Aftermath (fanfiction-NCIS)
Title: Aftermath
Author: slash4femme
Fandom: NCIS
Pairing/Category: Gibbs/Tim
Rating: PG-13
Warning: serious talk about institutionalized homophobia in the American government.
Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters, I do not make money off of doing this. The only thing I' getting out of this is pure unadulterated creative enjoyment and less hours for me to spend doing my real work.
Summery: After Gibbs and Tim came out to just about everyone they new the fun was just starting. The last part of my Coming Out Trilogy.
Author's Note: I changed the title of this because it think I wrote another fic with the same title as the one this one ended up having. Go figure. Also for the non-Americans I do not kid with the legal stuff, it is my job.
1.
Timothy McGee rolled over in bed and threw one arm over the sleeping form of his partner, and met only air. With a groan Tim pushed himself up on one elbow and groggily surveyed the other half of the bed. No, Gibbs was definitely not there. Tim glanced towards the bathroom that attached to the bedroom but the light was off there too. He sighed, then climbed out of bed and pulled on a t-shirt before padding down the stairs into the main part of the house and heading for the basement. The lights were on and Tim could here the soft sound of a hand drill and smell the sent of sawdust. He carefully headed down the stairs minding his bare feet on the unfinished wood. Gibbs was dressed in a t-shirt, sweat pants, and socks carefully working on his boat. He looked up as Tim padded over to where he was standing and stopped a few feet away blinking sleepily in the dim light of the basement.
“Did I wake you Timmy, I’m sorry, I was trying to be quiet.”
“Woke up when I realized you’d left, what are you doing Jethro? It has to be two a clock in the morning at least.”
Gibbs sighed then smoothed away more sawdust from the newly drilled hole.
“I couldn’t sleep.”
Tim frowned.
“Are you having those dreams again? You should have woken me up.”
Gibbs shook his head.
“It’s not that. It’s this whole business yesterday. Everyone finding out about us. Having to explain my personal life and choice of lovers to Jen.”
He swiped at the hole again this time anger showing though.
“Like it’s any of her business who I sleep with, who I choose to spend my time with.”
Tim moved across to Gibbs’ workbench and sat down facing his partner waiting for Gibbs to get it all out of his system.
“I’ve been married four time and I’ve never had to explain myself, before. People didn’t want to know and they didn’t care and we all just left it at that. But now, now it’s a national emergency.”
“I thought you said she took it well?”
Gibbs threw Tim a dark look.
“She said she could deal with it, but she has something now. Something she can use, hold over my head to keep me in line, hold over you’re head.”
Gibbs moved the hand drill up so the bit pressed against the wood but he didn’t make any move to being drilling again.
“She could fire us you know. Fire both of us and make it impossible for us to be re-employed working for any government agency. Or someone high up could, if the information where leaked. They could turn it into a scandal force us both to resign specially with my past in the military.”
Tim got up and moved across the basement to stand behind Gibbs and bring his arms around his partner’s waist.
“If anyone tries to mess with either one of us we can take it to court.”
Gibbs snorted softly.
“They could push it. Make it a federal case and we wouldn’t have a prayer. Besides I hate to trust anything to lawyers especially my job, especially you.”
Tim’s arms tightened and Gibbs moved dropping the hand drill and pulling Tim closer.
“Nothing’s going to happen to us.”
Tim ran his hands up and down Gibbs’ back gently caressing his neck.
“And even if something does, you’ll always have me, I’m not leaving you, and I know you’re too stubborn to leave me.”
Against Tim’s neck Gibbs sighed, but didn’t let go.
2.
“What do you think?”
Abby sipped her drink.
“About what?”
“About Gibbs and McGee. Good thing or bad thing?”
Ziva stared at her own glass and considered.
“Good thing, I think. They seem happy together.”
“Yeah.”
Abby slowly twisted a piece of her black hair around her finger.
“I just wonder whether they’ll be ok, is all.”
Ziva frowned at her.
“How so?”
“Well this country is not very gay-friendly especially the government, especially if you work for it. It could end up being a really big mess.”
“I can’t imagine Gibbs letting anyone push him around.”
Abby smiled
“Yeah but I think the legal system might be the one thing Gibbs can’t saves us from.”
She shook her head.
“This is why I don’t do relationships”
Then threw a sideways look at the woman sitting next to her.
“Well not long-term, serious ones anyway.”
Next to her Ziva smiled.
3.
