A/N: You all have wanted it. You all have waited patiently for it. You all are finally getting it. WE ARE FINALLY BACK IN DC!

Review Replies:

Gottahavemyncis: No more waiting!

Momcat: I am definitely trying to update more regularly. There's going to be a longer amount of time between updates because I have so many projects right now (which is also why some chapters are shorter than my average of 1500 words – I'm not trying to force them to be longer anymore), but I'm still writing. You'll start seeing good stuff in this story soon!

NOW ON TO WHAT YOU'VE BEEN WAITING FOR!

Event Fifteen

"I love you, Tim, and I wish to God you had just come to that damn ship with the rest of us." Tim ripped his earbuds out and slammed his laptop closed. All these months later, and he had finally forced himself to watch the recording of his funeral. Now he was regretting not having watched it sooner because Tim knew he was going to be crying as soon as he and Alice were out of the airport and started to see the familiar sights of DC.

"Okay, so they accidentally sent all the bags from our flight to the wrong baggage claim," Alice said as she approached where Tim was sitting. Tim nodded in acknowledgment and started shoving his things back into his carry-on bag so they could go fetch the rest of their things. Noticing the look on Tim's face, Alice grabbed his arm to get his attention again. "Tim, are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Alice. It's just overwhelming being home again," Tim said. He zipped his bag closed and stood up, looking at Alice in expectation. She gave him a look that said she knew he wasn't sharing all the details, but she didn't press the issue.

"The correct baggage claim is this way," Alice said.

The two of them remained silent most of the way to their bags, just as they had been for most of the flight to DC. Alice had informed Tim that Fisher was throwing a conniption fit when she met up with Tim at the airport back in Milwaukee, but she didn't force a conversation after that. She now knew Tim well enough to know that there was no arguing with him at the moment. All she could do was hold on tight and be dragged along for the ride.

"Has Jade let you know if they're in the area yet?" Tim asked, pulling out his cell phone to check his messages.

"I haven't heard from Jade since she texted me to say they were about to hit the road," Alice said.

Tim groaned in frustration and shoved his cell phone back into his pocket. Just perfect. Tim was back in DC to tell Fisher to take the offer of Witness Protection and shove it up his ass, and Tim had no idea where Jade and the others were. Alice wasn't going to like it, but Tim was going to have to insist that they split up once the others were in the area. Jade was going to text him eventually to let him know when that was.

"Okay, fine. We'll go speak with Fisher first, then. I'm sure he's close to needing a sedative by now," Tim said. "Tomorrow morning, we'll go to the Yard."

"You want to go back to work right away?" Alice asked incredulously. Tim's life was in danger. They needed a plan of action.

"I am, first and foremost, NCIS. I want my damn badge back," Tim said.

"And you think you can waltz right in there and get it?"

"Yeah," Tim chuckled. It was a Gibbs move, to be sure, but Tim was sure he could pull it off. "Leon Vance is still the Director. You give him back one of his top agents on a silver platter and he'll make the badge right there in his office if he has to."

"Gee, Tim, tell me what you really think about your abilities," Alice cracked.

"Is it really considered bragging if you're just stating a fact?" Tim shot back.

Bags in hand, Tim and Alice made quick work of getting to their rental car and were soon out of the airport parking lot. Tim had been tempted to let Alice drive just so he could look around at the buildings he hadn't seen for so long, but Alice had no idea how to get to the Hoover Building from the airport. He needed to be behind the wheel if they wanted to meet up with Fisher with any kind of haste.

"I need to transfer," Alice said in awe as they entered the Hoover Building.

"This building is pretty plain compared to what your own building looks like back in Milwaukee. You even have a lake-side view," Tim pointed out as he guided them into an elevator.

"Yeah, but look at the size of this damn place!" Alice said. "I could get lost just trying to find the bathroom."

Tim let out a laugh. He probably shouldn't mention to Alice that he'd been in this building enough times that he could get to Fisher's office blindfolded as long as you told Tim the correct room number.

"Hey!" Agent Rocco's grinning face greeted them as soon as the elevator doors opened. "I gotta say, McGee, you know how to make an entrance."

"And I'm not even trying," Tim responded with a grin of his own. He shook Rocco's hand and motioned to Alice. "This is Agent Turner."

