Not beta'd; standard disclaimer applies.

This chapter is based off of Hiatus: Part 1 (S3,e23) it's basically 'missing scenes'-things we didn't see and what happened in connection with this AU world I'm building. There is some recap of scenes from the show, but I pretty much glossed over those unless they were different or vitally important,

NEXT OF KING, Chapter 2, CHURNING

After reaching over and removing the keys that Gibbs left in the ignition, Tim exited the sedan and watched as Gibbs boarded the ship that he, along with Tony and Ziva would be watching for the rest of the night. He absently rubbed his stomach in the hope that his actions would ease the discomfort that had just settled in. He didn't think he would be hungry this quickly and was now glad that Tony and Ziva, in the other car had offered to stop and get him something to eat.

"McGee," Tony shouted, after rolling down his window, "get in. We gotta plan."

"Plan what?" Tim heard Ziva ask as he approached their car. "We are here to watch in case there is any trouble."

"Exactly," Tony jumped on her statement. "As simple and straight forward as this task be, we can't let down our guard. We could be here most of the night,"

Tim rolled his eyes as he settled into the backseat. Something told him that being trapped in the car with DiNozzo would make this a very long night.

"We need to be alert and ready for action," Tony continued. "With that in mind, we need to make sure at least one of us is unencumbered and available to assist Gibbs at all times,"

Ziva raised an eyebrow and injected, "He is meeting with another NCIS agent, you really think he will need our assistance for that?"

"No," Tony admitted before giving a slight shrug, "But if he calls with a question or does need help, do you really want to explain to him that it took so long to answer your phone or to get there because McGee was answering nature's call? That I had my hands full eating? That you were snoring?"

Tim bit his lip to keep from laughing at the look on Ziva's face when she heard Tony's words. It wasn't the first time they got into an argument about whether or not she snored, and Tim was sure another one was imminent. Turning his head, he looked out the window and towards the ship, his insides twisting.

"Tony, I do not-"

"Yes, you do," Tony interrupted, staring Ziva down. "And even if you didn't, you get the point. At least one of us, preferable two, should be ready and able to jump at a moment's notice. That means no time for arguments, either," he added, turning around to make sure everyone one was paying attention. "Good work, Probie," he commented before turning back to Ziva. "See, McAware understands. While we were talking, he kept his attention on the ship, eyes alert for danger. Now answer the question," Tony instructed, "Do you want to explain to Gibbs why one of us wasn't available immediately?"

Ziva sighed, "I understand your point," she grudgingly admitted.

"Good, now we can't necessarily schedule answering nature's call, we'll just have to communicate it to each other when the need arises. Food, stretching our legs, cat naps, those, however, we can schedule. We'll eat one at a time, while one of us is eating, if the other wants to stretch their legs or get some fresh air, fine, but keep eyes on the ship at all times." He paused and looked at his teammates, waiting for them to nod in acknowledgement. "Great. I'll eat first," he said with a grin picking up his sandwich and unwrapping it.

Tim rolled his eyes as he listened to Tony ramble on and on and on, occasionally commenting so that Tony wouldn't think he was sleeping or unaware of what was going on around him. Tim knew if it was a choice between Ziva's singing and Tony's movie-loguing, he knew what he would pick. He didn't even know if Ziva's singing was any good, still he imagined that anything was better than this. With another roll of his eyes, he leaned his head against the window, keeping his eyes focused on the ship. If he had to hear much more of Tony's blabbering, he was afraid he was going to be sick, and not just because of his stomach. The moment they pulled up to the dock, his stomach began protesting. He really hoped he wasn't going to throw up. He would never hear the end of it from Tony if that happened. When his stomach first started acting up, he had hoped it was because he was getting hungry, but after finally getting the chance to eat, he still didn't feel any better. Absently rubbing his stomach in the hope of aleviating the burning feeling, he tried to identify what was wrong him. He knows sometimes his stomach causes him issues if he eats or drinks to much or to quickly. Occasionally it bothers him if he waits too long to eat, but neither of those things seem to be what's going on now.

