Not Beta'd; Standard disclaimer applies.

a/n: updated last chapter…made another reference to Tim's phone (shows you how dependent we are on our phones). If you don't want to reread chap 9, it is added here If you don't want to read, skip to bold 2nd a/n or bold title heading):

After Ducky led them away from the emotional scene involving newly declared father and son, Tim had not left Gibbs's room. In fact, the younger man had seemed to completely forget that the rest of them were even at the hospital. He had completely disregarded the multiple texts sent by Tony, Abby, to tell them what was going on, he had even ignored Ziva's texts. Imagining what those texts included, and how they could escalate, Ducky asked them to refrain from sending anymore before calling Timothy himself. To his surprise, the call wasn't answered. It was unlike Timothy to ignore his calls and for a moment, he worried that something had happened to Jethro and that Timothy was unable to answer his phone. Luckily, before he mentioned this thought to anyone else or went tearing down the hallway and into Jethro's room, he remembered that Timothy's phone was damaged and that he hadn't been able to replace it yet.

"Anthony," Ducky began, "What happened to Timothy's phone? He mentioned that it was damaged. Has he been able to replace it yet?"

Tony groaned as he looked at his own phone. What a waste of time, texting Probie. "Er, no. He told Jenny it was damaged and he left straight from there to the hospital. As to what happened to it," he shrugged, "All Probie said was that one moment it was in his hands, and the next it wasn't."

"He found it as we were leaving," Ziva informed them. "It was cracked and wet. He mentioned something about rice?" She said, her voice displaying her confusion. "I believed he was so focused on getting to Gibbs after the explosion that he hadn't made sure it was securely in his pocket and it slipped out or he absently dropped it."

"Ah," Ducky replied, nodding his head in understanding. "I believe I will pop into the room, see what Timothy wants to do and make one more assessment of Jethro's condition before we leave."

"But-"

"Can I-"

"No, the three of you will remain here," he directed, not letting Tony or Abby finish or even allowing Ziva to start speaking. "I will be gone for just a moment," he added, before turning and walking away.

Within minutes, he returned. "Timothy will be staying here for now. He wanted me to remind you that he has his laptop and will be back at the yard within a few hours, or sooner if something came up."

"Shouldn't someone stay with him?"

"I am sure he will be fine," Ducky replied, "Now, let us be on our way."

Left with no other choice, the other visitors had grumbled, but agreed that they should return to the Navy Yard.

Once they were outside and walking across the parking lot, it didn't take them long to start asking more questions.

"What's going on?" Tony angrily asked…(The rest of the scene is the same)

a/n2: Just a reminder, AU for the second half of Hiatus, if it is significantly different, or if it matters, it'll be mentioned, otherwise, things are fairly similar.

Next of Kin Chapter 10, Frankly Speaking

"Hey, Timbie," Mike softly greeted in deference to the sleeping man in the hospital bed.

"Must you call me that?" Tim complained as he normally did at the presence of the nickname his father's mentor had given him.

Mike shrugged as he entered the room, "Can't call you Probie," he reminded his friend's son, "There's only one Probie to me."

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Tim said, standing and giving the older man a brief hug. "You got here quickly," he commented. After all, he hadn't called and left a message at the cantina until after he returned to the bullpen. He had thought about borrowing Tony's or Ziva's phone to call him earlier, but decided with Tony's nosiness, he didn't want them to have that number in their phone, so he had waited until he could use the phone at his desk.

"Luck was on my side," Mike offered, not giving any more details. "How are the two of you doing?"

Tim shrugged, his glance drifting over to his father, "He woke," he began.

"That's great," Mike gruffly replied, the relief he felt evident in his tone of voice.

"But he thinks it's 1991."

"Yeah, that's not so great," the older man commiserated, well aware of what happened at the beginning of that year.

Tim gave a slight smile at the understatement. "When I mentioned to him that I called you, he just vacantly repeated your name. I'm pretty sure he didn't remember you then."

