A/N: Here's a good long chapter for you. Chapter 4 may take two weeks. Sorry about that. Things are busy, and I have a one shot tugging. Experience has taught me that it's important to get it out before I can really imagine chapter 4 in the way I want. Thanks for your patience! Love hearing from you, Sheila

The Fear Game

Chapter 3

"I'm going to let you have him. I'm just backup," Fornell said as they looked at Darrell Arnold through the two-way mirror. "I want him. No doubt about that, but I don't have as much at stake right now."

Gibbs nodded, his eyes riveted on Arnold.

"By all rights, neither one of you should be in there," growled Vance. "It's too personal."

"It's been four hours since the last call. There's no reason to keep McGee alive this long. We have to accept the truth of that," Gibbs said, his voice monotone.

Fornell looked at Vance and shook his head. "Jethro, killing a handcuffed prisoner is not your style. I'd hate to have to visit you in prison."

He gave a perfunctory shake of his head. "There's more at stake than just recovering McGee. Still another Arnold out there. The bomb maker. Can't kill one Arnold when the bomb maker is out there."

"Who are you trying to convince, Gibbs?"

"Me," he mumbled and turned to Fornell. "Your job is crowd control. Nothing more. Got it?"

Fornell rolled his eyes. "Right. Let's go."

…..

Tony sat in his car under a streetlight in the late evening and watched the team emerge from the building and flash him the all clear. He cursed and reached for his phone. "What's next, Bishop?"

"That's it, Tony. We've covered all the vectors."

"Where's Abby? Put the phone on speaker."

"Hey Tony." Abby's voice was soft and sad.

"Okay people, what did we get wrong?! Is the search area not big enough? Do we need to start on residences? What the hell are we missing?"

"I don't know," Ellie answered.

"That's not an answer, Bishop! Abby, were you wrong about the foghorn?"

"No," she answered.

"Maybe, they moved him," said Ellie.

"There is no reason to move him! They needed him for one thing. That's all. You're an analyst, Bishop. Analyze, dammit!"

"Tony, this isn't helping." Abby's sadness was palpable.

Tony took a breath. "We have to think outside the box, people. Between us, we have enough frickin' brains to cure cancer. Think!"

There was a long silence and then Abby said, "Oh my God, Ellie. You did it!"

"What!?"

"We'll call you back!" The phone went dead. Tony had to restrain himself from throwing it at the windshield.

His walkie talkie sounded. "DiNozzo, do you have a vector for us? Over."

Tony grabbed it. "Everyone, hold your position! Over."

His phone rang and he grabbed it. "Abby?!"

"She's a genius, Tony."

"Talk!"

"All she did was google foghorn and D.C. wharf district and there it was. There is a restaurant called The Trawler. They blow an old foghorn at the top of every hour. The call between McGee and Diane happened right at 3 p.m."

"Is it in the 20 block radius?"

"Yeah. We're calculating new vectors right now. It's in an area we abandoned when we focused closer to the water. I'm sorry, Tony. I didn't think outside the box."

"None of us did."

"If you don't find him alive…" Her voice broke.

"Don't do this, Abby. I need you right now."

Bishop came on the phone. "We have new coordinates for the teams!"

"Good job, probie!"

He winced as he hung up. She was a probie sure enough, but she wasn't the probie. He shook it off and picked up the walkie talkie.

…

"Tell me about him, this McGee you lost," Darrell Arnold drawled. "Two hours in the same room with you and I can say with some certainty that he probably needed a mental health break. You'll undoubtedly find him holed up somewhere trying to figure out how to escape you."

"So you're just an innocent guy in all this. You just show up at Charley's for a happy hour. Nothing more."

Darrell gestured at Fornell. "The chipmunk over there has it in for me. He railroads my brother, and he knows I got the proof."

Fornell snorted. "Great. Let's get you over to the U.S. attorney so you can take me down."

Gibbs slapped the table. "Enough! I've had it up to here with this verbal ping pong! You're not that good at it!"

