Inspired by reading Emerald1 Echoes of Goodbye and the relationship that's portrayed between Fornell and McGee, minor spoiler for the end of 16x19 Perennial.
Originally written as a one shot, but might become a story of series of one shots because I got a few niggling ideas that just won't leave me alone.
"Let the FBI buy NCIS the first round." Cooed Tobias Fornell as he lead the MCRT into a bar by the navy yard, not far from outside the main gate to celebrate. "That was some impressive work today."
The two other members of the joint taskforce from the FBI were married guys and begged off for home as soon as they could. The joint task force had been working for weeks on chasing a terrorist who had been using children as a suicide bombers, targeting day care centres. They finally caught the radicalised individual when instead of using a neighbour's kid, he used his own kid. The bombs were disguised to look like an everyday jacket with no additional weight, so to look at it, you'd never know. They were designed to maim, not kill. When the third attack happened at a daycare frequently used by the Navy Yard staff, including the USMC and Navy personnel that's when NCIS joined the investigation.
As usual, NCIS broke the case open. It was Abby who discovered how he was planting the bombs, Tony who pieced enough evidence together to work out it was an individual, not a group. Gibbs' infamous gut had been pinging that the attacks weren't over and working his contacts, along with Ziva's they narrowed down the next location. They staked out the next location. But it was McGee who worked out what kid it was and found the pattern of attacks that linked all the incidents. He remembered a taunt his Admiral father used on him constantly as a small boy, which lead him back to a witness statement he'd read from the first attack which, on a hunch he deepened the original background the FBI did on the suspect and discover an offshore bank account that had undisclosed money in that he'd used to fund the operation.
Tony, Ziva and the two FBI guys O'Halloran and O'Grady managed to lure away the unsuspecting mother and small boy away from the next target. The small boy was unknowingly was wearing the damn bomb and the bomb squad moved in, whilst Gibbs, Fornell and McGee traced the remote detonator signal to car parked by the park across the street. He gave a chase and surprisingly it was McGee who anticipated his next move and stealthily went around the other way and ultimately caught him, arrested him and cuffed him without incident, before Gibbs and Fornell had caught up.
The first round of drinks appeared and Tobias made a toast to "Cheers" knowing they were in public and couldn't talk about the case. Turned out the feebee's bought the first three rounds and by the fourth some people had dropped off begging for home. Abby was first, she had a concert tonight in Georgetown and needed to get home. Ziva had left, she was going to a Pilates class. Gibbs had promised a lady friend of his a late dinner and had drank enough bourbon he felt he could stand a little female company.
"You staying Fornell, McNeverDrinks?" Tony asked, "I'm getting the next round and a pizza. They do a mean pizza here and the kitchens open now."
"Not going to say no to that." Fornell answered, downing the last drop in his glass. It was Diane's weekend with Emily and Gibbs had plans. DiNozzo was offering free food, he definitely wasn't going to say no as he watched DiNozzo make his way to the head, before the bar to order.
"That was some impressive work today, McGee." Fornell said softly to him. For a Friday evening the bar was beginning to get noisy and Tobias had to lean in to Tim to be heard.
"Thank you, but it wasn't anything any other agent wouldn't have done." Tim deflected the comment. "You can call me Tim." He added.
"Tim?" Fornell repeated, but it come out like a question.
"Yeah Tim," he replied "it's my name. I know I'm just the geeky probie but I do have a name. Sometime it's be nice if someone, anyone remembered it."
"I noticed that too." Tobias said sadly. Looking up, he spied the lothario DiNozzo chatting to a busty blonde at the bar. "You did good today. I know DiNozzo and Gibbs haven't been forthcoming with the training for you. Not stupid ya know? We've worked together enough now to know. Don't know if anyone else has been helping out, but I'm always here if you want my help. You're a good kid and you're a good agent."
"Thanks Fornell." Tim said, blushing at the praise he received. "Nice to see someone has noticed the effort I have put in." McGee knew he was borderline on being snarky, but at this point in time, he really didn't care.
"It's Tobias, off the job anyway, kid." He made the gesture of 'you know the situation, team leader, procedure dictates, etc.' "How could anyone not notice? You changed your physical appearance. You lost weight, improved your fitness and honed your skills. I don't even want to think about the computer skills you have." Tim was in a full blush by now. He'd never received that much praise before in his life.
The waitress set down the piping hot pizza, and two beers. "They make traditional Italian pizza here? Like back home?" Tobias asked, surprised to find a place like this here in DC and immediately grabbed a slice. "Just like Nonno's" he gushed after the first bite. Tim's phone pinged and checking it he was surprised to discover that it was Tony.
"Well pizza's ours, Tony's out." Tim read off the screen. "He … ah … got a better offer." Tim delicately put it, which garnered a laugh out of the older man.
"Well, why doesn't that surprise me?!" Tobias laughed, knowing he'd enjoy his evening more if he didn't have to listen to DiNozzo prattle on.
"You won't have to hear all about it Monday morning, though." Tim groaned, realising what awaited him in the bullpen on Monday. "We'll get to hear all about it, in minute detail."
"Don't envy you a bit, there." Tobias replied, patting him on the back in support of him.
Tim decided to finish Tony's untouched beer. Usually he never had more than one beer or wine, but he was celebrating, he felt like all those years of putting up with the cruel taunts from the Admiral and his officers as a child had paid off and today, it saved lives. He'd allowed himself to indulge and have two more, fully intending to switch to mineral water with dinner.
