Chapter 36

Jimmy poked his head in the door.

"Dr. Mallard? Are you awake?"

"If I wasn't, Mr. Palmer, I would be now."

Jimmy winced. "Oops. Sorry."

"It's all right, lad. Come in. Needless to say, I'm not doing anything important."

Jimmy walked into Ducky's hospital room. He hated seeing Ducky laid out like this. It was a painful reminder that the good doctor was not as young as his energy sometimes made him seem. Right now, he just looked...old.

"How are you feeling?"

"About the same as I was this morning when you asked me the same question."

"Sorry," Jimmy said again.

"No need to apologize," Ducky said shifting slightly in his bed. "I'm just feeling irritated at being stuck here while there is so much that needs addressing."

"Tim is doing okay."

"Yes, but not stellar, I'm sure."

"He was using the typewriter before I left."

"He did use it?"

"Yeah. He seemed really into it. Almost obsessed with it. I asked him what he was typing, but he didn't answer. It seemed to help."

"In what respect?"

"I think...they've made a plan. Whatever it is, Tim is part of it."

Ducky furrowed his brow, uncertain if it was just the painkillers that were making this difficult to follow or if Jimmy was simply being unhelpful.

"Plan?"

"To catch the guy who shot you. When I was leaving, they were all talking, and Tim was with them. They even went into MTAC."

"Do you know what the plan is?"

Jimmy shook his head. "They didn't tell me. I don't know if they told Abby either...but Tim is a part of it because he was with them."

"How did he seem?"

"More like he used to be...but still not really great."

"I suppose any improvement should be thought of as good., but...what could they be doing with him?"

"I don't know."

"Mr. Palmer, do you know what the worst part of my injury is?"

"Being stuck in the hospital?"

"Yes, but more than that...it is the fact that I must admit I cannot do anything to help those who need it."

"You mean Tim?"

"Mostly, but any of them. I cannot try to offer alternatives to risky propositions. If Timothy is involved, I feel that it must be dangerous."

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Tim left the Yard and started walking toward the Metro station. As he walked, he could feel every particle of himself grow tense, on edge...afraid. He was looking around, his eyes straining to catch any sign of Collier. The last time he'd felt like this was...

...when I was undercover...

And look at how well that had turned out. Tim swallowed. Jewel dead, his mind in tatters, and the lives of everyone around him in upheaval. He started to shake a little bit, his mind relentlessly replaying those moments that had led to his current, miserable present.

No. Stop. You can't end all this if you're being stupid. Be an idiot on your own time.

The mental lecture helped him refocus on what he was doing. He kept walking, trying not to think about all those things...but he couldn't calm that hyperawareness. He noticed the faces of every person he passed. He could have counted each car driving down the street. His mind quivered with tension and fear. He had thought he was tense before, but this was just like being undercover again.

Nothing happened on the way to the Metro. So Tim went into the station and waited for the train to come, the one that would take him to his apartment. He looked to the side and saw Ziva waiting halfway down. She didn't even so much as glance in his direction. Instead, when the train came a few minutes later, she got on. Tim took a breath and did the same.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

A car pulled up to the curb and a figure stepped out of the shadows. He got into the passenger side.

"Any sign, Boss?"

"No. No sign," Gibbs said, hitching his burden onto his shoulder.

Tony looked down the street. No sign of anyone suspicious.

"You think McGee is right and Collier will be watching for him?"

"I think it's a distinct possibility. And I don't like McGee being a target."

"He's a target anyway, Boss," Tony said. "At least, this way, we'll be watching for him, too."

"Yeah."

They drove to Tim's apartment and Gibbs got out, melting into the darkness. Tony continued on his way, watching for any sign of someone out of place. ...someone besides him.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Ziva got off the train and watched as Tim did the same. He took a breath and then started to walk. She was worried about him, but she hadn't said anything against his plan, as Tony hadn't. It just seemed better to try and keep Tim safe than to hold him back.

...but still she was worried.

She also didn't like walking in this neighborhood at night. It wasn't safe.

Tim began walking down the sidewalk, in the general direction of his apartment, but Gibbs had said that he had no intention of going there, not wanting to put his friend in danger. He walked, but she could tell that he was nervous. He kept glancing around furtively. He was clearly anxious...not that that was any different from how she'd been seeing him since he'd reappeared. Hopefully, his reactions wouldn't clue Collier in on what was going on, if he was even in the area.

Tim turned the corner and Ziva lost sight of him for a moment. She quickened her pace slightly without seeming to. When she reached the street, she saw Tim under a streetlamp a few feet away. She caught a glimpse of Tony driving by. He didn't slow down or anything, but he would be on the alert, she knew. ...and Gibbs would have placed himself in a space with a good view. Tim was as protected as he could be. She desperately hoped it would be enough to keep Collier from killing him.

Suddenly, Tim stopped dead in his tracks. He looked across the street...and then, he looked back...directly at her. She was about to gesture for him not to blow her cover when Tim began to sprint, straight toward her. Realizing that he felt there was danger around, she began to look, to spy the threat Tim had apparently seen.

She caught the glint of a gun across the street in the shadows and started to raise her hand to contact Tony and Gibbs... just as a bullet rang out. Tim was staring at her...and then, he jerked forward, ramming into her, dragging them both to the ground.

Ziva heard screams all around, but she was relieved that she could feel Tim's chest moving up and down, feel his heart thumping rapidly. He was still alive.

