But not Forgotten

Leon Vance opened his eyes and listened closely, trying to decide what had woken him up. Next to him Jackie was snuggled down, her arm wrapped around his waist. He heard a second noise, the sound of a car door slamming and glanced at the clock. It was past the time he usually was up, but the last few weeks had hardly been usual. Careful not to wake Jackie, he raised up enough to look out the window. He could just see the roof sign of a local cab company through the trees and then the sound of Ziva's Mini Cooper firing up. The slamming of two car doors gave him his last clue and he laid back down. Ziva had not come back alone. He guessed it was Sarah, but it was a start.

Out on the street, Sarah tightened her seat belt. Tim would tell her very little about the cases he worked, instead focusing on the humorous parts of his life. However, when he would talk about his day, Ziva's driving skills were usually at the top of that list. As the car shot forward she understood why.

"If the dorms aren't open yet, you are more than welcome to stay with me this week, Sarah."

"Thank you." Sarah took a deep breath as they squeaked through a yellow light and cut across three lanes to get on the on ramp. "But I have a key to Tim's apartment. That way I can take care of Jethro, too."

Sooner than she would have thought, they arrived at the hospital. Sarah had to almost run to keep up with Ziva's quick stride. Jackson met them in the waiting area outside of the intensive care unit, and Sarah listened in stony silence while he explained why her brother was being moved into a larger room. She wasn't overly impressed.

"While I appreciate Agent Gibbs' efforts to help my brother, I'm here now and my parents will be here shortly. Considering what put Tim in the hospital in the first place, I think he'll be more comfortable with family."

Jackson wasn't ready to give up. "Just remember, your brother has more than one family."

The raised eyebrow was apparently a family trait. "I promised my mother that I would watch my language, but she's not here yet."

"Sarah?" Ziva touched her elbow to get her attention. "Let's just concentrate on your brother right now. There will be plenty of time to sort out blame later."

"You're right, Ziva. I'll let Daddy sort that out."

-NCIS-

Kissing Jackie's cheek, Leon slid out of the warm bed and began dressing in the dark. Whichever McGee had returned with Ziva would be expecting answers.

"Leon? You going back to the hospital?"

"Yeah, baby." He bent down and pulled the blankets back up over her shoulder. "Ziva wasn't alone when she came back."

Jackie never could go back to sleep after Leon was up. "That's good, though, right?"

"I hope so, but it also means that the agency may have to start giving answers that we're not ready to give." He sat down on the bed to tie his shoes and Jackie caught his arm.

"What do you mean? I thought it was just a freak accident."

He turned and squeezed her hand. "No, it was one of DiNozzo's jokes that backfired."

"A joke, all this was over a bad joke? Now that Agent McGee has been rescued, what are you going to do about it?"

That was the question he had been avoiding for two weeks. "I don't know."

-NCIS-

"Miss McGee? I'm Dr. Gibson, I'll be your brother's primary physician while he's here. We are still assessing his condition, so would you like to see him before we talk about his long term prognosis?"

She tucked her hair behind her ears. "My parents will be here later, they should be included in that conversation and I really want to see my brother. Just tell me if he's going to be all right."

"With treatment your brother's injuries should not be life-threatening."

"But is he going to be all right?"

Dr. Gibson looked up at Ziva briefly before returning his attention to Sarah. When told that his sister had arrived, McGee had given permission to her being told the details, but the doctor didn't know who the other woman was. Jackson realized the problem and tugged Ziva further away.

Once they were alone, Sarah gave the doctor a hard look. "The details can wait for my parents to arrive, but I need to know. Worst case scenario, what can happen to my brother?"

"We try not to look at worst case scenarios here, Miss McGee."

"My daddy always taught us to prepare for the very worst. That way, in most cases, we're pleasantly surprised." For a moment she looked much older than her years. "So, Dr. Gibson, what is the absolute worst that can happen with the injuries that you are still assessing?"

Dr. Gibson realized he had no choice. "Your brother suffered from frostbite, but we won't know exactly how bad it is for some time. It depends on how much of the affected tissue dies. If the damage is deep enough... we may find ourselves in a situation where amputation becomes necessary."

She stared at him, horrified. "Are you talking about him losing a few toes? Worst case, how much could he lose?"

There was silence as Gibson studied her, but she seemed in control. "The frostbite currently extends midway to his knee on his right leg, up to his ankle on his left, but as I said, we don't know exactly how severe or deep it is. He has some more isolated spots developing on his fingertips and his ears, but I am less worried about those."

Sarah pressed her hand against her mouth as she struggled with the news, but recovered quickly. "I would like to see my brother now."

-NCIS-

"I know you're worried, Ziva, but he can't tell Sarah details if you're with her."

Ziva watched the emotions that crossed Sarah's face, using her reactions to gauge the severity of what she was being told. "Did you see him when Gibbs sneaked into his room? How was McGee?"

"It was bad, Ziva." If he were honest with himself, Jackson would never forget the sight of those bony fingers clinging to the back of Gibbs' shirt. "The boy is going to need a lot help to get past this."

"But will he ever trust us enough to let us in?" Ziva knew there was no answer and walked over to the window. The sun was just coming over the horizon, sparkling brightly on the snow.

-NCIS-

A rhythmic thumping brought George out of his dark thoughts and he looked up to see Brenda dragging two suitcases down the stairs. "Darn it all, Brenda. You know you're not supposed to do any heavy lifting." He scrambled to his feet and met her halfway down the steps to take the bags. She stormed past him without saying a word. By the time he was in the foyer, she had returned from the kitchen with her binder of family recipes, still silent. He knew what she was waiting for.

"I was wrong about Timmy. Hell, my boy's a hero."

"Oh, now he's your son."

George hung his head. "You know what I mean, Muffin. It takes some big brass ones to walk into a terrorist camp like he did."

"You going to tell him that?" She crossed her arms and waited while he gave a slow nod.

"Yeah, yeah I am. Soon as I get there. Don't suppose you can wait for me to pack some clean skivvies?"

"Bear McGee, you haven't done your own packing since our honeymoon. Your duffel bag is on the bed, but hurry up. The taxi should be here any minute."

-NCIS-

"Morning, Ducky." Tony arrived in the kitchen, rubbing his face as he tried to wake up. Abby was already there, digging through his assortment of teas. "Hey, Abs, didn't think you'd be up this soon."

"I'm always up this early, Tony. Hurry up and get ready so we can go see McGee." Having decided which tea in Ducky's stash had the most caffeine, she started a pot, extra strong. Ducky took the package out of her hands before she could add the third spoonful of tea leaves.

"Abigail, you must have patience. Just because Timothy accepted a few moments of comfort from Jethro last night is hardly any indication that all is forgiven."

"But he has to, Ducky."

Ducky looked up at Tony before returning his attention to Abby. "If only it were that simple, my dear."

-NCIS-

"Oh Tim." Sarah stared at her sleeping brother, his gaunt features and the beard giving testament to how long he'd been lost. The black patches on his skin gave only a hint at what he'd endured. From the other side of the room Gibbs was watching her brother, raised up on one elbow to better see him. She refused to acknowledge the other man before she circled around Tim's bed, drew the privacy screen and settled in to wait for her brother to wake up.

As soon as Gibbs saw the hurt and fury on Sarah McGee's face he knew she'd been told the details of how her brother ended up on the mountain. He was glad to see that at least some of Tim's family was willing to put aside their differences to help him, but Gibbs wasn't expecting to be so quickly cut out of his agent's life. Laying down, he tucked his arm under his head as he also settled in to wait.