Mistral
"Get your facts first, then you can distort them as you please." Mark Twain.
"He locked us up, Tim" Sarah says between sobs.
"It's ok Sarah, it's over." He murmurs against her hair, "he can't hurt you anymore."
"No, it's not ok," she shouts at her brother, and he stops for a moment, "it's not over." She looks at him with red eyes, and hiccups, and it breaks McGee's heart to see her in such a desolate state, "he didn't even try to help them, he just stayed there, hiding and then and then he … he…" she keeps crying, and McGee has to lean over hear her, but he still doesn't understand what she says.
"What Sarah? Sorry, I couldn't hear you."
"He hit me, Tim." She says desolated, as if her world is over.
McGee sees red, as he had no idea that the criminal had also hit the victims, "Thank God he's dead; otherwise I would kill him."
"Matthew is dead?" Sarah asks him, scared, and starts crying even more than before.
"No, no, he's not dead," he looks up at Hope and Faith, who are watching over the two siblings and they shake their heads, "no, he's fine, why would you think he's dead?"
"But you just said he's dead."
"I did?" Now McGee is totally confused, as he's not sure he's talking about the same thing with Sarah.
"Yes."
"No, I said that the guy who hit you was dead."
"But Tim," she shakes her head, "Matthew is the guy who hit me."
Tim stares at Sarah's face for a whole minute, trying to gauge the truth. She sobs and nods, and McGee feels a fury he hadn't felt in a long time boiling up in his chest. He kisses Sarah's head tenderly, stands up with her in his arms, and guides her to Gibbs.
"Stay here," he says, and she looks at him, scared, "Tim?"
McGee doesn't look at Gibbs, but he can feel his steely stare burning him, demanding an explanation. He turns around, and he's confronted by a Buchanan wall blocking his way.
"There must be a logical explanation for this," says Hope, trying to calm him down.
"We don't have all the facts yet," says Faith, but she can see that he's way past angry, he's smoldering with fury, "and Matthew refuses to speak about what happened in there, and all other students were too terrified to give a coherent statement."
McGee looks at the two women, and for the first time in a long time uses his height to intimidate someone, towering over both women menacingly, as he hisses furiously "get out of my way." They look at each other, then back at McGee, who takes a step forward, and they take a step back, "NOW."
"McGee," Gibbs calls out, his arms full of a crying Sarah, "now is not the time."
McGee ignores Gibbs on purpose and walks around the two women, who look at each other and start following him, towards the last tents were Matthew is sitting on a log being finally tended by a paramedic. Joy is standing by his side, observing the paramedic working.
She looks up and sees McGee coming towards them, followed by Faith and Hope with their full blown panic faces on, and in the background further away she sees Gibbs consoling Sarah, who is hugging him and crying on his chest. Their eyes cross briefly, and she sees the worry in them. She looks back at McGee, and sees him in full protective brother mode. The fury emanating from him is like a cloud announcing his incoming presence.
"Matthew," she says in a low voice, and Matthew dispenses the paramedic and stands up, fully prepared to take whatever Sarah's brother might throw at him. Right at that moment, McGee reaches them, and does not even greet Matthew or look at Joy.
He simply punches Matthew in the face with a wicked left hook. Matthew stumbles, but doesn't fall, but he also doesn't raise his hands to defend himself, neither does he give any idea that he will retaliate against McGee.
"Hey," Joy tries to jump in to interfere, but both Hope and Faith catch her by her arms, and drags her out of the fight ring.
"So you like hitting girls, Matthew?" Matthew touches his bruised chin, and looks at McGee without saying a word.
"Why don't you HIT SOMEONE YOUR OWN SIZE?" McGee shouts at Matthew, and Joy is horrified at what is happening, struggling against the hold of her sisters, who won't let her go.
"Let boys be boys, sis," whispers Hope against her ear.
"They both need a punch bag," whispers Faith against the other ear, "if that releases some endorphins and disperses some tension, even better."
"They are going to kill each other," whispers Joy, as McGee punches Matthew again in his stomach. Again Matthew takes the punch, moans in pain, but doesn't react.
"MCGEE!" Shouts Gibbs.
"TIM!" Shouts Sarah.
Both run towards the fight, and Sarah latches onto Tim as soon she's on arms distance, "stop, please stop, please." McGee turns and hugs his sister, all the time throwing venomous glares at the youngest Buchanan brother.
"Stay away from my sister," he growls, and grabs Sarah by her arm and drags her away from the Buchanan siblings.
Gibbs is astonished at the scene he just saw, and for a moment he doesn't know how to react. He sees his agent, whom he has worked side by side with for seven years, half dragging half carrying his younger sister away from people that, until a few moments ago, he considered as part of his extended family. He turns around, and sees the hurt and pain in all of the Buchanans' faces. Hope and Faith release Joy, who's frozen like a statue, her hands in the air, and her eyes are following the McGees' retreat with deep pain.
He looks then at Matthew, and what he sees before him is devastating. Matthew's eyes are following the McGees leaving, and at every step they take his shoulders hunch even more, and the light fades until there's nothing behind his eyes but desolation.
Right before him, Gibbs sees a young man who just looks like his whole reason to live has been taken away from him. And it is something painful to see, especially in someone so young. He studies the scratches on his face, and he wonders who could have done them to him.
Matthew's eyes turn to his, and Gibbs is astonished at the amount of pain swimming behind his eyes. He shakes his head, totally desolated, and speaks the first and only words Gibbs would hear from Matthew that day.
"I would die for her, sir."
His eyes fill with tears, and he says in a choked voice, "I almost did."
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a/n: Oh my goodness, McGee hit Matthew!