Tim was currently rummaging through Jenny's desk for extra staples. He had a mountain of paperwork in front of his desk. Being the director was definitely not what it was cracked up to be. But Tim wouldn't complain too much. It was keeping his mind busy must of the time. It was keeping him from calling Jimmy every five minutes to get an update on Gibbs and worrying himself completely to death over what might be happening to his aunt right now. As long as he stayed busy, he could keep himself from falling apart, which was why he didn't dare stop much.
As Tim searched the drawers, he found something he didn't expect. In the bottom drawer on the right, he found a picture of himself with Jenny when he was a child. It was probably the last photo he every took with her, or anyone else in his family for that matter.
Tim slowly took the photo out to look at it more closely. As he looked at it, it was like looking at a different person entirely. He wasn't that kid anymore. That kid had died when his world fell apart. He was so much different now. He had a different name, a different view of the world. That kid only really knew happiness and safety. Tim had a hard time remembering what either of those things felt like most days.
A large part of Tim missed who he used to be. He definitely missed his family. There were days since his aunt became director that he wished he could have told her who he truly was. He knew he would've been welcomed back into her life, and he would've gotten at least something back that he lost, but it would've been short lived. Both their lives would've been put at risk. Now though, he wondered if keeping it a secret had been worth it. It wasn't as if Jenny was safe now. He was facing the possibility that she wasn't even alive anymore, and that she'd died never knowing the truth. That was why one way or another, he would tell her if they found her alive. Not that he had much choice at this point. He was barely keeping Abby quiet right now. He knew he couldn't do so indefinitely.
Tim soon heard a knock on the door. He immediately put the picture back in the drawer and closed it. He then took a second to pull himself together. "Come in."
Seconds later, Ducky entered the room and closed the door behind him. "Hello, Timothy. I hope I'm not disturbing you too much. I know that you're extremely busy these days."
"No, it's okay. I could use a few minutes away from the paperwork. Is everything alright?" Tim asked.
"As well as it can be," Ducky said as he approached the younger man. He took a seat in front of his desk. "I wanted to let you know that I've just spoken with Mr. Palmer. Jethro has had the necessary surgery, and he survived it, but he remains critical. They worry he may not wake up."
Tim nodded. "It's good that he made it through surgery. That's probably all the good news we're going to get for a few days. It's going to take time before we have a different prognosis."
"Yes, I imagine you're right. Are there any leads on Jennifer?"
Tim shook his head sadly. "No, not yet. Tony and Ziva managed to get a little more information on the dead assailant we found, but it was mostly a dead end. We also took a look at traffic cameras from the night Gibbs and the director were attacked, but it seems these guys avoided the cameras. It's not surprising. They are pros."
"Are you doing alright, Timothy?" Ducky asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine, Ducky," Tim lied.
"With all due respect, lad, I don't believe you. I don't believe any of us are fine, but you seem particularly rattled. I saw your face when you all got back from Jennifer's home. I was honestly worried about your health for a bit," Ducky said. The younger man seemed to be doing better now, but only slightly. This case was getting to him, not that Ducky could blame him. It had gotten to all of them. This was not just any case.
"I'm okay. It was a hard thing to see. There was a lot of blood, and I wondered if either of them were…" Tim stopped and caught himself before he began to lose it. He could not fall apart. He would not get back up if he let his emotions consume him. "I'm okay now."
Ducky recognized the attempt to be strong. He'd seen it many times. The lad probably felt that allowing himself to succumb to his emotions would impede his ability to do his job, which had of course already been made much more difficult. Still, he knew what could happen if you tried too hard to hold your emotions in. "I know that this is a terrible situation, but if you need to talk, I will of course be happy to listen."
"Thanks. I'll be fine though," Tim assured him.
Just then, Tony and Ziva came through the door. "We may have finally found something," Tony said.
"What is it?" Tim asked, giving him all his attention
Tony turned to Ziva and motioned for her to do the honors. This was her lead afterall.
"I had wondered if this might not be related to Gibbs being at Jenny's home after all," Ziva said.
"They let Gibbs go. It seems almost certain that he was something they weren't expecting," Tim said.
"Yes, and that is still likely the case, but he was there for a reason. We initially wondered if they were discussing a case. I think that may still be the case, but I believe it may have been a personal one, instead of having a connection to NCIS," Ziva explained.
