Chapter Nine
Since the Yard actually begins several feet outside the gate, Diopiti was aboard the Yard and could be legally apprehended by the MPs; and that happened very quickly. He was still threatening them with his 'family' connections when Carter's team arrived, put him in cuffs and hauled him back to NCIS. Being a very minor player in a minor family doesn't get you much and it didn't take long for Carter to break Stud Diopiti. When Stud heard how many years he'd be living in a federal prison for several counts of attacking federal agents, along with the bomb in Tim's hospital room and the explosive devices on the vehicles, physically threatening the children of a federal agent, kidnapping the child of a federal agent, placing tracking devices illegally, matching counts of conspiracy to commit said crimes, he didn't ask for a deal, swapping information for a reduced sentence. Not the Stud, no sir. He was such an idiot that he started babbling and ended up giving NCIS not only his connection to Gehob and his calling in of a favor from Diopiti to bring down a Fed, harass his family and his friends, but also several unsolved crimes.
Vance nearly licked his lips in glee when he heard that news, more than half of the previously unsolved crimes were FBI cases, so NCIS would be scooping the busts right out from under them. The rest belonged to various municipalities and he decided not to be greedy about them.
Diopiti finally remembered to call for a lawyer and when a slick well dressed guy eventually showed up, Carter met him at Security and expressed surprise to the man, telling him he'd expected the Public Defender since the crimes with which Diopiti was being charged were his alone, didn't involve anyone else but the two thugs already in jail and he hadn't supposed the suspect could afford such a well heeled lawyer. The attorney, eyes gleaming, stopped to make a phone call and then left the Yard, never to be seen again. When told of this Diopiti's eyes nearly popped out of his head; he realized he was now on his own without the backing of his 'family'. In fact, he might be in worse trouble with them than with the law if they found out how much he'd done on his own and worse, how much he'd spilled. In the meantime, a Public Defender showed up, the same one Gibbs had seen in the courtroom yesterday and sat in with her newest client. Funnily enough, she didn't seem very surprised when told her client's name.
XXX
While the bust and interrogation he'd helped to initiate were going on, Tim's four hours had flown by; Gibbs had called and requested an additional 90 minutes for him, wanting him to be able to watch the interrogation, but the doctor declined and he reluctantly returned to the hospital.
His reward for being a good patient was the doctor's permission to speak following the conditions she had laid out previously. The doctor was surprised and a little exasperated to see he wasn't very excited about that and turned to Dad Gibbs who had returned to the hospital with him. "Why isn't he excited, Jethro?"
Gibbs gave a sad smile, "Ask him, Barbara, you just told him he could speak."
"Fine, Timothy, why aren't you excited?"
"Because I had to leave in the middle of a huge bust, one I helped find the information for, I didn't even get to watch the Interrogation or celebrate with the others."
"And this is that important to you?"
Gibbs stepped back…uh oh, watch out, Dr. Bwookie.
Tim, as his father expected, let it all out, although he did manage to keep to whispers.
"This is what I do, this is who I am, why I do, why all of us do what we do. And you said no to Dad, he tried to explain it to you but you didn't listen, I was right there. He'd given you his word so there was no choice but to come back. I would have just been sitting in a chair, watching, listening to what I worked to get, organized over 70 searches on 12 different computers to get. To save our friend and our family. But you benched me, for 90 freaking' minutes and to prove your point to who, Dad, me? You benched me."
Pushing past the doctor and his father, he crossed to the bathroom and closed the door and they heard the sounds of water running.
The doctor looked at Gibbs, her mouth open. He shook his head, "You blew it, Doctor." She turned and left while he waited for his son to be through with his shower. Tim didn't lose his temper often, but when he did, he did it well. They'd all been under a lot of stress with all this happening and Tim had chafed at not being able to help but the doctor, while somewhat sympathetic, hadn't seemed to understand. Sure, her co-workers had been scared witless when they'd been evacuated, not for a drill but for a real bomb on Saturday, but she hadn't been there and apparently didn't pay much attention to what else was going on. She'd been told of Sarah and Rob's ordeal, had even spoken to Gibbs about it and had been impressed by Vance's call nearly begging for Tim's help. But she still hadn't gotten it. Gibbs shook his head, he'd felt badly for Tim, he still did. When he heard the water stop running, he knocked, "Hey kiddo, let me help."
