TAP26

When Tim had woken up, he wasn't surprised to find that he was alone. He could see the clock on the nightstand, and it was well into mid-morning. In fact, it was past mid-morning, almost eleven. Moving gingerly, he immediately regretted it, as the pain that shot through his body. "Ow!" He called out on instinct and immediately, Gibbs was coming into the room with a small tray. The same one Emily had used yesterday morning.

"Here, stay there a minute." Gibbs requested in a firm and steady voice. "Let me help you. I have some light breakfast, some water and your pain meds. How are you feeling?"

Tim tried to sit himself up a bit. Gibbs put the tray down on the ottoman and helped hoist Tim to sit up, slightly. He took the pillows from Pete's side of the bed and tucked them behind Tim for extra support. He mentally noted and was careful not to react when Tim kept a tight grasp on the sheet and duvet, to keep them from slipping down. "Coffee?" Tim asked, hoping Gibbs would give in and supply him with some.

"If you can keep some breakfast and your pain meds down, you can have some coffee." Gibbs counter offered. He hadn't been surprised when Tim had asked for the coffee. He was a caffeine addict like him and that was something that he would do and had done before. "Now, Emily is going to be finished her exam in about ten or fifteen minutes and is going to want to come in and see how you are doing. I am sure, we both think you should be wearing some clothes for that visit."

"Gibbs, it's not ..-' Tim tried, but Gibbs interrupted him.

"Tim, Tim. It is not my business what you and Pete do behind the closed doors of your bedroom or what the two of you wear to bed." Gibbs said, factually. He knew they needed to have this awkward conversation and it needed to be had before Pete came in and told Tim about what had transpired between the two of them in the kitchen that morning. "All I care about is that you rest up and get better. It's my job to make sure you are well cared for and that you don't overdo it."

"Thanks Gibbs, but I was just going to say, Pete and I are still taking it slow." Tim answered in explanation. "There's no need to rush into anything. I am feeling as if it has the potential to become a more permanent arrangement. But first, we have to get through this ordeal, before we take anything further. Whilst Emily is in my care, while she is my responsibility, she has to be my priority. Tobias trusted me to care for her, she has to come first."

"I've got a newsflash for you, kiddo." Gibbs grinned at the man before him. "When you're a parent or caregiver, it doesn't automatically turn off your libido. It's ok to have a sex life and be a parent at the same time. Well, maybe not while we're all living in this RV together, but it is ok to want and have a sex life." Gibbs chuckled, trying to make his point. If anyone had ever told him that at any point in his future, he would be reassuring Timothy McGee about his sex life, he would have had them committed. "As long as it is private and behind closed doors, who the hell cares? You're both legal, consenting adults. How do you think parents end up with more than one child?"

The absurdity of Gibbs talking to him about not neglecting his personal life with Pete, for the sake of Emily was weird. Gibbs had been weird all morning. Gibbs rarely did nice and pampered things, like breakfast in bed or help him sit up in bed. To Tim, these gestures seemed more intimate and personal and the Gibbs he knew wouldn't offer to help like this. These were gestures that he expected from Pete. "Immaculate conception." Tim sassed back with a laugh. He couldn't help himself; the absurdity of the situation was getting to him.

"I was being serious Tim." Gibbs said, looking him in the eye. Gibbs took a seat on the bed, sitting by Tim's hip and making sure his tone didn't betray him. "I haven't spent a lot of time with the two of you together. I spent the day with Pete yesterday and I know you. I got to see how much Pete cares for you. If you two love one another, don't hold back. I can tell you from experience that feeling like that about someone, it doesn't come along every day. Now, I hate to say this at this point, but you need to find some clothes." That was it, Gibbs' last quip had Tim chuckling and clutching at his side. "I knew you had a funny bone."

"Thanks Gibbs." Tim said, sincerely. Tim had picked up the factual point that Gibbs had been hinting at. Tomorrow isn't guaranteed for anyone. "If you can throw me those sweatpants, I'll take myself into the bathroom and get dressed. Where is Pete?"

