Gibbs was seriously worried now. From where he sat, behind the wheel of his own car, he could see his agent struggle with his thoughts, even after he'd started up his car. While that had raised a red flag with the older man, it was Tim turning off his car and giving in to his emotions, as the clearly shaking shoulders along with the head down on his arms, gave testament to; that really had the boss concerned.

Torn between wanting to respect his agent's right to deal with this alone, since it was obviously the young man's and making sure Tim was safe behind the wheel, Gibbs automatically followed the path that ensured the younger man's safety and disregarded how that would leave Tim feeling, staying put until he saw how Tim was planning on getting home. While he waited Tim out, wanting to let the young man get it all out and appear to be ready to go home, before approaching him, Gibbs sent up a silent prayer that he could get him to open up to him.

A short five minutes later and Tim seemed to be done allowing himself to let his emotions run free of his control. Gibbs quickly got out of his car but slowed his pace as he approached the porche boxtster, deliberately doing so from the front so the young man wouldn't be startled into accidentally running over him.

Tim's reaction to seeing his boss coming toward him so soon after his meltdown was obvious; embarrassment once again filled his still wet eyes and he was very quick to wipe his face and let his window down. He wasn't quick, however, with having anything to say, obviously needing to let Gibbs take the lead on this now uncomfortable situation.

"McGee, you're in no shape to drive. C'mon, I'll drive you home."

"I'm okay, I'll be fine." Tim stubbornly shook his head without moving towards cooperation.

"Don't force me to make it an order, all right?" the boss asked with a touch of unwillingness to take it there himself.

The younger agent looked away from his boss, again needing a thoughtful minute to think things through. Finally, he nodded in agreement, put his window back up, pulled the key from the ignition and got out, grabbing his backpack and locking up his car before walking to the boss' car, more than a couple of steps behind him.

The ride home was a silent one, with neither of them breaking into that quiet. While Tim's silence came from being uncomfortable; Gibbs' came from feeling like an interloper trying to storm the fortress gates to infiltrate the secrets below the surface. Even though the silence wasn't exactly preferred, it did seem to help settle both men's nerves and even became a little less uncomfortable in the short ride to the older man's house.

Wait, why were they at Gibbs' house? Had this been a trap? Why would the boss do this? What did he really want? Tim's mind churned out the questions faster than the young man could even formulate plausible answers and the confusion wasn't something he could hide quick enough to keep the boss from noticing, of that he was certain.

"Relax, I just wanna make sure you eat and sleep tonight. You can crash in my spare bedroom. And no, I didn't lie. I was gonna drive you to your place, but you need someone to make sure you're taking care of yourself right now, or Ducky'll have my head by this time tomorrow." Gibbs said quietly in answer to the questions he knew were racing through his agent's mind at the moment.

The young man couldn't think of anything to say, the storms raging in his heart so heavy, his ears barely discerned the abject concern in what he was hearing.

When Tim made no move to get out of the car or even acknowledge his words that were meant to reassure him, the older man's worry and frustration grew but he forcibly set them aside to tackle the more important task of getting Tim to let him help at least this much. Calmly, he spoke again. "McGee, c'mon, let's rustle up somethin' to eat, then you can hit the hay."

Tim's breath hitched in his chest, but he forcibly got it back on track and rapidly blinked his eyes, trying desperately to drive back the tears that Gibbs' sudden showing that he gave a damn about him off the job and not just on it, had released. The last thing he needed was for the boss to see just how vulnerable he really was right now, and worse; to keep chipping away at it because right about now, it wouldn't take much for that wall to crumble and dear God, that was the last thing he needed! Nodding in silent agreement, he finally unbuckled his seatbelt and picked up his backpack in preparation for exiting the car, but waited for Gibbs to actually move first since it was his house.

As he led the way up the walk, a sense of relief flowed through Gibbs that at least this hurdle had been crossed without too much of Tim's innate stubbornness getting in the way. Truth be told, it was quite unsettling to see Tim less than cooperative as well as visibly upset like he was now, not to mention like he'd been back in the garage. The garage. Right. He'd have to have a chat with Abby and get her to get a look at the security footage to make sure Tim's breakdown didn't become food for the machine called scuttlebutt that ran around loosely in the agency. He'd do that as soon as Tim settled in for the night.

