A/N: Second story posted in two days. Hope you like it!

"You should have had some coffee, Ziva," McGee said from the passenger seat of the car. "It's getting kind of late to be driving."

"I will not fall asleep McGee."

"I'm just saying —"

"I do not feel comfortable taking drinks from people I do not know."

"You get coffee from coffee shops everyday" McGee said, exasperated.

Ziva turned to look at him for an uncomfortable length of time. "The chances of getting poisoned by a barista are incredibly low, McGee. Possible suspects with something to lose, however, are another story." She finally looked back at the road. "You should practice more caution."

McGee had a hinky feeling that she would be right, like she always was, in the end, but he threw that worry away. He felt fine after all. He sat back and glanced out the window at the dark landscape. The only light available came from the half moon and the twinkling stars, so far in the distance of the galaxy. He never was able to see the stars from his place.

Seeing them now reminded him of going to see his grandparents when he was a kid. Sarah was in her car seat, sleeping, but still holding tightly to her sippy cup. Tim buckled next to her, trying desperately to not fall asleep so he could be awake to give his grandparents a hug. He hadn't managed to do it before, and although he always begged his parents to wake him, they never did. Not once.

Tim tried to keep his eyes open but the steady movement of the car and the quiet hum of the engine was beginning to pull him under. It was a losing battle

McGee had grown quiet.

Ziva glanced in his direction to find him dozing with his face pressed up against the window, mouth open only slightly and turned up a little at the corners. She would have liked to have had somebody to talk to, but was grateful that he hadn't had very much coffee. He needed to sleep. Also, it was his turn. He had driven them all the way to Norfolk this morning while she slept off a rather rough night.

They had all been up the night before trying to break a seemingly dead case. They had spent literally all day in Norfolk, yet had learned nothing new.

Ziva relaxed further into her seat.

It had been a very long day after a series of many long days and if she didn't stop for something soon, they could wind up running off the road. A very creepy, oddly deserted, old highway. And, unfortunately, the fasted route back to D.C., according to the cop who was directing traffic around a pileup on the normal highway.

They hadn't been long in the car, and she could feel the four hour trip looming in front of her. Maybe she would wake McGee up to drive. Surely after a good long nap he would feel refreshed enough to take them the rest of the way.

She drove another ten minutes, hoping against hope that a late-night diner or convenience store would appear along the road. Coffee would be nice, and maybe she should have had some before. She seemed like a nice woman, and McGee appeared to be fine.

She looked over at him again. A crease was starting to make itself present between his eyebrows. Bad dream, she thought.

McGee sipped coffee from the "My Cat is the Paws" mug, and Ziva couldn't help but snicker behind her hand, causing him to smile back. He quickly hid it as the woman of the house came back from the kitchen.

"Are you sure you wouldn't like some Agent David?" the woman asked. Her name was Jessica Mahan. The former girlfriend of the recently deceased P.F.C. Martin Vahn found dead in Rock Creek Park by a gallivanting couple. She seemed kind but was oddly unfazed by the knowledge of Vahn's death.

"No, I am fine." Ziva said with a smile. "So tell e, how long were you with P.F.C. Vahn?"

"Umm, "she thought for a moment. "I think about seven months."

McGee put his cup down. "Were they good months?"

Ziva looked at him. She didn't seem to get that vibe from the woman; they certainly didn't ask that the last time they spoke to her. However, at the look on Jessica's face, she wondered if there was something that she missed.

Jessica was finding it hard to look McGee in the eye. "What—what do you mean?"

McGee's brow furrowed. Ziva asked, "Was he abusive?"

Jessica looked to her, "They were fine. It wasn't the greatest relationship," she shrugged. "I mean, we probably fought more than was necessary, but... He didn't hit me if that's what you're asking."

Ziva glanced at McGee. He raised his eyebrows, signaling that he had also seen her eye movements, down and to the left. There was clearly more to this woman than they originally thought.

