CHAPTER FOUR
The next morning, Tony and Ziva arrived at the Admiral's office to relieve Morales and Carter. Both agents looked tired and aggravated.
"Rough night?" Tony tried to look sympathetic as they approached the other agents.
Carter, a tall stocky woman, her dark brown hair pulled into a disheveled bun, rolled her eyes. "I can't imagine why Admiral McGee's men haven't mutinied and stranded him on an island someplace. Preferably with cannibals. The guy is total jerk."
"Oh, c'mon Carter," grinned Morales, "Just because he called you sweetheart and expected you to get coffee and doughnuts is no reason to dislike the man."
"Oh?" Carter lifted an eyebrow. "What about you? He wanted you to go pick up his dry cleaning."
Morales shook his head. "Yeah, it's pretty obvious that he has little use for NCIS agents. Looks at us more like gophers than trained agents here to protect him."
Carter grunted as she picked up her bag. "Okay, I'm outta here. If no one kills him off before tonight, I'll see you guys later."
As Carter disappeared down the hallway, Morales turned to Tony and Ziva. His face was troubled. "Thought you guys might want to know McGee came over last night to talk to his father."
"He told me he was going to," said Tony rubbing his neck. "How did it go?"
Morales grimaced. "Not so good. God, that guy just raked Tim over the coals. We tried not to listen, but that condo isn't very big, y'know? It's like the admiral was determined not to give Tim any credit for anything he's done. Sounds like he was a real bastard while Tim was growing up. Listening to them, you'd never know he was Tim's dad."
Ziva and Tony exchanged glances. They had already experienced first- hand Admiral McGee's disdain for his only son.
"Well," Morales rubbed his shadowed eyes. "That's it for me. Like Carter said, if no one manages to kill him off before tonight, we'll see you later."
"Admiral McGee makes me very angry," growled Ziva gripping her coffee so tightly, the cardboard began to crumple. "McGee is excellent at what he does. He has proven many times over that he can handle himself. I do not understand what it is Admiral McGee wants from him; why he treats him so badly.
"I heard he wanted Tim to go to the Naval Academy and follow the old McGee tradition. But let's face it, McGee just isn't cut out for that kind of life. I mean, the minute he puts one foot on a ship, he starts puking his guts out."
Ziva smiled briefly. McGee's seasickness was legendary. Then she scowled again. "But is that any reason to treat him like he doesn't matter? Like he is incompetent? He is a good man."
Tony just shrugged and set his own cup on his chair by the admiral's office door. "Well, I guess I'd better let McGee's old man know we're here." He took a deep breath and knocked.
Unlike Gibbs, Tony waited for the admiral's aide to call him in. He decided he didn't want to antagonize the admiral any more than necessary.
"Good morning, Agent, uh, DiNozzo, right?" The officer looked at Tony expectantly.
"That's right. I just wanted to let Admiral McGee know that Agent David and I have replaced Agents Carter and Morales."
"Ah yes, Agent Gibbs' team. Well, I will let the Admiral know."
Tony paused and studied the young lieutenant perched behind the desk. Something about him rubbed Tony the wrong way. "Excuse me, Lieutenant, but can I ask you a question?"
The man looked wary. "All right."
"Can you think of any one that would want to kill the admiral?"
The lieutenant glanced at the door and chuckled softly. "A better question might be is there anyone who doesn't want to kill the admiral? But specifically? No."
"So you weren't with him that night?"
"I was still in the office finishing up some paperwork. By the time I got down there, all the excitement was over."
Tony tilted his head. "Anyone see you in the office?"
The aide looked confused for a moment, then affronted. "Are you suggesting that perhaps I tried to kill Admiral McGee?"
"Then you couldn't be more wrong, Agent DiNozzo."
Tony turned to see Admiral McGee glowering in the doorway, arms crossed across his heavily decorated chest.
"We need to investigate all possibilities, Admiral."
Admiral McGee walked over to his aide who now stood stiffly beside the chair and put a hand on the man's shoulder. "Lieutenant Owens was not alone after I left that night. Two other administrative assistants were working with him to finish up some documents we were going to need the following day." He glanced at the younger man. "Jason has been my assistant for over seven years. He's like a son to me. A real son. No reason not to expect him to make admiral on day." He gave Owens a proud smile. "You're barking up the wrong tree here, Agent DiNozzo." He said a quiet few words to Owens and with a final glare at Tony returned to his own office.
Owens lowered himself back into his chair, his face now wore a smug expression. Tony suppressed a strong desire to remove it with one good punch. Real son? What an asshole.
"Well Lieutenant Owens, when you're done brown-nosing, if you do happen to think of anyone, you will let us know, right?"
Owens flushed and Tony was sure he would have said something, but Tony had already slipped out the door closing it firmly behind him.
"Real son?"hissed Ziva, her eyes flashing. "Real son? Who does he think McGee is? Tony, please, let me go in there and break his leg."
