Chapter 17

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Tony looked up with a grin as Tim walked into the kitchen.

"Coffee?" Tony asked pushing a mug towards him.

'Thanks.' Tim signed as he took the mug from his brother.

"You ready for today?" Tony asked.

Tim shrugged, 'I'm not sure, I mean what if it's not good news?' He signed.

"Then we face it, together, as a family." Tony said, "It won't make any difference to us. You and I are family and that's all there is to it."

Tim smiled; It had been good, the last month getting to know Tony as his brother rather than his co-worker.

It had been good, Tim had helped Tony with his sign language and to his surprise found out that Tony was a quick study and he picked it up faster than he had thought possible.

They had talked late into the night, Tony telling Tim about their mother and his memories of her; Tim telling him about his childhood. The good things and some of the embarrassing things that had made Tony laugh so loud that Gibbs had come up from the basement to tell them to keep the noise down, which had made Tony laugh harder.

Gibbs for his part had enjoyed having them stay. He was still helping Tim with his appointments and Tim had seen his speech therapist who was helping him prepare his voice if all went well at his next appointment Tim would hopefully start talking again. Tony had recovered from his injury, the stitches were due out in a few days, but even though he could have gone back to work on desk duty, he had used some of his accrued leave time to keep his brother company.

The hardest part of the month had been the trip into the office a few days ago to brief Vance on the situation.

They had arrived early, Tim hoping to be in and out before the main shift showed up.

It wasn't that he didn't want to see anyone, but he was worried about what rumors had gone around in his absence.

Tony too was worried about the same thing only he hadn't let on to his brother about his apprehension. Also, despite his promise he hadn't called Abby. He had been avoiding her so he wasn't sure of what reception she was going to give him.

"What do you wanna do first?" Gibbs asked as they entered the building, "Vance or Abby?"

Tony stopped dead and looked surprised at Gibbs.

"What?" Gibbs said with a slight smirk, "We talk... Besides, she's missed you two."

"I doubt that." Tony replied.

"Ok, Vance." Gibbs smiled and hit the button on the elevator to take them to the bullpen. He didn't say a word as the brothers stepped out of the elevator onto the floor, turned the small corner and stopped dead.

"Still think Abby hasn't missed you both?" Gibbs asked as he put one hand under both boy's mouths and closed them.

Both Tim and Tony's desks were festooned with Candles, (Unlit as Vance had forbidden Abby to light them in case the fire alarm system kicked in.) Balloons, ribbons, small notes from Abby on how much she missed them, a spray of Black roses on both desks, life sized cut out Tim and Tony's sat at each desk.

"How long?" Tony asked.

"She's been doing this since the day you were shot, she didn't want either of you to feel alone and since she couldn't come and see you she turned your desks into shrines."

'We aren't dead boss.... Are we?' Tim signed.

Gibbs shook his head, "You sure you don't want to see Abby first?" He asked again, looking behind the boys to see Abby, fresh flowers in hand making her way to the bullpen.

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⏰ Last updated: Apr 22, 2016 ⏰

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