Then, there were three more shots and a squeal of tires. Tony pulling to a stop, perhaps? Quickly, Ziva struggled out from underneath Tim, drawing her gun and looking around for a renewal of the threat. A question was niggling at the back of her mind, though. Why had Tim run toward her? Why not just get out of the line of fire?

She heard a groan and spared a glance to Tim on the ground. He'd been wearing a vest. The bullet had hit him in the back somewhere. He should have been okay... but now, she was worried. A bullet would hurt, but it shouldn't be so debilitating. ...unless it had got through.

She looked across the street and saw Tony bending over someone in the shadows...and then Gibbs came out of the building just beside her, rifle in hand.

"Got him," he said briefly.

Ziva nodded and holstered her weapon, turning her full attention on Tim, who still hadn't moved.

"McGee?"

Only a groan answered her. She lifted his shirt.

"Gibbs," she said urgently.

"What?"

"The vest didn't stop the bullet. McGee is bleeding."

Gibbs looked away from her, toward Tony. Ziva only glanced and saw him dragging a man to his feet. Satisfied, she returned to Tim.

"Ambulance!" Gibbs called.

Tony must have given a positive sign because Gibbs then knelt down beside her.

"McGee," he said.

One shaking hand emerged from the dark heap on the ground.

"Can you hear me?"

"Y-Yeah..."

"Okay. We need to get your vest off. The bullet got through."

"'Kay...fine."

"Roll him."

Ziva nodded and carefully turned Tim onto his side, revealing his face for the first time. His eyes were tightly closed, his expression one of pain. His breath whistled through his clenched teeth.

"You will be fine, McGee," Ziva said, hoping that was true. It was all a matter of the angle of the bullet's path...something she couldn't discern with the vest on.

"Hurts...bad..." Tim said softly.

She opened the vest and saw no exit wound. Was that good or bad? Probably bad. Carefully, she shifted Tim around until she could get the vest off one arm. Then, she tossed the useless thing to the side and lifted Tim's shirt...which was stained with blood. Fragments of the vest and his shirt were more than likely embedded in the wound. That was bad.

"Collier?" she asked as she began to apply pressure to Tim's injured side.

"Shot him. Didn't kill him." Gibbs paused for a moment. "He was wearing a vest."

Ziva shook her head. It didn't seem fair. Then, Tim's hand reached out toward her.

"Z-Ziva..."

"The ambulance is coming, McGee. Just wait. You will be–"

"No...he...at you." Tim let out a loud groan and twisted away from her. "...aiming...at you."

"At me?" Ziva repeated.

"Yes... Not safe...here."

"Collier's under arrest, McGee," Gibbs said. "You don't have to worry about him anymore."

Tim's eyes opened slightly and he turned his head toward Gibbs.

"No one...hurt?"

"No. No one."

"Except you," Ziva said.

An ambulance could be heard, its siren wailing as it came up the street.

"Why did you not just warn me?" Ziva asked.

"No time...I was...wearing a vest... You weren't. Stop...the bullet." Tim whimpered. "This...really hurts. More than...than before."

"The bullets didn't get through before, McGee," Gibbs said. His tone was dry, but Ziva could tell he was concerned. Without an exit wound, they had no way of knowing what path the bullet had taken and they had no way of knowing if Tim was on the verge of dying or if he would pull through.

They had no time for more words, however, because the ambulance arrived and Tim was taken away very quickly. No lingering on these streets at night.

Ziva watched as the ambulance left, thinking about the strange turn of events...and then, in an instant she understood. She understood what had just happened and she understood why Collier had done what he did. Collier knew Tim. He had shown that from the beginning. It was just that none of them had realized how thoroughly he understood his target, even though they had all the evidence in the world to reveal it to them. Collier had known how to make Tim look unstable without even hurting him: all the muggings and making sure he was seen here and there. He had known how to manipulate the situation by implicating Tim in a murder. He had known who to target in order to get Tim to leave his place of refuge: his closest friend, Ducky.

...and he had known how to get Tim perfectly in his sights: Aim at someone else and let his supposed target be known.

Collier knew Tim better than any of the team had...better than Tim had known himself...because Collier had understood that Tim would not let someone else get hurt if he could stop it. No matter what it would take. Even when Tim had hated them. Even when he had been angry and hurt, his mind on the verge of collapsing, Tim had chosen to save the team rather than let them die at Jewel's hands...because Tim couldn't let innocent people get killed.

"He has not changed so much as I thought he had," she murmured.

"Who?" Gibbs asked.

"McGee. We all thought of him as a different person. Collier knew differently. The man who wished to kill him is the one who knew him best. We who were trying to keep him alive did not take the time to understand...instead assuming that we knew who he was."

Gibbs looked at her and then across the street where Tony had Collier cuffed and in the back of the car.

"Maybe it's time to change that," he said.

"It is past time, Gibbs," Ziva replied. "In fact, it may be too late."

"It's only too late if McGee has decided it is. Otherwise...there's a chance."

He walked across the street as the first of many Metro police showed up. Ziva took a deep breath. Even though they all would like to know how Tim was doing, it was clear that they wouldn't be leaving anytime soon.

Squaring her shoulders, she walked over to join the rest of the team. There had been many mistakes made from day one, but they would not make a mistake this time that would let Collier go free.