Tony placed a hand on her shoulder and laughed. "Believe me Ziva, nothing would make me happier than watching you take that bastard and his little toady down, but spending a significant portion of my future in the brig really doesn't appeal to me." He retrieved his cup and settled down into his seat beside hers. He glanced at his watch. It would be a long day.
xxxxx
It was late afternoon when Tim dragged himself back into the bullpen. Agent Dornegat trailed wearily behind. McGee dropped his backpack beside his desk and collapsed in his chair. Gibbs looked up at him, one brow lifted quizzically.
Tim sighed, rubbing his aching head. "No luck, Boss. We interviewed everyone at Lakeland, including the CEO. They all told us that Yancy left on his own accord and that it had nothing to do with the admiral."
"You believe them?"
McGee paused, then shook his head. "No. I still think the admiral was somehow connected to Yancy's departure. A few of Yancy's fellow researchers looked uncomfortable when I called them on it. They still maintained that he left on his own accord, but I think they knew more than they were saying. I'm telling you, Boss, I really believe Dr. Yancy is our man."
He took a long swig from a bottle of water. "We stopped by his house on our way back, but there was no response. His neighbor told us she saw him packing up his car a couple of days ago. She gave us a pretty good description of it. It didn't match the car the DMV has on record for him, so obviously he's gotten another from somewhere, so we put out a BOLO. So far, no response. I'm guessing he parked his car somewhere, stole that other one for the attack and then retrieved it later."
Gibbs turned to Dornegat, who immediately paled. "What about you Dornegat? You agree with McGee?"
Startled by the attention, Dornegat gave McGee a panicked look before pulling himself together. "Um, yes sir, I mean Agent Gibbs. One of Dr. Yancy's research assistants told me that Yancy doesn't like anyone messing with his work. Said he was really angry when Admiral McGee took over, but like Tim said, they all claimed he decided to leave on his own accord."
Gibbs nodded and turned back to Tim. "The director has decided it's time to move your father to the safe house on Meridian. Thinks the admiral's condo is too well known."
"He's probably right. Pretty much everyone knows where the admiral lives."
"Abby has been trying to track down Yancy all morning. Go down and see if she's had any luck." Gibbs turned to the other agent. "Dornegat, you keep trying to contact all the people on the phone list. See if they've had any contact with Yancy in the past couple of days."
Dornegat grinned happily and scurried off to complete his task. As Tim pushed himself to his feet, Gibbs called out to him.
"Hey, McGee. Hold on."
"Yeah, Boss?"
"You okay?"
Tim had seen himself in the men's room mirror and he knew he looked like crap. He hadn't slept a wink last night. His father's words kept echoing through his mind. He felt like he was a hundred years old. He kept trying to tell himself his father's words meant nothing, that he was just being the Admiral, but he was lying. Every word cut him to the very core. But, he couldn't let it get to him. He had to forge ahead, prove to his father he wasn't worthless.
"Yeah, Boss, I'm fine. Just tired."
Gibbs didn't look convinced. "Tony called me this morning. Told me you'd gone to speak to your father."
Tim frowned. He'd forgotten he'd called Tony before leaving last night. And of course Carson and Morales had been there. There was no way they couldn't have heard the whole thing. Tim suppressed a groan. Wouldn't be long before the entire agency knew what his father thought of him.
"Yeah, I did. I wanted to ask him about Yancy. He claimed there was no way Yancy would have attacked him."
Gibbs continued to study him, but Tim said nothing more. "Okay. Go see Abby."
Tim nodded and hurried off. Gibbs watched, his brow furrowed. He then rose and made his way up to the Director's office.
xxxx
"I understand the Admiral is giving McGee a pretty hard time." Vance barely looked up as Gibbs entered his office.
Gibbs nodded, his jaw tight. "Tim went and spoke to his father last night about the case. I talked to Agent Morales this morning to check on how things went last night with the Admiral. He told me about what happened between Tim and his father. According to Morales, the Admiral pretty much ripped McGee up one side and down the other."
Vance shook his head. "Tim is an excellent agent. He should stand up to his father."
Gibbs sighed. "You know that's easier said than done, Leon. We're looking at a pattern established over thirty years ago."
"Yeah, you're right. Read Dear Abby and you'll see how many highly regarded, competent adults fold when confronted by a critical parent." Vance leaned back in his chair running a hand through his hair. "I just can't stand seeing one of my best agents being torn apart, piece by piece by someone like Admiral McGee. I was hoping by keeping Tim off the actual protection detail, his contact with his father would be minimal. Guess I was just fooling myself."
Gibbs shook his head. "Despite what I said, Tim is going to have to stand up for himself eventually. However, in the meantime, we'll just have minimize the damage."
Vance nodded. "We'll have to be very careful about that, Gibbs. If anyone knows how to inflict damage, it's someone like Admiral McGee."
A/N: Sorry for the delay! It was a busy weekend between Easter and my daughter's baby shower! Thanks to all of you for reading and special thanks to those of you who reviewed. I appreciate it!