JF37

"Ziva." Tim panted, inhaling sharply in pain. "From Ziva. Helped me." Tim closed his eyes and screwed them up in pain. "She said rule fifteen."

Tim slipped unconscious again and Gibbs flew off the floor, snapped back the dead bolt and flung open the door. "Medic!" he screamed at Leon. "Get a medic in here now!"

Tobias and Leon were on his heels as Balboa called the Navy Yard Marine medics for assistance, on Vance's orders. Sacks and Fornell's men were on guard around the perimeter of the diner.

"Oh Tim." Vance sighed out loud, seeing his crumpled, bloodied form on the floor. Steve was helping Gibbs roll Tim onto his side, as he had started coughing and eventually vomiting.

"Oh God!" Tobias sighed, coming in behind Leon. Leon put a comforting hand on Tobias' shoulder.

"What have we got?" Nathan one of the base medics on base. They had worked with Nathan a few times before and were all familiar with him.

"He's got a nasty concussion. Multiple head lacerations. Possible broken ribs, swelling and contusions on his upper body. Muscle damage on his left right shoulder and a dislocated elbow on his right side." Steve rattled off. "Slipping in and out of consciousness, nausea and vomiting."

"Nate, there's a huge security risk. I know he needs a hospital, but we can't take him there, yet. Not until the threat is neutralised." Gibbs hurried out, hating himself for being the one to make that horrible call.

"Ducky's all set up, I assume." Nathan asked Gibbs. He had seen enough combat in his years and experience as a medic. He knew that Gibbs wanted to make a different call, but security had to outweigh the risks. At the confirmation of Gibbs' reluctant nod, Nathan agreed. "OK, let's get him back to the Navy Yard."

"Elaine, you're not going to like this." Vance began. "But you have to pop a sign on the door and lock up. You and Steve need to come with us. You'll be safer with us, than staying here."

Leon drove the medic's van back to the Navy Yard with Tobias riding shot gun, Nathan and Tim in the back. Gibbs was on their tail, in the agency sedan with Dorney, Steve and Elaine. Tobias had left Sacks and his men, combing the area, answering to Balboa. NCIS have the lead in this investigation, not the FBI.

Rather than park the sedan and meet them in the evidence garage, Gibbs followed the medic's van right into the evidence garage. As soon as the sedan was clear inside, Abby hit the switch for the roller doors to close behind them.

Ducky and Jimmy had the back of the medic's van open, before Vance had switched off the van. Jimmy climbed in and helped Nathan get Tim's gurney out of the van.

Abby made a beeline for Tim, as soon as the gurney was free from the van, but Dorney and Leon held her back. "It's bad, Abby." Dorney told her, "Leave him alone and let them work."

She tried to break free again and Gibbs lightly tapped the back of Abby's head in a small head slap. "Abs!" Gibbs admonished her, harshly. "You know better than that."

Suitably chastised, Abby sulked back into her lab. She didn't like this new Gibbs, the man he had been for the last year and a half. He never let her get away with anything, anymore. She had been trying to recruit Matt Balboa to taking the role that Gibbs had once held, but it hadn't worked. He had just set her straight, that it was inappropriate behaviour for the workplace. She had tried to get Agent Cade to do her bidding for her, like Tim had once, and he had been transferred back to Rota, Spain, so quickly, she had struggled to catch her breath by the time the dust had settled.

Now she had no Gibbs and no Tim. The team had abandoned her!

"Dorney?" Gibbs called out, and he rushed over to where Jimmy, Ducky, Nathan, Leon and Tobias were helping Gibbs slide McGee onto the metal, autopsy table from the gurney. "Call Ellie and get an update from her, on their situation there. Notify her that FBI Agents' McKinley and Taylor are on route and expected there at 0600 hours. Tell her that they're decent men and Fornell hand-picked them. Once they arrive, have Ellie call me to check in. Dorney, it goes without saying but don't tell Ellie anything about Tim. If she asks, tell her I will brief her at her next check in."

Dorney nodded to Gibbs and whipped out his cell phone to call Bishop. It was 0500 hours and he had no intention of venturing too far away from Tim in autopsy, now that they had rescued him. He too, had been worried about Tim and wasn't ready to leave his side.

Gibbs urged Leon back and Tobias tried to move Sarah, to allow Jimmy and Ducky the space to work on Tim. To clean him up and assess his injuries. "Come on, Sarah." Gibbs helped his friend, with his ex-wife. "As soon as he's been assessed, Ducky will let you come back."

