Chapter 11
Tony followed Gibbs as they led Taylor back to the squad room. As they came around the corner, he saw McGee standing behind his desk, talking animatedly with the boy currently seated in his chair. He gestured from his computer screen to the larger screen near Gibbs desk and back.
"McGee." Tim froze for a moment before turning towards the sound of Gibbs' voice.
"Boss?"
"My office." McGee nodded before following the older man toward the elevator.
After a moment's hesitation, Tim followed his boss toward the elevator, "On it boss." He glanced back once before stepping in, smiling slightly as his gaze fell on the young boy now talking excitedly to his mother.
The doors closed and it wasn't long before Tim felt the expected jolt of the elevator as Gibbs flipped the emergency switch. "Holding up ok?"
Tim turned to see his Boss looking back at him. "I'm alright, Boss." At Gibbs' raised eyebrow, he continued, "It was a bit of a shock but, Boss, I have a son! And my first love just came back from the dead. It's been a lot to wrap my head around."
"Can't let you be part of their protection."
"Boss?"
"You're too close to this McGee. Do you really think you can be objective about this?"
"Objective! You wanna talk about objective? I'm the best protection they've got, Boss. I'd do anything to keep them safe."
"That's the problem, McGee." The head smack that came with those words was not unexpected. Tim glared over at his boss as he continued. "Your head's not in the game. You're feeling too much."
"I'm not leaving them!"
"And I'm not losing an agent because he's too worried about his kid and his ex to keep himself safe!"
Tim stared at his boss quietly for a moment before speaking softly. "I thought that the girl I loved was dead, Boss. Now she's suddenly not and I've got this amazing kid that I get a chance to get to know. You of all people should understand how much I have to be there."
He heard the other man sigh, his voice calmer. "I can't let you be part of this, Tim. You're too close to it. Director's orders. You had vacation time put in starting today. Take it."
"Vacation time that I was taking to fly across the country to spend time at my dead friend's grave, Boss. To be with her; but she's here!"
"You're taking it, McGee." He reached forward and sent the elevator back up to the squad room. "You can shut down and head out."
Tim glared angrily at his boss until the doors opened. He stepped forward, stopping with one foot still in the elevator before turning back around. "I choose what I do with my vacation, Gibbs. Do you know what sounds like a perfect use of it to me? I'll be spending Christmas with my family." He turned and walked off the elevator, back toward his desk, ignoring the angry team lead who was hot on his heels.
"Not how this works, McGee."
Tim turned back, his face inches from the other man. His voice was low. "Got it, Gibbs. I can't be their protection detail. Fine. Then I'll be there as his dad. I'm spending Christmas with my son, Gibbs; hands off the case. No one is taking that from me."
"I get the feeling, Tim," Gibbs replied, mirroring the quiet of his agent's voice. "If I had the chance to spend even one more Christmas with my girls…" he paused, looking away momentarily before meeting Tim's eyes once more. "Director says you can't be part of this case. You come with us, you come as a civilian. They will each have their own detail. No touching any part of this case. When we nail these bastards we can't have then getting off on a technicality. You come with us, you're putting yourself in our hands. No heroics. You do what we say."
"Got it, Boss."
Tim turned and walked back to his desk ignoring the confused looks of the others by his desk. He unlocked the top drawer, placing his badge next to the gun he already had safeguarded there. Once he had safely locked it away, he looked back at his team leader making a show of wiping his hands off and holding his empty hands out in front of him. "Hands off, Boss." He then turned back to the two guests at his desk. "Guess who just got Christmas off and is going to spend it with you, Will?"
"Really? But I thought you were going to be there anyway."
"I was but now I won't have to waste any time working. Instead we'll spend the whole time getting to know each other better." Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the rest of his team move away toward Gibbs and figured they were hoping to find out exactly what was going on.
"What is going on, Gibbs?"
"Director took McGee off the case. Can't have his name on it when we catch these bastards. Cyber crimes will be handling all computer aspects of the case from here out. Dinozzo, go down to Abby, see what she has on our latest victim. Ziva, send everything down to cybercrimes."
"On it, Boss"
"Yes, Gibbs"
"McGee!"
"Yeah, Boss?"
"Gotta talk to Ducky. You three stay put."
"Got it, Boss"
"What d'ya got for me Duck."
"Ah, Jethro. I was wondering when you'd be paying us a visit."
"We looking at the same killer?"
"I'm afraid so, Jethro. The contusions and stab wounds on our latest victim are consistent with those found on agent Fischer. However, this poor girl does not seem to have been held nearly as long before her death. The majority of her wounds were made less than 24 hours ago. This is a drastic change in the timeline used with Agent Fischer."
"They're escalating."
"I would wager that our involvement may have something to do with their escalation, Jethro; and, perhaps, the involvement of our dear Miss Mitchell as well. Cause of death was a single gunshot wound to the center of the forehead. To have such powder burns present, her killer would have had to have been directly in front of her with the gun only inches from her skin. Second wound was too her shoulder and, while painful, would not have caused enough damage to kill her. I've sent samples of the powder along with a dna sample up to Abby for analysis."
