Title: Red

Sequel to True Colors (drabble), prompt was "Teammate's true nature".

Rating: FR 15/T

Genre: Supernatural/Horror/AU

Summary: Tony knew McGee was hiding something, but the truth something he never expected. How will the secret affect the team?

Disclaimer: Don't own, yeah yeah yeah.

I've included the original drabble at the beginning of the story.

XXX

"So, McGee, what other deep, dark secrets are you hiding?"

"What do you mean?" McGee sent him an appropriately puzzled look, but the senior agent wasn't fooled.

"You know exactly what I mean, McSpeedy. There's no way you could have taken down that suspect before us. You're indecent shape, but I never pegged you for a sprinter. Where did that come from?"

"Just, you know…practice."

"Right. You've been doing more than practicing."

"How about you practice working?"

"Sorry, Boss. Back to work."

McGee surreptitiously watched his partner and smiled, his eyes briefly flashing blood red.

If only you knew…

XXX

Tony had been keeping a close watch on his partner for most of the day. He knew, in his gut, that there was more to McGee's capture of their suspect than the younger man had offered, but what it actually could be escaped Tony. Hoping to find an answer, he reviewed the scene in his mind…

"DiNozzo, he's headed for the exit!"

"On it Boss!"

"On it Boss!" McGee echoed as Tony ran as fast as he could towards the exit. He had lost sight of McGee somewhere in the back of the warehouse, and it had sounded like he was still back there. Tony figured he was on his own as he tried to make it to the main door before their quarry and he redoubled his efforts. He rounded the last corner and came to a surprised halt when he saw that McGee already had the guy pinned and was snapping the cuffs around his wrists. He glanced up at Tony and for a moment the older man thought he saw a brief flash of fear in McGee's eyes before his normal neutral expression returned.

"Got him, Tony."

"How?" Tony asked before he could stop himself.

"Guess I was closer." McGee hauled the suspect to his feet and the man turned to stare at McGee, a look of horror on his face.

"What are you?"

"Federal Agent, NCIS. You're under arrest for the murder of Petty Officer Lauren Harris."

The man ignored McGee's statement. "Y-you…you came out of nowhere. How did you do that?"

"Training. Let's go."

Gibbs and Ziva had arrived just as McGee was leading the obviously frightened man out the door but no more was said about McGee's feat until they were back at the office, where McGee had brushed off Tony's question. It only made the senior agent more curious, and finally he decided to approach the subject again.

"You know McGee, your 'practice' seems to have really freaked out our suspect." Tony hoped his out of the blue comment would shake his partner a little.

"I think he might have been on something," McGee replied, not even looking up from his computer.

"You thought right," said Gibbs as he entered the bullpen. "Tests indicate he was sampling his own product."

"Meth cook and murderer, great combo," muttered McGee and Tony couldn't help the grin that arose in response, which he quickly hid when Gibbs turned his way.

"He's on his way to lock up. As soon as you finish up those reports you can leave."

"Wow. Early out, Boss? All sorts of craziness going on. Is it a full moon or what?"

"You know, statistically there's no evidence that the full moon has any effect on…" McGee caught Gibbs' glare and fell silent, immediately returning to his work.

"I've been in law enforcement for over 15 years, McGoo. Your statistics are wrong. I've seen it."

Another glare from Gibbs silenced both men and they resumed their work. Ziva arrived a few minutes later to inform them that the prisoner transfer had been completed and sat down at her desk to finish her own report.

Gibbs soon left again, presumably for coffee, and after he was out of earshot Ziva turned her attention to McGee.

"So, I hear you have been increasing your exercise routine, McGee," she said with a smirk.

He closed his eyed and sighed. "Can we please drop it? Yes, I got there faster than I normally would have. Yes, I have been increasing my workouts to improve my speed. That, plus an adrenaline rush answers any and all questions. So please, enough already."

Once again, Tony thought he saw that strange flash of fear in his partner's expression, but it was gone almost before he could quantify it.

What are you hiding, Probie?

McGee finished his report first, which he placed on Gibbs' desk before grabbing his bag and coat.

