"Tim!!!"
Lily's scream pierced the air and dragged Tim back to consciousness.
He could feel them holding his hands, he was sure his eyes were open, and he knew the light was on…so how come he couldn't see them?
"Stay down…crawl onto the landing…whatever you do, don't stand up…let's stay together okay?"
He held on to them as they crept along the floor, the warm blood trickled down his face, but he didn't bother to wipe it away, it wasn't the blood blinding him…that gunshot. He hadn't heard the shot, only the breaking glass…was the attacker using a silencer…not wanting to attract attention in a quiet neighbourhood… A sudden swelling of panic quickened his heart rate, how could he protect he children if he couldn't see?
He banged his shoulder against the door frame…okay, at least he knew they were on the landing. Tim fumbled for the door and pulled it shut behind them. Whoever was outside couldn't see them now.
The children were crying…
"Hey you two, we're not done yet. Remember the plan?"
Lily gave a loud sniff.
"The attic…but Tim, you…you're hurt…"
Tim could detect the panic starting to reach her trembling voice, and he could hear Jared's rapid breathing. He took a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped away what he hoped was most of the blood…he must look pretty scary…but he had to tell them how bad their situation had become…had to come up with a plan until Gibbs could get here…
"Listen guys…I've got a bit of a problem, and I need your help, lots of help…you have to do everything I ask without question…are we clear?"
He could feel them sitting either side of him, so he reached for their hands.
"I said are we clear?"
"Crystal!!"
They both chimed out the response they had worked on in their game…a game that was about to become all too real…
"That's great…first, Lily, take my phone…now you have to get into the safe space, but this time don't pull up the ladder right away. Go!"
Tim heard the ladder mechanism, and as they were climbing up to the attic he drew his weapon and felt his way to the top of the stairs…he had to buy them some time…
"Safe and Sound Tim!"
A wave of overwhelming pride washed over him, they were following their training to the letter…
"Good work, now Lily, you need to call Gibbs. Just hit speed dial 1, he'll be there…"
Tim leaned against the wall for a moment, he felt sick, and dizzy, and the blood was trickling down his face again, he could feel it…he tried to concentrate…whoever had fired was still out there…
"J..Jared…you still there?"
"Tim, what's wrong? Please, I know something's wrong…"
"I've got a problem buddy…I…I can't see…do you think you can be my eyes?"
Tim heard the shocked intake of breath, but then the suddenly small voice asked.
"How…how do I, what do I do?"
Tim aimed his gun down the stairs.
"Like I taught you for the games…picture the screen as a grid, break it down into squares and aim for the right square…"
"Get the angles right, and you get the bad guy!"
"That's it!…can you…think of the hallway as the screen…if anyone breaks through the door…give me a grid reference…doesn't need to be exact, just close enough that they think I can see them…I know you can do it, and when we pull this off, it's paint ball every weekend if you want, deal?"
"Deal!"
Lily called down.
"Gibbs is on the way…he said I was to tell you, he's called the local LEOs…is that right?"
Tim smiled, and allowed himself a moment to imagine the scene in the car carrying Jackie and Leon Vance when they heard that their children were being attacked…he was pretty sure Gibbs would get here before the locals…but there was still no sign of his so called back up…they'd left the children exposed, and if he got out of this, he'd have their badges…heck, he'd have their hides…
The slightest sound at the front door, and he was alert and focussed again. He whispered.
"Jared…you ready?"
"Ready Tim."
The quiet of the house was shattered as the door was forced open.
"D5!"
Tim aimed and fired. A grunt of pain told him that he had hit the attacker, but how bad?
"Jared…can you see him?"
"He's not moving Tim…just lying there…"
"Great job Jared, now stay alert, there may be more..."
"Hey McGee! Thought we'd taken you out!"
"Welton…is that you?"
"Who were you expecting…Al Qaeda? The Mob? Nope…just little old me, and some like-minded friends…"
"You sent the threats…"
"Yup! That bastard Vance fired me! Eighteen years service…and he kicked me out the door…"
Keep him talking…buy some time…
"The Director…he must have had his reasons…I mean, he wouldn't do it without good reason…"
"Good reason be damned! He didn't think I had the 'best interests of the Agency at heart' all because he found out I was a member of a group of American patriots fighting for our freedom."
