With new information and a plan in hand he went to his car and went by Fornell's. Seeing Diane's car there, he pulled in Tim's driveway instead. There was a contractor working inside. He peeked in and spied the cabinetry, fully installed in the kitchen including the lead glass kitchen cabinets. The inside of the cabinets had been coated in a stark white high gloss paint, that he knew, but didn't know why until now. It made the inside of the cabinets pop. Gibbs thought 'it was beautiful and elegant.'
"What are you doing here?" Tobias. He saw Gibbs sitting on Tim's back deck as he came through the side gate to speak to the contractor on behalf of his son.
"Looking for you, actually. Diane was at your house." Gibbs told him. "So I was hiding here until she left." Tobias offered Gibbs a coffee, assuring him that Diane had left with Emily and the two of them headed over the street.
"Em's pretty hormonal these days, apparently teenage girls hate their parents, all of a sudden. Who knew?" Tobias explained, causing Gibbs to grimace at that. His heart ached a little too, that maybe he'd understand what his friend was going through if he'd still had Kelly and Shannon in his life. "What can I do you for?"
"Information." Gibbs supplied. "I have some for you. DiNozzo stopped by. They're exact location is classified, but based on what I could gather Tim's back up is Vance and they're headed for either Robertson Base, in Darwin or Diego Garcia."
"Good, but need something more from you."
"Anything." Gibbs promised.
"Need you to make amends to Tim. We can't continue to have a friendship, if you're on the outs with him."
"The Doc told me the same thing." Gibbs told him. "I'm working on it."
"Good." Tobias told him. He was desperate to tell Jethro that Tim was his son, but he hadn't discussed it with Tim and he owed it to Tim to be on the level.
"The house is different since I was here last." Gibbs commented, he couldn't put his finger on it. There was something different. He could see Tim's wool coat he wore to work, when it was cool hanging by the door. He'd noted that Tim's cross trainers where on the shoe rack next to Emily's school shoes and Tobias' dress shoes. He could see Tim's home laptop on the end of the kitchen table, beside Emily's and Tobias' FBI issued laptop was set up and switched on closer to where they were sitting. There was a stack of papers shoved in between the screen and keyboard on Tim's laptop and he wondered if they were notes for a new book or whether it was his DNA results. He knew it was Tim's because it had that stupid sticker that was the acronym he never remembered on it.
"Did you pick up Gemcity's new book?" Tobias asked him as he gathered the coffee mugs. He knew what was different. Diane had taken a photo of Tim, Emily and himself the other night. He had an arm around both of them and they all had huge smiles on their faces. The night they told her of Tim's paternity. Diane had stuck it on the fridge door with a magnet when she was there today to collect Emily to take her clothes shopping.
"Got it delivered this morning, haven't started reading it yet. I have them on automatic order. The bookshop just sends them to me and they bill my credit card automatically." Gibbs explained. He scanned the room again, it was annoying him that he couldn't put his finger on what was out of place. He saw the photo on the fridge. He had never seen Tim looking so happy as he did in that shot. He wondered what the occasion was as to why a photo had been taken and who took the photo too. "Nice snap, there." Gibbs told him, casually watching Tobias for a reaction.
"Oh, Tim was helping Diane set up her new phone and she snapped it." Tobias told him, seeing if Gibbs bought his story.
"Since when is Diane nice?" Gibbs asked, as a reflex.
"She's done a three-sixty, she likes Tim now." Tobias told him.
Gibbs said his goodbyes and left. He noticed that Tobias locked up Tim's driveway after he left with a code. He wondered if Tim would ever trust him again and if the trust he once held would be salvageable.
They touched down in Diego Garcia and debarked the plane, they were met by Commander Watkins, the head of the MO's on base and taken straight to the scene. The scene was a bloody, gruesome mess. Vance stood off to the side and watched as Tim walked the scene to get a feel of what had happened, just as Vance had seen Gibbs do a thousand times. He came back over and grabbed his gear, beginning to photograph, sketch, baggi and tag all in one fell swoop. "Need a hand ?" Vance asked him after he'd approached him. Vance had been impressed with Tim's tenacity and enthusiasm. He had been fast, thorough and professional.
"You do remember how to do this?" Tim asked playfully, handing him the portable fingerprint scanner.
"I haven't been behind a desk that long!" Vance huffed at him in reply. Vance saw that Tim seemed relaxed, he was confident, he even joked with him, he seemed at ease with everyone. 'Gibbs' suspension may be the best thing that ever happened to Tim's career.' Vance thought.
