Tim sat at the head of the conference table in the director's office with the rest of his team, including Ducky, Palmer, and Abby, seated around the table as well. It had been about an hour since Tim's meeting with SecNav. He needed that hour to prepare to have this conversation

Again with the others. "The situation just got a lot worse. The people we are dealing with are as dangerous as they come."

"You know who hurt Agent Gibbs and kidnapped the director?" Palmer asked.

"Yes. The man responsible is named Sebastian Acosta. If I didn't know any better, I'd say he was the devil himself," Tim said.

"Well, why would he hurt Gibbs? Did he put him away or something?" Abby asked.

"No. It wasn't about Gibbs. He was collateral damage. That's why they left him for dead," Tim explained.

"So, Jenny was the target? She's the reason Gibbs got hurt?" Abby asked.

Tim glared at her in response. He wasn't going to allow anyone to put the blame at Jenny's feet. "No, she's not! It's not her fault! It's mine."

"That is not true, McGee," Ziva said firmly.

"Agreed," Tony said.

"Yes, Timothy, how can you believe this is your fault?" Ducky asked.

Tim sighed. "You all need to know that I have a history with the man responsible for all of this. I also have a history, no unrelated to NCIS, with Director Shepard."

"You're finally gonna tell everyone the truth?" Abby asked with a sneer.

"Wait, Abby knows?" Tony asked.

Tim nodded. She found out when she ran the blood samples through the NCIS database."

Tony nodded after a minute. That made sense. Jenny's sample would match the database twice. It would match Jenny, of course, but it would also match McGee's, as he was a blood relative. This also explained some of the tension between Abby and McGee. Abby ha d a habit of thinking she had a right to know everything about everyone. Tony didn't have much room to judge there, as he too liked knowing things about his colleagues, but this was different. No one in their right mind would offer up the kind of things McGee had been through, and that was just the little Tony knew about. Plus, revealing his true identity could be very dangerous for McGee. Gibbs' rule four definitely came into play here.

"Most of what you all know about my past is not true. Until about seventeen years ago, my name was not Timothy McGee. It was Jasper Shepard III. Jenny is my aunt," Tim told them.

Both Ducky and Palmer looked at McGee in complete shock. Neither could've even begun to suspect that. "The director's your aunt?!" Palmer asked.

"Yes, but she doesn't know it. She thinks I'm dead," Tim said.

"How could you let your aunt think you're dead?" Abby asked.

"Abby, back off," Tony warned.

"This is why you were so affected by what happened," Ducky realized. Of course, they were all upset, but Ducky could tell that it was a particularly hard blow to young Acting Director. It made sense. Jennifer was his family, and he could do little to help her. It was an attest to his strength that he was still able to function given those circumstances.

Tim nodded and took a deep breath. This was going to be the hard part for him, talking about Acosta and what he'd done to his family. "The man who kidnapped Jenny is responsible for the murders of my parents and younger sister."

"Good Lord," Ducky said in a horrified tone. He'd never imagined that Timothy had gone through something like that.

"They were killed in a home invasion, very similar to the one that took place at Jenny's home. It was eighteen years ago. I was twelve," he said, looking down at his hands, which he was desperately trying to keep from shaking.

"How did you survive? Were you there?" Palmer asked.

"I was there. How did I survive? Ego and luck would be the best answer I can come up with. I don't know why, but Acosta didn't just want to kill me. He wanted to break me first, and he spent a year trying to do just that," Tim said.

"A year?" Tony asked in disbelief. He couldn't imagine what it had to be like for anyone to withstand torture for a year, let alone for a young boy to go through it. And that was after McGee watched the people he loved die. How did a little kid survive that?

"Yeah, around that. It felt like longer, of course. Don't ask me what happened during that time because I won't discuss it," Tim said firmly.

Tony nodded. He wouldn't ask because he really didn't want to know. Just hearing that his friend had been through such trauma was hard for him to handle. He didn't want to think about the ways in which this monster tormented him.

"Anyway, I escaped because they got careless. I guess at that point, no one thought I was capable of getting away," Tim said.

"Why'd they go after you?" Palmer asked.

"My father was CIA. It was his job to take down people like Acosta. From what I understand, my father was investigating him. Acosta made an example of him, out of all of us," Tim said. He'd heard that much from Acosta the night he'd attacked his family. The bastard had made it very clear that it was the price for coming after him.

"Timothy, you don't have to answer if you don't want to, but what happened after you escaped?" Ducky asked.

Tim understood what Ducky was asking. He wanted to know how he became Timothy McGee. He wanted to know why everyone, why Jenny still thought he was dead. Unlike with Abby though, there was no judgement in his voice. He just wanted to understand. "Uh, the woman that would become my foster mother found me in the woods sometime after I lost consciousness. I woke up in the hospital several days later. I was in bad shape. I wasn't actually expected to live. I had less of a chance than Gibbs was given."

