a/n - Thanks for all the great reviews. It's going to be an exciting holiday weekend around here, so stay tuned.
Whether it was the newly learned control or Gibbs insistence that McGee use the CPAC breathing mask for one more night, Tim slept well that night back in his room at Gibbs' home. Gibbs was, of course, awake at the crack of dawn and had the dozen messages from Mildred erased and the coffee made before Tim was downstairs. Once the two men were sitting down with coffee, they discussed the Hamilton situation.
"We need a better way to keep track of Hamilton's location before you start digging around in his computer." Gibbs didn't attempt to hide his worry. "I understand your trust in Kort, but Hamilton could still be playing him."
"It will be a red flag if our people are noticed watching him." McGee knew his boss well enough to know he already had a plan.
Gibbs didn't disappoint. "Let's call in a favor with Fornell. Are you dressed?"
Tim raised an eyebrow as he made a point to look down at his black slacks and dark striped shirt before Gibbs corrected his earlier question. "I mean dressed dressed." He frowned, "you know what I mean."
The new Super did know what he meant and tugged his shirt open enough to show his suit underneath. After a few phone calls to track down Fornell they left to meet Vance and the team at Fornell's location.
One surveillance van was pretty much like the next, but this one was filled with frustrated FBI agents. Two weeks of monitoring a drug ring that was holed up in a well fortified building was wearing on everybody's nerves, Fornell's included.
"I'm sorry, Jethro, whatever it is, I can't help you until this goes down. Unless you've got some idea about how to get them distracted so we can take them down without loss of life, I'm going to be here for a while." In truth, Fornell felt guilty turning Gibbs down, but his hands were tied. One of the suspects was their only link to the weapons importer they were after and had to be taken alive. They couldn't go in, guns blazing, but there was no other way in.
The NCIS agents exchanged looks. Vance didn't want to attract attention to their investigation of Hamilton by making an official request, but he couldn't assign his agents to an FBI case either. McGee smiled at Gibbs before turning to Fornell. "Do you have a visual of the inside?"
"Yeah…" Fornell didn't know why McGee would be asking, but whatever his reasons, it made the rest of his team very unhappy.
Gibbs shook his head. "You're not going to poke your head in, are you?"
Fornell just stared blankly as he listened to the conversation as Tony asked a question he wasn't expecting. "You can do that?"
"Yes I can but, I've got something better in mind." McGee pointed to a fountain across the park from the back of the building Fornell's suspects were hiding in. "I need an ice spear, Vance."
Vance and Gibbs knew immediately where McGee was going with his plan, DiNozzo and David were still sorting out what they knew so far about McGee's abilities and Fornell was clueless. Instead of explaining, Gibbs sent Fornell back to the surveillance van and told him they would be ready in five minutes. Fornell looked at the five of them before looking back at the solid brick wall that separated them from the suspects. Convinced they were all nuts, he retreated to the van to wait for their signal.
Once they were alone, Ziva voiced her concerns. "If you cannot carry a weapon with you, how do you plan on defending yourself once you are inside?"
"I'm not going inside, Ziva." Tim and Vance walked over to the fountain and conversed privately while Ziva continued to fret. Tony knew that the two Supers had a plan and was anxiously waiting to see what it was. As they watched, Vance created a large spear from one of the sprays of water, smoothing and building it until it was the length and weight McGee was satisfied with.
Vance handed it over and stepped back. "It's as frozen solid as I can make it."
Several days earlier, Gibbs had watched McGee use his powers to charge the atoms in various items to allow him to carry them as he travelled. On a lark, he had attempted to throw a knife through a cinderblock wall rather than carry it. The success had been a highlight of his training. Vance had since read the detailed reports of McGee's training, but DiNozzo and David had no idea what was about to happen.
The only visible change with the ice in McGee's hand was that it seemed to glisten in the light more and more as he stared at it. After a few moments, he started walking towards the brick wall, increasing his speed until he was running. Gibbs gave a warning over the borrowed headset right before McGee threw the ice as if it were a javelin. Instead of bouncing off the bricks, or shattering as most people would expect, the frozen spear slid effortlessly through the wall and imbedded itself on an inside wall.
Over the headsets they could hear the chaos as the suspects ran out of their fortress, screaming, and into the arms of the waiting FBI agents.
"That was so cool, Probie."
"Very impressive, McGee."
Vance just slapped him on the back as he and Gibbs returned to the front of the building to discuss the Hamilton surveillance with Fornell, now that their part of the deal had been met.
Tony still wasn't calming down as he ran his hands over the unblemished brick. "Wow, I saw it and I still can't believe it. You should be getting credit for the bust and not Fornell's people."
"Tony is correct, McGee."
"I don't need the credit, guys." Tony was about to lecture him on being too modest for a Superhero when Tim explained his reasoning. "Besides, I'd much rather wait and see exactly how they are going to explain this in their report."
Tony started laughing. "You've got a point there, McGee."
---NCIS---
It took longer for Fornell to calm down than it did for the ice spear to melt. Standing in front of the melting ice, he glared at Gibbs. "This is all your fault."
