Gibbs walked into the director's office and found Tim on the phone when he got there.

"Yes, I appreciate that. At this point, the only thing you can do to help is keep your offices flowing. The best thing you can do for Director is to help me keep her agency afloat. Thank you," Tim said before hanging up and turning to Gibbs. "That was my third call from an assignment director to render their support."

"Don't seem so surprised, Tim. NCIS takes care of their own. You and Jenny are both a part of us," Gibbs said.

"I just thought most agents would have a different reaction. I thought they'd accuse me of getting to where I am because I was related to Jenny, like Abby did," Tim said.

"Abby said that?" Gibbs asked in a dark tone. He knew that Abby had been going at Tim since he took the director's chair, but he didn't know that she went so far as to accuse him of nepotism.

"I don't think she really believes it, and if she did at one point, I don't think she does now. She knows that Jenny had no idea about me. I think she was just pissed that I was in charge and that I'd been keeping secrets from everyone. She wanted something to throw in my face," Tim said. He certainly wasn't defending Abby, but after thinking about it, he truly didn't think even she believed what she said. Again, that didn't make it any better.

"I don't care why she said it. She shouldn't have. I'll talk to her," Gibbs said.

"The damage is done, Gibbs," Tim said sadly. He didn't think there was anything that could be done to salvage his friendship with Abby. She'd pushed things too far. The best that he could do at this point was maintain a civil professional relationship with her, and even that was in question because she continued to show him zero respect. If he was anyone else, she would have been suspended by now.

Gibbs sighed. He didn't like hearing that, but there wasn't much he could say about it. Abby made her bed. She burned her bridges with Tim. Gibbs had only been around for some of it, but he'd heard other things, and all of it was more than enough for anyone to be done with her.

Soon there was a knock on the door.

"Come in," Tim called.

Cynthia appeared a second later. "Director, the FBI and the CIA are here to see you."

Moments later, Tim watched as Fornell came in, followed by Trent Kort and another man that looked vaguely familiar to Tim. "What the hell do you want?"

"McGee, you had to know we'd come after your press conference?" Fornell said as he stared at the young director in shock. He'd had a feeling that more had been going than what he was told when he found out NCIS had requested the Shepard case file, but he never imagined that Timothy McGee was one of the victims in that case. When he saw that press conference, he'd been shell shocked.

"Not you, Fornell. I was expecting you," Tim said before turning to the other two men. "What do you two want?"

A middle-aged man with grayish brown hair stepped forward. "Jasper, I'm Assistant Director Colin Lawrence. I knew your father. I actually met you a few times when you were a child."

Tim now realized that was why the man looked a bit familiar. His father must have brought him home a couple of times. "I'm going to guess that was before your agency left him to fend for himself against a sociopath."

"Your father knew what he was getting into, McGee," Kort said.

"No one asked you, Kort. You know nothing about my father and what he was doing," Tim said steely.

"What happened to your family was a tragedy, Jasper," Lawrence said.

"It's Director Shepard to you," Gibbs said coldly.

"Look, we just want to know what happened. Your father was one of us," Lawrence said.

"And yet that didn't stop you from leaving him without protection. You were his partner. Where were you when my family was attacked?" Tim understood that Lawrence was probably not in charge at the time. But he was still his father's partner. He should have been there for him.

"No one thought it would end like that. We didn't know what would happen," he said.

"Then you're idiots. I read the file. This bastard has a long history of killing witnesses. He has a history of going after anyone who gets in his way. You're gonna tell me you didn't know there was a danger to Jasper Shepherd and his family," Gibbs asks skeptically. He didn't buy that for a second. No one was that stupid.

"You're a liar. My father knew we were in danger. Don't tell me that you and the rest of your agency didn't know that too!" Tim snapped. He was getting pissed. He might have a little respect for this man if he just admitted he made a mistake. Trying to claim he didn't know there was a danger, just insulted his intelligence.

"Your father chose this case. If you want someone to blame for what happened to you, maybe you should look to him," Kort goaded.

Tim wanted to punch Kort, but somehow managed to stay calm. "Both of you get the hell out of my office before I do something I regret!"

Kort chuckled mockingly. "Cute McGee. Let's not pretend you're a threat to anyone here. You're a joke. Who in their right mind would make you director, even temporarily?

"I don't know, Kort. Who in their right mind would let you work for the CIA or any government agency for that matter?" Tim said without missing a beat.

"Come on, shepherd. You owe…" Lawrence started.

"I owe you nothing! Now get out or I'll have you thrown out," Tim snarled.

Lawrence sighed before he and Kort headed out the door.

"Nice job, Tim," Gibbs said, impressed.

Fornell, meanwhile, looked at him in disbelief. "Tell me something, McGee. Have you been hiding this side of you? Or did the director's position awaken it?"

Tim chuckled. "A little bit of both, I think. I hid a great deal of myself. It was best for me not to stand out."

Fornell turned to Gibbs. "You were wrong, Gibbs. Your boy is a damn good liar."

"Had no choice," Gibbs said.

