It had been three days since Tim had been called to the hospital. Sarah had been released early the next morning and silently let her brother drive her to his apartment. He hadn't had the slightest idea what to say when he'd called in to work, but he sounded rough enough that Gibbs assumed he was sick. It was close enough to the truth that McGee didn't feel like he was lying.
Today he either needed to return to work or get a note from his doctor explaining to Gibbs why he was still sick. Neither was desirable, but Sarah was convinced she would be all right by herself for at least a few hours. Now, he stood in the elevator, preparing to go in the squadroom. Taking a deep breath, he adjusted his backpack and walked through the doors as they opened. "Morning." He was hoarse from talking to Sarah throughout the night to keep the nightmares at bay, and dark shadows under his eyes emphasized his exhaustion.
"You look like crap, Probie."
"Tony is correct, you do not look well, McGee."
After the comments from the rest of the team, Gibbs gave his agent a hard look. "If you're still sick, why didn't you take another day of sick leave?"
McGee dropped his backpack behind his desk and sat down, reaching for the power button on his computer. "I'm not that bad and I don't want to use any more of my sick days."
Gibbs wasn't convinced. "We take over the stakeout on the Millikan case tomorrow afternoon and I need you one hundred percent for that. Take a personal day, McGee. Tony's right, you look like crap."
He started to argue, but the nights of sitting up with Sarah, the catnaps on the inflatable bed and the stress of waiting for Metro to investigate were taking their toll. If they did catch a case today, he'd probably end up shooting himself in the foot. He wearily nodded and started to shut his computer back down. At least now he wouldn't have to worry about leaving in time to take Sarah to her doctor's appointment.
---NCIS---
David Jeffries and Karen Thompson sat at their respective desks, reviewing the case files. By now they knew they had a serial rapist on their hands, and one look at the photos of the victims told them he was becoming more violent with each attack. Their captain joined them. "Tell me you've got something on this guy."
"He's definitely getting more dangerous, but that also means that he's getting less careful." Thompson handed over the pictures of Sarah McGee. "The condom he was using broke during his last assault, so now we have DNA. His latest victim is the younger sister of a NCIS agent. She was able to give us the most detailed description so far. When we nail him, we'll have enough to take him down."
"Will she be able to testify?"
Karen thought about the question. Many cases like this fell apart in the courtroom because the victims were too devastated to talk about what happened to them. "She's pretty shaky right now, but as long as she has her brother with her, she should be all right."
Captain Oliver wasn't thrilled about the NCIS connection, they had a history of butting in and taking over. "How long do we have to get this guy before her brother pulls strings and makes this a federal case?"
"That's where things get complicated." Jeffries listened as his boss groaned. He knew the man wouldn't like it any better when he told him why it was complicated. "He has hit at raves, parties and alternative clubs in the area, that seems to be his comfort zone."
"Okay." Oliver waited to see what the problem was.
"At first we weren't overly surprised when the same woman showed up several times right before the victims were grabbed, I mean it's not a huge goth scene here in DC, so it wouldn't be a surprise if someone who parties a lot was at more than one scene."
Jeffries wasn't one to beat around the bush. His captain realized that his long winded explanation wasn't good news. "And..."
"We've identified her. She works at NCIS with the last victim's brother and she was supposed to be her ride home. The woman apparently introduced the victim to our suspect."
"Crap. This isn't going to end pretty."
"No sir, but so far McGee is concentrating on taking care of his sister and is willing to let us handle the investigation. I just don't know how long that's going to last if we can't show him some progress."
"Then we better make some progress and fast. This case is your only priority right now. If we're going to accuse someone at NCIS of being an accomplice, we'd better have some hard evidence to back it up."
---NCIS---
"Sarah?" Tim carefully moved closer, making sure to stay in her line of sight. "Hey, Sis, your doctor's appointment is in a little while, do you want to take a shower and get cleaned up?" He was worried. Her first day home, she had showered obsessively every hour on the hour. Ever since, she had refused to change out of the oversized sweats she had found in his drawer.
At first he didn't think she'd heard him, but then she nodded and turned to face him. The swelling had gone down, but the bruises were dark and painful looking, her lip still raw. "He's not going to find me here, is he?"
"No, he's not going to find you here." He moved to the dresser and pulled out another set of sweats, knowing she felt safer in the bulky fabric. "I'll be right here, between you and the door. He can't get in, I promise."
She was almost convinced. "You have your gun?"
"Yeah, I have my gun." He moved his jacket to show her the SIG at his waist. Satisfied, she picked up the clothes he'd laid out for her and locked the bathroom door behind her. A few seconds later he heard the drawers in the vanity open. Since they opened next to the door and blocked it from being opened, she'd been using them as a second layer of security since the attack. Tim sank down onto the bed and rubbed his face, suddenly exhausted.
---NCIS---
Tim had read every magazine in the waiting room by the time he was invited back to join Sarah and Dr. Turner. He took the vacant seat and waited. Dr. Turner didn't waste any time, but he was gentle. "Tim, Sarah tells me that she's not sleeping very well. I'm going to prescribe a sleeping aid, just to help for the next few weeks and we've set her up with a therapist. Physically, she is recovering, but now we need to focus on her emotional recovery."
"Whatever she needs." He held his hand out, palm up, giving her the choice. It took a moment, but she laid her hand in his and squeezed it.
Turner gave an approving nod. "Now, there are two more things we should talk about. First, you are aware of Sarah's decision to not tell your parents about what happened?"
Tim gave a sad smile. "We've had to agree to disagree on that one."
For the first time, Sarah became animated. "I don't want them to know. Mom will just cry and Dad... I don't want Dad to blame Tim, it's not his fault that Abby..."
Not wanting his sister to get too upset, Tim moved the doctor onto the second topic. "You said there were two things?"
"We drew blood today for the next round of tests for STD's, but in a few days we will need to do a pregnancy test.. Now, because she was given emergency contraceptives in the hospital that night, the chances of pregnancy is very minor, but we still need to make sure."
Sarah's grip on his hand became tight enough to cut off the circulation. "I don't want strangers for that, please, Tim."
Tim laid his other hand on top of hers. "She can do that at home, in private, right?"
Dr. Turner studied the brother and sister pair in his office. He'd been surprised when she'd asked that her brother be included in the discussion, but he could see how much she was depending on him right now. "Sarah and I have discussed the options and I've agreed to send a test kit home with her as long as she has a support system set up, and it looks like the two of you take care of each other."
"Always have, always will."
Author's Chapter Notes:
When McGee finds it necessary to protect his sister from people he though were his friends, the consequences are far reaching.