Chapter Two
Tim
He screams Tim’s name, and Tim leans over the edge and sees Tony hanging by his fingers off the side of the garage building. Beneath him is nothing but death in the form of gray cement.
Tim freezes for a moment, knowing that he will have to get that close to the edge – and Tony’s hanging at least five stories up. Tim hates heights.
But then Tony screams again, and Tim realizes he’s already running. There is no question about what he has to do – he has to save Tony. He runs, heart pounding in his chest, adrenaline rushing around in his system in a way that lets him see nothing but Tony.
He grabs Tony’s hand just as Tony’s grip fails, and then there are long seconds of heavy pulling, and he doesn’t know where he gets the strength from, because Tony is heavy and Tim isn’t really strong enough to pull him up like this. But he is strong enough, and suddenly, they’re both sitting on the ground, panting heavily.
“I love you, McGee.”
Tim hopes that his gasp is masked by his attempts to regain his breath – Tony doesn’t seem to notice. What is he supposed to say? Tim has wished to hear those words for so long, and now—what can he possibly say? It’s just Tony being grateful for being saved, that’s all. He doesn’t mean anything by it.
“I promise never to give you a hard time again,” Tony says.
Tim is glad that Tony says something, especially something so easy to respond to. He scoffs, although he’s not sure it sounds like a scoff, because he’s still trying to get his breathing under control. “Yeah, right.”
He feels Tony relax against him, his body going limp and his head resting on Tim’s shoulder. He wonders for a second if Tony has lost consciousness or something – no one is as full of energy as Tony, and ‘limp’ is just not a word Tim can associate with him – but then he shifts slightly, and he knows Tony is awake, simply exhausted.
“You okay?” Tim asks quietly, not wanting to disturb Tony but unable to stop himself.
“I’m fine, Probie,” Tony says, a slight waver to his voice.
“You’re shaking,” Tim says, because he feels Tony’s body vibrate slightly against his own. It’s unsettling, and a definite sign that Tony isn’t fine. Tim worries, even though he knows that if Tony realizes just how much he worries, Tony would tease him even more than he already does.
“It happens,” Tony replies softly, “when one comes down from an adrenaline rush after hanging off the side of a building.”
Tim feels the need to keep the same light mood, to keep himself from worrying – and from thinking about words uttered mere minutes ago, and yet already etched into his memory forever.
“Technically, it’s the inside of the building,” he says.
That earns him a punch in the shoulder that holds none of Tony’s usual strength. Then Tony seems to snuggle against Tim’s shoulder, and Tim wonders what he’s done to deserve that – why couldn’t Tony do it at some point when he hadn’t just been rescued from certain death? At some point where it meant something other than that Tony was just exhausted?
He wants to stay there, and he wants to wrap his arms around Tony, but he doesn’t. He feels Tony shaking against him, and he sighs softly.
“We should probably get moving,” Tim says. “Gibbs will start wondering otherwise.”
Tony doesn’t seem worried. “I’m sure him and Ziva have things under control.”
They probably do. Tim hasn’t heard any shots or screams, and his cell phone is quiet. They would have heard something if there had still been trouble. Tim fails to see what a single woman, no matter how good her training, could do to give the team of Gibbs and Ziva grief.
They sit quietly, Tony leaning against Tim. He wonders what Tony would do if Tim placed his arm around Tony – probably jump up and back away slowly. Tim has little knowledge of what Tony thinks of gay relationships – Tony tongued the transvestite but that was wrong on so many levels that even Tim, who had been interested in both sexes since high school, would have had a problem with it. The guy was a murderer, and his victim had been their co-worker – and he’d been a transvestite only to keep his cover. Still, given Tony’s violent reaction to it, it didn’t bode well for Tim.
With another sigh, he gets up. He’s careful – Tony seems to have almost fallen asleep against him, and he doesn’t really want to wake him up. He knows he has to; they need to get back to Gibbs and then Tony needs to go home.
He holds out his hand to Tony, figuring that that can’t be too gay at least. Tony takes it without hesitation, and Tim likes the feeling of Tony’s strong hand in his.
Tony’s face is rather white, and Tim walks close to him, ready to blame it on the risk of Tony falling down at any second, should Tony point it out. He doesn’t, and they walk quietly to the ground floor where Gibbs and Ziva are waiting with Lt. Arnett’s wife.
Gibbs eyes Tony, and it’s a testament to the danger Tony was in, that Gibbs doesn’t rip them a new one about not returning until now. He merely motions for Tim to check out Arnett’s car for any further evidence. They don’t need any more than they already have, but the more evidence, the better.
He doesn’t find anything but her purse, and he hands it over to Gibbs, who nods.
“McGee, take DiNozzo home before he crashes and pukes all over the place,” Gibbs says, and Tim ignores the way his heart leaps at the thought of going to Tony’s place.
“I’m not gonna puke, boss,” Tony protests, but it’s a weak one.
“I’d rather not chance it,” Gibbs says dryly, and nods his head towards the car. Tim watches Tony and sees the hint of a smile on his lips at Gibbs’ words, and he wonders why.
