House Reunited

Surviving Paraguay was the hardest thing Gibbs and McGee had ever done in their lives. Coming home might just be the second hardest. Gibbs and McGee have to deal with the aftermath of their imprisonment as they try to get back to 'normal.' Set between House Divided and Twofer.

A.N. Initially I had planned for this story to just be about Tim and Delilah's reunion. But I also had a bunch of other reactions/tags to the House Divided episode that were mostly finished that would seemingly fit within the spirit of reunifying the team. After some editing and additional chapters, I ended up with a story detailing what happened between the end of House Divided and Twofer with the primary focus on Gibbs and McGee as they deal with the fallout from Paraguay. With the exception of this first chapter, the story is told from Gibbs and McGee's perspective but most of the main cast will appear or be mentioned.

Chapter 1 - House Reunited

Delilah woke slowly as she heard her phone ringing. It was the ringtone she had set for her office and she knew she should answer the call. But she didn't move to collect her phone.

She had the dream again.

Taking a deep breath, she let it out slowly.

Ever since that horrible day two months ago when Director Vance had personally come to tell her that Tim was missing in Paraguay, she had dreamt of her husband. Sometimes they were nightmares where she was informed by various team members that Tim had been killed. Sometimes it was Gibbs who gave her the news and she was able to see the guilt in his eyes because he hadn't been able to protect Tim.

Other times, they were happy dreams where Tim had come home, smiling and laughing about his and Gibbs' harrowing escape from the militants. While wonderful in the moment, it was always awful when she woke up and realized that none of it was true. Those mornings were especially difficult to force herself to get out of bed and face the reality that her husband was still missing. The worst dreams, however, were the ones where Tim returned joyously home, and she realized in the midst of it that it was a dream and that it wasn't real.

She took another deep breath as she thought about this version. Usually the details of the dream faded as she woke, leaving her feeling hollow. But today she felt strangely content and the details were remarkably clear in her mind. Although, thinking about it, that made this dream just as bittersweet as the others.

Tim had come home. He was unkempt and shaggy, but he was whole and safe and standing at the entrance to their kitchen. His team which had worked so hard to bring him home, had come over to their apartment to celebrate but as far as she was concerned they were the only two people in the room.

She kept in contact with her husband throughout the night. Irrationally, she feared that if she let him go, he might disappear again. So, she rested her hand on his leg or held onto his hand as if it were an anchoring her dreams to reality.

And when the others had left, they hadn't needed words to express how much they loved one another. That was the hardest part of the dream. That intimate connection, the one without words, was what she missed the most. Loving her husband with her whole body and soul and knowing that he loved her with everything he had. Even in a dream, that brought her more comfort than she could put into words.

She sighed as the phone continued to ring, interrupting her thoughts.

She knew she needed to answer the phone, but she didn't want to open her eyes and break the spell. She still felt warm, loved and incredibly happy with the thought that Tim had come home alive.

Suddenly, she felt the bed shift and her eyes snapped open in alarm. There was a dark form in her bed. He was skinny, unkempt and naked at least to the waist. For that matter, she was naked too and only half covered with a sheet.

"Do you need me to get your phone, Dee?" a sleepy voice asked.

"Huh?" she asked confused at the sound of a familiar voice from an unfamiliar form.

The form turned over and she was looking at the unkempt and shaggy version of her husband from her dream. His green eyes peeked out from under the lock of hair that had fallen over his face.

"Do you need me to get your phone?" he asked again.

Realizing that this time it wasn't a dream, she leaned in and kissed him. He was surprised for a minute, but Tim smiled and returned her kiss as the phone fell silent.

"God, I thought you were a dream," she replied as she pressed her head against his and threaded her fingers into his hair.

"I had the same thought," Tim replied, resting his hand on her side. "I've never been so glad to be wrong."

"I didn't want to wake up but now I'm glad I did," she replied as Tim lay back on his pillow and looked at her, smiling slightly. She mirrored him. On the surface, he looked like a stranger. But beneath the heavy beard, she saw the same smile. His eyes looked at her with such love that the warmth and happiness from her dream returned. But now that she looked at him, she realized that Tim's return last night had only felt like a dream. "Although, I was really confused when I saw you there. With the long hair and beard, you don't look like yourself," she said as she rubbed his cheek as she pulled her hands out of his hair.

