Chapter Text
"Good morning, McGee. How are you feeling?" Ziva leaned close as Tim started to wake. "Ducky said you had an uneventful night."
Tim looked around as he shifted slightly on the bed. There was a little less equipment surrounding his bed which was probably a positive sign, but he was still in the intensive care room. "Yeah, I feel better, I think. You've got babysitting duties today?
"I am your guard this morning. I would not consider it babysitting, as the danger is real." She patted his arm before she straightened the blanket. "We have several MP's in the hallway, but I will be in here with you. You will be safe, I give you my word."
He couldn't help but smile a little as he relaxed. As much as the guys on the task force had worked to make sure he was protected, there was something about having his own team with him that gave him a sense of security. He saw the lumps under the sleeves of her sweater and knew they were her throwing knives, strapped to her forearms, knew she was wearing the clothing she wore when she carried the most concealed weapons. Knowing all this he dozed easily until raised voices disturbed him.
"If the doctor has not been here to see McGee, how did he order the change in his medicine?" The familiar voice was raised and sharp. The answering voice he did not recognize.
"I'm sure the doctor has been in, you probably just missed him. The new orders were left in his charts." When McGee opened his eyes, he vaguely recognized the nurse standing there with a new IV bag in her hand.
"Ziva, what's going on?"
"Quiet, McGee, I will handle this." Ziva stood, hand on the grip of her Sig, and stared down the nurse. "Did you recognize the doctor's handwriting? I wish to see the chart for myself."
Karen Sawyer had been a Navy nurse for almost five years, but she had never seen a war zone and had never dealt with any serious threats. Whoever this VIP was, his security frightened her, but she held her ground as she explained hospital protocol to the armed bodyguard. "All of our charts are computerized. The doctor doesn't have to be onsite to log in and order a change for a patient."
"Then how do you know he was the one that made the change?"
"Who else would it be?" She stared at Ziva, uncomprehending. "Are you suggesting someone broke into the hospital computer network?"
"Call the doctor and verify the change." When it looked like Sawyer was going to protest, Ziva held her ground. "You are not touching him until the change has been verified."
Ziva watched as the young woman returned to the nurse's station and made a phone call. At first she looked annoyed, then confused, and finally horrified as she listened to the phone and stared at the IV bag still in her hand. Eventually, she looked up at Ziva and shook her head. Ziva was already on her own cell phone, hospital regulations be damned.
"Gibbs, we need to move McGee now, there's been a breach at the hospital. No, he is unharmed, but someone has hacked into the computer and changed his ordered medication."
---NCIS---
Ducky and Fornell were working with Mildred Novak, trying to make sense of the unidentified substances she had found in some of the patients when Gibbs burst through the door. "Ducky, we need to get McGee now."
Whatever argument he may have had against moving the recovering man so soon died the moment he saw the look on Gibbs' face, but Fornell beat him to the question. "What happened?"
"Somebody got into Bethesda's computer system and changed the orders for McGee's medications. They caught it before he was given anything, but…"
"They know he's there." Fornell finished for him.
Ducky was horrified. "Good Lord, I'll wake Mr. Palmer at once."
Gibbs shook his head. Palmer had pulled a double guarding McGee overnight and he needed someone alert and fresh. "I'll drive the van. DiNozzo can ride shotgun." He didn't wait, knowing that Ducky would catch up with him.
The next stop was the secondary MTAC, dubbed by DiNozzo as the War Room. Leon Vance was in there, along with DiNozzo and the two FBI agents. All four of them looked up as Gibbs stormed in, Ducky and Fornell a few yards behind him. "DiNozzo, you're with me. They've made a run at McGee."
"What?" Multiple voices echoed in the room. The agents from the FBI were angry, while the NCIS agents saw their last hopes that everyone was overreacting fade away.
Gibbs couldn't afford for any of them to be distracted, so he was willing to take the time to explain, albeit briefly. "They tried to mess with his medication orders, but it was discovered and he's fine. Let's just keep him that way." Fornell broke in with another concern.
"Hank Thompson is still at George Washington Hospital. We need to move him too. I am not losing another agent to these people." Vance didn't even attempt to argue, which told Fornell that his concerns were being taken very seriously.
"Gibbs, you and Dr. Mallard pick him up on your way back from Bethesda. What about your families, are they safe enough?"
Fornell gave it some thought. "They know to be careful, but I'd like the option to bring them in if things get riskier."
"Agreed. Tell them to come straight here if anything out of the ordinary happens." Gibbs interrupted the Director with a concern of his own.
"Where's Emily?"
"She and Jethro are with her grandmother." Despite the seriousness of the situation, Tobias had to laugh. "I may never be forgiven for the dog hair, but they're safe. A retired agent is watching out for them." He started dialing his phone as he explained.
Gibbs bit back a laugh of his own as he headed for the garage with Ducky and Tony. He'd met Fornell's mother once, when Emily had been threatened. Her tiny house filled with china and figurines was not designed for a seventy pound dog.
---NCIS---
The panicked phone call from the nurse in CICU brought Dr. Hamilton rushing back to Bethesda. He arrived to find his patient being guarded by an overprotective Mossad operative who refused to listen to reason. "Listen, Miss…"
"David, Officer David. The security here is no longer adequate and we will be moving Agent McGee to a more secure location." Ziva was becoming impatient with the doctor. He may be an excellent heart specialist, but he did not understand security issues.
"We're a military hospital, how could you suggest that your agent's safety is in question? I'm sure when we look into it, we'll find a simple explanation for the mix-up." Hamilton crossed his arms and tried to look intimidating. Only Gibbs managed to intimidate Ziva, this short, skinny man with the receding hairline and thick glasses didn't even come close.
Ziva didn't bother to answer him, so he pressed on. "I assure you, your man is quite safe here and doesn't need the stress from your paranoia."
"It's not paranoia if they really are out to get you." Both Ziva and Hamilton turned at Gibbs' words. Only a step behind Gibbs was Ducky, who immediately began assessing McGee's condition. DiNozzo was still out in the hallway with the gurney from the van, grilling the MP's over anything they might have seen the night before.
When Ducky was satisfied, he started removing the various sensors that was monitoring McGee's condition. Dr. Hamilton stormed into the room. "This patient is in no condition to leave yet. Whatever danger you think he's in is can't be as bad as the risk you are putting him in by moving him."
Gibbs was right behind Hamilton and yanked him back by his arm to prevent him from reaching Ducky and McGee. "This patient," he hissed in the doctor's ear, "this agent, is closing in on a mass murderer. A killer that has murdered the last five agents that tried to capture him. I guarantee you that his next attempt to kill McGee won't be as subtle as changing his medication."
Hamilton still didn't approve, but he didn't object as McGee was transferred to the gurney and wheeled out of the room. No one relaxed until both McGee and Thompson were safely settled in the medical unit hidden away in the lower basement of NCIS.
Vance stood with Gibbs and Fornell, waiting for Ducky to finish checking over his two living patients. Once Ducky was done, the four men moved out to the corridor. "How much time do we need to give McGee to recover?"
Ducky responded to Vance with a question of his own. "How much time can he be given before the case is in jeopardy?" As much as he hated it, Fornell had an exact answer.
"The only real window of opportunity for McGee to get into Moore's network undetected is on Sundays. That's when all his subordinates send in their weekly reports and he's found a way to hide in the data stream."
"Well, Dr. Mallard, there's your answer. Do what you can."