Tim and Kelly walked into their house to find Shannon and Gibbs sitting on the couch watching TV. And getting up and going over to them. "Hey, guys. How was shopping?"
"Would it be inappropriate for me to say that I considered surrendering myself to the Reynosa Cartel?" Tim asked jokingly. It was an act he instantly regretted as he received the worst head slap he'd ever gotten in his life. "Ow! I'll take that as a yes."
"Nice shot, Shannon," Gibbs said approvingly. If he hadn't been so far away, he would've smacked him too.
Shannon glared at Tim. "I hear you joke about that crap again, that's going to feel like a tap on the shoulder."
Tim winced and rubbed the back of his head. "Yes, Ma'am."
"As you can see, he's being overdramatic. He whined the whole time," Kelly said.
"Yes, I can relate," Shannon said. Jethro had been the same way when they were out earlier. He'd acted like she was inflicting some kind of warfare torture on him.
"Hey, you dragged me to the mall for two hours! Not to mention that you misled me about where we were going," Gibbs said before tuning to Tim. "Where'd you think you were going?"
"Phone and computer shopping," Tim said with a scowl.
"We did," Kelly reminded him.
"Yeah, later," he said.
"Welcome to marriage. Shannon told me we were going tool shopping," Gibbs said.
"And you bought it. Since when have I ever gone tool shopping with you," Shannon asked with a smirk. She then started going through one of the bags she'd taken from her daughter. "Oh, good, you bought phones in bulk."
"Well, I was just gonna get four, but Tim said we should get at least ten," Kelly said.
"That was very smart of him," Shannon said. She knew her husband well. He and technology didn't mix. She doubted that had changed over the years. "Though I'm actually wondering if you should've gotten more.
Gibbs rolled his eyes. He of course knew that they were speaking about him and his inability to keep a phone for longer than a couple of weeks. "Are you done?"
"For the moment," Shannon said before taking out a phone and tossing it to him.
Gibbs caught it and redirected it to Tim. "Boot that up, would you?"
"I'll get on that, Boss," Tim said out of habit.
"No, you won't. Jethro, he is not your gofer. You can't just bark orders at him anymore.
"Would you prefer I try to do it?" Gibbs asked.
Tim looked at Shannon and smiled. "No one wants that, trust me."
"I know. Still, Jethro, you gotta cool it on the orders. You can't treat him like your agent anymore," Shannon said.
"It's fine, Shannon. I'm gonna take this stuff upstairs since it's mostly mine. I need to program these phones a bit and then set up the computers too," Tim said.
"You need to be careful with the computers. I want every possible firewall possible on those things," Shannon said firmly.
"Don't worry, Mom. Once Tim's done, I'll put my own touches on them. They'll be impenetrable," Kelly said.
With that, Tim took the bag Shannon was holding and the ones from Kelly and headed upstairs.
"I'm gonna go start dinner," Shannon said before starting for the kitchen.
"Want some help?" Kelly asked.
Shannon turned and smiled at her daughter. "Thanks for the offer, honey, but we're supposed to keep a low profile. I don't think burning down the house is the best way to accomplish that."
Gibbs snorted. "Not a good cook, Kel?"
"Not even a little bit," Kelly said before sitting down next to her dad. She just sat with him for a few minutes watching the TV that was still muted before finally speaking. "Dad, I need to ask you something?"
"You can ask me anything, sweetheart," Gibbs said.
"Do you not like Tim?" Kelly asked. She had their conversation at the store in her head where Tim told her that he and her father weren't as close as her father and his other agents.
Gibbs looked at his daughter and frowned. "Why would you think that? I know I kind of lost it when I found out about the two of you, but I would've done that with any guy you were with. You're my daughter and it's kind of hard not to see you as the little girl I lost years ago. If it's about me barking orders at him, that's habit. It's not easy to just forget years of routine."
"It's not that. Well, that certainly became a part of it when it happened, but I'm asking because of a conversation I had with Tim earlier. I asked him if you guys were close and he said no," Kelly said. She knew she probably shouldn't be telling her father about a private conversation between her and her husband, but she needed to know if her father had a problem with him.
"He what?" Gibbs asked. He wasn't angry. He was actually surprised. He knew he wasn't warm or comforting, but he thought his people all at least new he cared about them as more than just agents.
"Well, he said you weren't as close to him as your other agents. I asked him why and he didn't seem to know. The closest he got was different personalities," Kelly said.
"I didn't even know he thought that," Gibbs said. He had no idea that McGee felt he came in second to the others. He had no clue.
"I don't really think it bothers him a lot, but it bothers me. He is my husband after all. And yeah, I know you didn't know that, but it still bothers me," Kelly said.
"It bothers me too because I didn't realize that he felt that way. I mean, yeah, I suppose that I gave the others more attention, but it was because they needed it more. He never needed my help, not until this whole thing started with the Reynosa Cartel. At least I didn't think he did," Gibbs said. He'd always thought McGee had been the only one of his team without a messed up family, but after hearing just a little for Shannon, he became aware that that might not be true. McGee had issues too. He just never let them show.
"So you don't have a problem with him?" Kelly asked.
"No. Tim's a good man. If you were going to be with anyone, I'm glad it was with someone like him," Gibbs admitted begrudgingly. "Don't worry, honey. I'll fix this."