Not beta'd; standard disclaimer applies

No Accident Chapter 2 Admission

"I really should have driven," Tony whined as Ziva took the corner of the Hospital parking lot entrance on two wheels and pulled into the first space available.

"I got us here just fine."

"At warp speed," Tony muttered, "And there was no need. It's not an emergency."

"You do not know that," she snapped as she slammed the car into park and opened the car door.

"Gibbs would've said if it was,"

"He called and told us to get to the hospital where our teammate has been since he was in an accident over six hours ago. Forgive me if I am worried," she angrily hissed at him, slamming the car door in emphasis, and walking towards the Hospital entrance.

"I have no doubts that Probie is fine."

"If he was fine, he wouldn't still be in hospital, nor would we have been asked to come," she retorted, hurrying through the building, Tony right on her heels.

Once inside the elevator, Ziva turned to him. "Tony, he's being admitted. They do not do that as part of a joke, not even today."

"We don't know that he's being admitted," he argued.

"Dammit, Tony, they gave him a room!" she hissed at him, right as the doors opened onto Tim's floor..

Before Tony could respond, Ziva quickly exited and walked down the hall, coming to a halt when she saw Gibbs in the hallway.

"Doctors are in with him now," their boss answered the unasked question.

"How is he? What's wrong?"

Gibbs looked at her in surprise. It was unusual for Ziva to be so worried, usually that was Abby's job. At that thought, he looked around. "Where's Abby?"

"Oh…" Tony said, suddenly looking sheepish, "Um, I didn't know you wanted me to tell her about that call or that you wanted her to come with us. I figured you would call her directly."

Gibbs frowned, "Even if I did, she probably would've needed a ride. You know how she gets when one of us is hurt."

"I know," Tony muttered. Boy, did he know, especially after being the one to tell Abby about this latest mishap. The fact that he didn't really have any information to share with her had made the situation that much worse. It was actually because of her, her scared cries, her worrying hysteria, that had him looking up the accident report. In fact, his promise to do so was the only reason why she allowed him to leave her lab, and even then, he had to persuade her to keep working and not accompany him upstairs while he did so. That took him mentioning that maybe the Director would let her sneak away early to see Tim if she was all caught up.

Bringing himself back to the present, Tony snorted, "Probably safer driving herself than with Ms. De Vil here behind the wheel."

"Tim…" Ziva interrupted, "How is Tim?"

Gibbs nodded, only slightly surprised by her tone this time, and indicated for them to take a seat. "Physically, he's fine,"

"Ha!" Tony gloated. "I told you he was fine."

"Obviously he is not fine if he is in the hospital," Ziva snapped. "Now shut up and let Gibbs tell us what is wrong," she hissed, causing the two men to look at her once more in surprise.

"Agent Gibbs?" a nurse called, after exiting Tim's room and glancing around. "The Doctor would like you to join them."

With a nod, Gibbs stood and joined the hospital staff in Tim's room.

"How can you be so blasé about this?"

"Because he's fine," Tony replied. "First, it's McGee, he's never seriously injured. Talk about the luck of the Irish," he stated, shaking his head. "Second, if he was seriously injured then Gibbs would've called Ducky and Abby to be here as well. He definitely would've called McGoo's family," he added.

"Apparently it has to be somewhat serious since he expected you to bring Abby with us," she retorted. "And Gibbs must be pretty worried if he failed to communicate that clearly to you.

"I…" Tony faltered, not sure how to respond. "Well, he didn't contact Ducky, so at least we know there's no need for a medical examiner," he said, trying to lighten the atmosphere.

"Not funny," Ziva angrily snapped before folding her arms across her chest and turning away from Tony. She would leave and take a walk, but she wanted to be here the moment Gibbs leaves Timothy's room and can finally update them on what is going on.

Gibbs's steps never faltered as he approached his agents, sitting exactly where he left them. "The Doctor expects Tim to make a full recovery," he announced. "Not sure how long it will take,"

"But how is he?" Ziva injected. "What happened? The accident report didn't indicate any wounds or injuries, nor did the damage appear to be-"

"Ziva," Gibbs injected, causing the brunette to fall silent, "You looked up the accident report?"

"I did," Tony admitted, "I wanted to see how bad it was, tell Abby," he explained.

