Finding Home, Chapter Twenty Six

Gibbs hoped to talk with Tony on Saturday but after he'd talked with Tim he got a text that DiNozzo had been called out on a case. He left his laptop on and Sunday night he heard the sound that meant someone was using Skype to contact him. It was a tired looking Tony.

"Hey, did you get your case solved?"

"Yeah, drug deal gone bad; luckily no one died. Just took us awhile to figure out who all was involved and bring them in."

"You look tired."

"Yep, was at the office until 0300 this morning then we were released to get some sleep, went back in at 0900, just got home. Paperwork tomorrow."

"Come closer to the screen, Tony. What did you do to your hair?"

"Got a buzz cut, Boss. I know, I know, weird, but I was hearing comments about my pretty boy do and I just decided to make the move to fit in."

"Tony…look, don't bury yourself, you have a right to your personality."

"Except for the bullying part."

"Well, yeah but that got learned somewhere, you need to unlearn it. But I really meant your style, how you take care of yourself. Don't subdue yourself, don't hide your light. Yeah, no pranks and you want to lose the bullying altogether and for all time, but don't try to be someone you're not. Don't hide your sense of humor or your love of film just to fit in. It's not going to work and will just come back to bite you."

"How do you know that's not all I am, the jokes, the movies, the pranks and the bullying?"

"Because I know you and that's not the sum total of who you are. You're smart, clever, curious, funny and a hell of an investigator. Don't bury those traits!"

"I also open my mouth before I think and manipulate others to get what I want."

"Not news, we've talked about that for years. Now you need to pay attention, work on those things. I'm not there to protect you anymore."

"Protect me?"

"Yeah."

"Shit. It's not that easy."

Gibbs huffed, "Tell me about it. But it'll be worth it, to me anyway, if it means I can go back to work, if you and I can still be close, if I can fix things with Tim."

"I still…is he having to fix things? What's he working on?"

"His life, Tony. For one thing, he's having to play catch up in the field because I kept him benched. He had to take a lateral move in order to get out from under our boots."

"I heard he's a Senior Field Agent."

"He is now, yes."

"So Vance protected him."

Gibbs had tried to keep his temper at bay but he was rapidly losing the battle. "Someone had to; it sure as fuck wasn't either of us!"

Tony's eyes widened and he backed off.

"DiNozzo, you still don't get it, do you? We screwed up, you and me. Yeah, there were things Tim could maybe have done and he's not perfect, but it was our responsibility and we screwed up, we let him down in just about every way possible. This is not Tim's fault. And until you understand and admit your part in that, you're not going to get anywhere. Not by being what you think your boss wants you to be, not by your damn haircut, and not by carrying a grudge against the guy you hurt, you wronged. Stop being so damn jealous, what the hell do you think got you into this mess in the first place?"

"What?"

"You've been jealous of Tim since the day you met him, jealous and insecure. And I tried to help by paying more attention to you, trying to help you, but it was the worst thing I could have done. So now it's time, way past time to get over it. Stop blaming him for being who he is and grow the hell UP!"

Gibbs reached over and disconnected the call. He hated talking with DiNozzo when he was this whiny and letting his jealousy shine. He knew he shouldn't have talked to him that way but maybe it would get through to him; help him see what a jerk he was being about Tim. He hoped his oldest surrogate son would understand all of what he'd been trying to tell him. He needed to lose the jealousy, stop blaming Tim but also be himself. He was shaking he was so upset. He got out his notebook and wrote it down, writing for several minutes before he felt himself calming. He thought about calling Ducky but it was getting late and he didn't want to upset the older man, especially on a Sunday night when he had to be at work the next day. He would talk with Dr. Cranston tomorrow, geez he had a lot to go over with her.

XXX

In Louisiana, Abby was still fuming after seeing the news report about NCIS' big bust the day before. It looked like McGee's Evil Influence which she had now given capital letters to, had now spread to another continent. She tried again this morning to speak with the parish priest but he'd directed her to pray for forgiveness and enlightenment. She had walked away, scoffing. She was still waiting to hear about the job, as soon as she got that, she'd do something about enlightenment all right. Maybe it was time to take matters into her own hands, let people know how Evil Timothy McGee really was. She just had to be careful that whatever got out there on the internet couldn't' be traced back to her. She was smart, smarter than everyone around her, smarter than that evil monster masquerading as a geek, she'd figure it out.

