JF27
Meeting Gibbs on time for Kelly's usual breakfast and coffee date was surprisingly easy. Neither one of them woke with any trace of a headache or hangover, both energised, reinvigorated and ready to face the day. So ready in fact, by the time they met Gibbs for breakfast at 0630, they had already been for a run and done a gym session. "Morning." Kelly beamed at her dad as the two of them took a seat. Tim smiled widely at Gibbs, as he nodded his own greeting at his boss.
"Morning, Kell." Gibbs greeted them in a grumble. he hadn't had anything to drink last night, until he got home and had gone into his basement and worked on his boat, drinking his best stuff. But this morning his brain felt like it had been replaced by dust bunnies. His head full of mush.
As Elaine came and got their order, he studied the couple in the booth before him. They were both smiling brightly and he could see they were both in their work out gear. Tim had his arm across the back of the seat, his fingers occasionally tangled in her ponytail and his other hand was holding hers. "Aren't they the cutest couple, Gibbs?" Elaine gushed at him, making Tim and Kelly blush a little, as she returned with their coffees. "Must be such a relief for your daughter to have found a man like Tim. Wish one if my girls would find someone like him, already."
Gibbs smiled at her. "I wouldn't say the cutest couple." he winked at Kelly, as he replied to Elaine. "But they're OK."
"Feel all of his love there, Tim? Doesn't it just fill you with warm fuzzy feelings?" Kelly deadpanned to Tim, making them all laugh.
As the meal arrived, they touched on Abby's party last night. Gibbs asked the couple how much they ended up drinking, to need a lift home. "Actually, we only had two each." Kelly told him, proudly. "Since I started seeing Tim, I've been drinking a lot less. It's been good and all my choice."
Gibbs had actually noticed that and commented that he had noticed. He wished he could curb his own drinking a little bit more. If he could, then Kelly wouldn't make his head hurt this morning and Tim's smile wouldn't be so unnerving.
"I'm not a big drinker and definitely didn't want to drive the work sedan after having a couple of beers, so not worth it." Tim told the two Gibbses. "I normally only drink one, but after the week I've had, I definitely needed a second."
"You definitely win the award for the crappiest week, Babe." Kelly quipped quietly as she looked up at him, her adoring blue eyes dancing with happiness. Her look was full of love and admiration, her eyes shining brightly, radiating for the world to see.
"Lucky, I have you to make it better." Tim returned her look of love. Gibbs already knew that Tim was sappy and she was eating it up. He felt like he was going to be sick, but in a good way. He was happy that the two of them were finally getting their act together. It made his heart happy and ache at the same time. On one hand, he was happy for Kelly and happy for himself, that he got to witness her happiness. On the other hand, his heart ached; he missed Shannon. Shannon was missing out on witnessing this and meeting Tim. He was sure that Shannon would have loved his meek and mild-mannered agent. Although Tim wasn't always meek, he had definitely proven that recently. He was getting better every day. Gibbs had to remind himself that Tim wasn't a little green Probie anymore, that he had grown into a strong, competent agent who had a massive potential to become the future star of NCIS.
"That is why I love you so much." she declared in a whisper. "You are the best."
"I love you too." he whispered back to her. His eyes dancing with the megawatt grin that reached her face.
Gibbs sat there, perplexed. First their mutual, matching smiles disturbed him, not overly; just enough to make his heart ache. Then, it was the way Tim's hand subconsciously played in Kelly's hair and she didn't even notice. Kelly had her hand in his lap. Now, it was their soft-spoken declaration of love. He made a mental note to talk to his daughter alone and do a little bit of interrogating of his own. It seemed that things had begun to heat up between his agent and his daughter. He just hoped they were still taking things slow and not rushing into things.
After breakfast, Gibbs held his daughter back a moment and asked Tim for a moment with her. He told her he'd meet her in the car, leaving the two of them to take a seat on the bench by the entrance to the diner. "You and Tim seem to be getting serious, now?" he asked directly. He knew they had to get on the road and he didn't want to drag it out.
"Yes." she said, looking at him in the eye. She knew she was about to be interrogated. Her father had taught her how to be interrogated and she knew she could make it very difficult for him right now. Her father had taught her, just in case she was ever abducted because of his job. Then she remembered that her father was Tim's boss and he would probably unintentionally take it out on him. She had heard the stories from both Tony and from Tim, about how Tim had been punished for Abby's actions.
