A/N: The end to another story. Thanks so much for reading. Your reviews have been lovely. Sheila

Camping- Chapter 3

Tony put down the hand saw and yanked at the branch. It broke free and he pushed it into the back seat. "Alright Timmy, let's get these hand warmers under your blankets."

McGee nodded as Tony leaned over him and stuffed warmers everywhere. He slid some down Tim's wounded leg. Tony reached back and grabbed a thermos. "Apple cider. It's not hot, but Ducky says you need the fluid. Sugar oughta help as well."

McGee's hands were shaky on the thermos, but Tony kept one hand on it to steady it for him. "That's it. Keep drinking."

Finally, McGee started coughing and Tony pulled it away. "You feeling warmer yet?"

McGee nodded. "A little."

"Good. It's only going to be a couple of hours now. You know the boss. He probably is hijacking a snow plow as we speak. In the meantime, you and I are going to have to snuggle under the Mylar." Tony smiled. "A little bit like a first date."

He could only manage a grin on the side of his face that wasn't swollen. "The one time I can't fight you off."

"I'm going to shift you a little so I can get on the seat with you. I'm sorry if it hurts." Tony put his hands on McGee's back and side and turned him slightly. McGee yowled. Tony quickly slipped under him and let him rest against him. "Sorry Tim."

He reached back and pulled two Mylar blankets over them. He snaked an arm and a leg over McGee's torso and rested his head in the crook of McGee's neck. Then he smiled. "You gotta be hating this."

Tim grunted. "Hell, I'd let Fornell do it if it warmed me up."

"That was funny finding him and Diane in the hotel room."

"Traumatizing actually."

Tony lifted his head. "You sure you and Diane never…"

McGee snorted. "No way. She was way too scary for me."

"Oh, I hear ya'."

For a few minutes, they sat in silence while the wind howled around them. Tony had stuffed one of the army blankets in the broken window, but a snowy breeze still got through. Then McGee sighed. "I'm sorry, Tony. I was really stupid."

Tony nodded. "You thought I was up here, didn't you?"

"Car is full of things I figured you wouldn't know to pack."

"You were going to save me?"

"Not exactly. I was angry. Wanted you to know what a fool I thought you were for isolating yourself."

Tony nodded. "I thought about coming up. Got in the car. And you were right. I wouldn't have been prepared."

"I miss her too."

Tony shook his head. "That was worth risking your life for?"

"It's stupid, isn't it? What was I thinking?"

"She never said good-bye to you, did she?"

McGee's breath caught. "I thought we were close. I risked my whole career for her last year with Bodnar. I would've taken a bullet for her. I know she called Gibbs."

"She owes Gibbs a lot."

McGee shook his head. "I'm hurt. Then there was you acting like you were the only one in pain. You and Ziva and the special love you shared. I wanted to talk to you about this. I needed to do that. God, I've been feeling so sorry for myself."

"Join the club."

"Why didn't she say good-bye?"

"Tim, I chased her for four months. She said good-bye to me only because I caught her."

"You never told me much about that. What did she say?"

"I don't remember everything. She was at crossroads. Feeling like her past was destroying her. All I could do was focus on was trying to get her to come home. I gave her my whole heart. Said everything I'd ever felt. And it wasn't enough."

"Damn."

"I wasn't enough to get her home. Felt like a knife in my gut. When I got back to D.C…" He shook his head. "I have never felt so empty in my entire life. Getting up in the morning was a major task those first few weeks."

"I'm sorry, Tony."

He sighed into McGee's neck. "I knew I was keeping you at arm's length. You should've seen me with Abby. Stopped going to the lab for weeks. Couldn't handle her energy."

"Yeah, she noticed."

"I don't think Ziva knew what to say to you. You would've needed to know why, and I don't think she would've known how to answer that. She's still trying to figure it out. She just needs us to have faith in her."

"She could've said that to me."

Tony lifted his head. "Maybe you're more angry at Ziva than me."

