A/N: Hey everyone. First I just want it to say that everyone who was expecting me to update yesterday, I apologize. I was planning on it but right now my boyfriend is using my laptop so I am currently using the laptop of a friend of mine. Unfortunately she always gets mad when I asked if I can update my story even though she was the one who offered to let me use it. but I updated today, so that's something right?

Secondly, I am adding to the disclaimer that I do not own iTunes. A lot of you obviously know that but there are a few douches that would make anything a problem. So just letting you know, I DO NOT OWN ITUNES OR ANYTHING THAT IS OBVIOUSLY NOT OWNED BY ME. DUH.

Now on with the story!

Chapter Four: The Plan

Tim and Tony entered the main office to find Gibbs alone at his desk. "Where's Ziva?" Tony asked as he and Tim approached his desk.

Gibbs glanced up from the paper he was looking over. His gaze shifted over to Tim, who he noticed was looking sickly pale and nervous, and then looked back at Tony. "Abby wanted to speak with her real quick." He said with a shrug. He glanced back at Tim to see him look over his shoulder a few times before looking out the window. "You alright, McGee?"

Tim jumped and turned back to Gibbs. "Fine." He said quickly, still looking over his shoulder.

Tony decided now was the best time to start. "So, Boss." Tony said loudly. At the same time he placed a finger over his lips, signaling him to be quite. Then he grabbed a sheet of printer paper and a pen. "Any cases yet?" Then he wrote something on the paper and showed it to Gibbs. 'We need to talk but not here. Privately.' Then he glanced pointedly at Tim, who looked incredibly uncomfortable and jumpy, and back again.

Gibbs stared at Tony, then at Tim, before saying, "No, Dinozzo, for the second time today, we do not have a case yet. When one comes up, I'll let you know." At the same time, he grabbed the paper and pen from Tony and wrote, 'We'll go to the interrogation room.'

Tony read the paper and then showed it to Tim, who thought it over and then shrugged and nodded. "Right, Boss. Sorry I asked." Tony said.

"McGee." Gibbs said, standing up.

Tim jumped again. "Yes?" he gasped, sounding breathless.

Gibbs raised an eyebrow and Tony gave him a look that said to relax. "Something is wrong with the computer in the interrogation room. Go fix it." Gibbs said.

Startled by the sudden command, Tim looked at Tony, who shrugged, and then shrugged himself. "Um, okay."

As he headed towards the interrogation room, Tony suddenly got an idea. "Hey, McGee. Did you bring your laptop with you today?"

Tim stared at him. "Yes. He said.

"Great, why don't you bring it with you and we can listen to some music while you fix the computer and I get in the way like always." Tim looked confused until Tony winked at him. This is part of the plan.

"Oh, alright." Tim said. He grabbed his laptop from his bag and followed Gibbs and Tony to the interrogation room. When they got there, Tim opened his laptop and opened up iTunes.

"Hey, I didn't know you had iTunes on here." Tony said, looking over his shoulder. "Do you have an iPod?"

Tim nodded. "Yeah, but I left it at home today. I've had it for a while now." Tim turned on the music and adjusted the volume to be loud enough for unwanted listeners to hear them but quiet enough for them to hear each other. "Okay." He sighed, turning in the chair and facing Gibbs.

Quickly, he and Tony told Gibbs about a group of 'thugs' stalking and threatening Tim and telling him that if he didn't keep his mouth shut about whatever they had done to him that they would do a repeat and do it to whoever he told as well and that they would make him watch. They also told Gibbs that it was them who had called earlier and had freaked Tim out and how Tony had followed Tim into the bathroom and how they think Tim had been bugged but they couldn't find anything on his clothes. Then Tony described how petrified Tim had been when he realized that he had told Tony more information than he was supposed to and that he kept saying he didn't want them to repeat whatever they had done to him.

"And what exactly did they do to you?" Gibbs asked him.

At this, Tom got really quiet and lowered his eyes to the ground. He knew that if he continued to look at Gibbs, he wouldn't be able to keep from telling him everything.

"He wouldn't say." Tony jumped in. "No matter how many times I asked, he wouldn't say. He just kept repeating that he couldn't say it, that he's not supposed to tell cuz they'd kill him."

Gibbs looked at Tim, who refused to meet their gazes. "McGee?" Gibbs asked.

"Please, boss." Tim said, so softly that they could hardly hear him over the music. "I can't tell anymore than I already have."

Gibbs continued to star at him, making him squirm uncomfortably. Then he turned back to Tony. "Is that everything?"

Tony nodded. "Pretty much, yeah." Then as an afterthought, he added, "Oh and McGee's sick. Got a bit of a fever."

Tim's head shot up and turned to Tony. "I do not." He said.

"You do, too. I checked your forehead when you started kissing porcelain again. You were warm. I'm not a doctor but I do know that feeling warm isn't a good thing." He looked at Gibbs and shrugged. "You can check him yourself if you'd like."

Tim looked at Gibbs, who stared at him through narrowed eye before nodding to Tony. "No, I believe you."

"But I'm not sick." Tim said.

