A/N: Written for the Delivering up Deliverance challenge on NFA. Just a short oneshot investigating when exactly Tim managed to see Deliverance, because he hadn't in the season three episode Bait, but had by season four when he and Tony did a "Dueling Banjos" singalong. Basically, it's a tag to the episode...so not much happens. Enjoy! Notice: I haven't actually ever seen Deliverance; so the plot I give is what I managed to glean from scenes on YouTube and the IMDb synopsis. If I'm wrong I'm sorry.

Disclaimer: I own nothing of NCIS, real or fictional. I make no money off it...which is sad considering how much time I spend writing fanfiction. Alas and alack.

Catching up
by Enthusiastic Fish

Tim walked slowly up and down the aisle at Blockbuster. He stopped. There it was. Deliverance. All through the case, he'd been thinking about Tony's reference to him being Ned Beatty. He'd never let Tony know it, of course, but he had made a point of watching the movies he mentioned...if only to keep Tony from giving him that look of disgust. Most of the movies had left Tim giving his television a look of disgust at the idiocy of some of them. He had heard of Deliverance, however...and not just from Tony. There was something about dueling banjos, but he only knew that because of another comment. So... He picked up the movie and turned it over, reading through the synopsis.

Hillbillies? Canoeing? Tim wasn't sure about this, but he still carried it to the checkout.

"Oh, this is a classic," the checker said.

"It's not old enough to be a classic, is it?"

The checker who was probably about twenty shrugged. "Anything can be a classic. Just has to be popular enough."

"Okay. If you say so." Tim took the movie and went home. When he got there, he tossed the movie onto the side table. He was tired and decided to wait until tomorrow to watch it.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

"Abby, have you ever seen Deliverance?" Tim asked, trying to sound vaguely interested...and trying to ignore the weird glowing light coming from her office. She looked up from her microscope.

"Sure. Haven't you?"

"No. Any good?"

"Sure...if you like that kind of movie."

"What kind of movie is it?"

"Why?"

"Just curious."

"Why?"

"Tony was...mentioning it before. He said to remember that I'm Ned Beatty, and he's Burt Reynolds."

"That's not very nice...although I guess it's better than being Ronny Cox's character." She considered. "Or not."

"So...should I watch it?"

"It's not going to give you nightmares, McGee," Abby said, grinning. "...I don't think it will anyway."

Tim rolled his eyes. Now, he had to watch it, just to prove that he wasn't scared.

"I was just wondering."

"Sure, Tim. Sure."

That settled it. He would watch Deliverance and he would watch it that night.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Tim picked up the DVD and slid it in. As it began, he wasn't sure he really was interested, but he kept going. When it came to the dueling banjos, he smiled and rewatched the little scene a few more times, just to watch that old guy start dancing.

There was an unsettled air about it even at that point, though, and Tim wasn't sure he was really looking forward to seeing why Tony had said he was going to be Ned Beatty.

"Well, it's just a movie. ...and I'm not Ned Beatty."

...and he decided, upon watching the rest of the movie, that he was glad he wasn't.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Tim looked at Tony and then back at his monitor without speaking. They were tidying up some loose ends while Gibbs and Ziva were finishing with a review of her interrogation. The movie had...unsettled him. It wasn't that it had given him nightmares, but it was...unsettling. He knew that he took some things too seriously, but the comparison was just something he couldn't seem to shake.

"What's up, Probie?"

"Why Ned Beatty, Tony?" Tim asked.

"What?"

"Why did you say I'm Ned Beatty? Why not...Ronny Cox or Jon Voight?"

"Huh?"

"Deliverance?"

"Oh. Why not?" He grinned.

"I'd rather be Ronny Cox."

"As long as I get to be Burt Reynolds."

"That's fine. You can be him. I don't want to. I don't particularly want to be Jon Voight either. If you're going to say I'm one of the characters, let me be Drew."

"You want to be the guy that died?" Tony asked, looking at him weirdly.

"There are things that are worse than dying, Tony."

"Like what?"

"Like what happened to Bobby. Like what they did."

"You're taking this too seriously, McGee."

"It's a serious movie, Tony. ...or did you somehow miss that fact? It's not a comedy. And you said that I'm Bobby."

"McGee, it was just a joke."

Tim wasn't angry, but he was feeling...serious. "I'm not finding it very funny."

"Well...neither am I...now."

Silence descended when Gibbs and Ziva rejoined them. Tim kept typing.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

It was evening and since they had no case running at the moment, they left on time. Tim lingered a bit, talking to Abby and then, he gathered his stuff and departed.

"Hey, McGee."

"Yeah?"

"Did you like the movie?"

Tim thought about it. Tony looked almost worried and that made him smile a bit. "I liked the dueling banjos."

"That's it?"

"It's a well-made movie, Tony. Just...not really my thing."

"So why did you watch it?"

"Because you brought it up."

"That's it?"

Tim shrugged one shoulder. "Yeah."

"I've mentioned a lot of movies."

"Yeah." Tim smiled with embarrassment.

"No wonder you have no social life," Tony said, looking almost as uncomfortable.

"I don't get how you do."

Tony grinned. "My dates happen to like movies. In fact, I've got to head out."

"Enjoy."

"Always," Tony said, leering.

Tim began to walk away, but as he did, he started to whistle "Dueling Banjos." After a moment of silence, he heard an answering whistle. He smiled and continued, hearing the response until they were both out of earshot.

Maybe the movie wasn't so bad...

FINIS!