Author's Note: Hello, everyone! So, in response to last night's episode Chasing Ghosts and the overwhelming negativity towards McGee, I decided to write this short little one-shot tag/missing scene. I don't know how good it is or if anyone else will like it, but it demanded to be written so I figured I would share.

Warning: SPOILERS for Chasing Ghosts/basically all of season 10. Also, there is minor swearing in this in a few places but nothing that you wouldn't see in the show. Also, this is unbeta'd so all mistakes are my own.

Note: This story DOES NOT include ANY ships. This is purely about the friendship between our Three Musketeers, mostly between Tim and Tony.

Thank you so much for stopping by and I hope you guys enjoy.

Tony felt his heart race as his feet landed on the cracked pavement of the shady hotel parking lot. A parking lot that housed none other than McGee and Ziva's sweet little revenge lair. Angry? No, he wasn't angry. He was livid. Why? Better question: Why not? How many rules did they break? And not just the kind of rules that could get an agent fired or even arrested, but Gibbs' rules and more importantly, the rules of partnership. He was supposed to trust his life with those people and he did, so why didn't they?

He tried to calm his mind and control his breathing as he watched Ziva get in her car and drive away. He knew McGee was dragging behind to lock the door so Tony decided to wait at the bottom of the stairs for the little weasel to come down and look him in the eye.

Yeah, Tony had heard their lousy excuses loud and clear and had demanded that they tell Gibbs and that's about where things ended. No further explanation and honestly, Tony didn't want to hear it. Not then. But now that he was alone with McGee, he wanted nothing more than to tell the naïve little agent exactly what he thought.

Tony forced himself to breathe in deeply, hoping that it would soothe him but that was immediately pushed aside when he heard footsteps coming down the stairs. Tony looked up and saw Tim's face fall when he realized Tony hadn't left. A part of the SFA felt satisfied that his probie didn't want to face him because that meant he knew damn well this was all wrong.

"Tony," McGee began before he got to the bottom. Tony was well aware that McGee's tone was apologetic but he didn't care.

"No, no, no, McGee," he interrupted, not bothering with the plethora of nicknames he could've used in this given situation. "What the hell were you thinking? You do realize that the insane, Mossad-trained assassin part of our Israeli colleague and friend has been triggered and instead of helping her cope with her father's death like a normal person, you're fanning the flames of rage-filled need for revenge."

"Tony…" McGee tried again but Tony waved his hands in front of the younger man's face.

"And then what? You let her slowly travel deeper into the black pit of vengeance and you don't tell me? Or even Gibbs," he continued, shaking his head in pure and utter disgust. "She needs our help, McGee, not someone telling her where to aim her bazooka."

He finished, his chest heaving and his eyes piercing through the man standing before him. And to Tony's surprise, the timid, apologetic Tim was gone and had been replaced with a whole new look. One that Tony had never really seen on the younger man before.

"Who, exactly, do you think I am, Tony?" McGee responded, his voice low as he emphasized every word. "Do you really think I would do anything to intentionally hurt one of you, or else stand aside and watch you go down and flames and not do anything to help?"

Tony frowned slightly as he watched Tim run his hands through his hair before pinching the bridge of his nose. This certainly was not the ever-in-control Timothy McGee Tony had spent the past ten years with and it was throwing him off completely.

"Look, do you think I was pleased with any of this?" he continued finally when Tony said nothing. "When she came to me, I was concerned to say the very least. I thought she had lost it and was going down a very bad road but, yeah, I gave her a chance and when I started listening and looking at the evidence myself, it all made sense. And I knew I could help. Yes, it was off the books and yes, it could have cost us our jobs but it was a risk I was willing to take because it had merit and, more importantly, she was going to do it with or without me so at least this way I could keep a watch on her."

Tony continued to frown, his mind reeling as McGee laid it all out before him. The anger was still there, of course, but something new was also beginning to take over. Something he couldn't quite pinpoint just yet.

"And of course I wanted to tell you, Tony. And Gibbs and Abby… I know everyone has been worried about her but she specifically asked me not to and, quite frankly, I agreed with her. Like you said, we're putting our jobs on the line so we didn't want to include anyone else until we had more solid information. Which we have now."

Tony huffed them and shook his head violently.

"And what, pray tell, gives you two the right to decide what the rest of us do and do not need to know?" Tony said finally, his heart pounding against his chest once again as he tried to make sense of it all. Despite the fact that Tim's explanation was so far making sense, he still felt beyond hurt and maybe even betrayed. "We are a team, McGee. We stick together no matter what, remember?"

