A/N: okay well here is chapter three. I'm on a roll. This chapter is almost as long as the last one. I just can't stop typing but I guess that's good cuz that means I'm still into this story and it hasn't died in my head yet. Woot. Well, here's chapter three. Hope you like reading it as much as I did writing it.

Chapter Three: Confrontation

"Tony." Tim choked out. A lump had formed in his throat, making it hard to swallow. "What are you doing in here?"

"I think the bigger question, Probie, is what are you doing?" Tony looked towards the stall Tim had come out of and then looked back at him. "Last I checked, people don't take their clothes off when they're throwing up in the toilet. Nor do they mumble to themselves about bugs. So what were you doing?"

Tim tried to swallow the lump in his throat that was threatening to suffocate him. "I – I thought a bug had landed on me. I was – um – trying to find it." He stuttered.

Tony rolled his eyes. "Come on, McGee, you know you suck at lying. Tell me what's going on."

Tim stared at him, completely at a loss. What should he do? He couldn't find anything to indicate he had been bugged but that didn't mean he wasn't, right? What if he told Tony the truth and they found out? They'd do it again. He didn't think he could stand it if they did it again. They'd kill him for sure.

But if he didn't say something, anything, if he tried to lie again, he had no doubt in his mind that his teammates would try to find out on their own. Tony was right, he sucked at lying. But he couldn't tell them. He just couldn't. What should he do?

Suddenly his legs wouldn't hold him anymore. Slowly he sank to the bathroom floor, pulled his knees up to his chest and covered his face with his trembling hands. His breathing became rapid and his entire body trembled.

Tony, alarmed, approached him and knelt beside him. "What's going on, Tim?"

Tim shook his head, unable to look at him. "I can't." he mumbled through his hands.

"What?" Tony asked, not able to understand his muffled voice.

Tim took his hands from his face but still refused to look at him. "I can't." he repeated. "I can't."

"Can't what?" Tony asked.

"I can't tell. I can't tell you. I can't tell Gibbs. I can't tell anyone." Tim pressed his palms against his eyes and shook his head. "I can't."

Then Tony asked, "Did that call have something to do with you suddenly feeling sick?" Tim didn't answer. "McGee, look at me." Tim didn't move. Then, with more authority in his voice, he said, "Agent McGee, as Senior Field Agent, I order you to look at me and answer my question." Tim removed his hands from his eyes and looked up at him. "Did that call have something to do with you suddenly feeling sick?"

Tim hesitated, and then slowly nodded. "Yes." He whispered. He didn't trust his trembling voice to go any louder.

Quickly, Tony thought about Tim coming to work looking like he hadn't gotten any sleep last night. Then he asked, "And does either of these things have to do with you coming to work later than usual and your lack of sleep?"

Tim hesitated again before nodding. "Yes."

"But for some reason, you can't tell anyone." Tony continued.

This time without hesitation, Tim shook his head. "No." he said firmly.

Tony narrowed his eyes at him. "Is it because you were told not to tell, or is it because you don't want to tell?"

Tim's eyes widened with surprise. He was about to answer but paused, thinking. Was that part of it? He had been threatened more than once not to say anything. They had threatened him, beaten him and… he couldn't think it, couldn't think that word. But they had done it. They had completely humiliated him, practically killed him. Was that the only reason he didn't say anything? No, that wasn't all. It wasn't just that he couldn't tell, he wouldn't tell. He didn't want them to know. He didn't want to see the looks on their faces if he told them. Not the pity, or the disgust, none of it. He couldn't. He wouldn't. Tim looked up at Tony. "Both." He said.

Tony nodded. "Okay, so you don't want to tell. But you were also told not to. By who?"

Tim shook his head. "I can't."

"Okay, let's try something else." Tony said quickly. "Why can't you tell? Not why won't you, I mean why can't you?"

Tim thought about what to say. Should he tell him the truth or should he edit? Finally he spoke. "They told me not to."

"Who?" Tony asked. "Who told you? What did they say?"

Tim looked down at his hands, resting on his knees, and noticed that they had stopped shaking. Odd, now that he thought about it, he had calmed down a lot. His body wasn't shaking anymore and his breathing had gotten easier. Talking about it had helped him a great deal, more than he thought it would. Still, he shook his head, staring at his hands. "I can't tell you that."

