Posted with gratitude to everyone who has liked, sent kudos, followed, or reviewed this fic and especially to FrznTears, Nikki, ENIGMA LADY, sasha, ocnbeach2yahoo, jdgatorbait, Sazzita, Yammy1983, Val, blinddivinity, rigger42, Shae Vizla, Gina Callen, Hisuiko, Luvable, horsegirlrule, 1sunfun, jmsings, Gracfully, meri47, JonnyP86, mcgeeksgirl, reina13, and Precious Pup.

Several hours later, Tim reluctantly leaves Sarah at the safehouse with Ziva and lets Boss and Tony drive him into the Yard. As Sargent Jenkins promised Gibbs the night before, Corporal Evanston is ready and waiting for them. When Gibbs asks, Evanston reports that nothing unusual happened in the Yard overnight. Tim scans the Corporal's face carefully as he speaks, but he can find no hint of deception behind the man's boyish features and serious eyes.

"Is Sarah okay, this morning?" Tony tentatively asks as Gibbs walks ahead, not so far as to actually be out of earshot but enough to offer the illusion of privacy between the partners.

Tim nods, his eyes never ceasing their scan of the area around them, looking for any unexpected changes in the patterns of the Yard that he knows so well. "Yeah," he confirms verbally a moment later. "She doesn't like the upset in her life, and she's concerned about the danger we're in, but she realizes that this has to be done."

Tim catches Tony's nod from his peripheral vision, but there's a woodenness in the motion that has Tim glancing over at his partner full-on. Narrowing his eyes, Tim tries to discern what he might be missing from Tony's lack of a reply.

"What?" the demand spurs from his lips when Tony stays abnormally silent.

Tony glances Tim's way and only briefly returns his gaze before moving to scan the area himself, though Tim doubts how vigilant Tony might be through his pronounced if unvoiced distraction. Tim keeps his eye on his partner, now using his peripheral vision to keep track of where he's going as well.

Tony winces. It's never taken him long to break under Tim's silent stare—Tony pretty much hates silence more than anything. When Tony still doesn't voice his concern, Tim stills him with a hard hand at Tony's elbow, halting them both in their tracks while Gibbs takes a few more steps forward. Tony watches Boss' movement, doesn't look over towards Tim's face less than a foot away from his own until they both see Gibbs halt and turn around, having sensed their lack of motion.

Tim watches Tony and Boss' silent communication as reflected in Tony's slight facial expressions. Boss doesn't come any closer to them, no one does even though Tim's essentially got a security detail on him and he's still exposed in the open air of the courtyard between the parking lot and Headquarters. It's both a professional courtesy and a lack of understanding at the depth of the danger that Tim's in that his team and Corporal Evanston don't shuffle him inside immediately.

Tony drops his head for a moment before finally lifting his eyes and meeting Tim's gaze. "It's a big house where we're staying, Tim," Tony begins with a non-sequitur.

Tim squints at Tony, trying to figure out where Tony's going with this before he gets there. McGee offers a brief nod of acquiesce at Tony's statement.

"And Sarah had the run of it," Tony continues, "but she didn't come down from the second floor for hours—not until you got there, not even to eat," Tony takes a step towards Tim, closing the already tight space between them.

Tim's never liked being in close quarters with anyone—it's harder to see what's going on and harder to work your way out of a situation at all—let alone unobtrusively—if someone's standing too closely inside your space. Tony's always been a close-talker, though. It's something that Tim's had to become accustomed to over the years. Mostly it doesn't even bother him anymore. Mostly.

"It's a big house," Tony briefly looks down at Tim's posture as he repeats himself, which is the only reason Tim realizes he's stiffened at his partner's invasion, "with enough bedrooms for each of us to take a separate one, but you and Sarah shared a room."

Tim furrows his brow and tucks his chin in confusion while he shakes his head. "Why wouldn't we?"

