A/N: This story was written for the NFA Myths and Legends challenge. It's a very long one and like my previous oneshot entry, it deals with the legends of selkies. ...but it has no relation to that oneshot; so don't be expecting that. :) Two notes: I can't give you the actual link to the website I used for a lot of my research, but it's called Orkneyjar and if you do a search for that and selkies, you should get there if you're interested. Also, while I'm aware that people on Orkney have their own Orcadian dialect, I didn't feel that I could accurately portray it and so I have not made the attempt. If you know the dialect, I apologize for not being able to adequately present it. I've done my best.

Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS and I don't own any of the lyrics I've put up. I'm making no money on this story.

Far Frae Ev'ry Strand
by Enthusiastic Fish

Chapter 1

"I heard a mother lull her bairn,
and aye she rocked, and aye she sang.
She took so hard upon the verse
that the heart within her body rang."

Tim opened his eyes and sat up in bed, the echoes of an almost-remembered tune fading from his mind. It was the third night in a row he'd dreamed the same dream.

It wasn't that it was frightening or memorable...on the surface. He could only recall snatches of it when he woke up. A woman rocking a child, singing a mournful tune. What was it now? He couldn't remember. It was frustrating, and it was driving him crazy.

He looked at the clock and groaned. Four a.m.!

You need more sleep than that, Tim. Lay down. Sleep. It's just a dream! Forget about it!

Determinedly, he lay down on his bed and closed his eyes. Just before he fell asleep, he could have sworn he heard a seagull.

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

"Probie's late," Tony said with unabashed glee as he looked at his watch. "He's going to be in trouble!"

Ziva rolled her eyes. "You are a grown man, are you not, Tony?"

"Last I checked," Tony said with a leer.

"You need not act like an immature child, then."

"Probie's never late."

"Except when he was covering for his sister," Ziva said significantly.

"No, he was late before that...and he just said he couldn't hear his phone. He'll get a glare for sure!"

The elevator dinged open and Tim hurried in.

"Too bad, McGee," Tony said with a smile.

"Too bad, what?"

"You beat the boss in here."

"Why is that bad?" Tim asked.

"Because he is childish," Ziva said. "Why are you late?"

Tim sighed. "Just couldn't sleep last night and when I finally got to sleep, I didn't hear my alarm."

"Who was she, McGee? Someone special?"

"No, Tony. There was no one there. I've sworn off dating. ...but I didn't miss anything?"

"No, lucky for you."

Tim sighed again, this time with relief. "Good. I need something to go right."

"What has been going wrong?"

"Just..." Gibbs appeared. "...nothing."

"McGee, you're late again, you pay for it," Gibbs said. "Grab your gear. Dead Marine out in Anacostia."

Tim hurried with the others, the only acknowledgment of Gibbs' reprimand, the chagrined expression on his face.

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

Ziva looked over at Tim who was apparently hard at work recording the evidence at the scene.

Apparently...but he was humming...just snatches of a tune here and there and she couldn't quite make out a genuine melody. He didn't even seem to realize he was doing it, but he had been off and on since he'd started working.

"McGee?"

The humming stopped and he looked over at her.

"Yeah?"

"What are you humming?"

"Huh?"

"You have been humming."

Tim's face crinkled up at her. "No, I haven't."

Ziva laughed. "Yes, you have. I have heard you. You have been humming the same song since we arrived. What is it?"

Tim started thinking...and even made a little show of it.

"Ziva, I wasn't humming. I think I would have noticed."

"Apparently not. Why are you pretending? I will not tell Tony."

"I'm not pretending. I wasn't humming. You must have been hearing things."

"Perhaps."

Tim looked at her for a few seconds more and then bent back over the scrap of clothing on the ground, photographing it and filling out the forms for its official collection.

...and as soon as he became absorbed in his work again, he started to hum. This time, Ziva pulled out her phone and held it out, recording Tim as he hummed and worked.

"McGee, you are humming again."

"No, I'm not, Ziva," Tim muttered without looking up.

