Never Take Anything for Granted

Buzzing. Low-pitched buzzing. What the hell?

McGee flinched as Tony removed his arm from around his shoulder and leaned over him to reach the bed side table, crushing his slightly. Ah, his phone.

"DiNozzo."

Tim flinched, because Tony answering the phone with his second name means that Gibbs is on the other end, which ultimately means that Tony now has to go to work.

"Yeah Boss, I'm over at his place. I, uh.. I stayed in the spare room."

Sighing, McGee turned away from Tony and looked out of the window. The rain had gone, but the sky was still dark and clouded. Small rays of light were peering through the gaps and illuminating the floor next to the bed. Tim squinted as he looked up at the glow. He was unsure of how long he had to carry on living the lie, and why Tony insisted that they kept lying to each other. Lying to themselves.

"Kay, Boss. We'll be there in thirty." Tony dropped the phone back onto the table and groaned.

“We?” McGee questioned without moving or attempting to look at Tony. His voice was quiet and unenthusiastic and his brain was trying to process things faster than it could handle.

“Yeah, Gibbs has something figured out. Bad news is you’re on paperwork until we’ve finished the case. The FBI are going to lay off you until we have more evidence against you.”

McGee layed for a moment and silently thought to himself before rolling over and looking at the older agent. “You sound like you believe I’ve done it, Tony. You have no hope. You expect me to be arrested, don’t you?”

“The evidence is against you, but Gibbs will figure something out. It’s what he does.” Tony smiled down at McGee before getting out of bed. That's all McGee gets these days; a smile. McGee layed still and watched as once again DiNozzo climbed out of his bed and left his bedroom.

It hadn’t been like that the other times, and it probably will never be the same again. The team had started to feel distant from Tim, like they were trying to sever the ties before they lost their co-worker and friend. He started to believe that if they had given up, maybe he should too.

McGee pulled on some clean clothes and traipsed into the bathroom.

--

When they eventually returned back to the Navy Yard after a very quiet and awkward car trip, DiNozzo and McGee had formed a mini Campfire in front of the plasma and were re-examining pictures from the crime scene. McGee had drifted away, presumably to purchase some coffee but DiNozzo didn't ask and he never told.

Ziva was the next one in. She curiously snuck up on an unexpectant DiNozzo and peered over his shoulder at what he was doing.

“Found anything?” She asked, right next to his ear.

Ziva swore that she saw him jump from his seat by a couple of inches. He screwed his eyes and tried to calm his now pounding heart beat.

“No, Zee-vah” He whispered. Sliding forward on his chair he spun around so that he could face her. “I’m worried about McGee.” He said it in the typical DiNozzo way of pretending that nothing was bothering him, but Ziva could see in his eyes that he was genuinely scared for his friend.

“So am I, he has been acting very depressed since we found the evidence he left behind.”

Tony raised an eyebrow and watched Ziva as she tried to take back the words she said. “Do you think maybe it’s because of things like that?”

Before she could answer the elevator pinged and Gibbs stepped out, and as usual he was holding nothing but a coffee and a disgruntled expression on his face. “Where is he?”

“Getting coffee, Boss.” Tony approached him and didn’t quite know how to react when he got a sympathetic smile. “Yeah, I’m worried too, Boss” He confessed.

Gibbs nodded and placed his coffee on his desk. “We may have a lead, DiNozzo. I'm waiting on the warrant and then we're leaving."

Tony nodded and walked back to his desk to collect his weapon and badge, Ziva did the same.

"It's a guy named Andrew Cooper." Gibbs continued. "McGee put him in prison for nine years just before he joined NCIS, but he got out a few months ago. We saw his car on security cameras at a local shop and ran the plates."

DiNozzo pulled a piece of paper and a pen from his desk drawer and started to wright something down and Ziva stared curiously over the room. He traipsed over to McGee's desk and placed the paper on his keyboard just as Gibbs' phone started to ring, signaling the arrival of the warrant.

"Gibbs. On it." He hung up and nodded to Tony, picked up his coffee and walked over to the elevator.