A/N: Hey everyone. Just want to let you know that the next chapter is going to be even longer than these last ones have been. It will consist of two "work days" for Tim. So because of that and the fact that things will start getting complicated, I will not be posting until Friday. I need time for the ideas to flow. What I can say is that the consequences of Tim's actions will happen in this chapter.
Also, I want to thank Marionet for letting me know how old Tony is. That is the kind of thing I need to help me make this a better story. I went back to chapter two and fixed it. and for Concrit for telling me about the rating. I thought I had put it at M but apparently not. But I fixed that.
As for the oddness of Tim not going to Ducky, I realize that after you said it, Marionet. Ducky is a doctor, duh. Lol well I put him in chapter five so hope that helps. And in regards to the consequences of walking around with broken ribs, that will catch up with him very soon.
One more thing. Sorry if the end of chapter four was a bit corny. One of my friends wanted me to put that tickling scene in there cuz I couldn't think of a way for Abby to accidently see the bruises. So, yeah. Thanx for reading! Look forward to Friday.
Chapter Five: The Case
"So, what was that about?" Tony asked as they rode the elevator up to the main office.
"Nothing." Tim said. Then he mouthed, 'Tell you later.' Tony nodded in understanding and didn't ask anything else.
"Got him, boss." Tony said as they left the elevator and walked up to Gibbs's desk.
"What's going on?" Tim asked.
Ziva pushed a button on the remote control she held and they all turned to the large screen above the space between Tony's and Tim's desk. Two photos flashed on screen. "Two officers were found dead; one a regular police officer and the other a naval lieutenant." She explained to both Tim and Gibbs; she and Tony already knew the details.
"The officer's name is Tanya Malloy, age 37, and was found late Saturday afternoon in an alley behind a grocery store." Tony jumped in. "Naval Lieutenant Heath Leme, age 42, was found earlier this morning in an alley near that new B'N'M Bakery place. We weren't given the case until they found Leme dead in the same manner as Malloy." There he paused.
"And?" Gibbs asked impatiently. "How did they die?"
"Both were brutally raped and beaten to death." Tony continued. "At first the police thought it was a rapist, mostly because Officer Malloy was a female but then they heard about Lieutenant Leme and it didn't fit with their stereotypical rapist. 'Why would he go for both a male and female?'"
"But when they got the autopsy report back," Ziva said, jumping back in. "They realized that there was more than one person involved; a group of people. However, they couldn't find any fingerprints, DNA, nothing. It seems that they were especially careful to leave no trace of themselves behind."
"They weren't exactly sure who should get this case since the victims were two different types of officers." Tony said. "But our director and the police came to an agreement that we will handle the case but keep them informed, since one of the victims is theirs. We just got the call and update right now, so shall we?" Tony turned and started heading to his desk to get the things he would need.
"Let's move." Gibbs said. He and Ziva started gathering things from their desks, preparing to leave.
Tony finished first and turned to head towards the elevator when he spotted Tim. He hadn't moved. He stood rooted to the spot, staring at the screen with a look of horror frozen on his face. "McGee?" he called. No answer. Tony looked at Gibbs and Ziva, who had both stopped and looked up when he had called to Tim. "McGee." He repeated, walking up to stand next to him.
Tim stared at the screen, not really seeing it. 'They're both dead.' He thought. 'The officer found on Saturday; the lieutenant found today, Monday; and me, yesterday, Sunday. Saturday, Sunday, Monday; What if there's another one tomorrow? It looks like a pattern. And I've got an idea as to who is behind their deaths. But they're dead. Why are they dead but I'm not? It doesn't make sense!
Tim shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts, and looked at the screen again, looking at the two photos. Suddenly a voice echoed in his head, an unpleasant voice that he hoped he would never have to hear again, whispering, "You're a cop. I hate cops." Technically, the naval officer and the police officer were both considered cops, as was he. 'Is this some kind of conspiracy?' Tim thought. 'They're targeting officers, that much was certain. They didn't care what kind, an officer was an officer. But why? And why did they let me live? Obviously they had done it deliberately; they were too careful covering their tracks with evidence to be careless enough to leave me alive on accident. Why did they let me live?'
As Tim was busy chasing his thoughts around in his head, Tony snapped his fingers in front of his face. "Probie!" he shouted. Tim jumped and turned to Tony. "What's the matter with you?" he asked.
Tim shook his head, this time pushing his thoughts to the back of his head for later. "Nothing, I'm alright." He lied. "I just feel a little tired, I didn't really get any sleep last night."
Tony narrowed his eyes suspiciously but decided to let it go. He could always ask him about it later, when they were sure no 'unwanted listeners' couldn't listen in. "Fine, then get your stuff so we can go."
Tim hastily went to his desk, grabbed the stuff he needed and followed everyone to the elevator, avoiding Gibbs and Ziva's looks of suspicion and concern that he knew were there.
When they reached the alley near the bakery, Tim glanced in the direction of his apartment building, then followed the sidewalk with his eyes until they landed at the opening of the alleyway he knew better than he would have liked. Even though he was with his team this time, he still couldn't help his heart from leaping to his throat as he gazed at the alley. Were they there? Were they watching him at this very moment? Panic started to overwhelm him and he had to struggle to keep from visibly shaking.