"Come on in Dad, you didn't have to ask."
"Just wanted to give you some privacy son."
"I appreciate that Dad, I …I'm still pissed!" This last was said in a tone of wonderment at his temper still flaring.
"Yeah, you have a right to be, son. Been thinking about all the things we've told her, all the things she's seen, even the questions she's asked and seems like she just didn't get it."
Gibbs reached out to help his son, but Tim resisted. "Hang on Dad, I want to try and do this on my own, well mostly on my own, I want to get the hell out of here and go home, soon as I can and improving my balance will help."
"Ok, son, I'm not leaving you alone though."
Tim grinned, his anger melting with his dad's support. "I know Poppy."
"That's better, Timiny. There will be other busts and Fornell didn't get to see or hear it either."
"Yeah, that's right."
"Maybe we can convince Vance to let us watch the footage."
"Uh, we don't need to do that."
"You can hack it?"
"The footage is actually legally available to any active agent."
"Legal won't come down on us?"
"Shouldn't, it's in the regulations. We just have to have a reason and I'm sure we can come up with something other than 'my mean ol' doctor wouldn't let me'."
"Ok, you want to wait until we get Tobias back or watch twice."
He got a glare for that one, "Ok, watch twice. You have that glare down very well, son of mine. So proud of you." He kissed his son's head.
"Proud of me for glaring?"
"Well yeah that too, but I meant your work. Now, do you want to walk for awhile, or get back in bed?"
"Walk, I never felt less like getting in bed."
"Adrenaline's still flowing, huh?" Tim nodded as they left the room with one of the agents. There was a roof garden one floor up and they were headed there. The weather was perfect for Tim to have a brief walk, letting him release some of his frustration and anger.
Gibbs smiled to himself, he'd kept Sarah, Rob and Geordie's planned lunchtime visit a secret. He'd arranged for them and their escorting agent to stop at their favorite deli where their order would be ready for takeout. He would stay for lunch and then head back to the office, leaving the four to have some time together. Ziva had also been invited but had declined, wanting to catch up with work. He snuck a look at his watch, they should just be arriving.
Both agents on the day shift of the protection detail had been briefed and the agent now with them had to bite back a smile at Gibbs' impatience. He'd never worked much with him but as with everyone else had heard the stories over the years.
Working with the man to protect his family had shown him an entirely different person than he'd been led to believe. Or he'd changed, who knew. He had been surprised to find that Tim McGee was really Tim Gibbs and that this was a fairly new thing. He was also surprised at how affectionate father, son and the one brother he'd met were with each other. It gave him a good feeling as he'd always had a close relationship with his father but knew a lot of guys who'd never kiss their fathers, not even in private. He was looking forward to meeting the other siblings and hoping McGee would be happily excited.
He had never witnessed an angry Tim McGee before today and was quite impressed. He knew how hard and long McGee worked at his electronic wizardry as it was commonly referred to at Headquarters. Tim had used computers near his own team's bullpen before to further his searches, so he understood a bit about the frustration Tim must have been feeling today.
After a few minutes, Tim found a bench and sat, "I think I've had enough, Dad, got it all out of me, give me a minute and then we can go back to the room."
"Sounds good to me, son." Gibbs glanced at their agent, who seemed to have just picked up something on his earwig. He gave a subtle nod to Gibbs and when Tim was ready, they headed back down. Tim was smiling, he knew there was another surprise in store for him, but he wasn't sure what. He was starting to really love surprises.
He entered the room slowly and was greeted by his brothers and sister who gave him gentle and warm hugs.
"Timmy, you're walking more, that's awesome! I hear you can talk now too."
"I can whisper, Sarah, feels great. So happy to see you guys."
Rob's grin threatened to split his face, "Yeah, feels like a lot longer than two days, Bro. I love hearing your voice again, really missed it." Geordie and Tim just grinned at each other, having seen each other very early this morning.
Then Tim noticed the bags, "Real food?"
"Yep, from our favorite deli, Tim."
"Wow, thanks guys, thanks Dad."
"We better eat it before the doctor comes in to inspect what you're eating."
"I don't think that'll be a problem today, Rob."
"Why? Uh oh, what happened?"
"Tim, you want to tell them?"
Tim replied, "You tell them, Dad, too long a story for my voice."
