. ...and it just wasn't good enough.

As if he'd felt Gibbs' gaze, perhaps even heard his thoughts, Tim's head lifted. A brief suggestion of a smile flashed over his face.

"Don't worry," he gasped. "I didn't make it...through thirteen years of school on my pretty smile."

Gibbs met Tim's eyes and finally saw beyond the pain, the fear, the weariness...and he saw the strength, the determination. Tim had spent literally years in the control of people whose only intention was to break his will...and they had failed. No way would Tim McGee let the government beat him, not now...not ever. Gibbs nodded his understanding and continued down the stairs. It was slow going and Tim's breathing was loud and echoing in the concrete-walled space, but eventually, they made it to the ground floor...and the emergency exit.

"Erin, we're ready for you to open the door."

"The alarm has been disengaged. You may leave."

"Could we commandeer a transport while we're breaking all laws known to man?" Tony asked, panting a little. Ducky moved back.

"That would be inadvisable as transports are obvious vehicles and people will notice them pass. A group of men and women out late at night is too common a scene to garner attention."

"Here, Anthony, I will support him for a while."

"Are you sure you can hold him up, Ducky? He's taller than you."

"He's also sagging quite low. I shall be fine for a little while."

It was a good sign of Tim's fatigue that he said nothing about the exchange, nor tried to protest the shift.

"Here, Timothy, lean on me for a while." Ducky staggered a little under the weight when Tim did as requested. "Yes, Anthony, you will have to take him back eventually, but not yet."

Tony laughed. "I told you he's not light."

Ducky smiled as well, but it didn't last as he stared in concern at Timothy's pallor and felt his trembling body.

"No, he is not. Timothy, will you make it?"

Tim only nodded. He didn't speak.

"Erin, we're out and heading for the park. You and Abby should get going."

"Yes, we will. I am erasing your images from all cameras, your voices from any live recording devices. No one will know that you were there...with the exception of the man you left alive. He may...although I am not certain he will remember."

"Just meet us at the park."

"We're on our way, Gibbs," Abby said. "We'll be there before you."

"More than likely." He looked at Ducky now supporting nearly all of Tim's weight. Tim couldn't even keep his eyes open anymore and his abdominal spasms were obviously continuing.

"Ducky?"

"I can manage for now, Jethro. I will certainly let you know when I can't."

Gibbs smiled at Ducky's protective nature but understood his need to do his part. His gaze slid over to Ziva. She had said nothing since joining them, and he was a bit ambivalent about her presence. Still, he couldn't distrust everyone. Tim didn't seemed disposed to mistrust her and he would surely be more likely...although whether he had the energy to oppose her presence was another matter altogether.

"We need to tell Jimmy where to go," Tim whispered to Ducky. "He can't...can't be there when they...start looking."

"I know. I will tell him."

"He needs to be safe, Ducky."

"He will be, lad. I promise."

Together, the group walked, but after a single block, Tim was transferred once more...this time to Gibbs' tender care. Ducky was just not the one Tim could lean on physically...although mentally and emotionally, he outstripped all of them. Gibbs got a good grip and they continued on. Tim was fading fast and no matter his intentions, Gibbs wasn't sure that Tim would be able to last all the way to the library...and taking the tram would be a bad idea. Then, Tony walked over onto the other side and took half Tim's weight off Gibbs' shoulders...in essence, allowing Tim to give up any pretense that he could manage simple ambulatory motion.

"We'll get you there, McGee. No worries."

Soon enough, the park loomed up ahead of them. It was one of the few places in Mammoth that had trees, grass. It was necessarily small and only a few of the rare woods graced the borders. Beneath one there was a bench, occupied by two women.

"Abby?" Tony asked.

One of the figures jumped up and ran over to them. The other remained sitting.

Abby flew at them, stopped and looked around at them all, ascertaining that the majority were indeed uninjured and then, she looked at Tim. He was still limp, barely conscious, but that didn't matter to Abby. Gibbs could see what was coming before she said anything.

"Oh, no. Tim!"

Then, she ran at him and grabbed him in a tight hug, arms encircling his torso. Her approach looked uncontrolled, but in reality, she could see that a flying tackle would not really help Tim out at all. Instead, she was simply holding him, supporting more of his dead weight than one would expect her to be able to support. Abby was stronger than she looked.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Tim. This is horrible. I'm so sorry. We're such awful people!"

Tim's head lifted for a moment and he looked at the others in what could only be described as shock. His arms now hung slackly at his sides (Tony and Gibbs knew when to move out of the way) and he didn't seem to know what to do.

"Some of you...are," he finally said. "But...not all."