"I heard you two say you were in love." he stated, thinking Kelly had forgotten about his supersonic hearing. He'd had many deep conversations with his daughter before, but this one was perhaps the third most uncomfortable one they had ever shared. The first and second being about periods and sex, of course. Sure, they'd talked like this about her previous partners too, but this time her partner was Tim. Tim was man he already loved and cared for like a son, a man whom he had watched grow and mature. A man who he had help mould into the man he is today.
"Last night, Tim told me that he loves me." Kelly admitted to her dad, in a blush. She knew she wasn't supposed to offer up any information in an interrogation, but otherwise her dad would have her here all day. She knew he was a great investigator and expert interrogator, but she knew she couldn't outwait his patience. He was a sniper in the US Marine Corp, she couldn't beat his patience if she tried. "I told him that I love him, too."
"Kell honey, that's great!" Gibbs beamed at her with a wide, warm genuine smile. He was genuinely happy for the couple. "Just promise me that you will not rush things and you'll keep using protection."
"We're not having sex yet, Dad. We're taking things slow." Kelly retorted, seeing that look on his face. It was a soft look, but uncomfortable one and it always told her that it was one of those things that he wishes her mom was here for.
"But you're sleeping there, at his apartment, every night." Gibbs replied softly. He didn't want to think about his daughter and his agent, but surely there should be some kind of intimacy by now.
'Maybe Tim isn't as ready for a relationship as he thought he was.' Gibbs thought to himself, the he thought something even worse. 'I hope Tim's not just stringing her along.' He vigorously shook his head to get that thought away, even he knew that Tim wasn't like that. He didn't like the fact his brain took his thoughts there, but he was also aware that it only did because he loved Kelly so much.
He was about to say as much when she gave him a smile. "You've been married four times Dad, surely even you know there are many ways for a couple to be intimate without sex. We're taking our time and building an us. But I promise that when the time comes, we will use protection." Kelly offered her dad. Gibbs hadn't even realised that he had projected his thoughts to her. Maybe she just knew her dad so well that she could read his mind. "No one is ready for any little kids to be running around."
"Good girl." Gibbs praised her and the two of them looked up to see a very unhappy Tim in the sedan, on the phone and whomever it was destroying the happiness on Tim's face.
Tim got back out of the car and smiled at them, reassuringly as he approached the two of them. "I am with Gibbs now, Director. I'll pass the phone to him." Tim handed off his cell phone to Gibbs and Gibbs walked away from the couple to speak with Vance. "Sorry Kell, I wanted to go with you to meet your friend Nicole and get our girl, but something at work has come up and I have to go in. I know we're not on call, but it's big."
"That's ok, Tim." Kelly reassured him with a kiss. She truly meant what she had said. She understood, she had spent almost her entire life, with her father as an agent and she learnt the nature of the job. She even accepted that fact about Tim, long before they began dating. "Tonight?"
Tim knew what she was referring to, he had made plans. "Hopefully, we will be done in time, but you never can tell. I will text you." Tim said softly, holding her hand. he was watching Gibbs and the Director battle it out on the phone and hoped his cell survived the war Gibbs was waging.
Kelly looped her arms around his neck and kissed his lips, as she held him close. "Promise me, you'll be safe and wear a vest." He nodded in the affirmative to her and kissed her again. "I love you, so much Tim." she whispered as they rested their foreheads against one another.
"Love you too, Kell." Tim replied and hugged her tightly against him, feeling her heart beat against his.
"Come on, lover boy." Gibbs grinned at him handing Tim his cell phone back, intact. "The sooner we get this done, the sooner you can salvage your weekend."
"Go bags in the sedan, we can drop Kelly back at mine to get her car in the way to the yard." Tim offered as they made their way to the NCIS agency issued sedan.
"Kelly can take my truck back to yours, I'll catch a ride back with you." Gibbs counter-offered, not wanting to lose more time and he saw the two of them exchange a look. "Don't worry, I won't interrupt any plans the two of you have, I won't even come upstairs. I have plans myself. Dinner with Tobias tonight, actually."
Gibbs sat in the passenger seat, as Tim drove them both into work. He studied Tim carefully, taking care not to unnerve him while he focused on driving. Tim seemed to be focused on the task at hand and not paying to him. "So, what's the plan that's so important that Kelly was worried I'd be interrupting?" Gibbs asked, breaking the silence between them, as Tim pulled into the entrance and waited for base security.
