A/N: I've made you wait again. Sorry. Two weeks ago, I lost my aunt and was left unbalanced. But last Sunday, I was sure I was ready to sit down and make this chapter happen. It had been storming for two days. My sister called, and the tornado siren went off. I told her that this was the 3rd time I had heard it in last two days and I was going to ignore it. My sister reminded me that tornados never hit cities. I said good-bye to her and went back to this story. My dogs started barking loud, and I got up to look out the window. The wind went crazy and a large tree flew by. Then the windows around me started popping, one by one. It was wild. I grabbed the dogs and got down to the basement. After the tornado was gone, I went outside and found 15 windows broken, my chimney gone, holes in the roof, three trees down, my fence down, and my neighbor's garage had landed in my backyard. I will never ignore another tornado siren again for as long as I live. It's been a weird week, but I have good insurance and I will be okay. Others in Minneapolis were hit much worse. However, I am not sure if I've still got my mojo back yet or not. I've been writing this chapter over and over, but I don't know what I feel about it. If you are so inclined, let me know what you think. Sheila

Surviving Winter

Chapter 16

Dunham's x-rays showed that he hadn't cracked his skull, but he had a hell of a concussion, and it was all he could do to wake up every couple of hours when the nurses shook him. He answered Wilson's texts when he could, and he had a couple of nurses feeding him information but other than that, there was little he could do. And he knew that nobody would fault him for it. The side of his face looked a piece of bad fruit and he groaned in pain every time he moved. Still, Dunham wasn't a man who lived by excuses.

He was a fighter. Had been since he was a kid in West Texas living with a Mama who was raising five children on welfare. Dunham was a fierce customer in the classroom and on the streets, and people grew to respect the tow-headed kid who went to school, football practice, and then worked at a gas station every night until 11 p.m. They said he was going to do well by the town, but Chad never saw himself staying in a place where he already knew all the faces. When he got a football scholarship, he never looked back. Moved his Mama and the remaining siblings to Austin with his third CIA paycheck, and she kept his apartment the long months he was gone. He made sure all of brothers and sisters got scholarships, and urged them onto adventures. These days he was getting free dental care from his sister the dentist and all of his money was being handled by his brother the stock analyst. The other two became an inner city teacher and a social worker, and that all left him as proud as punch.

Dunham was a cowboy, a rule breaker, and a bastard on a good day, but he was as loyal as a hound, and no concussion was going to keep him out of the game when it came to that decent young man with the green eyes. He was in bed in a room adjacent to McGee's and could heard much of the bullying that Winter was heaping on him. It was too much for him. After several aborted attempts to get out of bed, he finally started screaming at the wall, "Winter, you bastard! It's Dunham! Get your ass over here! I want to talk to you! You want some confessing! I'll give you all the confessing you can handle, you Marine #$%$#!"

The screaming left him breathless, and his head pounded like a badly tuned brass band. He held onto his aching head and his vision lost focus. A nurse rushed in followed by two Marines. The nurse got to him first and leaned over grabbing his arms. "Don't yell. Please. You have a serious head injury. You can't do this."

One of the Marines tried to pull her away, but the nurse had taken her share of defense classes, and she elbowed him hard. "Get your hands off me, Soldier!"

Startled, the Marine stepped back. She fixed the other one with a glare. "Don't even try it! Get out of this room now! I am with a patient and he needs attention! I will scream if you touch me again, and you will have to spend the next three months explaining your behavior to the sexual harassment board."

Something about her frightened them more than Winter, and the two Marines beat a hasty retreat. She let out a deep breath and turned to Dunham. "Do not do that again, Mr. Dunham."

Chad groaned and tried to pull away. "He's a monster and he needs to be stopped."

"Yeah, well you're not a position to do it." She pushed him back into his pillow and checked his vitals.

"McGee's my friend. Do you know how he is? He's a good person. He doesn't deserve what Winter is doing to him."

"Marines won't let us near him."

"Winter's going to get hungry. He's going to want coffee, a sandwich maybe." He looked up at her intensely.

She opened her mouth as the realization of what he was asking dawned on her and shook her head. "Not going to happen."