Tim was finding it harder to concentrate, he knew Welton hadn't moved into the hallway or Jared would have warned him...but he couldn't keep this up much longer, another wave of nausea almost overwhelmed him...he was cold, but he had to wipe the palm of his hand on his pants...sweating and cold...not good...he knew that.
"Freedom, whose freedom? We're in the land of the free."
The door creaked slightly and Tim lifted his gun again, Welton laughed.
"You think you're free, the government is stealing every tiny bit of freedom we have…and try doing something Vance doesn't like, you'll see how free you are...just because I tried to get some other NCIS agents to join us, he kicked me out. So now we've come for his children, and don't try to stop us, you killed Romney and he was a good man, you'll pay for his death, and then little Lily and Jared..."
"D3! E5!"
Tim fired off four rounds; and prayed that he'd hit something, if they got up the stairs he wouldn't be able to stop them.
A loud scream followed by gasping sobs from one of the attackers echoed through the hallway.
"Jared...I hit one, what about...?"
He could hear crying from the attic.
"Jared! Are you hurt?"
"No, but...Craig...Agent Welton...I thought he was our friend, he...I think he's dead Tim, he's not moving...can we come down now?"
Tim slumped against the wall, his hands shaking; his head pounding...was it over?
"You stay where you are; you and Lily...pull up the steps now...I'll wait for Gibbs..."
The scream of car tyres moments later mingled with the screams still coming from Sallis. Tim started to believe at last...that had to be Gibbs...soon, he would be able to sleep soon...but not until the children were back with their Mom and Dad...
"Gibbs coming in!"
New footsteps, lots of them, but still the screaming…
"Shut him up DiNozzo!"
One set of footsteps coming towards him, then a hand on his shoulder.
"McGee? Lily and Jared, are they okay?"
Tim nodded, and then thought better of it; he felt sick again, he waved his hand upward.
"The attic...they're safe...the threat...was just Vance, the others…smokescreen...Welton...get the children Boss...they're scared..."
Tim started to shiver…and he couldn't stop, he leaned against the wall and reached his trembling hand up to his right temple…that seemed to be where the blood…and the pain was coming from…the noises around him became muffled and indistinct…someone was talking to him, and he tried to make sense of the words…
"Let me see, McGee…the ambulance will be here soon."
Ziva gently pulled his hand away and examined the wound.
"We need to get something to stop the bleeding, wait there…"
"Not…going anywhere…"
He was aware of more people coming up the stairs, but there was so much noise, Tim had lost track of who was where…until two pairs of arms threw themselves around him.
"Tim! You did it! Mom and Dad are here Tim…we're safe…"
"They're here? But…the Marine Ball…"
"Let Tim breathe, come on, he needs to get to the hospital…Tim…"
Jackie was shocked by his pallor and the blood spilling down his face, she took the gauze from Ziva and applied some pressure to the wound, her eyes filled with tears…her children were safe, but he was hurt, and he'd been hurt protecting what she held most dear…
"You…never got…to dazzle…them in your gown."
"Oh Tim, as if that matters..."
Vance took his wife's hand.
"Jackie, the EMTs are here, McGee, that's twice now…there are no words…Jared, Lily, they mean everything…"
"'S'okay…just doing…my…"
Now that he knew his job was done, that the children were with their parents, Tim could relax…he slumped forward and would have fallen headlong down the stairs, but strong arms gripped him tight and laid him gently, very gently on the landing. The EMTs had Sallis on a gurney ready for transport, as Gibbs shouted down the stairs.
"We need help up here!!"
It was a sombre and subdued group sitting in the waiting room, Tim was in with the doctors and so far they had heard nothing about his condition.
As the ambulance sirens had faded into the distance Jared and Lily had tried to tell a very attentive audience about the attack.
"He couldn't see! But…"
Tony thought of the two bodies in the hallway, of sallies, his kneecap shattered by one of Tim's bullets.
"Never thought Elf Lord had it in him, maybe all those hours playing computer games weren't entirely wasted."
Vance glared at Tony, and was about to open his mouth, but Gibbs silenced him with a hand on his arm, and whispered.
"Leave it Leon, it's how he deals with being scared, can't stop talking…"
But he wasn't talking now, none of them were, this was taking too long…
Gibbs needed to fill the silence.
"How are the kids doing Leon?"
"They want to see Tim…but other than that, they're doing okay; we're going to stay in a hotel for a few days, until the house…"
They lapsed into silence again, but Gibbs had another question.
"Leon…back at the house…you said, that's twice…"
Vance leaned back in his chair, lost in his memories.