Tony briefly glances towards the sky in exasperation before pinching his lips and looking right back to Tim, "Look, I know that you and Sarah are close, but you know that's weird, right?"

Blinking in surprise, Tim studies his partner, and startles to realize that Tony's not just trying to get a rise out of him but is instead being sincere. Then Tim's mind spins as he wonders whether Tony's point of view is the norm, if outsiders would consider something that's as mundane to Tim and Sarah as sleeping arrangements abnormal. Is where we sleep weird enough to make us memorable? Tim wonders abruptly. They strive so hard towards being forgettable, but sometimes it's difficult to always be unrecognized for who you are or what you can do. Sarah especially struggles with it. But at least they're usually pretty good at figuring out what normal is in order to pretend they belong there. At least Tim thinks they are.

"What's your point?" Tim presses Tony back hoping to redirect Tony's attention.

"Tell me you're not this obtuse," Tony pushes farther into Tim's face, and Tim can see immediately that he's doing it on purpose, trying to get Tim off balance in order to get a baser reaction from him.

Even though it's only Tony, Tim feels his whole body stiffen and his jaw clench in a way he knows it wouldn't have just three days before. The muscles in his calves tighten up as they prepare to run. "State your problem or back off," low and dark, the words pass his lips without forethought.

Tony tilts his head, glances down then back up Tim's body as if to let Tim know he notices the defensive stance. "What did you tell her?"

Tim doesn't move but he can tell his eyes reflect his confusion when Tony elaborates, "Sarah is terrified. What did you tell her about the case you're working on?"

"Nothing. I didn't," Tim shakes his head, defending himself easily against Tony's incorrect assumptions. Tim's told her practically nothing about the details of the case. He didn't have to.

"You didn't," Tony comes back flatly, not so much an acknowledgement of Tim's statement as an expression of disbelief.

"No," Tim remains firm, "I didn't tell her anything."

Tim watches Tony's eyes first tighten in consideration and then ease into confusion as he accepts Tim's answer as truth. "Then why is she so afraid?" Tony's tone softens into a whisper. "Why are you?"

Tim has to tamp down his first instinct, knowing that lying to Tony outright has never worked well for him in the past. More than that, Tim hates the fact that Tony doesn't know the level of danger Tim's placed the team in.

"Tim?" Voice just as soft as before, Tony pushes like he always does.

"Because I know how bad a situation I've gotten us into," Tim practically spits the words into Tony's face in his anger, and he's so very angry—angry at himself for not standing up to his father before, angry at his father for being such an inhumanely despicable person, angry at Agent Thomas for refusing to live up to the ideals of the badge he carries.

"Hey," Tony's hand goes straight to his shoulder as if he can squeeze out the blackness covering Tim's heart in this moment. "It's not your fault, man. You didn't get us into anything," Tim shakes his head and tries to back away from Tony's ignorant and undeserving forgiveness, but Tony grabs hold of his arm, doesn't let go. "You made the same choice we all make," Tony insists. "To do the job."

Tim's violently shaking his head before Tony's even done, "That's not the ch—"

"McGee! DiNozzo!" Boss garners their immediate attention with his yell. Tim's apparently pushed past his time limit for staying outdoors. Gibbs tilts his head towards the building and walks right in, expecting them to come as they're called.

They do. Both agents scurry after their Boss. Gibbs eyes them pretty harshly as they enter the building behind him, but the admonishment is slight compared with their careless disregard for protocol in staying out in the open as they did—even if they are in the Yard. Boss lightly taps the backs of their heads as they pass him and move toward O'Leary who's processing the agents coming in like he does every morning.

The normality of it all hits Tim in the gut so hard it's almost like he's been suckerpunched. When he was growing up, he didn't even understand that a level of belonging like this could exist. As a boy, he understood that he belonged to his father, in the same way his father owned his houses and cars. To belong with other people is such a different experience. It's so humbling to Tim to be a part of the fabric of his team's lives as much as they are of his.

