Chapter 24

Three weeks later...

Tim got to work and checked the news like usual. There had been a big story about the case a couple of weeks ago, and then, another smaller story about Melissa's murder being reopened and charges being filed against David with Louis being an accessory. Tim was glad, but he still felt like it wasn't enough. He hadn't told anyone that, however. Things were still going well and he wasn't going to mess that up by moaning about a car. It was a car! He'd started thinking about going shopping for a new one. While he'd been willing to ride the bus and the Metro when he first moved to DC, he'd now been spoiled by the convenience of having his own set of wheels. He'd have to go and find something to drive. Not as flashy or as expensive. Just something to get him from point A to point B.

He hadn't done anything more than think about it so far, though.

When Tony and Ziva came in, they exchanged conspiratorial glances...as they had been for at least a week. Tim thought about asking them what was going on, but then, he decided that he didn't want to know.

They all just got to work. It was the end of another case and reports needed to be written up and filed. There was always something to be done whether there was an active case or not. They all dove into it without much more than a few words exchanged.

After lunch, at about two, Tim's desk phone rang.

"Agent McGee."

"Hey, Agent McGee. You've got a visitor down here."

Tim felt very wary. That hadn't gone so well last time.

"Who is it?"

"Says his name is..." There was a pause and some muffled conversation. "...Vaughn Banger."

"Oh." Tim wasn't sure he felt any better hearing that name. He hadn't seen Melissa's father since he'd knocked Tim around and told him not to show his face at Melissa's funeral.

"Want me to tell him you're busy?" Henry asked. He'd apologized a few times after what had happened the last time he admitted two unexpected visitors.

"No. No, I'll come down."

"You sure?"

"Positive."

Tim hung up.

"Who is it, McGee?" Ziva asked. "You look like someone walked over your tombstone."

"Grave. Just grave, Ziva," Tony corrected.

"It is the same thing, is it not?"

"Yeah, but it's not the right word."

"Whatever. Who was it?" she asked again.

"Melissa's dad."

Tony got up. So did Ziva.

"We'll talk to him for you," Tony said darkly. "If he was anything like in your book..."

"No, Tony. I'll talk to him...but in plain sight. If Gibbs comes in, I'll only be a minute or two. I have to know what he wants."

"All right, all right," Tony said. "But if he does anything else..."

"You'll be the first to know," Tim said with a smile. "Or second. Henry will probably be watching."

"I am sure he will," Ziva said.

Tim smiled and headed down to the entrance. When he got there, he paused just out of sight so that he could get a look at Mr. Banger. He looked a lot like Tim remembered him. His face was more lined and all his hair was gray. Otherwise, a lot the same. Tim reminded himself that he was different, that Mr. Banger couldn't overwhelm him this time. He took a deep breath and walked out, keeping his expression neutral.

"Hi, Henry," he said. "Mr. Banger?"

Melissa's father looked surprised, and Tim smiled a little.

"Tim...you've changed a lot."

"You haven't."

He clearly heard what Tim meant.

"Would you mind talking for a few minutes?" he asked.

"Only a couple. I have work to do."

"All right."

Tim gestured. As he started for the door, Henry grabbed his arm.

"Is it all right, Agent McGee? I mean, really? Not like last time?"

"It's fine. I promise. He's not the kind of man who would...put on an act. He's very direct."

To put it mildly, Tim thought to himself.

He walked out of the building across the street to Willard Park.

"What did you want?" he asked.

"A detective called us a couple of weeks ago, told us that there was new evidence, that our daughter had been murdered, that she didn't commit suicide."

Tim nodded without comment.

"He said that it was...due to you."

Tim still said nothing, waiting to hear what the explanation was...and he wasn't quite noble enough to help him out at all.

"I asked him about it, and he told me about you, about what had happened...and where you were."

"Okay?" Tim asked.

"And I...I really owe you an apology."

"Yeah, you do, but you did before you found out that you were wrong about me. You owed me an apology when you hit me and pushed me down...when you blamed me for Melissa's death."

"You're right. My wife said the same."

"So...why now? What were you expecting?"

"Nothing really...but what I did and said was wrong, and even though it's late to be doing it, I needed to make it right. I shouldn't have said anything to you before, and once I did, I should have apologized. I was blaming you to keep from blaming myself."

Tim shook his head.

"Even if Melissa had committed suicide, it wouldn't have been my fault and it wouldn't have been yours. She always knew what she was doing...except for when she got raped. She knew what she was going to do when she got pregnant, but beyond that...she didn't know what to do. I didn't, either. We were talking about it. David told me that she said I was right, that she was going to listen to me. So if you still need someone else to blame, you can blame me. Her decision to tell you is was made David decide to kill her."

Mr. Banger sighed.

"The only one I blame is the man who killed my daughter. I was wrong, and I'm sorry."

Tim was ready for the conversation to be over. He was still getting over all this himself, and he didn't need to be thrust back into the past again. He also knew that Melissa would have hated knowing that her friend and her father were at odds like this.

"I accept your apology, Mr. Banger. Good luck."

He put out his hand, hoping that Mr. Banger got the message that he was done talking.

He did.

Mr. Banger shook Tim's hand and then walked away. Tim looked after him and then went back inside.

"Everything all right, Agent McGee?"

"Yeah. He was just apologizing...for things that happened more than ten years ago."

"Better late than never."

"I don't know about that...but I'm glad it's over."

Henry smiled and patted his shoulder.

"Go knock 'em dead, Agent McGee."

