Disclaimers: NCIS, the rights to the show and its characters do not belong to me. No money was made by this.
A/N: English is not my native language. So please forgive me my grammar and spelling mistakes.
Spoilers: everything
Pairing: McGee/Ziva [McGiva]
Summary: missing scene from Penelope's Papers (S09E03). Tim comes home after the call with his father.

When he finally gets home, tired and emotionally exhausted, he finds Ziva in his apartment. The smell of food is in the air, and a quick look into the pots tell him she's preparing what she dubs 'comfort food' because her grandmother used to make it whenever she was upset. She greets him with a soft kiss on the lips and then follows him into the bedroom, hugging him from behind as he unbuttons his shirt before she disappears into the bathroom. He can hear the water running and strips down to his boxers before following her, curious. The bathroom tiles seem to be afire as the light of a dozen lit candles bounces off them. Ziva had poured him a bubble bath.

"Lavender or pine?" she asks him, holding up two candles. He swallows thickly, grabbing her and hugging her against him tightly. Her arms snake around him and she lets him squish her to the point where he knows it must be getting hard for her to breathe. But instead of struggling, she leans into him even more, kissing his neck gently before rubbing her nose against his skin.

"Lavender." he decides when he finally lets go of her, his voice husky with the tears that are burning in his eyes. She catches his look and he averts his eyes, blinking rapidly, but she doesn't comment and only lights the candle.

"Dinner should take another twenty minutes, take your time. I'll send Jethro in to get you when it's done." she mutters, brushing her lips over his again before she slips from the bathroom. He stares after her briefly before he takes off his boxers and slips into the warm water of the bath, allowing himself to relax. He closes his eyes and breathes in the scented air. He must have dozed off because there's suddenly something cold and wet brushing against his hand that's hanging off the bathtub. He shoots up in the water, sending it splashing over the rim. Jethro sits back and tilts his head, a low whine coming from the dog. Tim stares at him before rubbing a hand over his face.

"She wasn't joking, huh?" he mutters before getting out of the tub and grabbing a towel to wrap around his hips. He pets the dog and Jethro stands again, wagging his tail and giving an excited bark. "Yeah buddy, I missed you, too." he mutters and follows the animal into the bedroom where he dries off and gets dressed. The lavender from the bathroom is mixing with the scent of fried chicken drifting in from the kitchen and he inhales deeply, feeling refreshed and... alive.

Ziva has her back to him as she spreads food on two plates when he walks into the kitchen. He walks over to her, wrapping his arms around her waist and leaning down to kiss her cheek. She tenses briefly at the contact before relaxing again and he makes a mental note to announce his presence before he does it the next time. Jethro trots over to them and bumps into his legs.

"I didn't give him his food yet, I thought you may want to do that." Ziva informs him before turning and grabbing the plates to set them down at the table. Tim considers letting the dog wait until they are finished with dinner but seeing as his bowl is in the kitchen and the smell of delicious food coming from the table must be torture for the poor thing, he sighs and fixes Jethro's dinner before washing his hands and sitting down at the table, opposite of Ziva.

"It looks delicious. Smells like it, too." he tells her, giving her a thankful smile that she returns as she picks up her fork. He does, too, but suddenly finds that he doesn't have much of an appetite. After two bites, Ziva notices.

"But you are not hungry?" she asks him, nodding to his plate when he gives her a confused look. He sighs and shrugs.

"Yeah, I guess. I don't know, I'm sure it's great but..."

"You're not in the mood for food." she completes his sentence, leaning back and taking a sip of her water. "Do you want to talk now?" she offers and he sighs, shaking his head and leans back himself.

"No, go ahead and eat." he tells her.

"There's some chocolate mousse in the fridge, if you'd rather have that." she tells him before leaning over her plate again, but her enthusiasm has dimmed considerably. He gets up and gets the two bowls of dessert, setting one down next to her plate before he begins eating his. This isn't the instant stuff he buys, she made this one from scratch, and he is suddenly feeling very guilty about the main course. When he is done with the chocolate, he starts up his main dinner again and feels Ziva watching him briefly, but again she says nothing. What really surprises him is that, once they are done eating, she tells him to leave the plates and pulls him to the bedroom. Instead of kissing him and undressing, she lies down on the comforter, extending her arms to him in silent invitation. One he suddenly realizes he needs badly. So he crawls into bed next to her and snuggles against her, pulling her against him in a hug that rivals the one in the bathroom.

"As much as I like being this close to you," Ziva mutters after a while, "breathing, unfortunately, is a necessity." He quickly loosens his hold and she turns so she ends up half on top of him, sighing contentedly, toying with the lapels of the polo shirt he put on.

"I called my father." he softly mutters and she shifts on top of him so she can look at his face.

"What did he say?" she asks him, her voice barely above a whisper. Tim tries a shrug but doesn't quite succeed due to the position they're in.

"It was weird. I haven't talked to him in seven years. I don't know, I guess I thought he'd be... happier? About hearing my voice. But he seemed pretty indifferent." he tells her and closes his eyes against the sudden onslaught of tears. He can feel her stroke his cheek and the softness of her lips as she kisses away a tear that slips out between his eyelids. He draws a shuddering breath, tightening his hold on her briefly before remembering what she just said and letting up.

"Well, maybe he was. Happy, about hearing your voice. And maybe he was surprised, too, and he didn't want to show his emotions." she throws in, one of her hands starting to run through his hair soothingly. "And even if he doesn't want to start talking to you again, though I have no idea why not," she adds, "I still stand by what I said to your grandmother."

Tim blinks his eyes open, staring at her in surprise.

"You need to stop selling yourself so short, Tim." Ziva tells him, her voice softer than ever and her dark eyes gentle. "You are a wonderful person and NCIS is very lucky to have you. Tony and Gibbs and Abby and I and Ducky and Palmer, we're all lucky to have you in our lives." She falters, drawing a deep breath. "I am very lucky to have you, Tim." she breathes, blinking. "I love you." she adds, her voice barely audible, and for a second, he thinks he imagine her saying it. But then the look of vulnerability and fear in her eyes registers and he knows it's not his mind playing tricks on him. She really said it.

"I love you, too." he returns, pulling her head down for a soft, sweet kiss. Suddenly, he isn't the only one crying any more, and he pulls her head down against his chest, simply holding her close.

"Besides, if your father doesn't want you, all the better for me." Ziva mutters after a while.

"How's that?" Tim wonders, looking down at her when she tilts her head to look at him again.

"Because I'm bad at sharing, and that way, I get to keep you all to myself." she tells him, succeeding in making a small smile tug at the corners of his mouth.

FIN

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