Gibbs sat on one of the autopsy tables while Ducky examined his jaw. He wasn't really paying attention though. Instead, he was going over what happened at that warehouse. He couldn't get it out of his head. It shouldn't have been possible for that to have happened the way it did. McGee wasn't a fighter. He certainly wasn't a good enough one to reach Gibbs' caliber. Yet somehow he was. Hell, he'd surpassed it.

Gibbs thought back to the files he'd seen in MTAC. He hadn't wanted to believe any of those things were true. He'd put them in the back of his mind and tried to tell himself that it wasn't true. That McGee simply wasn't capable of that. He didn't want to believe otherwise for the exact reason Callen said. Because it would mean that he really did screw up.

"You're being unusually quiet, Jethro," Ducky said. While Gibbs didn't really say a lot, he'd expected him to be more vocal and displeased with having to be examined. "Well, your jaw doesn't appear to be broken, but it will be quite tender for a while. I must say whoever did this did a thorough job. One more punch and your jaw probably would be broken. Are you hurt anywhere else?"

"He got a few good shots at my ribs," Gibbs said.

"Stand up and lift your shirt up" Ducky said. Once he did, Ducky pressed his hand to Gibb's lower abdomen.

Gibbs winced in pain.

"You probably have a cracked rib or two. I won't know without an x-ray though, which you probably won't agree to," Ducky said. He knew his friend very well. He knew that Gibbs was too stubborn to seek the treatment he needed. As it was, he'd only agreed to be examined because he was ordered to.

"Nope," Gibbs confirmed.

"I assume the other guy came out much worse."

"The other guy doesn't have a scratch on him," Gibbs said

Ducky raised an eyebrow. "I thought you said the mission was a complete success. Did someone get away?"

"No. I didn't say that the person that did this was one of the bad guys. It's the interesting thing about a cover. You gotta do whatever it takes to keep it," Gibbs said.

"Timothy did this to you?" Ducky asked in surprise.

Gibbs nodded. "Yeah, you can't be more shocked than I was. He had to fight back in order to preserve his cover. Something tells me he didn't mind much though."

"Yes, well, I can't say I blame him for that," Ducky said.

"Yeah, Duck, I get it. I screwed up," Gibbs said. It was the first time he'd said the words out loud. Saying them didn't make the realization any easier though. In fact, it was even worse.

Ducky raised an eyebrow. "Well, this is a surprise. It seems that Timothy managed to knock some sense into you. Quite literally I might add."

"You were right. A part of me did always know that I was wrong. From the moment Vance told me why he left to the minute I saw him again tonight, I tried to deny it, but I always knew deep down," Gibbs said.

Ducky huffed. "So instead of facing the truth and fixing what was left of your team, you decided to ignore it."

"Yeah, I know! I don't' need ya to remind me how badly I screwed up anymore. I get it now. There's not much I can do about it now though. McGee's gone and Ziva will join him soon enough," Gibbs said.

"Ziva? Ziva is leaving?" Ducky asked in surprise. He'd known Ziva was having trouble with what they'd all done to Timothy, but he did not know she was thinking about leaving.

"She put in for the transfer this afternoon. Afterwards, Vance gave me an ultimatum. Fix my team or he fires me. The problem is I know that it can be fixed. The damage is already done," Gibbs said.

"Well, you certainly can't undo that damage, but maybe there is a way to mend the broken pieces a bit and make something new," Ducky said.

"I can think of only one way to do that."

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Tony was back at his desk in the bullpen when Gibbs returned. He was downright shocked when he saw him. He was holding an ice pack to his jaw and had quite a few bruises on his face.

"What?" Gibbs asked impatiently when he noticed the look Tony was giving him.

Tony tore his eyes away. "Sorry, Boss. I was just surprised. McGee said he roughed you up a bit, but I figured he was lying."

"Well, he wasn't," Gibbs said curtly before sitting down.

"You let him, right, Boss? You let him get those shots in?" Tony asked.

"DiNozzo, do I look like the type that enjoys getting hit?" Gibbs asked.

"No, but..."

"And have you ever known me not to fight back when attacked?" Gibbs asked.

"Well, no, but..."

"Then why in the hell would you think I'd let anyone assault me?" Gibbs questioned.

"Well, it's just that McGee can't fight. He's soft," Tony said.

"My jaw and my ribs disagree with you," Gibbs said.

"You're saying he actually bested you in a fair fight?" Tony asked in disbelief.

"Let me put it this way, DiNozzo. I wasn't holding back. I gave him everything I had. He didn't," Gibbs said.

"But that doesn't make sense. McGee's never been a good fighter," Tony said.

Gibbs flinched a bit. Tony's words just reminded him of how badly he messed up. McGee had never been a good fighter before because he'd never trained him well enough. "Well, a lot can change in a year. He's an OSP agent now. He had to be a good fighter. I'll be in Vance's office," he said before getting up and making his way up the stairs.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Tim was heading towards MTAC to see Eric when he caught sight of Abby. He went to walk in the other direction hoping to avoid her, but no such luck.

"Timmy!" Abby yelled before running up to him and hugging him before he could stop her.

Tim immediately grabbed her arms and pulled her off of him. "Don't."

"Don't what? I was just hugging you. I've missed you. I'm so glad you're back," Abby said smiling.

"Who said I was back? I'm wrapping up a case and then I'm out of here," Tim said.

"But you don't have to go back. You can come back to work here. Sure, Gibbs will probably be pissed at you for a while, but that's to be expected. You did leave after all. But he'll get over it and things will be back to the way they were before," Abby said.

"Oh, you mean how everyone was treated with respect but me? How I was the butt of everyone's jokes. How I was treated like your lapdog? Yeah, I'm just itching for that back," Tim said sarcastically.

"That's not true. You know it's not true. It's them, isn't it? Those people are the ones filling your head with all these lies," Abby said. That had to be it. Tim was practically echoing what Eric said to her. They had to be the ones to turn him against them.

That did it. That last comment pissed Tim off like nothing else. "Those people? Did you just call my team, my friends, 'those people'? Those people actually give a damn about me. They actually treat me with respect. They don't make fun of the things I bring to the team. They don't criticize my personal life. Yeah, we joke around and tease each other, but we do it respectfully. They are the reason I am the agent I am today. So don't you ever, ever speak about them like that in presence ever again!"

Abby recoiled as though she'd been burned. "Why are you being so mean? You've never talked to me like this before."

"Maybe that's because I knew what Gibbs would do when you went running to him. We all know you can do no wrong in Gibbs' eyes and that he'd tear anyone apart just for looking at you wrong. Well, I'm not afraid of Gibbs anymore. There's nothing he can do to me anymore. You either," Tim said. Honestly, even if didn't know he could kick Gibbs' ass he wouldn't be afraid of him. He'd learned just after the first few days in LA that Gibbs was not the most frightening person in the world. That title belonged to Hetty. There wasn't a person alive more intimidating than her.

"I've never done anything to you," Abby protested.

Tim shook his head in disbelief. He probably shouldn't be surprised that Abby was this delusional, but he was. "You used me. You knew I had feelings for you and you used that to get me to do things for you. And then when I wasn't useful, you'd throw me aside like garbage. That's why I left. I was tired of being everyone's whipping boy. And that's why I will never ever come back. It's not gonna be the way it was with Gibbs. I'm done. Now if you'll excuse me, I was on my way to see a friend," he said before walking away from her and towards MTAC.