"Hannah and I met in the third grade. Her parents had just moved her and her sister into the neighborhood. Lisa was a good eight years older so when mom wanted time to herself she would babysit Sarah and I, and usually Hannah would tag along." Tim smiled. "She hated me at first. Thought I was boring cause even back then I was trying to disassemble and then fix everything from the toaster to the TV. I didn't want to go play outside with her." Tim shrugged. "But then she would sit there and help me organize all the parts of whatever I was messing with that day, usually it was something old bought at a pawn shop by another neighbor after my mom banned me from taking apart anything electrical in the house. Sometimes she'd help take it apart as I showed her how it worked."

Tony snorted. "You turned her into a geek." The grunt as Ziva's elbow hit his side caused Tim to smile.

"I guess so but she also forced me to do other things eventually. She made me a deal. Once a week I had to play outside with her and she would help me take apart anything I wanted and reassemble it. We became fast friends after that. By middle school I had skipped a grade so we didn't have any classes together. Thought I was going to lose my best friend."

"But you did not." It wasn't a question and Tim finally looked up at Ziva.

"No." He shook his head. "If anything we became closer. She became a cheerleader and made me go to every game with her, even made me practice cheers in the backyard. It was hard when I skipped another grade and suddenly I was in high school without her for two years. She was a freshman my junior year even though we were the same age. By then... well she asked me out."

"She was your first girlfriend?"

Tim blushed and ducked his head in a nod. "She was my first... everything."

"Obviously you didn't stay together though." Tony pushed as Tim seemed to falter now, knowing now was not a time for jokes.

Tim shook his head. "We dated throughout her freshman and sophomore years but then I was graduating and heading for MIT." Tim shrugged. "We sort of drifted apart. She hooked up with another guy before I even realized we weren't dating anymore."

"Ouch."

"Yeah. It hurt but then she was graduating high school and suddenly moving to Cambridge to attend Harvard. Two years later I was in Boston at Johns Hopkins. Only a twenty minute drive and we started hanging out when we could again. We dated for about a week when we both realized it was truly over for that part of us." Tim sighed and sat back in his chair. "A month later she introduced me to Carrie. We were only twenty, still so young, so I thought maybe she was just experimenting. They've been together ever since. Carrie didn't seem to like that Hannah and I were still friends after dating but Hannah refused to cut me out of her life. I helped them after Hannah's parents disowned her for being with another woman. They got married just six weeks before I joined the team. I was Hannah's man of honor."

Gibbs knew they were about to get into the reason they were sitting in the cafeteria of Bethesda hospital and the rest of the team shifted as he knew they did as well. Tim took a large swallow of his coffee as he needed a small break before he continued.

"I need you all to know, I never set out to lie to you."

"McGee?" Tony frowned looking between his friend and his boss. He knew by the look on Gibbs' face the older man had already figured it out.

Gibbs' words were soft. "How old is he or she?"

Tim smiled as he looked at Gibbs out of the corner of his eye. "Maddie turned five last June."

"You have a child, Timothy." Ducky finally spoke since joining them at the table.

"Yeah. Hannah and Carrie came to me six years ago, shortly before the wedding, asking me to father a child for them. I was hesitant, wasn't too sure I could father a child I wouldn't be helping raise but they wanted someone they knew, someone they trusted in case something happened to them." Tim's voice hitched but he continued. "I did it because they're family and I knew they would be great parents. I helped them financially as much as possible. Maddie knows me as her dad, but we're not very public about it. I wanted her protected from my job."

"Maddie short for Madison or Madeleine?"

"Neither." Tim looked at his friend and smiled. "It's just Maddie. Maddie Rose McGee."

"So she has your name."

"Mhmm." Tim took another sip of coffee. "They were going to use Barclay since Hannah was the biological mother but she didn't want her daughter to live with a name from a family that disowned her. It was Carrie that suggested they use McGee, not feeling right using Lockhart."

Tony was putting all the pieces together. "Carrie is pregnant with your child now." It was a statement, not a question.

