Online Dating 5


Chapter eighteen

Tim finally made it home, not long after 2200 hours. They had eaten lunch and dinner while the conversation between Kelly and Tim had flowed nicely. It had flowed so smoothly that they had lost track of time and the awareness of what had been going on around them. They had learnt that they both shared similar hobbies, both shared similar personality traits, with enough differences for it not to be boring between the two of them.

Kelly was a neonatal and pediatric consultant at the Children's Hospital in DC and Tim was a federal agent. They both liked dogs, enjoyed camping and hiking, travelling and backpacking, computer games, reading and creative writing. Both had been military brats; Tim was a Navy brat and Kelly, a USMC brat. Both of them a had father who had served and was highly regarded in their branch of the service. Kelly had travelled for pleasure more, but Tim travelled for work more.

Tim had lived on base, while Kelly had always lived off base. Tim had moved around a lot as a child and Kelly had only ever made the one move, from Camp Pendleton to Alexandria, Virginia. Her parents had bought the house off Ducky, and they had lived there before she was born. When her father had been transferred, they had rented it out and she had been born in California. When she was four and her father had been transferred to JB-AB, they had made the move back east. Whereas Tim's father had dragged his entire family to whichever post he had been assigned, domestically or internationally. They moved so often; Tim found it hard to make friends. But where Kelly's father was a warm and fun-loving father, Tim's father was strict, militant and a disciplinarian by nature.

Both of them were kind and caring people, empathetic and considerate people, who were polite. Despite their fathers' manners. Both of them disagreed on the same rules of Gibbs' and they had enjoyed a laugh together at Gibbs' expense, on the topic of his infamous rules. They had both admitted that Gibbs had floated the idea of developing a friendship at both of them and Tim had reassured her that whatever Kelly chose to trust him with, he would keep confidential. Kelly quickly reassured Tim, the same thing and they shook on the agreement, both serious, but laughing together.

Both admitted that they had horrible track records when it came to dating, and both had admitted that they could use a friend away from their jobs. That most of their friends were work friends. They also admitted that they both had a love of cheesy movies, the cheesier the better and both had a soft spot for slapstick comedy, musical theatre and the ballet.

So, it was natural that conversation had flowed along nicely, and the awkwardness had disappeared relatively quickly. But reluctantly, they had said good night and Tim had offered Kelly a ride home, which had been accepted. She lived in Georgetown and Tim quickly launched follow up questions about how she had survived the squall that had wreaked havoc a few weeks back. Quickly plans were made and work cell numbers were exchanged and saved, with the agreement to meet up again the following day.

Opening up his email, when Tim got home, he skimmed Duchess' last email and automatically hit reply.

Duchess,

Practice what you preach, isn't that a common idiom? Something our parents taught us as children. Practice What You Preach; to act according to the way one tells other people to act. So how does one do it? Well, we learnt from an early age, but it never hurts to refresh one's mind.

1. Practice before you preach: Work on yourself first.

2. Don't make excuses: We know what we should be doing, how we should what you say you're going to do. Be the person you promised you'd be.

3. Don't lie to yourself: Just because you're the one making promises to yourself doesn't mean that you can break them. Don't expect a friend to take your advice when you can't even own your mess. Stop excusing the toxic way you're treating yourself and start practicing every little thing you preach.

4. Be mindful: Be fully aware of your next move. Think before you act.

5. Don't give advice that you wouldn't use yourself: Don't become a hypocrite. Don't be that person. Self reflection is a beautiful and respectable thing.

Learning how to practice what you preach begins with keeping promises to yourself. Your voice is powerful. Use it to do a little good for yourself. It's called having integrity. Integrity: the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles. The practice of being honest and showing a consistent and uncompromising adherence to strong moral and ethical principles and values. In ethics, integrity is regarded as the honesty and truthfulness or accuracy of one's actions.

Why did I bring up these points? Back to our topic on male/female friendships, I confess that I had dinner with a new friend. A woman. A woman I have known for a while now. A woman that I have absolutely no chance of having anything but a friendship with. In the spirit of honesty and integrity, I am telling you the truth. I pride myself on my honesty and my strong morals. I am an honest person, and I cannot pretend I do not have a friend of the opposite gender. I have friends of the opposite gender at work and one from school, but I have a lot in common with this new friend.

