Find A Better Way
October 4th
It was 09:57 when Tim walked in to the Director's outer office, his assistant Pamela glanced up from her keyboard and gave him a warm smile.
"Good morning Agent McGee, go right in, the Director is waiting for you."
"Hi Pamela, thanks."
This was it...Tim knew he was going to find out where Vance wanted him. Suddenly nervous, he took a deep breath as he opened the door.
"Come in McGee, I'd like to introduce you to Special Agent Benjamin Quinlan, formerly of our San Diego office."
The tall man who had been looking out of the window turned and smiled at the newcomer, he was well built, with skin a shade or two darker than Director Vance, and he stood ramrod straight. Tim knew enough about that stance to know that this was an ex military man. Quinlan took the few steps that brought him within arms reach of Tim and held out his hand.
"I've heard good things about you Agent McGee; good to meet you at last, I'm Ben, or Quin, I answer to both.
"Tim."
They shook hands and Vance gestured for them to sit down.
"I'm not going to leave you hanging McGee; I know you're waiting to hear about your next assignment. How do you feel about staying here in DC?"
Tim tried to mask his disappointment, until this exact moment he hadn't realised that he truly didn't want a permanent return to Gibbs' team.
"I…if that's where you want me Director."
"It is, but I don't want you going back to the MCRT, I have another project in mind. I've been working on this for months, but I didn't want to say too much until the budget had been approved. I'm opening up an Office of Special Operations here in DC, I've asked Agent Quinlan to head up the team, and I'd like to have you on board."
Tim was about to answer a hearty yes, when the dreaded thought hit him…computers, this had to be about computers.
Quinlan gave a low chuckle.
"Put him out of his misery Director; he thinks you're looking for a computer guy…I read your file Tim, I know how good you are with computers. But the Director and I think your field and undercover skills would be much more useful for my Senior Field Agent. What do you say Tim?"
"Yes! I say yes…when do we start?"
Tim was ready to hit the ground running, all his reports were filed, and the MCRT didn't have a case right now; but he knew that there was something important he had to do.
"Director, does Gibbs know?"
"He knows I was offering you the post; do you want to tell him your decision?"
"If that's okay?"
"I have no problem with it, but if you want some privacy, for Pete's sake use one of the conference rooms and not the elevator."
Tim was smiling broadly as he left the Director's office; this posting was more than he could ever have hoped for; then a shadow crossed his face. He knew Verity had been hoping he'd be posted back to LA so that they could have more time together. They had talked briefly about what would happen if he stayed in DC, and they were convinced they could make their relationship work even at long distance. Tim hoped so, those weeks without Verity, thinking he had lost her, he didn't want to go through that again any time soon.
Gibbs made his way to the conference room, they needed to talk Tim had said. Even before he opened the door Gibbs knew that he had lost Tim for good this time. An offer like that, heck if he was twenty years younger Gibbs would grab it with both hands himself.
"Hey Gibbs...Director Vance said it was okay to tell you; I'm taking the OSP job."
Gibbs held out his hand.
"Never doubted it Tim, congratulations."
Tim smiled warmly and shook Gibbs' hand.
"Thanks."
"You deserve this promotion Tim, you've worked hard, learned well; you're a damned fine agent and I know you'll do a good job."
"I think I can, I'm ready for a new challenge...oh, not that the job hasn't always been challenging."
Gibbs couldn't help smiling; sometimes Tim was just the way he had been all those years ago...sometimes...
"You know why I recruited you?"
"I always figured you were short a computer geek."
"Nope...until you joined Abby did whatever we needed...you remember when we first met, down in Norfolk?"
Tim smiled ruefully.
"That's something I'm never likely to forget, I think I can still smell that acid..."
Gibbs nodded in agreement.
"It was a bad one...but even then, green as you were; on the quayside when I tried to stare you out, you didn't back down...made an impression. So I looked at your file, and that was pretty impressive too...I got you TAD'd to the team a few times...I liked what I saw; managed to convince Director Morrow the MCRT needed a computer expert, and it was done."
Tim was shocked; he had never thought it was anything other than his computer acumen that had caught Gibbs' attention back then.
"You taught me so much Gibbs; I wouldn't have come this far without you...and the others too...watching you all, learning from you, I couldn't have got here without you."
"Don't sell yourself short Tim, it was all there inside you, just waiting to be released...and we almost crushed it."
"Please, let's not go over that again, I want to move on, put all that behind me, behind us."
Gibbs gave a tiny shake of his head.
"Can't do that Tim, I screwed up big time. I watched what was going on, but I didn't see, I thought it was just another of Tony's stupid frat pranks, and because you'd always shrugged them off before..."
"I should have called him on it years ago, but over time it just got easier to let it go."
"You'd tell him now."
Tim gave a quiet chuckle.
"Oh yeah, but he hasn't said a thing since I got back."
"You know why…because he can see you wouldn't take it from him now."
Tim couldn't hold back his grin.
"So maybe Tony's changed too..."
"Maybe...I'm not about to hold my breath waiting for proof. Tim, seriously, you know better than most how I feel about apologies…"
"Then we'll take it as read and move on. All the sorry's in the world can't change what happened…all I ask is that if you get another newbie on the team, well…just remember everyone is different, try to get to know them a little, break the habit of a lifetime and talk to them."