"Ok, you know Tim's been at the office for a few hours yesterday and today. He broke the case, found the connections and the evidence we need, we arrested the guy in the mob and we're closing in on the other person." Gibbs signed Gehob's name and the others nodded. "We brought the mob guy in this morning just as Tim's four hour work allowance was running out. I called Dr. Bwookie and explained to her, asked her for an additional 90 minutes; told her Tim would be sitting down, just watching. She declined, said his time was up, Tim needed to return. I'd given my word, so had Tim, so we dragged ourselves away."
Tim added, "I helped identify this guy, tracked him, dug out the evidence and didn't get to even see the interrogation."
Sarah said, "And that's a big deal, right, I remember mine with Gibbs."
"Yeah it is a big deal. When we got back and the doctor came in to check on Tim and told him he could whisper, she was a little upset that he wasn't more excited. And Tim let it out; he did a fine job of telling her how he felt, what she'd caused him to miss when he already knew he could whisper. Wish I had it recorded, it was great."
"Wow, wish I'd heard it too." The agent in the room cleared his throat and they all looked at him. He motioned Gibbs over and quietly told him he had a great memory and thought he could actually recite Tim's comments to the doctor. Grinning, Gibbs gave him the go ahead and the agent repeated Tim's words, although not in a whisper, even emphasizing the same words he had. Tim blushed listening to the words; yeah he'd been really ticked. When the agent finished, Tim thanked him and then asked him not to repeat that to anyone else. The man promised and Tim dismissed it from his mind.
The group grabbed their lunches and settled in around the room, sitting on Tim's bed, the chair and joining Tim on the small sofa. They enjoyed their lunch but more to the point they enjoyed each other's company. Gibbs finished his sandwich and then sat, relaxing with his kids. Despite having seen them at the barbecue the previous evening, he realized he'd missed being with them, the four of them. Idly he wondered how they'd do with that once the case was closed, Tim was out of the hospital and everyone but Geordie had moved back to their respective homes. It hadn't been that long, but with everything that had happened it was a stretch to think back to their lives after Svetlana but before the bridge disintegrated under Tim. He gave thanks again that his son's injuries had not been any worse than they were. Sarah, noticing the introspective look on her dad's face, sat next to him and took his hand. "Penny for them."
"Huh, ah just thinking, Sweet Pea, enjoying all of us together here. So you and Rob going back to work and school today?"
"Yep, Dad, I've got a class at 4, lab at 6 and then I'm going to work a double."
"Busy schedule son, hope you've had plenty of rest!"
Rob laughed, "No worry about that, I've had nothing but rest the last couple of days."
"And how about you, Miss Sarah?"
"I'll drop Rob off at school on my way to work, Dad, be home before midnight."
"And both of you will have an agent with you."
His two youngest chorused, "Yes Dad." He smiled. "We'll get this wrapped up soon, but not letting you, any of you, go without a protection detail until we have everyone involved behind bars."
Geordie spoke, "I don't think that's a problem Dad, not after what happened over the weekend."
Gibbs nodded, "Now, tell me about Damon, how'd his job interview go? I haven't had a chance to talk with him or see Elaine."
"He got a call right before we left, he got the job. He starts on Friday, on the early morning shift." Geordie paused, "Is it ok if he stays until he's on his feet, Dad? At least through this week?"
Gibbs laughed and ruffled Geordie's hair, "He can stay as long as he needs to, Geo, long as he's clean."
While his father and brother were talking, Rob had been thinking about everyone involved in keeping his entire family safe. "We should have a party when this is over, you know, to thank everyone that's been guarding and helping us."
Gibbs opened his mouth to say they had all just been doing their jobs, then thought about it and nodded, "You're right, Doc, we should do that. Why don't you start planning it? We can have it at the house if you'd like."
Tim smiling, added, "Rob, you could make it a celebration for Fornell and include everyone involved." Gibbs nodded in agreement. He stayed with his family a little longer than he'd planned but finally forced himself to walk out of the room and make the drive to work.
XXX
For NCIS, the rest of Tuesday was happily uneventful. Progress was made in Fornell's case, Vance made sure any warrants for the case did not involve the FBI. They had the mob guy in NCIS custody and the authorities holding his two thugs for trial were quietly informed that the prisoners had been involved in a larger case and additional charges would be filed against them. Between Carter, Vance and Gibbs, they had enough contacts in enough places to keep things away from FBI ears and keep the case moving toward Gehob's takedown.
