NCIS: McBaby

Chapter 10

Leon Vance returned to NCIS after a luncheon at the capital. It was early afternoon and the familiar buzz of business that usually occupied the bullpen was nowhere to be found. In fact, when he left earlier that morning it was quiet as well. Concerned as to the MCRT's whereabouts he headed back to his office and scanned though the computer, checking for active cases. Realizing that Gibbs' team had not been assigned one, he picked up the phone and started dialing.

"Run, run, run..." he thought to himself. There was a faint light in the distance he was attempting to reach but it seemed no matter how fast he ran they were gaining ground. Three different clowns, covered in maggots, with big red noses and giant floppy shoes. Just as he reached the light, one of them grabbed his leg and began pulling him in the opposite direction. "No! Stop!" Tim screamed as he jolted awake. A sheen of sweat covered his face and he worked to control his breathing. He wanted to cry but was afraid Gibbs would think he was more of a baby then he was at that moment. "Gib!" "Gib!" he screamed in an attempt to get the older man's attention. When his calls went unanswered, Tim began scooting toward the end of the bed. Reaching the edge, he looked over and thought "The drop is not that far" and before he knew it, he was falling off. His plan was to extend his arms so they would take the brunt of the fall; however everything happened so fast he didn't have time to react. His head collided with the hardwood and his legs somersaulted over his body, leaving him lying face up on his back. Stunned, Tim laid there while he tried to catch his breath but his head hurt too much and he burst into tears.

Gibbs was just about asleep when he heard a loud thud emanate from the bedroom. Startled, he sat up, swung his legs off the couch and headed toward the noise. Swinging open the door, he gasped when he saw Tim lying on the floor with a gash on the right side of his forehead. He was sobbing and having a tough time catching his breath. Gibbs rushed toward him and knelt beside him to assess his injuries while pulling out a handkerchief to apply pressure to the open gash. With his free hand, he stroked the other side of Tim's face and whispered reassuring words to him. Once he was able to calm him a little bit he pulled out his cell to call Ducky.

It wasn't until the fourth ring that Ducky finally answered and was treated to an unhappy Gibbs on the other end.

"Why, hello there Jethro..." was all Ducky could manage before he was cut off by Gibbs.

"Don't have time for pleasantries Duck, Tim fell off the bed, he has a gash on the right side of his forehead. I've managed to stop the bleeding but I'm afraid to move him."

Ducky could hear Tim crying in the background but felt the crying was due to shock rather than the injury itself.

"Ahh Jethro, will you ask Timothy if anything else hurts? I believe he's in mild shock and afraid."

"Tim, buddy...I need you to look at me...does anything else hurt?

"No" was all he could manage between sniffles. Catching Gibbs by surprise, he reached his arms out and said "Gib, hold me" before dissolving into a fresh set of tears.

Ducky smiled when he heard Tim's statement and reassured Jethro that he would be fine. "Look in Timothy's freezer and see if he keeps any ice packs. If he doesn't, then a bag of frozen vegetables will work just as well to keep the swelling down. I'll pick up some children's Tylenol on my way back tonight; if anything changes before then, call me."

"Thanks Duck, I'll keep an eye on him." Gibbs reassured him before hanging up.

He turned his attention back to Tim who was still crying; he smiled when the little boy reached for him. Gibbs picked him up, sat on the bed and cradled him in his arms. He began rocking him while rubbing his hand up and down his back. Once the tears subsided, Gibbs sighed while he took a closer look at the goose egg on his forehead. He gave the bump a few gentle kisses and pulled Tim back so he could look him in the eyes. Gibbs was mad at himself for allowing Tim to be hurt, but needed to know what happened.

"Tim can you tell me how you fell off the bed?"

He nodded and sniffled "Bad dream, want you", then buried his face in the crook of Gibbs' neck.

"Aww Tim, I'm sorry you had a bad dream, why didn't you call for me? You know I would have come to check on you."

Tim pulled back and whispered, "did" before returning to his previous position.

Suddenly feeling guilty, all Gibbs could do was apologize for not hearing him. "I'm sorry that you were scared and I wasn't there. It won't happen again, I'll make sure of it."

He could feel Tim nod against his neck so he carried him into the kitchen to look for an ice pack. Digging through the well stocked freezer, he finally located one and grabbed a dishtowel to wrap it. Returning to the family room, he retreated to the couch, laid Tim in his arms like earlier and held the ice pack to his forehead. Tim shivered a little, so he adjusted the towel and tried again. Just as the two were getting comfortable, Gibbs' cell phone vibrated from the table signaling a new voicemail. Grunting, he picked up the phone and listened to the message. Sighing he put down the phone and turned to look at Tim. "That was Vance, he wants to know where the team is. I know you don't want me to but he needs to be informed." Not emotionally capable of any more fights for the day, Tim nodded and stuck his thumb in his mouth. Gently kissing Tim's nose he whispered "That's my boy", before picking up the phone to dial Vance.

Annoyed when Gibbs didn't answer his phone call earlier he was surprised it rang just a few minutes later.

"Where the hell are you, Gibbs? Better yet, where's your team? You've been MIA all day! Last time I checked, I didn't approve any vacation days!"

Upset over the sudden interrogation, Gibbs couldn't help the sarcasm that escaped from his mouth, "Well hello to you too, Director!"

"So that's how it's going to be? What the hell is going on? You better have a damn good reason for not being at work."

"Oh, I do Leon...remember that case we were working on yesterday? The Navy scientist who..."

"Turned grown men into babies" Vance finished for him before he could make his point.

"That's the one. I believe she got her hands on Tim. He didn't show up for work this morning and when I came to check on him, he had been de-aged."

Suddenly the line went silent and Gibbs was beginning to think that Vance had hung up on him. However, a deep sigh confirmed he was processing the information he was told.

"Why am I just being told this now? Is Agent McGee going to be alright?"

"Had other things on my mind, Leon. McGee has an adult mind but is physically a one year old, so that should tell you how well he's coping with this. I already sent Tony and Ziva back to the restaurant where they were last night; I believe whatever happened to Tim took place there. Nobody but my team investigates this and no one should know about Tim. The poor kid has been through enough."

"Alright Gibbs, I'll trust you know what's best for now, but if your judgment becomes clouded in any way, I'm taking you off this case. I take it McGee is under your supervision?"

"Yes, we are currently at his apartment, when Abby returns from shopping, I'll be bringing him back to my house. You can stop by tomorrow, if you want to see him."

"I plan on it, Gibbs." He replied, shaking his head while hanging up the phone. There had been a lot of crazy cases over the years, however this was bound to be one for the "off" record books.