Chapter 6
Present...
"How is it going, Agent Gibbs?"
Gibbs thought back over everything that had happened in the past week. Tim's confession, his strange reactions, his sudden success.
"That good, huh?"
"McGee's feeling the pressure, but he's doing a good job."
"Specifically?"
"He's finally met some of the decision makers."
"That's good. Is he in?"
"He thinks he is. He had to hack into Norfolk to show them that."
"I know. He sent me a message. It's a good thing, too, because he made too much noise and the people at Norfolk had a minor meltdown about someone getting into their system."
"When did he send you a message?"
Vance gave Gibbs a look that made him feel uncomfortable. "Last night. Didn't you know?"
"No."
"What's going on, Agent Gibbs? Aren't you in contact with Agent McGee?"
"Constantly."
"Not enough if you're not aware of what he's doing. Did you know he was going to hack into Norfolk?"
"No. I assume that was a last minute decision when they asked him for proof of his ability."
"Do you agree with his methods?"
"Yes. He had me convinced." Too convinced.
"In your opinion, are we on track?"
"Yes."
"Good. Now that the official stuff is out of the way, how is he doing? There's a lot of pressure on him, and I'm sure he could use the support of the team."
"He's fine."
"So Tony and Ziva have stopped making him feel as though his position is a mistake on my part?"
"They've been working with him since you made the assignment."
Vance brushed that away. "That's because they're good at their jobs and know when they have orders. Are they giving him the kind of support he'll need to withstand the pressure of this kind of operation?"
"McGee hasn't made any complaints."
"That's a non-answer, Gibbs, and you know it."
"McGee is doing fine. Tony and Ziva are his backup like you ordered."
Vance looked more or less unconvinced by Gibbs' statement.
"Does McGee know that?"
"Of course. They aren't treating him any differently."
Gibbs spoke with as much certainty as he usually did, but he couldn't help wondering about Tim failing to mention his communication with Vance...and Vance's expression wasn't encouraging.
"Keep me informed, Agent Gibbs."
Gibbs merely nodded and left.
It was a long drive back.
x.x.x.x.x.x.x
Ziva watched as Tim sat at his computer. The screen wasn't facing the camera; so she couldn't see what he was doing, but all his attention seemed to be on it.
"He still hasn't put in the earwig?" Tony asked irritably.
"No. He has not. He is working as he has been all morning."
"Working on what? If he's waiting for our stooges to contact him again..."
The door opened.
"Hey, Boss. We're waiting for McGee to deign to listen to us again."
"Call him."
"Yes, Boss." Tony grabbed the phone and dialed.
"Tell him to come over here. We need to discuss future strategy."
Ziva watched. "He does not want to answer the phone, but he will."
"You sure about that, Ziva?" Tony asked as they watched Tim stare at his ringing phone.
"What, Tony?" Tim asked.
"You remember that little thing we gave you to wear? You know, that thing that was supposed let us be in contact with you if we needed to talk?"
"What do you want, Tony?"
"I want you to be in contact."
"If I have something to say, I'll say it," Tim said, looking up at the camera. "Now, do you?"
"Do I what?"
"Have something to say?"
"I usually do, Probie."
There was a long pause and then Ziva felt a measure of relief when Tim smiled.
"That's for sure. What do you want?"
"We need to chat. Come on over to my place."
A typical Tim grimace made Ziva feel even better. The strange resentment seemed to be gone.
"Is this vital to national security or can I put on my shoes first?" He sat back and lifted up his stocking feet.
"Oh, by all means, put on your shoes, McGee. We just need to talk strategy."
She couldn't be sure, but Ziva thought that for a moment the smile on Tim's face flickered before he hung up (without saying good-bye), leaned over and began putting on his shoes.
Tony paused only briefly before hanging up himself and looking at Gibbs.
"McGee's acting really weird, Boss. Last night, he barely talked to us."
"Yes, and he has been...strange."
"Are you saying that he's losing track of which side he's on?"
"No!" Tony said instantly. "No...which surprises me a little, but he doesn't seem to feel any sort of identification with these people."
