Tony had been worried since the moment that Tim lost his cool in the bullpen. He knew something had been up for weeks and assumed it had to do with his father but Tim didn't talk and Tony did not want to pry...at least not to him directly but when he blew up at work the first thing Tony did was text his younger sister Sarah. He had talked to her a few times since she had been a suspect in one of their investigations and she had gotten together with him to surprise Tim on his last birthday. When she told him that the chemo had stopped working and that the only option was a surgery that had a fifty percent chance of killing him and fifty percent chance of extending his life by a few months. No wonder he was McGrumpy!

Being kept busy usually helped Tony so he tried to make Tim the lead on the internet case...and the fact that he was a computer genius he thought it would take his mind off family stuff. Sarah had texted him again, before calling her own brother to tell him that the surgery had been canceled. That his death was near and there was nothing that anyone could do about it. She had called Tony when Tim did not answer his phone and he had listened to her cry, more about her brother than her father, well, not so much Tim but the rocky relationship the two had shared. She wanted him to have the chance to put things to peace before it was too late.

It had been too late to take McGee off the case so he went to Abby to help speed it up... Tony made sure that Tim ate throughout the case, that he took breaks to sleep down in Abby's lab and helped him field phone calls as much as he could. He watched as Gibbs sent him home at the close of the case and fought back his own tears when Gibbs told him that his father had made the time for him...this was his mentors first Christmas without his father alive. The whole team had gone to the funeral but it seemed like a lifetime ago. It also made him think of his own father...who couldn't even put the effort in to getting on the plane when Tony had purchased the ticket for him. They had only spoken twice...both times with no mention of the missed flight and only of the random women or parties that were occupying his time.

Tony realized that his family was his team. His father was Gibbs, his brother Tim, his sister Abby. They had worked together, played together and grieved together over Kate, Frank and even helped him to deal with Ziva leaving after her father had died. He had so many regrets in life and he knew that he had to be there for his family just like they had been there for him even if they did not ask for it or even want it.

Tony called Sarah each of the four nights that Tim was staying at his parents house, he had tried Tim but his phone had been shut off five minutes after he left the office. On the fifth night Sarah answered crying, "He is gone Tony...the funeral home is on their way to pick up his body. We were all in there with him when he took his last breath...Tim is still in there with him...he won't leave...I am scared Tony...he hasn't cried and now he isn't even talking to us...he is just in there frozen staring at Dad." She sobbed.

He spent the next forty-five minutes doing his best to comfort his best friends little sister over the phone, doing what Tim was not able to do. He could hear their mother in the background talking to who he assumed was the people from the funeral home. It got very quiet and then he heard a door slam and a wimper, "Tim just ran out...I don't know where he is going Tony...I don't know what to do...I need to...I need him to be okay."

"I will make sure he is safe Sarah. I will do everything I can to help him to be okay...but I will make sure he is safe." Tony promised her as he got off the phone. He switched over and pulled up the gps tracker that Tim had on his car and watched as he drove from Maryland to Virginia, stopping outside of his apartment.

Tony was one of the only four people who had his private home number and he gave it a call. Only himself, Gibbs, Vance and Ziva had it and Tim knew exactly who was calling so he picked up the phone but remained mute. "I am bringing over pizza and beer." Tony told him. He heard Tim grunt and Tony hung up the phone, already in his car and driving towards the apartment.

He let himself in and locked the door behind him. He flipped on a lamp in the pitch dark apartment and saw Tim sitting on the floor in front of his couch. Tony set the pizza down on the counter and took out two plates and served up a couple slices each and took the caps off the bottles. He handed Tim his and sat down at his computer going to the Comcast webpage he logged into his account and started the first old movie he found.

They ate in silence, watched movies in silence, when Tim's phone rang a little after midnight Tony got up to answer it, warrenting a smirk from Tim. Tony recognized the voice immediately as Sarah and he was able to calm her down in seconds. Tim was impressed, his sister was quite the drama queen and to know the calming effect Tony has on her made him relax as well.

Sarah had told him the details for the already planned funeral, it was to be rushed because of the Christmas holiday. Tony repeated everything Sarah was saying giving Tim time to process the information without actually having a conversation. Tim felt Tony sit down on the couch with his leg against Tim's shoulder and Tim leaned into it.

His brother was always looking out for him, always protecting him and for the first time he really realized how much Tony did for him and how close the two of them had gotten over the years to warrent Tony now discussing some old movie with his baby sister.

When Tony hung up the phone nearly a half hour later Tim had fallen asleep leaning against Tony's leg. He let Tim sleep, snoring softly as he watched the end of the movie. As the credits rolled Tony leaned down and helped Tim to stand, he woke up only enough to allow himself to be led into his bedroom and to his bed.

"I will be back tomorrow to take you to the church." Tony told him before walking into Tim's closet and rifling through pulling out a black suit, white shirt and a black tie. He then walked over to the dresser and pulled out a fresh tshirt, boxers and Star Trek socks. He laid them all over the arm chair that was outside of the bathroom and went back over and sat on the edge of the bed.

With closed eyes Tim whispered, "I need to get there an hour early."

"We can do that McTrecky." When Tim smiled at the nicname Tony put his hand on Tim's leg, "Call me if you need me to come back."

Tim nodded and Tony watched as his breathing became slow and regular. He got up and went into the kitchen and cleaned up the small mess he had made and shut off the computer. He stuck his head back into the bedroom to make sure Tim was asleep before he let himself out, locking the door behind him.

Tony knew that Tim wouldn't call and he spent the night tossing and turning eventually falling asleep around four. He woke up at ten and cleaned up his own apartment before calling Gibbs at two telling him the details of the funeral. He knew that the message would be passed on to the rest of the team...he only hoped Abby would have enough smarts not to run over to the apartment.

He let himself into Tim's apartment at a quarter to three to find Tim sitting at his type writer with a folded sheet in his hand. Together they walked out to Tony's car and he drove them across town to the old Catholic Church. When they got there Tony saw Sarah pacing out front and he quickly got out of the car and brought her inside, distracting her enough for Tim to come inside and go to the room that held his Father without being ambushed.

Though he didn't know what was on the paper he had guessed it was what he had been trying to say to his dad for years. It made him sad to think that even with as much time they had spent together in the last few months that Tim still had not been able to resolve the issues that the two of them had.

After Tony saw the Priest walk in and back out of the room he passed Sarah off to Penny and he went in to find Tim. He didn't know what to expect but it certainly "wasn't to find Tim crying next to the casket. Tony walked towards him and put his arm around his back pulling his shoulder into him. "He loved you McGeek...had a funny way of showing it but he loved you. We all love you."

Tim turned to look at Tony and Tony pulled him in for a full on hug. "I couldn't say it Tony...I couldn't get the words out while he was alive." Tim mumbled into his shoulder.

"You got them out now...the Admiral was not exactly an easy man to talk to."

"I am a lot like him."

"We all learn from our fathers."

"And Brothers." Tim said as he picked up his head, looking Tony right in the eyes.

"And Brothers." Tony agreed. "You ready to get a bunch of hugs from family members you never see and your fathers friends you never met?"

"I think I could use a drink." Tim told him.

"You will learn someday Probie." Tony said as he pulled out a flask from his jacket pocket.