Tim was smiling as he said it, but Gibbs knew there were years of sadness behind that simple request, when had he ever taken the time to get to know Tim, to find out what made him tick? Answer was he hadn't, not until it was too late. They both stood, ready to go their separate ways, and Gibbs put his arm around Tim's shoulders.
"We're going to miss you, Tony most of all…I know he may not say it, but he still feels bad about what he did. You're ready for this, I know it, Leon knows it...that's why he's given you this chance, I'm glad you took it...Just one last thing Tim, good luck telling Abby!"
As it turned out Abby took the news better than Tim had expected, her worst fear had been that he would be returning to LA, the fact that he was to be based on the Navy Yard helped her accept the idea that he was leaving Gibbs' team.
The next two weeks disappeared in a blur of requisition forms, meetings with contractors and IT hardware specialists; getting to know Ben Quinlan, checking personnel files for potential recruits. There was money in the budget for two more agents, and when they got back from their trip to LA, Ben and Tim would be interviewing the most promising candidates. Tim was also reacquainting himself with Jemma Maulin, their tech operator. He had been impressed with Jemma when he worked with her in Cyber Crimes, and was looking forward to working with her in this new environment.
On the18th of the month the three of them flew out to LA to spend ten days working with the team out there. Quin had already been out to meet with Callen and the others when Tim was back in DC, but Jemma was making her first visit to the OSP operations hub. Tim had watched her as she walked into the op centre, her eyes as big as saucers as she went from screen to screen.
"You were right Tim, this is way cool!"
After that their time in LA had been all about work, with precious little off-duty time, Tim did manage to spend a couple of evenings with Verity, and he also got to meet Quin's wife and young son who were moving out to DC early November. Ben and Tim had detailed briefings with Hetty on the day to day running of the OSP; as the budget for the DC office would not run to a dedicated operations manager, she was going to spend some of her time out in DC offering her advice and support.
Jemma spent her days with Eric, learning how to deal with all the varied data that was necessary for a successful OSP operation, she learned how to handle the security camera input, to run concurrent searches, deal with team communications, by the end of her training she was every bit as proficient as Tim had expected.
On their last morning in LA they gathered at headquarters to say their farewells. Ben ushered Jemma toward the door.
"We'll wait for you in the car Tim."
Tim was grateful that Ben had given him the chance to say his farewells, but now that it was time to go he was suddenly lost for words.
"Guys...I...what do I say? Thank you isn't enough; when I got here...don't know what you thought you were getting, some washed-up geek from DC whose own stupidity almost..."
"Hey Tim, that's enough!"
Sam wasn't going to let his friend continue in that vein.
"What we got was a first-rate agent who soaked up everything we taught him, who got better at his job every day. We got a new friend Tim, and in our line of business that's a rare thing."
Each of them took turns at shaking Tim's hand, or giving him a hug; Kensi reached under the desk and handed Tim a package.
"We got you a farewell gift Tim, something to remember us by."
The others gathered round as Tim opened the box, he laughed aloud as he pulled out a selection of false beards, hair pieces and a bizarre pair of sunglasses with built-in flashing lights.
"Thanks guys, everything I need to blend into the background on an undercover op."
Eric handed Tim another, smaller package.
"You can keep them Tim, but here's your real gift."
Tim tore open the paper.
"This is...this will have pride of place on my desk...when I get one!"
He knew that if he stayed much longer the tears would start to flow. He looked at each of them, and then at the framed photograph in his hand. It was a picture of all of them; Hetty, Callen, Sam, Kensi, Eric, Tim and Verity taken at one of their softball games...he was going to miss them, more than he would have thought possible.
Tim gave Hetty one last hug.
"I'll see you on the fifteenth, and don't forget I'm taking you out to dinner."
"I shall look forward to that Timothy, now try and stay out of trouble for two weeks; do you think you can manage that?"
"I'll give it a try Hetty."
He kissed the top of her head.
"You're a life-saver Henrietta Lange."
"Stuff and nonsense...now hurry along or Mister Quinlan will be thinking you have changed your mind."
Tim held up his picture.
"I really will treasure this... you all helped me put my life back together, you and Verity...this new job, it's all because of you."
Callen slapped Tim on the shoulder.
"Maybe we helped some Tim, but you did the hard work, all of it, you had the strength to push yourself to your limits and beyond...and you kept going, you still are. Sky's the limit Tim, now go, get your show on the road."
Nate picked up the package from the desk.
"Come on Tim; let me help you with your gifts."
He carried the package out to the car and put it in the trunk. Tim shook Nate's hand once more, and gave him a warm smile.
"Nate...thanks for everything; when I first came out here...could have gone either way I guess. Without your help...talking to you, it helped me come to terms with everything, got me back on track, don't think I could have done it without you."
"We all need a little help sometimes Tim, I was happy to do it, and not just because it's my job; if you ever want to talk...about anything, you call me, any time...You're a good man Tim, I'm proud to have you as a friend."
Tim got into the car, and Ben steered it smoothly down the driveway. Tim waved at Nate until he couldn't see him any longer. Ben glanced briefly over his shoulder.
"You okay Tim?"
"I'm good, thanks for giving me time in there."
"Not a problem; so guys, are you ready to get OSP/DC up and running?"