Chapter Thirteen

4.30am

'Get up Timothy' Willow nodded to the front of the forklift

'You have got to be joking?' Tim eyed the two metal prongs which seemed rather inconsequential to stand on, especially in bare feet.

'No Timothy, I am not. Now hurry up' Willow was impatient as her rage still boiled long and hot and slow for the man who admitted to sneaking into her house and watching her sleep.

'Do you even know how to drive one of these things?' Tim voice was doubtful.

'Of course I do. Me and Sigourney Weaver. Now put on your Big Girl Panties and deal with it.'

Tim sighed and climbed onto one of the prongs at the front of the forklift. Willow who had already started up the machine, flicked a switch and Tim found himself rapidly heading upward. He clutched onto the machine for dear life.

'What am I looking for from up here, a way out?' He called down to her hopefully

'What do you think you're looking for? Jeffrey of course! He's handcuffed, winded, bruised and is probably headed out towards an exit. You now have the vantage point, can you see anything over all the piles of boxes?'

Tim peered in all directions, clutching the metal till his hands were white. He was sweating again and feeling decidedly sick at how high up he was. Was now a good time to tell Willow that he wasn't very good with heights? Suddenly a tall pile of boxes far off to his right wobbled and started to fall. Tim relieved pointed 'There! To your right'

Willow cried out jubilantly and stabbing at a button Tim shot down to the ground again, where he staggered off the hated machine, only to see Willow bolting around the corner.

'Willow!'

Damn.

Tim knew he couldn't leave her to chase down the sicko on her own but he really wished he could just lay down somewhere quiet. He wouldn't be in any ones way but right now all he wanted was to curl up in a ball and sleep. Under a desk would be fine. Hell at this stage he would be happy to sleep in the front yard under the tree he once hated. His chest hurt and was stinging whenever he moved and …. Oh now wasn't the time to list it all. Just get yourself moving McGee and stop feeling sorry for yourself! He could hear Gibbs voice in his head as he picked up his pace and headed around the corner hot on the trail of the near naked Commander West.

Okay this was a new development he was hearing voices in his head. This was probably not a good thing. His much longer strides had him nearly caught up with Willow, running between the piles of boxes and containers stacked on all sides, her flick of black silk catching the light.

Suddenly a blur to his side and he was slammed onto his side as Jeffrey, hands still secured behind him barreled out of a side corridor and rocketed into him. Tim thought he heard a crack and felt a sharp pain before all his concentration was directed at controlling his fall. They both tumbled to the hard ground, but even surprised McGee had the advantage. He grappled with Jeffrey and rolled on top of him pinning his shoulders down and sitting on his legs which were squirming and kicking with his larger body.

Willow ran over to Tim and kissed him soundly on the head several times.

'You wonderful, marvelous man! How delightfully useful you are.' Jeffrey squirmed and wriggled and Tim struggled to keep him under control.

'Ahhhh Willow I'm going to need some help here to keep him under control. I'm actually not feeling that great and I would hate for him to get away again before we have a chance to question him'

Willow peered into Tim's bleary eyes and noticed a new feature, pain.

'What's wrong?'

'I think he did something to my ribs when he hit and then fell on me'

Willow nodded and after a swift kick in Jeffrey's direction disappeared around the corner. Tim slowly got his breathing under control which helped with the pain in his side immensely, while still holding Jeffrey prone on the floor. Suddenly he heard a noise and turning his head he saw Willow with the forklift again.

'What are you doing with that?'

'You just watch.' She grabbed some rope off the back and quickly tied Jeffrey's feet and knees together, then looped another lot around his chest pinning his arms further behind him. Then with relish she produced a roll of industrial strength duct tape, possible the same roll that Jeffrey had used on him Tim realized with a start. Willow ripped off a long section and smothered Jeffrey's scream of indignation with it, running her hands across several times to make sure it was secure. 'Always be thorough Jeffrey, remember that.'

Tim released of his duty as a giant paper weight looked at the wriggling Jeffrey and dreaded dragging him anywhere but also knew to leave him to get help was risky too.

'Um Willow I don't think I'm up to dragging anyone anywhere.' Willow looked up at him in astonishment.

'You are tired! No silly that's what the forklifts for!' Tim turned and with a tired smile watched as Willow maneuvered the machine and picked up the heavily bound Jeffrey between the prongs.

'If you wiggle Jeffrey and fall off then this heavy machine will be unable to stop in time and I will simply run you over. You got that Jeffrey?' Willow called down to him sweetly while Jeffrey went almost rigid.

Tim found himself in the rather surreal position of being given a forklift driving lesson at some very early time of the morning, whilst bloody, dirty and barefoot in a seemingly abandoned warehouse with Commander West sitting on his lap and the bound Jeffrey out the front. It was a little tricky at first, Jeffrey's muffled shrieks alerting him to a couple of jarring turns but he definitely seemed to be getting the hang of it.

'So now what?' Tim enquired as he whipped the agile machine around another corner heading for what he hoped was the exit. 'Well I'm hoping that shape over by the loading bay door turns out to be Jeffrey's car. It looks like the one he dragged us out of. And if it is then I want to get us all back to my place so I can change and have a little chat to Jeffrey in comfort.'

'Shouldn't we phone Gibbs and well… tell everybody what's happening? I mean there is something big going down and we have to stop them getting away with it. All of them.'

'That's just it you see. Jeffrey said there were a dozen or so people involved including people on base. I need to find out who they are before I can know who to trust. Then we can tell whoever you want. What if he was working with security? If I call up and have Jeffrey arrested and he disappears before we can interrogate him? Where were they getting their Intel from? What systems were they using? Is my office bugged? They are surely, this close to the big finish of whatever they are planning going to be watching the rest of your team like hawks, once they are awake anyway. This is a pretty complex op that they have been planning for months. What if there are other people on my staff reporting back to them?'

Tim could see that the fact that someone so close to her, someone she trusted had betrayed her had cut deep. He smiled sadly at her 'Ok we get some answers and then as soon as we know its safe we call in Gibbs and the rest of the team. Agreed?'

'Agreed' Willow nodded firmly. 'Now help me load this rubbish into the car.' She stood still for a minute and smiled happily. 'Look Timothy, the suns coming up. I haven't seen the sun rise in such a long time. They both stood together for a moment, catching their breath and watched the sunrise peep over the edge of a dozen military looking warehouse storage facilities.

'You know Willow this is one hell of a first date' Tim smiled while Willow laughed and Jeffrey writhed and cursed at their feet.

'Shut up Jeffrey'

(Ok let me know what you think. Good, bad, weird? Please review as it does make me feel better. Very tired as too hot. Hottest summer in 43 years. I would cry but my eyes are too dry)