A/N: well hope you guys like this chapter. Sorry it's so long. They way I had it planned in my head had all of this in one chapter. But at least you get to read this chapter at all. Haha. Well hope you like this. Again thanks to those who reviewed and those who helped me edit some things, like Tony's age. You know who you are.
Again, disclaimers are in chapter one and some other chapter but I will say it again.
I. DO. NOT. OWN. ANYTHING. THAT. IS. OBVIOUSLY. NOT. OWNED. BY. ME. DUH!
Chapter Six: Tim's Confession
The rest of the day had been spent with Ziva taking Tim to the auto shop to get his Porsche, and then they drove back to the office, where they all worked until almost nine o'clock.
As Tim was getting ready to call it a night, Tony stood up. "Hey, McGee, don't forget that I'm spending the next few days at your place until things cool down at mine."
Tim nodded. "Yeah, I know. I just need to speak to Ducky real quick."
"I need to go home real quick anyways and get some of my things." Tony said. "I'll meet you here in like five minutes. Wait for me."
"Why don't I just meet you at my apartment?" Tim asked.
"Because I am your senior field agent, Probie, that's why." Tony said as he entered the elevator.
Tim rolled his eyes. "Fine." He said. Then he went down to ask Ducky about the bodies. Unfortunately, Ducky wasn't able to tell him much except what he already knew. Tim would have stayed longer if Ducky hadn't started asking Tim if he was alright. He was getting tired of people asking that and him having to lie about it.
Then Tony had shown up and they had left the building and headed to Tim's apartment building. Tim had gotten the feeling he was being watched and he felt uneasy the entire time it took for him and Tony to carry Tony's things across the parking lot and up to Tim's apartment.
"Your place is a mess, McGee." Tony said as he entered the apartment.
"Sorry, I didn't know I was having guests." Tim said distractedly from the door. He turned to close it and glanced down the hall. No one had approached them the entire time but the uneasy feeling wouldn't go away. 'I'm starting to scare myself.' Tim thought as he closed the door and locked it.
Tony dropped his box on the ground. "So, where do I sleep? For the record, I am not sharing a bed with you."
"Well, you can sleep on the couch, if you'd like." He offered, choosing to ignore that last bit. "It's a pull-out, I just got it a few days ago when my old one finally broke the last time I sat on it."
Tony looked at him with a smirk. "And that's why you're supposed to exercise on a daily basis."
Tim glared at him again. "I didn't do it, it was old. It was falling apart, anyway."
"Okay, okay." Tony chuckled.
"Well, anyway, you can sleep on the couch or if you want, you can take the bed and I'll take the couch." Tim said.
Tony shrugged. "Nah, the couch is fine. It's better than the floor at least."
Tim shrugged and set the box he had been holding next to the couch. "Alright, well I'll let you get settled then." Then he went into his room and shut the door, before heading to his closet. Careful not to bump any of his bruises, he shed his jacket and shirt and searched for a shirt to sleep in.
As he reached in the closet to grab an old college shirt, Tony burst through the door. Quickly, Tim turned around to face Tony and lost his balance, falling into his closet.
"Hey, McGee, what are you doing in the closet?" Tony asked when he saw him. Then, realizing what he said, he chuckled. "McGee, it's time you came out of the closet."
Tim hid his upper body from Tony's view with the shirt he had been trying to grab. "Shut up, Tony. Get out. Don't you know how to knock?"
"Wow, someone is grouchy." Tony teased. "What's wrong with you?"
Tim scooted further into his closet. "Get out, at least for five minutes."
"Fine, I'm going." Tony said. Teasingly slow, Tony backed out of the room and shut the door.
Tim sighed and quickly put the shirt on before crawling out of the closet. Then he went over to the bedroom door and locked it before going to the bathroom door and closing that. His bathroom had two doors connecting it to his bedroom and the hall near the front door.
Tim went back to his closet and quickly changed out of his pants and into a pair of sweats. Then he went back to the bedroom door and opened it to find Tony standing on the other side with a grin on his face. "Now what do you want?" Tim asked.