"Yes, but we also protect each other no matter what," McGee responded, his expression now one of exhaustion and perhaps even pain. Tony did not want to feel sorry for him and he didn't, but he was kind of beginning to. Damn those puppy dog eyes. "I was prepared to bring anyone and everyone in if I thought she was acting at all irrationally but that never happened, Tony, I swear. Just like Somalia when you refused to give up on her, she isn't giving up on the memory of her father. And just like with Somalia, I supported you when you decided to start digging for information everyone else hadn't given up on. If there is one thing we all possess, it's loyalty. So, when she asked me to help her because of my hacking skills and begged me not to tell anyone, I agreed so long as things remained safe. I didn't want to and knew that you would be pissed when you inevitably found out, but there really was no winning for me here."

Tony scoffed and looked away before replying, "I suppose I'm supposed to feel sorry for you now?"

Tim shrugged and shook his head somewhat sadly. "I'm just trying to say that I'm sorry you were hurt and I'm sorry you were left out. But we thought it was the right thing to do until we had enough evidence against Bodnar for the powers that-be to overlook our… unconventional means of finding him."

Tony narrowed his eyes at the younger man and did his best to imagine himself in Tim's shoes. While a part of him was sure he would've went to Gibbs, the other part of him admitted that he wouldn't have. Not unless things got bad. A frankly, Tony had no idea if Ziva had reached that point and could really only rely on McGee's reassurances that she was still within the realms of sanity.

"And for the record," McGee spoke up, interrupting Tony's thought-process. "The main reason she told me over you was because she needed a hacker. That and, you know, you can kind of be… a fussy soccer mom…"

Tony slowly folded his arms across his chest, frowned and tilted his head to the side. "And what on God's green earth is that supposed to mean?"

Tim shuffled uncomfortably and smiled nervously. "You know… you, well you worry a lot. If she had come to you in the beginning, you probably would've have tried to stop her or told Gibbs or something…"

"So let me get this straight," Tony began, stepping closer to his probie until they were face-to-face. "You are the giant risk-taker and I am the worry wart. Doesn't that sound a little backwards to you?"

Tim smiled slightly and shook his head. "No, Tony. I'm the sidekick and you're the protector. She asked for my help and I couldn't say no but you probably would've done anything and everything to protect her, even if that meant shutting the whole thing down. And, I respect the fact that that may have been the best thing to do but I really think we have him, Tony. Now, if I'm correct in how this is about to play out, I've already completed the major part of my role here but yours has yet to begin. She does need you, Tony."

Tony lowered his arms, watched his young friend and felt a lot of the anger slip away. Standing before him was not a reckless, selfish man but one who honestly was trying to do right by his friends. Tony knew that when it came to Timothy McGee, his compassion and loyalty to the people he cared about were his strongest qualities, even before his computer nerdyness. Now, Tony still didn't completely agree with how this had all played out so far, but he knew Tim was doing his best. More importantly, he knew that Ziva was always going to go after her father's killer so yeah, he was glad she had brought in one of them, even if he wished it had been him.

"Fine, probie, I forgive you," Tony said finally, his eyes narrowed and his tone a little lighter. He then reached over and gave the younger man a particularly good patented Gibbs head-slap. "But if you ever pull something like this again – or if you ever call me a soccer mom again - you will get a lot more than that."

Tim smiled slightly before nodding, "Okay, Tony. Goodnight."

He then made his way to his car before getting in and driving off. Tony sighed as he watched the lights of McGee's car disappear into the night and thought back on the surreal night.

McGee was right; he felt left out and hurt. He felt worried and even a little scared. He was of course concerned about Ziva and how much all of it was affecting her but he was also worried about his team as a whole. He didn't like any instability within their tight little group and right now, he felt like they were standing in a sand castle during an earthquake. Tony knew his teammates had taken a calculated risk and he knew what needed to be done. But he would be lying if unveiling the next chapter to this story didn't scare that hell out of him.

But then again, that was probably just his inner soccer mom.

End.

End note: Well, there you are. To me, it made perfect sense for Ziva to go to Tim first and leave everyone else out. And it had nothing to do with romance. Anyway, that is my take on the situation and I look forward to seeing the remaining episodes. If you liked my story or even if you didn't, feel free to leave your opinion (but please be kind). Otherwise, let's all be happy NCIS fans and have a lovely night.