Once inside the house, Gibbs gestured toward his living room and suggested Tim get comfortable while he rustled up some dinner. Fifteen minutes later found the older man returning to the living room to let his troubled agent know dinner would be done in fifteen minutes, only to find the young man already out for the count. Feeling an unexpected rush of parental concern and protection rise up, Gibbs took himself to the front and back porch doors alike, locking them both before taking out his cell phone and making the first of what would be two calls.

"Ducky, I brought McGee home with me so I could feed him and make sure he got a good night's sleep, but he's already out. Will he be all right if he sleeps through without eating?"

"Jethro, if he hasn't shown any signs of starving himself, one night without dinner won't hurt him. However, I would like to come by and check on him, since you've managed to corral the young man." Ducky answered.

"Call me when you get here and I'll let you in."

"You've locked your doors? Jethro, is there something wrong that you haven't told me?"

"Nope; just felt like making sure the kid feels safe."

"If he's asleep, why would you feel the need to do something you haven't done in years, Jethro?"

"Can't explain it, Duck. I just did."

"Very well, I'll be there shortly. And thank you for letting me know."

"No problem. See you when you get here."

Ending the call with Ducky, Gibbs then called Abby.

"Hey, Gibbs, is everything all right? I mean, you don't usually call me after work unless something's wrong. Oh, No! Is it Timmy? Something's happened to him, hasn't it?"

"Abby, don't make me yell. If you make me to wake McGee up, I'll head slap you right through this phone." Gibbs warned.

"McGee's asleep and you're with him? Gibbs! What's going on?"

"If you'd give me a minute?"

"Right. Sorry."

"I need you to go to work and go through the security footage from the employee's garage from about hour ago and edit it out. You'll know what I mean when you see it. Get Tony to drive you in, but this is need to know, and he doesn't. You got me?"

'Something happened to Tim after work, Gibbs?"

"Just go edit the tape, Abby." Gibbs requested with a touch of authority. "I'm sure I don't have to tell you that what you see didn't happen."

"Right. Okay, I'll go take care of it. Promise me you'll take care of Timmy, Gibbs!"

"He's asleep on my couch. How much more of a promise do you need, Abby?"

"Good point. Thanks, Gibbs."

"You can thank me by getting in there and fixing that tape."

"I'm on it, I promise."

"Good. See you tomorrow, Abbs."

******NCIS******

"DiNozzo."

"Tony, are you busy?" Abby's plaintive voice reached through the phone line and smacked Tony in the forehead.

"No, not really, Abbs. I was just chillin with a Magnum marathon. It helps me unwind. Why, what's up?"

"Gibbs asked me to go do something back at work. Will you come get me and drive me in, please?"

"Why isn't Gibbs driving you?"

"He's got Tim."

"What? Wait a minute! Did you just say Gibbs has McGee? What the hell does that mean, Abby?""

"Tony, I'll explain on the way, if you'll just come get me. I promise what I need to do shouldn't take more than 30 minutes. And then you can have the rest of your night back."

"Yeah, All right, I'll be right there."

"Thanks, Tony. You're the best big brother a girl could ever ask for."

"Yeah? Thanks, Abbs. I'll be there in a few."

***************NCIS***************

"Jethro, how is he?" Ducky asked as he stepped into the younger man's house a short twenty minutes after getting off the phone with him.

"Still sleeping." Gibbs nodded in the direction of his living room before heading into the kitchen to start brewing his friend a cup of his favored hot tea and a coffee for himself.

Waiting for both brews to get done, he took himself back to the living room and stopped in the doorway, silently leaning against it as he watched the M.E. check out the sleeping young man's vitals and overall general health. It seemed strange to see how deeply and peacefully Tim was sleeping when he took into account how run down he'd begun to look here lately. That made the point that whatever was causing the sleep deprived look in the young man, nightmares or even bad dreams apparently weren't the underlying cause.

While Gibbs was glad of that on one hand; he realized, on the other, that it only made getting to the bottom of whatever was going on, harder. Getting him to talk about any bad dream certainly would have been a hell of a lot easier than dragging anything out from him that he wasn't ready to share.

Ducky put away his instruments and covered the young man with the light bed spread that Gibbs had set at the foot of the couch earlier, as it had gotten slightly cooler and Tim was looking decidedly too thin as it was, now that they got a good look at him. Joining his younger friend at the doorway, the M.E. remained silent until both men and traipsed into the kitchen and fixed their drinks, and taken a seat at the table.