Gibbs blamed it on temporary insanity brought about my their combined outing at the office. Now that everyone knew they were a couple and that they were not only a couple in the work place, with all the breaking of rules and power dynamics that entailed, but also a same-sex couple, the rules seemed to have changed. Still he couldn’t really believe that he’d done it. Mostly he just tried not to think to hard about it. Tried not to think about the box in his dresser drawer. Tried not to think about what exactly had been running through his mind when had purchased it.
He had talked himself out of going any further of course. He was too old, they had never really faced up to the age difference but it did way heavily on his mind especially when he thought of the future. His track record with relationships was horrible which was putting it nicely. He seemed to be allergic to any sort of commitment, and there was no earthly reason why Tim would want to continue to put his entire livelihood on the line for any length of time. Yet all these things did not change the fact that in a moment of madness Gibbs had gone to a jeweler’s and bought a matching set of engagement rings. Even if they were now taking up semi-permanent residence in his dresser along with his t-shirts. He should talk to Fornell Gibbs thought. Tobias would be able to remind him all the other good reasons why having any kind of marriage or commitment ceremony would be an unbelievably bad idea.
As it turned out Tobias was not at all helpful.
“Do you love him?”
“Yes”
It only took Gibbs a few seconds to answer.
“And he loves you?”
“Well that’s what he tells me.”
Tobias just raised an eyebrow at him, and Gibbs sighed
“Yes, he loves me, or at least he hasn’t left me yet.”
“Well then”
Fornell leaned casually against the side of Gibbs boat and Gibbs silently cured him, for being the unhelpful bastard he was. Still the rings remained in his draw.
4.
They went under review several weeks later. Not because they were homosexual, that fact was kept quietly under the table. The official given statement had been that they were being reviewed because Gibbs was McGee’s direct superior. Gibbs had been all for killing someone, or handing in their badges and walking out. It was Tim who had convinced him that neither was a viable option and the whole team had rallied behind them. Jen unsmiling and thin lipped had gone to bat for them, over and over again before the review board, and every member of the team had donned their court clothes and spoken in Gibbs and McGee defense.
Still it meant long weeks where all work, not just for Gibbs and McGee, but also for the whole teams, was stopped. Weeks of going over every case McGee and Gibbs had ever worked together. Weeks of having to explain to every superior in NCIS, what felt like, every detail of there relationship, from when exactly they had first started sleeping together on wards.
Gibbs was in hell. When they discovered the review panel had been running full background checks on both of them going back to before NCIS, Tim practically lost it and it took Tony, Ziva and finally a long and heated talk with Gibbs in the elevator to keep him from quitting his job and walking out.
“If you’re going to quit anything. End this relationship. Walk away from that,”
Gibbs had not been getting enough sleep and way too much caffeine to mince words.
“But you are too good an agent to walk off the job now. Besides it was you who told me that we shouldn’t back down, shouldn’t give them the satisfaction.”
“You know why they’re doing this”
Tim’s voice was tight with controlled rage
“This isn’t about you being my boss. All the other stuff, the reviewing our cases all that, I could see. But full background checks? Asking people about your conduct in the army. Your conduct, for God’s sake what do they think?”
He ran his hand through his hair distractedly
“This is harassment. They have no legitimate reason. The only think is if they can prove you were in a homosexual relationship while in the army they can fire us. That’s all, they’re just looking for a reason.”
“But they’re not going to find one, because we’re not going to give them one.”
Gibbs put his hands on Tim’s shoulders.
“And you’re not leaving this team.”
Tim sighed and leaned his head against Gibbs’ shoulder,
“Yeah I know.”
5.
Tony sat on the hard bench fidgeting with his sleeve cuff. He had to present any minute now on from of the review committee vouching for Gibbs’ professionalism. Which was nerve racking enough, all on it’s own. Footsteps sounded down the hall and Tony glanced up at the person coming towards him.
“Hey Ducky.”
Ducky nodded at him, then sat down on the bench next to Tony.
“You here to testify too?”
“Yes indeed, Anthony.”
Tony fidgeted again, he really hated waiting.
“This is going to be over soon, right? Then we can all get back to work.”
Ducky flashed him a small smile.
“I believe so. The committee just needs to hear from us all one last time, then they will be making a decision on whether or not Gibbs and McGee’s conduct warrants them keeping their jobs.”
“But they’re going to keep them right? They can’t fire Gibbs, not for being gay. Even though it is a bit . . .well, weird.”
Ducky shook his head.
