Gibbs pulled up and parked in front of the sandwich place he'd asked McGee to meet him at. Taking a deep breath, he let it out slowly in a sigh of nervousness and frustration. How had things gotten so far out of hand? What would it take to get things back on track? Could they even get there?

As he shook his head lightly to clear the mess of questions vying for space in his head, he got out and headed inside. He hadn't noticed Tim's car outside so he guessed that his agent hadn't arrived yet. Glancing at his watch, he noted it was just a few minutes before the requested meeting time and so the guy wasn't exactly late yet, but still it wasn't like him to cut it close like this. Tim was the epitome of punctuality as Tony liked to describe him.

Entering the eating establishment, it was clearly busy, yet it easy to spot McGee who surprisingly was already here, seated in a booth away from the hustle and chaos of the lunch crowd, hunched over what looked like a drink. Making his way over to the booth, Gibbs felt his gut clench. The kid did not look happy to be here. Hopefully it was just his over-active nerves working and not a genuine unwillingness to be here.

"McGee." Gibbs greeted his agent quietly as he slid into the seat opposite the younger man.

"Boss." Tim answered nervously as he slid his eyes up to meet Gibbs' only long enough for Gibbs to see just how scared the guy really was.

"Relax, McGee. I meant what I said. I just wanna talk." The older man kept his voice calm and reassuring.

"Okay." Tim's voice was chock full of nerves and uncertainity. He'd never been very good at hiding it when he thought his job or his good standing with the boss was in trouble.

"I owe you an apology." Gibbs offered sincerely.

"For what?" Tim was genuinely surprised. This was not what he'd been expecting.

The obvious fact that Tim hadn't been expecting an apology from him after everything that had happened in the last four days irritated Gibbs at himself even more. Was he really that much of a bastard to this kid? Why?

"Where do I start?" Gibbs offered. "Let's start with the phone calls that didn't go well. You accepted the crappy way the first one was handled and you let it go. I appreciate that. But, then you tried to tell me something important and I shut you down before you could get it out. I am sorry. You deserved better."

"Thank you." Tim was shocked into a humble answer.

"I don't want you worryin' about that ticket. Vance had the guy re-write it so no one could accuse you of trying to get out of it or us of trying to cover it up. Nothing more."

"Oh." Tim breathed out on a sigh of relief. He hadn't known what to think of that whole mess.

"You'll have a ticket on your record now, but maybe your otherwise spotless driving record will help you out there."

"Okay."

"Tell me something."

"Okay."

"Is Tony right? You're trying to protect me with this suspension?"

Tim couldn't bring himself to admit it. It would be like saying Gibbs had done something wrong and that wasn't something Tim was used to doing; especially in private conversations with the man. His eyes suddenly became fixed on the table in front of his water glass.

"McGee? I'm not gonna smack you for telling me the truth. C'mon. Out with it."

"Yeah. He's right." Tim finally said quietly.

"Can you explain what has you thinking that?"

"She's your favorite."

"Yeah, Well, I've never made that a secret."

"No, you haven't. "

"And?

Tim shook his head slightly, unwilling to take this any further.

"Let me make this easy for you, all right? The problem is that I favor Abby and I've never blamed her for anything. Instead I've always been quick to blame you without even giving you the chance to explain anything. Does that about cover it?"

Tim's downcast eyes filled with relief as well as surprise. "For the most part." He admitted without changing his tone or volume.

"Fill in the blanks." Gibbs requested. "Start with why you didn't call me as soon as you got everyone back to the university in Mexico."

"We just covered that." Tim admitted.

"Ah. Okay. You didn't call me because you thought I'd jump your ass for it happening in the first place and wouldn't have listened to anything you'd needed to say. You figured I'd only hold you responsible and not Abby."

"Yeah."

"Hmm. Well, I can see where you'd think that. All right. I'll give you that one. But answer me this. Did you try to get the driver that took you out there to turn back?"

"Several times."

"Okay. What happened?"

"He was too taken with Abby to listen to me." Tim answered with a large dose of bitterness.

"McGee." Gibbs breathed out in frustration at what Tim must have been facing down there with no backup and no way to regain control of a dangerous situation; except to offer up his own life in exchange for all of theirs. The guy must have been terrified. "Have you talked to anyone about it?" He asked compassionately.

"Professional? No. I don't need that on my record, too." Tim choked out. Finally talking about it like this was bringing back the sense of sheer terror that had risen up inside him as he'd stood there waiting for the answer to his offer of his life for those of the rest of the group as well as Abby.

