Chapter 12

"What am I being charged with? I have a right to know." Shawn was shouting at the mirror, knowing that someone was probably watching him.

Gibbs sat in silence, watching the man on the other side of the glass.

"What are you waiting for, boss?" Tony asked.

"I'm waiting until I know I won't kill him once I walk in the room."

"Would you like me to start?"

"No." Gibbs got up and left observation. Tony watched with apprehension as Gibbs entered the room.

"Sit down," he said.

"No! I have a right to know why I'm being held. If you aren't charging me with anything then I want to leave."

Gibbs walked up to the supposed journalist, mere inches from his face, and repeated, "Sit down."

He sat down.

"Thank you."

"What am I charged with?"

"For now? You're a terrorist."

"What? You're crazy. I'm leaving." Shawn stood up again and started toward the door. However, before he'd gone two steps, Gibbs grabbed him by the back of his shirt and forced him back into the seat.

"You do not move until I tell you to."

"This is harassment."

"You'd better believe it. Consider yourself lucky that I'm not doing to you what you helped your partner do to Agent McGee."

"What are you talking about?"

"You kidnaped a federal agent, stole personal data from a federal agency, and aided in the torture of a federal agent in order to extract information on current NCIS cases. You won't see the light of day for years... if you live that long."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Don't you? Do you think your partner will back you up when we find our agent? He'll leave you to rot and I'll be more than happy to help if you don't make yourself useful."

"I have nothing to say."

For a full minute, Gibbs said nothing. He simply stared at Shawn. To his credit, Shawn held his gaze, almost impudently, never looking away. "Are you sure?"

Suddenly, Shawn's face went from confused to sly. "What? Can't you find him on your own?"

Gibbs' eyes hardened. "Where is Agent McGee?"

"I don't know, Gibbs. Why don't you ask him?" he sneered.

Gibbs stood and walked away. As he reached the door, Shawn added, "You'll be too late even if you do find him. He'll see you coming and your agent will be dead!"

Gibbs stopped. He walked back to Shawn, picked him up and slammed him against the wall. Some of the confidence faded from Shawn's face. "You'd better hope not because if McGee dies, you'll be next." He let go and left the room.

"Great restraint, boss."

Gibbs didn't answer. Tony followed him to the lab.

"What if his partner calls the cell phone we found on him? We could trace the call from there couldn't we?"

"Maybe. Abby, do you have anything?"

"Maybe. The man we're looking for might be Darius Robertson."

"Might be?"

"McGee tried to give some information over the webcam. He got the file number wrong, but this Robertson is the only hit I have so far. He was named as a person of suspicion by the FBI, possible connections to arms smuggling, but nothing solid so far. They'd been watching him, but he fell off the grid three years ago."

"What about our suspect in custody?"

Tony answered, "Ziva's running the photo and prints through the database as we speak. There was nothing in his car but computer parts. Nothing complete."

Ziva came into the lab. "His name is Leonard Bourdan. Dishonorably discharged from the Navy ten years ago for theft. He spent three years in prison. Guess who one of his bunk mates was."

Tony hazarded a guess. "Lieutenant Dobson?"

"Exactly."

"Do you have a current address?"

"Yes."

"Well?"

"On it, boss," Tony said. He and Ziva left

"Well?"

"What, Tony?"

"What do you think?"

"I think that if we find McGee at all, we'll be lucky. If we find him alive..." she trailed off.

"Then, why are you working so hard to find him?"

"It's my job, Tony. Besides, McGee doesn't deserve this."

"Hey, look at that." Tony had a sudden idea hit him.

"What?"

"Those warehouses over there. How close are we to Bourdan's place?"

"About three blocks. Come on, Tony. No one would be dumb enough to park themselves that close to their home."

"How dumb would it be? Would you expect someone to do it?"

"No."

"Then, it's not so dumb, is it. Besides, the phone call he made to Jack was from this area."

"He lives around here. We're supposed to be investigating the leads we actually have, not the wild... goose chases."

"Good job, Ziva. You got the idiom right. What does it hurt to look? We stop over on the way."

"Gibbs won't be happy."

"I'll tell him myself." Tony pulled out his cell phone and looked at Ziva. She sighed and turned into the abandoned lot. "Boss, there are some warehouses near Bourdan's place that look promising. We're going to stop there on the way. It's on me, boss. Okay, twenty minutes."

