Palmer took one look at the raw skin and headed straight for one of the cupboards. He quickly gathered a few supplies and turned back towards his waiting patient. Scolding gently, he carefully flexed the swollen fingers, making sure that nothing was broken. It was easy to guess what had happened, and by the time he finished cleaning and bandaging the scraped knuckles, he'd coaxed the details out of his friend.
McGee had been stuck in court, and it had been late in the day before he'd had an opportunity to check his messages. By the time he'd arrived back at the Navy Yard, Capt. Simmons had already cut a deal with Agent Langley.
Tim had been furious, at Langley for making the deal, at Tony and Gibbs for standing by and allowing it, and, mostly, at Simmons, for hurting his little girl. He hadn't wanted to hear that the deal would see Simmons unceremoniously removed from the Navy and cost him his pension, or that it would spare Leigh and Lt. Nielson the ordeal of testifying against their commanding officer. He hadn't wanted to hear that Leigh herself had agreed, before the offer had even been presented to Simmons. And he really hadn't wanted to hear Langley, DiNozzo and Gibbs telling him that they weren't going to let him see the bastard.
Palmer made sympathetic noises, biting back the 'Duh!' that was sure to further agitate the agent. They'd already had to stop Abby from trying to beat the captain to death with her bare hands; there was no way they were letting Leigh's weapon-carrying father anywhere near the man.
'And what made you decide that punching a brick wall was a reasonable response?' he scolded, gathering up his first aid supplies. He'd already had to cope with more non-dead patients today than he was comfortable with; he really could have done without a second McGee ending up needing his services.
Tim flexed his hand, checking that the irritated ME hadn't cut off the circulation in his fingers. 'Needed to punch something...' he mumbled.
'And a brick wall seemed like the best choice?'
'Gibbs wouldn't let me go find Simmons,' he complained, getting to his feet and heading towards the door with a nod of thanks. 'And it was safer than punching Gibbs...'