Chapter 13

Gibbs walked up to Vance's office as soon as he got back to NCIS. He was tired. He knew that Ziva was tired. They'd all been up more than half the night, but this couldn't wait.

"Is he in there?" Gibbs asked.

Pamela raised an eyebrow. Gibbs just raised an eyebrow in return. Then, Pamela smiled.

"Yes, he is. He locks his door when he leaves."

Gibbs smiled a little and then strode into the office. Vance looked up, briefly startled, then stern.

"Gibbs, would it kill you to give me a little notice?"

"Nope."

Vance rolled his eyes.

"Nice of you to show up today. Did Agent McGee?"

"No. He's in the hospital."

Vance looked concerned. "Hospital? What happened?"

"He got injured last night and he won't be able to come back for a few days."

"Injured? How? And does this have anything to do with the fact that the two of you didn't show up yesterday and apparently were trying to hide that from me?" Vance asked.

He wasn't softening much, but Gibbs couldn't blame him. Strange events had followed Tim in the last couple of years. They weren't all his fault, but they had complicated Tim's position at NCIS in Vance's eyes. He'd been sympathetic so far, but Gibbs could see that his sympathies were wearing thin. Without something to explain it, the sympathy might vanish completely.

"Partly."

Vance sighed in frustration.

"Tell me what's going on, Agent Gibbs. You've put me off time and again and I've let you, but that's over now. I need to know why I shouldn't just wash my hands of this."

That was what Gibbs had been afraid of. Too many evasions and now, Vance was refusing to go along with them.

"I can't tell you."

"Why not?"

"Because you won't believe it if I tell you."

"That's basically what Agent DiNozzo said."

"Because it's true...but you can be shown."

"What difference will it make?"

Gibbs smiled slightly. "It will make it impossible for you to disbelieve it. I just don't know what that will mean for McGee afterward."

"Then, show me."

"I can't. Not now."

"Why not?" Vance asked in resignation.

"Because McGee is still in the hospital and he's the one who has to show you."

Vance looked more than frustrated, and Gibbs knew that he had to do something to smooth the way before Vance said something that Gibbs would regret.

"I'm not lying, Leon. It has to be McGee. I literally can't show you, but McGee will...when he's out of the hospital. At my place."

"Why all the secrecy, Gibbs?" Vance asked, but there was a little less frustration in his question.

"You'll understand when you see it. Not until then. Nothing will help until you see it for yourself."

"And how many of you have seen this thing that you've been hiding from me for over a year?"

"The ones you expect. No one else."

"Ah."

Vance stood and walked to the window. He looked out at the Yard for a full minute in complete silence. Gibbs let him.

Then, Vance turned back.

"It had better be soon, Gibbs."

"As soon as it can be."

"All right. That's all," Vance said. He sat down and started to work again.

Gibbs watched him for a moment and then headed for the door. He

"You didn't ask if McGee was all right."

Vance barely looked up.

"You wouldn't be here if he wasn't."

Gibbs smiled and left the office. He walked by Pamela and back down to the bullpen where Ziva was trying to pretend she wasn't tired.

She became more alert when she saw Gibbs.

"Well?" she asked.

Gibbs just shrugged.

"Autopsy."

Ziva nodded and they rode the elevator down together. Ducky and Jimmy were hard at work, but they both seemed more than willing to stop when they saw Gibbs and Ziva coming into the room.

"Jethro, what is it?" Ducky asked.

"McGee's in the hospital."

"What happened?"

"A difference of opinion from one of them. But just one."

"And a dangerous one, it sounds like," Ducky said. "Is he all right?"

"He will be."

"And in the future?" Jimmy asked. "What about the other stuff?"

"Should be fine. The one who didn't like it is out of the picture. Tim's dad won."

Ducky and Jimmy exchanged looks, but they didn't want to be too explicit in the building. They knew what winning likely meant when it came to the selkies. They definitely had a straightforward ruthlessness that was hard to get used to.

"Tony is with him for now, but he will likely stay for another day or two," Ziva said.

