Bit of a short one this one. =] Hope you enjoy it. And omg, there is like one whole line/sentence devoted to Jibbs. Lol. Seriously, just a line. =]

Chapter Eighteen

The first thing Ziva remembered was waking up on an operating table, several doctors were running around over her and she attempted to move, she had to get up. She had no idea what happened and needed to find out. A nurse saw her moving and told the doctor who injected something in to her arm and she felt her eyes droop. She tried to fight the sensation taking over her but she couldn't and she drifted off in to unconsciousness.

Outside in the waiting room, Darren and Lissy were pacing around while Tony held Ben as his only comfort. Abby was hysterical as nobody seemed to be able to find Tim and his GPS locator had died. When another person was rushed through past her in to surgery she looked up hoping to find him yet dreading that it was. It wasn't. Gibbs had arrived with the team but had left to check out the café, he wanted to find a clue as to where McGee had gone but there was nothing; even the briefcase had been left behind.

Gibbs eventually made his way back to hospital to find Abby in an even worse state than she had been before. She ran at Gibbs when she saw him enter the waiting room anxious for news as to McGee's whereabouts. He shook his head as he got closer to her and she collapsed in a fresh wave of tears on the floor. She didn't even know if he was alive or dead. The authorities had informed them that there had been several people so close to the source of the explosion there was virtually nothing left.

Other the next few hours as more people were identified it became more likely that Timothy McGee was at the source of the explosion. Abby had eventually cried herself to sleep on one of the white plastic chairs; her head was rested on Ducky's lap her feet curled up underneath her. Gibbs was sat on the other side of Ducky his eyes were closed and his head was tilted backwards. Darren and Lissy were sat silently staring in to nothing while Ben slept in Darren's arms. Tony was sat next to Gibbs and was staring at everything and waiting for Ziva's doctor to give them any news.

After a while a doctor came in to the waiting room and glanced around he walked further in to the room and coughed.

"Family for Ziva David?" He announced, Tony and Darren both rose from their chairs and walked towards the doctor. Lissy had taken a hold of Ben as Darren stood up and was now watching Tony, Darren and the doctor talk.

"Miss David is out of surgery during the blast she suffered some internal damage. We managed to stop all internal bleeding and she is resting comfortably in a private room, you may visit her individually if you wish. Although it is best they are short visits. She is currently heavily sedated and will remain so for a few hours yet." Tony and Darren nodded and both walked back to where the rest of the team. Darren went to go and visit Ziva while Tony told the team what he knew of Ziva's condition.

Within the next few hours the team waited for Ziva to awaken so that they could question her as to Tim's whereabouts during the explosion. When she did awake Gibbs was the first person to talk to her.

"How do you feel?"

"Fine, How Is Tim?"

"We aren't sure. Can I ask you a few questions?"

"About?"

"Where Tim was when you was in the café. Behind you, in front of you or about the same place?"

"In front of me, I was following him out. The explosion came from somewhere in front of us though. What do you mean you don't know how he is? Wasn't he brought in with me; he was closer to the door they would have found him first surely?"

"They can't find his body-"

"Body!? He isn't dead, he can't be. We was close to each other if he died I should have died also." As she said this Ziva's heart monitor started to bleep rapidly and Gibbs stood up to try to calm her down. When a nurse and doctor ran in to her room Gibbs was ushered out as they gave Ziva more medication to calm her down. Gibbs returned to the waiting room where Abby jumped out at him.

"What did she say? Did she see him?"

"She doesn't know, she said he was close by her when the bomb went off, he was walking just ahead of her but that he wouldn't have been much more injured than her. There would have definitely have been a body if he was …" Gibbs trailed off. Abby sighed; she had long since cried herself dry.

"So what happened? Where is he?"

"I don't know. We will just have to keep a look out for him. Ralph's team are processing the scene. When we get the report we can check it to look for clues ok Abs?" Abby nodded and returned to her seat.

The next few hours passed by silently, after Gibbs had been kicked out of Ziva's room the doctor returned and told them that only family would be allowed to see her for the next 24 hours. The NCIS team had all returned to the office at that point when Darren promised he would call with an update every three hours.

Abby had refused to go down to her lab, instead she had sat down at her husbands desk and fallen asleep, after wrapping herself up in the spare shirt he had in his drawer. Tony sat at his own desk and pulled up a report he was working on before he got the call out to Bethesda. He could not however stop glancing across at Ziva's desk, missing the fact she was not there.

