It had been one week. In other words, seven days. One hundred and sixty eight hours. Ten thousand and eighty minutes…without Timothy McGee. Each of them knew that things wouldn't return to normal over night; no matter how much they hoped they would. Gibbs was out of his sling a week earlier than expected; Ducky had started back to work and Tony and Ziva were almost inseparable. Abby had begun to run out of excuses to come upstairs and Vance was still dealing with the transition. All in all; something was missing and what that something was, was no secret.
Before they knew it, it had been two weeks, then three, then four. Gibbs had been able to keep Vance at bay with the vain hope that Tim would be returning soon. Abby was giving them daily reports of what she deemed, "McGee Musings," based on their weekly phone calls and such. And both Tony and Ziva were forced to take a weekend computer class to pick up some of the slack. To an outsider things seemed normal; but little did they know just how abnormal their state of normal really was.
Tony had no one to play pranks on and was slowly but surely losing his mind. It was on the day he actually considered pulling one on Gibbs that he knew something had to be done.
"Boss?" Tony looked up from his desk and watched Gibbs make eye contact with him. "Um, can I go down and see Abby?"
"I thought we talked about this DiNozzo…"
Tony nodded. "Right sorry."
Since coming back to work Gibbs had started to enforce a more strict check in protocol. He wanted to know where everyone was at all times and Tony seemed to take the order to another extreme.
He continued after standing up. "Just want you know where I'm at boss…"
"Doesn't apply when you're in the building…and if I have to tell you that again I'm gonna put a tether on ya."
Tony threw up a mock salute before nodding an apology and making his way to the elevator. Gibbs stare followed his exit then for the hundredth time in two months tried to avoid fixating on the empty desk across from him.
"Miss you more." Abby closed the phone and couldn't help but hear Tony start to whine as he came up behind her.
"How's McMissing?"
She managed a small smile. "Better I think…he sounded happier than he did on Tuesday."
"Any inkling that…"
"He's coming back?" she interrupted. "Not that I could tell…he's on a roll with his writing so maybe we should pray he gets writers block or something…"
Tony pouted a bit before plopping himself down on a stool beside her. "Yeah, in the mean time I think I'm losing my mind…"
Abby examined him. "What did you do?"
"Nothing…that's just it. Abs…I was so bored today that I actually contemplated pulling a prank on Gibbs."
"That's not crazy Tony…that's borderline suicidal."
He ran his hand through his hair. "I know."
She scooted her stool closer to him and laid her head on his shoulder. "I'm glad you resisted…I don't think I could take losing you too."
He sighed. "One more month of this and I'll have carpel tunnel…my wrists are killing me." He rubbed at them to express his discomfort before resting his head on hers. "I really hoped he'd just be gone a few days and realize what he's missing…"
Abby sighed. "Yeah…"
"Yeah…" He repeated; his voice void of any emotion at all. And the two remained that way until Tony realized almost an hour had passed. "I should go…Gibbs is liable to send out a search party for me…"
"Thought his whole keeping tabs thing was only for outside the building?"
Tony agreed. "Yeah, that's what he says…but we both know that Gibbs always means more than he lets on…"
"He's just worried about you guys…I think it's cute."
He forced a smile on his face before standing up. "Yeah real cute when you're trying to have a romantic dinner and your phone rings just at the right time…"
She stifled a laugh. "You have a point there."
"I just can't wait till this phase passes…I'm afraid he won't be satisfied until we start spending the night in the bull pen…"
Abby gave him a gentle embrace. "Hang in there."
"You too." He gave her a squeeze and turned towards the door. "See ya later."
Tony entered the bull pen simultaneously with Vance and part of him wished he'd stayed down in the lab a little longer. Whenever Vance came downstairs it wasn't a good sign. He took a seat at his desk and sent a worried glance to Ziva before trying to listen in on Vance and Gibbs.
Leon set a few folders down in front of him and folded his arms. "Figured since I couldn't get you to come up and look at 'em, I'd bring them down for ya."
Gibbs took the folders and placed them aside. "I'll let ya know."
"As much as I'd like to take your word for it, the decision will be made either way. Just thought you might like some imput on who's on your team."
Gibbs stared up at him cautiously. "I said…I'll let ya know."
Vance nodded and glanced over his shoulder at the empty desk before leaving. Ziva debated commenting on the exchange before giving in. "I suppose it is not such a bad idea…" Granted the stare she received in return quieted her momentarily. "I am only saying that it will help us be more efficient…"
Tony was hesitant but agreed. "She's right boss…I mean I want the Probie back just as much as the next guy, if not more…but I know how much you care about efficiency, and these run of the mill geek temps we've been getting aren't doing the trick…and I may be able to type faster than I used to but let's face it I'm a phys ed major…"
Gibbs reached for the files and didn't bother to dignify either of their responses before heading up the stairs. Tony couldn't help but let out a loud sigh and let his head fall flat on his desk.