Fornell took a breath and said slowly, "Handcuffed. Prisoner."

Gibbs ignored him and leaned in toward Arnold. "Let me tell what's going to happen. You kidnapped a federal agent. You tortured him. Most likely had him killed. Every resource in our so-called "machine" is going to focus in on the truth of that."

Darrell glared back at him silently.

"You're going to prison. Luckily, it's not going to be a long sentence because you're going to have a date with a needle. Just like Chuck. 23 hours a day in a cold, dark cell. A shower once a week. No social interaction with anyone but a couple of guards who think you're an animal. You're a dead man, and you'll just be sitting and waiting, and struggling to keep up the smart guy façade while everything in your brain tells you that you fucked up big time."

He shook his head. "You can't scare-"

Gibbs slapped the table again. "I'm looking into your eyes and the truth is that I am scaring you! The "machine" is big and we don't like it when you kill our people. We are very focused right now. You're a dead man, Darrell. How does that feel?"

"I want a lawyer," he hissed.

"Terrorists don't get lawyers especially when they withhold vital information," Fornell said. "We have a missing agent. Plus, there is the problem of Winston. Where is little brother? He might not be as mean as you, but he's more dangerous. He can't keep his dirty little hands off the C4. I bet he lives to watch the explosion; to see the fruits of his labor."

"I haven't talked to Winston in months."

Gibbs leaned back. "Tobias, you said Darrell here was the smart Arnold. If that's the case, the rest of this family must still be counting with their fingers and toes. It's one bad lie after another."

Fornell sighed. "He's right, Darrell. You're in the best bargaining position right now that you are ever going to have. To let this moment pass without working with us is pure idiocy. Looks like mama Arnold raised a fool."

Darrell shifted in his seat. "I can't be held responsible for things Winston does."

"Exactly, Darrell! Now, we're talking."

Darrell worried his lip. "Winston called me today. Wanted me to meet him somewhere."

"Where?!" Gibbs glared.

"Get a U.S. Attorney in here. One authorized to make deals. Nothing happens until then."

…..

Abby sat and watched Ellie as she sent out vectors to teams rapid fire. Her gut was swollen with fear. It pushed up into her throat, and talking was becoming increasingly complicated.

Ellie took her headset off and looked at her. "I got a feeling about this. We're close."

Abby nodded, unable to meet her eyes.

Bishop was new but she'd been there long enough to see how McGee and Abby worked together like they were two parts of a whole. "I'm sorry, Abby. I know you two are close."

"Yeah."

"How long have you known him?"

"Forever," she whispered.

"He's a good guy. I haven't been here that long, but he's really a good person." She hesitated for a moment, but then placed her hand on Abby's.

Abby stiffened and pulled away. "Not now, Ellie. Let's find him and then we'll talk about what he means to me."

…

"What's the address?"

Darrell looked up. "I'm still reading the agreement. It takes a little-"

Gibbs slapped the table and leaned toward him. "This agreement hinges on your cooperation! Now!"

Darrell picked up a pen, his mouth twitching. "I'm all about cooperation." He leaned over and signed where the JAG and the US Attorneys in the room had told him.

"Warehouse at 1800 39th Av. S. Winston told me to meet him on the second floor. I never went. If I had, I could have prevented this whole thing. I will always regret that decision."

Gibbs flipped his phone open. "Tony, I have an address. Warehouse at 1800 39th Av. S…You got that?...Now, listen. You got to be careful. Could be a setup…"

Fornell nodded. "That might be the endgame, Jethro. Get a bunch of agents in a warehouse and blow it sky high. It's got me worried."

Gibbs stared at him for a moment before returning to Tony. "Listen to me, Tony. Don't go in. Just put it under surveillance. I'm calling the bomb squad….It's not going to take that long. 60 minutes tops!…No! You'll wait. We don't know if the place is rigged. You wait! Hear me?!...I'll be there in 30…" Gibbs closed his eyes and softened his voice. "Tony, stop it. You and I, we can't afford unrealistic expectations like that. I'll be there soon."