After several hours of meaningless work, or sleep in Abby's case, Ralph Higgins walked in to the bullpen with a sad look on his face. He glanced around and his eyes rested on Agent Gibbs' desk. He walked towards him and Gibbs straightened up as Ralph approached.

"Agent Gibbs, I've got some bad news. A local hospital just rang, say they got a man brought in a few hours ago who had been wandering around on the streets said he was in pretty bad shape. Apparently he was a match to your missing agent. Agent Timothy McGee?"

"Which hospital?" Gibbs almost yelled as Abby awoke and looked eagerly up at Gibbs and Higgins.

"Sorry, Gibbs, he died in theatre. They sent DNA samples to prove he is your agent. They seemed to suggest it was hard to tell who it was. Face covered in cuts and if they hadn't of found his drivers licence in his back pocket they wouldn't have known who he was." Gibbs looked shocked at this news.

Abby however took it worse; she collapsed down on to the floor and was overcome with a new wave of tears. She barely noticed when Tony walked up behind her and put his arm over her shoulders pulling her on to him to hug her while her heart was shattering. She sobbed uncontrollably in to Tony's shoulder for over an hour, while Gibbs took Higgins down to Abby's lab while with the aide of Ducky to prove whether or not the samples match Tim.

The three of them eventually managed to figure out how to analyse DNA, well, Ducky did having had a crash course in Forensics by Abby she had taught him which machine did what and had given him instructions on how to work the machines as well. The three sat in Abby's lab waiting for the results to come back for a long time. Eventually a name and picture flashed up on Abby's screen accompanied by a loud bleeping noise.

Gibbs and Higgins both turned to look at the screen only to see the name and picture they really didn't wish to see. Special Agent Timothy McGee. Gibbs sighed and kicked the stand in the middle of the room where the computer sat. He stormed out of the lab and ran up the stairs Higgins turned to Ducky and raised his eyebrows.

"I would leave him young man. I would wait a while and take the elevator. Go back to your investigation; find out who planted the bomb. Find out who did this, if not for your life," Ducky implied Gibbs wrath would stretch to Higgins and his team if they did not succeed in finding the suicide bomber, "but for the young girl up there who has just lost her husband." Higgins nodded and hastened towards the elevator.

Gibbs ran up the stairs as fast as he could and burst out on to the landing which housed the Director's office. He stormed down the balcony and walked straight in to the office, Cynthia didn't even bother to stop him she had heard the news about the mission going awry. Gibbs slammed the door open so hard it made an indentation on the wall of his office. The Director glanced up from his desk and scowled at Gibbs who marched over to the desk and slammed his fist down on the table so hard it rattled and the paper floated away from the point of contact.

"You killed one of my agents Vance."

"It was a mission Gibbs; I did not plant the bomb. I did not kill my agent."

"You shouldn't have ever let McGee take the job, he only just got back from his honeymoon and you sent him on a bleeding suicide mission!? Are you crazy?" Gibbs yelled in Vance's face.

"Jethro?" A voice came from the doorway and Gibbs turned to see Jenny leaning against the wall, she was holding Ben in her arms. "I just came from the hospital; Ziva is awake and wants to know if you have any more news from McGee. Darren asked if I would watch Ben for him."

"McGee is dead Jen. Vance got him blown up." Gibbs spat before turning on his heel and marching out of the office pulling a shocked Jenny with him. Vance collapsed back in his chair placing his hands over his eyes. Perhaps Gibbs had been right that it was too soon he should have sent another agent one with more experience in the field but still have a grounding in computers. It wouldn't have been that hard to find one. But McGee was the best, they all new it.

Jenny stormed after Gibbs when he left the room, she wanted him to turn around and tell him it was a lie. McGee could not be dead; she had not been dead when they all believed her to be so, and however she had wanted everybody to believe she was dead. She wanted a new life and yet she came back to her old one, she had come back to lose a friend. She slowed down as the thought struck her and almost psychically Gibbs noticed and slowed down as well before turning around to face her.

He smiled and walked towards her he held out his hand and cupped her face with it and she leaned in to his touch. She shut her eyes as he stepped closer to her and she allowed a single tear to fall.

"You would have made a great mom you know?" He whispered before kissing her. She smiled in to his touch, in to his lips.