"Glad to finally put a face to the voice," Rocco said, also shaking Alice's hand.

"Likewise, Rocco. Let's cut to the chase. How pissed is Fisher?" Alice asked.

Rocco sighed and motioned for Tim and Alice to follow him into the maze of hallways. "He's not happy in the slightest that McGee has broken protocol and came back to DC. But he also admitted that he should know better than to expect anything different from a man trained by Gibbs, so Fisher has returned to panicking over finding the source of the leak."

"Smart man," Tim commented. He still held his breath, however, when they arrived at the conference room where Fisher and the rest of the FBI team were.

"You are a thorn in my back side! Do you realize that, Timothy McGee?" Fisher exclaimed when he realized that Tim, Alice, and Rocco had arrived.

"You're hardly the first and certainly won't be the last," Tim said. He approached the white board to stand by Fisher, making it clear he wasn't going to be shoved to the back of the room like a low-level agent. "Do you have any answers for me on why my cover was blown in the first place?"

"Not in the slightest. As far as we have been able to tell, everything is closed up tight. There's no place for a leak," Fisher hissed, irritated with the situation in general.

"Are we even sure it's a leak?" Alice asked, pulling everyone's attention to her. "Fisher, it's not like you dumped Tim in the middle of No-Where, Wisconsin. The Milwaukee metro area is huge, and it's spitting distance from Chicago. For all we know, a lackey for the Lambert family was in the area, saw Tim while grocery shopping, and immediately reported the sighting."

"That's possible. It would explain why they were able to act on the information as quickly as they did," Fisher said.

"What about who I was with in Milwaukee? Do the Lambert's have any idea of where I was working, who I was hanging out with, etc?" Tim pressed.

"If they know, our sources haven't heard about it," Rocco spoke up when Fisher gave Tim a helpless look. "McGee, the Lambert's had people in Milwaukee County before we even found out they knew about you being alive. We have no idea how much information they actually have about you at the moment."

"Which, admittedly, means it's a Godsend you decided to hightail your ass back here. They've probably already tossed the house we placed you in," Fisher sighed.

Tim gave Fisher a mild look of pity. The on-going investigation against the O'Shea's and the Lambert's hasn't been an easy one, from what Tim heard, and having Tim's head back on the chopping block wasn't helping.

"Adrian," Tim said, using Fisher's first name to make sure the man was paying attention. "We're finally face-to-face again. So I'm going to ask one last time before I give up. Is there anything you need my help with at the moment?"

"Stay alive?" Fisher replied with a weary laugh. "I'm not lacking in manpower right now, McGee. What I need is a goddamn break. We're getting hit with obstacles one right after the other. I need you to stay alive so you can help me nail these sons-of-bitches once we bring everything to court."

"Okay, fine. I can do that. But to do that, I need my life back. First thing in the morning, I'm heading over to the Yard," Tim said, using a tone that made it clear he wasn't going to entertain any arguments to the contrary.

"At this point, as long as you don't get yourself killed, I don't care. Do what you want. Christian, go head down to the guys in Cyber and tell them to undo everything we did to throw McGee here into Witness Protection. He'll need to be considered alive if NCIS is going to reinstate him," Fisher said. One of the agents from the table immediately got up and darted out the room, wasting no time as they booked it for the elevators. "Your death should be voided by the time you reach NCIS, McGee."

"Thank you," Tim said. He glanced over the white board on the off-chance he had any suggestions to give to the team, but he saw nothing he could comment on. "Are you keeping Alice here or is she to come along with me?"

"Agent Turner is my insurance policy to make sure you actually do stay alive," Fisher said, turning to give Alice a smile. "Feel free to restrain McGee if he's about to do something stupid."

"Of course!" Alice said with a grin of her own.

"And that is my cue to get the hell out of here," Tim sighed, giving Alice a look.

"Please call at least once every 24 hours so I know you're alive. I'm sure we're going to be calling and texting each other far more frequently now that you're back, but I need some kind of time period to use as a grace period before I wonder what happened," Fisher asked.

"Will do," Tim replied. "Alice, come on."

Tim nudged Alice out of the room before a reason was brought up to keep them there. He was anxious to finally be at the Yard again, and he wanted to get going so they could grab a motel room. He could practically taste the ugly orange paint.

