Title: Legends (1/?)
Author: Merucha
Characters: Tim McGee, Jack Harkness, Ianto Jones, Leroy Jethro Gibbs, plus the usual Torchwood and NCIS suspects
Rating: Some chapters definitely not safe for work.
Disclaimer: Oh, please. If I owned them, would I let some of those idiots write the scripts? And if I were making any money off them, would I be where they could find me?
Summary: After the events of Bloodbath, Tim McGee accepts a offer from a total stranger
Author's Note: A few weeks ago I was watching some NCIS episodes and came across Bloodbath. I hated both Abby and Gibbs in it. I hated the humiliation of making Tim kneel all day for something that was someone else's fault. I fumed for days (I am a bit obssessive about things from time to time). Then, a few days ago, this popped up. As usual, AU like nobody's business.

Taft Bridge
Rock Creek Park
2:00am

“It's a long way down.”

Tim rested his head on the concrete base of the eagle lamppost. “I'm not planning to jump.”

“Well, thanks the Vortex for that. I'd hate to think that I came all the way from Cardiff to find you just in time to watch you splatter your brains on the Parkway.”

The words jerked Tim out of the suffocating fog that had wrapped itself around him from the moment he had spoken to Sarah. Her mockery had been, he supposed, the most fitting ending to a miserable day. He had stumbled out of his apartment and wandered the streets of DC for hours, not really knowing where he was and where he was going. It was just his luck that he had ended up in a place where NCIS often did business.

He turned, hand gripping the butt of his SIG Sauer. The man facing him, hands held loosely away from his body, took handsome to ridiculous lengths. Tall, with brown hair shot through with gold that gleamed in the lamplight, eyes that looked dark but he would bet were blue, and the smile of someone who had done it all and would happily go back for seconds. But it was the RAF topcoat that made him nearly swallow his tongue.

“You're Captain Jack Harkness,” he blurted. “Torchwood. It's real? You're for real?”

The smile widened into lasciviousness. “You want me to prove it?”

“Jack. Let's not scare off Mr. McGee.”

There was a sort of amused weariness in the low, musical voice. Tim realized that he had been so focused on the Captain that he had completely missed the man standing behind him. His first impression was that he was the perfect complement, or maybe contrast, to the flamboyant man in the RAF coat. The hair was a bit darker and curlier and the eyes a bit lighter. Instead of period costume he wore what was obviously a bespoke suit in a rich dark fabric and a turtleneck to match. He looked to be about Tim's age, give or take, but he seemed years ahead in self-assurance.

“Let me introduce Ianto Jones. He cleans up after me, gets me everywhere on time, and he looks gorgeous in a suit.”

The younger man's smile told Tim that both the words and the men had a long intimate history. They looked like everything he had always tried to be and never could pull off. Suddenly he couldn't understand why these two would want to have anything to do with him. He took a step back.

“What does Torchwood want with me?”

“We want to offer you a job. You're wasted here, Tim.” The Captain seemed much older and much sadder. “And we need a computer wizard.”

A number of seemingly unrelated facts came together into a pattern. “JadeLotus is dead.”

“Her name,” the younger man said, “was Toshiko Sato. She was my best friend. A year ago she told me that if something ever happened to her I should find you and drag you back to Cardiff. You were wasted in the basement, she said. When she died, I went to Jack and told him. And it turned out he already knew about you.”

Tim focused on the Captain. “Why would you be interested in me?”

“Long story. Come on, Tim, what have you got to lose?”

Tim shrugged. “If my day was any indication, not a fucking thing, Captain. But I've never been one to buy a pig in a poke. Give me something.”

“I can tell you about your mother.”

The words smashed through Tim's bitterness. He had always known Millie McGee was not his mother; the Admiral had a penetrating voice and he always assumed children stayed where they were put after lights out. Not that she had ever been anything but a loving parent, and he loved her for that. But she had a new life and a new family. And Sarah.

“You've got yourself a deal, Captain. Do I get to write a letter of resignation?”

“If you want to. But Ianto has a much better idea.”

Tim looked at the younger man. There was a sharp edge to that lovely smile that made Tim write himself a mental note never to piss Ianto Jones off.

“What are you going to do?”

“I'm going to make you disappear.”