"How about I go back to my desk instead?"

"That'll work."

Henry waved him back to the elevator. Tim got on and went back to the bullpen.

"How did it go?" Ziva asked.

"Fine. He apologized, but...I just wanted him to go," Tim said. "I just want this to be over."

"Well, no one else left to talk to, right?" Tony asked.

"Right."

Gibbs came in, then, and they all got back to work. Tim was glad that he had something to occupy his mind. An apology from Melissa's dad was nice and all, but he didn't want to think about that anymore if he could avoid it.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

John stood, staring at the tree. He sighed and tried to be happy about the arrest of Colin and Lawrence. They had killed Sandra, and they were going to pay for it. They were going to get exactly what they deserved for destroying such a beautiful person.

...and yet, he felt depressed.

"Hey, John."

John looked up and saw one of the agents. He didn't know this one. He was younger and he looked a little nerdy, to be honest.

"Who are you?" he asked.

The man smiled. "Agent McGregor. I work with Agent Tibbs."

"Oh. I guess you'll all be leaving now?"

McGregor smiled and nodded. "Yeah. The case is over, and we've got to move on to the next one. Our job is never over. You don't look too happy."

"I'm not," John admitted.

McGregor sat down beside him, looking strangely knowing.

"Why?"

"Because...look at everything that happened. I couldn't save Sandy. She's still dead. Nothing has really changed."

"It won't change, but you know what?"

"What?"

"Sandy wouldn't want you to live your life looking back to the past. She'd want you to move forward."

"How do I do that?"

McGregor smiled sympathetically and put a hand on John's shoulder.

"One day at a time, John. Eventually, things will get better. I promise."

"How do you know?"

"Because I've been there."

"McGregor! Time to go!"

McGregor looked over at Tommy and waved.

"Good luck, John. Remember what I said."

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

The sun had gone down, and Tim leaned back and stretched in his chair. While he was reaching his hands toward the ceiling, Tony's phone rang and he answered quickly.

"Right now?" Tony asked. "You sure? Don't lie to me, Abbs."

Tim let his hands down and looked at Tony. Tony ignored him.

"If you're sure..."

Tim looked at Ziva, but she was looking intently at Tony. Was there something going on that he'd been left out of? That was kind of depressing.

Then, Tony hung up his phone, looked at Ziva and then at Gibbs. ...and then, finally at Tim. He grinned.

"Okay, McGee. Come on."

Tony stood up.

"What do you mean? Come where? We're still working!"

Tim looked at Gibbs and was surprised to see Gibbs looking pretty satisfied.

"Outside. It won't take long. Promise."

"What's outside?"

"The world, Probie! Come on!"

"But..."

Ziva got up, too.

"Come, McGee. It will be worth it."

"Boss?" Tim asked.

"Might as well go with him, McGee. He's not going to do anything until you do."

Tim shrugged. "Okay...if that's what you want."

He got up and let Tony drag him to the elevator. Then, they went down, out the front door.

...and Tim stopped, in spite of Tony dragging him along.

Just in front of the building sat a car. A Porsche.

Abby ran up the sidewalk and hugged him tightly.

"Surprise, Tim!" she said.

"Surprise?" he asked weakly.

"Yes! Surprise!"

"What–?"

"It's your car!"

"But...but...it... you towed it..." he said.

"To a garage," Tony said, grinning. "You never asked where we towed it to."

"You... No," Tim said. "No, you couldn't have. The damage...it was too much! I can't let you...pay for...for that! I..."

"Don't worry. We got a great deal," Abby said. "I have a friend who's training in car repair, and he offered to do this as part of his training. He said that he expects to get a great endorsement from Thom Gemcity when he's done."

Tim still hadn't moved. He was just staring at his car. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. Tony started pushing him forward from behind. Abby dragged him from the front and slowly he stumbled down the sidewalk.

"What do you think, McGee?" Ziva asked.

Tim looked at the car. He couldn't even tell where the repairs had been made. It was seamless. The paint color might be slightly different, but at that, Tim wasn't sure. He reached out and touched it. Then, he ran his hand down and over the hood.

"Wow."

"Do you want it?" Tony asked.

Tim laughed. He could no more refuse to take his car back than he could shoot himself in the foot. If he had suddenly started flying, he couldn't be more happy about it.

Tony jingled the keys and Tim looked at him.

"Now, there's one thing you've got to satisfy me on."

"What's that?" Tim asked.

"Promise that your next book won't be about another unsolved case from your past. We don't need all this again."

Tim grinned. "Promise. The case has elements from real-life cases, but nothing from my past. No personal connection."

"No old bullies coming to try to kill you?"

"No. Promise. This is just a book. No one will have a personal stake in it."

Tony feigned deep consideration and then he held out the keys. Tim snatched them.

"Remember. You promised."

"Cross my heart," Tim said.

Then, he got serious.

"Guys...thanks. Really. I...I can't even think of how to say how grateful I am that you did this. I was just going to junk it. It would have been so expensive and...and I figured you'd all rather forget about it, too."

"This is your car, McGee," Ziva said. "You deserve it."

"Thanks."

Tim got in the car to drive it to a parking space. Then, he looked back at his friends and he smiled and waved. He was tempted just to go for a drive, but he couldn't do that. So he parked the car and walked back to the bullpen. Tony and Ziva were already back at their desks working.

Gibbs looked up.

"Over?" he asked.

"Yeah, Boss. It's over."

Tim sat down at his desk and got back to work.

FINIS!