Not Beta'd; Standard disclaimer applies.
A/N:
Tim remembering events and giving the team a summary, might not be word for word of the memory (I only bold the line before the memory/flashback and a few words of the italicized memory)
{{ Tim remembering events, but not sharing it with the Team }}
[[ Gibbs's POV memory, Tim was not present at the time. The team is not told about it; whether or not Tim knows will (maybe) be revealed later ]]
Rescue, Next of Kin, Chapter 20
"Geek," Tony muttered.
Tim just shrugged off the comment, he was comfortable with who he was and wasn't going to apologize for it, not any more.
"I mean, I knew the gaming," Tony continued, rolling his eyes, "But seriously? Coding? Reading? That's your big weekend plans."
"There is nothing wrong with partaking in some fine literature," Ducky injected. "That is often how I spend my evenings and weekends. When I'm not taking care of mother," he added.
Tony looked at him before turning to Tim and staring. An unspoken challenge of: 'Yeah, your hobbies are the same as and elderly, soon-to-be retired medical examiner and you don't see anything wrong with that?' lingered in the air.
"There's also the writing," Jimmy added, trying to defend the other agent. "I think that's pretty cool."
"Geeky," Tony repeated, this time between coughs.
"What do you write about? Are we talking full books, or are they more short stories? Or perhaps just scenes? Do you do it in hopes of being published or is it something just to keep you active? Perhaps you consider it to be therapeutic? Has anybody ready what you have written? Could I?"
"Mr. Palmer," Ducky warningly chided, "Do remember why we are here."
"Oh, right, sorry," Jimmy quickly apologized. "It's just so interesting, I've never met a writer before."
Tony scoffed, "He's not a writer, he's a probie."
"He writes, therefore he's a writer," Jimmy argued.
Tim smiled at the doctor in training, before promising that they would talk about it another time.
Before Tony could say anything else, Ziva began to ask Tim about his experience in the kitchen. "After hearing about you cooking the main course for Christmas, it is obvious that you know how to cook, but tell me more about this experimenting you did," she ordered. That lead to the two of them discussing favorite recipes as well as tips for substitutions due to allergies or other dietary restrictions. Tony coughing loudly had her concluding the conversation.
"We will have to cook together some time," she promised, glaring at the senior agent for the interruption.
"Ooh!" Abby excitedly exclaimed, "The two of you can cook Gibbs's glad you remember us and feel better meal."
"Is that a thing?" Jimmy quietly muttered, not receiving any response from those that heard him.
"So, when was that conversation, Probie?" Tony questioned, trying to get the conversation back to the topic on hand.
"I don't know, exactly," he admitted. "I think it was before Christmas, though. Actually, it might've been from Christmas Eve. I honestly couldn't tell you. We've had a lot of conversations in the last couple of years, some things were mentioned more than once."
"Oh? Like what?"
"God, Tony, I'm not gonna rehash every conversation Gibbs and I have ever had."
"Why not? It can't really be that many," Tony snarked.
"There's like two and a half years' worth of conversation," an exasperated Tim commented, "Of which more than a year of that was after we became family. My memory is good, but not that good, and it's not like I kept a diary and wrote down all of our encounters."
Tony rolled his eyes, but didn't argue those points.
"Christmas Eve and you think the two of you talked about hobbies?" Abby asked. "You should've been talking about traditions, finding a way to mesh your individual traditions together."
"Abby, we had no idea that this wouldn't be the only time we spent the holidays together. There was no reason to 'mesh' anything, I was a guest in his home."
"Can we get off of that Christmas and talk about the year that followed before this Christmas comes?" Tony questioned.
"Fine," Abby huffed before turning to Tim once more. "Jimmy had a point," she said, causing many eyes to flicker to the man in question. "None of those conversations seemed to be very personal. How did you become father and son, if you are not blood related," her tone indicating that she didn't believe that that was true, "And all you talked about was the weather and nothing personal?"
"Er, it just didn't happen then," Tim admitted. "And when it did, it definitely wasn't intentional,"
"Oh, now that sounds interesting," Tony cackled. "Do tell."
