A/N: I apologise for the delay. Thank you for your patience.
As the team struggled with accepting that they couldn't stay here watching over their Probie and solve the case of who had done this to him at the same time, the struggle seemed to quickly sort itself out within each one of them. The need to find who had done this and get justice for Tim outweighed their desire to sit by his side while he slept. With grim looks of determination, they all left their teammate's bedside after giving themselves long enough to see for themselves that he was alive and breathing;. They each spoke in his ear, hoping he'd hear that they'd been there for him, before heading out to gain justice for him.
Without raising voices or ire, it was quickly decided amongst them, as they stood together outside his room, that they would all sit with him, in a rotation of sorts, one that even included Jimmy, in the pursuit of keeping someone at Tim's side at all times. Since the case was dragging until the forensic tests had been completed, from the notes as well as accident scene, there didn't seem like much else they could do at the moment.
Abby had brought her laptop that was linked to her computer in the lap providing them with access to whatever results came up in her absence. Gibbs took pity on her since Vance had allowed her to come out of her lab to see for herself that Tim was okay. He gave her the first 30 minute visit, in the rotation; ordering Tony and Ziva to go grab a bite to eat before they escorted Abby back to NCIS. Gibbs was now wary of any of them being anywhere alone, until whoever was responsible for this had been caught.
As his team slipped out to the hallway, Gibbs watched his injured agent as he slept in what hopefully was a healing sleep. How could this have happened? Who the hell would wanna hurt this gentle giant of a man who always found the best in everyone, even after years of less than pleasant experiences under his belt? If those notes were anything to go by, it wasn't even about Tim, it was about Gibbs. Going after one of his own, to get to him, was a surefire way to earn Gibbs' ire and capture his undivided attention, unless you deliberately divided his attention by hurting one his agents while they were trying to solve an active case!
Flipping out his phone, he called Tony.
"DiNozzo, you and Ziva stay at NCIS and stay with Abby when you get her back there. Help her. Don't go anywhere alone until we catch this bastard!" Gibbs quietly commanded his Senior Field Agent.
"Got it, Boss. How is he?" Tony replied and then asked.
"Still sleeping, probably will be all night. Go on, get something to eat. Send Abby back in here for her visit."
Abby came back in with fear and hope fighting for space in her eyes.
"Abby, you need to calm down. Don't let him see you like this." Gibbs quietly directed as he vacated his chair for her. As she settled in the chair, after she'd moved it closer to his head, Gibbs settled for the chair by the door, leafing through the magazine he'd borrowed from the waiting room as Abbs spent her time with Tim.
Hearing Abby's steady stream of chipper conversational words in the background as she tried to get Tim to open his eyes, needing to see for herself that he was gonna be okay. After steadily trying for ten minutes, Gibbs had heard enough. There hadn't even been any results from the forensic testing, so there was no point in dragging this out.
Walking over to her, he put his hand on her shoulder and whispered in her ear and propelled her up out of the chair.
"Abby, he needs the sleep. Stop trying so hard, you're only upsetting yourself. Go on back to work. You need to stay busy. Make sure you get some rest, too. I'll call you when he's ready for visits." Gibbs' quiet request brought it home to Abby how emotionally strapped they all were.
Abby nodded silently as she kissed first Tim's cheek, then Gibbs' before walking out stoically. Gibbs stepped out of the room right behind her, but only as far as the door. Looking at his Agents, he instructed them.
"When you get back there, you check in every two hours."
"You want me to just text your phone if there's no problem, Boss? That way it won't wake Tim up?" Tony offered.
"Good idea, Tony." Gibbs answered. "Set it up. I want it just loud enough to get my attention."
Tony fixed Gibbs' phone and handed it back to him.
"Okay. All set. I'll text you when we get to Abby's lab. Say, Boss, if Probie...." Tony asked.
"Yeah, Tony, I will. If he wakes up tonight, now get goin'!"
After his team left, Gibbs gave each of the agents on the door, a break, knowing they'd be better able to do their job if they didn't need to worry about needing to use the head, or feel like they were starving while on duty. The agents were startled and very grateful for this unexpected turn of events. Once that had been taken care of, Gibbs firmly reminded them of the restrictions for room acess and left them to their jobs.
Gibbs pulled the chair up to the bed so he could rest his feet in an unused spot at the end as he settled into his guard duty. Looking at his injured agent while he slept, Gibbs couldn't help but feel the full range of emotions run through him, everything from raging anger to guilt. Knowing it was better he get them under control now while he had the time alone to get it done, he first let everything roll through his mind, not trying to stop any of it. Closing his eyes for a minute, he breathed out a sigh of frustration before opening his eyes back up, back in control, and back in Supervisory Field Agent mode. After all, they called it Guard Duty for a reason, right?
The next thing Gibbs realized, his eyes had snapped open. Something had woken him up. Quickly, he looked toward his Agent, who was still sleeping peacefully. Ducky was standing at the foot of the bed, looking over Tim's chart. His face was a study in concentration.
"Duck?"
"Jethro, I'm happy to report that Timothy's condition is as good as can be expected under the circumstances. He is, as the Doctor stated, very lucky, indeed. With a lot of rest and careful steps in the right direction, he should make a full recovery."
"Good." The reply was short, but the voice was loaded with relief.
"Jethro, you cannot blame yourself. I know you. That is exactly what you are doing right about now." Ducky declared knowingly.
"Yeah, Duck. Those notes pretty much prove me right on this one, don'tcha think?" Gibbs asked with self-appointed blame vibrating in his tone.