Tony sucked in a breath. He knew that what happened to McGee had to be horrible, but he didn't know it was so bad that he almost died. The more Tony learned, the more it astonished him that his friend was the way he way. Tony didn't know McGee the way he thought he did, but he did know that he was genuinely good and believed in the good in the world. It was hard to believe he could be like that given the blows the world had delivered to him.

"I didn't expect to live either. I thought I would die in those woods. I was okay with that. I just wanted to die peacefully," Tim said. His hands were shaking now. It was hard to relive what happened to him. Even without going into detail. It was taking a toll on him. "Anyway, when I woke up, I didn't talk much. Actually, I didn't talk at all. I couldn't. That gave me time to think. It didn't take much to understand that it was in my best interests for Jasper Shepard to stay dead."

"You just let people think you died? Don't you think they suffered because of that?" Abby asked. She got that McGee went through something terrible, and she felt bad for him, but he'd turned around and hurt other people. He'd let his own family think he was dead. Plus, he'd been lying about who he was since he'd met all of them.

"Shut up, Abby!" Ziva said harshly.

"Abby, you realize he would've been killed, right?" Tony asked. He couldn't believe she was still going at McGee after everything she'd just heard. He knew Abby was judgmental, but he also thought she'd had more empathy than this. Did she really not understand that it took everything Tim had to survive, and he'd had to do it alone. "He's alive right now because he understood that revealing himself would've been a death sentence."

Abby shook her head. "No, Jenny would've protected him. The police would've protected him."

"My own father couldn't protect me, Abby. He was CIA, plus former Army, and he couldn't do a thing to keep me, my mother, or my sister safe. Sebastian Acosta is a monster, and he would've killed me and anyone near me, and he would've done so slowly and mercilessly. So, I made the choice to make sure that the only family I had left was nowhere within my vicinity!" Tim said coldly. He was done being judged by Abby. She had no idea how much he'd wrestled with that decision. She had no idea how hard it was for him to stay away from his aunt and his grandfather, to suppress his very identity. But the alternative was just not something he could live with. In the end, it might have done more harm than good, but at the time, he saw no other option that would ensure the safety of those he cared about.

"But it was cruel," Abby argued.

Tim glared murderously at her. "You don't get to talk to me about cruelty! You don't know the first thing about cruelty! I do. It's all I knew for a year, and I wasn't going to risk it on the people I love! Now, I'm done talking to you about this! You do not get to judge me, not on this!"

Abby huffed angrily before getting up.

"I didn't say you could leave! We're not done," Tim said. He wanted he out, but he still had a little more he had to say.

"I don't take orders from me, McGee!"

"Yeah, you do. Whether you like it or not, right now, I'm your boss," Tim said firmly.

"Abby, stop acting like a petulant child and sit down," Tony said. McGee wasn't the only one tired of Abby's attitude. Hell, if Gibbs were here, he was pretty sure Abby would be getting her first head slap. Then again, if Gibbs were here, Tony doubted that Abby would be dumb enough to act like this.

Abby glared at them, but sat back down.

"Go ahead, McGee," Tony said.

Tim took a deep breath to try to calm down. "I spoke with SecNav. I briefed him on everything. He wants us to keep going as we have been. No one is to find out what really happened to Jenny and Gibbs, or Acosta's involvement. He's concerned for my safety if we don't."

"Naturally," Ducky said.

"I'm hoping it will also keep the rest of you safe as well, but you all need to know the danger you're in. If I could, I'd give you the option to walk away from this case, but I can't," Tim said.

"We wouldn't take that offer anyway," Tony said.

"Absolutely not," Ziva agreed.

"I know, but I still wish I could offer it," Tim said.

"We are in this with you, Timothy. You were alone before, but you're not now," Ducky said firmly.

"Thank you. Uh, SecNav has instructed me to inform all of you that my true identity isn't to leave this room. It is an order."

"What? Now you're ordering us to lie for you?" Abby asked. It was too much. It was bad enough that McGee had lied to them all about who he was. Now he was using his position to force them to lie too.

"Abigail, that's enough! He should not have to order you," Ducky admonished.

"No, but I knew I would. Abby, I have been instructed to fire you on the spot if you divulge any of this to anyone," Tim said.

"What about Gibbs? Are you going to lie to him too?" Abby asked.

"No. I'll tell Gibbs myself if he wakes up," he said.

"We won't breathe a word. Is there anything else?" Tony asked.

"Yeah. Silva's going to be sent back to prison and put into protective custody."

"Unfortunately, I figured that would be the case. Bastard doesn't deserve protection, but I'm for it if it keeps you safe," Tony said.

"You can all go now. We should all get back to work," Tim said.

Tony watched the others get up and leave. He got up as well, but he didn't leave. "Tim, maybe you should stay with me for a while."

Tim shook his head. "Absolutely not. Acosta either knows I'm alive or he doesn't. The only thing staying with you will change is that it will put you in danger too. I won't watch another person I care about die at the hands of that monster.

Tony nodded. He could understand that. The idea of dying probably didn't scare McGee as much as the idea of losing someone else. "Alright, but you have to be careful."

"I will, and thank you for offering," Tim said.

Tony nodded and headed for the door.