There was little to say as Gibbs and Ziva watched Tim stride around, screaming insanely and talking to people who weren't there. Gibbs had his phone on speaker so that they could hear the broadcast from Vance's phone, and it wasn't making them feel any better. About half an hour into it, Tony crept up from the bullpen (not dragging Pamela along) and watched.
"That's more what he was like...only not so loud," Tony whispered.
Ducky also kept his voice low. "So there was no gradual increase."
"Not that I saw. He was fine and then, after Gibbs and Ziva left, he went nuts. I mean...he wasn't this bad, but he was bad. I think he would have killed Arnold if no one else had been there."
"My guess, Jethro," Ducky said finally, "is that this is not a psychological condition but is drug-induced. However, the violence of his reactions and his agitation and paranoia, coupled with the schizophrenia-like symptoms...that rules out many of the hallucinogens."
"So what's left?"
"In large enough doses, possibly atropine, PCP, perhaps ketamine, LSD could produce the hallucinations, but not this paranoia and agitation. Perhaps mixed with something else."
"What kind of danger are they both in?"
"Quite a bit. This kind of reaction...Timothy must have a life-threatening dose in his system. ...and he seems to think of Director Vance as a threat. That means he may indeed kill him."
"What do we do, Gibbs?" Ziva asked, clearly begging him to find some other answer than bursting in and killing Tim.
Gibbs looked at Ziva, at Ducky and at Tony, now displaying a deepening bruise on the side of his face from where Tim had hit him. Then, he looked at the screen, listened to Tim's incoherent screaming.
...and he pulled out his gun.
x.x.x.x.x.x.x
Tim clearly intended to shoot him, but as he prepared to do so, he began to twitch again. ...but this time, the twitching became much more violent. Tim's entire body began to convulse, his eyes rolled up in his head and he fell to the floor, both guns falling from his hands as the seizure spread and worsened. Instantly, Vance got to his feet, ran to Tim's side, kicked the guns out of the way and pushed chairs out of reach of Tim's now-flailing limbs. His breathing changed and became louder, more erratic and then, the seizure stopped. Everything was silent for just a moment before Tim's eyes reopened. He took one look at Vance and the insanity returned.
This was his only chance. Vance knew that if he allowed Tim to get away from him now, everything would start over again. So he ignored his bleeding arm and threw himself on top of Tim, holding him down with every bit of strength he possessed.
Tim began to growl. Involuntarily, Vance looked into his eyes...and wished he hadn't. Close to, Tim looked even more frightening that he had with the safety of distance. His eyes, his flushed face, his contorted features... Tim was terrifying. He also seemed to have been granted superhuman strength. Vance was hard-pressed to keep him under control.
"Kill, kill kill kill you!" Tim ground out and began to scream again.
"Get in here!" Vance shouted at the door. "And don't shoot when you do!"
He had less than ten seconds to wait and the door burst open, revealing Gibbs, Ziva and Ducky. Vance spared a moment to worry about where Tony might be but then saw him behind them and turned his attention back on trying to keep Tim from getting away.
"Help me hold him down!" Vance ordered. "...and don't bring your guns. He's liable to get a hold of one of them."
Gibbs and Ziva instantly obeyed and Vance was relieved when he wasn't the only one trying to stop Tim from escaping. There was a vein bulging out on Tim's forehead and what little coherence he'd had before was lost as he increased his attempts to get away. He couldn't fight against three people, even three people who weren't at their peak ability. His shouting and screaming continued, but the words lost all meaning becoming mere syllables uttered in between gasps for breath.