"They need to assess him first." Vance added, softly. Trying to comfort Tim's biological mother. "They'll take photos of him and catalogue his injuries, then they will clean him up and you can go back to him, I promise."

Tim came to consciousness, slowly. As he came to, he felt a cold, metal table. The roof was stark white and the lights were bright. Suddenly, Ducky was standing over him, taking photos of his body. He tried to scream. His voice sounded gravelly and quiet. It hurt his ribs when he inhaled. "Duck?" he managed to whisper, catching the ME's attention.

"Timothy my lad, I am so happy to see you are awake." Ducky grinned at him. "You are safe."

"Am I dead?" he rasped out. His throat was still burning from the flash bomb. But the worst of the pain was in his head. A small chuckle from the group of people by Ducky's desk caught his attention.

"You're OK, Tim." Jimmy reassured his friend, coming over to the autopsy table. "We've almost got your wounds catalogued. Doctor Mallard and I have divided and conquered."

"Gibbs?" Tim asked again, he couldn't remember if he had told Gibbs about the flash drive that Ziva had given him. "My pocket."

"It is safe, Tim." Gibbs reassured him, patting his leg in comfort. "Your parents want to see you; can I send them over to you? They have been beside themselves, worrying about you."

Tim gave Gibbs a slight nod. He heard Gibbs' words, but his brain didn't compute them into meaning. He didn't even know why; his head had nodded in the affirmative.

Gibbs stepped back and ushered Tobias and Sarah over. Tim's vision was blurred, but not as much as it had been on his escape. He could make out their shapes. "Tim?" Sarah's soft voice comforting him and lulling him into sense of security. "It's me, can you hear me?" She asked through a watery smile and teary eyes.

"Mom?" Tim asked and Sarah began crying harder. Tobias was touching Tim's uninjured shoulder, as Sarah held his hand.

"Yeah." She grinned at him. "You're ok, just get some rest. I am sure that you'll be ok."

"We're here for you son, and we're not leaving your side." Tobias told Tim, trying not to cry out in relief that his son was ok. That he was now awake and talking to them.

"Ok, Dad. Going to sleep now." Tim whispered ad he slipped unconscious, again.

Both Sarah and Tobias were smiling widely. Their son had called them Mom and Dad.

Ducky had heard Sarah and Tobias refer to themselves as Tim's mom and dad. That concerned the ME. He had already determined that Tim had a head injury from the beating. He possibly had swelling and some bleeding on the brain. He worried that the charade that the FBI agent and the Secretary of the Navy were playing on him, would cloud his memories. Ducky had looked cross, when Jimmy had wordlessly looked in Ducky's direction, looking or help. Ducky was sure that Jimmy felt the same way that Ducky did.

Ducky and Jimmy joined Gibbs, Leon and Dorney, over by his desk. "I am afraid Timothy needs some more intensive medical treatment than we can provide for him, here." Ducky looked carefully. Each of the men looked tired and rundown. "Timothy will need to be seen by a neurologist. He will need to have a CT of the brain and possibly an MRI, too. Due to the nature of Timothy's injuries, it is possible that he has some swelling or bleeding on the brain. Depending on how hard they hit him, these injuries may never heal."

" You're talking about an acquired brain injury?" Leon asked, his wife Jackie's Mom had one after a motor vehicle accident. She lived another three years, with a disability from the brain injury.

"Yes, I have a good friend. Dr John Hamilton, he is the top neurosurgeon in DC. He is on his way into the yard, as we speak. But he can't do much without a CT-B or MRI. Mr Palmer has taken a full set of X-rays. Dr Hamilton will look at those and we will determine the next course of action, based on what he can see." Ducky informed them. "One thing I do know is that young Timothy is going to have some very nasty concussion. He called Ms Porter and Agent Fornell, Mom and Dad. They played into the charade. Playing into the charade will not help Timothy in the long run."

"Duck, it's a long story, one we really don't have the time for. But he is their son. He is not truly a McGee." Gibbs explained to his friend. "I don't think Tim has told anyone besides Kelly, Leon, Tobias and Sarah of his connection to them."

"Yes, well Mr Palmer shared my concern and he saw what had unfolded, as well." Ducky whispered, threading lightly.

"I'll speak to him, Duck." Gibbs reassured his friend.