Once they had formally identified the victims and they were indeed NCIS Agent in Charge Peter Grant and Probationary Field Agent Kelsey Michaels. Next up, Ducky escorted the body's to the morgue at the infirmary on base, to begin his examinations. Vance asked Tim what he was going to do next. "I am going to look around their homes and background each of the victims."
"What do you want me to do?" Tim looked at the Director strangely, before he realised. 'I have the lead, Vance is my TAD agent. He's not here as a Director.' Tim thought to himself.
"You can come with me, another set of eyes never hurt. After that we go back to wherever they've set us up on base and we get to work." Tim answered thoughtfully.
"On your six." Vance jested and the two of them headed to the SAIC's accommodation first.
Tim and Leon made light work of looking around. Leon didn't find much to note, but Tim noted that he was seeing someone, a woman, judging by the paraphernalia in his bathroom. They bagged her hairbrush, and some other various miscellaneous things, as well as taking his laptop and his personal journal.
At the probationary agent's accommodation, they found evidence she also was seeing someone, a man based on the used condoms in the garbage, all of which was bagged and collected as evidence.
The base commander had put the three of them up in a house on base, each men had their own bedroom that had a bed barely bigger than a twin bed. It had a small kitchenette and living area with a large table area and a few chairs. "I'll get us linked in with MTAC and check in with Ducky, if you can make a start on running their LES', financials, social media, email and phone logs." Tim instructed Vance and he nodded in agreement.
'Tim is ready to step up to an SFA position permanently,' Vance thought as he began searching the database and analysing the phone logs. Ducky came back into the base house with his preliminary report. "From what I have gathered so far, it looks like Michaels died of strangulation and Grant died from a self inflicted GSW. Tomorrow I'll complete my autopsy and confirm my theory, but I think we're looking at a murder-suicide here." Ducky told the duo. With the searches running and Tim's background information on the victims, he called a halt to the day.
"Let's eat and pick this up tomorrow, Ducky will complete the autopsies and in the meantime, Abby will have received the evidence and will have ran it, we'll pick up where we left off and go from there." Tim decided.
The three men immediately began searching the cupboards for something they could eat for dinner before heading straight to the bedrooms to crash. They settled for beans on toast and Ducky assured them it was enough To hold them over until breakfast. "Director?" Tim asked, "I need to make that call now." He told the Director.
"It's no longer classified, I only classified it until we arrived on base and because we were flying with SecNav."
"Thanks." Tim told him, sincerely.
Tim and Vance quickly video conferenced Tony and Ziva in MTAC and updated them on the case, before Tony told them that the evidence was halfway there, that the last LOCSTAT they'd received was they were halfway over the North Atlantic Ocean. "That's good work, Tim." Tony said, "you too, Director."
"Hey, Tim's got the lead on this, not me. I'm just following his orders." Vance added, reassuring Tony it really was Tim's leads they were following.
As soon as the video conference concluded, Tim took his personal cell phone out into the closed off terrace off the living room and made the call. First off he fired a text message to Ziva, in his head it sounded witty and half flirty, before telling her liked the top she was wearing today. He hoped the message was received as he intended it to be. He definitely couldn't have told her that over MTAC conference. Especially with Tony and the Director watching on. Then he placed his call.
"Thank god!" His dad's voice rushed over the line, not even saying hello. "Finally Tim." He said. "I was beginning to worry. How are you doing?"
"I'm ok, it was a long flight and it's hot here. Went to the scene as soon as we arrived and it was a mess." Tim told his Dad. "We're at the Diego Garcia naval base. In the Indian Ocean. Almost near the Maldives."
"Yikes, that's a huge time difference. What twelve hours difference?"
"Ten, Dad." Tobias smiled at that, Tim hadn't called him Dad out loud before, and it had just rolled off the tongue without Tim giving it a second thought. "It's zero hundred hours here."
They two of them talked for a few minutes longer. Before Tobias was ushering him off the phone and into bed. "Come on son, I can hear it in your voice. You're dead on your feet, off to bed."
"Night Dad." Tim said in a small sleepy voice.
"Get some sleep, Tim." Tobias told him. "I'll see you soon, son."
Time returned inside and he was smiling. His Dad had called him 'son' and Ziva had sent a reply telling him he looked 'yummy' in his jeans.
Vance and Ducky watched on as Tim ignored their presence and walked on by as if they weren't there. "If I'm not mistaken, secret phone calls and head in the clouds generally means there's a new love interest in play." Vance commented with a smile, "Oh to be young again." He sighed.
"Indeed." Ducky answered with a smile. Both men could hear Tim's cell phone ping every minute or so, signalling an incoming text message.