"You can't at least tell me what they said?" Tony asked. "What did they tell you?"

"That they would hurt whoever I told." Tim said. The guy's voice echoed its threat in his head, as well as the warning on the phone. "That they would do it again, and do it to whomever I told as well. I can't let the happen."

"Do what again? What would they do?" Tony asked. He had gotten Tim to start telling him what was going on. Hopefully he could get something from him that they could use to find out the rest of it.

"They would do it again. What they did to me yesterday. They'd do it again. And I don't think I could take anymore." Tim shook his head, not really paying attention to what he was saying. "They said they would. He said they would do it again if I told anyone. And they would do it to whoever I told, too. I can't let that happen. I don't want it to happen again."

"What happened?" Tony asked. This sounded important. "What did they do to you, Tim?" he asked, using his first name.

Tim started to reply. "He…" He was going to do it. He was going to say it. He was going to tell him what happened. He was going to tell Tony everything. But wait, was he supposed to? No, something told him he shouldn't. Why? He was told not to, right? Yeah, someone told him not to say anything. But why? Who told him not to say anything?

Tim started breathing hard, perspiration breaking out on his forehead. His body trembled and his head felt light. He started to feel really dizzy and he couldn't concentrate on what he was doing. What was he doing? He was sitting on the floor. The floor of what? He looked around him, the room starting to spin. He was in a bathroom. What was he doing in a bathroom? On the floor, no less. Eww. The bathroom floor wasn't a very sanitary place to sit. His gaze landed on Tony. Tony? What was he doing here? Wait, wasn't he just talking to him? What was he talking about? He couldn't remember. The room started to tilt uncomfortably and he felt like he was going to fall. But he couldn't fall. He was already sitting down.

"McGee?" Tony asked, worry creeping into his voice. Something was wrong. Tim didn't look so good. If anything, he looked like he was going to be sick again. Carefully he placed his hand on Tim's shoulder. "Hey, you okay?"

Tim looked at Tony, not really seeing him. He looked bleary, like he was looking at him through the wrong end of a telescope. Why did he look like that? Wait, was he trying to say something? His mouth was moving but Tim couldn't hear anything. Was something wrong with him? No, it wasn't that something was wrong with Tony; it was as if something was wrong with him. But what was wrong with him? He felt fine. Okay, so he was a bit dizzy, well actually he was really dizzy, not to mention his stomach felt like it was trying to crawl up his throat. Other than that, he felt fine.

Slowly, he turned his head behind him and noticed the toilet. Eww, I'm sitting near a toilet. That's definitely unsanitary. Why was he sitting near a toilet? Wait, he had been using the toilet for something a while ago. But he couldn't remember what. Just that it wasn't the way you're supposed to use it. What did he use it for? Suddenly, the feeling of his stomach crawling up his throat increased and he shot for the toilet just in time.

"McGee!" Tony shouted, leaping up and following him into the stall. He grabbed a wad of toilet paper and handed it to Tim, who took it with a shaky hand. Tony placed his hand on Tim's forehead. It felt a bit warm. 'Warm is bad, right?' Tony thought.

As Tim tried to catch his breath, his head cleared enough to realize what had just happened. He almost told Tony what had happened yesterday. What was he thinking? Tim felt himself panicking. What did he just do? They would find out for sure. They would find out he had told Tony. He didn't tell him what had happened to him but he had told him enough information to be considered useful. Oh, hell, he was screwed. They were going to come for him, he knew it. They were going to come for him and Tony, cuz now Tony knew too. He knew enough to be a threat to them. They were both dead.

Tim gasped and turned his head to look at Tony. "They know. They know I told you. They're going to come for us both." He started growing hysterical. "They're going to come for us; they're going to get us. They're going to kill us. They're going to do it again. No, no they can't, they can't."

"McGee, relax." Tony told him, placing his hand on his shoulder. "You're going to be okay. No one's coming. You're fine."

Tim shook his head. "No, they're going to get me. They're going to do it again, I don't want them to do it again, they can't they can't I won't I won't do it I won't they can't they can't…"

Tony grabbed another wad of toilet paper and placed it over Tim's mouth as he started hyperventilating. "Breathe, McGee. Relax. Calm down, it's okay. We can tell Gibbs what's going on and…"

Tim pushed the toilet paper from his mouth and shook his head. "No!" he shouted. "I can't tell anyone, I'm not supposed to tell, I wasn't supposed to tell you, I – "

Tony placed the wad over his mouth again. "McGee, stop talking. Just breathe. And we have to tell him. He can help. If we tell him, he can find some way to protect you from them; maybe he can keep you here or something."

