Sleeping Sickness

Disclaimer: I, in no way, own NCIS and it's wonderful characters(sadly:( ). Words in italic are saying borrowed from the episode.

At his desk, McGee is napping peacefully, his head propped in his hands.

"Should we wake him up," snickers Tony as he and Ziva stand watching McGee. Before they could do anything, McGee's eyes open and looks around, disoriented. When his eyes reach the two people standing in front of him he claims, "I wasn't sleeping."

"We didn't say anything, McGee," Ziva says.

McGee wipes his mouth and points at Tony and says, "But you did something, didn't you? What'd you do? Did you try and put my hand in this water?"

"That would be a little juvenile," replies Tony.

Then McGee grabs a CD, thinking that Tony drew something on his face. Holding up the CD, McGee looks into the back of it to check his reflection.

"No, I actually suggested stripping you naked, putting a tag on your toe and dragging you down to autopsy, so when you woke up you'd think you were dead, but Ziva though it was poor taste," Tony responded.

"Thank you, Ziva," McGee says, and Ziva nods and smiles.

"I did not agree."

"Personally, I think there would be a lot of people who'd like to see you naked," added Tony as he smiled.

Finally convinced that his face was clean, McGee finishes his inspection and puts the CD down.

"Tony, was there anything in Heathertons' apartment?"

"Nothing out of the ordinary, sleeping beauty," Tony replies as he and Ziva headed back to their desk.

McGee frowned and resumed napping, head in hands again.

Suddenly, Tony and Ziva heard a loud thump coming from McGee's desk. Alarmed they faced each other and then turned to McGee. They gasped at the sight and rushed over to McGee's desk. The loud thump came from when his forehead came in contact with the desk and his arms were sprawled in front of him.

Tony lifted McGee's head up by the top of his forehead; a red spot already forming on it.

"McGee! McGee, wake up!" yelled Tony as he grabbed under McGee's shoulders and laid him on the ground. "McGee!" he said gently slapping his face. He checked his pulse and sighed with relief feeling a strong one.

Gibbs, suddenly came in looking for his team. His eyes finally found them kneeling on the floor next to McGee's desk, looking scared.

"DiNozzo! David! What are you-" the rest of his sentence got caught in his throat when he saw his youngest agent on the floor, eyes closed and unusually pale.

"Tony, what happened?" Gibbs asked with concern.

"I don't know, Boss. We were talking to him one minute, and the next thing we know, we hear a loud bump and saw McGee passed out on his desk!" Tony replied.

"McGee!" yelled Gibbs as he lightly slapped his agents face and gently shaking his shoulders.

Finally, McGee roused and his eyes fluttered open. He groaned and his eyebrows knitted together as he frowned.

"Tim, are you alright?" asked Gibbs.

"Boss? What happened?" he asked confused.

"You passed out," Tony and Gibbs replied at the same time. "Are you okay?" Gibbs asked again.

"Yeah, I'm fine, I'm just-" his sentence cut off as he started to go limp again and his eyes were closing.

"McGee! Stay with me! Stay awake, son!" Gibbs said grabbing his agents face and kept his head up straight, his heart racing in worry. "Tony grab his arm, we're bringing him down to Abby's."

Tony nodded and started to pick up his friend along with Gibbs' help. They walked to elevator, practically dragging McGee as his head lolled around on his shoulders.

Once they were down at Abby's lab, Gibbs yelled for her. "Abby, get the cot ready, we have an emergency, don't ask questions just do it."

Abby looked startled, but when she saw Tim's face, she hurried to her office and set up the cot.

"Gibbs, what happened? Why does Timmy look like that!" cried Abby.

"We don't know, Abs, we don't know." Gibbs said quietly. He and Tony laid McGee down gently on the cot.

"Abby keep him awake while Tony and I go get Duck," he yelled as he ran out the door with Tony following.

"Timmy, what happened?"

"A-Abby? That-that you? What's-" he started to doze off again, and Abby grabbed his face and made him look her in the eyes, trying to keep him awake. "Tim, you have to stay awake, okay? Stay with me."

"I-I can't Abby...so tired.. can't stay-" suddenly his eyes rolled to the back of his head and he went limp in Abby's arms.

"Timmy! Tim! Wake up, don't fall asleep!" Abby cried as she gently slapped his face and grabbed his face to keep his head up right. She gasped as she felt how hot his head was and how his pulse was racing; well above the normal temperature and heart rate.

Finally, Gibbs and Tony came running in with Ducky.

Abby looked up, tears in her eyes. "I'm sorry, Gibbs. I tried to keep him awake but he said he couldn't take it and passed out again!"

"It's okay, Abs, Ducky's here now." said Gibbs, his heart hurting with sadness for his agent.

"What's happened, Jethro?" asked Ducky as he attended to Tim.

"He started passing out and we don't know why," said Tony.

"Ducky, his heart rate is over the charts and he's burning up!" cried Abby.

"Don't worry, Abigail, we'll get him well again." Hopefully.

"Duck, he's as pale as a ghost! What's wrong with him?" yelled Gibbs.

