Glover moved away again and Tony turned, and grabbed a Kevlar vest from the pile. He pulled it on, his eyes as dark as McGee had ever seen them. Then he undid脫下(衣服) his shirt sleeves and pushed them up his arms. McGee saw the long, familiar ridge成脊狀 of twisted scarring on his left arm and wondered what Tony was thinking now, with Gibbs and Louis trapped in a cabin that had just become a giant bomb. He hoped that Tony wasn’t thinking about Ziva and what had happened to her.
Glover再次離開了鏡頭、而Tony也轉過了身，他從成堆的防彈衣中抓起了一件。他穿上防彈衣，他的眼神就像是McGee曾經看過的那樣陰暗。然後他脫下他的Ｔ恤包括了袖子然後將防彈衣掛在手臂上。McGee看見一條長長的，熟悉的扭曲脊痕在他的左手臂上、他想要知道Tony現在正在想什麼，當Gibbs和Louis被阻擋在一個可能會變成巨大炸彈的小屋裡時。他希望Tony沒有想到Ziva還有發生在她身上的事情。
「So what’s the plan, McGee?」 Tony asked, in a low, dark tone.
「所以、計畫是什麼，McGee？」Tony開口問，用一種低沉，危險的聲音。
「He wanted a news crew — let’s give him one,」 McGee said. 「Morris, Sacks — go borrow a couple of cameras from those news crews out there.」
「他想要新聞團隊—那我們就給他一個。」McGee說。「Morris，Sacks—去找那裡的新聞團隊借幾台攝影機。」
「I don’t think they’ll like that, sir,」 Morris said.
「我不認為他們會喜歡這樣，長官。」Morris說。
「I don’t care!」 McGee growled. 「Do it!」
「我不在乎！」McGee咆哮。「做就對了！」
Sacks and Morris disappeared and McGee turned to Tony.
Sacks和Morris接著消失了然後McGee轉向了Tony。
「I’m going in there with Sacks and Morris,」 he said. 「They’re going to be the news crew he asked for.」 McGee grabbed a small, hand-held便攜式的 monitor監視器 from his technical unit so that he could view the interior of the cabin as they approached接近 it.
「我會和Sacks及Morris一起進去那裡面。」他說。「他們會假裝是他所要求的新聞團隊。」McGee從他的機器中抓過了一個小型的，便於攜帶型的監視器、這樣一來他們就可以在靠近時看見小屋的內部情況。
「I’m coming with you,」 Tony said grimly. McGee looked at him for a long moment, and then nodded. There wasn’t any point in telling Tony he had to stay behind — he wouldn’t do it, and in all honesty McGee didn’t blame him.
「我和你一起去。」Tony用可怖的聲音說。McGee看著他好長一段時間，然後才是點點頭。沒有任何理由可以說服Tony待在後方—他不會這麼做，而且誠實地說他也不會因此而怪罪於他。
「Okay — but stand behind me, and I’m doing all the talking — understand?」
「ＯＫ—但是你得站在我身後，並且讓我去談話—了解？」
Tony’s eyes flickered evasively but he nodded. 「Whatever, McGee. Let’s just get up there.」
Tony的眼中閃過了逃避的神色但他仍是點點頭。「隨便你，McGee。就是讓我們儘快到那兒就對了。」
Sacks and Morris reappeared with cameras and McGee filled them in on the plan, and then they walked slowly up the hillside to the cabin. From the outside it looked so peaceful, just a little wooden木造的 cabin in the middle of nowhere, but McGee could see the SWAT警察特種部隊 team hidden in trees all around the place. Glover had boarded up all the windows in the cabin though, so unless he was stupid enough to stand in the open doorway McGee doubted the SWAT teams would be much use.
Sacks和Morris再出現時已經帶著攝影機接著McGee告訴了他們計畫，然後他們緩慢地走向了小山丘上的小屋。小屋從外面看起來很和平，就只是一個在山坡中段的木造小屋，但McGee可以看見SWAT（警察特種部隊）正躲在周遭的樹後待命著。Glover用木板把小屋的所有窗戶都封起來了，所以除非他蠢到會站在打開的門邊否則McGee猜SWAT隊伍大概一點用也沒有。
McGee stopped several yards away from the door and then raised his megaphone擴音器.
McGee在距離門口數步之遠的庭院裡停下腳步然後舉起了他的擴音器。
「Mr. Glover — my name is Timothy McGee and I’m here to help you. You called for a news crew; I have them here for you,」 he said.
「Glover先生—我的名字是Timothy McGee、我是來這裡幫助你的。你曾經打電話要求要新聞團隊；我帶他們來了。」他說。
He glanced at his hand-held monitor and saw Glover pull on a piece of cord. The door swung open, and McGee could just about make out the dark interior.
他看向他的攜帶式攝影機並且看見Glover拉動了繩子。門緩緩打開了，McGee卻只看見內部一片漆黑。
「No shot,」 the captain of the SWAT team confirmed in his earpiece耳機.
「不要開槍。」SWAT隊伍的隊長在他的耳機裡確認了命令。
「Send them in,」 Glover shouted. 「I’m ready. By the way — I’m sure you already know this place is wired to explode at the press of a button. Well, I have the button right here.」
「讓他們進來。」Glover大聲叫道。「我已經準備好了。順帶一提—我相信你已經知道這裡的炸彈都被我連結起來並設置成一個開關了。Well，現在開關就在我的手上。」
He held up his hand and McGee glanced at the monitor again and saw he was holding a box with a single green button on it. He looked at Tony.
他舉起了他的手然後McGee再次看向了攝影機並且也看見了他的手中抓著一個只有一顆綠色按鈕的盒子。他看向了Tony。
「Not a dead man’s switch,」 Tony mouthed, but even so, that wasn’t a great deal of comfort安慰. Even if they got a shot at him it’d have to be a damned good one to make it worth the risk of his finger hitting that button and the entire place going up in a big ball of flame.
「只有死人才能關掉開關。」Tony無聲地說，但即使如此，這也不是什麼值得安慰的好主意。即使他們能夠漂亮的將他一槍斃命、但只要他的手指頭觸及按鈕那麼這整個地方都會變成一個大火球。
「Okay — look, we just want you to have a chance to tell us what’s upset you,」 McGee said loudly, in his most soothing voice. 「We know there’s a lot you want to say and this is your chance to say it. There’s no need for anyone to get hurt — the world is watching you right now. Everyone is watching you and listening to you — you don’t need to hurt anyone to get people to listen. They’re already listening.」
「ＯＫ—你看，我們只是想要給你個機會告訴我們是什麼在困擾你。」McGee大聲地說，用他自認最能安撫的聲音。「我們知道你有很多想說的而這就是你可以說出來的機會。這並不需要有人受到傷害—現在全世界都在看著你。所有人都在看著你並準備聆聽你要說的—你不需要透過傷害任何人來讓人聆聽你。他們已經準備好要聆聽了。」
「Send in the news crew,」 Glover yelled.
「讓新聞團隊進來。」Glover吼道。
McGee glanced at Morris and Sacks. They could all be walking to their deaths — for all he knew, Glover could just press that button the minute they got in there, but Morris and Sacks didn’t hesitate. They all walked slowly into the cabin, Tony bringing up the rear後面.
McGee看向Morris和Sacks。他們可能正在走向死亡—就他所知，Glover大可在他們走進的瞬間就按下按鈕，可Morris和Sacks沒有猶豫。他們緩慢地走進小屋，Tony跟隨在了他們身後。
Once inside, McGee didn’t allow himself the luxury of glancing over to the far wall, where he knew Gibbs and Louis were huddled縮在一起的. Instead, he made eye contact with Glover as soon as he got in there, trying to build some kind of a rapport with the man. Glover had a gun in one hand and the detonator爆鳴器 in the other. Morris swung her camera around as if she was a pro, looking every inch the seasoned經驗豐富的 newshound.
一旦進去了，McGee就無法允許讓自己看向更遠的那片牆，那片他知道Gibbs和Louis正縮在一起的牆。因此作為替代的，他盡己所能地迅速掃視過Glover的周遭，試圖在腦海裡建立起有關這男人的一切。Glover的一隻手有把槍而另一手拿著炸彈的引爆器。Morris轉動她的攝影鏡頭彷彿她真的就是個攝影師，她掃過每寸角落就像是個經驗豐富的新聞記者。
「You don’t have to do this, Paul,」 McGee said softly. 「We know you’re angry about your little boy. We’ve found Nathan — he’s waiting down the hillside for you. If you want, we could go down there and see him right now.」
「你不需要這麼做，Paul。」McGee輕聲地說。「我們都知道你對於你的小男孩的事情非常生氣。我們已經找到Nathan了—他就在小山丘下等你。如果你想，我們現在就可以一起下去那裡找他。」
「I don’t believe you,」 Glover replied, stony-faced. 「See, I asked if I could visit him but they said I couldn’t. They said I wasn’t allowed near him, like I’m more of a danger to my boy than those filthy汙穢的 cunts蕩婦 who stole him from me. When I think he has to live with that…he has to see them kiss and touch and they tell him that’s *normal*...it makes me fucking sick.」
「我不相信你。」Glover回道，神色相當冷漠。「你看，我問過能不能去找他但他們說不行。他們說我不被允許靠近他，好像我對那男孩來說比那個把他從我身邊偷走的下流蕩婦還要危險似的。每當我想到他要和她們一起生活…他必須看著她們接吻還有碰觸對方還告訴他這是〝正常〞的…這讓我他媽的想吐。」
「It’s not right,」 McGee told him. 「I agree. It’s not right. It’s not fair. But your argument isn’t with that little kid over there — let him go, Paul. Let Louis go.」
「這並不是對的。」McGee告訴他。「我同意你說的。這並不是對的。這不公平。但是你所爭吵的並不是那邊的那個小男孩—讓他離開，Paul。讓Louis離開。」
「The world should know how wrong it is,」 Glover continued. 「I have to tell everyone that it’s wrong.」
「這個世界必須知道它錯得有多離譜。」Glover繼續說道。「我必須告訴每個人這是錯的。」
「You are. That’s what you’re doing right now — telling the world,」 McGee said. 「That’s what these news crews are here for. They’re telling everyone.」
「你的確是對的。這正是你現在所做的—告訴全世界。」McGee說。「這也是這些新聞團隊在這裡的原因。他們準備好告訴每個人了。」
「I want to see it,」 Glover said. 「On the TV. Show me.」 He pointed at the TV sitting in the corner of the room. 「Turn it on. I want to see it,」 he said.
