Author's Note—Sorry for the delay here guys but some family problems have come up in recent weeks that have captured most of my attention. Yet here is the long awaited chapter two, this will be a long journey but reviews are always welcome because they help me improve my stories. Hope you like this chapter even though it is short, chapter three I promise will be up much quicker
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Chapter Two – The First Words
Upon hearing those words and that deep manly voice that had filled his mind when McGee allowed the nightmares to take over, his heartbeat sped up and he could feel that his breathing was becoming rigged with each ever so slowly passing moment. Desperate to not allow the man to see how weak he was when around him he simply took Sarah's hand and held onto it as if it was the only thing cementing him in this life. With the reassuring grip Sarah had sent his way Tim also began to remember a breathing technique that an admit doctor had once taught him and that his treating physician Donald Mallard had also shown Tim.
Doctor Mallard and NCIS Director Tom Morrow were the only two souls to know what the visit to California truly entailed. Tim had told his new team—the only real family that he had ever known—that he was taking some personal time in order to deal with a familial emergency, and while their faces registered skepticism they said nothing except the obligatory, "hope it is nothing serious" responses. A part of Tim had wanted either Tony, Kate, Abby, or even Gibbs to ask him what the emergency was but deep down he had a gut feeling that they would enjoy the time away from him. You see Tim has very low self esteem no doubt because of his inner demons, but because of this he often thought that those around him should never be bothered with him. Then another part of him wondered if he really would have told the team the truth anyways? Tom Morrow knew what skeletons laid in his new green, probationary agents life, but had sworn to the delicate young man that part of his personnel record would be sealed. In all reality the Director felt bad for this young man because of everything that he had, had to face, and part of him was amazed that he had even lived to get to this point. Ducky knew of course because he had conducted the psych evaluations and questions about his childhood, teenaged breakdown, and why NCIS were bound to come up. This physician shared most of the same sentiments as Morrow, and honestly he was appalled by what young Timothy had told him—sure he had seen horrors during his time as a doctor in war zones, but what this young man told him made his skin crawl, and wonder if there was any humanity left in the world?
Once McGee's breathing was regulated he found the courage to bring his head up to face his longtime tormentor. As Tim tentatively lifted the head that now felt more like a ton of bricks, he was immediately drawn to the man's hands. Those are the hands that had touched him all over when he was younger, the hands that he could feel on him whenever he smelled sweet and lo, or when he was in crowed places. Finally drawn out of his mini nightmare he lifted his head fully back so that his head was resting on the cool cement walls of the cell. Through his tilted head McGee was drawn to the man's chained hands yet again. The hands had become bony over the years as a result of less and less use. Ye the arthritic hands still brought him back to a much younger age. At that time the hands were soft and even sensual in their own way. The hands permanently smelled like coffee and tobacco because those were two main fixtures in the soon to be ex Navy man's life. Tim remembers when those hands dragged across his younger soft, creamy skin, and he remembers the feelings of sadness that he acquitted with bedtime.
All of those things no longer mattered, and in a way they still did as well. All that matters now is what Tim will do in the coming weeks. He will relive every painful memory that he had thought were long since buried. He will have to tell complete strangers what should never become public knowledge.
Sarah sensing that her brother was not yet quite ready to face that vile man in front of them and all the nightmares that were associated with him, she decided to take over.
"Hi Dad" those two words sent the McGee's down a no doubt painful and bumpy memory lane.