I don't say this to be hurtful or to imply that I do not want or need this friendship because I do want it. If you still want to be friends, that is. As a gentleman, it is for the lady to make up her own mind and not be dictated to by anyone, a friend included.

So, I hope that we are still indeed friends. I hope you do not feel betrayed, but as I am sure you already know, I am a man of honesty, a man of integrity, a gentleman and scholar. I do not wish to deceive you or cause you pain.

Your Tiger


Chapter nineteen

Kelly couldn't believe how well the chat with Tim had gone. As soon as the conversation had started, it hadn't stopped. It was like they were long lost friends, making up for lost time. He had even been a gentleman and held the door open for her. He offered her a ride home and even though he had declined her offer to come inside for a coffee, Kelly could see that Tim was still tired, but it didn't stop him from suggesting they get together and catch up the following day.

The following morning arrived, and it was grey, dark, overcast and threatening to pelt down with rain, kind of day. She booted up her personal laptop while she waited for her morning coffee to brew. Seeing she had received a late-night email from Tiger, she grinned to herself, before reading it and immediately hitting reply.

Tiger,

I appreciate the spirit in which you told me the truth. That is a rare find in man these days. As much as you are a man full of honesty and integrity, I am a woman who embodies those traits too.

I approached a man I have known for a while, an acquaintance, if you will, about an opposite gender friendship and to my surprise, he too, was looking for such a friendship.

I am not hurt by what you told me, by telling the truth. You are a gentleman, both by your behaviour and by your own admission. I appreciate and admire your candor and if you're still in, so am I.

Perhaps, as two self-confessed intellects, we should compare notes? Keeping it to the non-particulars, in the interest of science, of course.

Your Duchess


Chapter twenty

With meeting Kelly at 1000 and his late night with her, Tim cursed this morning when he slipped on the shower mat and hit his head on the corner of the towel rail. It had put him in a bad mood, too. He had been in too much of a bad mood to notice that when he had struck his head on the forehead, that it had been bleeding, as well as knotted up his forehead.

Meeting Kelly at the diner for coffee, before they headed over to the Air and Aerospace Museum at the Smithsonian, for their day exploring, Tim was surprised to see Kelly waiting for him, even though, he was early. "Tim, are you ok?" She asked, seeing the size of bump on his head, the nasty looking cut and the bad bruising. "That is a nasty bump."

Tim touched his hand to his forehead, where he had hit it and winced. "Ouch." He vocalized as he touched it. He looked at Kelly with a confused look on his face and then remembered. "Shower mat. I slipped and hit my head on the towel railing."

"Tim, I think you need to be monitored for concussion." Kelly stressed, as she took a step closer to examine it. "Granted I only work with children, but we've all worked in the emergency department when required."

"It's ok." Tim tried brushing her concern off for him. Momentarily forgetting that Kelly is a Gibbs. She is just as stubborn and tenacious as her father can be and he knew how stubborn Gibbs could be.

"No, it's not." Kelly argued, vehemently. "Now I didn't drive here, so let's take your car back to your apartment. I am sure you will have some movies we can watch, and I will watch out for concussion. I am sure you could loan me a pair of sweats to sleep in, if I have to stay overnight. You are not meant to be left alone with a concussion."

"I'll be fine." Tim argued again. But he knew the argument was futile. He recognised that tone of her voice. It was the same tone that her father used regularly. It, meant that they mean business.

"Tim, you let me do this. The other option is I will have to call my dad and my dad does it. The choice is yours." Kelly gave him the option. She was fairly confident he would choose her over her father. "I promise that I am much more fun than he is."

"Fine then." Tim grumbled, giving in to her, as she smiled at him. "You're not going to drive my Porsche, though. I'll drive us back to my apartment."

"Well, we can leave it in the parking lot, then." Kelly offered, knowing that this was one argument she would not win. She had heard Tony and Tim argue over Tony not being allowed to drive the Porsche enough to know that no one drove Tim's car but him.