"I don't know right now, Jethro, he needs to be awake for him to tell us." Said Ducky as he covered Tim with a blanket to stop his sudden shivering.

"Not a problem, Duck," said Gibbs as he leaned over to his agent. "McGee," he whispered. No response. "McGee!" he yelled . As he did, McGee jerked awake and sat up looking around.

"B-Boss? I'm wasn't sleeping, I was just closing my eyes, McGee said sleepily.

The corners of Gibbs' and Tony's mouth twitched with a small grin.

"Tim, Ducky needs to talk to you real quick, okay?"

"Yeah, sure, Boss. Ducky what do you-" he started to pass out again.

"Timothy you need to stay awake, though." replied Ducky as he patted McGee's face.

"I'm trying Ducky, I'm just so damn...tired." yawned McGee.

"This won't take long, I promise. So, when did you start feeling like this, feeling extremely tired?"

"Um... ever since-" he stopped and glanced at Gibbs and Tony, then he gestured for Ducky to lean down so he could whisper something into his ear.

Once McGee finished, Ducky nodded and then got up.

"Jethro, I need you and Tony to step out for the moment. He doesn't feel comfortable saying what he has to say in front of you two.

"What?" they both said confused.

"Don't argue with me, these are Timothy's requests! Now leave and I will be out in ten minutes," said Ducky harshly.

Both Tony and Gibbs nodded and left Abby's lab and waited outside the door.

Back in the lab

"Okay, Timothy, you can answer my question now. They aren't here to listen. When did the tiredness start?"

"Well," started McGee, "It started a few days after... after started driving and helping Gibbs out, ever since he broke his arm. I don't really have time to sleep since-" McGee yawned and he started to close his eyes.

"Stay awake, Timothy," Ducky said threateningly as Abby squeezed Tim's hand.

"Sorry. I don't really have time to sleep since Gibbs gets home between 11:30 and 12:00-mostly twelve- and then I only get to sleep four hours before I have to go pick him up at 5:00." finished McGee.

"Oh, dear, that's not good at all. What about food, have you've been eating?

"Yes," McGee said, but realized he replied a bit to quickly.

Ducky stared at him hard and McGee knew that Ducky knew he was lying.

"No, I haven't. Like I said, I get home around 12:30 and I'm so tired that I don't have time to eat; in the morning I sometimes wake up late and I have to rush so I can get to Gibbs' house on time. I don't have time to eat.

"Oh, Timmy! Gibbs is doing this to you?" said Abby angrily.

"No, Abs, it's fine. It's not-" suddenly McGee started passing out, this time there was no stopping him. By the time Abby and Ducky said, "Tim, stay awake," he was already out. Ducky sighed and turned to the I.V. that he brought, and put the needle into his arm.

"Keep an eye on him, Abigail. This should help get some nutrients into his system and some lost sleep restored." Ducky said as he patted Tim's shoulder and got up to leave.

"Are you sure he's going to be okay, Ducky?" sniffed Abby.

"Yes. Once he wakes up after a good sleep, he should be feeling better. He needs all the sleep he can get." Ducky responded as he turned to leave.

"Okay. Thanks Ducky." Abby said as she nodded.

"You are very welcome." He yelled as he left the lab.

Once he left the lab he bumped into Gibbs in the hallway. Gibbs had sent Tony up to write an incident report.

"Jethro, my goodness you startled me!" breathed Ducky.

"How's Tim? What was wrong with him?"

"Timothy is just fine. I put him on an I.V. and he is resting peacefully." Ducky replied

"So what was wrong?" Gibbs pushed on.

"He hasn't been sleeping well ever since you saved him and you broke your arm and since h has been driving you around, he's been getting only four hours of sleep every day and he hasn't been eating either."

"Dammit, this is all my fault, I shoulda gone easier on him.

"Jethro, don't be so hard hard on yourself. You can't help your schedule, and Timothy can't help not wanting to pay his debt."

"Yeah, Duck, but I shoulda changed my schedule so he could keep up and stay healthy; I didn't think about caring for his welfare."

"Well, maybe after he's had his sleep, then you can clean things up between you two," Ducky sighed as he turned and headed back to autopsy.

Gibbs sighed and thanked Ducky and headed back up to the squad room. When he got upstairs, he saw Ziva at work with her I.R. and Tony...Tony didn't look right. His head was in his hands and his face was pale. Gibbs walked slowly to his Senior Agent and touched his shoulder. It was trembling.

"Tony, you okay?" asked Gibbs with concern. Tony looked up and looked at Gibbs.

"How's McGee, Boss?" he asked with a shaky voice. Ziva looked up and listened in on the news.

"He's doing fine. Ducky has him on an I.V. line and Abby's with him. There's nothing to worry about." said Gibbs. "But are you okay? You look a little sick."

"No, Boss, I'm fine; I was just a little scared for McGee. I mean I thought he was dead when I saw him passed out at his desk."

"He's okay. If you want, you can go down to Abby's and watch him; you too Ziva, it you want." sighed Gibbs

His two agents both nodded and headed down to Abby's lab.