"I'm not talking poison. Just a couple of Trazadone or Ambien; something that makes him sleepy. He rests and McGee rests. You wouldn't be harming him."

"I can't."

He grabbed her arm. "McGee needs your help."

She pulled away from him. "I can't do that."

Dunham sighed and looked away. The nurse started to say something to him, but shook her head and left.

…..

Commander McGee walked out of the courtroom and leaned heavily against the dark wood of the federal courthouse. Shenandoah and Vance followed him out. McGee studied Shenandoah. "What exactly does it mean?"

"It's an injunction that says that Winter and/or anyone under his command must release McGee to Homeland Security agent Tobias Fornell."

McGee looked up at the ornate carvings on the high ceiling. "Thank God!"

"Don't relax, Commander. Sec Navy has 24 hours to send his lawyers in to challenge the injunction. I wouldn't bet this injunction holds up under that kind of pressure."

McGee nodded and pulled away from the wall. He walked over to Leon and extended his hand. "You've done more than anyone had a right to expect. I know what my next step is, and I need to do it alone." Leon took his hand, and McGee forgot himself, pulling the Director in for a hug. "Thank you, Leon."

Commander McGee backed away, blinking hard, and looked at Shenandoah. "I'm going to need you if my plan doesn't work."

Shenandoah nodded. "Good luck, Commander. You have my cell. For the next 24 hours, this case will be my priority."

McGee nodded and then trotted away from them down the long marble corridor.

…

The toilet didn't flush, and so the cell had begun to smell badly. None of them talked anymore. There wasn't much to say. Dunham had stopped texting, and they reasoned that he'd either succumbed to the sleep he so desperately needed or he was being interrogated. It was just as well to not know the latest outrage. None of them could handle much more.

An hour earlier, they'd been fed and were told to expect to be on a flight within the next few hours. Protests fell on deaf ears. They all felt it keenly. They'd been given the miracle of his life and they'd rescued him only to have it taken away before they could get him to safety. Each man was adrift in his own rage. Tony was too restless to sit still, and needed to move away from the others as Gibbs' rage seeped out of him like a sieve and he had no tolerance for Tony's twitching. Ducky had given up trying to soothe any of them.

Gibbs especially was beyond words. Gibbs had faced great injustices in the past; Kelly and Shannon's murders being the greatest; then there was Kate shot through the head just inches from him, and finally, Jenny's showdown outside of L.A. He'd weathered it all, but every event changed him a little more. He'd become quieter and more solemn; the weariness of each loss hung on him like chains and the sadness took him farther from the ones who loved him and deeper into the bottles of bourbon he had lined up in his basement. Ducky wondered how many more losses a man like Gibbs could survive.

Losing McGee had been bad, but for it to happen again when they were so close to saving him would be unthinkable. Gibbs' rage would need release, and Ducky worried what direction it might take.

The door to the cellblock opened, and they all stiffened. None of them relished a 26-hour plane ride in chains to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. But this time, the Lieutenant wore a frown and was followed by an Army General with enough brass on his chest to qualify for body armor and Homeland Security Agent Tobias Fornell.

Gibbs drew in a shaky breath and muttered something to himself. DiNozzo jumped to his feet and headed for the bars. "Fornell. I would kiss you on the mouth with tongue if I could reach you."

Fornell winced. "Yeah, maybe next time, DiNozzo."

The General wore the deep scowl of a military man who spent too much of his time suffering fools. "Fornell, this isn't a #$#% reunion. I agreed to do this under very specific circumstances. Now, let's get this transfer done before Winter wets himself."

Fornell walked up to the bars. "Charges of terrorism are under my direct purview as an agent for Homeland Security. All allegations are investigated. However, concerns about bias have surfaced, and I have asked General Hart, head of the Army Terrorism Unit, to look over these allegations and conduct your interrogations personally."

Ducky rose. "Winter has concocted other charges as well."

General Hart frowned. "He sounds like a damned Irishman or something. I thought you said that this bunch was American. What the hell, Fornell? I'm not playing footsy with a bunch of prissy tea drinkers from the British embassy."