"Yeah. They wanted Maddie to have a sibling and Carrie wanted to be the biological mother this time but they still wanted the kids to have a connection somehow so they asked me again. I still help out financially even though I don't have too, and I still have my rights because he hasn't been born yet. I signed over my rights the day Maddie was born so Carrie could legally adopt her, another way to protect her from my job."

"When is she due?"

"Three weeks." Tim frowned as he leaned against Gibbs' shoulder, obviously starting to get tired.

"I think it's time you told us what happened." Gibbs wrapped his arm around the younger man's shoulders. "You said up in the room that Hannah had been murdered."

Tim nodded, tears forming in his eyes but he refused to let them fall. "The police said it was a robbery gone wrong. She had been shot in the back, bled out. Carrie was hit over the head with something hard, hasn't regained consciousness yet."

"But you don't think it was."

"Only one thing was taken from their home, even if it was trashed."

It finally started to click for Tony and his breath caught as he asked his question. "Tim... where is Maddie?"

Pain filled eyes looked up and Tony knew. He closed his own eyes as Tim's heartbroken words filled the air.

"They took her. They took my little girl."

"An amber alert already went out for her?" Tony asked looking down at his phone but not seeing anything.

"Yes." Tim nodded.

"Oh Timothy." Anything else Ducky was about to say was muted as Tim finally broke down.

The rest of them watched as Gibbs wrapped his arms tightly around the broken man and held him. Tim clung to his boss. One hand still on the table, he felt both Tony and Ziva grab it and squeeze, showing their support. They stayed silent until Tim finally sighed and slumped against Gibbs. Then Gibbs spoke, needing Tim to focus again.

"Do you think this was just convenience, for ransom, or is it about you and were you work?"

Tim sat up straight, grateful for the napkin Ziva handed him as he wiped his eyes. "We never really told anyone what I did to protect them."

"To keep bad guys from using them to get to you."

Tim nodded. "Obviously Hannah's family knows, not sure about Carrie's since I only met them once at the wedding. Other then that.." He shrugged.

"But you didn't exactly hide the truth either." Tony supplied. "Your name is on her birth certificate right?"

"The original, yes. But once Carrie adopted her it was changed. The records are sealed for her original birth certificate."

"But anyone that knows her, knows she has a different last name then her mother, if they know your name a simple search would bring up Gemcity, and then in turn, about you and your work, right?."

Tim shook his head. "I don't think so. And I can't really see Hannah or Carrie sharing that information willingly. Not without at least talking to me about it first because it would affect Maddie. She doesn't even know what I do so that she couldn't accidentally slip up around her friends at school, she just thinks I work with computers."

"Anyone you can think of off hand we should be looking into?" Gibbs had moved his arm from his shoulders but his hand was against his neck again, kneading the muscle.

"I don't know. I know the police are going to talk with her parents in the morning... or later today." Tim looked down at his watch. It was just after 4 in the morning now. "And probably Carrie's, but they're in New York."

"Will they cause trouble once they get here?"

"Hannah's parents won't show up, not for Carrie anyway. Like I said they disowned her when she started dating Carrie. I'm not sure about her parents though. I don't think they're all that close, they never took Maddie to see them in New York. A few presents at birthdays and Christmas would show up, but that's about it."

"Hannah's parents never wanted to be part of their granddaughter's life?" Ducky asked as he finished his now cold tea.

Tim snorted. "They hated Carrie. Hated everything about her. Hell they hated me for supporting Hannah when they cut her off financially. I helped them get an apartment together, paying a third of the rent for a whole year before they both had steady jobs and could do it on their own. Even bought them food or other essentials they needed if they didn't have the money."

"You're a good man McGee." Gibbs squeezed his neck one final time before reluctently dropping his hand away.

"Will Hannah's parents cause a problem now that she is.. gone?" Ziva asked.

"You mean would they show up and demand to take Maddie?" Tim frowned as he scratched the side of his face. "I don't think so. They already have their hands full raising Lisa's five after she just up and disappeared last year."

"What do you mean up and disappeared?"

