Chapter 9

"I don't understand Abs, why wouldn't she tell me? How could she possibly think I'd turn her away? The thought would have never crossed my mind. I swear…"

"I know Timmy."Abby reached out to place her hand on her friend's shoulder just as he turned away, pacing in frustration.

"He's thirteen years old Abby," Tim exclaimed. "Thirteen! That's thirteen Christmases, birthdays, thanksgivings, summer vacations. I didn't get to see any of his firsts. I didn't get to be there when he was born. Because I didn't even know he was born!"

Suddenly his shoulders slumped and he stood facing the wall. "I would have been there, Abs. I want to have been there."

He felt her arms wrap around him from behind. Her cheek resting on his back. "Oh Timmy, I know."

"What if he's nothing like me? Oh god Abs what if he IS like me?"

His gaze fell to the floor, "Why didn't she just tell me?"

"I want to be able to answer that," Abby replied, "but I can't. The only one that can is her." She turned him around to face her and said, "I know how much you want kids, McGee and its really horrible that you missed out on a lot of awesome stuff, but there's still a lot of awesome stuff you get to see. You can teach him all about computers," she was getting excited now, "make him listen to all of your old jazz records. You get to be there for all of those awkward teenage moments. You know like his first girlfriend, school dances, you could teach him to drive! Then there's highschool graduation and college, his first job. Still so much cool stuff to see McGee."

She clapped him on the shoulder with a smile, "So buck up."

Tim laughed softly at his friend's excitement. "You're right Abs."

"Of course I am. Now let's get back to work before Gibbs kills both of us."

Tim sat back at his computer and continued sifting through the names and photos on the flashdrive. They had linked several to the Rei hearing and were currently trying to find the link between the others.

Tim was pulled out of his thoughts by the sound of his phone ringing. "Hey Tony," his eyes widened as he listened to his partner on the other end. "Wh-what. Y-yeah I got it. ETA?" Another pause. "Got it, Tony. I'll be there."

"Everything alright, Tim?" Abby asked as he hung up.

"That was Tony."

"Obviously."

"They found another body."

"What? Where?"

"Taylor's front porch. Tony's bringing her and Will back here. He wants me to meet them in the garage," he stood and started gathering his stuff as he spoke. "I gotta…" he felt in his pocket as if making sure he had everything as he glanced quickly across the desk. "I gotta go."

He didn't wait for a response, just turned and walked quickly from the room.

The garage was empty when he stepped off of the elevator. Tim knew that he still had a few minutes to pull himself back together before Tony would be pulling in. He still couldn't believe it. Yesterday he had been preparing to head back to visit the lake where his best friend's ashes had been scattered. Today that same best friend was not only alive but he had a son! And now it seemed that she was not only a witness but a potential target. He rested his head in his hands and leaned against the wall. "Breathe," he whispered, "just breathe."

He needed time to process. Time that it did not seem he was going to get any time soon. He ran his hand, shakily, through his hair before pushing himself away from the wall and straightening his jacket.

He heard the rev of an engine as he approached the garage entrance. Taylor's car screeched to a halt and Tony jumped out of the driver's seat. Tim met him at the passenger side door. "You might be too close to this one now, Tim," he said quietly. "I don't think that she's just a witness anymore."

Tim opened his mouth to argue then closed it. He wanted to help. Needed to help. "I might be Tony," he replied softly, "but I NEED to do this. Even if it gets decided that I can't be part of the investigation, I'm not going anywhere. So, you might as well give me something to do."

For a moment, Tony didn't reply. He sighed. "It's not my call, Tim. For now, you're protection detail with me; at least until the boss and Ziva get back. The boss gets the final call."

"I'm not leaving, Tony."

Tony recognized the tone in his friend's voice; remembered it from the last case that had involved someone Tim had regarded as family. He nodded. "We gotta get them inside."

"Right."

Tim opened the front passenger door. When Taylor didn't immediately step out, he knelt beside her seat and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. She turned to look at him, the barely concealed panic clear in her eyes. "Hey, we've got you. What do you say we get you and Will into the building? You'll be a lot warmer and we'll be able to keep both you and Will safer inside."

"Ok." The response was barely a whisper but she immediately moved to undo her seatbelt.

He stood and stepped back to give her room to step out of the car. "We're going to go upstairs and get you two set up in a conference room. Then we'll, more than likely have a few questions for you, ok?"

"Ok."

He glanced over at Tony, who had moved to get the boy out of the backseat. He nodded silently and then turned to lead them back toward the elevator, Tony following at the rear.

It didn't take long after getting them settled that Will had fallen asleep on a makeshift bed in the corner of the conference room. Tim and Taylor sat at the far end of the table both staring silently at the boy as Tony sat uncomfortably in the chair closest to the door.