Still, he didn't move his arms. Tony finally laughed and lifted them up.

"You're supposed to return a hug, McGee...particularly an Abby hug," he said. "You put your arms like this. I'll let you off the hook on the squeezing part because I'll bet you can't, but you should at least acknowledge that she's hugging you."

Tim kept his arms around her and he moved his head to rest on hers.

"I think you're the best...of a bad lot," he said and managed a weak smile.

"Thanks...I think," Abby said, her voice a bit muffled. "Tony, you want to take him back now?"

"Sure, Abbs." Tony obligingly unwound Tim's arms and resumed his position of acting as Tim's spinal column and legs.

"Who's that?" Tim asked, pointing briefly toward the still-motionless figure on the bench.

"That's Erin," Abby said. "She helped us get you out."

"You...you...forced her to–?" Tim began.

"No! We asked if she wanted to...and they were ready to...to throw her away," Abby said, angrily. "She said she would help. She remembered you."

"Of course she...did. We don't forget."

"It wasn't like that, McGee," Tony said. "It really wasn't. We kind of rescued her, too."

Tim shook his head and let it drop again, the anger sapping what little fire he'd managed to ignite.

"Not really. I saw her already...I know."

"But she'll be free, Tim," Abby said. "That's got to be better than what they'd do to her."

"Timothy, we are not exploiting her," Ducky said.

"Not intentionally, maybe...but if you think that there's anything she would have refused to do...then, you don't understand." He sagged heavily against Tony.

"Should we rest here for a bit?" Ducky asked.

Tim shook his head. "We couldn't wait long enough for it to...do any good. Let's...just go."

There was too much truth in that to ignore and so, in spite of the worry they all had for Tim's state, they set off once more. ...only, this time, while still remaining silent, Ziva unassumingly walked over and took Tim's other side. She was shorter but she was able to support enough of his weight that they could walk more quickly...the mile to the library.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

The librarian was waiting. Ever since Stan had called him and let him know that there was a jailbreak in progress, he had waited for Tim to come back to the library. He would...although what he'd think when he got a glimpse of his employer was another matter. Again, he smiled to himself, relishing the feeling of unencumbered expressions. The back room was all prepared and he was also ready for a sudden influx of...well, they wouldn't exactly be refugees...but in essence, they would be. He had to be ready for an unknown number of them because Stan had said they were in contact with others, amazingly organized for such a short period...but then, Stan had said they were NIU. That organization generally did get the best.

Then, he heard the alarms being disengaged and he grinned. Perfect timing.

He walked around to the front of the library and opened the door for...well, a larger group than he had expected...and to Tim in much worse shape than he'd expected. His first glimpse made his heart twist almost as much as it had for his daughter. Tim was more than beaten...much worse than that. He was trampled...but he didn't express any of that.

"I thought I'd get you back here pretty fast, Tim," he said. "Although you've managed to gather a larger group than I anticipated."

Tim's head lifted and everyone stared.

"Who are you?" Tim asked...and then in disbelief, he shook his head. "No. That's...it's...it's impossible."

"Not at all...and it's a thrilling story. I'll tell you later, Tim. I promise. Right now, I think you should get him into the back. I doubt he's going to tolerate remaining upright for much longer...let alone survive hearing an extremely exciting tale." He gestured. "Go on. Through the non-fiction. Turn left at the astronomy books."

"You have to...let Jimmy in...when he gets here," Tim said.

"I will. Promise. Then, we lock down."

No one moved.

"You waiting for invitations?" he asked wryly.

Finally, Tim managed a smile and tried to pull on his supports to move them away. Four of Tim's fans went with him. That left Gibbs and a woman who had entered and simply stopped moving, almost as if she had been turned off.

"Who are you?" Gibbs asked.

"Don't you recognize me, Agent Gibbs? It's only been twenty years after all."

Gibbs was staring at him in the way that people do when they feel as though they should know someone and just can't quite put their finger on why.

"While you think about it, why don't you tell me who else you've brought with you?"

Gibbs looked back over his shoulder and then walked to the woman and led her gently to the library desk.

"This is Erin. She helped us get Tim out. We kind of...kidnapped her from the...residence."

"She's a genius?"

"Yes."

The librarian suddenly realized what the name had been.

"Erin?" he asked...but he wasn't asking Gibbs. He wasn't even looking at him. Erin's eyes didn't show any sign that she'd heard him. Softly, he began to hum a little tune, one he'd packed away with the rest of his life. As he did, she smiled and began mouthing the words.

"Twinkle, twinkle, little star.
How I wonder what you are."

She sang the words and then, she really looked at him, life flooding her eyes just for a moment.

"Daddy."