XXX

Tim slept through the night, not needing any further medication. When he woke Monday morning he felt normal. His alarm hadn't gone off yet so he lay there relishing the feeling. Rob was over here, in London anyway, once Sarah got there, he'd feel a lot better. Not quite on the same continent, but close! Oh yeah, he felt good – normal. Yep this was going to be a good day. He got out of bed and still he was ok. He looked at his upper body, yep, the bruise was still there, starting to turn some interesting colors. He smiled as he got into the shower, he'd be cleared for the field on Wednesday. As he dressed, he smelled food cooking and realized Matt had beaten him downstairs. He bent to put his shoes on, ok, maybe that was a little twinge, tiny though. He walked carefully down the stairs repeating his mantra, back in the field on Wednesday, back in the field on Wednesday and was pleased when he made it without more than another tiny twinge. Not worth even mentioning.

Matt looked up. "You did good on the stairs. What are you going to tell Pete?"

"That I'm…fine, I'll tell him the truth. Just a few little twinges, when I was putting my shoes on and walking downstairs."

"That's good because you know he hates BS and he wouldn't believe you if you told him you were perfectly normal today."

He got a seriously scary look and his eyes widened. "Wow, are you mad at me? I'm just telling you the truth."

Tim shook his head, "Sorry man, I know that. That was sort of an automatic reflex…a learned one so I can unlearn it. Or just learn to use it on dirtbags and not friends"

"Well if it's meant to intimidate, it does."

"Huh, Gibbs will be happy to hear that his work goes on."

"Oh, that's a Gibbs look. Yikes and that's the guy you look to as a father figure!" The coffeemaker gurgled as it finished its brewing and Tim fixed two mugs of coffee, one just the way Matt liked it.

"Sorry, Matt. Can we start over? Good morning my friend, thanks for cooking breakfast and staying with me yesterday. Means a lot to me, you doing that."

"Promise not to ever give me that look again?"

"I promise!"

"And I don't want to ever meet Gibbs."

"Ok, I can't speak for professional gatherings but as far as personal appearances that won't be a problem."

"Ok, then we're good. " Matt looked at Tim, "So if you ever do give me that look, I'll know I've screwed up big time."

"Especially not then."

"Huh?"

"If you're anything like me, you'll know when you've screwed up and the last thing you need is that look."

"Yeah, good point. So what look will I get?"

Tim gave him the look he'd perfected with Sarah and Rob over the years, the "Really? I'm so disappointed in you" look.

"Ouch, that's almost as painful."

"I'm messing with you now, Matt! No look, we'll just deal with whatever happened. We all screw up, don't worry about it ahead of time."

"Another good point. Breakfast is served." They sat at the table and ate while they talked about plans for the week. Matt said he would let Carla know he would be there for dinner Tuesday night. Tim needed a haircut and he wanted to get it this week so it wouldn't look too freshly cut for the Embassy party, now only 11 days away. Matt laughed at first and then stopped, thinking about it. Tim hoped he and Evander could look at more places during the week and on Saturday. And now he thought he'd use this evening to call Sarah and Rob, find out how Rob's first day in London had been. Eventually they finished their coffees, put the dishes in the dishwasher and headed back upstairs, Tim taking them slowly. He completed his morning routine and grabbed his laptop bag. He was ok until he reached up with the strap in his hand, ready to sling it over his shoulder. That caused a twinge and it wasn't tiny. He didn't want to take the last pain pill, he needed to be alert; he found his bottle of Advil, took one and then stashed the bottle in his laptop case.

However, he must have made a noise because Matt appeared in the doorway.

"What happened?"

"I lifted the strap on this, the whole bag really, to put it on my shoulder and it hurt a bit. Still a twinge but it hurt and didn't fade away so I took an Advil and I'm bringing the bottle downstairs with me."

"That's good that you took the Advil. Here, give me the bag. If it hurt lifting it up there, it's not going to be good walking down the stairs with it on your shoulder."

Tim made a movement toward the strap, but Matt stopped him. "Wait. Better just let me take it off."

Tim nodded and stood still while his friend slid the strap off his shoulder and grabbed the carry handles on the bag.

"Anything else you need to go downstairs?"

"Don't think so." They walked downstairs, Matt going first and then turning and watching Tim for signs of trouble. Tim smiled when he got to the bottom. "Thanks man. That went better than the first time!"

Pete came in shortly after they reached their desks. "Ah good, my two favorite agents. How are things?"

