Epilogue

Three months later...

It was a Saturday morning, and Tony was up early. He had to get going before Tim did. He was pretty sure Tim wouldn't wait because he wouldn't want to make any assumptions that ended up being wrong. So he drove to Tim's apartment as fast as he could. He sprinted up the stairs and knocked on the door.

He heard the thumping sound of Tim's approach. There was a pause. Then, the door opened, revealing Tim on his crutches. He managed to look surprised, as if Tony had never shown up like this before.

"Tony," Tim said. "You know...you don't have to do this. I can take a taxi. I don't mind doing it. It's okay."

He said that pretty much every week.

"I know."

That was always Tony's response. That was all that was needed.

Tim smiled and crutched back to get ready for his rehab. He had to go every other day, and Tony couldn't take him all the time, but every day that he had free, he came to give Tim a ride. Tim's arm had healed up fine. It was still a little weak, but he could use it. His kneecap, however, had been a lot worse. The break had been bad. From what they could tell, Tim had landed on that knee first, before his arm. It had saved his arm from a worse break and had probably kept him from breaking his back. However, it meant that it would take a lot of work to get back to normal. The work had started, and it was hard. Tony knew that Tim got discouraged by it sometimes and he was determined to make sure Tim didn't have to do it alone as much as possible.

Tim crutched out into the main room. He still had the scars on his face from sliding down the mountainside, but, with the exception of his knee, he was almost back to full form. He was coming to work part of the day and had said that he really appreciated the chance to be doing something with his time.

"Okay. I'm ready."

"Great. Let's go."

Tony grabbed Tim's bag and closed the door behind them. Tim settled himself on the seat and didn't comment as Tony got them going. Tony knew he was ambivalent about it. Rehab was hard, but Tim was determined to heal as quickly as his physical therapist allowed. It was just that it always led to pain along with a required effort that sometimes seemed Herculean in magnitude.

"Tony?"

"Yeah?"

"When I'm walking again..."

"Yeah?" Tony glanced over.

"We should go hiking."

Tony laughed. "Really? Are you serious?"

"Yeah, I think so. ...only not so high next time, okay? Maybe the Appalachians instead of the Rockies."

Tony grinned. "Deal. I'm holding you to that, McGee."

Tim smiled back and then took a breath, preparing himself for what he knew was coming. The pain along with the work.

"No matter what, McGee... you're not in this alone."

"I know. I never was."

And that was what mattered.

FINIS!