Scandal 16
"Before we begin, I am warning everyone in this room. Condescending and derogatory comments will not be tolerated and should any offensive comments be made to that nature, strong and swift penalties will apply." Gibbs warned, looking towards his whole team before his gaze firmly fell on Tony. "Tim?"
"By now, I am sure you're aware that my apartment has been broken into and vandalized." Tim began, looking over at his team. "Gibbs has had his house shot too, because I was there."
"You're being targeted?" Ziva asked, interrupting her friend and team member. Her tone was angry and cold. Not at Tim, but at the fact that this was happening to Tim. Her friend and her teammate.
"Who the hell have you pissed off, Probie?!" Tony asked, in a demanding tone. His tone also held anger and Tim winced. He couldn't help but wince. He was scared about what he would have to do next. If anyone was going to have a problem with his sexuality, he was sure that it would be either Tony or Abby. Possibly both. Probably Tony more, but definitely one of the two of them, as he knew that Abby was an ally to the LBGTQIA community. If Abby protested, it would be on a personal basis, not an objection to their way of life, but an objection to him, personally.
"You don't usually piss people off, McGee!" Abby defended him to Tony. "Not to the extent that someone would destroy your apartment and shoot Gibbs' house up. "What the hell did you do?!"
"Abby!" Gibbs warned in his singular, one worded warning to his favourite.
"I didn't do anything." Tim snapped, his frustration coming through a little harsher than he had planned. "Someone clearly has it in for me." Tim explained, in a softer tone. One full of an apology and trepidation. "First off, please know, I am entitled to a private life as much as the next person in this room."
"Can I ask?" Tony interrupted him, looking over at Mark with scrutinizing eyes. He was the only stranger in the room and Tony was surprised that no one had made a move to introduce him, yet. "Who the hell are you?"
Before Mark could answer, Tim gazed at Tony. "I'll get to who he is a moment, if you stop interrupting me." Tim chastised his friend and team member. "Has anyone been following the news in the last twenty-four hours?"
Various team members nodded around the room. "That poor Senator." Tony sympathized, wholeheartedly. "Outed by a scumbag reporter and forced to make a speech, after a reporter leaked a bunch of emails between him and his life partner." Tim and Gibbs exchanged a look. Clearly, neither of them had been expecting Tony to be so sympathetic to Nathan. "I know the emails are out there for everyone and anyone to read, but I refuse to. Richard Wyatt can go to hell for what he did to that Senator!" Tony fumed.
"What does this have to do with your apartment and Gibbs' house?" Jimmy asked, timidly. He too had refused to read the emails. He had heard about the incident and he too, had been appalled by the reporter's action.
"Please know that I have never told anyone else this before." Tim began. His voice was hesitant and scared. Gibbs put his hand on Tim's shoulder in support. Tim took a deep breath; he was prepared for chaos. He was prepared for the fallout and Gibbs had reassured him that any homophobia would be dealt with, but he was still scared. His insides felt like he had swallowed a kaleidoscope of butterflies. "I'm gay."
There was a moment of silence around the room before a cacophony of noise erupted. Noises of shock, noises of surprise. "How long have you known?" Abby asked, surprised. He couldn't decipher her tone. He couldn't make sense of it. It wasn't angry or upset, but it wasn't happy or surprised. It was neutral, if that made sense.
"Always, but particularly since I was a young teen." Tim answered her softly when the hubbub of noise died down.
"So, that Senator got outed on national TV and you decide to come out to us?" Tony asked, trying to piece together the puzzle.
"No." Tim answered his teammate. "I am not telling you because I want to. I am telling you because I have no choice, now. I owe it to you all to be honest about myself."
"You don't owe us shit, Tim." Tony huffed angrily. This time Tony's frustrated tone was not directed at Tim. "Yeah, it was shit what happened to that senator, but you don't owe us anything. Look, I am the nosiest person on this team, by far. But you don't need to out yourself, especially if you're not comfortable in doing so because the media outed someone else."
"I have already been outed, Tony!" Tim explained, as the surprise he felt in his chest, at Tony's reaction intensified. "I believe you; you know? When you said you refused to read the senator's emails. Because if you did, you'd know why I owe you all the truth."
"Oh." Jimmy said suddenly, piecing the puzzle pieces together rather quickly. "Shit, Tim. Are you ok?"
Abby was next, she jumped up from her seat and hugged him tightly. She kissed his check and returned to her chair, passing Ziva, as she too, come over and hugged him fiercely, before she pressed her lips to the other cheek.
