Ten minutes later and Gibbs was mentally head-slapping himself for not getting his agent to talk to him about what ever was going on with him yesterday when he'd had the chance but accepted Tim's refusal to talk about it instead. Unbuckling himself, he had half-way reached for the door handle when the young man in question came back outside, coming around to the passenger side of the car and handing the boss his fresh hot coffee through the open window without so much as a single word. Gibbs knew this was not a good sign, as a silent Tim McGee is usually a seriously upset Tim McGee and if that were the case at this time, then it is the boss' fault.

"Sorry about the delay, Boss." Tim meekly offered without looking over at him, as he started the car back up and got them going back on the road again.

Rather than turn this into a bigger problem, Gibbs remained silent, hoping his agent would take the normal silence from him in stride. Within a minute, Tim's breathing had evened out and he actually seemed to relax into his seat more while he drove, obviously doing just what the boss had hoped.

The remainder of the ride was silent one with Tim keeping his eyes glued to the road while Gibbs kept his closed as he rested and actually enjoyed the peaceful quiet and good driving. Even when they finally reached the Navy Yard, Tim had nothing to say, his eyes still glued to the road. Finally, even the man who enjoyed silence more than most people couldn't handle the problem with this unnatural silence from his youngest agent for another minute. As the car slid into the parking spot, he spoke. "McGee."

Turning toward his boss as soon as he'd put the car in park and turned it off, Tim looked at him expectantly, waiting for the shoe to drop. He knew he'd been seriously withdrawn since the gas station, but he hadn't known how else to handle the shock in such close quarters. He'd done what he could to get his head back into the game. After all, he had the rest of the workday to get through. "Boss?"

Sighing in frustration, the boss changed gears, waiting to speak until he got out of the car, using that moment to rethink the situation first. Now wasn't the time for this discussion. Quickly, he snatched another topic out of thin air, seemingly on a moment's notice. "Don't let anyone rag on your driving. Nothin' wrong with it." Gibbs nearly growled as he began walking toward the building.

"Thanks, Boss." Tim answered quietly as he quickly caught up to Gibbs, falling into step with him as they silently walked to the employee parking garage elevator. Suddenly, the silence almost felt normal again.

*****NCIS****

The rest of the workday passed with little conversation in the squad room and plenty of anger still simmering between Tony and his probie. Tim understood that Tony was reacting like he always did when Gibbs got hurt and he hadn't been around to play superhero and stop it, like he'd been able to do with Maddie Tyler's case when she and Gibbs both would have drowned if Tony hadn't been there to get them both out of the submerged car.

Just like the last time Gibbs had gotten hurt protecting Tim from that car by pushing him out of the way, Tony was once again blaming Tim. But this time the younger man refused to make an issue of it in front of the boss. After all, Gibbs had made the effort to tell Tim he wasn't to blame. Somehow, hearing those words from the boss hadn't quite smothered the fire of guilt burning in his gut. He agreed with the principle of Tony's thinking so it made more sense to accept the responsibility.

It was Tim's fault that the boss had gotten hurt again. Just like it had been his fault the time before that. Truth be told, only the boss' words to Tim, stuck on constant replay in his mind, were keeping him from slipping into the giant guilt trip that seemed to be waiting to welcome him into its' murky depths just beyond his reach.

"Not your fault, McGee."

Oddly enough, Tim likened that to Gibbs intervening on his behalf yet again. After all, there was no denying that the boss' words on repeat in his head were making that difference. He wondered how much of that was because of those eyes that came with the voice. Wow, where did that come from?

****NCIS****

With everyone's case reports written up and the case officially put to bed, Gibbs was genuinely relieved to be able to cut the team loose much earlier than usual so they could unwind and catch up on rest, warning them to "stay on-call until five, when the day officially ends."

Watching them head out with Tony and Ziva heading out together leaving Tim trailing far enough behind that the elevator had already left him, the boss remained unsettled with his youngest agent's demeanor ever since the incident at the gas station. Realistic and unwilling to make further waves, Gibbs had every intention of leaving the younger man alone to work through whatever was knocking around in that brain of his, alone. No. He needs to know I can see he's in trouble.

