Once, Timothy McGee had been able to count on certain things in life. He had a routine schedule at a satisfying job, he didn't get out much but it was all right, and he never, ever woke up in coffins. This all changed when Tim met Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs' team – and Abigail Scioto, specifically. Now his job was awesome but unpredictable, he never had time to go out, and waking up in a coffin had gone from creepy to startlingly normal.

The first time, Abby had convinced him it was a sofa bed. Tim quickly learned better, but that didn't stop him from going back. The second time followed the NCIS Christmas party in Norfolk. He'd asked Abby as his date, but the party got boring quickly and she promised to show him a good time at some place she knew in Alexandria. Thus, predictable and always pre-planning Tim McGee drove hours north because he knew if he did, he might get another look at some of the tattoos Abby didn't show the world.

There were a bunch of times in between the second and the next Christmas, and by that time, Tim and Abby were just friends. With occasional benefits. The NCIS Christmas party was an occasion. As were several of the Christmas parties after that. Not every Christmas party put Tim in the only coffin he figured anyone enjoyed using – or sometimes on Abby's leather couch – but the ones that did were memorable. It certainly beat his days at the Norfolk office, where he spent his first Christmas party talking to the woman from accounting with green hair because nobody was pulling either of them onto the dance floor.

One

Even before he'd joined NCIS, Tim was used to the same thing at Christmas parties, whether they were inclusive holiday parties like NCIS' or not. He came, gave his ticket to the person at the door, sometimes got his raffle ticket, and found a place to sit with someone he knew. This year, his first on Gibbs' team, Tim didn't have a date to the Christmas party, but that was okay, because he at least knew he'd have people to sit with that he knew.

Tim most definitely had not planned for the woman at the door to read his name on the back of his ticket and smile at him, saying, "Oh, Agent McGee. We have a table reserved for you." This would become routine in following years, but the first year's thrill of being led through the crowd and to his team's table – which Abby and Ducky had also stationed themselves at – was fun. Most of Tim's firsts that year were fun, unless Tony and Kate were playing "initiate the probie." Then, not so much.

It was the first time Tim had seen Abby or Kate in formal wear, as dress at the Norfolk Christmas party had been more casual. A few people dressed to the nines, but simply dressing up a bit was the norm. In DC, dressing to the nines was standard, and Tim immediately decided he liked it. Kate was always pretty, but in Prada, she was stunning, and Abby's gown revealed tattoos that Tim didn't see nearly often enough.

The party wasn't boring, but at some point, Tim and Abby found themselves wandering down the hall to spy on an Air Force division party that was going on down the hall at the same hotel. Abby loved spying on coinciding parties, just because of her insatiable curiosity and her belief that she should be having the best time possible, and if she wasn't, she needed to relocate. She had never joined any other parties uninvited, she told Tim, but it was easy to get invited. It took about ten seconds to get invited to this party, once the young officer at the door saw Abby.

"Door prizes are over and everyone's just dancing the rest of the night out," the lieutenant told them. "Cash bar, so there wouldn't be any harm in you all joining us if you like." Tim wasn't convinced they needed to, as the NCIS party was fine despite the fact that the DJ left disco songs on loop when he wanted to take a break, but Abby insisted the cross-military cooperation would be a good thing. That didn't even make sense, but with Tim, Abby never had to. She either did or she didn't, and when she didn't, it led interesting places.

In this case, it led to Tim smiling and having nothing to say but, "Thanks," when another officer at the party saw Abby and gave him a thumbs-up.

"Nice girlfriend," the guy said over the music.

Tim said thanks because she was nice and even though she wasn't his girlfriend, he had no idea what the female equivalent of the level Abby classified as "boy toy" was. He eventually followed Abby back to their own party and then back to her place.

It left enough of an impression that Tim didn't think twice when Agent Jackson came by selling tickets to the next year's party.

Two

It was Ziva's first Christmas with them, and she was trying to understand American political correctness and the Electric Slide – in exactly that order, as she mocked Tim's dance steps on the floor.

"But some of you seem afraid to say the word 'Christmas,'" she insisted, sliding to the left and frowning a bit. "There are Christmas parties in Israel, you know. Not as many as other countries, but no one minds. No one tries to whisper about Hanukkah because they're afraid of offending someone who doesn't celebrate."

They slid to the right and Tim shrugged. "Somewhere along the line, trying to include everyone got too uptight, I guess. There are people who decry the 'war on Christmas,' too."