Oh! Maybe he was coming down with something, he suddenly thought. Lifting a hand to his face, he felt his cheeks and forehead. He didn't appear to have a fever. He wasn't clammy or experiencing chills or muscle aches, either. That probably meant it wasn't the flu, so why was his gut aching? Maybe it was just the image of the ship sitting on the water in front of him. Normally he was fine with the image of boats, he just couldn't handle being on them. No, he doubted the image of the boat was the issue, especially since it was highly unlikely that they would need to board the boat. Something else had to be the cause of the churning in his gut, but what? Think, he silently ordered himself. It couldn't have been something he ate, Tony and Ziva had the same thing and they appear fine. He closed his eyes for a minute, once more trying to pinpoint when these feelings began. His eyes popped open. It wasn't when they pulled up, he realized. It was the moment Gibbs boarded that ship.

At the same moment as that revelation hit him, a loud explosion and ball of fire came from the vessel docked in front of them.

"God, no!" He exclaimed, as his mind quickly identified what the sight and sounds in front of him meant. Automatically he opened his door, and exited the car, ready to run aboard and find out what happened.

"Probie, stop!" Tony called. "Gear!" he reminded his teammate, shouting even louder when Tim's movements continued.

"Why is someone prone to seasickness in such a rush to board a ship?" he muttered to Ziva, as he joined her behind the vehicle.

"If I had to guess, I would say he was desperate to get away from you, not that I can blame him," she replied, quickly removing items from the trunk.

"Ha ha," Tony returned, taking the bag from Ziva and reaching for another.

"Or maybe he took your earlier words to heart," she continued, hiking the last one on her shoulder and slamming down the trunk. "If he's the first on the scene, you can't tell Gibbs that he was answering nature's call."

Tony snorted, "Glad he listened to me then, even if he isn't listen to me now."

Ziva grinned. "I do have to say that I am impressed," she added, as the two set off after McGee.

"Probie, stop!" He shouted again. "By what?"

"That he can run so fast," she replied. "Why do you want him to stop? Should we not be running faster to catch up with him instead?"

"I don't know if I can run faster," Tony muttered, "After suffering from the plague last year, I'm just glad I can run at all."

"Well, it appears that Timothy heard you," Ziva said inclining her head, "He appears to have stopped."

"Good, now he won't get himself killed and Gibbs won't have my head,"

"Why would Gibbs want your head?" Ziva asked as they caught up to McGee, who was frantically patting his pockets and looking on the ground around them.

"McGee,"

"Let's go," Tim said, giving up his search and reaching for a bag before turning towards the gangplank.

"McGee, wait a moment."

"Tony, Gibbs is on that ship," he replied, whipping back around to face the SFA.

"I know, that is why we were watching it," he reminded the younger agent, gesturing for Ziva to take stand in front of Tim and take point.

"He could be hurt. We need to get to him."

"We will. First, we need to do is figure out what is going on," Tony corrected.

"Gee, maybe a bomb?" Tim snapped, glaring at the SFA.

"McGee,"

Tim groaned, "Look, Tony,"

"No, you look," Tony interrupted, his tone soft, but serious. "I get it, I do, but we have to follow protocol."

Tim snorted. If anyone had memorized the rule book, it was the team geek. In fact, at times Tim wondered if Tony had even read NCIS procedure book. "Yeah, and procedure is that we get to the scene, administer medical care, secure-"

"I know the damn procedures, McGee," Tony hissed.

"Then let's get on that ship and do it."

"Us getting killed by another bomb isn't going to do anyone any good."

"Standing here while Gibbs might be dying-"

Tony flinched at his words. "Whoa, whoa, there Probie, who said anything about Gibbs dying?" he injected, his voice softer and gentler than before as he scanned the younger agent's face. "It's Gibbs."

"It's-" Tim began only to fall silent. "My gut. My stomach has been acting up since I watched Gibbs board that damn ship."

"That's not your gut, it's your seasickness," Tony commented. "It's probably upset that you were not only running, but running to board a ship."

"Tony, something is wrong," Tim softly stated, his tone pleading with the older man to listen to him.

"Maybe," Tony reluctantly admitted, "But we follow protocol. McGee, contact Gibbs and get a sitrep; Ziva, bomb squad."

