a/n - not a huge chapter, but the next one can't be broken down so this is where it had to stop. Thanks for all the wonderful reviews, you guys sure make up for the jerk I was dealing with over the last couple of days. I noticed a story summary that sounded familiar - like word for word - to the summary to a story a friend wrote a while ago. I clicked on the link, and the story was a cut and paste theft of the first chapter of her story, with more "coming soon". (her complete story is a great piece called Doubts - check it out and tell her Emerald said hi) As soon as he was publicly shown to be a plagiarist, he took that story down.

A group of us started looking closer at the rest of the stories he had just posted for NCIS (all 4 stories were posted within 2 days) and yes, all of them were cut and paste thefts of other writers stories. As soon as we made "reviews" he would remove each story, one by one. Yesterday afternoon he was told that the stories he had in other fandoms would be checked to see if they were stolen too and if they were, he might as well take them down. This morning he's got a new name on the site and all his remaining stories are gone. Surprise, surprise - not. The next time a story is posted by NCISNation, formerly known as RKO-kid 099, you can bet it will be checked and it sure as heck better not be one of mine he steals.

Sorry for the rant, can you tell that plagerism is a huge hot button for me? Enjoy the chapter!!


Tom Morrow tipped his coffee cup at Gibbs as he congratulated him. Clearing Fornell and proving the identity of the mole that Napolitano had at the FBI was certainly a feather in the cap of NCIS and Morrow was more than a little pleased. "Have they determined if Agent Charles was working alone?"

"Looks that way, but Fornell's still rattling some cages over there. If there's an accomplice, he'll find them." Gibbs gave a wolfish smile as he finished his coffee. "He's also a little pissed that it took our agency to solve their problem."

That little tidbit seemed to amuse the Director as much as it amused Gibbs, but Morrow became serious as he changed the subject. "Everything is all set up. We can get Robert McGee home from his duty station within twenty four hours after his father makes the request."

"That's good, sir. I know McGee has been worried about his brother not getting home to see their mom one last time. What base?" Gibbs started thinking through the options to help get Robert to the small town of Dryden that Dennis McGee had retired to.

Morrow shook his head. "When I said home, I meant home. I called in a few favors, got him hooked up with a friend of mine that runs a transportation company. They can get him within five miles of their hometown, the local LEO's will take him the rest of the way."

"Thank you, sir. That will be a huge burden lifted off the family. I know that will be a relief to the kid." Gibbs hadn't wanted to get Tim's hopes up before he knew they could pull it off, but he'd never dreamed that the Director would take such a personal interest in their youngest agent's problems.

Hiring an agent with the intelligence and education of Timothy McGee had been a bit of a coup for his agency, made possible by a combination of the young man's interest in the Navy and a colossal mistake in the personnel department of the FBI who had misfiled his approved application. Tom Morrow was glad to help him through a difficult time. The fact that the boy's plight was reaching through the wall Gibbs put up around himself was a plus. "How's Agent McGee holding up?"

"Pretty good, considering." Gibbs turned down the refill of coffee. Morrow's assistant could do many things, but make a decent cup of coffee was not on the list. "He can get a little distracted when we're stuck doing paperwork, but he pulls it together when we're out in the field."

"Under the circumstances that's totally understandable. Has he confided in his teammates yet?"

"Not yet. He's still a little unsure of himself with them." To anyone who knew him, Gibbs had a lot more to say on the subject, but he stayed quiet. Morrow didn't need it to be drawn out for him. Torturing a newbie was a time honored tradition and DiNozzo was an expert. If it weren't for the imminent death of McGee's mother and the financial burden he was under, Morrow wouldn't have given it a second thought.

"Perhaps you should tell them."

Gibbs shook his head. "No, at least not yet. I think they'll figure it out eventually and right now not being overwhelmed with sympathy is probably a plus in McGee's book."

"You know your people, Gibbs. I'll leave it up to you." Morrow also secretly knew that Gibbs coped with tragedy by keeping it hidden. He had made a point of learning the complete background of the man before he became the team leader of the Major Crime Response Team. With any luck, helping McGee would also help Gibbs.

---NCIS---

Gibbs leaned over the monitor, startling McGee. "Is that Datsun of yours a five speed or a four speed? What year is it?"