"And now? I mean, he remembered you, right? Otherwise, I don't think you would be so calm," Mike shared his observations. "So, he had to have gained those memories back."

"I…no, not really. I'm not sure how to explain it. He seemed to remember me but no one else from NCIS, he doesn't remember him being an agent." Tim paused and regrouped, deciding to start from the beginning. "According to the doctors, the first thing he did when he woke, after the tube was removed, was ask for Shannon and Kelly,"

"Ah, hell."

"He did ask for his son," Tim added. "But he still thought it was 1991 and he was an active marine, injured in Desert Storm. When I came in, he again asked about Shannon and Kelly, told me how no one would tell him anything."

Mike closed his eyes, as he tried not to picture that heartbreaking scene.

"I had to…I couldn't say it," Tim quietly admitted. "I led him through his memories, until he remembered what happened."

"Damn, kid. I wish I had made it up here sooner so you wouldn't have had to do that."

"Eh. It's fine," Tim shrugged dismissively. "Expected that someday I'll have to deal with memory problems, it comes with old age, right? Just didn't expect it now or this memory."

"Don't," Mike growled. "Don't act like it wasn't a big deal. I know. I know because I was there with him the first time."

"I know," Tim sighed. "After I told him, he…well, you can imagine his reaction. He's been like that ever since," he said, tilting his head towards his father.

Mike stood up to take a closer look at the figure in the bed. Gibbs was curled up in the bed, on his side, in the fetal position, sleeping. The look of anguish on his face was accompanied by the remnant of tears on his cheeks.

"If I had known this was going to happen, I wouldn't have called you," Tim admitted, breaking the silence that had momentarily taken over the room. "You shouldn't have to do deal with this again."

Reaching out, Mike's hand softly connected with the back of Tim's head. "I told you to call me if something ever happened, if you needed me. If you hadn't then the next time you saw me, the resulting slap would've been much harder."

"Yeah, sorry."

"Don't apologize,"

"Sign of weakness," Tim finished for him.

"Now," Franks said, taking a good look at Tim, as he returned to the chair he had been sitting in earlier, "I asked about the two of you. How are you holding up?"

"I'm okay."

The older man just looked at him until he talked. "Just…work," Tim replied.

"You guys in the middle of a case? Do you need to get back?"

"Yeah to the first. I have my laptop and can work from here for now."

"Dang computers," Mike muttered, glaring at it as if it was the source of all evil. "At least the thing is handy in this situation," he grumbled.

Tim smiled; Mike was more of a technophobe than Gibbs.

"So, what's the problem with work?" he asked, offering suggestions before Tim had a chance to answer. "That DiNozzo guy getting on your nerves?"

"No more than usual," Tim began.

"That girl you were seeing wanting to get back together and is stalking you?"

"No,"

"The new pretty li'l filly catch your eye, but won't give you the time of day?"

"No,"

"Why not?" an exasperated Mike asked. "How is Probie ever going to become a grandfather if you don't find a nice girl, settle down, and have a family?"

"You mean like you did?" Tim sarcastically asked.

"Hey, at least I got married…twice."

Tim rolled his eyes, "You married the same woman twice."

"Same thing," Mike dismissed.

Tim shook his head in amusement. "The problem," he began, redirecting their conversation, "Is that I had to share that I was listed as Gibbs's next of kin."

"Listed," Mike repeated, stressing the terminology Tim used.

"Some didn't really believe it. All of them questioned why," Tim continued, ignoring his companion's injection.

"Not their damn business," Mike firmly stated.

"If you ask Tony, everything is his business," Tim dryly replied.

"When you get back to work, just ignore them," Franks suggested. "If you don't answer or make a big deal of it, they'll forget about it. Either that or they'll ask Probie," he said, grinning as he imagined that scene.

Tim smiled briefly at the imagined scenario, "If it was just that, I would, but they now know Gibbs is my father." Tim frowned as he recalled the e-mails he had received from Tony and Abby. It was clear that they had somehow discovered the truth. They had no problems letting Tim know that fact, or even taht they wanted details, they just hadn't shared how they knew.

