Not beta'd; standard disclaimer applies

No Accident, Chapter 15 Not your boss

Gibbs' morning began with Jethro, the dog, nudging his arm and giving a soft 'woof' before racing to the sliding door. Understanding what the dog wanted, Jethro, the human, still partly asleep, moved to comply, being careful not to make too much noise, since he didn't want to disturb his agent who might still be sleeping. It was a few minutes after he let the dog out that the scent of coffee filled his nostrils, and he automatically moved towards the kitchen, hoping that the coffee brewer was still there.

Unfortunately, that was not the case, the kitchen was empty, and in similar condition to how he had left it last night, except for the almost full pot of coffee and the dishes drying by the sink that indicated that Tim had eaten, or at least that he wanted Gibbs to believe that he had. Now that he knew that he was not the only human awake in the house, Gibbs no longer took care to minimize the noise he made in fear of waking Tim up. As he moved to the table, after pouring himself some coffee, Gibbs hoped the younger man had heard his movements and would soon join him.

By the time Gibbs finished his second cup of coffee, he had given up on Tim willingly joining him this morning. He had hoped that today wouldn't be a repeat of yesterday. He wasn't use to his agent ignoring and avoiding him like this. Now he had to decide if he should to continue to wait for Tim to approach him or if he should go to him. Gibbs suspected that the younger man would be more willing to talk if Tim took the initiative rather than Gibbs. It was one of the reasons why Gibbs hadn't continued their talk last night after Ziva and Tony had left.

Last night, once it was just Gibbs and Tim in the house, Gibbs had retreated into his basement both to work on his current project and to plan how to navigate the situation with the youngest male member of his team. He made sure to take multiple breaks, both to increase the caffeine in his system and to check on his guest. Every time he peeked in on Tim, he had either been engrossed in his phone, like Ziva had indicated, or he had been pacing in the bedroom. It was obvious that the young man was frustrated and had multiple things on his mind, but Gibbs had thought it best not to disturb Tim and let the pensive man think on things for a bit. After several hours of this routine, and no indication that Tim had or would seek him out, Gibbs retired to the couch, where he eventually fell asleep, the footsteps on the floor above him letting him know that Tim was still awake and worrying.

Pouring himself another cup of coffee and beginning to think that waiting for the mountain to come to him wasn't a viable option, Gibbs wondered if he should confront Tim now or wait until lunch. It was quite possible that the younger man hadn't even gone to bed last night, but had instead spent the entire night trapping himself in a waking nightmare. Gibbs didn't want to risk disturbing Tim if he was finally obtaining some much-needed sleep.

Before he could make a decision, he heard movement on the stairs. A few moments later, Tim entered the kitchen.

"Thanks for brewing the coffee again," Gibbs offered in greeting as he raised his cup in a salute, his gaze scrutinizing his agent.

"Hope you saved some for me," Tim muttered as he grabbed a mug to pour himself some.

"Tired?"

"Mm-hmm," Tim confirmed. "Didn't really sleep last night."

"Everything okay?"

Tim just snorted and gave him a look that Gibbs usually issued.

Rolling his eyes, Gibbs dryly elaborated, "Beyond the obvious."

"Isn't that enough?"

"To deprive yourself of sleep?" Gibbs asked. "That depends. Did not sleeping help you remember or figure things out? Or did it just make you irritable and tired?"

The kitchen was silent for a few moments except for the sounds of the two men sipping on their coffee. Gibbs still waiting for a response and Tim not wanting to answer.

"The latter," he finally admitted.

"Hmmm," Gibbs replied, trying to hide his smirk behind his coffee cup.

"Oh, shut up," Tim reflexively replied, as he detected the gloating smirk. Seeing his boss startle at those words, Tim froze as he realized what he just said and to who. "Er, I mean…well…Boss, I'm sorry," he finally got out, stumbling over his words.

"Hey, it's okay," Gibbs calmly replied. "Right now, I'm not your boss, not that you're fired or suspended, you're still a member of my team," he hastened to reassure Tim as he startled at that announcement. "But you are here as a guest and a friend, not a co-worker. There's enough going on without worrying about crossing lines."

Before responding, Tim stared at him as if to weigh the truth of his words. "Okay, thanks, boss."

Gibbs cleared his throat, "Ahem." As much as Gibbs welcomed being called Boss, especially by this agent since it indicated that at least subconsciously, Tim remembered, it was contrary to what he just said.

"Right…Gibbs."

"Or Jethro," Gibbs added.

"Er…yeah, I think I'll stick with Gibbs if you don't mind."

"I don't," he smirked, suspecting the four-legged reason behind the reluctance to use his preferred name. "Now, how about some breakfast before you head back upstairs and grab a nap?"

"Already ate," Tim stated, waving a hand to indicate the drying dishes.