Ducky jumped in. "Actually, I hold dual citizenship, General. Shouldn't be a problem. Interrogate me to your heart's content."

Fornell nodded. "Don't worry, Ducky. Terrorism charges supersede those other charge. We'll worry about the rest in due time."

"Alright Lieutenant, get these men cuffed and into my transport."

The Lieutenant hesitated. "Colonel Winter will be very upset, sir."

"Son, didn't they show you the command structure chart in officer's training school? My bars beat his bars. It don't matter that he's Marine and I'm Army. My shit smells better than his. End of story. Now open this cell or I'm putting you on the truck too."

The Lieutenant relented and Army personnel poured in the cell and handcuffed them all, filing them out one by one. Gibbs jerked to a stop when he reached Fornell. "He's alive, Tobias."

"I know."

"He's your priority now. Get him out of here!" Gibbs hissed.

The soldiers pushed Gibbs past him and through the door.

Hart looked over at Fornell, frowning. "I ain't in the mood for any nonsense, Fornell. They better be the upstanding Americans you claim they are 'cause Sec Nav and Sec Arm are about to have a turf battle, and I don't want to be caught in the middle. If I don't come out of this smelling like a rose, I'm going to come looking for your skinny ass."

Fornell nodded. "It can't hurt that you hate Colonel Winter though."

"Don't get me started on that turd! Alright, where are we going next?" The General wheeled around and marched out of the cellblock.

Fornell followed and found Maggie at the entrance to the stockade. "Did you get it?"

She nodded, handing him a sheaf of faxed papers. "Federal court judge has transferred custody of Timothy McGee to you."

"Good!" Fornell waved the papers at General Hart and they climbed into the jeep.

…

Colonel Winter was many things, but he was rarely an enigma. Still, he confused his men when they told him that the stockade had been raided of its prisoners by an Army General. Instead of charging out of the hospital, he'd taken a deep breath and headed back into McGee's room.

For a couple of minutes, he paced in front of the sick man's bed. McGee eyed him warily but said nothing. Finally, the Colonel narrowed his eyes at him. "I think we're ready to make a deal."

Tim shook his head. "Your deals are no good."

"My men talked to me. You know your people are in the stockade. It seems that one of them, the old British one, is having chest pains—"

"He's Scottish," Tim said sharply. He struggled to keep an image of Gibbs and his last words in his mind.

"Whatever the hell he is, it seems that he's having chest pains. Normally, we'd bring him to the hospital, but I'm not feeling charitable today. I'm getting nothing but bullshit from you. I think I'm going to let the old man figure this out on his own."

McGee spoke slowly. "Let me talk to him. If he confirms the chest pain, we can negotiate."

"Listen, you arrogant little shit, I told you that the old man is dying."

Tim's breath quickened. "I need to see or talk to him."

"You really going to let him die?"

"No proof. No deal." McGee glared at him, his body shaking.

"He's going to die, McGee!"

Tim closed his eyes. He'd lost his image of Gibbs. All he could see now was Ducky slumped against a wall struggling to breath through his chest pain. He couldn't remember if Ducky had ever had heart trouble before, but he was aging, and the stress of the last few days would have been remarkable.

"I'm giving you 30 seconds! You don't tell me what happened to Tilson, and I'm going to let that old man die!"

"I need proof!" McGee cried desperately.

"No! I'm not negotiating with a snot-nosed little piece of crap like you. Not doing it! You tell me now!"

"No!" McGee started to hyperventilate. The pain in his own chest exploded and he leaned his chin into his chest and groaned.

"You are nothing! Do you hear me! I eat pussies like you for breakfast! You tell me what I want to know and you do it now!"

McGee could no longer talk. He struggled to control the wheezing and coughing that erupted. There were loud noises in the hallway, but McGee was no longer in a position to distinguish much of anything. Winter disappeared out the door. McGee barely noticed. His pneumonic chest was struggling for oxygen as his head filled with images of Ducky dying on a concrete floor. In desperation, he lifted his head, "Winter," he wheezed. "I'll confess. I'll confess to whatever you want."

