“Tim.” Tony said to McGee as he passed by the stairs to the fourth floor on the way to the men’s room. “Tim.” Tony said again.
McGee automatically turned his head in Tony’s direction. When he realized who was calling his name he took a mental inventory. What had he done wrong? Tony never called him by his first name without a reason.
Tony motioned Tim over and he reluctantly went. Tony smiled at him and put his hands on McGee’s shoulders. “I need to talk to you.”
“Tony, I…” McGee said, thinking of the thousands things he had to do today.
“I wanted to tell you what I was going to say...that day.”
McGee just stared for a moment, knowing exactly which day he was talking about.
“You’re ok…” McGee paused “…I mean, the doctors at the hospital and Ducky....”
Tony nodded. “I’m fine. I got cleared from the hospital and Ducky. I….”
“Then, what is there to talk about?” Tim said, starting to walk away.
“Tim...” Tony said, grabbing Tim’s arm. “I really need to tell you this.”
Tim turned and looked at him.
“Tim, I know how hard it is to do this type of work.” Tony paused. “I wasn’t trained for this either. I mean as a cop, you see the dead body. Then you walk away. You let the CSI people come in and do their thing.” Tony leaned against the wall. “I think the first thing that always got to me, still does, is the smell. It took time to get used to this job, to spending so much time being around a dead body and it not freaking you out. I used to have dreams that the corpses became animated. They sat up. They talked. They walked. They did everything a normal human being would do.” Tony looked at Tim. “I knew with your background, you had even less experience than I had. This is not an easy profession. The burn out rate is very high. The suicide rate is even higher. If you don’t have something, besides this job...it can really get to you. I can see great things for you at NCIS, Tim. I hope Director Vance sees that too. He is grooming you for greater things. He sees than potential in you.” Tony put his hand on both Tim’s shoulders, again. “I told you all that to say this. I give you a hard time to toughen you up. Like I said, this job is hard. I knew with your computer background, you were entering uncharted territory. I wanted you to be able to take whatever this job threw at you. I also wanted you to be able to take whatever Gibbs threw at you. I have great respect for you and for your abilities, Tim. I really do. And I think my constant, unrelenting pestering and teasing have turned you into a fine agent and I take 100% credit for that.” Tony smiled.
“I don’t know what to say, Tony.” Tim said his voice shaking.
“You don’t have to say anything, Little Brother.” Tony said, pulling him into a hug. “Not a thing.”
McGee stepped back and stared at him. “Little brother?”
Tony nodded.
“Very cool, l’ve always wanted a big brother.” Tim said and smiled back.
TBC
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