“I don’t know Anthony. I really don’t. I feel as if it would be ridiculous for them to fire either Jethro or Timothy, but you never know.”
They both fell silent for a few minutes.
“It used to be worse you know.”
Ducky spoke softly, more as if he was speaking to himself rather then Tony.
“ I can remember when . . .well never mind that. I can remember, lots of thing of this nature some of which does not bare repeating, or even remembering.”
Ducky closed his eyes briefly. Pain very visibly moving across his face. He sighed.
“Yet even twenty, thirty years ago. Gibbs and McGee would have been fired immediately, no warning, no explanation.”
“Brokeback Mountain”
Ducky made a small snorting; choking noise, and Tony realized the older man had turned to stare at him.
“Now there is a film I never expected you to have seen.”
Ducky finally commented
“Are you kidding me? With all the awards it won, I own the directors cut. I even got all teary. Not that I actually cried, or anything.”
Tony glanced over at the other man and saw the amusement clearly written on Ducky’s face.
“Did you like it?”
Ducky regarded him for a long moment.
“It was a beautiful film, well played and beautifully made, but no Anthony I did not ‘like’ it. It was a little too real for me, still.”
They sat in silence for a few long moments Tony at a loss for anything to say.
“So do you think they’ll fire Gibbs?”
Ducky shook his head.
“No. Somehow I think this is a fight we will all survive. As indeed we always do. Besides. . .”
They where interrupted by the door opening and a very young man in a suit asking if Dr. Mallard would please come in. Ducky rose then turned back to Tony, this time he was smiling.
“Besides I think if they do fire Gibbs Abby will start a sit in protest or light the building on fire or some such drastic displace of her feelings.”
Chuckling softly he straightened his suit and turned towards the door.
--------------------------
EndNote: There is no US federal law protecting the GLBTQ community from any kind of discrimination in or out of the workplace. By US federal law no federal agency or any other agency is required to hire a member of the GLBTQ community. Federal agencies may choose not to hire persons based on their gender identity or sexual orientation (see Schroer v. Library of Congress - Complaint (6/2/2005) ). The District of Columbia does consider members of the GLBTQ community as a protected class under state human rights laws but these do not apply to those employed by a federal agency. Likewise The District of Columbia protects against "at will" firing of employees but a superior/subordinate relationship would prove amply legal reasoning for termination.
Author: slash4femme
Fandom: NCIS
Pairing/Category: Gibbs/Tim
Rating: PG-13
Warning: serious talk about institutionalized homophobia in the American government.
Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters, I do not make money off of doing this. The only thing I' getting out of this is pure unadulterated creative enjoyment and less hours for me to spend doing my real work.
Summery: After Gibbs and Tim came out to just about everyone they new the fun was just starting. The last part of my Coming Out Trilogy.
Author's Note: I changed the title of this because it think I wrote another fic with the same title as the one this one ended up having. Go figure. Also for the non-Americans I do not kid with the legal stuff, it is my job.
1.
Timothy McGee rolled over in bed and threw one arm over the sleeping form of his partner, and met only air. With a groan Tim pushed himself up on one elbow and groggily surveyed the other half of the bed. No, Gibbs was definitely not there. Tim glanced towards the bathroom that attached to the bedroom but the light was off there too. He sighed, then climbed out of bed and pulled on a t-shirt before padding down the stairs into the main part of the house and heading for the basement. The lights were on and Tim could here the soft sound of a hand drill and smell the sent of sawdust. He carefully headed down the stairs minding his bare feet on the unfinished wood. Gibbs was dressed in a t-shirt, sweat pants, and socks carefully working on his boat. He looked up as Tim padded over to where he was standing and stopped a few feet away blinking sleepily in the dim light of the basement.
“Did I wake you Timmy, I’m sorry, I was trying to be quiet.”
“Woke up when I realized you’d left, what are you doing Jethro? It has to be two a clock in the morning at least.”
Gibbs sighed then smoothed away more sawdust from the newly drilled hole.
“I couldn’t sleep.”
Tim frowned.
“Are you having those dreams again? You should have woken me up.”
Gibbs shook his head.
“It’s not that. It’s this whole business yesterday. Everyone finding out about us. Having to explain my personal life and choice of lovers to Jen.”
He swiped at the hole again this time anger showing though.
“Like it’s any of her business who I sleep with, who I choose to spend my time with.”
Tim moved across to Gibbs’ workbench and sat down facing his partner waiting for Gibbs to get it all out of his system.
