a/n - Aack, I've been trying to upload this chapter since late Friday night. Enjoy.

"Tony, Ziva," Gibbs held the elevator door open for them as the three of them arrived within moments of each other.

"Morning, Boss."

"Good morning, Gibbs, how did you and Jethro make out last night?"

Gibbs hid his smile behind his coffee cup. The mutt had been surprisingly well behaved, but of course, he was a military dog. "After taking him for a run last night, I know how McGee slimmed down. Three miles and that dog wasn't even panting."

"So that's Probie's secret weapon in his battle of the bulge." DiNozzo's laugh was forced, and the group was quiet the rest of the ride up. Once in the squad room, they turned the corner and found McGee cleaning out his desk. He didn't look up at their approach. Gibbs and Ziva came to a halt, while Tony moved closer.

"Are you ever going to give us a chance to earn your forgiveness?"

Tim didn't look up at them, but he did stop, a picture of team clutched in his hands. "I need to take care of Sarah, get her to her therapist, be available to her when she has a panic attack. I can't do that and be a field agent."

"We can make it work, McGee. Tony and I are willing to pick up the pants." Ziva frowned, knowing that she had not used the right word, but it did get a soft chuckle out of Tim.

"It's slack, Ziva, not pants. Right now I can't work with you guys, I can't deal with the lab. I spoke to Vance this morning, he has asked me to take temporary command of cybercrimes while Jerry is recovering from surgery. It's for three months, and by then I'll be able to make some long term decisions."

"I thought you hated being down in Cybercrimes, McGee?" Tim shrugged, but didn't answer his boss.

Tony wasn't willing to just let him walk away from the team. "Let us help you somehow, McGee."

Since she had not been directly involved in the altercation the day before, Ziva hoped she could be the voice of reason. "You do not have to do this all alone, McGee. If you cannot go to your family, let us help."

Finally Tim looked up at his former team mates and they were horrified to see the bruises across his face. Gibbs was the first to react, shoving his cup at Tony as he crossed over to McGee's desk. Tim had dropped his head back down, but Gibbs reached out and tilted his head back up. "This is more than my handiwork, Tim. Who did this to you?"

"One of... one of Sarah's friends made the decision to call our parents behind her back."

"Your parents?" It took Gibbs a moment to wrap his mind around exactly what was being said. "Your father did this to you? Why?"

"He let Sarah come out here to go to college because I was here to keep an eye on her, to take care of her." Tim stepped back from Gibbs' hand and resumed packing his personal items from the desk.

Gibbs stayed close. "What happened to Sarah was not your fault, McGee."

"Wasn't it?" The raw anguish was painful to hear. "She was there because of Abby, she tried to kill herself because..." He stopped, but his eyes flickered over at Tony. "Anyway, they showed up, and he was furious, told me I was dead to them, that my failure was unforgivable and that they were taking Sarah home with them."

"God, Tim." Behind him, Gibbs heard the murmured protests of the other two.

Tim continued, his voice low and flat, as if he hadn't heard their concern. "Sarah refused, told them that it wasn't my fault and that she was staying here with me. Dad just lost it."

"Tell me you got in a few good licks, yourself."

He finally made eye contact. "Boss, I couldn't, he's my dad."

No, if he were honest with himself, Gibbs couldn't see Tim striking out at his father. "So, they're gone?"

"Yeah, and now I'm all Sarah has left." Tim started pacing in the small space behind his desk. " And if that means that I'm stuck down in that damn little office staring at code for eight hours a day, then so be it. I have to take care of Sarah, I have to protect her, so I don't lose her like..."

His gut told him this was important. "Like who?"

"Did you know I used to have a big sister?" If it were possible, Tim looked even more haunted than before. "She was just fifteen when she got pregnant. I've seen enough bad stuff on the job that, looking back, I have to question the circumstances but Dad just saw red. They didn't find out until the abortion.

"I remember they locked me in my room and went storming after her. When they came back, they wouldn't even let Becky get out of the car. Mom came in and packed her clothes and then they left with her. I never saw her again. By the end of the week, every trace of her was gone out of the house. They even burned her pictures."

Gibbs never considered himself an eloquent man, but he'd never been this lost for words. He couldn't imagine the impact this would have had on the remaining children, to see their sister erased from their existence for what was, at best, a mistake. It all fell into place. The awkward drive for perfection, the constant self-doubt, the timidness that had driven Gibbs up the wall at times were a product of a lifetime of trying to gain the approval of an impossible man. Tim would do anything to defend his sister and nothing to defend himself.

"How old was Sarah when Becky was sent away?"

Tony had a more pressing concern. "They're not going to come back and cause more problems, are they?"

Tim answered Gibbs first before turning to Tony. "Sarah's adopted. She's Becky's replacement, and no, our parents won't be back. Like Dad said, they no longer have any children."

Ziva had always thought her father was coldblooded. Now she realized he was a rank amateur. "What will you do now, McGee?"

"Well, my desk is cleaned out and ready for the next guy, and Roger Harris is in police custody. Now, I take care of Sarah. My landlord has agreed to let me roll my lease over to a larger unit, so we're moving this weekend."

"That's good, do you need some help? We're all good for some manual labor." Tony waved his arms around at the rest of the team. Tim hesitated and Tony realized that he didn't trust them around his baby sister yet.

"I appreciate the offer, Tony, but Sarah... she's just so fragile right now. I've hired a company to move the heavy stuff while she's at her therapy session. I think it will be better if I handle the rest." Tim tried to smile to ease the sting, but found he couldn't. Instead, he picked up his box and stepped around Gibbs, on his way to the elevator.

Once the elevator doors closed, Vance came down from his observation spot on the stairs. He had watched McGee pack up his desk and had planned on reading the rest of the team the riot act. Now he was just as stunned as the rest of them. Not even DiNozzo mounted a protest when Vance stopped in their midst. "You've got three months to fix this, so get to work."

---NCIS---

It was mid-morning before Gibbs ventured down to the lab. It was quiet with no music, and Abby was sitting at her desk, typing her report with one finger while her other hand supported her head. She wasn't wearing any make-up or jewelry and her hair was in a messy bun instead of her traditional pigtails. A woman Gibbs didn't recognize was loading samples into the mass spectrometer. "Abby?"

"Hey, Gibbs." Abby continued her one handed typing.

Gibbs came the rest of the way into her office and pointed over his shoulder. "Who's your guest?"

Abby shrugged. "Don't remember her name, Vance sent her down."

"Why?"

"He's worried a defense attorney might question my judgment, so there needs to be two lab workers on record." She looked up when he didn't say anything right away and saw that he wasn't surprised. "You knew?"

"Suspected. Under the circumstances Vance didn't have a choice, Abby."

"I've really made a mess of things." Now that Gibbs had moved from pure anger to disappointment, Abby wasn't expecting a comment so she continued. "How do I fix it?"

"You can't." Gibbs waited until she looked up in shock. "Not until you understand why you did it in the first place."