"See you tomorrow," he called over his shoulder as he headed for the elevator.

"Good bye, McGee," Ziva called and went back to her own report. Tony scrambled to put the finishing touches on his paperwork and sent it to the printer. Ziva looked up at him in surprise.

"I see McGee is not the only one who has been working on improving his speed," she commented with a smirk. "Hot date tonight?"

"Nope. I figured I'd catch Probie before he got involved in some online game and invite him for a boys' night out.

"And get him tippy so he will tell you his secret."

"'Tipsy', Ziva, and no, I don't want to get him drunk. Who says I have to have an agenda?"

"You usually do. Look, Tony, if he wanted you to know, he would tell you. Besides, I do not see anything wrong with McGee improving his field skills."

"Neither do I. Maybe I'm just looking for some pointers." She snorted. "What?"

"You are admitting you need help from a 'probie'?"

"Well, no, of course not," he stammered and tried to cover with a grin.

"So you are just being nosy again."

"I just want to make sure it's not anything that will affect the team."

"You think McGee is 'on something'?" He just raised his eyebrows and Ziva huffed. "I cannot picture him doing anything like that, Tony. Your worries are unnecessary."

"Whatever, Ziva. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Good night Tony. Behave yourself."

He just sent her one of his trademark grins and headed for the elevator.

XXX

Tony raised his fist to knock on the apartment door just as it swung open to reveal McGee, dressed in sweats and a light jacket. He jumped slightly when he caught sight of the senior agent.

"Tony? What are you doing here? Did we get a call out?"

"Relax, McGee. I was in the neighborhood and thought I'd stop by to see if you wanted to go get a drink." Tim gave him a puzzled look.

"'In the neighborhood'? Tony, you live on the other side of the city." He opened the door and allowed the older man into his apartment. "Why are you really here?"

"Aw, come on, Probie, can't a guy take his partner out for some fun? Besides, you need to get out more." He surveyed the computer set-up Tim had. "Spend less time blowing people away online and talking to real life people. Who knows, you might even get lucky."

"I told you, I've given up on the whole dating thing." He stared at Tony for a moment and sighed. "And you're not going to leave me alone, are you?"

"Nope." Tony grinned and McGee rolled his eyes.

"Fine. Give me a minute to get changed. And don't touch my stuff." He disappeared into the bedroom and Tony made a circuit of the rest of the apartment, carefully opening and closing the kitchen cabinets and drawers. Finding nothing of interest, he walked back over to the rows of bookshelves and examined the titles.

Man, Probie has weird taste in books…

Finally he heard McGee emerge from the bedroom and turned to face him.

"Any preference?"

"There's a sports bar a couple of blocks from here. They have pretty good food."

"Sounds good. Lead on, McGee." Tim just shook his head and walked out of the apartment with Tony at his heels.

Four hours and several drinks later, the two men headed back towards McGee's building. Tony had tried to nudge his partner into opening up a little, but the man had remained strangely recalcitrant. He'd only had one glass of wine to Tony's four beers, but instead of becoming more garrulous, as he had in the past under the influence, he seemed to withdraw even more.

"Spending too much time in your head, Probie," Tony muttered as they walked.

"Sorry. Just…a lot on my mind."

"Wanna share with your partner?"

McGee let out a soft, humorless chuckle. "Trust me, you really don't want to know."

Before Tony could answer he noticed a figure step out of the shadows and was instantly on alert. The area he and McGee had just entered was unlit by streetlights and relatively deserted for the time of night.

"Got a light?" the man asked in a gravelly voice.

Both agents ignored the man and tried to pass him, but their path was blocked. Tony reached for his gun and remembered that he had decided not to bring it with him on this little adventure. Crap…

"Sorry, don't smoke," McGee replied and tried to edge around. He froze when a knife suddenly appeared in the man's hand.

"How about your wallets?"

"How about not?" snapped Tony as he pulled his own knife. "Federal agents. Drop your weapon." The man snorted.