"It was right after I was officially appointed Director; the day before Jenny's memorial service…I was sitting at my desk reading over some personnel files when my assistant buzzed through on the intercom…"
Eighteen Months Ago
"Special Agent McGee is here sir, he would like a few moments of your time if possible."
Vance smiled to himself – it was McGee's file that he currently had open on his desk. He put the personnel files in his drawer and opened a requisition report – best that McGee didn't see whose files he was looking through.
"Send him in."
The door opened and McGee walked quickly into Vance's office, he was carrying a laptop, and he looked – well he looked a little nervous. Vance wasn't surprised by that – they were all still getting to know each other, but he had been impressed with McGee so far….Gibbs' man through and through of course, but he was an asset to NCIS, and an asset he needed right now.
"You wanted to see me?"
"Yes sir – it's…I spend some of my off duty time working with a group trying to police some of the social networking sites used by youngsters; looking for paedophiles, groomers – you know the type of thing…"
"I do McGee, and that's a laudable use of your spare time, but what does it have to do with NCIS?"
"Not NCIS Director, but it has to do with your family."
Vance slammed down the file he had been holding.
"My family? You've been spying on my family?"
"No! I would never…it's not like that."
"Then enlighten me Special Agent McGee – what is it like?"
McGee opened up the laptop and set it down on the desk, he hit a few keys.
"This is one of the most popular networking sites with pre-teens…and for the most part it is youngsters chatting to each other – but not everyone who says they're 11 years old actually is…SuperBart101 from Seattle….he's actually a 43 year old salesman from Santa Barbara…I've been tracking his chatter…"
The chat thread on the screen turned Vance's stomach – this guy was clever – it was only if you were looking for it that you could read his intent…
"This scumbag is grooming my daughter?"
McGee shook his head.
"Not likely – if his past record is anything to go by…"
"My son?"
Vance's chair clattered to the floor as he got to his feet, suddenly unable to think – barely able to breathe….
"Sir? Are you okay? Stupid question…I shouldn't have been so …."
Vance managed to catch his breath at last.
"I...I'm fine...McGee, you're certain about this? No possibility that you made an error..."
Folding shut the laptop McGee shook his head.
"I triple checked everything Sir, there's no mistake, Jared was being targeted by a known paedophile..."
"Was?"
"Yes sir, I managed to back trace his IP address, you can't always get that…some of them are pretty clever about hiding their tracks, but not this guy. I got a location and the local LEOs arrested him a short time ago…I don't think he's going to be bothering any children for a few years."
Vance picked up his chair and took a few deep breaths, this was a lot to deal with, he spotted McGee heading for the door. He couldn't let him go without…
"Special Agent McGee, I…thank you doesn't seem enough, but I don't know what else to say."
Tim smiled.
"There's no need Sir."
"There's every need McGee, when I think what could have happened if Jared had met up with this…lowlife piece of...you saved my son from what could have been the worst experience of his life."
"I'm just glad I could help...I'd better get back, Gibbs will be looking for me."
"Does Gibbs know about this?"
Tim's face was a picture of outrage.
"No! I would never! Like I said, this is nothing to do with NCIS, no need for anyone here to know."
Vance realised that his hands were shaking, Gibbs spotted it too…
"And we never would have known Leon, one thing we've all learned about McGee; he can keep a secret…is that why you sent him to Cyber Crimes? Because he didn't tell us about Jared..
"Not entirely, I'd already been considering him; I had an agent back in San Diego who could have done the job, an agent loyal to me…"
"You didn't think Timothy was loyal to you?"
Vance shook his head vigorously.
"It was never a question of doubting his loyalty to NCIS Doctor Mallard, but his first loyalty is to Gibbs…I know that, to the team…But I also knew that if he was asked to keep something to himself, that's exactly what he would do, particularly something as important as cracking those encryptions…you know Gibbs, he waited every day for you to ask to have him back…He bided his time down there, he did everything I asked of him, but deep down I think he was hoping you would wear me down and I'd approve his move back…"
"But you never gave me the choice Leon, I wanted them all back together, my team…you knew that…"
"I did, but did he?"
Tony felt he had been silent long enough.
"Okay, I get that McGee saved Jared form that sick psycho, but how come he's so friendly with your kids…and he has his own mug!"
That got a laugh out of Vance, but he was soon a picture of seriousness once more.