Ziva smiled and put her phone away, planning on showing him later...and listened to him continue to hum softly as he worked.

The day continued uneventfully. They began investigating, trying to put the clues together, trying to figure out what had happened to the Marine.

...and Ziva forgot about the recording she'd made until that night when she plugged her phone in to charge it up.

I will show him tomorrow, she thought and went to bed.

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

"O, cradle row, and cradle go,
and aye sleep well, my bairn within;
I ken not who thy father is,
nor yet the land that he dwells in."

Tim woke up with tears on his cheeks, not knowing why. The song was there...and it faded once again. He wiped at the tears.

"What is going on?" he wondered aloud and looked around his room, half-expecting to see something else. ...but he didn't know what it was. He looked at his clock.

Two-thirty a.m.

Again, he groaned and rolled over. He punched his pillow a few times and tried to get back to sleep.

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

"Two days in a row," Tony said. "That's not a good precedent to set."

"Perhaps he is still having trouble sleeping," Ziva said.

"Or he's really entertaining someone and doesn't want us to know." Tony picked up his phone and dialed.

"Tony..."

A phone started ringing. ...on Tim's desk.

"Uh-oh. Probie forgot his phone..."

"He never forgets his phone," Ziva said. "I think it is another...limb."

"Well, he forgot it last night."

The elevator doors dinged open and Tim dashed off, looking even more frazzled than he had the day before. He saw his phone on the desk, still ringing and without looking at Tony and Ziva, he ran over and answered it.

"Agent McGee," he gasped out.

"Hello, Agent McGee. This is Very Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo, and I'm wondering what's wrong with you."

Tim turned and glared at Tony as he hung up.

"Well, that's not very nice, Probie. Hanging up without answering."

Tim gave a long-suffering sigh and didn't answer. He just sat down and checked through his emails.

"McGee, are you sure nothing is wrong?" Ziva asked.

"Everything's fine, Ziva," Tim said. "I'm just not sleeping very well."

So he said, but both Tony and Ziva noticed Tim's lack of focus during the day. ...or rather, they noticed that his focus was not on his work. He would kind of drift...and he would start humming again. Every time it was pointed out to him, he would deny it. Even when Ziva played her recording to him, he simply stared at it in surprise. It was apparently completely unconscious on his part. ...and if he knew what the song was, he wasn't sharing.

After Tim left that evening, Tony and Ziva talked about his strange behavior.

"Maybe he's started trying to write songs instead of books," Tony suggested. "We'll have to start watching out for something like 'The Ballad of L. J. Tibbs'!"

"This is not funny, Tony," Ziva said. "It is strange."

"Yeah, but Probie's kind of strange," Tony said, but then relented. "If he's like this tomorrow, we'll pester him."

Ziva smiled. "Very well. I will wait until tomorrow."

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

"And up then spake a grey selchie
as aye he woke her from her sleep,
I'll tell where thy bairn's father is:
he's sittin' close by thy bed feet."

Tim's eyes opened. He lay on his back, staring at the ceiling, the echoes of the song dying in his mind...but somewhere, an idea had begun to germinate. It wasn't conscious yet, but it started to guide his actions as he lay there, not trying to sleep, gripped in the power of something he didn't understand.

After another hour of no sleep, he reached over and picked up his phone. He dialed a number.

"McGees' residence. Who's died?" came Sam's sleepy voice.

"Dad. It's Tim."

"Tim? What's wrong?"

"I don't know."

"Tim...you sound really strange."

"Something...is different. I don't know what it is."

"Tell me."

Tim didn't move from his supine position on his bed.

"I've been having dreams for the last week. I wake up and I can't remember them...but I can't sleep after I have them. ...and Ziva says I've been humming, but I don't what the song is. I can't...explain it, Dad. There's something going on, but I don't know."

"Have you tried talking to someone about it?"

"I don't know what I'd tell them. I can't even say better now...something about the sea."

There was a long silence.

"Maybe you need a vacation, Tim. Maybe your mind is trying to tell you to take it easy for a while. It's been forever since you took any time off."

