Easterly
McGee heard his father's footsteps leaving the room, and felt totally mortified for the scandal he created, in the Director's office, no less.
He closed his eyes, trying to stop the tears of shame and anger from escaping his eyes. He faintly hears a woman's footsteps hurrying in his direction, and soft hands hugging him in an attempt to comfort him. A hand went to his head, bringing his face to her own neck, and he inhaled the soft peach aroma that permeated her skin and her hair.
He couldn't help his body trembling, as the shock of seeing his father after all these years finally settled in, and the pain and panic finally found the necessary outlet. He hugged her back, tightly, and tried to control his breathing.
"It's ok, he's gone, he can't hurt you," she murmured against his ear, trying to calm him down. He hugged her tighter, and she cringed a little, but did not complain. He needed her, and if he needed the physical touch to ground him, she wouldn't deny him that.
"He.. is he gone?" his voice was quivering, and she took a step back, and molded his face with her hands so he could look at her, but he kept his eyes still closed, and the tears he had tried to stop were already running down his face.
"Sarah… oh my God Sarah, is she…" he starts to hyperventilate, as the possibility of his father taking away his sister flitted through his mind.
"She's fine," she forces him to look at her face, "McGee, look at me," he opens his eyes, and looks into her brown ones, "she's fine, he can't take her away from you, she's safe with Abby."
"She's fine?" his mind is trying to register what's being said to him, but he feels like his mind is working in slow motion.
"Yes, she's fine, come here," she looks at the Director and at Gibbs, who until now had stayed in silence watching her trying to calm down their agent, and guides him so he sits in one of the chairs by the conference table. He sits down, and almost immediately he hides his face in his hands, supporting his elbows on his knees, trying to control his breathing. Joy runs her hand on his back in soothing circles, and looks at Gibbs, who is looking at McGee with something akin of pain and pity.
"Boss, you'd better call Abby, she must be frantic," says Joy.
"Why?" he immediately takes his mobile phone out, and starts dialling.
Joy smiles, "I told her to lockdown the lab with Sarah, Matt and Temp inside it, and just to open it when you personally told her that it was ok to do it."
"GIBBS! What's going on?" shouts Abby on the line, as soon she answers it.
"Abby, can you please escort Sarah to the Director's office?"
"What's happening, Gibbs? First Buchanan calls me telling me to lock down the lab, then Ziva just growls on the phone when I call her and Timmy is not answering!"
"ABBY!" Gibbs shouts. He closes his eyes, tired of the avalanche of problems his team seems to be facing this week. "Just… just bring Sarah here, ok? Timothy needs to see her."
"Ok, Bossman." She disconnects.
"Agent McGee," Director Vance studies his agent, who almost had a meltdown after facing his father. Then, with a father like that, who needs enemies, thinks Vance, "Care to explain what exactly happened in my office?"
"I'm sorry, Director, I've never imagined I'd see him again, much less have to confront him in your office," says McGee, his voice muffed by his hands on his face.
"Don't apologize, McGee," Joy glares at Gibbs, daring him to quote his rule, and she's surprised when he simply says, "it's not your fault, you weren't expecting it."
"Why is he so insistent on taking Sarah away from you?" asks the Director.
"And why does he despise you so much?" asks Gibbs, with a frown on his face. He couldn't imagine someone having such a fine son like McGee and not being proud of him.
McGee takes his hands from his face, and stares at them for a moment, flexing his fingers in a nervous tic.
"He never thought much of me," he says in a low voice, "I was supposed to be the third generation McGee to join the Navy, but…" he chuckles in a self-depreciative way, "I get seasick in a small boat in a lake, I could never…" he lifts his head and looks at Gibbs, "I could never fit his ideal of how a son should be, so he simply despised me."
"But that still doesn't explain his fixation with your sister," says Vance, going around his desk and supporting his six on it.
"He… he always played favorites, and Sarah was his perfect little girl, who could do no wrong," he sighs, and wipes the tears from his face, trying to control himself better, "he most of the time ignored mom and me, but, after…" he looks at Gibbs and at the Director, and bites his lip, and both men sense there's much more to the story than what they are imagining.
"What happened to your mother? Was she hurt in any way? Did he hurt her?" asks Gibbs, and he sees his young agent trying valiantly to hold on to his secrets, turning tortured eyes to him.
Joy takes another chair and sits close to McGee, and immediately she takes his hand in her smaller ones in a signal of support. He squeezes her hand, and she squeezes his back, and they look at each other for a second, "he deserves to know, Tim," she says softly.
McGee sighs, defeated, and Gibbs takes another chair and sits before his two agents, one with whom he has worked for several years, and apparently Gibbs had no idea of the layers of hurt he hid, and the other offering silent support to him.