"Probably. But I like being angry at you."

Tony chuckled. "What would I do without you, Tim?"

McGee grunted and grew quiet. Tony patted him on the chest. "Rest for a little bit. We've got a few hours at least before Gibbs gets here."

McGee's head lolled to the side and his breathing deepened. Tony thought about sleeping as well, but there were too many variables that could go wrong. He dimmed the lantern and listened to the blizzard outside. Twice the wind blew the blanket out of the broken window and twice, he had to plug the hole. He tried to avoid looking at his cell phone for the time. It really didn't matter. There was no real way to predict how it was going to take. Finally, he let his eyes close.

…

"The Boss is here! He's here!" McGee threw the blankets off and lurched forward. "Hurry Tony! We got to help the Boss!"

DiNozzo sat up, blinking. It was still dark and windy and he looked around frantically. "You saw him?"

"He said there was a callout!" McGee's pale skin had turned rosy and he started tugging at the driver's side door.

Tony grabbed his arms and pushed him back against the seat. "Tim? Do you know where you are?"

McGee's eyes were wild. "Dead Marine! Rock Creek Park!"

Tony grabbed his face and saw how flushed he was. "Tim, look at me! Look at me!"

McGee stared into Tony's eyes. "You're trapped in a car and you have to stop thrashing around. You understand?"

McGee's breathing was coming in short bursts. "Boss needs us!"

"You're hallucinating, Tim!"

McGee reached for the door again. "I got to get outside!"

"Stop! Listen to me! You trust me, right?"

McGee looked at him, breathing hard. "Boss needs us."

"It's okay, Tim. It's okay. Boss is okay. He just needs you to rest. Okay? Let me get you some more fluids."

McGee relaxed back into his seat, and drank obediently when DiNozzo put the thermos to his mouth.

"It was a dream, Tim. Just a dream." He pulled the blankets back over McGee, keeping him pinned to the seat. He pulled out the satellite phone and called MTAC. "Anybody there?"

"How's it going, Tony?" Said Brownie's distinctive voice.

"Ducky still there?"

"I'm here, Anthony!"

"I thought he was warming up, Duck. He was sleeping and everything. Then he just woke up, screaming. I think he was hallucinating."

"Warming him has to be a delicate process, Tony. He's had significant exposure."

"What do I do?"

"What you've been doing."

"Should I rub his limbs?"

"No! Be gentle. The truth is I worry about what will happen once help does get there. He will go into shock quite easily at this point."

"Well, that's not exactly comforting, Ducky."

"You're doing exactly the right thing. Help will be there soon."

…

Tony sat up straight when the banging started. Then someone pulled the blanket out of the broken window and he saw a familiar face. "Gibbs!"

"How is he?"

Tony turned to McGee and shook him lightly. Green eyes opened half-mast. "The Boss is here, Tim."

McGee rolled his head toward him. "Boss?"

Gibbs winced. "Damn, he is banged up."

"What time is it?

"6 a.m."

"We got to get him out of here."

"Yeah."

"Let me get out and help." Tony covered McGee and climbed out after Gibbs. It was still dark but the wind had calmed considerably. He was surprised to see two other men dressed from head to toe in snowsuits. "You brought friends."

Gibbs nodded. "Some Marines I know. We're going to hook this beast up to a tow truck and pull it off the tree."

"You got a tow truck up here?"

"That and an ATV. Took us six hours."

The two men with him were busy hooking up chains to the car. Gibbs turned back to Tony. "This is how it's going to work. They're going to pull the car away from the tree a few feet and hold it. It's damn slippery up there so we're going to have to work fast. You and I are going to have to get that door off and get him out of the car."

"We got the right tools."

"Raided a firehouse on the way up here."

"Good."

One of the men stood up. "We got the car hooked up, Jethro. Are you ready for the pull?"

"Give me a minute with him." He turned to DiNozzo. "I got saws and hydraulic tools up on the road. Go get 'em."