Tim slowly got his breathing under control. When he was calm enough, he pushed the wad from his face. Tony let him push his hand away. "I'm not going to do that. I can't just hide. They'll think they've won. I don't want to stay here. I need to go home. If they don't know yet, they'll find out if I don't go home. They'll get suspicious and then they'll know."

Tony knew he was right. They, whoever they were, would find out McGee had told someone. They had to pretend everything was normal. That no one knew. But they couldn't just leave McGee alone. They would get to him for sure. So what should they do? "Okay, here's what we'll do. We'll tell Gibbs and Ziva just what you told me, no, let me finish." Tony held up a hand as Tim was about to protest. "We tell them that someone is following you and has been threatening you not to say anything to anyone. Wait." He narrowed his eyes in puzzlement. "That phone call. That was them, right? What did they say?"

Tim hesitated. He didn't really want to tell him what they had said but maybe he didn't have to tell him everything. Not all of the details anyway. Taking a deep breath, he said, "They reminded me of what they had done to me yesterday. They told me that they were warning me, reminding me of what would happen if I told. They said they were watching me, watching my every move. And that if I told anyone, and they found out, they would do a repeat of yesterday to me and whoever I told. And they would make me watch whoever they did it to."

"And by 'whoever you told', you meaning me." Tony said.

Tim nodded. "I told you enough to make you a threat to them, so yeah. And they'll make me watch before they do it to me. I don't want a repeat. It was bad enough the first time. So they told me to remember that the next time my teammates ask me what's wrong."

"And what exactly did they do? I think I'm entitled to know seeing as how I'm now a target." Tony said.

Tim shook his head. "I can't tell you. I won't. I can't. Just know that it's really bad and you probably, no, you definitely won't be the same after."

Tony sighed. It didn't look like he was going to get that bit of information from him. Fine. "Well, how did they know you were talking to us? Are they bugging you?"

Tim shrugged. "I don't know. I tried to check but I couldn't find anything. But that doesn't mean it's not on me somewhere."

Tony thought about that for a moment, then asked, "Maybe it's not on your clothes. Maybe they planted it on you somewhere, like in your hair or something. Did they put anything on you, maybe in your skin or something?"

Tim winced. That was way too close to the truth for comfort. "I don't know. I wasn't paying attention; I was too busy trying to block the entire scene from my head. And then I had gone unconscious after they had finished."

Tony's eyes widened. "So, they could have planted something on you when you were unconscious." Then as an afterthought, he said, "But we can't do tests or anything to check. If we do, we might let them know that we know and then all hell will break loose. Damn."

"Sorry." Tim said as he wiped his mouth with the toilet paper in his hand and pushed himself away from the toilet and flushed it. His mouth tasted disgusting.

Tony looked at him. "Sorry for what?"

Tim shrugged. "For getting you involved. I shouldn't have said anything. Sorry."

Tony rolled his eyes and softly smacked the back of his head. "None of that, Probie. I forced you to tell me, so don't worry about it." Then he stood up and brushed off his pants before holding a hand out to Tim. "Come on; let's go tell Gibbs and Ziva what's going on and figure out what to do."

Tim grabbed Tony's hand and let him help pull him to his feet. Then he went over to the sink and washed his hands. "You should wash your hands too. I touched the rim of the toilet and then touched your hand."

Tony looked at his hand and grimaced. "Eww, that's nasty." Tony pushed Tim away from the sink before he could turn off the water and washed his own hands. Afterward, he grabbed a paper towel and dried his hands before throwing it in the trash. Before he could get to the bathroom door, Tim grabbed his arm. He turned and looked at him, questioning.

"Don't tell Abby." Tim said. "If she finds out, she'll panic. I don't want to put her in danger any more than I do you guys. And I don't want any more people to know than need be."

Tony nodded. "Right. No problem."

A/N: Well here it is all. My fingers are a bit cramped but other than that I'm good. I couldn't stop typing. But here it is. Please read and review and tell me how it goes and if I should keep writing. Thanks.