A man came in but McGee's vision was blurred. Still, he struggled to speak. "I did it. I killed him. Save Ducky. Please save Ducky."

The exertion was too much and he slipped into unconsciousness, his head slumping onto his shoulder. The man ran back to the door and called for a doctor. He stood by and held onto McGee's arm while doctors and nurses hooked him up to oxygen and added medicine to his IVs.

When the medics were gone, the man sat close to McGee and took his hand. "Can you hear me, McGee?"

Tim opened his eyes and focused on the man. It was most definitely not something he expected. "Fornell?"

Fornell nodded, smiling. "Didn't think I was going to see you again."

Different images flooded his head and McGee's brow furrowed. "How? I don't understand. Is Ducky dead?"

"Ducky's fine. He's being questioned by the army right now. He didn't have any chest pains."

Tim nodded. "I should have known."

"We don't have a lot of time, Tim. Winter's on with Sec Nav giving him an earful. I'm going to lose custody of you if we don't hurry. I didn't know about any murder charges. I'm worried that will change things."

"I confessed."

"No, you didn't. Winter wasn't in the room. And I didn't hear you. I didn't hear one damn thing you said. Do you understand me?"

McGee nodded.

"Jethro told you to stay quiet, didn't he?"

"Yes."

"Then you stay quiet; you hear me?"

"Okay."

Fornell sighed deeply. "This Tilson was going to kill you, wasn't he?"

Tim didn't respond but Fornell could sense the truth of it. The door opened behind them, and Chad Dunham stood there, dragging an IV bag. He focused on McGee. "You did good, kid. You never broke once. I heard the whole thing."

Fornell winced. "Should you be up?"

"Getting rescued by the frickin' FBI. Damn! How the hell am I going to live this down?"

"Have somebody get you in the Humvee. We gotta' get to the plane."

Dunham looked at McGee. "He can't travel."

"We don't have a choice. Nobody told me that you jokers had disappeared a Marine Sergeant."

Dunham shrugged. Maggie Faust appeared behind him. "Sir, we have the medical equipment loaded for Mr. McGee. His attending physician and a nurse have volunteered for the flight."

Dunham turned and smiled brightly at her. "Well, howdy, ma'am. My name is Chad and you, darling, are a sight for sore eyes. I didn't think FBI had access to pretty girls like you. Do you think you could help a fella' like me into the jeep? Got knocked in the head quite hard saving McGee's life."

She stared at him with wide eyes and he took her arm. "All in a day's work, ma'am. Now, I just need a firm shoulder to lean on."

"Oh my God!" Fornell rolled his eyes. "Maggie, put the fool CIA agent in the jeep and get back here."

Fornell focused back on McGee. "Moving you is bad idea, but we have to do it. You gotta' do this. We're all counting on you."

"What about Boss, Tony, and Ducky? I won't go without them."

"Come on now, Tim. You don't really think I'd come all this way, and bring you back all by yourself, did you?"

…..

General Hart sat across from Gibbs and shook his head. "There's plenty of evidence you and your posse are terrorists. However, your target is Winter and not the U.S. I got nothing to charge you with today. Terrorizing Winter don't bother me none."

Gibbs nodded but said nothing.

"You're still in a peck of trouble though. A missing Marine Sergeant who is probably going to turn up dead is bad news. Still, it ain't my jurisdiction."

Gibbs didn't move a muscle.

Hart shook his head. "You're all sniper, Gunny. Sitting there like a statue waiting for just the right moment. I looked up your record. You're exactly the kind of man that makes a difference on the battlefield. I gotta' a lot of respect for that. Wished you'd joined the good guys back in the day."

There was a twitch at the corner of Gibbs' mouth. "Army is for old ladies."

Hart laughed. "Spoken like a true jarhead: long on muscles, short on brains."

Gibbs allowed the shadow of a grin.

"It never really leaves you, I guess. As a soldier, you never leave your comrades behind. You were going to pull that boy to safety no matter what the cost. This McGee must be some kind of agent for you to risk everything for him."

"He is."

