Notes- All of my Tony/Tim fics can be read as stand-alones but if you want to start at the beginning, the reading order is-
Revelations and Reverberations
First Steps
ISpy
Smile, you're on Candid Camera!
Secrets and Lies
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Secrets and Lies
Tony's car skidded to a stop in the ambulance bay outside of the hospital and he jumped out, ignoring the calls from the security guard that he couldn't park there. He didn't care; if the guard was that concerned, let him get the car towed.
"Special Agent DiNozzo," he said to the receptionist. "Agent Timothy McGee was just brought in…"
"Tony!"
He turned to see Gibbs beckoning him from one of the side rooms in the waiting area and hurried over.
"Where is he? Oh God, what happened?" Tony asked. "I don't get it; he was only going out to pick up a witness."
Gibbs' hand clamped around Tony's arm and he steered him towards a seat, where he was instructed to sit down. Gibbs sat beside him.
"He'll be fine," he said. "The doc says that the bullet passed through his shoulder, missing all arteries and bones."
Tony tried to get to his feet again but Gibbs stopped him. "They won't let us see him yet," he said. "The doc said he'd come out and get us when they'd seen to him."
The next ten minutes had to be the longest of Tony's life, waiting, pacing, until Gibbs forced a cup of coffee into his hand and told him to sit down again. He didn't think he could drink it, though; he was too busy panicking. Sure, Gibbs had told him that Tim would be OK, but he would only fully believe that when he could see for himself. The phone call alone had been enough to give him a heart attack, when Gibbs had called him, back at the office, to tell him. He sighed, leaning heavily on his hands, elbows propped on his knees. Why did this have to happen when things were going so well? It didn't seem like six months since that first kiss, yet it was. Six months together with Tim; they'd even been talking about moving in together.
"Calm down, DiNozzo," Gibbs told him softly. "I know you're worried but you're not going to help him if you're having a panic attack."
Gibbs was right, but it was really hard to stop that reaction when your boyfriend had just been shot.
He took a couple of deep breaths and assured Gibbs that he'd be OK, glad that the older man was here. Gibbs had known about their relationship almost straight away, before the others found out, and he had made his support clear. So far they hadn't encountered any negative reactions from their colleagues, and weren't expecting any, but he knew that Gibbs would be on their side should it happen.
Eventually, he was allowed in to see Tim. Gibbs had gone with the doctor to fill out Tim's paperwork and call for Sarah, Tim's sister. He was legally listed as the emergency contact, in case anything happened whilst Tim was on duty, but he still wanted Tim's family to be notified.
Tony went into the room, hardly daring to look at the pale figure in the bed. Tim looked awful; his skin was pale, bright white bandages wrapping his wounds. He appeared to be asleep but as Tony sat himself down quietly in the chair beside the bed, Tim's eyes fluttered open.
"Hey, you're awake." Tony stood again and moved to the bed, taking Tim's hand in one of his. He leaned over to press a kiss to Tim's forehead. "How are you feeling?"
Tim's lips curved up in a faint smile. "Dumb question."
Tony sighed. "Yeah, OK, it was, probie."
"You promised not to call me that any more."
"So? You promised not to get yourself shot." Tim frowned, confused, and Tony sighed. "Well, you should have."
Tim's smile was brighter this time, his tone lightly teasing. "You were worried about me."
"Of course I damn well was!"
A nurse appeared in the doorway, looking uneasy. "Is everything alright in here?" Tony assured her it was and she nodded. "I must ask you to keep your voice down."
She remained by the door, concerned, but Tim ignored her. Looking up at his boyfriend he could see the emotion behind Tony's don't-care façade. "I'm sorry; I didn't mean to make light of this."
The nurse cleared her throat pointedly, interrupting them.
"Agent McGee needs to rest now," she told them.
Tony shook his head. "I'm not leaving," he told her and, after a moment's glaring between the two, she gave in and left him sitting by the bed.
Tony was reading a magazine as Tim slept when he heard footsteps outside the door a few hours later. A young woman came bursting in.
"Oh my God!"
Tony put the magazine down. "Sarah? You're Tim's sister, right? We met a while ago- I'm Tony."
She turned to him, nodding, but she wasn't really focussed on him at present. He could understand completely, seeing a familiar myriad of emotions that he'd had when he first arrived at the hospital all those hours ago.
"He'll be fine," he assured her. "The doctor said that the bullet didn't do any serious damage. They got it out and now it's just a matter of giving the muscle around his shoulder time to heal."
Sarah sagged into the chair, visibly relieved. "I was out- I only checked my messages ten minutes ago." She glanced at Tony, as though noticing him for the first time. "Have you been here since they brought him in?"
"Yeah. I didn't want him to be on his own, you know?"
Sarah smiled. "Thank you; Tim is so lucky to have friends who care so much. Hey, I'm sure you have things you should be doing," she said. "I'll stay with him now that I'm here."
Tony left, not knowing what else to do. He was sitting in the waiting room when Abby arrived five minutes later. She had come as soon as her shift ended, carrying a bag full of snacks and a stuffed toy hippo that farted when she squeezed it. It would cheer him up, she told him, handing it over. It didn't. He still couldn't believe what had happened in Tim's room.
"She just dismissed me, Abbs."
Abby sat down next to him, her arms around him as she gave him a hug.