Tim rubbed his face before running his hand through his hair. It was sticking up in odd directions and he had only marginally tamed it.

"I know. I hardly recognized myself in the mirror," Tim said. "I look like a Wookie."

Taken off guard, she laughed.

"You kinda do," she replied fondly. "An adorable Wookie."

"I'm looking forward to a shave and a haircut," he said as he rubbed his face again. This time he used both of his hands to rub his cheeks, momentarily allowing her to see him with a goatee. It looked good. Then again, she was pretty sure that he would look good to her no matter how he cut his hair.

"Are you going to shave all of it?" she asked.

"You think I shouldn't?" he asked.

"Only if you don't want to," she replied. "But remember when you sent me all those pictures of various beards?"

"Yeah, after the dermatologist told me I shouldn't shave for a week," he replied with a laugh. Over the course of an hour, she had gotten email after email with photos of various beard styles as he had shaved off the week's worth of growth. Some were better than others. And some were just bad. "It seemed like a waste to not try out different styles while I had the chance."

"There were a few good looks for you," she said. She held up a finger to her lip. "Maybe not just a mustache though. That's just weird. Unless you're Tom Selleck."

He laughed again. "I'll think about it."

She looked at Tim and his smile and for the first time in two months, she was genuinely happy. And he was looking at her in the same way. No words. Just pure love and joy.

Suddenly her phone chirped to indicate she had a voicemail. She reached out and picked it up. "It's work," she said as she saw the number. "No wonder. It's nine in the morning. They must be wondering where I am. I was supposed to go into the office today."

"I think today is a good day to call in sick," Tim said. "And spend the day in bed."

"You read my mind," she replied as he rolled over and started to kiss her neck and lightly trace her collarbone. She squirmed slightly. "Tim, I wholeheartedly agree with where you're going. But can you let me call in first?" she asked.

"I'm not stopping you," he said with a smile but without stopping his hands.

"I also can't call in with you doing that," she said. He acquiesced and stilled. "Thank you." She called her office and waited. But the moment the receptionist answered, Tim started to trace the skin on her stomach. She bit her lip in an effort to not make a suggestive noise.

"Hey Susan," she said as she squirmed. "Sorry I missed your call. I was still asleep." Tim grinned at her. He was still teasing her, but she had made no move to stop him. She had no desire to stop him. And as soon as she finished this call, she fully intended to escalate matters.

"Delilah, oh good. We were getting a little worried," Susan replied, oblivious to her distress. "Are you ok?"

"Absolutely," she replied. "I'm not going to be coming in today."

"You have a meeting at ten…"

"Can you reschedule?" she asked as her breath hitched.

"I can do that," Susan said. She grabbed Tim's hand to still it, but she didn't move his hand causing him to grin. She tried to look annoyed, but from his expression, she knew she had failed miserably. "Are you sure you're ok?" Susan asked.

"I'm great," she replied. "Tim is home. He was rescued and repatriated yesterday."

"Oh, that's amazing!" Susan said. "Hey, they found Tim!" She heard several people make happy noises. "Wait… Oh." She grinned as Susan seemed to realize that if she was still in bed, so was Tim. "I'll reschedule that meeting."

"Thanks," she replied as she hung up. She barely managed to get the phone onto the bedside table before she rolled over onto Tim. They grinned as they kissed.

Sometime later as she lay catching her breath, she looked over at Tim. He was smiling serenely.

"Someone's content," she said. He cracked an eye and looked at her. "That makes two of us." She sighed happily. "I missed this." She jolted when she realized what that sounded like. "But not just this."

Tim waved her off. "I know, Dee," he said. "I can't say I didn't miss this either. This part has always been really good between us."

She nodded. Rigorous interpersonal activities between them had been good from the start with them. And the lack thereof had been one of the harder adjustments to make to their relationship when she had gone to Dubai. Super sexy skype night had been a poor substitute for the real thing, but it was something they had both come to rely on to make their long-distance relationship work.