"We think the director went rogue again, only she went to Gibbs for help this time, or at least tried to," Tony said.
"I decided to trace Jenny's movements over the last few weeks. Last weekend, she took a trip to a federal prison in New York," Ziva said.
Tim frowned a bit. He couldn't come up with any reason Jenny would do that. If it were related to an NCIS case, there were many agents under her that could take that job. It was way under a director's paygrade. It was likely that Ziva was right that it was personal, and it was too big a coincidence not to be related to her abduction. "Who did she see?"
"An inmate named Leo Silva. The warden has sent me his file. I shall put it up on the plasma." Ziva said.
Tim got up and walked to the plasma screen, just in time to see a face that would both infuriate and terrify him. The man was middle-aged and had dark hair and brown eyes. Tim knew him immediately. The name hadn't been familiar to him. He hadn't known him by name. He knew his face though. He was one of the men that helped tear apart Tim's entire world. He would never forget his face or any of the others.
"McGee, you okay?" Tony asked.
Tim was far from okay. He was enraged. He hated this man. He'd taken part in making Tim an orphan. Tim had actually watched this man help to murder his mother. Tim wanted nothing more than to see him dead. Of course, his involvement also made him fear even more for his aunt's safety. If Jenny visit to Silva had anything to do with what happened to her, the others were probably involved. He was involved. Tim knew all too well the horrors Jenny faced if that was the case.
"McGee?" Tony pressed again. He didn't know what to make of his friend's demeanor, but he definitely looked pissed. Not that any of them were particularly happy right now, but McGee looked like he might murder someone.
"We need to talk to him. I'll arrange to have him transported here," Tim said.
"Wait. Wouldn't it be easier for us to go there? Getting a transport order alone could take days. Ziva and I could be there by tomorrow.
"I'll involve SecNav if I have to. I will have the son of a bitch here no later than forty-eight hours from now. I want him here, under our control. Besides, I can't risk sending you both out there. I need you hear to keep working leads. We don't have anyone else for that," Tim said. All of that was true, but he also wanted to see Silva personally. He would find out exactly what happened to Jenny, and he would face the man who helped destroy him. He just hoped he could refrain from killing the bastard.
"If that is what you want, we will follow your lead, but I do not know that we will have any leads to follow here," Ziva said.
"It's better this way, Ziva. We can get more by controlling the environment. I'll get started right away on the transfer. In the meantime, familiarize yourself with his history. We need to know everything about him before he's interrogated," Tim said. He knew enough to know the man was a monster. He'd seen that much himself, but they needed all the information they could get.
"You got it," Tony said. He wasn't sure this was the best call, but he'd recently learned not underestimate McGee. Plus, it wasn't a bad idea to have control over the prisoner. He just worried they were wasting time.
Tim shut TV off and returned to his chair. Tony and Ziva both left. Only Ducky remained.
"Timothy…"
"I'm okay, Ducky," Tim assured him again.
"I'm certain now that you are not. I saw your face when Ziva put that man's photo on the screen. Did you know him?" Ducky asked. It seemed hard to believe that Timothy would know someone like that unless he was involved in an old case, which Ducky was sure he was not, but he'd seen the look on the temporary director's face.
Tim nodded after a moment. There was little point in lying about it. If what he suspected was true. He was going to have to tell them all everything anyway. He was going to hold off on that for now though. There was no reason to worry everyone even more than they already were until he was sure. "I don't know him personally, but I've seen him before. He's a monster."
"Timothy, you know you can tell me anything, right?" Ducky asked. Whatever happened between Timothy and this man, Ducky could tell it was personally. The young man seemed filled with anger and disgust, as well as fear. Ducky wanted to help.
"I know, and it will probably come to that, but I'm only prepared to go into detail if it turns out that I'm right. I'll put it this way though. If Silva or any of his former associates are involved, it will be bad for Jenny.
"Jennifer is strong. I have no doubt that she will fight for her survival," Ducky tried to assure him.
Tim laughed bitterly. "I wish it was that simple. Listen, I gotta get on the phone to get that transfer set up. The others are right about needing to have this done as soon as possible."
"Of course. I'll let you get to work. Try to remain optimistic though," Ducky said as he stood up.
Tim nodded and picked up the phone. He wanted to remain hopeful, but it had just gotten harder. He was terrified that he was about to lose another person to the brutality of these monsters. He didn't think he could live with losing another person.
