A/N: I said that the Knowers and Demons series was done, but it's not quite. This is set one year after The Reality Contained Within. Most of the world went on without thinking about the brief blip in which things changed. But not everyone. A small group becomes determined to find out what happened and who was responsible.

Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or its characters. I also thank Dean Koontz for the couplet that has inspired much of this series.

Nothing Is Quite What It Seems
by Enthusiastic Fish

In the real world, as in dreams
Nothing is quite what it seems.
Dean Koontz

Chapter 1

"The world broke. That's all. Things break. When they break, you have to fix them. Sure, if it's not something important, you'll toss it in the trash, but when you're talking about the whole world, you have to do something about it, right? Well, that's what happened. The world broke, and it got fixed."

"And you fixed it."

"That's funny. That's really funny. I don't fix things. When they're broken, I'll call a repairman."

"If you didn't, then, why do you know about it?"

"I don't. You're the one who thinks I do. I'm just going along with your little fantasy."

"Everyone knows that something happened."

"They do?"

"Yes. Everyone. It was all over the news for weeks."

"It's not, now. No one cares. They're living their lives. That's what you should do. Live your life and let me do the same. Now, if you'll excuse me..."

"You know more than you're admitting."

"Well, I'm not admitting to anything at all; so I guess that's probably true. I know how to turn on my computer. I know how to..."

"What did you do?"

"Me? Well, I clapped my hands and believed in fairies. And you know what? It actually worked."

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

Earlier that day...

Tim took a breath and walked out of his building and got into his car. When he reached it without anything happening, he sighed with relief.

He tried not to show it, but a year on from his brush with oblivion, with non-existence, he still was afraid that he'd find cracks in the world he'd remade. There was give, he'd been told, but how much?

And what about his dragons? They were still there on his hand...only with one important difference.

They weren't invisible any longer. Ziva and Abby still commented on how weird it was that boring Tim McGee had decided to get a tattoo on the palm of his hand. And such a strange one, too.

Sometimes, he wondered what that meant. Most of the time, he tried not to think about it. He constantly worried that he would do something that would make his tattoo move. Tony had finally stopped trying to get him to talk about it.

Tim knew that he'd never fully recovered from what had happened. Everyone had noticed that he was a little different, a little more brittle. He tried not to show it, but he had failed. What did that mean? Well, nothing really. No one brought it up and Tim didn't discuss it.

Almost no one. Ducky tried every so often, but Tim had put him off. He knew that at least part of Ducky's worry stemmed from Tim's brief period in a psychiatric facility. There never had been any genuine explanation for his supposed breakdown.

"Enough reminiscing," Tim said to himself. "Just live your life. You're not a knower anymore. There are no more demons. Just let things be normal."

He sighed and put his car in gear. Time to get to work.

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

Tony waited to see how Tim was today. He had varying degrees of tension when he came in to work. While he'd mostly recovered, he'd never fully recovered. He worried. He worried a lot. It was too bad, too, because Tim had gone through so much to fix reality, but he hadn't really fixed himself. Tony had tried to help him, but Tim had ended up resisting any conversation that referred to what had happened.

It was probably for the best. If the wrong person heard them, they might get asked some very difficult questions.

Still, he hated that it wasn't going the way he had wanted it to.

Sometimes, he felt that they'd watched Road to Bali too soon.

The elevator dinged and Tim walked in, looking as normal as he ever did, which meant that he didn't seem actively afraid of anything.

"Good morning, Tim."

"Morning."

Tim clenched his fist and kept moving. Tony knew what that was for. The tattoo. Tim's dragons had remained. At first, it had been a relief because it meant, for Tim, that he had the connection he'd relied on so much. Then, it had been a problem because people could see it, now.

That was something Tony didn't understand. He wanted to talk to Tim about it, but Tim wouldn't. He was still wondering if he should just push it, but so far, he hadn't done that. Ducky tried to get Tim to open up on occasion, but because of Ducky's limited perspective on Tim's problem, Tim wasn't likely to speak to him, either. Gibbs and Ziva both knew that something had happened and that Tim had been heavily involved, but they both kept whatever they thought about all that to themselves.

...and no one talked about it whether they knew anything or not. Normally, Tony would be happy to avoid the difficult topics. It generally made life easier, but in this case, Tony really wanted something to break the impasse.