Abby's Lab

"Oh, Timmy," Abby sighed sadly as she brushed McGee's hair out of his eyes and straightened his hair out with her hand. "Please be okay."

Suddenly, she heard a knock on her door and hoped it wasn't Gibbs. She was too angry at him for what he'd done to Tim. She looked up and breathed a sigh of relief. It was only Tony and Ziva.

"Hey," she said softly. "What are you guys doing down here?"

"Checking up on McGee. We were worried about him," said Ziva quietly.

"How's he doing, Abby," Tony said as he sat down next to Abby and looked at his friend. He started gain more color. His breathing seemed back to normal and he felt his forehead to feel that his temperature had also gone down.

"He's fine. He looks a lot better then before." whispered Abby.

"Yeah, you're right. The last time I saw him he was a pale as you!" laughed Tony.

Abby scowled at him, which made Tony wince and wipe the smile off his face.

The three friends watched over McGee, while they talked for a while. Up in the sqaudroom, Gibbs sat at his desk and thought about the recent events. This was his fault; McGee's passing out and being unhealthy was his fault. To make things worse, Abby must be pissed at him and must want to kill him right now.

"He shoulda gone easier with the kid, he's only got so much energy for a whole work day, not a whole day and night." Gibbs thought.

Suddenly he heard an elevator ding and Ziva an Tony step out, chattering to each other about something. Tony looked better and Ziva lost the worry in her face. They both knew that Tim was going to be alright.

Gibbs sighed and got up. He could feel his agent's eyes watching him as he headed down for Abby lab.

"This isn't going to be good. Abby's mad at Gibbs and she just might kill him," said Ziva as she watched Gibbs get into the elevator.

"Nah, Abby won't kill, Boss, she could never do that to him, could she?" said Tony chucking.

Ziva just shook her head and laughed.

Back at the lab

The elevator bell rang again and, Abby knew the worst was coming. She was going to have to face Gibbs. She breathe and resumed rubbing McGee's head. She suddenly could feel eyes looking at her. She looked up and scowled.

"What are you doing here?" Abby said threateningly.

"Abs I need to speak to McGee; Ducky said he should be waking up in a few minutes, and I need to talk to him."

"Why? So you can ask him to be your butler and start cooking and cleaning for you? So you can make him your slave?" said Abby harshly.

"Abby," said Gibbs.

"Fine!" she remarked and kissed McGee's forehead and stomped out of her office.

Once she had left, Gibbs sat in her empty chair and watched and waited. Finally after three minutes, McGee started to show signs of waking up. His eyes were fluttering and his head rolled around, back and forth, on the pillow.

"McGee, wake up." whispered Gibbs.

"Boss?" questioned McGee as he looked at his surroundings. "How'd I get here?"

"Tony and I brought you down here. But I'm down here to talk to you about something." Here it goes.

Tim looked confusingly into Gibbs' eyes, worry shined in his eyes.

"There's nothing to worry about, Tim, I just wanted to...to apologize for pushing you too hard. I shoulda known that you weren't getting enough sleep after I saw your face this morning.

McGee looked at his Boss, shocked that he'd just apologized to him. "Boss, you-"

"Yes I do have to apologize, and I want to thank you for doing the best you can to keep up with me, I know it's a hell of a tough schedule to follow."

"You got that right!" Laughed McGee weakly. "Also, Boss, thanks for saving my life a couple weeks ago... even though I shoulda been faster, then none of us would've gotten hurt. I'm sorry.

"Your welcome, Tim. You don't have to apologize, you were just doing your job," replied Gibbs.

Tim smiled and closed his eyes with a yawn. The drugs were bringing him back into unconsciousness.

"Tim, before you fall back asleep, I need to ask you something," said Gibbs.

McGee opened his eyes sleepily and said, "Go ahead, Boss.

"Are we good?"

Tim suddenly went speechless; but then he smiled and nodded his head. "Yeah, were good, Boss."

"Good, glad to hear that. Now get some sleep so you can get better."

"On it, Boss," McGee yawned and closed his eyes, finally dozing off into a deep sleep.

Gibbs got up and faced the door, only to find Abby there with her arms crossed and her face stone-like.

"Abby-" Gibbs only to be cut off with a bone crushing hug.

"That was so sweet of you, Gibbs. That was so sweet what you said to Timmy!"

Gibbs smiled and said, "So, are we good?"

Abby let go of him and stared him straight in the eyes. Then she smiled and nodded, "yeah, of course, Boss-man, we're good."

"Good," Gibbs replied.

1 week later

"Hey sleeping, beauty has awakened from his sleeping vacation! Did you get kissed from your true love... hint hint Abby?"

McGee blushed with embarrassment and sat down at his desk.

"Just, kidding McGee. Glad to have you back, bro.

Ziva got up and kissed McGee on the head. "Glad you are alright, McGee. Good to have you back."

McGee smiled. "Thanks Ziva."

Ziva went back to her work and the team started to get to work. McGee, suddenly felt eyes on him, and he looked up to see Gibbs looking at him. Gibbs nodded to him and smiled. McGee did the same and resume his paperwork.

Yes, everything was good.

The End

SO? How was it? Pleaze review! :)