"What was that about?" Tony asked.
"Nothing." Tim said. "What do you want? I need to go to bed now if I'm going to try to get any sleep."
"Oh." Tony said. Then he shrugged. "Nothing really; just going to ask if you had any extra blankets."
"Oh, they're in the closet next to the front door." Tim said.
"Oh, well good night then." Tony said as he headed to the closet.
"'Night." Tim said as he closed his bedroom door. He headed to his bed and pulled down the blankets before getting in. Sighing, he tried to relax his muscles and make himself fall asleep.
The next morning, Tim sat up in bed ten minutes before his alarm went off. He hadn't slept again last night. His head had been swimming with thoughts of what had happened yesterday and the day before. No matter what he did, he couldn't get his mind to shut up.
Groaning, Tim turned off the alarm to his clock before it could go off. Then he went to the bathroom and turned on the shower before stripping off his clothes and stepping in. As he showered, he felt his ribs and thought they might finally be healing and hoped they would heal properly without a doctor.
After finishing his shower, Tim turned off the water and got out, grabbing a towel at the same time and drying himself off. When he had finished, he realized he had forgotten to grab some clothes. He headed to the door to his bedroom and started to open it when a voice called from the other side.
"Hey, McGee, hurry up, will you? I need to shower, too."
Tony! He had completely forgotten that Tony had spent the night here. Looking down at himself, he knew that if he opened the door, Tony would see the bruises that he wasn't ready to share. "Tony, what are you doing in my room? Get out." He called.
"What's wrong with you?" Tony asked. "I just wanted to know when my turn to shower was."
"In a few minutes, you can shower. I just need to get my clothes but I can't do that if you're in my room. Get out!" Tim yelled.
"Oh, relax. What's the big deal? It's not like you have anything I haven't already seen on myself, you know." Then Tony paused before adding hesitantly. "You're not secretly a girl, are you?"
"No, Tony, I'm not. Just get out!" Tim shouted, glaring at the door.
"Alright, alright." Tony said. Tim heard him walk to the bedroom door, then the bedroom door opening and closing. Quickly, he opened the door and looked around his room before running out and locking his bedroom door. Then he ran back into the bathroom and locked the other door leading to the hall. Sighing in relief, he walked back into his room and to his closet and started getting dressed.
When he had finished, he walked back to his bedroom door and opened it. "You can go in now, Tony." Tim called. He stepped out of his room and glanced at Tony sitting on the couch.
Tony looked up. "It's about time." Tony stood up and headed into Tim's room and to the bathroom.
Tim rolled his eyes and walked into the kitchen. He grabbed the coffee pot and filled it with water before getting the coffee mix and turning on the coffeemaker. Then he opened the refrigerator and grabbed a couple of hard boiled eggs he had made the other day. After a while of waiting, the coffee was completely made and he grabbed a coffee thermos from the cabinet when he heard Tony's voice.
"Hey, can you make me a cup too?" he asked.
Tim turned to find Tony standing next to the couch, searching through one of his boxes. "Tony, what are you doing? Put some clothes on, for crying out loud." Tony had come out of the bathroom with a single towel around his waist.
"That's what I'm trying to do. I left my clothes out here by accident so I'm getting them right now." Tony explained. He grabbed his clothes and started putting them on.
Tim rolled his eyes and turned his back on Tony, grabbing another thermos. He poured himself a thermos of coffee and started eating an egg. A few moments later, Tony came up to stand next to him. He grabbed the coffee pot and poured coffee into the thermos before turning to Tim.
"So, did you get any sleep last night?" he asked Tim.
Tim shook his head. "No, I still couldn't sleep."
"Why not?" Tony asked.
Tim shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know, I just couldn't sleep. Too many things going through my head, I guess." Tim looked at his watch, not really wanting to explain what exactly was going through his mind. "We need to leave for work soon."
