What's Eating Timothy McGee? Chapter 2, gen.
Alone in the bullpen, McGee flinched when he heard the elevator chime, followed by the clomp of heavy boots. Abby arrived, looking first at the empty desks.
"Where's Gibbs?"
Forcing himself to stay calm, McGee didn't look up. "He's upstairs with the Director."
"So, Tony and Ziva are out in the field with no back-up?" She moved to stand in front of his desk, arms crossed.
"Actually, they're picking up lunch. Is there a problem, Abby?"
His restraint made her see red. "Yeah, there's a problem, mister. You're hiding behind your desk and making everybody else do the work. You're not facing up to your responsibilities."
Tim rubbed at his forehead, wishing Gibbs would get back. "And what responsibilities would those be, Abby?"
"You gave away Jethro, McGee. He was your responsibility."
"No, Abby, he was yours." In all honesty, sleeping in the ER hadn't been as restful as he'd hoped and Tim was tired and hurting, his mental filter fragile at best. "You're the one that demanded he be released from the Navy, you're the one that demanded he be given to you, you're the one that demanded I take him because you didn't want the work."
Flabbergasted, Abby stared at McGee, but movement caught her eye and she turned to Gibbs as he descended the stairs. "Gibbs, did you hear that?"
"Yep." Gibbs continued on down the stairs, not speaking again until he was standing in front of Abby. "You think he's wrong?"
"Gibbs, he gave away Jethro." She stared at him, not grasping that he wasn't immediately agreeing with her.
"Three statements, Abs. Which was wrong?" Gibbs returned the stare, both amused and annoyed. "You saying it was an imposter that bullied them into retiring the dog? That it wasn't you that asked for the dog?"
"Well, no." Abby was even more confused by Gibbs' reaction. He was supposed to take her side - he was always supposed to take her side. "I wanted him, but McGee gave him away, Gibbs."
"So now you're accusing McGee of theft? You're saying he broke into your apartment and stole the dog right out from under you?"
"What?" Frustrated, she stomped her foot. "It was McGee's responsibility to take care of him."
"Why?"
"Because he shot him."
"Does that mean that I'm responsible for every person I've ever shot? Don't think my house is that big, Abby."
"That's different, Gibbs."
"Why?"
"Jethro didn't do anything wrong."
"And McGee did?"
"He shot him."
Gibbs was beginning to understand what it was like to be on the wrong end of one of Abby's rampages. "What would you rather he do? Lay there and play chew toy until he was dead? Is that the only thing that will make you happy?"
The entire floor was deathly silent and Abby stared at him in horror. "That's a terrible thing to say, Gibbs."
"Then think about it, Abs." When she started to open her mouth again, he shook his head and pointed at the elevator. "In. Your. Lab."
Her mouth opened, closed and opened again, all without her uttering a sound. Finally she pursed her lips together before turning and storming out of the room. Gibbs watched her leave before turning to look at McGee. The younger man was silently staring at him, mouth open in shock. Gibbs smirked as he reached out and closed McGee's mouth before returning to his own desk.
---NCIS---
"Is this healthy enough, Ziva? It's tofu."
Ziva looked at what he was pointing at on the menu. "It is deep fat fried, Tony, not exactly the kind of healthy food Gibbs asked for. What about two chef's salads and two seafood salads? That way we each have a choice."
"I want a burger."
"You only want a burger because you were told to eat healthy today."
"I still want a burger."
"You are acting like a child, Tony. Gibbs may have been trying to tell you something."
Tony stared at her, eyes narrowing. "What? You think Gibbs is trying to tell me I'm fat?"
Ziva counted to ten - in Russian. "Fine, Tony, get yourself a burger." She took several steps away from him before turning around, tapping her lip. "Perhaps the team is being evaluated."
"Evaluated?"
"Yes." She nodded to herself as she thought through the possibility. "Did not Ducky suggest that you needed to start eating better several months ago?"
Tony knew she had a point. Actually, Ducky had been after him for his eating habits for several years now, but he'd kept sidestepping the older man. Perhaps the agency was going to start cracking down on fitness evaluations and this was Gibbs' way of warning him.
"Fine." He gave the woman behind the register a brittle smile. "I'll have the mixed greens with grilled chicken salad, non-fat dressing on the side."
Ziva smiled in approval. "Actually, we will have four of those. Thank you."
Tony had almost forgotten about the odd happenings by the time they returned to the Yard, but the guard quickly pulled he and Ziva off to the side. "What's going on, Henry?"
"Don't know exactly what it means, but I thought you'd better be warned."
"Warned about what?" Ziva shifted the drink tray to give her better access to his sidearm.
"You didn't hear this from me, but..." He looked around before lowering his voice even more. "One of the maintenance workers heard it from one of the evidence techs who heard it from somebody in HR." Henry nodded, pleased that he'd gotten the information trail straight.
Tony waited for a minute, but nothing else was said, He looked at Ziva who appeared just as baffled, so he turned back to the elderly man. "Heard what, Henry?"
Henry leaned even closer, this time bumping heads with DiNozzo. "Agent Gibbs gave Miss Sciuto the what-for."
"The what-for?"
"Yep." Satisfied that the warning had been given, Henry straightened back up. "It's never happened before, so watch your backs."