"He offered, when the kids moved from California, to give them some tips on being safe in cyberspace…from the first day they met…well, you saw…he's great with them, they love having him round, and they've learned so much…but Tim, he wanted to keep it separate from NCIS, so we agreed not to discuss the children at work, not to let people know that he knew them…"
"Man! McGee and secrets!"
Tony was about to tell them all what he thought about Tim keeping too much to himself when the door opened.
"I'm Doctor Coupland, is everyone here for Special Agent McGee?"
Abby rushed over to him.
"Is Tim okay, can we see him now, is he awake, what about his sight?"
"Abigail! Give the doctor a chance…"
"It's no problem, I realise you've been without news for a while, but we had to wait for him to regain consciousness before we could run our tests. And let me say right away, it's good news. There is no reason to think that his blindness is permanent, no damage to the optic nerve…obviously he's suffered a concussion, and lost some blood. We'll keep him in for a few days just to monitor his progress, but we don't foresee any lasting problems."
Vance rushed over to the Doctor and shook his hand.
"You have no idea how relieved I am to hear that Doctor Coupland, thank you so much."
And that gratitude was reflected on all the faces in the room, Tim was going to be fine, Lily and Jared were safe, Welton and his crew were out of action for good. Gibbs gave Vance an affectionate slap on the back.
"Now that Director Vance, is what I would call a good day!"
Today
A thunderclap of applause erupted throughout the room. Everyone knew about the attack on the Director's home, Welton's treachery; and the part played by Sallis and Romney…people they knew and thought they could trust…and they had seen from the gash on McGee's temple when he had returned to duty, how close he had come to losing his life that night, an inch to the left…
Tim stood stock still, he must be hearing things.
"Hey McHero, get up there, or do you want me to?"
Abby gave Tony a soft thump on his arm.
"No Tony! Come on Tim…everyone's waiting…go get your reward, you earned it!"
Finally realising that Gibbs really had said his name Tim made his way to the front of the room, his progress delayed by handshakes and back slaps. Gibbs, making no effort to disguise the pride he felt, handed Tim the medal, had the occasion not been so public Gibbs would have liked to hug his man, but he contented himself with a warm handshake.
"Congratulations Tim, I can't think of a more worthy recipient. You did yourself and NCIS proud…time to say thanks…"
With the applause still echoing round the room Tim looked up, he had to speak now? He gulped down the sudden lump in his throat.
"You know, I'm not real good at this kind of thing…I think I'd rather face another shootout than speak to so many people…"
A warm ripple of laughter and a smile of encouragement from Vance gave him the nerve to continue.
"But seriously…this is such a great honour…but you know, I don't really deserve it…I had help…Lily and Jared…without them Gibbs wouldn't have come…and I would never have been able to hit a barn door, let alone moving targets…so, thank you so much, but if it's okay with you I'd like to share this with them."
More applause, and Tim was relieved to step away from the podium, as he did so Director Vance put a hand on his arm.
"Not so fast McGee, let's see if the kids think you should share that medal."
He gestured to the side door, and Tim was amazed to see Jackie Vance there with Lily and Jared, all of them grinning from ear to ear. Jackie stepped forward and enveloped Tim in a hug.
"You didn't think we were going to miss this did you Tim? Now children, do you think Tim should share this award with you?"
"No way!!"
"But I couldn't have done it without you."
Jared took a step toward Tim and Lily nodded to him.
"We talked about…that night Tim, lots of times…we were so scared, crying…without you we'd have been sitting targets, those men…if you hadn't told us what to do…you saved us Tim, that's why that medal is all yours!"
Tim found his vision blurring, he'd had that a lot in the days after the shooting, but this time it was tears that were making it difficult for him to focus. Jackie took his hand.
"Tim, don't ever belittle what you did that night. When Leon put you in charge of protection, I knew he'd made the right choice…he doesn't give his trust easily, but when it's won…he not only trusted you with his own life, but with the lives of the people who are most dear to him in the whole world, and you didn't fail him Tim. He…we'll never be able to thank you enough."
"They're such great kids…I couldn't let anything happen to them…Jackie…"
She opened her eyes wide and laughed aloud.
"Now he calls me Jackie! If I'd known it would take a bullet to get you to do that, I'd have shot you myself months ago! Now come on Tim, Leon has drinks for all of us in his office…oh, and a word of warning, now that you're cleared for duty, the children have been asking about paint balling…"
THE END