"How the hell did that happen?"

Tim shrugged, "Not sure,"

"Well, they are investigators," Franks reminded him, "And your father has always said that for all of DiNozzo's faults, he was a cracker-jack detective."

"Yeah," Tim agreed. "Of course, I did tell Ducky and the doctor, they could've overheard that conversation, or one of them could've said something. Then again," he continued, giving a mocking laugh, "I was so focused on dad, that I could've said something to them, and not known what I was saying," he sheepishly admitted.

"Understandable," Mike comforted. "Don't beat yourself up over it. You know this was bound to happen sooner or later."

"I definitely would've preferred later," Tim retorted, sharing a grin with Mike.

"So, that's the problem with work," Mike stated, taking Tim's lack of denial as confirmation that he was correct. "That and the issue with Tony thinking that everything is his business,"

"And Abby feeling like she needs to know everything going on in all of our lives, but especially Gibbs's," the younger man injected.

"They're not going to leave you alone until they know everything."

Tim snorted, "And that's the best-case scenario."

A lifted eyebrow silently asked what would be the worst.

"Who knows," Tim offered depressingly, giving a shrug. "How mad are they going to be? Will they be too angry to work with me? To talk to me? Will they be upset with both of us that we kept it a secret? Will the team still be together once dad recovers?"

Mike didn't know what to say and the two men fell into silence, both of them thinking and worrying about the sleeping man next to them.

"Tim, you're really here."

At the sound of his name from that familiar voice, Tim had immediately set his computer aside and had approached the bed. "Of course, I am. I wouldn't be anywhere else and I won't leave you without telling you," he promised.

Gibbs looked at him a moment, before movement from the corner of his eye caught his attention and he turned his head in that direction.

"Boss,"

"Probie," Mike returned, as Gibbs moved to get out of bed and give the older man a hug.

"It wasn't a dream," Gibbs sadly murmured. "They're dead. Shannon and Kelly are dead."

"I know," Mike acknowledged as he helped the injured man return to the bed.

Once settled, Jethro just looked at the other man. Tim remained silent, standing back to observe and see what his else his father might have remembered.

"They say it's been fifteen years. I can't believe that," Gibbs commented, looking at Mike. "It feels like I just got the news."

Mike just returned his gaze, not commenting.

"I remember you," he suddenly said, looking at the other man, before sharing bits and pieces of his memories.

"You taught me how to be an agent, how to investigate crimes."

"No, I didn't teach, you observed," Franks corrected.

Gibbs snickered, remembering his first year as a Probie Agent, what he 'observed' and learned.

"What brings you here?" Gibbs asked. "If I remember correctly, you quit."

"Retired," Mike corrected. "Timbie called me."

"Tim B?" Gibbs repeated.

"Me," Tim softly stated, causing his father's eyes to focus on him. "He always calls me that. It's a combination of my name, Tim and"

"And Probie," Gibbs completed. "When he first met you, he called you Probie's Probie, but said he couldn't really call his Probie's son that. If I remember correctly, he also thought about calling you Gibbson, Timson, or Probson."

Tim nodded, a smile gracing his lips at his father recounted the memory to him.

Mike snorted, "Couldn't really use a nickname with the word son in it if you weren't making it public, now could I?" he asked. "Had to come up with something different. Your son was a probie, you were, and always will be Probie to me, so Timbie it was."

Tim stared at his father as he recalled the recent memory. Was it possible his father remembered even more from the last few years? How about from the last few days?

Knowing that his father remembered Mike and wasn't being left alone with a 'stranger', Tim packed up his laptop and returned to work. The minute he exited the elevator and stepped into the bullpen, Tony was ready for him.

"What the hell is going on, McGee?"

"When I left the hospital, the searches didn't have anything yet. Let me boot up my computer and check my searches again and I'll tell you what it found," Tim replied, heading towards his desk. "I do have something to share,"

"Not the case," Tony hissed. "And I think you have a lot you need to share, starting with you and Gibbs…or as you called him, dad."