「我要看到它播出。」Glover說。「我要看到那在電視上。播給我看。」他指向房間角落的電視。「打開它。我要看到它播出。」他說。
Tony took a sharp intake of breath but McGee just walked over there and turned it on. Immediately an image flashed up of the outside of the cabin. An attractive吸引人的 female reporter was standing there talking, saying that they were now receiving接到 footage鏡頭 from inside the cabin, and then feed from Morris’s camera began playing. McGee shot Tony a little look — he’d trained訓練 the NCIS technical unit himself, and he *knew* they were the best; he hadn’t given them much time but he had never doubted they’d pull this off.
Tony尖銳地吸了一口氣、但McGee只是走過去並打開了電視。電視裡直接閃爍出現了小屋外的景色。一位引人注目的女記者正站在那裡說著話，說他們正在接收來自於小屋內部的影像，接著並開始播放Morris的攝影機所拍到的畫面。McGee給了Tony短短的一瞥—NCIS的技術團隊是他親自訓練出來的，而且他〝知道〞他們是最好的；他沒有給他們太多的時間但他從未讓他失望過。
「See,」 McGee said, turning back to Glover. 「The whole world is watching. You can say whatever you like.」
「你看。」McGee說，並轉回身面對了Glover。「全世界都在看。你可以說任何你想說的。」
He saw Tony glance over at where Gibbs and Louis were sitting, in the far corner, slumped倒下的 against the wall, and he hoped he wasn’t going to do anything stupid.
他看見Tony瞪向Gibbs和Louis坐著的地方，較遠的那個角落，他們靠躺著牆，而他希望他不會做出什麼愚蠢的事情。
Glover tucked his gun into his thigh大腿 holster手槍皮套, but his grip on the detonator didn’t falter.
Glover把槍塞回了他大腿上的手槍皮套裡，但他握著引爆器的手卻沒有猶豫。
「Give me the mike麥克風,」 he said, gesturing at the large black microphone Sacks was holding. Sacks moved towards him, clearly trying to get within combat range, but Glover wasn’t an idiot. 「Roll it on the floor!」 he ordered. Sacks paused, and then crouched down and did as he was told. Glover picked it up and then looked straight into Morris’s camera and began talking. He talked fast, and was so enraged激怒 that he didn’t make a lot of sense.
「給我麥克風。」他說，伸手示意向了Sacks所拿的黑色大型麥克風。Sacks往前拿給了他，很顯然地是想試著向前走進範圍內，但Glover不是個笨蛋。「在地板上滾給我！」他命令道。Sacks頓了頓，然後蹲了下來做了他要他做的事。Glover在拿到麥克風後就直直地看向Morris的攝影機並開始說話。他說得很快，像是除了生氣沒有其他的感覺了。
「They say it’s normal but it isn’t. You know it isn’t. America knows it isn’t,」 Glover was saying. Tony glanced at McGee, and then at Gibbs. 「It’s sick and it’s disgusting. These people are corrupting our little kids, and we’re letting them. Passing laws saying they can marry, like they’re normal people when they aren’t. They’re filth, and they want to screw around with our kids…Someone has to stand up and say it how it is and I look around and people aren’t listening. People aren’t *listening* to us. They’re not listening to *me*.」
「它們說這是正常的但其實不是。你們知道這不是。美國知道這不是。」Glover開始了說話。Tony看向了McGee，然後再看向Gibbs。「這讓人噁心也讓人想吐。這些人腐化我們的孩子，而且我們放縱他。通過法條宣布他們能結婚，讓他們不是正常人卻可以假裝是。他們是污穢的，而它們想帶壞我們的孩子…必須要有人站出來並說出來這件事、但我看過了沒有人在聽。沒有人〝聽從〞我們的意見。沒有人聽從〝我的〞意見。」
「I am,」 Tony said suddenly. McGee glared at him but Tony ignored him and stepped forward, holding up his hands in a gesture of surrender. 「I’m listening, Paul, and you’re right. You know me, don’t you? I’m Louis’s dad — I’m the person you really want, not Louis. He’s just an innocent little kid. He’s like Nathan — just a child. You don’t want to hurt him — you want to hurt me.」
「我在聽。」Tony突然說道。McGee瞪向他但Tony忽略了他並向前站了站，他張開雙手昨了投降的姿勢。「我有在聽，Paul，而且你是對的。你知道我，對吧？我是Louis的爸爸—我才是你想要的那個人，不是Louis。他只是個純潔的孩子。他就像Nathan—只是個孩子。你不想傷害他的—你想傷害的是我。」
Glover stared at him, his eyes flashing angrily.
Glover死瞪著他，他的眼神閃著怒火。
「When you went to my house last night you really wanted me and Gibbs — you didn’t want Louis. You just took him because I wasn’t there, didn’t you?」 Tony said softly. 「I know you didn’t mean to take him, because I know you’re a dad and you wouldn’t hurt a kid.」
「當你昨天晚上闖進我家時你其實真的想要的是我和Gibbs—你其實不想要Louis。你帶走他只是因為我當時不在家，對吧？」Tony緩緩地說。「我知道你並不真的想帶走他，因為我知道你是個爸爸而且你不會傷害孩子。」
McGee saw the faint little glimmer of uncertainty in Glover's eyes. He was pretty sure that Glover *had* intended to take Louis but he could also see that Tony was giving him an out here.
McGee看見微弱的不確定在Glover的眼底閃著。他相當確定Glover〝的確〞是有計畫要帶走Louis但他也看見Tony正在給他一個台階下。
「It’s me and Gibbs who should burn. You’re right. We’re the ones who should suffer受懲罰 — not Louis,」 Tony said softly. 「Why don’t you take me instead of him, Paul? I'll be your hostage. It's me and Gibbs you want, not Louis. We’re the ones you want to punish, not him. Let him go, Paul. Just let me go over there and get him. I’ll give him to McGee and he can take him out of here but I'll stay as your new hostage. Then you can do whatever you want to me and Gibbs.」
「是我和Gibbs應該被火燒。你是對的。我們才是那個應該受懲罰的—不是Louis。」Tony緩緩道。「你何不用我代替他，Paul？我來當你的人質。我和Gibbs才是你想要的，不是Louis。我們才是你想懲罰的那個，不是他。讓他離開，Paul。讓我進去把他帶出來。我會把他交給McGee好讓他帶他離開這裡、而我留下來當你的新人質。然後你可以對我和Gibbs做任何你想做的事。」
McGee could see the uncertainty in Glover’s eyes. He’d meant to do this, had psyched himself up to it and had known exactly how he intended to play it, but now Tony was confusing him.
McGee可以看見Glover開始不確定了。他似乎想這麼做，他正興奮於他所知道他確實要去做的，但現在Tony讓他困惑了。
「Let me just go over there…」 Tony said, taking a step towards where Louis and Gibbs were sitting. 「You’ll still have two hostages — me and Gibbs — but let Louis go. He’s just a kid. Like Nathan.」
「讓我就只是到那裡…」Tony說，並往前走向Louis和Gibbs坐著的地方。「你仍然有兩個人質—我和Gibbs—但讓Louis離開。他只是個孩子。就像Nathn一樣。」
That seemed to swing it for Glover, and he gave a curt nod. 「Okay — you can take the kid — but you stay here. When this place goes up, you’re going up with it,」 he growled.
這看起來打動了Glover，然後他草率地點了點頭。「ＯＫ—你可以帶走孩子—但你要留在這裡。當這地方爆炸時，你也會跟著一起爆炸。」他咆哮道。
「That’s fine. I deserve that. This is my fault,」 Tony said softly, moving silently but fast towards the far wall. He got there, grabbed Louis, and walked swiftly back. He shoved Louis into McGee’s arms. 「Go, take him — quickly, Tim. Go out and don’t come back,」 Tony said urgently.
「那很好。我應得的。這是我的錯。」Tony緩緩地說，並安靜、迅速地移動到較遠的那片牆去。他到達那裡，抱起Louis，然後迅速地走了回來。他將Louis塞進McGee的臂彎裡。「走，帶他走—快一點，Tim。離開這裡不要再回來了。」Tony要求地說。
McGee stared at him. Tony and Gibbs were his team, his family — he couldn’t just leave them here to die. If he didn’t though, Louis might die too, and Tony had just bought Louis’s life with his own.
McGee死瞪著他。Tony和Gibbs是他的隊伍，他的家人—他不可能就這樣放他們在這裡等死。但如果他不離開，Louis可能也會死，而Tony會認為那都是他自己的錯。
「Tim, you’re my best friend. With me and Gibbs gone you’re the only person I trust to take good care of him,」 Tony said fiercely. 「He’s yours now — go. Go!」 he barked.
「Tim，你是我最好的朋友。如果當我和Gibbs都不在了的話、你是唯一我相信可以好好照顧他的人。」Tony強調地說。「他現在交給你了—走。快走！」他厲聲道。
McGee knew he had no choice — he turned and ran out of the door, desperate to get Louis to safety, half expecting Glover to press that button and for the cabin to blow up behind him before he got Louis out. He ran a little way down the hill with the child, and met the paramedic醫務人員 team waiting on standby down there, with Ducky hovering徘徊 anxiously beside在…近旁 them. McGee didn’t have a clue how and when Ducky had got there but he was glad to see their old friend. Ducky took Louis out of his arms, and McGee pulled his knife out of his sock holster and cut the ropes繩 around Louis’s wrists and ankles踝關節. The little boy threw his arms around him and clung緊握不放 on tight the minute he was free.
McGee知道他別無選擇—他轉身並跑出門，極度渴望讓Louis安全，半期望Glover在他帶著Louis離開之後才會按下那個足以炸掉整個小屋的按鈕。他抱著孩子跑了一段距離下了小山丘，然後看見了在那裡等待著的醫務人員，而Ducky則是焦急地在他們旁邊徘徊。McGee完全不知曉Ducky是為什麼又或者是何時來到的、但他仍是很開心能看到他們的老朋友。Ducky從他手中抱走了Louis，然後McGee拿出了他筒襪中的小刀並切斷了Louis手腕及腳踝上的繩索。小男孩在一獲得自由後就緊緊地抱著他不放手。
「Uncle Tim, there’s a bad man and he hurt Boss,」 he said, his little body trembling發抖 against McGee’s.
「Tim叔叔，那裡有個壞蛋他還傷害了Boss。」他說，他的小身軀儘管靠著McGee卻仍是發抖著。
「I know, Louis, but it’s okay. It’s okay,」 he soothed.
