7

Victory

Three Months Later

Ziva watched with the slightest hint of jealousy as Gibbs and Tony typed away at their keyboards. They were writing up the reports on their latest case, a case in which she had not been actively involved. She turned the page of yet another cold case report and gave a reflective smile as her glance alighted on the man sitting at the desk next to Tony's.

True, she was confined to desk duties, and had been for seventy-four days, but now that McGee was back, not only safe and well, but working again, she could stand the confinement a little longer. Never again did want to feel as helpless as she had in those long hours on the Nimitz when he seemed to slipping away from them, to feel the overwhelming guilt that came from knowing her actions could have cost him his life.

Over and over she had replayed those moments in her mind, when Westcott thrust his neck on her knife; she hadn't seen it coming, not for a second, her razor-sharp instincts blunted by fear; fear of losing McGee…

Vance had kept his promise, and not opened the formal investigation until Tim was on the mend. She had spoken truly and movingly of what had transpired, and the reasons for her actions that day on the carrier, the Director had spoken on her behalf, and most telling of all, the investigators had seen footage of Tim during his confinement in the brig. They hadn't let Ziva off without penalty, she was to fulfil a mandatory course of appointments with a therapist, and she would be suspended from field duty for ninety days.

Watching McGee engrossed in his work, looking almost like his old self, Ziva knew she would willingly have accepted any punishment, however harsh, if she could have guaranteed this outcome. Had he died…she would no longer be an NCIS agent; even if she had not been fired, she would have resigned; it would have been impossible to work with Tony and Gibbs if her actions had led to McGee's death. That they had not was a source of constant relief, and the cause of more than one prayer of thanks.

Gibbs watched Ziva watching Tim; he continued tapping away at the keyboard, his report was already done, and he was enjoying the simple pleasure of having his team together again.

Tim's recovery had been slow, but generally steady; he'd had a couple of setbacks when infection had threatened the improvement in his condition. With the assistance of a dedicated medical team, and the support of his friends Tim had eventually been released from Bethesda to a rehabilitation facility, and finally he was allowed home. Under Ducky's supervision he continued his physical therapy, and maintained the high calcium diet the doctors had recommended he follow.

During his recovery Tim's colleagues at NCIS had not been idle. Using the data captured by Tim during his investigation on the Nimitz,and the hard drives of Captain Moyes' and Chief Westcott's computers, they had instigated a new inquiry; this time into the money men behind the attempted sabotage.

With the assistance of the Cyber Crimes unit, and an undercover operation by NCIS in San Diego they had tracked down two arms dealers from Malaysia looking to extend their sphere of interest. They had been arrested as they tried to set up a new deal. To the relief of everyone on Team Gibbs, they found no mention of Tim's name anywhere on the dealer's computers; it looked as if Moyes had been arrested before he told them anything about the Federal Agent who put a stop to their plans.

Moyes had put in a guilty plea and would likely spend the rest of his life in Leavenworth; however tough he had it in there, as far as Gibbs was concerned it would be a walk in the park compared to what he had put Tim through.

But the team took their lead from Tim, and the day he came back to work was the day they started to put everything that had happened on the Nimitz behind them. A new case landed in their laps the day after his return, and Tim was plunged headlong into the life he loved, the life he had been yearning for all the long days he'd been away from the Navy Yard. They'd resolved the case within three days, and all that was left was the inevitable paperwork. Tim seemed to be taking things in his stride, but Ducky has warned Gibbs to be sure he didn't do too much too soon; his train of thought was interrupted by the shrill ringing of the phone on his desk

"Gibbs...I'm on my way." He turned to the others. "I have to take a call in MTAC. Tony. See that report is finished by the time I get back."

As he headed up the stairs he caught a glimpse of Abby exiting the elevator, and he smiled broadly when he heard Tim's plaintive cry.

"Abby please, enough with the milk shakes!"

It was twenty minutes later that Gibbs emerged from MTAC and made his way back down the stairs; he strode to his desk, opened his drawer and reluctantly took out a bottle of pills. He glanced up and nodded slightly at the unspoken question in Tim's eyes. Tim took a deep breath.

"Where to Boss?"

"The USSWinstonS.Churchill;should be there and back within the day Tim, are you ready for this?"

"Ships kind of come with the territory Boss; might as well get it over with."

He collected his back pack, grabbed his gun from the drawer and gave Tony a brief smile. "How long do you give me this time Tony?"

