Ducky's delivery of a heavier night-time brace meant a more peaceful night's sleep for Gibbs, even if he did check on McGee several times that night. The next morning the younger man was obviously restless, despite his movie outing with DiNozzo the day before. When he started making noises about going to the Yard, Gibbs decided a compromise was the best solution.

"You can review some cold cases today if Ducky is satisfied with your progress." Gibbs held a finger up before Tim could say anything. "You wear your sling, that hand does not touch your keyboard and you take plenty of breaks. That means you use the futon in Abby's office or the sofa in the break room. Is that understood?"

Tim nodded vigorously and Gibbs ruffled his hair as he laid down his last law. "You don't step out of the building without Tony or I with you. Not even if Abby tries to talk you into going for lunch. Deal?"

"Deal." No matter how often he heard everyone's assurances, Tim felt he needed to prove he could still do his job.

-NCIS-

Greta looked over the empty warehouse carefully as the real estate agent waited for her. It was perfect with no neighbors to notice her new life and all she had to do was distract the realtor enough to not ask for ID or do a credit check. Cash usually did the trick. "I'll take it. I hate to be disturbed while I create, so if you don't mind, I'd like to pay for the first six months in advance."

The building had been vacant for almost a year and Wilma Donaldson was thrilled to get the commission. "Six months in advance would be fine. If you'd like, I can get the utilities turned on this afternoon."

"That would be perfect, thank you." Greta handed over an envelope already filled with the required funds. The amazing thing about claiming to be an artist was that no one batted an eye at any strange requests. "Would it be all right to start moving in my props?"

"Of course. After all, I'm sure you'd like to get right to work."

"Oh, yes, I would."

-NCIS-

"Hey, look who's here." Tony grinned at McGee as the younger man followed Gibbs into the squad room. Ziva also looked up with a smile.

"Welcome back, McGee. It is not the same without you here."

"Thanks, guys." Blushing, Tim retreated behind his desk, marveling at all the get well cards piled up next to the keyboard. Unfortunately, Tony and Ziva had little progress to report on the search for Greta Rollins, but they eagerly returned to work while Gibbs went upstairs to brief the Director, Ducky at his heels.

Jenny was waiting for them. "Jethro, did I see that Agent McGee came in with you this morning?"

"Safest place for him to be until we catch that nutcase."

"Nutcase, yes, but do we have any evidence that she's after him? She could be in Mexico by now and living high on the hog with the money she took with her." The Director wasn't totally convinced by her own words, but she needed some sort of justification for the manhours spent already.

"You mean besides my gut?" Gibbs gave her a careful look. "Rollins has spent too much time and effort grooming McGee to take the place of her dead son. She won't walk away now."

"Just how much control does she have over him?"

"Not as much as she had. We're working our way through it."

"Since when did you become an expert in deprogramming?" When he gave her that look, she sighed and leaned forward on her desk, turning her attention to Dr. Mallard. "Seriously, Ducky, how is he? Is this something he can come back from? And I'm not just talking about physically."

"We have three separate issues to address with Timothy's recovery, Director Shepard. The injury to his wrist is healing well at this point, but his doctors cannot make a long term prognosis until they can remove the pins and he begins physical therapy. The drugs he was given are continuing to work their way out of his system, but again, this will take time and he will need the support of his friends as he rebuilds his self-worth."

"And this condition he has?"

Gibbs was determined to make it a non-issue. "He'll be fine, Jen. All he needed was to know that we consider him worth the bother, and for us to pay a little more attention to him."

"Pay more attention?"

"You remember the day you sent us out after one of the Frog's men? The camera was shot right off of McGee's head?"

"Yes." Jenny wasn't sure where he was going with it.

"He worked the rest of the day with a piece of shrapnel imbedded in his scalp and nobody noticed."

Jenny stared at him horrified. "My God."

"Yeah."

"Is it even safe for him to be out in the field with this condition?"

"Look at it this way, Jen. He's probably the only agent we've got that could suffer an injury like he did and still hang onto DiNozzo."

"Has Tony realized that?"

Gibbs thought back to the way his senior agent had been taking care of McGee. "Oh, yeah, he knows."

-NCIS-

Greta looked around, pleased. She'd managed to get everything she needed on Craigslist, right down to a man with a truck to deliver it. Table, chairs, sofa and a bed were all set up and ready. Now, she just had to make a run into the next town and buy the last few items that she didn't want the locals to see her with.

-NCIS-

Jenny still had her doubts, but she decided to focus on the case. "Any leads on Greta Rollins' whereabouts?"

"Nope. She's got enough cash to stay off the grid for a long time. No surviving family, no close friends."

Ducky took over from Gibbs. "For all intents and purposes, her entire life was her handicapped son and then when he died, she apparently transferred all that devotion to Timothy. When her obsession was discovered and she was denied access to him, she – well for lack of a better word – snapped." Ducky shook his head, a troubled look on his face. "I've been reviewing Tyler Rollins' medical records. It appears that he was a happy and healthy child until the age of four, when his parents divorced. From that point on, his health was in an almost constant decline. The only sign of improvement was during the summers when he was with his father. Unfortunately, the father died when the boy was nine. I have my suspicions about the young lad's medical problems and I'd hoped to confirm them by reviewing his autopsy findings. Unfortunately, Greta Rollins did not allow an autopsy to be performed on her son."

The Director already knew where this was going. "You want the body exhumed."

"Yes, I do. It may not help us locate Greta Rollins, but it may tell us exactly what she's capable of."

She was already on the phone with legal when the two men walked downstairs, quietly observing the activity in the squad room. Tim was typing one-handed on the computer as he ran searches for another team's cold case while Tony and Ziva both searched for clues in Greta's past. Just as Gibbs sat down, Abby arrived, demanding that McGee come down to work on the Mass Spec, which had shut down in the middle of a batch of tests.

Gibbs didn't give Tim a chance to feel guilty or pressured. "Get a technician to come work on it, Abby. McGee is on limited activity until he recovers."

"But Gibbs, I hate having strangers in the lab. It's just the wiring harness, he can fix that with just one arm. I'd even hand him the tools he needed." When he just glared at her, she stomped her foot before leaving. As soon as the elevator doors closed, Gibbs turned to McGee.

"Your health is more important than her getting her way."

Tim didn't say anything, but the slight smile on his face as he ducked his head down told what an impact Gibbs' words had on him.

After a slow and unproductive day, Gibbs called it quits at 1800. One look at McGee's tired face and he just shook his head at Tony, who understood. Sure enough, McGee was asleep in the car before they even left the Yard.

Parked in his own driveway, Gibbs woke McGee enough to get him moving under his own power. He was pretty sure the younger man wouldn't remember any of it, but he steered him to the bedroom and got him stripped down and into the bed. This time he shoved extra pillows behind McGee so that he wouldn't roll over onto his arm. After a bit of snuffling, Tim settled down with his uninjured hand tucked under his cheek and his injured arm laid out on a pillow.

Laughing softly at how young Tim looked, Gibbs brushed his hand over the almost blonde hair before tucking the blankets firmly in place, just like he used to do for Kelly, before retreating out to the kitchen. Gibbs stared at the steak in his fridge before grabbing the peanut butter instead. Once he'd finished eating, he made a second sandwich, poured a glass of apple juice and covered them both with plastic wrap before carrying them into the bedroom. Finally he left the door ajar and turned the hall light on before retreating to his own pile of blankets on the sofa.