Not really believing that the younger man had anything more for breakfast than he did the day before, but reminding himself to pick his battle, Gibbs decided not to push, and just nodded. "Okay, then sleep next. I'll make sure you wake for lunch, which you will eat."

"How's our patient?" Ducky said in lieu of a greeting after Gibbs answered the phone in his customary manner.

"Tired and irritable, bu-"

"That doesn't sound good," the worried doctor interrupted. "Another nightmare? Or perhaps he is in pain? I will leave early and be there as soon as I can."

"Ducky, he's fine."

"Jethro, tired and irritable may be your normal condition, but it is not Timothy's." Ducky argued, ignoring Gibbs's snort of amusement. "And it doesn't align with the injuries he was treated for in the hospital after the accident. It may indicate a more serious injury, something that was overlooked."

"Or it could be attributed to the fact that Tim didn't really sleep last night due to his frustration at the current situation." Gibbs explained the reason for the patient's condition, "And he's sleeping now."

The silence that followed Jethro's words was eventually broken by Ducky's understanding of the situation. "Oh. I take it then that either he did not talk with you last night or if he did, it didn't help?"

"We didn't really talk. He started to," Gibbs admitted. "Unfortunately, we were interrupted by DiNozzo and Ziva."

"Ah, that is unfortunate."

"Yep. It's why I banned them from stopping by unannounced this weekend."

"Just them?" Ducky softly questioned.

"Nope. Abby and everyone else as well."

"I see."

"I'm not saying that they or you can't visit, I just ask that everyone calls and talks to me first. If I don't answer the phone, it will be because I can't. I will call them back and give them the all clear.

"Duck?" Gibbs queried a few moments later, when the doctor didn't speak. "Is that a problem?"

"No, no, not really."

"Ducky."

"It is just that Mr. Palmer was going to stop by this weekend. Timothy asked about him last night."

"He remembered Jimmy?" a surprised Gibbs asked.

"He did," Ducky happily confirmed.

"Then he should definitely visit. Can you just make sure he calls me first?"

"You know he probably won't be comfortable with that."

Gibbs sighed, "I know, I'll behave," he promised. "Just tell him that it's in Tim's best interest."

"Very well, and I will hold you to your promise," Ducky stated. "Anything else I need to be aware of?"

"Don't think so."

"Contact me if you need anything, otherwise, I'll contact you later today before I stop by to check on Timothy."

"You know you don't need to do that, right? He doesn't really need a medical check-up every day."

"I told him I would stop by to see him today," Ducky informed the younger man. "And who said it will be a professional visit? I only spend a few moments checking on him, the rest of my visit is in idle conversation. That seems to be when he remembers things, when he is not thinking about it or trying to force it."

Ducky didn't need to see the other man's face to know that he rolled his eyes as he replied, "Fine."

"Soup and sandwiches," Gibbs offered, "Hope you are okay with that," he continued, giving a slight smile. The older man was true to his word and woke Tim before lunch, giving him enough time to shower and change before joining him down in the kitchen.

Tim returned his smile, "Yep. I said it would've been fine yesterday, today is no different. Thank you," he added.

Gibbs waved his hand dismissively. "I figured we could the remains of Ziva's cooking for lunch tomorrow; there's another dish we can reheat for dinner tonight."

Tim snorted, "I'll have to get in car accidents more often, I don't think I've ever eaten this well."

Gibbs raised an eyebrow, "I didn't know my soup and sandwiches qualified as eating well."

Tim grinned, happy to play along with the light-hearted conversation. "Well, I haven't actually tried them, but even if they're terrible, I doubt I'll retract that statement. I really don't want a headslap."

"I wouldn't," Gibbs promised, before smirking, "Ducky hasn't cleared you for that, yet."

"Hmm, I wonder if he could be bribed to say that the headslaps could have a detrimental effect on my concussion for the next three months."

"Even if he could, I wouldn't believe it. After all, he hadn't said anything with all the concussions DiNozzo had."

Tim gave an exaggerated frown before smiling, "Ah!" he gloated. "That could be the proof he needed to issue that warning."

Gibbs couldn't help but laugh at that. "Feel free to present your case to Ducky."

Tim shrugged, "Might as well, it can't hurt."

"If you do it in front of DiNozzo, I'll give you a slap-free week."

"It's a deal," Tim immediately agreed. "Wait," he called, eyes narrowing. "You won't make up for it the week after will you?"

Gibbs just smirked and waved his hand towards Tim's plate in a reminder to eat.

After lunch, Tim insisted on cleaning up since Gibbs cooked.

Hoping that the normal routine would relax his agent enough to talk, Gibbs remained in the kitchen, busying himself by brewing another pot of coffee.

"Do you feel better than you did this morning?"

"Definitely less tired," Tim replied.

