Chapter 2

There was a muffled crash from the basement.

"You know, Tony, that wasn't very nice. Won't he just have to go over the basement again with more light?"

"You could go let him out yourself, you know," Tony answered, not looking up from his perusal of the closet in the bedroom.

Ziva stifled a laugh. "I have to admit that I think it's funny, too."

"I could tell."

Suddenly, they heard a strangled cry and a series of crashes coming from the basement. Ziva looked at Tony, slightly concerned.

Tony shrugged. "Hey, I told him to use his flashlight."

The crashes continued and then they heard footsteps running up the stairs. Tim started pounding on the door frantically. At first, he didn't say anything. That actually unnerved Tony a little. Then, the pounding stopped. Tony stood up and took a step toward the kitchen.

"Please, please, please." The voice was so low that they almost missed it. It wasn't like McGee's voice at all. It was as if he had suddenly become a child. "Let me out. Let me out." The pounding resumed and the voice suddenly soared into a shriek. "Let me out! Don't leave me in here!"

Tony and Ziva looked at each other. The panic in Tim's voice was unfeigned. They ran into the kitchen. Tony unlocked the door and nearly fell over and Tim burst through and ran past both of them, out the back door into the yard. For a moment, neither one knew what to do first. Go and look in the basement or go after Tim and see what in the world happened? Tony decided Tim trumped the basement for the moment. They followed the path Tim had taken and found him huddled in a ball in the middle of the lawn, rocking back and forth.

"Hey, McGee. What's going on?" Tony knelt beside his teammate and was shocked at how white Tim's face was. His eyes were haunted and unseeing.

"I can't... I can't..."

Ziva knelt down as well and touched his shoulder. "What can't you do, McGee?"

Tim started frantically loosening his tie. "I can't... I can't... Still there. Can't breathe." He was panting as if he'd just run a marathon.

Tony touched his other shoulder and Tim freaked out completely. "Don't touch me! Leave me alone!" He jumped up and backed away. "He's down there! He's still down there! I won't go back. I can't... I can't. I won't look! He's not gone! He's never gone!"

"Who, McGee? Who's there?"

"No one. No one." Tim started hyperventilating. "I won't go. I won't go." Then, he suddenly collapsed to his knees, holding his clenched fists to his eyes as if to block out the sight.

"I'll go look in the basement. I think maybe you should call Gibbs or Ducky or someone," Ziva said. She fled from Tim's crazed ravings.

Tony grimaced at being left with this strange person who had replaced his teammate. He pulled out his cell. "Gibbs?"

"You finished processing already, DiNozzo?"

"Um, no. I think you and Ducky need to get out here."

"Why? Did you find another body?"

"I don't know."

"DiNozzo, please start making sense. I know that's a stretch for you."

"McGee's lost it, Boss. And I am not equipped to deal with him."

"What?"

"Just grab Ducky. I think we'll be needing a psychiatrist. Please, Boss. I'm serious."

"Okay."

Tony closed the phone and looked at Tim who was still hunched over on the ground. He had resumed rocking and had begun weeping.

"Tony."

Tony jumped. "Whoa! What, Ziva?"

Ziva said, quietly, "I think I know what frightened McGee, although I'm not sure why he's gone crazy from it."

"What?"

"There are six bodies hanging from the rafters down there, in various stages of decomposition from what I can tell."

"He's seen worse than that before." He turned and walked hesitantly over to Tim. "Who's down in the basement, Tim?"

"No one. No one's in the basement. No one's ever in the basement. I don't go down there anymore. I won't go. You can't make me." This voice was new. It was low and monotonous. Tim was staring at the ground.

Ducky and Gibbs arrived a few minutes later. Tony figured Gibbs must have broken every traffic law on the books to get here so fast. Ducky took one look at Tim and hurried over to him.

"What on earth happened, DiNozzo?"

"It was just joke, Boss. That's all."

Gibbs turned his full attention onto Tony. "What was a joke?"

Tony swallowed hard and glanced sideways at Ziva. She steadfastly stared straight ahead. He was going to have to go through this on his own. "We tossed a coin to see who had to process the basement. McGee lost. And uh..."

Gibbs' steely gaze seemed to drill right into him. "And what?"

"I locked him in. I said he had to stay there until he finished processing. Only the lights didn't work down there so he had to use his flashlight."

"What caused this?" Gibbs pointed at the frightened man on the ground.

Ziva finally jumped in. "I went and checked, Gibbs. There are six bodies down there. They're all rotting. I didn't see anything else, so unless McGee has an aversion to dust it must have been those."

"Nice joke, DiNozzo," Gibbs said flatly.

"I had no idea, Boss. I thought the basement would be empty. Honest."

"Come, Timothy. Look at me, please." Ducky was crouched down by Tim, gently holding his arm.

"I won't go down there."

"You don't have to, Timothy. Just look at me, please." Tim looked up and Ducky, with as much as he'd seen in his many years as an ME, nearly recoiled from the terror and absolute despair on his face. "What happened, Timothy? Can you tell me?"

"I found him."

"Who?"

Tim started to shake and he turned his head just in time to throw up. Ziva turned away, gagging in sympathy.

"Who did you find, Timothy?"

"He was down there. Just hanging. I found him." Tim shook his head violently and repeated, "I won't go back down. I can't."

Ducky physically turned Tim toward him. "Timothy, I need you to tell me who you found," he said slowly.

Tim's voice was full of an earnest plea for forgiveness. His eyes were focused on Ducky but he didn't seem to recognize him. "Dad was late for dinner. I didn't know he was home. I thought he was at work. He's always at work. I was supposed to clean out the basement. I didn't want to. I put it off. He was down there the whole time. I didn't go down until supper. He was there." Tim started to hyperventilate again. "I won't go down again. I won't!"

Tony looked on in horror. He had no idea.

Gibbs said in a surprisingly quiet voice, "Tony, Ziva. Go finish the house."

"Yes, Boss."

"Okay, Gibbs."