CHAPTER FIFTEEN

"God, Leon, what have I done?"

Admiral John McGee sat in Director Vance's home study, his head in his hands. Leon had never seen a man more shaken. However, he had little sympathy for him.

"John, if you want the truth, you have been a complete asshole. Pure and simple."

The admiral lifted his head and regarded Vance with haunted eyes. Vance could see the emotions warring within. There was anger, guilt and grief all mixed together.

"You really don't know your son at all, do you, John?" Vance pulled out a couple of glasses from his desk and a bottle of scotch. He poured a small amount in each glass then passed one to the admiral.

"I think I know him well enough." The admiral sounded defensive. "I know what I've seen. I saw how he led Yancy and Jenson right to me."

Vance shook his head in disgust. "Did you ever stop to think how they were able to follow Agent McGee? They barely even knew you had a son. I doubt it would have occurred to them to start following him around in the hopes he would lead them to you."

Admiral McGee frowned as he toyed with his glass. "Are you saying there was something more?"

"You're damn right I am. The only reason you're here today is because of your son. He's the one that interrupted Yancy and Jenson when they were sabotaging your car. His presence spooked them so they didn't connect the bomb properly. Then, they kidnapped him. Did you know that?"

Admiral McGee's eyes shot up. "Kidnapped? What the hell are you talking about, Leon? No one said anything to me about Tim being kidnapped."

"Of course they didn't. Tim didn't want you to know."

The admiral grunted. "Well, obviously they didn't hurt him. What did they expect to gain? There was never any ransom request, I suppose?"

Vance shook his head. He was calm on the outside, but inside, he was seething. "Of course not. That's not what they were after. But you're wrong, John. They did hurt him. Badly. They tortured him for hours trying to get him to reveal the location of the safe house where you were staying. He never told them a thing. They dumped him on the side of some backwoods road in Virginia. It was only be the grace of God that he survived."

For a long moment, the admiral sat very still, not saying a word. His face had gone very pale. Then he downed his glass in one gulp and slammed the glass down on Vance's desk.

"Dammit, Leon, you're telling me, Yancy and Jenson kidnapped Tim and tortured him? And no one saw fit to tell me?"

Vance sighed in exasperation. The admiral just didn't get it. "I told you before, Agent McGee specifically requested you not be informed. He's a grown man, and that was his decision to make."

"But," Admiral McGee frowned as a thought occurred to him. "The day Yancy and Jenson came to the safe house…"

"Tim was suffering from a concussion, a number of badly injured ribs as well as a couple of broken fingers. All courtesy of Jenson. McGee was in no shape to fight anyone. He hadn't been out of the hospital very long when he came to see you. Jenson and Yancy were able to follow him because they had planted a subdermal tracking device in his arm."

"And I left him bound and gagged, lying on the floor." The admiral's voice was very soft, rough with emotion. He rubbed a hand across his face.

Vance regarded him coldly. "Yes. You did."

"I know what you all must think of me, Leon, but deep down, I truly love my son."

"Well, you have a pretty odd way of showing it, John. Like I said before, I don't think you really know your son at all. He isn't like a lot of the field agents here. Many have a background in the military or police work. Not Tim. He's a technical kind of guy. He can hack into any encrypted database you ask him to. Yet, he doesn't shirk from physical danger. Did you know he went with Agent DiNozzo to Somalia to rescue a team mate? He almost didn't survive that little excursion. He's been shot at, blown up, and almost killed countless times, yet he keeps coming back. He has faced more fears than practically any other agent here. And I have no doubt that many of those fears stemmed from your treatment of him."

He leaned back in his chair and sipped his scotch. "Did you even call him when NCIS was blown up last year? Make sure he was okay?"

The admiral's face flushed. "His grandmother told me he was fine."

"Sure, after they removed the big hunk of glass from his side."

Again, the admiral was silent, but Vance noted the tightness in the other man's jaw. Being proven you're an idiot was never easy to take.

"Speaking of his grandmother, Penny Langston is down as his next of kin. I've been trying to contact her without success. Do you know how I can reach her?"

Admiral McGee frowned for a moment. "Uh, damn, what day is it?" He grimaced as he massaged his brow. "She, Sarah, and my ex-wife all headed to Japan two days ago to go on some cultural tour. Although I believe my mother actually went so she could attend some anti-Nuke rally over there. I'll contact them."

Vance nodded and the two men sat in the dim light of the study without speaking for some time. Vance set down his glass and leaned forward.

"John, as you know, I lost my wife just a few months ago leaving my children without their mother. Yet, even gone, she's more of a positive influence in their lives then you have ever been in your son's. All McGee has ever wanted was to make you proud of him, but you repeatedly threw his accomplishments back in his face. Now, you face the prospect of losing him forever. How are you going to handle that?"

Admiral McGee stared off in the distance for a long moment, then abruptly stood. "Thank you for the drink, Leon. I need to go." Snatching up his cap, he turned sharply and strode from the room.

Vance finished off the last of his scotch and regarded the now empty seat before him. Then he sighed deeply and turned to stare thoughtfully into the dark of the night.

xxx

Tony and Ziva hovered outside Abby's apartment trying to work up the courage to knock.

"She's gonna freak," said Tony rubbing his hands down his pants leg.

Ziva pressed her lips together. "Perhaps. But we must tell her. She would want to know that McGee has been injured."