“I’ve been married four time and I’ve never had to explain myself, before. People didn’t want to know and they didn’t care and we all just left it at that. But now, now it’s a national emergency.”
“I thought you said she took it well?”
Gibbs threw Tim a dark look.
“She said she could deal with it, but she has something now. Something she can use, hold over my head to keep me in line, hold over you’re head.”
Gibbs moved the hand drill up so the bit pressed against the wood but he didn’t make any move to being drilling again.
“She could fire us you know. Fire both of us and make it impossible for us to be re-employed working for any government agency. Or someone high up could, if the information where leaked. They could turn it into a scandal force us both to resign specially with my past in the military.”
Tim got up and moved across the basement to stand behind Gibbs and bring his arms around his partner’s waist.
“If anyone tries to mess with either one of us we can take it to court.”
Gibbs snorted softly.
“They could push it. Make it a federal case and we wouldn’t have a prayer. Besides I hate to trust anything to lawyers especially my job, especially you.”
Tim’s arms tightened and Gibbs moved dropping the hand drill and pulling Tim closer.
“Nothing’s going to happen to us.”
Tim ran his hands up and down Gibbs’ back gently caressing his neck.
“And even if something does, you’ll always have me, I’m not leaving you, and I know you’re too stubborn to leave me.”
Against Tim’s neck Gibbs sighed, but didn’t let go.
2.
“What do you think?”
Abby sipped her drink.
“About what?”
“About Gibbs and McGee. Good thing or bad thing?”
Ziva stared at her own glass and considered.
“Good thing, I think. They seem happy together.”
“Yeah.”
Abby slowly twisted a piece of her black hair around her finger.
“I just wonder whether they’ll be ok, is all.”
Ziva frowned at her.
“How so?”
“Well this country is not very gay-friendly especially the government, especially if you work for it. It could end up being a really big mess.”
“I can’t imagine Gibbs letting anyone push him around.”
Abby smiled
“Yeah but I think the legal system might be the one thing Gibbs can’t saves us from.”
She shook her head.
“This is why I don’t do relationships”
Then threw a sideways look at the woman sitting next to her.
“Well not long-term, serious ones anyway.”
Next to her Ziva smiled.
3.
Gibbs blamed it on temporary insanity brought about my their combined outing at the office. Now that everyone knew they were a couple and that they were not only a couple in the work place, with all the breaking of rules and power dynamics that entailed, but also a same-sex couple, the rules seemed to have changed. Still he couldn’t really believe that he’d done it. Mostly he just tried not to think to hard about it. Tried not to think about the box in his dresser drawer. Tried not to think about what exactly had been running through his mind when had purchased it.
He had talked himself out of going any further of course. He was too old, they had never really faced up to the age difference but it did way heavily on his mind especially when he thought of the future. His track record with relationships was horrible which was putting it nicely. He seemed to be allergic to any sort of commitment, and there was no earthly reason why Tim would want to continue to put his entire livelihood on the line for any length of time. Yet all these things did not change the fact that in a moment of madness Gibbs had gone to a jeweler’s and bought a matching set of engagement rings. Even if they were now taking up semi-permanent residence in his dresser along with his t-shirts. He should talk to Fornell Gibbs thought. Tobias would be able to remind him all the other good reasons why having any kind of marriage or commitment ceremony would be an unbelievably bad idea.
As it turned out Tobias was not at all helpful.
“Do you love him?”
“Yes”
It only took Gibbs a few seconds to answer.
“And he loves you?”
“Well that’s what he tells me.”
Tobias just raised an eyebrow at him, and Gibbs sighed
“Yes, he loves me, or at least he hasn’t left me yet.”
“Well then”
Fornell leaned casually against the side of Gibbs boat and Gibbs silently cured him, for being the unhelpful bastard he was. Still the rings remained in his draw.
4.
They went under review several weeks later. Not because they were homosexual, that fact was kept quietly under the table. The official given statement had been that they were being reviewed because Gibbs was McGee’s direct superior. Gibbs had been all for killing someone, or handing in their badges and walking out. It was Tim who had convinced him that neither was a viable option and the whole team had rallied behind them. Jen unsmiling and thin lipped had gone to bat for them, over and over again before the review board, and every member of the team had donned their court clothes and spoken in Gibbs and McGee defense.
Still it meant long weeks where all work, not just for Gibbs and McGee, but also for the whole teams, was stopped. Weeks of going over every case McGee and Gibbs had ever worked together. Weeks of having to explain to every superior in NCIS, what felt like, every detail of there relationship, from when exactly they had first started sleeping together on wards.