The two men sat down to eat in silence. Tim's phone was still heard pinging in the background, filling in the occasional silence. There was silence for five solid minutes before a huge roar of laughter could be heard coming from Tim. Eventually, he re-emerged from his room and heated up his own baked beans and sat with the men to eat. Vance and Ducky shared a smile as Tim checked his phone every few minutes to see if he had a missed text message from the mysterious new love.
Leon Vance had overslept for the third time in his entire life. He quickly rushed through his morning routine to find Tim videoconferencing with Ziva already, as she gave him a rundown of what they'd found out so far. Vance noticed that Ziva had been flicking her hair back off her shoulder and smiling a little more than usual. Tim was being entirely professional throughout the conference and promptly ended the call. Not a minute later his cell phone pinged and Tim blushed a beet red at whatever the text message had said. He noted that although he read the text, he did not reply. He recognised that Tim was in work mode and that impressed him, he remembered what it was like working an active case away from the one you love. Especially if the love is new. "Morning." Tim said playfully. "Coffees in the pot and Ducky's at the morgue in the infirmary. When you're ready, we can run through what I've found while you were sleeping the day away."
Vance quickly poured himself a cup and they got down to business. Tim told him, that yesterday he had a theory that it was a lovers spat. Then Ducky had informed them it was most likely a murder-suicide. He explained what he'd found, both on social media and in their background information. "They were definitely sleeping together. Hopefully ducky will tell us more."
"Well done, Tim. There's not a lot else we can do until Ducky has finished the autopsies." Vance applauded him. He refilled Tim's coffee cup and Tim fiddled around with an old case file he'd been reading in his spare time now, for a while.
"I found my father." Tim finally mentioned, breaking the silence the two men had been sharing for the better part of an hour already. "Turned out I already knew him and had no reason to suspect that it was him." Tim said not looking up at Vance just yet. "I spoke with him, I showed him the DNA results. He couldn't believe his eyes."
"That's good news, Tim." Vance told him. He paused for a moment. "It's not Gibbs, is it?" Vance asked, worried and thinking that could partially explain the problem between the two men.
Tim audibly laughed out loud. "No it's not Gibbs. Although when he finds out, we all might want to duck for cover." Tim joked, deep down feeling like it wasn't so much of a joke, as a prediction. "You know him, as do I."
"Am I suppose to guess? Or are you going to tell me?" Vance asked his young agent with a smile.
"Believe it or not, it's Tobias Fornell." Tim announced.
Leon Vance thought he was hearing things. "Tobias Fornell?! As in Gibbs' best friend, Fornell! DiNozzo's, 'he arrested me for murder' Fornell!"
"The very same." Tim supplied with a genuine smile. "He had no idea, he'd fathered a child with my mother. Originally, he thought it was a lab error because he was with her in March and early April, then again in early May and I was born in November. But he didn't know I was born prematurely. At twenty-nine weeks."
"Yeah, I'd probably think it was a lab error too." Vance admitted. He hadn't known that Tim was born prematurely either. "So how is he feeling about it?"
"It's been good, so far." Tim admitted. "Last night, on the phone he admitted he was worried that I hadn't called yet. We told Emily and she was so excited to have a brother, she just about bawled me over in happiness."
"Congratulations to you both." Leon told him. For a few moments, it was quiet and he took advantage of that to absorb the new information he'd learnt so far. "You know, I watched him with you on the sofa that evening? He was very attentive and paternal with you." Vance let Tim take that information in, before continuing. "Oh no, the situation with Gibbs has just become complicated, hasn't it?"
"Even if he apologises and all is forgiven - which it isn't yet. I can not work with him again. That's why I couldn't say anything in front of Ducky." Tim said sadly. "I don't want to leave NCIS, nor leave DC but I will if I have to. Working in the same building would be ok, but not on the same team. I wouldn't put it past Abby or Tony to claim I'm being favoured when my father's identity is revealed."
"I understand." Vance nodded. "I can start discreetly putting feelers out there to find you a new position at the navy yard. I know Cyber Crimes is always an option, but I also know you wish to continue being a field agent."
"Appreciate that, Director. I'd also appreciate if you could not share what I've told you with anyone else just yet. Tobias, ah … Dad and I need to tell Gibbs, I don't think he should hear it from someone else. I should probably tell the rest of my team, but not until after Gibbs knows. Also, I will be legally changing my name to Fornell."
"I am very happy for you." Vance told him sincerely. "Agent Timothy Fornell, has a nice ring to it and I think you're right though, Gibbs needs to hear it from you two first, so no one else can know until he does. You have my word." Vance promised.