Tony shuddered. "I told you; do not remind me about those stupid bets. We figure, sick or not, you still do one heck of a job...and, well you know, if it wasn't for your seasickness, you might not still be here."

"I know Tony, really I do…come on, let's move." Tim waved to Ziva and they headed for the elevator.

With Tony's help Ducky had the body ready for transport and Gibbs and Tim had completed documenting the scene. It seemed likely that Lieutenant Arnett had committed suicide, but as they all knew appearances had a way of being deceptive. While Gibbs and Tony conducted interviews with the crew, Tim made some preliminary checks on Arnett's computer. It didn't take long to find the Dear John email; Tim almost winced at the brutality of the words Arnett's wife had used to tell him their marriage was over.

He packed the hard drive in an evidence bag, he'd make a more detailed examination in DC, but given his initial search results Tim wasn't expecting to find anything out of the ordinary.

"You done here Tim?"

"Pretty much Boss; found an email from his wife…it was rough."

"Ties in with what we heard; word around the crew is Arnett's marriage was in trouble; he'd requested leave, got turned down... Some of his team have been covering for him, but his work's been poor and he'd stopped mixing socially with the rest of the crew."

Tim sighed and glanced around the quarters Arnett shared with three others. "Must be tough to have your life falling apart when you're so far from home..."

"Tough or not, it's part of service life...sometimes death…come on Tim, we've got two hours before the chopper gets here, I could use coffee."

Tony took another bite from his burger and grimaced at the dry crackers on Tim's plate. "I don't know how you can eat that."

"It's not exactly my first choice Tony, but I don't want to push my luck."

Tony looked puzzled, and Ducky smiled. "In case you hadn't noticed, Timothy has not suffered any sickness on this trip."

Tony had been watching Tim carefully; any time they were working together, he'd been surreptitiously keeping an eye on his friend. He had tried to give Tim some space to work, but Tony's feelings of guilt about the events on the Nimitzhad not gone away, even though Tim had told him more than once that there was nothing more he could have done, he still wanted to be sure one of them had Tim's six. "I'd noticed, the Dramamine's doing its job."

Tim gave a slight shake of his head. "I haven't taken any Dramamine Tony."

"You have too! I saw you back at the Navy Yard; and you have one right there." Tony pointed to a small white tablet beside Tim's cup.

"This isn't Dramamine Tony…it's a calcium supplement."

"Then how come…?

"It's all down to Ducky…after I left Bethesda; I was having some...problems, he suggested it might be good for me to see a psychotherapist…talk things through."

"I was only too happy to help Timothy, Doctor Vidic is a first rate therapist, and I was pleased you decided to see her."

Tim was smiling broadly. "No happier than I was Ducky, she's so easy to talk to…" Tim's smile slipped a little. "At first…you know, after everything, I honestly didn't think I'd be able to go on a ship again, but Nathalie…Doctor Vidic, she showed me some strategies…deep breathing, visualisation, ways I could try and combat the seasickness, ways I could board a ship again…looks like it worked." Tim's smile was back in full force.

"So how come you didn't tell us?"

Tim shrugged. "I wasn't sure it would work Tony, didn't want to say too much..."

"Do you ever, McSecret? If you'd told me I could have..."

Tim's eyebrows went up a little. "Could have what Tony? Taken Ziva's bet? Thought you were done with all that."

"I was, but...if I had a tip from the horse's mouth."

"Isn't that cheating?"

"Cheating's such a harsh word Tim, I'd prefer...inside intel."

"'Course you would."

Gibbs gave them both his sternest look. "You two are one word away from a head slap; we leave in twenty minutes, go check that Lieutenant Arnett is ready for the trip, and see all the gear is stowed."

"On it Boss!" They answered in unison, and sprinted for the door.

With a contented smile on his face Ducky turned to his friend. "Is it foolish to say I've missed all this Jethro?"

"If it is, then I'm a fool too." Gibbs took one last gulp of his coffee. "There were times...on the Nimitz...in the hospital; wasn't sure we'd get him back Duck."

"I feared we were going to lose him too, even after his release from Bethesda; his fear that he would be unable to return to work...it almost overwhelmed him Jethro, but he fought it, as heroically as he fought against the poison."

"And he won, not just him…having the team back together…feels like we're all winners."

THE END

HMS Victory: Admiral Lord (Horatio) Nelson's flagship in the battle of Trafalgar, 1805. Dry-docked and restored in 1922 the Victory is now on display at Portsmouth. Victory is the oldest ship still in commission and is the flagship of the Second Sea Lord.

/tmp/uploads/FF_2167702_