Title: Legends (19/?)
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 obsessive about things from time to time). Then, a few days ago, this popped up. As usual, AU like nobody's business.

Part one here; Part two here; Part three here; Part four is here; Part five is here; Part six is here; Part seven is here; Part eight is here; Part nine is here; Part ten is here; Part eleven is here; Part twelve is here; Part thirteen is here:Part fourteen is here;Part fifteen is here; Part sixteen is here; Part seventeen is here; Part eighteen is here


Tim felt someone slam into him and heard the gunshot at almost the same time. He pivoted, twisting to one side, and found himself looking down at Gibbs, the knife protruding from his chest, a man in fatigues and night goggles slumped against the wall near the door, and Tony still with a gun in his hand. His mind dismissed the last two as irrelevant; the world narrowed down to the body at his feet, twitching slightly as blood seeped out around the blade. Dropping to his knees, he pressed the palm of his left hand to the top of Gibbs' head and the right to his chest directly above the knife. He could feel Gibbs' life-essence flickering as his body went into shock.

“Jack!”

Not waiting for an answer, he took off his jacket and threw it aside. As he started to pull his turtleneck over his head, he felt Jack's hand – it had to be Jack, none of the others had hands that size – cup his neck and squeeze hard.

“What the hell do you think you're doing?”

He looked up into the stormy gaze defiantly. Jack knew exactly what he was going to do. “Are you going to help me or not?”

Jack's hand tightened and his eyes grew even darker. Tim felt as if Jack was trying to read his mind. He dropped his mind shields and simply waited. Then, to his relief,  Jack sighed in defeat.

“On your own head it will be.”  He made a sweeping gesture with his free hand. “Everyone here. Now.”

He waited until the others had gathered around them. Tim noticed that Ianto had taken a place near Gibbs' feet. Not for the first time Tim wondered about Ianto's odd ability to know exactly what Jack needed him to do. Both Martha and Gwen were convinced that Ianto was a telepath with a single open line leading directly to Jack, and suddenly Tim understood why.

“Director, stand by Gibbs' head. His connection to you is work related and intellectual. Ziva, DiNozzo, across from Tim. In many ways he considers you his kids. Tim, strip. Ianto, help me strip Gibbs. Cut the shirt away.”

“Strip him?” Vance nearly yelped. “Why don't we just call an ambulance?”

Jack took a deep breath, visibly finding a small drop of patience somewhere. “The only thing keeping Gibbs alive is that knife and it won't do that for much longer. By the time an ambulance gets here he'll be dead. Tim is going to try an Aa'el ritual to bind Gibbs' life-essence to his body using his own essence as a catalyst. For it to work, they must touch flesh to flesh. If you are discomforted by the sight, we can manage a circle without you.”

The look Vance gave him could have burned Jack's beloved RAF coat off his shoulders. “I'll stay.”

Jack simply nodded, then knelt next to Tim. “We need to time this right. The moment I pull out the knife his body will start to shut down. You have to keep his saiat inside him. It's going to hurt like hell,Tim.”

“I know.”'

Jack pulled Tim closer. Their eyes met and Tim saw everything he needed to see in the immortal's eyes: pride, respect, and a sadness so deep Tim couldn't see what lay beyond. Impulsively he leaned forward and pressed his open lips to Jack's. A few second later he felt energy flowing into him, an incandescent, living thing that bathed each one of his cells with wild power.

He pulled back, smiling. “What was that for?”

“A little insurance never hurts.”  Jack gripped the knife. “Ready?”

Tim lay across Gibb's body, aligning their hearts and reaching out to grip Gibbs' right hand with his left. He dropped his mental and physical barriers and nearly flinched at what he found. Gibbs was almost gone. “Hurry!”

Jack pulled the knife out in a single smooth motion. Tim felt pain slam into him as Gibbs' saiat tried to escape the injured body. He fought back, sending his own life-essence into Gibbs, trying to reach the willful spark that still refused to give in to death. The pain burned tracks of agony along every nerve. Tears flooded his eyes, but he held on stubbornly, taking Gibbs' fear and desperation into himself and replacing it with all the passionate need, all the sexual craving, all the love he had carried for years.  Gibbs' saiat seemed to shrink back, then flared up and out eagerly, reaching for what Tim offered.

Tim felt their fusion as a shock of joy that jolted his ta'saiat into full awareness. The wires extruded silvery filaments that flowed from his hip onto Gibbs' chest, burrowing in and around the wound. Tim didn't have to look to know what pattern it had taken: Ta'tai family of the Ta'tau'el clan. Gibbs had been tested by his family's guardians and found worthy. Even if he rejected the bonding, Gibbs would forever carry Tim's mark. He felt savagely glad.

He pressed his mouth to the new sigil, exhaling some of Jack's energy into the already healing wound. A weak gasp answered him. He looked up to find Gibbs looking at him. Tim shifted slightly until their mouths met. It was an oddly chaste kiss, but Tim could feel Gibbs' own need flow along the bond, a confirmation and a promise.