Inter-agency Nightmare 14/14
Epilogue
Rob Dickerson slowly came down the stairs carrying the breakfast tray his wife had barely touched. There was a gentle knock on the door. He almost ignored it, but habit dragged him to the door. Convinced that it was a neighborhood kid, he flung the door open and gasped. "Bobby?"
"Hey Dad."
He was balanced on a pair of crutches and looked tired, but his father was just glad to see him and threw his arms around him. "Thank God."
"And Gibbs." At his son's comment, Rob looked up and saw his old friend standing next to a black sedan, another man in the passenger seat. Gibbs looked tired, but gave Rob a brief nod before climbing into the car and pulling away.
---NCIS---
"You sure you're up to this? We can put it off for a few days."
Tim rolled his head on the headrest to look at Gibbs. "Nah, the longer we wait, the worse it'll be. Abby's going to freak out as it is."
Surprisingly, it had been the hair that had upset McGee the most and Gibbs touched the silver streaks. "You could go get it dyed, you know."
"And then the first time we're swamped with a case and the roots show before I can get it touched up, Tony will never let me hear the end of it. No, I'm not going to fight it."
Gibbs gave him a sly grin as they turned into the Navy Yard. "At least now I don't look like a cradle robber." Tim laughed and rolled his eyes.
"Funny, Jethro."
---NCIS---
Tony looked up as the Secretary of the Navy exited the elevator upstairs and walked across to Vance's office. He was sitting on the corner of Ziva's desk and could only see his legs, but he'd recognize that stride anywhere. Making a decision, Tony stood, getting the attention of Ziva and Abby. "Jarvis is here, maybe he knows something."
Neither of the women were convinced it was a good idea, but they followed Tony up the stairs. Apparently Vance wasn't surprised as he was holding the door open for them. Abby looked ready to burst into tears. "Is there any word?"
Jarvis looked pleased. "Well, I've received calls of thanks from the Joint Chiefs and the President for whatever they've done and the Secretary of the Air Force sent his personal jet to bring them back from Colorado."
"They're back?" Abby jumped to her feet and Tony put himself between her and Jarvis. However, it was the arrival of the elevator that saved the SecNav more than anything. They heard the familiar voices and moments later, Gibbs walked into the room, pushing McGee in a wheelchair.
McGee's appearance stunned them all into silence, but eventually Abby walked over and reached out to touch him. "Oh, Timmy, what did they do to you?"
Gibbs took her hand before she could touch McGee. "We can't talk about it, Abs."
"But they hurt him, Gibbs. What about you, did they hurt you, too?" She started to check him over, but Gibbs just held her hands.
"I'm fine and Tim will be fine. He just needs a few weeks to recover." Gibbs looked at the rest of his team. "We just stopped so that you could see for yourself that we're basically all right. Now we're going to go home and get some rest."
There was something obviously different, but Tony couldn't quite put his finger on it so Ziva was the one to ask the question. "Is McGee going to be staying at your house? For how long?"
To everyone's surprise, Gibbs took McGee's hand and squeezed it. "For as long as he'll have me."
That got a reaction out of DiNozzo. "You and McGee? You and McGeek? How in the hell did that happen?"
Gibbs bristled a little bit at the questions, but Tim squeezed his hand and he took a deep breath. "This weekend proved to us that waiting isn't living, so instead, we're going to live our lives to the fullest everyday, together."
Multiple heads swiveled around to see the SecNav's reaction. He just grunted. "As I've been informed, people in high places support this latest development and I'm not to interfere." Apparently Vance had gotten the same memo because he just nodded without a word.
Tony watched the reactions and shrugged. "Well, then, we're happy for you guys. You need some help getting home and settled in? Nothing personal, Boss, but you don't look like you're up to carrying Tiny Tim here up the stairs right now."
Gibbs looked at Tim for a moment. Tim nodded and Gibbs turned back to DiNozzo. "Sure, Tony, that would be great." When Ziva offered for her and Abby to bring food, Gibbs shook his head, knowing that it would be easier to deal with them separately. "Tomorrow, ladies. Today we're just going to sleep."
Abby looked disappointed, but Ziva gave an understanding smile. "Of course, Gibbs. It is obvious that whatever has happened was extremely difficult. Abby and I will bring dinner over tomorrow night."
---NCIS---
Even though Gibbs was waiting for it, Tony didn't question him until after McGee was taken upstairs and they were alone. Down in the kitchen while Gibbs made coffee, Tony decided to take a stand. "Listen, I don't know what happened between the two of you this weekend, but just looking at McGee, I know that it was pretty bad."
Gibbs thought back, remembering the whispered confessions of love, the gentle touches, the promises of something more. "Not all of it was bad, Tony. Some of it was very, very good."
"Okay." Tony waved his hands in front of his face. "I really don't need the visual, okay? Just answer me this - have you guys really thought about this? I mean, you're not exactly the kind of guy that does the whole jumping into a relationship thing - even though that would explain all the divorces."
When Gibbs glared at him, Tony got back on track. "I mean, at what point did you look at McGee and say to yourself, that's what I want?"
"Norfolk." When he got a blank look, Gibbs gave him a few more details. "That first case. I had him scared to death, but he wouldn't back down. Gave me that determined look... Shannon used to give me the same look."
"Wow, really?" Tony stared at him and then shrugged. "Okay, then, I guess I can't accuse you of rushing into anything."
Gibbs grinned at that. "According to Tim, if we went any slower, we'd be going backwards."
"Well, I love you guys, you know that, right?"
"Yeah."
"But I gotta tease McGee."
"Yeah."
"And give you crap."
This time it was slower. "Yeah."
"And..."
"Get a lot of head slaps?"
"I'll be going now, Boss." Laughing, he was almost to the door before Gibbs said anything.
"Thanks, Tony, for everything." After Tony left, Gibbs made two cups of coffee and took them upstairs where the rest of his life was waiting for him.
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