The next morning, Tim went into work prepared for another lousy day. As he walked into the bullpen Gibbs stopped him and told him he wanted to talk.
He gave Tony a worried look, but Tony mouthed ‘It’s Okay' while Gibbs wasn’t looking. He was still unsure as he followed Gibbs to an empty conference room.
Gibbs closed the door and could tell Tim was worried. “Relax McGee. How are Abby and Caitlin doing?”
Confused, Tim responded. “They are fine. Abby has been doing a wonderful job. Caitlin is finally sleeping most of the night so you won’t have to worry about me falling asleep at my desk again.”
Gibbs smiled. “Yeah, about yesterday. I wanted to talk to you about that.”
Tim looked like a deer in the headlights.
Gibbs started laughing, which totally threw Tim off. “Look Tim, I’m not going to yell at you. In fact I wanted to apologize. Yesterday was a really bad day. It started out lousy and went down hill from there. I get in here to find that they dumped some new agent on me to baby sit. Like I need more headaches in my life.”
Tim gave him a look.
“Before you say it, no I didn’t think that when you came to the team. I asked for you. I knew you were going to make one hell of an agent. You had motivation and good instincts, Abby’s lucky to have you around. This new girl is just not good agent material. I can tell already. I was really pissed thinking of how this was going to make the team look. It’s not fair to you and Tony to have to pick up her slack, especially you Tim. You have a wife and baby at home waiting for you. It made me realize how much I really miss Kate. That just pissed me off even more. Tell Abby I’m sorry I kept you here half the night.”
Tim was taken aback by Gibbs honesty. “Wow. I don’t know what to say boss. Thanks.”
Gibbs smiled again. “So, have you two set a date yet?”
“No, we haven’t, we really haven’t had much of a chance to talk since Caitlin was born.”
Gibbs could hear the sadness in Tim’s voice. “You need to make time Tim.”
Tim nodded slightly.
“Tell you what; I’ll make sure you are out of here on time if you promise to do something for me.”
“What’s that?”
“You go home to Abby and you sit her down and talk to her. When you walk in here tomorrow morning, I want a date. Deal?”
Tim smiled at Gibbs. “Sure.”
“All right then, let’s get back to work. Oh, not a word of this to the new girl. I don’t want her thinking I’m anything less than the bastard I was yesterday. I already talked to DiNozzo; he knows what will happen to him if he slips up.”
“Yes sir.” Tim laughed as they walked out of the conference room.
The rest of the day went relatively smooth. As Gibbs promised, Tim was out the door on time. He stopped by the florist on the way home and got a dozen roses before heading home to Abby.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Gibbs makes Tim a deal.
Chapter End Notes:
This was written before season 3 so 'the new girl' is not Ziva. (Unless you want it to be.)