"Not interrupting, delaying." Tim corrected his team leader. "We have a date planned, that's all. Dinner reservations, uptown."
"So, tonight's a big night, then?" Gibbs, asked laughing. "Not that I want to think about it. Your girlfriend is my daughter."
"No offence Gibbs, but I'm not discussing this with you." Tim told said as the guard handed back his ID and wished them a good day. "Besides, it's nothing too special. We've just got dinner reservations."
"And?" Gibbs asked because he knew his daughter. As much as she loved food, there was no ways she'd be too concerned about missing dinner.
"Theatre. A musical about a ballet school." Tim told Kelly's father. "Kelly's been dying to see it and they're performing at Kennedy Centre for one night only. With Ducky's connections, we have a box to ourselves."
"Very nice, Tim." Gibbs whistled. He had heard all about the date at the Michelin five-star restaurant and Tim's chef friend from MIT. He had heard all about the picnic too, and the ice cream date. He had heard it all, Kelly had been on the phone with her girlfriend Naomi, bragging about Tim and their dates. He had been resting on the sofa with his eyes closed and Kelly had let herself in and was putting groceries in his fridge.
"I do know how to treat a lady right." Tim told him, straight up. Tim felt like Gibbs was critiquing his dating repertoire.
"Look, let's lay our cards down, out in the open." Gibbs said, turning to look at Tim, as he turned off the car. "I am sorry Tim; I shouldn't have asked you that. We should set some boundaries between us, so we don't blur the lines here?"
"I agree, but I'm going to miss your friendship." Tim told him sincerely.
"We're still friends Tim, always." Gibbs reassured him. "I'm always going to be here for you, too. But maybe we can't let ourselves get close in some areas. I won't give you romance advice, relationship advice or sex advice. I'm not that kind of friend and I'm the last person you should ask."
"Who's asking for advice like that? That's not my style, that's why it's called a private life, Gibbs. Outside of work hours, I'm your daughter's boyfriend and we have a good friendship. At work, you're my boss and my team lead. But you always have my six and I have yours?" Tim theorised out loud.
"Sounds like some pretty good boundaries to me, Tim." Gibbs said, smiling. "Tim, I'd miss your friendship too. I don't want to go back to where we were a year ago. We're a lot closer now and I wouldn't trade it for anything. You can come to me for help, for anything but those three topics and I'll be there for you."
"Thanks boss." Tim grinned at him, each man shouldering their own go bag.
Meeting Ellie in the bullpen with Leon waiting for them, Leon led the four agents into MTAC to speak in privacy with the Secretary of the Navy who was on video conference.
Her ex-husband had been in a hit and run, the MCRT team was called in to find out if he was targeted because of her job, or if it had something to do with his new girlfriend and her family's shady business deals.
Gibbs immediately dispatched Ellie and himself to the hospital, asking Tim if he wouldn't mind looking into both the ex-husband and the new girlfriend until their TAD agent arrived. Being November 1, Tony's suspension had begun. Leon was surprised with Gibbs attitude towards his temporary SFA, noting it was a lot less gruff than what he was with DiNozzo.
"When Dorney gets in, get him on the backgrounds. I want you over at the SecNav's place. Speak to her again, Tim. I want to know why they split, when they split and what the divorce settlement was." Gibbs instructed, as he left for the hospital.
As soon as Gibbs was gone, Leon lowered his voice and leaned in over Tim's shoulder from where he sat behind the acting SFA in MTAC. "Mrs Carlson said she will have the results tonight."
"Thank you." Tim whispered, looking around the room. "Did she ... give you any hints?"
"I asked, but not a single hint." Leon smiled at him. "I'm sure it will be ok. As soon as the DNA is finished running, I am going to get Balboa and his team on getting us answers, Tim."
Dorney's arrival halted any further conversation on the topic and Tim briefed Dorney before he headed out to the secretary of the navy's home. Parking the agency sedan, Tim took a deep breath, he reminded himself that he could do this. Getting out of the car, Tim rang the doorbell to the home. A townhouse, not far from his own in Georgetown. Hearing a male's voice screaming obscenities and the SecNav's raised voice telling him to go to hell had set Tim on edge and he had immediately called in a request for back up. He picked the lock and slipped inside, unable to do a perimeter search as the houses in the row were all connected to one another. He had slipped an open-ended mic on and earpiece so his back up could communicate a plan.