"Yeah, right. Tell me another one." Suddenly, and much faster than Tony expected, the man grabbed McGee and pulled the agent in front of him as he put the knife to McGee's throat. "Now, how about you drop your weapon? Or maybe I'll teach your friend here a lesson."

Tony met McGee's gaze and the younger man gave a slight shake of his head.

"Look, man, do yourself a favor and give up now. Do you have any idea what will happen if you do this? You hurt him and my boss will hunt you down and end you."

The man just smirked. "Yeah, again with the macho crap. Just give me what I want and maybe I'll let your boyfriend live."

Tony growled. This guy just didn't get it. He was debating which tact to try next when McGee's eyes widened.

"Tony, look out!"

He instinctively ducked and spun, catching his attacker with a fist to the stomach. The second man staggered back and Tony looked up and saw McGee break away from the first man, who stepped back in surprise. The second man quickly recovered and attacked Tony again, only to be repelled by a left hook to the jaw. He stumbled, turned and ran. Tony returned his attention to the first man just in time to see him sink his knife into McGee's stomach.

"No!"

The man yanked the knife out as McGee collapsed against the side of the building. Tony barely registered the blood flowing over the hand McGee had clasped against his stomach as he charged his attacker. The man managed to dodge and dashed off, disappearing into the darkness. Tony gave chase, but after a couple of blocks he realized his prey had evaded him completely. He paused to catch his breath and what had transpired suddenly hit him with full force.

"McGee!" He ran back to where the younger man had fallen and was surprised to find him gone.

"What the hell? Tim! Probie? Where…?" He noticed a blood trail and followed it. Finally he saw McGee, who had reached the back entrance to his apartment building. He was leaning heavily against the wall with one hand still cradling his stomach.

"Tim, damn it, what are you doing?" He reached his partner and grabbed his free arm. "Stay still, I'm calling an ambulance." Before he could pull out his phone he felt a surprisingly strong hand on his arm.

"No, Tony, don't. I'll be OK."

"The hell you will. That wasn't just a scratch, Probie!"

"I just need to get up to my apartment. I have something there that will help. Please, Tony." He gripped Tony's arm tighter and the older man winced. He stared at the younger man's face and finally gave in to his pleading expression.

"Fine, but we're calling Ducky at the very least. You're going to need some sort of medical attention."

"Like I told you, I'll be fine. It's not as bad as it looks."

"Stop trying to be so stoic, McGee. You're not Gibbs."

McGee let out a strange chuckle. "No, he's definitely not me." Before Tony could respond, he opened the door to his building and stepped inside. Reluctantly, Tony followed as he continued to try to convince McGee to wait for help.

Finally they made it to McGee's apartment and once inside McGee gingerly lowered himself into his desk chair. He pulled open his shirt to check the wound and Tony grimaced.

"Looks pretty bad to me, Tim," he said as he eyed the three inch, still bleeding gash in McGee's torso. "What do you have that's going to help that?"

"Black bottle…bottom shelf of the fridge…all the way in the back," McGee gasped as he tried to staunch the flow of blood. Tony dashed to the kitchen and started to search the fridge. He found the bottle McGee had described, which looked like an old-fashioned wine flask, and brought it to him.

"What is that?"

McGee uncorked the bottle and to the older man's great surprise, brought it to his mouth and took a long drink, closing his eyes as he downed the contents. Finally he lowered the bottle and took a deep breath as his eyes remained shut.

Tony watched in morbid fascination as the wound in Tim's stomach began to slowly close on its own. After a few moments it was gone without even a scar left behind.

"What in the hell? What…what was that stuff?"

McGee reminded silent and still and Tony leaned close to get a better look at the younger man. He was pale, paler than Tony had ever seen him.

"Tim?"

Suddenly McGee's eyes flew open and Tony almost fell as he backed away in horror.

McGee's eyes were glowing and deep blood red.

"What…" Tony found himself echoing the question their suspect had asked earlier that day. "What are you?"

McGee blinked and his eyes returned to their normal green. He stared at his partner for a few moments before he lowered his gaze and sighed.

"I'm a long story."

TBC…