"No, not even with Julia which I find very surprising. I assumed that he would be more like you, Tony."
"More like me?"
"Falling in love with his mark."
"Thanks, Ziva. I really appreciate the reminder."
"I was only–"
Thwack!
Ziva rubbed her head and glared.
"Keep on topic. Are you worried about McGee messing up?"
"Not at the moment. He's got his persona down. Actually, I think he could take a few tips from Mr. MacKay."
"He certainly is more assertive as this man. I would not have thought it possible." She grinned. "It makes me wonder how he might have acted inside the club had the case not ended. He was more confident there as well."
"Why can't he be like that as McGeek?"
Thwack!
"Sorry, Boss."
"No, Gibbs. I would not have thought it possible, but McGee is doing a good job. I am merely worried that he will not be able to maintain this level for as long as might be necessary."
"Being undercover is hard," Tony agreed, "and McGee's pretty green."
"Just keep an eye on him and if you think he might fumble it, let me know. We've already got quite a bit. We could pull out early."
"It is not enough, though, Gibbs. In order to break the ring, he will have to be all the way inside and that will take time."
"I still say I could have–"
Thwack!
"It doesn't matter, DiNozzo. We've got a job to do now. Can you handle that?"
"Yeah, Boss," Tony said, with only a small amount of resentment.
x.x.x.x.x.x.x
Tim listened to the conversation, knowing that they didn't realize he could still hear them as they talked about him. Every good thing they said was accompanied with caveats. What would it take for them to accept that he might be good at this? He felt Thomas' anger at being passed over yet again...but he also felt a slight bit of preening on Thomas' part that they seemed to like him so much.
It was probably a good thing that no one had heard him last night. That moment of weakness couldn't be repeated. He would have to stick it out to the bitter end, no matter the consequences. He knew they couldn't see it...and it boggled his mind that they couldn't. They were nibbling at it...but they didn't care enough to probe. That hurt Tim. It was wrong, horribly wrong that these people he counted as friends (or had counted as friends) were so dismissive.
There was a question he now needed to answer: how much of Thomas should he let come out while he was with them? Could he distance himself and let it be Thomas more than Tim who was communicating with them? That seemed to be who they wanted anyway. However, if they knew it was Thomas speaking, they would think there was something wrong...because they didn't see the contradiction. It was going to come down to him being Thomas without being Thomas.
Thomas was the last person he wanted to be, but it seemed as though it would be necessary in order to get this job done, in order to get their respect.
A deep breath.
Thomas gave a toothy grin at a man who was watching him too closely and then continued on his leisurely stroll. It didn't particularly bother him what was being asked of him. If it led to accolades, who cared?
x.x.x.x.x.x.x
Thomas climbed the stairs and knocked on the door.
"McGee, it's about time."
"You said it wasn't urgent," Thomas said. "I didn't want to attract attention by looking like I was heading off to meet someone."
Tony rolled his eyes and Thomas quashed the anger. Nothing was good enough for Tony, not if he wasn't the one doing it.
"McGee, it is nice to see you in person. I dislike having to watch," Ziva said with a smile.
Thomas parsed that. It could be genuine or another dig.
"Always nice to be seen, I guess," Thomas said, speaking carefully using Tim's intonations. "What is it that I'm doing here, Boss?"
"First, you want to tell me why you sent Vance a message last night and didn't tell us?"
Tim blinked in surprise. Of all the things he didn't think he deserved to be lectured about this hadn't even made the list.
"What?"
"You contacted Vance? When? Why?" Tony asked.
"I sent him a message about hacking Norfolk. Why is this a problem?"
"It's a problem because you failed to mention it to us. They knew you were there, by the way," Gibbs said, thinking he was adding another layer to the accusation.
Thomas laughed. "Good. I was hoping they would. I made enough noise that they should have eventually."
"Why?"
"If I need to send a warning, like I did last night, I'd like to know that someone was listening."
"Why didn't you mention that to us, Probie?"