"I drove here, and I was fine, I will drive us home." Tim grinned at her, holding his car keys his hand above his head, well out of her reach. Even with Kelly jumping to try to take the keys. She couldn't reach them. "Come on."

Back at his apartment, they settled on streaming a marathon of cheesy Steve Martin comedies; Parenthood, The Three Amigos and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. As he and Kelly settled onto his sofa, he couldn't help but smirk to himself. Tony would actually be proud of his movie choices. Even though they were just friends, Tony didn't have to know that they were just friends.

"Are you thinking about DiNozzo and his movie knowledge?" She asked, as Steve Martin's character was strutting across the screen in his shirt and grey briefs. She had noticed the smirk that had graced his face.

"Actually, I was thinking about what his reaction would be, to the fact I spent almost a whole Saturday on the sofa, with a beautiful woman watching some cinematic comedic classics." Tim grinned at her. He hadn't planned on calling her beautiful, it had just slipped out.

"You think I am beautiful?" She asked surprised, raising her eyebrows in disbelief. She tried hard not to blush. She didn't think that Timothy McGee had ever noticed her before. So, she was shocked that he had the guts to actually verbalise his thoughts out loud.

"You know you're gorgeous." Tim quipped playfully and grinned at her, winking in reply. Her look at of disbelief, alongside the raised eyebrow had looked too much like his boss' look of disbelief. The resemblance had scared him, and Tim hadn't been able to bring himself to tell her truth and give her a serious answer.

By the time the final credits were rolling on the third and final movie in their movie marathon, it was not long after ten and Kelly had declared that Tim was good, free of concussion. Tim offered to run her home, but Kelly wouldn't have a bar of it. She was insisting that she would just catch a cab. But it didn't sit well with Tim that she wanted to get a cab. He wanted to argue to the point, but knew it was a lost cause. Eventually he relented, giving her a weak smile, he had to mentally remind himself that Kelly was a Gibbs. She was his boss' daughter and with that knowledge, he had no doubt that she had been taught how to effectively and efficiently defend herself.

They exchanged a small and sweet goodnight, as Tim haled a cab for her and held the door open. "Thanks for being my friend, Tim." She said as she hugged him and kissed his cheek a good night, before she climbed into the cab and waved out the window, as the cab drove off.


Chapter twenty-one

The ringing of Tim's cell phone woke him from his slumber. He was groggy and felt slight nauseated and only then did he admit to himself that maybe Kelly had been right. He had been suffering through a slight concussion. "Agent McGee?" He answered when he managed to get his fingers to cooperate across the touch screen in a timely manner.

"This is Meg Cummins, an emergency room nurse at Tacoma Park Medical centre." The female voice said down the phone line. Instantly, Tim sat up. There was only a handful of people he knew in the geographical vicinity of Tacoma Park. "I have a Kelly Gibbs, here. Do you know her?"

"Yes, she is my friend." Tim replied instantly, his gut burning with worry. His gut didn't often burn with worry. But it was Kelly Gibbs. She was the last person he had expected the call to be about. Sarah, his sister maybe? Ziva David, possible, but unlikely, or Mrs. Potter, the 87-year-old elderly next-door neighbour that Tim helps out, when she needs something done. When her husband passed away four years ago, she had no other living family and she asked Tim to be her emergency contact. "Is she ok? She not long left my apartment."

"She is a patient here. We found your name and number on a business card, taped to her cell phone. Unfortunately, the screen is shattered, so your number is the only contact number we could retrieve." Meg, the ER nurse explained, as she took a sip of her coffee mug. "The cab your friend was a passenger in, it was involved in a motor vehicle accident. I was wondering if you could come down to the Emergency room."

"I will be right there and please tell her that I am on my way." Tim told the nurse as he disconnected the call and ripped his tee over his head to get dressed. He made sure to grab his weapon and credentials, his go bag, work bag, laptop and his extra-long coat, as he raced out of his apartment, locking up behind him.

