a/n - I just spent two days on my hands and knees painting a 45X 60 canvas floor for the drumline. It was fun working with the kids, but oh, my back and knees are going to take a few days to recover. Good thing this chapter was ready to go, I was asleep five minutes after I got home.

George and Brenda held hands as they listened to the doctor explain about their son's injuries. The frostbite they understood, but the broken leg and the shredded arm threw them for a loop.

"Wait a minute, you said that the bone was fusing together wrong, how long ago did he hurt his leg?"

Dr. Gibson glanced over at Ducky before he answered Bear's question. From what he'd pieced together, he wasn't sure if his patient had reinstated the medical proxies because he wanted to or felt he had to. "From what I've gathered, Tim suffered what he thought was a sprain sometime before the rest of his team was evac'ed off the mountain. More than likely, it was actually a hairline fracture. Continuing to walk on it certainly didn't help, but I suspect that running to save Agent Gibbs is what caused the complete break. He told me that's when he felt a sharp pain."

Brenda gave her husband's hand a squeeze. "And his arm?"

"Luckily that was an injury that happened less than a day before he was rescued. An infection has started, of course, but we were able to get him on antibiotics before the wound became septic."

"But how was his arm injured? Do we know what happened?"

"Mrs. McGee, I don't know all of the details, but apparently he had an... encounter with a mountain lion."

"A mountain lion? How on earth..." She started to cry. "My poor son."

Bear wrapped his arms around his wife. "Now, now, sweetheart. He's safe now, and we're going to make sure he has every chance to recover." He turned and gave Ducky a hard look. "I'm more interested in why the rest of the team was removed from that damn mountain and my cub wasn't."

"It was a joke, Daddy." Sarah spoke up for the first time since the conference with Tim's doctor had started. "Ziva told me what happened. It was a joke that backfired."

"A joke? This was because of someone's sick sense of humor?"

Ducky knew there were no easy answers. "Secondary transportation was already on the way, it wasn't supposed to happen like this. Timothy's teammates would never deliberately harm him."

"Well, I'm damn glad to hear that." Bear pushed the photos of Tim's injuries across the table towards Ducky. "Because if this is how his so-called teammates accidentally treat him, I'd hate to see how much damage they could do if they tried. Now, I believe it's time we have a family discussion about how to best help Tim." Nodding at Dr. Gibson, Bear stood and led his wife and daughter out of the conference room, intent on finding a decent cup of coffee and a private place to hear what Ziva had told Sarah.

-NCIS-

"She means well, McGee." If he were honest with himself, Gibbs was getting worried about the silence from the other man who hadn't even looked at him since he'd closed the door on Abby.

Tim didn't look at him as he started to talk. "Tony was just being Tony. I may not like it, but I'm used to being his walking punchline. Abby... I used my last chance to get help calling her, Boss, and she blew me off."

Gibbs didn't like where this was going. "I'm sure she didn't..."

"Of course not, because Abby can do no wrong, right?" McGee rolled onto his side away from Gibbs as best he could. "I'm tired, Gibbs."

"All right, Tim. You get some rest." He watched the younger man feign sleep for a few minutes before returning to his own bed, silently cursing the interruption that seemed to have re-broken what he'd tried to repair.

-NCIS-

After picking at their food, Ziva and Jackson returned to the waiting room, arriving just as Tony escorted Abby out from the patient area. Abby shook off his arm, not noticing their audience, still steaming at being booted from the room. "How dare McGee act like that, after all we did to get him back."

"You were in McGee's room?" Ziva studied both of them, Abby was distracting the attention from her own actions, a trait she'd noticed in the past about the other woman, while Tony just looked depressed.

"But how else are we going to see Gibbs?"

Ziva was furious. "Gibbs is there to support McGee, we should all be supporting McGee. Have you forgotten that already?

-NCIS-

Bear was determined to hear everything Sarah had learned, but feminine voices caught his attention as they passed the waiting room. He slowed down to listen, breaking out in a smile as he listened to Ziva. His grin widened as he turned to Brenda. "You hear that? Feisty little thing is going to give us beautiful, spunky grandbabies, Mama."

Sarah blinked in surprise at the sudden change in her father. "Umm, Daddy, Tim and Ziva aren't together." She wasn't sure what her father was thinking.