"Completely explains how you knocked me up," she said causing him to laugh.

"Pretty sure you were a willing participant," Tim replied with a silly smile.

"Willing and eager," she replied. She smiled as she looked at him. He looked so strange with his long hair and beard but at the same time, he had never looked better in her eyes. "I love you Tim. I don't think I said that enough before. I love you so much…"

"Hey," he said stopping her. "I love you too. And every day I thought about getting home to you to say it at least once more."

She met his eyes. They were shadowed. They hadn't spoken about what had happened to him yet. Their conversations last night had centered more on the things Tim had missed. Bishop talked about how hard it had been to be both Boss and Senior Field Agent. Reeves talked about how he had been forced to take a crash course in forensics after he had been transferred to the team when Quinn had left to take care of her mother. Torres told them about the senate hearings and the case that had led them to finding El Jefe's satellite phone that ultimately helped them to rescue Tim and Gibbs.

That had led them to the point of conversation that everyone had been dying to talk about: how on earth Tim and Gibbs had managed to escape from their prison and take the leader of the RAC captive without alerting his crew. Tim had briefly discussed their escape from the ship and how their improbable plan had actually worked. From the militants letting Tim have access to a computer that had access to the ship's alarm system to the staged fight with Gibbs so that Gibbs could get a knife to the fact that Bishop had called El Jefe's phone the moment he had been dialing NCIS, it was all hard to believe. Except Tim was sitting on their couch and Bishop had seen Gibbs as NCIS.

Everyone knew that Tim had left out a lot of details, but no one pressed for more information. The bruise on his face, the beard and the long hair were reminders that he hadn't been on vacation and his story had left them sitting in a stunned and awkward silence. When Tim had slipped off to the bathroom to escape for a moment of peace, Bishop informed them that Tim looked better than she had expected given how bad Gibbs had looked.

But now that she looked at Tim, she realized he was just as injured as Bishop had described Gibbs. She hadn't noticed last night because his injuries had been hidden by the long-sleeves of the navy uniform Tim had been given on the ship.

She looked at his chest. She had seen the bruises, both fresh and half-faded, on his body last night but she hadn't realized just how many there were until she took the time to study his torso in daylight. His ribs were far more pronounced than they ever had been at his thinnest and his wrists were bruised and scabbed from where he had been bound.

And he was watching her look at him with a slightly haunted look in his eyes as he waited for her to ask the inevitable question.

"I know it's probably too soon," she said tentatively. "And that you'd rather forget what happened…"

"I don't think I'll ever forget," he replied softly as he brought his hand up to caress her cheek. "I won't lie, Dee. It was awful. And I know it is my fault because I was the one who jumped out of the chopper to stay with Gibbs..."

"Tim," she said cutting him off before he could blame himself. "It is not your fault that those men were terrible people. You and Gibbs and Torres. You were saving children from being forced into that life." He nodded in agreement. "I may not like that you end up in danger, but I love that you're brave enough to do the right thing." He smiled slightly at her praise. "And you jumped out of that helicopter because Gibbs would have done the same thing if your positions were switched."

Tim nodded.

"What you went through wasn't punishment for doing the right thing," she said firmly. "And it wasn't penance for making a decision to help Gibbs."

He looked at her with a sad smile.

"It felt like it some days," he said. "But I also know that I couldn't have lived with myself if I had stayed on that chopper. Gibbs has saved my life more times than I can count..."

"And you've saved his," she interjected. "I understand that loyalty you share with your team. I rely on it too, you know." He looked at her. "Knowing that your team would do anything to save you, that's comforting. It makes it easier to accept that you put yourself into danger because I know you have people watching your back."

"I never thought of it like that," he said. "That you rely on it too."

"If there was one thing that gave me comfort these last two months," she said. "It was that you and Gibbs were together." She traced his collarbone with her thumb. "I knew that you'd protect each other and find a way home. And I was right." Tim frowned. "What?"

