Here is chapter two. I forgot to mention last chapter that Jackie Vance (Leon's wife) is dead at this point and it doesn't follow the plot line of the show (mostly because I haven't seen many of the newest episodes. Also Vance is 37 and McGee is 28. Disclaimer is the same as the first chapter.
At six in the morning, Vance's eyes shot open at the sound of the squealing alarm clock on his bedside table. His arm shot out to smack the alarm off, before returning to his face to rub his eyes clear of sleep. He sat up with a groan of annoyance. 'Ugh. I might as well get up and make some breakfast and check on McGee before hopping in the shower.' He thought as he got out of bed and walked down stairs. He went into the kitchen to cook some eggs, bacon, and toast. Once he finished, he went into the family room and saw Tim was already awake.
"McGee. I told you to sleep in. How long have you been awake?" Vance asked sternly.
Tim continued to look at the floor while he answered. "I woke up around four o'clock. I tried to go back to sleep but I couldn't." Once he finished saying that he looked at Vance, before blushing dark red and looking away again.
"Why couldn't you sleep and why wake up so early? Also, what's wrong McGee?" Vance asked startled by his reaction.
"You… uh… uh…" Tim said before just gesturing at Vance's chest, still not looking.
Vance looked down and saw he had forgotten to put on his shirt, as he didn't sleep in one and normally didn't put one on until after his shower. It was Vance's turn to blush this time. "Um… Sorry. I normally don't wear one in the morning until after my shower. I'll go put one on then we can finish this discussion and eat. Don't mention this to anyone at the office. In fact, don't mention the fact that you stayed here at all." With that said, Vance went upstairs and grabbed a t-shirt, which he slipped on before he headed back down stairs.
While he did that, Tim thought 'Wow! He is ripped. He hides almost a six pack and lots of muscles under those suits all day. I wonder if they feel as hard as they look." As soon as that thought passed, he clamped down on his thoughts and blushed hard again. He sat there trying to control his blush. Until he heard footsteps coming back down the stairs.
"Come on McGee, let's eat while we talk."
McGee followed Vance into the kitchen, finally reigning in his blush. He was handed a plate of food and gestured to sit at the table. Vance grabbed his food and sat at the table too before talking. "So, why couldn't you sleep and why did you wake up so early?"
"Um… I was woken by a nightmare and I couldn't fall asleep afterword." Tim responded embarrassedly.
"How often do you have these nightmares? Is that why you don't sleep that much on a daily bases and why you hadn't slept in two days?"
"I get them most nights and yes it is." Tim said hesitantly.
"Is it the same nightmare? Why haven't you spoken with a therapist? How long have you been getting these nightmares?"
"Yeah, it's the same. I have it just didn't help so I stopped. I've been getting them since I was fourteen. They normally come in waves with times where I don't have any and times where they are very bad."
"McGee… Tim, that's not health you have to talk to someone about this. Does any of your team or family about this?"
"No and they don't need to." Tim said forcefully. "I've gotten by this long. I don't need any help from anyone. Plus, who can I tell. Sarah doesn't talk to me since the time she thought she killed someone. Gibbs doesn't like weakness. Ziva and Tony will ridicule me. Admiral McGee, no, just no. I have got no one else, sir." Tim ended sounding defeated, but still remembered to be respectful.
"Tim, you can't keep this up. If you don't start sleeping more I'm going to have to suspend you or keep you on desk duty because you can't be 100% will little to no sleep. You need to talk to someone. You can talk to Dr. Mallard, Mr. Palmer, the NCIS therapist or me. I will make sure whatever you say to the therapist, if you chose that route, doesn't end up on your record. I can understand your hesitance but you need to talk to someone."
"I know. Can I… Can I talk to you, sir?" Tim asked hesitantly before rushing out the next sentence. "I don't want to have to tell anyone else about the nightmares and you already know. It's fine if not, sir. I don't want to be a bother."
"McGee! I wouldn't have offered if I wasn't fine with it." Vance's voice cut Tim off. "How about you come to my office briefly every day in the morning and we can talk through the nightmare quickly. Then on Mondays and Thursdays we can talk through them more thoroughly and you can just stay later in the mornings. I will tell Agent Gibbs that you are helping me with a favor and you be later on those days. We can start tomorrow as it is Thursday. Does that sound alright with you?"
"Yes, sir. That sounds fine. Are you sure Gibbs will be alright with this though?"
"Even if he is not, I will not allow him to penalize you."
With that the discussion ended and they finished eating. Vance let Tim use his son's shower, while Vance took one in his own. Tim put on his pants from the previous day and Vance loaned him a white shirt to use as an under shirt so that he could just wear the shirt he kept at the office. Once dressed they both grabbed their things and head to the car to go back to the office, where they went on the elevator to the floor with the bullpen. Once there they went their separate ways with just a parting glance.
Tim went to his desk and turned on his computer and started to work on the reports, while Vance went to his office and, after unlocking the door, sat down behind his desk with a sigh. 'How can so much change after just leaving the office one night?' Vance thought before he started to do the work that had piled on his desk.
Hope you enjoyed. Please review.
