Six weeks went by full of overtime, stress, and grisly cases. But seeing as he'd been stuck at his desk for all that time, McGee was going stir crazy. Hacking, research, and general desk duties stopped satisfying him after week three. No matter how well he did, no matter how many times Gibbs vocalized his rare "Good work," or another suspect was caught, it was nothing compared to how much he wanted to be back in the field. This overeager need to get out of the bullpen didn't go unnoticed, but the rest of the team understood. None of them liked working the desk when they could be out saving lives, even while recovering from a near death experience that had supplied a broken ankle, gunshot wound and stage three concussion. And no one noticed how pale or worn McGee looked, because they all looked that way; it had been a rough few weeks full of upsetting murders, with victims ranging from children to veterans. They were all due for a break.
But from the moment Tim was cleared for active field duty, things began to escalate.
It started with little moments; returning gunfire at suspects with more zeal, sticking his head out from behind cover to fire off a few rounds before even Ziva would dare to, not minding heights or bloodbaths like he once did…all these things generally went unnoticed, even by McGee. He was just numbed to it, that's all. The thought of what might happen to him if he were to slip up didn't worry him in the slightest. And again, no one really noticed because, in the heat of the moment, all any of them were really concerned with was stopping a bad guy before someone got hurt.
Someone was hurt however, and as a matter of fact, it was McGee.
This stayed a secret to everyone, including, Tim, until after a case- which had been a particularly long one. Four men murdered within two weeks and one disappearance, all on the same naval base. This was especially troubling, as it was a base with a residential community, meaning there were families very close to this maniac (for it had been determined through forensics and some sharp autopsy work that the murders were all by the same individual). Families with children. And while the killer had yet to attack any kids, Team Gibbs was not willing to allow for even the most remote possibility.
It was because of this that the tension in the bullpen was palpable- it wasn't that they were upset with each other, they were simply all upset with themselves, wondering why it was taking them so long to find a perp so arrogant that he or she had stayed in the same five mile radius even after NCIS had taken the case.
"It's gotta be someone who lives there," Tim said, examining a map where all of the bodies had been found.
"We already know that, McGee!" Tony responded in exasperation as he entered the bullpen, just catching the end of the younger man's statement.
"Actually Tony, we were just discussing a theory I have," Ziva defended, not putting up with DiNozzo's snippy mood. "I wondered if perhaps the killer was taking the victims while they are out, and dumping the bodies at various places around the base."
"But then he would have to get in and out of the base, past security, with his victims in a car or truck or something. There are dogs at some of the entrances who would smell them. And everyone has been on high alert since the first body was found and this guy is still managing to kill people!" McGee argued, frustrated. They were wasting time…and while he hadn't technically been keeping a running score of how much he contributed to the case each day, he had developed a habit of beating himself up whenever he thought he didn't do "enough."
DiNozzo glanced over at Tim's computer. "How's that program working?"
When Ducky concluded that they were looking for a highly disturbed individual, McGee set to work coding a program that would hack through the base's computer systems and retrieve all psychiatric records for persons matching the scarce forensic information Abby had collected from the crime scene evidence. Unfortunately, the ME and goth had only been able to guarantee that the suspect was a male aged 18-55. It wasn't a lot to go on whatsoever. The program had been running nonstop since Tim finished it, but it wasn't as much help as it could have been, because not everyone on the base had any sort of record of psychiatric issues, even if they suffered from them. And these records only included people who sought out help, or who had to pass some sort of mental competence test, meaning most spouses and children of officers stationed in the community would go undetected by McGee's otherwise brilliant software.
"Nothing yet," the junior agent said, trying to keep the disappointment from his voice. Tony frowned at how tired McGee looked at that moment, but said nothing.
Ziva suppressed a sigh. "We have interviewed dozens of suspects and we have combed every inch of the area. Ducky and Palmer have examined each victim from top to bottom."
"Ok, let's look at that," DiNozzo suggested, attempting to ignore how hungry he was. They'd all (hardly) slept in the bullpen the previous night and had subsequently skipped breakfast. He pressed a button on the flatscreen's remote, and the pictures of the victims popped onto the screen.
The gruesome sight made it easier to forget about eating.
"So all four victims died of unknown causes," DiNozzo restated the facts. "Then they were all carved up with a knife postmortem." Multiple, deliberate patterns of cuts traced their way across each torso.
Tim stepped forward to examine the photos closer, then turned and grabbed his desk phone, pressing his speed dial for Ducky's desk in the autopsy lab.
"Hello?"