Hart took a deep breath. "You know you're going to have to face this missing Sergeant crap back in the states. Plus, Sec Nav is seeing red over all of your unauthorized shenanigans. The only reason I'm even letting you get on the plane is that I know that Winter is incapable of any kind of due process here in Afghanistan."

"I understand, sir."

"Alright, let's get you boys on that plane."

…

Gibbs, Ducky, Wilson, and DiNozzo got to the tarmac and the plane was fueled and ready. In true style, Fornell had managed to snag a private plane out of Homeland Security. Gibbs could imagine the internal investigation in Homeland Security that was likely to follow this little escapade. Fornell was risking his whole career for them.

DiNozzo ran ahead and took the stairs two at a time. A minute later, his head popped out. "McGee and Fornell aren't here!"

Gibbs' gut clenched and he cursed. The problems getting out of Afghanistan had become never ending. Their cell phones were dead so there was no other choice for Gibbs but to get back into the jeep and pull him out of the hospital himself. He was about to turn and head back to the jeep when Wilson shouted. A Humvee was headed toward them. Gibbs half hoped Winter was inside. His plan was to take the Colonel apart limb by limb, and then savor the memory of it for the rest of his life in Leavenworth.

He braced himself for the confrontation, but when the Humvee stopped, an Army Sergeant jumped out followed by Fornell. Gibbs let got of his tension and ran toward them. Fornell pointed at the vehicle. "We would have used an ambulance, but they were out in the field. It would've been an extra hour. He's pretty sick, Jethro."

Gibbs pushed by him and found a pale McGee slumped in the back against Dunham. He turned his head, "Ducky!"

McGee's breath was shallow, his eyes tired. "Winter told me Ducky was dying. I want to see him."

Gibbs reached in and pulled McGee toward him. "Nothing wrong with the Duck. I promise you."

He lifted him into his arms and McGee protested. "I can walk, Boss. Just need a shoulder."

Ducky arrived. "None of that, Timothy. You're as weak as a kitten."

"You're okay, Ducky." McGee smiled.

Ducky frowned. "Of course, I am, my boy."

Gibbs strode off toward the plane. Wilson and Maggie pulled Dunham out of the other side, and helped him to the plane. McGee, even in his weakened state, was heavy, and DiNozzo took McGee from him at the steps to the plane and carried him inside. Ducky could see Timothy arguing with Tony about being carried, and he took a moment to smile. For the first time in weeks, it was possible to believe that everyone was going to be okay.

A second Humvee pulled up, and Army personnel with medical equipment emerged followed by a doctor and a nurse. Ducky waved them to the plane and climbed aboard. It took only minutes to get them all situated. Fornell disappeared into the cockpit.

In the midst of Ducky and the doctor setting up a space for McGee, Tony squeezed in and settled himself next to him. "Hey Tim."

McGee smiled wearily. "I can't wait to get home."

Tony held his hand. "Me too. It's great to have you back."

"So that means no more teasing and practical jokes, right? We're entering into a whole new era of professionalism now."

Tony chuckled. "Well, I wouldn't say that."

Tim nodded. "Good to hear."

They lapsed into silence for a minute and then McGee looked at Tony. "Is Abby okay?"

Tony hesitated for a moment. "She's going to be, Tim. She's going to be just fine."

Tim could tell there was something not being said, but he was too tired to pursue it. Instead, he nodded at Tony and closed his eyes.

…..

Gibbs was impatient. The plane should have started moving by now, and Fornell had yet to emerge from the cockpit. He got up and made his way to the front. Without knocking, he opened the door, and saw the pilot, co-pilot, and Fornell focused on a scene out the front window. Three Humvees were blocking the runway. Colonel Winter was standing in front of them, his arms folded. Gibbs slammed his palm into the wall. "Open up the exit!"

The pilot looked at Fornell who nodded. The pilot hit the release on the door. Gibbs removed his jacket, gun, and everything from his pockets. Fornell watched this silently. Gibbs stopped before heading out the door. "If I can get him out of the way, you get this plane out of here, Fornell!"

"Jethro!"

"Destroying McGee is the endgame. Always has been. You will guarantee that won't happen, Tobias."

Fornell slowly nodded and Gibbs disappeared out the door.

…..

TBC

15