Gibbs shot Tim a look and he fell silent. "We'll worry about that later." He said. "Right now we need to work on finding these guys and keeping you alive. You're right, you can't stay here. You need to act as normal as possible so they don't get suspicious. Instead, Tony, you and Ziva are to keep an eye on him until these guys are behind bars."

Tony saluted Gibbs. "Aye, aye, boss." Then he turned to Tim and grinned. "Congratulations, Probie. You just won yourself a couple of bodyguards."

Tim forced out a small smile at Tony's attempt to cheer him up. Maybe it would be okay after all. If they all watched what they said around him, in case he was bugged somehow, then maybe they actually stood a chance.

Tony left the room and returned moments later with Ziva, who looked confused when she realized there wasn't anyone being questioned. After taking several minutes to fill her in on the details and what was really going on, her eyes widened and she turned to Tim. "Do not worry, McGee. We will help you through this and make sure you are safe until these men are taken down. I will see to it personally if I have to."

Tim's eyes widened at the seriousness of her words and voice. Then he looked down at his shoes, feeling embarrassed and ashamed. He no longer felt like NCIS's Special Agent Timothy McGee. Now he felt like Tim McGee, weak and useless victim who ran to the authorities with his problems. Pathetic. "Thanks." He told his shoes.

"Ziva, I want you to go with him first." Gibbs ordered. "Follow him home and make sure he gets there but don't let yourself be seen."

"Wait." Tim said suddenly.

Everyone turned to look at him. "Don't worry, Probie, you can count on us." Tony said.

"I know but that's not what I meant. I just remembered that I don't have my car with me. I took it to the shop yesterday morning and I'm supposed to pick it up later today." He glanced at his watch. "Around five since the shop is closing as six today."

Gibbs nodded. "Right, then Ziva, at five o'clock, you take Tim to get his car and then follow him home. Use the excuse that he had just gotten his car out of the shop and you were following him to make sure it doesn't break down again."

"Um, well, it didn't really break down, it just needed a tune up but I'm too busy to do it myself." He stopped at the look from Gibbs. "But that works, too." He said quickly.

Then Gibbs turned to Tony. "Tony, later tonight, you pick the time, go to his apartment and find a way to stay there for a while. But don't stay around all day and maybe stay for a day or two, possible three."

"Okay, but what should my reason be?" Tony asked.

Gibbs shrugged. "I don't know, maybe you can say that you're being followed by one of your angry ex-girlfriends and you need somewhere to lie low for a while."

"Aw, boss." Tony said, sounding hurt. Ziva laughed and Tim turned his head so Tony wouldn't see his smile. How well they knew him. "Do you really think I have that many ex-girlfriends who are mad at me? I admit I have a few ex's but they aren't all mad at me. Maybe one or two."

"Right, Tony." Gibbs said, not really caring.

After Gibbs had given everyone their orders, Tim turned off the music and closed his laptop. "All finished, boss. It took longer to fix than I thought it would, but fixed it is." He said, using their earlier cover for the use of the interrogation room and music.

"Good, McGee." Gibbs played along. "Now get back to work. Tony, you too."

As the others exited the room and Tim stood up to follow, he nearly dropped his laptop as a sudden pain erupted from his broken ribs. He almost forgot they were broken, having been so worked up over that phone call. Carefully and slowly, he set the laptop down and put his hands on his knees, taking slow and steady breaths. Another sharp pain shot across his ribs and he clutched at his chest, as if he could stop the pain that way. Wincing, he sat down on the ground and brought his knees up to his chest and placed his head between them, taking deep, shallow and shaky breaths.

A few seconds later, Tony reentered the room, wondering why Tim hadn't followed them out. He ran over to Tim when he saw him sitting rigged on the ground, gasping for air. "Hey, what happened?" he asked.

Tim shook his head. "Nothing." He gasped. "I just got a sharp –gasp- pain in my chest. It –gasp- hurts when I breathe and it's making me feel –gasp- sicker." He slowly took another slow breath.

Tony studied him for a moment. Then he nodded and said, "Kay, then just sit here until it passes. Don't force it."

After a few more minutes, Tim was able to breathe normally again as the pain subsided. "I think I'm okay now." He said. His voice was shaky but he wasn't hurting anymore.

Tony helped him up and led him out of the interrogation room, grabbing the laptop on their way out. Tim stopped and took another breath before nodding to Tony. "I think I walk on my own now. Thanks."

"No problem." Tony said, though he sounded unsure.

The two of them entered the main office and took their seats at their desks. Then Tim turned to Ziva and deliberately asked loudly, "Hey, Ziva. My car is in the shop right now but I need to go pick it up at five. Do you mind giving me a ride?"

Immediately, Ziva understood and nodded. "Of course."

"Thanks." Tim said. He started to open his laptop when his desk phone rang for the second time that morning. The room turned eerily quiet as the three of them turned to Tim. He stared at the phone ringing on his desk with a look of horror. He could feel the panic threatening to take him.

"McGee." Ziva hissed. Tim looked up at her with terror filled eyes. "Answer your phone."