Racing on the highway to the next town over, channeling Gibbs' driving, Tim made it to the emergency department only ten minutes after he had received the call. He had debated on calling Gibbs, but he didn't want to worry the man or let Kelly think that he can't be trusted. He had decided on waiting until he knew how she was before calling her father.

Rushing into the waiting room, he immediately made his way to the reception desk and held up his ID as he asked after Kelly. "The nurse has been expecting you. She is in cubicle fifteen, this way." The kind receptionist had allowed him through the locked doors and led him through the maze of hallways to cubicle fifteen.

Nodding his thanks at her, he edged his way into the cubicle. "Agent Tim McGee?" she enquired with a smile. "Thank you for coming quickly."

"What happened?" he asked, looking down at her unconscious body that lay on the gurney. He brushed some stray golden auburn hair off her face with his fingers, ghosting her face as he moved.

"The policeman left his card, but they said they would be back shortly. Best they can tell, a drunk driver ran a red light and t-boned them. The impact was on the passenger's side of the car." the Nurse told him. He didn't catch the nurse's name, but it was a different voice to the one he had spoken with earlier on the phone.

"I should call her parents." Tim muttered and the nurse shook her head in agreement. He knew that this injury was serious enough to warrant waking Gibbs up. "I have their number."

"She's sleeping, not unconscious. Her scans were clear. Just a bump on the head, a small concussion and a hairline fracture in her left wrist. She is really lucky that the drunk driver couldn't get the car out of second gear." Meg replied, trying to comfort the young man. She didn't know what the relationship was that two of them shared, but his worry was written on his face for the world to see. "We're going to monitor her until morning, just to be sure."

Tim nodded his thanks, as the nurse excused herself. Tim pulled his cell out and phoned Gibbs. It was after 0200 and he knew that Gibbs would not be happy with him, but it'd be worse for him, if he didn't call.

With no answer from Gibbs, Tim closed the phone. He hoped that the man would be sleeping soundly. In Tim's opinion, Gibbs always looked tired, and, on a few occasions, he had wondered if Gibbs didn't suffer from insomnia and PTSD, like his own father, due to their military career.

The cell vibrating in his hand jerked him out of his pondering and he quickly answered the device. Gibbs was finally returning his call. Just as Tim suspected, Gibbs was already awake. Tim informed him of the phone call he had received about Kelly and that he was at the hospital. Before informing Gibbs, that the nurse had given him an update on her injuries, and that he had the local LEO'S card in charge of investigation.

Tim could hear Gibbs running up the stairs, taking two at a time, like Tim saw him do nearly every day. Most likely going upstairs to wake Shannon and get dressed.

"We're on our way, Tim." He told Tim.


Chapter twenty-two

Seeing Tim's name flash up on the screen at that time of the morning had truly terrified him. He had been concerned for his youngest agent's welfare. But never in a million years did he think that Tim would be calling him to tell him that Kelly had been in a motor vehicle accident and that he had been contacted by the hospital.

Waking Shannon was an unpleasant task, but something that he had needed to do. She would have killed him if he had of left her at home, in bed asleep while he raced to the hospital. Even though Tim had told him that the nurse had given him an update. Gibbs needed to see for himself.

As Shannon hurried into a pair of jeans, tee and sweater, Gibbs couldn't help but wonder why the hospital phoned Tim McGee. Why not him or Shannon, they were her parents. Gibbs drove them over to Tacoma Park Emergency room, wondering out loud why the hell Kelly was in Tacoma and not in Georgetown, where she lived.

Racing into the waiting room, they found Tim all business like. He was speaking with the two local LEO's, as well as two detectives. Gibbs held up his badge for them to identify him, as he approached Tim. "Mr. Gibbs, Mrs. Gibbs." the detective greeted him. "Sorry to have your subordinate call you at this ungodly hour. Your daughter's cell phone was smashed beyond repair. We were only able to contact your agent because we found his business card, taped to the back of her cell. We were grateful that your agent used his initiative and called you. Saved us the call."

"Atta boy, Tim." Gibbs praised him and Tim turned to smile at them. "Tim, what the hell happened to your head? Were you in the accident too?"