At those words, Tim froze for a moment before straightening up and turning around to face his coworker. Was that how they found out? Did they eavesdrop on the conversation he had with his father in the hospital?

"Or should we be calling you Gibbs?" the SFA continued. "Hell, maybe we should just combine the two names and call you McGibbs so as not to confuse you with your dad."

"Tony,"

"That's Agent DiNozzo to you, only my friends call me Tony," he snapped.

Tim inhaled sharply. He knew the team would be upset, but this? Not even giving him a chance to explain.

"Tony!" Ziva and Abby hissed angrily.

"What? Apparently, we weren't as good as friends as any of us thought we were since he never shared that Gibbs was his father," the last few words stated loud enough for everyone on the floor to hear.

"Seriously?" Tim asked, looking at Tony, "That's how we're going to play this?"

"Why? Going to run to Daddy and complain? Have him fight your battles for you?"

"Thanks, To-Agent DiNozzo, for sharing that personal information with everyone," Tim sarcastically replied, feeling the stares from his fellow agents on him. "And for letting me know how little you think of me that you believe I would do as you suggested." Tim thought it was quite obvious that he doesn't expect Gibbs to make things easier for him. He had never asked the man to intervene on his behalf, and never planned to do so. Yes, he wanted his father available to talk to the team, the two of them telling them together how everything happened, but he didn't count that has 'fighting his battles for him', it was just how he and Gibbs imagined it happening.

"Tim?" Abby approached him, "Why didn't you tell us? Me?" she asked, her voice full of hurt. "You told me your father was in the Navy."

"He was, is, er, was," Tim replied, a bit flustered.

"Is he? Was he?" Tony asked, glaring at McGee.

"John McGee is an admiral in the U.S. Navy," Tim supplied, silently adding, 'but was no longer the man I call father' to himself.

"Then Gibbs?"

Tim sighed, "Look, I know we owe you guys an explanation; we didn't plan on you finding out like this, can we work on catching the guy that did this first and stopping what else might be planned?"

They just stared at him, not responding. Tim sighed again, "If it makes it easier, I will ask the director to get somebody from Cyber Crimes up here and for me to be transferred elsewhere."

"No!" Abby shouted in protest as she grabbed Tim's arm and pulled him so he stood face to face with Tony. "You two are going to shake hands and make up. Gibbs' is already not here; I can't handle anyone else leaving, not right now, not ever. It is going to take all of us to figure this out," she said, looking from one agent to the other. "Well? Shake hands," she ordered when neither of them moved to follow her directions.

"Abby," Tim said, looking at her, "If Tony, that is, Agent DiNozzo, is okay with it, we can work together on this case, but we don't need to shake hands to do so. I understand why he's upset; I just hope he gives me a chance to explain once the case is solved."

"Tony?" Abby asked pleadingly.

"We can work on the case," he finally agreed, looking at Abby for a moment before returning to his desk.

"I believe McGee had something to share," Ziva reminded them, causing all of them to look at him once more.

"Oh, yeah. Um, well, while Mike and I were there,"

"Who's Mike?" Tony asked.

"Mike Franks,"

"Gibbs's mentor!" Abby announced. "I heard about him, mostly from Ducky. Gibbs doesn't talk much, you know. He said-"

"Abby," Tony called, trying to get her to refocus on the present.

"Right. Sorry," she said, looking at him and miming zipping her lips shut before turning back to Tim.

"Uh, yeah, anyway, Gibbs remembered a couple of things that happened more recently. Things from 1996 and from the last few years."

"Did he remember us?"

"Abby," Tony warned again, though he too, turned to McGee for an answer.

"Uh, no, I don't think so," Tim reluctantly replied. "I had hoped he might've remembered something regarding the case, so Mike and I tried talking with him for a few minutes,"

"And?" Tony impatiently asked.

"And that didn't result in anything," he admitted, except for his father mentioning Tim's seasickness.

"So, it was a waste of time," Tony snapped.

