A/N: This is a oneshot episode tag for Double Back, the episode that aired tonight. There's not a lot to it, but there are some spoilers for what happens in the episode. It's just a short conversation.

Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS and I'm not making money off this story. I am using two lines of dialogue from the episode.

Sit with Me?
by Enthusiastic Fish

There was a lot of silence. Gibbs hadn't wanted to leave NCIS when they were trying to figure out how to track down Parsa, but if Tim was actually asking for help, then, it was something more important. Tony, Ellie and Abby would keep working while he was gone.

So he left and went to the hospital.

When he got there, Tim was standing alone...as he had been through most of this.

But this time, he'd asked for someone to be there.

He walked over and looked into the room where Delilah was lying.

"Her family wanted some time," Tim said softly.

As Tim tacitly asked for permission to come to NCIS and tell everyone what he'd been keeping from them, Gibbs could see something different in him. More calm, less of an edge. It wasn't that he'd really accepted everything. He hadn't, but he wasn't pretending that things were okay, either.

They were standing there and then, suddenly, Tim had one more request.

"Boss, would you mind sitting with me?"

Gibbs gestured to the chairs and Tim walked with him. They sat down on the chairs.

And then, there was just silence. Tim didn't have anything to say, and that was all right. Gibbs wondered if Tim was expecting him to say something...but if so, Tim really hadn't known who he worked for at all.

They sat beside each other for twenty minutes. Gibbs didn't give any indication that he wanted to get back to NCIS, to find Parsa before he could strike again, but as long as Tim wanted him to be here, he'd stay, even if it just meant that he'd be sitting there, doing nothing.

"I apologized for not being there when she woke up," Tim said finally.

Gibbs looked over. Tim was still staring forward.

"What did she say?"

"That I was here, now. ...but I should have been there when she woke up. I shouldn't have run away."

"It's all right."

Tim nodded.

Silence fell again.

They sat together for a while longer.

"I...wore the tux," Tim said. "I was ready to...go there. ...and then, it all fell apart."

"Not necessarily. She's still alive, Tim."

"The tux is okay," Tim said. "A little scuffed, but it's okay. I can probably get it...cleaned or something."

"Probably."

More silence.

And more silence.

"Did you mean what you said?" Tim asked suddenly.

"If it's just scuffed, a dry cleaner can–"

"Am I really more important than the job?"

"Yes."

Another period of silence. They'd been sitting there almost an hour when the door opened and Delilah's mom came out.

"Tim?" she asked.

Tim looked at Gibbs for a moment.

"Thanks for being here, Boss. I know you had a lot of things to do."

"Anytime, Tim. If you need me here."

Tim swallowed and nodded.

"Thanks."

Then, he walked over to Delilah's mom. She hugged him and gestured for him to go into the room. He looked back at Gibbs once more and then went and sat beside Delilah.

Gibbs watched him as he held her hand. She was asleep, but it wasn't stopping Tim from talking to her. Good. It didn't matter what he said right now.

He walked to the elevator and got on.

Time to get back to work.

FINIS!