Chapter 4

After Tim took him home, helping him, under protest, with his bag and the quilt he had brought back from the cottage, John laid down for a rest. He was more exhausted than he would let on; he was also experiencing more pain than he should be. He wanted to sleep but his mind was whirling with his son, his grownup Timothy. He finally gave in, taking another pain pill and then put a call into his doctor, leaving a message. Eventually the medication kicked in and he slept.

Tim reached his apartment and was just unpacking when his cell buzzed with the Marine Hymn. Tim dug it out of his pocket and answered. "Need some help, Boss?"

"Yeah, Tim, we got a kidnapped young girl. You still at the beach?"

"No, just got home. I'm just firing up the laptop now, Boss. Tony or Ziva sending me the info?"

"Didn't get called in till she'd been gone for several hours. Cybercrimes didn't come through, need you on this now!"

"On it Boss" Tim replied to a disconnected call. The e-mails with the details he needed to start his searches soon arrived from his teammates and as he read the information, Tim realized how glad he was that he could still do part of his job while also being with his father. Jumping in with both feet, he set up both his agency laptop and, having received permission, his personal laptop. He ran multiple searches on each device, sending IMs to his teammates when he needed more information and finally when he had the results they needed. Shortly after 4 AM he received a text from Tony, letting him know that the information he'd provided had helped break the case and the child had been rescued, unharmed.

A few minutes later as he was finally winding down, he received another text, this one from Ziva, asking if he'd like to have a late breakfast with her. She wasn't due back at work until mid afternoon. Tim replied yes and got a quick answer with time. Tim lay back down on his bed but this time his inability to sleep was due to more pleasant thoughts than the case. He eventually drifted off, to dream again of a small boy playing in the waves, this time the two people watching from under the umbrella might have been Ziva and him.