Following the sound of the voices, Tim cleared each room as he made his way through the bottom floor of the house. Finding them in the kitchen on the back of the bottom floor, Tim identified the man as SecNav's ex-husband Richard Porter. He identified himself, gun raised and Peter jumped back from Sarah Porter's face. "Are you ok, Ma'am?" Tim asked, seeing the shock on her face.
"Thank you, Agent McGee." Sarah Porter said, relieved that someone had arrived. She was supposed to be safe in her own home, her security detail wasn't on duty when she was inside her own home. That would now change. She thanked her lucky stars that Megan had spent the night at her brother's house. "What are you doing here?"
"I came to discuss a few details with you." Tim said softly, seeing Richard finally back right off and simmer down. "About the case."
"You did do it, you're the one who sent agents to investigate my girlfriend." Richard accused her.
"Actually, it was the Director Mr Porter." Tim informed him, hoping the Vance would be happy to take the blame. "We need to ascertain whether or not the Madam Secretary has been compromised."
"Agent McGee, it's Metro PD!" a voice called out from the open front door. A voice that Tim recognised and poor Richard was about to find out that on a very rare occasion, the local LEO's were worse than the feds when it came to national security.
Looking at the secretary of the navy, Tim smiled, reassuringly. "Bottom floor back of the house." he called out. Sarah Porter handed Tim a copy of an AVO and custody arrangement papers. Giving them a quick skim as he greeted the serge he had worked with before. "Thanks for the quick response, Nick. Meet Mr Richard Porter, ex-husband and a repeat offender of breaking the AVO against him by Ms. Porter. Ms Porter is the Secretary of the US Navy and Marine Corp, Nick. She is one of ours."
"I take it he is a civilian?" Nick asked, taking hold of Richard Porter.
"Yes, but he is a material witness in the classified case we're currently working on." Tim explained, not wanting to lose Richard in the process, just in case Gibbs hadn't spoken to him yet.
"To NCIS, I will deliver him personally." Nick gleaned. "Madam Secretary, when NCIS are finished with him, will you be pressing charges?"
"Of course, she will be, Nick." Tim answered, he was determined to talk her into it. Nick was hauled away and Tim followed them out, closing and locking the door behind him, before returning to the kitchen. "Are you ok? I really think charging him this time will send a message, ignoring him certainly hasn't worked in the past."
Instead of answering him, she hugged him. "Thank you." A small voice came from the woman hugging him. Pulling back from Tim, she gave him a watery smile. "He hasn't ever gotten as violent as he did today. Usually, he is more non-confrontational. He stalks and follows, but Justine has him crazy."
"They aren't going to charge him, unless you give the Ok. Nick was happy to take it from me because we go way back." Tim told her. "Let me take you to NCIS, not only will you be safe, but we can start the paperwork."
Arriving back at NCIS, Tim snagged his laptop off his desk as the two of them headed into the conference room. Waiting inside the room was Director Vance. "Ms. Porter, are you OK? I had a call from Nick Swartz, from Metro PD." Vance asked immediately, handing Sarah Porter her preferred cup of tea he kept on hand, just for her.
"Thank-you, I am now." She said, relieved. "Thank goodness that Agent Gibbs sent Agent McGee to speak with me. Richard has never been this violent before."
"Ma'am, we both know that all domestic violence starts somewhere, before usually escalating, not decelerating." Tim reminded her, tactfully. He didn't like any man who thought it was OK to hit a woman, any woman. No matter their actions. Always a gentleman and having gentlemanly behaviours ingrained in him from a young age by Penny, he couldn't understand how some men thought that kind of behaviour was OK. "Your ex-husband is showing all the signs of escalation, we don't want to be ignoring it right now, that only adds more fuel to the fire. I understand you want to keep this out of the courts, but he needs to learn that it isn't OK."
"You're right Agent McGee, I should have followed my instincts and pressed charges sooner, not followed my advisor's advice." She agreed with him as Tim opened his laptop up, prepared to fill out the paperwork to have her former husband Richard Porter charged with violating an AVO." You're a good man, Timothy McGee. Tell me how the delightful Miss Gibbs is doing."
Sarah Porter had been curious about the friendship that the SSAIC's daughter and Gibbs' favourite tech agent shared. "Oh, lover boy here has been wining, dining and romancing Miss Gibbs for a little bit now." Vance admitted, before Tim could brush her aside. "Since not too long after the NOLA assignment."
