Chapter 7

Tim slept fitfully through the night, sometimes needing the 'thumb of comfort', sometimes settling himself. Gibbs had tried returning to work in the basement, but after the third trip up to comfort Tim, Gibbs gave up and slept in a chair, his long legs up on the bed so he could stretch out. A couple of pillows and a blanket kept him warm and not quite uncomfortable. One of his last waking thoughts was that if this kept up, he would move the overstuffed chair into the room.

After years in the Corps, he never needed an alarm and woke at his normal hour to follow his morning routine. As he poured his first cup of coffee, out of the corner of his eye he saw Tim padding into the kitchen, eyes mostly shut, nose up and headed straight for the coffeemaker. Chuckling, he stepped out of the way and quickly poured McGee a mug of the dark nectar. The young man inhaled half of the liquid in one gulp and fully opened his eyes.

"Morning, Boss."

"Morning, Tim. I'm going to grab a shower then fix breakfast. You can shower after you eat."

"Aye Sir, I mean Boss." Tim's mouth twisted into an embarrassed grin at his automatic response.

"Your father teach you that?"

"Yes, he was big on us following rules and orders, 'specially because he was sure Patrick and I would both end up Navy. Why it was pretty easy getting used to your rules and orders, Boss."

Gibbs gave him a look and Tim spoke again, "I said your rules and orders, Boss, not DiNozzo's!"

He chuckled at the light headslap he got for that; then offered to cook breakfast.

"I'm a decent cook, don't do a lot of fancy dishes like Ziva or Tony, but I'm pretty good with the basics. I can do bacon, eggs and toast again if that's what you had in mind? And more coffee, of course."

Gibbs nodded then gave him a tap on the shoulder as he headed off for his shower, laughing to himself. Who knew their Probie was not only capable of sassing the boss but could also cook?

As they rode into work, Tim spoke softly.

"Boss, been thinking; couple things…"

"Yeah?"

"I'm sure my phone has a tap on it by now. Probably all of our phones, and everyone needs to use those sniffers I made us to find any bugs at home. Especially you and at my apartment. And…" Tim took a deep breath, "Don't want you to be blindsided but here goes…Ziva and I have been breaking Rule 12, and we spoke on the phone last night. In Hebrew, just to make things more interesting for whoever was listening for the FBI."

"How long, McGee?"

"Well, uh, we'd just started seeing each other before the Director died. We kept in touch by e-mail and phone when Ziva got sent back to Israel and then when you got the team back together, we…."

Gibbs interrupted, "That long, Tim? I haven't noticed anything on the job and Rule 12 is mostly to prevent problems on the team and in the office. You two serious?"

"Yes, Boss, we are. We're actually…" Tim swallowed, oh well in for a penny, in for a pound, "We're living together, Boss. Have been for a couple of months."

"Ok, we'll talk about this later, don't want you to worry about that right now. Except… McGee, you had support at home that first night, you could have…"

"Yeah, Boss, but I really…uh, it's just that…" Tim's shoulders slumped.

"It's just that for once I was paying attention to you and it felt good to be noticed and cared about for a change?"

Tim twisted his lips. "Yeah, something like that, Boss. We've never spent any time together and as much as I love Ziva, I really needed you. Still do, if that's ok."

Gibbs reached out to give him a headslap but noticing the almost imperceptible flinch and slightly hitched shoulder, just patted him on back of his head. "You'd better not ever have to ask me that again, Timothy McGee. We're family and it's on me you didn't understand that included you. I'm fine with you and Ziva, kind of proud to tell you the truth. But we will discuss it later, got it?"

"Aye S…Boss!" This time Tim was mortified he'd again responded in Navy style.

"Was that it? You said a couple of things."

"Yes, Boss, one more thing. Whoever it is with the DNA…"

"Can't tell you yet, not confirmed, but go on."

"I don't want to meet him or her. I'll be grateful for the DNA sample, sure, but I don't want to meet them."

"Your call, Tim. Thought you'd be happy to know you've got more family than your brothers and sister."

"I do have more family, Boss, I have all of you guys."

Gibbs gave him a look. "Know damn well what I meant, McGee. Blood relatives."

"Would have been happy if they'd been there when we really needed them, Boss. When Natalie hurt Patrick and me so badly we had to go to the hospital, were they there then? When I was in the hospital by myself, when I lost my father and brother, where were they then? After Natalie…" Tim stopped himself, anger welling up fast and furious.

"After she abandoned you, Tim?"

"Yeah. I was 9 years old, Boss, with casts on my legs, and a 3 year old to take care of, in a strange place no friends, no family. NINE. YEARS. OLD. Where the HELL were they?"

"Don't know, Tim. If I had known…" His youngest interrupted him, "Oh, I know, Boss, you would have just taken us in, no questions asked. You didn't even know us; you would have done it anyway."

"Yeah Tim, I would have. But this anger, Tim, there's so much going on with all this mess, you're going to need a way to get it out of you, to deal with it. Can't keep you sedated, son."

Tim looked at him, still smoldering and trying to gain control. Gibbs reached over and grabbed his shoulder. "Not saying you shouldn't feel angry or any other emotion, Tim, with all of it, even the parts I don't know yet. Just saying that with everything going on, you need to find a way to deal. For now. We'll help, all of us, you know we're there for you."

Tim bit his lower lip and turned his face to the window. "You can't possibly know, Boss, how much that means to me. That all of you have been helping me, by my side, making sure I eat and sleep, Ducky with the sedative yesterday. It means everything to me, don't want you to think I take any of that for granted."

