Libeccio
My religion consists of a humble admiration of the unlimitable superior who reveals Himself in the slight details we are able to perceive with our frail and feeble minds. That deeply emotional conviction of the presence of a superior reasoning power, which is revealed in the incomprehensible universe, forms my idea of God - Albert Einstein (1879 - 1955)
The drive back to DC was made in silence, each in deep thought. Once they arrived in the Navy Yard, all agents had left for their own homes.
Gibbs urged Joy to leave the evidence safe and to go home. She entered the Buchanans' townhouse around midnight and wasn't surprised to see Hope up and waiting for her.
"Hey Sis," she salutes, and kicks off her low court shoes and drops heavily with closed eyes on the sofa.
"There are leftovers in the microwave, we had espaguete a la carbonara tonight," says Hope. She looks at Joy, and sees the exhaustion on her face.
"How is Matthew?"
"Asleep in the blue room upstairs." She says, "I took the liberty of putting my things in the yellow one, I drank some wine and didn't want to drive home tonight."
"Be my guest," says Joy tiredly.
"Temperance will sleep with me in the yellow room too, there's no point for her to drive all the way to Quantico dorms and come back tomorrow morning again."
"Whatever," she says tiredly, rubbing the grit from her eyes.
"How are Sarah and Tim?" Joy rubs her eyes again, trying to dispel the itchiness in them.
"Haven't seen Sarah the whole day, but I spoke to Ducky who told me she is physically fine." She sighs, "McGee, well, he's still…" she pauses, and Hope completes for her.
"Pissed off?"
Joy laughs softly, "Yeah, that pretty much describes him."
She stands up, "sorry sis, I'm beat, I'm going for a shower and bed," she starts leaving but Hope stops her.
"Joy," she says in serious voice, "Timothy is hurting, not only because Sarah was hurt, but because of something much deeper," she sees her sister looking at the floor fixedly, "that somehow you are aware of," Joy looks at her, tiredly, "but that's not my point, my point is, he's mad at the situation, not at you. He's hurt, so he's lashing out at everyone and everything, you just happened to be in his reach, and Matt, well, it is easy to hate him as he's the guy who's sleeping with his little sister, it's just convenient to hate him."
"I know."
"His main concern, his main worry is Sarah. Everything else takes second place, as it has been an ingrained behavior for many years in him. Right now, if he sees you are something between him and his sister, he will mow you down."
"He doesn't have the head for little things, so that's where you can make the difference."
She stands up, "think about the details, sis," she kisses her cheek, "good night, I'm beat." And leaves.
Joy, though, didn't go to sleep straight away. She kept staring at the fireplace for a while, then later went to her backpack took a legal pad and started making a list of things to do the following morning.
NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS
That same night, McGee took his sister to his house, and he's surprised to notice that everywhere he looks in his apartment there is a memento or something that reminds him of Joy. A pair of court shoes here, a bonsai plant she bought to cheer up his kitchen counter, even the book she left by the bedside table, with a bookmark on the last page she had read.
Sarah enters the apartment and goes straight to his computer, turning it on and logging on line to avoid conversation.
McGee orders a simple mozzarela pizza, and both siblings eat it half-heartedly. After only one slice of it, Sarah begs to be excused and goes to her brother's bedroom. Tim sighs, staring at the half eaten slice of pizza in his hand. He hears the shower starting in the bathroom, and stands up and puts the leftover pizza back in the box and in the fridge. Nobody will eat more tonight.
He goes to his bedroom, changes the bed sheets for clean ones and checks if no unsavory mementos of his time spent with Joy are to be found between the sheets. He moves the duvet, and goes to the wardrobe, getting one of his MIT shirts and one of his comfortable boxers for his sister to wear to bed.
He sits down in bed with the clothing in his hand, and stares down at a fixed point on the wall.
It's amazing how fast things can go straight to hell, he thinks.
For a moment, he thinks about Joy's strength to rebuild her life after the disastrous events in LA. He finally understands her deep dislike of Gibbs' rules, as they are not enough to explain the chain of events that lead to disaster. Regardless of how careful you are, of how many rules you surround yourself with, life will always find a way to kick you on the chin, and you are left stunned before the events.
He hears the shower closing, and a few seconds later the door opens just a small gap, "Tim, do you have a…" He stands up, and put the clothes in her wet hand. She withdraws her hand, and shouts a muffed thanks through the door.
A few moments later, Sarah comes out of the bathroom, and he taps the bed besides him. She sits down by his side, and both siblings just stay there for a moment, waiting for the other to start talking.
"You can sleep in the bed, I will use the sleeping bag," Sarah shakes her head, not happy with the decision.
"Could you stay, just for a little while?" Tim looks at his sister, and he's shocked to see how small and fragile she looks in his oversized T-shirt. There are deep circles around her eyes, that not even the drugged sleep on Abby's futon had been able to erase.
He lifts a hand and plays with her hair, as he used to do when they were little, and she leans and hugs him tightly. He kisses her curly hair with care.
"Let me wash up and I will stay with you until you fall asleep," he leans back, and he's happy to see a small smile in her face, "is it ok for you?" She nods, and he stands up to get ready to bed.
When he comes out of the bathroom in his standard sleepwear, T-shirt and comfortable pjs, his sister is already under the covers. He tucks her in, kills the lights and lays on top of the duvet. She wiggles a little and supports her head on his shoulder, and both stay staring at the ceiling, seeing the lights of the cars reflecting on it.
"I'm sorry, Tim," Sarah says softly.
"For what?"
"For messing up your thing with Joy. I've always known how important she was to you, since the day I saw you together for the first time, and I messed it all up."
"It's ok Sarah," he says, hugging his sister one armed. He sighs, "something was bound to happen," he feels his eyes filling with tears, and closes his eyes, "it was too good to be true."
"Oh Tim," says Sarah, "I'm so sorry you think like that."
"Nothing is more important than your safety, Sarah," he kisses her curly head again.
Sarah starts playing with the corner of the duvet, "I was so scared," McGee turns to his sister, who keeps talking in a very soft whisper, "I kept thinking that it was just a prank, or maybe they were filming a movie, or it was just a nightmare that I would wake up from and everyone would be ok."
She smiles faintly, "remember when I was little, before you left for MIT, and I would force you to look under my bed every single night?"
"Sometimes you made me look twice in one night, even after I scared the monsters away, because you would say it just went for a burger and had come back for dessert," he says, softly laughing.
"I drove mom insane, as she would put me in my bed to sleep and, in the morning, she would find me in yours."
"You were always terrified at night," he says with a smile, remembering that time.
"Then you went to MIT, and mom arranged prep school for me," she says softly, "I hated it," she says with bitterness in her voice.
"Sarah…" says McGee, "you know she did what she did to protect you."
"It was part of the divorce agreement, if you didn't go to the school, you would have to live with that… that…"
"But I lost so much time that I could have spent with mom, just because dad insisted I had to have that stupid education, just for status," says Sarah bitterly.
"Sarah," says McGee in a warning tone.
"She would know what to do now, what to say."
"Yes, she would."
The two siblings stay in silence for some moments.
"I miss her."
Tim tightens his hold on his sister.
"I miss her too."
NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS
Unbeknownst to the two siblings in that small apartment in Silver Springs, the late news started to show brand new information on the shooting of Waverly. The old man sees the coverage on the news, smiles a sickly smile and starts packing a bag to visit his family.
It's time to visit Timmy boy and little Sarah again.
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a/n: Who is the misterious man?