Tim laughed incredulously. "Why does it matter? I was seeing what I could get away with, how much they knew about computers in general and hacking specifically. They didn't even bother to watch me. I'll be able to do a lot more than I thought. I sent a message to Vance to forestall any problem he might have had with the Norfolk brass."
"You could have said something, McGee," Ziva said.
"Why are you all treating me like I've done something wrong?" Thomas asked. "It's like I broke some cardinal code by not telling you my every movement. You repeatedly tell me not to explain my methods when I work on cases. Why do you care now?"
"Because you're keeping stuff from us."
"Oh, please, Tony," Thomas scoffed. "You could see that I was hacking into Norfolk. I didn't think to tell you that I also sent a message. It's not like I could have mentioned it in the middle of my hacking." He mimed looked at a camera. "'Hey, guys, don't worry! I'm just sending Vance a message!'"
Thwack!
Thomas gritted his teeth but only looked at Gibbs and asked, "Was there anything else?"
"We need to talk about how we're going to keep in contact with you once you get hired."
"If he gets hired," Tony muttered.
"I'll get hired. They want my skills. Why can't we just go on as we have been?"
"Because they'll probably be more sensitive about letting you into their business. We can't risk a wire being seen...or the earwig."
"Okay. I can see that, but it's not like you can follow me inside. What will you do instead?"
"We can at least have something to trace your position in case things go south," Gibbs said.
"I have a GPS locator in my phone," Thomas said, strangely loath to let them pinpoint his exact position everywhere he went.
"And if they take your phone away, Probie? What if your cover is blown?"
"Well, you knowing where I am probably won't stop them from putting a bullet through my skull, Tony."
"He's right about that, Boss."
"Something must be done."
"A GPS tracker is just the beginning," Gibbs said. "I've already got Abby on it. She said she'd contact me when she figures something ingenious out."
"Abby will," Thomas said with a smile.
"Even if she has to squeeze every drop out of the Caf-Pow! machine," Tony agreed.
Thomas felt his smile fade a little. Why could they accept Abby's intelligence and not his?
"For now, we're going with the locator in the shoe."
"That didn't work so well for me, Boss."
"How many streams have you seen around here, DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked.
"None, but I didn't plan on falling into a stream either."
Thomas sighed and interrupted. "I can't really tell you what to expect until they contact me. When they do, I'll let you know."
"Speaking of, wear the earwig more often, Probie."
Thomas paused. "I was wearing it all the way over here, Tony." He waited.
It passed them by. He supposed he shouldn't have been surprised.
"Yes, it is hard to have to get your attention by calling, particularly when you avoid answering the phone, McGee."
"I'll keep in better contact. I promise," Thomas said, crossing his heart. "Can I go now or did I do something else wrong?"
"Are you feeling all right, McGee?" Tony asked.
Thomas laughed but reined in on his confidence. They obviously didn't like Tim being so un-Tim-like. If only they knew...
"I'm feeling fine. I didn't get a lot of sleep last night, too keyed up, I guess. In fact, I'd better go grab a nap before tonight."
"Yeah, you wouldn't want to disappoint 'Jewel', would you?"
Tim got up and walked to the door. As he turned the knob, he looked back. "No, Tony, I wouldn't. She's hard to please." Then, he walked out and listened to them talk as he headed back to his apartment.
Everything they said was both valid and irritating. It was like no matter what he couldn't be good enough. Be Thomas and he was acting strangely. Be Tim and he was a wuss. They couldn't accept anything that he was.
Why am I trying to please them? What do their opinions matter?
Tim thought about suppressing the irritation, but it helped him be Thomas...and doing well with this assignment was probably the only thing that he could do that would give him some sort of satisfaction.
As he walked through the streets, he could hear them. He wondered if they'd ever realize that he could hear them. He didn't know why they'd forgotten to turn off the microphone. It was a good thing he was secure as Thomas now. They'd be royally screwing him up if he wasn't.
x.x.x.x.x.x.x
Thomas spent most of the evening with Julia in the back...without the earwig. He didn't miss having them talking to him at all.
When he got back to his apartment, he purposely failed to put the earwig in.
He went right to sleep.