「我知道，Louis，不過現在沒事了。沒事了。」他安慰地說。
「It’s not! Boss was bleeding worse than anything I’ve ever seen, even when I had that nosebleed that time,」 Louis told him. 「And the man kept hitting him, and Daddy is in there now and…」
「才沒有！Boss流血得好嚴重、比任何一次都嚴重，比我上次流鼻血還嚴重。」Louis告訴他。「而且那個男人一直打他，而且爹地現在還在那裡、而且…」
「Ssh…it’s okay…」 McGee said soothingly, feeling Louis's breathing hitch as his body shook even more. 「I know, I know.」
「噓…沒事了…」McGee安慰地說，並感覺到Louis急促的呼吸甚至比他顫抖的身體還嚴重。「我知道，我知道。」
He glanced back at the cabin in an agony苦惱的 of indecision. Tony had told him not to go back, and it was true that if that place went up in smoke that Louis would lose both his parents and that would make McGee and Ducky all he had left. All the same, McGee didn’t think he could just leave them there. He had to DO something.
他帶著猶豫不決的苦惱看向了小屋。Tony告訴他不要回去，而那是對的、如果真的那個地方被炸成了一片混亂、那麼Louis就會同時失去了他的雙親並只剩下McGee和Ducky在他的左右。但同樣地，McGee不認為他可以就這樣把他們丟在那裡。他必須做些什麼。
「Louis — I need you to go to Ducky now — okay?」 he said. The little boy was so traumatised使受精神創傷 and clinging執著的 onto him so tightly that it was all McGee could do to let go of him, but Ducky reached out his arms and Louis saw a familiar face and allowed Ducky to pluck him away.
「Louis—我需要你去Ducky那裡—可以嗎？」他說。小男孩執著地緊緊攀附著他像是受了精神創傷、而這是McGee唯一能為他做的，但Ducky已經來到並張開了手、而Louis在看見了熟悉的臉孔後還是答應了讓Ducky將他抱走。
McGee took out the handheld monitor from his pocket and looked at it. Glover was pointing his gun at Tony, forcing him back against the wall, next to Gibbs. Tim turned, and ran back up the hill, listening to Glover talk via憑藉 his earpiece as he went.
McGee從他的外套上拿下了便攜式攝影機並觀看了內容。Glover正拿槍指著Tony，並強迫他背靠上牆，就在Gibbs的旁邊。Tim轉了身，並跑回了小山丘上，在這途中他憑藉著耳機聽著Glover的說話。
「You two — leave now. I’ve said what I have to say,」 Glover commanded Morris and Sacks. 「Go outside and film拍攝 this place getting blown sky high. I told them they’d burn but they didn’t pay me any attention. Nobody ever paid me any attention — well now they’ll have to.」
「你們兩個—現在馬上離開。我會說我要說的。」Glover指揮著Morris和Sacks。「到外面去然後把這地方被炸得半天高的樣子拍起來。我告訴他們會被火燒但是他們一點也不注意這個。從來沒有人給過我注意的視線—現在它們必須要注意我了。」
McGee glanced at the hand-held monitor as he drew close. He could see Sacks backing out of there and watched, in slow motion, as Morris turned as if to follow him, and then she moved fast, so fast she was a blur, and her gun was in her hand when it hadn’t been a moment before, and she threw the camera sideways at the same time as she fired her gun. McGee sprinted the final couple of steps towards the cabin, knowing that if Morris had missed then Glover would be right on the brink邊緣 of pressing that button and the whole place would go up, taking all of them with it…
McGee在關掉攜帶型攝影機之前又瞪著它好久。他可以看見Sacks退出那裡並不忘監視著，用盡其所能的緩慢動作，而Morris轉過身就像是跟隨著他，接著她迅速地移動著，快得讓她身形看起來有點模糊，然後在瞬間她拔出了自己的槍，接著她在丟下攝影機的剎那間開了槍。只剩幾步距離的McGee快跑向小屋，因為他知道如果Morris失手了、那麼就會更將Glover推向了更想按下按鈕的邊緣、然後整個地方都會受波及，帶著他們所有人一起…
McGee heard a crash inside and he ran into the cabin to find Glover lying flat平的 on his back on the floor with a hole in his head, eyes wide open in death, the detonator still held loosely鬆弛地 in his hand. McGee crouched down beside him and removed the detonator from his fingers, then barked into his wire to his explosives unit to get up to the place and make it safe.
McGee聽見裡面傳來碰撞的聲音然後他跑進了小屋裡並發現了Glover已經仰面躺平在地上而頭上有個小洞，眼睛因為突來的死亡而睜得老大，而炸彈的引爆開關仍舊鬆鬆地握在他手上。McGee蹲在他身旁然後將爆炸開關從他的指間裡拿出，然後將之覆蓋的金屬絲用專門處理炸彈的工具收好使這個地方安全。
「Get out,」 he ordered Morris and Sacks. 「Just in case this place still blows. We don’t know how he rigged it.」
「出去。」他對Morris和Sacks命令說。「這地方仍有可能爆炸。我們不知道他是如何安裝它們的。
McGee ran quickly over to the far wall, where Tony had pulled a knife from his sock holster and had cut through the ropes around Gibbs’s wrists and was busy sawing away at the ones around his legs.
McGee迅速地來到較遠的那片牆邊，在那裡Tony正在用他收在襪中的小刀幫Gibbs除去手腕上的繩子、在忙碌中他只瞥了一眼蹲在他腳旁的人。
McGee crouched beside Gibbs. 「You okay?」 he asked anxiously. Gibbs nodded.
McGee蹲在了Gibbs的身旁。「你還好嗎？」他焦急地問。Gibbs點點頭。
「I’ve had worse,」 he growled.
「我有過更糟的。」他咆哮說。
「We’ve got a paramedic team outside waiting,」 McGee told him.
「我們在外面有醫護團隊等著。」McGee告訴他。
「Louis?」 Gibbs asked.
「Louis呢？」Gibbs問。
「He’s fine. Ducky’s looking after him.」
「他很好。Ducky正在看顧他。」
「I told you not to come back, McGee,」 Tony snapped at him.
「我告訴你不要再回來了，McGee。」Tony對著他厲聲說。
「I know.」 McGee shrugged. 「I’m sorry. It was instinct. You’re still my team, even after all this time.」
「我知道。」McGee聳聳肩。「我道歉。這是本能。你仍舊是我的隊友，即使是現在。」
Tony finished cutting through the ropes around Gibbs’s ankles and then picked up his good arm, slung it around his shoulder, and helped him to his feet. McGee had rarely seen Gibbs show pain but he did see a little flicker of a grimace pass across his face as Tony pulled him up. Tony clearly saw it too, because he wrapped an arm around Gibbs’s waist腰部, and held him tight as he swayed歪斜 on his feet.
Tony解完了Gibbs手腕上的繩子後將他完好的那隻手舉起，並將之掛上了自己的肩頭，用以幫助他站起。McGee很少看見Gibbs表露出痛楚但在Tony幫助他站起時他的確是看到了Gibbs的臉上閃過了痛苦的表情。Tony肯定也看見了，因為他將一隻手勾上了Gibbs的腰部，以幫助他站穩歪斜的腳步。
「Uh, McGee knows,」 he said, in an apologetic tone. 「About us.」
「呃，McGee知道了。」他說，用一種認錯的聲音。「關於我們之間的事情。」
「I figure the whole damn world knows about us now,」 Gibbs muttered, glancing at the TV set.
「我猜現在該死的全世界都知道我們之間的事情了。」Gibbs咕噥道，瞪向了電視。
「Uh — no actually. Just the people in this room and in the cabin down the hillside,」 McGee said. 「That wasn’t a real news broadcast廣播 — Glover just thought it was. I had my technical team patch罩住 it in using a…well, you don’t need to know how of course,」 he said hurriedly, seeing the look Gibbs was giving him. 「Just that nobody saw it — it wasn’t a real broadcast. It was just for Glover’s benefit義演.」
「呃—不完全是。只有這棟小屋裡的人和山丘下那棟小屋裡的人。」McGee說。「那不是真的新聞廣播—只是Glover覺得它是。我讓我的技術團隊蓋住了頻道、用…well，你們不需要知道、當然。」他迅速地說著，並回視著Gibbs看他的視線。「反正就是沒有看見那個—那不是真的廣播節目。那只是演給Glover看的。」
「Way to go, McGeek,」 Tony grinned at him as he half-carried Gibbs out of the cabin. 「You had me fooled蠢.」
「該走了，麥基客（McGeek）。」Tony半扶著Gibbs走出小屋並對著他笑說。「你讓我顯得愚蠢。」
「Of course that’s not hard,」 Gibbs commented. Tony grinned at him too, and then, much to McGee’s surprise, pressed a kiss against the side of Gibbs’s face.
「當然那一點都不難。」Gibbs評論道。Tony也笑看著他，然後，超乎McGee意料的，他在Gibbs的臉上親了下。
「I love you too, Boss,」 he said. Gibbs rolled his eyes, but McGee noticed that the hand he had wrapped around Tony’s shoulder squeezed, gently, in response.
「我也愛你，Boss。」他說。Gibbs翻了個白眼，但McGee注意到他掛在Tony間上的手摟了摟，溫柔地，給予了反應。
「You did good in there,」 Gibbs said wearily. 「Both of you.」
「你在那裡做得很好。」Gibbs疲倦地說。「你們都是。」
「Worth an ＆attaboy’?」 Tony asked cheekily厚臉皮地. Gibbs grinned, and moved his hand to stroke閃擊 the back of Tony’s head.
「比『幹得好』再糟一點？」Tony厚臉皮地問。Gibbs咧著嘴笑了，然後移動他的手到Tony的腦袋後給他一下。
「Attaboy,」 he murmured, and Tony gave an absurdly愚蠢地 wide smile, lapping up the petting擁抱/接吻等愛撫行動. McGee remembered what he’d said about needing to be touched, and it suddenly occurred to him how very tactile (有)觸覺的Tony was. He’d never thought about it before, but seeing Gibbs and Tony standing in front of him like this he had a sudden flash of insight深刻的理解into how it worked between them — maybe how it had always worked. All those head slaps Gibbs had been giving Tony for so many years served the dual雙 purpose of slapping some good sense into him and giving him the physical contact he craved渴求 so much. No wonder Tony always seemed to do his best to provoke誘導 Gibbs into delivering實現 them.
「幹得好。」他咕噥道，然後Tony給了一個大大的蠢笑，然後擁抱著他。McGee想起了關於Tony所告訴他的關於需要碰觸的事情，而這樣的Tony突然在他心底具象化了起來。他在這之前從未思考過這個，但看到Gibbs和Tony像這樣站在他面前他卻突然對於他們之間到底是怎麼運作的有了深刻的理解—也許它一直就是這樣運作的。所有Gibbs給Tony的那些腦袋上的巴掌都有兩方涵義、為了給他些好的感覺還有為了給他些所渴求的身體上接觸。難怪Tony總是盡其所能的要誘導Gibbs對他這麼做。
They got outside and a team of paramedics rushed forward and took Gibbs away from Tony, and put him on a gurney (醫院裡推送病人用的)輪床. A second later there was a little cry and a blur of blue and red dashed急奔 past McGee and straight into Tony’s arms and settled there, clinging on tight. Tony put his arms around Louis and held him as if he’d never let him go, kissing his hair and face repeatedly.