"Does everyone have to know my business, Director?" Tim jested. "I swear this agency is like a bunch of pre-teen girls, just dying to find out all the gossip."
"The two of you weren't exactly hiding your relationship at Miss Scuito's Halloween party." Leon Vance informed the younger man.
"Well, I for one congratulate you both." She beamed at him. "Remember what I told you about my relationship?"
"Yes Ma'am." Tim nodded. "So far, it's going OK. We have tickets to the Kennedy Centre tonight, so I hope we get out of here on time."
"Leon, make sure Agent McGee leaves nice and early. He saved me today; he deserves a night off." Sarah Porter told the Director.
In between filling out the paperwork and Sarah Porter making her formal complaint against her ex-husband, she continued to answer any questions that the two of them had about her ex-husband and her knowledge of the girlfriend's business dealings.
Back at his desk, Tim breathed a sigh of relief. He was just printing Ms Porter's formal complaint when Gibbs and Ellie arrived back in the bull pen from the hospital. Dorney gave them a quick background update on what he had found and Tim told them what had happened at SecNav's house and how Richard porter was now in their lock up, which pleased Gibbs. He had been ready to issue a BOLO for the man.
Gibbs interrogated Richard to discover that his girlfriend's father was an infamous drug pin in the DC area. Tim procured the final signatures and submitted the correct paperwork, including a copy of the report and complaint for Gibbs.
Gibbs, Dorney, Ellie and Tim worked the drug pin angle and discovered that the once infamous and influential drug pin owed a Canadian branch of a Mexican cartel money and they had tried to kill her.
With that knowledge in hand, Gibbs and Tim gathered all their case information, filled out their reports and handed the case over to Metro PD.
Just before Gibbs and Tim had been ready to leave, Vance had stopped by Tim's desk. "Mrs Carlson apologises for the delay, she will have them on Sunday morning. Shall I bring them by?"
"No, I can stop by your house. I need to go up to Reston and check on Penny's place up there, not quite sure what time I will be back." Tim counteroffered. He had plans and he didn't want Vance's impending arrival to rush them.
"How about you and Kelly come for dinner?" Vance offered. He too had studied Tim today. He had overheard Tim tell the SecNav his plans for their date tonight and he had to admit, it looked good. Seeing that smile on Tim's face again. He hadn't realised how much he had missed it, until he began seeing it again. "My Mom does a mean pot roast.
"That should be fine. Can I text you when I get home? Kelly is on the road and I don't want to call and disturb her." Tim explained to the Director. To him it sounded fine, but he didn't know if Kelly had plans and wanted to run it by her. "As soon as Kelly confirms we don't have plans, I'll let you know."
The three men bid each other a good evening and Gibbs hitched a ride with Tim back to his apartment. As the drove into the underground parking lot, Tim pulled into his space and noticed that Kelly wasn't back yet. Gibbs' truck was in the space where he usually parked, as Kelly had promised. "Thanks for the ride." Gibbs told him as he switched off the car.
"Welcome." Tim murmured. He noticed that Gibbs hadn't made a move to get out of the sedan, yet. "Are you ok, Gibbs?"
"Yeah." Gibbs said, shaking his head, as if it would clear it of the thoughts that plagued it. "It's just ... Today, at every turn you were confident in your actions and you picked up on the smallest detail, that seemed inconsequential, which turned out to be crucial in solving the case. You were good with Ms. Porter, too. Why haven't you shown me this side of you before?"
"I have never been like that before with a case." Tim admitted shyly to his boss. "I don't know. I always follow my instincts, but this was different."
"You were confident. As harsh as this might seem, maybe it's because you're out from under DiNozzo's shadow?" Gibbs offered to him. He has had several conversations with both Vance and DiNozzo and both men have told him that Tim had outgrown his JFA position on the MCRT. But today was the first time, Gibbs had seen it; from start to finish while on a case. "The way you handled Ms Porter, that was impressive."
"Probably had a lot to do with the way my boss speaks to the brass." Tim jibed at him, in a friendly tone. "After all the man once had me tell the Deputy Secretary of State, Anna Elliot to 'stick it!'"
"She definitely wasn't impressed by that." Gibbs smirked at Tim. "But you have your own way and it's going to take you far one day, when you're ready."