Chapter 12

Tim was shocked. What was Tony doing on his fire escape? Then, Tony ducked out of sight and Tim forced himself not to react and he hoped his lingering glance hadn't given things away. Knowing that he had some backup meant that he felt a little more confident that he was going to survive this... which hadn't been the case up to this point. He'd assumed that Tony had come back to bug him about his writing again and had opened the door without checking. It had been a big mistake that he had thought would be his last, but now...

"What was that?" Horvath demanded.

"What was what?" Tim asked, keeping his voice even, trying to sound merely inquiring.

Horvath started to turn toward the window and Tim saw that this might be his only chance to do something. He twitched a little bit and Horvath turned right back with his gun.

"You move, I kill you right now."

Tim nodded and stilled. However, he was thinking about what he could do with Horvath's attention now split between himself and the window.

His elbow touched one of his monitors. That could be a weapon in a pinch, and this was a pinch. No time to waste, just in case there was an additional problem and Tony couldn't fire for some reason.

With his hand behind his back, Tim felt under the monitor, found the HDMI cable and yanked it out. Then, without another second's thought, he grabbed the monitor and flung it as hard as he could at Horvath's head.

However, his aim wasn't very good, the monitor was awkward to throw, and he only caught a glancing blow on Horvath's shoulder instead of his head as Tim had been hoping and then the monitor hit the brick wall and seemed to shatter into pieces. Tim spared a fraction of a second to regret that because it had been a very expensive monitor.

A fraction of a second was all the time he had to regret it, though, because after that, Horvath swung around, and Tim knew this was it. He was dead. He couldn't move fast enough to hide and...

"Hold it, Horvath! Drop your weapon!"

Tim looked over Horvath's shoulder and saw Tony standing there on the fire escape, gun in hand.

"You fire your gun now, you're dead. You can't shoot him and still get me."

For a moment, it looked like Horvath was seriously considering shooting Tim anyway. He was furious at how this had turned out.

"Is he worth dying for?" Tony asked, his voice hard.

Horvath swore angrily and dropped the gun on the floor.

"Now, back away from it slowly and keep your hands in my view," Tony said. "If I can't see both of them, I'll fire."

Horvath did as he was told and Tim instantly walked over and picked up the gun and then backed away again.

"You got him while I come inside, McGee?" Tony asked.

"Yeah," Tim said.

"Glad you left your window open," Tony said, sounding almost conversational.

Tim tried to answer in kind.

"And that I don't have screens."

"Eh, I could manage a screen better than a glass window."

"I'm sure you could."

Tony climbed through the window and Tim felt his stress levels decrease from pure panic to tolerable.

"Okay, Horvath. You're under arrest for attempted murder of a federal agent and it turns out that there are a few outstanding warrants. BPD is going to be very happy to know that you came out of hiding to get my partner and got yourself nabbed."

Tim could still see Horvath's face and if looks could kill, he knew he'd be dead a hundred times.

"I really had no idea you were in my photograph. If you'd left me alone, nothing would have happened," Tim said. "All I was doing was taking photos for fun. You were too far away for me to ever have identified you. You brought this on yourself."

There was a slight change in expression but Tim couldn't tell what it was. However, it wasn't quite the same death glare it had been before.

"I don't suppose you have some cuffs here, do you, McGee?" Tony asked. "I left mine in my car."

Tim nodded and then grimaced at the feeling. He was really not at his best yet and he wanted to sit down. His face was hurting again and he just hated what had happened to his evening. Still, this was not the time for complaining about it. He went back into his bedroom and grabbed his bag. He always kept a spare set of cuffs in there, just in case something happened... although the just in case in his mind had always been on the job, not in his own home. Still, he took the cuffs back out and handed them to Tony and then covered him as he put them on Horvath.

Then, it was just a matter of waiting for Gibbs to get there, which he did, along with Ziva, about ten minutes later. He gave them both a look, but since neither one of them had gone out of their way to get in trouble, it held no real threat.

"You all right, McGee?" Gibbs asked.

"Yeah. I'm all right," Tim said, although he'd rarely felt less all right. But he was still alive and no one had hit him this time.

"Are you sure?" Ziva asked. "You look a little pale."

Tim forced himself to smile a little bit. "I'm surprised you can see that past all the bruising."

"Only half your face is bruised. The other side is pale."

"Just call me two-face."

"DiNozzo, you stay here tonight," Gibbs said.

"Sure, Boss. No problem," Tony said.

Tim groaned inwardly. All he wanted was to eat something and go to bed. That was all. Surely, Horvath was the only one who had been after him.

But he could hardly protest being protected when someone had actually tried to kill him. The only reason he wasn't already dead was because Horvath had thought he had information.

So he said nothing and just watched as Gibbs hauled Horvath out the door, pausing only to give him a look.

"Statement tomorrow, McGee," he said.

"Yeah, Boss," Tim said, softly.