Slowly Tim turned back and picked up the receiver, treating it like a hand grenade without its pin. He opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out. Then he took a shaky breath and tried again. "Hello, Agent McGee speaking."

"McGee, it's Abby. Do you have a minute?" the voice asked.

Tim let out a sigh in relief. "Oh, Abby." The others relaxed at the familiar name and realized just how tense they had gotten. "Yeah, what's up?"

"Well, I'm working on something down here but I think I need your help real quick. Do you mind helping me?" she asked.

Tim nodded and then realizing she couldn't see him, said out loud, "Yeah, sure, I'll be right down." Then he hung up and headed to the elevator, where he pushed the button he needed to get to the forensics lab.

Abby was their forensic scientist, though she looked nothing like one. If anything, she looked more like a gothic girl who had decided to play scientist dress up. She had black shoulder length hair, usually held in two short pigtails at her neck, and wore mostly black, including black lipstick, eyeliner and mascara. She also had a tattoo on her neck shaped like a large spider web and those spiked leather wrist bands around her wrists. And she always had a smile on her face, making her look like a playful little girl who liked the color black.

Tim entered the lab and looked around at all of the machines, trying to locate Abby. "Abby!" he called. He had to half shout as his voice was drowned out by the heavy music playing.

Suddenly Abby sprang out from behind a large computer screen, ran towards him and threw her arms around his neck. "McGee!" she shouted as she hugged him.

"Hey, Abby." Tim laughed. Abby could always make anyone feel better, no matter how bad they felt. After she had released him, he shouted, "So what did you need help with?"

Abby turned and walked to a tall filing cabinet, where she turned off the music and threw the room into a sudden silence. Then she turned back to him and smiled. "I need you to help me with this." She said, taking his hand and pulling him to the large computer screen. "It's some kind of code thing I've been working on, just for fun, but I can't get it. I really want to solve it cuz it's being so difficult but right now my brain is to tired and spinney to think straight anymore. That's why I asked you, a fresh brain, to help me."

Tim looked at the screen, which was filled with letters and numbers in a jumbled mess. Computers were his specialty. He was his team's computer specialist and the person everyone went to for technical problems. He typed on the keyboard for a few moments, becoming engrossed in the unsolved code, but not enough to keep from noticing Abby pacing impatiently behind him.

"Anything?" she asked after two minutes.

Tim laughed silently to himself. "No, not yet, but I just started, so give me a minute."

Abby sighed and continued pacing. "What's taking so long, I thought you were as good an expert as me?"

"Well, it doesn't really help when there's a caffeine addicted goth girl pacing behind me." He teased.

Abby continued pacing until she realized what he had said. Then she turned and slapped his arm. "Not funny. I really want to crack this code."

"Done." He said as she started pacing again.

Quickly she whirled around and stood behind him, leaning against his back to see the screen. "How did you do it so quickly? McGee, you're the best." She hugged him again.

"It actually wasn't that hard, once you realized what you were trying to do." He said.

She kept her arms around him from the hug but she glared down at him. "Are you trying to say something, McGee?"

Startled, he turned his head to the side so he could see her face better. "No, I was just saying that it wasn't that hard."

Abby glared at him again and poked the side of his stomach. "You're trying to say I'm losing my touch, aren't you?"

Tim shifted away from her finger, resisting the urge to wince and laugh at the same time. When she poked his stomach, she also poked one of the many bruises he had. "Abby, don't. That hurts."

Abby smiled playfully. "If it hurts, why are you smiling?" she asked, poking the side of his stomach again.

This time Tim winced and laughed, pushing her hand away. "Ow, stop."

"Not until you apologize." Abby said, this time using all of her fingers to poke him.

"For what, I didn't do anything." Tim laughed. He tried to grab her hand but then she used her other hand to poke the other side.

"Apologize for insulting me." She ordered.

Tim tried to speak but Abby didn't give him the chance. Instead, she squeezed his sides, making him laugh even harder and try to squirm away. "Ow, Abby, stop."

"Say you're sorry." She taunted in a singsong voice.

"Abby, seriously." Tim laughed. As Abby continued to tickle him, Tim's shirt started to loosen itself from his pants, rising up to show his pale skin.

As Abby glanced down at his skin, she stopped. "McGee!" she shouted, looking at the bruise in shock.

Tim glanced down to see what she was staring at and then grabbed the bottom of his shirt and hastily tucked it back into his pants. "Abby." He said, not really sure what to say. What should he do? He needed to say something, or do something, to explain the bruise. He couldn't tell her the truth.

"McGee?" she asked. She took a hesitant step towards him.

Tim backed up until his back was against the table with the computer. "Abby, I can explain but not now. I-"

Just then Tony entered the lab. "McGee, we need to go, we've got… a… case…" he stopped, noticing the shocked expression on Abby's face and the terrified look on Tim's.

Tim used the distraction to run past Abby and out of the lab, pulling Tony with him and calling behind him, "I'm sorry, Abby. I'll explain it one day, I promise."

"McGee, wait!" Abby called.

A/N: okay well here you guys go. Sorry for the slow update. Hope you guys liked this. And don't forget to R&R. thanks.