Chapter 37

"It's weird to walk through the streets and have no one be here," Abby said.

"I'd prefer that to having people taking potshots at us from the windows like they've been having in Sub Phoenix," Tobias muttered. "As long as we keep this area secured, I think we're pretty safe."

"I'm just glad that they gave up in the north quarter," Gibbs said.

"Yeah, but I'm worried about that rumor. It's been going around for a week now. I don't like people thinking that Tim is dead."

"They would have found a way to tell us if something had happened, right?" Abby asked. "I wish we could use the wristbands."

"Not until we can get control of the hub. Otherwise, the NIU will be able to trace every single message we send."

"I know. I just feel kind of helpless without it."

"Where could a rumor like that have started?" Tobias asked, coming back around to his greatest concern. "It's bad for morale. We're getting a firmer grip on Mammoth and I'd like that trend to continue. Besides, I don't want it spreading outside of the city."

"Tim'll be okay. They'd be broadcasting it everywhere if the NIU had him...and that wouldn't happen," Abby said, talking more for her own sake than anything. "You left him at the library to keep him safe, right? There's no reason for him to get into the fight again."

"Except that I'm sure he knows what you were doing when you sent him back there," Gibbs said. "He's not stupid."

"Yeah, and he knows why I did it, too. His little stunt two weeks ago nearly got him killed. We don't need martyrs."

"He's been different, though," Abby said. "Acting different. He's...I don't know...more real?"

"All the more reason to keep him safe...out of the way. His broadcasts have definitely been getting better."

The three of them came around the corner and stopped. The open square in front of the library had been kept mostly secure throughout the revolution. They'd been able to take the fight directly to the NIU and keep it away from what had been their headquarters. Now...

"What happened?" Abby whispered.

One whole wall of a building opposite the library had come down. Carefully, Gibbs approached it, keeping an eye out for anyone who might be gunning for them.

"Someone was hurt here," he said in a low voice. "There's blood...quite a bit of it."

Abby gasped. "Tim?"

"Who knows?"

"I'll bet the people in there do," Tobias said and took off for the library. The damage was old...at least a week, maybe more. That made him more anxious than he wanted to admit. Erin was still in there as well...and what if she...

The security system was still engaged and that made him feel a little better as he disengaged it and charged inside.

There was no one in front and he knew better than to shout...or maybe it was just all his years as a librarian. He sensed Abby and Gibbs behind him and figured they'd take the time to engage the lock. Even though he wanted to check on Erin, he had to find out what had happened first.

"Tobias...Boss...Abby...what are you guys doing here?" Tony asked in surprise as he came out of the ER.

"Is something wrong with Tim?" Abby asked.

Tony's face said it all.

"What happened?" Gibbs asked.

Tony gestured for them to follow him and they went back into the ER. At the back of the room was the only occupied bed. Ziva sat motionless beside it and Abby whimpered when she realized who was in it.

"We were gathering supplies because Ducky was totally out of so many things. A guy ambushed us on the way back, started shouting that Tim deserved to die and that he would take him out." Tony's mouth twisted for a moment before he got himself back under control again. "Tim pushed me and Ziva out of the way...just before the guy blew up his EM pistol...and took out the entire wall. Tim was trapped under it...along with the supplies we'd just gotten. He's been in a coma ever since Jordan and Ducky operated on him."

"A coma?" Abby asked.

"Yeah. Ducky said that it's actually a good thing because it's giving his body a chance to rest while it heals, but...I hate seeing him lying there. He saved my life, Boss."

"He's been out for how long?"

Tony ran a hand through his hair. "Man, I'm not even sure. The days are kind of blurring together."

"It has been nine days," Ziva said in a low voice from beside the bed. "Tomorrow will make ten."

"Someone has been with him the whole time, but Ducky says that he's stabilizing on his own. I don't know exactly what the means but..." Tony lowered his voice. "...but I think Ducky's afraid Tim is still going to die. ...and if Ducky does..."

"Ducky's still human," Gibbs said. "He's not perfect."

"I've just never seen Ducky lose hope before. I don't like it."

Tentatively, Abby approached the bed. She hadn't seen Tim as he had been initially; so all she saw was the damage, none of the healing that had been taking place. She started to cry.

"Oh, it's not fair."

"He's a lot better than he was, Abbs," Tony said. "Promise. You can barely hear him breathing anymore. That's a lot better than the wheezing he was doing before."

Ziva nodded quickly. "Yes. All the monitors say that he is getting better."

"He can't breathe on his own?"

"Not well enough when he's unconscious. His lungs were damaged and this is helping him. Part of the reason he's out is also because they've been giving him some heavy-duty painkillers. It helps him breathe better."

Abby nodded.

"How's Erin?" Tobias asked no one in particular.

"She's...sleeping...mostly," Tony answered.

He nodded.

"Abby, would you mind?"

She smiled and shook her head. After she was gone, Tobias met both Tony's and Ziva's gaze.

"How bad was it?"

"He almost died," Ziva said. "Even after they operated, Jordan and Ducky were not certain that he would survive it. That he has is a good sign."

"Did he look dead when you pulled him out?"

"Yes."

"That would explain the rumor."

"What rumor?" Tony asked. "We've only gone out to scavenge for more stuff."