Vance requested another four hours of Tim's time on Wednesday, only to be told he could have 6 hours, as long as Drs. Mallard and Palmer kept an eye on him and he had several breaks. Vance blinked, not having been told of the problem between doctor and patient. For a split second he thought to ask but then wisely decided to just graciously accept an extra two hours of McGee's time. When he mentioned it to Gibbs, the man's lips tightened and he nodded. Vance walked away, now sure something had happened. Thinking about it further, he decided to approach his Medical Examiners, see if they had anything insight.
Ducky had had a rather long conversation with Dr. Bwookie and was discussing it with Jimmy when the Director walked into Autopsy. Since they both had their backs to him, he gently cleared his throat. Ducky turned, "Ah, Director Vance, Dr. Palmer and I were just saying we should call you."
"Is there a problem, Doctors?" He looked again, that looked awfully like a smirk on Dr. Palmer's face. Vance raised his eyebrows, letting them know he wanted an answer.
Jimmy replied, "Not any more, sir." Ducky sighed and tried not to roll his eyes at his colleague's reply.
"It seems our patient showed a bit of temper with his doctor earlier and the consequences are that he's allowed the additional two hours tomorrow."
"Any idea what caused the problem, Dr. Mallard...did you just say that Timothy McGee lost his temper?"
"Yes I did, Director, it is a rare occurrence, but it does happen."
"Would you be breaching patient-doctor confidentiality by telling me what happened?"
Jimmy spoke up, "T, uh Agent DiNozzo told me, so it's not confidential and it doesn't concern Tim's injuries, although I'm surprised Agent Gibbs hasn't said anything."
"When I told him about the extra two hours, he just nodded, looked a bit angry but didn't say anything."
Jimmy nodded and then told Vance the story of Gibbs' request to the doctor for an additional hour, her denial and what had followed at the hospital.
Vance nodded, "I felt bad for him when I realized he'd missed seeing the results of his work, especially under the circumstances. He can use part of his time tomorrow to watch the recording, I'll let him know."
"Thank you Director; I'm sure that will certainly ease the doctor's feelings of guilt, although she was doing her job watching out for her patient, perhaps hadn't quite understood the importance of his work and our jobs. He was apparently quite eloquent about that and her denial."
"Good for him, Dr. Mallard, glad he spoke up for himself…or at least signed."
Jimmy grinned, "Oh no she had just told him he could talk, but he already knew that. He let loose with his voice, but Agent DiNozzo said Agent Gibbs said he kept it to a whisper. Gibbs and the agent with them took him outside for a walk after so he'd cool down."
"Seems he's more like his father than we thought! Thanks for the information, I'll text him now." Vance turned and left chuckling to himself. He would have loved to have heard that, Tim McGee losing his temper, telling someone off. For some reason, that made the Director of NCIS feel better about the case and the events of the past months, knowing the inner strength and determination, yes even the tempers of his agents. He texted Tim to let him know he had 6 hours on Wednesday and that he would have the recording of Stud Diopiti's interrogation cued up and ready for him to watch. He got back a text thanking him for his thoughtfulness. He smiled; yes Agent McGee had a temper; however he was still the usually polite young man he'd always been.
Ziva and Gibbs split the night shift between them on Tuesday along with the protection detail, of course, and again there were no problems. Ziva worried that Gehob would find out that Diopiti and both his henchmen were in custody and find another way to strike back. Gibbs and DiNozzo had already had a conversation about that and Agent O'Brien was consulted. He reported that he had already spoken to everyone, put out the word not to let down their guard, that one of the dirtbags was still on the loose and might have other 'friends' to help him. Every vehicle any of them used was searched any time it was left unguarded. Tim's room, Ducky and Gibbs' homes were searched twice a day. The agents protecting Sarah and Rob and the Hubbards were especially observant, since they were, for all intents and purposes, the 'civilians' in the group. Callum and Ainsley had not been very happy about someone watching them, but once they learned Sarah and Rob, their new idols, also had guards, they accepted it. Claire, having been a Navy wife for many years, just went with the flow, trusting NCIS to fix the problem.