"Not yet, Cupcake, your big brother has to recover first." Bear reached up and taped his temple as he nodded. "Daddy knows these things. Our Miss Ziva is sweet on your big brother, she just isn't sure of herself about it yet."

"Ziva? Not sure of herself?" Sarah turned to her mother who was also smiling. "Mama, just how hard did you hit Daddy after I left?"

Brenda reached out and tucked Sarah's hair behind her ear. "Now don't mind your daddy. The support of a good woman is just the thing to encourage your brother's recovery. You heard the doctor, he's got a hard road ahead of him. Come along and tell us exactly what happened, so your daddy will know just how to fix it."

Sarah watched her parents as they continued on to the cafeteria, wondering which of the two targets would be the most upset at their meddling. One thing was certain, life was easier when their father had been in the dark about the details of all of their lives.

-NCIS-

Tony closed the door of the waiting room as Ziva and Abby continued to argue. If McGee's family were anywhere around, they didn't need to hear the discussion. Ziva shook her head. "Abby, if a stranger had ignored McGee's call for help, how would you feel about it?"

"But I didn't mean it like that."

"Do you think McGee is ready to believe that? What about his parents, how do you think they will react when they hear the details?" Ziva wasn't sure why she was so much angrier at Abby than she had been before, but once the words started tumbling out, she couldn't stop. "What happens the next time, should Tony and I trust you?"

Abby started to cry and Jackson put his foot down, stopping the argument with a sharp whistle. "That's enough, both of you. Tim will decide who and when he'll forgive. Abby, go get some sandwiches for Tim's family so they don't have to leave for lunch. Ziva, take a walk and cool off." Both women glared at him before storming off. Ziva went straight for the stairs while Abby waited for the elevator.

Once they were gone, Jackson turned his attention to Tony. "Pretty quiet there, Tony."

"What do you want me to say?" Tony dropped down onto the vinyl sofa, burying his face in his hands. "I'd give anything to take it all back. It was supposed to be a stupid joke and now I've destroyed my entire family."

Jackson sat on the arm of the sofa, straightening his bad leg out as he watched Tony closely. "Didn't think you were that conceited."

"What?" Tony looked up at him, startled.

"Don't want to share any of the blame, gotta keep it all for yourself?" The elderly man's glare had Tony wilting almost immediately.

Sometimes it was scary how much of his boss Tony saw in Jackson. "You don't understand."

"Oh, I understand more than you think." Jackson watched as Tony's gaze dropped back down to his hands. "You were an ass to one of your partners, but why didn't Tim tell you to shove it and get on the chopper anyways?"

Tony's head popped up again. "He couldn't, he was still working."

"So why didn't McGee tell the pilot to wait for him?"

"He couldn't, only..." Tony looked away again. He'd had a similar conversation with Vance, but it really hadn't helped the guilt he was feeling.

Jackson finished for him. "Only Leroy had the authority to hold that chopper and Tim's not one to stand up to him, right?" He watched Tony squirm for a minute. "You're not too good at that either, are you? I'm going to tell you the same thing I told Leroy. There's a lot to feel guilty about, I won't argue that, but if you let it control you, you'll end up driving Tim even further away."

"That's easier said than done."

Smiling, Jackson patted Tony's knee before standing. "I don't think my boy has any quitters on his team."

-NCIS-

Bear leaned back in his chair, breathing deeply. They may have found a quiet corner of the cafeteria, but it still wasn't private enough to say what he wanted. Brenda was holding his hand so tightly his fingers were going numb.

"How could they do this, Bear? How could this have happened? This is worse than..." She didn't finish, but she didn't need to.

"I know, Muffin." He tried to make her feel better. "At least I don't have to go AWOL to fix it this time."

"Daddy?" Sarah had been too young to remember any of that time, but she was aware of the aftermath.

"Don't worry, sweetheart, I learned my lesson last time. I know when to call in the big guns." It was awkward with his other hand, but George managed to get his phone out of his coat pocket. It took a few minutes to scroll through and find the right number. After two rings a gruff voice answered.

~Davenport~

Bear didn't waste any time. "Phil, it's George McGee. I'm calling in my marker."