Tony looked at his watch. "Yeah, looks like it. Well, let's go then." he picked up his thermos and walked to the couch and grabbed his jacket. Tim nodded and picked up his own thermos and finished the last of his egg before going into his room and grabbing his work bag. Then they both headed out the door, Tim making sure to lock, and down to the parking lot.
Tim headed to his car and Tony headed to his. They had decided that they would continue to take separate cars to help keep suspicions low. Tim waited for Tony to pull out first before he followed. They drove to NCIS with hardly any problem until they got a few blocks from the building.
As Tim stopped behind Tony's car at the traffic lights, he glanced out of his door window and froze, his heart beating wildly in his chest. He recognized the man standing at the corner of the intersection, waiting to cross. He remembered that face sneering at him, the voice coming out of its mouth whispering its hatred of cops, just before a fist connected with his stomach.
Why was he standing here? Was he spying on him again? Is that how they do it? No, maybe he's just there cuz he's walking somewhere. He couldn't possibly be following him. His suspicions turned true when the guy turned his head in Tim's direction, met his eyes and glared at him. Tim swallowed hard, trying to keep himself calm. If he didn't stay calm, the guy would get suspicious and think he told someone, which he had.
When the light finally turned green, Tim couldn't take it anymore. He sped down the street, swerving around Tony and headed straight to NCIS, not stopping until he got to the gate. "Morning, Nathan." He said breathlessly.
Nathan stared at him in surprise before nodding his head. "Good morning, Agent McGee. Nice day?" he asked, scanning Tim's ID and opening the gate.
Tim nodded, taking his ID back. "Yeah, so far." He said, trying to keep the sarcasm from his voice. Then he drove through the gate and parked in an available space. He got out of his car and leaned against it, resting his forehead on the window frame. 'Deep breaths, Tim. Relax.' He told himself.
Tony pulled up beside him and got out of his car. "You alright?" he asked, coming to stand next to him. "You took off like Death himself was behind you. What happened?"
Tim took a shaky breath and turned to Tony. He couldn't take it anymore. He had to tell him. He had to tell someone or he was sure he would go insane. Tim shook his head, not sure what to say.
Tony seemed to find that irritating, thinking Tim was trying to avoid the question. "Oh, before I forget, Gibbs called. He said when we get here, you need to go into the interrogation room and refix the computer. He said that he tried it last night and it wouldn't even turn on. So let's go." He grabbed Tim's arm and dragged him into the building and over to the elevator.
"Tony, wait, I need to talk to Ducky real quick." Tim said, trying to pull his arm out of Tony's grip.
"It can wait, Probie." Tony said, not letting go. He pulled Tim into the elevator and waited until they got to their floor before dragging him through their office space, passing a startled looking Ziva.
"Tony? McGee? Tony, where are you taking McGee?" Ziva asked, standing up and walking toward them.
Tony turned. "McGee needs to fix the computer again in the interrogation room." He said, giving her a look that said there was more.
Ziva took the clue and followed them down the hall to the interrogation room. When they entered, Tony shoved Tim into the room. "Start setting up, McGee. You have a job to do."
Without a word, Tim pulled his laptop out of his bag and set it on the table next to the computer he was supposed to 'fix'. Then he turned the music on and adjusted the volume before turning back around. Tony stood leaning against the two way window and Tim sat in the computer chair facing him. Ziva stood leaning against the doorframe, waiting to see what would happen.
"So, what's going on? I know there's more than what you told us, a lot more." Tony said. "I've tried to be patient, McGee, and so has everyone else. But you're getting sick. You were practically puking your stomach out yesterday; you were puking so much, you had nothing left to puke up in that alley. I saw the way Abby looked at you in the lab and the way you avoided looking at the body, not to mention the way you looked when you found out about the dead officers in the first place. And then your constant lack of sleep, followed by your actions today, when you, of all people, went racing right past me like a madman. You never speed. So, spill."
Tim sighed and glanced at the ground. What should he say? He didn't want to tell them everything, but if he didn't tell them something, Abby would definitely try to get him to explain everything. If he confided in Tony and Ziva, maybe they could help him come up with something to tell Abby without telling her the truth. He knew she would be extremely upset if she knew anything about this. He had no other choice; he was going to tell them. He couldn't take it anymore.
