Ch. 7

"Morning Boss," Tony greeted, as he went to his desk. Gibbs glanced up at his senior field agent before turning again to his computer. "Morning."

Tony sat down and turned his computer on, checking the last know whereabouts of one Matthew Bower. It was quieter than normal, without McGee there to tease and Ziva to referee. He was working on Bower's financials when a phone ringing made him look up. He thought it was his, but his light wasn't blinking. He looked over to see Gibbs pick up his phone.

"Yeah, Gibbs." Tony was about to go back to what he was doing when he saw Gibbs face change. "When?"

Now the conversation was getting scary for Tony. A moment later, Gibbs said, "We're on our way."

"What's going on Boss?" Tony asked, pulling his gun and badge out of his desk and picked his pack up from the floor, following Gibbs to the elevator.

"Tim went home, after Ziva relieved him at the hospital. She can't reach him, he's not answering his cell, pager or home phone."

"That's a problem," Tony said as he and Gibbs got on the elevator.

"Yeah, that's a problem DiNozzo," Gibbs replied sarcastically as they rode the car down to the first floor.

As soon as they were in the car, Gibbs had it started and peeled out of the Navy Yard parking lot. A moment later, Tony's phone rang.

"DiNozzo."

"To..Tony?"

"McGee?! Are you okay? Why didn't you answer when Ziva called you?" Tony asked as Gibbs pushed down on the accelerator even more.

"Tro..trouble." McGee's weak replies was beginning to scare Tony. Tony put his phone on speaker so Gibbs could hear the conversation as well.

"Where are you McGee?" Gibbs asked, swerving through traffic and still speeding.

"Bo..boss?"

"Yeah its me McGee. Tell me where you're at."

It was a moment before McGee's faint voice answered, "I'm..I'm..at ..ho..home. Ma..matt."

"We're on our way McGee. Just hang in there."

"K..Boss." A moment later the phone went dead. Tony turned his phone off and put it in his pocket as Gibbs pulled into the parking lot of McGee's apartment building.

The two agents leaped out of the vehicle as soon as it was in park. They took the stairs two at a time and as quietly as they could. They eased down the hallway, guns drawn, watching for Bower. They made it to McGee's apartment, noting the door was slightly ajar.

With a slight nod of his head, Gibbs motioned for Tony to go to one side of the door while he took the other side. Tony kicked the door in, the two agents entering the apartment. The first thing they noticed was that the normally neat and tidy apartment was trashed.

They saw McGee laying face-down in the living room, his gun in one hand and his phone in the other. Tony wanted to check on his partner so badly, but knew he couldn't until they made sure their threat was either not in the apartment or was neutralized. He then cleared the kitchen and living room before he and Gibbs headed to the bedroom. They were not prepared for what they saw.

Matthew Bower was laying face up on the floor near the bed, his lifeless eyes staring up at nothing. He had a single gunshot wound to his chest, a large pool of blood underneath him. Unlike McGee, his gun was laying beside him. Gibbs kneeled down and checked for a pulse, finding none.

He left the room, noting that Tony was already at Tim's side, gently rolling his partner over onto his back. A dark red stain was still spreading from Tim's chest, coloring his grey button up shirt crimson. Gibbs checked for a pulse as Tony grabbed a towel from the kitchen.

"He's still alive. I'm calling for an ambulance." Gibbs said as he whipped his cell out of his back pocket to call for help.

"Tim? Come on Tim, don't do this to me! You have to make it, for Beth," Tony begged, ripping the buttons off as he opened McGee's dress shirt. He then pressed down on Tim's chest, hoping to stop the flow of blood. Tony was scared, more scared that he had ever been. This was his little brother, his best friend, and he was dying before his eyes. That thought had Tony pressing down harder to stop the bleeding from Tim's chest.

Gibbs came back a moment later and kneeled next to his downed agent and across from Tony. "Ambulance is on its way. Ziva is staying with Beth."

"She isn't going tell Beth what happened, is she?" Tony asked, looking up at his boss.

"No, she's not going to tell her yet. Ducky is on his way to get the body. Has he come around yet?"

Tony shook his head, his emotions keeping him from answering. It was that moment McGee decided to open his eyes slightly.

"McGee!" Gibbs ordered, causing Tim to open his eyes a little wider.

"Boss? Matt.." Tim began, only to be stopped by Gibbs.

"We know Tim. You did good," Gibbs said, forcing a smile onto his face. He patted the young agent on his shoulder.

They heard the sirens outside and a moment later the paramedics were in the apartment, working on McGee.

NCIS*NCIS*NCIS*NCIS* NCIS*NCIS* NCIS*NCIS* NCIS*NCIS* NCIS

Abby was still down in her lab, having been there all night trying to process all the evidence from the three murders and Beth's stabbing. She was testing the fibers found at the first and third crime scenes when her computer beeped. She had been running fingerprints that were found on Beth's cell phone when they matched in the system. She took one look at the results before she grabbed her phone and was just about to call Gibbs when her phone rang. She smiled when she saw the caller ID.

"Morning Gibbs! I'm glad you called. I was just getting ready to call you."

"Abbs," he said simply, causing her smile to fade instantly.

"What happened? I know that tone. It means someone is hurt..."

"Abbs, take a breath. Its McGee."

Abby's eyes widened in shock. "Oh my God Gibbs! Is he okay? What happened?"

"He was shot by Matthew Bower in his apartment. The doctors are optimistic Abbs. He's in surgery right now. Tim shot Matthew though, killing him. Ducky and Palmer will be taking his body to the Navy Yard in a little while."

"Oh my God Gibbs. This is Timmy we are talking about! He never gets hurt!" Abby exclaimed, pacing her lab while holding Bert tightly in her arm.

"Abbs, he's going to be okay. When you answered the phone, you said that you were getting ready to call me. Did you find something?" Gibbs asked, hoping to get the forensic scientist back on track.

"Oh my God! I was," Abby said, putting Bert down and going back to her computer. "I was running the fingerprints that we found on Beth's cell phone and I just got a match. They don't belong to Matthew Bower. They belong to Martin Bower, Matthew's twin brother."

A/N - *evil laugh* didn't see that coming, did you? I hope you all are enjoying my story!