"Tim!" Shannon gasped, not being able to stop herself. Tim had a large lump on his head. It was bruised around the outside of the lump and the top of it was a weird white in colour. It had dried blood on it, that had scabbed over. There was a gash that had been closed with glue on the top of the knot and Shannon could see that Tim was in pain. even if he denied it.

"Oh this, no I did this earlier." Tim mumbled, embarrassed. He sighed; he knew he had to spill the beans about why Kelly had been on his side of town. "That's why Kelly was in the cab. It's my fault. I had the fall on my way to meet Kelly this morning, we had planned to spend the day at the Smithsonian. When she saw my head, she insisted we just go back to my apartment and watch movies. Afterwards, I tried insisting that I drive her home, but she refused and caught the cab. I should have just made her get in my car."

"She's too stubborn, Tim." Gibbs growled. He wasn't growling at Tim; he was growling in frustration at his inanely stubborn daughter. "She needs to learn to let people help her from time to time."

"She gets that from you." Shannon quipped, reminding her husband that their daughter's trait in discussion was something that she had gotten from her father. "It's not your fault, Tim. How is that head, though? Does it hurt?" Shannon's fingertips ghosted over the knot that had formed on his forehead, as she spoke, and Tim winced slightly in pain.

"Not too much." Tim lied and both of the Gibbses saw right through his lie. Tim didn't want to admit that his head was bothering him, or that not long after he arrived here, he had taken himself to the bathroom to vomit.

"You're coming home with us. You look awful." Shannon all but ordered him. She was concerned, that injury making her mama bear instincts over her husband's agent, come to life. Tim was pale and off colour. He didn't look like he was feeling too good.

Gibbs had to admit that he agreed with his wife and when the doctor arrived to speak with Tim, he was surprised to see that Kelly's parents had arrived too. The doctor only admitted one person, back behind the doors to see Kelly and Tim took a seat. Grateful that Kelly now had her parents here and he could relax.

Shannon had sent her husband a look, as she had followed the doctor behind the double doors. In all their years of marriage, Jethro Gibbs knew what that look was. He knew it was the look she gave him when she was about to get her way. "Thanks for calling, Tim." Jethro Gibbs told him, as he took a seat beside his agent. "I know it's just a bump on the head, a concussion and broken arm, but it could have been a lot worse."

"I was going to call you right away, but I wanted to see for myself." Tim smiled at his boss. "I mean calling you for a graze of the head would be stupid. I needed to show Kelly that I wouldn't be running to you."

"Ya did good, Tim." Gibbs grinned at him again. He had been willing to go to bat against his wife's insistence, but upon a closer inspection of Tim, he actually found himself mentally agreeing with her. "I think Shan's right, Tim. You best come home with us, so someone is watching you with that concussion."

"That's why Kelly was at my apartment." Tim confessed with a small smile, remembering him telling Kelly that DiNozzo would have been impressed with him. "Watching me for concussion. She went home when it looked like I was clear. I guess it come on after I went to sleep."

Shannon returned with a sleepy Kelly in tow, her left arm in a cast and resting in a sling. Gibbs stood to check on his daughter, seeing her give him a weak smile. "You get Tim, I've got Kelly. Let's get the kids back home." Shannon told her husband, gently.

"I'm ok to go back to my apartment." Tim said through his yawn and Gibbs smirked at his wife. He knew Tim too well. He was polite to a tee. He never wanted to intrude or impose. He never popped by without an express invitation and he knew that Tim would argue. Tim was just as inanely stubborn as Kelly could be. Shannon was always better at dealing with that than him.

"Play to our strengths, Shan." Jethro muttered to his wife. "You take the stubborn agent and I'll take the stubborn daughter."

"Come on, Tim." Shannon said, waiting for him to stand up. "Keys, please? Do you need anything from your apartment?" When Tim shook his head no, he winced, and Shannon smirked at him. She knew her husband inspired loyalty and dedication in his agents, but she didn't realise how much, until now. "You were going to head straight into the yard afterwards, weren't you?"

"I was a boy scout. A boy scout motto is always be prepared." Tim grinned at her, as they made their way over to the lot where the Porsche was parked.