Chapter Text
#6: Ten Years, Ten Months and Twenty Seven Days, But Who’s Counting…
June 27th, 2033
Last Day in Office
Tim smiled to himself as he filled the last box with his personal belongings, mostly photos; he was almost done, almost out of here! In a little over 4 hours (not that he was counting), his successor would take possession of this office. He’d be gone by then, finally out of the corner office and at home, ready to start the next phase of his life. He corrected that last thought, he’d been ready to start that phase for months now. Still, it was finally time; time to pass the baton to a new Director, time to fulfill his promise to Lina and head home to Greece. He was proud of the work accomplished under his stewardship of the agency and supremely proud of the people who made it happen day after day. But just as with Leon before him it was time for his exit, his escape. He knew he was leaving the agency in good hands, he’d worked with his successor for years and despite their unpleasant initial meeting they’d become friends, trusted colleagues and he trusted her to do what was best for the agency.
He looked up as Pam Cook poked her head in the door. She was also a short-timer. She’d told Tim’s successor she would stay long enough to help with the transition and to show the ropes to a new executive assistant, but then she was taking an early retirement.
“Your dad is on Line 2.”
“Thanks Pam.”
He tapped his headset, “Hey Dad!”
“Hi kiddo, you still packing?”
“Yeah, I’m almost done; need about 5 more minutes before I head out. What’s up?”
“You haven’t changed your mind about staying for Lydia’s swearing in, have you? Because Zoe wants me to take her driving, seems that new driving permit of hers is burning a hole in her pocket. I thought we’d head over to the Yard, just the two of us, Cailey’s out with Anna, take some of your stuff for you.”
“Sure, just be careful, Dad. I’ll call down to the gate; let them know there’s a tank with a teenager and an old Marine on their way!”
His father snorted at him before hanging up. The tank was a reference to the car the McGees originally purchased used for Tanya’s use while she learned how to drive. When she moved away to college, it passed in turn to Andy, Anna, Gemma, Jorry, Sean and several of the cousins until it was now Cailey and Zoe’s turn. A large elderly four door sedan, it was seemingly impervious to the various scratches, dents and dings inflicted by the McGee, Powell, DiNozzo, Mallard and Palmer teens as they learned to drive and carried them safely through their high school years. Now Tim let the front gate know his father was expected along with a teenage driver. The Marine huffed, “Which one of the teenage drivers, sir?”
“A new one I’m afraid - Zoe.”
“We’ll keep an eye out for her, Director McGee.”
“Appreciate it.” He made a noise; that was probably one of the last times he’d hear the title with his name attached! In just a few hours he would be plain Mr. McGee for the first time since he was hired by NCIS at age 21; 34 years of being Agent, Special Agent, Special Agent in Charge, Supervising Special Agent in Charge, Senior Special Agent in Charge, Assistant Director and finally Director McGee.
That task taken care of, Tim finished taping up the last box and left it on top of his desk. Lydia would take the oath of office in here and Tim wanted to be away by that time. He’d thought about staying but with the delays he’d already been through he was a little afraid to stay a minute longer than necessary and in his mind it was her time to shine, his time was now past as far as the agency. Leon had been at his ceremony but then he was family and while Tim and Lydia were good friends and trusted colleagues, they were friends, not family. And she was still uncertain how she felt about being tapped for the big chair, much as he had been. Her family would be here, let them enjoy her moment. Lydia understood and he’d made it very clear that she was his choice to succeed him; that she had his full support as long as whatever support she needed could be handled from somewhere else.
He looked around, he thought that was it. The crystal decanter set that Leon inherited from Jenny Shepard would stay for the new Director and probably the ones after that, a small link to their past. He didn’t see anything else that was his. He and Lina had removed the artwork 3 days ago and it was already wrapped and packed for Greece, including the portrait of Tony, Dad and him that Trina painted years ago. There was more of Lina and Rhea’s work in the building, each had crafted a tribute to the fallen and a more lighthearted piece based on the “Hall of Fame” but those would stay, they belonged to NCIS.
He sighed, knowing what should happen next: one last trek through the squad room to say thanks and goodbye. He’d already seen Jimmy and Ned, they’d had lunch together, but he wanted to do what Leon had done on his last day, swing through one last time. He smiled as he realized that’s probably why his dad was coming; he wanted to do that with him.
As much as Leroy Jethro Gibbs enjoyed his well-deserved retirement, he’d also loved having a link to the agency, to the teams, to the Navy Yard, to this building, through his family. That connection had been pared down considerably over the years as first Tony and then Maggie retired.
