11

Xenophobia

Tim's recovery had been trouble-free and swift, he'd done everything the doctors and physical therapists had asked of him, and more. To his great joy, three weeks after his release from the hospital, he'd been given permission to fly and had visited Delilah, on his return he looked healthier and happier than he had in a long time.

His progress had continued without a missed step, his physical exam was passed, his firearms qualification achieved with ease; Tim took the psych evaluation in his stride and he'd been welcomed back with open arms. No one, least of all Tim had foreseen any problems, then the first time they had to go out in the field, he'd followed the others to the parking lot, just as he'd done so many times before. Only this time his heart started racing, palms sweating, his feet felt as if they were set in concrete, he couldn't do it, he couldn't get in the car. There had been no time to talk to him there and then, but as soon as he was able Gibbs took him to the Conference Room.

"Tim, I'm not going to push, tell me when you're ready."

"I…Boss, I was ready, I thought I was…only, when it came to it…couldn't move…I can't be trusted out there, I make too many mistakes, one day it's going to cost someone."

Gibbs poured two cups of coffee, giving Tim some time to get his thoughts in order. Given the way his life had been going the last year it was small wonder Tim's confidence had taken a hit. Tony had almost died, had put himself between Tim and a bullet, two bullets, then Delilah…one or other of those blows would have felled a lesser man, Tim had pulled it together and was strong enough to let Delilah go when all he wanted to do was keep her close. He'd overcome everything life threw at him, until now…was his abduction the last straw, had the hours he'd spent hurt and alone in the vault drained his energy, his willingness to put his life on the line?

He sat down beside Tim, just as he had in the hospital when Delilah was hurt, this time the strong, silent treatment wasn't going to cut it. "Talk to me Tim, tell me what makes you think you can't be trusted."

"You don't know! How could you not know?" Tim couldn't sit, he got up and stared out of the window. "I…Bishop, she could have been killed because I didn't do my job; I should have checked the air conditioning out there…I'm no use to anyone."

"What makes you so special Tim, I didn't think about searching the air conditioning ducts, does that make me useless?"

"No! You weren't there, I was…it was on me. Bishop's the probie, I'm supposed to look out for her. I let her down, and if I go out there I'll screw up again and someone will get hurt bad like Tony…he was shot because of me, next time one of you could die, I can't do it Boss." He turned to face Gibbs, a look of utter despair on his face. "I…guess this means I'm finished at NCIS."

Gibbs was out of his chair and standing toe to toe with Tim in an instant. "You're not finished 'til I say you are. Tim, you're not long out of the hospital, give yourself time."

"I've had time. Tony…when he came back, he couldn't wait to get right back in the field and he'd been hurt real bad…all I had were a couple of broken ribs."

"Stop right there! You can't compare…you almost died Tim, we saw, when the vault was opened…we thought we'd lost you. Don't you ever belittle what you've been through. I've told you before, and I'm not going to stop telling you until you believe it, you are more important than the job."

With a slight shake of his head Tim sighed. "But the job matters Boss, it's a big part of who I am, and if I can't do it…what am I?"

"You're one of my people Tim, my family." Gibbs lifted Tim's chin and looked deep into his eyes, all he could see was uncertainty and dread. "If you're not ready for field duty right now, that's fine, we can wait 'til you're ready, in the meantime you can carry on with desk duties."

"Not sure the Director will sign off on that."

"You leave Director Vance to me."

It hadn't taken any persuasion on Gibbs' part to get Vance to agree. "He's too good an agent to lose Gibbs, and much as I admire his computer skills we wouldn't be making full use of his talents if he's permanently tied to a desk. However long it takes, I'm prepared to wait. Just be sure he has more sessions with his therapist."

Tony and Ellie had been disappointed that the team wasn't completely whole again; tempted as he was to use his considerable powers of persuasion on Tim, Tony kept his own counsel and let his partner talk whenever he wanted. He couldn't agree with Tim's assessment of his abilities, but he understood his need to make a full return only when he felt at ease with the idea of working away from headquarters. They certainly had enough cases to keep Tim busy, for the best part of two weeks they barely had time to draw breath, and Tony even managed to find an upside to the whole thing.

"Hey, no more reports to write, if you're here all day McScribe you can…"

"Dream on Tony, just because I'm on desk duty doesn't mean I've become your personal assistant." Tim couldn't help smiling as he saw Tony's expression, he looked so crestfallen. "Okay, if I get time I'll make a start, no promises." Tony grinned and Tim got the familiar feeling that he'd been suckered.

"Gear up, dead Navy Lieutenant, Foundry Branch Forest Park, let's move! Tim you should get the ID soon, start working background checks."

"On it Boss."

The three of them headed for the elevator, Tony looking over his shoulder, hoping this time Tim would ask if he could join them.

"Not today Tony, but it's going to happen soon."

"How did you…?" With a brief smile Tony acknowledged the truth of Abby's assertion that Gibbs always knew. "Just want things back to nor…" For a moment Tony was back in the ICU, talking with Tim, wishing things could be back to normal, he'd thought then that Tim's physical health would be the only barrier to his return; if only it had been that simple. "He's getting closer, I feel it."