He knows Sarah's never found her place with others in quite the same way he has. He fears it's because of how absolutely she trusts Tim that she has so much difficulty trusting anyone else. There comes a point though, some brick wall that can't be climbed or dug around, when trusting others becomes the only option available. That moment is more dangerous than anything else Tim and Sarah face—trusting the wrong people is what almost got them captured in Florida. On the other hand, trusting the right people—especially Marigold McGee—is what gives Sarah and Tim the opportunities to stop actively running, at least for a little while.

Secrets are exponentially harder to keep the more people who know about them, but wouldn't Tim telling his team about who he and Sarah are be almost like re-telling himself at this point? Maybe showing Sarah how much he trusted his team would allow her to have as much faith in them as he does. Maybe it would be enough to let Sarah feel confident enough to go to his teammates if Tim were captured by their father or killed. The truth is, Tim doesn't doubt for a second that he can trust his team, that they would protect Sarah to the best of their abilities. What concerns Tim is the people that his team might choose to trust, especially when they don't even realize they're placing their trust in someone. Normal people trust others all the time—a waiter with their food, a mechanic with their car, a new friend with their phone number—but all of these small acts of faith can be used against you. Even before Toli became Tim, he understood that the biggest things that could be used against you most often started with the tiniest acts of confidence.

As Tim and Boss and Tony enter the elevator together, Tim glances around at the three other agents that pile in the lift with them—John Michaelson, Chuck Fortney, and Evan Lorenzo. As the six agents exchange a mix of good mornings, Tim wonders which of them would be the weakest link in the face of his father. Michaelson, Tim decides easily. John and Heidi just welcomed a new baby to their brood 8 months ago. They have four kids altogether, all of them under the age of 10, and all of them in daycare or public school. Easy access, Tim tightens his jaw as the thought flitters across his mind. Tony's known John longer than he's even known Tim. They're in the same basketball league at the Y. Tim's pretty sure that Tony wouldn't give a second thought to asking Michaelson for help in practically any professional situation and probably a whole bunch of personal ones, too.

Tim rubs his forehead, feeling his hand shake as he does. He squinches his eyes shut as tightly as he can, trying to block out the images his mind creates—John's children beaten, the baby taken, Heidi's throat slit because she spoke too loudly in her children's defense. The thoughts almost feel like memories because of how closely aligned they are with events that Toli actually witnessed. Or, well he hadn't witnessed the events themselves, rather, but the aftermath—the bodies.

Two years before he and mom ran, his father took them on a two-day cruise on Lake Michigan. At the time, it seemed like happenstance to Toli when they'd run across Uncle Vanya's yacht. In retrospect, he realizes that his mother understood the demonstration right away. Mama had begged Otyets to allow Toli to stay on their own vessel, but Father wouldn't hear of it. They found Aunt Karina first, in the galley. At first, Toli thought the blood was ketchup, had even tried to guess how many containers must have been used in order to soak the entire dining set and spray every cabinet as well as to pool thickly on the floor. Toli knows he saw the children, too, but his mind won't let him remember anymore. The only part of being on Uncle Vanya's ship that he recalls after the kitchen was his mother's voice in his ear telling him how strong he was, how his stomach was made of steel that trapped everything inside it and wouldn't let it out, no matter what. His next memory had him throwing up in the safety of his own bathroom aboard his father's yacht while his mother rubbed his back and told him how proud she was of him. Toli had never set foot on a ship again without feeling sick.

The elevator rolls to a stop and somehow, the motion is reminiscent of the waves on Lake Michigan. His stomach roils, but the voice he keeps alive in the back of his head tells him: You will not yield. You were forged in fire. You are made of steel. He locks his jaw, You will not yield.

"Hey, you doing alright there, McGee?" Toli recognizes Michaelson's voice as he opens his eyes. The other agent stays on the lift when he should be steeping off onto the third floor with Lorenzo and Fortney. Lorenzo holds the elevator door open for Michaelson, peeking back in when he hears his partner's concern.

