Tim spent a restless night tossing and turning; his jumbled thoughts battled with each other amidst the sea of images that kept randomly surfacing. It was strange laying in a strange bed and he couldn't help but smile at the friendly, easy conversation he had with Ducky the night before.

Last night…..

"I hope you're not adverse to a wee dram with me, my boy." Ducky walked into the living room carrying a bottle of the finest scotch and two glasses.

"Er, Ducky. I'm driving so I don't think it'll be a good idea. Sorry." Tim looked rueful and shook his head sadly.

"Don't be silly. I have a perfectly good guest bedroom upstairs and I would like the chance to talk to my friend." Ducky cocked his head slightly and waited patiently for Tim to answer. He could see the battle raging in the young man's head as he tried to decide exactly what to do.

"Alright. I'll admit, it'd be nice to be able to talk and you already know my deep, dark secret." Tim chuckled and accepted the glass of scotch that was passed to him. "That and Pam kinda hinted at me about the wisdom of staying overnight so I wouldn't be alone. She's taking Jethro for the night so I don't have to worry about him."

"Ahh, she's got a good heart and a sound mind. So why argue with us?"

"I didn't want to impose. I'm relieved you know, Ducky."

"So am I. So…." Ducky sat down in the chair with a contented sigh and sipped at his drink "How long have you and young Pamela been seeing each other. I will admit, I didn't really see that one coming."

"Not long. Long enough to know we really like each other and we get on so well, but…." Tim paused and hung his head to stare at the glass that was being nursed between his two hands.

"But? Timothy, you have the right to be happy."

"I am; or at least I was." Tim sighed heavily "Life with Pam is good, Ducky. Real good, but Mexico has really knocked me for a loop. I mean, what the hell is wrong wit…." Tim cut himself dead and shook his head with a deep rooted sadness.

"But what? What is it that is bothering you?" Ducky tried to push the conversation but it was obvious that Tim had shut himself off from this particular conversation.

"It doesn't matter now."

"Tell me you you succeeded in getting Pam to go out with you." Ducky asked so the conversation wouldn't get uncomfortable where Tim didn't want it to go.

Tim settled back and started to regale Ducky with his tale. After about an hour and more than a couple of refills, Tim was feeling that warm, tingly feeling that could only be associated with a sens of being at peace.

Present time….

Tim finally rolled out of bed and shuffled towards Ducky's kitchen. He was expecting to find the M.E. sitting at the breakfast table sipping on a mug of the tea that he loved so much, reading the morning newspaper; he had no idea, but it was something that he had always imagined his 'Uncle' doing. Tim sighed at the pang of guilt he felt for keeping Ducky in the dark the night before and rubbed at his eyes; he really was starting to feel exhausted and knew for a fact that he pretty much looked the part as well. He readied himself to talk to Ducky about his inability to sleep in the hope that the M.E. would be able to give him something but stopped short when he finally made it tothe kitchen; he was totally unprepared for the emptiness and blanched slightly before seeing the note that the older man had placed on the table.

Timothy:

Do not feel the need to rush off because you are more than welcome to make yourself at home; to be honest, I would be happy for the company. If you so wish; you could invite Pamela over for dinner and the two of you could spend some time together without fear of discovery; although I must say, I believe you are putting yourself through that particular worry needlessly and should be able to have an open relationship with little or no fear of it affecting your job. Nevertheless, I will leave your relationship in your own very capable hands; to deal with as you see fit.

The offer for dinner stands and you must consider it to be an open invitation with no expiration date.

Please do call me and let me know what you decide?

Ducky

Tony and Ziva had agreed to drive into this morning so they could talk as they grabbed breakfast before they started in to work; it had been a mutual consent that they had agreed on the night before and hoped that they would be able to sort through some of the confusion that plagued them both.

They were completely silent on the drive to the coffee shop and the mood was heavy on both their parts; it left them feeling as though they wanted to escape somewhere quiet to sort through their minds despite having the commonality that they could use to fuel the debate. They'd wanted this extra time to talk about the situation with Tim; something that neither of them tried and so, they reached the coffee shop; got out of the car and walked into the shop to place their orders. They waited with a heavy silence and accepted the drinks with nothing more than a 'thank you 'and headed out with the three drinks; one each for them and the third for Gibbs, before heading back to the car to continue with their journey. As the car ate up the few miles between that stop and the navy yard, the quietness started to be oppressive and unbearably heavy. Finally, Ziva couldn't stand it any longer.

"Tony, you wanted us to talk but you have said nothing. What is going on with you?" Ziva's exasperation was palpable.

"Just trying to figure out who Probie's sacrificing himself for. We now know it's not Abby but short of her, who the else would he do it for?" Tony said distractedly.

"Tony, McGee would sacrifice himself for anyone of us on this team and we both know this. It is no different than what you or I would do, if it became necessary." Ziva reminded him gently; she had a point and could almost hear the cogs turning in her partners head.

"Yeah, Okay. I'll give you that one but we know it's not me, you and it sure as hell isn't Abby. Ducky wouldn't give anyone a reason to sacrifice themselves for him….well, except that situation with that woman from his past; but, well, you know what I mean." Tony stumbled along with his rambling as he tried reason things out verbally.

"Yes, Tony. I do understand what you mean. If you are correct, and I believe that you are; then that leaves Gibbs as the person McGee is trying to protect. But, that does not make any sense. Why would he need to protect Gibbs? And what does Gibbs have to do with what happened in Mexico when he was not even there?"Whatever it is going on is serious enough that McGee feels as though his job is worth this sacrifice."

