Soft murmurs were what began the wake up process, and then a soft weight resting upon the uninjured side of his chest brought him fully out of slumber.

When he slit one eye open to take a peek at what was there he saw a tiny head full of black hair. He noticed then that the murmuring had stopped and lifting his head a little higher he found that the living room now contained more people. Abby and Tony were there, along with Gibbs, Ziva, Ducky and Jimmy.

"Uh… hi," he said, before struggling to hold back a yawn.

Grace snuffled, smacked her lips and then raised her head. She began to struggle to sit up, her hands placed against Tim's chest - one on the uninjured side, one right on top of the wound, but before she could put any pressure on the injury she was plucked up by Gibbs. Tim shot him a very grateful look before sitting up and trying to shake the sleepiness that covered him like a cloak.

"How are you feeling, Timothy?" Ducky asked.

Tim took a moment to truly think about it. "Not too bad. Feeling a little fuzzy right now, but that's because a pill was shoved down my throat earlier," he said, sending a mock glare Tony's way.

Tony was about to reply, but Grace had noticed that Ducky was there and was bouncing excitedly in Gibbs' arms.

"Duckpa! Duckpa!" she cried, struggling to get down from the restraining arms.

"Gibbpa!" she whined at Gibbs until she was let down with a chuckle. She ran to Ducky and was swept into a hug.

"And how is my little Grace today?"

"I good! I good!" Then she waited all of two seconds before looking up with pleading eyes and saying, "You pwomised to tell me de story of when Daddy had p… poi… bad ivy!"

Raucous laughter burst out around the room and Tim could only blush and wonder which incident she was talking about.

For the most part Tim just sat back and watched the interactions taking place among his friends. It was obvious that they spent a lot of time together outside of work. There were no uncomfortable formalities - even Jimmy got right in there amidst the conversations and laughter. Sometimes someone tried to draw him into a conversation but he kept his replies short but genial. They were letting him stay silent, probably assuming that he was still tired and fuzzy-minded - although that definitely wasn't far from the truth.

He managed to maintain a straight face whenever something unfamiliar came his way. Like hearing that Miquel wished him better and that he'd better be prepared for a rematch - when he knew no Miquel and had no clue what the rematch would be for. Or watching Gibbs and Jimmy laugh and talk together like old friends or having Gibbs smile at him multiple times. He'd even managed not to look surprised when a fluffy golden retriever bounded into the room and attempted to give him a slobbery kiss.

"No no Jazzy! Leave Daddy alone right now," Abby admonished the dog - puppy really, what with all the energy he had.

The night started to wind down when Grace began to yawn every minute or so. Ziva offered to get Grace ready for bed so everyone could linger for a while longer and Abby readily agreed. Gracie kissed everyone goodnight and gave an extra gentle hug to 'Daddy' before accepting Ziva's hand and heading upstairs.

When everyone but Tony was cleared out - having left after saying their 'get betters' to Tim - they held a quick hushed conference about what was going on.

"You did good tonight. Seemed appropriately drugged out so nothing was too suspicious," Tony said.

"You drugged me before they came on purpose, didn't you?" Tim accused good-naturedly.

Tony replied with a wide mischievous grin.

Just then Jazzy ran up, eager to see why his masters were converging together without him.

Abby glanced from the dog to Tim and then slapped a hand to her forehead.

"I completely forgot to warn you about Jazz! You didn't even blink an eye when he came in," she added, obviously proud of him.

Tim shrugged his good shoulder.

"I have a dog so I'm used to it. Although he's older and not such a puppy as this one is." He paused for a moment. "So is his name Jazz or Jazzy?"

Tony chuckled while Abby let out an exasperated groan.

"Actually, his name is Jasmine," Abby said, rolling her eyes.

"Jasmine?" Tim echoed, incredulously.

"Yeah. We let Gracie name him and she had just watched 'Aladdin' for the first time."

"Why Jasmine though? Raja would've been better than Jasmine!"

Abby and Tony shared an amused glance.

"What?"

"My husband said the exact same thing," Abby said, letting out a low laugh.

They had to break from their conversation then for they heard the soft padding of Ziva coming down the stairs.

"Gracie is already asleep," Ziva said, smiling softly.

Abby shook her head. "We've got to get that kid back on a normal schedule!"

Tim then yawned a nearly jaw-shattering yawn, causing them all to chuckle.

"And obviously the same goes for you, Probie!" Tony said.

"If you weren't shoving pain pills down my throat…"

"You would be in a lot of pain, McGee," Ziva said, patting him on his back.

"Ziva's right, Sweetie," Abby said, gripping his arm. "You're tired and I need to change your bandage before you go to bed."

