Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or anything else having to do with NCIS, just a desire to write!

Note: This is my first attempt at an NCIS story. Hope you enjoy it.

CHAPTER ONE

NCIS Special agent Tim McGee wearily dragged himself through front door of his apartment and collapsed on his sofa with a deep sigh of relief. It was Friday and the week was finally over; this long, horrible, exhausting week. They had been investigating the death of a naval petty officer killed in a bar fight. It appeared to be an open and shut case. The killer, a local book dealer, claimed self-defense saying the man attacked him for no reason. However when the team looked into it further, they realized that the book dealer was really a local supplier of child pornography and the petty officer had been the enraged father of one of the abused children. It had been a disturbing case for all of them and it was made even more so when McGee bungled retrieving some of the computer evidence and almost destroyed their case. Abby was able to save the day but McGee was most definitely in the doghouse as far as the rest of them were concerned.

Now, it was the weekend and the long awaited book convention. In addition to being an NCIS agent, Timothy McGee was also Thom E. Gemcity, bestselling author of the thriller, Deep Six. This weekend was an opportunity for authors and their fans to get together and discuss the books, sign autographs, and promote upcoming publications. This would be Tim's first such convention and he was looking forward to it. It would also provide a welcome distraction from his job worries. How nice it would be to switch from being geeky McGee the screw-up to Thom E. Gemcity, successful writer. He sighed again and headed into the bathroom to take a shower. This weekend could only be an improvement.

*********

Monday morning came gray and dreary. It had started raining the night before and gave no indication of letting up anytime soon. Traffic was horrendous and although Gibbs was there on time, agents Tony DiNozzo and Ziva David wandered in, dripping wet, at least thirty minutes late each cursing the idiocy of D.C. drivers.

"Sorry, Boss," said DiNozzo shaking off his jacket. "I left an hour early but I swear every idiot was on the road this morning."

Gibbs just grunted and shook his head. Ziva was looking around. "McGee is not yet here?"

"Not yet," replied Gibbs with a trace of irritation although he hardly had reason to berate McGee for tardiness. Usually he was in before anyone else with the exception of Gibbs himself.

"Well, I hope McTardy shows up soon," groused Tony settling into his seat. "He's supposed to bring me coffee this morning."

Gibbs' eyebrow shot up but he said nothing. He was beginning to feel a slight twinge of concern in his gut. A moment later he was distracted by the ring of his phone. "Gibbs." He listened impassively then frowned. "Send her up."

He turned to his team. "That was security. Lyndi Crawshaw, McGee's publisher is downstairs. She says she needs to talk to us about McGee." Ziva and Tony exchanged puzzled glances and waited for Crawshaw to arrive.

A short while later the three NCIS agents and Crawshaw, a tall willowy brunette neatly attired in a rich burgundy suit were sitting around a table in the conference room. Crawshaw looked worried.

"You said you needed to talk to us about Tim McGee?" asked Gibbs straightaway studying Ms. Crawshaw intently.

She nodded unhappily. "Tim seems to have disappeared," she replied looking at Gibbs. "He was attending a book convention in D.C. this weekend. You know, meeting fans, signing autographs, that sort of thing. Well, yesterday, he was at the autograph signing session in the morning and was then supposed to attend a Q&A session in the afternoon. I found out this morning from my assistant, Todd that Tim never showed up for the afternoon session. I called the hotel and they said he hadn't checked out so I had Todd check the hotel parking garage this morning. Tim's Porsche was still there. I mean you can't miss that car and I know there is no way Tim would abandon his car!" She paused, pushing some stray strands of hair from her face. "Something's happened to him. I just know it! Since he works for you, I figured I should come to you before going to the police."

The others stared at her in stunned silence for a few moments. "Have you tried calling him?" asked Gibbs quietly.

Crawshaw nodded again as she twisted her hands together. "About a hundred times! Both his home and cell numbers. No answer. I even tried his sister. She hadn't heard from him for a couple of weeks."

"So, the last time you actually saw him was yesterday morning. Did you see him at lunch?" Gibbs leaned forward.

"No," sighed Crawshaw looking at her hands. "There was another publisher I needed to talk to so I left about eleven thirty to meet her for lunch. Tim knew I would be leaving but Todd was available if there were any problems. Tim was fine with that. He knew where to go for the Q&A and if there's one thing you can say about Tim McGee, he's dependable."

"Didn't Todd notice McGee wasn't there?" demanded DiNozzo, speaking for the first time. "I mean, isn't that his job? To make sure people get to where they're supposed to be?"

Crawshaw glanced at Tony with a slight flash of irritation. "Yes, he did notice Tim wasn't there. He tried calling him but then another one of our authors had some kind of emotional meltdown when a fan confronted her about her latest book, accusing her of plagiarism or some such nonsense. Todd had to go sort that out and frankly, he just forgot about Tim not showing up until this morning. He asked me if Tim had contacted me and that's when I realized something was wrong. After we determined he'd never checked out of the hotel and that his car was still there, I came right here."

"All right, Ms Crawshaw," said Gibbs getting to his feet. "We'll take it from here."

"You will let me know if you find him, won't you?" asked Crawshaw also rising looking at Gibbs anxiously. "Tim is such a nice guy and I would hate to think anything had happened to him."

"Don't worry, if we find anything, we'll let you know," soothed Gibbs leading her out and towards the elevator while Tony and Ziva trailed behind heading to their desks.

"She's just worried she won't get another bestseller," grunted Tony watching Gibbs send the publisher on her way. Tony frowned. He hated to admit it but he was worried. This wasn't like Probie at all. McGee wasn't the type to just take off. Tony paused as a thought occurred to him. Could it have been because of all the grief they gave him last week about almost ruining their case against the pedophile? Tony shook his head. OK, yeah, Tim was really very upset about the whole thing but he was no quitter. He'd come back and do his job having learned from his mistakes. Sure, McGee was fine. Wasn't he?

Gibbs strode back towards the bullpen, his face grim. "OK, grab your gear. Let's go."