CHAPTER 4
Tim walked into work the next day and immediately headed down to Abby's lab. They had some work to do to help prove Ziva's innocence.
"Hey Abby," he greeted as he walked in, going right to his computer.
"Hey McGee. I'm still trying to narrow down the cell that Eschel used."
Nodding, he fell into the rhythm of working next to Abby. "I'll take the prints off the dead guy Ziva and...Gibbs found." He didn't need to look at Abby to know she was looking at him now after his pause.
"McGee?"
"I'm fine Abby. Let's focus on helping Ziva."
"Okay. Let's do this." She held up her hand.
Tim shook his head amused, high fiving her, and getting back to work while Abby played some music and then joined him. They had worked for about half an hour before he felt a presence behind him. Tony.
"I'm just getting the match to the prints," he said.
"Let's see it."
His fingers stumbled over the keys at the deep voice behind him and turned around to see Gibbs and Tony standing in the doorway. Both had a cup of coffee, but Tim's eyes were on Gibbs.
"Gibbs!"
Abby abandoned her computer and ran to greet Gibbs, throwing her arms around him and squeezing the life out of him.
Tony was right, he was different. His hair long, and that beard. Tim felt a bit warm when he looked at that beard, his treacherous mind imagining the feel of it against his skin. But Tim's heart skipped a beat at the smile on Jethro's lips, it filling his stomach with warmth.
Tony walked away from them to give them a moment and came to Tim. Tim finally looked away when Tony touched his hand. "Hey," he whispered.
He looked at Tony. "Hey."
"You alright?"
Nodding, he gave him a little smile. "Sure." He glanced back to Gibbs and nearly gasped when those all familiar ice blue eyes were trained on him. His hand instinctively grabbed Tony's hand as he tried to control his heart, make sure it didn't race out of his chest. He looked over Gibbs' shoulder as he found he couldn't look him in the eye without feeling his heart ripping and breaking at the missing look in Gibbs' eyes. There was supposed to be recognition and love. Sure Gibbs knew who Tim was, but he didn't know him, which meant the love wasn't there.
Looking away, he missed the jealousy that filled the older man's eyes as they trained on Tim and Tony's joined hands before they cleared.
"What have you got so far?" he asked and after Tony squeezed his hand back, joined Gibbs in front of the screen on the wall.
Tim took a deep breath to gather his wits before turning back to his computer. Luckily they found a hit. "We matched the dead guy's prints." He was happy his voice didn't betray the way he was feeling at the moment. "Balash Sassnio. Arrested five years ago for reckless driving. An illegal from Iran. Student visa expired last year, Boss."
"Good job, McGee," both men said and Tim's hands began to tremble as he never thought he'd hear that from Gibbs again.
"What about the cell phone Eschel called us on, Abs?" Gibbs questioned.
"I isolated the grid the call came in from."
"Nice work, Abs," Tony quickly put out before Gibbs could and Tim found himself smiling.
"Actually, no, Tony. The grid includes the entire city of Woodbridge, Virginia. He could be anywhere in it."
"Great, we got nothing."
'Great encouragement Jethro.' Luckily he didn't say that aloud.
"Well, an ex-Mossad agent working with an Iranian student is something, Gibbs."
"Not if it doesn't help us find Eschel in time."
Both men started walking back, Gibbs heading towards the door, but Tony stopped beside him. "McGee, the BOLO we put out yesterday. Any hits?" Damn, he completely forgot about that. "You completely forgot about that, didn't you?"
"This one's on me, Boss." He gave himself a head-slap and started looking at the results from the BOLO. "We have multiple hits. Six hits on men fitting his general description. Three in Delaware, one in Pennsylvania, and two in Virginia. Closest match—a local cop saw a man fitting his exact profile at a Freemont Inn."
"Where, McGee?" both men asked.
"Woodbridge, Virginia."
Abby and Tim watched as Tony and Gibbs threw their coffee away and leave the lab.
"Tim?"
"Yes Abby?"
"Do you think Gibbs will stay?"
He finally looked away from the empty doorway to look at Abby and saw her worried and scared. Opening his arms, he pulled her into a hug and rocked her. "I don't know Abby. I don't know."
Tim really didn't and hated it.
"Tim?"
"Yes Abby?"
"I'm sorry."
Frowning, he asked, "About what?"
"He doesn't remember."
He shook his head and found himself holding her tighter. "It's not your fault. Not even his really. I guess he's just not ready to remember."
"I'm sorry."
Tim sighed. "Stop apologizing."
"…Okay."
"McGee!" They pulled apart and turned to face the doorway where Tony appeared. "Let's go. Gibbs told Ziva where Eschel is and of course she isn't going to wait for us."
Giving Abby's forehead a peck, he raced after Tony to drive to Freemont Inn so they could help Ziva.
Of course Ziva didn't need their help when they showed up. Eschel was dead on the bed, a woman from Iranian Intelligence was unconscious on the floor, and Ziva was panting and bleeding. Nothing was broken, just some bruises that were going to last a while and a cut on the bridge of her nose that was going to need to heal. Not to mention a few bruised ribs, but luckily none were broken.
