NCIS: McBaby

Chapter 26

A/N There's parts in this chapter from Tim's POV, the "sound" of his thoughts reflect the current age of this body. Keep in mind he seems to have a problem with the letter "r".

As the team shuffled out of the courtroom, Gibbs could no longer ignore the nagging feeling in his gut. Anxious to speak with Ducky to find out how Tim was doing; he slipped his phone out of his pocket and hit the speed dial. When the phone went to voicemail he knew something was terribly wrong and needed to get home as soon as possible. He turned to Tony and Ziva, "Ducky's not picking up, we need to get back to my house!"

Tony shrugged his shoulders, "Maybe you're overreacting, boss. Ducky was probably in the restroom or incapacitated at the moment." He didn't realize the irony of the last few words out of his mouth until Gibbs was standing inches from his face.

"Ya think, DiNozzo?"

He gulped, "You're right boss, we'll meet you back there." As they headed out to the cars, Gibbs' cell phone rang; he hoped that it was Ducky returning his call but when the caller ID read, Vance, he began to feel ill.

His hands shook as he flipped open the phone. "Yeah, Leon."

There was a quiet sigh on the other end of the line before Vance spoke. "Are you still at the courthouse?"

"Yeah we're leaving now, what happened?"

"I'm sorry, Gibbs. I hate to be the one to tell you this, but McGee's gone.

"Gone? He's gone?" Gibbs screamed into the phone as he slammed his fist down on the trunk of the car.

"Listen, that's all I know at this point. I'm on my way to your house right now and I suggest you do the same."

Gibbs stood in the middle of the parking lot; he found it hard to breathe as he began hyperventilating. Suddenly his knees buckled and if not for the quick reactions of Tony and Ziva, he would have hit the ground. "Whoa, you alright Gibbs?" Ziva asked as they guided him to sit on the bumper of the car.

"No, I'm not," Gibbs gasped between breaths as he handed Tony the phone. Ziva crouched down and rested her hand on his knee, "We need to get your breathing normal again. Focus on me and the pattern I am taking." She demonstrated slowly inhaling and exhaling as Gibbs followed her lead.

The entire time Tony had worked for Gibbs he had never before witnessed such a strong reaction out of him, never seen him express such strong emotions. Normally, Gibbs was the man, the rock, everyone leaned on to get them through tough times, not the other way around. Anxious to know what caused it he yelled, "What the hell is going on?" into the phone.

"DiNozzo, where's Gibbs?"

"Ahh director, he's trying to calm down right now, will you please tell me what's going on?"

"Agent McGee has been kidnapped. I'm on my way to Gibbs' house right now and you should be too."

For the first time in his life, Tony was speechless. He glanced over at Gibbs and Ziva; relieved to see the color had returned to his face and his breathing was under control.

"DiNozzo?"

"DiNozzo!" Vance bellowed trying to regain Tony's attention.

In a state of shock, Tony completely forgot he was on the phone. It wasn't until he heard the roar of Vance's voice that he snapped out of it. "Yeah, yeah director I'm still here."

"Good, listen I understand this is tough on everybody, but I need you to focus. I expect you to meet me at Gibbs' place in the next 10 minutes."

"We're on our way." Tony responded before snapping the phone shut. He glanced over at Gibbs, who physically appeared to be in better shape than he was a moment ago. Because Gibbs had already lost one child, Tony could not imagine the thoughts that were going through his mind. Gibbs would blame himself for not listening to his gut even though it was a direct order from Vance. And god forbid, if anything happened to Tim while he was kidnapped, Tony knew nobody would be able to pull Gibbs out of the depths of despair. The tables were turned and he was in a whole new territory. He knew for the time being, he needed to take charge. After taking a deep breath, he rejoined the two at the car.