"Ducky, I have another question about the victims for our serial killer. What kind of knife would be used to make those cuts?"
Tony and Ziva gathered around McGee's desk, so he put Ducky on speaker.
"Well…" the older man thought for a moment. "Really, the patterns on each victim were done postmortem, almost certainly through the work of a scalpel."
"Damn, that's no help, anyone can get a scalpel," DiNozzo said.
Ducky, having heard his remark, continued. "I wouldn't be so sure, Tony. Most people, even highly disciplined killers, are clumsy with such a knife the first time. Yet every single victim looks like they were attended to by a trained professional. But…" the older man went silent, as this eye was caught by the line of X-rays Jimmy had taken of the bodies.
"Are you there, Ducky?"
"I think you'd better come see something," the doctor said, thoughtful.
As they hung up, Gibbs entered the bullpen. "What've got?" he asked.
"Ducky wants us down in autopsy," Tony said as the team made their way to the elevator.
In the basement, the Scotsman and Palmer were staring at the row of X-rays.
"Ah, Jethro…" the older ME regarded the agents with a hint of amusement. "I didn't expect everyone to come down at once."
"Not a problem if it's worth it," Gibbs hinted.
"Yes, right. Do you see this?" he pointed to a spot on the first picture, right at the edge of where the heart was.
"I don't see anything," McGee admitted.
"Neither do I," Ziva said.
Ducky patiently went down the row of X-rays and pointed to the same spot on each one. "Every single one of these victims suffered a heart attack."
"How? They were all perfectly healthy," DiNozzo said.
"Exactly. They were perfectly healthy, yet each person's heart has been tampered with. I would guess that the victims were given a shock with a defibrillator while still alive, as a method of torture. Then after they were dead, the killer took his frustration out on them with a scalpel."
"What makes you think the killer used a defibrillator?" Gibbs asked.
"By process of elimination. Abigail found nothing in the blood tests to suggest poison, and something causing such identical heart attacks in four very healthy men that did not leave any marks on the skin...I told you this work with the scalpel was most likely done by someone with a medical background. And to cause such heart attacks would require repeated but controlled doses of electricity. The person who stopped these four hearts is someone experienced in restarting them."
Suddenly Tim lit up, happy to finally contribute something he deemed worthwhile. "Tony, you and I questioned that doctor a few days ago, remember? He said his wife was overseas and that he worked at Bethesda as a... cardiothoracic surgeon, I think."
Gibbs jumped into action. "McGee find out all you can about this guy. DiNozzo, look up what you can about the wife. Ziva, call the base, make sure no body goes in or out until we get there." As the agents all rushed from the room, Gibbs turned to call "thanks, Duck," before the autopsy doors swished closed behind him.
...
"Ok, so the guy's name is Robert Asbury, 42, lives on the base with his wife who is currently on an aircraft carrier in the Pacific," McGee said, so eager that he sounded like this new information was an early birthday present.
The bullpen was filled with a fresh energy now that the team had something to go on.
"But it turns out his wife filed for divorce six months ago," Ziva spoke up. "Only three months after they were married."
"On what grounds?" Tony asked.
"It just says irreconcilable differences."
"Guys," McGee added. "It says that Asbury was stripped of his medical license around the same time that they filed for divorce."
"Get the wife on in MTAC, see what she has to say," Gibbs said. McGee followed him up to the secure surveillance room and began contacting the officers of the ship.
Only thirty minutes later, the team was rushing to Asbury's residence. A long and very informative talk with Petty Officer Asbury revealed that the two filed for divorce after she cheated on her husband.
"I am sorry for hurting him, but I don't think he is really capable of being hurt," she said. "As soon as we were married he became a totally different person. He's like a sociopath, Agent Gibbs. He turns on the charm until he doesn't need to anymore. I cheated, yes, but not on the man I married…only on some empty shell. I'm not making excuses for what I did, but he was and is a terrible husband."
"Is there a chance he'd become violent?"
"I don't…I mean, he was furious when he found out I'd slept with someone else, and said he was going to kill the guy. I just chalked that up to his anger at me. I never told him who the guy was, so I figured he was safe."
"I have a report here that says your husband's medical license was revoked after a malpractice incident," McGee spoke up.
"Yeah, it was right after we separated. I think that's why he's dragging the whole process out so long. As long as we're married, he can live on the base as my spouse. Once we're divorced, he's got no job and no roof over his head."
The conversation went on for a few more minutes, and when the call disconnected, everything fell into place.