"Me too Tony, come on, we have a job to do."

NCIS NCIS

However unsure he was about his abilities in the field, nothing had dampened Tim's enthusiasm for finding information online. Their investigation into Lieutenant Laura Kent's brutal rape and murder had been difficult, no fingerprints, no eyewitnesses, they had DNA but no match, the only security camera footage was from the bar where she'd last been seen alive and it seemed as if there was nothing there to help them. It had started to look as if this would be a long and frustrating case, then Tim started digging.

He linked Lt Kent's murder to three more, all African-American women in their early twenties, all brutally raped, and killed the same way; their throats cut so they choked to death on their own blood. The murders had taken place in San Jose, California; East Lansing, Michigan and New York. Liaising with local LEOs Tim discovered each woman had visited a bar on the night they were killed. He got footage from them, and with Abby's help compared faces; two men had been present each time, they'd been identified as Matthias Schurrle and Benedikt Neuer, students who were part of a judo team from Potsdam University touring US universities. He'd received a pat on the back and "Great work Tim." Then he'd watched Gibbs, Ellie and Tony head out to bring them in for questioning; for the first time since his return to work Tim felt a pang as he watched them go. What these men had done, the savagery of the attacks, they were exactly the type of person he relished putting away, maybe next time…

He was on the phone with the San Jose police when Gibbs hurried into the squad room. "McGee, we're a man short, I want you to help with the interrogation, you and Tony take Neuer. I'll take Schurrle with Bishop; no screw-ups, I want these bastards!"

Tim followed Gibbs down to interrogation. "You're in here McGee."He hurried in to the room and took his place at Tony's shoulder.

"Special Agent McGee, let me introduce you to Benedikt Neuer, he gets his jollies raping women, only he's so…inadequate, he has to get a friend to help. Your family must be so proud."

The young man sitting across the table glanced up at Tim, his blue eyes like shards of ice, then he turned back to Tony. "Do not presume to speak of my family." He spoke slowly, deliberately, his German accent discernable but not obtrusive. He was sitting bolt upright in the chair, the tight T-shirt he was wearing hinting at the well-developed muscles beneath. If Schurrle was built the same way, two against one, those women never stood a chance; Tim heard Tony take a deep breath and knew he was trying to maintain control before he started the interrogation in earnest.

"So, Mr Neuer, I'm going to repeat what I asked you at the hotel. Are you prepared to give us a DNA sample?"

"My answer has not changed, when you obtain a warrant I will comply." He stared at Tony. "You know you have only circumstantial evidence, release me now and I will not report you to my embassy."

Tony opened up the file in front of him and took out the head shots of the four victims taken after their deaths, he laid them out so Neuer could see. "Take a good look Neuer, these women, they never did you any harm, why would you do this?"

"You have not proved that I have done anything to these…" Neuer glanced at the pictures, a look of barely disguised contempt on his face. "These Schwarzer, why would I care what happened to them? Such…I almost called them people…such creatures, what do they matter? They are put on earth to be used as we see fit to use them."

"We?" Tony could feel the anger building up inside him and gripped the edge of the table in an attempt to calm himself.

"Do not feign ignorance Agent DiNozzo, we of the superior white race, we whose blood has not been tainted."

Tony waited, counting very slowly to ten. "Haven't you been tainted by what you did to those women, forcing them, penetrating…?" His voice was low and Tim moved a step closer, this could get ugly real fast.

"You have no proof that such a thing occurred, such…activities, they fulfil an urge; women of our own race should be respected, courted, not used harshly, creatures of colour…they mean nothing."

"Nothing…you think their families agree? Look at them; Aimee Douglas, she was eight weeks pregnant, only visited the bar to comfort a friend who'd split up with her boyfriend, she didn't even have a drink; her husband is mourning his wife and child because of what you did. Look at them!" Tony slammed his hand on the table, but all he got was a mocking sneer.

"You tell me to look, I do so, and do you know what I see? Pieces of meat, sweet, dark meat."

Tony leapt out of his seat sending the metal chair spinning backwards with a crash; he raised his arm ready to strike. "No Tony, stop!" Tim grabbed his arm and pulled him away from the table. "Listen to me Tony, he's scum, and he's trying to make you hit him, give him grounds for dismissal, don't give him the satisfaction…that's it, take a breath, nice and easy…" Tim whispered, soft and calm, keeping one hand on Tony as he picked up the chair. "How about I ask a few questions Tony?"

Tony stepped back and nodded, he didn't trust himself to move or to speak, he was concentrating on not ripping Neuer to shreds. Tim took his place at the table.

"Can't say I have any sympathy with your views Mr Neuer, but let's all try to stay calm and talk, how would that be?"

Neuer was watching Tony, but he gave a brief, humourless smile, "I have heard of this technique, good cop, bad cop I believe it is called."

Tim shook his head. "You couldn't be more wrong, Agent DiNozzo may look like a bad cop to you right now, and it's true he could lay you out in ten seconds flat. Only you see, he's the least of your worries, because I'm the one you should be worried about; I'm the ice cold, super smart Federal Agent who can make what you did into a terrorist offence."