Darrell nodded. "I hope you find your man in good shape."

"Go to hell!" Gibbs grabbed his coat and headed for the door.

…

Tony was breathing like a locomotive when he pushed through the door. He waited for a moment but there was nothing. No noise. No explosion. He leaned against the wall, a gun in one hand and a large flashlight in the other.

The door moved again and he trained his gun on it. Dorneget came through. Tony dropped the aim of his gun. "What the hell, Dorneget!? Are you stupid? I was very clear about going in alone."

Ned shook his head. "I never heard a worse plan. I know I'm not a genius like everyone else on your team, but I know how to perform in the field, and this plan is stupid."

"Gibbs is going to be here in 15 minutes. You wait for him. Do what he says."

"Someone needs to have your back," Ned hissed.

"No! Get out!"

"It's dark as hell in here. Let me hit the lights."

"No!" Tony lunged at him. "If this place is rigged, then it's probably in the fuse box."

"Okay. Okay." Dorneget stepped back. "Sorry. Let's just go out and wait for Gibbs. It's only a few more minutes."

Tony shook his head. "No way. I wait and the bomb squad takes over. Those old ladies will be sweeping things all night before anyone is allowed in. I can't wait that long."

Ned nodded. "Okay. But I still got your back."

"From the bottom of the stairs here, Ned. That's the best I can allow."

"Tony-"

"Shut up and wait here!" Tony started up the stairs slowly, training his light everywhere for possible trip wires.

His headset erupted in static. Gibbs' voice sounded. "Tony! You have everyone in place?"

Tony licked his lips. "Yeah."

"Tell me you're not in that building."

Tony hesitated on the step for a moment, and then reached over with his gun hand and turned off the audio. Ned shined a light up at him and shook his head.

Tony ignored him and kept climbing. The top of the stairs opened up into a loft area, and DiNozzo was relieved he didn't have to deal with another door. He took a breath at the top of the stairs and stepped onto the worn floor. It was a large space with high ceilings. Tall windows let in some moonlight, and for this he was grateful.

"Tony!" Ned hissed.

DiNozzo looked down at him once more and shook his head. He took another step and slowly trained the light around the room. He didn't see it the first time he circled, but then he caught it. It was a chair in the far corner with a figure slumped in it. He swallowed and croaked, "Tim?"

The figure didn't move. "Tim!"

Still nothing. Fear flooded through him. Maybe, Gibbs was right. He should back off. He had no interest in seeing what they'd done to him. Then he remembered what Gibbs said about McGee deserving a friendly face and he slowly moved forward.

The figure was slumped forward in the chair, and his light could pick up the flash of metallic duct tape wound around his middle.

"I'm sorry, Tim," he whispered. "God, I wish we could've done more. I really do."

His eyes teared but it was dark and he was alone so he didn't care what the world thought. He was maybe fifty feet away when his light caught the works of the bomb, and he sucked in breath. The bastards had wired him.

He opened his audio. "Boss? Boss?"

Audio crackled. "Tony! You need to get out of there!"

"I've located him. Second floor. Southwest corner. Tied to a chair. Bomb wired to his middle."

"Back off! Don't get any closer, Tony!"

Tony felt young. He wanted Gibbs to make this decision. Let the bomb squad do their work. He didn't want to see or know anymore.

"Tony!?"

"I hear you, Boss," Tony said clearly. He got ready to slowly back away when something stirred in his line of sight. He crouched and shined the light around McGee, sure that Winston Arnold was hiding nearby.

"Tony?" Gibbs sounded scared.

The movement happened again and Tony's heart skipped a beat. The movement was on the chair. McGee's head stirred. "Tim? Tim!"

A swollen, deeply colored face rose. Tony narrowed his eyes. This couldn't possibly be his probie. "Tim?"

"Tony." It was less a voice and more a hissing sound.