"I don't understand," Tim broke the silence, his voice low. "Why would you think I wouldn't want you?"

"Oh, Tim," she paused and sighed. "I know you would have taken us in if I had asked. Not right away. I was scared, I didn't even mean for my father to find out, but he did, and then I was homeless. I was terrified and angry and hormonal and, lets face it Tim, I don't handle stress well. You know that. I immediately convinced myself that I had to do it myself. In my heart, I always knew I could go to you. I was my head that kept telling me differently. It kept playing all of these scenarios where the worst possible thing happened. Sometimes, you just slammed the door in my face, others you told me there was no way it was yours. God Tim, I had myself believing at one point that you would have told me to get rid of it."

"How could you possibly think that?" Tim exclaimed. "I...You were THE most important person in my life back then."

"Oh, Tim, no." She turned and placed her hand on his arm. "It wasn't you. It was all me. I was messed up. It took me a night of sleeping on a park bench to even decide to try going to Matt's place. He put me in therapy. I got diagnosed with depression, anxiety and a severe fear of abandonment. My mind could only let me believe worst case scenarios at that point.

"I learned some amazing coping strategies but none of it ever really went away. There were multiple times that I picked up the phone to call you. The farthest I ever got you answered the phone and I just froze. I couldn't get the words to come out so I just hung up. I was pretty broken for a the time I had pulled myself back together, I had a baby and you had changed your number. I figured it was a sign and that you'd be better off not knowing since there was no way you'd ever find out."

"And that worked so well, didn't it?" the anger was creeping into his voice. He pulled his arm away and rested his head in his hands. "I have always wanted kids. Even when I was younger, I always dreamed of a family of my own. Now I have one and I've missed 13 years. 13 years!" Tim paused as he caught his voice getting louder. He glanced over toward the sleeping boy to make sure he hadn't woken him. He slept on. "You took that from me."

"I know you're angry, Tim," she turned her chair slightly so that she was facing him. "You have every right to be royally pissed off with me right now. I will not fight you on it. I know that I can't give you that time back, but I would love if you would get to know him. You have a lot in common."

"What if he hates me?"

"He doesn't hate you. I was completely honest with him about you. Well, shy of telling him your name, at least. He knows his dad doesn't know that he exists. He knows that its my fault that he doesn't. And he knows that his dad was an amazingly kind person who didn't deserve me leaving" she reached out momentarily before pulling her hand back and placing it in her lap. "Its me he's angry with. He started asking questions once he hit middle school. I've told him a lot of stories about you back when I knew you. I never knew what became of you though. NCIS special agent. I'm proud of you, Tim."

"Special agent Gibbs will want to speak with you in the morning," Tim said after a moment, standing and pushing in his chair. "Tony will stay here with you until then. I've got to go and coordinate with him."

Before she could answer, he brushed past Tony and walked out the door.

Taylor leaned her head back in her chair and stared at the ceiling. "That could have gone better," she said to herself, closing her eyes.

"Could have been worse too there, Westley."

Her head popped up at Tony's voice. "I'm sorry. What?"

"Princess Bride. You pulled a Westley and our poor Buttercup is having trouble processing that the Dread Pirate Roberts is really you."

"What are you talking about?"

"Oh, come on. Princess Bride. Its a classic. Buttercup and Wesrley fall in love but then Westley dies and…"

"I know the book, Agent Dinozzo. I just don't understand why you're calling Tim Buttercup."

"He can't be Wesley, he didn't die."

"Ah, but he is the one who went away."

"Touche, but Wesley has to come back as the Dread Pirate Roberts. Come on, you even changed your name."

Taylor laughed lightly before sobering again. "You got me there. What happens now?" she looked over at the child sleeping on the floor. "With us, I mean."

"We're pulling the two of you into protective custody. Agent Gibbs will be in to talk to you more in the morning about what happened tonight, they're still out processing your house, and then we'll take you to a safe house."

"It's Christmas Eve," Taylor said softly, staring at the clock on the wall. She looked back to her son on the floor and sighed sadly. "Is this all because of that woman running into me the other night?"

"Honestly, Miss Mitchell, we're not completely sure. It could be. Or you could have been on his radar from the beginning."

"You can call me Taylor if you'd like."

Tony glanced behind him at the door that Tim had just walked out of. "I think, for now, I'll stick with Miss Mitchell."

AN: I've tried really hard to put myself into Tim's shoes in this chapter. I feel like he would be confused, anxious and pretty angry really so I'm hoping that I do him justice here. And I know that Tony would normally prefer to call a woman by her first name but, with everything going on with Tim, I wanted him to kind of side with him in this chapter so…

Anyway, I would really appreciate any feedback and I'll be back soon!