The ringing of Ducky's desk line interrupted the old friend's conversation. Ducky snatched it up, fast. He barely said two words other than "Great" and "Bye". Gibbs looked at him with a questioning gaze. "Doctor John Hamilton is at the security desk." Gibbs nodded to Dorney and Dorney went to the security desk to retrieve Ducky's friend.

Ducky's friend assessed Tim from head to toe and he had sent all of the spectators away, while he did. Gibbs had Dorney, bring his laptop down and the three of them used Ducky's office to look at what was so important on the flash drive that Ziva had allegedly given to Tim.

Tim's speech had been slurred and he was drifting in and out of consciousness, Gibbs wasn't entirely convinced that Tim was genuinely telling him the truth about Ziva's help. Not that Tim would deliberately lie, but with a head injury, he knew from personal experience that sometimes a manifestation on sorts, could happen.

"Looks like a standard flash drive." Dorney told them. There's some PDF files, some jpeg images and a few MP3 audio files." Dorney announced, as the pre-scan finished scanning.

"Log off all of the NCIS Wi-Fi networks and isolate the laptop, just in case there's an undetected worm or virus, imbedded in it." Gibbs ordered Dorney. Vance and Dorney stared at Gibbs in shock. Gibbs knew tech? "What?! I've listened to you and Tim prattle on about so much computer babble all these years, I've slowly started picking up some of the terms."

Dorney swallowed his grin and did as Gibbs ordered, before asking which files they wanted opened first. "Start with the audio." Leon muttered and Dorney made sure the sound was up loud enough for the three of them to hear.

Whomever had created the flash drive had done a good job. They had labelled the files in listening and reading order. "Ziva made this drive." Dorney suddenly smiled, looking at Gibbs. "Tim and I were the ones who taught her to label files like that."

Ziva's voice came on, a second after Dorney hit the play button. "Gibbs, I hope you can hear this. I pray that you find Timothy before Hadassar. I did not want him hurt, or to hurt him. Hadassar wanted to assassinate him, I convinced her otherwise. This is not really about you, any of you. You are all caught up in it, because she has a need to hurt me. It is a mess. I have saved all of the evidence I collected against her, for you onto this drive. She is setting me up as a terrorist. She will not stop until she has succeeded. I will not let her."

Dorney pressed play on the second audio file. "I pray Timothy was able to escape successfully. If he was not, please know I tried everything I possibly could, to save him. Gibbs he is my little brother, I love him. Tali is Hadassar's target. She thinks if she gets her hands on my daughter that Tony will come save her and I will do anything to save them. If Timothy escaped, we both know he would have wanted me to go with him. Do not be mad at him, I will be making him leave me behind. We both know it breaks one of the unspoken rules. But I must see this through. For Tali's sake."

"I want you to know, I have not defected. I am still on your side. I will protect you all against Hadassar, with my life if I have to. Rule fifteen is always work as team. For this to work, you have to trust me to do the job, just as I trust you all to protect Tali and watch each other's six. We must work as a team to defeat Hadassar. Please love Tali, like you love me, Tony and Tim. Tali is a part of us and I am sorry I kept her from you all, especially Tony. I did it to try and redirect Hadassar away from you all. When she got too close to Tali, I knew I had to do more."

"Tony will be an excellent father for her. I do not want her knowing about my life in Mossad. The horrible things I have done there. I will make contact again when it is safe to do so. Tell Timothy I am very sorry. Sorry about Delilah and I am sorry about what she did to you. My father had me under strict orders. I was investigating the splinter group, before my father was killed. Gibbs I am sorry Jenny was not the woman you had previously loved. Jenny, Delilah and Hadassar were a splinter group. Jenny turned after she was high on ladder at NCIS. Delilah was Hamas and had infiltrated the DOD at the highest level as a cryptologist. I was playing double agent, but I was always on your side. I would never betray NCIS. Tell Timothy do not feel bad about Delilah tricking him, Hadassar claimed she was the best of them. Hadassar was Benham Parsa's secret wife. She is out for blood. They were the small faction that controlled his entire operation. I must go, before Hadassar gets back. Look at the photos and documents on this drive, they prove my innocence and Hadassar's plans. Be safe, shalom."