"I'm waiting, McGee. You're not getting out of explaining this." Tony said.
Tim sighed again and stood up, still not looking at them. Carefully, he shrugged out of his jacket, and then started unbuttoning his shirt.
Tony's eyes widened. "Uh, McGee, I didn't ask you to strip. What are you doing?" He turned to Ziva, who shared an equally confused look.
Tim paused and glared at him. "Just shut up. This is hard enough as it is. You asked for an explanation and I'm going to give it to you, but just shut up and let me do it my way."
Tony looked at him in surprise, and then shrugged. "Okay."
Tim continued to unbutton his shirt and then opened it and showed them his bare skin. Tony stood up straight and stared at Tim's discolored skin. Ziva cursed in Arabic. His ribs and stomach were covered in black, blue, and dark purple blotches, with his rib area looking abnormally swollen and black. Then Tim turned around and let his shirt drop to the ground next to his jacket. Tony swore when he saw Tim's back, more blotches spread out around the hardly visible pale skin.
"What the hell happened to you?" Tony asked when he could speak again.
Tim turned back around to face Tony and Ziva, not looking at either of them. "They did this. They did this to me on Sunday, while I was on my way home from that new bakery down the street from my apartment. You know the one that the lieutenant's body was found in?"
"Yeah, I know which one." Tony said quietly.
Tim nodded, still refusing to look at them. He didn't want to see it; he didn't want to see the looks of horror and pity that he knew were in their eyes. He knew he would break if he saw those expressions on the faces that were supposed to be strong at all times. "They dragged me behind an alley half way to my apartment and took off my clothes before they started punching and kicking me. For some reason, they didn't do anything to my face. I don't know if it was on purpose or if they didn't realize it." He purposefully left out the other part, the part he never wanted to reveal to anyone.
Ziva took a step forward and gently placed the tip of her fingers on one of the bruises on his ribs. Tim flinched but didn't pull away. Carefully, Ziva bent down and started examining his ribs. Then she looked up at him. "McGee, these ribs look broken."
Tim shrugged, not meeting her eyes. "I'm fine. They've started healing on their own."
"But they don't look like they've healed properly." Ziva said. She gently pressed on one of the bruises and Tim hissed in pain, shifting away from her. "No, they haven't healed the way they're supposed to. Perhaps we should get you to a doctor."
Tim shifted his gaze to her and shook his head. "No, if I go to the hospital, they'll know. They'll find out that I told and even if they don't find out that I told you guys, the doctors will definitely find out." Not to mention that if he went, the doctors will also find out about the other issue, and that he could not allow. "I'm fine. If it starts to hurt again, then I'll go."
Ziva looked like she wanted to argue but decided against it. "Alright, but you better tell someone when it hurts or else I'm telling Gibbs and he will drag you to the doctor himself."
Yeah, that sounded like something Gibbs would do. "Fine." Tim said reluctantly.
Finally Tony spoke up. "You know we're going to have to show this to Gibbs, right?"
Tim's eyes widened in shock. Before he could protest, Tony left the room, returning moments later with Gibbs.
Gibbs entered the room and froze, catching sight of Tim and his discolored torso. Then he turned to Tony, who closed the door and leaned against it, then at Ziva, still checking over his bruises, and finally looked at Tim, meeting his eyes. "How?" Was all he asked.
Quickly, he retold Gibbs what he had told Tony and Ziva, finishing with, "Some of it looks worse than it is, like my ribs."
Without a word, Gibbs turned and left the room. The others stared at each other for a moment before Gibbs returned with Ducky. "My word." Ducky whispered. Quickly, he strode over to Tim and placed an expert hand on his ribs, pressing gently. Tim flinched again. "These ribs don't look like they healed properly at all. In fact, they rather feel out of place, as if they had been broken and shifted around."
Gibbs went up to the side of Tim and slapped the back of his head. "Why didn't you go to a doctor when they first broke?"
