Timothy McGee Imagines

Nightmares

McGee's POV

I walked into work to see Agent Y/L/N already there. I waited for Tony to arrive and grabbed him.

"What's with you?" He asked as he tore his wrist out of my hand.

"Y/N's already here."

"She always beats me here," Tony shrugged.

"True," I sighed, "but she doesn't usually beat me here."

"Oh. . ." He said slowly. We walked over where we could still see Y/N but she couldn't see us.

"What are you two doing?" Gibbs asked slowly as he appeared behind us.

"Y/N got here before McGee," Tony said.

"Oh," Gibbs said under his breath.

"Do you think this has to do with our last case?" I asked.

Our stalking case last week took a bad turn. Y/N and DiNozzo were taking the night shift to protect a petty officer. DiNozzo was parked in front of the house while Y/N was inside. The stalker snuck in through the back window. He knocked Y/N out from behind and tied her to a kitchen chair.

DiNozzo went into the apartment when Y/N wasn't responding to her phone. When he walked in, he found the guy pointing a gun at a barely conscious Y/N. She woke up to Tony shooting the stalker. As we were wrapping up the scene, I noticed Y/N off to the side. Whenever I tried to talk to her about it, she shrugged and said she was fine.

"What do we do?" Tony asked.

"Nothing," Gibbs sighed.

"What?" Tony and I said in sync.

"Boss, she's obviously struggling with what happened," I said, looking at her again.

"Shouldn't we talk to her?" Tony asked.

"You can try," Gibbs said, "but most likely, she'll say the same thing she's been saying since DiNozzo untied her; she'll lie and say she's fine."

Gibbs walked past us and headed over to his desk. Tony and I shared a look before following Gibbs.

"Morning, Y/N," I said.

"Morning, Y/N," Tony repeated.

"Morning, boys."

"Did you have a good weekend?" I asked.

"It was fine," she shrugged.

We went through the day like normal but I couldn't stop looking over at Y/N. I could see how tired she was.

"Alright," Gibbs said, making me look away from Y/N, "there is an apartment downtown. Here's the address. McGee and Y/L/N take the first watch. DiNozzo and I will releave you at 0700."

"On it, boss," I said. I grabbed my gear and went to the elevator, waiting for Y/N to grab hers. Suddenly DiNozzo jogged over.

"Y/N trusts you," he started.

"And?" I shrugged.

"Maybe you can get her to talk about our last case," he whispered. "We're worried about her. She won't talk to me. She won't even talk to Gibbs. Maybe she'll talk to you."

"Everything okay?"

Tony and I both jumped at Y/N's voice. She stared at the two of us and slowly reached around us to click on the elevator button.

"Would you two like to take the first shift?" She asked. "I don't mind hanging with Gibbs if the two of you need alone time."

"I was just reminding Probie Sr. to take care of you," DiNozzo winked.

"I can take care of myself," she sighed as she walked into the elevator. DiNozzo and I shared a look before I got into the elevator with her.

As we got the car and parked it in front of the apartment building, we didn't say anything. A few hours into our stakeout, I looked over, my heart sinking into my stomach when I noticed Y/N was asleep. I didn't bother to wake her up.

Reader's POV
I gasped awake, tears instantly in my eyes as I looked around. It took me a minute to realize where I was.

"Y/N?"

I jumped at McGee softly saying my name. He reached over and gently put his hand on my knee.

"Are you okay?" He asked. He paused before saying, "And please, Y/N, tell me the truth. Are you okay?"

I let out a shaky breath as the tears streamed down my face. I struggled to form words so I just shook my head. He grabbed my hand and intertwined our fingers.

"You don't need to keep this bottled up," he said softly. "Talk to me, Y/N."

"It just keeps replaying in my mind," I barely got out. "All I can think about is. . . What would've happened if Tony hadn't. . ."

When I couldn't get anything out, McGee pulled on my hand and brought me into his chest. I let out a shaky breath but it turned into a quiet sob.

"Tony got to you," McGee gently reminded me. "We always have your back."

"I know," I said shakily. "I just can't stop thinking about the 'what ifs' and the 'almost'. He would've killed me, Tim."

When I said his first name, he tightened his arms around me. We sat like that for a few seconds before slowly breaking apart. We looked into each other's eyes, the tension in the car suddenly thick.

"We should. . . We're supposed to be watching the apartment," I said, turning away from him.

"Y/N," he stopped me. "I need you to promise me something."

"What?"

"The next time you have a nightmare, I want you to call me."

"Tim. . ."

"I mean it," he cut me off. "I don't care what time it is. Call me."

"I'm not going to call you," I sighed.

"Y/N, I want you to call me," he said again.

"Why?" I demanded a little harsher than necessary.

"So you're not alone."

I looked at him with tears in my eyes. He lowered his voice as he continued, "You have been trying to go through this alone, Y/N, but that's just it. You're not. You have us. And every one of us has had nightmares."

"Even Gibbs?" I asked, making him smile.

"Even Gibbs," he nodded. His smile dropped as he said, "Promise me you'll call."

"It might be late. . ."

"I don't care," he said, shaking his head. "Promise me."

"I promise."

* * * * *

With tears streaming down my face, I reached over and grabbed my phone off my nightstand.

"Hello?" McGee's tired voice came through the phone.

"Tim," I said, my voice breaking.

"Y/N? Are you okay?" He paused before asking, "Was it your nightmare?"

"Yes."

"Okay," he said gently. "What do you need? Do you want to talk or do you want me to come over?"

"It's 3 in the morning," I stuttered. "You don't have to come all the way over."

"I don't mind." I could almost see the soft smile on his face. "Just tell me what you need, Y/N."

"I need these nightmares to go away," I sobbed.

"I'm on my way."