It had been two hours after Gibbs had left and Tony and Ziva were getting worried. They sought Ducky's advice and the M.E. smiled at their unspoken worry that something had happened between Jethro and Timothy because he knew that there was no reason for it at all. He decided that aversion was probably the best course of action so he distracted them by asking if they'd heard from Abby.

As they launched into a discussion of how things probably stood with Abby, Tony couldn't help but raise the question of how it would be possible for McGee to work with her again. Ducky was quick to point out that it was a question only Timothy would be able to answer and it was their job to do their best to work on their own relationship with Abby and dealing with what she'd done. How it had affected the team was something they were all going to have to deal with and put behind them somehow.

It took a good thirty minutes of talking things out before they felt reassured and returned to their desks to try to get some work done. Neither of them wanted Gibbs to have reason to be ticked off at them when he did come back. They threw themselves into the case work and before they'd realized it, another hour had gone by with still no sign of Gibbs.

Ziva was buried in the reading that she had in front of her and felt the sudden urge to look up towards the elevator on the floor above them. The unknown urge was explained when she saw Gibbs step off with McGee and she felt a moment of shock jolt through her. Neither seemed upset with the other, but rather, quite the opposite. McGee actually seemed relaxed for the first time since this whole fiasco had begun and Gibbs seemed to almost be trying to reassure him of something, judging by the way he wasn't allowing any unnecessary distance between them.

As Ziva steadily watched the two of them walk to the Director's Office, Tony seemed to notice something was up and looked over at her and then turned to look at what she seemed to be fascinated with; only to find himself barely catching a glimpse of Gibbs and Probie entering the Directors' Office. It was hard to say who was more shocked of the two but Tony was quick to voice his.

"What the hell's going on? I hope to hell it's not what it looks like!" Tony's fierce declaration and question brought a smile to Ziva's face.

"Relax, Tony, Gibbs is not leading McGee to the slaughter."

"How did you…"

"Tony, I saw them. Neither of them were tense or upset. Just the opposite, both of them were relaxed and not worried. It will be fine. I think Gibbs has finally convinced McGee to let go of his secret."

"I hope so. But, I hope it's what Tim's willing to do, not just doing it because Gibbs wants him to." Tony answered with an uncharacteristic use of his Probie's first name; a true testatment to how worried about this he was.

"It looked like full cooperation to me, Tony." Ziva attempted to soothe Tony's 'big brother' hackles.

"I hope you're right, Ziva."

Tim smiled timidly at Pam as he and Gibbs walked sedately into Vance's office after she'd announced them. He hadn't had a chance to talk to her since he'd talked to Tony over breakfast and told him everything but he was fairly confident that she'd be happy with the fact that this was all would be over soon. The only exception to that would, of course, be their relationship still being kept secret. He meant what he'd told Tony. He'd quit NCIS before he cost Pam her own prestigious career as the Assistant to the Director of a Federal Agency.

As Gibbs calmly shut the door behind him and gestured for his agent to walk ahead of him over to Vance's desk, Tim's heart suddenly seemed to fail him and drop down to his toes. Gibbs must have sensed it as he calmly laid a reassuring hand on Tim's back for a second before he dropped his hand and stood shoulder to shoulder with him.

"What's going on? Agent McGee, you come to tell me what I want to know?" Vance asked with his best poker face.

"Yes, Sir." Tim answered solomnly

"Okay, I'm listening."

Twenty minutes later:

"Agent McGee, while I understand your reasoning, non-disclosure isn't always the right way to go. Had you spoken to use earlier than we would have been able to help you."

"Sir, with all due respect, as I just explained to you, I had good reason to believe that the way I chose to handle this was the best for all involved. I do accept responsibility for the fact that things got out of hand."

Vance sat back with an empathetic look on his face. He had tried to show nothing but complete understanding and compassion for Tim's plight and had even softened his stance when it came to the hostage incident. Now he had to make sure this didn't' happen again. But, first he'd let him have the good news.

"Ok, now that's out of the way. I will tell you this. This has not been nor was it going to be in your file as a suspension."

Tim's mouth dropped for a mili-second before he found his inner self-control and closed it, despite still feeling the shock.

"This past week has officially been classified as paid vacation. Sure, it eats into your leave time but it's a damn sight better than an official reprimand on your personnel file. You've got the next week off too, if you want it." Vance smiled as Tim's eyes widened to the point that his eyebrows shot up into his hairline.

"Director, I don't know what to say. Thank you."

"I must warn you, Agent, McGee. This time, you got off leniently. The path you took could have had serious repercussions on everyone involved. The entire agency has been affected by the unscheduled week-long absence of two necessary team members. I'm not a hard man, but I will say this, I don't care what reason you had, I will not tolerate this again. The next time you'll be seriously disciplined."

Gibbs glanced up at Vance and realized that he wasn't quite done playing the hard-ass, even if I meant once again, going over the top to make his point to deal with Tim's self-sacrificing attitude. The Senior Agent was quickly becoming pissed. This stern warning was a stark contrast the help that the man had offered previously. It almost sounded as though Leon just couldn't let this go until he'd put the fear of God into McGee, even though he'd just told the Agent that he understood why he'd handled it the way he had.

Tim held himself still as he remained standing in front of the man shakily and sucked in a calming breath before turning his attention to the man who had just given him a get out of jail free card and then threatened him with serious repercussions if it ever happened again. He was confused and grateful in the same breath. He'd handled it the best way he'd thought possible and the man had just told him he understood. How do you understand something but then forbid that same something from happening again? Only his years of training under Gibbs allowed him to control his confusion and reactionary flare of anger. Deliberately giving himself a minute to calm down, he found himself needing some help.