"It's spreading around the city that Tim is dead. That's one of the reasons I wanted to get back here. I'm glad he's not, but we can't prove it by showing people a scene like this."

"Well, duh, Tobias," Tony said. "You can't just parade Tim around. He's not a trained seal!"

"Tony!" Gibbs said.

"You haven't been sitting here watching him, Boss! You guys haven't been here waiting to see if he was going to die. You haven't been here, knowing that the only reason he's like this is because he saved your life!"

"Tony!" Gibbs said again, and shook him a little. "That's not what he meant and you know it. Tim knew what he was taking on when he decided to be the face people associated with the revolution. He knew it and he wouldn't blame Tobias for it. This is something we have to think about! We don't want everything to fall apart because Tim got injured. Tim wouldn't want that, not after all this effort."

Tony nodded and subsided. "I just..."

"I know. He saved your life."

"Yeah."

"He'll make it," Jimmy said firmly from the doorway. "Tim won't die."

Everyone stared at him in surprise and he flushed a little but he refused to back down.

If wishing could make things so, Tim would wake up in no time. Tobias, Gibbs and Abby stayed at the library for the next week. Tim stirred once or twice but never awakened.

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

Kate rubbed her eyes wearily. Holding Sub Hague was hard. It wasn't that there was a lot of fighting. There wasn't, but it was supposed to be the center of governance and there was no government. There couldn't be while half the cities in the world were still in conflict. It was the stress of making sure that no one else came in and tried to set up another oppressive government. She'd already had to help to push out a foray from Sub Moscow. The NIU was particularly entrenched there. Then, too, there were so many questions coming to this area. It made her extremely tense. She was much better being in on the action. Straightening, she began to roll her head side to side, trying to get the kinks out of it.

"Why don't I help you with that?"

The voice made her turn around excitedly.

"Stan!"

In a moment of very un-Kate-like joy, she threw her arms around him and held him close.

"I think you may have missed me a little bit."

"I wasn't even sure if you were alive! The news casts aren't reliable enough to know what to believe."

Stan smiled and relished the chance to be with his wife.

"It's been almost two months!"

"I know."

"How did you even get over here? I didn't think there was any movement across the Atlantic."

"No official traffic. I told Tobias that I would be as much help over here as I was over there," he said and kissed her ear.

"Help? That's what you call this?"

"Yes. You're obviously too stressed to get anything done. You need someone to help you relax."

Kate pulled away and tried to look stern, but it was impossible. She grinned.

"You willing to put me back in the right frame of mind for coordinating a revolution?"

"Oh, definitely...if you have the time."

"I think I might...have a few minutes." Then, unexpectedly, she felt tears in her eyes and she held him tightly again. "I'm so glad you're okay."

Stan's hug felt like it was going to crush her but she relished feeling him with her again.

"I was thinking the very same thing, Kate."

It was the moments of sunlight in the dreary world that made it all worth it.

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

It was a strange sensation, like swimming from darkness into light...feeling the pressure, the weight of the world it seemed sinking in on top of him, holding him down. He didn't want to be held down any longer. He could hear the voices around him, feel the presence of people and he fought towards it. It had been too long since he had felt them close, too many years.

There was a hand holding his own.

"Daddy?" he whispered.

"Tim?"

He tried to open his eyes. Daddy didn't feel right. That wasn't the right person. He shouldn't be calling for him. Dad was dead, had been for a long time. Years.

"Tim, did you say something?"

Who should he be asking for? He wasn't sure. His mind was full of cotton and he couldn't seem to make his eyes open.

"Tim..."

Jimmy. The name floated up from the dark recesses of his brain. Jimmy Palmer. His parents are dead...like mine.

"Jimmy?"

"Yeah. Yeah, it's me, Tim."

"Ducky?"

"I'll get him. You want to talk to him?"

"Yeah." That sounded right. He remembered another awakening, years ago, and Ducky was there then. He should be here now. It was the way things needed to be. That's all he was sure of, even as he tried to think of where he was, what was going on...but he knew that he was better off than he had been the last time he had awakened.

There was something covering the lower half of his face and it was a little irritating. He tried to make his arm lift to move it, but it wouldn't do what he told it to.

Something told him that he shouldn't force himself to move...and that he should be careful about breathing. He wasn't quite sure why.

Where is Ducky?

"Timothy?"

There it was. Tim smiled.

"Ducky."

Arms around him, almost like his father would have done, lifting him up even though he couldn't do anything himself.

"Welcome back, Timothy."

Ducky was crying.

At first, he just lay there limply, not sure what else to do...but then, there was a thought and he struggled to get his arms to move. Weakly, he tried to return the hug.

"Thank you...Ducky."

"I was so afraid that..."

"You said...you said that I wouldn't die."

"Yes, I did...but I was beginning to lose hope."

He felt himself gently returned to the bed and again, he tried to open his eyes.

This time, his lids lifted and he felt tears of his own as he looked at his guardian. Ducky had never lost hope. Not that he'd ever shown.

"Am I...going to make it, Ducky?"

"I think you are, lad. I think you are."

"Good...because I have lots to do." He smiled through his tears and then began to cry. "Thank you, Ducky. Thank you."

Ducky hugged him again and didn't (or perhaps couldn't) respond.

All Tim could say, over and over, was, "Thank you." ...trying to express all the gratitude he'd never shown in the years that had come before.

"Thank you."