Title: Fate in Five Minutes
Pairing: McGee/Ziva UST (maybe more . . .)
Rating: K+
Genre: Fluff, Humor, tiny tiny bit of Angst, UST
Cat: Het
Spoilers: Cover Story?
Warnings: None.
Summary: McGee's latest book is being promoted with a night of speed dating, where 20 lucky women have the chance of winning a real date with Thom E. Gemcity. Who shows up, and who will he choose?
Author's Note: Written for the Win A Date With Thom E. Gemcity Challenge on NFA.

McGee sat at a cozy booth in a dark corner of a fancy restaurant, trying to let the soothing jazz music wafting through the dining area calm his spastic nerves.

"Tim, relax," his agent, Lyndi, said, sipping on a glass of wine. "If you show that you're nervous, these women will never believe you're this suave, debonair author you claim to be."

McGee glared at her. "I never did claim to be those things. That was your doing."

Lyndi waved away his comment. "Just relax, that's all I'm asking. It will be fine. You might even end up enjoying yourself."

He rolled his eyes. "I'm about to go on mini-dates with 20 women. I don't see how anything could possibly go wrong," he muttered.

Lyndi huffed and drained her glass, then stood up. "It's called speed dating, Timothy. And remember, you're Thom tonight, so be charming." She looked over her shoulder at the growing crowd of women at the front of the restaurant. "I'll go get things started." She looked back at McGee and frowned. "Drink some wine or something, Tim. Loosen up. It'll be fun!"

He gave her a small smile. "I guess. And I mean, it's flattering that all these women want to win a date with me in the first place . . ."

"Ooh, look at the time," Lyndi interrupted him, checking her watch and grabbing her pocketbook. I will see you in approximately two hours. Ta!" She scurried off to greet the ladies, while McGee let out a deep breath.

The whole idea had been a marketing ploy thought up by - who else? - Lyndi to promote sales of his next book, which had just come out in stores. McGee personally thought she was taking things a bit far, but he wasn't about to argue with her, because she was a good agent, despite her overbearing personality, and she sold books for him. He wasn't guaranteed that with just any agent. Not to mention she took it upon herself to make sure he specifically was promoted, even if it meant a cheap speed dating marathon.

Lyndi, meanwhile, stood in front of the group of women who had been lucky enough to have chosen a book with the invitation to tonight's event glued inside the front cover. There were no guarantees that certain women hadn't ransacked every bookstore in the city looking for an invitation (like perhaps the bubbly woman wearing an 'I 3 Thom E. Gemcity' hat and carrying a copy of Deep Six, presumably to be autographed), but most of the women appeared to be normal members of society.

"Welcome, ladies, to tonight's event," Lyndi announced, hushing the group and receiving a smattering of applause. She smiled as though the women were there to see her. "Thank you, thank you. Now, you are all aware of the rules, I am sure, but let me remind you again. Each of you will have five minutes to spend with Mr. Gemcity on your 'date,' and at the end of the night, he will have the daunting task of deciding which of you he would like to take on a regular, night-long date." At that statement, the women chattered excitedly among themselves. Lyndi cleared her throat to gain their attention again, and they fell silent, turning back to her. "Please be courteous with Mr. Gemcity and each other, respect the time limit, and above all else, don't be nervous. Mr. Gemcity may be a bestselling author, but he will do his best to make you all feel comfortable." A snort sounded from one of the women and Lyndi tried to spot her, then gave up, smiling again at all the ladies. "I've understood that your order has been chosen depending on the number on your invitation, so with that, you may begin!"

The women squealed again and the first woman, the lady with the Gemcity cap, practically vaulted herself into the restaurant, nearly flattening Lyndi in the process and causing her to shake her head. What some women wouldn't do to meet Tim - or Thom, as they knew him.

The exuberant fan reached McGee's table and tried to hold back a squeal of joy upon seeing him up close and personal, but failed, her words coming out in a squeak as she introduced herself. "Hi, I'm Mary and I, oooh, I'm just so excited to meet you, Mr. Gemcity! I've been a huge fan ever since the first book and oh my gosh, I can't wait for your next book to come out and find out more about the adventures of Agent MacGregor and company!" She plopped down across from McGee, who was trying not to look frightened by her exuberance.

"Uh, well, it's very nice to meet you, Mary . . ." he started, but was interrupted again by Mary, who this time pulled out her book and a pen and shoved it across the table at him.

"Could you please sign this? I would be so so appreciative." She grinned at him and he gave her a slight smile back, taking the pen and signing the book swiftly, then pushing the novel back across the table.

"So, Mary, what do you do for a -"

"Are Tommy and Lisa really sleeping together?" she asked in a hushed tone, sounding slightly disgusted at the same time. "Because Tommy's kind of a jerk to her. I mean, I know it's probably because he cares, but . . ."

