A/N: I apologise for the short chapters; but I've decided in this story; shorter is better.
After an early morning phone call to McGee's Doctor at the hopital; Gibbs quickly fixed up his guest room; determined to not let McGee stay alone just yet.
Eight that morning found Gibbs waiting for the young man to be finished signing out. As they walked out to the parking lot; McGee found himself hoping that he'd be getting taken straight back to work; needing to be busy and not cause any more problems on the team. Being with Gibbs outside of work was disconcerting. He wasn't ready for this. They'd hardly ever talked at work as it was; never outside work. He didn't know how to act and he was definately not comfortable. Feeling like he'd stepped back a year in time; having to prove himself all over again with the only thing being different is who the woman on the team was now.
It wasn't that he didn't believe what Gibbs had said to him. He just didn't trust himself not to screw things up. Having a near death experience because an event from over 10 years ago came back to bite you in the rear with a vengance; pretty much equalled screwing things up. Having long forgotten; well; actually, never before remembered memories come rushing out at you from the hidden recesses of your mind in a truly terrifying moment of a horrendous experience did not promote a feeling of job security. No, what Tim McGee saw coming down the pike at him now was a free ride to the looney bin compliments of the new chic Ziva David.
Gibbs had noticed how quickly McGee had tensed up when he'd seen who his ride was. The young man's eyes; clear windows to his soul as they were; more transparent than anyone else Gibbs knew; were full of worry and fear. What was going through this kid's head?
Gibbs felt driven to put this kid at ease. "Okay?"
"Yeah, Boss. I'm fine. Thanks for picking me up."
"You ready for some breakfast?"
"Actually, I am hungry, yes." Tim admitted.
"Good, let's stop and eat."
Fifteen short minutes later found them comfortably seated at a booth in a nearby cafe; getting ready to dive into their big breakfasts. As McGee dug into his food; Gibbs drank his coffee while silently watching him in concern. Finally after a few minutes of silence between them; Gibbs asked.
"Had any problems breathing since yesterday?"
"No problems, Boss, I'm fine."
"Good. Have to tell you, McGee; when I talked to your Doctor this morning; he didn't exactly object to the idea of you not staying by yourself just yet; just as a precautionary measure." Gibbs told him seriously.
Immediately, Gibbs saw shock and concern cross the young man's face. "Where...where would I..."
"You can stay with me. And before you object; we're only talking about 1 night. After you've taken in a day of work, today; desk duty; I wanna keep an eye on you. I want to make sure we don't have anything to worry about."
Tim's disbelief was written all over his face.
"Don't look at me like that. You died yesterday. That's not something any of us are gonna just blow off. Gibbs said with aggravation.
When Tim's expression changed to meek mortification; Gibbs couldn't help but smile for a second. He quickly got serious again.
"I read the incident reports." Gibbs advised him; nudging the conversation onto the related path.
The expression on Tim's face instantly became wary; an expectancy of trouble showing itself.
"What are you worried about?" Gibbs asked with his keen sense of perception.
Tim couldn't bring himself to answer; knowing he could never lie to the man. Not yet comfortable enough around him to confide in his boss; all he could do was stare at his coffee as he slowly stirred it with his spoon.
"Tim. Obviously, you're not comfortable talking to me. But, this is important. It involves your safety; the safety of the team; and we have to address it."
The fear was back and beginning to take hold of his agent. Seeing this; Gibbs decided it was time to take this thing by the horns and get it dealt with.
"Let me tell you what I think is going on here; and you can confirm or deny it." he requested.
Tim silently nodded; finally dragging his eyes up to meet those of his boss; his ingrained manners not allowing him to do anything different.
"From what we've been able to piece together; based on what we've seen and heard:
When I told Ziva she could drive the truck back to the Navy Yard yesterday; she drove like a New York cab driver; so badly it scared the hell out of DiNozzo; and literally scared you to death. Now, based on we've been able to figure out; her driving apparently opened up some long forgotten memories for you of your accident on your 16th birthday. Do we have it figured out right?"
"Close enough." was Tim's quietly cryptic answer. With his head down and his eyes closed; it was plain to see the truth of the matter bothered him a great deal.
"Talk to me." came the quiet encouragement from his boss.
Looking back up at the man, Tim locked eyes with him for a long silent, soul searching minute; searching for the real behind the words. Was he really interested; was it as team leader or was it as a person who cared about him as a person?
Gibbs held his gaze steady and strong; knowing the young man was looking for how deep Gibbs' concern was coming from. He didn't back down; didn't hide any of his concern for him. Finally, after a long silence; he was rewarded with the young man's honest heart being worn on his sleeve; again.
"It's like I've told Tony before, Boss. That day's been a blank to me since the day it happened. Until yesterday. One minute Ziva was driving dangerously crazy and the next I was literally being sucked back into the exact time and place of my accident; like it was happening all over again. I was back in the wreck. The screaming, the twisting metal; breaking glass; the pain; all of it. So real I all of a sudden I literally couldn't breathe."
"It's okay, relax. Calm your breathing down." Gibbs urged as Tim's breathing had gotten harsh and quick; sure signs of an impending panic attack. "Take a break. Drink some of your water."
When Tim had calmed down; he looked at Gibbs with regret. "It was a panic attack, Boss. How man people do you know die from a panic attack?" His self depreciating tone wasn't lost on Gibbs.
"It wasn't just a panic attack, Tim. You just told me that your mind had flashed back to your car accident. You were stuck re-experiencing a very painful and traumatising event. That's a huge difference." Gibbs qualified.
