A/N: This is an episode tag to 11.04 Anonymous Was a Woman. There are spoilers for the episode. I just wanted to elaborate on what happened in the episode. It's a little melancholy, but the topic of the episode is pretty sad.

Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS and I'm not making money off this story.

Eyes Opened
by Enthusiastic Fish

Tim didn't think he could ever forget the stories he'd been told. More than that, he didn't think he could forget the look in their eyes as they'd told their stories. These women had gone through things he could only imagine...and he wished he couldn't.

The moment he'd stepped out of the shelter onto the porch, he had known that he couldn't leave. It didn't matter that they had orders to go. He couldn't get rid of the eyes of those poor girls and women. He'd had to go back into the building.

"McGee...you were supposed to go."

"I can't, Boss. I can't leave."

Gibbs raised an eyebrow and nodded.

Gunshots, bonfires, incendiaries...all because these women had dared to protest being treated worse than animals. They had dared to escape.

But he always came back to their eyes. He always came back to that spark of hope almost crushed by the fear of what had happened to them and what could happen to them. He had watched them cower with every attack. These weren't criminals. They hadn't done anything wrong. But the look in their eyes...

"We're not leaving them here," Gibbs said.

"What are we going to do, then, Boss?" Tim asked. "We can't stay here forever and there are limits to what the troops can do."

Gibbs looked at the building and then back at Tim.

And it was clear that they had to go. There had been a confrontation, and that put them in more danger, even if it had saved them for a night.

Tim still didn't know how Gibbs had done it, but before he had time to wonder, they were on a plane with a bunch of refugees. All those women who would be saved. It was wonderful to see the mother and daughter reunited. A beautiful moment, but then, Tim came back to the eyes of those women.

...because they had saved some, but they didn't save them all.

"Tim?"

Tim looked at Gibbs and then at the women.

"Yeah, Boss?"

"You all right?"

"Yeah."

"You sure?"

Tim smiled a little. ...but only for a few seconds. Then, the smile vanished.

"How could a person look at another human being and think it was okay to treat them this way?" he asked. "How long will it take these women to...to look at their lives without being afraid of what might happen?"

"A long time for some of them...but they have the chance."

Tim nodded as he watched the women being led to where they would begin the process of getting a green card.

"It's wrong, Boss."

"Yeah, it is."

"It's really wrong."

"Yeah."

Tim looked at Tony again, but he couldn't find anything to say. His mind was all on the women from the shelter. He could only think about them and the look in their eyes.

It wasn't that he didn't know this kind of thing could happen. He did. It wasn't like the U.S. was secure from the kinds of monsters who would do these things. He knew. There were enough stories in the news that he knew. He knew it...

...but there was something about seeing it over and over again. You thought you'd heard the worst it could be, but then, there was something worse with the next woman who started speaking to you.

One of the women looked back at him before she walked through the door. It was said that the eyes were the windows to the soul and Tim felt like he was looking right into her soul. The spark was a little brighter, but there was still so much fear, and how safe were they here? It was possible that someone else would come after them. He could see all that in her eyes. He could almost feel her fear.

She waved at him and then walked inside.

"Tim, they're here."

"I know."

Gibbs thumped his shoulder. Tim looked at him.

"I won't forget this, Boss."

"I know."

"I just can't believe...but I can because I saw it. We saved them..."

"...but there are always more."

"Yeah."

"Can't think of it that way...because where does it stop? We can't take them all from the country and bring them here. That doesn't solve the problem."

Tim nodded.

"Go home. Get some sleep. You did good, McGee."

"Thanks."

Tim went home, but he didn't sleep. He couldn't. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw the eyes of those women, looking at him. Not asking for anything, just showing what they'd gone through. He barely the words translated. He could see it in their eyes.

He lay on his bed, staring at the ceiling for an hour before he gave up. He sat up and turned on the TV. It didn't help. He surfed through the channels, not seeing anything. He just stared at the screen.

After a while, he was startled by a knock on his door. He looked at the clock. After midnight. Who in the world was here?

Another knock.

He got up and walked to the door, looked through the peephole and then opened the door.

"What are you doing here, Boss?"

"You're still awake."

"Yeah."

"Why?"

Tim stood aside and let Gibbs come inside.

"I can't sleep," he admitted.

"Why not?"

"I can't forget what I saw, what they said." He sighed. "I can't forget what I saw in their eyes. How do I forget that?"

"You don't. Ever. You can't when you see these things?"

"So how do you live with knowing how bad it gets?"

Gibbs shook his head.

"You just have to. Do your best to help where you can and don't dwell on what you can't do."

"Is that what you do?"

Gibbs smiled. "No."

Tim laughed a little.

"I thought I knew what to expect. It's not like I've never heard about the kinds of things that happen. ...but it's not the same as actually seeing it."

"Never is."

"I wish I could forget it, but at the same time, I don't want to forget what they went through. I want to remember it...so that I can maybe do something to help."

"Just don't dwell on it."

Tim nodded.

"Go to bed, Tim. Don't let it take over."

"Yeah. I'll try."

Gibbs started back to the door, and then stopped and looked back.

"If it does, tell someone. Clear?"

"Yeah. Clear."

"You did good out there, McGee."

"Thanks, Boss."

Gibbs left and Tim walked to his computer. He booted it up and spent the next hour doing research and by one a.m. he'd made a list of possible places that he could make donations to help people in Afghanistan. The people who were there, who would still be there when the U.N. troops and U.S. troops left.

He stared at the list. Was it enough? No. Nothing could really be enough, but it was something.

Tim went back to bed and lay on his back and stared at the ceiling.

He could still see their eyes.

FINIS!