"Oh God! Tim! I'm here!"

"Tony?!" His headset shouted.

"He's alive, Boss! He's alive!"

There was a pause, and then Gibbs spoke in a low voice. "Don't move, Tony. Just stay where you are. It's a trap. It has to be a trap."

McGee tried to pull at his restraints and Tony's head jerked. "Tim, stay still. Stay still. Boss, he's trying to move around."

"I'm here. You just wait."

Tony struggled to settle his breathing. He heard rapid footsteps and he knew that Gibbs was throwing caution to the wind. Tony turned and flashed his light as Gibbs popped off the stairs. "Get that light out of my face, DiNozzo."

"Take it slow, Boss."

Gibbs ignored him. "Put the light on Tim. I want to see him."

Tony shined it in McGee's direction and Gibbs caught sight of his badly beaten face. "Good job, Tim! You hung in there. I should've known."

McGee lifted his head. "Is this real, Boss? Am I really alive?"

"Damn straight, Probie," Tony said.

"I screwed up, Boss," his voice cracked. "They have Diane."

"No, they don't, Tim. She's safe at NCIS."

"No, I didn't warn her. I had the chance and I didn't warn her," he said, chest heaving.

"He's getting agitated, Boss."

"McGee, listen to me. I'm in charge now. You do everything I say. Got it?"

"Okay."

"Relax. We're going to fix this. Just relax."

McGee's breathing slowed. Gibbs turned to Tony. "You're going to have to coordinate with the bomb squad."

Tony shook his head. "I'm not leaving."

"Listen to me," Gibbs hissed. "We work as a team now. Someone coordinates with the bomb squad and someone stays with McGee. If we are going to get him out of this, Tim is going to follow precise instructions. Who is he going to do that for?"

Tony closed his eyes. "Yeah."

"I don't want anyone in my ear except you. You got that?"

Tony nodded.

"Retrace your steps out of here. You work with them. Give them everything they need so we can get this done."

Tony pointed. "You better not make a mistake. Either one of you. I am not going back to the office by myself. Don't make me look Abby in the eye."

Gibbs was back to studying McGee and didn't answer. Tony wanted to say something to McGee, but he couldn't risk a reaction of any kind. He slowly placed his flashlight on the ground to give Gibbs more light and then he carefully moved back to the stairs.

Gibbs waited until he heard the sound of Tony's feet on the metal stairs. Then he slowly moved toward McGee. "You with me, Tim?"

"I'm in a lot of pain."

Gibbs nodded and flashed his light over him as he circled around him. "I'm sorry about that, Tim. Was it more than Winston?"

McGee nodded into his chest. "Darrell. He destroyed my hand."

Gibbs found the mangled hand with his light and stopped. "It's okay, Tim. We got Darrell. He's in custody."

"Diane? I helped them find Diane."

"No, you didn't. We were with Diane when she called. It was all rehearsed. You wanted to warn her, but we couldn't let you. We needed that phone call to find you."

"I didn't know that," McGee whispered.

"We were ready because of the kind of guy you are. A lot of people see you as a friend and when your car was abandoned at the gas station, everyone knew instinctively that something was wrong. With anyone else, your car would've been towed and I'd be cursing how irresponsible it was to not call in sick. Not you, Tim. We knew right away. The Arnolds never counted on that."

He heard a choking sound and trained his light on Tim's face. McGee was crying. "I didn't get her killed, Boss."

"Shhhh! It's okay, Tim. Stay still. We have to focus on the C4 on your chest."

For a moment there was silence and then a groan as he whispered. "Oh God, I forgot that I was wired."

Gibbs knelt in front of McGee. "You're good at munitions. You understand the mechanics of bomb making better than I do. Every time I send you to a training, I get a call from someone wanting to poach you. I am just lucky they never tried to go behind my back."

"Never would leave you, Boss."

Gibbs smiled. "No, you wouldn't. Can you help me here?"

McGee shook his head. "I was in and out, Boss. The pain is bad."