Both Tony and Ziva were up in the director's office, Abby in her lab, and Ducky and Palmer were performing an autopsy for another case. Eschel had been collected from Mossad so they didn't' have to autopsy the ex-Mossad agent.
Tim was in the break room, getting a coffee. He nearly dropped his cup when Jethro's voice came from behind him.
"Hello McGee."
He turned around, making sure to look at him without actually looking into his eyes. Tim didn't trust himself when looking into those powerful eyes. "Hello Gibbs."
"How have you been?"
Only allowing him half a second to connect their eyes, he took a sip of his coffee and shrugged. "Glad we were able to help Ziva get taken off the FBI list." Gibbs' lips twitched. "How's Mexico? Everything you hoped it would be?"
If he heard the bitterness in Tim's voice, Gibbs didn't show it.
He shrugged. "It's relaxing, quiet."
"Everything you hoped it'd be?" he repeated.
Gibbs stared at him; Tim felt as if he was looking into his soul and fought not to squirm, before shrugging. "Not sure yet." He continued to stare at Tim, as if he was trying to figure him out, it was a little unnerving. If Gibbs didn't remember them, only remembered that Tim was part of the team, why was he looking at him like this?
Tim tapped his temple. "How are the memories going?"
Again he shrugged. "Still fuzzy, some still missing."
"Mm."
They stared at each other for a while—well Gibbs stared while Tim looked over his shoulder—just silence between them. It was a few minutes before Gibbs suddenly took a step towards him. Tim felt his heart race double and decide to lodge in his throat. His instinct was to step forward also, meet him in the middle, but he went against it. He took a step back.
Gibbs stopped and narrowed his eyes at him, again looking at him like he was a puzzle that needed to be solved and he couldn't quite figure him out. Again, he took a step forward, Tim took a step back, jumping when his back hit the counter. He faced Gibbs again and squeaked when he realized how close he was. So close he could feel the older man's body heat.
What the hell's going on?
Those blue eyes roamed his face, Tim just stood there, his heart racing and his body trembling. Hope blooming that maybe he was remembering. Finally he couldn't take the silence. "Gibbs?"
Gibbs' eyes snapped up to look into his eyes again and Tim's heart plummeted when he saw Gibbs' eyes clear and no recognition.
"I have a flight to catch. Can you give this to Director Shepard for me?"
Not able to find his voice, he silently nodded and took the white envelope that Gibbs handed him. With only one more glance, Gibbs turned and left, leaving Tim heartbroken and left in pieces.
Walking back to his desk, he sat down and stared at the thing in his hand. It wasn't long before Director Shepard, Ziva, and Tony came down from their meeting.
"Where is he, McGee? Abby's lab?"
"Gibbs left, ma'am." Forgive him if a little anger was in his voice. He was trying to not show what he was really feeling. "Said he had a plane to catch."
"You sure about that, McGee?" Tony asked.
'No, I'm lying for my own enjoyment.'
"Yeah, Tony, I'm sure." He glanced at Ziva and though she should be focusing on herself and the way she was bruised, she was looking at him worriedly. "Director, uh, he wanted me to give this to you." He handed the envelope and they all watched her open it to show a picture. He couldn't see it but to be honest he didn't want to.
"Nice snap," Tony commented. "Where was that taken?"
"Serbia?"
"When?"
"A lifetime ago."
He really had to get out of there. He needed to leave. Tim stood and started gathering his things. "Director, if it's not too much, I think I'm gonna head out of here."
The redhead stared at him and he saw the understanding and compassion in her eyes. She nodded and gave the whole team an early night. "You guys can finish your paperwork tomorrow. Go on home."
Before he could leave, Ziva blocked his way. "You are coming home with me. You too Tony."
Tony looked between them before nodded. "You cooking?" he asked, trying to kept the air light.
Ziva smirked. "Of course."
"Fine, see you there," Tim said and didn't even wait for the elevator. He took the stairs. He didn't mean to be or sound rude but he really need to get out. Tim needed fresh air. He just needed… He needed Gibbs.
It wasn't long before he was putting his key into Ziva's apartment door and greeting an excited Jett. "Hey boy." Jett suddenly calmed down and looked at him with his head tilted. He let out a whine before nudging him.
Great, even the dog could tell he wasn't okay. He petted the dog's head before taking a quick shower and changing. Tim found himself sitting on the side of his bed and absently petting Jett's head that was resting in his lap.
Why did he leave again? Why didn't he stay? Didn't he miss working? Didn't he miss…the team? Why? Why? Why? Why didn't he remember him? Why?
Jett's whine pulled him from his mind and he felt tears on his cheeks, freely running down his face and sobs quickly taking over. Why!
He lied down and threw his arm over Jett when he jumped up to join him. His face buried in his fur, his tear disappearing into the dog's fur.
Why was this his life? Why couldn't Jethro remember him?
Tony, Ziva, and Abby looked at the door as they heard the sobs from the younger man and it broke all their hearts. They were all feeling the loss of their old boss again, it had felt good working with him again, but it was nothing to what Tim was going through.
"I could kill the man."
"He just helped solve your innocence," Abby pointed out but without any heat. Just a simple fact.