"Aww, poor Tony. Maybe she was just confused," she said. "After all, she'd had a shock."
Tony shook his head. "No, she had no idea who I was. I really thought I meant something to him, Abbs. I guess I was wrong."
Abby frowned, then smacked him on the arm. "OK, that's it. Stop being an idiot. You know how he feels about you." She hugged him again, in apology for the smack. "Talk to him before you go and do anything stupid."
"I can't, not when he's hurt."
"So, talk to Sarah instead," Abby suggested.
Tony shook his head. "I can't do that either. What if there's a reason he hasn't told her?"
Abby smiled and it clicked in his mind that had been the point she was trying to make. It didn't make it hurt any less that Tim had kept their relationship secret from his family, especially his sister, who he was especially close to, but he would leave that particular conversation until Tim was better, though.
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Tim was allowed to leave the hospital the following day, on the condition that he had someone at home to take care of him. He had his arm in a sling, tightly strapped to his torso so that he couldn't pull the injured muscles in his shoulder. It made things awkward for him and he needed someone else there to help.
Gibbs and Tony had been there to collect him, taking him back to his apartment. Since Sarah didn't have a car, she'd had to let them do it but she had no intention of leaving his care up to them as well.
"I'll be back this afternoon," she told him. "I just need to get my coursework and assignments for the next few days."
As soon as she was gone, Gibbs also made himself scarce, heading back into NCIS.
"Is there anything you need before I go?" Tony asked, getting Tim comfortable on the sofa and handing him the TV, DVD and stereo remote controls.
Tim shook his head. "I'm fine, stop worrying." He tried to catch Tony's hand as he walked past but Tony evaded him. "OK, what's wrong?"
"Nothing."
"Tony, tell me, please," Tim said. "Have I done something to upset you?"
Tony sighed, remembering his resolve to leave this until Tim was well again fading. He had intended to leave it, but then Sarah had come in and once again made him feel as though he was in the way.
"At the hospital, when I was sitting with you, your sister arrived," he began. He smiled, but there was no humour to it. "She said how great it was that you had friends who cared so much. Your friend, Tim? What the hell?" he paused, not certain he wanted to know the answer to the next question but he was unable to stop the words coming out of his mouth. "Are you ashamed of me?"
Tim was on his feet before Tony had even finished speaking, pulling him into a one-handed embrace and wincing when he moved his shoulder.
"Tony, first of all, never think that I'm ashamed about what we have," he said. "I'm sorry about Sarah; I didn't know what to say to her. I meant to tell her but then things kept coming up and the longer I left it…" He stopped and sighed, meeting Tony's eyes. "I was nervous about telling her, OK?"
Now, Tony felt like a total shit for bringing up the subject. Tim had only really acknowledged his bisexuality when they had begun dating, only revealing it to his friends at NCIS a couple of months ago. He was entitled to be nervous about shattering the version of him that his family knew and telling turning it all upside-down.
"I didn't mean to be such a drama-queen about it," Tony told him. "I wasn't going to say anything."
Tim smiled, leaning up to brush his lips over Tony's. "I'm glad you did. And you're right; it's past time for telling her about us."
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When Sarah returned an hour later, laden down with textbooks and folders, he called her to the kitchen. She came in, a curious expression on her face as she noticed Tony sitting at the table with her brother, and he asked her to sit down.
"Sarah, I need to tell you something," Tim began. "I appreciate your offer to stay with me until my shoulder is better, but there's no need."
"But the doctor said-"
"Tony is going to stay with me." He saw her cast a puzzled look to Tony before she looked to him again. "Tony and I are together. As a couple."
"What? I don't understand- what are you telling me, that you're gay?" she asked. "No. You would have told me; we tell each other everything."
Tim reached across the table and took her hand. "I'm bi, Sarah. I wasn't sure how you were going to react and so I kept putting off telling you. I haven't told mom or dad yet either."
For a long time, Sarah just stared at them, her eyes wide as she digested the information she had just learned.
"How long?" she asked eventually.
"Six months."
Sarah looked shocked. "So it's not just some crisis of sexuality then? Jeez, six months?"
"No, this isn't just some experiment," Tim informed her. He glanced at Tony and smiled affectionately. "I think, no, I know that I love him."
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Tony curled around Tim's body as he pulled the bedcovers over them both later than night, as Tim tried to get comfortable without hurting his shoulder. Tim finally managed to get settled on his side, facing Tony, so that his shoulder wasn't touching the bed.
"Did you mean what you said before?" Tony asked, his fingers tracing lightly over Tim's chest, just wanting to touch.
Tim nodded. "That probably wasn't the best time to tell you but I meant it."
"Say it again, Timmy."
"I love you."
Tony smiled, leaning closer to steal a kiss. "Good, because I love you too."
Tony smiled happily in the darkness as Tim fell asleep. Tomorrow, they'd have to deal with the fallout- bullet wounds and jobs and Sarah and, most likely, Tim's parents once Sarah called them. Tim had looked concerned when she left; she had just walked out a few minutes after the conversation at the kitchen table. He suspected that she was more pissed about the fact that he had kept it a secret from her than she was about the relationship in general; he'd said as much to Tony.
Despite everything, it seemed to Tony that the world couldn't get better than it was right then.
End.