"He protected me," Tim replied. "At his own expense. I told him not to…"

"But he did anyway," she said. Tim nodded. "It's what marines do," she said. Tim smiled slightly and nodded. "And it's what fathers do, Tim." Tim jolted and opened his mouth to protest but she continued before he could find his voice. "I know he isn't your father, but you might be the closest thing he'll ever get to a son. Why do you think he gave you that watch?"

She watched as Tim's eyes drifted to the chest of drawers where the watch was tucked away in the top drawer among the other family heirlooms the Admiral had left him. After the wedding, Tim had told her about the significance of the watch. She knew that Gibbs had to think highly of Tim if he gave him a gift that was personally dear to him.

"It was a gift from his mother to his father," she continued. "His father gave it to him when he married Shannon. I don't doubt he would have given it to the man Kelly would have married."

"I'm not…" Tim objected when he finally found his voice. "What about Tony?"

"I'm not trying to dismiss the relationship that Tony and Gibbs have," she said gently. "He obviously cares for Tony like a son too and your relationship doesn't detract from that nor is it any better but you're closer to Kelly's age." Tim jolted and nodded in concession. "And you came to his team practically straight out of FLETC."

"I was so green. Sometimes literally," Tim said. He chuckled at the memory. "If you would have told me back then that I'd take on Somali terrorists, Sudanese militants, Russian mercenaries or Paraguayan rebels, I'd have called you crazy." She smiled even as she squeezed his shoulder slightly. "I am who I am because of Gibbs and in a way, he had more of an influence on me than my own father."

"And that's why you couldn't have lived with yourself if you hadn't gone to help Gibbs," she said.

Tim nodded.

"Bishop mentioned that Gibbs looked pretty rough when she saw him at NCIS," she said tentatively. Tim tensed slightly, and it didn't seem like he was going to answer her unspoken question.

"He had it worse, especially for the last week," Tim admitted. She looked at him questioningly. "From the moment we were captured, Gibbs antagonized them more," he explained. "Sometimes it was just with that quiet defiance of his."

"His Gibbs stare," she inferred.

Tim nodded. "They didn't really like that," Tim replied. She snorted lightly. She wasn't surprised. "I tried to tell him that he didn't have to invite trouble like that, but you know Gibbs."

She nodded.

"I'll bet that he was doing it to protect you," she said. The way Tim looked at her told her she was right. "If he was making them angry at him, they wouldn't hurt you."

"Didn't always work," Tim said before he could stop himself. He was looking past her, and she could tell he was reliving his incarceration.

She squeezed his hand to pull him back to the present. But her simple action must have caused him pain because Tim winced.

"I'm so sorry, Tim," she said as she pulled her hand back, alarmed that she had hurt him.

"Dee," he said quickly, and he took his hand in hers. "It's ok. It's not your fault. There's pretty much nothing that doesn't hurt right now." She allowed her eyes to drift and Tim laughed. He kissed her hand. "Some pain is worth it."

She rolled her eyes as she interlaced her hand with his. "Did Gibbs' attempt to protect you backfire?"

Tim's smile faded. "Sometimes, yeah," Tim said as he looked at the ceiling. "I know he hated it."

"He hated that you were being hurt because of him," she said. Tim nodded. "I'm sure you hated that he was hurt protecting you."

"Yeah," Tim replied. "I tried to stop him, but you know Gibbs," Tim said as he looked at her.

She nodded. She knew that Gibbs would sacrifice his health and even his life to protect his team. She knew how stubborn Gibbs was. Her husband shared that same trait. Tim had inherited a stubborn streak from his own father and the time on Gibbs' team had compounded it. But he was still no match for Gibbs in that category especially when he was protecting his team from harm.

"They left us to treat our own injuries, so I knew how bad it was for him. He's usually pretty good at hiding his pain but..." Tim swallowed hard. She brought his hand to her cheek and kissed it lightly. Tim smiled slightly at her silent support. "There was no way to hide anything from each other. So I knew how bad it was for him. And as much as it sucked, sometimes it was worth it to be on the receiving end. If I hadn't, they'd have killed him. He knew it but he still yelled at me every time."