"McGee!" Gibbs called out just as the young man was stepping onto the elevator with several other people.

Sighing with frustration, Tim stepped back off the elevator and waved the others on, not wanting them to have to wait on him. Silently, he trudged back to the boss' desk and waited for this shoe to drop. He wasn't sure he was up to another shock, but really didn't have a choice, since this was the boss.

"Something on your mind, McGee?" Gibbs asked seriously.

"I'm okay, Boss. Thanks." Is all Tim offered as he struggled to hide his shock that the boss cared enough to ask.

"Yeah?" Gibbs pushed.

"I'm fine. Really." Tim attempted to convince him.

"You've been acting funny last couple a days, McGee. Starin' at me, keepin' to yourself more than usual and even goin' off on DiNozzo. Both Tony and Abby have complained that somethin's buggin' you and you won't talk to them about it. I need glasses to read, doesn't make me blind, McGee."

Tim sighed as he struggled to think on how to handle this without blurting everything out. Didn't anyone understand he COULDN'T talk about this? After all, there was the good ole DA/DT in full force around here. Not to mention the older, yet no more appreciated jokes from a ways back about Tim being gay because Tony found out he used body lotion, got a manicure and took baths.

That was one topic of conversation; he NEVER wanted to have with Tony again! Tim had never forgotten what Kate had told him about Tony telling some of the employees at the Agency that Tim was gay just to cut Tim out of the dating pool within the hallowed walls of NCIS, either.

No, he definitely couldn't talk to anyone about it. Who would take him seriously about these dreams of his, anyway? Besides, he was still trying to figure out what 'it' was anyway, He knew that while the boss was not homophobic; he was a hard-core marine and most likely did not support the idea of a gay relationship, even if Tim hadn't even made that leap yet.

Tim refused to put Ducky in the middle by confiding in him, causing the kindly older man to have to keep such a thing from his longtime friend, the boss, would not be right. Silence was all Tim had to get him through this troubled time as he tried to sort through this craziness his dreams had brought down on him.

"I'm handling it, Boss." Tim offered quietly so his answer wouldn't be misconstrued as disrespectful.

Gibbs looked at him for a long silent minute. Finally, he appeared to be satisfied enough to let it drop. "Okay."

Tim nodded in thanks and turned to walk away.

Surprisingly enough he was stopped by a hand clamping supportively down on his shoulder. "McGee. Don't forget, my door's always open." The boss' face now clearly showed he knew there was more going on than Tim was sharing, but short of letting him know he was there for him, wasn't going to push any harder. He was trusting Tim to open up before whatever it was got to be too much for him to handle alone.

Tim blinked in surprise at the quiet tone that for some reason suddenly sent a shiver up his spine and seemed to be leaving him just a tad bit breathless. Part of his brain wondered why he'd be surprised to hear this rare offer of support from the man after the little meeting they'd had about this yesterday. Swallowing hard, Tim looked up at the older man and offered his thanks, his voice shaky at best since he was still trying to process everything he could see in the man's expression and read in his voice's inflection.

"Thanks, Boss. Is there anything else?" He was smart enough to know there was much more being said here than the words themselves and Tim was trying hard not to miss any of it, his eyes now scrutinizing the boss as carefully as the man himself usually did his agents.

"Nope. Go on, get outta here." Gibbs replied offhandedly, seeing his agent thrown for a loop for some inexplicable reason.

"Nite, Boss." The younger man said as he turned and headed back out of the squad room, suddenly anxious to be gone.

Watching him go, Gibbs could only shake his head in wonder and uncertainty. What to do from here?