"She get a piece of her killer Duck?"
"I'm afraid not, Jethro. Unlike Agent Fischer, this poor girl was assaulted."
"Thanks, Duck." Gibbs turned to walk away but stopped short as Ducky called out to him once more.
"Oh, Jethro, and how is young Timothy holding up?"
"Director ordered him to stand down." Gibbs turned back to his long time friend as he continued, "So, at the moment, I'd say he's pretty pissed off, Duck."
"Oh my. There would be no way that he would take that quietly. What has he decided to do?"
"Decided to spend his vacation at the safe house anyway."
"And you find that wise?"
"He's gonna find a way to protect his kid one way or another."
"And at least this way the rest of your team can watch his back. Well, do take care. I will contact you should my new friend here reveal any more secrets."
"Thanks Duck."
"Tony! You're not Gibbs. You're supposed to be Gibbs."
"I'm not good enough for ya any more Abby?" Tony replied with a grin.
"No! No, you're fine. Its just, Gibbs always shows up when I've got something; and I've got something good!"
"Well, Gibbs sent me, Abs, so how about you share this something with me hmm?"
"Right! Well, I'm running the fingerprints and DNA on our latest victim, no matches yet. I also ran the semen that Ducky found. That I got a match on." She pulled up the match on the computer. "Meet the DNA of one Alex Rei. Now we've got solid proof that he is in fact our suspect. Also, based on the depth and size of the stab wounds both of our victims had, I can say that they were definitely made with the same blade."
"Which gives us proof that they were killed by the same person."
"And places Rei at the scene."
"Why does your face tell me there's a but in there somewhere?"
"Because there is. I found blond hair on Agent Fischer's clothing. No tag present so I have nothing to compare it too but, so far, the only blond we have is currently on Duck man's table."
"Could it be her's?"
"Color doesn't match. Latest victim has almost white blond hair. The one I found is more of a dirty blond."
"So, either Rei has more victims we haven't found yet or…"
"Or he has an accomplice."
"Thanks Abs." Tony kissed her lightly on the forehead before setting the Caf-Pow he had hidden behind his back down on her desk. "We're headed out so call us once you get a match on the DNA or fingerprints."
"Can do. Promise you'll all be careful."
"Always are, Abs." Tony turned and walked out of the lab headed toward the elevator to the squad room.
As he approached their small section of the squad room he paused and took a moment to watch his Probie with his kid and his long lost friend. The kid had such a wide smile on his face that it looked almost painful. Every once in a while, Tim would glance over at the woman who was leaning next to his desk and his smile would falter and his eyes would become more guarded.
Tony frowned.
He knew that his Probie needed the time to work through everything that had happened and that his emotions kept swinging between relief, happiness and anger.
"What are you looking at, Tony?" Ziva asked as she walked up beside him.
"Who knew Probie would have a secret kid out there."
Ziva looked over at the trio and smiled. "He will make a wonderful father."
"Well, duh Ziva. Just not used to Elflord being McPapa."
"The boy seems to be adjusting well. I am not sure about McGee's friend. If she leaves again I will be forced to make use of my paperclips."
Tony laughed at the image Ziva's words had conjured up and the trio looked over in their direction. "We all set?" Tim asked as the pair walked over.
"Once El Jefe gets back we'll be good to go."
"Think Gibbs will let me take my car? Since I'm on vacation, after all."
"Afraid someone's gonna scratch the Porsche while we're gone, eh McRoadster?"
"No, umm, just have some stuff that I had Abby grab for me on her lunch. I'd prefer not to leave it behind."
"And what's so important, Probie?"
Tim's eyes flickered briefly over toward Will, still seated in his desk chair, before going back to Tony. "Umm…"
"Let's go people." Gibbs' voice broke the tense silence that had fallen as he walked briskly over to his desk, grabbing his badge and gun from his drawer.
"Umm, Boss?" Gibbs looked over at the youngest member of his team. "I was just wondering if I could go in my car rather than a sedan. Its just, all my stuff is already in it and…"
"Abby already transferred it over. You ride with us or not at all McGee."
"Oh! That...that works too but, how did Abby know…" McGee trailed off at the look on his boss' face. Of course he'd already know. He shook his head with a laugh. "Where are we headed?"
"Dinozzo," Gibbs tossed a set of keys over to the other man, "you take McGee. Ziva, you and the Mitchells are with me."
"On it Boss."
AN: This one was really hard to write. So much talking! But we had to do more with the case so it can't be helped. So...what do you think Tim had Abby pick up for him? The discussion between Tim and Gibbs was sooooo hard for me to write. But, based on previous episodes with his family, we know that Tim will not hold back where his family is concerned so I feel like it works and of course Gibbs is worried about one of his kids. Anyway, let me know what you think and I'll be back soon!