"Er, I…" Tim hesitated, upset with what he had let slip. "Well, after the holidays, we continued to run into each other at the diner, and I did spend another night at his house when he deemed the roads to icy for me to travel back to Norfolk," he admitted. "But it was later, when things really changed. The next month, late February, I was already up here, and I got a phone call,"
"OMG!" Abby exclaimed, practically bouncing in her seat. "He's who you rescued!"
"Rescued?" the team repeated in echo.
She nodded, her pigtails bobbing along with her head. "As he said, it was late February, we were going to go out when his phone rang. I didn't hear much," she admitted, "But heard him say the words 'drunk' and 'father' as if questioning what he heard. He also asked for a description, which I thought was weird," she added. "He then hung up, turned to me and said that we'd have to reschedule. I offered to come with him, after all, how often do you get to see a drunk and disorderly Admiral, but Timmy wouldn't let me."
"This does not sound like it would be Gibbs," Ziva added.
"I know, right?" Abby replied. "But it had to be. I mean, I kept an eye and ear out on the news for reports of a drunk Admiral, but nothing appeared, I figured, Timmy or someone hushed it up, but it makes more sense if it wasn't the Admiral, and with what we now know…" she trailed off, letting everyone come to the same conclusion she had.
"Jethro was drunk? In public?" Ducky questioned in shock.
"Probie?" Tony questioned. Surprisingly, he had remained silent while everyone else had shared their thoughts on what Abby had shared earlier.
Sighing, Tim revealed, "Yeah, it was Gibbs," he said, hoping his father wouldn't kill him for this.
"Yeah, I'm not buying any of this," Tony protested, pushing his chair back. "In all the years I've known him, I've never known Gibbs to be drunk, or hungover.
"At this point in time, the two of you had known each other for less than four months, but you want us to believe that, by your own admission, even though there is no blood connection between the two of you, that you are calling him father and picking him up from bars when he had too much to drink?" Tony stood and shook his head, "Pull the other one, Probie," he snarked before standing up and heading to the restroom.
The remainder of the team sat in silence as each pondered what to do.
"I…should someone go after him?" Jimmy awkwardly questioned.
"Perhaps we should give him a few minutes," Ducky suggested, "He did head into the men's room after all."
Ziva nodded, "If he does not return, I will gladly fetch him."
"Ah, it's the men's room," Jimmy repeated.
"So?"
Tim snorted, "I don't think you entering the men's room here will be as…" he hesitated, searching for a word that wouldn't set Ziva's temper locked on him, "overlooked as it is when you do the same at work."
"I agree," Ducky confirmed. "Timothy should be the one to retrieve him," he added, causing both Ziva and Tim to huff in disagreement and frustration.
"Tony? You okay?" Tim asked as he reluctantly entered the men's room several minutes later after the senior agent failed to return to their table.
"Just peachy," Tony snapped in response.
"Great, see you back out there," Tim said, already halfway out the door again.
"You came just to check on me?"
"Uh, yeah? I guess,"
"Why?"
"Um…"
"I mean, I've been a right jerk to you."
"Yeah," Tim agreed.
Tony's eyes narrowed, "You didn't have to agree, let alone so quickly."
"Truth is truth, regardless of who said it."
"What does that mean?"
Tim sighed, "Look, can we just return to the table so we can continue the original conversation? I would like to go home and check up on D-Gibbs."
"That!" Tony triumphed. "How could we have worked together for years without you slipping up like that? It doesn't make sense."
Tim shrugged, "Work is work, I know to keep things separate there. This isn't work."
Tony rolled his eyes, "But how often have we been together when it's not work, and you didn't slip up then."
Tim shrugged, "I compartmentalized that time as still being work since no one from work knew."
"No one? Ever?" Tony prodded, knowing that wasn't true.
"Not ever," Tim agreed.
"Who?"
Tim sighed and turned around, "Just come back to the table if you want to hear about-"
"How you rescued Gibbs?" Tony mocked.
The younger man sighed again before he left, the door closing behind him without either of them speaking another word.
"Where is he?" Tim was asked as soon as he returned to the table without Tony accompanying him.
