Rooted to the spot, McGee watched as the car door swung open and a figure emerged. Hold on, he knew that walk. Tony's teeth shined in the darkened night.

"Thought this looked like your work," he quipped.

Tony approached him with open arms and McGee started to stride confidently towards him. It was just like the movies with the hero walking out from the flames. Only in the movies, the hero had perfect hair, was wearing his pants, wasn't covered in his own vomit and only had a token cut on his head. And sometimes there was an unscathed dog with him, but that was something McGee could never understand.

Despite his heroic fantasy, he slowly felt his body drain of energy as Tony closed. The realisation of what he had just been through started to hit home and his knees began to give out. He had the feeling he was wading knee deep in water. He was looking forward to a great supportive hug from Tony and Gibbs who he could see bringing up the rear. Oh and there was Ziva.

To his surprise, Tony pounced on him and started ripping off his clothes like a frenzied hyena. Gibbs came in for his piece too and everything was tossed to Ziva who ran back to the car. Soon he was entirely naked.

"You're dead, Probie," Tony yelled at him, urgently pulling him towards the car.

"What?"

Tony pushed him back into the backseat and threw a rough woollen blanket around his shoulders. Gibbs brought over a body that Ziva had been dressing in his clothes and laid it out on the on the road at his feet. Ziva brought out a flashlight and began examining his injuries.

"Ok, we have rope burns on the ankles, not too bad, half inch diameter, I'd say." She ran to the boot and took out a rope, "Perfect."

She ran to the body and roughly rubbed the rope around the body's ankles until she had inflicted similar damage to McGee's injuries. Gibbs took up the flashlight. He shined it over McGee's face and he squinted against the light.

"Various bumps, contusions, split lip," he remarked casually scanning down his face. "Evidence of blindfold. Ah, looks like there was a rope around the neck too."

Ziva looked up and checked the extent of his injuries, mirroring the effect on the body. Gibbs continued, opening up McGee's blanket and checking his chest and legs.

"Nothing on the front," he called out.

He pushed McGee roughly forward and pulled down the blanket to check his back causing McGee to gasp in pain from his injured ribs.

"Except for ribs, right side only," Gibbs amended and Ziva delivered a swift kick to the right hand side of the body.

Gibbs gave her a steely look. "Only bruised, I think."

"Semantics," Ziva shrugged and Gibbs returned to McGee's body.

"Back's OK too," he called out. "What were you doing in there, just a social visit?"

McGee ignored him, it sounded rhetorical.

Suddenly, Gibbs clicked his tongue in annoyance. "The tat!"

"Took care of that, boss," Tony assured him. "Got Abby to draw it from memory."

Gibbs let out a sigh of relief. He squatted down to McGee's eye level as McGee huddled into the blanket. He started to ask McGee a question but stopped as McGee caught his eye.

"Abby," he said urgently.

"She's not here, McGee, she's back at the lab, you can see her when we get back," Gibbs dismissed him.

"No," McGee rasped at him, holding his gaze. "Protect Abby".

Gibbs stared at him for a moment processing the information. "Abby's in danger?" he clarified.

McGee nodded, closing his eyes in relief. Gibbs stood up, flipped out his cell phone and made a quick call. Then he crouched to McGee's eye level again.

"Taken care of," he said curtly. "Any other injuries?"

McGee looked up at him with soulful eyes. Slowly and silently he brought his hands out from the blanket to reveal his wrists. He heard Ziva gasp and even Gibbs swore under his breath.

"Can you do that?" Gibbs asked Ziva.

"I'll need to get some more tools," she replied.

McGee shut his eyes. He didn't want to see what Ziva was going to do to that body. He hadn't had the courage to look at his own wrists, let alone watch the same thing happen to someone else.

"Right, Probie," said Tony briskly. "Time to get into the anonymous clothes."

He pulled out matching tracksuit halves and held out the pants for McGee to step into. McGee eased in carefully and then Tony presented the top. McGee hissed in pain as his gingerly threaded his wrists through the sleeves. He heard some more sirens coming.

"Time to go," said Tony pushing him roughly into the foot well of the back seat.

McGee heard a considerable amount of straining and swearing coming from the other three before they ran off into the distance obviously carrying the body. They arrived back in a mob and the three car door slammed almost simultaneously. The car screeched off into the night.

"Are you OK, McGee?" Gibbs yelled from the driver's seat.

"Ahh, I don't know," he said tentatively, lifting his head up slightly.

Ziva placed a foot on his head. "Stay down," she ordered but she was kind enough to offer him a bottle of water which he drank gratefully.