A/N: I was left a very long review questioning my motivations for writing this story and asking a lot of questions (you can all read it if you'd like and see if you agree, I'm not taking it down), but it was anonymous. I really would like to be able to respond to the criticism, but not in the middle of a story. :) I am always very open to being critiqued, but I'd like the chance to actually respond to said critique. It is unfair to me to say what you think and then run away. Anyway, back to the story for those of you who are enjoying it.
Chapter 4
Thomas strode confidently toward his apartment. He had picked up the tail...and he'd caught the scent of the perfume Jewel wore. It was distinctive.
Like Abby's gunpowder perfume, not the same scent but something I'd recognize anywhere...
Thomas tamped down on that thought. There was no Abby in his world. Jewel was his and she was the only one he cared about...for now. Until he got tired of Jewel, of course.
Finally, he turned around and smiled.
"Hey, Jewel. Couldn't get enough of me?" he asked.
She smiled but then sobered and jerked her head toward the men accompanying her.
"Friends of yours?" he asked.
"More or less. I think they're some people you might want to talk to."
Thomas sized up the men. They were built for business more than for action, but with three against one (who knew what Julia would do if it were to come to that), they could easily take him. Still, this was what he'd been waiting for. He gave them a long obvious glance.
"Any friends of Jewel's..." He laughed. "If I know what you mean, then we probably shouldn't be discussing it out in the open."
"No."
"All right. My apartment isn't too far."
"We know."
Thomas looked at Julia. "Been following me?" he asked, turning it into a leer.
"Of course."
"Well, let's not stand out here. My apartment isn't welcoming for uninvited guests, but for invited guests, it will suffice."
"Are we invited?" one of the men asked.
"Certainly. I wouldn't have warned you otherwise."
"Warned?"
"I said that uninvited guests weren't welcome." Thomas turned and headed on his way. He noticed someone he knew in a car on the other side of the street, but he didn't make eye contact. Instead, he led his new guests to the building where he lived.
x.x.x.x.x.x.x
"Get ready, DiNozzo. McGee's headed inside...and he's bringing guests."
"Guests? Who?"
"Julia and friends."
Ziva's eyes widened in surprise.
"Wow," Tony said. "I know McGee's been saying they'd contact him, but I didn't think they actually would."
"Yes, it is a surprise," Ziva agreed. "Did he leave anything out?"
"Oh...I didn't think of that." Tony brought up the video and did a quick scan of the main room. "Doesn't look like it. Thank goodness the Probie didn't screw up there."
"He has not screwed up at all...yet."
"Yeah, yet. Everyone screws up something their first time. I can't imagine that McGee will be any different."
"Technically, this is not his first time."
"He was pretending to be Thom E Gemcity before...for about ten seconds. That doesn't count."
"Hey, shut up! I'm set up across the street. Patch in to that."
"On it, Boss."
Tony pushed the buttons in the right order. He knew how to do this stuff, more or less, but he'd come to rely on Tim to do anything technical and that meant he was a little rusty what with Tim doing his regular job. How had that happened? He still wasn't sure.
The door opened and Tim led four people into his apartment.
"Oh! Here they are! I should have brought popcorn! I've never been able to see McGee performing up close!"
"Ziva, hit him for me, please."
"Gladly." Ziva flicked the back of Tony's head and then grinned when he glared.
"Can it, you two. Pay attention."
They both focused their attention on the scene unfolding. Tim never broke character, not once. Both Tony and Ziva were very impressed.
"Would you like something to drink? I don't keep much, but..."
"We're not here to drink."
Tim smiled...that almost-disconcerting sneer he'd adopted with the Thomas persona.
"I suppose not. Have a seat...anywhere you like."
"This is kind of a dump," Julia said in surprise.
"It's sufficient for my needs. Oh...as a friendly gesture, I should point out that you guys are all on camera right now."
"What is he doing?" Ziva asked.
"I have no idea. Boss?"
"Just wait. See what he's doing. McGee's smart enough to pull this off."
"Intellectually, yeah, but this... Boss, I'm a little worried about him."
"Wait."
They both watched as the three men stood up and looked around.
"On camera? Why?"