Gibbs nodded. "I know but I need everything you can remember. Close your eyes."

He closed swollen eyes. "It's on a remote detonator. Winston carried it to the window with him. There's a trigger on it. You try to disarm it and it's going to blow."

"Okay. Do you remember him rigging explosives anywhere else in the room?"

"Not that I could see, but he went downstairs with his bag for awhile before finishing on me. It's impossible for me to say how long. I was in and out."

"You didn't see him rigging anything near you?"

McGee shook his head. "I could use something for the pain, Boss. Maybe you could get something strong for me, and then we'd have you go back downstairs 'til this is over."

"Oh, I don't think so."

McGee lifted his head. "Boss, C4 isn't a real stable explosive especially when it's attached to a body. Over time, it gets temperamental. It might decide on detonating all on its own. There's no reason for you to have to be here for that. People need you."

"Look at me, Tim. You and I are in this together. We're going to solve this together. You hear?"

The audio crackled on Gibbs' headset. "Boss? I'm here with the schoolgirls from the bomb squad. Can't even get 'em in the door. Since it's remote detonated, they figure that Winston Arnold is perched somewhere nearby waiting for the right moment. They say I gotta guarantee he's not in a half mile radius. I told them to go home and do their nails while we spend the night figuring this out for them."

Gibbs sighed. "Tony, insulting them isn't going to help anything."

"Agreed. I will apologize to schoolgirls everywhere."

"I assume you're making sure Winston isn't in the vicinity."

"Yeah. Vance sent over twenty more and Fornell promised 15 in the next hour. If he's nearby, we're going to find the asshole."

"Do we have EMS on site?"

"Yup. And Ducky."

"Put Ducky on."

There was silence while Gibbs waited and then a familiar Scottish brogue signed on. "Jethro! How is he?"

Gibbs glanced at McGee. "He's in a lot of pain, Duck. Shock. He needs something. It's a big risk to have you come in, but if you could bring something to the door, I can dose him."

"I have to assess him. I'm coming in."

"No!" McGee's head bobbed. "Please!"

"It's okay. You need to trust me. I know best. I lead. You follow. Simple math."

McGee looked away, his eyes teary.

Gibbs spoke into his headset. "Tony is going to put a flak jacket and helmet on you, Duck. You only stay for a few minutes."

He cut the audio before any objections could be raised. He turned back to McGee. "Tell me more. What do you remember?"

McGee closed his eyes. "There's a failsafe on the device."

"You already told me that. Tell me more."

"We heard a noise. He ran to the window. It was in his hand…"

"The detonator?"

McGee sucked in breath as he concentrated. "It was on the windowsill, but Winston was afraid. He's a scared little boy without his big brother."

"Tim, are you telling me that it's still on the windowsill?"

"I waited for him to come back, but he didn't, and it just sat there on the sill."

Gibbs shined the light on the windows. "Which window?"

"By the large column." McGee was struggling with pain that was growing with his lucidity.

Gibbs caught sight of an object sitting on the ledge. He moved toward it, shining a light on it. He shook his head and hit audio, "DiNozzo, tell your girlfriends that I have the detonator. Arnold got spooked and left without it."

…..

"What the hell are you doing up here?!" Gibbs barked.

"Couldn't let Ducky come up alone," Tony said.

"I need you down there!"

"No, you don't. Vance is down there now directing things like it's the D-Day landings."

"Protecting Ducky, my ass. Did you think I was going to shoot him? If he tripped a wire, were you going to arrest the explosion? Get your ass back down there, DiNozzo!"

"Not without him," Tony growled defiantly.

"Shhh!" Ducky said, pointing crossly at the two men. He had circled Tim slowly, stopping to examine his hand.

Tim watched him, his breathing shallow. "Don't touch me, Duck."

"I understand," Ducky said softly. "You must be in enormous pain."

"Help me. A pill, please."

"Not fast enough. I'm going to inject you with a bit of morphine."