"Alright, let's see what we've got." Tony said from his left. Tim jumped and inwardly shook himself. "Let's go, McGee."
"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming." He said. Carefully he walked under the yellow tape and into the crime scene. His heart started pounding painfully fast when he saw the body of the lieutenant. He looked too similar to how Tim had looked when he had seen himself in the mirror after that incident. The body was covered but he knew it would look as bad as the face, maybe even worse.
"Get in here, McGee." Gibbs commanded. He had knelt beside the body and was pulling back the sheet to allow Tony and Ziva to take pictures of the wounds.
Heart pounding faster and faster, Tim slowly walked over to Tony, who was currently standing at the victim's feet, keeping his eyes from the rest of the body. Normally he didn't have a problem with dead bodies. He'd seen so many while working at NCIS that it wasn't as unpleasant as it would have been to a newbie. But he didn't want to see it. He didn't want to see the body that would have been his, the body that could have been his, and almost was. And would be when they found out he told someone. He didn't want to see any of it; he wanted to leave, maybe go back to the office and do some more paper work. No, he had finished that this morning. Maybe he could sneak off and go home? His apartment was less than a few blocks from here. He could-, no, he couldn't. Walking from here to his apartment meant walking past the alley he didn't want to be anywhere near. Plus he knew he would be seen by Gibbs or someone before he even got to that alley. Besides, he didn't even want to go home. He just didn't want to be near this body.
"You alright, McGee?" Ziva asked. She angled her camera to take another shot. "You look ill again."
"I don't really feel very good right now." He said, this time telling the truth. He really did feel like he was going to be sick. He kept his gaze away from the body as he spoke again. "A dead body isn't really helping the queasiness of my stomach."
Ziva stopped snapping pictures and glanced at Tim. "Perhaps you should talk to Ducky when he gets here." She suggested. Then she said, "Unless the sickness is from something else?" The tone in her voice made him realize what she meant.
Tim looked over his shoulder at the mouth of the alley they were in and in the direction of the alley he didn't want to think about. No one seemed to be watching him, but he had the feeling he was being watched. He glanced at everyone at the scene. None of them looked out of place or even glanced at him. He turned back to Ziva and nodded very slightly, barely seen as a nod at all.
Ziva nodded and walked away, aiming her camera back at the body. Tim sighed and looked around on the ground. If he couldn't work while looking at the body, then he will just have to work without looking at it. Angling himself so his gaze didn't land on the body by accident, he started looking for evidence. It was as they report had said: there wasn't much evidence to look at. Every piece of cloth, anything that could be used as evidence, was gone. Some of their blood could have been spilt and mixed with the victim's but he doubted it.
"Would you mind stepping aside so we can get to the body, Timothy?" an English-accented voice asked him.
Tim turned to find an older man, somewhere in his fifties at least, walking toward him with a younger, thinner man behind him. "Ducky." He said. He stood up and backed away from the body without looking at it.
Ducky paused and glanced at him. "Are you feeling alright, Timothy? You look a bit ill."
Tim nodded. "I'm fine. Just tired is all."
"Ah, I see." Ducky said, continuing to the body.
"Jimmy." Tim greeted the other man.
"Hey, Tim." Jimmy greeted back. "Didn't sleep well?"
Tim shook his head. "No, not really. I slept for maybe ten to fifteen minutes the entire night."
Jimmy winced. "Ouch, that's not good. Nightmares or something?"
Tim shrugged. "I don't really know. I just couldn't get to sleep."
"I'd hate to interrupt but could you get over here and perform your duties, Mr. Palmer?" Ducky called.
Tim and Jimmy turned at the same time in the direction of Ducky's voice. Tim regretted it immediately. One glance at the body, bruised, cut up and bleeding, blood spread out around it, had him running behind a nearby dumpster and throwing up stomach acid, his earlier vomiting sessions leaving his stomach empty.
*Line separation*
Tim officially hated vomiting. He spent the rest of the investigation at the crime scene either vomiting or sitting in the car with a wet rag, courtesy of one of the bakery workers, pressed against the back of his neck. He felt terrible. His stomach muscles hurt from the effort of dry heaving, the convulsions made his broken ribs hurt like hell, his head had started throbbing, but most of all he felt humiliated. He was an NCIS agent for crying out loud, he wasn't supposed to get sick over a dead body. He knew why he had gotten sick, but anyone else would think of it as a rookie move, someone who couldn't cope with dead bodies. He spent enough time feeling incompetent with Tony constantly calling him "Probie" and he really didn't want everyone else thinking he was one too.
"You feeling any better?" Tony asked at one point.
Tim shook his head, unable to speak yet.
"Gibbs said when we finish, he'll have Ziva take you to go get your car. Then she'll drive with you back to the office and we'll spend the rest of the night going over everything for this case before we go home." Tony said. Then as an afterthought, he added, "By the way, I have a favor to ask you."
Tim looked up. "What?"
"Do you mind if I stayed at your place for a few days? One of my ex-girlfriends is stalking me right now and I need somewhere to lie low." Tony said, following their earlier plan.
Tim pretended to consider it; if he agreed too quickly, they would get suspicious. "Well, I don't know."
"Aw, come on, just for a few days." Tony asked. "I promise not to do anything to you in your sleep."
Tim pretended to glare at him before shrugging. "I guess. Sure, why not?" Will this really work?