"Are you sure?" McGee asked. "You were never afraid?"

She looked affronted. "What! You think I'm lying or something?" she shouted, standing up. McGee stayed in his seat, giving Ziva the floor.

Ziva stood slowly "Miss Mahan," she said calmly. The woman turned towards her. "You are the victim here. He had no right to do what he did."

She's right," McGee said, he stayed down. But we have to ask… did you ever think of taking revenge.

She suddenly looked scared, but tried to cover it up with more anger. "How dare you accuse me of something so—so—horrible?" Her eyes were shifting between the two agents. "I—I could never."

Both agents sat stayed silent for a moment, hoping to draw her out, but nothing gave. She merely plopped back to the couch and buried her face in her hands. Ziva shared a glance with McGee. He nodded. "Well, we are sorry to have wasted your time, Miss Mahan. We will take our leave."

McGee stood. "You should be prepared to be brought in for more questioning." She stayed in the same position. They left her in the living room.

Once out the door, Ziva turned to her partner. "Did something seem off to you?" she asked.

"You mean other than the coffee mug?" he smirked. They stopped at the car and stood on opposite sides.

The corners of her mouth involuntarily rose. "No. She did not seem very sincere in her emotions"

"Like she was faking?"

"Not everything. She did seem quite nervous, did she not? Almost unstable."

They got into the car. From the passenger side, McGee said, "We'll just move her further up on the list."

McGee came slowly back to consciousness. He could feel the car moving and there was a light breeze blowing over his face, the air conditioner, he assumed. He opened his eyes blearily. He felt groggy; a slight ache was trying to form behind his eyes. His back hurt from the position he was in, but as he tried to adjust, he was hit with a wave of nausea, causing him to groan deep in his throat.

"McGee?" came Ziva's voice from his left.

As he attempted to turn his head, his stomach lurched. "Pull the car over," he said, covering his mouth with his hand.

"What—"

"Pull over!" he demanded, trying not to puke inside the car. She obeyed, slamming on the brakes as McGee unbuckled his seatbelt.

Se obeyed, slamming on the brakes as McGee unbuckled his seatbelt.

The second the car skidded to a halt, he was out of the car and on his hands and knees, heaving on the gravel on the side of the road. He thought he heard Ziva throw the car into park and run around the back to kneel at his side. He thought he felt her rubbing his back up and down. He thought he heard her saying something in a soothing voice. However, all he could focus on was how hard it was to breathe all of a sudden.

After what seemed like an eternity, but in reality, probably just a few minutes, he sat back against the car, maneuvering his feet in front. He rested his head and neck against the cool of the back door, keeping his eyes firmly closed. Ziva kept her hand on his shoulder. He slowly became aware that she was asking if he was okay.

He nodded, not trusting his stomach enough to open his mouth, he was shaking and anting as though he had just ran a four minute mile.

"What do you need, McGee?" she asked, somewhat forcefully. Obviously, it wasn't the first time she had asked that.

He slowly opened his eyes and turned his head in her direction.

"Water?" she asked.

He nodded.

She stood up and ran back to her side. He heard her rummaging around behind him, but he couldn't around behind him, but he couldn't turn around.

The noise stood after a moment and her footsteps came back around.

She opened the bottle and placed it in his hand. She held his fingers around it, and guided it up to his mouth. He took one drink, swished it around spit off to the side. He managed to lift the bottle the second time and he downed half in a few swallows. Ziva caught it before he dropped it to the ground.

She held his hand in both of her own. Her right thumb was stroking his knuckles. He couldn't see her for his eyes were closed again, but he could hear her calm, breathing coaching his own to do the same. Her steady hands giving him something firm to keep him grounded. She seemed complacent enough to sit with him and wait it out.

He slowly settled drawing strength from Ziva's comforting tough. He opened his eyes and sat up straighter. He looked at Ziva and found her sating at their hands, muttering something in Hebrew under her breath.