"Jethro, whatever it is this person thinks you did, does not mean you pulled the trigger on Timothy. You cannot go there. Your team is counting on you to keep them together, keep them focused and help them find the bastard who did do this!" Ducky reminded him sharply.
As a dull pair of green eyes silently watched and listened from the bed unbeknown to the two men currently talking, Gibbs allowed a measure of his true emotions out, since it was only Ducky who was listening. They'd been friends for a long time and knew how to help each other through crisis and troubles.
"Duck, I know the team is focused already, They all want to find who did this! The facts remain what they are. The notes were addressed to us, and I was named in them. You can't deny that this means whoever did this is after me for some case we solved. Tim was just an innocent victim They went after him to get to me!"
"Jethro, you must put away the blame and focus on Timothy's recovery. You know this. I'm sure you've been stewing in this since earlier today. That's long enough." Ducky admonished him.
"Duck, you didn't hear his voice when he called me for help!" Gibbs tried to explain what part of this whole nightmare had tore at his heart."I sent him out into a trap!" The anquish was out, vented in the timber of Gibbs' voice.
"Jethro, you did not know that at the time! There's no sense in beating yourself up about it now. It won't do you or Timothy any good." Ducky tried to soothe Jethro's rising self-blame and recrimination.
"Boss."
The roughly spoken word brought Gibbs up short as he turned toward the source of it. Staring at him with tears in his eyes, was one surprisingly awake Tim McGee, injured agent extradinare.
Quickly, the boss strode over to his agent and laid a comforting hand on the young man's shoulder. "Tim! What…?" he started to ask..
"Please, don't do this. I hate it when you blame yourself." Tim's voice was raspy, pained and exhausted as he interrupted Gibbs' question. The tears in his eyes tore at Gibbs' heart.
"Okay, Tim." Gibbs quietly agreed. There was no excuse for upsetting the injured agent still trying to recover. "We can talk about it later."
"Can you tell us how you're feeling, Timothy?" asked Ducky as he stepped up to the bed and looked the young man in the eye.
"Everything hurts. So tired. Thirsty." The string of answers that hid nothing spoke volumes of the young man's true pain and discomfort. Tim was never that forthcoming about what was going on with him, He always thought it made him look weak.
"You've been given painkillers in your i.v.. I will go speak with your nurse and ask her to increase the dosage for you. Jethro can give you a drink. After you drink your fill, you must try to go back to sleep." Ducky quietly instructed with a pat on the arm for the young man.
"Thanks, Ducky." Tim rasped.
"You are quiet welcome young man. I am relieved to be able to have a two-way conversation with you. Please make sure that does not change, hmm?" the M.E. requested as he headed out to talk to the nurse.
After Ducky left, Tim turned his eyes back to his boss. "Boss?"
"Tim?"
"Everyone...else... okay?"
"Yeah, Tim. They're fine. They're with Abby while she's doing her thing on all the evidence."
"Can I... talk... them? Please?" Tim begged.
"For a minute, you're in no shape to carry on a long conversation." Gibbs told him
"K."
Taking out his cell phone, Gibbs called Abby.
"Gibbs, I don't' have any results for you yet!" Abby cried.
"Abby, are Tony and Ziva with you?" Gibbs asked.
"Yeah, they're right here."
"Put your phone on speaker and all of you listen up." The boss ordered cryptically.
"Okay, we're all listening." Abby told him after a couple of seconds.
Gibbs handed Tim the phone set on speaker and nodded at him.
"Hey guys." Tim rasped as loudly as he could.
"TIMMY!"
"Probie?"
"McGee!"
The cheerful relieved greetings lifted his spirits and a piece of his exhaustion. The physical pain remained though, and he grimaced as he waited for the team to quiet down. Gibbs laid a comforting and on Tim's shoulder and gently took the phone from his hand, stepping away from his bed so he could raise his voice without making things worse for Tim.
"HEY!" he exclaimed into the phone in a volume that, while it wouldn't wake the dead, it did break through the relieved chaos on the other end.
"Sorry."
"Sorry, Boss."
"I am sorry, Gibbs."
"You've got one minute to listen to Tim. He's in pain and he's exhausted. He wanted to talk, so hear him out!" Gibbs ordered.
"Okay." Came Abby's subdued response.
"Just wanted to know if you guys were all okay." Tim managed to say. Laying his head back against his pillow, he soaked up the united answers that promised him his team was okay. He'd needed to hear their voices.
"Good." Was his only answer as his hand slipped off the phone and his eyes slid closed, exhaustion pulling him under.
Gibbs ended the call, pulled the blanket up over Tim's shoulders and swept the hair back from the young man's eyes. As he stepped away from his now sleeping agent, Ducky returned with the nurse. Gibbs looked her in the eye and introduced himself, making it clear he was on guard duty.
Nurse Johnson was sweet, gentle, and understanding. She'd heard what had happened to the young man now lying in the bed and it had saddened her and raised righteous indignation within her soul. How dare someone try to kill a federal agent while he was doing his job! Quickly, she set about increasing Tim's pain med dosage, smiled at the two men standing watch and left them to it.
Ducky left to home and get some much needed sleep. Gibbs settled into the chairs, putting them together to make the best use of them as he could, and closed his eyes. The pair of agents on the door were alert and capable of protecting his agent. He could afford a couple hours of shut-eye. They couldn't afford for any of them to be sleep deprived while the killer was still out there.
Something startled him awake. As his eyes snapped open, his senses went on alert. Something was wrong. Vaulting up from his chair and over to his sleeping agent. Gibbs looked closely at his agent.
As his eyes took in the current state Tim was in, Gibbs' heart jumped up in his throat, just before it stopped.
