Ch. 9

"What the hell are you doing here, you bastard?" Gibbs demanded, standing from his chair and staring down the serial killer they had been tracking. They could tell the man standing before them was Matt's twin, but they could see the differences, one big one being the eyes. This one's eyes were cold, calculating almost.

Marty chuckled, waving his gun at the three agents who were now on their feet, their guns trained on him. Gibbs had put himself in front of Beth, Tony and Ziva standing in front of their sleeping friend. "You are not very good picking your security." He swung his gun around aimlessly as he continued, "I wouldn't try anything if I were you three." He watched as Gibbs moved closer to the end of Beth's bed and added, "You three, put your weapons down, now."

"And if we don't?" Tony asked, his gun pointing toward Marty. After all the safety precautions they had fixed in place, he couldn't believe the bastard had made it through anyway. He knew he would do anything to save his friend, knowing Ziva would do the same as well.

Marty fixed his steely blue eyes on the younger agent. "Then I kill us all," he replied coolly, pulling out a hand grenade.

Gibbs glanced from Tony to Ziva before lowering his weapon to the floor. Tony and Ziva hesitated for a moment before they too laid their guns on the tiled floor.

"Kick them away." The three did what they were told, keeping their eyes on Marty. He then began to pace, keeping close to the door, but his gun still trained on the three standing agents.

"Why?" That simple questions spoke volumes as Gibbs eyed the restless killer.

"Why what? Why did I kill those sailors or why did I go after Tim and Matt?"

"Both."

Marty seemed to weigh his options before speaking, "Well, I was always infuriated and jealous of my twin brother. While I was in and out of juvenile detention centers and wasn't home much, my perfect brother had a best friend, a girlfriend, everything I wanted." Marty's face was becoming flushed, his anger causing his face to turn scarlet in color. The agents detected the underlying rage Marty's voice. They were mentally preparing for anything Marty could throw at them.

"So last year, I found out that Tim there was an accomplished author. Needless to say, I was shocked when I read Tim's fourth book. It gave me the perfect cover to get rid of my brother for good." He began pacing the room again, the three agents watching him intently.

"But why did you want to harm Tim and Beth? What have they done to you?" Ziva asked, wanting to understand why this cold blooded person wanted to harm Beth and Tim.

Marty turned to face the former Mossad agent. "Because Tim was more like a brother to Matt than I was, or so that was what Matt and my parents told me constantly. When I found out Matt and Tim both had girlfriends, I knew that wouldn't last. Matt's girl is gone. Shame too, she was a pretty thing, looked similar to Beth here."

Tony just eyed Marty incredulously. "So you kill your brother's girlfriend, three sailors, your own brother and almost killed Tim and Beth? What the hell is wrong with you?"

Mary swung his gun around to face the loud mouthed agent. "Because I can, Agent DiNozzo. I killed the sailors because they were a lot like the characters that were killed in Tim's book. And because it eventually led to McGregor's childhood friend.. I almost had gotten away with it, until Matt tried to give me away. So I took him to Tim's house. Only I wasn't prepared for Tim to try to stand up for Matt."

"Yeah, that's what Tim does, he stands up for his friends," Gibbs replied, glancing back slightly when he heard a small groan coming from Tim's bed. Ziva leaned down and laid a hand on Tim's leg, trying to calm him down.

"So I noticed. Needless to say, Tim was the first to go down, since he was much more dangerous to me than my brother was. Once Matt saw me shoot his friend, he didn't resist, even when I pointed the gun at him and pulled the trigger."

"You bastard," Tim said quietly from his bed. His green eyes were shooting daggers at his friend's brother.

Marty turned so he could stare at Tim. "That's why I'm here. I am going to finish what I started," he said coolly, raising his gun so that it was pointing straight at Tim.

Before he could fire, another shot was fired. Marty's cold and calculating eyes registered shock as a crimson stain began to spread across his chest. His gun fell from his hand as he fell heavily to his knees then face forward to the cold tile floor. Gibbs was the closest, so he grabbed the weapon that had clattered to the floor, then he hit the call button to summon the nurse as he turned slightly to look at his younger agent.

Tim was sitting up a little in the bed, a smoking charred hole in the blanket near his abdomen. He very carefully pulled his gun out from under the blanket and handed it to Ziva. He turned his head quickly to look at Beth, who had stayed quiet during the whole exchange. She was looking back at him, her brown eyes filling with unshed tears.

Gibbs nodded to Ziva, who nodded subtly before moving Tim's bed so he could be closer to Beth. As soon as he was near, he reached his arm out, his hand searching for Beth's. She took his hand and squeezed as the door flew open and the nurse entered.

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"You want to tell me how this psychopath managed to get in the hospital?" Director Vance demanded, throwing a file down on his desk. Gibbs was standing silently before him, still trying to wrap his mind around what had happened over the past few weeks.

"Leon, we had security. But he was able to neutralize them all without the nurses even seeing."

Vance sat down at his desk, chewing heavily on his ever-present toothpick. "Yeah I know. All of the agents are going to be okay thankfully. Martin Bower on the other hand wasn't that lucky. He died about an hour or so ago."

Gibbs nodded his head as he looked up. "Tim had the clearest shot. We had given his gun back to him, Rule number 8."

Vance smiled before saying, "Yes, Rule number 8 is definitely a life saver. Is he and Ms. Morgan going to be okay?"

"Yes, they both will. Beth will be in a little longer than Tim will, due to the fact that her lung collapsed at scene."

"Good, that's good," Vance said. He glanced up to Gibbs, "How is Tim taking everything?"

"I think having Beth is helping him with his loss. She did meet the real Matthew Bower before his psycho brother took over his identity. She told us that she genuinely liked him. And she genuinely likes Tim."

Gibbs turned and started to head out the door when Vance's voice stopped him. "Gibbs, you all did good."

"Thanks Leon," Gibbs replied, leaving the Director's office.

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Tim woke up with a start, sweat drenching his forehead and tears falling down his face. His mind took him back to his apartment, watching as Marty shot him before dragging his best friend into his bedroom. The sound of the second gunshot was still ringing in his ears.

He remembered pulling his iPhone out of his pocket and trying three times before he was able to dial Tony's number. He lost consciousness after he was able to tell them where he was at. Then he remembered regaining consciousness, Tony and Gibbs leaning over him. He remembered the pain, the excruciating pain from Tony trying to staunch the flow of blood.

Shooting Marty seemed like poetic justice, after he took his brother's life. He loved Matt like he did Tony, like a brother. Losing him would forever haunt him to the day he died.

He heard a rustling sound from the other side of the room and glanced over. Beth was looking at him intently with her caramel brown eyes, empathy and concern playing across her face. "You okay Tim?" she asked softly. Ever since Marty had come into their room and Ziva had moved their beds closer, the nurses didn't have the heart to move the beds away. She leaned over, offering her hand to Tim.

He smiled sadly before taking her warm, soft hand and squeezing. "Yes, I'm okay Beth."

"I just wanted to make sure. I was so worried about you. My only thought after Marty had stabbed me was that you would find me. I knew you would." A few stray tears fell down her face.

"I am so sorry that happened to you sweetheart. It should have never happened."

Beth stared into the green eyes of her beloved. "It is not your fault Tim. Nothing that happened was your fault. Please don't beat yourself up. I'll be okay. I promise," she said, squeezing his hand again. A few minutes later, they both fell asleep, hand in hand.