"Then, we will have a chance to visit," Ducky said. "I'll make a point of doing so this evening."

"It will be a long drive, Ducky," Ziva said.

"Nevertheless, it will be worth it."

"Maybe we could sneak out early," Jimmy suggested.

Ducky raised an eyebrow at him but said nothing and Jimmy suppressed a smile at the lack of censure.

"I'll tell Abby," Gibbs said.

"And will you be able to keep her from running off to check on him?" Ziva asked, smiling slightly.

"If she knows that it'll look bad for Tim, she might stay," Jimmy said.

"Yes. She might."

"Is there anything else we need to know?" Ducky asked.

"Vance," Ziva said.

"What about him?"

"McGee's going to have to tell him," Gibbs said.

"Ah. I suppose it shouldn't be any surprise that he would reach his limit at some point," Ducky said. "It is too bad that it happened now when so much is in flux."

"That's probably why it happened now, though," Jimmy said.

"Very true. Well, if there's anything we can do, let us know. Otherwise, we'll try to get our work done quickly so that we can go visit Timothy," Ducky said.

Gibbs nodded. Then, he and Ziva left.

"What will you tell Abby?" Ziva asked.

"McGee will be fine and she has to stay. She'll see him later."

"You think she will listen?"

Gibbs rather doubted it, but he could hope.

"Maybe."

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

Tim was sleeping, and Tony had drowsed a little, but it wasn't the most comfortable place to sleep and so he kept nodding off and then waking back up again. He didn't blame Tim for sleeping, but this wasn't the most exciting time he'd ever had.

Then, midway through the afternoon, with Tim still sleeping, or rather sleeping again after the last checkup, the door opened and Tony roused enough to turn around and see who it was. He was expecting a nurse.

It wasn't a nurse.

It was Tim's father. He looked from Tony to Tim and then back.

"He sleeps?"

"Yeah."

"He is well?"

"He will be. He's not great now, but the doctor said that he'll be fine."

"This is good. How long will he stay in this place?"

"I don't know. Not much longer, but even when he leaves, he'll have to take some time to get better."

Tony still wasn't sure about this whole selkie thing, even after knowing about it for more than a year. It was still strange, but at the same time, he'd managed to incorporate Tim's reality into his own. It was just that Tim's father appearing at odd intervals usually threw a bit of a wrench into the delicate balance he'd established.

"Do you want to sit with him?" Tony asked.

"What does this accomplish? What do you think I will do?" the selkie asked.

Tony smiled. "Wait for him to wake up. It doesn't accomplish anything. We just don't want to leave him alone for now, and I need a break."

The selkie stared at him for a few seconds and then nodded.

"I will sit with him."

Tony stood and stretched. "Good. I don't think anyone else will be coming in, but a doctor or a nurse might and..."

"I know what those people are," the selkie said. "I was with this one's mother when he was born."

"You were?" Tony asked. "I didn't think you did that kind of thing."

Now, the selkie smiled slightly. The expression was so rare that it always stood out.

"I do not, but she asked, and it was part of healing her pain. I was called for that purpose. I stayed until this one was born and then returned to the sea."

Tony digested the idea that Tim's whole existence was owed to a legend being true. A woman called for a selkie to come and heal her pain. It didn't matter how many times he thought it to himself.

It was still strange.

"All right. I'll be back."

The selkie nodded and sat down in Tony's vacated chair, clearly prepared to wait as long as was necessary. That was something else about the selkie, and Tony could only assume that it was a common trait. There was very little hesitation once something was deemed necessary. Granted, this was pretty simple, but still, the selkie would probably sit there unmoving for days if he decided it was a necessity.

Tony shook his head and left the hospital room. He needed to get something to eat and take a walk around outside.

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

The selkie sat, staring at the one called his son. He didn't know why a hospital made humans better. It seemed that this one was simply sleeping and that could be done anywhere. However, he also knew that his ignorance didn't necessarily mean anything more than that he was not familiar with many human things.