他們來到外面後一隊醫護隊衝上前將Gibbs從Tony的身上扶開，並將他放到了病人用的輪床上。數秒後有個小聲的哭泣搭配著一團紅藍色的模糊身影竄過McGee身邊並直直衝進了Tony的臂膀裡埋著，緊緊地黏著不放。Tony伸手環住了Louis抱著他像是再也不會讓他離開似的，不停地親吻著他的頭髮及臉龐一遍又一遍。
「Boss said you’d come for us,」 Louis said. 「He said you would and you did, and there was a bad man who hurt Boss — his arm was bleeding and he said it didn’t hurt but I knew it did and we were locked in the trunk of a car and Boss said to go to sleep but I couldn’t so we sang songs and he made up stories and he said you’d come and I thought maybe you wouldn’t but then you did and the bad man put rope around my hands and it hurt, Daddy.」
「Boss說你會來找我們。」Louis說。「他說你會而且你正在找，還有那裡有個壞人傷害了Boss—他的手臂受傷了然後他說那不會痛可是我知道他會痛然後我們被鎖在車子的後車廂裡然後Boss叫我睡覺可是我睡不著所以我們開始唱歌然後他說故事給我聽然後他說你會出現然後我想你可能不會可是你出現了然後那個壞人用繩子綁住我的手然後那好痛，爹地。」
Louis paused for a moment in his stream流動的 of consciousness talk to hold up one arm, which bore a little white bandage around the wrist. Tony kissed it, over and over again.
Louis不自覺地停下了喋喋不休的話語、並用一隻手抱得更緊，那隻手的手腕上還貼著小小的白色繃帶。Tony吻著那隻手，一次又一次地。
「I’m sorry, Lou. I’m so, so sorry,」 he said. 「I called Uncle Tim as soon as I knew you were missing and we didn’t stop looking for you until we found you.」
「我很抱歉，Lou。我非常，非常抱歉。」他說。「我在知道你不見的第一時間就打電話給了Tim叔叔、我們一直不停地尋找你們直到我們找到為止。」
「We weren’t lost though,」 Louis told him, urgently, as if this was very important. 「Boss said we weren’t lost because he was with me and he knew where we were and that you knew too and would come and get us so we weren’t really lost.」
「我們沒有走丟了。」Louis告訴他，帶點急促地，像是這是件很重要的事。「Boss說我們不會走丟因為他跟我在一起而且他知道我們在哪裡而且你也知道而且你會來找我們所以我們不是真的走丟了。」
「No, just missing — not lost,」 Tony said, kissing Louis’s cheek. 「Not really lost.」
「對，就只是不見了而已—不是走丟了。」Tony說，並吻上了Louis的臉蛋。「不是真的走丟了。」
「Is Boss okay?」 Louis looked around anxiously.
「Boss還好嗎？」Louis焦急地看著四周。
「He’s fine. He’ll get a bandage just like yours and he’ll be okay,」 Tony told him.
「他很好。他跟你一樣會有個ＯＫ蹦然後他就會好了。」Tony告訴他。
「I was scared. Boss said it was okay to be scared but I was really scared,」 Louis said.
「我好害怕。Boss說害怕沒關係可是我真的很害怕。」Louis說。
「I know. Me too.」 Tony rested his forehead against Louis’s and held him quietly, rocking him in his arms for a long, heartfelt真誠的 moment. 「I couldn’t lose you, Lou,」 he said, in a choked tone. 「I love you, Louis,」 he whispered. 「I love you so much.」
「我知道。我也是。」Tony用他的前額抵住Louis的然後靜靜地抱著他，緩緩地用他的手臂搖晃著他在這長長的，衷心的時刻。「我不能失去你，Lou。」他說，用一種哽咽的聲音。「我愛你，Louis。」他低聲說。「我好愛你。」
「I love you too, Daddy,」 Louis told him, and then he pulled back and looked at his father. 「Boss says I can have a puppy,」 he added. Tony laughed out loud.
「我也愛你，爹地。」Louis告訴他，接著他拉出一點距離然後看著他的父親。「Boss說我可以養隻小狗。」他補充說。Tony大聲地笑了出來。
「Yeah, you can have a puppy, Lou,」 he sighed. 「Now, shall we go and see Boss?」
「沒錯，你可以養隻小狗，Lou。」他嘆氣。「現在，讓我們一起去看Boss？」
Louis nodded eagerly and McGee followed them over to the ambulance救護車. The paramedics had cut Gibbs’s shirt off him and bandaged his wounded arm and he looked a little better — his face was a little less grey than it had been although his jaw was badly bruised and cut in places. Ducky was standing beside him, rolling his eyes in exasperation — an emotion that seemed to be shared by the equally同樣地 frustrated-looking挫敗的眼神 paramedic who was busy placing Gibbs’s bandaged arm in a sling.
Louis簡短地點點頭然後McGee就跟在他們身後一起走向了救護車。救護人員已經將Gibbs的Ｔ恤從他身上剪開了並且包紮起了他受傷的手臂、這讓他看起來好點了—他的臉看起來仍是有點慘灰不過那是因為他的下巴有嚴重的瘀青及傷口。Ducky正站在他身旁，生氣地翻著白眼—這情緒看起來像是分享著一旁眼露挫敗的救護人員一樣、他們正忙著用繃帶包起Gibbs的傷口。
「They want to take me to the damn hospital,」 Gibbs grumbled抱怨.
「他們想把我帶去那個該死的醫院。」Gibbs抱怨。
「Yeah, good luck with that,」 Tony said to the paramedic.
「是啊，祝你們好運。」Tony對著救護人員說。
「I think you should go,」 McGee said. Gibbs glared at him. 「You were shot — you’ll need more than just patching up,」 McGee pointed out. 「And he hit you with his gun a few times as well — we should make sure he didn’t break any bones.」
「我認為你應該去一趟。」McGee說。Gibbs瞪著他。「你中彈了—你需要的不只是包住它而已。」McGee指出。「而且不久前他還用他的槍打你—你必須確認他沒有打斷任何一處的骨頭。」
「The gunshot is a flesh wound,」 Gibbs said irritably. 「It looks worse than it is, and trust me, McGee, I’d KNOW if I’d broken any bones.」
「槍傷是新的。」Gibbs暴躁地說。「它只是看起來糟糕而已，相信我，McGee，如果我骨頭哪裡壞了我會知道。」
「You really are the most exasperating patient病人, Jethro,」 Ducky remonstrated with a heavy sigh. 「It’s always the same. I don’t know why I even dared to think it might be different this time around.」
「你真是個最讓人生氣的病人，Jethro。」Ducky重重地嘆了口氣後告誡地說。「總是一樣的。我都不知道為什麼我會覺得這段時間之後你會有所不同。」
「Only way they’ll get me into a hospital bed again is if I’m unconscious,」 Gibbs growled. 「Can’t stand the damn food in those places, either.」
「他們唯一能再次把我送進醫院病床上的方法就是如果我失去意識的話。」Gibbs咆哮。「還有沒法用自己的該死的腳站著，也是。」
「I’ll get you some painkillers,」 the paramedic sighed. 「The heavy-duty kind. You’ll need them.」
「我會給你些鎮痛劑。」醫護人員嘆了口氣。「劑量比較重的那種。你會需要的它們的。」
「Waste of time. He won’t take them,」 Tony said with a shrug. 「He’ll be fine. Let him come home with us.」 He gave Gibbs a hard look. 「Ducky can keep an eye on you but if at any time he says you need to go to the hospital then I’ll drive you there myself. Oh, and if the only way you’ll go is unconscious, well, I’m sure I can arrange that.」 Gibbs glared at him and Tony raised an eyebrow, daring him to protest抗議, and then, much to McGee’s surprise, Gibbs sighed and looked down in capitulation投降協定. Tony grinned.
「別浪費時間了。他不會使用的。」Tony聳聳肩說。「他會很好的。讓他和我們一起回家吧。」他給了Gibbs嚴厲的一眼。「Ducky會好好地盯著你、一旦任何時候他說你必須去醫院那麼我會親自載你去。噢、還有，如果你會進醫院的唯一方法是失去意識，well，我很確定我會同意這個的。」Gibbs瞪著他而Tony揚起了一邊眉毛，大膽地對他抗議，然後，出乎McGee意料的，Gibbs嘆了口氣並垂下視線表示同意這條件。Tony咧著嘴笑了。
「Are you okay now, Boss?」 Louis asked, looking torn between wanting to be wrapped around Gibbs and wanting to stay wrapped around Tony.
「你現在還好嗎，Boss？」Louis問，表情看起來掙扎於想要抓著Gibbs又想要抓著Tony。
「I’m fine, Louis,」 Gibbs told him, with a little smile.
「我很好，Louis。」Gibbs告訴他，帶著一個小小微笑。
「Why did that man want to hurt you and Daddy?」 Louis asked.
「為什麼那個男人想要傷害你和爹地？」Louis問。
「Why do you ask so many questions?」 Tony said, tickling Louis and making him giggle.
「為什麼你要問這麼多問題？」Tony說，然後開始騷他的癢癢讓他格格笑著。
「Because I want to know the answers!」 Louis replied sensibly, still giggling. 「Why did he take us, Boss? Why did he bring us out here? Why did he let me go and keep you and Daddy? Why was he making a bomb? Why didn’t he like us?」
「因為我想要知道答案！」Louis覺察地說，仍舊格格笑著。「為什麼他要抓我們，Boss？為什麼他要把我們從這裡帶走？為什麼他要讓我離開卻留著你和爹地？為什麼他要做炸彈？為什麼他不喜歡我們？」
「It wasn’t you he didn’t like, Louis — it was me and Boss,」 Tony told him.
「他不是不喜歡你，Louis—他是不喜歡我和Boss。」Tony告訴他。
「But why?」 Louis insisted.
「可是為什麼？」Louis堅持地問說。
「Because he was mixed up in his head,」 Gibbs replied. 「He thought your dad and I wanted to get married and it upset煩躁 him.」
「因為他搞混了他的腦袋。」Gibbs回道。「他認為你的爹地和我想要結婚而那讓他煩躁。」
「You and Daddy are getting married?」 Louis’s eyes widened excitedly. Gibbs sighed.
