NCIS: McBaby

Chapter 4

The next morning started out like any other normal workday for the MCRT team. Gibbs had just returned from a coffee run and Tony and Ziva were sitting at their desks checking emails and giving each other their usual hard time.

"Morning Boss"

"Morning Gibbs"

They each greeted him.

"Where's McGee? He's late!" Gibbs asked as he sat down at his desk.

Tony and Ziva exchanged nervous glances as they tried to cover for their friend.

"Well, umm a lot of snow did fall last night; maybe he is just stuck in traffic." Ziva said trying to stall in hope that McGee would soon walk off the elevator.

"How late were the three of you out last night, DiNozzo?"

"We all left the bar at 10, we walked out together and I saw McGee leave in his car. I'm sure he's just running a little late or like Ziva said, is stuck in traffic." Tony tried to reassure him.

Over an hour later and numerous unanswered calls, texts and emails, Tony and Ziva were starting to get worried and even though Gibbs would never admit to the others that he was worried, he could not ignore the churning that had taken over permanent residence in his gut.

"Tony, try McGee's cell one more time and if there's no answer I'm heading over there."

"Boss, no need…I can go over and ch…"

"DiNozzo" Gibbs cut him off.

"I want to make sure McGee gets the proper wakeup call if he has overslept."

"Gotcha Boss." Tony nodded as he tried McGee's cell phone one more time.

"Come on Probie, answer the phone, let us know that you're ok," he thought to himself.

"Sorry, Boss, got his voicemail again."

Gibbs slammed his fist on the desk, stood up, grabbed his coat and headed to the elevator. "I'm heading over to his place, he better have a hell of a reason for breaking rule number 3!"

"Yikes, I would hate to be in McGoo's shoes right now. Boss is pissed! I hope for his sake, he has a good reason for not answering any of our calls."

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Gibbs pulled into McGee's apartment complex and immediately spotted Tim's Porsche from across the parking lot. At that moment, a flurry of emotions overtook him but the two prominent ones were anger and worry. He parked and started the trek up the 3 flights of stairs. Once he reached McGee's door he checked for any signs of a break in or struggle; once satisfied that nothing looked out of place he began knocking.

Tim was floating through a haze of clouds that resembled cotton candy. They were so soft and fluffy he couldn't help himself as he stuck his hand through one that was passing by. Wherever he was, it was bright and cheerful and he couldn't help the smile that began to form on his face. He could not remember a time when he had been this much at peace. He was able to surrender all the responsibilities that he had in the "real" world and not feel guilty about it. Unfortunately, the peacefulness was short lived and the clouds slowly began disappearing only to be replaced by two different noises. One was a hard thumping sound and the other was a high pitched shrill. He was certain that both were noises he had heard before but couldn't quite place them. Panic set in as the noises became louder and he suddenly heard his name being called.

After two solid minutes of knocking and calling for McGee got him nowhere, a million different scenarios ran through Gibbs' mind. Each one worse than the one before. Was Tim hurt or unconscious? Did someone kidnap him? Was he robbed? After a few minutes of what he soon realized may be borrowed time, he decided to pick the lock. Taking a deep breath to steady himself as to what may be waiting for him inside; he drew his gun and slowly began to turn the door handle.

"McGee! It's Gibbs" he called out before taking a few steps into the apartment.

When he didn't get a reply, he continued toward the kitchen area and began looking around for any signs of a struggle. He didn't notice anything out of the ordinary and in fact, the apartment was clean. It did not appear that anything had been stolen and no bloodstains were present. Gibbs allowed himself to let go of the breath he didn't know he was holding and proceeded down the hallway to the bedroom. He couldn't help but jump back when Jethro suddenly appeared in front of the door growling at him.

"Hey Boy, don't you remember me? Gibbs asked calmly while he ruffled Jethro's fur. Jethro gave another growl and curled his lip to bare his teeth.

"I know you want to protect Tim and you've done a good job so far, but I want to protect him too. Can we do this together?"

Gibbs suddenly found himself in a staring contest with an 85-pound German Shepherd. With neither Jethro refusing to back down, they stayed that way for a good thirty seconds before the dog admitted defeat and stepped forward to lick Gibbs' hand.

"Good Boy!"

"I'll get you a treat later."

Stepping up to the half open door, Gibbs noticed his heart was racing, a thin layer of sweat had formed on his forehead and his hand was shaking as he reached for the door handle. Always one to handle issues head on, Gibbs grabbed the door handle and pushed forward opening it the rest of the way. Out of all the scenarios that had played through his mind earlier, nothing had come close to preparing him for what he was looking at now. Shocked and stunned he moved closer to quietly observe a very young Tim lying in the middle of his bed, sucking on his thumb. Suddenly a slew of thoughts jumbled into Gibbs' brain at one time.

"How the hell did this happen?"

"Grey is in jail."

"She must have had an accomplice."

Gibbs was so involved with his own thoughts it took him a moment to notice that Tim was now awake and staring at him with terrified bright green eyes.

"Boss" Tim said trembling with tears in his eyes

"I'm right here Tim, I'm not going anywhere." He moved to sit down on the bed next to Tim.

"No!" Tim screamed as loud as his little voice would let him and Gibbs stopped short of sitting down.

"I'm not going to hurt you Tim." He said as he reached out, put his hand on Tim's back and began rubbing small circles.

"Accident." Tim whispered as he buried his head to his chest and tugged on the blanket corners. Trying to find the least embarrassing way to let Gibbs know not to sit down.

Finally realizing what Tim was trying to tell him, he gently lifted the blanket to look at the damage. Two different stains now covered the sheets. His eyes met Tim's and he felt bad for the kid.

"It's really not a big deal, Tim. I'll clean it up and nobody will ever know about it except for you and me. Although, and I know you're not going to like this, but we'll have to get you some type of protection."

Tim blushed bright red and buried his face in the blankets.

"I know it sucks but we'll find whoever did this to you, Tim. You have my word on that. And in the meantime you're going to need the help of the team."

Leaving that final thought to sink in, Gibbs walked out of the bedroom and pulled out his cell phone.