This is a one-shot that I wrote last year and completely forgot about. It's not a part of 'The Star of David' universe.
Timothy McGee entered his house exhausted. It had been a long and tiring day. The case they were working on- a smuggling ring involving petty officers on board USS Sea Hawk- had entered its third day with no new leads on the whereabouts of the suspects. Gibbs was becoming increasingly short-tempered; finding himself on an almost primal reliance on caffeine. As Tony's frustration also increased he had resorted to more pranks and movie references than usual to keep him going. Ziva, although she hid her annoyance well, was now obviously a second away from snapping someone's head off or killing them with one of the many paperclips which lined her desk.
All in all Team Gibbs were on their last shred of sanity. As a result of this, Gibbs had miraculously- albeit grudgingly- and in his usual gruff manner, allowed them a few hours of precious rest before another laborious day would begin.
As Tim made his way to his front door he could not help the low, tired sighs that escaped his lips or the way his eyes began to droop. Both his body and his brain were screaming out for some rest but before he could oblige the luxury he had one last thing to do. He found himself blinking rapidly and he broke out of his thoughts by the appearance of Norma- his Irish-American housekeeper.
'Mr McGee it's good to see you home. I'll be off for a few hours and then I'll return in plenty of time for you to get to work.' She smiled kindly, shuffling slightly due to her large German-frau build.
'Was everything ok?' Tim asked.
'Aye as always. Goodnight Mr McGee.'
'Goodnight Mrs Hudson.'
Lazily, he dropped his bag on one of the plush leather couches before quietly walking into the hallway and towards the bedrooms. He carried on past his and stopped at the furthest door along. Tiptoeing in, he stopped to watch the most precious thing in his world, sleeping soundly, her small breaths sounding like music to his exhausted ears.
For eight years, since just before starting on Gibbs's team, McGee had been keeping a huge secret, one that no one at NCIS with the exception of Director Vance and his late predecessor Director Shepherd knew: he was a father. Tim was a single father to a beautiful and intelligent eight-year old daughter, Rachael.
Rachael's mother, Fiona, had been a classmate of his at high school and then at MIT. She had been the female version of him; highly intelligent and a lover of technology. Over the years their close friendship had developed into dating and then into a full committed relationship. It had been a dream come true when Fiona agreed to marry him and although his family- with the exception of Sarah and Penny- had not approved, Tim had truly been happy. Their almost fairytale life had become even more blessed when Fiona had fallen pregnant.
The pregnancy had not been easy but Tim and Fiona had enjoyed shopping for baby items and planning their child's bright and limitless future. Remembering back to this time, Tim could still feel the awe and joy that came with the impending future of fatherhood. He remembered all the milestones; seeing Rachael moving on the scan for the first time, feeling her kick his hand placed over Fiona's bump, and of course holding his daughter for the first time at her birth.
When Rachael Francesca Sarah McGee had come into the world at 4:05 in the afternoon on September 21st, McGee had been the happiest and proudest man in the world. Now his life had truly been complete.
But his fairytale life had been so cruelly torn apart when Rachael was only five months old. He had received a phone call from the local hospital that Fiona had collapsed whilst at the shops. The panic and fear that overwhelmed him at that moment still haunted him as he rushed to the hospital with Rachael in his arms. But nothing had prepared him for the devastating truth.
Fiona was dead. Aged just 26 from a brain aneurism. She had not known about her condition and the doctors could do nothing to save her. In that one moment Tim's world had fallen apart. The following days and weeks had passed in a blur. Tim focussed all his attention on Rachael; she was the only thing keeping him sane during the destroying grief which threatened to consume him entirely.
Being a single dad was incredibly difficult and in the moments it had gotten too hard or he felt as though he couldn't continue, his beloved sister Sarah had stepped in, looking after niece whilst allowing her older brother time to grieve. He had never been so proud of sister; Sarah was his and Rachael's rock even now, eight years on.
Joining NCIS had saved him. Being an agent had given him something to channel his grief into and had also granted him a family-albeit a dysfunctional one- where he was able to escape all the responsibilities that came with being a single father and instead just be himself. He was not sure why he had never told the team about his daughter whom he was immensely proud of.
Maybe it was out of protectiveness- to shield her from the dangers that came hand in hand with being a federal agent. He knew it was wrong to risk his life when he was the only parent Rachael had left but he loved being an NCIS agent and knowing he was making a difference, no matter how small, in improving the world for his daughter. Or perhaps the real reason he had maintained his secret was based on selfishness; not wanting to share Rachael out of the fear that he would lose her just as he had lost her mother. He had been close to telling the Team once before; during his ill-fated and brief romance with Abby he had considered divulging his secret but he had frozen.
He liked Abby- he really did but it had shown him that he had not been ready yet to move on from Fiona. He did not want to end up like Gibbs with a string of ex-lovers and wives as rebound for still not moving on from the loss of the woman he loved.
'Daddy?' A sleepy voice interrupted his thoughts and bright blue eyes looked up from a frame of dark lashes.
'Hey there pup. What're you doing awake?' Tim asked softly, coming to sit next to Rachael on her bed.
'I wanted to see you.' She pouted adorably. 'Daddy tell me a LJ Tibbs story.'
Tim sighed, unable to resist his daughter. Although the Team did not know Rachael, she knew them through his stories. Deep Six had been born out of his stories he had told his daughter since she was an infant. Rachael lapped them up; liking especially the ones about Amy and the fearless leader LJ Tibbs.
'Well one day at HQ- on a very quiet day, Agent Tommy was goofing around and a mysterious envelope arrived. The envelope had bright pink lipstick on it and Agent Tommy decided, because he was bored, to open the envelope and as he did gold dust flew all over him.'
Rachael's eyes were as wide as saucers as she listened to her daddy. Tim smiled. For now he was content with his life just him and Rachael. The future was uncertain, that he knew, but he was making the most of what life threw at him and for that reason life was great.