"Maybe we shoulda brought Ducky along. He might be able to calm her down."

"Ducky was going to call Palmer and go to the hospital. We must do this ourselves. She needs us to be strong, Tony."

Tony sighed and ran a hand through his dark hair. "Yeah, you're right. We need to get this over so we can head over to the hospital. It's already taken us too long." Straightening his shoulders, he stepped forward and firmly knocked on the door.

It took several moments before they heard any noise within. Finally, they heard someone rattle the lock on the inside. "Who's there?" The voice was suspicious.

"Abby, it's us, Tony and Ziva. We need to talk to you."

They heard more rattling until the door was abruptly thrown open. Abby, clad in an old fashioned nightgown and cap stared at the Tony and Ziva, her eyes filled with fear.

"Abs…"

"NO!" She put her hands over her ears and turned away. "No, no, no! No one else. I can't bear it. I don't want to hear about it!"

Tony and Ziva watched helplessly for a few moments as Abby tried to shut them out. They followed her into the apartment and waited. Finally, Abby's shoulders slumped as she gave in to the inevitable. Tears pooled in her expressive eyes as she slowly turned back to them. "Who?"

"McGee has been shot, Abby," said Ziva quietly. "We do not know how badly injured he is."

With a quiet moan, Abby tightly shut her eyes. Shaking, she then wrapped her arms around her body in an apparent attempt to keep herself together. "Who did it?" They could just barely hear her.

"It was Jenson." Tony stepped forward and placed a comforting arm around her shoulders. "Tim was protecting his father."

Suddenly, Abby pulled away, her face white with anger. "What! He took a bullet for the man who's treated him like dirt his entire life? For the man that left him tied up next to a dead body?" Her voice rose with every syllable.

Ziva and Tony exchanged unhappy glances. How would Abby react if they knew just how horrible his father had been to him right before he'd been shot?

She whirled, and grabbing Tony's arm, she dragged him to the door. "C'mon. We've got to be there for Tim. We're his family and he needs us."

It seemed to take forever before they finally reached the waiting area where Gibbs stood vigil. He turned to watch them as they entered the room, his face grim. Tony didn't like the bleak look he saw in Gibbs' eyes.

"How is he, Boss?"

Gibbs glanced back toward the OR suite. "I don't know. He's still in surgery."

Tony felt his stomach tighten. Gibbs wasn't telling them everything.

Abby tentatively approached Gibbs, tears now freely flowing down her pale face. "Please, Gibbs. Please tell me McGee is going to be okay."

Gibbs turned, regarding her with pain filled eyes as he enveloped her in a warm hug. "I wish I could, Abs. I wish I could."

Abby and Ziva settled down in a pair of the uncomfortable waiting room chairs while Tony and Gibbs went on a mission to ostensibly find coffee.

"What aren't you telling us, Boss?" asked Tony quietly as they approached the hospital cafeteria.

Gibbs sighed. "It doesn't look good, Tony. He went into cardiac arrest twice on the way to the hospital and again once they started working on him here. He's lost a lot of blood and the bullet is still in there."

Tony's jaw tightened as he fought back the lump in his throat. This was his probie, his McGeek. Sure, he gave him a hard time now and again, but Tim was like a younger brother to him. Like Tim, his relationship with his father was not an easy one, but at least his father didn't go out of his way to destroy him like Admiral McGee did Tim. Senior was guilty more of benign neglect than outright cruelty. Thinking of McGee, Tony knew which he'd choose.

"But, hey, he's McGee," tried Tony gamely. "He never really gets hurt. You know that."

Gibbs said nothing. He didn't have to. They both knew Tony's words were false.

At this late hour, the cafeteria was closed. It took them awhile longer before they finally found a vending machine with coffee.

Putting coins in the machine, Tony glanced at Gibbs. His voice was rough. "If Tim dies, I'm gonna kill that asshole admiral myself." He turned away and watched the cup fill with coffee.

Gibbs gave him a tight smile in return. "Not if I get there first."

The hours dragged on endlessly. Ducky and Palmer arrived an hour or so after Tony and Ziva. Vance appeared sometime later in the wee hours of the morning.

After his arrival, Vance took Gibbs aside. "Admiral McGee paid me a visit."

Gibbs stiffened, but said nothing. The deadly expression in his eyes said it all.

"He's singing a different tune now, as you might imagine. The possibility of losing a child suddenly makes a parent realize what they're worth."

"Oh, so now he's worried about Tim?" Gibb's voice was dangerously low.

Vance shrugged. "I think he feels badly about what happened. I told him about what happened to Tim at the hands of Yancy and Jenson. Thought he should know just how blind he's been about his son."

Gibbs shook his head in disgust. "He doesn't deserve a son like Tim. It's amazing Tim didn't turn out more screwed up than he did."

Vance smiled. "I think he has you to thank for that."

Gibbs looked away with a grunt. It was true. Gibbs had a skill for rooting out raw talent. Usually they were a bit rough around the edges, but he was good at smoothing those out and producing first rate agents. Tim had probably been his most challenging project, but he was proud of the results. In fact, he was damn proud of each and every one of his team.

Suddenly, Tony approached, his brow creased, his fists clenched. "Boss, the doctor just came out. Um, he wants to talk to us."

Gibbs took a deep breath and nodded. It was time.