"Wake up, McGee!"

Never one to ignore his boss, Tim's mind slowly became more conscious with each breath. He was first aware of the uncomfortable dryness in his mouth. Then, the slight pain of his entire body burning and the heavy heat as it dug deep into his lungs.

It was the feel of the sand between his fingers that made the awareness come rushing back.

His eyes shot open, then promptly shut against the glare of the sun.

"Oh, God!"

He rolled over and nearly breathed in a mouthful of sand in his efforts to get up.

"McGee!"

Hands grabbed hold of him to steady the jerky movements of his body, but they couldn't still the rapid panic coursing through his breath.

"No!"

He couldn't see beyond the filtered haze of the reddish sand. It was everywhere. No matter where he turned there was sand and cacti and bushes, and-

"Tim!"

The hands he forgot about moved to the sides of his head and he was forced into Leroy Jethro Gibbs' gaze. The sharp, blue eyes held him until the breath slowed and his body slumped back down into the sand.

"Sor-"

"McGee," Gibbs warned.

Right. No apologizing for any freak outs in the middle of nowhere.

One last deep breath and Tim was relatively ready to face the crisis.

"Wha-" Tim swallowed, trying to get rid of the gritty feel in his mouth.

It didn't work.

"What happened?" he croaked out.

Satisfied his agent was ready; Gibbs sat down besides him and studied their surroundings. "It looks like we got too close for comfort."

Right. Their latest case had leads in Las Vegas. Gibbs brought him along to ask some questions. They were walking back to their rental car when someone (or some ones) came at them from behind. Then, there was nothing but black.

Tim leaned over and brushed his hand at some of the tire marks left in the sand. He looked back in astonishment. "So, whoever killed Captain Euler decided to drive us out here and left us to die?"

Gibbs gave his version of a Gibbs-like shrug. "The killers don't like to get their hands dirty. Or maybe they wanted to distract us from the investigation." He pointed to a couple nearby bottles lying on their sides. They were mostly likely thrown out of the vehicle as an afterthought.

"There could be enough water to make it back…Or not. Either way, if we do die, they can claim our deaths were an act of nature."

"That's not very comforting, Gibbs."

"Wasn't meant to be."

Tim sighed and his head flopped down to his knees. "I can't," he announced. "I can't do this again. I can't die out here."

"Hey!"

The smack at the back of his head snapped him out of his dispiriting mood and into Gibbs' undivided attention.

"I promise you, McGee, I will get you out of here. You have my word on that."

The heat from the sun was no comparison to the passion of one Leroy Jethro Gibbs.