"Obviously still in the men's room," Ziva stated, moving to push her chair back. "I will-"
"No," Tim argued. "He knows why we are here, hell, he's the one who asked for this meeting in the first place. If he doesn't want to listen, he doesn't have to."
Abby frowned, "But-"
"No," Tim repeated, meeting her gaze. "Now, let's see, end of February 2004. I was actually with Abby, having dinner and preparing to go to a concert with her…
"Hello?" Tim said, hesitantly answering the call from a number he didn't recognize.
"Timothy McGee?" the voice on the other end sought confirmation that they had the correct person.
"Yes. Who is this?" a worried Tim questioned.
"Dan, the bartender at Sink N Swim. Your father is here and I don't think he should drive home."
"My father?" Tim repeated, not sure he heard right. "He's been drinking?"
"Yep," the bartender confirmed. "And he's asking for another. I told him I'd pour him another if he gave me his keys, so I could be sure he wouldn't drive."
"He's drunk?" Tim questioned. He wasn't sure what surprised him more, that his father was drinking in public or that he'd given the bartender his number.
"Figured I'd give you a call instead of a cab," Dan said. "Save the cabs and drivers we trust for people who don't have family to get them," he added.
"My father gave you my number?" Tim asked, still in shock regarding the current situation.
"No, I had your number on file from the last time you were here."
Tim frowned and looked at his phone suspiciously, "How did you get my number? I don't recall-"
"It's the bar inside the billiard club in downtown Alexandria."
"Oh," Tim replied, able to identify that place now. That was where he and Gibbs…"My father," Tim said, suspecting who exactly was at the bar drinking, "Um, can you describe him for me?"
Silence fell over the airwaves for a moment, "You don't know what your father looks like?" The bartender asked before describing Gibbs to a 'T' and adding, "It's the same guy you were before."
"Yeah, it is," Tim agreed, "That makes more sense," he added, mostly to himself.
"Hey, if it's easier, I can call a cab for him," the bartender offered.
"No, no," Tim hurriedly replied. "I'm in the area, I'll be there soon. Just gotta go explain things a bit. I'll be there soon," he repeated. "Just, please, keep an eye on him."
"Will do," Dan promised before hanging up the phone.
"Everything okay?" Abby worriedly asked.
"Yeah, no, kind of," Tim replied, still a bit confused about the situation. "Nothing too bad, just…surprising. I have to go pick someone up."
"Your father?" Abby guessed. "I'll come with you. After all, you might need some help with him. At the very least, you'll need someone to follow you in his car."
"Oh, er," Tim paused, he hadn't even thought about that. "Uh, probably not a good idea," he finally replied. He had a feeling Gibbs was going to be angry at the fact that Tim saw him like that, let alone if anyone else saw it, especially if it was as bad as the bartender indicated.
"Why not? I'm a good driver."
"You are," he agreed. "And it's not that. He wouldn't be at his best and up to seeing anyone. I'm not even sure how he'll react to seeing me," Tim admitted honestly. "Plus, I have no idea why he's drinking so much, I've never known him to do this, especially out at a bar, alone, and at this time of day on a Saturday."
"Oh," a deflated Abby replied. "You'll be back to go to the concert with me, right?"
"Uh, probably not," Tim said, not really that concerned about the concert giving what could be going on with Gibbs. "I'm thinking that he probably shouldn't be left alone in that condition, and that's without even knowing what happened."
"But it's Bloody Murder!"
"Sorry," Tim said with a shrug, picking up his jacket. "See if one of your friends can use my ticket," he suggested.
Abby huffed, "I thought you didn't get along well with your father."
"I don't, but this is," he automatically began to reply before cutting himself off. He didn't want to tell her that it was Gibbs that was drinking, since she definitely wouldn't let him leave without her. Nor did he want to share the friendship? Mentorship? He and the older man have developed.
"Look, I really gotta go," Tim announced, leaving before Abby could utter another word of protest.
"Driving him to drink, already?" Tony snarked, he had returned to his chair a few minutes after Tim had began sharing the memory of that night, though neither he nor anyone else had said anything at that time.
"I've never seen him so emotional like that," Tim said softly, ignoring the comment. "At least, not until this week," he admitted.
Ziva sucked in a breath as she put the pieces together. "End of February?" she repeated knowingly.
