Trauma Queen: A NCIS Fanfiction

Chapter Twenty Five

"I'm sorry," Tim said as soon as we snuggled up on his couch with mint chip ice cream.

"Why?" I asked, spooning some ice cream into my mouth.

"For harassing you until you went to see your parents. I had no idea... I mean I didn't know that... I should've listened to you..."

I stopped him. "It's not your fault Tim. You didn't know. It's all right." I kissed his cheek.

"But still. I should've listened to you."

I sighed. "Tim, it's really okay. I promise."

He kissed the top of my head and pulled me closer to him. "Okay."

We sat like this for at least an hour before we heard a knock on the door. I took the ice cream from Tim as he stood to find out who was outside. After looking through the peephole, he immediately backed away from the door.

Call Gibbs. He finger spelled to me.

I nodded and walked into his bedroom, already dialing Gibbs' phone number. I had no idea who was outside, but by the look on his face, it couldn't be anyone good.

"Yeah?" I heard the familiar voice answer.

"Gibbs," I whispered, "There's someone at Tim's door and it doesn't seem like anyone we know."

"I'm on my way." The line went dead and I put the phone back in my pocket as I walked back outside.

"Who's there?" I asked, nervously.

Before he could answer, three shots rang out and pierced the wood in the door, just missing Tim by a few inches. I gasped and ran back into his bedroom, hoping he would soon follow. I sat on the floor on the far side of his bed and grabbed the pistol from his night stand. Tim appeared at the door, looking paler than I'd ever seen him. He sat beside me and pulled me into his chest, taking the gun from my hands.

He kept it pointed at the door and I felt my breath hitch in my throat. I didn't want to die. If whoever was outside got in, I knew we would.

I heard three more gunshots ring out and a fist banged twice on the door. I heard a muffled yell, but I couldn't tell who was speaking or what they were saying.

"I'm scared Tim." My voice shook with fear.

"I'm not going to let anything happen to you. I promise." He kissed the top of my head. By the way his heart was pounding, I knew he was just as scared as I was.

After a few minutes of silence, the door was kicked in. As it hit the floor I screamed loudly and Tim covered my mouth with his hand.

"McGee? Cahn?" Gibbs yelled out. "Are you okay?"

"We're okay boss!" Tim yelled, standing up. He held his hand out and I took it happily so he could help me up.

"What the hell were you two doing here? I told you, my house or work! You were not to be anywhere else Cahn. McGee you're better than this," Gibbs yelled, clearly angry with Tim more so than me.

"It's my fault Gibbs," I said apologetically. "I had a really bad day and all I want to do was just eat some ice cream and watch a movie without feeling like someone was trying to kill me." I laughed. " I guess that's not exactly what happened though."

Gibbs sighed. "Next time you want to eat ice cream and watch a movie, you do it at my house. Got it?"

"Yes, sir." I nodded quickly.

"Now get the hell back to my house. You too McGee. Clearly this guy knows where you live also. Grab your things; you're staying at my house too."

He nodded. "Okay. Thanks for looking out for us all the time boss."

He nodded as I helped Tim pack a few bags worth of things. I could tell he was very anxious about leaving his apartment, especially because he had all of his writing stuff here. I suggested that he should bring it to Gibbs' house, but he didn't want to lug it all around.

The drive to the house was silent. I didn't even want to play music because all I could do was think about who was trying to kill us. I knew that it had to be Liam, but I didn't want to believe it. I didn't want to believe that he had done any of the things he'd done. I didn't want to believe that he raped those girls all those years back. I didn't want to believe that he broke into my apartment. And I didn't want to believe that he was trying to kill Tim and me. I had loved him once because of his amazing personality and his kind heart, but I knew now that it was nothing more than an act.

When we got inside, I went up to my bedroom and since Gibbs did not have a second spare bedroom, Tim and I were to share one. We were supposed to split who slept on the bed and who slept on the floor, but we both knew that would be sleeping in the bed. That night when we laid down to bed I rested my head on his chest and listened to the sound of his heartbeat. I couldn't believe that a few hours before I had almost lost him to a maniac. I never wanted to feel that scared ever again.

"What are you thinking about?" Tim asked me.

I looked up at the ceiling for a few seconds before I responded. "I don't know. I think I'm just overwhelmed from earlier." I turned my head to face him but I still couldn't look him in the eyes. "I was scared. I was so fucking scared because I didn't know if I was going to lose you. Or if I was gonna die for that matter."

"I wouldn't have let that happen. I will protect you to the ends of the earth. I promise you, I will never let anything happen to you." Tim planted a small kiss on my temple.

My lips formed a small smile. "I love you."

"I love you too."

At some point Tim had closed eyes and drifted off to sleep, but I was not as lucky. I started to replay every single memory that I had of Liam: the good, the bad, and the ugly. I thought of the times when we would lie in bed and talk about our future together. I remembered the times when we would go on dates and I'd kick his ass in pool or we would go see the latest Marvel movie. I also remembered all the fights we had about him hanging out with other girls. I remembered when we broke up for a day because I thought he had been cheating on me. I remembered when I took him back after that incident because I realize that I was overreacting. But most of all, I remembered when the police knocked on our door at 2 AM and put him into handcuffs. I remembered when the police took him away into the back of a cop car and drove him down to the station. I remembered seeing a blank stare when I went to visit him and asked him if he did it. I remember he told me he did not and I remember not believing him. And then there were the trials. I remember the parents of those poor girls hysterically crying. I remembered hearing the testimonies of bystanders. I remembered hearing him tell the judge that he did do it. He told the judge that he raped those girls. After he spoke those words, I ran to the bathroom and threw up. I couldn't stand being associated with someone who did that. I couldn't stand that I had once loved a monster. 

Then I looked over at Tim. I looked over his sleeping face and thought of all the kind words he had said to me. I thought of all the kind words he had said and my parents graves. I remembered talking to him all hours of the night and us telling each other stories about our lives and our childhoods and our families. I thought about us talking about the crazy things we both did at MIT. I loved hearing every story he told me. After Liam had been sentenced, I never thought that I would be able to love again. I thought that I was doomed to date monsters and to always be associated with " that kid who raped those girls". I never asked for that and I would walk around every day as the whispers would spread across campus that I was the girl who had dated that monster.

At some point I must've started crying because I felt my face become wet. And I guess that my crying had woken Tim because his eyes fluttered open and he had the most concerned expression on his face. I told him I was fine and just curled up in his arms, but I was anything from fine. That was the first truly sleep a sleepless night I had ever had in a long time. But I was glad that I had Tim by my side because if he wasn't there, I would've been a lot more scared than I was.