"He is overseeing Emily's literature exam she was supposed to do, yesterday." Gibbs grinned, as he turned his back to give Tim the illusion of privacy. He wasn't ready to let the man overdo it. He wanted to be nearby, just in case he had to grab Tim. The last thing they needed was a couple of busted stitches and a return trip to urgent care. "When you get to the bathroom, don't lock the door. Just in case you need some help in there."

"Crap!" Tim swore, as he entered the bathroom. He had forgotten all about Emily's literature exam that he was supposed to be supervising. Gibbs smothered his laughter because he knew that Timothy McGee had an eidetic memory and didn't forget anything. Especially something as academic as an exam. "I completely forgot about that."

Coming out of the bathroom, dressed in sweatpants and an old tee, Gibbs stopped Tim from making his way any further. "Look, Tim. I am going to be honest." Gibbs took a deep breath. Gibbs knew he needed to confess about the altercation between him and Pete because ultimately, Pete outranked him in Tim's heart, and he had started the argument. It would go down better, coming from him. "I am going to be honest with you, Pete and I exchanged harsh words this morning. I was expressing my concerns and Pete was expressing his. I meant no disrespect to you, Pete or your relationship. I was only trying to think of what is best for you and your recovery."

"Ok." Tim conceded. He had no doubt that Gibbs would have said something to Pete. Sometimes that man's mouth ran away with him. Tim was determined not to say anything else on the matter, until he had spoken to Pete about it. "Thanks for the heads up."

Pete had just finished administering Emily's literature exam. Pete knew it would have slipped his boyfriend's mind and for that, he was kind of glad. Tim was one of the most focused people he had ever met. If it had slipped his mind, it meant that Tim was taking his recovery seriously, and putting himself first for a change. "Hey, you're up." Pete greeted his boyfriend with a kiss, as he ventured out into the kitchen and living area of the RV. "How did you sleep, Babe?" He asked, noticing that Tim was moving under his own steam better than he had been last night when they had arrived back at the RV. Better than when he carried Tim into their bedroom and helped him get ready for bed.

"What's the plan for today?" Tim asked quietly, as not to distract Emily, noticing that on the timer, she only had three minutes left on her exam.

"Nothing." Pete grinned at him. That was just like Tim, trying to get back into the swing of things. "You are going to relax on the sofa, take your medication when required, rest and do very little else. Emily may join you afterwards. Tomorrow will be a travel day, so you need to rest and take advantage of stretching out, while you can."

"Tim, we have a check in with Vance at 1400 hours." Gibbs mentioned, as the timer went off for Emily's exam to be over. "After that, I thought I would take Em down to the reception. I saw a small tuck shop there. I thought we might go to get an ice cream and give you boys fifteen minutes to yourselves and reward Emily's hard work on her exam."

"Yes, please." She grinned at him. Emily had not had any sweets since before her father left for his undercover assignment. She also thought it would be a good idea for Tim and Pete to have alone time together, even if it was only fifteen minutes. She had noticed that Pete had only just started becoming comfortable with her around. She couldn't imagine how they felt with Gibbs around too. "Let the two of them have some smoochies in private."

Pete and Tim exchanged grins, they didn't need any private time behind closed doors, Tim was still recovering. He had only had surgery yesterday; he wasn't even off the stronger opioids yet. He would have much rather they gave them some privacy, once Tim was better and they were settled at their final destination.

Tim knew why he was grinning, but he was unsure why Pete was grinning. Tim was grinning, his heart feeling full of love and acceptance. Gibbs had said he was ok with Tim and his lifestyle choices, but this was the first time that the older man was putting his money where his mouth was and stepping up to the plate. Sadly, he thought about Tony. Tony had always suspected that Gibbs had had a softer side, he never let anyone see. Tony had once told him that he didn't think that anything except Abby would be able to bring out that side in Gibbs.

But here they were now, and Tim was saddened by the thought that it shouldn't take a change in someone's sexuality to get a little compassion and understanding from a fellow human being. "Thank you for the offer, Em, Gibbs. But Pete and I can get along just fine without the private time." Tim gave Gibbs a warm smile, as Em came and sat beside him on the sofa, tucking herself up and under his arm. "We should still be sticking together as much as possible. The threat is not over, and we need to be watching one another's six here."