Tim nodded, "Yeah, it was the weekend after the anniversary of Shannon's and Kelly's death, the first day off since that, actually. That's how I found out about them. He wasn't aware of where he was or who he was with, let alone what he was saying."
"Oh, god," a remorseful Tony softly uttered.
"Oh my," Ducky commiserated solemnly.
"Why were you so certain that it wasn't your father?" Abby inquired. "I was there when the call came through and I thought it strange you asked for a description of your father, but from the start you seemed surprised to get a call about your father."
Tim hesitated, "Well, the bartender mentioned he was drinking," he slowly stated, "I've never seen or heard of the Admiral drunk, not even at home, let alone at a public bar…in Alexandria."
"Oh! Because you hadn't heard that he was in the area," Abby inferred.
Ziva eyed him suspiciously, "It is not that," she announced, "There is more to the story than that."
"Timmy?"
Tim sighed, feeling everyone's gaze upon him. "The admiral and I don't have the best relationship,"
"What father and son do?" Tony quietly muttered.
"I actually wouldn't have been surprised to learn that he was in the area and hadn't told me," he admitted. "At that point in time we hadn't talked since a week before my 18th birthday."
"At that point," Ducky repeated, "That means that you have talked since then?"
"I…briefly," Tim acknowledged. "The first year I was on the team, we talked a bit around the holidays before…"
"Before?" the five of them asked in unison.
Tim just shook his head.
"C'mon, Probie, you can't leave us hanging like that."
"Yes, I can," Tim contradicted. "That has nothing to do with why we are here."
Tony snorted, "Yeah, your 'Dad' has nothing to do with your dad."
Tim glared at him, "You don't deserve to know what happened," he snapped.
His tone silenced the protest on everyone's lips as they exchanged glances on how to proceed.
"Let us get back to talking about Gibbs," Ziva strongly suggested.
"Yeah," Abby agreed faintly before asking, "How did Gibbs react once he realized what he had revealed to you in his drunken state?"
Tim paused, "I, er, yeah, that's kinda hard to say since I'm not really sure."
The team exchanged looks once more, "What do you mean?" Ziva finally asked, by unspoken unanimous decision she seemed to be voted the spokesperson again.
"We, er I, um, I didn't really see him or talk to him for over a month after that."
Tony snorted, "Yeah, Gibbs doesn't do feelings."
"Tony!" Ziva yelled, hitting him on the arm.
"What? It's true. He also probably decided that he didn't want to do this anymore."
"That's what I thought as well," Tim shared his agreement.
"What happened after you left Abby and arrived at the bar?" Ziva questioned, both out of curiosity and to change the subject. With Tim walking them through the following days, maybe they could figure things out.
Tim gave a partial smile, whether it was because of Ziva's attempt to change the topic of conversation or in remembrance of the following events, no one was sure. "I've never seen Gibbs like that before," he repeated. "Not even now. After getting him out of the bar, into my car and home, well," he shook his head. "I eventually heard the complete story about Shannon and Kelly, and I do mean complete," he wryly added. "From the moment they met, through their courtship. His proposal, their wedding, how she revealed her pregnancy, Kelly's birth, her first Christmas. All of his leaves, everything," he stated. "I couldn't help but feel I knew them. Then he told me about their deaths. I was actually surprised he became an NCIS agent," Tim admitted, "Since they were in protective custody at the time.
"Anyway, after that, he fell asleep, no doubt a combination of having too much to drink, as well as being physically, emotionally, and mentally drained. I…" Tim hesitated, looking into the faces of the people that were closest to him and his father. "I got the impression that he would mind if he hadn't woken up," he finally shared. He wasn't going to share what made him think that, but felt that it might be good for the team to know how affected Gibbs was by the death of his wife and daughter. "It was as if he had nothing else to say, felt that he had nothing much to live for, like he had the days immediately after their deaths."
Abby choked back a sob. Everyone else at the table avoided one another's eyes in case their own tears and sadness were carved on their faces.