Glancing at Gibbs, he was relieved to find the man was still standing there with him and for him, his eyes now encouraging him to finish this as best he could. Taking a deep breath, he looked back at the Director, and told the man what he knew he needed to hear, thankful that the man didn't read him as well as Gibbs did.

"Thank, you Director Vance. I appreciate your help and understanding with this and promise that I will not let it happen again."

"Good. Now, that we have an understanding, you're free to come back a week from Monday . "

He waited for the director to nod once and continued "erm…I would like to ask whether I could possibly come back to work today?"

"You don't want the next week as vacation?"

"No sir. I need to keep some leave available in case a family emergency comes up. That way I've always got something to fall back on."

"Ok. Welcome back Agent McGee. You do have the rest of the week off though remember so I'll leave it up to you. If you choose to come back to work, then you will still lose those vacation days." Vance reminded him.

Tim sent a small smile of genuine gratitude to Gibbs who nodded silently at him in acceptance and it was then then and only then, that Tim left the two men alone to hash out whatever was coming down between them.

That much had been Gibbs' expectation. After helping Tim let go of everything he'd been carrying inside, Gibbs had talked to him like never before, man to man. He'd firmly attached himself to the responsibility that hadn't been Tim's to carry and no longer was acceptable on the younger man's shoulders. Gibbs had been adamant that Tim let the truth out and let Gibbs take what was coming, as was his due for screwing up and not being the better Team Leader that he should have been.

No sooner had Tim left the office than Vance rounded on Gibbs and glared at him.

"You don't have to say it, Leon. I know. I screwed up."

"Why the hell didn't you say something sooner?"

"Because I didn't see it sooner, Leon. We don't always see what we're doing to other people, I don't have to tell you that. I only got him to open up and let me in over lunch and that was only because I practically ordered him to meet me so we could talk."

"What about now? What am I supposed to do with these two now? It doesn't take a genius to see that they won't be able to work together very cohesively after this. This agency has suffered enough over this, Gibbs! I want this resolved and I want it resolved, now!"

"Let me handle my team, Leon. I've got this. Besides, I think you've already put enough fear into him as it is. I don't know about McGee, but I'm kinda confused. You tell him you understand why he handled it the way he did, but then you read him the riot act for it."

"Let you handle it? Like you handled them before? As for putting some fear into him, I had to make sure he doesn't handle things like this again. Then again, that's your job."

"Glad we agree on something, Leon."

"I'm not sure you're up to the challenge, Gibbs."

"Give me a break, Leon; I know them a hell of a lot better than you do. I pulled McGee on to this team myself. He trusts me.

"That why he was willing to throw himself under the bus for you?"

"That won't happen again. Just let me handle it."

"Fine. You can have Agent McGee back as soon as he decides to do so. His choice whether it's today or Monday. Ms. Scuito's suspension stays in place. And I expect you to not let there ever be a repeat of McGee's motivation. If it does, the axe will fall on your head, not his. As a matter of fact, if it happens again, I'll transfer him to a team leader that he won't have any doubts about having his back."

"Then what was all that you just gave him?

"Insurance"

"Understood."

Tim felt marginally better for getting everything off his chest and where he now no longer felt like the lone soldier on the battlefield, he did now feel flooded with anger that these discussions of what happened in Mexico had released. This anger was worse than what he'd felt on the flight home, because this anger now had allies and substantiated substance. It was building to a roaring inferno and he didn't like feeling like this or know how to stop it. He'd never felt this angry at Abby before. Realizing that part of his anger was directed at Vance's mixed messages didn't help him work through it.

Thankfully, he had a healthier relationship with Gibbs now and finally felt like he could talk to the man. Tim's respect for the man grew by leaps and bounds, helped tremendously by the boss' promise to never let Tim be put in that position again. Gibbs' promise to work hard at not treating Abby so much like the favored child certainly helped too.

But, mention of Abby had brought up other concerns, and thankfully, the boss had been open to hearing those, too. Compromises were worked out and peace and unity were restored that afternoon. And all it had taken was Gibbs' willingness to reach out to the young man. The results were remarkable in how much lighter his spirit felt even if he still had the anger to deal with.

With the control he needed to get back into the game, as he'd requested the right to do, Tim took a deep breath and returned to the squad room. He let Tony and Ziva fuss over him; for a minute. Then he returned to his desk and relished sitting behind it once again. He'd missed it. As a matter of fact, he wished there was something he could be doing.

"Guys, you need my help with anything?" Tim asked seriously and watched in amazement as his desk became buried under files before the question had finished coming out of his mouth.

With the formally serious looking Tony and Ziva now both grinning like Cheshire cats as they stood in front of the now two foot high stack of work, Tim couldn't help but grin. It was great to be back. But even better was being on the witness side of what came next.

**thwack**
**thwack**

"Ow! Boss?"

"Gibbs?"

"Do your own work. McGee's not your lackey!" Gibbs answered with a smirk.

"Oh, C'mon! He asked if he could help!" Tony complained.

"Help, DiNozzo, not do it all for you. Split that equally or do it all yourself."

Once again, the squad room was full of noise, joking, bantering and all around good cheer, all of its' residents were back where they were supposed to be and the atmosphere reflected it. It was nice to see and even a joy to listen to.