Monday morning seemed to return things to normal for Tim, although he still worried about Ziva, Tony and Abby and what their reaction would be to Ducky's upcoming retirement. He couldn't help but feel better about it now that Gibbs knew. It was especially uplifting to realize that he hadn't had to keep the secret from him for more than 24 hours and that the man didn't seem to be upset with him about anything today. Keeping it from the rest of the team was bad enough, though and he prayed that they would forgive him – if they found out he knew ahead of time. Tim scoffed. Who was he kidding; of course they'd find out. He had the worst poker face on the planet and he knew it. He was so dead!

Surprisingly enough, when lunchtime rolled around, no one had spoken a word of Ducky's retirement, but Gibbs had been quick to send Tim on the lunch run for everyone else. Without any fuss or hesitation the young man headed out, grateful for the chance to get some fresh air and to get away from that ticking time bomb that had been transferred from Gibbs' to Tony.

When he arrived back in the squad room some thirty minutes later, toting two bags of hot sandwiches, it was immediately obvious that something had happened. A sorrowful glance from Ziva and an angry one from Tony speared him so sharply, he instantly began to feel afraid that something horrible had happened to someone close to them while he'd been gone. The tense silence filled the air, warding off any attempt at discussion and it remained in place until it was disrupted by none other than the Team Leader himself.

"Hey! Knock it off! Don't make me get Ducky back up here to have to repeat himself!" The warning was unmistakable

"What's going on?" Tim finally felt safe enough to ask, his voice chock full of genuine concern.

"It would seem that Ducky has decided to leave us." Ziva told him sadly, her eyes not even hiding her sorrow about the idea of him no longer working with them.

"Yeah. The kicker of it is, we only get to keep him for another month while he trains his replacement." Tony groused like a bear with a sore paw. "Not that he would even tell us who that is."

"Month?" Tim asked before he could stop himself. "He's postp…?"

"Postponing? That's right! You already knew! What the hell's up with that, Probie?" Tony demanded angrily. "How the hell could you know about something like that and not tell us?"

"Oh, I don't know, maybe I didn't have a choice? You ever think of that possibility?"

"That's a no –account excuse and you know it!" Tony ranted in full Senior Field Agent mode.

"Tony!" Ziva exclaimed. "Why must you treat McGee as though he were the bad person here?"

"Because, Zee-vah! McSecret here seems to think its okay to withhold key information from the rest of his team, that's why!" Tony retorted. " There is no "I" in team, remember?"

Tim squared his shoulders and blew out a breath of frustration but before he could say anything, Ziva was again coming to his defense. "Tony, Ducky has already explained to us why it is that McGee knew before we did, yes?"

"Yup." Tony's tone left no doubt he wasn't anywhere near ready to let Tim off the hook, regardless.

"And yet, you insist on ignoring Ducky's request that we not treat McGee as if he has done something wrong in keeping his confidence."

"That's because we're a team, Da'vid. We don't keep secrets like this from each other!"

"So, then all those months you spent living a secret life, carrying two cell phones, sneaking away for hours at a time without explanations, lying to us, and talking down to us when we admitted that we were worried about you were what, DiNozzo; NOT keeping secrets from your team?" Tim asked dryly, his eyes glittering with anger.

"NO! That was different and you know it!" Tony bit out angrily, his eyes flashing as if preparing for a showdown.

"No, Tony, That's the point. It's notdifferent. You were under direct orders to keep your secrets, even if that meant lying to your team and I was keeping Ducky's confidence just like he asked me to." Tim shot back heatedly. "No difference. If you see one, then we have a serious problem and it's not me." Snatching up his coffee cup, Tim headed out of the squad room, leaving a speechless Tony behind.

Tony sighed heavily and hung his head; a sure sign that he knew he was in the wrong. Almost immediately, his head popped back up. "Probie!" He called out before Tim had completely disappeared from sight.

Heaving out a deep sigh of discontent, Tim stopped in his tracks and looked across the room at the Senior Field Agent. "What is it now, DiNozzo?"

"You're right, Probie. Look, Man, I'm sorry. It's just...it's just that Ducky's always been here and he's family, ya know and this job will never be the same without him." Tony's tone reflected his genuine emotion he wasn't hiding at this point.

