A/N: My life is way too chaotic right now. Over the next 7 days, I only have half a day to myself. This story is getting updated slowly- not a great way to maintain momentum, but I hate to leave things unfinished. Writing is my solace, and whenever that's threatened, I get really anxious. Thank you to anyone who is still reading and reviewing. Sheila

The Fear Game

Chapter 6

Ellie knelt down and stared at the hole neatly drilled into the Marshal's forehead. It wasn't even bloody. Death had been instantaneous. The man's dead eyes stared back at her and she shuddered. She stood and looked at Tony. "It doesn't make sense. If it was all about taking out McGee, then where is his body?"

Tony blinked as if in a fog. "They were keeping him only 30 miles away from NCIS."

She shrugged. "Sure, that makes sense. They wanted him close by for court proceedings."

Tony turned and walked away. He went over and looked at the blood spatter on the couch across the room from the Marshal- there had been more than one victim. He shook his head and tried to organize his thoughts. The Marshal who survived was outside smoking cigarettes like they were shots of whiskey lined up at a bar. Tony knew he needed a more thorough interview before his supervisor arrived and he got too focused on covering his ass. The crime scene needed careful attention and Ellie was still too new to understand the nuances of that. Balboa's team was on their way and would take over that aspect. Ducky and Jimmy had been diverted from another crime scene were expected in minutes.

And there was the issue of Gibbs. He'd been standing in the corner staring at the room for going on 20 minutes. Tony knew he was trying to make sense of why an FBI agent like Miltonoff would walk into a safehouse, kill a marshal, and then disappear with McGee. And he was trying to imagine if any other scenario was even possible. Tony wanted to walk over and confer, but it would be a useless exercise. The boss was clearly not ready to communicate.

Tony heard a car door slam and looked out to find Fornell and U.S. Attorney Susan Mullins hurrying up the drive. Tony immediately knew what was priority. He headed outside and stood in front of the door.

"Out of the way Agent," Mullins said as they approached.

"Crime scene," he said simply.

"What do we know, Tony?" Fornell asked.

Tony glared at him. "We know that your people took out a U.S. Marshal and disappeared McGee."

Nonsense!" She retorted.

Fornell merely looked weary. "Doesn't make sense."

"It better make sense, Fornell! He's your guy. Figure it out! Why did he take McGee?! There's blood indicating a second victim. Is that McGee? If he wanted him dead, why didn't he leave him?! These are important questions, Fornell!"

"Get out of the way, Agent!" Mullins demanded.

"Listen lady," Tony growled. "Crime scene folks and the M.E. have first dibs. Last thing we need is some civilian tramping around all over the evidence."

"I am not a civilian!"

"Susie," Fornell said quietly. "Stand down."

"This is my case, Tobias!"

Fornell turned his head sharply toward her. "This belongs to all of us."

"Tobias," Gibbs said. He'd appeared in the doorway. "Let's take a walk."

Fornell gave an imperceptible nod. Susan Mullins started to follow them, but Gibbs turned, his eyes steely. "You're not invited."

"I will not be kept out of this." Shades of red blotched her face.

"There is no place for you at a crime scene. DiNozzo here isn't going to let you in. Best idea is for you to go back to your office and wait for news."

"Gibbs!" She looked ready to stamp her feet, but he ignored her and steered Fornell down the drive.

They walked for a few moments in silence, and then Fornell sighed. "What's it like in there?"

"Marshal with a single bullet in his head. Blood on the couch across the room. Bathroom door kicked in."

"Jethro, it doesn't sound like we can narrow that down to one scenario."

"Okay, let's play that out. Let's say Miltonoff was in there with the Marshal while the other Marshal was out doing errands. One of them was in the bathroom. Someone breaks in. Then what?"

"The only one who could've in the bathroom was McGee. He's the the weakest in his condition. The Marshal would've fired on him. Miltonoff wouldn't have been carrying, but he also isn't the kind of man who would hide."

"Okay, Tobias, I agree on that point."

Fornell took a breath. "He shoots the Marshal first. Biggest threat. Wounds or kills Marv. Then he kicks in the door and he has McGee."

Gibbs nodded. "Works so far, but then we'd be coming on a crime scene with three dead bodies. I can't think of a single reason they would take Miltonoff or McGee, dead or alive."