「你和爹地要結婚了？」Louis的眼睛興奮地瞪大了。Gibbs嘆了口氣。
「No — that’s just what he thought and that’s why he was mad at us.」
「我們沒有—那是他認為的而且那就是為什麼他對我們生氣的理由。」
「Why would that make him mad?」 Louis asked, confused.
「為什麼那會讓他生氣？」Louis問，帶著困惑。
「Well, that’s a good question,」 Tony said with a shrug.
「Well，那是個好問題。」Tony聳聳肩說。
「Why aren’t you getting married?」 Louis asked, continuing his run of incessant不停的 questions. McGee almost laughed out loud at the look on Gibbs’s face — until he saw the musing look on Tony’s.
「為什麼你們不結婚？」Louis問，繼續他連珠砲似的問題。McGee差點因為Gibbs臉上的表情而大聲笑了出來—直到他注意到Tony臉上沉思的眼神。
「Well, that’s another good question,」 Tony said thoughtfully深慮地. 「Why don’t we, Boss?」 He glanced at Gibbs, and his eyes were alive and dancing in a way that McGee hadn’t seen them in a very long time.
「Well，那是另一個好問題。」Tony沉思地說。「我們為什麼不呢，Boss？」他看向Gibbs，而他的眼神裡充滿著McGee已經很久沒有看過的生動以及手舞足蹈。
「Tony…」 Gibbs said in a warning tone. 「If I was standing up right now and could reach then I’d slap the back of your head.」
「Tony…」Gibbs用一種警告的聲音說。「如果我現在是站著的而且可以碰到你的話、我會給你的後腦勺來上一個巴掌。」
「Aw — you wanted me to be more romantic about it? You should have said!」 Tony grinned. He got down on one knee, so that he was level with Gibbs on the gurney, Louis still in his arms.
「嗷—你希望我再更羅曼蒂克一點？你應該說的！」Tony咧齒笑著。他半跪了下來，這樣他就和輪床上的Gibbs一樣高了，而Louis還在他的懷裡。
「Leroy Jethro Gibbs — will you marry me?」 he said. 「I love you, and, as McGee pointed out, you’re the longest relationship I’ve ever had. Admittedly I haven’t been the best boyfriend in the world but it’ll be different going forward, I promise. McGee has been making me see myself in a different way these past couple of days, and, well, nearly losing you and Louis has sure as hell made me re-examine再審視 my priorities. So…marry me. Please.」
「Leroy Jethro Gibbs—你願意嫁給我嗎？」他說。「我愛你，而且，就像McGee提醒的，你是我有過的最長的一段關係。無可否認地、我之前並不是這世界上最好的男朋友不過將來會不一樣的，我發誓。McGee在過去這幾天讓我看到了我自己，並且，well，差點失去你和Louis簡直像個地獄、這讓我再次檢視了自己應該有的優先考慮。所以…嫁給我。拜託。」
Louis was grinning, looking from Gibbs to Tony and back again excitedly. Gibbs was glaring at Tony so hard that McGee wondered if Tony had a death wish kneeling so close to him, and definitely within slapping distance.
Louis笑得咧開了嘴，視線興奮地在Gibbs和Tony之間來回。Gibbs用他最嚴厲的眼神瞪著Tony以至於McGee猜想他這甚至像是在跪著求死，因為他很明確地就在巴掌的距離內。
「Come on! I know you’ve never been that great at the whole marriage thing but hey - fifth time lucky?」 Tony grinned. Gibbs *did* slap him for that. Tony laughed. 「Was that a yes?」
「快點來嘛！我知道你之前經歷過的所有婚姻都不怎麼樣不過、嘿—第五次的幸運？」Tony咧嘴笑著。Gibbs為了這個〝給〞了他一個後腦杓拍。Tony大笑。「這是答應了？」
「Say yes, Boss!」 Louis urged excitedly.
「說我願意，Boss！」Louis興奮地催促著。
「This isn’t fair,」 Gibbs growled.
「這不公平。」Gibbs咆哮。
「I know!」 Tony grinned. 「But hey, if I have to put up with a dog in the house for the next god knows how many years, the least you can do is wear my damn ring on your finger.」
「我知道！」Tony咧齒笑著。「不過、嘿，如果我接下來必須把一隻狗放在我的房子裡天知道的多少年，那麼最少你可以做的就是帶著我該死的戒指在你的指頭上。」
「You’re crazy,」 Gibbs muttered. Tony’s grin widened.
「你瘋了。」Gibbs咕噥道。Tony擴大了笑容。
「I know that too. C’mon — don’t make me beg. Marry me!」
「這我也知道了。快來嘛—別讓我求你。嫁給我！」
McGee could see Gibbs was weakening衰弱. 「You and Tony do make a fine couple,」 he said, adding his two cents. Now Gibbs glared at him. 「And he is loaded,」 he added. 「So you could always marry him for his money if nothing else.」
McGee可以看到Gibbs的氣勢弱了下去。「你和Tony是對很好的伴侶。」他說，加了他的兩分。現在Gibbs換成瞪向他了。「而且他足以負擔你們的生活。」他補充。「所以你可以為了他的錢嫁給他、如果沒有別的理由的話。」
「Gee, thanks, McGee,」 Tony pouted噘嘴. 「Also, I’m good-looking, charming and great fun to be with. Okay, so not so much lately, but I can be again — I promise. Probie — didn’t you say I had three months vacation time stacked up?」
「切，謝啦，McGee。」Tony噘起了嘴。「還有，我長得帥，迷人以及相處起來幽默風趣。ＯＫ，現在還不算太晚，不過我可以再說一次—我發誓。菜鳥—你是不是說過我還有三個月的假堆在那？」
「I did, Tony.」 McGee nodded.
「我說過，Tony。」McGee點點頭。
「Well I’m taking them — all three months, starting right now,」 Tony said. 「I’ve missed out on a lot these past few years — I have some catching up to do. Also, it’ll give us a chance to plan our wedding.」 He winked at Gibbs.
「那我全請了—三個月全部，從現在開始。」Tony說。「我錯過了之前的幾年—我想要彌補。還有，這也給了我們一個度蜜月的機會。」他對著Gibbs使眼色。
「I haven’t said yes yet,」 Gibbs growled.
「我還沒答應。」Gibbs咆哮。
「You will,」 Tony said confidently.
「你會的。」Tony有信心地說。
「I’m used to being the one doing the asking,」 Gibbs pointed out.
「我正準備問你一個問題。」Gibbs指出。
「So ask.」 Tony shrugged.
「那就問吧。」Tony聳聳肩。
Gibbs thought about it for a moment, and then looked at Louis who was gazing at him with shining eyes, and then, finally, he heaved費力地發出嘆息 a big sigh and gave in讓步.
Gibbs想了片刻，然後看向Louis、後者正用閃亮的眼睛看著他，然後，最終，他費力地嘆了口氣後讓步了。
「Tony,」 Gibbs began. 「Will you…?」
「Tony，」Gibbs開始說。「你是否…？」
「Yes,」 Tony said quickly. 「There see — that was painless.」 He leaned forward, and kissed Gibbs on the mouth before he could say anything else.
「我願意。」Tony迅速地說。「你看—這不太痛的。」他傾斜向前，然後在Gibbs能說什麼之前吻上了他的嘴。
McGee thought he should be shocked or surprised or something to see his old boss and his old friend locked in such an intimate有親密關係的 embrace(相互)擁抱 but oddly it seemed like the most normal thing in the world. In fact, it seemed so normal that he wondered how he’d never realised they were in a relationship before. It all seemed so incredibly難以置信地 obvious now — and kind of *right*. There was an easy back and forth between them, and a banter that only people who loved each other exchanged交換. Gibbs had stuck by Tony when the going was tough, and McGee had a feeling that Tony knew exactly how lucky he’d been to find someone who’d do that. He couldn’t have been easy to live with these past few years, but Gibbs, of all people, knew what it’d been like for him, and had loved him during the dark, bleak times, when he didn’t love himself.
McGee以為當他看到他的舊上司和舊友用這種親密的擁抱連結了彼此時他應要震驚或是驚訝或是其他什麼的、但怪的是那看起來就像是這世上最普通的事。事實上，那看起來正常到他希望自己先前從未猜想過他們之間的關係到底是如何運作的。現在這看起來是令人難以置信的明顯—以及某種〝正確〞的事。他們之間的張力是如此的簡單，還有那些只有互相愛著彼此的人才能交換的玩笑。當這一切越來越牢固時Gibbs早就鎖住了Tony，而McGee感覺Tony早知道他有多幸運可以碰到一個人這麼對他。過去幾年他或許活得並不輕鬆，但是Gibbs，甚於任何人，知道那對他而言像什麼，並且仍舊愛著他即使在那黑暗的，淒涼的時刻，當他自己都不愛自己時。
He looked at them for a moment, feeling a sudden pang of loneliness as he watched Tony and Gibbs kiss and Louis scramble from one lap to the other, happy to be part of the moment. It might be unconventional非常規的 but these three were a family, and while he didn’t begrudge羨慕 them their happiness he did long for his own happy ending.
他看著他們好一會兒，當他看著Tony和Gibbs在接吻以及Louis正在某人的膝上從一邊爬到另一邊時突然感覺到一陣寂寞的劇痛，卻也為這時刻感到高興。它可能不合常規但他們是一家人，而當他不羨慕時他其實是很為他們高興的。
He tore his eyes away and glanced over at Ducky, who seemed to be taking this new development新情況 as much in his stride as McGee. All McGee could see in Ducky’s eyes was a sense of satisfaction滿意 and a little glow興高采烈of happy approval贊成.
他轉開自己的視線然後看向Ducky，他看起來像是和McGee一樣正在為這新情況而努力跨越著自己的心態。McGee所能看到的是Ducky的眼中充滿著某種心滿意足及一些歡欣贊成的興高采烈。
McGee moved away to ensure that the clear-up operation was moving along efficiently. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Tony and Gibbs chatting while Louis nestled in Gibbs’s lap, and then Tony got up and went over to talk to A.D. Sacks.
McGee走了開去確定除爆隊伍清除那些物品的效率如何。在他轉過街角之前他看見Tony和Gibbs正在交談而Louis舒適地安臥在Gibbs的膝上，然後Tony站起身並走向A.D. Sacks說了些話。
McGee turned and almost bumped撞 into Morris.
McGee轉過去然後差點撞上了Morris。
「I just heard from Carter,」 she said, holding up her cell phone.
「我剛從Carter那裡聽了些事。」她說，手上拿著她的手機。
「Shit — I’d forgotten all about Jonssen,」 McGee said, beckoning Tony over.