"What? You…impossible, I have no links to terrorists, I despise them." For the first time Neuer's icy composure looked as if it was melting, just a little, but it was a start.

"I'm sure that's true, but let me show you what I'm going to do." He laid a picture on the table, another head shot of Laura Kent, but this time she was in her US Navy uniform. "You made a big mistake Neuer, you see this time you killed a US Intelligence Officer, stationed at the Pentagon, tasked with keeping this nation secure. And you, you violated her, tortured and killed her." He saw a flicker of fear in Neuer's eyes. "Ah, I see you're starting to understand where I'm going, or should I say, where you're going. I hear Guantanamo Bay can be a little hot and sticky this time of year, 'specially when you're locked in a cell 23 hours a day."

"You would not dare!"

"Please Me Neuer, don't presume to know what I would dare to do to a…creature who defiled four innocent women. Lieutenant Kent was a credit to her uniform, to her country, she was loved by her family, admired by her colleagues, an integral part of the defence of America, and you and Schurrle, you decided she was nothing more than a thing for you to use any way you wanted."

A bead of sweat appeared on Neuer's top lip and his heart-rate leapt. This wasn't how they were meant to react, Matthias had said all white Americans would feel as they did. "But…even if we did what you say, you cannot make that into a terrorist act."

"That's where you're dead wrong, because here's where things get real bad for you, you're a foreign national, and stalking and raping US navy personnel, sounds like terrorism to me; you should be scared Neuer because Agent DiNozzo can knock you right into next week, but I'm the man who is going to get you a one-way ticket to sunny Cuba."

"This…I…" He looked at the two agents, and he knew, they were deadly serious, and if he didn't make a deal soon…"Wait, there must be something…"

"There's always room for manoeuvre Neuer; Agent DiNozzo, do you think we can make sure Mr Neuer serves his time in a US prison so long as he tells us everything about the killings?"

Tony took a notepad from the folder and handed it to Neuer. "Write it down, everything, dates, times, who did what, which one of you gutless bastards held the knife."

"That wasn't me! You must believe me, I…I will admit to the…sex, but nothing more."

Tony set a pen down on the table, he couldn't stay in this room much longer. "It wasn't sex, it was rape, vicious violent rape, did they scream for mercy, when you forced them over and over, did they beg you to stop?" Neuer stared down at the table only to feel his head being jerked up. "Don't try to hide from what you did, you piece of…write it down!"

They waited in silence a Neuer completed his statement, unaware that they were being watched. Schurrle had refused to speak without a lawyer so Gibbs and Ellie decided to wait in observation, to see whether their team mates were having more success. Ellie had watched, open mouthed, "That was…"

"Impressive." Gibbs looked through the glass with quiet pride, this was his team doing what they did best.

"I'll say, do they rehearse that kind of thing?"

"What you just saw, nothing false about it, it's why they're so good, they go with their gut, with what they feel."

"But the Gitmo thing, that was a bluff, right?"

"Did McGee look like he was bluffing?"

Ellie had been mesmerised watching the interrogation. "He…he meant it."

"Damn straight, and don't think for a minute he wouldn't have tried to make it happen." Gibbs had a warm glow of satisfaction, not simply because Neuer had cracked and was currently writing out his detailed statement. He also felt he was seeing real signs that Tim was ready to take on full duties with the team again, there wouldn't be any pressure put on him, but Gibbs wouldn't be surprised if next time he called 'gear up' Tim would be joining them in the field.

NCIS NCIS

"That is everything." Neuer put down the pen and slumped back in the chair. Tim had been reading over his shoulder, ensuring he put down all the details they'd need for a prosecution, he gave a brief nod in Tony's direction. "We're done here."

"I'll get a security detail to clear out this garbage." Tony leaned over the table, not yet trusting himself to get too close to Neuer. "Your days of freedom are over, for what you did the death penalty would be too easy, in prison, wish I could see, because a pretty boy like you…you're going to find out what it feels like to be a piece of meat, sweet, white meat."

As soon as he was outside the interrogation room Tony took a deep breath, Tim laid a hand on his shoulder. "You okay?"

"If you hadn't stopped me…I'd have…Tim, to do what they did, they honestly thought it was okay to do what they did to those women because they don't treat black people as part of the human race."

"He's going to learn Tony, and I'm pretty sure it's going to be a very painful lesson. Come on, let me buy you a coffee, I could use some fresh air."

"Okay." As they strode down the corridor Tony turned to his friend. "Do you think Rosalind has to put up with that crap, with people who see her as sub-human because her skin is darker than theirs?"

"God, I hope not…I guess there'll always be people who can't see past the colour of someone's skin to the person inside, mostly they're ignorant rather than dangerous. Men like Neuer and Schurrle, I have to believe they're way outside the norm…I can't even begin to understand what they are, not sure I want to. This much I do know, we got them Tony, we couldn't save Lieutenant Kent or the others, but the men who killed them, they're never going to be free to hurt anyone again, you have to know that's good work."

"I do…I know it's all down to team work too, when we work together, just doesn't get any better."

THE END

The penultimate chapter will be along soon(ish), Yesterday.