"Yeah...but I've never had anything like this before."

"A lot has happened to you in the last little while. Maybe you just can't put it aside anymore."

Tim sighed.

"Hey, Tim. If it's bothering you...you need to try something. You can't just sit around and hope it'll go away."

"I know. It's like a song I can't get out of my head...but I can't remember the lyrics."

"You'll figure it out, Tim. Just keep us in on it. Okay? Whatever you decide to do."

"I will. Sorry for waking you up, Dad."

"Part and parcel of being a parent."

"Thanks."

"Good night."

Tim hung up and went back to staring at the ceiling.

He didn't fall asleep until nearly dawn.

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

"Day three," Tony said. "He's late."

"This is not like McGee," Ziva said.

"Nope. You're right. We'll bug him when he gets in."

Gibbs' desk phone began ringing. He appeared from nowhere, glared at Tim's empty desk and answered.

"Gibbs."

There was a pause.

"Wait, McGee. What?"

Another pause and his eyebrows rose.

"You're going where? McGee, that's..." He broke off and then looked at the phone.

"What is it, Gibbs?" Ziva asked.

"McGee is taking a vacation. To Orkney."

"Where?" Tony asked.

"Orkney."

"Where's that?" He looked at Ziva who shook her head.

"I have not been there."

"Sounds...kind of British, though, doesn't it?" Tony asked.

"Find out," Gibbs ordered. He headed for the elevator.

"Boss, where are you going?"

"To find out what's up with McGee!"

The elevator doors closed. Tony looked at Ziva for a moment and then did a search.

"Orkney...a group of islands off the northern coast of Scotland. Why is McGee going there?"

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

Tim finished packing his bag and headed for the door. Jethro was already at the kennel. He opened the door and almost ran headlong into Gibbs...who had his gun out and ready for...something.

"Boss...I just talked to you on the phone."

"Yeah...and sounded crazy, McGee. What's going on?"

Tim forced himself to act nonchalant even while everything inside him was screaming for him to leave.

"I told you on the phone. I need a vacation. I'm going to Orkney. I have a flight to catch."

"You're leaving right now?"

"Yeah."

"When did you book your ticket?"

Tim looked at his watch. "A few hours ago."

"McGee, what's up with you?"

"I told you...I need a vacation."

"You can't just decide to go whenever you want."

"Yes, I can. I have."

"McGee..."

Tim stepped forward, forcing Gibbs to step back as he came out into the hall and locked his door behind him.

"If there's something wrong, you can tell me."

"There's nothing wrong. No one is in danger. I'm not under duress. I know what you're thinking, Boss, and it's not true. I'm going to Orkney. If...If my job hangs on this..."

"Yeah?"

Tim looked him in the eye. "Then you'll have to fire me."

"McGee, are you listening to yourself?"

"Yes. I know I sound crazy. That's why I have to go."

He brushed by Gibbs and headed down the stairs. He heard Gibbs following him, but he didn't stop. There was the taxi waiting for him by the curb. He waved to the driver to let him know he was coming. Then, he turned back to Gibbs.

"Boss...I can't explain this. I don't know how to explain it. I just need to do this. Now. Not later. Not after I've filled out the appropriate forms. Now."

Gibbs held his gaze for a few seconds.

"Tell me why you need this, McGee, and I'll make sure you have a job when you come back."

Tim smiled a little.

"Maybe you won't if I tell you."

"Tell me."

"I haven't been sleeping much at night. I've been having dreams. I can't tell you what they are, but this morning, I decided I had to go to Orkney. So I'm going. It doesn't make sense, but it's the truth."

Gibbs stared at him for a few seconds more.

"Have a safe trip. ...and check in."

Tim blinked. He'd expected another tirade, or even to be fired.

"I will, Boss." Then, he turned and got into the taxi and headed for the airport.

"I am a man upon the land;
I am a selchie on the sea,
and when I'm far frae ev'ry strand,
my dwelling is in Sule Skerry."