It had been good that he went back to the herd before coming here. The herd had been in upset. These kinds of things just didn't happen, and it was even worse that the treachery had been perpetrated by a fellow selkie, rather than a human. Once the herd had decided, the other selkie should have accepted it. It was not right to try to kill to make the herd listen, and it was significant that this was exactly what had almost happened. Death was an unfortunate event when it was not from hunting or illness.

And the one was dead. His body had been disposed of so that humans would never find it and do those strange things that the one with pictures on her skin had explained. That DNA would not be used by humans to find the selkies.

All in all, this had not been a very good time, but the results were what he needed them to be. He had to defend this one no matter what, but he had not been forced to pay the price for his aid. He had been willing to pay it, but it had not been necessary.

After a while, the one called his son stirred in the bed and opened his eyes. At first, he didn't seem to notice that there was someone else in the room with him. He stared at the ceiling and winced a little as he tried to move.

"Are you well?" the selkie asked.

Startled the other one jumped a little and winced again.

"I...didn't expect you to be here," he said, sounding a little weak. "What about the herd?"

"They have been calmed. They accept what happened. The other is dead."

"Dead?"

"Yes. This bothers you?"

He sighed. "I don't know. Certainly, I'm glad that I'm alive and that you're alive, but it was just so pointless. I don't want to hurt anyone."

"It is about fear as you said. He feared and thought of nothing else. Since he would not accept the herd's decision, it is best that he is dead. He would cause more trouble for the herd than you. Death is not sought for, but if it is necessary, then, it is necessary."

"I know."

"Are you well?"

The one shook his head.

"No, but the doctor says I will be. That was a bad one."

"Yes. He wished to kill you, but he did not."

"It was close."

"Yes. This was one time when humans were useful. We do not know how to heal these wounds."

"Life or death. Not much in between."

The selkie nodded.

"How long will you be in this place?"

"Not much longer, but I'll mostly be laying around for a while. Will you be moving back north?"

"Yes. Soon."

Suddenly, the one called his son forced himself to sit up. It clearly pained him, but he did it.

"Thank you. I know that you did this because you made a promise, but I don't think that even my mother would have realized how dangerous that promise was going to be."

"Promises are not made because they are safe," the selkie said. "They are made because they are needed. You would have been safe with the herd, but the woman you call your mother needed more than safe. She needed what she knew, what she had experienced. You are not the only pup I have had. I have had many in the time I have lived. You are the only one where a promise was needed." The selkie thought about it for a moment. "That makes this different than it would have been. Perhaps I would not even have remembered that you were my offspring. There were many pups that year and the herd protected them all, including you."

"Still, this could have led to your death, simply because you felt required to protect me."

"I made a promise," the selkie said. "It requires nothing more or less than following that promise."

"Thank you anyway."

Then, he sagged back in the bed and closed his eyes again.

"May I see what they did to heal you?"

"There's a bandage on right now, but I'm guessing the nurse will be in to look at it. I can ask her."

"Yes, please. Perhaps, this is something we can learn. Not this hospital, but something smaller."

The one called his son smiled and didn't open his eyes. Instead, his breathing evened out and he slept once more. The selkie stayed, this time, looking around at all the parts of this room that made no sense to him. Just like in the place where this one worked, there were many machines and incomprehensible objects. He was curious about what they did, but he knew that it would not be good to play with them. Then, he stared at the one right beside the one's bed. There were little beeps, a line continually going up and down across it. It seemed to be measuring something. There were numbers and combinations of letters that didn't seem to be actual words. The selkie stared at it for a long time, trying to understand what it was. Then, he noticed the lines coming off it. The lines went over to the one called his son and when he carefully checked, they were attached to him.

Measuring something in this one? Carefully, he pressed down on his chest and felt the thump of his heart. Then, he looked back at the machine. This machined measured the heart? Why? The heart could be felt without a machine. But then, it was also doing so all the time. So perhaps that was its purpose. The selkie sat back again, curious once more. There was a bag of some kind of fluid. It also had a line that went back to his son, only this line was attached to his arm. It seemed to be inserted into his arm. That didn't seem like a pleasant thing, but it had not seemed to cause any discomfort. Again, the selkie didn't touch it, not wanting to break anything, but he was still curious.

