a/n - thanks again for all the wonderful reviews, I do live for them. There's a lot to set up, as this is a long complicated plotline. I'm trying to balance that with the angst/drama/plot twists. Enjoy.
Sacks entered his boss' office without bothering to knock and tossed a thick file on the desk. Fornell looked up and saw the expression on his face and immediately began skimming the file while he was waiting on the phone. By the time he reached the third page, he abandoned his phone call, setting the receiver down on its cradle as he continued to read.
"Are you sure?" Fornell leaned back in his chair, rubbing his face. "This is a lot worse than I thought."
"I'm afraid so. Luckily the kid was careful when he started poking around and they haven't picked up on him yet. The question is, do we tell him or not?" Sacks carefully moved the stack of files from the chair nearest him and sat down. "If we tell him, he's going to want to be part of it; I know I would."
Fornell studied him across the desk. "We've worked with them enough, what's your honest opinion of McGee?" Sacks pursed his lips as he thought about the question.
"He's smart and has good instincts, but he strikes me as a little naive at times, especially for as being an agent as long as he has." Sacks leaned forward, a serious expression on his face. "Anyone who puts up with DiNozzo the way he does has to have the patience of Job. He's also stubborn and honest to a fault."
"You've spent a lot of time observing him."
Sacks just laughed. "Well, it was either study McGee or kill DiNozzo." He looked around at the stacks of files that continually threatened to take over Fornell's office. "Figured you didn't want the paperwork involved if I killed him."
Fornell returned the laugh as he picked up the phone. "At this point, I'm not sure I'd even notice the extra paperwork. Let's invite McGee to lunch and feel him out a bit more."
---NCIS---
It was a day of paperwork and Gibbs was glad for it. His team was distracted, edgy. Ziva kept smiling at McGee, while DiNozzo used a steady stream of paper wads and random comments to annoy the man. Much to DiNozzo's disgust, McGee never rose to the challenge as he worked through his paperwork and stared repeatedly at his phone. The longer it went without ringing, the more morose McGee became.
By late morning Gibbs had had enough. "DiNozzo, make the lunch run; David, go with him." Looking pleased to get out of the office, they scrambled to comply. Once the elevator door closed behind them, Gibbs moved over to sit on the edge of McGee's desk.
"You've been pretty quiet today, McGee."
The younger man gave a quick glance his direction as he pretended to focus on the report currently displayed on his monitor. "Just want to make sure Kale doesn't walk on a technicality. Paperwork is different on a shared case than just a NCIS case." His mouth closed with an audible snap as he realized he was rambling.
Gibbs sat silently, observing him. Yes, it was important that the child rapist currently in custody not be given a chance to weasel out of the charges against him, but one thing about McGee was that he never messed up on paperwork. The report he had completed the night of the arrest was already good enough to stand up against any attack by the best defense attorney. There was no reason for him to be reviewing it days later. Gibbs decided to ease into the subject.
"That was a pretty rough case for all of us." He watched as McGee's shoulders tensed slightly.
McGee didn't look up. "Those kind usually are."
Gibbs thought through what he knew of McGee, looking for a clue. "Sometimes those kinds of cases remind us of something. Is your sister all right?"
"My sister?" McGee seemed genuinely startled by the question and Gibbs tried to explain. "Some of the victims had long brown hair, and your sister was almost raped the night of the murder she was accused of."
"No, that never crossed my mind." The sadness the young man seemed to have been wearing since that case intensified as Gibbs watched him.
"But there is something? Something that happened during the case."
Tim never could lie to his boss. "Yeah, but it's being taken care of."
"You know you can come to me about anything, don't you, McGee? I realize I am not the easiest person to talk to at times, but I'll help if I can."
It would have been so easy to tell him everything, and he came close, but the words didn't come. How to tell a man you respected so much that he'd been yelling at you at almost the exact moment you were told of your father's death? How to tell him that you went to someone else when that death started to look like a murder? Most importantly, how to tell him why none of them knew why his father was confined to a nursing home? In the end he just shook his head. "There's nothing to say anymore; like I said, it's being taken care of. I'm fine now."
Gibbs could see the battle on his young agent's face and sighed when he saw the moment it was lost. Standing, he clapped him on the back before returning to his own desk. "All right, Tim, if you change your mind, you know where to find me." McGee nodded, apparently surprised at the use of his first name. For a moment he looked as if he might say something else to Gibbs, but the ringing of McGee's phone broke the moment.
"Agent McGee. Hang on; let me check with the boss and see if I can leave for an hour."
Whoever was on the other end had brought a smile to McGee's face and Gibbs decided to agree before he officially heard the question. "Go on, get out of here; you've earned it." McGee made quick plans to meet up and was out the door in a flash.
Gibbs shook his head while he picked up his own phone and hit the speed dial for DiNozzo. Tony picked up on the second ring. "DiNozzo, just food for three. McGee is meeting someone for lunch."
"Really? Man, Fornell works pretty fast." DiNozzo disconnected, leaving Gibbs to stare at his phone. He finally closed his phone as he walked over to McGee's desk, pressing the button on his landline that would show the last incoming call. He immediately recognized the number.
"Damn it, Fornell, what have you gotten him into?"
---NCIS---
DiNozzo closed his phone and turned to Ziva. "Well, the Probster will not be having lunch with the rest of us today. Apparently, he got a better offer."
"From Fornell? You are correct, he is moving fast. McGee showered at his place this morning and came to work in one of his shirts and now he is taking McGee to lunch. He is staking his claim on him." She started to climb out of the car, but Tony's hand on her arm pulled her back.
"How do you know he showered at Fornell's?"
She gave him an appraising look. "McGee did not smell like McGee this morning, he smelled like Fornell. He used Fornell's bathing products, not his own."
"Wait, what? You know what Fornell smells like?"
"I have been trained to be observant. You would do well to remember that." She pulled away from him and slammed the car door behind her while Tony made a mental note to put a bottle of his usual shampoo in his car, just in case.