"You'd think more people would be happy to see you," Alice commented as she and Tim walked through the lobby to the elevators that would take them upstairs, to the Bull Pen.

"They're seeing a ghost, Alice. Give them time," Tim said. He clenched his hands after hitting the elevator button to the floor they wanted. He watched the doors close in front of them and exhaled slowly. It felt like he had never left. Everything looked the same. Everything smelled the same. Everything sounded the same. The question, however, was would the team be the same?

The familiar ding Tim had missed so much signaled their arrival to the Bull Pen. Tim glanced at Alice, needing an anchor to settle his overwhelming emotions, and stepped forward. No one in the immediate area spared Tim and Alice a glance, which Tim was grateful for. He had frozen in his spot when he saw that all the desks in the MCRT area were empty. He had been hoping that everyone would be at their desks.

"Tim?" Alice asked, pulling him out of his thoughts.

"It's fine. They're probably out on a case," Tim said. He shook his head to clear his thoughts and led the way down the walkway to the back stairwell up to the Director's office.

"I see what you mean about the walls being an eyesore," Alice muttered as she followed Tim up the stairs.

"It's an acquired aesthetic," Tim laughed.

The woman sitting at the secretary desk barely glanced up at Tim and Alice when they entered as she spoke on the phone. Tim and Alice remained silent so the woman could finish her job. As soon as the phone was back in its cradle, the woman was smiling at Tim and Alice in greeting.

"Good morning! How can I help you?"

"I know it's a long shot, given how busy his schedule can be, but I'm hopeful!" Tim started. "Is Director Vance still in his office?"

"Yes, he is. He doesn't have any meetings scheduled at the moment, as far as I know. Would you like me to pop in and see if he can squeeze you in right away?" the woman asked.

"Not necessary. You'll understand in a moment," Tim said. He threw Alice a grin and strode for the office door. He heard Alice offer a quick apology to the secretary before chasing after him.

"I normally don't take meetings at the last moment," Vance said. He didn't look up from the paperwork he was reading once he registered that the person opening his door wasn't his secretary.

"Call me crazy, but I think you'll make an exception for me this one time," Tim said.

Vance dropped the paperwork and looked up in shock when Tim's voice entered his ears. Vance remained silent for several moments, looking at Tim with wide eyes, before standing up fast enough to cause his chair to slam into the cabinets behind him.

"Tim McGee!" Vance exclaimed in surprise as he walked around his desk. Tim grinned and held out a hand to shake Vance's, but his hand was batted aside and he was pulled into a hug by Vance. Vance pulled away before Tim could react. "You're alive! Dear god, you're alive!"

"Yeah. That tends to happen when the FBI intervenes to stop a hit taken out on your head," Tim said in a conversational tone, using the opportunity to explain the situation before Vance started asking questions.

"You need to explain everything now," Vance insisted, using his 'I am your boss and you will listen to me' voice.

"It's a long story. You've got time?" Tim asked.

"I'll make time. We need to give HR time to draw up temporary credentials so you can walk around while your regular ones are re-printed, don't we? My ass I'm letting the FBI keep you," Vance insisted.

Tim gave Alice an 'I told you so' look, earning an eye roll in response, and ushered her to sit down in one of the chairs in front of Vance's desk as the Director returned to his own seat.

"You read my mind about wanting my badge back, Director. Now, where to begin..."

Tim checked his phone the moment he and Alice got out of the car to see if Jade sent him another text.

"Are they finally in yet?" Alice asked. "I'm sure they're excited to finally be in DC. Having to stop overnight in Baltimore because the driver got a stomach bug must not have been fun."

"Yeah, they're here," Tim confirmed, reading the text. He shoved it back into his pocket instead of answering, though, and looked around to see where the crime scene was. "Let's wait a little bit longer before telling them that we are also here."

"Agreed," Alice sighed, following Tim as he led the way out into the field. "Does your team even know we're coming?"

"Vance said he'd have someone call ahead to say they're being assigned a TAD, but I don't think he told the person to pass along a name," Tim chuckled.

An unknown face was the first one to greet Tim and Alice when they arrived at the scene. Tim glanced past the man to see a group of very familiar people surrounding a body, but none of them glanced in his direction.

