A/N: Wrote this one YEARS ago - right after the episode aired. It's been simmering on the back burner ever since.
Don't worry - my wip's have not been abandoned. I promise. But, this was a one-shot -already done - that just needed a quick editing.
btw: A touch of a/u here in that this mini-arc includes the earlier Episode Tagged Story: "Phoof"
It had been a hell of a week and a godawful day. Having just leisurely made his way through his favorite meal in the diner where he always enjoyed the atmosphere, the service and the food, Leroy Jethro Gibbs now made his way through his after dinner cup of coffee, leisurely, sip by sip. That is, until the sight of the person walking through the door stopped him cold. Ah, hell. How many times was he gonna pull this crap?
****NCIS****
With his anger simmering just above his manners, both of which were smoldering just under his self-restraint, Tim silently slid into the seat across from his boss, joining the man uninvited and unannounced.
"Forget where my basement is?" Gibbs sniped moodily, making it even more obvious he wasn't happy about this intrusion, especially since the work day was long over.
"Neutral Grounds." Tim said calmly without batting an eye, surprisingly prepared for the question.
Still pissed, Gibbs threw out a sarcastic barb. "You bring the team with you on this one, too?"
Shaking his head, Tim offered an apologetic response to that well deserved verbal slap. "Wasn't tryin' to bring them on the last one. But, now that you mention it..."
"Spit it out."
"I'm just wonderin' if you gave DiNozzo the same order after he saved your life, while following you in one of your previous lone wolf maneuvers?" While his tone was serious, the younger man's eyes practically bored holes into his boss' head, laser sharp and bright with anger.
"McGee." The boss breathed out on an emotionally packed sigh.
"Yeah. Same here, Boss. Don't count on me obeying that one either." Tim didn't shade his anger with that response either.
"That what you came here to say?" Gibbs challenged his agent with his own ire now.
"No." The younger man replied without hesitation, this time, his tone nearly flat, yet steely.
"Gonna make me ask?"
"Did you seriously think that I had forgotten about Paloma and her vendetta against you that had all of us, including your father, trying to stay one step ahead of her until we finally got her? Or that I knew back then, what it was she was avenging? Did you really forget that godawful trip to Mexico they duped Abby into taking and the director into sending me as her protection detail?"
"Guess I did." The older man answered back quietly, awed by all his agent has kept hidden away safely in his memories, never seeing the light of day, until now.
Tim sighed in resignation. He couldn't fight that one. But, he'd come here with a lot more to say. Biting the bullet, he opened his mouth and let it flow. "Okay. I'll give you that one. But, do you have ANY idea how many rules you broke getting the evidence from your own truck like that? It needed to stay off the radar, fine. But, you should have called me! Didn't Tony having to take it on himself to follow you - when he wound up saving you from drowning teach you anything? And don't give me that 'you've got kids at home and don't need to come running in the middle of the night.' speech. You needed me - I would have been there! Should have been there! You've called on me for processing scenes without explanations before. Why did you think this time would be different?"
Gibbs just stared into his coffee, silently trying to process that the younger man who'd been watching his six for years now, was angry enough at him to let him have it unfiltered, had earned that right.
"You know, Boss. You've done a pretty good job of taking the lone wolf mentality out of Torres. Taught him what it means to be a team player; watching out for the others, letting us watch out for him." Tim pushed, determined to have his say, to get to his point of coming here. "Why else do you think he followed you that night?
Gibbs found he couldn't look away from his cup, his thoughts running amuck now.
"And then you go and remind him of how to go lone wolf yourself. Following the old Tony/Gibbs playbook." The bitterness escaped into his tone and Tim stopped, forcing himself to rein it in. He wasn't here to rehash history. No, he was here to make sure it stopped repeating itself.
Again, silence was Gibbs' only response.
Tim sighed again. "Boss, I get that you were protecting us from the judge. You were focused on getting to the bottom of who it was gunnin' for you - I get that too. And I get that you knew we'd take care of whatever happened in the office... "
"You didn't come here to tell me that." Gibbs finally spoke, his eyes coming up off his cup to bore anger driven holes through his Senior Field Agent's head.
"What I don't get..." Tim continued on, somehow successfully ignoring the anger radiating off the boss now.
The patented silent 'Go on.' look spurrsedTim on now.
"Is how you expect either Torres or I to be ok with you going lone wolf! Why just because I'm not Tony and I may not ignore how you like to handle things without your team the way he did - which, if i may remind you again, resulted in him saving your life more than once. But, that you don't get that I always have and always will be willing to be on your six, JUST as much as he was? Are you wanting me to play by those rules? Because I was pretty sure you made it clear that you didn't."