「狗屎—我幾乎忘了Jonssen的事情了。」McGee說，並叫了Tony回來。
「It’s Carter,」 Morris told Tony when he loped邁著大步走 over to them. 「He just called. About Jonssen.」
「是Carter。」當Tony邁著大步伐走向他們時Morris對著他說。「他剛打來。是關於Jonssen的。」
Tony went very still and McGee sighed, wondering if he’d really meant it about taking three months off — it didn’t seem likely if they had Jonssen sitting in their interrogation room.
Tony靜止了下來而McGee嘆了口氣，希望他說的關於那三個月的假期是真的—那看起來像是如果Jonssen正坐在審訊室裡的話就不會成真了。
「Jonssen was a no-show at the hospice,」 Morris said. 「No sign that he’d been there, either — Carter talked to all the nurses. And there’s not much chance of him showing up now because it's too late — his mother died earlier today.」
「Jonssen沒有出現在安寧療養院那邊。」Morris說。「沒有跡象顯示他去過，完全沒有—Carter和所有的護士都談過了。而且也太晚不太有機會看到他在那裡出現了—他的媽媽今天早上過世了。」
That muscle in Tony’s jaw twitched and McGee held his breath, waiting for the familiar darkness to flood into his eyes the way it always did when a lead on Jonssen went bad. This time, though, it didn’t happen. He just nodded.
Tony下巴上的肌肉緊繃了起來而McGee屏住了呼吸，等待著每當有關Jonssen的線索變壞時都會瀰漫在Tony眼底的熟悉黑暗出現。這次，意外地，它沒有出現。他只是點了點頭。
「Okay. I think I’ve wasted enough of my life — and enough of Louis’s life — chasing after him. If the bastard ever comes near me I’ll go after him, but I’m not chasing him any more. It’s over,」 he said quietly. McGee felt a mixture (感情的)混雜of surprise and relief.
「好。我想我這輩子還有足夠的時間可以浪費—而且Louis也是—去追捕他。如果這的渾球會有那麼一次靠近我、我會跟在他後面，不過我不會親自去追捕他了。結束了。」他靜靜地說。McGee的感覺混雜了驚訝及安慰。
「You mean that, Tony?」 he asked.
「你確定這樣，Tony？」他問。
「Yeah,」 Tony said softly. 「You were right, Tim. I was too busy mourning what I’d lost to notice what I’d still got. And what I’ve got is something pretty damn good — I just didn’t realise that until I almost lost it too.」
「沒錯。」他輕聲說。「你是對的，Tim。我太專注於我所失去的而忘了關心我所擁有的。而我所擁有的那些東西則是該死的相當美好—我只是不去關注直到我差點也失去它。」
Tony glanced back at where Gibbs was still sitting on the gurney, his bandaged arm in a sling, his other arm around Louis who was talking away to him while Gibbs nodded patiently, listening to every word the little boy was saying.
Tony看回Gibbs仍正坐著的輪床方向，他受傷的手臂被包紮著，他的另一隻手環著正和他說話的Louis、Gibbs並不時耐心地點點頭，聽著小男孩所說的每個字。
Tony turned back, and looked at McGee. 「Thank you for helping me bring them home safely, Tim,」 he said softly. 「And now I’m going to do something for you.」 He glanced at Morris. 「Well done, Agent Morris,」 he told her. 「You did a great job in there.」
Tony轉回來，看向McGee。「謝謝你幫我把他們安全地帶回家，Tim。」他輕聲說。「而現在換我為你做些事情了。」他看向Morris。「幹得好，Morris探員。「妳在那裡幹得很棒。」
「Uh…thank you, sir,」 Morris said, looking startled. Tony gave out praise讚美 about as often as Gibbs, McGee thought — in other words, not very often. No wonder she was surprised.
「呃…謝謝你，長官。」Morris說，看起來受到了驚嚇。Tony會給予表揚的機率就像Gibbs一樣高，McGee想—用別的說法就是，很少。難怪她會驚訝。
「I mean it. You could have just got out of there and let him blow the place — and us — to kingdom come, but you took a shot at him, knowing that if you missed he’d press the button and you’d go up with the rest of us. That took guts — and also, it was a damn good shot. I’m glad I insisted on you all taking those regular lessons on the range,」 Tony grinned. McGee smiled; Tony had been just as insistent as Gibbs had always been about his team being able to shoot fast and accurately, and, like Gibbs, he’d been right.
「我意思是。妳大可直接走出房子然後讓他炸掉那裡—還有我們—然後回天國去，但妳對他開槍了，也知道如果妳失手了他就會按下按鈕那麼你就只能直接幫我們收屍了。那需要膽量—以及，那槍射得很好。我很高興堅持把那些規矩都教給了妳。」Tony咧齒笑著。McGee微笑；Tony就像Gibbs一樣總是堅持他的隊伍可以射得迅速及精確，還有，像Gibbs一樣，他總是對的。
「You’re a damn fine agent, Morris,」 Tony said and her face split into an ear to ear grin. 「You’re also fired,」 he told her, and the grin faded immediately.
「妳是個該死的好探員，Morris。」Tony這麼說著、她的笑容簡直可以咧到耳朵去了。「同時妳也被炒魷魚了。」他告訴她，笑容也直接褪去了。
「What?」 she said, looking from Tony to McGee, aghast, but McGee had no idea what Tony was up to. 「Director McGee?」 she said angrily. 「He can’t fire me for doing a good job!」
「什麼？」她說，視線從Tony身上轉到McGee身上，帶著驚駭，但McGee一點也不知道Tony想幹嘛。「McGee處長？」她憤怒地說。「他不能在我做好一個工作時炒了我！」
「Of course he can’t,」 McGee told her soothingly. 「In fact he can’t actually fire you, period沒什麼好說的— I’m the only one who can do that. Tony, what the hell are you playing at? She’s the best agent you’ve got!」
「他當然不行。」McGee安慰地告訴她說。「事實上他不能真的炒妳魷魚，沒什麼好說的—我是唯一一個可以做這件事的人。Tony，你見鬼的在玩什麼？她是你手下最好的探員！」
「I agree,」 Tony said, nodding. 「You’re an exceptional優秀的 agent, Morris, and you deserve to be out in the field. That’s why I brought you with us today — not Carter, not Banks, or any of the others, but you. This was my family in danger — and you were the only one I trusted to do the right thing out here.」
「我同意。」他說道，並點點頭。「妳是個優秀的探員，Morris，而妳理應可以出外勤。那就是為什麼我今天會帶妳出來的原因—不是Carter，不是Banks，或是任何其他人，而是妳。這是我的家人遭遇危險—而妳是唯一一個我信得過可以在這裡做出正確事情的人。」
「So why the hell are you talking about firing her?」 McGee frowned.
「所以為什麼你見鬼的要炒她魷魚？」McGee皺眉。
「Because she was right to complain about me,」 Tony replied with a shrug. 「I’m just surprised it took you so long, Morris. You’re right — I often don’t select you for the more dangerous field work and that’s not a reflection on you or your capabilities能力, it’s just that I don’t want to lose another Kate, or Ziva, or even Abby. And you deserve better, frankly.」
「因為她對我的抱怨是對的。」Tony聳聳肩回答。「我只是驚訝妳這麼久才說，Morris。妳是對的—我通常不會選擇妳去出外勤任務並不是因為妳的能力不夠好，這只是因為我不想失去另一個Kate，或是Ziva，甚至是Abby。而妳應得更好的，坦白說。」
「You can’t fire me because of your own damn issues!」 Morris said hotly.
「你不能因為你該死的愚蠢就開除我！」Morris冒火地說。
「I agree,」 Tony grinned. 「And McGee’s right — I can’t *actually* fire you, and he sure as hell won’t. I was just trying to get your attention注意. You see, I just had a word with Assistant Director Sacks over there, and he was pretty damn impressed印象深刻 with you today and says that if you ever want to leave NCIS then there’s a job waiting for you at the FBI.」
「我同意。」Tony咧嘴笑道。「而且McGee是對的—我不能〝真的〞開除妳，而且他見鬼的也不想。我只是試著想要得到妳的注意。妳看，我剛剛才在那裡和助理處長Sacks談過話，他對妳今天的表現相當該死的印象深刻、甚至還說如果妳想要離開NCIS的話FBI那裡會有個職務在等著妳。」
「Leave NCIS?」 Morris glanced at McGee, an anxious look in her eyes, and then looked back at Tony. 「Why would I want to leave?」
「離開NCIS？」Morris看向McGee，她的眼底滿是焦急，接著又看回Tony。「為什麼我會想要離開？」
「Well, Sacks can offer you a promotion — more money, a chance to lead your own team, and work out in the field. Although I hear your new boss is a complete bastard so that might take some getting used to.」 He grinned at her. She gazed back at him, her face still shocked, unable to take this in.
「Well，Sacks可以讓妳升職—更多錢，有機會去領導妳自己的小組，還可以出外勤。儘管我聽說妳的新上司是個徹底的渾蛋所以妳大概得花點時間去適應。」他對她笑著說。她回瞪著他，她的臉仍是充滿驚嚇，還沒接受這些。
「I don’t want to leave,」 she said, glancing at McGee again. 「I have a lot of loyalty to NCIS, and particularly特別 to Director McGee.」
「我不想離開。」她說，再度看向McGee。「我對NCIS有著忠誠，還有特別是對McGee處長。」
「Yeah…about that,」 Tony said. 「McGee is totally in love with you but he won’t ask you out while you’re one of his agents for some blah blah reason to do with rules and sexual harassment or something — I wasn’t really listening and you know how he likes to go on and on - so if you do take the job with the FBI then he’ll be able to ask you out on a hot date. Or you can stay at NCIS and just gaze at him longingly whenever he walks past because it’s never gonna happen while you still work for him.」
「對…說到這個，」Tony說。「McGee已經完全愛上妳了不過如果妳還是他手底下的探員的話他可不會用什麼balabala的理由約妳出去或是性騷擾妳或是其他什麼—我並不是真的很想聽但妳知道他是怎樣的—所以如果妳接受了FBI的這個工作的話那他就可以約妳出去來個熱情的約會。或者是妳可以繼續留在NCIS看著他時不時的經過妳辦公桌前、因為只要妳仍是為他工作那就永遠不可能發生。」
McGee felt his mouth open like a goldfish, and his face flush from his neck all the way up to the tips of his ears. Morris was looking equally flustered.
McGee感覺他的嘴巴像隻金魚一樣張著，而他的臉從脖子一路紅到耳朵。Morris看起來也是一樣的臉紅。
「What…I don’t…I do NOT *gaze*…」 she floundered掙扎.
