Gibbs' first instruction was to find shade. To Tim, that made sense. Find shade and stay there until it gets cooler. The hotter you are, the more you sweat, the quicker you die.

Except now, Tim was trapped under the small shade of a rock outcropping with one of the most non-vocal man he knew. When they sat down, Tim predicted that the silence would be awkward.

It was.

Tim started to ramble about little things (Tony planning a movie night when they got back) and serious topics (his reaction to Ziva's return from the dead). He got a good hour in before Gibbs reminded him that they needed stay quiet to conserve water.

It was going to be a long day.

Except, it was even more disconcerting when Gibbs did talk.

"You said 'again'."

By that point, Tim was lying in the sand trying to shut his eyes against the scenery around him. "What was that, Boss?"

"You said 'you couldn't do this again'. You've been here before, McGee?"

Tim heaved himself to a sitting position and staying silent for quite awhile. His eyes weren't on Gibbs but he knew the man was patiently waiting for him to say something.

"I…yeah, I was. When I was twenty. Well, not here, here but probably somewhere a little south of here."

"What happened?"

Tim shrugged and pain from his stiff shoulders instantly made him regret the movement. "I was driving home to my parents in San Diego for a visit. I took a turn I thought was a short cut and my car broke down."

Tim stood up and, for once, calmly stared at the landscape surrounding them. "I didn't think anyone was going to find me where I was, so I grabbed what I had in the car. It which wasn't much; maybe some water and a first aid kit. And I started walking…. It took three days to get myself out. Two nights, I-um-"

He didn't know if it was his words or Gibb's hand on his shoulder that stopped him from continuing, but Tim looked away from the light blue of the desert sky to up to the calm blue in Gibb's eyes.

"The sun's starting to set," Gibbs explained. "We should start moving."

Tim nodded and silently gathered the water bottles together to start their journey.