"We'll take that hint. Do you want us to take Jazz with us?" Tony offered.

"Do you mind?" Abby asked.

"Nah, of course not! But you should've let Gibbs keep him for another night. You know he really wanted to."

Abby laughed. "You know if we let him keep Jazzy any longer we'd never get him back!"

Ziva shook her head. "Why Gibbs does not just get a dog of his own I do not understand."

"Well, Honey," Tony said, slinging his arm over Ziva's shoulder, "that's because owning a dog is too much like having a wife. They demand of you, force you to work all day to make money to feed them and at night they curl up next to you as dead weight. Oof!"

Ziva took her elbow from Tony's stomach and ducked out from beneath his arm.

"Yeah, well no one will be lying beside you tonight while you are sleeping on the couch!"

Tim and Abby laughed at their antics but soon they were saying their good nights with hugs and kisses on the cheek and slobbery goodbyes from Jazz.

Neither Tim nor Abby said anything as Abby turned the lights off downstairs and they made their way up the stairs - Abby patiently waiting for Tim to trudge his way up the flight of steps. Once they were in their bathroom though the questions came flowing.

"Was that normal?"

"Was what normal?"

"Everyone just hanging out like that."

Abby thought for a moment.

"Yes and no. It's not unheard of for all of us to get together, but it is normal after someone is injured on their first full day home from the hospital. That's when things are the strangest. After being in the hospital for a long time trying to adjust back to living in a house." She stopped when she saw Tim's eyebrows sky high reflected back to her in the mirror. "Well, at least that's what I've been told." She shrugged. "It's something that everyone seems to enjoy."

"Huh," Tim said. "Yeah, it was nice."

"You don't do that."

"No. When did it start?"

"After Gibbs got home from the hospital after being blown up. It wasn't planned then, it just happened."

"Oh," was all Tim could say to that, for in his reality Gibbs had been in Mexico after his first full day out of the hospital. Before Abby could ask any more questions he launched into his next one. "Who's Miquel?"

"Miquel Caruso," Abby said absentmindedly as she finished unwinding the lengths of bandages from around his chest.

"Okay, so who's Miquel Caruso?"

Abby stopped then to check his reflection in the mirror and saw he was serious.

"Special. Agent. Miquel. Caruso."

"Still. Don't. Know. Who. That. Is." Tim said, adding a smile to soften the snark.

Abby stopped to actually think about it and then finally it occurred to her what the problem was.

"Oooh!" she said with a laugh. "Miquel took the junior agent position when Eddie became the lead agent spot when Greg left the agency."

Tim had to think that one over.

"Eddie Bowling and Greg Robinson?"

"Yeah."

"But why did Greg leave?"

"Oh, he went too deep in an undercover op. Fell in love. After it was over and done with they ended up staying together but she made him leave NCIS."

Abby was unwinding a new roll of gauze when she let out a dramatic gasp. "Her name was Jeanne!"

That confirmed what Tim was thinking. Greg had received the undercover assignment instead of Tony.

"Tony got the undercover assignment instead of Greg in your reality, didn't he?" Abby asked, inversely reflecting his thoughts as she connected the dots from earlier conversations.

"Yeah, he did. He fell hard, but in the end decided to stay with NCIS and us."

"Oh, poor Tony! And poor Ziva! That must've been hard on her."

Tim half shrugged.

"Yeah, I think it was. But I don't really know. We don't talk about that time."

"You don't?"

"No. We don't talk about the past at all really. What happened happened and the best thing to do is move forward because there's no way to change it."

Abby rested her chin on Tim's shoulder, meeting his eyes in the mirror. He saw the deep frown that spoiled the perfect pout of her lips.

"You're different than my husband."

"That's because I'm not your husband."

"I know. It's just odd how similar you are but how… how different you are at the same time. Tim has such a happy look on things most of the time. Things aren't perfect, but he tries not to look at the negatives. And you - there's a sadness in you and wariness that goes beyond being here in this reality. It's a part of you at all times. What happened to you?"

Tim quirked a sad little smile.

"I think the difference is you, Abby," he said, telling her only part of the truth. "Who can have a sad outlook on everything if you're in their life?"

Abby's heart melted for the man in front of her. She wove her arms around his shoulders and gave him a gentle hug.

"I'm going to make it my mission to make you smile and laugh more while you're here with us," Abby said, smiling softly at his reflection.

Tim didn't have the heart to tell her that the better she made his time in this reality the harder it would be go back to his own reality. So instead he returned her smile and made a silent vow. He was stuck in this reality for who-knows-how-long and he was going to make the most of it. He would be a father to Grace, and a friend to Tony and Abby. And whenever the universe saw fit to return him to his own reality - he'd learn to live with the memories.