Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or NCIS.

Gibbs

"It's like the part in the Terminator where.." Tony rambles on excitedly to his oblivious team mates.

"Do you think he'll notice one day that we are not actually listening to a word he is saying?" Ziva says.

McGee looks up from his computer "well it is Tony so..."

"Hmmm" Ziva agrees and focuses back on the bank statements in front of her. The lance corporal hasn't made any transactions within the last two days, but there was a significantly larger amount withdrawn from the cash machine near the base than he usually withdrew.

"Hey McGee can you see if you can-" she looks up to see McGee on the phone and waits for him to finish.

"Was that the base commander, did he ring you back about the lance corporals whereabouts?" Ziva asks when he puts the phone down.

"McGee" she shouts when he doesn't answer her, "McGee!"

He snaps his head around to look at her. "I-I need to go" he says suddenly and jumps up, grabs his coat from the back of his chair and rushes towards the lift.

"Hey McRush, where are you going?" Tony shouts after him, finally becoming aware of something other than his own self ramblings.

"Can you get me a coffee on your way back!" He shouts as the younger agent disappears from view.

"Know what that was about?" Tony asks Ziva.

"Despite what you may think Tony I do not make it my objective to know every single thing that goes on in my coworkers lives."

"Ah but you were curious."

"No I was not."

"I could see it in your eyes, they were all...thinky." He says dramatically.

Ziva scoffs "now you are being ridiculous."

"Maybe, but you were still curious."

She rolls her eyes and starts to look up their suspects recent phone activity.

/

"pack up your gear, we've got another dead body about 2 miles north of the base."

The two agents jump up at his words and grab their rucksacks from behind their desks.

"Tony, McGee you're -"

He turns around "where's McGee?"

"Don't know boss, he said he had to leave about an hour ago."

"Well get him back here" Gibbs says exasperated.

"Yes boss."

"Ziva did McGee manage to decode the hard drive before he disappeared?"

"I don't know boss."

"Er boss?"

"What is it dinozzo?"

"McGees not answering his phone."

"Well try him again."

"I did that but it keeps going to voicemail."

"Well call Abby and get her to track it, we'll pick him up on the way."

"Yes boss."

"You tracked him down yet Dinozzo?" Gibbs asks as he get in to the car.

"Yes boss his phone GPS shows he's at the hospital."

"Did you try ringing him again ?"

"Yep. still no answer."

"Well what are you waiting for, let's go!"

/

"Did Abby happen to say what floor he was on?"

"No boss." Tony replys.

Gibbs gives him a look. "I'll ring her back and find out."

"Shouldn't we try calling him or better yet wait. If he is here it is probably something important."

"If it was important he should have told me about it."

Ziva huffs and walks over to the nurses station. "Have you any appointments today for a Timothy McGee?" She asks whilst flashing her badge.

The nurse looks up and then types in to her computer. "No ma'am but if he was moved up due to a cancellation it wouldn't show up on the system yet."

"Thank you anyway."

"It was worth a try" Ziva justifies to Gibbs as her raises his eyebrows at her.

Tony flips his phone shut and walks back towards them. "Abby couldn't be more specific than he west side of the hospital."

"Well that's great" Gibbs says just as his phone rings.

"McGee, where are you?" he shouts in to the phone "don't you know you're supposed to be working?"

"Ouch" Tony says as he and Gibbs watch Gibbs storm off "I think McGeek will be doing a lot of paper work when he gets back."

/

"Why the hell have you not been answering your phone?" Gibbs shouts to McGee when he sees his junior agent sitting sitting on the steps, halfway between floor three and four in the hospital stairwell.

McGee looks up at his boss "I -"

"What was so important that you just had to rush out the office and not tell anyone, huh!"

He knows he's being unfair but he's had a crap day and it's an awful case. He keeps getting railroaded by higher ups and the director, so he doesn't need his agents running amuck as well.

"She had a miscarriage, my girlfriend had a miscarriage." McGee says shakily.

He instantly feels like the worst boss ever as he takes in McGees words and pale dishevelled appearance.

"I didn't even know how much I wanted it until... and then it was too late and I... and she was so excited, scared, so scared but excited...she always wanted... And now I just feel ..." His breath hitches.

For the first time since Kate's death he feels helpless as he watches his junior field agent fall to pieces in front of him.

In this moment he feels like neither a superior nor a friend to this man who he finds out was expecting a child, it is almost as if they are strangers.

Gibbs is not a father figure to the young agent as he is to the rest of the team. He does not know the ins and out of his personal life as he does Tony, Ziva and even Abby. He did not even know McGee was seeing anyone.

He realises the young agent has been pushed to the edges of the group and down his list of priorities to make way for the more needy team members.

He feels shame that he has allowed this to happen.

He knows from his own experience that nothing he can do or say will help ease the pain, only time will and perhaps another pregnancy.

For now though he sits down on the cold concrete steps and squeezes McGees shoulder, silently offering the support the young man needs.

/

When the tears dry he's ready to give McGee a hand up and follows the young man down the corridor to a private room. When he enters he takes in the girl on the bed. He cannot see her face as she's laid on her side, but he can see her hospital gown covered shoulders shake with quiet sobs.

McGee quietly takes off his shoes and climbs in to the bed. She rolls over slightly to make room and when he's settled he hugs her close. He runs his hands over her back and kisses her curly mahogany red hair. He whispers that it's going to be ok, that it wasn't her fault, that he loves her.

The team leader feels painfully out of place in this tender intimate moment and so nods his head at McGee when he looks up, silently telling him to take all the time he needs. He closes the door as quietly as possible when he leaves, allowing the young couple to grieve and then heads back down to the van, because despite McGees turmoil there's another murder to solve.

/

When McGee returns to work two weeks later, he's immediately accosted by questions from Tony but Gibbs smacks him around the back of the head and tells him to mind his own business. The computer analyst gives Gibbs a nod of thanks and within a couple of hours things go back to the way they've always been. This time however Gibbs makes sure to be more watchful of his team.