She looked at Tim sympathetically.

"It must have harder on him to treat your injuries than be injured himself," she said as she recalled the nightmares where Gibbs had told her that Tim had died. Even the imagined guilt she had seen in Gibbs' eyes had been horrible.

"He never said it but I know you're right," Tim replied. "When we were first captured, he was upset with me for getting off that helo and staying behind. He kept reminding me of what I had to lose even though I knew exactly what I was doing when I left the chopper to help him." Tim looked at his left hand where his wedding ring had been. "But the longer we were on that ship, the more I saw the guilt he felt." Tim swallowed hard.

"He felt guilty that you got off the helo to back him up," she inferred.

"Yeah," Tim replied.

"And guilty that you were hurt because of him," she said.

"Yeah," Tim replied. He spoke so softly, she wasn't sure he had actually said the word aloud.

She looked at Tim. He was staring at the ceiling and she knew he was trying to hide his guilt for putting her through two months of fear and worry.

"I'm sure he was proud of you too," she said causing Tim to look at her. "It takes courage to run into fire, Tim. And even though you had every reason to stay on the helicopter, you had the courage to run to Gibbs to protect him."

Tim nodded. "We protected each other," he replied. "That's actually why he looks worse." She looked at him questioningly. "The crew liked to force us to run what we called the gauntlet," he said. "They'd take us to the far end of the hall with our hands bound behind our backs and we'd have to run back to our cell."

"Through a gauntlet of angry men," she said. He nodded. "Only to reach the sanctuary of your prison cell."

"They liked the irony," he said. "Some men would try to trip us or push us into walls. Others had canes or bats or brass knuckles." She frowned. Tim squeezed her hand reassuringly. "A few days before we were rescued, we were forced to run the gauntlet. I was behind Gibbs. He went first if we were given the choice and if I wasn't fast enough."

"So that he'd take the worst of it?" she asked.

He nodded. "Whoever came second, if you followed close enough, you could usually get past before they could recover for a second shot or at least as hard of a shot," Tim said. "I was behind Gibbs when someone tripped me." He rubbed the bruise on his cheek. "I hit the deck pretty hard and it stunned me. I tried to get up because if you didn't, you were in for a beating. But someone hit me over the shoulders before I could get up and it knocked me back down again. From there I knew it was going to be bad…"

"Until Gibbs came back for you," she inferred.

"Yeah," he replied. "He stood over me until I could get up. He got a couple of good bruises on his upper arms, a black eye and a split cheek before I was able to move again."

"And you?"

"You saw the welt on my shoulders and bruises from a kick I took," Tim replied. She must have looked horrified because he added, "It wasn't really that bad. After two months of it, most of the crew had tired of the game."

"That doesn't make it any better, you know," she replied as she looked at his bruised stomach and noted how the bruises had the shape of a boot and laces. Just because most of the crew had tired of the game, that still meant that some of them hadn't. Gibbs' intervention had undoubtedly saved her husband from greater injuries.

But as she looked at him, she noted a number of small burn marks. They were too small and evenly spaced to be from a cigarette or lighter. Suddenly she remembered a small, hand-held taser a coworker at the Pentagon kept in her purse. Those small burns were surely from a taser. She frowned as she realized that what Tim had meant was that he had been hurt worse than a few beatings. Someone had used a taser to torture her husband…

"Hey," Tim said gently. "I'm all right. You verified that for yourself. Twice."

Taken off guard, she laughed and buried her head in Tim's shoulder. When she looked back at him, he was smiling.

"I did," she replied. "I wouldn't mind a third."

Tim chuckled and tucked her hair behind her ear as she rested her head on his chest where she could hear his heart beating.

"Even twelve hours apart, twice was a miracle after these last two months," he said. "Maybe after some breakfast, a nap and a shower. Not necessarily in that order."

"As soon as you're ready, feel free to jump my bones," she replied causing him to laugh. She smiled as she heard the sound reverberate in his chest. "I missed you so much Tim. Please don't do that to me again."

She felt his arms wrap around her shoulders.