Gibbs nodded before answering Ziva's question, "It is believed he might have hit his head, against the window or the door frame, no laceration or swelling, but-."

"A headache?" Tony questioned, "All this," he said, waving his arms to incorporate the hospital, "for a headache? Couldn't he have just seen Ducky, grabbed some aspirin and gone into work?"

"Tony!"

"DiNozzo," they uttered warningly.

"McGee, Tim's having some memory issues," Gibbs softly admitted.

"That's rich," Tony muttered.

"Memory issues?" Ziva repeated.

"Amnesia."

"Most likely trying to forget the date," Tony muttered, momentarily ignored by his teammates.

"Dissociative Amnesia? It is understandable that he does not remember the events immediately preceding the accident," Ziva commented in relief.

"No," Gibbs shook his head.

"So, he remembers the accident?" Tony jumped in.

"No," Gibbs repeated, "He's forgotten many events from the last several years."

"Years?" Ziva repeated. "Oh, poor Tim."

"Seriously!?" Tony exclaimed.

"Hey, McGeek," Tony called as he entered Tim's hospital room. The doctor was only allowing one visitor at a time and Tony pulled rank. Not only because he was their SFA, but also because he knew McGee longer.

"Must you call me that?" Tim responded with a sigh.

Tony raised an eyebrow, it seemed like his Probie remembered some things, "Well, no," he admitted, "I could call you McAmnesiac, McForgetful, or McFak-"

"Okay, I get it," Tim responded with a roll of his eyes, cutting him off. "Any word on when I'm getting out of here?"

"Ah, no," Tony admitted. "Do you really think they'll let you leave when you don't remember who you are?"

"I know who I am," Tim snapped, causing Tony's eyebrows to raise, mostly in suspicion. "I just forgot a few details about my life is all."

Tony snorted, causing Tim to look at him again, "What?"

Tony shook his head, "What do you remember?"

"I…" Tim paused, giving him a speculative look. "We're friends, right? I mean, we've worked together for a few years, so we have to be close. Trust each other with our secrets and stuff, right?"

"Like brothers," Tony solemnly replied.

Tim nodded, glad that at least some of his impressions were right. He shook his head, not wanting to think about some of the things he said and thought about earlier.

"So, what do you remember?" Tony repeated.

"I remember moving up here from Norfolk," he admitted. "I think it was because of a girl."

"Really," Tony replied, hoping Tim would continue. Tim had never mentioned that he mostly moved up here for Abby, not that it was that much of a surprise.

Tim blushed and gave a hesitant nod. "I keep seeing a dark-haired angel whenever I closed my eyes today," he admitted. "Her dark hair, so soft and silky. And those eyes…" Tim trailed off, closing his eyes and sighing.

Tony cleared his throat to get Tim back on track. Man did he wish he was recording this, whether it was true or just an act, either way it would've been great material to have on Probie.

Tim reacted to the noise at once, his eyes popping open. "Right. Well, I don't remember spending any time with her in Norfolk, just up here. I can't remember her name, but it's obvious I cared, care a lot about her and I think that it's mutual. I hope that it's mutual," he softly added.

Tim frowned, this time looking at Tony, "I think I know you because of her," he stated with a puzzled look on his face, "Or maybe I know her because of you?" he questioned. "It's all a bit…"

"What? A bit what?" Tony prodded.

Tim stared at the senior agent for a few minutes, "Fuddled," he finally supplied.

"Right, fuddled," Tony agreed, wondering how far Tim would take this. He suspected one of two things, either Tim was faking to get out of being the subject of Tony's pranks this April Fool's Day or he was trying to play an elaborate joke on Tony. Part of Tony wondered if McGee was trying to get the entire team with this one prank, but who would try something like this on Gibbs? Or Ziva? It might be possible to trick Ducky for a few moments, but a medical related joke wouldn't last long with the observant doctor. As for Abby, well, the two of them were so close that she could be part of it, plus, he couldn't imagine Tim risking Abby's wrath for heedlessly worrying her.

Tony paused for a moment. Was it possible that Tim got the entire team to go along with it? Gibbs and Ziva? Tim might not have been able to get Gibbs to agree, but Abby had 'her silver-haired fox' wrapped around her finger. Hell, she even got him to go out to Karaoke night with them once.

