Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS or any of their characters. But I wish I did.
Losing His Princess
By: flyergrad09
Chapter One
Shrieking. More specifically, shrieking violins. Tim McGee groaned and rolled over to look at his iPod alarm clock.
"Linkin Park," he muttered under his breath. It was entirely too early in the day to listen to that at full volume. Just as he was about to hit snooze, a slobbering Jethro came bounding in the room and licked him in the face.
"Okay, okay. I'm up," Tim told the dog, as if he could respond. Sighing, he swung his legs out of bed and switched off his alarm. "I bet you want let out, don't you?" he questioned his German Shepherd. He slipped into a worn out pair of slippers and grabbed Jethro's leash as he headed to the door.
Outside the morning air was crisp and cool. It was the perfect start to fall, at least for those who could enjoy it. Today was a precious commodity for Tim - a day off. He planned to spend it relaxing with his trusty typewriter, at least until noon when he had lunch planned with his sister, Sarah. She had started graduate school at Georgetown a few weeks earlier and Tim was taking her out to lunch to celebrate making it through her first exams of the semester. He was so proud of her for not only graduating college, but for continuing her passion for English in grad school as well.
Once Tim and Jethro were back inside, he unclipped his dog from the leash and Jethro took off running to the kitchen, where he knew his breakfast would be waiting for him. Tim rolled his eyes at the animal. You would never know that he was trained to sniff out drugs from the way he behaved sometimes. Just then Jethro knocked into Tim's writing desk, causing a framed photo to crash onto the floor.
"Jethro! Bad dog!" Tim yelled at the dog. He wrestled his canine companion into his travel carrier so he could clean up the broken glass without worrying about Jethro accidentally stepping in it. He picked up the cracked frame and flipped it over, revealing a picture of Abby Sciuto. Aside from Sarah, she was the closest thing to a best friend he had. Even though they had hit rough patches in their friendship, she always knew how to make him smile.
Sighing, Tim laid the frame on the desk, out of harm's way. After scooping up the broken glass, he took a shower and sat down to write. Ever since Rock Hollow had almost cost Abby her life, he took extra precaution to disguise his characters. Although he was still writing crime novels, he no longer wrote about L.J. Tibbs and company. It was safer for everyone, but it made writing more challenging for Tim. He just couldn't seem to get behind his characters in this story. Who were they? What were their motives?
About an hour later, he looked up and realized he never fed Jethro his breakfast. He let the dog out of his cage and poured some kibble into his bowl. Patting Jethro on the head, he apologized and said, "Let's not tell Abby about this mishap, okay?"
To make up for his mistake, he switched on his Miles Davis record. A love of jazz was the only thing he seemed to share with Jethro. Whenever he played it, Jethro calmed down and behaved as man's best friend should. Plus, it didn't hurt that it helped Tim work through his writer's block. Once again, he sat down at his typewriter to figure out who his characters really were.
Just as he was starting to get a hold of his new main character's voice, he was jarred out of his thoughts by a high pitched chirp. He glanced at the caller ID on his phone. Energizer Abby, Queen of the Lab. Tim had made the mistake of letting Abby hold his iPhone when he first got it, and before he knew what was happening, she was setting her own ID, complete with a silly picture of her making her 'Gibbs face' that would pop up on the screen when she called.
"Hey Abs," Tim said with a little chuckle.
"Hi McGee! Whatcha doin'? Oh wait, don't answer that. Let me guess! Okay… you're listening to jazz. Either you're writing or you're trying to make Jethro fall asleep."
"Abby, for the millionth time, I told you he actually likes jazz."
"Then why does he fall asleep whenever you play it? I bet he's bored to tears. You should let me play some Brain Matter for him!"
"He's already got too much energy for his own good; you don't need to help that along in any way. So why did you call?"
"Oh right. Do you have plans today?"
"Well, I have lunch with Sarah in a little bit, but after that I'm free. What did you have in mind?"
"Some of my friends are playing at an outdoor charity concert today. The money goes to help kids who are battling leukemia. Do you wanna go with me?"
"Sure. Why don't I pick you up after Sarah and I are done with lunch?"
"Sounds good! Oh, and tell Sarah she can come too if she wants."
"I'll be sure to ask, but my guess is that she'll be spending her afternoon in the library. Grad school is kicking her butt."
"You should tell her that she needs vitamin D from the sun to help her keep her blood pressure in check. With grad school stressing her out, she could use all the vitamin D she can get!"
Laughing, Tim replied, "Right Abby. Somehow I doubt she'll see your logic, but I'll pass the message along. I'll see you in a bit."
"Bye McGee!"
She could never cease to amaze him. Abby was one of the most intelligent people he knew, but she never boasted about it. She was just… Abby. Tim knew far too many eggheads from MIT and Johns Hopkins who were geniuses and made sure everyone knew it. Sometimes he fell victim to his own pride as well. But Abby always seemed to keep her ego in check. It was one of the things he loved the most about her.
Lost in reverie, Tim barely noticed something wet on his arm. Before he looked down, he already knew who the culprit was. Jethro had decided that it was either snack time for him or bath time for Tim.
"Jethroooo…" Tim groaned. "You already had breakfast and it's not my fault that you ate it all in one gulp." Noticing the time, he realized that he only had half an hour left before he was supposed to meet Sarah. He quickly threw on jeans, a plain gray t-shirt, and a pair of comfy sneakers.
"Okay boy, be good while I'm gone," Tim told Jethro as he dashed out the door. As he jogged to his car, he realized that he spent an awful lot of time talking to his dog. "At least he doesn't have a choice but to listen to me," Tim thought to himself.