"Tim?" Tony asked in a small voice. Leon was ready to intervene on Tim's behalf, as was Gibbs, Porter and Mark Roberts, the Secret Service agent. "You're the mystery boyfriend?" He asked. Tony looked vulnerable and Gibbs scrutinised his Senior Field Agent carefully. Tim caught Tony's eye and nodded softly.
Out of nowhere, Tony slammed both of his hands down on the conference table in the Director's office with a boom. Tim looked on, seeing Tony's hands slightly cupped to create an echo sound. Gibbs and Mark, as well as Vance and Ziva. "THAT ASSHOLE REPORTER OUTED YOU, BY DEFAULT? Tony's eyes looked murderous, as his brain caught up to everyone else. Tony was furious at the channel four reporter, now. "Are you ok? What the hell am I saying? Of course, you're not ok. Some asshole reporter outed you on national TV yesterday for no other purpose than to be malice."
Suddenly, Tony had launched himself across the table and pulled Tim into his arms in a brotherly hug of support and concern for his friend. One of his best friends. If he was honest with himself, the best friend he had ever had. "If I have ever made you feel uncomfortable ...?" He trailed off and Tim smiled at him, as Tony released him.
"We're ok." Tim smiled at him in earnest. "Sure, comments you have made in the past have hurt, but you've grown. We both have and you did apologise for them, so right now, we're good." He explained and Gibbs was grinning at his two male agents from ear to ear. He had been expecting Tony to explode, but not expecting it to be in defence of their youngest agent and his boyfriend.
"So ...?" Tony asked, once everyone had settled down. Then his tone turned venomous. "What do we do, now? It's all hands on deck, right? Someone hacked their emails and outed one of our own. Someone trashed and vandalized Tim's apartment, they shot up Gibbs' house. I want in on the investigation, Director! Heads need to roll!"
"Relax Tony, we are taking over the investigation. Balboa has been running the case, so far in cooperation with the FBI and the Secret Service." Gibbs sighed, explaining where they were at. "But first, Tim has more to say."
"I need to apologise, to you all." Tim said, not looking at anyone in the eye. He was afraid of what he would see if he looked at his teammates in the eye. "Each of you, may or may not have been mentioned or referenced in the leaked emails for various things. Please understand, I was venting to my boyfriend in private. These emails were never meant to be released to the public. Read the emails, don't read the emails; I don't care anymore. They're out there for public examination, anyway. But please know that if I have upset you or offended you in any way, I am sorry. Please know that I never did use your full name, we only ever used first initials. But once someone in the media connects the dots that I am his boyfriend, it won't be a farfetched guess of who I was referring to. I am going to be scrutinised and punished accordingly, so I ask for your forgiveness."
"There's nothing to forgive Tim." Jimmy said, looking at probably his best friend in the world, carefully. His heart was breaking for Tim. Though it was never acknowledged at work, Tim and Jimmy had bonded quickly and had a close friendship. They had been successful at keeping their friendship away from work. Both men not wanting Tony to rag on them anymore than he already did. "All we care about is that you are ok."
"Now is probably a good time to introduce myself." Mark said, standing up. "I am Secret Service, Agent Mark Roberts and for the foreseeable future, you will be seeing either myself, or my partner Agent Phil Knight, hovering by Tim. At least until we get a handle on who is after Tim because he and Senator Nathan Taylor have been outed."
"Not that Agent McGee will be leaving the yard or working any active cases." Sarah Porter added, softly. "I am sorry Agent McGee, but regrettably you're suspended until we have a better handle on the emails. You have been referred to Internal Affairs, as well."
"Sorry doesn't cut it." Gibbs huffed at Leon and SecNav angrily. Gibbs hadn't read all the emails, but he had read enough to know that Tim had never shared any confidential, or sensitive information with the Senator. Tim being referred to Internal Affairs, would be a huge blemish on his spotless record. "Being outed publicly and deeply traumatised isn't digging the knife in deep enough. You have to refer him to IA, as well?"
"These emails clearly show a pattern of obfuscation around his relationship with the president's son and it's within my job description to examine and contextualize them." Sarah defended herself. "As much as I like Agent McGee on a personal level, I cannot afford to be perceived to be showing any nepotism. We are dealing with a senator. A Senator who is the First Son of the President of the United States of America. Everything has to be on the up and up. The political fallout from this is going to be epic."
