Next Time, Wait for Backup

~Written for the In Media Res Challenge~

Shellie Williams

Rating: K+. Begins in the middle of the action, as required.

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters or places of NCIS.

Summary: Tim tries to apprehend a criminal and gets hurt for his trouble. Tony guilt.

"Ouch!"

The exclamation came through loud and clear over McGee's earwig. He reached to touch his ear, then discreetly lifted the mic hidden in his cuff to his mouth. "What happened?"

Several seconds later, Gibbs' voice spoke in his ear. "She kicked Tony in the shin." In the background, McGee thought he heard Tony, 'Damn, I think she broke my leg!' Gibbs ordered, "McGee, don't let her get away. She should be coming out where you are any second. Detain her."

"How?"

"Just grab her, McGee!"

The connection cut off about the same time the door in the back of the restaurant opened. From where he stood near the dumpster, McGee watched as Gail Braxton looked left and right, then dashed into the alley. Just as she was about to exit to the street, McGee moved forward and grabbed her.

"NCIS, Miss Braxton, you're under arrest."

She turned in his grip to face him. "Get your hands off me. I haven't done anything wrong."

"That's for the courts to decide."

She glanced over his shoulder. He turned to see what she was looking at and saw three burly construction crew guys working on breaking down some scaffolding. He turned back to her just as she twisted in his hands and turned her back to him. Confused, he tightened his grip on her arms as she renewed her struggles, but didn't seem to be pulling away from him.

"Help! Someone help me, he's attacking me!"

Realization hit; he didn't have to glance behind him to know she'd attracted the attention of the construction workers. Should have waited for backup. "Hold still!"

"Help! He's attacking me!"

Hands suddenly grasped his shoulders and arms and McGee had no choice but to release the woman. He didn't have time to watch her run away because he was jerked around and backed up against the building. "Wait! Guys, wait, I'm a Federal Agent!"

His words were lost in the scuffle. Hell bent on playing hero, two of the men pinned his arms to his sides while the third threw a hard punch across his jaw, then straight to his nose. His head snapped back brutally and McGee's knees buckled, but the men on either side of him held him up. His body caved when knuckles rammed into his ribs, then two quick, thrusting punches to his gut and McGee folded double and fell to the ground.

Dazed, throbbing cheek pressed against cold concrete, he heard Gibbs shouting in the distance: "Federal Agents! Stop! Back away from him!"

Scuffling footsteps moved away from him, then he had a close up view of someone's knee and felt a hand on his back. Kind words were directed at him: "McGee? Don't move," then he flinched when angry words shouted, "Damn it, Tony, where's that ambulance! Hold those guys for questioning; we need their statements!" The hand never moved from his back.

Groaning, he rolled to his side, then slowly to his back. Thick blood slid down the back of his throat. Coughing, he tilted his head up. Someone offered support, cupping the back of his skull.

"Hold still, McGee, help's on the way."

"L- lost Braxton. Sorry, Boss."

Gibbs bent over him and slid his hand to the back of his neck, holding him up so he wouldn't choke. "Don't worry about it - we'll find her again. Hey, stay down."

McGee shifted to his elbows and sat up. "I'm okay -" He cried out and grabbed his ribs when he moved too fast. "Uh -" He let his breath out in a rush and leaned back against the building, letting his head fall back to rest. Gibbs' hand moved to his shoulder.

Tony knelt on his other side. "How you doing there, Probie?" He caught McGee when he listed to the side. "Whoa there, feeling a little woozy?" Tim glanced up in time to see Tony catch Gibbs' eye. "I got him, Boss." Gibbs nodded at him, then stood and walked away.

Tim felt a hand beneath his chin and his head tilted up slightly. He opened his eyes to find Tony studying him.

"Gonna have a nice shiner there, McPunching Bag. How're your ribs?"

Tim rubbed his hand across his stomach. "Sore. Gut hurts."

"I bet." Tony leaned in close and curved his palm against Tim's face. "Sorry, Tim. It's my fault. If I hadn't acted like such a baby when she kicked me, Gibbs wouldn't have stayed around and you would have had backup sooner."

Tim shut his eyes and let his chin fall to his chest. All of a sudden he felt so tired. "S'kay, Tony. I'm all right." He listed sideways again and came up against Tony's chest.

"Not yet, Probie. But you will be."

An arm wrapped around his shoulders and held him steady. Sighing, he leaned into the support and drifted quietly into the darkness closing over his head.

Tony pressed his lips together when McGee went limp against him. He looked up when sirens drew near. Paramedics came hurrying toward him. "He passed out." Reluctantly, he moved out of the way when the two men knelt to either side of McGee. He watched as blood pressure was taken and pupils were checked. McGee roused enough to swat weakly at their hands. Tony leaned in close. "Let them help you, Tim." He smiled when McGee's eyes opened and he seemed to remember where he was.

One of the paramedics ran back to the vehicle for the stretcher. He rolled it to a stop beside McGee. Tim glanced blearily at it and back at the paramedic. "Is this really necessary?"

"You lost consciousness, sir, we need to take you to the hospital and make sure you're ok."

Tony held the stretcher steady as the two paramedics shifted McGee onto it. Quickly, they connected the safety straps over him, lifted the stretcher to its wheels, and rolled him toward the ambulance. He waited until they were safely in and shut the doors for them, then watched them drive away.

Gibbs joined him. "Is he okay?"

Tony nodded. "They just wanted to be sure."

"We got Braxton. Ziva found her trying to hotwire a car about a block away."

Tony winced. "Are there any marks that show?"

One corner of Gibbs' mouth lifted in a grin. "Ziva didn't touch her, except to handcuff her. She said she didn't want to mess anything up so Braxton can pay for what she did to McGee."

Tony gave a short laugh. "You really think with the other charges that the judge is going to pay much attention to what happened here tonight?"

Gibbs shook his head. "No. But I'm not going to tell Ziva that."

Tony nodded in understanding. "Gotcha."

The End