"It's a... it's a four speed, Boss, and it's an eighty-one." McGee tried not to cringe. They had worked straight through the last two weekends and it was still several weeks before their next scheduled weekend off. He was setting money aside, but he hadn't planned on purchasing the parts until right before they were needed.

"When was the last time you replaced the clutch?"

"Umm, never?" This time he did cringe as he rushed to explain. "The last owner replaced it a couple of months before I bought it."

"So... how many miles have you put on it?"

"Maybe a hundred thousand?" When Gibbs raised an eyebrow at his unsure answer, he defended himself. "I've had the car since I was seventeen and the odometer's never worked."

Now it was Gibbs' turn to cringe as he realized the hundred dollars the parts would cost was probably more than the car was worth. "All right, while we're at it, we're going to change the pressure plate."

McGee's cringe was joined by a wince. "I've only been budgeting for the clutch."

"Don't worry about it, McGee, we'll work something out. It looks like we're switching with Balboa, so we'll be working on your car next weekend." Gibbs patted his shoulder as he turned to go. "The main thing is to make sure you're able to get home when the time comes."

---NCIS---

"Tony, have you talked to McGee?"

"About what?" DiNozzo looked over at Kate as they drove back from Lt. Commander Miki Shields' house after getting her signature on the last of the paperwork.

Between the two men, Kate was frustrated and worried. "About his finances. Something is wrong, Tony. There is no way he should be struggling this much."

"Oh, come on, Kate. You said it yourself a couple of weeks ago. It's probably just a cash flow issue from moving up here. He'll be fine after another pay cycle."

"I don't think so, Tony. I checked on where he was living in Norfolk. He didn't even have an apartment, he was renting a room over somebody's garage." She sat back, waiting to see how he would react.

They were at a red light so he could look over at her for a moment as he thought. "Okay, if he didn't have a renters history, he probably had to pay an extra deposit on his new apartment. He's probably got a heck of pile of student loans to pay off. MIT's not cheap to go to, I'm sure."

Kate shook her head. "He had a full ride scholarship to MIT and both a scholarship and a teaching fellowship to John Hopkins. He never needed a student loan."

"Really?" Tony had received some athletic scholarship money at Ohio, but he knew somebody had to be pretty smart to get an academic full ride at those kinds of schools. He'd never admit that the kid's brains made him insecure at times.

"I think Gibbs knows what's going on, and he expects us to figure it out ourselves."

Tony tried to lighten her mood with his trademark grin. "Well, yeah, Gibbs know. He always knows, but Kate, most guys don't want to admit it when they've screwed up with money. If you're worried, we can get him lunch this afternoon, but cut him some slack, okay?" To prove his point, he pulled the car in at his favorite Chinese restaurant.

---NCIS---

"Gibbs, what do I owe this honor to?" Faith Coleman accepted the coffee he handed her as she finished her daily run. "Don't tell me this is going to become a habit." It had been a few weeks since the Yost case and she didn't expect to see him again so soon.

He handed her a file. "You could look this over for me."

Intrigued, she flipped through the first few pages, just glancing at the names. "McGee vs McGee, your agent is divorced?"

"His brother. I've seen a few divorce settlements in my day, hell, I've signed more than my fair share of them, but there's something off about that one." Gibbs settled in as she started looking over the paperwork more closely.

After a few minutes Faith looked up at him with a puzzled look. "The entire divorce happened when Lt. McGee was overseas and his lawyer didn't argue at all about the terms. Either the lawyer was an idiot, or Robert McGee is paying his ex-wife off over something. I know the judge, I could ask some questions, but if it turns out that your man's brother was hiding something..."

"Just come to me first." He hoped that the experience with Ernie Yost would make her more willing to trust him on this.

Trust was one thing, but the JAG attorney needed facts. "Tell me what's going on, Gibbs."

He wasn't thrilled, but Gibbs knew anything he told her would be kept in strict confidence. "Their mother is in the final stages of cancer. The two brothers are supposed to be helping with the medical expenses, but because of this divorce settlement Robert can't handle his end."

"Tim's paying the whole thing." Coleman's use of McGee's first name surprised Gibbs more than her instant comprehension of the situation.

Gibbs nodded slowly. "If Robert got shafted by a shady divorce lawyer that's one thing, but if he's pulled something that's caused his ex to go after him like this, I want to know about it."