Slightly later than I'd planned but here it is! This one's based a few hours after the end of Twisted Sister :) Enjoy, and thank you to everyone who has reviewed! I've tried to reply to most of them but also wanted to thank those who I may have missed or who reviewed as guests!
"You sure you're going to be alright?" He couldn't help checking again. It was his baby sister. And his baby sister had almost...
Don't think about it. It'll drive you crazy.
"I'll be fine Tim. Really."
She sounded sure. Still slightly shaken maybe, but that was expected. Still...
"You could always come and stay with me for a few days? I'll talk to the school; get them to excuse you from classes. I can take time off. It's..."
"Tim, I said I'll be fine! I'll call you if I need you."
He looked into her eyes, still stood just inside the door, reluctant to go. She rolled her eyes at him.
"Go! Ring Tommy and go out for a drink or something!"
He smiled even as he shook his head.
"It's Tony. And I don't think I'm his favourite person right now."
Her face seemed to fall minutely but she shrugged,
"He hasn't read it yet, maybe he'll change his mind."
"You don't know Tony."
She raised an eyebrow at him, the smile back,
"I read the book. From what I know of Tommy, he'll forgive you."
"Tommy maybe, Tony..."
She rolled her eyes at him,
"Tim, they're almost exactly alike!"
He gave a non-committal grunt, and shrugged.
"Call him!"
"Yeah... maybe... You're sure-"
"I'll be ok! And I promised I'd call if I needed to didn't I?"
"Call anyway." He insisted. "Even if you don't need to. Once a day, at least, from now on."
"Tim, I call you almost every day anyway!" She sounded exasperated, but he wasn't going to let this drop. She was his responsibility, his to take care of... and he had almost failed. That couldn't happen again.
"I just... I just need to know you're safe, alright?"
She stopped protesting and looked in his eyes for a moment, before nodding.
"Okay... Okay. Once a day."
He nodded, while something else occurred to him. He dug around in his pockets and pulled out a new phone, handing it over.
"Yours is still in evidence." He explained, "I transferred over all the contacts and photos."
She moved forward and hugged him, phone clasped in her hand, as her arms came around his neck.
"Thanks Tim."
He smiled at her as she backed off,
"What are big brothers for... but if you break it you're paying for a new one." He warned.
She nodded at him, and he continued,
"I've added a couple of extra contacts on there as well... just in case you can't get a hold of me."
"Who?" She looked at him questioningly, glancing down at the phone.
"You've got the main NCIS switchboard, Jim Nelson's mobile,..." He trailed off and she raised an eyebrow at him, knowing him too well.
"Who else?"
He sighed,
"And Tony's mobile. They're only for emergencies. Ok?"
She nodded, grinning,
"Of course."
"I'm serious!" He warned. "Remember who had access to all of your contacts and photos when getting you that phone."
Her smile dropped and she glared at him,
"You wouldn't!"
It was his turn to grin,
"I guess that's up to you, isn't it little sis?"
They looked at each other for a minute before laughing,
"Okay, I got it." She conceded, "Emergencies only."
"Alright then... well"
He was still reluctant to leave, and she rolled her eyes at him once more.
"Seriously Tim, I'll be fine. Get out of here!"
He pulled her into another hug, holding on tightly.
"Promise me you'll be careful?"
He felt her nod against his chest, and heard the muffled,
"Promise."
He smiled,
"And no more drinking!"
She pulled away and frowned at him,
"Come on Tim I'm a big girl!"
"You're also not legally old enough to drink. Plus you don't handle it well Sarah... I just don't want you getting hurt. If anything happened..."
He imagined all the crime scenes he'd been at, the victim's faces flashing through his mind being replaced by Sarah's. He shuddered, and felt vaguely ill. Blinking, he saw she was studying him, and he was about to say something else when she nodded.
"Alright... I promise."
He grinned and pulled her into another hug,
"Thank you." He kissed the top of her head before pulling away.
"Go on, get out of here." She smiled at him, and playfully shoved him towards the door.
"Alright! I'm going... remember to call me."
"Every day, I know!"
He smiled and shook his head as the door shut behind him. He took one last look at it before making his way out of the dorms and back towards his car.
The rest of the team had already left a while ago; he had stayed behind to be with Sarah.
He debated what to do as he walked. Whether he should head back into NCIS and write a report on what happened, or just go home and sleep, putting it all off until tomorrow.
He was startled out of his thoughts when his phone started ringing. He pulled it out and grinned when he saw the caller I.D.
"McGee."
"This is me just letting you know you've been gone for two minutes, and I'm surprisingly still fine."
He grinned and shook his head,
"Good to know."
He unlocked the car and opened the door as she continued talking,
"So are you going to take my advice?"
He slid into the car, and shut the door behind him. Not starting the engine just yet.
"What advice?"
"Call Tommy, or Lisa! Go out for a drink or something."
"Actually... I think I'm heading into the office, write up what happened."
There was a pause on the other end of the line,
"Face the music?"
He heard the regret in her tone and rushed to reassure her.
"It won't be anything too bad. Gibbs is on my side, I'm sure he's already taken care of most of it."
"You promise?"
"You met Gibbs right?"
He smiled as he heard the small laugh from the other end.
"Ok then... as long as you're sure."
"I'm sure, talk to you later?"
"Love you Tim."
He grinned fondly,
"Love you too."
He hung up and put his phone away. He only hesitated a moment before starting the car and pulling away.
He took a deep breath before stepping off of the elevator. Glancing around he saw the squad room was relatively empty and gave a small sigh of relief, making a beeline for his desk. Sitting down he started up his computer, putting his head in his hands as he waited.