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

Tim could feel Tony watching him all day. He didn't know how to explain what frightened him, still. It was hard knowing that he shouldn't exist, that he shouldn't be there...and yet he was. Every morning, he woke up, knowing that he should have vanished from existence, that no one should even have known about him. Whatever Tony had done to bring him back...what if that caused the world to break again?

I can't go through that again, Tim thought to himself. It was a common thought. Maybe it made him weak, but Tim didn't feel very strong, not after everything that had happened.

When they were released, Tim left without lingering. He walked out of the building and then stopped and stared at his tattoo.

"Hey, Tim. What's up?"

Tim jumped, quickly clenched his fist, and looked back. He smiled a little at Tony.

"I'm fine, Tony."

Tony laughed. "That wasn't very convincing...since that's not what I was asking."

"I'm still fine."

"Whether you are or not, ignoring it hasn't really helped, has it?"

Tim shrugged.

"Hey, you know I'm not the guy who tries to make people talk...but you're not really fine, Tim. You're okay, but you're way too worried to be fine."

"I'd rather not talk about it, Tony."

"Who else can you talk to but me? I'm the only person in the world who knows exactly what happened...what you did and the price you almost had to pay."

Tim winced. "I'd really rather not talk about that, Tony."

"Maybe that's why you should. Heck, when we get in a life-and-death situation at work, we have to see a shrink. What you went through was a lot worse and there's no shrink in the world who wouldn't think you were nuts."

Tim smiled at that. "I almost wish I was." He opened his fist and lifted up his tattooed palm. "Then, this would just be evidence of an impulsive moment, not the thing that keeps me sane."

"Well, you're not crazy, but everyone can see that there's something going on with you. They're just not talking about it."

"I'm okay with that."

"Tim, come on. You're not yourself right now, and you haven't been for a year. Why not try and get more back?"

Tim clenched his fist again. Part of him was tempted, but most of him was not. He just wanted to forget about that part of his life if he could, and he couldn't if he kept talking about it.

"Tony, I appreciate it, but I don't want to talk about it. It'll take time to get over it, and that's all I need. Just time."

"How much? It's already been a year."

"Well, it's not like I can ask anyone else about it," Tim said, feeling a little irritated. "This happens to be a unique situation. All of that is over. I'm not a knower anymore! There are no demons! There's just...reality, and I am fine with that. I'll see you tomorrow."

Tim walked away, hoping that Tony wouldn't push it.

He didn't and Tim was able to get to his car without anyone bothering him.

...but once he was there, he sighed and looked at his hand again.

Then, quietly, he whispered a rhyming couplet he had heard over and over again.

"'In the real world, as in dreams

Nothing is quite what it seems.'"

Another sigh and he headed home.

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

Tony watched Tim leave and he sighed. One thing that he did miss, regardless of everything else, was the friendship he and Tim had shared over the years because of Tony's involvement in Tim's brushes with the supernatural. Because Tim was trying to avoid that stuff, he had also avoided Tony to some degree, and that meant they weren't as close as they'd been before. He didn't want to admit it, but Tony wished that Tim would allow that much.

He sighed again and headed home.

When he pulled up to his place, he got out and started for his door. He sensed someone behind him, and he tensed up a little. He lived in a safe area, but that didn't mean it would always be completely safe.

Then, there were two people in front of him in addition to the one person behind. No point in pretending he didn't see them.

"I've had a long day," he said. "I don't suppose you could just let me go to bed?"

To their credit, the men in front of him didn't act surprised, nor did they get shifty. They weren't worried about being seen. They weren't worried about him at all. To Tony, that meant he would be better off not trying to fight them off. Not right now when he was outnumbered.

"Come with us and answer our questions, and you may get back to your bed, tonight."

"Can't you just ask me right here?"

"No. Let's go."

Inside, Tony was a little worried. Outside, he made a show of being annoyed.

"You're really ruining my day, you know."

"You'd know better than us."

Something about the way they spoke made Tony a little nervous about what questions they wanted answered. He let them lead him out of the building and into the back seat of a car.

"Now, what?" he asked.

"Now, you go blind for a while."

They blindfolded him before he could think of something witty to retort and then, the car started moving.