Babysitting

Chapter 4

'Well I don't like this any more than you do,' retorted McGee from Gibbs' kitchen table, in response to a muttered 'this sucks'.

'I find that really hard to believe, Probie,' returned Tony from the couch. 'How would YOU like being babysat by a co-worker at your Boss's house, without access to your own extensive movie collection?'

'Well I probably wouldn't like it,' McGee agreed, cringing slightly at the idea of swapping places with Tony. 'But Gibbs still expects me to do what I do in the office with just this laptop and his crappy internet provider. And I'm supposed to 'help' you, whatever that means. Gibbs wasn't exactly specific'.

McGee had arrived at Gibbs' house, armed with his laptop, at 11.00am that morning as per instructions left on his phone earlier in the morning. Gibbs' exact words of greeting had been: 'You're in charge. Work from here. Help him. Don't let him leave,' and then Gibbs was in his car and driving off, leaving McGee to discover Tony on the couch complete with blanket, pillow and access to water. Tony, had explained to McGee that Gibbs had collected him from the hospital and driven him home but had obviously been too tired to say much else because he'd fallen asleep, leaving McGee to set himself up in the kitchen. The 'this sucks' comment had alerted McGee to the fact that Tony had woken.

'Well don't worry about helping me,' said Tony with bravado. 'I told Gibbs I can take care of myself.'

'Just don't do anything that's gonna make him more aggravated towards me than he has been the last couple of days,' begged McGee.

'Fun and games?' asked Tony, his curiosity piqued.

'He's been like Oscar the Grouch times ten,' muttered McGee as he fiddled with the cable to try and re-establish the internet connection.

'Mmmmm,' said Tony. 'Complaining about the crappy connections AND likening a superior officer to a hand puppet with an unpleasant nature. I can contribute that to the conversation over diner tonight.'

'You wouldn't!' exclaimed McGee, his eyes round. 'Come on Tony. Don't make it any worse than it is for me!'

'Oh, relax, McWorryWart,' said Tony as he tentatively felt the bandaging around his midsection. 'I'm just entertaining myself. Mind you, I like having something in reserve. Some ammunition, just in case you try to show me up in the office.' Again thought Tony, unwilling to let on to McGee that his recent displays at work had slightly wounded him.

McGee, marginally reassured, turned his attention back to his work.

Tony finished his exploration of his stomach and bent his legs beneath the blanket that Gibbs had spread over him once he was settled on the couch. He actually felt quite good. Sure, getting out of the car had hurt, and he had been totally wiped after the journey inside, but now he felt pretty close to normal. He had been well looked after and constantly visited by Abby in the hospital, but he felt relief at being out of there and away from the scrutiny of the medical staff. Tony could think of no reason at all for not getting up and phoning for pizza. He eased his legs off the couch and placed his feet on the floor, without McGee noticing. With a grin, he began to sit up, but the grin quickly disappeared as pain shot across his gut. McGee heard the gasp and was immediately on his feet to see Tony half on and half off the couch, still covered with the blanket.

'What are you doing?' McGee demanded, masking his concern with an exasperated tone.

'Nothing,' grunted Tony, unable to move from his position. He watched McGee hovering over him with an open mouth before succumbing to the inevitable.

'Need some help here,' Tony managed.

McGee babbled something incomprehensible before tentatively moving the blanket aside so he could see how to help the senior agent. Tony's long-sleeved top had risen up to reveal substantial bandaging that McGee couldn't help staring at. Tony said a silent prayer of thanks that there was no blood evident or else he'd have had his arms full of McGee.

'Probie!' protested Tony. 'Get me back onto here.'

McGee carefully eased Tony's long legs back onto the couch and reached for the edge of the top with the intention of covering the bandages.

'I can do that!' snapped Tony, swatting McGee's hand away and pulling his top down.

'Sorry,' mumbled McGee. 'Does it hurt?' he asked, curiosity getting the better of him.

'No, it tickles,' replied Tony, his voice laced with sarcasm. 'What do YOU think, Mc Duh!'

'Sorry,' repeated McGee, suitably shamefaced. Of course he had no right to ask such a personal and, admittedly, dumb question.