Tim laughed. It was a laugh that went perfectly with his smile. It was a laugh that said they would never know exactly what he was thinking.
"Because I told you I don't like uninvited guests. I've had some problems with that in this neighborhood. Thankfully, that's fallen off in the past couple of weeks. I'm telling you so that you can see that I'm being friendly. I shoot all the video over to my laptop there and keep it for future reference."
Tony laughed. "Future reference is right."
Ziva chuckled as well. It was nice to see that Tim was doing such a good job with his role, but she couldn't help but feel some concern for how he had reacted on the phone. Perhaps he just wanted to stay in character. Maybe she was just feeling resentful since it had ended up being Tim chosen for this job when she was obviously so much better and more experienced at it.
"And what do you do with that video?"
"I keep it safe. Now, speaking of keeping things safe...that's something you haven't been doing very well in the last few months from what I hear."
"Meaning?"
Julia shifted uncomfortably on the couch. Tim didn't sit next to her, but on the edge of the couch, keeping his hands free, albeit unobtrusively.
"Meaning that I've heard what happened with your last shipment at Norfolk."
"From whom?"
"Whoa, Probie. Slow down," Tony said in surprise. Tim was tipping his hand way too early.
"I have my sources. You got an entire shipment intercepted by the people there. I hope you fired your coordinator."
"We took care of it."
"But you haven't been able to get in again, have you. They're paying too much attention to what had been a minor problem in the past. You've got a blockage."
"And you're offering yourself up as a solution?"
Tim's expression became almost blase, the smile never quite leaving his lips...but it never reached his eyes which didn't show even a speck of the person they knew.
"Of course I am. You have a product in need of movement. I'm in need of a position."
"Why?"
"Because going at it alone in this market is not the way to make money. You need to be in on one of the big rackets."
"Are you any good?"
Again, Tim laughed. "I can't be any worse than what you've had before. You've never heard of me. I've never been caught."
"That doesn't mean squat. Anyone can claim to be so good they've never been caught."
"What have you got to lose by trying me out? If I do get caught, it will be me that goes down, not you."
"Unless you rat us out."
"Try me."
"You talk too much."
"I have lots to say. I can keep my mouth shut when the situation calls for it."
"Prove that you can do what you say."
"How? You have some more ecstasy needing shipped?" Tim asked, his tone derogatory. "By the way, I never caught your names. It's not polite to hold that back."
"Oh, come on. That's not gonna work," Tony said.
"Or should I just call you Larry, Curly and Moe?"
One of the men stirred restlessly, but the other held him back. His expression was a dangerous one. He was evaluating Tim, deciding if he was worth keeping or if they should just kill him and get it over with.
"Boss..."
"I'm ready to move if need be."
Then, the moment passed...strangely quickly.
"I'm Devon. This is Jaron, and that's Marcus."
"Marcus? Descendant of the great philosopher king of Rome?" Tim laughed again.
"Is everything a joke to you? We don't need that in our organization."
Tim stood up and walked over to his laptop.
"What is he doing now?"
Ziva smiled a little. "I believe that McGee is about to show up."
"Off. Show off. Shut up."
She was right.
"Did I ever tell you what I studied in school, Jewel?" Tim asked.
"I don't think so. Philosophy?" she suggested with a wry smile.
"Not at all. Far from it. Computer science. I'm a genius."
They laughed at him.
"Oh, poor Probie. Can't even use the lie with perfect strangers."
"Ask me to break into a database. Any database will do. Now, I'm not going to do anything with that, but ask me. FBI? CIA? Local bank? Anything."
"He wouldn't."
"Looks like he would, Tony."
"Fine. Get into the shipping records of Norfolk. Show me them for last month."
"Done." Tim began to type.
"He's not really doing that, is he?"
"I think he is, DiNozzo."
It took him about ten minutes. Tim was turning the laptop around and showing it to the others.
"There. I believe that this confiscated shipment was yours?"
"Yes."
"You had this planned."
"You don't believe I can do this? Ask me to hack something else."
Jewel scooted across the couch and began to rub his leg.
"Wow, Mac. Nice. Could you make it disappear?"
"Easy."