Tim takes the keys to the car, and Tony doesn’t object to him driving, which must be a first. Tony always pulls the seniority card when it comes to driving. But then, within a few minutes of getting onto the road, Tony has fallen asleep, and Tim thinks it’s probably a good thing that Tony didn’t drive.
Tim tries not to watch Tony too much – he has traffic to keep track of, and it wouldn’t look good if he crashed the car – but he can’t help but steal glances. Tony looks hot even when he’s sleeping, which almost annoys Tim, because he’s fairly certain that he doesn’t look hot when he sleeps. Tony’s mouth is slightly open, and his long, dark lashes cast shadows on his cheeks.
Tim pulls up on the street where Tony lives, and he wishes that Tony lived father away. He stops the car and turns the engine off and he fiddles with the keys to the car without reason, just so that he won’t have to wake Tony up just yet.
Finally, he shakes Tony gently with a hand on his shoulder, and when Tony stirs, Tim says gently, “Uh, we’re home.”
Tony seems slightly disoriented, but upon seeing his apartment building, he appears to realize where he is.
Tim wonders what Tony’s apartment looks like. Tony has been to Tim’s place on several occasions, but Tim has never been to Tony’s. He wishes Tony would invite him.
Tony doesn’t; instead he says, “Thanks for the ride, Probie.”
Tony is still shaking, his face white. Tim can’t help but ask, “You sure you’re gonna be okay?”
There’s an attempt at the usual grin when Tony replies. “I usually am.”
Tony shuffles about, unbuckling himself with shaking fingers. Tim wonders if he should insist on taking Tony inside, but he figures such an insistence will be rewarded with merciless teasing or violence. Tony isn’t the kind of person someone like Tim takes care of. He’s not the kind of person anyone takes care of.
“Thanks,” Tony says suddenly, “for saving my life.”
Tim stares at him with wide eyes, knowing he must look like he’s in shock. He is – he can’t recall the last time Tony thanked him for anything.
“I—uh, it was nothing,” Tim says, because he doesn’t have any clue of what he’s supposed to say. The words are already running though his mind, playing right after those four words Tony said earlier, and they repeat themselves over and over again.
“You’re afraid of heights, McGee,” Tony says, “and I was hanging off a seven story drop. I doubt that counts as nothing.”
Tim doesn’t want to think about how far up it was – he did save Tony, but he still doesn’t like heights. He shrugs and tries to make his words sound nonchalant.
“It was my fear or you. You won.”
This has Tony grinning at him. Tim wonders if Tony really thought that Tony wouldn’t win every single time.
“Good for me,” Tony says.
They look at each other, eyes meeting. Tony has beautiful eyes – they shift in greens and blues, and they sparkle, even when he’s as tired as he is now. All of Tony is beautiful, really.
Tim wonders what Tony would do if Tim leaned over and kissed him right now. He would probably hit him, and then he’d go to Gibbs and ask him to fire Tony, because though gays – or bisexuals – are allowed at NCIS, they probably aren’t all that welcome. Still, Tim wishes he had the guts. To feel Tony’s lips against his own, just this once – it might be worth it.
But Tony looks away, and Tim sighs.
“I—I should probably head back,” Tim says, trying to fill the silence. “Abby’s probably still pretty upset. I should talk to her.”
It’s not a lie – Abby was quite upset by everyone thinking she would quit. Tim was upset by the idea too. He loves Abby and absolutely doesn’t want her anywhere but at NCIS. He needs to talk to her, make sure she knows she’s still loved and very wanted.
He wonders what it would be like to say the same things to Tony.
“Yeah, you do that,” Tony says, eyes on something in the far distance, rather than looking at Tim.
Tim nods. “Uh—call me if you need anything.”
He wants to say more, to make it clear that anything means anything, but he doesn’t because he doesn’t think Tony would appreciate being babied. Tony can take care of himself.
Still, Tony smiles at him. “I will.”
Tim doesn’t have any high hopes for Tony calling, but at least he wasn’t shot down. “Good. See you tomorrow.”
Tony nods. “Yeah, Probie. Tomorrow.”
He sounds tired, but Tim doesn’t get a chance to say anything more. Tony slams the door shut and walks away, towards his apartment.
Tim stares after him, eyes lingering on Tony’s shapely ass, and he swallows. He needs to get a grip on himself, lest he suddenly start saying things he really shouldn’t to Tony.
Perhaps he ought to talk about it with Abby. He knows that she won’t judge him – she’ll probably even be thrilled. She’s not like anyone else he knows – which is what attracted him to begin with – and she’s accepting of everyone. She might even give him tips on how to woo Tony, even though Tim will tell her that there will be no wooing.
Tony has disappeared into the building, and Tim starts the car. He wonders if Tony will call some girl – Tim’s certain he’s got a few in his phone book just for comfort sex, or something – and he tries not to feel jealous of the imaginary woman he thinks up. He knows that one day, Tony will find that woman, that person who fits him and makes him happy. Tim hopes he’s no longer around when that happens; he doesn’t know if he will be able to stand it.
He drives off, with a sigh, comforting himself with the knowledge that at least Tony is safe, and alive, and he is that way because of Tim.
Anything else, Tim will simply have to learn to live with.
Chapters
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