"Lisa has always loved drugs more then her kids. Got herself pregnant at sixteen, and again at eighteen, by two different guys. Shortly after Olivia was born Lisa was diagnosed with Bipolar disorder and put on medication but she never stuck to it, always forgot to take them in favor of her more favorite drugs." Tim dropped his hand down on the table. "Kevin was born not long after that. They're all old enough to look after themselves but Esther and Blake are closer to Maddie's age, only ten and eight, so they're still with her parents."

"What happened?"

"She met Eric. He was an asshole, abusive to her and the kids. One day she dropped them off with Hannah and Carrie and just left. Nobody has heard from her since. Hannah's mother showed up two days later to collect the kids without a word. It was only Esther and Blake. Mal and Livvy were already in their twenties and had started their own lives away from the craziness. Kevin is eighteen now, no idea where he is."

"Is Eric the father of the youngest two?"

Tim shook his head. "That's some guy she introduced us all too named Chuck. He died in a car accident before Blake was born. Eric came into the picture about two years later."

"What is Eric's last name?"

"Barker. I think. I never really met him, he was only mentioned a handful of times around me. It might have been Parker, maybe."

"Okay. We are going to the yard to start searches." Gibbs stood and using Tim's elbow lifted the younger man to his feet. "You are going to get a few hours of sleep on Abby's futon..."

"What no, Gibbs, I need to help. I need to find Maddie! It's already been six hours!"

"And we will." Gibbs turned McGee to look at him, hands on both shoulders. "As a team, this is why you called us. Can't do it on your own. But you are also dead on your feet and I'm pretty sure you'll fall asleep at your computer so while we do as much as we can, you are going to sleep. Understood."

Tim sighed. "Understood, S..."

Gibbs smiled when Tim caught himself before saying the word sir. He turned Tim away from the table. Tony and Ziva cleaned up their mess as they all scrambled to follow the other men out. They went back up to the third floor for one final look at Carrie and to tell the nurses Tim was going home for some sleep, even if he wasn't actually going home, before they left the hospital. Gibbs steered Tim towards his car but Tim stopped him.

"No, my car is over there." Tim pointed in the opposite direction.

"And mine is this way." Gibbs got him moving again. "You're not driving, You'll fall asleep at the wheel before you made it to the yard."

Tim frowned but allowed his boss to push him towards the Dodge Challenger instead of his own Porsche. "What about my car?"

"It can stay here or you can have Tony drive it to the yard." Gibbs knew the answer he'd get.

"It can stay here." Tim had answered way to quickly.

"Hey!" Tony protested but the smile it got from his partner made him okay with it. He knew Tim was just as protective of his sports car as he was of his family and friends, it didn't really offend him.

It wasn't long before Gibbs had McGee in the car and driving them towards the yard. The moment Tim started to relax, his eyes closed and his breath evened out into sleep. Gibbs drove carefully as he made his way to work, Tony following in his own car with Ziva, and Ducky right behind them. None of them said anything to Gibbs following the speed limit as they pulled into the garage at NCIS, or the fact that he was very gentle in waking McGee just enough to get his out of the car and into the elevator, or how Tim rested his head on Gibbs shoulder, eyes still closed as he drifted in and out until safely tucked onto the futon in Abby's office.

When they had arrived Abby had yet to show up so once he had Tim tucked into the blanket he turned to his senior field agent. Ducky had already made his escape to autopsy to start his morning so now it was just Tony and Ziva with them.

"Tony stay with him until Abby gets in, fill her in with what we know so Tim doesn't have to explain again. Then come on up to the bullpen."

"On it Boss." Tony grabbed Abby's desk chair and rolled it closer to the futon before sitting down to watch over his partner.

"Ziva." Gibbs turned to the final member of his team. "Let's see what we can find out about this Eric. Once Tony returns you two can go question Hannah's parents about him and her sister."

"Yes Gibbs."

One last look at his sleeping man and Gibbs walked out the door, Ziva right behind him. Tony waited until he heard the door whoosh closed behind them to fully relax as he pulled out his phone to play TETRIS while keeping an eye on his honorary little brother, smirking as he realized Gibbs was suddenly fighting hard to keep his feelings for the younger man in check. All the touching at the hospital had caused Tony to almost blurt out for them to just kiss already, but he knew it was not the time for any of that, they needed to concentrate on finding McGee's daughter first.