a/n - As you may have guessed, nappage was unsuccessful yesterday. Now, you get to see the "real" reason Tim's fight with his father was off-camera, so to speak.

David Jeffries wasn't all that surprised to find Gibbs waiting at his desk when he arrived Monday morning. Some in the law enforcement field called him a legend, while others called him a nightmare. Jeffries was just glad he had the suspect locked up and didn't have to worry about Gibbs tearing up the city looking for him. Now to make sure the older man understood that. "Good morning, Agent Gibbs. Bail was denied for Roger Harris, he's not going anywhere."

"That's good to know. How is the case against him coming? Is Abby cooperating with the investigation?"

"We've got DNA and strong witnesses. Your man's little sister has a good eye for detail. She'll do well on the witness stand." Jeffries knew Gibbs still had one question that was unanswered. "Miss Sciuto is unhappy, but she's been cooperating with us."

"If that changes at all, I want you to tell me and I'll deal with it." Gibbs tossed his empty cup in the trash and started to stand.

"Of course. Now, has Agent McGee changed his mind about filing charges against his father?"

Gibbs dropped back down into his chair. "He told you what happened?"

"We arrived at the tail end of it. Since the hospital security camera caught the whole thing, I've half a mind to file charges even without his support." Jeffries shook his head. He felt protective of all the victims he dealt with, but the McGee siblings were rapidly moving to the top of the list.

"You have the video?"

"Of course. On the off-chance that Agent McGee changed his mind, we wanted to make sure we had all the evidence possible, and..."

Gibbs didn't give him a chance to finish. "Show me." When Jeffries hesitated, Gibbs leaned into his personal space. "That wasn't a question, Detective. Show me the video of the attack on my agent."

Jeffries stood this time and pointed the way to where they kept their video equipment set up. Truthfully, he hoped seeing the footage would push the older man to encourage his agent to press charges. They had transferred the video tape to a DVD and he quickly had it queued up.

Gibbs chose a chair close to the screen as the image cleared. The hospital corridor was empty; as he watched, two people stepped off the elevator. It was immediately evident that time had not been good to Phillip McGee. He and his wife walked part way down the hallway before entering a room. A few minutes later Tim came out, followed by his father. His mother brought up the rear and continued on after the two men stopped. Even though there was no audio, Gibbs could see Tim call out to his mother, who just held a hand up as she returned to the elevator. He watched, transfixed as Tim's shoulders slumped in apparent defeat as his mother so obviously turned her back on her son. When the first blow came, Tim made no effort to protect himself as he father continued to backhand him. Even with the limitations of the black and white images Gibbs could tell when the third blow broke open the already damaged lip that Gibbs felt so guilty about.

"Where in the hell is everybody? Why isn't anyone coming to help him?"

"My understanding is that security had been called at this point. A couple of nurses met us at the elevator when we arrived." Jeffries turned to the older man. He had a suspicion where the earlier bruises had come from, and he wanted to find out exactly how Tim would fare with his former team still in his life. "What I'm not sure of is how Agent McGee was originally injured." He reached out and paused the playback. "Do we need to be worried about any continuing danger to Agent McGee?"

Gibbs stared at the frozen image of a beaten McGee, his father's hand poised to strike again. It wasn't the bloodied lip or the rapidly swelling marks on his face that would haunt Gibbs' dreams, it was the look of abandonment on his face. After all the years, all the cases, all the times Tim McGee had been there for his team, Gibbs was looking at a young man who felt he had no one to turn to. His words were so soft, Jeffries could barely hear him. "No, no continuing danger." When Jeffries moved to resume the playback, Gibbs shook his head. "I don't need to see any more."

Still observing him, Jeffries reached out and pressed the play button. "Actually, I think you do."

Movement resumed on the screen and that now hated hand made contact one more time, but it was what happened behind Tim that caught Gibbs' attention. Sarah came stumbling out of her hospital room, using the IV pole as a support, reaching out to her father. He didn't need to be able to read lips to recognize the plaintive 'Daddy, please'.

The senior McGee turned his fury on his youngest daughter, but his fist never made contact as Tim grabbed his father's hand. Gibbs watched, pride overriding horror as Tim's grip on his father's hand tightened and eventually brought him to his knees. Even kneeling on the floor, Phillip was yelling at his son, while Sarah was clinging to Tim's back. Whatever Tim said to his father, he was deadly calm as he shoved the man back into the arms of the arriving Jeffries and Thompson before turning and picking Sarah up. A nurse arrived to help with the IV pole as he carried her back into the room. Jeffries and Thompson dragged Phillip McGee the other direction and suddenly the corridor was empty again.

Gibbs leaned heavily against the table, his hand pressed against his mouth, as Jeffries turned off the video equipment. It took a concentrated effort to sit up and lay his hands on the surface of the table. "I need a copy of that."

"Why?"

Ice blue eyes turned on Jeffries, telling him how deadly serious Gibbs was at that moment. "We have resources you don't."

As he burned a copy for Gibbs, Jeffries decided he really didn't want to know any more than that.

---NCIS---

Tony stepped off the elevator in cybercrimes, a paper bag clutched in his hand. He searched around the crowded room in the sub-basement and found McGee sitting at a desk, already hard at work. He cleared his throat when he reached the desk, not speaking until Tim looked up at him. "Hope you don't mind, it was my turn to buy and I couldn't not order yours." Tony handed over the bag. "I got you orange juice too. You don't get any sunlight down here, we can't have you getting a goiter on us." He grinned and waited.

Tim couldn't help but return the grin. "Actually, Tony, that would be rickets. A lack of sunlight causes rickets, not a goiter. However, a deficiency in vitamin C can cause scurvy, so thanks." He waved the plastic bottle before pulling a breakfast burrito out of the bag.

"See, you've always been the brains of the outfit. Just remember, you're not chained to that desk, you can come up and see us once in a while. Okay?" Tony's grin had transitioned to a hopeful and tentative smile.

"Okay." Tim gave a nod before DiNozzo moved away. "Hey, Tony?" Tim waited for Tony to turn back around. "Thanks... for everything."

---NCIS---

DiNozzo returned from his trip to cybercrimes just as Gibbs arrived from the police station. Tony was in a good mood, convinced that his friendship with McGee would survive, while Gibbs was pacing in obvious anger and frustration. The other agents in the squadroom quickly found reasons to leave and within two minutes, the room was empty except for the remaining members of Gibbs' team.

"You two with me; you need to see this too." Gibbs took the stairs two at a time up to the Director's office while Tony and Ziva scrambled to catch up. Ziva had been closer, but Tony's legs were longer, so they arrived at Vance's office at the same time. "Here, put this on the plasma."

Ziva took the disc that Gibbs thrust at her and quickly brought it up onto the plasma mounted on the wall. Gibbs didn't offer any explanation, but as soon as McGee came into view they knew what they were looking at. The plasma was much larger than the television at the police station and Gibbs found he couldn't watch it again, especially with that much extra detail. Standing at the window, listening to the gasps and curses of the other three was more than enough this time as every frame of the footage was firmly in his memory.

"Tell me what you need, Jethro." Vance continued to stare at the screen after the video footage ended, wondering if he had time to slip home and hug his kids before they went to school.

"I want his parents flagged." Gibbs finally turned away from the window. "If they comes anywhere near Tim or Sarah, I want to know about it."

Vance had come to recognize that expression. "What happens if they do?"

"We'll cross that bridge when we get there."