a/n - Thank you all for your wonderful reviews. Have you been keeping track of all the players? Yes, that was a hint. Everyone notice the one shot I posted a few days ago?

"Now, that was not so hard, was it?" Rebecca shuddered as she felt the words against the side of her face as well as heard them. Ziva smiled at the once haughty woman. Now that she was at NCIS, Ziva's special skills were seldom used. Nonetheless, she had never enjoyed it quite as much as this time. She leaned even closer, under other circumstances her lips brushing against the other woman's cheek would be considered erotic. "You better be right about the dosage because if he dies, you will beg for the death penalty."

"I'm telling you the truth, I promise." Shattered, but without a mark on her, Rebecca finally realized she was totally out of her league. "I swear I've told you everything."

"Oh, I do hope so." Ziva picked up Rebecca's hand and pulled it close, enjoying the fear she saw in the red-rimmed eyes. Instead of causing more pain, she just ran her fingernail down the trembling palm. "Otherwise, I will have to come back and have another little... talk with you."

Patting her hand as she laid it back on the table, Ziva stepped behind her. The former Mossad agent may have gotten the information, but she wasn't quite finished. "He was never yours to begin with, you do know that, do you not? McGee is a gentlemen, he could not allow a woman to open her own door or pay for her own drink, it was nothing more. Now, I suggest you take whatever plea bargain you are offered and let McGee and Gibbs move on. A pretty little thing like you will be very popular in prison, but it will be better than if you are labeled as a domestic terrorist."

One last brush of her hand against the limp curls and Ziva was out the door. Vance was waiting for her and listened as she dialed her phone. "Ducky, it is Ziva. She replaced his medication with a mixture of potassium and something called Cyclosporine, but she swears it was not a lethal dose of the potassium, even if he took the maximum amount of what he believed to be his migraine medications." She listened to what Ducky told her before closing her phone.

"Well?"

Ziva glanced up at Vance, a troubled expression on her face. "According to Ducky, the second drug would prevent McGee's body from excreting the overdose of potassium."

"Continuing the damage?"

"I believe so, Ducky... Ducky did not have a story to tell."

-NCIS-

Ducky walked briskly down the hall as he listened to Ziva, arriving at the nurse's station just as he was disconnecting the call. Behind the station was a glass walled room where he found Dr. Silbey. "Potassium and Cyclosporine, we don't know the concentrations or percentages yet, just that his attacker believed three capsules to be just short of a lethal dose."

"Damn, that's a nasty mix." Silbey was already at the computer, ordering additional IV medications. "She may not have wanted him dead, but she did want him to suffer." Once the computer records were updated, he didn't wait for a pharmacy tech as he rushed down the corridor to gather the needed medications himself while Ducky went to let Gibbs know the latest developments.

-NCIS-

"Agent Gibbs?' Sarah called softly, hating to disturb the two of them. Tim had been drifting in and out of consciousness, disorientated and confused during the brief moments of awareness. The older man was obviously a lifeline for her brother and she'd kept quiet and allowed Gibbs to work without distraction. The intubation tube had been removed, giving Tim the ability to communicate easier when he was awake.

For his part, Gibbs was aware of Ducky's arrival, but he'd also seen the green eyes flicker open and that was his top priority. "Easy, Tim, you need to stay calm for me."

Tim's fingers flexed and twitched as his restlessness increased. "Chest... chest hurts."

"I know." He ran his hand down the side of Tim's face. "Your heart's having a hard time right now, but you're going to be all right. Isn't that right, Ducky?"

Ducky wasn't at all surprised that Gibbs had known he'd arrived, even without looking up."That's right, Timothy, and now that we know what Rebecca did to you, you'll be feeling better very soon."

"I can't feel my hands anymore. What's happening to me, Jethro?" The question was barely whispered before McGee again lost the fight to stay awake

This time Gibbs did look at his old friend, the raw fear no longer hidden. "He's getting worse by the second, Ducky. What did Abby find?"

"Not Abby, but Ziva got the information we needed. It seems that Rebecca replaced his medicine with potassium and a second drug that prevented the potassium from working its way out of his body. A rather diabolical combination, if I do say so. Not only would he suffer the effects of an untreated migraine, but the cardiac irregularities and numbness are from the overdose of potassium."

Sarah had been listening closely. "I don't understand. I thought potassium was a mineral that people need."

"Yes, it is. However, too much or too little in the body can have devastating results. In strong enough doses, potassium chloride is also the drug used in lethal injections. Luckily, she did not use that strong of a mixture."

"But if Abby hasn't finished testing, how do we know what dose she gave him?"

Ducky looked at Gibbs as he answered Sarah's question. "Ziva questioned Rebecca with no recordings made and no witnesses."

Gibbs knew instantly how the confession was achieved, but it took a little longer for Sarah to put the pieces together. Luckily she knew enough to not ask any questions as Dr. Silbey and a nurse arrived with several IV bags.

"What happens now?"

