Chapter 30

Tim woke up when a beam of light hit him right in the eye. He squinted. He must have slept in, but for the moment, he just couldn't bring himself to care. He looked at Zahara as she slept in his arms, her hand on his bare chest, covering the khamsa necklace he was still wearing.

Maybe he should get moving. There was still work to do, but for the moment, he just couldn't do it. He just wanted to lay there, with his wife, cherishing the life he had. Something beautiful and perfect to purge him of the horrible feeling he'd had yesterday.

But then, as if it was just waiting for him to wake up, his phone started to ring. He rolled over and grabbed it quickly.

"McGee," he said.

Zahara opened her eyes and smiled at him. He rubbed her arm.

"You still at home, McGee?"

"Yeah, Boss. Sorry. I just woke up."

"You okay?"

"I am, now. Thanks."

"Good."

"Did Jorgenson stay for the night?"

"Yeah."

"What do you need from me, then, Boss?"

"I need you to report to Jenny so she's not taken by surprise. Full report and then tell whoever else you need to tell."

"Okay. What do you think will happen?"

"Don't know. I'd be okay if Jorgenson just ended up dead."

"Me, too, but I hope you won't do that."

"Wouldn't be me."

"I know. What's going to happen down there?"

"We'll make arrangements to have him transferred to D.C., probably turned over to the FBI eventually."

Tim didn't answer, but he hated that idea.

"Can't have NCIS holding him. We don't have jurisdiction," Gibbs said, correctly interpreting the silence.

"Yeah, I know."

"We got him for the crimes we can. What happened to you can't figure into it."

"I know that, too."

"Then, accept it," Gibbs said, sternly.

"I hear you, Boss."

"Good. Get moving."

"I will. Bye."

Gibbs hung up and so did Tim. He looked at Zahara.

"I still have to work."

"I know. Are you late?"

"Technically," Tim said. "But I have a little leniency today as long as I don't abuse the privilege."

"You would not do that."

"I try not to, but I'd better get moving."

"Are you going to run?"

"Not today. Can you make sure Jethro gets a good walk?"

"Yes. You should get ready. I will make breakfast."

"I can just have something simple."

"Yes, you can always have something simple, but not this morning," she said and kissed him.

Then, she got out of bed and went into the bathroom. Tim did need to get to work, but he felt that, this once, he could take his time. So instead of going into the half bath, he just lay where he was and waited. As he did, he thought about what had happened the day before and what he would still need to do. ...and what would happen next.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

"Are you sure all this extra police presence is necessary, Agent Gibbs? It's just one man."

Gibbs raised an eyebrow at the state police officer who was coordinating the transfer from Virginia to D.C.

"This man is the former director of the FBI who is accused of abducting, torturing and attempting to kill the former director of the CIA. He is also accused of conspiracy to kill the wife of the former director of the CIA."

Slowly, the officer's eyes widened as he realized who was involved.

"Do you want to be responsible if something goes wrong because there aren't enough officers?" Tony asked. "I sure don't. Not in today's world."

"I'll just go make sure that everything is ready."

The officer left.

"You'd think he'd pay attention to the name," Tony said.

"Jorgenson is not necessarily an uncommon name," Ziva said, reasonably. "Who would expect this kind of prisoner?"

"Yeah, I know. It bugs me how few people know what a colossal jerk Jorgenson is. Even if the spelling is different, his parents named him well. Claude," Tony said, darkly. "I wish he'd been there when we got to the house. It would be satisfying to see him go down in a hail of bullets."

"Let's just go," Gibbs said. "Our job is to get him to D.C. ...Alive."

"I know," Tony said. "I'll do that, but he's worse than Carew and that's saying something."

"How is Tim?" Ziva asked.

"Fine," Gibbs said. "He'll give a full report to Jenny this morning."

"Good. She will need to know about this."

Gibbs just nodded and then went to make sure that there would be enough security. He didn't care if Jorgenson ended up dead, but he didn't want him to end up disappearing. They needed to know where he was.

He had considered just turning him over to the FBI and being done with it, but he had decided to let Jenny do that and to have a definite trail so that, if Jorgenson did disappear or die, they would know every step that led to it. No way for someone to claim that NCIS had done something wrong en route.

For now, it would just be as normal a transfer as possible, and he would hope that everything turned out well. The more people involved, the less likely it was that something would happen.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Tamara woke up, again with Levi holding her hand, but this time, the reason she woke up was because he was now squeezing it almost painfully tightly and he seemed to be having a nightmare or something.

"Levi, I'm right here," she whispered.

He was breathing erratically. Tamara had never realized just how much control Levi had over himself in the entire time they'd known each other. Once he had decided not to lie, he had needed to think fast and to keep himself completely in control, not just of himself but of his situations. Now, that he was not in control, not in any form, it was a real shock and she found that she didn't know exactly how to deal with Levi as he was right now.

But there was no one else to do it.

"Levi!" she said again, more urgently. "I survived. I'm alive. Everything is all right now."

She rubbed her free hand over his head.

"Wake up, Levi. Open your eyes."

Then, she leaned over and kissed him on the forehead. There had really been very little physical closeness between the two of them, but amazingly, this felt completely natural.

And Levi began to calm down.

"Good, Levi. Good. I'm right here."

His eyes never opened, but his grip on her hand relaxed and he seemed to subside back into sleep once more.

If she was honest, Tamara had no idea what would be the best course in this situation. Would it be best to have Levi at home where things might be unpredictable but it was a known space? Or would it be better to keep him in a hospital where there would be doctors on hand at all times in case something went wrong?