Tim heard Pam on the phone with Security; his daughter and father must be here. He took one final look through his office and chuckled when he found a tiny sweater stuck in the back of one of the credenzas. He would bet anything it had belonged to one of the children who’d joined the family since he became director. He tried to think back nearly 11 years to who the babies had been his first year in office: Fiona, Arin, Patrick, Lucy and Henry had been toddlers and preschoolers; Geo and Bec’s Mark and his own two, DJ and Lainey were infants that first year. Although it could very well have been left by one of the later babies, the Perrys’ youngest child little Maisie, Ziva and Brian’s Talia and Gracie or Ned and Rob’s son Teddy, the youngest of the siblings’ children. He left it out thinking he’d ask Zoe, and smiled as the double doors opened and his father and daughter walked in. Zoe, a tall 15 year old whose features were a perfect blend of her parents’, looked around,
“Wow, Dad, I didn’t realize how much stuff you had in here, it’s picked clean!”
“Had your mother’s and Nonnie’s paintings, lots of photos and drawings you kids made for me.”
Dad’s eyes were drawn to the crystal decanter and he gave his son an approving tilt of the head.
“I’m ready to go, but first do either of you recognize this sweater? I found it in the back of the credenza.”
Zoe looked at it and smiled as she shook her head, “It’s too small to have been mine, Cailey’s, Davey’s or any of the others. Not even Patrick’s.”
Dad sniffed it and laughed, “Don’t blame you for forgetting that visit, Tim! It was Maisie’s, they spent her first Easter up here with us – remember? We’d lost Charlotte that winter and Geo and Bec wanted to get away, spend time with us. Geordie brought all three kids to the office and you were holding the baby when she threw up all over you.”
Tim was quiet as he remembered Charlotte and the last years of her life. When it seemed there would be no cure, that she could only hope to keep the cancer at bay long enough to watch Lucy grow a few years older, she’d found the will to do so. Her goal was for Lucy to be old enough to remember her and sometimes it seemed that it was only that sheer determination keeping her alive. Lucy was almost 6 when her mother died, satisfied that her daughter would remember her.
Thinking about Charlotte led to Tim’s memory of Geo and Bec’s youngest child’s first visit to his office. He’d had a meeting scheduled that afternoon at the Pentagon and after the baby threw up on him he went home to change before the meeting. When he’d let Secretary Porter know he might be a few minutes late and why, she’d laughed so hard she’d dropped her phone. After the incident he’d started keeping a fresh shirt and tie at the office. Smiling at the memory he tucked the sweater into one of the boxes.
“Mmm, I might have to tease her a little! I’m ready to go, but first I want to swing through the squad room one last time. You guys want to come along or wait or haul boxes down to the car?”
They just looked at him and he nodded, “Right, coming along!”
They headed down the stairs, where they found a couple of people waiting for them. Tim smiled at Phoebe Russell who was Team Lead for one of his…one of the agency’s top teams. She would go far, that one, he wouldn’t be surprised if she had the big chair someday. He was proud of the volunteer stints she’d done in various parts of the world, those had given her the more global perspective of the agency that he felt a Director should have. Standing next to her was Kayla Vance now head of the lab and their lead forensics scientist. She was also a leader but she’d never wanted to be an agent nor did she want to move up in agency ranks. He’d always figured her mother’s murder and the attempts on her father’s life had soured her for that. She and Ross were married and had two little ones, thoroughly spoiled by their grandparents. Now he smiled at them both, “What’s up?”
“Director McGee, we’d like to talk to you about something…in private.”
He’d been wrong, the call to the front gate hadn’t been the last time for the title. He couldn’t imagine what this was about. He’d already had several parties, lunches and dinners, even a day long agency party complete with a serenade on MTAC similar to Leon’s, what more could there be? He shrugged at his dad and daughter and they followed their friends to the briefing room, still the largest room at HQ.
When the door opened for Phoebe, the lights automatically brightened and Tim blinked as he entered behind her. And then he blinked again as he saw who was there waiting for him. Beside Grandfa stood Leon, Pete, Joel, Stan, Roger, Matt, Bec, Kim, Tea, Eva, Ned, Tony, Maggie, Ziva, Jimmy, James, Carla, Rusty, Rick Carter, Dwayne Wilson, Terrell Okoro who’d been a brand new junior in Preston when Tim arrived from Greece, Jeff Andreson who was still the SFA in San Diego, Will Brown, still the Team Lead in Petrero, Ted Edwards and Jack Hughes, Rose Peters, Julian Bashon-Martin, Tobias Fornell and Ron Sacks; many of the same friends and family who’d escorted him to his swearing in ceremony nearly eleven years ago. A lot of them besides Leon, Pete, Joel, Tobias, Tony, Maggie and Rick were retired including Carla, Ted, Jack, Stan and Roger. And sadly, they’d said goodbye to a few old friends: Jim O’Brien, Richard Owens and Tom Morrow.
He stood there in shock until his father patted his shoulder and gave him a little push and his friends called out “Surprise!” He stepped toward them, smiling.
The End