「什麼…我沒有…我並沒有〝看著〞…」她掙扎著。
「Yeah, you really do,」 Tony told her. 「Think about it. I’ve done my bit to help the cause of true love between geeks. The rest is up to you two now.」
「沒錯，妳的確有。」Tony告訴她。「想想看。我只花了我片刻功夫就促成了一對電腦基客之間的真愛。你們兩個現在可以放心了。」
「Tony!」 McGee yelled hotly, but Tony had already turned and begun striding away. 「I WILL kill you!」 McGee promised. Tony waved a nonchalant hand in the air.
「Tony！」McGee激動地大吼，但Tony已經轉身並且離開了。「我會殺了你！」McGee發誓道。Tony舉起手隨便揮了揮。
「You’re welcome, Probie!」 he shouted over his shoulder.
「歡迎你，菜鳥！」他越過肩頭大聲喊回來。
McGee turned back to Morris, to find her staring at him.
McGee轉回身面對Morris，然後發現她正直直盯著他。
「You’re totally in love with me?」 she asked.
「你真的愛上我了？」她問。
「Uh…no,」 he said. 「Well maybe. A bit. Well, quite的確如此 a lot actually, but don’t worry, it’s fine, I…」
「呃…不是。」他說。「好吧、可能。有一點。好吧，事實上的確有點，不過別擔心，那沒關係，我…」
He didn’t get a chance to finish that sentence because she flung herself at him and kissed him, hard, on the mouth. She tasted warm and sweet and soft and, once he’d got over the shock, he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her back.
他沒有機會把話說完因為她把自己丟到了他身上並吻著他，深深地，吻在嘴上。她嚐到溫暖以及甜蜜以及輕柔以及，他只有在一開始感到驚訝，接著他抓住了她並回吻著。
「That hot date — make it tonight,」 she told him when she finally released him. He stared at her, feeling giddy. 「You have no idea how long I’ve waited — I’m not waiting another second,」 she said.
「那些火熱的約會—今晚就讓它實現。」當她終於放開他時她這麼告訴他。他瞪著她，感覺到暈眩。「你絕對不知道我等了多久—我不要再等下去了。」她說。
「Uh…how long?」 he asked curiously. 「Have you waited that is?」
「呃…有多久了？」他好奇地問。「是什麼開始讓妳等待？」
「Three years — since the day I joined NCIS and DiNozzo yelled at me all day long and you were the only one who was kind to me. I have this, well, kind of unrequited love habit and my friends have all been saying this is typical of me and that it’s such a clich’e陳腔濫調 to have a crush迷戀 on your boss, but I knew it was more than that even if you didn’t seem aware I existed存在.」
「三年了—從我加入NCIS的那天開始、DiNozzo每天對著我吼叫而你是唯一一個對我友善的人。而我有這個，well，暗戀的習慣而我朋友都說迷戀上自己的上司就是我典型會做的事，但我知道也就僅止於此了因為你根本不知道我的存在。」
「Oh, I knew you existed,」 McGee told her, grabbing her hand and holding it tight. 「I definitely knew you existed, Felicity. Three years though?」
「噢，我知道妳的存在。」McGee告訴她，抓住她的手並緊緊地握住。「我明確地知道妳的存在，Felicity。有三年了？」
「I know!」 She flushed and shook her head. 「You always seemed so lost and lonely and I wanted to stand on my desk and shout at you to get your attention but you never seemed to be looking so I just sat there and stewed燜的 in my unrequited love, the way I always do.」
「我知道！」她臉紅著並搖了搖她的頭。「你總是看起來如此地失落與寂寞、而我總是想要站起來對著你大喊吸引你的注意力但你卻像是從未看到我所以我只好繼續悶著我的暗戀，那是我一貫的方法。」
「Not unrequited,」 he said, aware of feeling something that he hadn’t felt in a very long time — so long, in fact, that it took him a moment to figure out what it was. Hope. It was hope. Hope that after all the sadness of the past, there might actually be some kind of happiness in the future. 「Uh, does this mean you’re accepting the FBI job?」 he asked her anxiously.
「不是暗戀。」他說，並注意到了某種他已經很久沒有感受到的情感—非常久，事實上，那讓他花了些時間才意識到是什麼。是希望。那是希望。希望在所有悲傷過去後，在未來一定會有些快樂的事情降臨。「呃，這意思是妳會接了FBI的工作？」他焦急地問著她。
「I’ll talk to A.D. Sacks — see if I like the sound of it, and then I’ll decide,」 she told him. 「I always thought DiNozzo was such a bastard.」 She shook her head. 「Maybe I was wrong and he isn’t a *total* bastard.」
「我會和A.D. Sacks談—如果我喜歡聽起來的工作情況，那麼我會做出決定。」她告訴他。「我總是覺得DiNozzo真是個混蛋。」她搖了搖她的頭。「也許我錯了因為他並〝不完全〞是個渾蛋。」
「Yeah.」 McGee grinned back at her. 「Like I said, Felicity, he’s a good man — and a good friend.」 He put his hand in his pant pocket to find his cell phone and frowned as his fingers made contact with a small, round piece of metal. He drew it out and shook his head when he saw it was the GPS locator he’d given to Ducky to plant on Tony. Tony must have found it and planted it on McGee instead. 「And he’s also really, really annoying,」 McGee added, rolling his eyes at Tony’s retreating back.
「沒錯。」McGee對她咧齒笑著。「就像我說的，Felicity，他是個好人—也是一個好朋友。」他將自己的手伸進了外套口袋裡想找到手機、卻在手指頭碰到一個微小的，合金製成的東西時皺眉。他將它拿了出來並在看清這是他託Ducky放在Tony身上的GPS時搖搖頭。Tony肯定是找到它並將它放回了McGee的身上。「同時他也真的，真的很煩人。」McGee補充道，並對著Tony退場的方向翻了個白眼。
~*~
McGee stood next to Ducky and watched Louis trying to loosen鬆開 his tie. The boy wasn’t used to wearing a formal suit, but, like his father, he looked fantastic極好的 in one. Tony was wearing a smart時髦的 new suit as well, in soft, expensive grey flannel法蘭絨, and he looked just as good as his son. The two months Tony had taken off work so far had been good for him, as had giving up his blind obsession鬼迷心竅 with chasing after Jonssen. He looked relaxed for the first time in years. McGee knew he’d faced up to his alcohol problem and hadn’t touched a drink in the past eight weeks. He also knew that it hadn’t been easy for him, and he’d had days when he’d occasionally struggled with it. Gibbs had been there with him every step of the way. He’d given up alcohol himself to make it easier on Tony, and had been both tough and loving with Tony while he fought his addiction. Now Tony was eating well and no longer drinking excessively過度地 or working himself to the bone and McGee thought that he honestly looked ten years younger as a result.
McGee站在Ducky身後並看著Louis正試著鬆開自己的領帶。小男孩還不習慣穿正式的西裝，不過，就像他的爸爸一樣，他看起來很棒。Tony穿著一套很不錯的時髦西裝，用輕柔的，昂貴的灰色法蘭絨製成，而他看起來就像他的兒子一樣好。這兩個月來遠離了工作似乎對他來說挺好的，就像是他放棄了盲目地鬼迷心竅於追捕Jonssen這件事一樣。這些年來他第一次看起來這麼輕鬆。McGee知道他終於正視了自己酗酒的問題而且在過去八周來從未碰過任何酒。他也知道這對他來說並不容易，而他偶爾也有掙扎的時候。在這條路上的每一步都有Gibbs陪著他。他自己也戒了喝酒的習慣好讓這對Tony來說更容易一點，並且至始至終都堅毅地守著並愛著Tony直到他奮鬥到找到自己的方向。現在Tony吃得好並且很久都沒有過度飲酒或是工作到像個行屍走肉、而McGee甚至覺得他事實上看起來年輕了十歲。
Gibbs was also wearing a suit — dark, navy blue in his case, with a white shirt and a vivid blue silk tie that matched the colour of his eyes. McGee suspected Tony had been the one who’d selected the outfits for the wedding — Gibbs had never been very interested in clothes. Neither had Tony for the past few years, but now it seemed that his old interests were slowly resurfacing浮上水面.
Gibbs也穿了西裝—深色的，符合他風格的海軍藍，搭配相當襯托他眼睛的白色襯衫及淺藍色的領帶。McGee猜想Tony應該就是個幫他打點這場婚禮服裝的人—Gibbs從未對衣服這類的事情感到興趣。過去幾年Tony也是這樣的，不過現在看起來他舊時的興趣也慢慢地回來了。
Ducky and McGee were the only witnesses — Ducky as Gibbs’s best man and McGee as Tony’s — Gibbs had refused拒絕 to let anyone else attend出席, apart from Louis, obviously. McGee suspected that Ducky was wiping a surreptitious tear away as the two men pushed rings onto each other’s fingers and exchanged vows宣誓. Gibbs’s vow was short and to the point; Tony’s was much longer and surprisingly sincere忠誠的 and poignant切中要害的. McGee thought that they were both perfect for the occasion理由.
Ducky和McGee是唯一的兩個證人—Ducky是Gibbs的好友而McGee則是Tony的—Gibbs拒絕讓其他任何人參加，部分原因是因為Louis，很明顯地。McGee猜Ducky在那兩個男人護衛彼此戴上戒指並交換誓言時有偷偷的擦掉眼淚。Gibbs的宣誓簡短而直指重點；Tony的宣誓則是長多了並帶著令人驚訝的忠誠及相當切中要害。McGee覺得他們在這時機上是最完美的。
The woman officiating主持儀式 smiled and said they could kiss. Gibbs looked as if he’d rather be eaten by a shark than kiss in front of witnesses but Tony wasn’t taking no for an answer and grabbed him, and Gibbs submitted without further protest to having his mouth thoroughly認真 explored探測 by Tony’s tongue舌頭. McGee noticed that Tony’s hand was cupping Gibbs’s ass cheekily but Gibbs didn’t seem to mind — his own hand was pressed firmly in the small of Tony’s back, keeping him close.
主持儀式的女人微笑著然後說他們可以交換親吻了。Gibbs露出了他寧可被鯊魚吃掉也好過在證人面前親吻的表情但Tony可沒有拒絕接著他抓住了他，然後Gibbs並沒有很認真地拒絕Tony探測的舌頭。McGee注意到Tony的手厚臉皮地握在了Gibbs的屁股上但Gibbs像是根本不在意—他的手則是堅定地放在Tony的背後，讓他可以更靠近點。
Louis rushed around them, zooming through the room like a miniature小型的 dynamo, happy and excited by the occasion. He had suffered some nightmares after his ordeal折磨 initially, but Gibbs had refused, point blank空白的, to take him to a shrink退縮.