***NCIS***

Another dream filled night; this time an exact repeat of the two dreams that had rocked his world before with those unmistakable piercing blue eyes and that mouth that made love to his own so wholly and passionately, along with those arms whose strength as they held him tight, still brought tears to his eyes, soon had Tim awake and completely frustrated. Looking over at the alarm clock when he'd been roughly yanked from the second attempt at sleeping in one night, Tim realized it was, once again, only three A.M. Letting out a deep frustrated sigh, he got out of bed and shuffled over to his computer, powering it up and shuffling off to the kitchen to start his coffee while he waited for the cyber world to open up for him.

Maybe it was time to do some checking into this idea. His dreams had filled his head with more than just the notion now he was ready to find out what that meant to really travel down that road. There were so many questions he needed answers to: How something like a relationship between two men could even happen. What did two men do for each other; to each other? Where is it this could go, exactly? There were more but he'd start with finding the answers to those. He had ideas, after all, he wasn't an idiot, but he had to admit he was definitely a newbie in this area.

And that was something he wanted to change real quick. He needed to know everything because from what he'd dreamed, it was certainly worth trying out. A part of his brain scoffed at the idea that he would think of this like trying on a shirt and casting it aside when he decided he didn't like it. Relationships didn't work like that. Research. That's what he needed to do. Research his options. Suddenly, he couldn't surf the web or read fast enough.

***NCIS***

Two hours and an entire pot of coffee later, Tim was in shock. He'd searched site after site and wound up with more information than he knew what to do with; of stories and clubs and more. Bookmarking the sites he needed to read up more on, Tim shut down his computer and headed off to the shower. Somehow all this research had opened his eyes to so many possibilities in the world of getting involved in a relationship with another man, that as he stood underneath the soothing spray of the hot shower, Tim made the decision that he wanted to find a way to do follow up on at least some of what he'd learned while he should have been sleeping.

***NCIS***

Wearily trudging his way into work just five minutes before the official start of the work day, Tim wasn't really surprised to find the boss glaring at him for a long minute, this time those eyes far from mesmerizing. As Tim set his backpack down under his desk and swiveled in his chair so he could power up his work station, the first axe of probably what was to be many, fell.

"McGee! With me!"

With a resigned sigh, Tim quietly got back up out of his chair and followed the boss to the elevator. Knowing he was heading for 'the boss' office', had Tim's gut clenched even as he continued on, unwilling to do anything to make it worse for himself or a scene for the team. The day hadn't even started yet and already he was in trouble. That certainly didn't bode well for the remainder of the day. The talk they'd had the night before had already slipped away into the land of forgotten memories after all the learning he'd been doing for the past several hours. It probably would have served him better if he hadn't been so quick to forget that talk.

As he expected, no sooner had to elevator doors closed and the box begin to descend to another floor, did Gibbs flip the switch, throwing the elevator into its' stop position. Tim had braced himself but still felt the flip/flop of his stomach and had to swallow hard to settle himself down.

"Last chance, McGee. What's goin' on with you?" Gibbs demanded in that quiet yet 'don't even think about not telling me the truth' tone.

Tim swallowed hard and barely touched glances with the man, too sensitized to what meeting those eyes head on had been doing to his libido lately, even if he was wrong and those eyes in his dreams didn't belong to this man; the similarities was just too uncanny. "Just havin' trouble sleeping, Boss."

"Why?"

"Dreams." Tim admitted quietly but refused to elaborate further. He wasn't sure why he admitted to that much as it was.

Gibbs watched his youngest agent struggle to stay quiet while equally struggling to answer the questions. He wanted Tim to open up and let him in, but knew that wouldn't happen until Tim was ready. Again, the time hadn't come yet for that to happen.

More importantly, as exhausted as the young man obviously was on his feet, Tim was now a liability in the field and Gibbs hated it when his agents let themselves get out of synch like this. He counted on them always being at there best and this worn out, barely awake excuse for an agent wasn't even a subject he wanted to get started on. But, this time, he had no choice. Tim needed a wake-up call.

"Go see Ducky. Consider yourself on desk duty until he tells me otherwise." The stern tone of his voice lent no chance that his disappointment would be missed.

Gibbs flipped the elevator switch back on and wordlessly returned to the squad room, leaving Tim in the elevator, until that is, the young man took himself from the front elevator to the back stairs without a word to anyone.