Tim sighed again, this time in shared sadness and sympathy. Retracing his steps until he came to a stop at his desk, he finally replied. "I know Tony. I feel the same way."

"I know you do. That's why I shouldn't be taking it out on you. It's just the fact that he's going hurts like hell and…."

"And I was your easiest target. I get it, Tony." Tim replied almost conversationally as he turned to walk behind his desk, put his cup down and log into his computer. Typing for a minute, he logged back off and turned back to Tony.

"Yeah, man. I'm sorry." Tony replied as he watched his teammate type.

"Sign of Weakness." Tim threw back at him in hopes of getting things back on an even keel. Picking his cup back up, he headed back out of the squad room. "I'm going for coffee if Gibbs asks where I am."

"What?" Tony asked as he turned towards the glare he felt emanating at him from across the room.

"You know what, Tony. You went too far and, yes, you did apologize, but McGee did not deserve that."

It was at this point that a silent Team Leader returned to the squad room, having just crossed paths with his agitated youngest agent as Tim had reached the edge of the squad room beyond the room dividers. Gibbs had heard the exchange and it literally felt like a punch to the gut; especially on the heels of the conversation he overheard between Tim and Ducky.

"...When Vance sent me down to the sub-basement, he gave me a gag order along with the case assignment…Gibbs never forgave me for keeping that from him, Ducky, even though I was following orders to keep my mouth shut. I know it because he never said a word to me when Vance sent me back upstairs to the team again; not even to welcome me back, like he did so openly with Tony and Ziva. On top of that, there've been countless times since then that made it obvious he clearly still doesn't trust me – at least not near as much as he trusts Tony and Ziva."

"The thing is, I know he forgave Tony for all the secret disappearances and lies back when he was on that under-cover op for Director Shepherd that almost got him killed because Tony told me he was grateful to have Gibbs' forgiveness and understanding about it.. It's just me he can't forgive for keeping things from him."

Frowning now, he had to ask himself how he could have missed so much underlying misconception and entrenched belief. One thing was for certain, this was something he needed to fix and soon. His team was at risk of splintering and the long festering root was long overdue for some serious pruning so the truth could be recognized and allowed to cultivate in its' place.

Unfortunately, Gibbs' phone rang before he could even reach his desk, calling him up to MTAC. Frowning at that unpleasant development, he issued the instructions he already knew his team would follow to the letter, even if there were moments of goofing off along the way. With a deep breath, he mentally recalled that this would leave his team open for further spats and maybe even a confrontation over this situation with Ducky. Stopping in his tracks, he turned and faced his Senior Field Agent.

"DiNozzo!"

"Yeah, Boss?"

"Evidence Locker. Verify every piece of evidence we've logged in for the last six months and make sure nothing's missin' and every single piece was signed for."

"Boss! Are you serious?" Tony asked in shock. "That could take days!"

"It's either that or cold cases without any goofing off. Take your pick."

"I'll take cold cases, Boss." Tony grudgingly admitted.

Gibbs nodded and pulled out his phone as he turned around to move on once more. "McGee. Got a job for ya…"

***NCIS****

The rest of the day passed with an aire of cool tolerance in the squad room and the lack of a new case did little to ease the problem. Nothing else was said on the matter, by either Tony or Ziva. In fact, nothing else was said at all while the cold casework continued with mostly quiet reading and finger tapping on keyboards when searches for information became necessary as they continued to work their way through facts and research for their cases without Tim's help or even his presence in the squad room

With a carbon copy of the Evidence Locker Logs from the past six months, Tim spent the rest of the day doing as he'd been assigned to do. He was actually grateful for the escape from the squad room and from having to listen to Tony's endless movie trivia – or worse, argue with him about their earlier point of contention. He'd felt bad enough about keeping Ducky's decision from the team, he damn sure didn't need Tony raking him over the coals for it. He wasn't even sure he believed that Tony's apology was sincere, but he'd accept it in the vein it was offered. That didn't stop him from hoping and praying that this meant there'd be no more fallout from it - at least from his team. After all, they still had Abby to contend with when she got back from her vacation later today.