"Easy Tim," Tobias cautioned. Tobias had been watching Tim out of the corner of his eye as they fell into silence. 'Something was on that brilliant mind,' Tobias thought. 'What was it, Tim muttered to himself up in the conference room that morning? Why would a father call their child useless and allow his grown friends to bully and belittle their own child?'
"Why would a father call their child useless and allow his grown friends to bully and belittle their own child?" Tim had muttered. He was working on his laptop, the taskforce was scattered around conference room c, which DiNozzo had dubbed 'the war room' and had been sequestered in there by Vance. No one had looked up to see what Tim had been muttering about except the FBI guys and Tobias watched for a moment, always wowed by McGee's unparalleled computer skills.
"I got it!" Tim exclaimed, segueing into an explanation and everyone geared up and headed out.
"How mean was he?" Tobias asked, as they headed out of the noisy bar. He'd intended to find somewhere that served coffee, the younger agent needed to get some of the alcohol out of his system before he headed home. "I'm assuming it was your father. Sorry, I don't have Gibbs' all knowing gut to go on."
"It was." Tim admitted in a small voice. The voice reminded him of a small boy who thought he was in trouble. "Bad enough." He said in his normal, adult voice.
"I don't know the particulars and I don't need to, unless you want me to. But it seems to me, he didn't realise what a great son he had - has!" Tobias offered.
"My father, the admiral." Tim began "he was a hard man to please. Hard man to love, no one lives up to his standards. Not his line of ex-wives, longer line of women, his children or his mother. The only people were on his level was his officers and his fellow Admirals."
"Sounds like Gibbs." Tobias joked and it fell flat with the look on Tim's face.
"Exactly like Gibbs." Tim confirmed dejectedly. They'd been walking for three city blocks and Tobias had ushered them into a small hole in the wall diner. He held up 2 fingers to his usual waitress and they took a seat in the back corner booth further at from the street. "Except, occasionally Gibbs remembers he's supposed to care about his team."
Wordlessly the waitress comes over with their coffees and drops the menus on the table. Tobias didn't know how the young man took his coffee, but he was surprised when he took a huge gulp of the hot, strong black coffee without doctoring it with cream or milk or sugar like he had to. "So this morning, when you broke the case?"
"I had been reading a witness comment from the first case and reliving a flashback and it just came together." Tim shyly admitted.
"Was it bad?" Tobias asked and winced internally at the look on his young friend's face.
"See here." Tim pointed to a faint scar on his forehead, just beneath his hairline. "He threw an old beta tape at me, because I ripped the wrapping paper when unwrapping my birthday present. I was nine." He pointed to the corner of his eye and a barely there scar on his temple. "I was two years old, spent a week in the hospital. My family told me I slipped down the stairs in base housing. Always suspected there was more and as an in-house training exercise they had us run our names through our agency database. Was pretty surprised with what I found. Seems NCIS archived all their old NIS files."
"Daddy dearest has a whole folder full?" Tobias asked, already knowing the answer.
"And then some, but only against me. His men sing his praises and he has more commendations than complaints." Tim admitted. "He proudly never hit his wife … wives. He punched the wall beside mum once."
"Shit! How's you end up so normal?" Tobias asked and regretted the question as soon as it flew out of his mouth.
"Don't want to be like him, worry that maybe it's buried inside me." Tim admitted in a small voice. The alcohol he'd had earlier was making him depressed, his tongue had loosened and he'd began yawning.
"Let's get you home." Tobias said softly and they made their way onto the street and into a cab.
"That's not the way to the navy yard." Tim slurred, his exhaustion, the alcohol and depression catching up with him. "Need my car."
"There's no way I'm letting you drive home, especially in this state." Tobias chastised gently. "Come home with me and I'll take you to get your car in the morning."
Tobias managed to get Tim out of the cab and into the house. He left Tim on the sofa for a moment while he prepared the guest bed. When he returned to get Tim he was fading fast. "Come on Tim," he urged. "You'll be more comfortable in a bed." Tobias noted how easy it was to manoeuvre a drunk Tim into bed. He promptly set Tim on the bed and he passed out immediately. Tobias set himself to task to remove his shoes, socks, jeans, shirt and jacket. Tim would sleep better for it, the house was hot from the scorching hot and humid summers day. He kept a clinical touch and resisted the urge to throttle the boy's father if they ever met, when he saw more scars on the man's legs, arms, neck and torso. He pulled the sheet up over Tim and switched the ceiling fan in low as he went for a glass of water and aspirin to leave on the bedside table. Tobias noted the lack of his sig and back up weapon, but was amused by the knife collection he'd found on Tim's person. Tim stirred for a moment and Tobias rubbed his forehead gently with his thumb to settle him.
Tobias sat back on the bed, in his bedroom. He'd showered and changed into some fresh boxer shorts. He had checked on Tim and he hadn't even changed sleeping positions. He picked up his cell and found the number he was after. "I'm worried about McGee." He stated, as soon as it picked up, not even allowing the person in the other end to spit out their gruff greeting.
"McGee's the least of our problems. He's always got his head screwed on." Gibbs said as he disconnected the call and Tobias let out an audible sigh.
"You're an idiot, Gibbs!" He spoke out loud, frustrated, to no one.