The third and fourth file were played without a word from anyone. Now they had heard what Ziva had to say, they couldn't ignore her points. What if she had been on a secret mission for Mossad at the time of Eli's death? She had missed a lot of days, claiming she was ill, right around before Eli's unscheduled visit to the states. No one could have foreseen Eli being gunned down in the Vance's home. Not even him. Much like Leon, Ziva had been bereft with grief and definitely held no knowledge of the events that lead to Eli's visit, in the first place. Tony had accompanied Ziva to Israel, taking Eli's body back home to be buried, and hunted the perpetrator from the Israeli end. Assistant Director Bodnar had been found responsible and Tony flew home to DC, forty-right hours later. Somewhere in those forty-eight hours, Tali had been conceived.

"Ziva was a double agent? Why not give us the heads up? Especially about Delilah. Like Ziva had said, Delilah had infiltrated the DOD, as a cryptologist at the highest level." Leon said, running his hand over his face. "This is going to destroy Tim."

Gibbs felt horrible for Tim. He had been kidnapped and tortured, possibly for information he didn't have. He had been betrayed by woman whom he had thought loved him, by a woman, in his own words, that he had loved. And it had all been a ruse. A ploy to get close to him for his computer skills. "I think it's obvious that Tim is out of commission." Gibbs looked over at the semi-conscious man on the autopsy table. "Dorney has to be our stand in for Tim. We go to the server site and upload the code. Implement the code you and he wrote. Then we clear Ziva, find out exactly what files Delilah accessed on our system and we finish this once and for all." Gibbs declared.

Dorney was stunned, he didn't know half of what was going on. He didn't know about any server site or any code that had been written, but he did know how to upload and install written code. That he could help with. "If Tim needs a hospital, which I think he should already be there. We leave Balboa and the FBI to guard him. Keep Sarah and Tobias here, as his support system."

"Agreed." Gibbs said, seriously. his first instinct had been to call 911 for Tim, not take him back to the navy yard. But his sense of security and need to protect Tim, overrode his instinct.

"There is a small private hospital over by Louisiana Boulevard. It is small and very discreet." Dr Hamilton announced to Ducky, Tobias and Gibbs. Leon had taken Ellie's call to check I, freeing Gibbs up to hear the treatment plan of the young man who was like a son to him. "Politicians and the very elite celebrities use it. It is small and the building is non-descript. I have practicing privileges there. The best way, which would draw the least attention would be a black or dark coloured SUV or limousine. No ambulances and no fanfare. Ducky, myself and maybe one other for Tim's support. I understand there is a security risk. I will allow four agents, no more to work in teams of two only. They won't be able to leave the building. It is a lockdown-style, secure facility. There is a rest room where the off-duty agents can get some rest. We can't risk anymore knowing where we are."

"Sarah for support." Tobias said, decisively. "Put me, Gibbs, Sacks and Balboa on protection. Have Vance run things here with his security detail, Benson and Carter. With Tim out and Ellie on her own detail. They'll need Dorney for the tech stuff."

To Gibbs, that actually made sense. Vance and Dorney could go to the serve site and implement that code, while Benson took watch and Carter stayed behind to take lead. "Sounds good Tobias, I'll run it by Leon."

"Run what by Leon?" Leon asked joining them. "By the way Gibbs, Bishop said everything is good there and the extra agents have arrived. Her and Kelly have been super-vigilant, but wouldn't be letting their guard's down. Ellie has managed to keep the news about Tim from Kelly. I have ordered her not to say anything to her. Now that is one less burden lifted from you. If it helps, I am ordering you to keep the information about Tim to yourself too. Now, once the threat is over, I will wear the brunt. Hadassar is dangerous. We cannot risk Kelly tying to ditch her security detail to try to get to Tim. Now, tell me what's the plan for him?"

Gibbs, Ducky and Dr John Hamilton relayed their plan for his security and his treatment. He needed a hospital and more treatment than Ducky and Jimmy could provide in autopsy. He needed pain and anti-inflammatory relief, he needed scans to see the extent of the damage and he needed scans that showed the damage, more than a simple x-ray would.

"Doctor? Are you comfortable enough to drive over there with two agents riding in your car? I would like Doctor Mallard with Timothy. Leave Mr Palmer with me, that way we have a ME, should we require one." Leon agreed, he thought it was a good plan. He liked the additional security that a small, private hospital would give them. It wouldn't be cheap, but he would work out a way to foot the bill, so the younger man didn't have to.

"We need to be ready to leave in five minutes." Ducky urged them and they began the effort to get the vehicles ready. Balboa and Sacks had returned from the scene, exhausted. Tobias quickly filled them in and they had their go bags, ready to go. Gibbs and Leon exchanged a look and Gibbs nodded. Gibbs and Tobias were on first shift.