Tim grinned, "Slept like a rock and didn't need a pain pill; had some twinges this morning – Matt had to carry my laptop bag down for me – and I've taken some Advil. But I feel a lot better. When I woke up this morning, I felt normal."

"Good, that's great news! So you'll take it easy today and tomorrow. Matt, how are you doing?"

"I'm good Pete. I learned something about haircuts this morning."

"Oh, what's that?"

"To get them several days ahead of an event so your hair will look more natural, not so just cut."

"Yeah, unless you're military that's always a good idea. Rob get to London ok?"

"Yes, right on time!"

"That's great! Now, I have something for the two of you, well for everyone really, but I'll start with you two." He took an envelope off his desk and took two tickets out of it. "These are for the kids' play which opens Friday night. It'd be really great if you guys would come."

Tim grinned, "Wouldn't miss it, Pete. Sarah and Rob were in their school plays and it was a lot of fun!"

Matt smiled, "Sure thing, I was in our senior play in high school."

"Oh yeah? What play did you do?"

"We did "Grease" and I played Doody."

"Hey, that's great!"

"Yeah, so I'm really looking forward to seeing the kids do "Bye Bye Birdie", it's sort of the same era."

"Guess that's true. Any news from anyone?"

"Carla's fine, we're having dinner with them tomorrow night."

"Great, Trina and I stopped by yesterday, she's really bored. And a bored Carla is dangerous."

"I mentioned the writing thing, she liked the idea."

"Good, something for her to do."

Matt grinned and Pete's eyes narrowed. "And?"

Tim tried not to roll his eyes. "Director Vance called to see how I was."

"Good!"

He looked at Tim's face, "What?"

"It's great that he's been so nice to me, but I don't want to get the reputation of being um…never mind."

"You're not and he'll get used to you being over here. He told me last week he misses you in the office. I guess the bullpen where your former team sat is empty and he's still getting used to it."

"Oh. Yeah, that would be weird." Tim's shoulders suddenly slumped; Matt recognized the look and wisely turned to his desk while Pete steered his SFA into his office.

"You're homesick."

"Yeah, it just kind of hit me."

"That's how it works."

Tim gave a little laugh, "The Director told me to find a McDonald's, said it would help."

"Believe it or not, it does, a little. You'll be talking with your sister and brother tonight, right?" Tim nodded, "That should help. Easier for you now than it was for Leon and me."

Pete got a full smile for that suggestion. "We have the internet and Skype now and you and the Director really didn't all those years ago."

"Wasn't all that many years ago! My brothers and most of my friends had e-mail but it could be a little tricky to send internationally. And my mom didn't have a computer at home. She'd go to the library and sign on there." He laughed, "She bought a laptop when Skype first came out. I think she was Skype's first customer in the U.S., no way was she going to miss any opportunities to see her grandchildren!"

Tim thought about that as he returned to his desk. He didn't remember his mother and Natalie had certainly never shown any maternal or any other kind of interest in them. Mrs. Ferguson their first landlady had been wonderful to them but Tim didn't know if she had been maternal. He realized he didn't really know what "maternal" meant aside from the dictionary definition and wondered if that was part of his problem with women. He hadn't been around any nurturing women that he could think of, his teachers, certainly not Natalie, there was no mothering there. His high school girlfriend's mother liked him and the school secretary who had helped them.

Shrugging, he opened his NCIS e-mail and found a reply from Major Fleming. As with everyone else these past few days, his first comment was to send congratulations for the cartel takedown. Then he launched straight into the list. When Tim saw what was said about Laurel Miller, he again felt that they had dodged a bullet and wondered why she'd been promoted from Probationary to Junior. He pushed past that, she was no longer his concern. He inserted the Major's findings onto his worksheet and studied it. He went back to the files and read the six pertinent ones again. Making a decision, he cut the list down to four names, updated his document and sent it to Pete. They still needed to cut one more to reach their short list.

The day went quickly, the phones were quiet and the three agents were busy doing their reports of the cartel takedown. All the reports would be submitted to Marseille and they would do the final write-up. Pete and Tim had already received Ted and Jack's reports this morning and folded them in with their own. Eva was off as she'd worked late on Friday, helping Kim support their agents. Tea and Kim disappeared at lunchtime, visiting Carla. Pete offered to pick up lunch and Tim decided to go with him, he needed to walk and get some fresh air. He felt like he'd been penned up for weeks rather than two days, plus he could drop his shirts off at the laundry. Matt insisted on going upstairs to get them and Tim didn't fight him. The walk to and from the deli was brief but it did him a world of good to get outside and stretch his long legs. They dropped his shirts off on the way, picked up the lunch order they'd called in and walked back.