"The next morning, he thanked me for preparing the morning coffee as well as seeing him home safely. I shrugged it off as being no big deal. He then asked what he had said last night, I tried to shrug that off as well. After asking a few more times and glaring at me, I finally admitted that he told me about Shannon and Kelly. I also promised not to tell anyone else about them. After staring at me for a moment, he gave a decisive nod and asked if I would drive him back to the bar to get his car. As I said, that was the last time I really saw or talked to him for over a month, outside of work, at least," he tacked on.
"But why?" Abby cried, silent tears still coursing down her cheeks at the thought of Gibbs's family. "I don't agree with Tony that it was because he doesn't do feelings or because he thought you weren't worth his time," she added, glaring at the other man. "I mean, you call him Dad, so you must've talked again."
Tim smiled, at her, glad that even if she was still upset about not being told, she still cared enough comfort him. "It wasn't about me or even what he had shared with me. He was just caught up in cases, well," he clarified, shooting a quick look at Ziva, "A few days later…um, Ari was smuggled into autopsy and well..." he trailed off, knowing it wasn't the time or place to bring up that subject.
The rest of the team nodded in understanding. All of them remembered how Gibbs was during that time, how focused he had been on finding out who Ari was, to the point of excluding everything else.
"Wait! You guys went bar-hopping together?" Tony suddenly asked. "Not something most fathers and sons do," he argued.
"We went to a bar together, yes," Tim confirmed. "And it can't be considered hopping if you only go to one place," he pointedly added.
"Yeah, yeah," Tony waved his hand dismissively, "But that still doesn't explain why you went out drinking together. Was he trying to get you drunk or were you trying to get him drunk? Who wanted to take advantage of who?" he smirked.
Tim rolled his eyes. "Neither, well, technically, I guess I ended up taking advantage of him," he admitted.
"What?!" came the multiple responses, Tony's including choking on the drink he had attempted to swallow before Tim's statement.
"Not like that," Tim replied, another roll of the eyes. "A few days before we went 'bar hopping', we were talking about shooting and aim. I mentioned my aim was helped and improved because of games and math."
Tony snorted in disbelief.
"That was his reaction," Tim admitted. "I explained that I wasn't just talking about video games, but paintball, darts, and even billiards. That evolved into a debate about who was better at the latter two. To determine who that was, the following weekend we went to Sink N Swim to find out. Gibbs ended up buying most of the drinks since he lost."
"What? No way," Tony denied.
"Darts was close," Tim admitted, "But billiards was where I came out ahead. It is a game based on math and angles, plus he admitted that he hadn't played in a while."
"Whatever," Tony muttered, making a mental note to check with Gibbs if McGee's memory of that competition was accurate. "So, then what happened? I mean, we still have like six months before 'Dad' added you to the team."
"As I said, we hadn't seen much of each other the following month, but once I found out why, that it wasn't personal, against me," Tim clarified, since he knew that Gibbs had taken Ari's attack personally, "I did everything I could to help him find out who Ari was," he stated, sending another apologetic glance towards Ziva. "Since he wasn't stopping by the diner as much, I would get him food from Elaine and bring it to his house, I also made a point to stop by there and make sure he had food, coffee, and bourbon."
"And you said you didn't stalk him," Tony muttered.
Tim shrugged, "I didn't, I just wanted to make sure he was okay and had what he needed, especially since he was continuing to help me realize my dream of becoming an investigative agent."
"The advice about the workshops," Tony supplied, remembering what Tim had said earlier.
"Adding you to his team," Jimmy stated.
"No," Tony said suddenly, staring at Tim as another part of their earlier conversation floated to mind.
11-3-2022
Hmm, yeah, it's been awhile. Hope there are still a few readers out there **waves**
Gibbs getting drunk (esp in public), might be OOC, but I like the idea of Tim 'rescuing' him, plus how else would Tim learn about Shannon and Kelly (Without hacking into files, which he would then feel so guilty about)?
Would love to know what you guys think, so reviews are very welcoming [And will encourage (not distract me) from continuing this story-that I promise]
Good news, I have the next two chapters pretty much ready to go. I really hope to finish this fic this month (No guarantees, though because real life...ugh). The next chapter has a lot of Tim/Gibbs flashback scenes, so you get to see more interaction between them and how their friendship developed.
Any ideas on what Tony remembered?