Chapter 9: Epilogue

They had to stay at the house until the next morning. Their cars wouldn't start. Their phones didn't work. No one was tired, in spite of being up all night long. The fire raged inside the house all through the night, giving them plenty of warmth, at least. Ellie spent most of the night staring at the fire. She just watched as it burned. Ducky sat beside her with a protective arm around her shoulders and said nothing. Tim didn't stare at the house. In fact, he turned away from it and refused to look back through the rest of the night. Anytime someone came near him, he would jump and then breathe deeply but claim he was okay. Gibbs stayed by Tim but didn't say anything, either. He was almost in the position of a bodyguard. Tony and Jimmy kind of migrated between the other two groups throughout the long hours, all the while hoping that they wouldn't see another ghost or shade. Then, strangely, when the first rays of sunlight hit the roof, the fire stopped. The roof collapsed and the entire house fell to the ground in a pile of rubble.

Gibbs pulled out his phone and was a little surprised to see that it worked. But only a little. He called Vance and reported on the fire, their discovery of Jack as the murderer and his death in the fire that had destroyed the entire house, including, regrettably, the body that had initially brought them there. He said nothing about Tim's breakdown, Ellie's possession, or that they had seen ghosts. He did say that the reason for not reporting it sooner was that they'd been trapped inside the house for most of the night when the front door refused to open and that they'd finally discovered the fire escape in the attic. If Vance realized that there was a lot not being said, he had the sense not to ask.

Then, when the police and fire engine got there, they reported again and got permission to leave. Ducky took Tim home with him, determined not to leave Tim alone after everything that had happened. Jimmy offered to let Ellie stay with him and Breena for a few days if she wanted to. She did. Tony and Gibbs went to their own homes, but not without some disquiet.

For Gibbs, it wasn't over until he knew more about why this had happened. In that, he could understand Tim's reaction to the first time. Understanding the cause helped take the power of the event away.

So it wasn't quite over. Not yet.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

One week later...

Tim sat at his desk, staring blankly at his computer screen. One week hadn't really been enough to get him through what had happened. He had tried to pretend that he was over it all, but Gibbs had seen through it very easily. He had let Tim come back to work but had confined him to desk duty. Ellie had been on desk duty for a couple of days as well, but she was now out with Tony working a case.

Jimmy had made a point of stopping by to talk to him every day, and Tim appreciated it. He appreciated the support Jimmy had given when he was falling apart in the house.

Now, though, Tim sat where he was, thinking about how close he had come to insanity. It scared him because he knew that he could have lost his mind completely, just like Landon had. What was it that had led to it? Was it the horror of watching him kill Dan? Had Jack done something else or had he seen the ghosts? He thought about how close he had come to killing Jack. At the thought of Jack, Tim had to take a breath and calm himself down. They had found the charred remains of a body in the rubble of the house. Dental records had identified it as Tim's old roommate. Along with Jack, they had found what remained of the victim who had brought them there the first time, and a couple of other bodies that were unidentified so far.

What did Jack see?

For some reason, that question had clawed at his brain ever since the fire. There had been that one moment when Jack had seemed genuinely frightened by Tim asking him why he had screamed. He had been afraid of something when he'd gone back into the house, too. Tim had heard him screaming again. What scared a serial killer?

There was a hand on his shoulder and he jumped and looked up. Then, he flushed with embarrassment.

"Hey, Boss. I'm fine."

"With me," Gibbs said, not bothering to point out the obvious lie.

Tim nodded and walked with Gibbs to a conference room. Gibbs gestured for Tim to sit and then slid a file across the table to him.

"What's this, Boss?"

"A few answers."

"To what?"

"To the why."

Tim furrowed his brow but opened the file.

"Jack Christensen," Gibbs said. "Formerly James Lee Allan."

Tim looked at it. Then, he looked again.

"He was the owner of the house?" he said, incredulously.

"His parents owned it. They were murdered when he was a teenager. Never figured out who did it. Then, he vanished."

"And appeared as my roommate?"

Gibbs nodded.

"But why?"

"Who knows what started him killing. Maybe it was the house."

"Something scared him," Tim said softly, looking at the file.

"What?"

"I don't know. He was screaming when he was in the house with us. I don't think it was fake. I think it was real. I think something in there scared him as much as us."

"And now?"

"What do you mean?"

"Still scared?"

Tim looked up and then down again.

"Yeah."

"Still talking to Ducky about it?"

"Yeah."

They had decided that Tim needed some help but from someone who knew that he was telling the truth. That narrowed the field pretty much down to Ducky.

"Good."

"What now, Boss?"

"Now, you accept that it happened and keep on. ...and know that you're not the only one."

"The house is gone."

"Yeah. They're starting to haul out the rubble."

"Maybe it can be over for real this time."

"Maybe."

"I'm never going back there, again," he said. "I couldn't do it. I'd fall apart."

"You don't have to. The house is gone and there's no reason to go back." Gibbs paused for a second. "But if there's ever something else that might take us out there, you won't go. Unless you feel like you can."

Tim swallowed and nodded.

"One day at a time, Tim."

"Yeah." Tim nodded.

Then, Gibbs got up and gestured for Tim to come, too.

"And you're not alone in it. Not now. Not ever."

"Thanks."

They walked out and Tim got back to work.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

All that remained in the clearing was the foundation.

The workers had hated being in this area, but the work was done. The clearing was empty.

A sudden wind swept through the area, swirling around the trees, causing the leaves to dance in strange patterns, but not leaving the clearing.

Leave us alone...

Then, it suddenly stopped.

The clearing was still once more.

FINIS!