"Boss?" Tony questioned, too curious and restless after all this toeing the line stuff and staying relatively quiet for the past two days. He'd watched his probie progressively show up more worn out and almost miserable as the week wore on; not to mention going off on Tony the way Tim had and now this.

"Talk to him later, DiNozzo. Cases won't get done by themselves." The boss ordered without looking up from his work.

Without the encouragement to keep the conversation going, it was clear that the boss wasn't in the mood to let anything more be said about whatever it was going on with their teammate.

***NCIS***

Tim nearly flinched when he realized that Ducky wasn't alone in Autopsy when he arrived on the tails of Gibbs' aggrieved conversation with him; or had it been a lecture? Either way, Tim's day had just taken a serious nose-dive. It was never a good feeling when the boss was disappointed in you and with the man plaguing Tim's dreams in the erotic sense, it was seriously muddling Tim's brain at the moment; making him more sensitive to it all. Carrying the weight of that disappointment on his shoulders, he trudged into Autopsy without a word of greeting to either occupant.

"Timmy!" Abby squealed as she nearly flew across the room at him, engulfing him in one of her 'Abby-hugs'. "Where have YOU been?" she asked him loudly. "You have not been to see me all week!"

"Yeah, Abbs. I know. Couldn't wait to complain to Gibbs about it, could you?" Tim griped, still feeling the sting of the boss' lecture on the subject mere minutes ago.

"Timothy!" Ducky admonished him sternly as Abby smacked him hard on the arm.

"Ow! What was that for?" Tim demanded angrily.

"That's what you get for being mean! What is WITH you? Why wouldn't I tell Gibbs that I'm worried about you? He's your team leader!" Abby demanded in turn.

"Funny, last time I said something to someone about being worried about you, you got mad at me and called it gossip." Tim replied still in snit.

"What is your problem, McGee?" Abby demanded even more pissed off.

Tim stopped cold, no longer willing to verbally spar with her. Abby would never admit to her double standards, he knew that. It was better just to step back, offer an apology and let her go on her way. It was the only way he'd survive this skirmish. He was sorry he was taking it out on Abby, but her deliberate avoidance of his point was not helping his mood. Either way, he still owed her an apology.

"Abby, I'm sorry. I'm just really tired and haven't been able to sleep lately." He offered sincerely.

"Doesn't get you off the hook, McGee, you shouldn't have avoided me." Abby griped petulantly.

"I don't understand why you couldn't just talk to me first." He threw at her, angered anew that she would use her status as Gibbs' favorite to cause trouble for him like that with the boss.

"Maybe because you've been avoiding me all week, McGee!" She replied hotly.

"Like you've been avoiding me? How many times have you called me or come up to the squad room, Abby?" Tim was angered once more that she hadn't even attempted to accept his apology. All the same, he offered one more attempt to defend himself. "I've been busy with work!"

The Forensic Tech glared at him with her arms crossed in front of her chest.

"You know what?" Tim muttered dejectedly as he stepped around Abby towards the silently watchful M.E. "I can't do this right now. Ducky, can I talk to you, please?"

"Certainly, Timothy. Abigail, if you'll excuse us, please, I believe you have the answer you've been seeking now?" The M.E. gently dismissed Abby, knowing Tim wanted to talk to him alone.

Abby stomped angrily from the room, "Don't think we're done having this conversation, McGee, because we're not!"

As the Autopsy doors hissed closed behind her, Tim let his breath out he hadn't even realized he'd been holding in. "Whew"

"I must say, Timothy. I don't recall ever hearing you respond quite so angrily to Abigail before."

"She ratted me out to Gibbs. Now he's mad at me. I'm just tired of her using her status as his favorite to do end runs around us like that, Ducky." Tim complained.