"Yeah, I know and that's what worries me, Ziva. Alright, we know that Probie's in trouble with Vance because he didn't include Abby's shenanigans down in Mexico in his official report. And we know that he's in trouble for not answering Vance's question as to why he didn't include that in his report." Tony was looking thoughtful as he tried to make sense of things out loud.

"Wait! How is it that you know exactly what McGee is in trouble for? He has not specified this and I have not heard it from anyone else." Ziva glared at Tony.

"It was on the paper Probie handed Gibbs yesterday. I've got 20/20 vision, Ziva and Gibbs wasn't exactly hiding it as he was holding it."

"Well then, the only thing we do not know is what that has to do with Gibbs' job and why McGee feels such a deep need to protect it." Ziva easily tagged onto the Tony's train of thought but before Tony could answer, his cell phone rang; cutting the discussion dead in its tracks.

"DiNozzo."

"Where are you? Get in here, We got a case!" Gibbs's voice barked the order into Tony's ear.

"We're 2 minutes out, Boss."

"Good, don't bother comin' in, just meet me in the lot."

"On it, Boss." Tony pushed his foot on the gas a tad bit harder and rushed to park the car. Ziva quickly grabbed their bagged breakfast and tray of coffees, and in record time, they soon met Gibbs out at the Agency Fleet lot.

Tim piddled around at Ducky's for a good hour before tidying up after himself and heading home; He had felt at a complete loss after a while and decided to go to a place where he would feel more comfortable. He stopped off to get Jethro on his way but once he was in the parking lot of the kennel facility; he found he couldn't get out of the car. This wasn't the first time that thoughts of owning this dog brought unhappy memories and genuine hurt down on him. After all, their history was as rocky and far from normal as any human and dog's could possibly have been. But, that wasn't the entire problem; the person who had practically shoved the two of them onto each other, was the real issue at hand. And while Tim had to admit he'd been the one to cave in; when she'd bullied him into it; since then he had never really been able to look at Jethro without seeing Abby in his mind. But now; when his mind conjured up a vision of Abby it was one of her during the time she was being absolutely horrible to him and hearing her say:

"Ok, sometimes you have to look at the reality in front of you and just accept it. You are taking Jethro. Accept it"

At the time, he had resented having the dog that had attacked him foisted on him; he had been expected to roll over and obey Abby at all costs, leaving him feeling like a pawn in whatever game she was playing. Tim thumped his head back against the headrest as he remembered snippets of the conversations that they had had at the time.

Flashback…

"You shot that cute little dog?"
"How could you shoot an innocent animal, McGee?"

"If you think I can't distinguish the fibers from your stupid jacket from the evidence on the dog; you don't know me, McGee and right now I don't wanna know you!"

"Good dog…BAD MCGEE!"

Bad McGee? He remembered wanting to shout at her at the time; he had wanted to make her realize that he was in pain after being savagely mauled by a dog hyped up on cocaine and having to drive that same dog back to the yard. But no, he wouldn't do that to her. Abby's attitude as soon as she found out that the dog had been shot; had done a complete 180 degree turn; and climbed in intensity as she'd snatched his expensive jacket to wrap the dog up in. It had climbed even further out of control as soon as he asked her if she wasn't compromising the evidence with his jacket. It was that situation, that in all honesty, gave him his beloved Jethro; it was just unfortunate that it was seriously tainted by the bitterness of Abby's pushy, hurtful attitude and thoughtless comments and snide remarks. The fact that when that case was solved; Abby had conveniently acted as though none of what she'd said or done, had even happened had been a huge slap in the face.

Breathing out a huge sigh of frustration, Tim forced himself to turn from those memories and think back on his conversation with Pam earlier this morning. He smiled as he remembered her sweet voice soothing his soul just after he'd woken up:

"Hey Honey, did you stay at Ducky's?"

"Yeah. Thanks for suggesting it. It was nice to not have to drive home after the crappy day yesterday. Jethro driving you crazy?"

"Of course not, Tim. You know how much I love him. He misses you though. He'll be really happy to see you when you pick him up this morning."

"Yeah, he probably will be." Tim said quietly; his heart obviously not in it.

"Tim? What's wrong?" Pam asked in concern.

"Just got a lot on my mind, Honey. Did you sleep good last night?"

"Yeah, ready to face the day. What are you gonna do with your day?"

"I'm not sure yet." Tim admitted sadly, he hadn't even thought about what he was going to do with himself now that he didn't have to go into work.

"Well, hopefully, you'll use the time to think things through some more?"

"Yes, I promise. I will. Oh, hey, Ducky's invited us to have dinner with him tonight. You interested?"

"You told him about us?"

"Well, he kinda walked in on the tail end of our conversation last night. And he gave me his word that he'd keep it to himself."

"You know, I'm kind of relieved. He's a good man. Okay. Yeah, dinner together would be wonderful."

"Great. I'll see you tonight then."

"Okay, see you then."

Even as he thought back over that refreshing conversation, Tim couldn't seem to shake this melancholy mood he'd found himself in. For the first time in ages, couldn't bring himself to even look at his dog. The kennel, thankfully had the set up that allowed the dogs out in their spacious facility's outside area, that Jethro would be just fine here and was always happy here as well.

So, instead of getting out of his car, he'd called the place and arranged to have his pet's stay extended and turned around to go back to Ducky's. He walked through the front door before sighing and took himself back to bed. He hadn't done that in as long as he could remember. But, somehow, he had no energy to do anything else. The night of tossing and turning had caught up with him and he gave in to the exhaustion that claimed him