Vance stands besides Gibbs' chair, and studies both agents, and says, "nothing said inside of this room will go on record, if you wish, but if he tries to create problems, either for you or for the agency, we need to be aware of what to expect."
McGee looks at Vance, then at Gibbs, and starts his tale:
"You see, he never really was a tender person either with mom or me, as she was just a… a complement to his perfect picture image of how a commander should be, with a smiling wife and two point five kids, and I was supposed to be the perfect son who would follow in his footsteps and continue the McGees' brilliant name in the Navy."
McGee laughs, "but I was sickly from an early age, then a sickly toddler, and as a child I had already developed a complete aversion to water, and heights, and it was quite clear that I definitely wouldn't follow in his footsteps in the Navy." He looks at Gibbs and at Vance, both men listening to his story with serious expressions on their face, "he still tried to toughen me up, but apparently I never could measure up to his idea of perfect son."
"Even if you tried, you would never measure up," says Joy softly, caressing his hand in her own, tracing the veins under the skin with her fingers. He looks at her, and she continues, "in this type of psychopathic behavior, regardless of how much you strive to achieve the goal, you will never reach it, it will never be enough for him."
"Were you aware of Agent McGee's father's…" Vance frowns at the description, but uses it anyway, "psychopathic behavior?"
Joy smiles a self-depreciative smile, "Director Vance, I'm a profiler first and foremost, but," she looks at McGee with a smile, "my background is psychology: I saw the signs, I saw the behavioral patterns, the eagerness to please and to get it right no matter what cost, all indicative of an abusive parent," McGee frowns at her for a moment.
"You profiled me," he says, frowning.
Joy smiles at McGee, "from the very first moment you sat beside me at that bar." They keep looking at each other for a moment, he with a very serious thinking expression on his face.
"What is your verdict?" finally he asks.
"About what?" she says.
"Am I a crackpot like him? Will I become a domineering bastard with abusive tendencies when I get older?" he says, extremely bitter at the situation.
"Tim," Joy starts to say, but Gibbs reacts faster.
SLAP.
"OUCH," McGee looks at Gibbs and rubs his head.
"Don't ever compare yourself to him again," growls Gibbs, "you are nothing like that… that..." Gibbs apparently can't find a word to describe that man.
"Sycophant?" says Joy with a smile to Gibbs.
"That works for me," says Gibbs, and then he turns to McGee, "now, what happened to your mother, you still haven't told us."
"He used to be away for long periods, and sometimes he would ask one of his buddies to check on us," McGee says bitterly, "one day I came home early from school, I had felt sick and I was told to return home, and I caught one of his buddies trying to… force his attentions on mom," McGee closes his hands in tight fits, "she was trying to escape him, she was, but he wouldn't let her go!" McGee closes his eyes at the memory, and both Vance and Gibbs look at each other for a second.
"How old were you when that happened?" asks Vance gently.
"Thirteen, and I attacked him, and he… he beat me up right in front of mom, who had to call a neighbor to stop him," McGee opens his eyes, and stares at his own hands, "we reported him to the base police, but when Dad came back he spoke to his buddy and he told Dad that mom had tried to seduce him. Dad came home furious and confronted mom, saying that she was a liar. That's when she decided to divorce him."
McGee looks at Gibbs, and continues, "Dad's lover had already given birth, so he was ok with the divorce, as he wanted to start a new family with her, but he wanted to keep the kids. Mom fought him in court, and was granted custody, but Dad was really vindictive, and as part of the divorce agreement he made a mandatory clause that Sarah should receive an education worthy of her status as his daughter, so mom had to sell most of our things to guarantee the money for Sarah's prep school. By the time the divorce was finally over and the terms of the custody finalized, I had already been accepted to MIT on a scholarship and mom had sold our old house and rented a smaller one closer to Sarah's school."
"In Dad's mind, if he couldn't stay with Sarah, neither could mom, so he arranged this clause, so even though mom had custody of Sarah, Sarah had to stay in the prep school the whole week and would go home only on weekends." McGee sighs, "if she didn't obey the terms of the divorce, Dad would take Sarah away from her."
Vance looks at Gibbs, "That definitely explains his protectiveness towards his sister," he looks at McGee, "Agent McGee, Agent Buchanan, you two are on leave, effective immediately, for as long as I deem necessary, until this whole nightmare is over," he turns and returns to his desk.
"Director Vance," says Joy standing up.
"Leon, is that really necessary?" Gibbs looks at his agents, who stood up and now are looking at the Director.
"I understand your concern for your agents," says Vance, looking at Gibbs, but he shakes his head with conviction, "but this is a federal agency, not a stage for the exhibition of your personal tragedies," he turns to Joy and Tim, "I sympathize with the situation, but right now I have the Navy Yard under siege by cameramen from several TV crews from all over the country, a crime yet to be solved and a Navy commander who will certainly report me and my main team to SecNav for lack of professionalism. Right now, I have to control the damage already done, and hope for none more to come into my path and that of my agency."