Gibbs waded back to the passenger side and climbed in. He pulled the blankets off McGee's face. "How you doing?"

McGee looked at him, flushed and dull. "What's the plan?"

"We're going to pull the car off the tree and then we're going to work to get you out."

McGee nodded.

Gibbs shined a light on McGee's thigh and shook his head. "It's going to hurt, Tim. It's going to hurt bad when we start moving things."

"Figured."

"I wanted to give you morphine, but Ducky says no."

McGee said nothing.

"Look at me, Tim." Gibbs put a rough hand on his bruised cheek. "You're going to be okay."

"Sorry about all this," he said slowly.

"I have no doubt. You ready?"

McGee swallowed. "Do it."

Gibbs backed out of the car and shut the door. A few moments later, McGee heard a motor gunning. Then the car jerked and he screamed.

….

It took an hour to get the door open and the metal pulled out of the way. McGee was unconscious by the time they got in there. Tony kept the satellite phone to his ear with Ducky, and the minute the leg was free, he was applying a pressure bandage.

Signs of shock were all there and discussion turned to how long it would take to get him to a hospital. Daylight was trying to peek through the clouds, but the wind was still strong and the roads were drifted over. A four-five hour bumpy ride was not in McGee's best interest. Gibbs spoke to one of his friends, and the man jumped on his ATV and headed up the road. Then the other man helped Gibbs and DiNozzo load McGee into the Navy maintenance truck. Gibbs shook hands with the tow truck driver before climbing in with Tony. Tony leaned McGee against Gibbs. "You sure about this?"

"Doesn't seem like we have a choice. Bill went up ahead to get a fire lit in the cabin. Someone should be able to make it up later in the afternoon."

…..

When Tony woke, he found himself plastered to McGee in a narrow bed. He lifted his head. "What the hell?"

Gibbs was sitting by the fire and he turned his head at the sound of his voice. "You were pretty wiped out, Tony."

Tony peered under the blankets. "I forgot you talked me into taking my clothes off. This is more intimacy than I ever anticipated with my probie."

"Skin on skin contact is the best way to warm a body."

"Oh man!"

"McGee is too out of it to notice. What's the problem?"

"He's going to wake up at some point, and I know McPersonal Space. He's going to need therapy after this. What time is it?"

"Noon."

"Help coming?"

"We're hoping for a helo before sundown. The sheriff and I have had several heated conversations about it. Vance is working on it now. It all depends on the wind. Get up off him. We should check his temperature and look at that leg."

Tony got out of the bed and reached for his clothes. "You're not going to do a rectal temp, are you?"

Gibbs gave him a look before lifting McGee's arm and resting the thermometer in his armpit. They watched McGee closely before removing it. Gibbs looked at it and nodded. "It's rising slowly."

"Is there any frostbite?"

"The toes on his left foot. I've been wrapping them in warm, wet towels."

Tony shook his head. "Man, this is messed up. It's really my fault for not communicating with him. He really thought he would find me up here."

Gibbs checked the thick wrapping on the thigh. "I really wish I knew what to do with this. Afraid to take the bandage off. At least, it's not bleeding through."

"Dammit! Where are they?!" Tony said kicking a chair.

McGee stirred at the sound. Gibbs rolled his eyes. "Nice, DiNozzo."

Tim opened his eyes and looked around the room. Tony sat on the bed. "Sorry Tim. I didn't mean to be so loud."

McGee blinked. "Where are we?"

"Gibbs' cabin. Getting you off the mountain got complicated."

"Everything hurts. The leg is bad. Throbbing," Tim said swallowing dry.

Gibbs went over to the stove. "I have tea and lemon here. I need you to starting drinking it."

"I hate tea, Boss."

Gibbs shook his head. "I don't really care. You need to drink it. Tony, help him sit up."

Tony propped pillows behind him, careful to still keep him covered in blankets. Gibbs brought over a cup with lukewarm tea. "Help him drink it, DiNozzo."