"Ziva," it came out raspy. His throat felt like sandpaper.

She looked up and hi could see concern in her eyes.

"What are you saying?" just as rough as before.

She smiled lightly. "A prayer for healing."

He attempted to smile back. "Thank you Ziva." A sudden pang hit his gut.

"Are you feeling better?"

He shook his head 'no.' "I think my stomach is just empty."

She nodded. "Can you move?"

Tim took as deep a breath as he could. "I don't know."

"We can wait a minute."

He shook his head again. "No. I don't think waiting is going to help." He took another breath, felt another jab of pain, worse this time. "Just help me back in the car."

Ziva stood and put her hands under his arms. She tried her best to lift him, but his knew she wasn't strong enough to list his tall frame.

He tried to push with his legs, but only succeeded in making his stomach cramp up. He found himself curled inward, laying on the ground and spitting out bile.

Ziva wrapped her arms around his chest and lifted him back into a sitting position. "Are you sure that you can do this."

"I don't know," he managed to breathe out.

She stood up and went back to her side of the car. He felt the weight of the vehicle shift against his back as she sat down.

Her phone beeped as the opened it. She seemed to curse in her native tongue. "No service."

Tim let out a sigh. "Guess that means I have to get back in the car then."

"Yes." Ziva came back around the car and placed herself in the same position as before. "Ready?" she said.

He gave a curt nod.

They were still a good two hours out, and nearly an hour before the high way they were on met with the next. Ziva hadn't remembered seeing many signs of civilization along this stretch.

She checked hers and McGee's cells every few minutes, praying for at least one bar. At one point she thought he had gotten lucky. She slammed on the brakes shaking the ailing man into awareness.

She jumped out of the car and ran back to where she thought she'd had the signal.

She paced around for almost five minutes before giving up. When she came back to the car, McGee was back asleep. She felt guilty when she saw his pale, damp face. His breathing was getting worse. Shallower. She needed to get him to a hospital soon.

She needed to call Gibbs and have him send somebody to arrest Jessica Mahan. Likely, she was running. She knew she had only poisoned McGee and it was just a matter of time before cops would be knocking at her door.

But Ziva knew McGee was the priority. Once he received help, then she would do whatever it took to take the woman down.

A tiny keen came suddenly from McGee. The pain was getting worse and she knew the pain was getting worse and she knew it would soon wake him up.

They were still thirty miles from the nearest town. Ziva figured if she drove fast enough, they could be there in fifteen minutes. She was a federal agent with a damn good reason for speeding after all.

After another five minutes of listening to McGee's breathing become worse, a pair of headlights appeared in the rearview mirror. It took Ziva minute to realize that they were steadily getting closer. She looked at her own speed, in the triple digits, then back at her mirror. They had to be going at an ungodly rate.

She began to slow slightly, thinking it could be local cops. It dawned on her, however, that they hadn't been there moments ago, and if it were sitting on the side of the road, she would have seen them start off.

She depressed the accelerator. She had to get them to civilization before they caught her.

It had to be Jessica; she was the one who poisoned McGee.

The car was still getting closer, no matter how fast Ziva went. Any faster and she would have trouble controlling the vehicle. McGee let out another groan and a quiet cry of pain. She looked over to find his eyes opened. He looked blearily around him and when he tried to move, crying out louder this time.

Ziva placed a calming hand on his forearm. "McGee."

He looked at her with pain filled eyes, and then he looked at the speedometer. "Ziva." He barely managed. He cleared his throat. "We'll find a hospital soon enough. There's no need to go so fast."

Ziva merely jerked a thumb backwards.

McGee glanced in the passenger side mirror. "A tail."

"Yes, and they are gaining on us."

McGee grew quiet. When Ziva took a look at him, she knew why. His eyes were closed again and he was pressing his head back into the head rest. His right arm was wrapped around his stomach while his other hand held the seat divider in a vice grip.