Fornell turned back to Tim. "You realize you just put a target on your back?"

Tim shook his head. "that target has been there for 17 years. I just told the son of a bitch where to aim his gun. If you didn't already know, which is unlikely."

"So this was the real reason you were made director. Your director wasn't on assignment. She was missing," Fornell said.

Tim nodded. "Very few knew and SECNAV wanted to keep it that way. It was between Tony and myself."

Fornell looked to Gibbs. "Where were you when this was happening?"

"Hospital. I was there that night," Gibbs said.

"I'm sorry I couldn't tell you. We needed to keep it under wraps," Tim said.

Fornell nodded. "We all have somebody to answer to. I need a statement from you, McGee."

"I know, and it's Shepard now. At least it will be when I find the time to do the paperwork," Tim said.

"Got it. You changing your first name back too?"

"I'll answer to both," Tim said. Jenny would definitely call him Jasper. He wouldn't change his first name legally, though. He'd been going by Tim for almost twenty years. There was no reason to stop.

"Do you want me to stay, Tim?" Gibbs asked.

"Actually I need you to go, Gibbs," Tim said. He couldn't give his statement with Gibbs there. He didn't want him to hear the gory details of what happened to him. It was bad enough he had to talk about it at all.

"Got it," Gibbs said before walking towards the door. He understood why Tim didn't want him there. What he was about to do would be extremely difficult.

Tim waited for Gibbs to leave before motioning for Fornell to sit.

Fornell sat down across from the younger man. He then took out a tape recorder and pressed record. "State your legal name, please."

"My name is Timothy McGee, but it used to be Jasper Shepherd III," he stated.

"Can you tell me what transpired in your home on the night of September 9th, 1989?" Fornell asked.

Tim took a deep breath. He had never before discussed that night in detail. It would be one of the most difficult things he would have to do. "I was asleep when it happened. They pulled me out of bed violently. I didn't know what was happening, only that I was scared. They dragged me to the living room. There were other men there holding my parents."

"How many were there?" Fornell asked.

"Seven. Two of them took me from my bed. Two more, holding my father down. One had my mother. One carried my sister to the living room. Finally, there was the ringleader. They killed my sister first. They smothered her with a pillow. My… my mother screamed. I... I was shocked silent. it was the first time I had seen anyone killed. My father tried to fight the men holding him. He tried to get to Sarah before they killed her, but they started beating him. They beat him until he was on the ground and couldn't move," Tim said. That had been truly terrifying for him to watch. Before that night, he didn't think anyone could best his father. "Then they started beating my mother."

"Take your time, Tim," Fornell said patiently. the younger man was fighting it, but he could see the emotion all over him. His hands were shaking, and it was taking everything he had not to break.

"By this time, the initial shock had worn off for me. Now, I was screaming. My mother told me to shut my eyes. She knew they were going to kill her. I couldn't do it though. I watched as they beat her mercilessly and then broke her neck," Tim told him, his voice breaking. He then paused, unable to go on for a moment.

"Do you wanna take a break?" Fornell asked.

"No, I need to get this done. My father was broken by that point. He was crying. I'd never seen him cry. Acosta was taunting him. Telling him it was his fault for coming after him. My father then started begging for my life. He told Acosta to kill him but to let me live. Acosta only laughed. He pretended to debate whether or not to kill me first or to kill my father and let him wonder what would happen to me. Then he ordered his men to beat my father again. They did. Then Acosta shot my father twice in the stomach and watched him bleed out. I thought he was gonna kill me next, but I wasn't lucky enough for that. Instead, he ordered the man holding me to put me in the car," Tim explained.

"You've mentioned the name Acosta many times. To be clear, you're referring to Sebastian Acosta?" Fornell asked.

"Yes."

"And you're identifying him as the ringleader? He's the one who ordered the deaths of your family?" He asked.

"Yes," Tim repeated.

"What happened to you after that?" Fornell asked.

"What didn't? Acosta held me captive for about a year. I think he wanted to break me before he killed me," Tim told them.

"He tortured you?" Fornell asked.

"Yes."

Fornell decided not to ask him anymore about that, at least not right now. "You got away though? How?"

"I guess his men got sloppy. They were moving me, and I was in the back of the car. They stopped for some reason and left me alone. I guess they didn't think I could get away because they didn't even restrain me. To be fair, I did have two broken legs, and that was the least of my injuries. It took everything I had to get out of that car and crawl away. I was found the next morning, unconscious in the woods," Tim explained.

Fornell finally shut off the recorder. "I can't imagine how difficult that was for you, Tim. However, I think it helps both your case and mine. We could never get warrants for Acosta's properties because of lack of evidence. With your testimony, we have probable cause. I assume NCIS wants to collaborate."

Tim nodded. "Be careful, Fornell. This guy goes after families, and you have a daughter."

"Thank you for your concern. I'm already taking steps to protect Emily. Gonna have Diane take her out of the country," he said before standing up. "I'm very sorry for what happened to you, Tim. No one should have to live through that."

Tim nodded and watched him leave.