Ziva got up and walked over to him in response. "You look suppressed Tony."
"Term is depressed…and I'm fine. DiNozzo's don't get depressed."
She patted him gently on the head. "Sad then?"
"Only under extreme circumstances…"
"And would this circumstance qualify as extreme?"
Tony's forehead remained on the desk as he moved it side to side.
"What does it qualify as then?" She continued.
He thought for a moment. "Incomprehensible."
"How so?"
He sat up. "In seven years I've never seen a problem the boss couldn't fix…nothing that he couldn't make right, until now."
"You can't fix this Gibbs…you pushed the kid away. And as much as I'd like to wait around forever for him to come back, I can't do that."
Gibbs tossed the files down on his desk forcefully. "There's no one better than McGee."
"I'm sure he'd agree. Only he's not here."
"Give me more time."
"Is please even a word in your vocabulary? I will say this one final time; you give me an answer by the end of business Friday or I'll make the decision myself."
Gibbs was fuming and expressed it as well as he could before turning to leave; taking out the last of his aggression on the office door.
He entered Abby's lab and did his best to hide the concerned look on his face. But Abby had gotten substantially better at reading him over the past two months; considering all the time they'd spent together. Abby had some healing left to do as well; and Gibbs was determined not to leave her alone like he had Tim.
"What's wrong?"
He almost smiled at her perception. "You talk to McGee today?"
"Yeah, why?"
"I need to know where he is…" Gibbs pointed to the computer. "Trace his cell."
Abby shook her head. "Um, he made me promise not to do that…"
"Abby…."
She put up a hand to quiet him. "I'm not gonna do it Gibbs…we need to respect his decision. And I know you might not want to hear that right now, but it's true."
"Vance is gonna replace him next week. Do the math."
She sighed. "He made me promise."
"Have you ever broken a promise Abby?"
She shook her head emphatically. "No, not ever. Even when my best friend in elementary school broke our class window and blamed it on Brian Wilderman…I didn't say a thing…"
"Uh huh."
She punched his shoulder hard. "You tricked me into that."
"Abs, listen…"
"No Gibbs, you listen…McGee needs to be away from here okay? I didn't really understand what he went through…until he left. It's amazing what a couple thousand miles can do for a relationship. I mean the whole time he was here I didn't pick up on it; but now that I listen to the emotion in his voice…I can really feel his pain. And I don't care what you do to me…I wont break that trust Gibbs."
He examined her and almost forgot that she'd interrupted him. "I just need another chance to fix this..."
"McGee needs to make that choice Gibbs; you can't make it for him."
He remained silent as he took in the simple statement. "You've been spending too much time with Ducky…"
She managed a smile. "He has this new blackberry tea I really like…"
He placed a soft kiss on her cheek. "Thanks for setting me straight Abs."
"Anytime." She watched him start to walk away before racing after him. "When McGee comes back it'll be the right time…not just for him, but for all of us."
"When he comes back?"
Abby patted her tummy. "He'll be back. I can feel it in my gut."
He pointed up at her. "On the other hand, I think you've been spending too much time with me…"
She couldn't help but smile as he stepped into the elevator. "As if there is such a thing…"
LJ Tibbs was tossing and turning all night. Nothing could remove the image of grief in McGregor's eyes. For him it was constant. Whether he was asleep or awake it was all he saw. Not even the toughest case would offer him a distraction. His gut feelings were few and far between and one couldn't help but wonder if he was losing what had made him legendary.
McGee pulled his eyes from the type writer and began to pace around his cabin. Up until that last sentence his writing had been helping him move on. But now he wondered if all he was doing was holding onto the past. It was then he realized he'd been away from home for long enough…he only hoped they'd welcome him with open arms.
End of business Friday came sooner than expected and when Vance appeared in the bull pen that evening, each of them knew what would come next. He placed the folder in front of a reluctant Gibbs.
"He'll be in at 0700 Monday morning…"
Gibbs nodded in silence and didn't bother giving Leon a response. He watched him walk away before standing up and addressing his team.
"Listen up…you two have been pulling double duty for long enough and it hasn't gone unnoticed. This new guy will help us do what we have to do …" He stopped and stared at the two of them. "I know you probably blame me for this mess…and I deserve that. But what's done is done. I can't apologize for that anymore. It's time for us to move on…all of us…"
Tony spoke up first. "I'm with ya boss."
Ziva agreed. "Me too."
It was then a third voice joined in unexpectedly. "Me three…"