A/N: First I would like to say I am soooo sorry for making you guys wait. School was a pain and then some stuff came up (I shall not bore you with details). Anyway, here is the next chapter.

Chapter Five

McGee rotated slowly in his chair. Three weeks later and he still couldn't get over the fact that he was going to be dad.

It was like he was floating on a cloud. Sure, McGee was pretty sure the all encompassing fear of the situation was soon to come but at the moment, Tim was just basking in the realization that all his dreams, of marrying a beautiful women and having a family, were actually coming true.

And sure, there was a small part in Tim somewhere that wanted to fine all those bullies in high school and junior high and rub this in their faces. Because right now, he was the luckiest man on the planet.

"McGee?" Dwayne called out, "Do you have any paper clips?"

"What?" Tim asked, spinning around to fully face his co-worker and friend, "What do you need paperclips for?"

"Um," Wilson shifted nervously, "To clip some papers together."

Raising an eyebrow in disbelief but deciding to go with Dwayne's excuse anyway, McGee opened his desk drawer looking for the asked item.

"Hold on," McGee said, digging through the top drawer in his desk. What were all these pink papers-

The messages the PR lady had given him. Tim picked the messages up before snagging a paper clip. Chucking it at Dwayne across the office, Tim opened the first one, silently berating himself for forgetting all about the messages that the lady had worked so hard to get to him.

The first one was not of great importance, his sister had called in but he had spoken to her since the date written on the pink paper so Tim crumpled it and threw it in the trash.

The second and third ones were from Tim's editor looking for him at work even though Tim had told her he wouldn't be able to get another manuscript out till the end of the month.

Weighing his options in his mind, Tim threw those messages in the trash too.

Happy that there was only one more message left, Tim quickly scanned over it, hoping it wasn't too important. Reading over the message, Tim typed in the case number written on the message. What was a person doing calling about some cold case-

"Gear up," Gibbs called out, striding into the office, "Dead sailor."

"Um Boss," Tim breathed out. Keep calm, he mental told himself, keep calm…

"What McGee?" Gibbs asked, drinking slowly from his coffee cup as he looked at his agent. Getting a better look at Tim however, Gibbs frowned. The boy was whiter than a sheet, "McGee, what's wrong?"

"Um," Tim swallowed very hard, trying very hard to appear calm, "I-I-"

"Spit it out Tim," Gibbs said, but there was no heat behind his voice, "What's got you stuttering?"

"I got a message," Tim said. Breathe in through your nose, out through your mouth, remember it might be nothing, it might be-

"And?" Gibbs prodded, "What about the message?"

Seeing that something was obviously wrong with their senior field agent, both Ziva and Dwayne neared their friend's desk, their gear in hand.

"The message," Tim said, No damnit he wasn't going to cry- "It's…it's about-"

"About what McGee?" Gibbs barked out. He wasn't frustrated, not in the least, but Gibbs' worry for his agent might appear as so, "What is the stupid message about?"

Tim swallowed again and looked up at Gibbs. Seeing the wetness in his eyes, Gibbs felt the hairs on the back of his hair rise.

"Tony."

"Did they leave a return number?"

"Yes but the call was received from a pay phone. All we have is an area code and the phone number."

"That's something right Gibbs? Vance will let you open Tony's case with that right?" Abby said, moving around the lab with an energy Tim hadn't seen her with since she had given up Caf-Pows which coincidentally, had been around the same time Tim had stopped actively looking for Tony.

"Yes Abby," Gibbs said, looking at the single message that held the only lead they had ever had on Tony's case, "But Paris is not just a mere drive away. We'll have to wait-"

"Paris?" Ziva asked, "You received a call from France?"

"No," Tim shook his head, "Paris, Texas. The area code 903 covers other cities but I was able to trace the pay phone to that city. I tried getting a hold of someone in the city but no one picks up the phone." Tim huffed with annoyance, "Small towns."

Gibbs raised a single eyebrow, "I came from a small town McGee."