After lunch, Tea finished sorting the mail and gave something to Kim with a question. Kim read it, grinned and pointed to Pete. The others saw the grin but Pete had been on the phone. Tea waited until he was off to give him the formal looking envelope. If they hadn't already been given their embassy party invitations, Tim might have thought this was it. Pete read whatever was in the envelope and came out of his office, smiling. He called Tea in so she could listen.

"The USS Baton Rouge is coming into port on Saturday and they're holding a reception Sunday afternoon." He held up the document in his hand, "We're all invited!"

Tea asked, "All of us?"

Pete nodded, "Yep, all of us. Spouses too, so Eva, Caleb can come and Kim, I think we can stretch to include Evander, he's almost a spouse."

Eva looked disappointed, "Unfortunately we have other plans that can't be changed."

Kim nodded, "Weekends are Evander's biggest days for work, but I'll check with him."

Matt grinned, "I can go!" Tim laughed, "Me too!" Pete chuckled, "I'm glad the play is Friday night and Saturday, there's a matinee performance on Sunday but I think Trina, Kyra, Lukas and I can skip that." They talked about the reception for a little while, hoping there would be a tour of the ship. Everyone was going to the play on Friday night and that seemed funny to them too, that they had two "work" events in the same weekend.

Tim had been considering going to class that evening but Pete was still making noises about it and he realized his boss was right, he should not be overextending himself at this point, he owed that to his team. After telling Pete, he called George to let him know he'd be unable to come to class tonight but that Matt and Kim would be there. To Tim's chagrin, the instructor was as excited as he was concerned; he had decided on his own that Tim and Matt had been in on that big bust. Tim wondered if it was his original mention of his team that had planted the seed that led to George's conclusion. He decided not to tell him about his new move taking down the target until he saw him in person and then maybe not for a few weeks; he needed some semblance of anonymity and was afraid George would brag to his friends. Sure he was normally discreet, but to have his very own pupil participate in that newsworthy of a bust and using a move he'd taught him? Even a monk who'd taken a vow of silence would be sorely tempted to brag about that! During the afternoon, Tim pulled Matt and Kim aside and shared his concerns and they agreed, they would not bring the subject up and if George did, they would downplay it and emphasize the need for discretion.

By 1700, Tim knew he wouldn't have gone no matter what his decision had been earlier, he was tired. He texted Rob during the day and his younger brother said he was doing ok as long as he took naps. He'd gotten outside and walked around, said he'd stopped in for a bite at the pub Tim and James had frequented. Rob said he could stay awake long enough for a Skype call with Sarah and Tim. Sarah had finally answered his text and said she'd be around the rest of the day as she was still sorting out her belongings.

XXX

Leon had finally compiled the list of names for Gibbs' team. There were six agents, three SFAs and three juniors to choose from. Two of the juniors were here in DC, Ned Dorneget and Susan Grady. After Agent McGee had voiced his concerns about Grady last week, Vance had done a little more digging and had a chat with the young woman. She now had a better understanding of workplace ethics and would also be assigned an additional training class on the subject. Pamela had found one offered by the DOJ that emphasized ethical use of electronic records and Agent Grady would be attending that. Vance made a note to contact Gibbs with his selections. He had been shocked but pleased to hear the man was in counseling and hoped he would stay with it until he figured out what had gone wrong and how to change his behavior. He thought by now the prospects for the future MCRT were as vetted as they could be, it was time to hand over the list to Gibbs and let him make the final decision.

XXX

Pete had gone out to run some errands and the others left, so Tim set up the Skype sessions with his siblings. They didn't talk long, Tim just wanted to touch base with both of them, see how Rob felt after his first day in London. Pete came back into the office to find Tim stretching his legs out in the garden. They had a few minutes before Vance's call so Tim decided to do the stairs up and down once while Pete was there. He did fine this time, no twinges, he didn't have to stop and he hadn't taken any more pain relievers. That made both men happy and they were in decidedly good moods when Vance called. With all the talking they'd done over the last few days there wasn't any real news for the Director, except that they'd whittled their junior agent list down to four names. The call was short and sweet and Pete took off for home after making sure Tim didn't need anything.