"Sending a message. Retribution for Darrell and Chuck."

Gibbs stopped and glared. "Really! They've already tortured him near to death. No way that appetite hasn't been satisfied."

"Maybe Marv? He's been a thorn in their side for a long time."

"Come on now, Tobias. There are too many dead ends with this. How did one man get a wounded Miltonoff and McGee out of the house? How did they find the house? Did Miltonoff tip 'em off? Did they trail the U.S. Marshals? Those guys are pretty well trained at shaking a tail. Maybe a gang of men broke in that little condo they were using as a safehouse. Of course, that might be a little unlikely. There isn't a single piece of furniture out of place. Bet ya' we don't find any evidence there from anyone other than Miltonoff, McGee, and the Marshal in there."

Fornell dropped his head and sighed. "There were rumblings about Miltonoff. His raids kept failing, and in the last two years, it looked like he was just going through the motions. He made some claims about someone in the D.C. office tipping off the Arnolds. The brass didn't buy it. They pointed a probe at him about a year ago."

"You didn't think I should know that?"

"Not for one minute did I really believe that Marv was dirty. I know what it's like to falsely accused as you know." Fornell studied him. "I expected more reaction out of you. You don't seem all that surprised about this bit of news."

"Miltonoff showed up at the house a few nights ago. Told me the whole story from his perspective."

Fornell blinked. "Why?"

"I don't know. I thought he was telling me that there was someone in the bureau that couldn't be trusted. Maybe it was a smoke screen."

"He didn't indicate who?"

"Nope."

"You think he was just trying to steer you away from being suspicious of him."

"Tobias, he killed a Marshal and took my agent. There's not another scenario that makes sense. What does he want with McGee?"

"Honest to God, Jethro, I haven't the faintest clue."

….

When they walked back to the house, they found Susan Mullins sitting in a lawn chair on the grass with a garish umbrella tied to the back of it, her arms tightly crossed. Someone found a TV tray in the garage, and an enormous pizza box was perched on it. There was a box of Little Debbie snack cakes on top. On the ground next to it was a 12 pack of cheap beer. She glared at them as they approached. "Your agent made some phone calls. Says he wants me to be comfortable and out of the way. He thinks this is funny."

….

Miltonoff groaned as he turned the steering wheel. "Bastard got me in the damn shoulder. Just hope to hell its through and through. Didn't have time to look. Last thing I need."

McGee said nothing in the passenger seat. His left arm was crossed over his chest and handcuffed to the passenger door. His bad wrist was nestled uncomfortably against the door. Miltonoff fashioned a blindfold after tearing apart a sheet. Pain shot up his right arm continually without pain meds, but he grit his teeth and offered no sign of it.

Marv glanced over. "Sorry, I had to truss you up like this. I mean you no harm, Tim. Hell, I saved your life just a couple of weeks ago."

"You killed a Marshal, Marv, and you've kidnapped me. How is that not harmful?"

"I killed him because he was going to kill me and you, and I've handcuffed you because I knew that you were going to be a bit spooked by all this."

"You didn't have a gun."

"Of course I did," Marv snorted. "Just didn't tell the goon squad."

"I was in the bathroom three minutes tops before I heard the gunshots and then you were breaking in the door. What happened, Marv?"

"Hard to explain. It's complicated."

McGee turned his covered eyes in Marv's direction. "Where are you taking me?"

"I grabbed a handful of pill bottles on the way out. I hope to hell there's enough pain meds for you. You're looking a little peaked."

McGee shook his head. "Doesn't matter what you grabbed if you're handing me over to Winston Arnold or his people."

Miltonoff shook his head sharply. "No way! Not going to happen. This is what I'm trying to prevent."

He sighed. "I'm confused, Marv. You're not making any sense."

Miltonoff patted his good shoulder. "I'm here to protect you. We'll worry about the whys when I find a safe place for this truck."

McGee swallowed. "What about Gibbs? He cares. He wants me safe."

Marv nodded. "Yup. He's a good man. He wants what's best for you."

"Let me call him. I'll tell him you're just protecting me. He'll know how to help."

