Chapter 10
Notes: Chronology changes: Gibbs married Shannon in 1982 and they had Kelly the same year, not in 1984. Shannon and Kelly died in February 1987.
In this story, Tim is born in May 1981, instead of 1977. He's four years younger.
The story starts in the timeline of season four, before "Cover Story" Episode, so in 2007.
N/A: Fourth part of the "Cover Story Arc" Tim is so very angry in this one… and so very ready to blow. Warning: I cannot stand Abby. There, I said it.
N/A #: Thanks to my beta jerseybelle for her work.
-Flash back-
Tim sighed in relief when Landon was finally cuffed and being led out of the room by Tony and Ziva. The feeling of dread that had settled inside of his heart since this whole mess started didn't lessen though and the young man wasn't really surprised. His book had been the instrument of two murders. Two good men died because of it. Because of him.
Tim remembered the numerous endless nights he spent writing "Deep Six", how each chapter had been a cause of joy as much as a cause of labor, how cathartic it has been to create an entire universe from in own life, how proud, joyful and bewildered he had been when the success came after the publication. Tim had been a writer since he was seventeen, but becoming an author was making him so happy and proud of himself. It was a feeling he hadn't had for a long time.
But now everything had been tainted and tarnished by Landon Grey. Tim felt violated, dirty and shameful that one of the best things he had in life, something he produced, had been used to perpetrate such evil acts.
But Landon Grey hadn't been the only one to make him feel shameful and guilty. Since Tim had connected the first murder to his book, the team's behavior towards him had been unbearable. The cutting remarks, the dark looks, the silence, the ignoring, the threats, the shoves… God, Tim had barely been able to take it all without giving it back forcibly but the guilt card his so-called team had played so well on him had been preventing him from doing such a thing.
That, and Gibbs's attitude. All this week, he and the boss had been walking on very thin ice with each other. Tim felt conflicted about what happened in the elevator. Oh, he didn't regret telling the boss off and standing up for himself, but he hadn't planned on pushing the team leader's buttons so far, until the man practically punched the wall near Tim's head. And while he had been paralyzed by fear and anger, he still remembered the feeling of Gibbs' thumb, softly wiping the tear on his cheek. The movement had been so… tender after an act of violence, that it had left Tim weak.
Tim hadn't understood the intention behind it. There was absolutely no reason for Gibbs to act like that with him. He knew damn well that the man didn't consider him to be close or as… as a son, like he did with Tony. Hell, he didn't care for Tim like he cared for everyone else, DiNozzo, Ziva, Abby and Ducky, in this family they made of themselves. Tim had been an outcast because of DiNozzo's insecurities and he knew it, he had accepted it. It took time, a lot of it, but God, he was over it now, which is why Gibbs's gesture had thrown him for a loop but also revived his anger towards the man who seemed to make a point at playing with him.
Ziva and Tony had picked up on the rising tension between Gibbs and him during the week but neither of them had said anything to him, although Tony's scathing remarks had taken up a notch.
However, when the whole Landon case started, Tim knew it was only a matter of time before things blew up.
As the young man stood there, watching the crazed fan being lead out while Abby and Gibbs hugged, he couldn't help but want to be as far away as possible from the both of them. They were the last two people he wanted to be alone with, and if one of them was actually aware of that fact, the other was stubbornly in denial and as soon as she was free of the hug, she charged towards him.
"We need to talk," Abby said with as much dramatic effect as she could muster.
Tim didn't say anything. He knew her well enough to know that this moment was "Abby's show" and it wasn't his place or anyone else's to interrupt. He looked at her and thought back to the last months. He had been distancing himself from her, more so than with the others. It did take him a long time, but he had finally realized that she was no good for him, neither in her love nor her friendship. He couldn't count all the times when she used him to cover up for her screw-up or when she used him as a rebound guy when someone ditched her. He couldn't recall all the times she made him feel stupid or needy or simply not good enough for her, or for the agency. He couldn't help but remember all the moments when he had needed her and she had turned her back on him.
Of course, he still didn't want anything to happen to her, but since he met Nico, Tim now knew what real friendship and support was. He also knew what real love was even if he hadn't confessed it yet. And now that he knew those feelings, whatever feelings he might have felt for Abby had faded into nothing more than a somewhat distant coworker's partnership.
So, Tim didn't say anything and watched as Abby frowned and intoned with a voice that echoed too loud in the empty room:
"Agent McGregor cannot marry Amy in the end. McGee, they are all wrong for each other!"
For a second, Tim thought he misheard.
Then he thought, "What the hell is she talking about?"
Then he understood what she was trying to do.
She and Tony actually had that mean streak in common, that shameless need to humiliate or bring down someone in one calculated sentence.
Out of the corner of his eye, Tim could see Gibbs smirk at Abby's words and suddenly it was like someone had blasted off a door inside of him, the door that had held off all the burning, scorching anger, frustration and hurt that he has been pushing down for a while now. God, how stupid could Abby be? How much more blind and self-centered could she get? He barely told her two words outside of work for five months and she still had the audacity to think that he had some kind of feelings for her? Couldn't she get a frigging clue?
Tim felt his rage rise up, spiraling inside his chest, and before he knew what was happening he was laughing hysterically.
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