He still couldn't believe he'd been so lucky as to not have to answer calls she hadn't made or emails she hadn't sent. Then again, Abby's focus had most likely been on her family. No one could blame her if her attention hadn't shifted to her NCIS family this time. In fact, Tim was relieved although he wasn't looking forward to seeing how Ducky's impending retirement was going to hit her. She would be heartbroken, that was for sure.

Oh, God, who was picking her up from the airport? Who would have to tell her the news?Tim's mind wouldn't stop thinking about it now that it had come across the thought. Letting the Evidence Locker Clerk know he'd be back in a few minutes, Tim took himself off to an empty corner of the garage and pulled out his cell phone.

"Ducky?"

"Yes, Timothy? Is something wrong?"

"Abby's due back today."

"Yes, dear boy. I am well aware of Abigail's pending return. I will be meeting her plane at three this afternoon, don't you remember?."

"Oh. Right. Do you want me to drive you?"

"No, Timothy, I do believe this is something I must handle alone."

"You're telling her about your plans tonight." Tim observed quietly.

"Yes, dear boy. But then again, that was why you were calling, was it not?" Ducky chuckled softly. "So that I would alleviate this burden from your shoulders."

"Okay. You got me." Tim admitted with a quiet laugh.

"Relax, Timothy. I understand and I would not expect you to fill my shoes in this matter, even for a moment."

"I appreciate that. Thank you. I'm sorry, but I have to get back to work."

"Very well. I do appreciate your checking on the situation, Timothy. Do try to relax tonight, won't you? Abigail will be keeping me company for dinner and there is nothing to worry about."

"Thank you, Ducky." Tim shut his phone, stuffed it back into his pocket with a sigh of relief and got back to work. Thinking of the email he'd sent before coming down here to work in the Evidence Locker, he couldn't help but laugh out loud. He could just picture what was going on in Tony's head when he got that one!

Tony:
I thought you kept up with the times
I guess not when you're still saying there's no "I" in TEAM.
Obviously you haven't heard the latest news on the word.
Seems someone found the missing 'I' just yesterday – when they came across the word written in block letters.

Write it out in block letters and let me know when you've found it, will ya?

McGee

Reminding himself that Ducky hadn't had any further health scares and that everything was okay with his own healing body as well, Tim got back to work in the Evidence Locker, feeling better about things than he had in weeks. It wasn't long before he was immersed in the task, all other thoughts no longer front and center on his mind.

*****NCIS****

As Abby and Ducky settled into the car, once they'd retrieved her luggage, the nervous silence from Ducky seemed to ping on Abby's radar. But, for now, she decided to ask all the other pertinent questions. "So, how's the family? Did everyone miss me?"

"As a matter of fact, we did. We were all quite surprised that none of us have heard from you while you were gone. However, rather than be upset about it, they chose to accept that your family was your top priority and that your focus would be there."

"I do feel badly about not staying in touch, Ducky. But, I knew they'd understand. So tell me, what did I miss? No one got hurt did they?"

"No one was injured. Although they had a case or two, nothing serious occurred and certainly nothing one would write home about, as the expression suggests." Ducky replied with a twinkle in his eye. "Shall we get an early dinner?"

"I thought you didn't eat out?"

"Not often enough to consider it with any regularity. However, once in a while with a beautiful woman or with the members of Jethro's team is quite pleasant enough that I enjoy the occasion."

"That would be nice. I'm really hungry." Abby's answer was surprisingly subdued, leaving the older man to ponder if she had something that was bothering her.

"Is everything alright, Abigail?" Ducky asked her as they parked at a nearby diner.

Surprisingly enough, Abby was silent while they walked inside and were seated by the waitress. In fact, it wasn't until they were brought their glasses of water that Abby finally answered, wrapping both her hands around the stem of her glass as she did so. "Everything's fine, why are you asking?"

"You seem…subdued. And it rarely takes you this long to answer a question." Ducky's eyes were on her as they watched for clues as to what was going on with her.

Raising her eyes up off the table, Abby met the M.E.'s gaze and let him in on what was going on in her head. "Actually, I think I should be asking you that question. There's something you're not telling me, isn't there, Ducky?"

Letting out a deep sigh, Ducky nodded. "Yes, my dear. There is…."