A/N: Ah, the end. What a journey it has been. Thank you so much to all of you have been along for the ride. Those who have kindly reviewed and those who have made this story part of their list of favorites and, of course, those of you who have so graciously added us to your list of favorite authors as a result of this story.

A thousand thank you's. We hope to see you on our other journey's both current and future.

But, for now - let's see where this one ends, shall we?

Tim sat in his car waiting for the stream of traffic to start moving again and could feel the apprehension climb more and more by just sitting there with the nervous energy thrumming through his body. He gulped in a deep, grounding breath to calm himself but it had little effect and as he looked down to his white knuckled death grip on the steering to stop the tremble in his hands, he felt a cool breeze sweep past him.

"You can do this!" Tony's voice whispered almost silently through the car and startled Tim. It was as if Tony knew what he was thinking yet again and felt the need to give him the gentle encouragement that he needed, even from a distance.

"You sure about that, Tony? Because I'm not."

"You can do this"

"Glad someone has faith in me." Tim mumbled and felt a slight breeze ruffle the hair on the back of his head.

"If the bossman heard you, Probie then that Headslap would be a damn sight harder. YOU CAN DO THIS!"

Tim released his grip slightly with a rueful smile before signaling left towards his destination.

"Thanks, Tony."

He couldn't believe he was actually going to do this and tried to think back to the exact moment when the tide had finally turned, leaving him with the feeling that he needed to do this in order to move forward and be able to get his life back on track. It was something that started off as a small nagging feeling and now it was screaming for attention leaving him with no other option but to act upon it.

There had been no warnings and no gentle pushing from the people around him; it just sprung from nowhere and he didn't really know why. What he did know was that no matter what, this had to be done in order for him to finally get the closure that he had so desperately been seeking over the last couple of weeks and he knew that he wouldn't fully heal without it.

Tim's thoughts started to drift to the people that he loved and he sighed heavily at the thought that, even though doing this for himself was important; he was doing it for everyone else's sakes too. Tim shook his head at the thought and closed his eyes momentarily; No. He'd taken Gibbs instruction to put himself first to heart and knew that this was mainly for him. The knowledge that it would everyone else was an added bonus.

Doubt started to creep in again and Tim had to push it away because he hadn't lost sight of the fact that had he been the only reason he was doing this, then there was a high probability that he wouldn't be doing it at all. Even though he kept telling himself that this moment was his and his alone, he couldn't get past the fact that it was something that would finally give the tight knit family hope. No matter how many times Gibbs tried to drum it into him, tonight was for everyone; to both help the living move on and the fallen be remembered with the love and respect that they deserved.

The only thing he hadn't talked about in his frequent calls to Gibbs and Ducky, and even Abby and Ziva was when he was coming back. He'd left the team in the dark, not even knowing himself when, until it had hit him like a ton of bricks that it needed to be tonight. He knew he needed for this first time facing this had to be done alone and the monumental hurdle had to be jumped tonight. Strangely enough, Tim couldn't even remember the journey he'd taken to get here and whether or not it was a case of he'd pushed it back into his subconscious, didn't matter because for the first time in weeks, the here and now was the only thing that he actually cared about.

Gibbs felt relieved at the fact that he no longer had to worry about Tim's ability to recover from everything that had been thrown at him because his youngest boy had stayed in touch by calling him every other night just as he'd asked him to. The one thing he did notice was, that every time Tim rang him to let him know he was doing okay, he seemed to be stronger and more determined than the last time he rang; If anything, he found himself looking forward to the phone calls where Tim chatted about the exercises he had done to gain muscle strength and had listened carefully when Tim told him that he was thinking things through just as they'd asked him to do.

It was a definite step in the right direction and the positive vibes he'd been getting the last couple of calls left the team leader with a sneaking feeling that he'd have his agent back with him before too long. Sure, Gibbs still refused to ask Tim for his decision knowing that pushing him wasn't what he needed at the moment, but Gibbs' gut was telling him that everything was going to be okay.

His gut feeling did nothing to ease his concerns and even though he knew that Tim wouldn't keep them hanging for too long and hadn't actually made his decision yet, he still wanted to hear the words ….no matter what they were. Gibbs tried to rationalize it by telling himself the lack of news meant that Tim was giving it a lot of very serious thought and wasn't saying no just yet…..Just yet? Let's hope that little turn of phrase isn't gonna apply here!

Gibbs sat there letting everything fizzle through his mind when he was struck by…..something. He didn't know why, but all of a sudden he knew he had to go to work. He grabbed his keys and tried to find why he was feeling this way; there was some reason; some feeling he had that told him he was supposed to be at NCIS despite it being 2300 hours on a Sunday night. That confused him even more and seeing as they actually had a weekend off and weren't even on call. He'd known that his girls, as he now called Ziva and Abby, had been keeping each other company a lot lately and were helping each other move on, step by step by having some kind of girls night in tonight and so chose not to call them. He smiled as he remembered overhearing a conversation between the two of them where they said they missed Tim; it was that chat that told him that they were both also anxious to have their friend back with them and secure in the fact that they were indeed, a family unit; something that Gibbs never thought he'd ever have again.

And so, here Tim was less than three months after Tony had been lost to them, standing somewhere he previously had no desire to be; his heart simply hadn't been in it and the thought of making that daunting move had frightened him. He stepped off the elevator but froze as his heart stuttered slightly at the sight of the only desk that could be seen from the elevator…..Tony's.

"Okay, Tony. I'm here." Tim muttered softly with his voice breaking from the emotion rising up within him. "You said I was strong enough to do this but I gotta tell you, I'm sure not feeling it right now. I told you I couldn't do this." Tim turned back towards the elevator but paused when he heard his friend's distant voice once again.