For now, at least, he needed the hospital while they worked to stabilize him, to build up his strength again and to make sure that his heart hadn't been too damaged by whatever had been done to him.

She needed to call Bri and tell her that her father had been saved, but at the same time, Tamara wasn't sure that she could deal with Bri's conflicting feelings and Levi's need for recovery at the same time.

Suddenly, the door opened behind her and she turned...to see Bri standing there, looking at her father.

"Bri...how did you–?"

"I got a call first thing this morning," Bri said, not looking away from the bed. "Don't know who it was, the same person who keeps letting me in on these things. It's really irritating...and I can't even blame it on Dad."

"You could have waited," Tamara said. "If he needs to stay in the hospital longer, I'll be transferring him back closer to home."

"Yes, I could have, but I couldn't at the same time."

"How did you get back here? The last visitor, I was asked if he could come."

"They're not really set up for security here," Bri said. "I didn't feel like dealing with convincing them that I am who I say I am so I just got in on my own." She was quiet for a few seconds. "How is he?"

"Physically, he's getting better, but...psychologically..."

"They broke him, didn't they," Bri said, almost in a whisper.

"Yes. At least, that's what he said."

"How? Nothing ever got to him. No one could ever touch him, no matter what they did or what they said. He's legendary in the CIA, Mom. The one man no one could ever touch and the one man who would never lie. How do you break someone like him, someone who can't ever be touched by anything...or anyone?"

Tamara didn't like how Bri had asked the question, but she also sensed there was more to it than just the verbalized question.

"He thought they had killed me when the cabin was destroyed. He thought I was dead."

Another moment of silence and then Bri laughed incredulously and shook her head.

"He always said that everyone could be broken, even him. But he always seemed to be an exception, until now. I know that he spent time as a captive. I know that he was tortured, that people tried and tried to break him. No one ever did it, and it was that simple. No offense, Mom, but I can't believe that what broke him was you."

Tamara reached out her free hand to Bri, still holding onto Levi with her other hand, still trying to be that bridge between her husband and her daughter. Bri didn't move, didn't look away from Levi, and Tamara let her hand drop.

"He said that he always loved us. He just couldn't show it."

"I didn't believe him."

"I know. Even if you did, it wouldn't matter because he couldn't show it. That's why I left, but it's also why I came back. Hope that he could show it now."

"And has he? Even when I've been home, I haven't seen much of it."

"Yes. Not as much as I'd like, not as much as I think he feels, but it's there and he's trying to let me see it. That matters. Bri, he'll do the same with you, too, if you open yourself to the possibility and don't keep pushing him away. Just like he's done with me, he's giving you all the power. Your decision governs what will happen next because he knows he doesn't deserve it. You decide what happens next, Bri. Your father won't make a move if you make it obvious that you don't want him to."

"It's not about me," Bri said.

Now, it was Tamara's turn to laugh incredulously, albeit a bit sadly, too.

"Oh, Brianna, it's all about you. You are angry at being abandoned by the parent you loved so much. And that is your right. Even if he didn't leave physically, he left us all emotionally. You have every right to be angry. You just have to admit that you're trying to punish him now when the tables are turned. And if that's what you want to do, I have to accept it, even though I don't want to. Your father will accept it and never say a word against what he knows he deserves. ...but you are keeping yourself miserable, Bri, and it's not necessary. You can hold grudge against your father with perfect justification for the rest of your life, but it will never make you happy."

Then, suddenly, Levi began to breathe erratically again. Tamara turned away from her daughter and back to her husband, trying to calm him down as his heart rate skyrocketed at a time when it didn't need the strain. Unfortunately, this time, he didn't seem to hear her and an alarm went off as his heart rate continued to climb.

A nurse and a doctor came into the room very quickly. Tamara moved out of the way and stood next to Bri, just watching. The doctor sent the nurse out and she was back in less than a minute with an ice pack. The doctor put the ice pack on Levi's face and held it there. To Tamara's surprise, the alarm stopped beeping as his heart began to slow.

"Ma'am, come back over," the doctor said. "He needs to know you're here."

Instantly, Tamara walked back to the bed and took Levi's hand. Then, Levi's eyes opened and he looked at her.

"You were gone," he whispered.

"No. You were just sleeping, Levi," Tamara said. "Even if I have to leave for a few minutes, I'll still be alive and I'll come back."

He didn't seem quite connected, but it was better than his nightmare.

"What now?" he asked.

"Now, you get better so that we can go back home again."

"Home," he whispered, almost inaudibly. "Home..."

Then, his eyes closed again and his grip on her hand relaxed.

"What happened?" Tamara asked the doctor.

"It's called tachycardia. His heart was weakened by whatever they did to him, and he probably was dreaming of the experience which made him afraid. Once he's more alert and aware, I think you'll find that this happens a lot less, and by the time he's ready to leave, you'll see that it's gone completely, but there may be more of these episodes for the next few days."

"Thank you," Tamara said.

The doctor left and Tamara looked at Levi. She reached out and touched his face gently. She prayed that, awful as this had been, perhaps it might break through the impasse she had felt they'd reached before all this had happened.

She heard a sound behind her and she looked back to see Bri dragging a chair closer to the bed. Bri didn't say a word, but she sat down.

Tamara didn't smile but she wanted to. Maybe this event could have something positive come out of it. It had been horrible enough that perhaps they could find a little bit of good.