"Yeah, I imagine we'll have to do that, Tim. The question is when and how to do it. See, he doesn't believe I'm trying to help. He's got to be thinking I'm a real bad guy about now. We contact him now, and he's going to descend on us like the Marines on Iwo Jima."

"But he'll protect both of us, Marv, and he'll listen. I know he will. He's got good instincts."

"Sorry, son, it's not time to bring him in. I'm still trying to understand parts of this story myself. I got to make sense of some things first."

"Marv—"

"Enough!" He growled. "I know you got questions, but I have to concentrate right now. My shoulder feels like it's on fire and we still have maybe 75 miles to go."

…

The ride back to NCIS was quiet- too quiet. Tony had questions about the walk Gibbs had with Fornell, but he wasn't saying anything. Instead, he had the steering wheel in a death grip and he was staring straight ahead. Tony glanced back at Bishop who was watching with a marked level of fear.

Tony took a deep breath. "Boss, you're upset. We all are. It's a nightmare that refuses to end- you know, the kind where you don't ever really understand what the danger is—"

Before he could finish, Gibbs swung the steering wheel off the road, hitting the brakes on the gravel off the freeway. The car stopped abruptly, sending Bishop flying into the back of Tony's seat.

Tony rubbed the back of his neck and turned to glare at Gibbs. "If you don't want to talk, just say so."

Gibbs stared straight ahead, shaking his head. "This has never been about us. This has been an FBI problem that they dropped in our laps. The bugs in the bullpen were a distraction. Kidnapping McGee was a way to get at Fornell without drawing suspicion to an FBI mole. They only way they could've got at Tim was through the FBI. It's an FBI problem, an FBI mole, and we're the ones taking the hit."

"Marshal service had him, Boss."

Gibbs narrowed his eyes. "Through Mullins' office. She knew where he was, and she used to be FBI."

Tony relaxed back into his seat. "Miltonoff has to be the mole. No one else had their hand in all of these pots."

"Then why wasn't Tim's body in that condo? If the mole's job was to protect people like the Arnolds, then killing McGee would be a priority."

Tony got quiet. Bishop furrowed her brows in the backseat. "It's like a puzzle without all the pieces."

Gibbs sighed. "We establish an FBI mole as a fact and then we have the center piece. Miltonoff could be that guy, but I'm not convinced."

Bishop nodded, chewing her lip. "I need somewhere to work."

"We're not going back to D.C. Best chance of finding McGee and Miltonoff is in his hunting grounds around Nashville. Hope you brought your Go bags."

"Always do," Tony said.

"A Go bag?" Ellie said. "I, uh, don't have one yet."

Gibbs looked over his shoulder. "Don't worry. There's got to be a Sears along this highway somewhere."

"Sears?" Her dark brows knit.

"Sears is perfect," Tony said.

"We'll stop and I'll give you ten minutes to grab a couple of shirts, socks, and a package of underwear."

"A package…of underwear?" she repeated under her breath. Tony grinned.

…

McGee opened his eyes to a cold draft coming in. The pain woke with him and he groaned. Someone was tugging at his blindfold, and he found himself blinking into the face of an older woman. She gave him a warm smile, the lines around her soft blue eyes smiling as well.

"Lin! Damn it! Keep him covered 'til we get in the house."

"He's not a prisoner, Marv, and we aren't treating him that way."

She seemed to understand how delicate his right arm was and she gently eased him out of the car. "Come inside. We'll sort out your meds and get you some food."

McGee could've pushed her off and run, but there was nothing around him but a fog had settled in him from the pain and the three surgeries he'd had. He let her lead him into the cabin, struggling to take note of the trees and dirt road. There were no real identifiers anywhere- nothing that would help Gibbs if he made contact. Then he caught sight of a mountain ridge to the west. It was spring now, and they looked bare and brown, but it told him they had moved west of Virginia.

The woman eased him onto a couch and took possession of the medications Miltonoff brought with him. "Sit down, Marv. I have to take a look at that shoulder."

She placed the meds on the counter and grabbed a bag off the floor. She pulled out a surgical scissors and cut off the arm of his shirt. She probed both ends of the wound as he howled in protest. "It went all the way through, Marv. Let me clean it and wrap it up."