"You must be our TAD!" the man said. "I'm Special Agent Peter Harrison. Go ahead and call me Peter. Did anyone back at the Yard fill you in on the details?"

"Sorta. I told them I'd get a better update once we arrived," Tim replied. "You know, my partner here is actually FBI. She's being borrowed at the moment. Think you could give her a low-down of where everything is in the truck while I go check in with Special Agent Gibbs?"

"Not a problem!" Agent Harrison replied. Alice patted Tim on the arm, giving him a small smile, and followed Harrison to the truck.

Tim stood there by himself to give himself the chance to look over his team. Well, they weren't quite a team anymore. Vance explained Tony's decision to take over Cold Crimes, but Tim didn't care. Everyone he was looked at was his team. People he never thought he'd see again. Blinking rapidly to stop himself from crying, Tim began walking to the group.

"I'm telling you, Gibbs, this new body of yours has all the hallmarks of the cold case my team is currently working on," Tony insisted.

"Let Ducky and Palmer finish looking over the body, would yah?" Gibbs chided. His hand twitched from an obvious desire to smack Tony upside the head, but he kept his hand by his side.

"It doesn't make sense, though," Ziva said. "A lot of the evidence we have collected so far from the other bodies doesn't match evidence in your cold case. Are you claiming we have a sloppy copy cat?"

"If the shoe fits!" Tony exclaimed.

"You think another set of eyes will help you figure it out?" Tim spoke up.

The entire group went silent when they registered the voice they were hearing, turning to look at Tim with a variety of expressions. A smile grew on Tim's face as he waited for one of them to react, but after a few more moments it became clear that none of them were willing to break the silence. Chuckling, Tim turned his focus to Tony.

"You said you think it's a copy cat?" Tim asked.

"Tim!" Tony yelled, the first to break his stupor and rush forward to pull Tim into a hug. Tim laughed again and returned the hug. A second later, several versions of Tim's name were echoed by the others and Tim felt Ziva suddenly start hugging him from behind. Tim pulled away from Tony so he could turn around and give Ziva a proper hug, only to be dragged into a group hug when Jimmy also rushed forward to join Tony and Ziva.

"How?!" Tony demanded as he, Ziva, and Jimmy finally took a step back to give Tim room to breathe.

"Nutshell version since we are at a crime scene, the FBI had to toss me into Witness Protection. I'm out now," Tim said.

"You went into Witness Protection? For what?!" Jimmy asked.

"Gibbs, remember that case I worked with the FBI on a month before I left?" Tim asked, turning to look at Gibbs. The other man nodded, remembering it quite clearly. He had to sign off on Tim missing coming in to work so he could go assist at the Hoover Building. "The Lambert Family, an ally of the O'Shea's, found out about me helping the FBI during the raid. They put a hit on my head."

"Is it off?" Gibbs asked as Tony let out a low whistle.

"No. But they found out I was still alive and where I was. I didn't want to be moved yet again, so I told the FBI to drop the protection," Tim said.

"Are you saying that there's a very good chance that we'll be attending your second funeral sooner rather than later?" Tony asked, giving Tim an incredulous look.

"Sorry?" Tim said slowly, not sure if he should attempt to console the others or not. He'd been back home less than 24 hours. He needed to catch up with them.

"Be that as it may, it is wonderful to see you again, Timothy," Ducky spoke up, interrupting the others' interrogation session. "Now, as young Timothy said, we are at a crime scene at the moment. I hate to break this up, but we can continue this discussion later."

"Yes, we are at work. And we would most certainly welcome another set of eyes, Tim," Ziva said, joining Ducky in getting the group back on task. However, she gave Tim a wide smile to show how happy she was to see him.

"Where do you want me to..." Tim began to ask where to start, but his phone began blaring the theme to the Twilight Zone. Without thinking, Tim immediately pulled his phone out of his pocket. "Sorry, guys, I need to take this." Ignoring the confused looks the others gave him, Tim walked a handful of feet away to get a minor sense of privacy as he answered the call. "Jade! What's up?"

"Don't you dare 'Jade, what's up' me right now, Timothy. You're in DC!" Jade hissed. "Why are you in DC?!"