He jerked his head. "No. You can't touch me. Too risky."

"I know what I'm doing, Timothy."

"Hell, I didn't think it was possible! I thought ol' Tobias was telling me a story." A voice sounded like a sonic boom through the room. All heads turned to see a large man in padded gear and a helmet striding toward them. Fornell followed, wearing only a helmet.

"Finally!" Tony snapped.

"I heard you Navy guys were boneheads. Had no idea your brains were solid rock. Look at you all standing around like a bunch of idiots. I got news for ya'. Even rocks can get blown up by bombs. Bad enough Fornell wouldn't suit up. Little guy like him can blow away in a stiff wind most days. Hate to see what shards of metal would do. Need you all out of here yesterday."

"Tobias," Gibbs said in a low voice.

"Yeah," he said trotting up. "This is Special Agent Marv Miltonoff out of the Nashville office. Been tracking the Arnolds for years. Munitions expert. We just pulled him off a special transport. If anyone can get McGee out of this, it's Milt. He's been studying Winston's work for years."

"Should've focused on catching him," Tony said.

"Get that needle away from him!" Miltonoff barked as he caught sight of Ducky.

"He's in tremendous pain!"

"You want him to live, don't ya? That crap is going to relax his muscles. Shift the explosives. We can't risk it."

Ducky backed away slowly.

"They'll go but I'm staying," Gibbs said firmly as he handed the detonator to Miltonoff.

The man looked at it briefly and then grunted before placing it on the table. "Winston got spooked. No way he was leaving this behind on purpose. That boy loves him some fireworks. And no, Gibbs, you are not staying."

He walked up to McGee and pulled the helmet off his head. "Listen to me, son. We can get out of this if you and I work together. I can see they hurt you bad, but we can't help that until we fix this."

McGee nodded, his eyes focused on the big man wearing decades of hard living all over his face.

Gibbs stepped forward. "I'm going to stay with my agent."

Miltonoff shook his head. "Tobias told me things. Shouldn't have insulted you earlier. I know you're as hard as steel, Gibbs, but you got to let me take this. The boy needs to focus on me and me alone. This is what I do. Life or death."

Gibbs looked at Fornell who nodded. He turned. "You can do this, Tim. No doubts."

McGee fixed on Gibbs. "I just want to say-"

"No!" Gibbs shook his head sharply. "I won't hear it. If it's important, you'll tell me downstairs."

He motioned to the rest of the team giving them hard looks, and they understood that it was crucial to pretend confidence as they walked off the floor together without even a backward glance.

….

Tony stared at the coffee dripping down the side of the sedan. Gibbs had thrown a cup at the car minutes ago and stalked off. Concentrating fiercely on the rivulets of coffee slowly meandering through the grime on the fender took him out of time and to a place far away. He needed the respite from the constant tension of waiting. The last glance at his cell phone told him that 90 very long minutes had passed.

"Hey!"

He blinked and turned to Bishop. "What? Do you know something?"

She stood there looking like a young girl, hair behind her ears, hands stuffed deep in her pockets "We were right about the foghorn. This place is a block from the restaurant. Sorry I didn't catch it earlier."

He shrugged. "You can't know everything."

She looked over at Gibbs who stood off alone staring up at the 2nd floor of the warehouse. "I don't know how to talk to him."

Tony sighed. "No offense, Ellie, but nobody wants to talk right now."

"Sorry." She shifted awkwardly from foot to foot.

He closed his eyes. "It's okay. Just think positive thoughts, okay?"

The audio sounded at the command post set up at a truck next to the sedan. Tony held his breath.

The deep baritone of Marv Miltonoff sounded, "Hey fellers! This situation is an all clear. Over."

Fornell smiled and shook his head. "Copy that, Milt. Good job!"

"You better get EMS and that doctor with the needle up here pronto. This kid's been through hell, Tobias."

"Copy that," Fornell said as he watched Gibbs and DiNozzo race past him to the front door of the warehouse.

…...

TBC