It had been easy to forget that they were still running from a threat. Especially for Pete and Em, they had slipped into their new personas more easily than Gibbs and Tim had. Which was ironic when they were the ones adept at playing undercover. They were agents, they had literally trained for this, Em and Pete were the civilians in the bunch. Ideas were quickly discussed about how to make the next leg of their trip, and would they stay in another RV campground, or would they try a national park. The original plan had been to travel from Flagstaff, Arizona to Santa Fe, New Mexico. But now, they needed a new plan. There was no way that that much sitting combined with the pressure on Tim's wounds and his pain levels, that Tim would be able to handle it. The truck they had was a twin cab a Ford F350, with three adults and a tween who was already five feet tall. There would be no space for Tim to stretch out and lie back. It was also too dangerous for Tim to travel on the bed, in the back of the RV.

"Sometimes things change and evolve on ops, and you have to make the best of a bad situation." Gibbs advised Pete. Gibbs had been involved in ops before where plans had changed, due to unforeseen circumstances. "We're not at the level where we need to roll with the punches, yet. We have time and in ten minutes, MTAC is going to ping that laptop and we're going to sit down and discuss this with Vance. We may have to change everything."

All Pete could do was nod, before he occupied his time with fussing over Tim. Tim was begrudgingly allowing Pete to help him get settled in for the conference in with Vance. Pete fussed about, propping pillows under and behind Tim's back. Making sure he was comfortable, before he bought over a plate of food and a fresh cup of coffee.

The shrill ringing of the tablet startled Tim out of his light dozing, from where Tim had been settled on to the sofa. "Yeah, Gibbs." Jethro Gibbs snapped nastily into the laptop, instantly regretting his words.

"Gibbs." Leon's voice greeted him in a low, warning-like tone. He hadn't expected the MCRT Team Leader to be pleased with him, but he did think that Gibbs snapping at him was an overreaction.

"Just got Tim settled, don't want to wake him." Gibbs muttered, but his voice came through the MTAC line crystal clear. "Hang on a minute." There was jostling heard down the line and Gibbs reappeared on the screen.

"Status update, Gibbs." Leon requested. Leon watched from his vantage in MTAC, as, Gibbs looked over onto the other sofa, to make sure that Tim was still resting. Gibbs had moved over to the kitchen countertop.

"Emergency surgery last night." Gibbs spoke, keeping his voice low. "A bunch of restrictions for McGee. I don't know what the plan is for Emily and her schooling, but Pete has just administered her last exam, just this morning. Tomorrow is a drive day, but it's a seven-hour drive, straight through to the next scheduled stop. Tim can't sit upright in the back of the truck for that long, even if he was in the passenger seat. Too much pressure on his surgical wounds."

"I agree." Vance said. His tone was concise. "That is why, Emily and Tim are flying ahead, to LA, tonight. We've chartered a private plan and Callen and Sam are on route. They will accompany McGee and Miss Fornell onto your final stop. You and Pete are going to continue on with the truck and RV, together. Driving to Grand Junction, Colorado. Hetty's contact will meet you in Grand Junction and escort you to the final destination. I have arranged to have Dr Mallard meet them at the safe house to cheek McGee over."

"Is that safe?" Gibbs asked, worrying about both someone following Ducky to their safe house, or worse, Ducky being in danger.

"I am afraid that Doctor Mallard was rather forceful and insistent." Gibbs curbed his laughter and issued a controlled smirk to Leon Vance. That didn't surprise him, one bit. "One more piece of news, Gibbs. The FBI director has been sniffing around, looking for Tim. He has also requested that I pave the way for him to speak with Pete." Leon let off a small sigh and Gibbs braced himself for the next piece of bad news. In a smaller, lower voice, Leon added "The man outed Tim to me, when he made his request. He claimed it was common knowledge and we know it isn't."