"Yes," Ziva said, the anger rolling off her, "but look what he did to our Tim."
"Oh so he's ours now?" Tony asked with a small smile.
"Yes," she answered simply. She had planned to cook, but now that she was home, she wasn't in the mood to make anything too big. So she was making them sandwiches. Ziva put their plates in front of them. "He's been ours since Gibbs left."
Abby chewed on her lip as she picked at her food. "Do you think he'll ever remember McGee?"
"…I don't know," Tony said. "I don't even know what would happen if he did."
Abby frowned. "Well, he'd come back for Timmy of course."
"Yes, but will it ever be the same?" Tony questioned. It was obviously something he'd thought about. "Gibbs didn't leave once, but twice now. I mean…" he gestured to the door that was Tim's bedroom, "…listen to him in there. How can it be the same if Gibbs did remember McGee and come back? I know he doesn't know he's doing it, but Gibbs is slowly breaking him."
Ziva could see the frustration in Tony showing, it was the same frustration she felt, and placed her hand over his to help calm him down. "If Gibbs does remember and comes back one day, we will deal with it. Now, let's just be here for Tim."
With that, they slowly ate their dinner and sat down watching TV. After a while, Ziva checked in on Tim and saw a familiar sight of him curled up on his bed with Jett offering himself as a pillow. Jett's brown eyes looked at Ziva and Ziva almost expected the German Shepherd to start getting excited and wake Tim since it's been a while since they saw each other, but he just closed his eyes again and tucked his head closer to himself. It allowed his nose to rest against Tim.
It had surprised her how fast it took for Jett and Tim to get along after he moved in with her. She guessed her protectiveness over Tim rubbed off on her dog as she often found Jett cozying up to Tim during his first month there and offering himself as a pillow. Tim even taught Jett to pull her blankets off her when she tried to sleep in really late on the weekend and Tim wanted her up. It was annoying and funny at the same time.
Walking in, she sighed at the tear stains on his cheeks and ran her fingers through his hair, though she softly smiled at the way he relaxed under her touch. Ziva really didn't want to wake him, so getting an extra comforter from the closet, she draped it over him so he was warm.
Silently leaving the room, she closed the door and walked back to Tony and Abby to finish watching TV. Though it wasn't really watching so much as listening to Tony do commentary about the actors and their better roles, or really bad ones.
In the middle of the night, Ziva heard a sound and opened her eyes. Tony, Ziva, and Abby had fallen asleep in her living room watching movies; the others let her use the couch since she had been sore from her fight and took medicine to help. She watched Abby try to silently walk past the couch and slip into Tim's room. Deciding to be nosey and see what Abby was doing, she silently stood up and followed her.
Opening the door, she saw Abby slip under the comforter on Tim's other side and wrap an arm around him. Wanting to join, she walked in and after Jett looked at her, he slipped out from under Tim and Ziva quickly took his place. Abby looked over Tim at Ziva and after they smiled at each other, they each held onto Tim and fell asleep.
Tony jerked awake and tried to see what it was that woke him. It didn't take long. It was quiet, he couldn't hear Ziva's loud snoring. A little worried that maybe she wasn't breathing, he looked over to the couch and saw that she wasn't even there. Looking over to where he last saw Abby, he saw that she too wasn't there.
Frowning, he tried to listen around and in fact heard Ziva's snoring but it wasn't as loud. Getting up, he followed the sound and was somewhat surprised it was coming from McGee's room. Tony opened the door and blinked.
"I have really got to talk to McGee about how he does this," he muttered as he took in the picture of the two women somewhat wrapped around McGee, Jett the dog snuggled in between Ziva and McGee at their legs. Even Ziva and Abby's hands were just touching as if mutually seeking support too.
Not wanting to be left out, he decided to join in the slumber party. He quickly grabbed the blanket from the living room and carefully joined the others on the bed. Like Jett, he lied on top of the comforter towards the end of the bed. But since he was so long, he had to bend his body a bit, ending up with his head using Abby's stomach as a pillow after carefully turning her a bit.
He sighed, feeling all warm and snuggly surrounded by the ones close to him and was about to fall asleep when he realized again he didn't hear Ziva's snoring. Cracking open one eye, he saw not only Ziva looking at him, but Abby too. He gave them his DiNozzo smile before purring when Abby ran her fingers through his hair.
This was his family, minus a few, and family takes care of their own. And he knew they did the right thing with the way Tim seemed to be practically melting into the mattress while surrounded by them. It was the most relaxed and peaceful Tony's seen him and he knew, as his eyes began to drift listening to Ziva's loud snoring with Abby's hand on his head, that they all were about to get the best sleep in a while.
A/N: *hide from mob* Please, please, please forgive me. Blame the muse! Yeah, that's it. Blame the muse for making Gibbs leave again. But the good news...the story's not finished. Yay! *peak and duck back down as mob runs by at cheer* Okay so yay the story's not done, but I've made Gibbs leave again! I'm sorry. Forgive me.
Please review, alert, favorite! Everything is appreciated and I just plain love reading what people have to say.
Warning: Sharpened pitchforks, torches, and starting of mob will not be accepted. ;)