Gibbs looked like he was about to interject on Tim's behalf, but Tim steadied Gibbs. "It's ok, I understand." Tim resigned, looking at Gibbs. He appreciated his boss' support, but Tim had been honestly expecting it.
"McGee, you will however be expected to work alongside our cyber agents, the FBI and the Secret Service, to determine how the hack happened while you are suspended." Vance added, confusing everyone else in the room. "The Internal Affairs investigation will commence at the conclusion of this meeting. You all will be called in to be questioned."
No one said anything, not a word. The atmosphere in the room felt tense and awkward. Tim felt Tony nudge his foot in support. Gibbs' hand was on his back and Mark looked at him concerned.
"You're all dismissed." Sarah said, before she gathered her papers. Her copies of the emails., She hated being the bad guy, but she had to cover her behind. Politics was a dangerous and dirty game, people played dirty, and she wanted to protect Tim, at all costs. But she couldn't afford it politically. It was time for Tim to face the music.
Tim had been sent down to cybercrimes in the basement, while Gibbs everyone else returned to their respective duties. It was late into the evening when everyone was steadily working at their desk. IA had finished questioning Abby and Ziva, before finishing up for the day. Mark was sitting by Tim, at his desk, his own laptop open. The MCRT at their respective desks, each working on their own task for the investigation. A ding signaling the arrival of the elevator sounded throughout the otherwise silent bullpen. A few stray agents working, besides their team, but no one looked up.
Except Gibbs. He was expecting this guest in question. He went over to shake Nathan's hand and nodded at his Secret Service agent Phil, before he escorted Nathan up the stairs towards the Director's office. Gibbs slowed when he noticed Nate slow down to look at his boyfriend. "Is he ok?" He whispered to Gibbs softly.
Gibbs stopped and ushered Nate the six steps back and across the walkway to the landing which overlooked Tim's desk. Looking down, both men saw Tim busily at work, while Phil was conferring with his own colleague, now situated at a makeshift desk by Tim's as they two began feverishly working on their own laptops. "He's hanging in there." Gibbs admitted in a low voice. "Are you ok?"
"Better than he is doing." Nathan admitted, honestly. "My name hasn't been in the media this much since I was first elected to congress. I am used to being in the media. My grandfather was a president, as is my father. My grandmother was a celebrity, and my mom has one of the most politically motivated, analytical minds of the twenty-first century. She is always on tv. Sitting on various panels and committees discussing something or another. Gibbs, I was four years old when I realised that nearly everyone in the country knew my name. That even when if I was elected to Congress, I would never know theirs. Nathan Taylor belongs to his constituents; Nate, he belongs to Tim and they're two vastly different people."
"Noted." Gibbs smirked at him. "As soon as we're done with this meeting, you can take Tim for the night. He needs some decent rest and you both need some privacy. Sorry I can only give you the night."
"We're used to only a night here and there. It's fine, Gibbs."
When Nate and Gibbs returned downstairs from their meeting with Vance, Tim and Sarah Porter were returning to the bullpen from the opposite end as Gibbs and Nate. "Ah...what are you doing here?" Tim asked Nate, with a slightly surprised but happy look on his face, as they came to stand in the middle of the MCRT bullpen about a foot apart.
Tony and Ziva both looked up from their paperwork, as they heard Tim's voice. This was the first time they had seen Senator Nathan Taylor up close. Nate dropped his voice low and eyed his boyfriend up and down once, checking him over. "Just a bit of skullduggery, Gibbs helped me plan it." He smirked at him.
"Let's call it a night." Gibbs called out to his team, breaking the spell between the two men.
Tim winked at Nate, as he moved away to return to his desk to grab his gear. Tony and Ziva hastily grabbed theirs too and came to stand in front of the Senator. His eyes were on Tim's every move, while his Secret Service personnel gathered their own gear. "I'm Tony, this is Ziva." Tony interrupted Nathan's train of thought. "You hurt our Tim, you answer to her and she's a ninja."
Nathan could barely keep the amusement at the two other agent's antics off his face before he managed a "Noted." out of his mouth, pressing his mouth closed in mirth.
Tony and Ziva had nothing further to add, as they waved goodbye to their fellow team members and left the bullpen. Gibbs sidled up next to Tim. "I am going to give the two of you some privacy tonight. Meet me at the diner at 0700 before work. I am trusting Mark and Phil to watch your back."
"Thank you, see you in the morning." Tim replied to Gibbs and smiled at him.