The ambulance trip was a nightmare for McGee. The siren was a constant distraction, screaming in his ears, scattering his thoughts before he could marshal them into any sort of order.

The paramedic hovering over him made him nervous, because he couldn't remember exactly why he was in the ambulance. His body felt distant and numb, he couldn't determine what exactly was wrong.

There was something he needed to remember, something important to Tony, but he couldn't seem to get his brain to work. Which was a problem for him, because no matter what else was happening in his life, he'd always been able to count on his brain. Now, when he needed to be able to concentrate, his mind kept wandering off on tangents…

Where was Abby? Maybe she would know what had happened to him. "Abby?" He peered up at the strange face leaning over him.

"I'm sorry, sir, I'm not Abby," the paramedic answered in an even voice. The tone was just creepy, like he was a mental case and she had to keep him calm.

And then it came to him, they were trained to use that tone to keep their patient calm. Was he a patient? Why?

"Where's Tony?" Shouldn't Tony be with him? Tony was the one who needed the ambulance, not him.

There was something important about Tony he was supposed to tell Gibbs, but he couldn't remember what.

"I'm sorry, Mr. McGee, you were the only victim at the scene." The paramedic didn't pause in her ministrations, he could feel her fingers on his wrist.

There was a beeping tone in the ambulance that blended with the scream of the siren to fill his mind. It pushed out all the other thoughts there, he couldn't think past the beep and the screams. Why didn't someone just turn them off so he could think.

Tony? Something about Tony? What was it?

The beeping tone turned into a drone.

"He's coding," the woman yelled at her partner. "How far away are we?"

"We're there," her partner said as he turned into the emergency exit, the medical personal ready and waiting.

McGee hid in the darkness keeping an eye on Tony, waiting for he didn't know what. The night was cold and he shivered in his thin shirt. He'd given his jacket to Tony, hoping to help the other man keep in at least a littlebody heat.

He didn't know how long he was supposed to wait. What if nothing and no one ever showed up? How long was he supposed to wait here? Until Tony bled to death?

Tony didn't look good. Even from his hidden position, McGee could see the beads of sweat on the other man's face. His face was ashen and he was having trouble keeping his eyes open. He needed to get Tony to a hospital and soon.

But Tony thought they were being tracked. How much was Tony's instincts and how much was fever-induced hallucination? McGee glanced down at this watch. They'd been gone from their office only a bare hour, it seemed like it should be much longer somehow.

Did their friends back at NCIS know what had happened to them? Was anyone even looking for them? They didn't expect them for another hour. If they waited another hour before they even started looking, Tony would be dead, McGee was certain of it.

There was a snap in the night and McGee tensed, searching the shadows trying to see if there was anyone or anything lurking in them. Well, anyone or anything besides himself, of course. He couldn't see anything, but it didn't necessarily mean that nothing was out there.

McGee began to circle cautiously around the perimeter set by Tony, trying to find out who, or what, had caused the noise he had heard. If Tony's plan went according to expectation, whoever was following them would see Tony and decide that he was easy bait. Thinking McGee had gone for help, he... or they... or whomever would expose themselves and then McGee would get the drop on them and take them out.

The only problem with the plan McGee could see was that he was the one doing the dropping. That was usually Tony's or Kate's job. He wasn't sure that he knew how to get the drop on anyone. But Tony thought he could do it, and he was depending on him, so he would do the best he could.

Then there was a snap directly behind McGee and an arm around his neck.

"Gotcha," a voice said into his ear...

The drone of the siren was gone, and the steady beep was back.

"Gotcha," someone said triumphantly.

McGee was too tired to even open his eyes and find out who or why.