Ziva didn't know what to pay more attention to, McGee or the still approaching car. She felt the accelerator touch the floor and was suddenly glad that it wasn't her car she was driving.

"Ziva," came McGee's voice again. "If they plan on running us off the road, don't you think we should be going a little slower?"

She checked her phone again, but did not slow down. Wait, what did it say? She did a double-take.

Two bars! She pressed the speed dial for Gibbs. He answered with a curt greeting.

"Gibbs. We're in trouble. McGee has been poisoned. We are about to be run down by the people who did it. Jessica Mahan. I need you to send LEOs from the closest town to catch them." She told him where they were. "We need to get to a hospital fast."

He was quiet for a moment. "Gibbs!" she said, fearing they had lost the connectio0n.

"I'm calling. Don't hang up.: he was clearly upset.

Ziva was having a hard time with the wheel so she pressed the phone into McGee's hand. "Put it on speaker."

He did. "Boss?" he said.

"McGee, are you okay?"

"Not really." His voice sounded more strained than before.

"You're gonna to be fine." came another voice. Tony. They were clearly still at the office.

"Whatever you say, DiNozzo." McGee said.

Gibbs was back. "LEOs are on the way. Just stay ahead of the carl it shouldn't take more than a few minutes to get to you."

"I am trying."

"McGee, you still with me?" Tony asked on the tinny speaker.

He chuckled deep in his throat. "Well, considering my stomach feels like—, "he took a shallow breath. "Like I swallowed about a hundred razors… I'm going to go with maybe."

Tony laughed quietly. "I suppose that's good enough for now."

"We're leaving right now." Gibbs said. She heard the elevator ding. "McGee if you die on me, you're fired."

The headlights were within fifty feet when she saw the flashing reds and blues. She put on her own to let them know not to stop her. Tony had kept McGee talking for a while, answering slower and slower all the time. Eventually, they grew quiet when it got too hard for him to talk.

She looked back in her mirror and found the headlights receding. "The cops are here McGee. We are safe." No response. "McGee?"

"McGee!" Tony and Gibbs yelled at the same time.

She looked at him. Eyes closed again, more likely from falling unconscious than falling asleep. He was breathing, but his lips had a slight blue tint to them.

"Ziva?" Tony said.

"We are almost to the hospital, Tony."

The phone became quiet.

The flashing lights were passing when she noticed the car behind her had fallen back quite a distance. But that was unimportant right now. Gibbs said quietly, "Tony, call ahead to the hospital and tell them what is wrong."

"On it."

"Ziva, it's just off the highway on the exit."

"Okay," she replied.

Three minutes later she skidded to a halt in front of the emergency doors. Four people were waiting in front with a gurney. They quickly lifted McGee out of the car and onto the bed. He was gone like a flash of lightning.

Ziva didn't really know what to do. She just parked the car when she heard Tony's voice. "Ziva? Are you still there?"

She picked it up and switched it off speaker. "Tony. We are here. They took him inside. I—" she broke off when her voice cracked.

"It's okay," he said. "We're on our way. About twenty thirty minutes." A pause. "Make that twenty. Gibbs is driving. Just go in and sit down and we'll be there before you know it."

"Okay," she said, quietly, thankful not to be in charge anymore. She shut the phone and walked slowly towards the entrance.

There was an elderly nurse just inside who asked if she was with Special Agent McGee. Ziva nodded. The woman guided Ziva into a deserted waiting room and instructed her to wait. She would come get her when there was news on 'Mr. McGee."

Ziva didn't smile her thanks. She couldn't. She couldn't get the look of Tim's pale face out her mind. Nor the sight of his chest barely moving. She couldn't stop thinking of how they had smiled about the car mug, not knowing then that within the liquid, death was waiting, silently and without prelude.

She had called her a victim. She should have called her a murderer.