Giving one last knowing nod, Henry moved back to the metal detector. They were blocking traffic, so Tony and Ziva got on the elevator. As soon as it was moving, Ziva turned to Tony. "What, exactly, is a what-for?"
Tony looked just as bewildered as he shook his head. "In this context, I have no idea."
The squad room was eerily quiet when they arrived and after sharing a glance, Tony and Ziva squared their shoulders and walked to their team's corner of the room. Gibbs was silently working, while McGee was obviously distracted, glancing over at Gibbs every few seconds.
"Lunch is served." With a dramatic wave of his hand, Tony set the bags on his desk while Ziva handed out the drinks.
"So what are we eating, DiNozzo?" Gibbs sounded like he always did, but he didn't grumble or roll his eyes when handed a salad.
There was no conversation during the lunch break, not even about the cold case they were working. Gibbs ate, enjoying the peace while McGee ate while watching him. Tony was watching McGee watch Gibbs and Ziva quickly gave up and tried to come up with a reason to go to the lab. Sifting through the cold case as she ate, Ziva found a notation about one piece of evidence that had been tested by the local LEO's before the case had been shuffled off to NCIS. Seizing on that, Ziva made her excuses and went downstairs as soon as she was finished with her salad.
---NCIS---
"Abby, are you busy?" Ziva walked in, holding the bag containing the fiber evidence. Abby was sitting in front of the lab computer, staring at the screen saver. "Abby?"
"Oh, hey, Ziva."
"Is something wrong, Abby? You seem, what is the word, melancholy?"
"Am I a terrible person, Ziva?"
"No, why would you think that?"
Abby looked down, chewing on her lip. "Gibbs seems to think so."
"Why?" Ziva perched on the other stool. "What happened, Abby?"
"He said I wouldn't be happy unless McGee was dead." There was no response and Abby slowly looked over at her friend.
"Perhaps you should start at the beginning."
---NCIS---
Now that the suggestion was in his head, Tony couldn't ignore it. Taking a deep breath, he turned to Gibbs. "So, Boss, since we're just working cold cases right now, maybe it would be a good idea to slip in a little extra physical training - you know, improve our stamina?
Gibbs seemed to think about for a minute. "You're probably right, DiNozzo. You and Ziva head for the gym when she gets back."
"Okay," Tony glanced over at the other member of the team. "But what about McLazy? Shouldn't he be hitting the gym too?"
The only response was a raised eyebrow and Tony kept talking. "I mean, I'm not saying that McGee is out of shape or anything, but..."
"Tony?"
"Yeah, Boss?"
"Stop digging."
---NCIS---
"And then he sent me to my lab, Ziva. Like a little kid being sent to her room. It was humiliating."
Ziva was troubled, but not for the reasons Abby thought. "I'm sure it was, but there is one thing I do not understand."
"What?"
"Why, exactly, is the dog McGee's responsibility?"
"He shot him."
"Yes, but the dog recovered completely, did he not?"
"That's not the point."
Ziva shook her head in confusion. "Then what is the point, Abby? The dog attacked McGee, he fired his gun in self-defense. The dog was treated and fully recovered from both the bullet wound and from the knife tip he swallowed. Why is he still McGee's responsibility?
"He needed a home, Ziva."
"He had a home. He was a trained Navy drug dog. Once he was cleared of wrongdoing, Butch would have been assigned to another handler. You are the one that made him homeless, not McGee."
"His name is Jethro, not Butch."
With the crossed arms and stubborn set her her chin, Ziva knew she wouldn't get through to Abby, so she tossed out one last reminder before handing over the evidence to re-test. "Changing a dog's name does not erase years of training, no matter how pretty his eyes are."
---NCIS---
After comparing notes as they worked out, DiNozzo and Ziva were quiet the rest of the afternoon. It wasn't until Gibbs told them to pack it in for the day that Tony approached McGee. "Hey, we're going to go catch a movie, you want to go with us?"
"Thanks, Tony, but I can't."
Tony put on his best pleading face. "Come on, we'll catch the first showing, then I'll spring for dinner."
"You never pay for dinner, Tony. You pick out the restaurant and then vanish when the bill arrives."
The reminder made him wince, but Tony figured that most of the time it was a meal that could be added to an expense account and McGee was much better at those sort of things. "Scout's honor, I'll even give you the money before we sit down."
Tim was instantly suspicious. "Why?"
"Because I went a little too far with the dog thing and I want to make it up to you." Now that it was out there, Tony watched to see what the reaction was. The first thing he noticed was that McGee's shoulders seemed to relax slightly. The second thing was the shaking of the head.
"Thanks, but I can't."
"Why not? We're actually getting out of here on time, so let's live a little."
"Doctor's appointment." When he didn't elaborate further, Tony pressed him on it.
"That's not going to take all night, how about if we just did dinner?"
Seeing how uncomfortable McGee was, Gibbs stepped in. "Actually it is. You ready, McGee?" When he nodded, Gibbs rested his hand on Tim's shoulder and escorted him out. They were in Gibbs' car, leaving the Yard, before Tim said anything.
"I thought you'd make me tell him."
"You tell them when you're ready, not when you get bullied into it. Besides, it will do Tony good to stew about it for a while."