"Do we really have to be dismissed from the case?" says Joy, sadly.
"Why, do you see any other alternative Agent Buchanan?"
Joy thinks for a whole minute, considering the options available and what they know and what they must do. Finally, she exposes her idea to the Director.
"We could lay low for a while, relocate to another place where the news vultures would never connect it to us and still do our jobs ," says Buchanan.
"And," says McGee standing up, "if my father comes knocking again, you could honestly say that you have no idea where we are."
Gibbs folds his arms, and glances at Vance, who seriously considers the option.
"Please elaborate on that," says Vance after a while.
"My oldest brother's house is in Norfolk, close to the deceased petty officer's. We could stay over for some days there, and investigate in loco, as none of our leads on his personal life or professional life panned out."
"We could investigate there, and send our findings to our office in Norfolk, who would then send it over to you here in DC, and none would be any the wiser about our location," completes McGee.
"As we would be staying in a private house, there would be no electronic or credit card trail linking our stay to the Agency," says Joy.
Joy and Tim stand before the Director's desk, almost begging not to be taken off the case. Vance thinks about the offer, and it actually would make sense, as they would lay low for a while and still keep on the investigation. The news crews currently outside the gates, once informed that their prey had escaped their reach, would look around but they wouldn't be able to trace them back to a small family house in Norfolk.
"Agent Gibbs?" Gibbs studies his agents for some seconds, and sees their eagerness to keep on working, but their tiredness with all the problems that seemed to be popping up one after the other.
"Is there space for the four of you over there? Because Matthew and Sarah would have to go too."
"Please," says Joy with a smile, "all of the family houses were chosen for their capacity to gather a large number of people comfortably. There is plenty of space for us, even for the whole team if the need arises."
Gibbs turns to Vance, "I see no problem with that, and they need some air."
Vance looks at Joy, "Make the call," Joy gets her mobile phone, and starts dialing, at the same time that there is a knock on the door and Vance's secretary lets Sarah, Matt and Temperance, with an excited Abby in.
"TIM," says Sarah, and runs to hug her brother. He hugs her back, tightly, under the careful eyes of the Director and other agents.
"What's going on?" Abby is almost exploding with curiosity.
"Abby, I need you to check with Ziva and Tony if they were successful on their mission. If they are back, asks them to wait for me in the bullpen, I will be there as soon as I'm finished here."
Abby looks at the two McGees hugging, and at the Director's and Joy's serious faces and agrees. She leaves, clacking her high platform shoes.
"Matt," Joy closes her phone, as nobody answered the call. She throws her keychain to him, who catches it in middle flight. "Go to the townhouse, pack three duffle bags, one for me and one for you and another for McGee, enough for…" she looks at Gibbs, who shrugs, "ten days, put it in the trunk and come back here. We're leaving in one hour."
"Leaving to where?" She glares at him, and he nods, "ok, no questions asked, I don't need to know."
"Temp," Joy glances at Sarah, "I need you to go to Waverly dorm, use your FBI ID to be granted access to the dorm, and I need you to pack a duffle bag for Sarah. Be back ASAP."
"You're running?" says Temp, looking from the McGee siblings to Joy.
"No," Joy grimaces, "we're just," she glances at Gibbs, "laying low for a while."
"What happened Tim?" Sarah takes a step back, and studies the track of tears on his face and the tired look in his eyes.
"Dad happened, Sarah, he came out of the hole he was hiding and tried to force his hand, ordering the Director and Gibbs to lead him to you."
"no, no, no, no," she starts shaking, "I'm not going with him, I'm not!"
"That's exactly why we're relocating you to somewhere safe," says Gibbs, looking at Sarah, "you will be away from the scrutiny of the media and if your father comes knocking again, he won't be able to track you down."
"Tim, you promised he wouldn't bother us, I'm an adult now, he can't drag me away, can he?"
"No, he can't," say Joy, and she looks at her siblings, "but we won't stay here to find out. Go, you know what to do." Matt throws a worried glance at Sarah, who is still in her brother's arms, but Temp grabs his arm and drags him out of the Director's office.
Sarah takes a step back, and looks at Gibbs and the Director, "I'm sorry for being such a burden."
"Sarah," says the Director, "nothing that has happened is in any way your fault. You just happened to be connected to it, one way or the other," he looks at Gibbs, "right now, our best choice is to control the damage already done, and ensure that no more leaks occur to the press."
"And ensure that your father doesn't become another problem to us," says Gibbs.
Joy's phone starts ringing, and she hurries to answer it.