"This is foolish, Tony. Why bother?"

"Because at Bourdan's place, we're likely to find information about Bourdan. Maybe if we're lucky, we'll get a hint of where they've stashed McGee. On the other hand, these warehouses will either have nothing or McGee will be there. There's a lot more to gain."

"And a lot more to lose."

"We have to take risks sometimes, Ziva. I'm willing to risk it."

"Do you think McGee is?"

Tony froze, just briefly. "If we find him, then yes. If not, he'd hardly blame me for trying. Let's go, we're wasting our twenty minutes."

Twenty minutes later, they'd found nothing. The warehouses were all empty.

"And the verdict is nothing. We've wasted twenty minutes."

"Come on, there's only one more. Let's look." Tony sounded less confident and more of the worry he'd been feeling crept out in his voice.

Ziva put her hand on Tony's shoulder. "Tony, I want to find him, too. It might have been a good idea, but it didn't pan out. Let's just get going."

He shook her off. "No. One more." He strode off toward the last warehouse. Ziva sighed and followed.

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"You're taking too long, Probie. You wouldn't be trying to get me caught, would you?"

"No, no. I'm trying..."

"Trying's not good enough." Robertson backhanded Tim across the face. "I'm on a schedule, Probie. You don't help me, you die."

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"Wait. Did you hear something, Ziva?"

"Like what?"

"I'm not sure."

"Tony..."

"I mean it. Come on."

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Robertson shoved over the chair in frustration at Tim's lack of progress. "Worthless! You're worthless, Probie. Why did I ever think you could be of use? Why did they even give you a job at NCIS? You can't do anything right."

"You're right. You're right. Please, no more."

"You don't deserve mercy." Robertson kicked him hard in the stomach. Still bound to the chair, McGee couldn't even move to stave off the attack. "Do you think you deserve mercy?"

"No!" Tim screamed.

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"That was McGee. I'm sure of it."

"You're right." Ziva pulled out her phone and called it in. "Gibbs, we've found McGee. We're heading in now. Yes, in Tony's warehouses. Right."

"Let's go."

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Tim's eyes were nearly swollen shut. Every muscle screamed in pain. He tried to lay limply and let the end come. Suddenly, the blows stopped. He heard a gunshot but barely flinched as a bullet struck the ground near him. There were more shots and then a door slammed and he heard the sound of running feet. Then there was silence. He didn't move. He felt hands on the ropes binding him to the chair. He winced as the ropes came loose. Rather than crumpling into a heap on the ground, the same hands lowered him gently, but he cried out as the hands touched his broken arm.

"It's alright, McGee. Don't worry. Help's on the way." The voice was vaguely familiar, but Tim couldn't place it. It was just another ploy.

"No, please. Not anymore. I can't do it. I can't." He felt the hands again and tried to move away. "No more! Don't hurt me anymore!"

"McGee, it's okay. It's Tony."

Tim tried to open his black eyes. He saw a blurry shape in front of him. He tried to stand, but his limbs wouldn't respond. He backed away until he hit the wall. "I tried. I tried. I can't do anything right," he whispered. After a while, he sensed someone else was there. He looked toward the other shape, panicked and confused and pushed himself hard against the wall, trying to get away.

"McGee. The ambulance will be here soon. Just relax."

"Boss?"

"Yes, McGee."

Tim started weeping. "I'm sorry, boss. I didn't want to help him. I tried to stop, but I couldn't. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

Gibbs reached out and touched Tim's shoulder. "It's alright, Tim. You didn't do anything wrong."

Like a child needing reassurance, McGee reached out blindly. "You're not mad?" he asked fearfully.

Without losing a beat, Gibbs took his hand and squeezed it gently. "No, Tim. I'm not mad. I'm glad you're safe."

Finally reassured, Tim sagged and his hand dropped. Gibbs eased him carefully to the floor.

"Is he okay, boss?"

"Just asleep. He probably needs it." Gibbs' voice was oddly gentle. Ziva and Tony exchanged glances but didn't say anything.

The ambulance came a short time later. Without further ado, the EMTs assessed McGee's injuries, temporarily set the bones in his arm and loaded him in the ambulance. Gibbs got in with them and Tony and Ziva followed behind.

"Who's going to tell him that the guy got away?"

"Gibbs or McGee?"

"Either."

"I found him. You break the bad news."

"Thanks, Tony," Ziva said sarcastically.