Life Line: An NCIS Fanfiction [Book One]

Chapter 21 - Regret

Carter awoke, drenched in sweat. She sat up and looked around her room. Soon she heard someone rush into the apartment. "Carter! Are you alright?" Tim asked, panting.

"What are you doing here, Tim?" Carter asked.

"I heard you scream. Carter, listen to me. Are you okay?" Tim sat down on the bed beside her.

"...no..."

"What happened? What's going on?" Tim grabbed her hands in his.

"I had a bad dream... That's all..." Carter looked away, but Tim grabbed her chin and turned her to look at him.

"Don't you lie to me." Tim stared into her eyes. Tears filled her eyelids. "Carter." He pulled her into a hug. She buried her face into his shoulder and began to cry.

"I dreamt about when I was little... I didn't have the best childhood, okay?"

"Is this because of Scarlet?" Tim let her out of the hug to look at her face, but she looked down at the blankets on her bed. "Please. Answer me." Carter slowly nodded her head yes. Tim pulled her back into his arms. He leaned back against the wall and not long later they fell asleep, her head on his chest and their arms wrapped around each other.

Beep! Beep! Beep!

The alarm clock on Carter's bedside table rang. Tim opened his eyes and blinked a few times before stretching his arms. He looked down but Carter wasn't there. "Carter?" He called out, but no one answered. He jumped out of the bed and looked around the small apartment. Carter was no where to be found. Tim picked up his phone and called Gibbs. "Gibbs... Carter is missing." Before they could say anything else Gibbs had hung up and was headed over to the apartments.

"What happened? Why did she leave?" Gibbs asked, walking through the apartment door with Tony and Ziva following behind him.

"I have no idea. I thought she would be alright when I decided to stay the night with her... I didn't feel her get up... I'm sorry." Tim hung his head low.

"Why was she not alright before?" Ziva asked.

"She had a nightmare about her childhood. I heard her scream so I came to comfort her... But she seemed fine once she fell asleep."

"How could you let this happen?!" Tony asked, "She felt safe with you... But obviously she wasn't. What if someone took her, Tim? What if..." He stopped himself before he said something he would regret.

"I didn't mean to... I'm sorry."