Yes, I'm back. I had more than a bit of trouble with my old account being hacked and all, but I'm finally back, and with this story. Chapter two will in fact be up by tomorrow midday, and I deeply apologize for the wait on this one; i purposely refused to upload it again until I had Chapter 2 almost perfect. You guys were more than awesome last time: I had 17 reviews for my first chapter:

I DID CHANGE THIS around a bit, and made it a bit more reader friendly, and hopefully a bit better ;)

It starts off in Truth/Consequences and it'll be wrapped up around the Jan.26 episode- M for language and adult content ;)

(tony/ziva) breathe

Chapter 1

Though I've tried, fallen I have...
I have sunk so low
I have messed up
Better I should know
So don't come round here
And tell me I told you so...

As he unlocked the door and entered his dimly lit apartment, Timothy McGee ignored the barking pleas for attention from his loyal companion, aptly named Jethro. He headed straight for the strobing red light beckoning him to the answering machine. Keeping his keys in hand, he hit the play button forcefully; a sigh escaped his lips. He knew full well who had called, and that his plans to finally get a good night's rest would not come to fruition- at least not tonight.

"Hey Tim, it's Shelia." He could barely hear a word over the background noise, but it didn't matter. He knew what was coming. "So, I hate to call again, but Bill had me take his keys away, and he's gonna be broke tomorrow if he keeps buying rounds for the house-."

Tim turned on his heels and walked straight back out the door, leaving Jethro with an apologetic pat on the head.

He could hear Sheila's voice as he dragged his feet back to his car; 'Last call is at 2:30. I'll keep an eye on him 'till you can get here.' They were the same parting words in all her messages, laced with a heavy mix of pity and exhaustion. He glanced at his watch: 1:15. "Damn." If she thinks she's tired, he thought to himself, she should try being me.

By the time Tim pulled up outside the bar, he'd decided that this was definitely the last time- the last night he played chauffeur.

"Jesus Christ, Tony! Two hundred dollars?" He pulled the credit card slip closer to his face, willing the number to change, possibly by magic. "How did you even manage this?"

"Like I said Tim, he was buying rounds for everyone who'd take 'em."

Under any other circumstance, McGee would easily have been flustered talking a woman as beautiful as Shelia. She was blonde with pretty blue eyes, and unlike anyone McGee had expected to meet in a place like this. It wasn't as if The Crown was a questionable place, in fact it had become a hangout of sorts for Team Gibbs over the past few years; however, young women like Sheila, working to pay their way through Graduate School at Georgetown, were not frequenters either.

Unfortunately, recent events had turned his weekly acquaintances with the barkeep into late, strain-filled evenings he was sure they'd both rather do without.

"I tried to close his tab up," she continued, jabbing her thumb toward the bar's manager, "but you know Bill. A dollar spent is a dollar earned."

She handed Tim the credit card, now dull and worn from its recent overuse, but when she reached beneath the bar for Tony's confiscated keys, Tim shook his head. "No way. He's doing the walk of shame tomorrow; he can pick them up himself."

"Oh yeah, McGenius?" Tony stood from what he had claimed as his stool at the bar. He was tired of being talked about like he couldn't hear a word of it. "And how am I supposed to get to work, huh?" His speech wasn't slurred, but his hand eye coordination was shot to hell. When he reached up to retrieve his keys, Sheila snatched them away without effort.

"No worries Tony, I'll get you there safe and sound." His words were more for Sheila's benefit than anything, letting her know she'd made the right decision in calling him. Putting a hand on Tony's back to steady him, he continued, "I'm not driving forty five minutes to your place just so I can drive forty five minutes back. Again." Frustration resonated in his words, and Tim wondered how much longer his partner would last if he kept on like this.

One thing was for sure; Gibbs' patience was wearing thin, and it was only a matter of time before the empathy for his Senior Field Agent ran out entirely.

McGee had a plan; well not actually a plan. He had an endgame, a destination of sorts, but the means to how he'd reach it were fuzzy, like Tony's vision.

So there they were, partners stumbling towards McGee's car at two o'clock on a Friday morning. It was a far cry from where they would have been a month ago. Sure, they could have been on this same exact street stumbling towards the same blue Prius, but the air between the two was different.

At work he tried his best to hide how badly he'd been affected by the whole ordeal, but the truth was, Tony was miserable. His jokes weren't so much funny as they were mean, although McGee knew he had no ill-intentions. He'd become withdrawn, even more so than usual, and everyone could see through his façade, despite his best efforts.

Luckily for the pair, Gibbs had given them the morning part of tomorrow to sleep in. They'd wrapped their case up with a nice little bow, and now all that was left was the mountain of paperwork everyone had left untouched throughout the duration of the week.

She always started the paperwork early.

It wasn't anything new that Gibbs' idea of paperwork was providing his signature, and only when absolutely necessary; what was new, however, was the empty desk situated across from Tony's at the head of the bullpen. There had been three possible candidates to fill her position; not one lasted longer than a week.

The paperwork would undoubtedly leave them chained to their desks into the wee hours of morning, yet again, but Tim was relieved to have at least part of the day tomorrow to fix this mess. Tony wouldn't see it as help though, McGee knew.

Damn paperwork.

Too bad, he thought. It had to be done.

He slammed the car door and pressed the child lock button, a preemptive strike for Tony's struggle when he realized they were driving through McGee's neighborhood and not his own.

Waving goodbye to Sheila as he drove away, Tim contemplated how he'd approach the subject in the morning. This was neither healthy nor helpful for Tony, dejected and drowning his sorrows at the bar. Ziva's death had been particularly difficult for the team, but Tony had taken the news harder than the rest, with good reason; Tony and Ziva had been partners for the better part of four years, and whenGibbs left her in Israel, he had never considered it would be the last time he'd see her alive.

Tomorrow, he promised himself. Tomorrow will be the day.

It'd been almost a month sense they'd learned of her tragic fate. Tim knew the pair had parted on less than favorable terms, but it didn't matter. No matter how angry or wrong he, or she, had been, McGee was sure they would have worked it out eventually; they always had in the past.

Knowing them it could have taken years, both stubborn and relentless, but Tony and Ziva had something. He wasn't sure exactly what that something was, but he was envious. It was how he knew Ziva wouldn't want this for Tony. And now that McGee was in fact Tony's partner, it was up to him to fix this; he knew that on another day, at another time, Ziva David would kick his ass for letting things spiral so out of control. All she'd need was a paperclip.

Okay, so my plan is to start from Truth and Consequences and end it shortly after the trip they took on the 26 :) this will be on the longer side and although I'll be veering slightly away from the story line to make it more Tiva centric, I'll definitely be using actual scenes from the episodes as prompts. My only issue with the actual season is:

1. There's no way Ziva's just OK after like 4 episodes……(but I promise there won't be any graphic scenes or total meltdowns here- I'm trying to keep it somewhat realistic;) 2. not enough MW - though, there'll never be enough (sigh)***

Tiva smut doesn't count though-there will definitely be some of that, like wicked soon; whether it be real, or a memory, come back and find out ;) Let me know what you think…. I'll work on the grammar aspect of things more in future chapters…..this is just my kick off point ;)

(reviews would be lovely, even if you hate it)