Ziva pulled out her phone to do as asked.

"Well, Probie? If you're so worried, why aren't you calling him?"

"I tried, there was no answer earlier," Tim began.

"Try again,"

"I did, but I can't now. I don't have my phone."

Tony just stared at him, blinking.

"I…"

"You had to have had it if you called him earlier."

"I did, but I…I think I dropped it."

"You think?"

"I don't know," an exasperated Tim cried in reply. "When he didn't answer, I was so focused on getting aboard and finding out what happened, I didn't really notice until I tried to call him again and my hand was empty. I lost my grip on it, I dropped it, I threw it. I don't know and I don't care. All that matters is what's going on with Gibbs."

Tony looked at Tim for a moment. Sometimes he forgot how young and inexperienced his fellow agent was. It was clear that he was worried. Worried and afraid. Tony could understand that, it was almost a year ago that they lost Kate. "Then let's go find out," he replied, ushering his teammate through the ship.

Tim's stomach was churning again, and this time he knew why. He couldn't believe the condition Gibbs was in. Wanting to know as much about his condition as possible, Tim had followed Gibbs and the paramedics off the ship. After hearing what they had to say and asking where they were taking him, Tim stepped back so that they could be on their way. He had wanted to climb into the back of the bus with them, but knew he couldn't. He still had a job to do, one he couldn't abandon. He had given his word that he wouldn't let anything that happened interfere with it and he was determined to stand by that vow. Besides, he knew what Gibbs would want him to do. What Gibbs would expect of him. Solve the case. That's what the boss would do. That was the understood and unspoken rule that Gibbs lived by.

Releasing a frustrated sigh, he boarded the ship once more and sought out his teammates, doing his best to keep his eyes away from the crime scene. He worked with Ziva to make sure the bomb squad searched for more explosives and that the crew was detained. Anything that needed to be done, he did, as long as it kept him far away from that laundry room. Once all their other tasks had been completed, he had reluctantly followed Ziva and returned to the scene, but remained at the bottom of the stairs, not wanting to look inside that room. Unfortunately, the only thing left on their list was processing the crime scene, and to do that, he would have to not only look at the room, but enter it as well.

His mind didn't remember too many details when they had entered it earlier, all of them had been much too worried about Gibbs, but he knew that distraction wouldn't hold true again, especially since they would be going over the room with the proverbial fine tooth comb and critical eye as they tried to piece together what happened. Ziva had gently prodded him to look into the room where the blast originated, if for no other reason than to not tip Tony off. Tim understood what she meant, but truthfully, what DiNozzo thought of him at this moment didn't even matter. Tony could tease him for the rest of his life about being afraid of laundry rooms. Tim knew he could handle whatever Tony could dish out, what he didn't know was if he could face that room. It wasn't the blood splattered on the wall, the guts and gore or the body parts littered on the floor that would get to him, but rather the idea that it could've been Gibbs.

He was relieved when Tony assigned him to the task of securing the suspect's footlocker. He went even further by searching the suspects entire cabin. While finding the person who was responsible for this wouldn't heal Gibbs, Tim knew that it would make him feel better, as well as give him something else to think about and look at.

Hours later, Tim and Ziva were once more interviewing the Captain when Tony returned. The senior agent had finished up the crime scene himself, before calling the director to get an update on Gibbs. When it looked like the Captain wasn't going to give them any more information than he already provided to Ziva, McGee couldn't help but ask about the boss. Tony's flippant answer worried him even more. Not so much for what he said, as for what he didn't say. Gibbs was still unconscious.

8-8-2020

Basically Tim's point of view...I hope you guys think/feel what Tim is going through, even if you don't totally understand why.

movie-loguing: dialogue about movies of course, since it's mostly Tony talking, it might be more of a soliloquy than a dialogue.

I plan to update at least once a week, on good weeks, it might be more than that, but no guarantees. Also taking a look at some of my posted fics. I realized that NCIS daycare ended rather abruptly (didn't realize it was that rough/loose-ended at the end. I mean, we know who the father is and why the kids were left at NCIS, but after rereading it from the beginning, I see where it could use some additional chapters, so that could be possible.