Tony sat with him patiently while he gulped it down. Gibbs turned his chair away from the fire and faced them. "Let's talk."

Tony took the cup away from McGee. "Okay."

"We're all a little off our game these days. We all miss her."

"She said good-bye to you," McGee mumbled.

Gibbs nodded. "So, not saying good-bye means that she doesn't care about you?"

McGee looked down.

"Ziva leaving didn't have anything to do with us. This is about her. We didn't cause it. We're not responsible for it. She has to find herself, and we have to let her."

Tony sighed. "Seems to me she could've found herself in D.C."

Gibbs shook his head. "She needs to do this on her own, Tony."

"Yeah."

"I only talked to her for only about five minutes because she didn't really know what to say. This is all in her heart still. Hasn't made it to her brain yet. When it does, she'll call you, Tim. And as for you, DiNozzo, it would break her heart if she knew how you'd pulled away from the team."

Tony shrugged. "I just had a few moments."

"You're a pain in the ass, but we need you- especially Tim here. The two of you have the weirdest relationship I've ever seen. You couldn't be more different, and you are constantly annoying one another, but you're inseparable. You need each other. Don't mess with that."

Tony raised an eyebrow at McGee. "That was quite a speech. Do you buy it?"

"I liked it," Tim said softly.

"Still thirsty?" Tony picked up the cup.

McGee shook his head. "Tired. Everything hurts. My leg. My foot is on fire. My head."

Tony noted how pale his skin was. "Are you still cold? Want to snuggle some more?"

McGee groaned. "Please no. It'll give me nightmares."

Gibbs frowned. "Get under those blankets again. Let me try to reach Ducky. Maybe I can give you some painkillers now."

Tony eased him back into the pillows and covered him. He looked at Gibbs. "He doesn't look good. We really need to get off this mountain."

Gibbs gave him a look. "Yeah, I got that."

The satellite phone went off, and Tony got to it first. "I'll put it on speaker."

"Gibbs?"

He crossed the room. "Leon? What kind of news do you have for me?"

"Look out your window to the south."

Gibbs and DiNozzo crowded around the small window. In the distance there was a black speck that looked like a large bird. Gibbs smiled. "What did you send me?"

"The sheriff can't fit us in today, but the U.S. Carrier Lincoln out of Norfolk had a Huey transport that wasn't doing anything."

Gibbs smiled at Tony. "That's good news, Leon!"

"Get some shovels out there. Satellite imagery tells us that there should be a good spot about fifty yards west of your cabin."

"You got it!" Tony grabbed his coat and headed for the door.

"Thanks Leon. We were getting worried up here."

"The medics are going to get out first and stabilize him. One of them happens to be a 72 year old medical examiner."

Gibbs nodded. "That's Ducky for ya'."

"Let's get him home."

"I won't forget this, Leon."

"I won't let ya'," Vance said before signing off.

…

He woke to white walls and a TV hanging from the wall. For a while, he just stared at it. He felt like a man who'd run one hundred miles. The idea of lifting his head seemed overwhelming. A snort broke his reverie and his eyes found Dr. Mallard slouched in a chair beside his bed gently snoring.

He smiled. Ducky had shown up at Gibbs' cabin with Navy medics in tow. The old man fussed with every move they made, and it had been incredibly comforting to have him there. Ducky had always represented a sense of calm. He'd kept his eyes on him through the flurry of IVs, needles, poking, and prodding.

Tony muscled his way in to look at him with a wide grin. When DiNozzo was feeling good, it was infectious and McGee remembered thinking that it had been a long time since he'd seen that smile.

He heard a door swing open and he swiveled his head. The boss poked his head in. "Ready for visitors?"

McGee nodded. On the side of his bed, Ducky sat up with a grunt, his glasses sliding down his face. Ducky made a grab for his glasses as Gibbs walked up. "How's he doing, Duck?"

Glasses secured on his face, he peered at McGee. "He's looking good. Electrolytes are balanced. I can see color on his face."