"But you should be able to, Tim, it's what families do. If it was Sarah or Rob or…"Tim supplied, "Geordie", "Right, Geordie, you'd do the same, you have done the same. Look at how you stepped up for Sarah when she was in trouble."

"I know Boss, guess my point is, I'm used to being the one to step up, never had it done for me before. Not before Ziva, not before you."

Gibbs felt that tug in his gut, the one that said to buckle up and hang tight because what was coming was going to be a helluva ride. But Tim fell silent, having said what he needed to.

They reached the Yard and parked. Turning to Tim, Gibbs said, with one of his trademark smirks, "I'm going for coffee, want to come or catch up with Ziva and Tony if he's in yet?"

Tim gave him a half smile, "Think I'm gonna head upstairs and do just that, Boss, get caught up."

"Hold on, before you go, let me call Ziva and make sure Fornell and Sacks aren't lurking anywhere around. Don't want you anywhere near them and technically I'm supposed to be with you all the time."

Tim frowned at that, knowing it meant he was actually in Gibbs' custody; Gibbs pressed the contact button for Ziva. "Morning Ziva, Tim and I are in the parking garage, I'm going for coffee, wanted to check and make sure the coast is clear."

He paused as he listened, "Ok, we'll both go for coffee then, let Vance know and Ziva? Tim told me about you two, proud of you both; we'll talk about it later when this mess is cleaned up."

He turned to Tim, "Ziva said Security just alerted her that the Dynamic Duo are aboard the Yard, so you're with me. Damn, I didn't ask if Ms. Newell is here yet."

Tim pointed to the bright green car in the lot, "Looks like she is, Boss, that's her car."

"Ok, you're still coming with me, McGee; let her handle the morning greetings."

As they walked to Gibbs' coffee dealer, Tim said, "Wish the others could meet us somewhere, Boss, I feel like I don't know anything about what's happening, what anyone's found out."

"Because you don't know, Tim; we'll bring you up to date with what we can at lunch. Information should all be tied up with a big red bow by then. But we can bring them coffee, tea and treats, after all you never had a chance to eat that pastry yesterday."

"Ugh, yeah, actually hope Tony ate it! Good idea."

Just as the two exited the coffee shop with their order, Gibbs received a call from the Director.

"Gibbs, where are you? Commander Hubbard is coming onto MTAC in 5 minutes."

"We're on our way to the building, Leon."

"Security will escort Agent McGee straight to Autopsy; Dr. Mallard wants to check him out this morning. Agent Carter and Ms. Newell will collect him there."

"Geez, Leon, is all that really neces…"

"Yes, right now we have to play this strictly by the rules if we want to keep him out of the hands of the FBI."

Gibbs grumbled as he disconnected. Tim looked at him, "What? What am I going to be forced to go through now, Boss?"

With a sigh, Gibbs filled him in. "Ducky wants to see you in Autopsy. I'm needed in MTAC so someone from Security will escort you down there once we get in the building. Then Carter and Ms. Newell will meet you in Autopsy when you and Ducky are done and bring you to the conference room for today's fun."

For the second time in an hour, Tim's face got red with anger, "I'm not even allowed to move around NCIS without an escort? What happened to supporting me, to believing in me?" Tim's voice got quieter and more deliberate, by now he was nearly spitting his words.

Gibbs responded in a similarly clipped tone, "McGee! This may not seem like it, but this is supporting you, believing in you! I don't like it either, none of us do, son, but right now following strict protocol is the only way to keep you with us and out of their custody."

"It's not right, Boss, I was a kid, just a child when all this happened, I never did anything wrong, and everything I've been through, it just…sucks and I probably sound like a whiny little kid but it's .right."

"You don't sound like a whiny kid, Tim; you're a grown man who's already dealt with more than your fair share of hardship, now having to deal with this crap. Must feel like it's never-ending. You're allowed to be angry, hell, you should be angry! Be worried if you weren't. You've done a great job so far of holding yourself together,"

At Tim's eye roll, he continued, "Yeah, you needed some help yesterday, that's understandable. Not every day you're accused of being a mole and traitor. Tim,"

Gibbs stopped and pulled Tim off to the side with him, "Look at me! The person who's going to provide the DNA that matches you will be meeting with Vance and me this morning. Wherever he or she is, we can get that sample here within 36 hours. We have an independent lab standing by to test, so we won't have to worry about the FBI accusing us of "bias", or worry about them tainting the evidence. Vance contacted Abby and she gave him the name of a lab she trusts."

Gibbs paused to take a breath. He was not used to speaking this much at once. "You're one of the most patient people I've ever met, Tim, so you need to continue that. This morning you'll tell Fornell and Sacks about Bayopolis and yes, I'll be in there with you. And Ducky and probably Vance. Now c'mon, coffee's getting cold."

Tim closed his eyes, took in a deep breath and exhaled, slowly. When he nodded at Gibbs, they briskly resumed their walk to NCIS.

As promised, after they signed in, one of the Security agents went with Tim to Autopsy. Watching them walk away, Gibbs felt a chill running down his spine. As confident as he was in proving Tim's innocence, watching his own agent being escorted through the building made him angry, sad and a little frightened. They had to get this completely resolved or Tim's career would be over and his life irrevocably changed. There could be no unanswered questions, doubts or dangling threads.

Giving himself a shake, he turned to pick up his belongings and was met by the concerned warm eyes of Henry, his favorite Security guard, "He'll be all right, won't he, Gibbs? You'll figure it out so he won't look so heartbroken, right?" Gibbs just nodded at his old friend and continued on to MTAC.