A/N: I wrote this story seven years ago and never posted it here. I wasn't sure I wanted to, but it's still hanging around on my hard drive and since I may not get a creepy Halloween story written this year (as I have nearly every year), this may have to suffice. It's an extremely ambiguous and unexplained oneshot. That's intentional. You're meant to be left scratching your head and wondering a little bit. :) I hope you enjoy!

If you have a great Halloween idea (that's not too long) feel free to suggest it. I wouldn't mind taking a stab at it. :)

Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or anything affiliated with it and I've made nothing off this story.

Erasing the Line
by Enthusiastic Fish

He pounded against the walls trying to get free. There was no escape.

"I know who you are."

"So do I. I told you who I am. Special Agent Timothy McGee."

"No...I know who you really are."

There was a window up in the corner that let in light and just a bit of air. Just enough to keep him from suffocating. It was beyond his reach. He wanted to get free. He needed to be free.

"Who am I, then?"

"You're the monster we're all afraid of."

"I don't know what you mean."

There was blood on the walls, but he didn't know whose blood it was. His or someone else's? If it belonged to someone else...then how did it get here? He was alone.

"Look into my eyes and tell me that you don't know what I'm talking about."

"I don't know what you..."

"You know. You're the monster. I'm the monster. We're all monsters."

He screamed for help. There were no more words in his head. Just the bestial screams.

"All of us? How do you know? How can you judge a monster except in comparison to everyone else?"

"A monster. A deformity. Whether in body like more or in mind like you. Still a monster."

"In mind like me? I haven't killed anyone."

"Liar. You killed her."

"No, I didn't. That was you."

Sometimes, his hands were covered in blood, sometimes they were clean. There was a door that never opened.

"You know that's not true. You know that I didn't kill her."

"All the evidence points to you."

"Evidence doesn't matter. You know what's really true."

...except when it did.

"That's enough. It's over."

"Tell me where she is! Tell me what you did with her body!"

"You know what I did. It's what you did."

She was there. He understood now what he had meant. He had done what had been done in his mind.

"He knows where she is! He knows and he's not telling!"

"Let it go, McGee."

"What if she's still alive?"

Decomposing flesh. Bones showing through. A cycle of life. Ashes to ashes. Dust to dust. Given time enough, the body would dissolve into nothing. No matter what he did he couldn't stop that cycle. She was gone. Dead. For months.

"Tell me where she is!"

"In heaven."

"Where is she? Tell me!"

"McGee!"

It was hopeless. No way out of the cage. He sank to the ground. Anger gone. Grief gone. Resignation in their wake. He sat down by the body of one he had loved and watched as the bugs ate her.

"I'm going to find her. I have to find her."

"No, you don't."

"Yes, I do. I have to. Without that, there's nothing."

He had tried to keep the bugs away for the first couple of days, but after that had realized that there was no point. Then, he had tried to get away. There had been no point to that either. Nothing but dragging out the inevitable. He was lost. As lost as she had been. Even found, she was lost.

"I have to find her and I can't do that here."

"What are you talking about?"

"Good-bye."

He wasn't found...but really, he wasn't lost. He had found what he was looking for. He had dedicated his life to it. Now, there was nothing left but to wait for the end. His head leaned back against the wall. A prison. A cage. ...freedom?

Would anyone search for him?

"Don't let me go."

They'd have to know he was lost first...but he wasn't lost.

"I won't."

More of her fingers were only bone now.

"You let me go!"

He touched the exposed phalanges.

"No! You're still here!"

He looked at the window.

"I'm gone."

He closed his eyes.

Don't leave me!"

The door opened.

It hadn't opened...until it did.

Come out, McGee."

There was no escape...until there was.

"Don't give it all up."

It was like a bright beam of light in his eyes.

It was like being called away from a far distance.

"Come back."

"Let her go."

What was the end?

What was the beginning?

"It's not enough to be right. You have to win, too."

All that was left was bones.

All that remained was refuse.

"Please, McGee. Come back."

What lay through that door?

He knew what was here. He didn't know what was there.

Or did he?

A hand held his tightly.

"You can come back now, Tim."

Tim looked around at his prison, at the walls, the window, the body...the open door.

"Come back."

He got to his feet. He looked down.

"I'm sorry," he said softly. "I'm sorry."

He walked out the door.

FINIS!