"Tim, listen to me. I am damn proud of what you did down there. I'm sorry I haven't said so sooner. But, more important; I am sorry, you couldn't call on me for help. You should never have to doubt that I'll have your back like that."

Tim took a shuddering breath and got to his feet, needing some air before he did something foolish, like give in to the sudden rise of belated reaction to what he'd faced and feared alone in Mexico. Looking down at the floor, Tim told him one more truth. "I didn't call you because I thought you'd fire me as soon as you heard about what happened." Having spoken of the deepest fear he'd had where Gibbs was concerned, Tim sped out of the diner.

Gibbs mentally kicked himself for waiting this long to talk to his agent about this. It was obvious that this should have been dealt with as soon as it had come to light. Now, God only knew how deep Tim had buried it all. With the fear of being fired over it, it was no wonder the kid had kept it all locked up and Gibbs knew he was responsible for this chain reaction not only getting so far out of control, but for it obviously tearing at this young man's heart and soul. Quickly, he followed Tim out into the fresh air and away from the crowds.

As Tim found a secluded spot, and unaware that Gibbs had followed him; the emotions that had been forced into hiding, now came out in waves . It took all of Tim's inner strength to hold it down to mere tears sliding down his face when what he really wanted to do was scream at the world that he'd been scared for his life and for the life of the entire group; that he'd felt so helpless it had damn near choked the life out of him, as he'd waited for the answer as to whether they'd take his freedom in exchange for the others; that while he was fighting to force all of this into hiding, all Vance had given a damn about was why Tim hadn't reported it in the first place. All Gibbs would have cared about; was Abby.

Gibbs stepped up to his obviously hurting agent and quietly spoke to him in hopes of calming him down. The tears coursing down the young man's face was a flashing neon sign that told the boss that there was a whole lot going on here that needed to be dealt with now, rather than later because it had already been too long. "Tim. Talk to me. Let it out."

Tim shook his head, unwilling to let Gibbs know just how weak he'd felt when lives had depended on him being strong and in control.

"You don't have to hide from me. I don't expect you to be strong all the time."

"I know." Tim managed to get out. He knew Gibbs thought he was weak. It was why he never got the assignments that spoke of trust and faith in his abilities; like Tony and Ziva always got handed. Tim didn't fault them. He, like Gibbs, only blamed himself. After all, he was weak, right? It was pretty damn safe to say that Tony would have handled the situation in Mexico much better. Then again, Tony would have been able to put his foot down and been taken seriously and it never would have gotten to that point it had gotten to with Tim there. This just kept getting worse.

As Tim's thoughts kept running free, his eyes filtered so many emotions, it was hard to keep up. Finally, instead of trying to silently figure things out, Gibbs laid a hand on his arm and gently manovered him to a nearby bench.

"Talk to me. I can't help you if you don't let me in."

Tim kept his silence, unsure of where to begin letting the boss in to what was going through his overburdened heart and mind. It was almost too much to sort through, how was he supposed to let a 'bottom-line' guy into the chaos of everything that talking about this had brought up? Even with the silence, the tears didn't stop, They were easing the pressure of feeling like he still needed to explode.

"Tim. I wasn't there for you then. I haven't been here for you before. But, I'm here for you now. Tell me what's got you this upset." Gibbs' persistent sympathetic request to be let in finally opened the door.

"I thought I'd never live to see another day." Tim whispered. "I'd never been so scared in my life. Not even in that women's prison."

"Because you were trying to save so many people all by yourself." Gibbs compassionately reasoned out what Tim was thinking.

"Yeah." Tim answered as the sobs he'd been forcing down suddenly rose up in rebellion. "I was sure they were just gonna laugh at me and not take me seriously, just like everyone else does. I was so sure they were gonna start killing everyone, point blank, right then and there." The shaking grew in intensity as the emotional shock was finally allowed the space to run its' course.

"You gotta let it out, Tim. Stop tryin' to hold it in." Gibbs encouraged

"You already think I'm weak." Tim's whispered admission tore at Gibbs' heartstrings.

No, McGee. I don't. That's not what I said. Definitely not what I meant. Now, do yourself a favor and let it out. You're not alone anymore."

As Tim's resolve to keep it all inside where those who already considered him weak couldn't see his vulnerability and repressed reaction to it all; hearing his boss repeatedly encourage him to let it out was wreaking havoc on that control and soon enough, the gates were thrown open and the once harnessed storm finally raged.