"Not completely," Tim disagreed. "I then brought up a few pictures on my laptop. I showed him the picture of Pinpin Pula. The only thing he said was that that wasn't his name."

"So?"

"So, he was rather adamant about it. That got me and Mike thinking. What if Pinpin Pula had killed Ghalib, stuffed him in the oil drum with the bomb, then posed as him, to lead Gibbs to the laundry room? It would explain why Gibbs was in the laundry room, when it was supposed to be a simple arrest and not a chase, and how someone could sit on a bomb and not know it was there."

"And why Gibbs knew a bomb would go off!" Abby exclaimed. "His gut told him something was hinky. Pinpin wasn't really an agent, so wouldn't act like an agent really would, Gibbs would've picked up on that."

"It also ties into what I recently discovered," Ducky announced, startling the agents before informing them about the cut cervical vertebra he had just found.

"Okay, Rule 3, check and double check," Tony announced. "Unfortunately, this is all just supposition on our part. Gibbs still has amnesia; this could be a simple case of him forgetting names, like he has forgotten everything…almost everything else," he corrected, looking at Tim. "None of this has been confirmed as fact, except Ghalib's death. Ziva, the captain should know if this is true, find out. Agent McGee, resend the bolo aka Abog Ghalib."

"On it, Agent DiNozzo," McGee promised.

Abby bit her lip as she watched the two before catching Ziva's eye. The liaison officer just shrugged, knowing that this was something the two would have to work out for themselves.

"Agent McGee, my office," the director ordered after seeing Tim sitting at his desk. A meeting that had been on her calendar for weeks had just concluded and she had exited her office to see if the MCRT had returned. She was delighted to see all of them sitting at their desks. What was surprising was that all of them appeared to be working. There was no teasing, no jokes, there wasn't any talking of any kind. Perhaps it wasn't that surprising, she thought. After all, their team lead was in the hospital, and even though he was awake, the latest report she had gotten had informed her that in his mind, it was the summer of 1991.

Tim grimaced as he pushed his chair back and moved to stand up.

"That's what you get for keeping secrets," Tony snarked. It was the first time he had spoken to Tim since the initial confrontation and Tim sharing the theory that he and Mike had developed. Tim, had talked to Tony, mostly about the case, but all Tony had done in return was to nod his head in acknowledgement that he had been heard.

"Tony," he heard Ziva hiss as he walked away. "You told the director about this?"

"What? No," came the immediate denial.

"I understand that you are upset, but to do something like that? Before even giving them a chance to explain?" she continued, ignoring his words. "That is uncalled for and could ruin both of their careers."

"I wouldn't, I didn't," Tony protested, before falling silent for a moment. "I admit that I'm…peeved," he grudgingly agreed, not surprising anyone, "But I wouldn't snitch on them like that, especially with Gibbs still in the hospital."

"Then who?" Ziva asked, "It certainly was not me."

"I don't think Ducky would do that. He actually didn't seem that surprised by the news, so I'm guessing that he knew before Probie called Gibbs dad."

Ziva nodded her agreement, "The only other person there was"

"Abby," the both said at the same time before groaning.

9-30-2020

Wanted to get another chapter up before the end of the month. Hope you guys enjoyed it.

Mike came! What do you guys think about the conversation between Mike & Tim? Mike, Tim, & Gibbs? The nickname Timbie?

I like the idea of Tim helping to figure things out, which is why I had him & Mike do that (and I rewatched the 2nd half of Hiatus, and was struck by how Gibbs said that wasn't his name to Jenny) and a scene was born.

So, Tony (and the team) agreed to wait for the case to be finished before seeking out answers...what questions do you think they'll have for Tim? (what questions do you guys have-either as yourself or if you were a one of his teammates?) BTW, the case 'ends' next chapter, so we get to those questions soon.

Also, do you want to know what happened chronologically (Starting with SubRosa and continuing to Season 3) or by Tim answering everyone's questions?

Don't want to leave any 'loose ends', so feel free to let me know your questions.

Oh yeah, what do you think Jenny is going to say to Tim?