Ducky arrived thirty minutes later announcing that Agent Michaels was nine weeks pregnant and that the foetus' DNA was a match for Agent Grant's. The evidence in both of the body's supported Tim's theory of a murder-suicide from a lovers argument. In Michaels diary it had told them that Grant wasn't happy with becoming a father. Especially since he and his wife had been trying to conceive, only for him to knock up his mistress.
"Let's wrap it up, are the body's prepared to be transported?" Vance asked as he prepared to contact the pilots to confirm their flight back to DC.
"Yes Director, once we are ready all I have to do is call the infirmary and they'll deliver the bodies to the airstrip for loading onto the plane." Ducky told him.
"Let's pack it in and head home." Tim announced and within an hour the trio were onboard awaiting their departure.
As soon as they levelled off, Tim, Ducky and Vance pulled up their laptops and began working on their reports.
"Thank you for calling me back," Rachel said into the phone to Tobias that evening. "I got tied up with a patient who tried to self harm. I was wondering if I could gather some background information on your mutual ex wife. Gibbs mentioned that she can be vexing and seems to have anger issues towards Tim."
"In the beginning and it wasn't so much anger as resentment, he was so young and she had to follow his orders. She's not good at following anyones orders, least of all someone younger. But when Tim had peritonitis, I saw her change, almost instantly. She slipped into a maternal role with him and her attitude did a complete three-sixty." Tobias filled the good doctor in on Emily and how Tim and Emily had began a friendship too. "Final piece of the puzzle is brand spanking new. Gibbs doesn't know this yet and it's why the jury is still out on whether or not our friendship will survive. You can not tell Gibbs about this."
"You have my word," she promised.
"Tim is my son from a previous relationship. Tim ran his DNA and it came back a match to me. Diane has been very maternal with him and that's Jethro's fault. He told her, when Emily was born that 'you divorce wives, not children', he's always had time for Em, she even calls him Uncle Gibbs. So Diane is following his example and mothering Tim a little. Which he claims to hate, but the man hasn't had a mum since his mother and father separated when he was a child."
"Wow!" This was definitely enlightening for her. She knew why the men hadn't told Gibbs yet and she could see that Tobias' loyalty laid with Tim.
"He's my son, my loyalty lies with him. He's my son's boss and he beat my son." Tobias told her.
"Will you be telling him?" She asked, wanting to be on hand.
"We will be, we're still getting used to the idea. We've known about it less than a week now."
"May I please suggest something?" Rachel asked.
"By all means, Tim says you're as smart as Kate was. Sidebar, he's been struggling with Kate's death this past four weeks."
"I know and I had him scheduled I for some couch time but this has to take priority. Would it be easier if you and Tim told him in my presence? Sort of like a mini group therapy session. Totally off the books. I wouldn't even take notes."
"I'll talk to Tim. See what he thinks, buts it's ok by me if you're there."
"I won't tell you what happened, but thank you for assisting me with the heavy handed flirting a few days ago at Gibbs' house." She said genuinely. "I had tried just about every avenue to get him to admit the problem and it finally worked."
"So an offer for a date?" Tobias asked, half curious at what her answer would be.
"Declined, don't think my husband would like it too much." She answered with a laugh.
"Yeah, I don't do angry husbands. I have dealt with one angry ex husband in my life and it's turned me off them." Tobias jested, referring to Gibbs in the early days of his relationship with Diane.
"It's been a pleasure. When you talk to Tim, give me a call and I'll tee up a group session with Gibbs." And she disconnected her call from him suddenly.
Tobias had barely hung up when his phone had buzzed with an incoming text message. Opening it up, he saw it was from Vance and for a moment, he wondered if Tim was ok. 'Congrats on "birth" of ur grown son. We r in P.R on refuel. Land @ AB base & will drop son 2 ur front door. Want 2 talk w/ u 2gether.' It read and he smiled at the text, obviously Tim had found a private moment with Vance to fill him in on the most recent developments.
He looked at the clock on corner of his computer screen. He quick calculated that his son would be home in about four and half hours. He'd have to leave by five to make sure that dinner would be ready when they arrived at seven. No doubt, after travelling Tim and Vance would be starved.
Tony and Ziva met them at the base and after hellos were said, they took Ducky back to the navy yard and Vance told Tony Tim would be in tomorrow afternoon, that he'd email the reports to him. That they were both suffering from severe jet lag and needed some rest. Which was true, they'd essentially lost two whole days travelling and with the time difference they were out of whack. "Tim's car will be secure parked at the navy yard for another day. Balboa's car was parked at the yard for seventy-nine days while he was on assignment once and no one bothered it." Vance informed them. "I'll drop him off, I have to go past his place to get home."