"I don't want to do it again, Dee," he replied. "I missed you and I hated myself for putting you through everything." He fell silent and she knew what he was thinking. He was going to suggest that he leave the field. "Maybe I should tran…"

"Tim," she said cutting him off as she looked up at him. "You just got home. And you're hurt and tired and feeling guilty. I don't want you to make a decision based on those feelings."

Tim nodded, knowing she was right. He had told her the same thing when she was making rash decisions after her injury.

"Vance said we'd talk about reinstatement once we've been cleared physically and the doctors recommended a weekly physical to determine if we can return to active duty. They all said it'll be a slow recovery," Tim said. "So, I've got a few weeks to figure out what I want."

"Good," she replied. "I'm sure we'll talk about it more but I want you to know that I'll support you with whatever you want to do."

"Even if I want to stay a field agent?" he asked.

"Especially if you want to stay a field agent," she said firmly. He looked skeptical. "Tim, I love you. Your job might scare me on occasion but you do so much good and you're good at it. And I know you love it." He nodded. "And the world needs people who can stop the bad guys. Our baby needs that too."

She grabbed his hand and pulled it to her stomach. She held it in place until he jolted in surprise and looked at her.

"Was that?"

She nodded.

"Uh huh," she said with a smile as she shifted his hand to the other side of her stomach where she felt more movement. "I've been feeling it for about a month now. I thought my stomach was upset until the doctor told me it was the baby. She was pleased that I could feel it. She says it helps my chances of a natural birth."

"That's great," he said as he looked down at her belly. For an instant, even with the beard, she saw the Tim she remembered from before Paraguay. The wonder and awe that they were creating a new life was back. He looked relaxed and peaceful and the haunted look in his eyes was gone.

"The doctors say everything is progressing well," she said.

"Is it a boy or girl?" he asked as he looked at her.

"It's too soon to know," she replied. "They won't be able to determine that until the first sonogram but..." She bit her lip. He looked at her questioningly. "The doctor isn't sure she wants to do a sonogram, not with the shrapnel in my spine. She's worried it could do more damage to my spinal cord."

"We don't want that," he said hastily. "So, there's no way to find out?"

"There are blood tests," she said. "But I'm not sure I want to know. I think I'd rather be surprised."

"You hate surprises," he replied with a smile.

"Normally yes," she replied. "But finding out I was pregnant was a pretty good surprise." He nodded in concession. "Finding out you had been rescued was another good surprise. I think waiting to find out what our baby is for the best. That way we'll go into this next phase of our lives with no expectations."

"You're sure?" he asked. She nodded. "Ok." He met her eye. "You realize that makes it twice as hard on us."

"How so?" she asked.

"We have to come up with two lists of names," he said. "Instead of one."

"I know," she replied. "But it'll be fun." He looked at her skeptically. "We don't need to worry about that now. There's plenty of time to come up with a name. We've got five months Tim. Right now, let's just enjoy being together again."

Tim smiled. "That part is easy," he said as he kissed her hair again before closing his eyes. "Everything is better now that I'm home with you and our baby. Nothing to worry about…"

She looked at him as he once again settled in to sleep. Even though he seemed at peace, she had a feeling that everything wasn't better, and she had a bad feeling that there was still plenty to worry about.

Tim hadn't said it, but she could tell that he had been tortured by his captors and she knew that wasn't something that one just got over. From the marks on his body alone, she knew that there was so much more that Tim hadn't told her about yet and she had a feeling that the gauntlet was the lesser of evils inflicted upon her husband over the last two months.

She had a terrible feeling that once Tim got over the initial shock at being free and home that he was going to find it wasn't as easy as he thought it would be to just pick up his life where he left off two months ago.

She pushed a lock of hair away from his eyes and smiled as he murmured something about wookies.

She knew one thing though.

For better or for worse, she would be by his side, helping him through this painful part of his life just like Tim had been there for her when her life had been flipped upside down and changed irrevocably after the bombing.

Suddenly she felt the baby kick.

Smiling, she looked at Tim as she rested her free hand on her belly.

And they would be together as they started a new chapter in their lives.