When the nurse came in, she was surprised to see him, but she smiled.

"Hello, I don't believe I've met you."

"No, I do not think you have," the selkie said. It seemed a strange thing for her to say when they obviously didn't know each other.

There was a pause and then she smiled again.

"I'm just here to check on Mr. McGee. I won't be long."

The selkie nodded and moved out of her way. He watched as she gently awakened him and checked the machines.

"All right, Mr. McGee, it's time to change the bandages. Are you ready for that?"

"I guess I have to be, don't I."

"Is this necessary?" the selkie asked.

The nurse looked at him again. "Yes. We don't want there to be any kind of infection that might make the wound worse and this was a serious injury."

"I understand. May I see the wound and what you have done for him?"

The nurse looked over at the one called his son who just smiled.

"It's fine. This is my father."

"Oh, of course. Well, if you'd like to help me out, that will let you see as well."

"What do you wish me to do?"

"Just help your son roll over so that I can get to the wounds, remove the bandage and replace it."

The selkie did as she instructed and he watched in fascination as she uncovered the wounds from the other selkie.

"How have you closed these wounds? They do not bleed."

"Well, of course they don't," the nurse said, looking confused.

"They're called stitches," the one said. "It's a way of closing up bigger wounds to stop them from bleeding."

"And I see it works well. Do these stitches stay there?"

"Well, these are temporary," the nurse said. "They'll dissolve on their own in a few weeks, when his wounds are healing on their own."

"Interesting," the selkie said.

He continued to watch the process.

"Why do you cover the wounds?" he asked as she rebandaged them.

"To protect them until they're healed. Even though they're stitched closed, it's still possible for them to get infected. So we want to be careful." She finished the bandages. "You can let him down now."

The selkie did so and felt the one relax as he was able to lay on the bed.

"Are you feeling any other discomfort, Mr. McGee?" she asked.

"Besides my back?"

"Yes."

"No. I'm kind of achy, but the back is the worst. That's bad enough."

She smiled. "I know, but that will get better. I promise."

"I know. Eventually."

Then, she left, and the one called his son laughed.

"I'll bet she's going to talk to the rest of the staff about the weird questions you were asking."

"Why? I did not know the answers and she seems to know what she is doing."

"Yes, but most people know what stitches are and they know what bandages are."

"I am not a person."

"But she doesn't know that."

"True." He paused. "Do you think it will be a problem?"

"No. I just think she'll wonder where you're from or what's wrong with you that you were so interested."

The selkie sat down. "I do not think that we could put in these stitches, but to cover the wounds is something we could do."

"If you want to stop the bleeding at the beginning, you need to press on the wound, even if it hurts because the pressure helps slow the bleeding down."

"I see. That is something we could also do."

A tired nod. Then, the door opened again and the other man came back into the room.

"Hey, how's it going, McGee?" he asked.

"Just changed the bandage."

"Sounds thrilling. How much longer are you staying?" he asked the selkie.

"I will leave now," the selkie said, standing. He looked at the other one. "I do not know when I will see you. It depends upon the seals. Remember the rules of the new law. Do not swim alone when you are able."

"I remember," the one called his son said.

"If you are as noisy about it as you were the first time, I will likely hear you."

"Noisy?"

"In your mind. I felt your happiness the first time you returned to the sea."

The man looked as surprised as the other.

"Wait, you knew about Tim having his skin back?"

"Yes. I told no one, but I knew."

"Thank you," the one called his son said.

"I made a promise."

"I know."

"I will leave, but I will see you again."

Now, the one called his son smiled in anticipation.

"Yes. I'll watch for the selkies to come down here."

"We will."

"Good-bye."

The selkie nodded and left, satisfied that the other one would heal and that he would be able to swim when it was the right time.

For now, it was the right time for him to return to the herd and for the herd to return to the north.