"Asbury's been drawing out the divorce so that he can live on the base," McGee told Tony and Ziva once they all met back in the bullpen. "Odds are, he wants to stay there until he's satisfied with his body count. His wife never told him who she slept with. She wouldn't told us, either. So Asbury must have narrowed it down to a few men and is now picking them off one by one."
"This sounds like too much raw emotion for a true psychopath," Ducky chimed in, entering the bullpen and joining the conversation. "This is not sexual gratification, but jealousy, catharsis. Revenge. Obviously he is suffering from a major psychotic disorder, but he is far more emotional than your average serial killer. Which might make him even more dangerous."
"But more predictable. You got the address?" Gibbs asked.
"Here," Ziva said, already having written it down on a sticky note.
"Oh, Jethro," the agent's old friend added. "I came up here to tell you that once Ziva told me your suspect worked at Bethesda, I pulled some strings with an old friend who works there and found that Asbury's malpractice scandal had to do with performing unnecessary exploratory surgery on one of his cardiology patients, lying about the results of a diagnosis test in order to convince the woman that she needed the surgery."
"This guy should be in jail already," Tony said as the agents grabbed their guns and badges.
"Well now we get to put him there," Tim said, a little too optimistic about the whole thing.
"McGee, you're staying here," Gibbs said.
"Boss?" the younger agent protested, with a little too much volume. When Gibbs gave him a look, he became sheepish. "Sorry, but I was cleared for field work two weeks ago. I've been fine the whole time-"
"Actually, Timothy, it was my suggestion," Ducky spoke up. "You look very unwell. I don't think you're fit to be chasing after a highly dangerous criminal."
Heat rose to Tim's cheeks. "Ducky, I'm fine," he said gently but with a pleading tone. "We all just look a little worse for wear because we haven't been home in more than 24 hours. I promise I'll be alright. And if this guy really is dangerous, then all of us should go. Please."
Gibbs gave Ducky a look, and finally the doctor acquiesced. "Alright...but don't overdo it."
...
To McGee's chagrin, he had won the battle but lost the war- Gibbs forced him to wait outside the house; he was only allowed to come in if he heard gunshots. But surprisingly, there were none. The psychotic doctor, satisfied that he'd killed all the men on his list of possible adulterers, gave in without a fight. The truly upsetting thing was that the fifth disappearance was resolved soon after; they had missed their chance of saving him by several hours. The arrest became a crime scene, and Ducky and Jimmy were called out to retrieve the final body.
Tim was more than upset, he was pissed off. At himself, mind you. After all of those days of working at his desk, trying to catch this bastard, and he'd been forced to wait by the car. Like a child. They didn't need his help in bringing down this guy whatsoever, it seemed. Guilt plagued him. He'd done nothing of real consequence to close this case. Of course he was wrong, the team never would have done it without him, but in McGee's mind, he had a huge deficit to make up. If he hadn't been faster, if he hadn't worried about that stupid computer program, then maybe the fifth victim wouldn't have been killed.
He kept his concerns quiet, of course, as they wrapped up the crime scene investigation of the house. Loads of medical tools were found hidden throughout the establishment and it felt like ages before they were finished with the place.
Still, the man was in custody, and that meant an end to the case. Sure, there would still be reports and paperwork to do, but as far as the agents were concerned, the whole thing would be wrapped up before nightfall. Gibbs was in a relatively good mood despite the fact that Palmer and Ducky had one last victim to examine; since it was a Friday, he saw no harm in letting his agents take the weekend off. They more than deserved it-all three were sporting circles under their eyes. Even Abby seemed a bit worn out (if ever such a thing were possible). But he didn't want to get their hopes up until he was sure they could spare the time off, so Gibbs decided to wait until later to tell them to go home.
Once everything was loaded into the van and Tony and Ziva had secured the handcuffed man in the back of the car, the crime scene caravan took off towards NCIS.
Ziva watched their captured serial killer with narrow eyes as DiNozzo filled the tense silence with meaningless chit chat. This was a man not to be trifled with, as he'd demonstrated with McGee only minutes before. He stared back, a twisted glint in his eye. Some of Tim's blood was dried over his fingers but he didn't seem to notice or care.
"Why heart attacks?" DiNozzo finally asked, glancing at the man in the back seat.
Asbury seemed completely uninterested and unaffected by Tony's questions. "You mean, why not just shoot them like a regular jealous husband?" When Tony didn't answer, he continued. "I'm a doctor specializing in cardiopulmonary sciences. I how fragile the heart is. It's an easy thing to break. Quite literally. And when your heart gives out, you can feel yourself dying. There's no better torture than that."