Dr. Silbey deftly swapped out the IV bags, adding the smaller bags of medication at the same time, making sure to wake his patient. "Agent McGee, we're starting you on a drug therapy to counteract the Cyclosporine. Diuretics and calcium will help your body start to excrete the excess potassium. We'll use a Foley Catheter to monitor your output."

Tim stared blearily at the hated tubing the nurse was unwrapping. "Thought the stomach pump was bad enough."

The doctor had to lean close to hear the soft complaint. "Not a pleasant night for you, I know, but you should start to feel better in a few more hours. Now this second medication is designed to bind to the potassium that's still in your intestines. If you feel strong enough to drink the solution, that would be the easiest and most effective way."

Even in his confused state, Tim knew there were two paths to the intestines, down through the stomach, or up from the other end. "Yeah, yeah, I can drink it."

After a brief conversation with the nurse, Sarah kissed her brother and left the room so the catheter could be placed. Once that was done and the nurse pulled off her gloves, she straightened the blankets. "I'll be back in a few minutes with the Kayexalate, Agent McGee. Do you have a flavor preference? It's pretty nasty on its own, so we mix it in a flavored syrup."

"Allergic to artificial cherry, makes me... makes me break out in hives." Off to the side, Gibbs raised an eyebrow, he'd never heard Tim mention that before.

"Bubblegum it is, then."

-NCIS-

Ziva walked into the lab and headed straight for the table where Tony and Fornell were sorting through case files. "She hired a man named Nathan Walthers, promised to make sure his file never made it to the DA."

Fornell and Tony both started digging through the boxes while Abby had a more pressing concern, so Ziva told her what drugs Rebecca had used. With Jimmy's assistance, Abby started running a second set of tests to determine the concentrations and purity levels of the two drugs.

Once Tony found the correct file, he quickly spread it out on one of the work tables and Vance called the original agent that had worked that case. Paul Holloway was not happy that one of his cases had been sabotaged to hurt a fellow agent and willingly canceled his vacation to review and restore the file from his original notes. Step by step the group worked to build an airtight case against Rebecca Warren, her accomplice, and anyone else who would hurt their friends.

-NCIS-

Gibbs' eyes widened, but he didn't comment when the nurse returned with the promised medication in a large cup instead of the small spoonful he was expecting. They raised the bed up until Tim was almost upright before they handed the prepared drink over. Even under the sickening sweet smell of the bubblegum flavored syrup Gibbs was aware of the bitterness of the medication as he helped Tim drink it down. It wasn't until Gibbs handed the empty cup back to the nurse that Tim gave a shudder.

"This really sucks."

"I know, but it'll be over soon, I'm sure." Gibbs stroked his thumb over Tim's brow, encouraging the encroaching sleep. "Just rest and let the meds do their work. I bet you'll feel better after you sleep for a while." He looked up at Ducky, who gave an encouraging smile before reaching over to pat Tim's arm.

"Quite right, Timothy. Your body's been through a great deal and sleep is just what the doctor orders. In a few hours you should start feeling some improvement."

Tim didn't open his eyes as he nodded, swallowing hard. "Can I lay back down?"

"Soon, lad. Kayexalate can cause nausea, so let's keep your upright for a bit longer." Ducky patted his hand to reassure him, but Tim was already asleep.

-NCIS-

Abby, Fornell and Tony were each on a phone, in a separate corner of the lab. Fornell finished first and reported to Vance. "My guys have Nathan Walthers in custody. When he realized that he was being charged as a terrorist, he started singing like a bird and is ready to make a deal."

"Good." Vance didn't have time to say more than that before Abby closed her phone and almost knocked him over with an enthusiastic hug.

"I just told Ducky what the concentrations were and he said Timmy is starting to respond to the treatments."

"Excellent, but need to breathe... Abby."

Ziva rescued Vance by pulling Abby away and distracting her. "Yes, that is good news. Was the potassium concentration as Rebecca had claimed?"

"What? Oh, yeah." Abby transferred the hug from Vance to Ziva, who was more used to the reaction. "One more pill and he'd have been in serious trouble, but one more dose of his real medication would have been dangerous, so he knew not to take an extra pill. Ducky said they were giving McGee a pretty high level of the antidotes, but they might add more, depending on how he does in the next few hours." She rattled off the combination they were using and how each would aid in the reduction of the potassium levels in McGee's body with Palmer adding in more details than any of them really wanted to know.

By the time Palmer was discussing the absorption rate of an oral solution of Kayexalate versus a dose given by enema, Tony had finished his own phone call and interrupted him, much to Fornell's relief. "I just spoke to Mrs. B. The neighbors are watching Gibbs' house, guess they scared the hell out of the tow truck driver when he showed up to get the Porsche. Oh, and she took care of the food McChef had cooking in the crockpot, so he doesn't have to worry about that. I also called the vet. The dog is doing fine and even started drinking some water. He could go home late this afternoon, but under the circumstances, they suggested he stay there while Tim's in the hospital."

"Probably a good idea." Vance looked at the exhausted and worried faces surrounding him. "We've done everything we needed. Let's go to the hospital and check on our people and then I want everyone to go home and get some rest."