"You're here, Probie. That proves my point. And, you're not alone like you think you are."

"Not the same without you here, Tony." Tim could almost picture Tony lounging back in his chair and felt a wave of grief wash over him. Turning back to face the squad room, Tim stood stock still and stared at the empty desk; one that still held Tony's things because no one had the heart to move them.

"That's a given, Probie. C'mon, even without me, you're never gonna be alone."

Tim let Tony's words sink in and as if some divine intervention had set out to prove Tony right, Abby and Ziva suddenly materialized on either side of him, each reaching out to link their arms through the arm that they were closest to. He felt Ziva reach over and kiss him on the cheek before offering a supportive smile and couldn't do anything but nod because the simple action has left him speechless.

"You can do this, Tim." Abby told him reassuringly. "We're here for you now and we'll face his desk together, every day. And every day it'll get easier, just like it did with Kate."

"McGee, you are stronger than you realize. We all know this and I can promise you that some day this will feel normal again. You are here with us, which is exactly where you belong." Ziva reinforced Abby's words with a softness that was so rarely heard from the normally abrasive Israeli woman. He felt some of the tension bleed away and nodded before glancing round and taking in the sights of the squad room fully.

As Tim looked around at what he had known to be his home away from home, he was surprised to find Gibbs and Ducky watching them from where they stood, side by side at what was….is? his desk. The looks on their faces portrayed nothing but silent support for what he was doing and he offered them a small smile of gratitude because not matter what, he would always be eternally grateful to the saviours standing in the room. He caught movement out of the corner of his eye and saw Jimmy standing a few feet behind them with a comforting smile on his face.

Tim took a deep, cleansing breath and felt his pain fade enough so that he could breathe without it hurting. Something clicked at that very moment; something that lifted his heart and made him suddenly realize that being here felt right and the fact that there were so many good memories that he shared with the people supporting him now, pretty much made him realize that being here wasn't too hard to handle after all.

Gibbs, Ducky and Jimmy all moved towards him to close the gap and finally, fully reunite the family. It was a simple action but Tim felt the confidence grow within him as his second family surrounded him; it was a poignant moment and even though Tim had space to breathe, he could feel their endless love and support envelope his heart to keep it safe.

"Have you made your decision, Tim?" Gibbs asked him quietly. "Or are you just here to face what you didn't think you could?" There was no censure in the question, only compassion and understanding.

"Both." Tim offered up a small smile to his boss. "This was my home away from home for so long."

"Have you figured out who it is you're here for?" Gibbs asked him quietly, knowing Tim needed to answer that for his own added step toward recovery.

"Both of us, Boss." Tim answered with conviction. He really was here for himself as well as for Tony. "For all of us, really."

"I'm proud of you, Son." Gibbs offered with an affectionate ruffle of the young man's hair.

"Thanks, Boss. That means a lot to me." Tim offered in return, along with his trademark smile that always lit the room.

"It's good to see you again. Really good to see you back here." Jimmy pitched in "we've missed you, Tim."

"Thanks, Jimmy."

"You're looking much better, Timothy. Time with your family has done you well." Ducky stepped forward and placed his hand on Tim's shoulder. It wasn't just a show of support and Tim had to stop himself from laughing out loud at the fact that he knew Ducky was actually giving him a quick once over to make sure he was really alright.

"Thanks, Ducky."

"You ready to tell us what you've decided?" Gibbs was reveling in the bonding moment but was anxious to know what Tim had decided; either way, he wasn't going to let Tim go again and vowed to try to be a better father figure than he had in the past, no matter which way the kid's heart took him.

"I don't have a place of my own." Tim hedged, hoping Gibbs' keen mind would pick up on where he was going with this before he had to spell it out.

"Don't need one until you're back on your feet. You've got my place and you've got Ducky's, so that's not really an issue." Gibbs reminded him, his heart lightening with the sense that he knew what Tim was getting at.

"Still got Jethro." Tim warned.

"And he'd be happy at either place." Gibbs pushed. "Come on, you telling me he doesn't like the big yards? We've all seen the mutt running around happily." The smile on Gibbs' face seemed to warm Tim slightly.

"And he's most welcome. I do so miss mother's corgi's and it's nice to have another four legged friend around the house." Ducky jumped in to let Tim know it wasn't an issue with him either.

"Thank you, both of you. I really do appreciate everything that you have done but I think it would be easier if I stayed with Ducky." Tim's honest answer confused everyone slightly.

"Whattaya mean easier, Tim?" Gibbs asked with a frown. He had no idea why it would be easier and hoped it wasn't down to some deeply rooted, sub-conscious lingering feeling from everything that had happened.

"I just think it would be awkward if I stayed with you, Boss." Tim said cautiously hoping Gibbs would realize not only that it didn't have anything to do with the man personally, but also that Tim had deliberately stressed the important issue he was getting at; his position. He glanced down at his shoes and waited for the question that he knew was coming since Gibbs obviously missed Tim's covert attempt to hand him the answer without actually spelling it out.

"Why?" Gibbs asked with his confusion evident, as expected.

Tim couldn't stretch this out any longer with Gibbs beginning to look and sound worried. He raised his head and looked his surrogate father directly in the eye. Now, after everything that had happened, Tim finally felt comfortable enough to wear his heart on his sleeve with him and he knew that Gibbs would be able to read the look on his face loud and clear.

"I wanna come home"

**FINIS**

I want to take this time to offer my uptmost gratitude and appreciation for my co-author, my sounding board, and my friend:

Shelbylou

without whom, this would not have been written nearly as well or complete.

You're the best!