"Buchanan," she says.
"Howdy, cowgirl, ready for some shocking news?"
Joy smiles at the greeting her sister Hope gives her, "please, no more shocks today, I don't think my heart can take it."
"Ok, so I will go straight to the facts, we found the leak and we are on our way to plug it."
"Hang on a second, I'm putting you on speakerphone," she turns to Gibbs and the Director, "you guys wanna hear this."
"Hello? Is anybody there?" Gibbs smiles as he hears Hope's voice.
"What do you have for us, Hope?"
"Hey Gibbs, how is it going? I bet your life has never had so much adventure as since you met us." Joy rolls her eyes at her sister antics, "Hope, I have the McGees, Gibbs and the NCIS Director here with me, you said that you found the leak, what can you tell us?" as Joy says that, the Director and Gibbs stand straighter, as that is something they really want to know.
"Hey McGee," calls out Hope, "does the name Christopher Kowalski ring any bell to you?"
McGee frowns, as he can't remember anyone with that name. "No, should I remember this person?"
"Is he the leak to the press, Agent Buchanan?" say Vance, very seriously.
"Hi, your Joy's Director, Uhm? Well, Director, yes, after some pushing and prodding we traced the info leak to a small TV crew, who apparently were told by Kowalski."
"And how did he access that information?" Gibbs is frowning at the telephone.
"Apparently, McGee gave this information to him himself," says Hope.
Everyone turns to McGee, whose eyes become huge, and he opens and closes his mouth, but no words come out of it.
"How?" says Joy.
"Let me see if I can refresh your memories, Officer Christopher Kowalski was the weasel who tried to deny you entry to the Waverly Campus yesterday. Apparently during your conversation with the officer, McGee mentioned that his sister was inside. Well, we kind of pissed him off when we bulldozed our way inside, and he just had to ask around a little bit and he was told by a paramedic that, indeed, a Sarah McGee was among the survivors," says Hope.
McGee closes his eyes, mortified by his mistake, "I remember, I just wanted to go through the checkpoint, but I never imagined he…"
"We identified ourselves as federal agents from NCIS as soon as we went through the road blocks, and it wasn't a big leap to him once he was given all the connections," says Gibbs.
"What could possibly have made him assume that he could disclose such information?" says Vance.
"I have no idea," says Hope, "but that's what I'm about to find out, we're on our way to pick him up."
"Who's dealing with his interrogation?" asks Joy.
"Yours truly, and I heard Faith has been sharpening her katana to experiment on him. Oh, Gibbs, GIBBS!"
"Yes Hope," he smiles at Hope's enthusiasm at the perspective of grilling the suspect.
"Are you willing to send Ziva to join the party? I've heard from Joy she can kill eighteen different ways with a paperclip, she would be a great addition to the torture chamber."
"Somehow," Vance can't hide the mirth from his voice, "I believe the FBI director would frown on torture being used on one of their suspects."
"Ah, come on, what he doesn't know can't hurt him," says Hope, then she remembers whom she's speaking to, "argh.. ah.. Sir, NCIS Director sir, you wouldn't tell him, would you?"
Vance, for the first time since he found out his agency was under siege from the news, laughed, "no, but we didn't have this conversation."
"What conversation?"
"Keep us posted, Hope," says Gibbs, and he turns to Joy and points to the phone with his head.
"Hope, I have to talk to you," says Joy, and turns off the speakerphone, and goes to a corner of the Director's office to talk privately with her sister.
Gibbs turns the Director, who says "at least now we know where the leak happened and how it happened."
"I'm sorry, Boss, I never imagined that would happen," says McGee, with his arm around his sister's shoulders.
"Don't apologize; you had no way to know that he would try to use the information. I also didn't even imagine that he could be the leak."
"What now? What is going to happen to us?"
"Now we get ready to leave," say Joy, returning to stand by Gibbs and putting her mobile phone in her pocket. She turns to Gibbs, "I was able to speak to Lisa, Johnny's wife, she's expecting us, and she said that there is plenty of space if the team wishes to drop by later on as well."
"Then do the necessary arrangements," says Vance, standing up. He looks at McGee, "we already found the leak to the press, now we will think about the best way how to deal with your father."
"Ah, Director, about that," says Joy, "you might want to take a backseat for a while."
All present turn to Joy, who shrugs and rolls on the balls of her feet. McGee recognizes her tactic to hide she's done something wicked. Really evil.
"What have you done?" says McGee, and he receives a mischievous smile in turn, "let's say that Commander Kieran McGee is about to receive a visit from the Furies themselves." She looks at Gibbs, and smiles at him, "I hope you enjoy the show, Hope will call you giving you all the coordinates."
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a/n: Kieran messed up with the WRONG family!