March 21
"Time is worth much more than money, so don't waste it – your own or anyone else's." - Asa Baber.
Leroy Jethro Gibbs leant against the wall, eyes fixed on his youngest agent.
Blood covered his shirt and arms. A bruise tinted his eye – one that looked like it hurt like hell. His lips were pinched together, his head bowed slightly but whether it was through exhaustion or shame, Gibbs wasn't sure.
The Director hadn't exactly been 'informed' of the mission into the warehouse. And seeing as someone had let slip that McGee was the lead, he was in just as much trouble as his superior. She'd called them in as soon as they'd got back, meaning that not only had she deprived him of sleep, he hadn't even been able to clean himself up.
Fortunately, none of the blood covering Tim was his. The only injuries he'd suffered had been from the punches thrown. A cracked rib. A black eye. A cut lip.
The other man had certainly come off worse though.
Ziva's martial arts lessons had saved McGee's life.
"Since when has it been protocol to go past your Director with the idea of bringing down one of the largest drug dens in Washington D.C?" Jenny all but yelled, pacing between the two men. She was pissed. Although, Gibbs couldn't tell if it was because she'd been bypassed with all information regarding their secret mission or if she secretly missed the rush of being in the field. "Do you realise how this makes me look? I get a phone call whilst in a meeting with the Secretary of the Navy, to inform me that you're on your way back from bringing down the leader of the paz y amor hermanos and I am so out of the loop that I can't even justify this to the man in front of me. The man that, let me remind you, is in charge of every aspect of the Navy, including his employees and any action they carry out!"
Okay, she was really pissed.
"He did good." Gibbs provided, watching as two sets of eyes fell on him. "He was the lead and the reason for the millions of dollars worth of drugs sitting in our evidence locker instead of on the streets."
McGee smiled, blushing slightly at the compliment. Jenny sighed loudly, sitting on the desk next to him.
Gibbs knew she'd already made her point and had no intention of chastising him any more. Her eyes gave her away.
"Go home, Agent McGee. Take tomorrow to rest and make sure Ducky has a look at those ribs of yours."
"Yes ma'am."
He stood up to leave, Gibbs following closely behind.
"You did good." She smiled as she settled back behind her desk. "Even if you did go behind my back, you made me proud today."
Softly pushing the agent out of the room, Gibbs gave Jenny one last smile before leaving her alone and escorting the hero of the day to Ducky.
A/N: For those of you who are curious, I wanted to make up a gang name of my own that could have a humour value behind it. So, paz y amor hermanos means 'Peace and love brothers'. *giggles*