Then, Gibbs and Ziva were gone and Tim sank down onto his computer chair, remembering at the last minute to be gentle with his face. He leaned the right side of his forehead on his right hand and closed his eyes. What a crappy day.

"McGee, you need anything?"

Tim almost wanted to laugh at that, but he also almost wanted to cry at that, so he just shook his head slightly without speaking.

There was a silence for a few seconds.

"You sure?"

"Yeah."

"You probably didn't get a chance to eat anything."

"No."

"Well, how about that, then?"

"Can't chew, Tony," Tim said softly.

"I didn't forget that. I'm offering to make your smoothie for you. I can see you were going to do that. How about it?"

Tim sighed.

"Okay."

"Great. Now, I can see that you're tired. So why don't you just go and get ready for bed. I'll make your smoothie and you can just have it in there. If you have a sleeping bag or something, I'll camp out on your floor. I hope you do."

Tony actually sounded worried about that. Tim smile a little and then winced. Definitely too much talking, too much of everything.

"In my closet. And a pad."

"Perfect. Go on, then. I'll get to work."

Tim just sat there with his eyes closed for a few more seconds. Then, he was startled by a hand on his shoulder. He opened his eyes and looked up warily.

It was Tony. Of course.

He smiled encouragingly.

"Go on, Tim. I know how to run a blender."

Tim smiled again. And then winced again.

"You using that protein powder stuff on the counter?"

"Yeah."

"Okay. Go on. I got this."

Tim nodded and went into the bedroom. He changed into his pajamas and climbed into his bed. As he lay down, he felt a major relief in just being off his feet and relaxing. He was supposed to sleep propped up for a while and he had pretty much adjusted to that. So he lay back and listened as Tony puttered around in his kitchen. He closed his eyes again and sighed. He barely heard the blender going. Before he knew it, there was someone shaking him gently.

"Probie, I get that you're tired, but you'd better have this smoothie. I worked real hard on it."

Tim forced his eyes open.

"Huh?"

"Dinner, Probie."

Tim saw that Tony was holding out a glass for him.

"Oh. Thanks, Tony," Tim said. He sat up a little and took the glass.

"No problem. You said your sleeping bag is in the closet?"

"Yeah."

Tim took a drink and watched as Tony searched through his closet, and he was amazed that Tony didn't make any snide comments about the contents of the closet. This situation must fit in his Don't kick a Probie when he's down rule. He drank the smoothie and it was good, reminding him that he had been hungry before all this.

"Got it," Tony said. "I don't think anything is going to happen, but if it does, call, okay?"

Tim nodded, although with how tired he was, he anticipated that a bomb could go off and it wouldn't wake him up. He finished his smoothie, feeling almost half asleep and then set the glass aside and leaned back on his bed again. His eyes closed and he was drifting off to sleep.

"Oh, and one more thing, McGee."

"Yeah?" Tim mumbled, not bothering to open his eyes.

"Write if you want to. That's your thing and it's okay."

Tim heard the words but they didn't really make an impact on him in his almost asleep state.

"Okay," he said.

And then fell asleep.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Well, Tim had clearly not really heard what he said. Tony smiled a little, but he could see how bummed Tim was by how things had gone. Tony walked back out to the main room and wrinkled his nose at sleeping on the floor, even with a pad, but still, it was only for a night. He'd manage fine.

As he set up his bed, Tony thought about what had happened. Tim had apparently been preparing to start a new book and Tony was sure that it was the reason for Tim's newfound good mood. It wasn't that he'd been depressed for the last year, but he'd lost some of the spring in his step after what had happened with his last book. Now, just taking a few pictures had led to Tim almost being killed. Twice. He could really see Tim taking this personally. He did that far too often. While Tony would deny it, he didn't like seeing Tim looking all depressed, and he definitely was tonight. It was hard to tease someone who was genuinely feeling down, especially when there was a good reason for it.

He'd take a stab at it again in the morning. While he didn't really like the fact that Tim had these names for characters who were, at best, caricatures of the real people, in reality, it didn't matter too much. People didn't know who they were and quite frankly, stupid names and weird details aside, it wasn't like they weren't still quite competent in the story.

But even if they weren't and it was all a big joke, Tim should be able to pursue this hobby that he enjoyed so much. It wasn't right that they'd made him feel so worried about it that he didn't dare tell anyone what he'd been doing. Not one person was aware that Tim had been preparing to write a new book. That was wrong.

That decision made, Tony decided to bed down for the night and hope for a good night's sleep and that there would be no other issues.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Tim woke up with a start and sat up quickly, looking around for...

...but no, it was fine. Horvath had been arrested. There was nothing to worry about now. He sighed and shook his head.

"Hey, Tim. Finally awake?"

Tim looked over at the door.

"Finally?" he asked.

"Well, it's ten."

"What?" Tim asked and looked at his clock.

"Hey, don't worry about it. It's not like you had anything you had to get up for. This is your time to relax, Probie. Let yourself relax."

"I'm supposed to be giving my statement today. Gibbs said so last night."

Tim started to get out of bed.

