Chapter 2

The twisted metal license plate had a couple of numbers visible.

"That's McGee's license plate," Ziva said when she recognized the placement of the numbers.

"Pull over."

"Where?"

"Just pull over. There! Pull over there." Tony pointed to a space just in front of the emergency crews. Suddenly, he realized that Gibbs was shouting his name on the phone. "Hey, Gibbs. That accident? We think McGee was part of it. We just saw his car."

"Is he there?"

"I don't know, Boss. We're going to find out." Tony disconnected as Ziva turned the key and stopped the car.

They got out and headed over to the site, coughing as the wind carried the smoke still pouring from the Porsche into their faces.

A police officer tried to stop them from getting closer. "Sorry, no entrance. This is..."

Ziva whipped out her badge. "NCIS. How many casualties?"

"NCIS? Why are you here?"

"Just answer the question."

"Three fatalities. Two died en route to the hospital and one in that car." He pointed to the Porsche. He didn't notice the shock on their faces. "Two are in serious but stable condition. Two others in critical condition. One life-flighted and the others on the way. Then, there's the guy we managed to get out of the car before the gas ignited. He's over there, not talking much, but he was the driver. There's another ambulance on the way for him. He insisted that the others go first. Nice of him considering it looks like it was his fault." Tony and Ziva followed the officer's gesture and saw Tim sitting on the road, a paramedic kneeling by his side.

"Thank you, Officer. Can you give us any details?" Ziva asked, masking the relief she felt.

"Not many, I'm afraid. That guy is the only one able to talk right now, and he's not. He just sits there. No ID and obviously there's not much left in the car. But as far as we can tell, he's the one who caused the accident."

"I see. Thank you for your time. We'll go speak to him."

"Good luck." The officer left them and continued his surveillance.

As they walked toward Tim, Tony said, "McGee caused this accident? I doubt it. He's way too careful, the opposite of you. And who was the other guy in the car with him?"

"I don't know. I intend to find out." She stalked ahead of Tony. "NCIS," she said to the EMT. "How is he?"

"Well, beyond the fact that we can't seem to get him to tell us anything, he's fine. He has a concussion and he'll be needing a few stitches, but he's alright. How he got out of this mess unscathed is beyond me."

"His name is Timothy McGee. He's a federal agent," Ziva said. She knelt down in front of Tim. His eyes were glazed as he stared straight ahead. "McGee. What happened?"

Tony followed Tim's gaze to the remains of his car and moved into his field of vision, blocking the sight. He crouched down next to Ziva. "Hey, McGee. Sorry, about your car."

Tim blinked and his eyes moved up to their faces. "Tony. Ziva. What are you doing here?"

"Talking to you. What happened, McGee?" Ziva asked again.

Tim's eyes flitted around the chaos, the remnants of four cars strewn across the interstate, the slow-moving vehicles in the right-hand lane and back to Tony and Ziva. "An accident," he said vaguely.

Ziva held back a smile. "Yes, I'm aware of that. How did it happen?"

Tim shifted his gaze to the EMT still crouched by him. "How many people died?"

"Uh..." she looked pleadingly at Tony and Ziva.

"How many?" he asked again, this time looking at his teammates.

Finally, Ziva relented. "Three died, McGee. Two are stable and two more are in critical condition."

Tim nodded and stared at his hands which were scraped and bloody, much like his face. "I killed three people." The words were spoken in a monotone. "I killed three people."

"What happened, McGee?"

"Is the man in the car with me... is he dead?"

"Yes."

Tim sighed with relief, and again, he nodded. "And I'm alive."

"Yes, but what happened, McGee?" Ziva was getting annoyed as well as concerned.

Suddenly, Tim tried to stand up, but was held down by the paramedic. "I need my phone. It's still in the car. I need to–I need to make a call."

Tony chuckled. "Probie, if your phone was still in the car, there's nothing left of it now. It's toast."

Tim sank back to the ground. "There wasn't a bus, was there?" he whispered, looking at the ground.

Tony smiled at the non sequitur. "No, McGee, no bus, not this time."

"Good." Before Ziva could ask a fourth time, Tim finally started to answer. He didn't look at anyone. It was almost as if he was figuring it out as he went along. "It wasn't supposed to end like this. I didn't plan it this way."

"Plan what?"

"The accident. He grabbed the wheel at the last minute. I tried to keep it straight to the barriers, but he got to the wheel too quickly. I couldn't keep it from swerving. I didn't want anyone else to get hurt."

"You were trying to get in an accident? Why?"

"I couldn't stop him any other way. It was the only way. He was in the back with his gun. We were going around the turn and I knew it was the only thing I could do to stop him. I yanked the wheel toward the barricade. The gun went off. He reached past me. I tried to keep him away. It took so long. Three people...It wasn't supposed to happen, not like this..." Tim trailed off as he started crying.

The final ambulance could be heard as it sped up the interstate. Suddenly, Tim looked up again. "I need to go home." He tried to stand and again was held down by the paramedic. "No, you don't understand. I need to go home."

"No, sir. You need to go to the hospital."

"No, I don't. I have to go home." He grabbed at Tony and Ziva as he pulled free of the paramedic's restraining hands and reeled. "Please, please. I have to get home."

"Why, McGee?"

"Sarah. She's still there."

"McGee, you're not making any sense."

"Sarah is still there. I'm here. I have to go back." All the while Tim was speaking, he was holding on to Tony and Ziva to keep himself upright.

Tony grabbed Tim's arm and said, "I'm sorry, McGee. I have to agree with the EMT here. You need to go to the hospital."

Crying as much from frustration as from the shock of his recent experience, Tim tried to explain. "You don't understand," he sobbed. "I did this for Sarah. I have to get back."

He let go of his colleagues and started to walk in the general direction of his apartment, but crumpled to the ground after only a couple of steps. As the three gathered around Tim, the final ambulance arrived. They dragged him over to it and helped the other paramedics get him in.

"Please," he begged, incorporating a wealth of meaning into that single word.

"McGee, we'll go to your apartment and check on Sarah, okay?"

"Okay." Finally, Tim subsided and let the paramedics close the doors.

"That was very strange."

"Let's go."

"Right." Tony and Ziva walked past the carnage to their car and sped off to Silver Springs.