"And the irritability?"

"I think that's lessened as well."

"How about the frustration and worrying?"

It was telling that Tim wouldn't look at Gibbs after the other man asked that question.

Sighing, Gibbs tried to reach out to his agent, "Tim,"

"I know, I know. It's normal."

"That's not-"

"You're there for me if I want to talk, even if you won't tell me about my life."

"Tim,"

The man in question ignored him again, continuing with the multi-platitudes he had already heard or expected. "It's normal, it will pass. It'll be fine. I'll be okay. You know what I'm going through. This isn't the end of the world. It-"

"Tim, enough," Gibbs injected softly, but just as firmly as if he had yelled the words. "Look at me," he continued, waiting for his agent to follow his directions. "I do understand. I also understand if you don't want to talk. I don't agree with you that that's the best path, but I won't force you to talk right now. I…" he paused, wondering how to continue. "I told you how I reacted in this situation, but now I am discovering how everyone else probably felt. Neither position is easy."

When Tim didn't comment, Gibbs continued, "Just…just try, okay? I don't mean try to remember," he said when a cloud of anger drifted over Tim's face. "Just try to tell me what's going on. As I said this morning, don't worry about me being your boss, or what's appropriate. I just want to help you through this, but I can't do it without input from you."

The two men stared at one another for a while, "What happens if I don't remember?"

"Tim,"

"No," Tim injected harshly. "I know what you're going to say; that it's too soon to think like that, it's only been a few days, but it's something I need to know. That's what's keeping me up at night. What happens if I don't remember? What about my job? My apartment? The dog," he said, giving a small shudder. "What do I tell my family if I talk to them before I remember? Do I tell them what happened or pretend that everything's good?"

Gibbs nodded, "Okay, then, sit," he instructed, as he sat back down at the table. "Your job is yours for as long as you want it. Anything you've forgotten in regards to your job can be relearned; your too-damned good of an agent to let go because of a small obstacle like retraining," he firmly stated, making sure to meet Tim's eyes so he could see the sincerity in them. "There's no reason why your apartment has to change unless you want it to; Tony has made many comments about how small it is. As for the dog," Gibbs continued, "If you don't feel comfortable with him returning with you to your apartment by the time you do, he can stay here until you're ready to take that step. If you ever feel like you'll never be ready for that, we can look into finding him another home."

Tim nodded, "And my family?"

Gibbs sighed, this was a tougher situation to deal with. He had wanted to call and inform the McGees of the situation as soon as he got the diagnosis, it was only because of Tim's request and Ducky's opinion that he hadn't. "That's your call. Except for briefly meeting your sister, I don't know any of them. I know, right now, you don't really know them either, all I can say is go with your gut," he added, remembering Ducky's comment.

"My gut," Tim repeated.

"You're a good agent," Gibbs commented, "Smart, insightful. It's just sometimes you think too much. You get caught up in all the possibilities."

Tim gave a wry smile, "Like with this."

"Like with this," Gibbs confirmed. "You need to stop thinking so much right now. Find a way to relax your mind and your body."

"I really can't turn my brain off," Tim argued. "I don't even really remember any hobbies."

"You are more than welcome to come downstairs," Gibbs offered. "I have some wood that could be sanded. It's what I do to relax and get away from my problems."

"Yeah, I don't think that'll work for me."

"You never know until you try," Gibbs replied with a shrug.

Tim's eyes narrowed, "I feel like you're Tom Sawyering me."

Gibbs smirked, not feeling the least bit guilty about being found out. "Well, then, there's always reading. I know you grabbed some of your books, but if you don't feel like reading them, feel free to borrow one of mine."

Tim shrugged; he didn't think he could sit still long enough to read right now.

"You know," Gibbs said, thinking about the situation and the agent involved a bit more. "Maybe it's not a matter of telling you to stop thinking, but rather, what to think about."

Tim gave him a curious look.

"Don't think about what could happen, what could go wrong, but rather, how to make things better, how to work things out. You've gotten advice, from myself, from a couple of different doctors; think about that advice, how to implement it. Yeah, it might not work," he admitted, "But it might. You really won't know unless you try and well, you can't say that you've tried everything if you hadn't followed their recommendations."

The younger man grimaced at those words, but couldn't really argue with what was said.

"Go outside for a bit, take a walk. For April, it's pretty warm, as long as you don't stay out too long, you shouldn't get sick."

"Unless I get lost," Tim muttered.

"There's a GPS on your phone, I'm sure you can find your way back," Gibbs dryly commented. "Just make sure it's charged and you bring it with you." He paused for a moment and studied his companion. It looked like Tim was giving his suggestion some serious consideration. "Some fresh air would probably do you good, and it's better to walk outside then just pacing upstairs. No doubt Ducky would approve."

11/9/2021