She hoped Jessica Mahan paid dearly for what she had done. But more than that, Ziva hoped McGee wouldn't pay any more than he had. If he did, Jessica wouldn't make it to trial.

It was revenge that had like motivated the woman to do what she did to her ex, but everything after that was pure cold blood.

Like Tony had said, before she knew it, the twenty minutes were up. She found herself running into Tony's arms, nearly collapsing from exhaustion. He picked her up with ease and carried her over to a particularly ugly couch, where he held onto her, stoking her hair and speaking soft, comforting words.

Ziva clung to him like a lifeline. Tears were pouring out of her eyes and it was all she could do not to sob. The cushion behind her sank as someone else sat down.

"What's the skinny, Boss?" Tony asked.

Gibbs let out a heavy sigh. "They've got him breathing again. He's being treated for belladonna poisoning." He took a deep breath. "They think he's gonna make it."

Tony relaxed. "Thank god." He pushed the hair from Ziva's face. "You hear that, Zi? You did well."

The first thing heard was the beeping. A dead giveaway.

What ha—, he thought. Oh yeah. The cat lady poisoned him.

He remembered puking his guts out on the side of the highway. The pain in his gut. Ziva driving at the most terrifying speed imaginable. Ziva. Why was she going so fast? He hadn't been that sick, at least at that point.

Wait the headlights. The car that was chasing them, probably attempting to finish the job. Had they? Was that why he was in the hospital? Ziva. Was she here? Was she alive?

He opened his eyes and looked around.

Abby!

He opened his mouth but nothing came out. However, she must have heard something, for she looked up from the magazine she was reading with a giant smile on her face.

"Timmy!" she exclaimed, dropping the magazine and practically jumping on him. Normally Tim would enjoy the attention, but something else was more important. He pushed her off. "Ziva?" it barely came out as a whisper.

She stayed hovering above him. "She totally saved you, McGee! She told me everything. The cat lady with the stupid cat mug. Then you got sick and there was no signal. And that car that was chasing you, and how fast she was driving." She held her hands up, placatingly. "Don't worry, caught them."

"Who?"

"The cat lady and her current boyfriend. Boy, they could give some of my exes a run for their money. Anyway, Ziva got you to the hospital just in time. Another ten minutes and…" she quickly enveloped him in another bear hug. She whispered, "I'm so glad you're okay, Timmy."

"As am I," came another, softer female voice from the doorway.

Abby jumped up. "Ziva!" she said running to her and hugging her tightly. "Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!"

"Abby, you already thanked me." Ziva said trying to push her off.

"Yeah, but it's not enough." She gave her one last squeeze before letting go. "I'll give you two a minute." She left the room, taking all the excitement and leaving the seriousness of the situation behind.

McGee and Ziva stared at each other for a moment. He spoke up. "Let me guess, Bethesda?"

Ziva nodded. "They flew you here as soon as you were stable."

He nodded back and they fell into another bought of silence. Ziva went to Abby's vacated seat but she didn't relax. She merely perched on the edge and kept up the staring match they were currently involved in.

It wasn't uncomfortable. McGee figured they were both just happy to know the other was alive. "Thank you." He finally said. Ziva dipped her head.

"Thank you for holding on," she said.

He gave a small smile.

The silence was suddenly broken by Tony, Gibbs, Abby, Ducky, and even Palmer entering the room.

"Glad to see you're alive, McYou-almost-gave-me-a-heart-attack." Tony said, coming to sit by McGee's legs on the bed.

McGee smiled wider. "How long have you been holding onto that one, Tony?"

He shrugged. "Just been waiting for the perfect situation."

Everybody laughed and even Gibbs had to smile. Yep, already back to normal.

~fin~

A/N: Because everything with Abby comes with exclamation points. I never would have known it before, but reviews really are motivation. So if you liked the story, clickedy clack that review button and let me know. If you didn't like it, I can accept that, and would like to know how you think I should improve. Thanks!