Gibbs was in hell. When they discovered the review panel had been running full background checks on both of them going back to before NCIS, Tim practically lost it and it took Tony, Ziva and finally a long and heated talk with Gibbs in the elevator to keep him from quitting his job and walking out.
“If you’re going to quit anything. End this relationship. Walk away from that,”
Gibbs had not been getting enough sleep and way too much caffeine to mince words.
“But you are too good an agent to walk off the job now. Besides it was you who told me that we shouldn’t back down, shouldn’t give them the satisfaction.”
“You know why they’re doing this”
Tim’s voice was tight with controlled rage
“This isn’t about you being my boss. All the other stuff, the reviewing our cases all that, I could see. But full background checks? Asking people about your conduct in the army. Your conduct, for God’s sake what do they think?”
He ran his hand through his hair distractedly
“This is harassment. They have no legitimate reason. The only think is if they can prove you were in a homosexual relationship while in the army they can fire us. That’s all, they’re just looking for a reason.”
“But they’re not going to find one, because we’re not going to give them one.”
Gibbs put his hands on Tim’s shoulders.
“And you’re not leaving this team.”
Tim sighed and leaned his head against Gibbs’ shoulder,
“Yeah I know.”
5.
Tony sat on the hard bench fidgeting with his sleeve cuff. He had to present any minute now on from of the review committee vouching for Gibbs’ professionalism. Which was nerve racking enough, all on it’s own. Footsteps sounded down the hall and Tony glanced up at the person coming towards him.
“Hey Ducky.”
Ducky nodded at him, then sat down on the bench next to Tony.
“You here to testify too?”
“Yes indeed, Anthony.”
Tony fidgeted again, he really hated waiting.
“This is going to be over soon, right? Then we can all get back to work.”
Ducky flashed him a small smile.
“I believe so. The committee just needs to hear from us all one last time, then they will be making a decision on whether or not Gibbs and McGee’s conduct warrants them keeping their jobs.”
“But they’re going to keep them right? They can’t fire Gibbs, not for being gay. Even though it is a bit . . .well, weird.”
Ducky shook his head.
“I don’t know Anthony. I really don’t. I feel as if it would be ridiculous for them to fire either Jethro or Timothy, but you never know.”
They both fell silent for a few minutes.
“It used to be worse you know.”
Ducky spoke softly, more as if he was speaking to himself rather then Tony.
“ I can remember when . . .well never mind that. I can remember, lots of thing of this nature some of which does not bare repeating, or even remembering.”
Ducky closed his eyes briefly. Pain very visibly moving across his face. He sighed.
“Yet even twenty, thirty years ago. Gibbs and McGee would have been fired immediately, no warning, no explanation.”
“Brokeback Mountain”
Ducky made a small snorting; choking noise, and Tony realized the older man had turned to stare at him.
“Now there is a film I never expected you to have seen.”
Ducky finally commented
“Are you kidding me? With all the awards it won, I own the directors cut. I even got all teary. Not that I actually cried, or anything.”
Tony glanced over at the other man and saw the amusement clearly written on Ducky’s face.
“Did you like it?”
Ducky regarded him for a long moment.
“It was a beautiful film, well played and beautifully made, but no Anthony I did not ‘like’ it. It was a little too real for me, still.”
They sat in silence for a few long moments Tony at a loss for anything to say.
“So do you think they’ll fire Gibbs?”
Ducky shook his head.
“No. Somehow I think this is a fight we will all survive. As indeed we always do. Besides. . .”
They where interrupted by the door opening and a very young man in a suit asking if Dr. Mallard would please come in. Ducky rose then turned back to Tony, this time he was smiling.
“Besides I think if they do fire Gibbs Abby will start a sit in protest or light the building on fire or some such drastic displace of her feelings.”
Chuckling softly he straightened his suit and turned towards the door.
--------------------------
EndNote: There is no US federal law protecting the GLBTQ community from any kind of discrimination in or out of the workplace. By US federal law no federal agency or any other agency is required to hire a member of the GLBTQ community. Federal agencies may choose not to hire persons based on their gender identity or sexual orientation (see Schroer v. Library of Congress - Complaint (6/2/2005) ). The District of Columbia does consider members of the GLBTQ community as a protected class under state human rights laws but these do not apply to those employed by a federal agency. Likewise The District of Columbia protects against "at will" firing of employees but a superior/subordinate relationship would prove amply legal reasoning for termination.