Tim had pretty much gone straight to bed when he'd gotten home, only stopping to greet Jethro and put some food and fresh water down for him. He had never felt so grateful for the dog walker because Cindy had been by earlier to take care of Jethro's need to go out, leaving him with one less thing to worry about. That done, he shuffled to the bedroom and barely managed to take off his suit before collapsing with exhaustion wearing nothing but his boxer shorts. He was feeling unbearably hot, though the chills that ran through him made him wonder whether he was coming down with a cold but before he could dwell on it anymore, a cold, wet nose nuzzled his hand. He opened his eyes to see Jethro sitting at the side of the bed, nudging the hand that hung over.

"Hey, Boy. You wanna come up?" Tim shuffled over to make room and patted the space to the side of him. Jethro wasted no time at all and jumped up before finding a comfortable spot and laying down. "I really shouldn't let you do that. You know that, Right?

All he got for his gently chastisement was puppydog eyes leaving him with no choice but to stroke the silky fur on his beloved dog's head as he drifted off into a fevered sleep.

Tim was roused by his cell phone ringing incessantly on his nightstand; the shrill ringing punching its' way through the thick sludge that seemed to have leeched into his brain. He reached over unconsciously and tried to grasp the phone but it was just out of reach and he barely caught it with his fingertips, pushing it off the nightstand. With a heavy sigh, he rolled over, opened his eyes and reached down to retrieve it. Once his eyes cleared, he glanced at the display and grimaced when it told him he had three missed calls, three voice mail messages and two texts. Tim rolled onto his back and squinted as he tried to make sense of the text messages.

PROBIE! WHERE R U?

That one was from Tony and judging by the capitalization and the short, succinct message there was clearly something wrong. He closed it and moved to the next one.

McGee. Please give phone me when you pick this up. Is everything alright?

And that one was from Ziva. He frowned at the last question asking if everything was alright and decided to pick up his voice mails.

"Probie, where the hell are you? Call me!" Tony's voice was sharp and he grimaced when he heard the distinct sound of a phone slamming down. He pushed the button to listen to the next message.

"McGee, there better be a damn good reason you're not at work! Call me ASAP!" Crap! The boss was beyond pissed though he couldn't understand why. He punched the button again and sat bolt upright in bed as the message filtered through his though processes.

"MCGEE! IF YOU DON'T CALL ME IN THE NEXT TEN MINUTES THEN I'M GONNA COME DOWN THERE! THERE BETTER BE A DAMN GOOD REASON FOR YOU NOT SHOWIN' UP TODAY!"

He was late? No, he couldn't be. A glance at his alarm clock told him that it was 0940 and he was over two and a half hours late for work. Factor in the fact that Tim was usually in way before 0700 and he could understand why they were worried. He jumped out bed and felt the nausea roll in his stomach. Once he'd willed it down to a manageable level, he hit the speed dial for Gibbs' phone and waited for his Boss to answer.

"GIBBS!" The barked tone made him wince and he completely understood why the Boss was angry, he just didn't know how he was going to get out of this. Deciding that honest was going to be the best policy, he started to explain.

"Um, Boss. It's McGee, I'm really sorry but I overslept this morning. I'll be in as…."

"You overslept?" Gibbs answered incredulously. "Damn it, McGee. You have half hour to get your ass in here! You're damn lucky we haven't been called out on a case!"

Tim threw the phone down as it disconnected knowing that he'd just been hung up on. It was a crappy way to start the day and if truth be told, he wasn't feeling great either. Deciding that he must have been coming down with a cold, he moved to the bathroom and hastily prepared for the day ahead.

Tim walked into the squad room a half hour later on the dot and the fact that he was late was doing nothing to improve his mood, let alone his headache. As he moved to his desk, he felt three pairs of eyes glaring at him but chose to ignore them.

"Good night last night, Probie?" Tony questioned snidely when he walked past.

"DiNozzo!" Gibbs barked from his desk but didn't take his eyes off Tim.

"On it, Boss."

"McGee, everything alright?" the boss asked unexpectedly.

"I'm good, Boss. Just overslept." It was a mistake and he knew it when Gibbs stood up suddenly and marched over to his desk before leaning down close to Tim.

"Slept late?" Gibbs growled. "Don't let it happen again and if you EVER break rule 3 again, I'll have your hide."

"Um..Oh, er…yes, Boss." Tim stammered out and fired up his computer. "Sorry, it won't happen again."

**Thwack**

"Argh…Thanks, Boss."

"Sign of weakness. Don't be late again!" Gibbs went back to his desk and settled down to work. Tim rubbed at his eyes with the hope of easing his headache but it didn't work and the fact of the matter was, the headslap hadn't helped at all either.

As the morning wore on, Tim found himself feeling more and more sick. The nausea was back full force and the fact that Tony wasn't letting up on the relentless, mind-numbing movie references was starting to grate on his last nerve. It wasn't helped by the fact that his arm and his leg itched un-mercifully.