Tim just shrugged, not wanting to look at anyone. He wished he could melt into the floor; wished the floor would open up into an abyss and swallow him whole. But he knew that even if it did, Gibbs wouldn't let him get away. 'This was a bad idea. I never should have told them.' He thought to himself.
"What should we do, boss?" Tony asked, trying to save McGee before Gibbs killed him for his stupidity. "We can't take him to a doctor. If we do, they will find out and who knows what they'll do."
Before Gibbs could answer, Tim spoke again. "There's more." Gibbs looked at him sharply. He could feel everyone staring at him as he stared at the floor. "The ones who did this, they're the same ones who killed Officer Malloy and Lieutenant Leme. One guy, I think he was their leader or something, he told me that they hated cops. They knew I was with NCIS. I don't know how, but they did. I don't think they are picky about which cops, I think to them everyone who is an officer of some kind is considered a cop. They even wore shirts that said 'Down With America'.
"Wait a minute, I think I'm confused." Said Tony.
"You think?" Ziva asked.
"Well, what I mean is, if these guys are the same ones who killed the other two officers, why didn't they kill you? No offense or anything, I'm just saying." Tony said, ignoring Ziva's comment.
"And according to the reports, both of them were raped and beaten." Gibbs said, staring at Tim's face when he said the word.
Tim looked away and shrugged. "I don't know why, but they didn't kill me. I think they did that on purpose, though."
"Well, whatever the case, it makes sense now why they're following you so much." Tony said. "So what are we doing, boss?"
Gibbs finally tore his gaze from Tim and looked at Tony. "The agenda stays the same. We keep an eye on McGee, we find the bastards who did this, and we bring them down."
Ziva nodded in full agreement. "I agree. And I think the best way to start should be to continue looking at the case with the dead bodies. It's the safest way to find clues without drawing suspicion to McGee."
"Agreed." Gibbs said. Then he glanced around the room, eyes lingering on Tim. "Everyone back to work." Then he left the room.
As everyone else started leaving the room after Gibbs, Ducky bent down, picked up Tim's shirt and handed it to him. As Tim reached for it, Ducky leaned into him and whispered, "You do realize that your ribs could have healed improperly and that in order to fix them, the doctors are going to have to re-break them, which will be a painful process, whether you're awake or not when they do it."
Tim nodded, putting his shirt back on and buttoning it back up. "I know, but right now, I'm willing to deal with that." He whispered back.
Ducky nodded and bent down again to pick up and hand Tim his jacket. "Good, as long as you realize that." Then he and Tim followed the others out the door.
The rest of the morning, and part of the afternoon was spent without much happening. It wasn't until around three o'clock that anything interesting happened. Gibbs got a call and, after several moments of talking on the phone, told the others that there was another body.
"A marine officer, William Reece, was found dead in an abandoned storage shed at the pier just now." Gibbs said.
Tim, computers being his specialty, quickly brought up William Reece's file. The picture and standard information popped up on the screen between his and Tony's desks. "William Reece, retired marine officer, age 67." Tim said. Now that everyone knew the vast majority of what had happened to him, he didn't feel so uncomfortable anymore.
"He was retired?" Tony asked. "Why would they go after a retired marine?"
"Maybe they don't care who it is, as long as it is a cop of some kind." Ziva suggested. "They made that pretty clear by attacking two different types of officers already."
"We'll worry about it later. Let's go." Gibbs said, grabbing his stuff. The others grabbed their things and headed out.
When they reached the crime scene, Tim was able to work a bit better, still avoiding the body, but able to work diligently with gathering evidence. They worked at a slow pace, making sure they got everything that could possibly be considered evidence. After they had finished, Ducky and Palmer took the body away and everyone returned to NCIS. No one spoke much, not knowing how much to say without making it obvious that they had gotten the information from Tim.
They continued to work on their reports for their current case until well into the night. After finally finishing his papers, Tim stood up and stretched. "I'm going to head home, you guys. I'll see you tomorrow."