"Kate is ever the snitch," Tim muttered.

"Damn straight Kate told me! Now answer my question! Why are you in DC? You have a hit on your head! People in DC want to kill you!" Jade ranted.

Tim sighed and rubbed a hand over his face. He had hoped to make the merger of his two lives a smooth process, but it looked like that wasn't going to happen. Shit was going to hit the fan if he didn't explain things to Jade and the others soon.

"Jade, my cover got blown," Tim said calmly to encourage Jade to calm down.

"What?!" Jade shrieked. Tim could hear one of the others start to ask Jade questions in the background, but she hissed at them to leave her alone for a minute. "You have got to be kidding me. You're put back in danger, and you decide to run towards it instead of away from it?"

"That's my job, Jade, or did you forget that my real job is federal law enforcement?" Tim asked. Jade let out a whine at the reminder, making it clear that she had not forgotten that detail.

"Tim, this is crazy. You are being crazy right now," Jade insisted.

"Jade, they knew I was in Milwaukee. They had people in Milwaukee before the FBI got notified by their sources that my cover was blown. If I hadn't hauled ass back to DC, I'd probably already be dead," Tim explained.

"Okay, fine. Coming back to DC was a better idea than staying back in Milwaukee," Jade admitted, taking a deep breath. Tim could hear her take a few more breaths before she continued in a more relaxed tone. "Where are you? Are you safe?"

"I'm at a crime scene at the moment. Agent Fisher didn't argue with me being 'brought back to life', so I swung by NCIS this morning to see about being reinstated. I'm with my old team right now," Tim said. He looked up to see what said-team was doing, and they all had returned to work without paying any obvious attention to Tim being on his phone.

"Workaholic," Jade muttered.

"Wouldn't be me if I wasn't," Tim said.

"Of course," Jade sighed before pausing a moment. "Tim, I'm not comfortable explaining all of this to the others without you here. I'd much prefer it if you explained it to them, yourself. Is there any possibility of you coming to our hotel at some point today?"

"Later, after dinner. Alice and I were figuring out when to let you all know that we're here, actually," Tim replied.

"Wait, Alice is here, too?" Jade asked, surprised.

"Yes. My unofficial bodyguard," Tim snorted.

"This is just getting better and better," Jade said. Tim let out a noise of understanding. He was taking everything in stride because he really didn't have any other choice. Everyone else around him, however, was in for a rough experience.

"I really should get going because I'm at work at the moment, but I promise I'll explain everything tonight. That sound good?" Tim asked.

"I'll take what I can get," Jade said.

"Alright. I will call you when Alice and I are done for the day. Talk to you later, Jade," Tim said.

"Later, Tim," Jade said.

Tim hung up before either of them could find something more to say and slipped his phone back into his pocket. He jumped when he realized that Alice had appeared next to him some time during his phone call and gave her a bitch face when she started laughing.

"I take it they know we're here now?" Alice asked through her laughter.

"Jade knows. She's not going to tell the others until we see them later tonight. Which is going to be annoying to plan because I'm sure my entire team is going to drop all their evening plans and demand I go a get-together with them to catch up and explain everything to them," Tim said. He groaned about the rut he had gotten himself into.

"Tim, I know your gut reaction is going to be to say no, but perhaps we should get it all done at once and have everyone meet up together," Alice suggested.

"You're right. I am saying no because no way in hell am I going to have that many people giving me shit all at once," Tim immediately replied. He shuddered at the thought of having Tony, Ziva, Alice, Jade, and Edmund in one room together. His pride wouldn't survive the encounter.

"There's nothing I can do about everyone ganging up on you and picking on you until you cry for mercy, but come on," Alice said, letting out a few snickers. "You have to admit that it would be faster doing it that way."

"I know you're right, but my self preservation is keeping me from approving the idea," Tim cracked.

"Then don't say you approve. Just don't say you disapprove," Alice suggested, a mischievous look growing on her face.

"The Lambert's aren't going to be the death of me," Tim muttered. "You guys are."

Alice burst into laughter as Tim let out a huff. He shook his head and started to head back to the group, prompting Alice to follow after him. It would be several hours until they needed to have their evening plans finalized. Until then, Tim was going to show Alice how things were done in NCIS.