Ducky arrived as the two men were thinking about lunch. The roast beef sandwiches he brought were a surprise to McGee and a disappointment to Gibbs who was wondering what Tim would have fixed for lunch. Ducky filled a glass with water and set in front of McGee, adding to the coffee he had already poured for himself. "Dehydration is the last thing you need right now, young man. You still have that headache, right?"

"What headache, why didn't you say something, Tim?"

McGee grimaced as he took the offered water. He needed to remember the doctor was experienced at diagnosing patients that didn't voice their complaints. "It's not that bad, it's not like I have a migraine or anything."

"You get migraines?"

"I have medication that usually stops them, but yeah, I still get one on occasion."

It wasn't totally part of the assignment when Gibbs reached out and rubbed Tim's back. "No more hiding stuff like this; if you're hurting I want to know about it." His hand moved up to rub Tim's neck as the younger man leaned into the touch. Ducky watched, both amused and concerned at how easily his old friend had fallen into the role of concerned lover.

Hoping to bring them back onto task, Ducky discreetly cleared his throat before getting down to business. "Yes, well, I've spoken to Agent Fornell. Not all of the lab work is in yet of course. The DNA results won't be back until later this afternoon, but the workup on the blood and urine samples are done."

"And?" They may be old friends, but at times Gibbs wished the Scotsman would just cut to the chase.

Ducky smiled to himself, knowing that Jethro's patience was at its end. "First off there was the residue of a fairly quick acting sedative in both of your urine samples. More than likely it was on the darts you were both hit with. For some reason, the levels of that were much higher in Timothy's urine than in yours. The rest of the drugs in each of you were different, as your kidnappers apparently wanted different responses from the two of you." He looked fairly disturbed by that admission and Gibbs and McGee exchanged worried glances. Tim was the first to speak.

"Different how?"

"In your blood, Timothy, we found more than one type of sedative in addition to a paralyzing agent. They certainly didn't want you capable of fighting back. It also explains why it was more difficult for you to shake off the effects, as some of the sedatives were long lasting."

McGee nodded in understanding. Even now, a full day since they were captured, he still felt tired with a nagging headache that sapped his strength. "Wouldn't Gi… Jethro have been more of a threat to them than I was? If they wanted me to be helpless and unable to defend myself, then what did they want with…"

Ducky tilted his head in acknowledgement as Tim's voice faded off and Gibbs paled. "I'm afraid you're correct. The drugs in your bloodstream, Jethro, were designed to make you more aggressive and sexually aroused. There was enough of a sedative that you would not be aware enough to understand what was happening, but…"

This time it was Gibbs picking up as Ducky's words faded. "They wanted me to violently rape Tim, didn't they?" His expression turned to one of horror as he said the words and Tim grabbed his arm.

"It didn't happen that way so don't even think about it. You didn't hurt me." The younger man was rarely assertive; it just wasn't in his nature, so when he did assert himself it was noticeable, and Gibbs noticed.

Ducky noticed too. There was a subtle shift taking place in the dynamics between the two men. He couldn't quite put his finger on exactly what it was, but it did appear to be more than two agents settling into undercover roles. Checking his watch, he pushed back his chair. "Unfortunately I have to be at Headquarters to sign for a body in just a bit. I can come back later if you need me for anything, otherwise I'll wait until sometime tomorrow."

The other two men shared a look before Gibbs answered Ducky. "I think we're all right."

"Very well, if anything happens or you have any questions, call me and I will be right over." He looked at the half eaten sandwiches they both were picking at. "Do try and eat a bit more, both of you. Starving won't do a bit of good."

McGee chuckled quietly as Gibbs explained. "We had a pretty big breakfast, even though I thought I was going to have to arm wrestle Vance for it." When Ducky gave him a questioning look, he continued. "Tim here is an amazing cook, so you don't have to worry about us getting enough to eat unless Vance keeps coming over." McGee was laughing openly now and Gibbs joined in a moment later.

---NCIS---

It seemed like the door had barely closed behind Ducky before Fornell was letting himself in. Since he and Tim were still barefoot, Gibbs led the man into the den, much to his surprise.

"I was beginning to think you didn't have furniture." The comment was droll, but didn't quite hide the worry Gibbs saw in the other man's eyes.

Gibbs just shrugged and called out as he headed for the sofa. "Tim, Fornell is here." The shock on Fornell's face increased when he heard the other man refer to McGee by his first name, and then increased even more when McGee took the spot next to Gibbs on the couch, scooting close.

Trying to focus on what was important, Fornell turned his attention to Gibbs. The other man seemed unharmed from whatever had happened to him the day before even if he was resting his hand now on McGee's thigh. "Vance didn't tell me anything about what happened, but I can make a guess based on the evidence that we tested."

Gibbs just indicated with a tilt of his head that Fornell should continue. Fornell opened the file he brought and took out the photos taken at the scene. Several small feathered darts were laying in the grass in one; tire tracks in the dirt were the subject of another. "It looks like they were waiting for you. You both dropped pretty quickly from the sedative tipped darts. The vehicle they used was a full sized, dark colored Ford Econoline van. We couldn't see the license plates on it in any of the surveillance footage Vance had pulled. They were wearing masks, so we don't have a look at their faces either"

"What could you see on the video?" Both men were speaking in hushed tones while Tim listened to them.

"McGee saw the attackers come up behind you, I think. He reacted to something off-camera, threw himself between you and them. That's why he got hit by so many more of the darts." Gibbs' only reaction was to tighten his grip on Tim's knee.

"What about the evidence collected at the cottage and from… the evidence Ducky found?"

As Fornell watched, they shifted around slightly on the sofa. It wouldn't have been apparent, except when they settled, Gibbs had McGee's head tucked against his shoulder, his cheek resting on the top of the younger man's head. Fornell waited until they seemed comfortable, and then explained the results from the rest of the evidence. "Somebody wiped the cottage clean. The only fingerprints found were yours, Jethro, on the doorknob and on the nightstand. The semen on the sheets was from both you and McGee, the blood on the sheets was just McGee's."

"Blood?"

Gibbs stiffened as he asked, turning to look at McGee, who rushed to assure him. "I'm all right; Ducky said I bit the inside of my lip at some point." Much to Fornell's amazement, McGee held still as Gibbs brushed his fingertips against the slight mark, tugging his lip down to better see the damage.

He waited for the moment to pass before continuing to explain the results. "All the semen samples pulled off of McGee's body were yours, Gibbs, and I gave the results of the blood and urine tests to Ducky already. Do you want me to go over those with you?"

"No, Ducky was here earlier." He pulled Tim closer, resting their foreheads together. "No one else, no one else touched you, Tim." McGee seemed to sag in relief against Gibbs before standing up.

"I'm going to get the meat in the marinade. Thank you, Agent Fornell, for your help with this." Gibbs and Fornell watched him until he turned the corner into the kitchen.

"Is he all right?"

"He will be. It was a worry not knowing if it was just me."

Fornell nodded even though he didn't understand at all. "I won't pretend to know what is going on, but you've always had my back no matter what and I'm offering the same."

"Thanks, I appreciate it." Gibbs walked with Fornell to the front door where the other man paused, looking closely at him. "I hope you know what you're doing with McGee."

Gibbs closed the door behind him and leaned against it. "So do I."