"In Tim's desk drawer, at the back, is a sat phone." Gibbs whispered softly in Leon's ear.

"It's linked in with the one that Tony took. Completely untraceable. Tony is due to check in, in six hours. Tell Tony Tim is with me, covering my six, in the field, that he trusted you with it. Do NOT tell DiNozzo that Tim is out of commission and injured, or he will want to come out of hiding. I don't need to tell you, that it's not over, yet. He is scheduled to check in weekly, we will work out what to do with next week's check in later. If he doesn't check in by midnight tonight, hack the camera on the other phone, do a visual scan then call my burn phone."

"Got it, use my burn phone for all contact. We don't know if Hadassar hacked our phones." Leon remembered Tim saying to Kelly that was the reason he wouldn't be able to call. "Watch your six, Gibbs."

"You too, Leon."

Gibbs and Ducky sat in the back of the black, armoured SUV, that NCIS borrowed from the Navy, at SecNav's personal request. While Sarah sat with Tobias in the front and the FBI agent drove. He followed Dr Hamilton's car, keeping a leisurely pace, but not sedate. Too slow would also draw attention to them. Dr Hamilton made a left turn before Louisiana Boulevard and turned down Shaffer's Lane, he entered his code and drove into the underground car park, with Tobias riding his tail before the roller door lowered behind them.

Out of sight, they all let a collective sigh of relief out, but Gibbs and Tobias. The two seasoned veteran agents wouldn't be relieved until they had Tim admitted, assessed and on his road to recovery.

Tim had been conscious for most of the ride. Gibbs and Ducky had been aware that every small jolt or bump in the road, was causing Tim more trouble. Ducky prayed his young friend would be ok. He was beginning to truly worry about Tim. He knew he would feel better when they knew exactly what they were dealing with.

It was a small hospital, as Doctor Hamilton promised, consisting of a surgical theatre, a small waiting room, two examination rooms and ten hospital rooms for in-patient stay. On the ground level, was the imaging department, attached to the hospital, it had state of the art imaging devices including a CT scanner, X-ray, Ultrasound and am MRI. These were available for the public to use with a referral from their health care provider, so Tim would be given an alias to use while he was scanned.

The hospital was on the second floor and very secure. The third floor of the building consisted of small hotel-like rooms, where the family, doctors, nurses and the protection detail would get some rest. Originally, the hospital had been purpose built for celebrities and their entourage, but when then president had been shot in 1981, the government had commandeered it. Since then, they have held a special contract with the government for use, in cases of extreme threats. The whole building had been reinforced in 1982, after that president had recovered and the government had foot the bill.

Stopping the car, Hamilton made a call and an orderly was wheeling a gurney out. "This is Gerald Jackson, he has been an orderly here for almost ten years. He can be trusted with the strictest of confidentialities." Doctor Hamilton praised the young man.

He wheeled the gurney over to the dark, SUV as Gibbs and Fornell, hoisted a barely conscious Tim onto the gurney. As Ducky slid out of the SUV behind Tim, he stopped, surprised. "Gerald?" he asked, surprised to see his former assistant. He and Gerald hadn't seen one another in almost ten years.

Gerald took a moment, to wait for the other doctor to catch up to them at John Hamilton's insistence. "Ducky?" he asked, surprised to see his former boss. Then he took in the small crowd that had gathered. He recognised Gibbs and Balboa, he even recognised Tobias. He was good with faces. He looked down at the patient and recognised Agent McGee as the TAD agent from Norfolk.

"This is Timothy McGee, I cannot remember if the two of you had met." Ducky introduced the now unconscious Tim to his former assistant.

"TAD Agent out of Norfolk, wasn't he dating Abby?" Gerald asked. He knew in his mind that he was right. "I remember seeing them together in a club, not long after we met."

"Yes, although it's been a while. Timothy is Jethro's Senior Field Agent, now." Ducky explained, as Jethro Gibbs gave the Doctor a stern look. "Right, Jethro is correct. We must get a move on. We can reminisce later, Timothy's treatment has already been delayed long enough."

Everyone crowed into the oversized elevator, bound to the second floor. Briefly John Hamilton directed them all to take a seat in the small waiting room and he pointed to an open exam room, off the small room. "Ducky, please join me." He requested, as everyone else settled in to take a seat.

They now just had to wait on news of Tim's condition.