Boy, you guys have some really strong feelings ... I love it! Get ready, a crescendo is building!

None of them slept: Tony and Gibbs had too much on their minds to sleep, Ziva was watching over Tim, and Tim seemed to be trying very hard not to listen to the voices only he could hear. He would mumble to himself over and over that he wasn't a bad person, but the words seemed to lose their power the more he spoke them.

Ziva was sitting on her sleeping bag, Indian style, with Tim curled up in her lap. She was still trying to distract him, but without Tony's input, it was hard for her to keep a conversation rolling.

Suddenly Tim groaned and rolled away from Ziva. He got to his feet and started a slow shuffle toward the barrier. Ziva sprang up and went after him.

The noise caught Tony and Gibbs attention and they were both on their feet instantly.

Tim slowed then came to a stop. His legs wabbled and, looking like a balloon losing all its helium, he sank the the ground, rubbing at his temples. He paused only a moment, then started crawling to the barrier.

Ziva easily got in front of him and squatted down to him. "Tim?"

"I ... I have ..." It seemed like he was having trouble breathing as the words came out between pained gasps. "Have ... to ... help ... need ... me ..." He reached his hand out towards the barrier as if he was reaching for someone's hand.

"My friend. We have ..."

"Ziva, look!"

Annoyed that Gibbs cut her off, she glared at him.

Unfazed, Gibbs nudge his chin, indicating she should look behind her.

She huffed, but did as instructed, what she saw made her stand up in shocked horror.

There were vague body-like shapes taking form outside of the barrier. Sometimes they were lined-up in a row, other times they overlapped like strips of paper for a paper-mache. Faces faded in and out and shifted. It looked like a moving collage of phantom forms, constantly changing and shifting ... and they were getting closer.

Tim groaned again and tried to get to his feet, still reaching his hand out.

Team Gibbs stared and turned to look at all boarders of the barrier and realized they were completely surrounded. When Gibbs turned back around to face Ziva, he panicked. "ZIVA!"

She looked at him dumbfounded and blinked, her mind overloaded. Nothing in her Mossad training ever prepared her for this, not even her time with the Priestess.

"GRAB HIM!" Gibbs pointed to something beyond Ziva.

Her mind slow to catch up, she let her eyes trail from Gibbs' eyes, to his shoulder, down his arm, to his wrist and his extended finger. As her eyes tracked past his finger, she turned and noticed for the first time that Tim was just about to reach ... and go through ... the barrier.

It took less than a second for her mind to finally kick in gear when she saw the ghostly wisps of hands reaching to Tim from the other side. She ran over to him and snatched him right before his fingers could touch the barrier.

Not knowing what to do, she ran over to Gibbs.

He threw a protective arm around her shoulders, walked them to the center of the barrier and pulled both her and Tim close.

Tim was still struggling to get away. Knowing that she wouldn't be able to keep her hold on him standing, she made eye contact with Gibbs. He nodded his understanding and all three went down to their knees together.

Tony came over at that point and closed the protective circle they had made around Tim. He took a moment to glance over Ziva's shoulder and shuddered at what he saw.

As he swiveled his head, DiNozzo saw the phantoms were now completely pressed against the barrier, in every direction ... even above them. It reminded him of an episode from the original Star Trek, where an over populated planted had kidnapped Captain Kirk in an effort to introduce a contagious disease for population control. Since there was no place on the planet that didn't have people living on it, a replicate of the ship was built right in the middle of the populace. The only problem is from time to time, the illusion would drop and Kirk could see the sea of people completely surrounding the fake ship.

Tony could finally understand what those with claustrophobia probably went through, as it felt as though a huge weight was making their already small space even smaller. And, just when he thought it couldn't get any worse ... it did.

It started with just one, but then it grew and grew until he could finally hear the whispers Tim had been fighting against all this time. "Boss? Ziva?"

They knew exactly what question he was asking. "Yeah, Tony, I can hear them."

"I as well."

There were so many, that it was almost impossible for them to understand anything that was being whispered. However, each of them could catch a few repeating phrases.

'You're no better than me.'

'You were never wanted.'

'You don't deserve any better.'

'Why you and not me?'

'You should help me.'

There was no way to tell the voices apart from each other; no male or female; no young or old; no difference in pitch; they were all the same ... and they were all painful to Tim.

He would curl into a ball, then try to squirm away from Ziva, then back again, holding his head or rubbing at his temples constantly.

"I ... have ... to ... Just ... like ..."

With all the voices they were be inundated with, Ziva didn't know whether to shout or whisper, but she knew she needed to do something. She pulled him as close to her as she could, making sure his head rested on her chest. "Can you feel me talking?"

"Help ... they ... need ..."

"Answer me! Can you feel me talking?"

"Y-yes ..."

"Good! Then that is what you need to focus on. Nothing else!"

"But ... they're ... right ... what ... I ... let ... happen ... no ... better ..."

"You did not let anything happen to you! You were tricked! Understand!"

Tim shook his head. "No ... I ... I chose ... I ... went ... to ... him ..."

"To save your father. It was a very noble thing to do."

Suddenly a voice became stronger than all the other. 'For a father who never wanted you. You should hate him.'