"He is getting desperate." Gibbs speculated. "Either Tim already knows too much, or he was getting close to discovering the truth. Whichever it is, Director Thomasson is on the precipice. What are you going to do about him wanting to chat to Pete?"

"Simple, he is on a classified mission for the Navy and currently in a communication black out." Vance smirked. He could see Tim stirring in the background. "I am going to allude to the fact that he has been gone, longer than Tim has been missing. I do not want him knowing that Tim and Pete are together. Pete's whereabouts is to remain, classified. He is our secret weapon. The FBI will double down their efforts and will be gunning harder for Tim now."

"Update me?" Tim asked softly, startling Gibbs out of his thoughts on what Leon had just declared to him about the FBI and Tim. "What is happening? Any word on Tobias and his handler?"

"Sorry Tim, the FBI and the DEA aren't being very forthcoming with information, now. Especially because NCIS weren't involved in the original operation, we have no business sticking our noses into the investigation."

"Remember that night, Leon?" Tim asked in a sigh, and Gibbs wondered what night Tim was referring to, or was Tim's soft sleepy voice part of some kind drug psychosis side effect. "The one at the hospital? Remember what I gave you?"

"Yeah ..." Leon answered in a skeptical voice. He had wondered why Tim would randomly give him a playing card, let alone the joker card.

"Time to go to the source, itself." Tim said, standing more upright in his gait. "He has breakfast at Cafe de la Moodey every morning at 0430 before heading to the gym on J street until 0600."

"Anything else?" Leon asked. He was not surprised that Tim had felt like he could trust Leon to seek out his partner at the FBI. Leon just hoped that his partner could be trusted.

"Yeah, allude to the fact that I am ok." Tim grinned, "But ... if a blonde stewardess looking woman and a baby are with him, don't approach them. That is his wife and child, they quite often join him. Make sure he is alone."

"Got it, Tim." Leon grinned tightly at Tim, keeping his lips firmly closed. "You guys keep watching one another's backs and Callen and Sam will be there later today. Gibbs fill him in."

The call severed, and Tim stood, looking at Gibbs expectantly. "We're splitting up." Gibbs sighed. He didn't like the plan, any more than he liked the look on Tim's face at that news. "You and Emily will go with Callen and Sam to the safe house directly. Pete and I will drive, hopefully distracting any watchers from following you. We're hoping it will let you two have a few days where you can focus on relaxing and recuperating without the anxiety and stress of being hunted by your own agency."

"What about me?" Pete asked, seeming more uncertain than he had ever been since this whole ordeal begun. "I mean is splitting up really a good idea?"

"I don't like it any more than you do." Gibbs muttered, looking at Pete. "The plan is that you and I will continue on together. The FBI are officially looking for you now. Vance is going to waylay them the best he can. He is going to claim that you are on a classified op, and on comms black out. That you have been gone longer than Tim and that you don't know he is missing."

"What happens if someone goes after Tim or Em? He isn't up to par to fight them off." Pete asked Gibbs worriedly. That was his biggest concern. He didn't care what happened to him. But Tim was still physically injured. It hadn't even been twenty-four hours since he came out of surgery and Emily was just a kid. The responsibility of Tim shouldn't fall to Emily, and he thought he knew Tobias well enough by now. Tobias would be furious that Emily was having that kind of burden placed on her.

"Sam and Called will be with us." Tim answered his boyfriend. he could see Pete was worrying about him and Em and Tim felt himself fall slightly further in love with the man. "Remember them? Callen and Sam won't let anything happen to us. I promise, Pete."

"Gibbs, we're not stopping, right? We drive right through." Pete all but demanded of the MCRT Team Leader and Tim's former boss. Something still wasn't sitting right about this in his gut. Gibbs and Tobias had taught Tim, and Tim had taught him, to always rely on his gut. His gut was screaming that this still felt wrong.

"Of course, I don't like this anymore than you do."

Sam and Callen arrived shortly after dark at the RV. They had a black, non-descript van with tinted windows and Tim and Emily were packed up ready to go when they arrived. "It's not just me, right G? This seems like a really bad idea." Callen quipped to Sam under his breath, as Gibbs and Pete said goodbye to Tim and Emily, their bags already loaded in the car.