Tim woke before his dad Wednesday morning, excited and a bit nervous about going into work again; determined to find everything he could about S.A. Gehob. His orders, his memos, anything he'd put in writing about either Fornell or his connection with the Bomlundering family. They had the story, they knew what had happened, but Tim wanted to back that up with as much electronic and physical evidence as possible. He'd already determined through his work and knowing what the man had done to Fornell that Gehob was an arrogant bastard. Tim stopped to wonder if the ADD had any leverage over anyone else, say in the FBI hierarchy. Probably not, he would have moved sooner than this.
Tim slowly got out of bed, his dad still asleep on the sofa and quietly padded down to the staff lounge to get some halfway decent coffee for them. The doctor had finally released the coffee restriction and Tim had tried not to immediately resume his regular habits, at least not until after his discharge. He mixed some decaf in with his coffee so he could have the real stuff later at the office. He returned to his room with the two cups only to find Dr. Bwookie in there waiting for him. His dad was awake and reached for the coffee with a smile. "You're a good son, Timomine."
"Yeah, Dad, would you say that if I forgot your coffee?"
His dad pretended to think, "Uh, yeah, I'm …sure I would son, sure I would."
They both laughed. The doctor just watched the two of them. Tim turned to the doctor, "I understand you've given me permission for 6 hours today, Doctor. Thank you, I'll certainly put the time to good use so my family and our friends can get back to their normal lives."
"Tim, I'm sorry about yesterday, I didn't understand…"
"No reason you should, Doctor, unless someone tries to tell you of course. I understand you were just doing your job. So was I."
"Yes and I wasn't listening well when your father called, because he said nearly the same things you did. I do apologize, I was distracted."
Tim nodded, "Apology accepted." and moved to the closet to get the clothes he'd been wearing to work.
Behind him, the doctor said something in a low voice to his dad; all Tim heard was his dad's reply, "My kids come first."
He had a sinking feeling this was the end of "Barbara and Jethro" and made a mental note to talk to his dad about it when they got to the office as there would be no privacy in the car. It didn't seem fair to blame everything on the doctor when his dad had been flirting with her as much as she with him. He shook it off, they'd talk later.
He was managing to get himself dressed much easier now, although whoever was there with him in the morning still had to help him with socks. Dad had solved the shoe problem by bringing in a pair of slip-ons for him to wear. They wouldn't work out in the field, but that was months away. He still had more Physical Therapy ahead of him and then he'd have to re-qualify, plus have a psych evaluation.
For now, he would be happy with being allowed to work at all. He finished dressing and then came back into the room to find the breakfast trays had been delivered. In his rush to get to the office, he'd forgotten about breakfast. His dad was already eating, he just pointed to the chair and table where Tim's breakfast sat. He lowered himself carefully as this chair wasn't very comfortable and then noticed that the wheelchair he'd use at NCIS was already in the room. He got up, deciding to sit in that while he ate, and had his hands on the handles to push it over to the table when a big calloused hand clamped down on his own.
"Forgetting something son?"
"Um…yeah, not supposed to push anything."
"Or pull. You want to sit in this, go ahead, I'll wheel you over." Tim resisted making a face; he really didn't want to start out the morning with a headslap.
"Thanks Dad." He gave a chagrined look and his dad smiled, ruffling his hair.
"Got to take care, kiddo, want you out of here so I can spoil you all I want at home."
"Ho…oh I hadn't thought about that yet. Where is everyone sleeping? "
"Don't worry, your sister and brothers have it all worked out. You'll see when you get there."
Tim smiled, that was only two days away. He ate his breakfast, cleaned up and was ready to go. He started to walk out the door, then turned, "Oops, forgot again. Geez."
Gibbs smirked, pulling the chair around. "Your chariot awaits, Timiny."
"I know I'm really lucky the doctor's letting me go to work at all, but I'll sure be glad when I don't have to use the chair." Gibbs let go of one handle to squeeze the back of his neck affectionately, "Me too, son, me too."
The car search was clean and the ride to the Navy Yard went smoothly. Tim had already texted Ziva telling her they were on their way. Following the routine from the previous day, she'd boot up Tim's desktop computer and laptop, so he wouldn't have to wait for that when he got in, could get straight to work. She and Tony hadn't had much to do in this case although Carter had allowed them to help a bit and of course helping get Fornell to safety last week; in any event she was happy to help in this small way.
