Worst Case Scenario by ceilidh

A/N: Thanks to everyone who kindly reviewed My Brother, My Friend :o) As promised, here's the next instalment. It's pretty short, and sets the scene for the next one - and yes, the teaser at the start is really mean of me. Well, what else do you expect? ;o)

Enjoy!

My Brother, My Friend

Chapter Two - Worst Case Scenario

Teaser: - "Tony, for the last time, I don't need the hospital, okay? It's just a scratch, and- ow...!!"

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Paperwork.

It was like a colony of rabbits. Left overnight, the stuff multiplied with the same damn speed. And, unlike yesterday, Gibbs knew he didn't have his Three Stooges around to distract him from it. Ziva was checking leads for their latest case, while DiNozzo and McGee took its associative stake-out.

So until they returned, and he could 'delegate' some of this junk on his desk, he was on his own.

Still glaring at the piles of files in front of him, Gibbs then sighed and resigned himself to his fate – fighting down the urge to line them all up, take out his gun, and take his latest quals a few weeks early.

Instead, glancing in silent envy along three unoccupied, file-free desks, he sat down and set wearily to work – dryly thinking that Larry, Moe and Curly would be having a lot more fun this afternoon than him.

Still smiling at the thought, Gibbs then grinned as he pictured how they'd react to their new name-tags.

Tony would be thrilled, of course, and McGee would blink at him, as only Tim McGee could, while Ziva – yeah, for the sake of his health, and to keep him breathing, he'd better come up with a safer nickname for his Mossad liaison.

Batgirl, maybe, with Batman and the Boy Wonder in faithful tow? Oh yeah, that was much better.

And to imagine DiNozzo and McGee wearing tights under their boxers… no, Gibbs, don't go there!

Only one thing could make him have thoughts like that - a frowning glance at his coffee confirming his worst suspicions.

'Damn eyesight. Must've picked up someone else's decaf-'

He'd gone for the deluxe size, too. Double damn.

Sourly tossing his unthinkable, undrinkable beverage into his trash-bin, Gibbs then rose to his feet – his mood really not helped, at all, by the security guard who now took his life in his hands by blocking his path. Anyone who dared to keep Jethro Gibbs from his coffee was either very brave, very stupid, or both.

But then, as he recognised who stood nervously with him, the glare changed into a puzzled frown. After what she'd just been through, she was the last person he'd expected to see back in the bullpen.

"Agent Gibbs? She says she's-"

"Agent McGee's sister. Yeah, she is," Gibbs finished for him, smiling at the guard's reaction. He could understand why he looked so surprised. In appearance, personality, so many more ways, Sarah McGee was nothing like her big brother.

Having said that, the nervousness on her face was strikingly familiar, and unmistakeably McGee – a quizzical glance beyond his shoulder met with a gentle smile now, as Gibbs assumed its cause.

"If you're looking for your brother, I'm afraid he's out on assignment-"

"On stake-out with Tony. Yes, Agent Gibbs, I know," Sarah nodded, smiling back at him – hoping, as an eyebrow quizzically rose, that she hadn't just landed her brother in even more trouble with his unpredictably tempered boss.

"Tim told me, last night, so I'd know he couldn't pick me up from school. I hope that's okay-"

Gibbs had to smile at that. These unhittable, verbal curveballs that took you completely by surprise… yeah, it had to be a McGee thing. And if that wasn't enough, what followed next took him to an instant 'strike three, you're out…'

"Actually, I'm not here to see Tim. If you're not too busy, Agent Gibbs, I was hoping to talk to you-"

Gibbs' eyes widened, then narrowed into another frown as he studied her face more closely. It was still pale, of course, from where she'd fainted the previous day, but… no, it was strained, too. And while he knew it was impossible to mind-read a McGee, Gibbs found himself trying it anyway.

"You two have a fight?"

To his relief, she laughed at that - genuinely, too, as she recognised his concern, and gladly accepted it.

"No, we're good. After all the hassle I've caused him, I'm done with the whole fighting-big-brother thing-"

"Even if he drove you nuts fussing over you yesterday?" Gibbs finished for her, grinning too now – knowing, from the face she pulled in response, that his assumption this time was right on the money. When it came to his little sister, Tim McGee took protective big brotherhood to a whole new level.

Just days ago, she'd openly resented him for it. Today, though, proud gratitude had taken its place.

Yet that puzzling strain was still in her eyes as Gibbs led her through the bullpen to the coffee lounge. Something was clearly troubling her, and that famous gut instinct had now identified its likeliest cause.

At best, her brother's work could get him hurt. At worst, without any warning, it could get him killed.

It was the scenario that had always silently haunted Gibbs' dreams – even more so since Kate had died. Now Sarah McGee had realized she faced it too – and it was up to him to make sure it never happened.

He had to ease her fears, too. Fears that he also privately shared, and… yeah, now he really needed that coffee.