Traffic to Alexandria was light for a Thursday night and they were pulling up in the driveway of the Fornell family home in no time at all. "I'll collect you on my way into the yard tomorrow, Tim at 1300." Vance told him as he helped Tim grab his gear.
Tim let them into his fathers home and put the bags on the ground by the door. Tim knew his father was home, after all his truck was parked in the drive. "Timmmmm!" Emily screamed running like a pocket rocket straight into her brother's arms. "I missed you, did you bring me back something?"
"Sorry Em, I wasn't anywhere exciting. It was all business." He told his sister. "Em, this is my boss, Director Vance."
"Hey …" she said and she started off in a tangent about her chemistry homework. Vance took in their relationship. He noticed some similarities. They had the same taunt face, the same hands and the same blue-green expressive eyes. "You're staring? It's rude." Em said, with a laugh. "Oh and Nicola is staying over tomorrow night."
"Thank goodness I won't be home." Tim told her and she jumped up and down. "She said yes! I'm so happy for you Tim." She hugged him again. "Oh Dad's at your house. Something was wrong. He said to send you over."
"So that's the famous Emily Fornell. I've heard a lot about her." Vance commented as they made their way over the street and he unlocked his front door to allow them in.
"My sister, she bounces." Tim told him, then laughed at his own explanation of her enthusiasm at having a brother.
"So tomorrow night's the first date?" Vance asked and Tim looked slightly panicked. "Relax it's not like I know who, I'm just guessing."
"It's not a date-date. Just the first time we'll be eating a meal in a restaurant, alone together." Tim explained.
Vance followed Tim through the house as he searched each of the rooms, calling out "Dad." A muffled voice replied and it lead Tim to the walk in robe in the master bedroom where the spiral suitcase to the attic was. He and Vance made their way into the attic. "Son, welcome home. You have termites." Tim groaned at that.
"Oh god!" Tim moaned some more. "Luckily the best-sellers list came out today and 'Betrayal' is at number one. I'll call an exterminator in the morning."
"Good. Dinners ready too. Emily's already eaten."
"So Tim told me your news, congratulations again." Vance began. "This is delicious, what is it?"
"Pasta puttanesca, my Nonna's recipe." Tobias answered in a thick Italian accent. "My mother would make it for me to welcome me home after being away and now, I make it for Tim to welcome him home too. My Nonna was the best cook. Tim's definitely got her skills in the kitchen."
"Really?!" Vance asked surprised. "If your 'not a date-date' works out maybe you should cook for her, then Tim."
"You asked her?" Tobias asked his son, surprised. " 'atta boy, son! Told you that you liked her a little more than you claimed to. For the record, I think she's crazy, but that's because she's a - ."
"Dad, company!!" Tim shouted cutting him off! His cheeks were embarrassed, blushing red and the tips of his ears were burning.
"Oh, so you know who she is. I can wait." Vance told him playfully.
"Kill me now!" Tim sighed in a dramatic whisper.
The trio ate in silence for a few minutes longer. Until Tim's cell phone pinged and Vance smiled. "She knows you're home." He smiled.
"Nope, just Agent Dornaget reminding me that I agreed to help him on Monday night."
After dinner, the three of them sat down and discussed how to approach Gibbs with this information. Vance told them he thought the team would take their cues based on how the team leader took the news. "Doc Cranston thought like a mini group therapy session with us and Gibbs with her as a mediator might be best." Tobias told them.
"I agree with Rachel, speaking of which, did you hit on her?" Tim asked his father.
"No!" He denied automatically, knowing that they all knew he was lying.
"Really? Because she told me you did." Tim argued jovially.
"Ok, but it wasn't like that" Tobias conceded.
"Sure." Tim laughed. "Don't hit on my friends. By the way her husband was a point guard for the Washington Wizards in the NBA, now he's the assistant coach. He's six foot eleven and built like a tank." Tobias gulped at this new information.
Vance thought the two of them together was entertaining and he enjoyed their father/son banter immensely. He quickly called an end to their evening as the jet lag was catching up with him and he could see Tim fading fast against the arm chair. "Want me to help you get him into his bedroom?" Vance offered.
"I've been pouring Tim into bed since he was 'just Gibbs' freakishly smart Probie agent.' Pretty sure I can handle it. But thanks for the offer." Tobias told him. "You should go and get some rest too, you look just as beat."