"And I called him and said you were still asleep and he said just to come by when you were ready."

"But..."

"Hey, you're awake now and once you've had breakfast, I'll give you a ride over. So relax, McGee."

Tim took a breath and let it out and then winced a little as that jarred his face.

"Man, I'm so tired of my face being swollen and bruised," he said, rubbing his cheek gently.

"I don't blame you. I hope you don't mind but I rifled through your kitchen for my own breakfast."

"I don't mind."

"So what do you want in your smoothie?"

"You don't have to make that for me," Tim said. "I know how."

Tony grinned. "Of course you do, but this will save time. You can get ready while I'm doing that."

"Okay, okay."

"Any requests?"

"Surprise me, but really..."

"Nope! Just get ready."

"Okay, fine."

Tony looked smugly triumphant and he left the bedroom. Tim took one more breath and then got up and got ready for the day. Although he was going to be at NCIS, it wasn't going to be to work, so he decided to stay casual. After giving his statement, his plan was to come back and lay down and wile away the day doing nothing.

Once he was ready, he went out and Tony had made him another smoothie.

"You have quite the selection, you know."

"Yeah, Tony. I bought it myself. If I'm having smoothies, they're not all going to be the same."

"Well, here you go. Bon appetit!"

Tim smiled and took the smoothie. He tried it and it was good. For a few minutes, he was just sitting at the counter sucking on the smoothie. Tony was apparently putting away the sleeping bag. As he sat there, quietly drinking his smoothie, Tim's mind went back to how horrible his latest attempt at starting to write again had gone.

Then, he was startled by Tony pulling out a stool and sitting beside him.

"Hey, Tim."

"What?" Tim asked. He was a little worried. Tony didn't tend to use his first name unless it was serious.

"Did you hear what I said last night?"

"Um... which thing?" he asked. He knew Tony had talked to him, but after he'd had his smoothie, Tim could admit that he hadn't really been listening to much.

"I said that you should write if that's what you want to do. It's your thing and that's fine."

Tim set the glass down and stared at it.

"You said that?"

"Yeah, I did. And I meant it, too, since I know that's your next question. I can tell how much you love it because you were in such a good mood about stuff lately, and I hadn't realized that it would make such a difference. Since it does... well, you should do it if you want to."

"Maybe I shouldn't," Tim said.

"Why not?"

"Because someone tried to kill me because of it. Twice. Last time, two men were killed and Abby almost was. This time, it was me. Maybe I shouldn't write anymore. I thought it would be good, but it almost killed me, and I hadn't even written anything yet!"

"But you also made it so that we knew a criminal was back in the country, and who knows what might have happened without that?"

"It wasn't what I planned on doing."

"I know, but you did and something good came out of it."

"Except that I almost got killed."

"Well, I wasn't trying to say that was the good thing."

"I know."

"Tim..."

There was his first name again. Tim glanced over and realized that Tony wasn't actually looking at him, either. He seemed uncomfortable.

"What?" Tim asked.

"...well, I know I was a little louder about it than everyone else, but I kind of hate that you let what I said change your mind about what you did. If you really don't want to write anymore, that's your business, but if you do... well, you shouldn't let me stop you. And you shouldn't let all this stop you either. If it's what you want. Is it?"

Tim didn't want to answer that question because, quite frankly, when it came to his writing, he just didn't really trust that Tony meant it. Besides, there was more than just Tony.

"Is it, Tim?"

Man, a third use of his given name in a row.

"Tony, I'm not dying or anything. You don't have to..."

Tony cut him off. "That's not why I'm saying this. Tim, I can't believe I am saying it, but... It matters that you've been happy about writing. I just hadn't realized that it was something that meant so much to you. It's like if someone told me I couldn't watch movies anymore. It's not that I can't live without them, but watching movies is something that makes me happy. You deserve to have the same thing."

Tony looked at him, as if checking to see what Tim thought of what he'd said.

"I might believe that you really mean it," Tim said.

"I actually really do," Tony said.

"It still nearly killed me."

"It wasn't the writing that did that. It was Knight and then Horvath. Not you. So do you want to keep writing?"

Tim looked back at what was left of his smoothie.

"Yeah," he said softly.

"Then, do it. Not right this minute, of course, but you should."

Tim looked at Tony again.

"Even if I publish another book with the same characters?"

"Even then. Just don't put me with Ziva again. I think she might kill me just to prove it isn't true."

Tim couldn't help it. He laughed... and then winced and rubbed his cheek a little.

"Sorry," Tony said.

"It's okay. I won't put you with Ziva."

"Then, publish all you want," Tony said and then nodded and stood up as if he'd said his piece. "Now, if you're ready, let's get your statement over with and make sure Horvath gets put away for a long time."

"Okay."

Tim finished off the smoothie and then got up a little slowly. He paused as Tony put the empty glass in the sink.

"Tony?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks."

"No problem. Let's go."

"Okay."

Tim got his jacket and went with Tony to NCIS to make his statement.

And he actually felt better.