A/N: Yay, a chapter!

Thanks, as always, to my lightning-fast beta, Trina109. F.

It was dark, and cold. He could hear voices in the darkness, indistinct and somehow fuzzy. They were calling him back, and he didn't want to go back.

Abby was dead.

He could have saved her, should have saved her. But he hadn't. And the others... he hadn't rescued them either.

He'd failed them.

And the voices still called him back, back to a place where he didn't want to be. He'd watched Abby die; but what about the others? If he went back, the voices that were rapidly getting clearer might tell him that he'd lost them all.

The voices were sharper now; distinct... he could separate them into people now.

"Jesus." That was Tony. Tony. He'd been there. At least someone else had made it. "Is he still alive?"

"Just barely." Gibbs. His voice was grimmer than McGee had ever heard it. Grim, and furious. He didn't want to face that fury.

"Get those EMTs in here NOW!"

"McGee. McGee, can you hear me?" With a mental sigh, McGee gave up fighting his return to the world. Reacting to a question from Gibbs was almost instinctive.

...

One eye came slightly open; Gibbs could see the glimmer of green behind the swollen lids. He let some of the tension leave him in relief. From what he could see, McGee had been badly beaten, and the bruises on his head and neck told their own story. Gibbs had worried that the blow that had knocked his agent unconscious had caused damage that couldn't be fixed.

"Boss" McGee croaked. "Leave me."

"We're not going to leave you, McGee."

"Abby...dead. My fault. Sorry Boss."

The eye closed again.

"McGee! Stay with us, Tim!" He shook the younger agent's shoulder gently, trying not to cause any more damage. The EMTs pushed past him, shoving him back out of the way so they could work on the unconscious agent. He stood up, full of helpless rage. He needed to get through to the young man, but he knew that he had to let the EMTs work if Tim was to have any chance of survival.

He felt a soft touch on his shoulder and spun.

"Duck. You should be over there." He gestured towards the outside, where the ambulances waited.

"How is he?" There was a note of steel in the elderly ME's voice, and Gibbs knew there was little point in arguing with him. At least once he knew how McGee was, Gibbs might be able to convince Ducky to go to the hospital.

"Unconscious for now, Duck."

"Did he say anything?"

Gibbs nodded. "He thinks Abby is dead."

"And she would have been had you and Ziva not gotten to her when you did." Ducky pointed out.

"Yeah, but how do we tell him that?" Gibbs sighed. "He told me to leave him, Duck... he thinks this was his fault."

"Oh, the poor boy! You didn't tell him she's alive?"

"Couldn't. He passed out again before I could tell him."

They fell silent as the EMTs passed by them, carrying an immobilised McGee on a backboard between them. They loaded him into the back of one of the ambulances. One of the EMTs turned.

"Hey. Which one of you is riding in with us?"

"Go, Jethro. The Marines have the area secured."

"What about you? You're supposed to be in one of those."

"I'm perfectly fine, Jethro."

He snorted at that. Ducky had an egg on the back of his head, crusted blood down one side of his face and an obvious limp. He should turn the older man over to the EMTs. But right now, he didn't have the time for an argument.

Gibbs took one last look at the concrete cage that McGee had been kept in, feeling the rage build again, then turned and headed for the waiting ambulance.

...

Ziva found Tony outside. His face was set in stony lines and his knuckles were torn and bleeding. She leant against the wall he had evidently punched and waited a moment before she spoke.

"How is McGee?"

"Alive. Barely." The words came out clipped, and Ziva knew Tony was trying to contain whatever it was he was feeling. "He thinks Abby is dead."

She was unable to control her flinch. "Have you seen Abby?" She had to force the words out of her suddenly tight throat. She would not cry; she wouldn't let herself.

He shook his head. "They'd already loaded her up by the time I got out." He took a deep breath.

"They were concentrating on Abby and McGee."

She felt the anger climb at his words, and held on to it. Stay angry, she told herself. She would wait until she got home to cry. Her friends, her family needed her to be strong right now.

Finally Tony turned to look at her, his eyes dark with emotions she could only guess at.

"Where are they taking them?"

"To the base hospital."

"Let's go."