"Why don't you?"
"Because I just told you, Jewel. I'm not doing anything. I'm showing, demonstrating my ability."
He looked at the other three.
"I've hacked everything from the CIA down to the corner store market. Never been caught. I can move your product."
He stood up, then, put the laptop back in its place and walked to the door.
"I've made my pitch, gentlemen. If you'd like to talk about it for a few days, feel free." He looked over at Julia. "I have plenty of distractions right now...unless Jewel gets tired of me." His expression as he stared at her was so overtly sexual that even Tony felt a little embarrassed at seeing it.
"I'm not tired, Mac."
"Neither am I."
The men stood up.
"We'll let you know."
"Soon?"
"You'll know...or you'll be dead."
"Makes life exciting."
"Julia!" Devon ordered.
Julia stood up and walked over to the door. She paused at Tim's side, wove one leg around him, pressed herself close and then whispered in his ear. Tim laughed roughly and shoved her out the door. Then, he closed it and just stood facing the door, unmoving.
"What is he doing?" Ziva asked.
"Counting the wood grains?" Tony suggested.
Still, he didn't move.
"Come on, Probie! Put in the earwig!" Tony shouted.
But Tim didn't. He stood there in a position that kept them from seeing his face and he stood there for about five minutes before he even moved. When he did move, he was carefully keeping his face from the view of the camera, but he finally pulled the earwig out of his pocket and put it in his ear.
"Finally, Probie! It's about time! You don't need to stay incommunicado for so long. They're gone."
No response.
"Probie, are you all right?"
"I'm fine, Tony. Why would you think otherwise?"
"You're acting kind of weird."
"Is everything all right, McGee?"
"Everything is fine. I'm fine. Why do you guys keep assuming that something is wrong or that something is going to go wrong? I know what I'm doing, and I'm doing a good job of it."
Tony glanced sideways at Ziva who shrugged.
"McGee, are you worried about them not wanting to use you?"
There was that laugh again. Tony was beginning to hate the sound of it.
"No. They were two steps shy of salivating about my ability to get into the Norfolk system. They'll use me. This delay is just for appearances."
"Good. Get some sleep. I've got to head back to DC tonight and check in with Vance. He's been wanting an update. I'll be by to take my shift in the morning."
"G'night, Boss."
"See you, tomorrow, Boss," Tony said...knowing that Gibbs would hear his unspoken request.
"You want to chat, McGee?" Ziva asked.
"No, I'm tired. I think I'll just get ready for bed. Talk to you later." Then, Tim took the earwig out again and set it on the coffee table.
"Wait, McGee!" Tony grumbled. "He can't just leave it in?"
They heard the distant sound of the shower.
"We do not want to short it out, Tony," Ziva said with a smile...which then faded. "Are you thinking what I am thinking?"
"That something is wrong? Yeah."
"We must speak to Gibbs about it."
"Yeah. We will. Tomorrow. It can wait until then."
x.x.x.x.x.x.x
Tim sat on the edge of the tub, trying to stop the tears from falling. He couldn't. He could barely keep himself under control when Tony and Ziva were talking away in his ear, when Gibbs was telling him to get to bed. It was only by letting Thomas do that talking that he managed it. Now, he was crying. He didn't know why. He only knew that it would be a while before he was ready to stop.
Twenty minutes went by before he was ready to leave the bathroom...but he still hadn't showered. The water was cold, but he got under the stream anyway and tried to wash away everything that made him Thomas.
You love what you can do as Thomas. Everyone else likes Thomas, too. They think he can do anything. You're the wimp. You're the one who messes up. Thomas does everything right.
He turned off the water, walked to the bedroom, turning off the lights as he went. He did pick up the earwig, and set it by his nightstand in case he needed it, but he didn't put it back in at all. He just went to bed.
x.x.x.x.x.x.x
3:25 a.m.
Tony and Ziva were sleeping. They didn't hear the soft voice.
"Hello? Anyone there? Tony? Ziva?"
Pause.
"I really don't want to be alone right now. Please?"
Pause.
"...I'm afraid."
No sound. No response.
...but it went on the tapes keeping the records needed for the operation.