McGee was quite happy to have Mary's time be up and smiled as the buzzer sounded. Mary frowned and McGee held out his hand for her to shake. "It was nice meeting you, Mary," he said, but rather than take his hand, she stood up and engulfed him in a huge hug, making excited squealing sounds as she did. McGee awkwardly patted her back until she pulled away, waving at him as she walked from the table and the next "date" appeared at the table.

McGee let out another deep breath. At this rate, this was going to be a long night.

Thankfully for him, though, most of the women weren't quite as . . . excited as Mary to be meeting him. Most of the women made pleasant conversation and actually told him a little something about themselves, and McGee started to enjoy himself, making mental notes about which of the lovely ladies he'd like to take on the real date. It was beginning to be a difficult choice. He was beginning to think he might have to pick at random.

And that was when date number 19 showed up at the table.

McGee smiled up at her. "Hi there, I'm Thom."

A pale-skinned brunette with stringy hair rolled her eyes and sat down on the opposite side of the table. "Yeah, I figured. I'm Marisa."

McGee gave a nervous laugh, but continued to be courteous. "Well, um, Marisa, what do you do -"

"Listen, bud, I don't know what kind of thing I stumbled into here, but I've got a boyfriend," she said, giving him a dirty look and tapping her fingers on the table. "I'm just here because I found one of those lame invitations in one of your lame books."

McGee narrowed his eyes at her. "If you don't like the book, why were you buying it?"

She narrowed her eyes into slits and shook her head at him. "It wasn't for me. It was for my boyfriend."

"Right," McGee said, nodding. He opened his mouth to say something else, but found Marisa had pulled out her cell phone and was in the process of texting someone, probably her boyfriend to let her know what a horrific time she was having or something.

The buzzer went off and Marisa stood up, muttering, "Thank God," before stalking away from the table, not even waiting for McGee to say goodbye to her.

"Wow," McGee muttered, grabbing his drink and downing most of it in one swallow.

"I take it that date did not go well," a female voice, belonging to his late date, said.

He nodded to himself, staring across the table at the empty chair there. "You could say that again," he muttered, then nearly fell from his chair as he realized who the voice belonged to. He looked over at her in shock. "Ziva?"

"Very good, McGee," she said, sliding into the seat across from him and placing her purse on the table. She looked up and found him gawking at her. "Or Mr. Gemcity, I suppose I should say."

"What are you doing here?" he hissed, looking around to ensure no one else was suspicious. "Is there - is there a case or something? Why didn't you just call me?" He narrowed his eyes at her. "And why are you dressed like that?"

Ziva rolled her eyes. "I am here for the speed dating, McGee, just like all these other women."

McGee continued to give her a questioning look. "Did Tony put you up to this?"

Ziva huffed. "No, Tony did not put me up to this," she hissed back.

"Then . . . you're here because . . ." McGee said slowly, making sure he was correct in what she was insinuating.

She let out an exasperated breath. "Because I had an invitation to be here," she said, though she avoided his eyes as she said it.

He frowned slightly, wondering if he should ask what he was thinking, then remembering the five minute time limit and deciding to just go for it. "So you went out and bought a copy of my new book?"

"Okay, so maybe I talked someone into giving me her invitation," Ziva shot back, looking annoyed that he had gotten her to admit that.

"Right," McGee said, picturing Ziva threatening some harmless woman with an eyeliner pencil. He looked back at her and found her trying to act nonchalant. "Ziva, what's going on?" She pretended not to hear him, taking a keen interest in the table in front of her. He frowned again, and took a chance by reaching his hand forward to touch hers. "Hey . . ."

"This was a bad idea, yes?" she finally said, looking up and nodding as she met his eyes.

"No, Ziva . . ." McGee started, but the buzzer went off then, signaling the end of their time together.

Ziva quickly stood up, smoothing out her skirt, and said, "I will see you tomorrow, at work." She managed a soft smile. "At least now you know."

"Ziva, wait!" he called out to her as she walked away, but she kept walking back to the group of women, heading straight for the back. He slumped back in his seat, feeling overwhelmed and confused about what had just happened. Ziva liked him? He hadn't expected that, especially not tonight.

Out of the corner of his eye that someone was approaching and sat up straighter, hoping it was Ziva having changed her mind and coming back, but deflated when he saw it was just Lyndi, presumably come to gather him for the announcement he had to make about whom he would take on the real date.

She frowned when she saw the state he was in. "Timothy, what happened? Surely tonight wasn't that bad, was it?"

He blinked, but didn't meet her eyes, instead staring ahead at the table. "No, it was actually very nice. Really . . . very nice."

"You don't sound like you quite believe that yourself," Lyndi muttered, but waved his attitude away, adding, "Well, now is the time where you make your decision. So even if there isn't a woman you would actually like to take on a date, you must pick someone." She scurried back to the crowd of women who were waiting in anticipation for him to come over and announce his choice.