Tony stood up. "Hang on, I'll go with you. I just finished right now." He placed his papers in a folder and placed it in a drawer. Then he grabbed his keys and his bag and headed with Tim to the elevator. "See you tomorrow, Ziva."
Tim and Tony entered the elevator and waited for it to reach the main floor before continuing on to the parking lot. Tim got to his car and pulled out of his parking space, and then headed out of the parking lot. "See you tomorrow, Nathan." Tim said, handing his ID to him to scan.
"Good night, Agent McGee." Nathan said, handing him back his ID and opening the gate.
Tim drove through and looked in the rearview mirror as Tony stopped and handed Nathan his ID. Tim continued to drive down the street, going a little under the speed limit to give Tony a chance to catch up. When he saw Tony's car I his mirror, he continued on in the posted speed limit. As he drove, he glanced in his rearview mirror again to see blue and red flashing lights behind Tony's car. He glanced at his speedometer. He was going the speed limit and Tony was behind him, meaning he had to go the speed limit, too. So why was he getting pulled over?
Tim pulled over a few feet in front of Tony and waited. He waited and watched the officer walk up to Tony's car and spoke with him when his cell phone rang. Figuring it was okay since he wasn't driving at the moment, Tim answered it. It was Tony.
"Hey, McGee, keep going, I'll meet you in a minute. It's nothing big." Tony said. "I'm almost finished."
"Okay." Tim said. Then he hung up and drove off, heading to his apartment building and hoping Tony wouldn't take too long. He said he was almost finished. Tim continued on until he reached his apartment's parking lot. As he pulled into a parking space, pulled his keys out of the ignition and placed them in his pocket, he glanced over his shoulder but Tony still hadn't caught up with him. He was just wondering where Tony could have gotten to when his door was yanked open and arms reached in and grabbed him, placing a hand over his mouth and pulling him from the car.
As he struggled, a voice whispered in his ear. "You just couldn't keep your mouth shut, could you, cop?" Tim froze, his body turning cold as though his blood had turned to ice. Panic and fear overwhelmed him and he let out a muffled whimper as several arms grabbed and lifted him, carrying him away from his car. Tim struggled even harder to get free, at the same time searching for any sign of Tony, but he knew it was hopeless. They had caught him and they weren't going to let him go. And Tony was nowhere to be seen.
They traveled a short distance before throwing him on the ground. Before he could get his bearings, a sharp pain surged through his body, causing him to scream in pain as he felt his ribs rebreak from a kick. Several more kicks and punches rained on him, hitting his stomach, ribs, back, legs, and face, before he blacked out.
When Tim finally came to, he noticed three things. One: it was dark; Two: he was naked; Three: he was alone. Taking a deep shaky breath, he tried to push himself into a sitting position but stopped, screaming, as his entire body erupted in a searing pain. He dropped back down onto his stomach, waiting for the pain to subside, before trying again, slower this time. The pain came again but this time it was more bearable. Pushing himself off the ground a bit and he glanced around him, his gaze landed on something shiny near a low wall. Reaching over and grabbing it, he found that it was his keys.
Then, carefully and slowly, he literally dragged himself across the parking lot into the apartment building, sliding himself along the floor to the elevator. It took him what seemed like hours to reach up and push the button for the elevator. His head was spinning when the elevator car finally arrived. He dragged himself inside and spent ten whole minutes trying to push the button to his floor before collapsing back on the ground, breathing painfully heavy. When the doors finally opened on his floor, he dragged himself down the hall to his apartment, thankfully not meeting anyone along the way.
Painfully slow, he stuck his keys in the lock and unlocked his door, pushing it open and crawling through. His head throbbing painfully as he wondered again what had happened to Tony, he used the last of his strength to kick his front door shut, not bothering or even thinking of pulling his key out of the doorknob, before slipping back into oblivion once more.
A/N: so what did you guys think? Kind of slow in some parts but otherwise it wasn't so bad, I think. Please read and review and let me know what you think and if I should keep writing.