NCIS: McBaby

Chapter 33

A/N Thank you for all the kind words! I hope you enjoy!

It was still dark the following morning when Gibbs was awakened by a quiet whimpering. Assuming it was Jethro he waved his hand in the air, "Go back to sleep, dog it's not time to get up yet." When the whimpering continued, an exasperated Gibbs finally opened his eyes. Tim was crying softly, the new stuffed dog Tony bought for him clutched tightly against his chest. It had been a long night for the pair, Tim's fever continued to spike along with vomiting and other unpleasantries. The two of them had only managed a couple of hours of sleep and a few hours ago when Gibbs finally got Tim to sleep, he breathed a sigh of relief hoping they could both get some much needed rest. Apparently, Tim's body had other ideas, which did not include either of them getting any sleep. He was about to ask Tim what was wrong but the smell confirmed his suspicions immediately. He ran his hand soothingly down the toddler's back, "Aww Timmy it's okay, let's get you cleaned up again." He collected the youngster in his arms, slid out of bed and carried him over to the makeshift changing table. Quite frankly, Gibbs was surprised the little guy had anything left in his body to expel given the amount he had already dealt with. Tim contently sucked on his thumb while Gibbs tended to him.

When he finished Gibbs looked over at the clock on the nightstand. It was only five thirty in the morning and he felt bad about waking Ducky, but Tim's illness was getting worse. He patted Tim on the belly, "I'm going to wake Ducky, he needs to examine you and see if a trip to the hospital is necessary." The panicked look on Tim's face broke his heart, "I promise you, we will only go if absolutely necessary."

He leaned down and kissed Tim's forehead, "Stay right here and I'll be back in a jiffy."

Quietly walking down the hall to the guest bedroom, Gibbs knocked on the door, but didn't get a response. He opened the door, walked to the bed and gently shook Ducky's shoulder. The doctor immediately sat up and looked around the room before his eyes finally focused on Gibbs.

"Jethro, what is it?" His voice was hoarse, his hair tousled as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

Gibbs handed Ducky his glasses off the nightstand, "It's Tim, I'm worried about him, we've been up most of the night with these flu symptoms."

Ducky sighed, "Poor lad, let's go take a look, shall we?"

As the doctor propelled his legs over the bed, stood up and started walking toward the master bedroom, Gibbs stopped him.

Ducky was confused, he figured Gibbs wanted him to examine the boy right away, "What's wrong, Jethro?"

Gibbs lowered his voice; "I'm worried the Greys slipped something in Tim's food or drink that caused him to become ill."

The older man nodded, "I see; I believe if that were the case, Timothy would have started showing signs much earlier. How long has it been since the initial regression?"

Gibbs counted back the time in his mind, "Probably been close to six days now, Duck."

"Uh huh and how long did it take before those previous victims fully returned to adulthood?"

Suddenly the light bulb went off in Gibbs' head, "You think Tim could be on his way to becoming an adult again?"

"Anything is possible, Jethro. Now let's go take a look at your little boy."

Upon entering the bedroom, they found Tim dozing off, promptly opening his eyes when he heard the two men.

Ducky took his place next to the changing table, "Sorry you're not feeling well Timothy, let me examine you and then you can go back to sleep."

Gibbs took his spot near Tim's head and gently brushed the hair off his forehead, "Ducky's going to take really good care of you, buddy."

Tim popped his thumb out of his mouth, "U take gweat cawre of me dada."