Gibbs' eyes dropped back down into his coffee, completely floored.
"And I don't appreciate you discounting me...disrespecting me like that! Or was this your way of telling me that what happened in Paraguay was my fault and you really don't trust me after 16 years? "
Line drawn, without another word, Tim gets up and walks away, still pissed at the man for the way he'd handled things without backup or even the strength of numbers. There'd been no need to remind the Team Leader just now that he and Tim have been through too much together to have this kind of thing happen. He knew the boss knew that. No, what needed to be said here, had been.
Now, all he can do is get back to being the Senior Field Agent. After all, he wasn't the sole member of the team that was pissed about this. They all were and it was time he pulled them back on track and refocused the team, keeping them prepared for whatever might come at them next.
*****NCIS******
Watching Tim walk away, every step firm and obviously anger driven, Gibbs was left flabbergasted as his brain automatically began to sort through what the younger man had left him to think about. His Senior Field Agent was right, about a lot of what he'd just laid down for the Boss to think back on. But what stuck in Gibbs' craw now, was what the obviously upset agent had said about what happened in Paraguay.
He hated that Tim thought even for a minute that Gibbs blamed him for any of that. He never had and he never would. Ever. Having that brought back to the center of his thoughts, made everything else he'd just done sharply in focus too. He had done what he'd done to protect his team, to make sure they were out of the line of fire so they'd be able to focus on the clues he's given them to help him. But, he'd never once considered they'd take it any other way - this way.
But now that he knew they had, he found he could understand it. Hell, he would have been pissed too, if one of them had done what he'd done. He valued each of them too much to let them do anything to put their safety at risk like that.
The questions came at him endlessly now. Why didn't he realize that his team valued his life more than he'd given them credit for? Hadn't Tim proven without hesitation that he valued him highly enough to stay by his side through thick and thin? Tim's family didn't need to lose him to anything! That was why he hadn't involved the younger man. But, that didn't explain why, as Team Leader, Gibbs hadn't called on the others on his team to back him up. Yes, it did. He was protecting their careers, too. This was a judge, for cryin' out loud!
Still, the whole 'taking the lone wolf mentality out of Torres' statement had so much truth to it, Gibbs couldn't ignore it. He'd pushed the former, long under-cover agent, to rethink things and become part of a well-oiled machine that was the MCRT. How could he reasonably expect the man to be okay with his Team Leader doing what he'd just done now?
Tim was right. He owed his Senior Field Agent an apology. Truth be told, he owed both his guys an apology. Hell, the whole team deserved one.
*****NCIS*******
06:35 the next morning finds Tim the first one in and quick to settle into his work, signing paperwork that had been left on his desk for his signature, as well as sorting through emails requesting his team's help, or his own. After saying his piece to the boss last night, he'd been able to have a very peaceful, stress-free family night and he'd gotten a good night's sleep, too.
Finding no evidence that the Boss is the first one in doesn't ping Tim's radar yet. But if the man hadn't shown up by 7:30, he'd check with Vance about him before taking the team out to the firing range for practice. Having that solid plan in mind, Tim stayed on task, knowing the others would be in soon.
A short few moments later, the boss silently stepped off the elevator, his hands full with a carry out drink tray loaded down with covered take out cups. Stopping at his Senior Field Agent's Desk, he lifted a drink off the tray and offered it to the younger man. "McGee."
Tim looked up from the email he had been working on and gave the man his full attention, his tone quiet and respectful - all traces of his previous anger gone. "Mornin' Boss."
"Never blamed you, Tim." Extending the cup out to his agent, Gibbs waited for a response.
Taking the cup from the man, Tim silently processed exactly what the Team Leader was admitting to. Slightly lifting the cup in the air, Tim quietly thanked the man, also offering up a slight nod in reference to whatever else that hadn't been said yet. He remained patiently still, knowing Gibbs did have something more to say, because he hadn't moved yet.
"No more lone wolf." The Boss vowed in his solemn promise tone of voice.
With that short silent nod, they both use so much, Tim accepted both the apology and the promise the man was giving him with the second statement. He understood, that while not actually spoken, the boss was also offering appreciation for Tim being openly honest with his anger and taking the older man to task over it. With his eyes trained on the boss, Tim smiled softly, giving that barely visible nod that spoke to both of them without saying a word.
***Poof!***