"That won't be a problem," McGee muttered to himself, and finally got the courage to stand and walk to the front of the restaurant, holding his head high and preparing himself for what he had to do.

As he arrived, Lyndi spoke up to quiet down the women. "Thom has arrived, so if I could ask for quiet, please, he will now tell us who the lucky lady is." That received more applause and McGee swallowed, searching for Ziva in the crowd. He found her standing in the back, trying not to look too interested, but then she met his eyes and he had a hard time looking away.

"Well," McGee started, breaking Ziva's gaze to scan the group of women, "I had a fabulous time with all of you ladies and if I could, I would take you all out. Alas, I am but one man, and I just don't know if I have that much energy." His comment caused the ladies to laugh among themselves, and he found himself looking at Ziva again. "But there was one woman who stood out in my mind and I knew when it came down to it, I knew she was the woman I had to take out tomorrow night." By this point, Ziva wasn't even attempting nonchalance, as her gaze was glued to McGee's and his to hers. "The lucky lady is . . ." He suddenly shifted his gaze. "Number 1."

Mary, the overbearing fan, let out a shrill squeal, drawing the attention of the other patrons of the restaurant. Lyndi gave an apologetic smile to them and they returned to their meals, as Mary hurried up to McGee, babbling. He smiled at her, but then looked up and saw Ziva slinking away toward the exit, and excused himself from the conversation, leaving Mary to chat excitedly with the other ladies, as McGee rushed to catch Ziva before she left the restaurant.

"Ziva, wait!" he called out to her, and she stopped, waiting a few seconds before turning around. She was smiling. He gave her a curious look. "You're not upset?"

"McGee," she said, placing a hand on his chest, "you are probably the most considerate person I have ever met. It is what attracted me to you in the first place. And I can tell, you do not really want to go on a date with that woman."

"Not really," he admitted, and Ziva laughed.

"But you want to make her happy, because she was the most excited about tonight and deserves the date," Ziva continued. He nodded along with her. She shrugged as she continued. "I should not have come tonight. I should have waited, or -"

"No, Ziva," McGee interrupted her, and she looked up at him, surprised. He smiled. "I'm glad you came. And . . . I'm glad you told me." They both fell silent then and Ziva closed her eyes, shaking her head.

"I knew this was going to be this way," she muttered, then opened one eye, looking up at McGee, who was giving her an awkward smile. She opened her other eye then and let out a breath. "Well, I hope you have fun on your date, and I hope we can return to -"

She was suddenly cut off by McGee grabbing her and pressing a kiss to her lips. Ziva froze at first, more out of surprise than anything else, but then melted into his embrace, returning the soft kiss. They only broke apart at the sound of a high-pitched shriek, and quickly pulled away from each other, embarrassed at being caught.

Mary stood there, in front of all the other women, - who looked on with mostly amused expressions on their faces - with a look of horror on her face. McGee gave her an apologetic look. "We can still go out tomorrow if you want?" he offered, but from the way she ripped off her baseball cap and threw down her book, then rushed past them to leave the restaurant, he thought she probably wasn't too keen on the idea. He let out a sigh and turned to Ziva. "I'm guessing the date is called off." She laughed at that, but her laughter was short-lived, as Lyndi came stomping up to them.

"And what was that?" she hissed at them, first turning an ugly eye on McGee, then directing her glare at Ziva, who reeled back slightly, but gave her just as ugly a look back. She huffed and looked back to McGee, who was trying to look innocent.

"Well, I had every intention of taking Mary out tomorrow night, but Ziva showed up and -"

"Wait," Lyndi said, shutting McGee up. She whipped her head back to Ziva, her glare turning into an interested expression. "You work with Timothy at NCIS, yes?"

"Yes," Ziva responded, not fazed by the agent.

Lyndi studied her for a few more moments, and added, "You were the inspiration for the character of Lisa, yes?"

McGee sighed and mumbled to Ziva, "I told you, none of the characters are based off real people . . ."

"Shut it, Tim," Lyndi interrupted again, and a devious smile worked its way across her face as she continued to stare at Ziva. "I think you may have done me a favor, Miss David." She turned away from them then, pulling her phone from her purse and calling someone as she walked away. As she left their side, they could hear her saying, "Donald, yes, Thom is going to be going in a new direction with his next novel. How does the idea of MacGregor and Lisa sound to you?"

McGee shook his head and turned back to Ziva, who was staring in awe at the departing agent. "Hey, I'm sorry for getting you all mixed up in all this promotional mumbo jumbo," he apologized, and Ziva looked up at him and smiled.

"Do not be sorry. I got myself into this. Willingly, I may add." She laced her fingers through his. "So, tell me, will I be getting a date that is longer than 5 minutes anytime?"

He grinned at her. "You know, I think that can be arranged. I'm free tomorrow night . . ."

THE END!

Reviews always welcome!