He didn't have to wait long for someone to enter the room. He crossed his arms and leaned back in the chair as he heard the door open. Just play the part of the inconvenienced hacker, he told himself. Unfortunately, that option was taken from him as soon as the door opened.
Three men walked into the room, one dragging a chair to the table and sitting across from Tim. The other two stayed in the shadows, making it difficult to track their movements.
"You lied to us, Agent McGee," the man in the chair said.
McGee lifted his eyebrows, preparing to deny the accusation, when the other two men came up on each side of him. Before he could speak, they forced his arms to the arms of the chair and tied them securely.
"Hey! What-?" He tried to pull away, but one of the men backhanded him. McGee felt his lip split and gave a quiet grunt of pain, his next struggles too late to prevent the men from securing him to the chair. He met the gaze of the man across the table, trying to swallow his fear.
"You see Agent McGee, we make it out business to know the people we work with, so when you showed an interest in working with us, we did some digging. Now why would Special Agent Timothy McGee, an intelligent, loyal member of NCIS and youngest member of Leroy Jethro Gibbs' team, be willing to sell us classified intelligence that could put lives at risk?"
"I already answered this question-"
The man waved his hand carelessly, "It wasn't a very satisfying answer."
McGee's jaw clenched, "I was tired of being taken for granted! What else do you want me to say?"
"Do not insult my intelligence, Agent McGee! Your team even showed up at the second meeting-"
"I didn't know they'd be there! They must have gotten suspicious and followed me."
The man glanced to McGee's right, and the guard hit McGee across the face. "If you interrupt me again, Agent McGee…" He let the threat trail off before continuing. "Perhaps you could have convinced me you knew nothing about your team's presence, but our cameras showed us how readily you protected your friend."
A blink was the only thing that showed Tim's surprise. A fist landed in his stomach. McGee folded over as much as the rope let him before a punch to the jaw jerked him back upright.
"You'll have to forgive Max. You see, the guard who died was a good friend of his."
McGee opened his eyes, breathing heavily through the pain. "What do you want?" He asked in a low voice thick with anger.
The man leaned back in his chair, making his face fall into shadow. He rested a hand on the table and tapped his fingers slowly. Finally, he answered. "The Navy will be transporting a large load of weapons soon. We want to know when and where this will take place, and a list of the weapons to be moved. We want you to get us that information. Will you do so willingly?"
McGee dropped his head, a momentary panic taking over his mind. It took a few seconds to calm down enough to focus. There were two choices that McGee was facing, and one of those wasn't even an option.
He would not agree to help them.
The second option actually splintered into a couple choices. One: if he said no, he might be killed immediately. A possibility, but not a very likely one. Two: if he said no, they would probably try to coerce him into helping. Tim had two options if this happened. Say no, always no. Or say no, delaying long enough to give NCIS a chance to locate him…and if that didn't happen, pretend to break. Pretend to break to get access to a computer, where he could fake the information they wanted while sending Abby clues to find him.
Tim closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He was going to be in a lot of pain soon. Then he looked up and met the man's eyes. Grim and determined, he spoke only one word.
"No."
The man pushed himself to his feet with a sigh. "A shame. Not unexpected, of course, but a shame nonetheless. Very well, I have some calls to make, Agent McGee. For now," he gestured to Max, "I believe Max has some business he would like to settle with you."
He left the room with the other guard, leaving Tim to watch as Max pushed the table out of his way and turned to look at him. When he met Max's eyes, seeing a cold anger in their brown depths, he couldn't help the feeling of dread coating his stomach.
Max's hands shot out and gripped Tim's throat. McGee twisted his head, trying to pull free of the hands choking him. "You're going to pay!" Max hissed, watching McGee's eyes start to droop. He let go and backhanded McGee.
"You're going to pay!" He repeated.
AN: That's not really a cliffhanger, is it? :)