Tim decided to fix something to eat, he'd planned to walk down to the Flying Pig but he was tired and wanted to rest tonight so he could relax at Carla and Norm's tomorrow night. He made himself a simple dinner, making a note that he needed to buy some groceries. He had just finished when his laptop chimed with a Skype call. Looking at the id, he saw it was Gibbs and grinned. He answered with a smile, "Hey Boss! I was just finishing dinner, good timing!"

"I called Sarah and she told me you weren't going to your class tonight."

"Yeah, being in the field with the team is more important than the class right now. So what are you up to this morning?"

"Going to see Rachel in a little bit, just wanted to check in and see how you're doing today. I figured you probably sacked out most of yesterday too, didn't want to risk waking you up."

"Thanks! I did, Matt was here and we were out in the garden." Tim laughed, "He didn't do any practice on Friday or Saturday so I critiqued while he practiced. Only I fell asleep at one point, we found a chaise lounge in the shed here so I was stretched out on that. I swear, two minutes stretched out and I'm sound asleep."

"That's good though Tim, it's what your body needs to do to heal."

"I guess, I did fine on the stairs today, just a few twinges but an Advil this morning took care of that and I haven't needed one since."

"Good! You look a lot better than you did Saturday; geez, I was ready to get on the next flight."

"Really?"

"Yeah, Ducky didn't tell you?"

"No."

"Vance called him Saturday morning and told him about you being injured and of course you were home from the hospital by then. Ducky called Jimmy before he came over to tell me. When Duck came over to the house and told me, I just grabbed the car keys and headed out the door, I was on my way to you, Tim. No question about it. I was halfway to my car when Jimmy drove up and pulled in behind me, blocking me in. Then they managed to talk me down and get me back inside the house. Timing was all; I got to see you an hour later."

"Wow, Boss. That's…thank you."

Gibbs just shook his head, remembering the cloying fear when Ducky told him. "You'll always be mine, Tim."

"I like that." Tim chuckled, "Guess that means I have rights to you too."

Gibbs smiled, "You sure do, son. So, what'd you do today?"

"Did our reports, thank god those are done and sent to Marseille. After that, I worked on our list of prospective junior agents, whittled it down to four names out of the original 16."

"16, you had 16 names submitted?"

"Yep and I vetted them…well a few vetted themselves, that agent from London is off the list and a couple from DC. Contacted Major Fleming and he sent me his findings."

"Wow, that's some great work."

"Did I tell you what we're doing? I can't remember!"

"No, don't think so."

"Vance has approved it so I guess it's ok if I talk about it. I want to keep Matt when he finishes his probie year next September. But we don't have a junior now, so my proposal is to bring a junior in for a long term TAD, close to 10 months and then ship them out someplace. Maybe to one of the other European offices, will save the agency some moving expenses."

"So you get to train the junior and your probie the way you want and then send Junior out to work elsewhere. That's a great idea, Tim!"

"Thanks! It just makes sense for us, Matt's going to be an awesome agent and if things work out here he could be a SFA anywhere in a few years."

"You mean he could be your SFA!"

"Maybe, I'm not sure it's a good idea for an agent to only have worked in one office, that's a pretty narrow field of exposure."

"Good point."

"Yeah, so you like the idea?"

"I do!"

"Luckily so does Vance."

"That's good! He's putting together my new team, he's selecting a bunch of agents and then I get to pick and choose."

"Great! Yeah I might as well tell you that I rejected one of the names Vance gave me because I'm hoping you'll want him."

"Oh yeah, who's that or do you feel comfortable saying?"

Tim chuckled, "Went this far, sure. It's Ned Dorneget."

"And why did you reject him?"

"Not for lack of ability, that's for sure. He's worked hard on his shooting, I taught him how to handle a knife last summer and he's good at it, especially with his build. He's taking a mixed martial arts class and has taken all the in-house training on investigation, crime scenes, etc. My only concern was that he hasn't had a permanent post in two years and I didn't think floating again would be good for his career."

"Hmm, I see. Well, I like the guy and he's worked with us before. If he's on the list, I won't have a problem."

"Great to hear, Boss!" Tim went on to tell Gibbs about the plans for the Russell kids' play on Friday night and the reception on the Baton Rouge on Sunday. Gibbs gently teased him again about being a man of the world, wanting to know if he was going to wear his tux Friday night or Sunday. They talked for another few minutes until Gibbs could see his youngest was tired and he signed off. Tim went upstairs with a smile, today had been an excellent day!