"You have never seen James Bond? Come on Ziva, everyone's seen James Bond." Tony's voice filtered though again and he sighed at the argument that had been going on for 5 minutes.

"I assure you, Tony. I have not and have no interest in watching them either." Ziva's clipped reply told Tim that she was as tired of his baiting as well. "Why do you not just..how do you say? Let it go, Yes?"

"Let it go? No way. You have to watch the greats. The best without a doubt was Sean Connery…" Tony dipped into his best impression of the actor. "And you know, there's a marathon on this weekend."

"Tony, for Christ sake, she doesn't want to watch the damn film!" Tim snapped. "Let it go already!"

"Gee, Probie. Bitter much?" Tony snorted as the memory of the conversation he'd had with Jimmy at the hot tub crime scene filtered back through. Another 'I Love Lucy' quote shot through his head and he turned to face Tim. "Gee, did you hear that, honey? It's going to be called "Bitter Grapes." I wonder what part they want me for."

"I don't know, DiNozzo. Village idiot?" Tim shot back with enough malice that it had Gibbs looking up with a frown.

"Hah! Don't you just hate it when you get your buttons pushed? You see, Probie. I have a plan…."

"I'm still recovering from your last plan!" Tim shot back knowing that throwing back another quote from the show that Tony seemed hell bent on torturing him with, would de-rail him.

"Huh? Did you just? You did, you just quoted something from I Lo….."

"DiNozzo! I want that report on my desk in 1 HOUR!" Gibbs shouted across to him.

"1 hour?" Tony was looking at Gibbs with a horrified look on his face. All he got in return was one of the famous glares. "1 hour, Boss."

Tim got back to the searches that he was doing and got lost in his own memories of that day.

"Ah.. Archimedes' Theory, boss. My foot mass is going to displace enough liquid to breach over the top of the boots." Tim remembered saying after putting his foot in and watching the water rise dangerously close to the top of the boots. The last thing he had wanted was for mosquito Larva infested water soaking his legs…Not that it did much good. The damn rash he got from going in saw to that!

"It's more than a theory, it's a proven scientific fact, McGee." Tim scowled as Jimmy's voice rang through his mind. All he could think of at the time was yeah, that's helpful! Now that the obvious was once again joining every other memory of that day in his mind, he found himself feeling a little resentful towards his friend. He remembered throwing Jimmy a look of disgust before glancing back at Gibbs in the hope that the Boss would actually listen for once. No such luck, all he got was…..

"Swim, Tim."

Two little words, that's all they were, but the flat tone in which they were delivered left no doubt in Tim's mind that Gibbs had clearly dismissed how he was feeling on the matter. Then…Oh this had been the real kicker….Tony and Jimmy had the gall to start with a friendly conversation about an I Love Lucy episode….I LOVE LUCY! With a shake of his head, Tim started to wonder why the hell he bothered. Deep down he knew why, NCIS was his home from home. Just sometimes he felt that a little respect wouldn't go amiss.

What the hell? Why was he thinking like this? And what the hell had sparked it off? Oh yeah, bitter grapes. Tony had said at the time that by him stepping into a hot tub of water reminded him of 'Grape squishing' episode. Oh hadn't he just loved being compared to a woman dressed like a gypsy jumping into a vat of grapes, especially when it was a little bit more dangerous than that. In all honesty, if the whole incident hadn't caused him so much discomfort over the past week, then it really wouldn't have bothered him at all. It was the sore, itchy rash and the two bites that left him feeling resentful of the whole situation, a bit like he had with the poison ivy incident.

Tim felt the bile rise in his throat and sat up straight in his chair to try and push it away. After a couple of minutes, he went back to his computer and started researching the financials that they needed for the case. He was soon lost in what he was doing but was startled when Gibbs desk phone rang loudly.

"Yeah, Gibbs…Now?...On my way." Gibbs stood up and stormed towards the stairs that would take him to the director's office.

"Huh. Boss has been summoned." Tony comments absentmindedly.

"It does look that way." Ziva agreed and glanced over at Tim. She frowned and cocked her head slightly at the sight of him holding his head in one hand and his stomach in the other. "McGee, are you alright?"

Tim dropped his hand and nodded once. It was a bold faced lie and he knew it because between the headache, the nausea and the tiredness, he really did feel crappy. "M'fine, Ziva. Just tired."

"You do not look well. Maybe you should go and see Ducky." Ziva suggested gently.

"Yeah, McGoo. You're not lookin' so hot."

"I'm fine. Really guys, I'm good."

"you know, you look as good as…"

"Tony! Drop it!" Tim warned, ignoring the spiking pain in his head.

"Drop what? I'm just saying. Jeez, you're cranky this morning."

"Tony! Leave it! Seriously."