"It's not just you." Sam replied softly in a frustrated sigh. "This screams a bad idea."

"Let me see what the infamous Gibbs gut thinks?" Callen quipped, but he could feel it too. The feeling was prickly. It was like live electricity in the open air and not in a good way. "Gibbs, hold up a minute."

Gibbs and his longtime friend conferred with one another in the privacy of one of the bedrooms. Gibbs could feel it too. He mentioned that both Tim and Pete had felt it and that the tension was rolling off Tim in waves. The two of them quickly discussed the matter at hand, before immediately returning.

"Change of plan." Gibbs immediately announced, as soon as he and Callen were out of their impromptu meeting. "Pete, grab all your gear. You guys two, leave nothing behind. I will add a week to our reservation here. Then, the four of us are going back to LA with Callen and Sam."

Emily looked like she wanted to say something, but Tim hugged her and held her close to him, pressing a kiss to her forehead. "Let's do as Gibbs says, Em. I promise it will all be ok." Tim reassured her.

Within the hour, the four of them were packed up and squeezed into Callen and Sam's rental. Sam was behind the wheel driving and Gibbs was trying Leon on his burner cell to no avail. They were flying blind.

Holed up in a fleabag of a motel well off the interstate, all in one room, Callen was on the phone in the bathroom, trying Hetty. They had not heard from the Director in over three hours, and they were all antsy about their next move. Sam was sitting against the only door into the suite, his hulk of a frame adding to the security of the door. Gibbs was watching the carpark from his vantage point by the only window in the room. There was only one bed in the room. On the queen-sized bed, Pete was cuddled in behind Tim, while Tim held Emily close to him, whilst she slept soundly. Tim and Pete could not sleep.

Callen emerged from the bathroom, a grim look on his face. Looking over at the strawberry-blonde, sleeping teen, he lowered his voice. "Hetty's contact in Grand Junction has gone dark." He hissed in a whisper. "She sent the local PD out to check on him and the FBI were there."

"Shit." Gibbs hissed in anger. That meant that the FBI had known that was where they were headed to hide.

Minutes turned into hours and the hours began to tick by. in ninety minutes, the sun would be peaking over the horizon and not one adult had had a lick of sleep. They had rested, but not slept.

Gibbs' burner phone had gone dead, while Tim was recharging it, the three agents went through their options while Pete kept his eyes on the parking lot for any unusual activity. Everyone had presented their options, with someone else finding a flaw in every plan they presented.

Finally, through a yawn and a wince, it was Tim, who had a stroke of genius. "Claremont." He announced, as if the answer was obvious. "My father has a place there, not far from Alameda. He isn't using it, being in prison and all. No one would expect me to go there, and I have a key. It backs onto Claremont Canyon Regional Preserve. The house is isolated slightly. It is the only one in the small laneway. Very few people know about it. My grandmother, my half-sister and I think I told Tobias about it, a couple of times."

Each man took in what Tim was saying and pondered his idea, carefully. "It could work. We're only three hours away or so." Gibbs added, supporting Tim's decision.

"There's probably no supplies there, in the way of food. But we have packed what we had in the RV and that would last us a day." Pete added, looking over at the agents, from his spot by the window.

"We could be there just after dawn." Sam agreed. He was beginning to feel much better about this plan than anything else right now. "Someone could do a small food shop, like a click and collect, or a home delivery order. The driver wouldn't have to actually see us. Don't they leave the order on the doorstep. Like a door Dash type thing?"

It only took a moment for the six of them to check out, not having brought their luggage in from the van, in order for a quick getaway, if needed. Arriving in Claremont in just under two and a half hours, Tim handed the key to Gibbs. He and Callen had decided to check the house out first, just in case, before the rest of them entered. The house was clear and finally, they all breathed a collective sigh of relief.

Tim ordered a small lot of groceries to be left on the doorstep, before reminding everyone that they should rest. That they didn't know what their next move would be.