Tim pulled up to Jenny's house. The first thing he noticed was that Gibbs' truck was in the driveway. He didn't know if he should consider that a good thing or not. He'd already figured that both of their absences were connected. It was how they were connected that Tim couldn't figure out, and it left him with a terrible feeling in his stomach that only got worse the closer he got to the house, because neither Gibbs or Jenny would neglect their duties if they had a choice.

Tim could hear his heart pound louder and louder. It was going about a hundred miles a minute. "Okay, calm down. They could just be working a case or something. There's no reason to think anything terrible happened." There was no reason to think that, except for the dread in Tim's stomach.

Tim stopped the car and got out. He approached the front door and knocked. "Je… Director Shepard?

There was no response.

Tim knocked again, and rang the doorbell for good measure. It was a big house after all. She might not have heard. "Director, it's Agent McGee! If you don't answer I'm coming in."

Tim waited another minute before trying the doorknob. His stomach dropped when the door opened with ease. Jenny wasn't like Gibbs. She wasn't the type to leave her door unlocked. She'd know what could happen, and that being a skilled agent wouldn't always protect you.

Tim took out his gun before making his way inside. He began checking room, starting with the kitchen he'd just entered. He then checked the dining room and the living room before heading upstairs. As soon as he got to the second floor, his face went as white as a sheet. A massive struggle had taken place. A lamp had fallen on the floor, as well as some picture frames and a couple of tables, and there was glass, probably from a broken vase on the floor as well. That wasn't what had Tim ready to lose it though. It was the blood on the floor and walls, and the bullet holes lodged in the walls.. There was a lot of it. He could smell it. He knew very well what blood smelled like.

Tim started frantically checking rooms, possibly being a bit unsafe for an agent securing a crime scene. "Jenny!" he yelled as he entered one room, giving up any pretense of professionalism. There was more blood in the bedroom he walked in, and more evidence of a struggle. Another lamp had fallen, as had an end table. There were more bullet holes.

Tim continued through room after room. "Jenny! Gibbs!"

There continued to be no response.

Tim entered one of the bathrooms and found more blood and evidence of the struggle. After that, he went into Jenny's office. It was clean. He couldn't be sure, but it didn't look touched.

Just then, Tim heard his phone rang. He took it out and looked at it. It was Tony. He immediately answered. "Tony."

"Hey. Everything's clean here and Gibbs' truck is missing. I don't know if it's a good sign though," Tony said.

"It's not. Get to the director's," Tim said in a shaky voice.

"What'd you find?" Tony asked nervously.

"It's a blood bath, Tony," he said.

There was silence on the other end for several seconds, then a very quiet, shaky voice. "Are… Are they…?"

"There are no bodies. There's no one here," Tim said.

"We're on our way," Tony said before hanging up.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

When Tony and Ziva made it to the director's and up to the second floor, they paled as soon as they saw the blood, both fearing for the well-being of their two bosses. They knew from this scene that it did not look good.

Tim was taking blood samples when they arrived. He started processing right after he hung up with Tony. It was the only thing keeping him from completely falling apart. He was mere moments away from that, and he couldn't let that happen. He had to stay strong if he was going to be any use in finding Gibbs and Jenny.

"McGee, is this how you found everything," Tony asked, staring at the scene in horror.

Tim stood up and nodded as he bagged and tagged the blood evidence. "I haven't touched anything, aside from taking samples. Uh, the blood seems to be concentrated to the second floor. There's nothing downstairs, no evidence that anyone was dragged. The bodies must have been carried."

"They are not dead!" Tony snapped, upset that his coworker was apparently giving Gibbs and the director up for dead.

"I didn't say they were dead, but somebody is! Look at the damn blood! There's too much for no one to have died!" Tim snapped back.

Tony nodded, suddenly feeling guilty. He knew he shouldn't have taken his fear and anger out on McGee. It was just that Gibbs meant a lot to him. He was the one person Tony could always count on. "Sorry, McGee."

"They are probably not dead," Ziva suddenly said, gaining both her coworkers' attention. "Anyone willing to m…murder the director of a federal agency in her home would not care about leaving a body behind. McGee is right though. There is too much blood. Someone died here."

"We should process everything and get the evidence to Abby as quickly as possible," Tim said.

"Right. I'll take photos. I'll grab the gear from the truck," Tony said.

"I will go speak to the neighbors, ask if they heard or saw something," Ziva said.

"If any of them did, ask them why the hell they didn't call 911," Tim said angrily before heading into Jenny's office. He starting searching the top of her desk, not really finding much, except her cellphone. She must have taken it out when she got home and left it on her desk. That was why they were able to track her phone and not Gibbs'. His was probably found destroyed.

Tim stopped searching after a minute and put his hands on the desk, bracing himself up against it. It was taking every bit of strength he had not to collapse. He couldn't believe this was happening. It wasn't supposed to happen. "God, I can't do this again. I can't lose anyone else."

Tim took several deep breaths and pulled himself out of the panic attack that was trying to take him over. He was no stranger to them. "They're not dead. Ziva's right. They would've just left the bodies if they were going to kill them. They're still alive," he told himself before getting back to his task. He had to keep believing they were alive because he would not survive any other outcome. It would kill him if they were dead. No, it would kill him if Jenny were dead. Gibbs meant a lot to him, but Jenny's death would destroy him. Even if she didn't realize their connection, she was all he really had left.