"Well I would, McGee but I don't know what I'm leaving, do I? No how about you be a good little Probelicious and tell Uncle Tony what is going on?" Tony stood up and moved to the side of Tim's desk with a smirk. He was completely unprepared for the reaction he got and stepped back when Tim stood up and squared up to him.

"You know what, DiNozzo? I've had enough of your crap. Every day! Every damn day I come to work and you've got something snide to say. It's been the same all week! Enough's enough. If you really must know, I think I'm catching a cold. My head hurts and these damn bites from that hot tub I was told to swim in on Monday are driving me up the wal…"

Tim stopped mid flow and swayed slightly as the nausea roiled in his stomach. He grit his teeth and shoved Tony out of the way so that he could make his way to the men's room.

"What the?...Probie!" Tony shouted after Tim as he ran off. Tim stopped in his tracks briefly enough to look over his shoulder. He swallowed hard against whatever was trying break free and shouted over his shoulder.

"You got away with it one too many times, DiNozzo." That was it, in the time that it took to stop and say his piece, he stomach rebelled once again and it was all he could do to stop it.

"Come on, Man. I'm sorry, alright. It was just a joke." Tony watched him go and swept his hand through his hair before looking at Ziva. "What?"

"Was that really necessary, Tony?" Ziva asked with a glare that could rival Gibbs'.

"What? It was just a joke." Tony shrugged and moved back to his desk and sat down unaware of the figure standing in the shadows at the bottom of the stairs watching the whole debacle.

Gibbs walked out of the Director's office and started to make his way down the stairs. When he reached the bottom and rounded the corner at the edge of Tony's desk, he saw Tim squaring up to Tony and yelling.

"You know what, DiNozzo? I've had enough of your crap. Every day! Every damn day I come to work and you've got something snideto say. It's been the same all week! Enough's enough. If you really must know, I think I'm catching a cold. My head hurts and these damn bites from that hot tub I was told to swim in on Monday are driving me up the wal…"

"What the?...Probie!" Gibbs shook his head and narrowed his eyes at what was happening. Trust DiNozzo to stick his foot in it.

"You got away with it one too many times, DiNozzo." Got away with what? Was something going on that Gibbs didn't know about? If there was, he was damn sure that he was gonna find out.

Gibbs stood there listening to the rest of the exchange and cringed when Tim fought against something before moving again. As he watched, his gut clenched uncomfortably leaving him with an uneasy feeling. It wasn't the fact that Tim was finally standing up for himself that caused it; no, it was the fact that Tim was looking pale and swayed slightly where he stood. Gibbs moved forward to diffuse the situation before his boys came to blows, but before he reached them, Tim pushed Tony out of his way and ran shakily towards the bathroom.

"DiNozzo! What the hell just happened?" Gibbs barked, startling his agent. He silently loved the fact that he had the power to startle them and knew that no matter what, he could still sneak up on his unsuspecting team.

"Boss?" Tony asked as Gibbs walked straight past them and followed Tim. "I don't know, we were….."

"I don't wanna hear it! Get back to work." Gibbs shouted over his shoulder and carried on after Tim. He could see his Junior agent just ahead and watched as he stumbled and grabbed the wall to steady himself. The fact that Tim seemed unsteady on his feet made him move faster towards him, but before he got there to offer support, Tim had finally made it into the men's bathroom on his own steam. It wasn't long before he followed Tim in and was met by the harsh sound of retching coming from the stall at the end. Gibbs moved towards it and found the door open where Tim's tenuous hold had burst through.

"Crap! Tim!" he knelt down and grabbed onto Tim's shoulders to support him as he continued to empty the contents of his stomach. "Easy, now."

"B..Boss?" Tim managed to stammer out as his stomach stopped rebelling against him and leaned forward to flush the toilet.

"Yeah, Tim. I'm here. You ready to get up?" Tim nodded once and felt Gibbs arms slip under his armpits so that he could lift him up. Once up, dizziness hit Tim full force causing him to sway dangerously and Gibbs wrapped his arms around his agents chest to stop him from falling.

"I'm taking you to Ducky." Gibbs was worried. There was no doubt about that; first the kid had been late – something that never happened – and then he'd been hanging on by a thread all day. Now this? Damn, he should have seen it earlier and demanded that Tim go down to get checked out.

"No. I'm alright, Boss, it's just a bug." Tim shrugged off Gibbs' support and staggered out of the cubicle but before he could make it to the sink he was hit by a wave of dizziness that made him feel as though he was on board a ship in the middle of a storm. "I don't need to see Ducky."

"The hell, you don't!" Gibbs watched as Tim swayed and clutched at his head. "You can barely stand up!"

"Boss…" The bathroom lilted and swirled leaving him feeling disorientated. He didn't want to seem so weak in front of Gibbs, but his body had finally given up and the last thing he felt was his knees buckling and Gibbs grabbing him before he hit the floor. His last fleeting thought was 'thank God for small mercies' before darkness encroached and he knew no more.