'Stop apologizing,' grumbled Tony, regretting the impact his words had had on McGee who was, after all, only trying to help and hadn't volunteered for this assignment.

'Pass the blanket back, will you?' he asked in a kinder tone. 'It's kinda cold in here when you're not moving much.'

McGee gratefully leapt on the chance to be of use and re-applied the blanket, carefully pulling it up to Tony's shoulders.

'Can I get you anything else?' asked McGee.

'I want pizza,' said Tony. 'Without the extra cheese – doctor's orders. And while we're waiting for that, see if you can find something decent for me to watch.'

'On it,' said McGee, reaching for his cell phone and walking to the wall unit to search for movies.

'And after that I'd like to take a bath ,,,,,,,,,, but I'll need a lot of help' said Tony, carefully watching McGee for a reaction. McGee turned back to Tony with his cell phone in hand and his face ashen.

'Just yanking ya chain, McGee,' Tony assured him.

………………………………………..

Gibb took the call not long after he'd arrived at work. He was already preoccupied with the whole business of signing Tony out and wondering whether McGee was the best person to do the supervision. At the end of the day, McGee was really the only choice because the work he did best – the geek work as Tony referred to it as – was portable. But it also meant that Gibbs was one agent definitely down and a second agent out of the field. He had no idea how he would square it with Jenny, but the only case they were currently dealing with was the AWOL suspected drug dealing petty officer – a case that had presented no leads. So Gibbs felt that he and Ziva and a confined McGee could cope with that one case. Until the call came in, that is.

'Gibbs,' he answered when the phone rang. He listened intently and scowled.

'You did what?' he demanded. Ziva looked across from her desk. For sure Tony had done something reprehensible and now McGee was going to suffer the consequences.

'And you waited this long to contact me? That's twenty hours,' he stated, clearly unimpressed. No, thought Ziva with some relief. McGee has not been looking after Tony for that long.

'Well you bring him up here right now,' ordered Gibbs, 'and if your mistake has terrible consequences, I'll make sure the right people know about it.' He slammed down the phone and exhaled loudly. This day could surely not get any worse.

'What is the problem?' Ziva dared to ask. There was only the two of them in the bullpen. If Gibbs decided to chomp off her head for asking, there would at least be no witnesses.

'The problem,' said Gibbs, standing up and beginning to pace, 'is that at 5.00pm last night, a fellow ex-marine – a man I served with – did not return home from work to his 10 year old son. The boy waited an hour and then did what his father had told him to do under those circumstances: contact the police and get them to contact me personally.'

'The boy has no mother,' stated Ziva, wondering where this was going.

'Died a coupla years ago,' explained Gibbs. 'The local LEO's decided NOT to contact me, and instead kept the boy in protective custody all night, insisting that a person isn't technically missing until they've been missing at least twelve hours.'

'And he has not shown up,' said Ziva. 'Perhaps there is a non-sinister explanation.'

'Nope,' insisted Gibbs, meeting her eyes. 'His promise to the boy was to return at 5.00pm. A marine always keeps his promise. We have a new missing person case that's going to take top priority.'

Ziva nodded and then they both turned to the elevator as the 'ding' signaled its arrival. The doors opened to reveal a slight boy in jeans and a long-sleeved shirt and jacket. He wore a cap and held a laptop tightly under one arm. As he saw Gibbs, the boy managed a smile and stepped towards him, extending his hand which Gibbs firmly grasped.

'I didn't have your direct number,' he explained. 'I knew you'd take this seriously. My dad just doesn't not turn up like that.'

'It's okay,' Gibbs reassured him, showing none of the frustration and anger Ziva had seen moments before. 'We'll find him.'

Placing his arm across the boy's shoulders, Gibbs led him across to Ziva's desk.

'This is Officer Ziva David,' Gibbs told him. 'She is a highly trained agent and she'll be helping me to find your dad.'

'You may call me Ziva,' she said, immediately feeling protective of the boy.

'And this,' said Gibbs, squeezing the boy's shoulder, 'is Josh O'Connor.'

'