"He seems to be fine, Jethro. It is for certain, though, that he most definately needed this chance to sleep well."

"Okay. You stayin for a late dinner, Duck?"

"No thank you, Jethro. I have already eaten my dinner and I have a previous engagement." The older man replied with a gentle smile as if thinking fondly of those plans.

Gibbs' eyebrows rose in silent questioned surprise.

Ducky chuckled without elaborating, finished his drink and then politely took his leave with a mere 'good night, my friend."

Locking up behind the M.E., Gibbs could only smile at the older man's obvious anticipation of a good evening ahead. Huffing out a gentle laugh, he headed back to the living room to continue his vigil over the young man needing him at the moment.

****NCIS******

As Tony drove Abby to NCIS, the Lab Rat filled him in, telling him vaguely of Gibbs' concern and more detailed information of her own concerns about McGee. Her mission tonight, was the last thing she shared with him and only after she swore him to secrecy and informed him of the boss' direction that matched her request. Since she didn't know exactly what she'd find on the tape, she wasn't willing to break her word to Gibbs about keeping it from Tony, but the Senior Field Agent understood. After all, a person's privacy needed to be respected and nobody was better at that than the boss and Tony wasn't about to cross that line against the man.

While he waited for Abby to complete her mission, Tony sat at his desk and thought things through. Everything he'd noticed and everything Abby'd told him seemed to form a much bigger picture than the one he thought he'd put together earlier that day. Even with that bigger picture, it still sent the same message. His Probie was troubled, deeply troubled, and needed someone to throw him a lifeline. The trouble with that was that Gibbs was obviously already trying to do that. Tony realized how bad that sounded but it was the truth, Having Gibbs try to reach out to the one person on the team he'd never tried to reach out to before, wasn't gonna work, at least, not well, anyway.

Then again, Tony had to stop and realize that he hadn't been a very good big brother in that department as far as being there for the younger man went, himself. Tony knew why Gibbs had never done it, after all Gibbs felt protective of those who needed it, and Tim was the one team member who already had a complete family of his own, and so didn't need the extra looking after that the others seemed to need.

Unfortunately, since no one ever really talked about Gibbs' motivations, Tim never realized why exactly it was things worked the way they did, only that it left him feeling like the only step-child in this entire extended family. Tony and Tim had never talked about it, but being a former street detective in addition to being a Field Agent for as long as Tony had been, had honed his powers of observation as well as his investigative skills. More than seven years of learning how to speak 'Gibbs speak' had honed his ability to read people, as well. The bottom line was Tony read Tim pretty well, even if they never talked about anything he'd noticed and kept in his mental filing cabinet of a brain. It was time, Tony realized, to unlock that file on Probie and use it to throw Tim that lifeline Tony knew his kid brother needed.

True to her word, Abby was done and ready to leave not even thirty minutes later and as they headed out, Tony couldn't help but ask. "What was it, Abby? Whatever it was, it's got you pretty upset."

"I can't, Tony. Gibbs made me promise to respect Tim's privacy." She reminded him tearfully.

"Yeah. I get it. Okay. How bout we go for some ice cream and see if we can't get your mind off Probie for a while?"

"Tony! Just because I can't tell you doesn't mean you shouldn't care about him!" Abby reacted so quickly, she barely had time to process what he was actually saying.

"Abby. I'm gonna pretend you didn't just say that. I'm worried about him, too. But for tonight? He's safe and sound under the boss' roof and apparently already out like a light. What better place for him to be than Gibbs' house?" he replied.

"Oh, no!" Abby declared in mock horror.

"Yeah, there is that." Tony joked, knowing Abby had just realized what he'd already figured out. Gibbs trying to get Tim to open up just wasn't a great idea.

"Tony!"

"Stop, Abby!" Tony was nearly shouting to be heard but he had a point that he needed to make. " Gibbs won't push him. He never pushes us to talk if we don't want to. But, he will make sure he eats and sleeps. We both know that. So, relax and enjoy the rest of your night. Let your big brother treat you to an ice cream, will ya? It's not every day you take a vacation away from us. This is the last chance for us to spend time together before you leave tomorrow."

"I know, Tony. I'm gonna miss you guys, too." Abby replied sadly before sighing deeply, changing her tone and finishing what she had to say about it. "But, I have go visit my family now so I can be back here to spend Christmas Day with my other family – you guys! C'mon, I want some of that ice cream!"