"My fault, why is it my fault?" Try as he might, Gibbs couldn't quite keep a straight face and his smirk was not helping Fornell's mood.
Fornell pointed his finger at Gibbs before marching back out into the alley. "Your people think you're magic and now you've gotten them doing it."
"Magic?"
"Well, what else would you call it? You sure has hell can't tell me that McGee's some sort of Superhero."
Whatever answer Gibbs would have given Fornell was lost in the confusion as Ian McGee stepped out with a hostage.
Other than Fornell, the FBI agents had left with the prisoners. Under many conditions the six of them would have had no problem taking out one man, but caught in a narrow alleyway, none of them were in position to do so without risk to the civilian hostage. Guns drawn, they waited to see what he would do. Gibbs and Fornell were the closest to him, with McGee about ten feet behind them. The rest of them were another fifty feet behind McGee.
Still drunk from the night before, Ian stared at his son. The fast track to promotions he had been promised for raising the boy had been counteracted by his own temper and poor choices. Hiding behind a woman he'd grabbed out of a taxi, he pointed a gun at her head. "Why didn't you die, Timmy? You should have done what you were told and just died."
Tim held his hands out to his sides as he slowly eased closer to his father. Gibbs turned slightly and watched out of the corner of his eye. He could see the telltale shimmer of the beginnings of a phase. In theory, a bullet would pass right through him when he was totally phased, but it was a theory Gibbs did not want to see him test.
"Dad, I'm the one you want. Why don't you let her go and we'll settle this between just the two of us?" By now Tim was only a few feet behind Gibbs. Fornell had managed to edge off slightly to the side, but the hysterical hostage was moving too much for him to risk a shot.
The elder McGee stared at his son, and then shook his head. "I thought so, but that old man was right. I have to get rid of your handler first." Several things happened almost simultaneously. As Ian McGee moved to fire at Gibbs, Tim phased completely and dove through Gibbs before becoming solid in time to take the bullet as it was fired. Shocked by the image of his son passing through Gibbs, Ian's grip loosened on his hostage and she escaped. As soon as she was free Fornell fired his own weapon, dropping Ian instantly as the rest of the NCIS agents ran to them.
"McGee? God, no!" Gibbs grabbed Tim as he staggered, clutching at his chest. He tried to ease Tim onto the ground, but McGee's knees refused to buckle. "Tim, why? You're the important one."
"I couldn't let him hurt you." Tim gave a weak cough as he tried to smile. "Besides, I'm not done yet." Frowning in concentration, he managed to phase one more time as he stumbled backwards. For a split second the bullet was suspended in the air before it fell to the ground. "I did it…" Tim managed to take a few shaky breaths as his body returned again to its solid form before he collapsed.
Fornell watched in shock as Gibbs and DiNozzo eased McGee to the ground. Vance was already tearing the bloody shirt off McGee, revealing an oddly colored shirt underneath it, but the skin visible through the bullet hole was intact. "What the hell is going on?" He would have moved closer, but the woman Ian McGee had been holding hostage was clinging to him.
Ziva quickly checked the body of Ian McGee before returning to her team. She pulled off her coat and rolled it up to slide under McGee's head. "If the wound is gone, does that mean he is all right?"
Vance wished it could be that simple. "There's still massive blood loss and trauma, and that is assuming that phasing repaired all the internal damage."
"What do we do?" DiNozzo had pulled out his phone on instinct, but didn't know who to call. "I mean, can we take him to a hospital? How do we explain it?"
Years as a Super gave Vance many advantages, one of which was experience. "No, we take him back to headquarters. Tony, call Hetty and tell her what happened. She'll know what to do. Ziva, bring the car as close as you can without compromising the crime scene. Move it people!" Thankful that Edna's first decision as a Supersuit designer was to get rid of the hated jumpsuits that tradition had dictated for so many years, he watched as Gibbs pulled the top of McGee's Supersuit up to better see where the bullet had hit. A large purple bruise was forming where the entrance wound had been, visible only after Gibbs had wiped away the blood with the remnants of McGee's outer shirt.
Vance next turned his attention to Fornell, who was still staring at McGee. "Fornell? Fornell? TOBIAS?" The FBI agent looked up at him, but obviously still seeing what had just happened. There was no way they could leave him in charge of the crime scene.
Ziva arrived with the sedan and pulled it in as close as she dared. Even in this run-down part of town, the shooting was starting to attract attention. With strength born from adrenaline rather than a genetic mutation Gibbs lifted Tim and carried him to the car.
Regretting the necessary action, Vance held his hand out and stopped Tony and Ziva from getting in the car. Tony was horrified, but Ziva understood. "Someone needs to secure the scene." As much as she wanted to stay with McGee, she knew it was their job to deal with the shooting, but she felt it didn't need both of them. "Director, I can stay with Fornell. Please, let Tony help Gibbs."
One last look at DiNozzo and Vance knew she was right. "I'll get another team here as soon as I can. Then we'll see you and Fornell back at headquarters." It appeared that the select group that knew the truth about McGee was going to increase by one. Decisions made and orders given, Vance quickly drove them back, Gibbs in the backseat with a still unconscious McGee and Tony riding shotgun.