"Sarah Okay McGee?"
Startled he looked up and nodded at Gibbs, who had somehow appeared standing in front of his desk.
"Yeah... Yeah, she's fine Boss."
Gibbs raised an eyebrow at him, obviously picking up on the uncertainty in his answer. He sighed and leaned back in his chair.
"She says she's fine," he gave a small smile, "Practically shoved me out the door. I offered to call her teachers, get her excused from classes, let her stay with me while I took some time off but..."
He trailed off and shrugged, trying to make the worry at least slightly less obvious. Judging by Gibbs' face he wasn't doing a very good job.
There was silence for a moment and he found himself glancing across to Gibbs' desk, where he could see the copy of Deep Six sitting. He wondered if Gibbs had actually read it, all of it. And what he had thought.
Looking back at the man in question, all he saw was a vaguely neutral expression, and he couldn't tell what he was thinking. Suddenly Gibbs began talking again,
"Director wants you up in her office McGee."
He nodded, wondering what she would have to say, and stood, moving out from behind his desk. He started walking when Gibbs' voice stopped him and he turned back to listen.
"She gives you any hassle, and you call me, understood?"
He nodded,
"Sure thing Boss."
Turning back around he made his way towards the stairs, wondering how long he would have to be in there for before Gibbs' curiosity, or need to protect his team would cause him to burst through the door.
Before he even realised he was outside of the Director's office, being offered a small smile by her assistant as he was waved straight through.
As the door clicked shut behind him, the director looked up from whatever she had been reading, and motioned to the chair opposite her.
"Sit Agent McGee."
Nodding, he moved forward and sat down where she indicated, waiting for her lead. She studied him closely for a moment before she shook her head.
"Have you got anything to say Agent McGee?"
He shook his head, wondering what she was looking for here.
"No ma'am."
She nodded as if that was what she had expected.
"It is my job to protect this Agency McGee."
"I understand that Ma'am."
She nodded to him, and he still couldn't tell what it was she was looking for here.
"Continue, Agent McGee. Say what it is you're thinking."
He wondered if he should. If it was worth it. Then he remembered his sister crying in his arms. Talking to Gibbs in that elevator. Him quitting his job. He could do this.
"Permission to speak freely Ma'am?"
She nodded to him again, remaining silent and face neutral.
"I love working for NCIS, I love what I do, and I believe in it. But if my sister were to need me like that again, I can't promise that you wouldn't have another day like today."
She offered him a smile, and he felt himself relax slightly,
"At least you didn't walk into any burning buildings."
Momentarily confused he frowned, before his expression cleared with understanding as he remembered that conversation all those months ago. She smiled at him again, shaking her head slightly.
"There will be no repercussions from your actions today Agent McGee. If I had a problem with your loyalty to people rather than the agency I would have reassigned you the day you vowed to take on flames for DiNozzo, or made it clear you would have questioned my decision had I not appointed him."
He raised an eyebrow minutely, sensing a 'but 'coming. She nodded once more,
"There will be conditions however. If a situation involving your sister that may impact the agency in any way occurs again, you are to make at least one member of agency personnel aware of the situation. "
He tried to suppress a smile as he answered,
"I think that is extremely fair Ma'am. And I'm sure it's fully doable."
She laughed then, the seriousness of the meeting seeming to melt away in an instant.
"Very well Agent McGee, you are dismissed. To be honest I had expected compa..."
She trailed off wiping the smile from her face as the doors burst open. Turning in his seat, he had to force down a laugh as Gibbs strode in through the doors, shutting them behind him.
"Agent Gibbs. I was just talking about you."
Seeming to ignore her he looked at McGee,
"You alright."
He nodded in answer,
"Fine Boss... we were just finishing." He looked to the Director for confirmation and she nodded. Standing and turning, he saw Gibbs looking between the two of them, obviously trying to judge what he had missed. He didn't think either of their carefully impassive faces were giving much away.
"Good bye Agent McGee."
He nodded in acknowledgement,
"Ma'am." He moved towards the door, Gibbs doing the same and he followed him out of the door.
He nodded to Cynthia as he passed and she gave him a small smile again. Gibbs was silent until they boarded the elevator, and Tim was hardly surprised when he reached forward and flipped the emergency switch after they had just begun moving.
"Everything alright McGee?"
Gibbs was studying him closely, obviously looking for any sign that he needed to go and sort things out. He offered a small smile,
"Everything's fine Boss."
He resisted the urge to fidget under the intense gaze Gibbs fixed him with, and barely managed not to sigh in relief as he gave a short nod and switched the elevator back on, apparently satisfied with what he saw.
They made the rest of the journey in silence. Once they were back to the squadroom, McGee made a beeline for his desk once more, sitting down and preparing to settle in to write his report.
"Go home McGee."
He looked up to see Gibbs standing in front of his desk once more. He shook his head,
"It's fine Boss, I can get this done..."
"That's an order McGee. The report can wait 'til tomorrow"
Realising he wasn't going to win this argument he reached to switch off his computer, before rolling his chair back slightly and standing up. Grabbing his bag from beside his desk he straightened up and nodded towards Gibbs, who had moved behind his own desk.
"Night Boss."
Not waiting for a reply he moved out of the bullpen and made his way over to the elevator. As he turned round and the doors closed, he thought he saw Gibbs pick up the book that was going to cause him so many problems in the near future and begin reading a page towards the end.
The doors closed fully and he shook his head, trying to suppress a groan as he wondered about what was going to be the fallout from this.