"What you are, young man, is tired. Jethro has already phoned me and explained the situation to me. I can see where his concern is coming from and I can see that he is correct to be so concerned. Before I even begin to monitor your vital signs, I will say that you will remain on desk duty for the remainder of the week, dear boy. While I completely understand your dislike of being on the receiving end of Jethro's ire, it is, as you have just admitted, not without merit this time. Your behavior towards Abigail is further proof of such and I believe you will agree once you have had adequate rest with which to think clearly."

"I know." Tim guiltily conceded all of Ducky's points in general He knew the M.E. was seldom wrong about these things. "Guess it's my own fault, anyway."

"What do you mean, Timothy?" the M.E. inquired as he dug out his blood pressure cuff and put it around the younger man's arm and applied the pressure to air it up accordingly.

"Been having trouble sleeping. If I'd just gone ahead and taken some over the counter sleep aid, I probably would be fine. I just hate taking them." The younger man dejectedly admitted to the one person who remotely stood a chance of helping the situation improve, even if it was just by giving him something to help him sleep restfully.

"Ah, yes. Jethro mentioned your explanation for your trouble sleeping was due to dreams. Timothy, you do realize that you can always come to me and we could try to discuss the dreams and see if there is a way to deal with them without you having to take the sleep aid you don't like." Ducky gently admonished him.

"Don't wanna be a bother." The young man defended his earlier choice not to confide in the M.E.

"I'd venture that there is much more to your reasoning than that; but I'll leave you your privacy, young man." Ducky surmised reasonably with no sign of feeling put out at Tim's refusal to confide in him before now.

"Sorry." Tim offered quietly with yet more guilt.

"There is nothing at all to apologize for, Timothy. The need to keep something intensely private; just that, is perfectly understandable."

Tim nodded silently as Ducky set the stethoscope to his chest to listen to his breathing.

"Thank you."

"However, surely you must realize by now, that keeping it all locked away is often times more detrimental to us than asking someone to help us muddle through and aid us in making sense of whatever it is that is weighing us down, Timothy?"

"I can't talk about this." Tim denied."

"Timothy…"

"No one would understand, they'd think I was crazy, Ducky."

"Now you know better than that."

"Except you, I know, but you….even if you didn't make fun of me for it, it would put you in an awkward position and I don't want to do that to you."

"Ah, I see. While I'm puzzled by your at least partial belief that I would poke fun at your for whatever this is, perhaps we should allow me to make the decision for myself, dear boy?" The M.E.'s tone was sympathetic with no trace of recrimination.

"I guess. But I can't explain it or talk about it here." Tim conceded. Of course, the kindly older man would want to hear the crux of the problem at least, before allowing anyone to continue to muddle through in silence if he had become aware of the sleep they were losing over it. Tim should have been prepared for this; but he hadn't thought Ducky would have been able to through Tim's defenses like this and was ill-prepared to keep him at bay any longer.

"Perhaps we should talk about this later? Why don't you come to dinner at my house and we'll talk about it then? Let's see if we can't do something about this problem you're having, alright?" The genuine offer could not be turned down.

"Thanks, Ducky. I'll think about it. Guess I need to go back up to work now." Tim surmised with a touch of regret, considering the way Gibbs had shown his disappointment in him earlier. There was no way of knowing what Tim would be walking into up there now.

"Yes, I suppose you should. And I would like for you to drink plenty of water today and do make sure you eat a full, healthy lunch as well, young man. Here, take this document I've just signed on up to Jethro and everything should be fine."

"Thanks again, Ducky. For everything." Tim offered with a genuine smile of gratitude as he headed back up to work.

***NCIS***

"Thanks, Duck." Gibbs offered into his desk phone receiver before setting it back down on the cradle, watching as Tim returned to the squad room, walking directly up to Gibbs and handing him the signed form Gibbs had been expecting.

After a minute of genuinely looking the document over, Gibbs glanced at his now nervous agent and gestured with his head for Tim to return to his desk, silently handing him a folder at the same time. Tim took the folder, silently nodded in response to the boss' silent order, and returned to his desk without further discussion. Even Tony and Ziva kept mum as work was once again resumed wordlessly as the MCRT got down to the business of trying to solve cold cases.