Louis在他們身邊奔跑著，像個小型的發電機發出嗡嗡的聲音，並為了這個場合而開心興奮著。他在最初受折磨後仍被噩夢糾纏著，但Gibbs拒絕，也不同意，讓他因此而畏縮。
「What he needs is his parents, and some time, love and reassurance再保證 — not some idiot asking him a load of damn fool questions,」 he had snapped, and Tony had agreed with him. McGee thought he was probably right about that because the boy had bounced蹦蹦跳跳 back and looked the happiest he’d ever seen him. He loved the sheer amount of time his father was spending with him every day, and seemed closer to Tony and less in awe of him than before. McGee knew that Gibbs and Tony took it in turns to read to the child at bedtime each night, and then sit with him while he dropped off睡著 to sleep — he wasn’t ready to go to sleep alone yet.
「他所需要的就是他的雙親，以及許多時候，愛他和再度保證—不是愚蠢的問他那些該死的問題。」他厲聲說，而Tony也同意他說的。McGee想他可能是對的因為那孩子蹦蹦跳跳的並且看起來像以前一樣開心。他喜歡他爸爸整天都陪著他的這些日子，而且看起來少了之前的那種敬畏並和Tony更加親近了。McGee知道Gibbs和Tony輪流在每個晚上的睡前時間念故事給他聽，以及坐在他身邊直到他睡著為止—他還沒準備好自己一個人睡覺。
「I have two monster-scarers now, Uncle Tim!」 Louis had told him excitedly when he’d dropped by to visit one evening. They were in the process程序 of buying a new house so they could all have a fresh start; Tony had his eye on some big place out in Alexandria although Gibbs thought it was too fancy and preferred a smaller place in Arlington. McGee suspected Gibbs would win that one.
「我有兩個怪物驅趕大專家，Tim叔叔！」在他某一天傍晚順路去拜訪時Louis這樣告訴他。他們已經在著手準備要買個新房子的事情這樣他們就可以有個新的開始；Tony看上了Alexandria（亞歷山大市）的一棟大房子不過Gibbs覺得它太貴而且寧願在Arlington（阿靈頓郡）找個小地方住。McGee猜想Gibbs大概會是那個贏家。
Tony finally relinquished鬆開 his hold on Gibbs and held out his hand to Louis who took it happily, and they all went off to the marina小艇碼頭 for the wedding breakfast — which was in fact a hamper食物籃packed with champagne香檳 and sandwiches.
Tony最後鬆開握住Gibbs的手改而牽住了看起來很開心的Louis，然後他們走向小艇碼頭去吃婚禮早餐—事實上只是裝在食物籃裡的香檳及三明治。
Felicity Morris was waiting for them there, sitting on a bench beside the hamper, holding Beanie’s lead. Beanie was a huge, excitable易興奮的 golden retriever. She adored Gibbs, who seemed to be training her with effortless容易的 efficiency, had already won over Tony by snuggling舒服地蜷伏 up to him whenever she sensed he was down, and treated Louis like a fellow puppy - and best friend.
Felicity Morris在那裡等著他們，坐在食物籃旁的長椅上，握著Beanie的狗繩。Beanie是隻大型的，容易興奮的黃金色獵犬。她喜歡Gibbs，他訓練她時像是這很容易，她甚至喜歡窩在他的腳邊勝過Tony的、像是她覺得他的地位比較低一樣，還有她對待Louis就像個跟從的寵物—以及最好的朋友。
Felicity let Beanie off her lead and the puppy ran over to greet Louis, dashing around with excited enthusiasm熱情 as if she’d been separated分居 from him for weeks instead of a couple of hours. Louis ran over the grass with her, around and around, the two of them jumping and playing, Louis giggling and Beanie wagging搖擺 her tail尾巴 so fiercely強烈的 that McGee was surprised she didn’t knock Louis over.
Felicity讓Beanie離開了她的掌握接著那隻寵物跑去迎接了Louis，興奮且熱情的繞著他像是她已經和他分離了好幾周而不是幾個小時而已。Louis和她一起跑到了草坪上，繞著一圈又一圈，他們兩個跳著玩著，Louis格格笑著而Beanie的尾巴用力搖擺得讓McGee驚訝她居然沒有撲倒Louis。
Felicity got up, came over to him, and kissed him on the lips. McGee wrapped an arm around her waist and kissed her back. They’d been dating for two months and had been inseparable不可分離的 in that time. He hadn’t known a relationship this *easy*. They never stopped talking and laughing and after all the years of sorrow and loneliness that was such a relief.
Felicity站了起來，走向了他，並在他臉頰上親了親。McGee將一隻手繞上了她的腰部並回親了她。他們已經約會兩個月了而且越來越親密。他從來不知道這感情關係可以這麼〝簡單〞。他們沒有停止過談話及大笑而在這麼多年的遺憾及寂寞後這就像是種安慰。
「Is it time?」 Louis shouted running over to the sleek雅致的 boat that was waiting for them, bobbing on the water.
「時間到了嗎？」Louis大叫著跑向正等著他們的雅致的船，已經在水上浮著了。
「It’s time!」 Tony said, grabbing him and throwing him in the air. Louis giggled. It was such a happy, familiar sound that it made McGee smile. Felicity squeezed his hand.
「時間到了！」Tony說，抓住他並將他拋向空中。Louis格格笑著。這樣快樂，熟悉的聲音讓McGee微笑著。Felicity緊了緊他的手。
「Okay — let’s go,」 Gibbs said.
「ＯＫ—出發吧。」Gibbs說。
「Wait!」 Tony pulled a piece of paper out of his jacket pocket. 「This is a momentous重要的 occasion, Boss. Someone should say a few words.」
「等等！」Tony從他的外套口袋中拿出了一張紙。「這是個重要的場合，Boss。某個人必須說幾個字。」
「Oh god,」 Gibbs sighed. Tony grinned at him.
「噢老天。」Gibbs嘆口氣。Tony咧嘴笑看著他。
「Probie — get out the champagne!」 Tony ordered. McGee opened the hamper and poured a glass of champagne for himself, Felicity and Ducky, some fizzy起泡沫的 water for Gibbs and Tony, some orange juice for Louis, and a bowl碗 of water for Beanie.
「菜鳥—過來碼頭這裡！」Tony命令道。McGee打開食物籃然後在玻璃杯中倒了杯香檳給自己，Felicity以及Ducky，氣泡水是給Gibbs和Tony的，Louis是橘子汁，還有給了Beanie一碗水。
「Friends!」 Tony announced宣佈, holding up his glass. McGee rolled his eyes. 「This here — this boat, is the fifth boat my, uh, husband has built, but the first one ever to float浮 on, you know, actual water. We’re all relieved and hope this means he won’t feel the need to build any more because frankly, it’s kind of a weird hobby. 」He ducked instinctively本能的, waiting for the head slap but Gibbs just gave him a good-natured和藹的 kind of glare. 「Okay, my good people — all aboard在船上. I give you a toast敬酒. Here’s to the Abigail.」
「朋友們！」Tony宣告著，並握住了他的玻璃杯。McGee翻了個白眼。「就在這裡—這艘船，是第五艘由我的，呃，丈夫建造的，卻是第一艘下水浮著的，你知道，真的水。我們都鬆了一口氣並且希望這代表他不會覺得自己需要再建造更多的船、因為坦白說，這興趣有點怪。」他本能的縮了下，等著通常會有的後腦勺巴掌、但Gibbs只是給了他一個稱得上是溫厚的眼神。「ＯＫ，我美好的人們—所有在船上的。我給你們一個敬酒的提議。讓我們敬Abigail。」
Tony gazed at Gibbs as he said that and Gibbs gazed back, and McGee felt a lump一塊 rise漲起 in the back of his throat. He saw the boat’s name, Abigail, written in neat black letters on her brown varnished surface外表; it was a lovely touch.
Tony在說話的同時看向了Gibbs而後者也回視著他，而McGee感覺到喉間有一些哽塞。他看向船的名字，Abigail，用整齊的黑色字體寫在她咖啡色的亮光漆外；有種可愛的風格。
「To the Abigail,」 they all said, holding up their glasses in a toast, and then sipping their drinks.
「敬Abigail。」他們都說著，舉著他們的玻璃杯敬這個名字，然後他們都啜飲了一口飲料。
「You sure she won’t sink?」 McGee overheard偷聽到 Tony whisper to Gibbs as they all climbed onboard. Gibbs *did* slap the back of his head for that.
「你確定她不會沉？」當他們都登船後McGee無意中聽到Tony悄聲對Gibbs這麼說。Gibbs為了這句話〝給了〞他一個後腦杓的巴掌。
McGee sat down at the side, with one arm around Felicity as Gibbs took them out onto the open water. Felicity’s dark hair blew into his face as the wind whipped up around them. Ducky grinned at them, shading遮蔽 his eyes from the sun as he looked out over the glistening反光 water.
McGee坐在船邊，當Gibbs帶著他們航向開放海域時他一隻手環著Felicity。當風拂過他們時Felicity的深色頭髮隨風吹動在他的臉旁。Ducky笑看著他們，而當他看向水面的反光時他遮起了眼睛。
Beanie slumped down at McGee’s feet, nose on her front paws, looking suddenly exhausted, although her golden tail was still full of life and continued thumping重擊 energetically on the floor of the boat.
Beanie趴在McGee的腳邊，頭放在前腳掌上，看起來無精打采的，儘管她的金黃色尾巴仍是充滿著生命力地持續有活力地在船地板上砰砰的拍打著。
Gibbs stood beside Louis, showing him how to sail the boat, one arm wrapped around the small boy as he instructed指導 him how to move the rudder船舵, the sun glinting閃閃發光 off Gibbs’s new gold wedding ring as he moved his hand. Tony came over and stood beside them both. He was wearing a matching gold ring and he wrapped his arm around Gibbs and kissed his cheek, and then crouched down and kissed Louis’s cheek too.
Gibbs站在Louis身旁，秀給他看如何讓船航行，當他指導他如何移動船舵時他一隻手臂就環在小男孩的身上，當他移動他的手時太陽照在Gibbs新的黃金婚戒上上它閃閃發光。Tony走到了他們兩人身邊，他戴著同樣匹配的黃金婚戒並將一隻手臂環上了Gibbs後親吻他的臉頰，然後蹲下身也親了Louis的臉頰。
McGee wasn’t sure when he’d last been this happy but he thought it had probably been a very long time ago. Now though, as he sat here on this sunny day, with the blue sky above him and the people he loved most in the world around him, he thought that maybe, after all they’d been through, everything was finally going to be okay.
McGee不太確定他最後一次這麼高興是什麼時候了、不過他想那應該是已經很久以前的事情了。而現在，在這個豔陽天他坐在這裡，頭頂著藍天而身旁聚集著這世界上他所愛的人們，他想這可能，在這之後他們可能都想著，一切終於都好轉了。
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