Never Take Anything for Granted

McGee

Thanks for the coffee, but obviously we don't need them now. We have a lead so I promise to keep you updated if you promise to finish the paperwork on my desk? It's not as if you're going anywhere..

DiNozzo

Charming. McGee removed the note from his desk and dropped it in the trash can next to his desk. He sat down and dropped his head in his hands, defeated. If he wasn't being tortured in the first place then extra paperwork was sure to push him over the edge.

And it wasn't just the case that was wearing him down, it was Tony too. In a perfect world he would have woken up, looked over at Tony and everything would have worked out, but what actually happened was he saw his face lit by the morning sun and he felt sick to his stomach. Sometimes he wished he had more courage and he could just tell DiNozzo how he felt and Tony would open his eyes to him. He felt like he was been taken for granted, but he only had himself to blame. Tony couldn't commit, but McGee hadn't given him a reason to.

He glanced over to the phone on his desk as if he could make it ring by staring straight at it, but no luck. He looked over to the pile of crime scene photographs by his side, but he knew that no matter how many times he looked through them it wouldn't make the situation any better. And like this morning, he would get frustrated when he looked at them and have to leave and clear his head.

"Timothy?" McGee turned around to see Ducky approaching him from the back elevator, smiling slightly in a comforting manner.

"Hey Ducky."

"How are you?"

McGee smiled back as convincingly as he could. "Holding up."

Ducky made his way over to McGee and took a seat next to him. "You do know that we're all worried about this case, but you have to have more faith in Gibbs."

McGee glanced over with tired, green eyes lined with red and shrugged. "I don't know, Ducky. It seems like I'm not the only one to have lost faith.. I haven't spoken to Abby since yesterday. I think she's avoiding me."

"Abigail just needs some time to get through this. She cares about you, Timothy, and she doesn't like to see you hurting." He stood up and patted McGee on the shoulder. "None of us do." He smiled and walked back towards the elevator.

McGee was just about to drop his head back down when his cell phone started to vibrate on his desk. Sighing, he flipped it open and was surprised when he didn't see the name of one of the team on the screen, but an unknown number.

"McGee?"

"Was that a question? Are you unsure of who you are?" A male's voice answered him back, but it was one that he didn't recognize.

"Who is this?"

"Timothy, you need to be more trusting.."

McGee held his phone by his shoulder and started to type on his keyboard, attempting to trace the number.

"I know who is trying to frame you."

His heart started to beat and he felt the blood rush from his face. He had to pause to catch his breath, but that only encouraged more frantic typing. "Who the hell are you?" He swallowed hard as he waited for the answer.

"Meet me at one-two-two Turner Avenue at twelve hundred hours."

The phone went dead just as McGee fixed the trace, and the signal told him that he was in the location he was advised to go to. Glancing briefly at the clock which read 11:39 he grabbed his jacket and gun and ran towards the elevator. He had no time to call for back up, and even if he did it might scare away the only decent lead that the team had managed to find, so waiting was out of the question.

Less that thirty seconds later, the cell phone that he had mistakenly left on his desk started to vibrate, and with no one there to answer it, the voice mail recorded a message.

"Hey, McGee, it's DiNozzo. We think we have a break in the case, we're just heading over to Turner Avenue to check it out. Gimme a call when you get the message, I know you're probably off for a potty break, I'll fill you in on the details. That is, when you're finished with my report.."