Tim shook his head, "No I-I didn't mean it that way Boss, it's just," Tim shrugged again and sighed, "Anyway, I have our tickets for tomorrow morning. It's not direct but," Tim just shook his head again. He needed to go home. He needed to call Natalie to make sure she was okay and he needed to make sure that Probie had enough food so Natalie wouldn't have to do anything to strenuous while he was gone and he needed to call his sister and see if she could stay over for a few days and help his wife and then he still had to pack but what was it like right now in that part of Texas since it was March-

"McGee," Gibbs practically yelled, laying a hand on the younger man's shoulder. The tone of voice he used told McGee that he had been called his name more than once.

"Yeah Boss?" Tim said, making sure not to look at Abby, Dwayne or Ziva. He couldn't handle this. Not right now. He needed to get home and check the weather and then he needed to print out the tickets for him and Gibbs. So much to do, so little time.

"We'll leave as soon as we wrap up this case," Gibbs said firmly but with a hint of something Tim identified as gentleness in his voice. When Tim went to open his mouth Gibbs raised a hand, "We can't just decide to take a last minute break right after we received a case, especially if this is just a wild goose chase. Now we have a murder case to solve. Is that understood?"

The team nodded, each unable to speak knowing if they did it would only be to argue with their team leader.

Seeing the rebuttal in each of his team member's eyes, Gibbs just shook his head and dismissed the team before another word could be said.

"Tim?" Abby practically whispered when everyone else had left the lab.

"Yeah Abby?"

"One thousand, nine hundred and ninety eight days," Abby said, going to her desk and lifting the board. The number was written on it in bold black numbers, "That's how many days it's been since I've seen Tony."

"Abby-"

"No Tim," Abby said, slamming the boarding down on the desk. The sound echoed in the lab, causing Tim to flinch back in pain almost, "I know you have to go but before you say anything, I want you to listen."

Fearing her wrath if he spoke again, Tim just nodded his head.

"Everyday when everyone but Gibbs is gone, I go to that drawer, pick up this board and write the new number on it. One thousand, nine hundred and ninety eight days. That's over five years Tim. Five years, five months and nineteen days. And you know what you did for over half of all those months, over half of all those days Tim?"

Tim shook his head, his shoulder slumping in defeat.

"You looked for him," Abby started crying, using one hand to wipe her face, "You looked for Tony everywhere. Searched and searched and you never asked for help. Never asked for anyone to help you even when Gibbs tried to help you, even when I tried to help you. You never asked and we never pushed to help you."

"Abby that's-"

"Please Tim," Abby raised a hand, her earlier anger gone, "Let me talk."

Tim wanted to hug her, wanted to pull her up in a hug and make her stop what he feared she would say.

"You don't live in a vacuum Tim," Abby breathed, her tears stopped momentarily, "Every action you do affects everyone of us. No man is an island."

"Therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls," Tim replied, recognizing the words from John Donne, "It tolls for thee."

Abby huffed rolling her eyes slightly at McGee's geeky-ness, "Yeah, something like that."

Tim smiled slightly and Abby returned it, even though hers was fractionally smaller.

"We all knew what you were doing," Abby continued, "And when you finally stopped, after you got shot," Abby finally stepped forward and gave Tim a bear hug.

"I never blamed you Tim," Abby buried her head in Tim's chest, "I never blamed you for anything. I just hope you never-I'm just sorry I never-"

"Ssshh," Tim said, holding her in his protective embrace, not caring that Gibbs would probably be angry that Tim had not made his way up to the garage yet, "You have nothing to be sorry for Abby. It was nobody's fault."

Abby and Tim held each other much like they had did so long ago when they had first realized Tony was missing.

One thousand and nine hundred and ninety eights ago.

A/N: Hope you guys like it (I wrote most of it at one of the many doctor's appointments I had to attend this past two weeks) and thanks to all those who are reviewing and reading. You guys rock.

Next chapter WILL be up no later than Friday. I promise. Even if I have to use the doctor's wi-fi to get it to you guys! :)