Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or its characters.
Chapter 14 - Waiting Room Take 2
The group had been a back in the waiting room for nearly fifteen minutes, though none of them had made a move to sit down, when the quiet was broken by Abby who was a little more than frustrated right now.
"Gibbs should be here!"
"Abigail, please" Ducky said pensively "Gibbs just needs time to process everything"
"But he should be here, we need him. I need him!" Abby was practically shouting
"Abby!" Ziva admonishment was harsh but quietly spoken "You're not going to put your needs first at a time like this!"
"But….."
"No Abby, Ziva's and Ducky are right. Just because you're the favourite doesn't mean that you can have your own way all the time" Tony exasperated "You may have known about the abuse for the last nine years but we didn't! Do you have any idea how that feels?"
"I…..
"No Abby! My god I spent years pulling pranks on him, teasing him constantly about everything from his stutter to his weight for crying out loud! God he must hate me so much!"
"He doesn't hate anyone Tony, he doesn't know how to" Jimmy spoke almost as quietly as Ziva but everyone heard him
"Jimmy's right Tony" Ziva agreed rubbing her hand up and down Tony's back in a soothing manner.
"What you all must realise is that Gibbs has always believed that Tim had a strong loving family background, unlike the rest of you, and he has used this as a reason to keep Tim at arm's length. Finding out now that this has been anything but the truth is going to make him feel, wrongly, that he should have done more, right now" Ducky explained as he tried to enlighten the young members of the group
"How could he when he didn't know Ducky!" Tony exploded irritated
"Because I didn't take the time" Gibbs stated calmly from the door way which he was leaning against.
Abby made a move but the rest of them stopped her, before she had chance
"Jethro?" Fornell questioned, bringing himself into the conversation
"I didn't make the time, I didn't make sure he realised that he could talk to me" Gibbs was irritated, but they could tell it was directed at himself
"But your doors always open Bossman" Abby stated factually and this made Tony twig
"Problem was that was to general – Tim didn't see it as an actual invitation, because he doesn't think like that"
"You are correct Tony" Ziva agreed with the assessment "But McGee has also never been one to put his needs first. Jethro is a prime example"
Getting a confused look from just about everyone in the room Ziva sighed in defeat but continued to explain "The dog!"
"Ah, I see where your heading with this Ziva and you are quite correct young lady" Ducky smile at the intuition that Ziva was showing
"I don't understand, what's that damned dog got to do with any of this?" Gibbs growled, he still hated the fact that Abby had named the mutt after him
"Bossman!?" Abby didn't appreciate Gibbs tone or the way he talked about Jethro
"Everything Jethro, but it's not just the dog, there have been several instances were Tim would have appreciated your support but you put others first and I'm not just talking about Abby, you've done it to Tim with Tony and Ziva also, though it has happened more often with Abby" Ducky reasoned, both Tony and Ziva looked guilty as they realised he was stating the truth.
"So you're say that because I just stood there and said nothing as Abby bullied him into taking that damn animal, Tim didn't think that he could come to me and that's not the only time when I should have been more supportive or put a stop to things, is that it?" Gibbs snapped back
"Favouritism is a difficult thing Jethro and Timothy's been putting up with it since he was a small child, support is something he doesn't expects to receive from figures of authority. You're more like his father in that regard than you may realise"
"I am nothing like that fowl man!" Gibbs growled
"Not in many ways and Timothy realises this Jethro, but in this one area your exactly the same"
"I'm not listening to this!" Gibbs vowed before he turned to storm off only to find his path blocked by two men who were just entering the waiting room
"Gibbs sit down" Vance ordered
"Can we help you?" Kort queried from the corner he had been standing in the whole time.
"I'm sorry to bother you but we're looking for a Miss Sciuto and a Commander Jacobs, we were informed we could find them here" said the taller of the two men explained
"That would be me and this is Miss Sciuto, what can we do for you?" Commander Jacobs said as he stepped forward indicating to Abby who was to his right
"Well it's more what we can do for you" replied the man cryptically
"And that would be?" Sacks enquired
"I'm sorry I haven't introduced us, my names John Brown, I'm from the Navy's Engineering Lab and this is Professor Sidle from MIT"
"Oh, err Mr Brown is the guy that I called regarding the stuff on the hard drive" Abby explained to the group
Taking up the story John Brown explained more to the others "The algorithm's an asset of the navy, but officially it's not owned by the Navy as it wasn't designed by anyone who works at the lab. It was in fact designed by an MIT student about sixteen years ago. When I couldn't get hold of the guy from the contact details I have I contacted the Professor to see if he had more up to date information"
At this point the Professor Sidle joined the conversation "The young man that design this algorithm was a student of mine at the time, just starting his second year. The navy approach us with a challenge which we intern gave to the students, no one really expected anything to come from it, but this student was brilliant and that algorithm was so simplistic in its complexity it was amazing"
"So did you manage to get hold of this guy" Fornell questioned
"Er, no he's not answering, but he sometimes can't because of his job"
"What exactly does this man do, which means he can't answer his phone?" Tony queried as the idea sounded ridiculous to him
"Well he's a federal agent, never seems to work stable hours, but he always returns his calls so it just a case of waiting until he's free, but we can try and help you out in the meantime" The professor explained
"Sorry to interrupt" Dr Pitt poked his head round the door
"Brad – how is he?" Tony asked immediately forgetting about the case
"We managed to get him back, the reason he crashed again was due to the fact that his kidney had started bleeding out again. This along with another bleed that we failed to spot early put too much strain on his system"
"So?"
"So we've had to remove his kidney and his appendix" Brad explained
"And?" Ziva questioned worriedly
"Ziva - Tim will make a full recovery, it will just take longer than we had hoped" Brad reassured
"How much longer?" Gibbs enquired
"Well hospital wise, he'll be here for a longer time for observation. Living with one kidney isn't unusual Agent Gibbs. Actually one in about every 750 people are born with only one kidney, but when one is surgically removed it is necessary to monitor things closely for the first few weeks, after that his blood pressure, urine output and kidney function will require yearly checks"
Relief took hold of the team as the new sunk in, wiping his hand over his face Tony caught site of the clock in the waiting room for the first time
"Oh crap!"
"DiNozzo?"
"I'm supposed to be meeting Agent Sanders in like twenty-five minutes, sorry boss it completely slipped my mind" Tony cringed
"Okay well there's no point us all staying here like this anyway, go back to the yard, work with Balboa – do everything by the book take Ziva with you"
"Yes Boss"
"Yes Gibbs
"I should head in to" Vance stated "Miss Sciuto, I'm sure all the evidence is now back at the yard I think you should head back too"
"What! No, I'm not leaving"
"Miss Sciuto, I understand your desire to stay but from what we have been informed, not only just now but earlier, Agent McGee is not going to be awake for quite some time and your skills are needed" Vance reasoned
"But…."
"Abby just go, Ducky and I will call if there's any change"
"Sorry to interrupt, but did you say McGee? As in Timothy McGee" Professor Sidle enquired
"The one and the same way?" Tony queried
"Because it was Timothy McGee who designed the algorithm"