"Gotta cuff him to something, Lin. Boy doesn't understand what I'm trying to do for him."

She sighed. "It feels wrong."

"Make him comfortable, Linny, but hook his good hand to the pipe."

She approached McGee carefully. "Nobody's trying to hurt you. Marv is a good man, and I've been a public health nurse going on 35 years. I've never even had a traffic ticket. I don't mean you any harm."

The open cuff dangled from McGee's good wrist but he shook his head. "There's no need, Marv. I can't think of a single scenario where you would've kept me alive this long if you were working with Arnold or his people. My only worth to them is as a corpse."

"Ya' believe that Marshal was going to kill me?"

"That's a hard one for me. If he was bad, he had a week to do something about it before you showed."

"They needed a patsy, Tim. I was supposed to be the fall guy."

McGee sighed. "All I know for sure is that my team has got to be really worried, and if you're serious about helping me, then we have to establish contact."

"Gibbs isn't going to be so easy to convince. He's not my biggest fan."

"They need to know I'm okay." McGee leaned into the couch on his left side, but nothing seemed to relieve the pain shooting up his arm.

The woman brought him a pill and a glass of water. "You need a refill on these pain meds. They aren't going to last real long."

He pushed the pill away. "Call Gibbs. I don't do anything 'til you call him. I'll help, Marv. I'll tell him that I trust you, but you got to do this for me."

Marv sighed and pulled out a phone. "No doubt there's a trace on his phone by now. I got another number we're going to try.

…..

Ellie was frowning at a three pack of women's panties with pink flowers on them. Fashion was generally not her concern, but she was a woman of habits, and flowered panties weren't among them. She threw them into her cart on top of a three pack of socks and two long sleeved cotton shirts when her phone rang. She frowned at the number and put it to her face. "Hello?"

"I need to talk to the boss."

"Tim?!"

"Put him on Bishop. I gotta talk to him now."

"Ah…he's outside. I'm inside buying flowered…"

"Ellie, he's gonna make me hang up if you don't get Gibbs on the phone right now."

Ellie started running.

"Ellie!"

"Just wait! Tell him to wait!"

She bolted past shoppers in line and climbed over a register, pushed a clerk, and headed for the exit. Yells followed in her wake as people screamed for security. She tripped on the curb, and went sprawling into the street, a pickup screeching to a halt inches from her head. She got to her feet just as a teenage security guard tackled her from behind. The phone sailed out of her hand as she hit the ground again, and it skated beyond her reach. She lifted her head. "Boss! McGee is on the phone!"

"Gibbs!" She yelled as the kid parked himself firmly on her back. Then a big calloused hand appeared and scooped up the phone. She looked into those steely eyes for a moment as he pointed Tony in her direction and put the phone to his ear.

"Tim?"

"Marv wants me to hang up. Says you're stalling for a trace."

"Put him on."

There was the sound of some fumbling and then a gravelly voice. "Gibbs, I don't have time for foolishness."

"The only foolishness is me standing in a Sears parking lot watching a 16 year old rent a cop wrestle with Bishop because she ran out of the store trying to get the phone to me. No trace. We're in your country now. We want my agent back."

"You don't understand what's going on."

"That's why we're here, Marv. If you were going to kill him, you would've done it back at the condo. Didn't happen. We're here to help."

"FBI has a mole and it ain't me."

"I know."

"Not good enough. The kid's not safe 'til the mole is caught. I can't figure it out. You got a better brain than I do. You figure it out."

"We do it together."

"I like you, Gibbs, but I know you only half believe me at best. The kid and I will be fine. Go home and find the damn mole."

"He's not a kid, Marv. He's a grown man. If anyone gets to think of him as a kid, it's me. When I first met him, he looked younger than the idiot kid here trying to arrest Bishop. You don't get to just disappear with him. He doesn't belong to you. He's hurt and he needs care. You give him back now."

"We don't have time for arguments. Gonna hang up now."

"Don't do this, Marv! If we have to hunt for you, we're going to do it old school. It won't be pretty."

"Well, good luck with that then, Gunny."

The dial tone erupted in his ear and Gibbs cursed into the wind. In the background, DiNozzo dodged punches as he pulled the kid off Bishop.

….

TBC