Tim chose to curl into Ziva this time, putting his hands on his ears. "But ... he's ... he's ... my ... my ... Dad ... I ... can't ..."

'It's okay to hate him. After everything you did for him, let happen to you for him, and how does he repay you? Help me and we can hate him together.'

It was hard for Ziva to deny the logic of the voice, at this moment she hated Tim's father, but she had to counter act what the phantom voice was saying. "I may not understand nor agree with everything your father did, but I'm sure deep down he loves you."

"Maybe ...", then Tim shook his head, "no ... he ... never ..."

The familiar fading out started.

"Shit, no! Not now!" Gibbs growled out.

However, once the memory started there was no way to stop it.

They found themselves back in Penny's home and Tim once again in the upper hallway looking into the kitchen. Only this time, they could tell Tim was purposely staying in the shadows as he watched his grandmother and father talk.

Penny put a coffee cup in front of her son as she sat down in the chair across from him. "So, what do I owe the honor of this late night visit?"

Victor ran his hands through his hair. "It's Sarah."

"Is something wrong with my new granddaughter?" Penny asked worriedly.

"She may not be your granddaughter."

"What?"

"Yesterday, some guy came into the hospital saying Sarah is his and he wants custody."

Stunned, it took Penny a moment to recover. "Well, I'm sure he's wrong."

"No, it's possible mom. See, after security threw him out I confronted Barb. She confessed that she had been sleeping with him."

She reached out and patted his hand. "Oh, Vic. I'm so sorry. So what now, a paternity test?" They could tell by the tone of her voice that he just confirmed a suspicion she had, but she was truly sorry she had been correct.

"Yes ... and not just for Sarah."

Penny's demeanor changed and she pulled back from her son. "What do you mean, not just for Sarah?"

"Mom ..." Victor took some deep breaths before he could continue. "She, she admitted that she's cheated on me all along. Never wanted to be a Navy wife, but I was the only one who would take responsibility, so ..."

"No, Vic."

While Penny shook her head, her son reached out and grabbed her hand, like she had done for him earlier. "It would explain a lot."

"Like what?" She asked as she pulled her hand out of his.

"Well, for starters, his eyes."

"You know damn well his eyes come from your grandfather. I've told you green eyes can skip several generations before showing up again."

Vic pressed on, "You know he's never really ... fit with this family."

"You mean he's never fit your bull-head idea of a perfect son."

"Mom ..."

Penny stood up. "And just what do you plan to do if you find out that he isn't yours?"

The look on his face gave her his answer.

"NO! I will not let you take that beautiful little boy off of me because he isn't a carbon copy of you!"

"Even if there's a family that's better suited to him?"

"Better suited? Do you even hear yourself? He's not some damn window fixture or lawn ornament that you can get rid of just because you don't fancy it anymore! And family! I'm his family! More than you or that poor excuse for a wife and mother have ever been. While you two were 'figuring things out', I've been raising that boy and he's a wonderful child. If you'd give him half a chance, you be as proud of him as I am!"

Victor stood up, went over to Penny, and gently placed his hands on her shoulders. "You know it would be for the best."

With fire in her eyes, she responded, "The best? For whom, him or you?"

Victor sighed and dropped his arms to his sides. He let his head hang for a moment, then he squared his shoulders and looked Penny right in her eyes. "Where is he?"

"Oh no! You are not going to do this now!"

"Mom, the sooner we find out, the sooner he can go to where he belongs."

Out of nowhere, Penny suddenly slapped her son, hard. His head whipped to the side. When he turned back to her, hand holding his check, he wore the same betrayed expression Tim had back when Vic had slapped him for insulting Luke. Victor didn't say anything, he just stared at his mother, this was the first time ever she had hit him. Not even as a child had she raised her hand to him.

"He belongs with me! Now, get out!"

"Mom ..."

"GET OUT!"

"Fine." He turned abruptly then left without another word.

Penny sat back down, all the fire and anger vanishing, quickly replaced with sorrow ... she started crying.

The memory faded out and Gibbs was glad to realize they were all still huddled around Tim.

"Because ... of ... me ... Penny ... was ... crying." Tim now tried to push away from Ziva, but he didn't have much strength. "When ... the ... results ... came ... back ... positive ... I ... couldn't ... tell ... if ... he ... was ... happy ... I ... was ... his ... or ... sad ... at ... his ... chance ... to ... get ... rid ... of ... me.

Gibbs knew what Tim needed to hear, but realize he couldn't be the one telling him. Tim still only really acknowledged Ziva. So, he did the next best thing. Raising his voice, he got Ziva's attention. "Ziva! You tell him, it's okay for him to be angry with his dad, even to hate him! Because, he never let it poison him! He never let it change his big heart! If he needs proof, just look at how often he puts other's needs ahead of his own."

Ziva nodded and quickly relayed everything Gibbs had said.

"Others ... ahead ... of ... my ... own ..." Tim stopped as another waive of pain racked his tiny body.

"Yes! That is correct Tim!" Ziva said confidently.

Tim made direct eye contact with her. "You're ... wrong ..."

The phantoms swirled and their movements grew in intensity while the whispers grew even louder.

Before Ziva could say another word, another memory started.