Michaelson's hair is almost as dark as Uncle Vanya's was. Toli blinks as he keeps looking at John. His skin isn't nearly as pale, though. Somehow that thought eases the crimp through his gut, letting Tim straighten and offer a half-smile, as if chagrinned,

"Grocery-store sushi," Tim offers a little wince and shakes his head. "I don't recommend it."

John grimaces back, "Ooh, been there buddy," Michaelson points at him, pulling down his thumb like a trigger when he snicks his lip against his teeth. "Feel better soon."

Lorenzo offers his own wince of sympathy to Tim before walking away with Michaelson. The double doors of the lift close a moment later. Again the motion of the elevator tugs at Tim's guts, but this time, the sensation's more manageable. There's not much time between the 3rd and 4th stories of the building, but it's long enough for Tim to feel the uncomfortably weighted stare of his partner beside him.

Tim purses his lips, "What?" he demands, not ready for another argument with Tony, but feeling too itchy not to confront a new oddity from his best friend.

"Nothing," Tony shakes his head, turning it so he's facing the elevator doors. Bing! the doors open slowly. "Just didn't realize you knew how to lie." Tony's off like buckshot, zooming onto their floor and towards the MCRT cubicle before Tim even registers the potential complications to Tony's observation.

Tim swallows, his gaze moving from the hallway where Tony left his line of sight seconds before to settle on the front of the elevator where Gibbs is keeping the lift in suspension by his foot in the path of the door. Immediately, Tim's eyes drop, unable to hold Boss' always penetrating stare. He exhales hard, almost shuddering as he waits for Boss to condemn him with an observation of his own.

Instead, Boss' quietest tone beckons him to, "Come on."

He walks past Boss but isn't able to look him in the eye when he does. "Easy, Tim," Boss keeps close, staying within a whisper's distance. "I've known you could lie since the day I met your little sister."

It's only when Tim chuffs at the tease and looks back up to meet Gibbs' stare that he realizes he just screwed up. Tim should have rolled his eyes at Tony's comment, not let Gibbs see him take it to heart, because now Boss' penetrating gaze is watching him as closely as it ever has. Tim blinks away, biting his lip. He's not sure what he needs to do to get himself settled back into the backburner of Boss' worries. Whatever he does, Tim knows he needs to do it fast, before Boss looks too deeply and sees too much.

Unless, of course…Boss would be the best person in the world to share their secret. Tim's heart flutters in excitement just to let himself imagine it. If anyone could keep silent under duress and preserve the same level of caution that Tim and Sarah held, then of course that person would be Gibbs. Even more, Boss would be okay with sharing the risk with Tim and Sarah. Tim knows that Boss would even let himself be a target if it meant keeping Tim—and Sarah—safe. Moreover, Boss had proven time and again that he was practically impossible to kill. Even if Otyets found him, found out he kept Toli's secrets, Boss could survive.

The idea flowers in his mind like a meadow in spring, but then Tim blinks again. It wouldn't just be Gibbs that Tim might be placing at risk if he chose to tell Boss about his father, though. Abby is the person Boss cares for the most, and she's who Anton Markov would attack first if he were trying to hurt Gibbs. Not to mention what might happen to Ziva or Tony. As federal officers, their treatment under his father's thumb would be even worse. His father's people might even put Ziva through the same agony that his mother—

No! Tim refuses to even imagine the consequences. It can't happen anyway if I don't put them at risk, he promises himself—except—Tim can't quite lie inside his own head. The fact is, his team's been vulnerable from the second they were in his proximity, and that danger has only increased the more Tim grew to care about them. He's not sure how to keep anyone safe anymore—not himself or Sarah or his team. One thing he does know is that the closer he gets to doing the right thing, the more he's putting them all in danger.