Chapter 2

Consciousness returned ever so slowly and Tim regretted his increased awareness. His head ached and he felt blood trickling down past his ear. As he opened his eyes, he realized that he was blindfolded and that he was tied to a chair.

"Hello? Is anyone there?" That probably wasn't the best way to ascertain his situation, but he couldn't think of anything else.

No answer. And yet, as he became more focused, he could sense there was someone in the room with him. But he could also tell by the sound of his voice that he was no longer in his apartment. The room was much bigger and more empty... except for that person standing near him. He decided to try again.

"Hello?"

The blow came out of nowhere and knocked the chair to which Tim was tied to the floor. Unable to stop the fall, he hit the floor hard.

"Don't speak unless I tell you to do so." The voice was soft and menacing.

"Where am I? What do you want?"

This time, his captor kicked him in the stomach. "I ask the questions."

There was silence again for a time. Then, Tim was jerked upright again. Before he could think the man began beating him without mercy. The chair was continually pushed up against the wall; if it hadn't been, Tim would have been on the floor more than once. Finally, the man stepped back leaving him gasping for breath and groaning. He heard vague whispers, but couldn't gather his thoughts enough to try and listen in.

"Are we set up?"

"Give me five more minutes."

"You have two."

"Fine."

The man approached Tim again and cut him loose from the chair, letting him slump to the floor. He tied his hands and feet, kicked him a few more times and then left him lying on the ground.

"Done."

"Good. Start recording."

"Good to go."

"Let's put on a great performance, Probie. We don't want to disappoint our public."

The man began to kick and punch McGee again. Then, he pulled him up by his hands which were tied behind his back and hooked the bindings to a hook on the wall. The pain was excruciating and Tim began to scream, trying to relieve the pressure on his shoulders. The man continued to beat him. Pain seemed to come from every position. Finally, the beating stopped, but the man left him hanging there. Tim begged for relief, for help. He had no idea why this was happening. What did they want?

"Why are you doing this?" he screamed.

Silence. Finally, the man knocked his head back against the wall, knocking him out again. He turned back to his companion. "Did you get enough?"

"I got plenty. I'm copying it now."

"Good. I want it ready to go before I have the site set up."

"The copies will be done in 20 minutes. Are you going to leave him there?"

"For now."

"Okay. Will he do what we want?"

"If he wants to live, he will."

"He may not even realize what he has, you know."

"It's possible, but he's smart enough that he'd figure it out eventually."

"What's to keep him from figuring it out when you have him breaking into his own files?"

"There's no reason to keep him alive once we have what we want. The videos should keep NCIS from thinking about why we took him and focused on getting him back. They won't notice he's gone until Monday anyway."

They left Tim there and one left to mail the videos to the members of NCIS.