"Can I be one of them?" If it weren't for Ziva's smile, Tim would have almost thought she was serious.

"Sure!" Abby was on Ziva's other side and motioned for Ziva to turn with the song's steps. "I love Christmas!"

In some of Tim's dreams that passed for his "socially awkward" nightmares, he responded to Abby's assertion that she loved something, anything, with, "I love you." He liked Abby a lot, but he wasn't in love with her. Nevertheless, such a response popped into his head at the most inappropriate of times, probably because Abby loved a lot of things. This time, Tim managed to respond with something brilliant like, "I love how much you love Christmas," and Abby giggled while Ziva got the hang of the dance like she'd been doing it her whole life. It only furthered Tim's theory that some people were born to dance while others, like him, were destined to spend their lives learning some and fumbling after the rest.

The next dance was a slow one, which Gibbs stole Abby for. Tim never minded this, because Gibbs was no threat to him when it came to Abby. Gibbs was like a father to her, and it got Abby liberties any of the agents on Gibbs' team would never have, like calling Gibbs on it when he was being a grouch. Last year, he had put in an appearance for a couple hours at the party as expected to, then disappeared, presumably to spend some quality time with his boat. It was still early in the evening and Tim expected Gibbs would do the same this year, so he had no qualms about partnering with Ziva for this dance. It gave them both the chance to laugh at Tony as he managed to dance with two women at the same time and actually get away with it.

Tim got his dance with Abby later that evening, and she smiled at him tenderly before it melted into one of her best face-consuming grins. "I'm kind of horny tonight," she said without preamble. "You wanna go back to my place and do something about it?"

They did.

Three

That year, Tim actually won one of the door prizes – and it was a gift certificate to Best Buy, something he could actually use, instead of the toaster oven he'd been afraid he might win. Two numbers made the difference, though, and Tim was content enough with his prize he barely noticed Tony's cracks about Tiny Tim finally getting ahead in life.

Abby paused halfway through her fifth Red Bull, cocked her head, and asked, "Isn't tonight that crazy all-night pre-Christmas sale at Best Buy? You should totally go there after we get out of here."

They did.

It turned out computer shopping really, really turned Abby on.

Four

Though he usually had no problem volunteering when the team went out together, Tim had taken that party off from being the group's designated driver. He decided to throw caution to the wind, a rare thing for him, and leave it in Ziva's hands as to how he would get home. But he wasn't going to get drunk.

He forgot that just because Abby was immune to the effects Red Bull had on alcohol when the two combined, he wasn't. He slipped, and when Abby happened to mention loving the party, Tim said he loved her.

Abby understood and wasn't freaked out. In fact, she never mentioned it again. But Ziva didn't have to worry about getting Tim home.

Five

After the previous year's debacle, despite it ending well, Tim once again volunteered for designated driver duty. It meant he would have to stay until the end of the party or until everyone else from his team left, but he was okay with that. NCIS threw some pretty good parties, and Tim wasn't above laughing at happily drunk people – and securing photographic evidence if one of those people was Tony DiNozzo.

Ziva had been burning up the dance floor most of the night, but she had come back to their table to take a break when she looked from Tim to Abby and back again. "Tell me something," she said, her tone casual. "Are you two together or are you not? I can never tell."

Abby laughed and replied, "Oh, we're not together-together. We just have sex sometimes."

Ziva nodded, satisfied. "Fair enough."

Years ago, something like that would have mortified Tim, and he knew years ago, Abby wouldn't have done it for that reason. This time, he just looked back at her and said, "Now that you told her, we're going to have to do it again sometime." He was only half joking.

As it turned out, Abby was willing to wait until the end of the party with him, and Tim didn't have to drive anyone home after all.

There was a certain satisfaction in being Abby's go-to guy when she didn't have a guy.

Not the Christmas Party

It was Saturday, after a hard case with a successful conclusion and it was the couch, not the coffin. But that was okay. Tim awoke, overwhelmed with the relief of not having to do anything that day, unless something wild happened and he got called in to work.

Abby bounced into the room, entirely too chipper following the week she'd just had. But that was Abby. She'd put on pajamas, and it was at this time Tim learned that there were such a thing as Devil Duckie pajamas. A gift, Abby later told him, from her mother.

"You know," Abby said, apropros of nothing, "I just bought my tickets to the Christmas party yesterday. You going?"

Tim grinned. "Wouldn't miss it for the world."