Tony realized that he definitely needed more information about what was going on. He looked at Tim once more who just met his gaze without saying anything. "And who is this girl again?"

"I don't know," Tim admitted. "I was hoping someone would tell me."

"Ah," Tony nodded, he's good. Better than he thought Probie would be undercover. What to do, what to do…should he pretend he didn't know who Tim was talking about? Should he admit that he knew Tim was talking about Abby? Should he tell Tim that he and Abby were very close and serious about one another, thinking about moving in together, marriage, family? Or should he randomly pick some brunette at NCIS and tell Tim that she was the love of his life? Tony couldn't help but smile at that last idea. Seemed like a good way to get back at Tim for his feeble attempt at pranking the master. Tim couldn't admit Tony was wrong unless he ended the joke and was miraculously 'healed'.

"What?" Tim asked, noticing the smile that was captured on his friend's face.

"Nothing, just thinking about you…and your girl."

"So, you do know who she is?" Tim spoke eagerly, his complete attention now on his friend. "Does she know what happened? Is she okay? Why isn't she here? They said I was in the car alone, that no one else was involved. I was so relieved that nothing happened to her. Are we still close? From what I heard, I moved up here years ago, maybe we aren't together anymore? Gibbs didn't mention that I had anyone special in my life."

"Ah, yes, well," Tony paused. "Gibbs has these rules," he began, "He's not fond of coworkers dating each other. You two try to keep it hidden. Almost everyone knows, or at least suspects, though," Tony added. "When you're in love, it's hard to hide."

Tim nodded in understanding, yes, he couldn't imagine hiding how he felt about his angel. He was glad that Tony confirmed that he hadn't imagined his feelings, that it wasn't all one sided. "Yeah," he agreed, his voice soft as if in a dream.

Tony bit his lip to keep from snickering. Talk about overplaying a role, he thought, shaking his head. "In the past, you were very careful," Tony began his tale, "Pretended that there was nothing there but friendship."

"In the past? What about now?"

"Yes, well," Tony paused. "You can't tell her that I told you this, because I wasn't supposed to know," Tim nodded in agreement, "The two of you had decided to stop 'hiding'. You wouldn't announce anything, but you weren't going to hide it either. If people noticed you drove in together or left together," Tony trailed off with a shrug, letting Tim finish the sentence himself. "Likewise if they thought you were too…concerned about the other. You wouldn't say anything, but you wouldn't lie about it either if asked."

Tim nodded his understanding. No doubt trying to hide the relationship from his coworkers had taken a toll on the relationship and them. "And why weren't you suppose to know?"

"You two had just decided this and agreed not to tell people. I, being the incredible investigator that I am," he boasted, "As well, as a really close friend," he added, grinning at Tim, "realized that something had changed."

"Changed?"

"Well, yes, naturally," Tony responded. "One of the reasons you decided not to hide your relationship was because it was impossible to take the next step if you kept it hidden."

"Next step?"

"Probie," Tony whispered, his tone becoming more serious, "don't tell me you forgot about the ring you have hidden in your sock drawer," he continued in mock concern.

"I…what?" Tim replied with an internal grin. Things must be going really well if he had a ring for her…if only he could remember her name. "Tony, who is she?" he asked desperately.

"I…maybe I should wait for you to see her in person, maybe she'll jog that memory of yours," Tony hedged.

"I…maybe," Tim agreed sadly. Wait, if he was waiting, that meant she was here, within reach.

"I will tell you that she should be outside these doors and most likely very anxious to see you," Tony added.

Tim nodded, "I'm anxious to see her as well."

"Good," Tony grinned, "Let me see who's ready to come in next."

"Tony…thanks."

"Don't mention it," Tony replied with a smile, as he opened the door. He looked around, surprised that Ducky and Abby hadn't made it in yet. "Ziva, you're up," he called as the door slowly started to close behind him.

"Ziva," Tim repeated in a soft whispered. "A beautiful name for a beautiful angel."

4-4-2020

Well, now you know what they say is wrong with Tim...

Is he faking? Is it real What do you think (and why)

How do you feel about what Tony is thinking/doing?

Would love to hear your thoughts (and read your reviews while 'social distancing')