"What about my leg?" Tim murmured.

"Twenty-three stitches and IV anti-biotics. You'll need to stay off it a few days. The frostbite on your left foot is healing nicely although those toes will always be sensitive to the cold now. CAT scan on your head looked good. Give it a week and you'll be as good as new."

McGee looked at Gibbs. "I was a fool."

He waved an arm. "I don't want to have that conversation again. It happened and now it's over. Hopefully, we're all a little smarter as a result."

"It should only take a few days for me to get back to work."

Gibbs' mouth twitched. "Take your time, Tim."

"Knock, knock." Tony's face appeared at the door. "Room for two more?"

Without waiting for an answer, Tony came in with a couple of bags followed by Abby. She was all smiles as she rounded the bed and gently took his face. Her nose wrinkled as she considered his bruises, but then she leaned in and kissed his cheek. "Merry Christmas, Timmy!"

"I ruined it for you, Abbs."

"Well, we only thought you were dead for like a half a day," Tony said as he pulled a silver garland out of a bag. He pulled some tape out as well, and started taping the garland up on the wall.

Abby jumped up and rifled through the other bag, pulling out lights and bulbs. She got up and started wrapping lights around the TV and the chairs.

"What are you guys doing?"

"Having Christmas. Like the Grinch, you stole it from us."

"Don't forget your part in all this, DiNozzo," Gibbs said.

McGee frowned at Ducky. "The hospital is okay with this?"

"I suspect they are running with the better to ask forgiveness than permission defense."

Tony ran back to the door and found more bags. He grabbed a table from the corner of the room and pulled out eggnog, a bottle of bourbon, frosted sugar cookies, chips and dip, and other assorted treats. "We'll set up a little buffet right over here."

McGee raised his head. "Sugar cookies?"

Abby plucked a green frosted tree off the plate and brought it over. "I made this one just for you."

McGee took it gingerly and looked at Ducky. "I could really use some calories."

Ducky chuckled.

Tony pulled out a DVD and a player. Gibbs groaned. "It's a Wonderful Life again."

"Ziva loved that movie," Abby said.

"Boss, it's called a tradition, and I would say that recent events call for a retrospective on appreciating the ones we love." Tony started fiddling with the TV. "Now McGoo, remind me where these wires go."

McGee made a move to get out of bed, but Ducky put a hand on him. "Figure it out yourself, Anthony."

Gibbs held up his Ipad. "Well, I won't be bored at least. Got through the first three chapters of that book you put on there at my dad's house. This is a really neat book reader."

"Actually, Gibbs, you can do a lot of other things with an Ipad as well. I could show you," Abby said.

Gibbs shook his head. "Don't need it for anything else. Book reading is good enough for me."

"Right." She and McGee exchanged a look.

Tony offered McGee an eggnog and bourbon, but Ducky intercepted it. "I'll take that, Anthony. He's not quite ready for spirits."

McGee lay back against the pillow and watched as Tony tried to hook up the DVD player to the TV. He clearly had the cables reversed, but watching him struggle with it was almost better than the movie itself. Gibbs sat in a corner sipping bourbon straight with glasses hanging off the end of his nose as he read Master and Commander on the Ipad. Ducky had strolled over to the food and was sifting through the offerings.

"Timmy." He blinked and found Abby standing there with a Santa hat. She smiled and fit it snugly on his head. "It's the best we could do on short notice."

He smiled. "It's everything."

"I wish she was with us."

He squeezed her hand. "As long as she's in our hearts, she's here, Abbs."

"It works! Can you believe it! Look!" Tony danced away from the TV and pointed. Jimmy Stewart's face filled the screen. "Hey Tim, move over. I'm climbing in. No place to sit."

"What!" McGee's eyes widened.

"Don't give me that surprised look!" He said as he climbed in the bed on the side without the IV bag and wriggled in next to McGee. "You and me cuddling. It's a thing now."

"Boss!"

…

The End