AN: Thanks for the reviews! I'm looking forward to telling this tale. The prologue is actually halfway through the story - we need to backtrack a bit first to see how Tim ended up in this dilemma. It's set mostly during the current season, so it's all mapped out through Double Identity, including how Endgame fits into this story. I'm a complete McAbby fan, but this plot bunny just jumped into my head and wouldn't leave.

Disclaimer: These characters and NCIS are property of DPB/CBS and the Navy, respectively. No money is being made off their use.

June 2009

Tim rolled his eyes as he switched his button-down and blazer for a T-shirt and casual jacket. Tony just assumed that he would be willing to fix the problems with his TV in exchange for a movie. He'd retorted with the comment about money for services rendered to hide the fact that yeah, a movie night with Tony would suit him just fine. Not that they had the same thing in mind for a movie night.

Tony would settle in with pizza and a beer and keep up a running commentary on the movie. Tim never did figure out how the older man could keep so much movie trivia in his head when he talked his way through watching the actual movie. His idea of watching movies with Tony was a completely different scene. Sprawled on the couch, cuddled together, just the two of them. The movie wouldn't matter, just the closeness. Kate told him once that Abby had made some snarky comment about not wanting to spend rainy Sundays watching "Sleepless in Seattle" back when they were dating. He'd winced, knowing that while her choice of movie might be off, Abby wasn't wrong about what he wanted. Rocking the coffin, the nights bowling with the nuns, the clubbing were all great, but they weren't everything. Tim also wanted relaxed afternoons, gentle affection and somebody who was content to just be there quietly together. Abby had affection to spare, and wasn't shy about sharing it. But the mailroom guys called her Energizer Abby for a reason.

When he'd first met the team, Tony had seemed much the same way, hyperactive and gregarious. But that was more than five years ago and a lot had happened. Gibbs had left, putting Tony in charge. Gibbs came back, expecting things to be the same as though he hadn't left for four months. Tony had lost his heart to Jeanne, beaten himself up over Jenny's death and spent four long months as Agent Afloat. Tim had changed, too. He'd joined the team, killed a cop, lied to Gibbs to save his sister. He'd talked his way out of a prison riot and created a best-selling alter ago. He'd confessed his love for Abby in front of the team to save her from his crazed fan, then felt his heart shatter when she insisted it would never work. He'd watched Tony almost died of the plague, helped him scour the rooftops in the rain just a few weeks later as they alternately grieved for Kate and cursed Ari. Tony had mocked his fear of heights; he'd put it aside to pull his partner up after the killer sent him over the edge in the parking garage. When Tony had said "I love you, McGee," Tim had wanted to put an arm around him and repeat the words back, but he knew it was the adrenaline talking, not Tony's heart.

Tim forced his thoughts away from the past and grabbed his tool kit from his workbench. It was just a movie night, maybe with pizza. Tony was just a friend and co-worker, nothing more. Enough time had passed that they were sure Ziva wasn't coming back, but that didn't mean Tony had changed his preference from petite brunettes to tall, gangly, blonde geeks.

He checked to make sure Jethro had enough food and water, then left his apartment.

When he arrived at Tony's apartment, his friend was just paying the pizza delivery guy.

"Nice timing, McGoo," Tony said. Come on in, grab a slice and a beer and eat while it's hot."

"Thanks, Tony," Tim replied. "I didn't expect to get pizza out of this."

"It's a Friday night," Tony replied. "Pizza, beer, a movie once you get the TV working. What else did you expect?"

"You to be nagging at me to hurry up so you could head out clubbing," Tim retorted as he pulled a couple slices onto a paper plate. "Where did you say the beer was?"

"Fridge, in the door. Dark on the left, light on the right."

When Tim walked back into the living room, he could feel the tips of his ears heating. Tony was sprawled in the middle of the couch, and with Tim's long legs there was no place to sit that wouldn't have them almost touching. He opted for the left side, figuring his knee brushing Tony's leg would be less distracting than the entire length of his thigh. He settled down, forcing himself to relax. "So what did you say the colors are doing again?" he asked, trying to keep his mind centered on a safe topic.

"Like I said, the reds are eggplant, the colors are just completely off." Tony took a bite and pulled the slice away, cheese stretching from his mouth to the slice. The older man scooped it up with his tongue, and Tim shifted slightly, hoping his bent leg and plate of pizza were hiding his reaction to the sight of Tony's agile tongue.

"Umm... It's probably the cables, but I brought a set of my own to make sure." Tim forced his eyes away. "I'll get to it as soon as I finish this slice."

"No rush," Tony said, flashing a big grin. "Like I said, just you, me, pizza and a movie tonight. And I've never known you to put a movie above pizza."

"No, a movie... a movie sounds good." Tim felt as speechless as he had the first time he talked to Abby on the phone, the day he met Tony and the others. "Which movie?"

"Which one would you like to see?" Tony's voice was casual, but lower, slower than normal.

"I thought you had one all picked out? 'Black Rock' something or other."

"McGoo, you wound me. 'Bad Day at Black Rock.' Spencer Tracey, a classic." Tony stretched his arm across the back of the sofa. "You have got some serious catching up to do on your knowledge of classic movies that don't involve spaceships."

"Yeah, yeah," Tim muttered. "So what's this movie about and why are we watching it?"

"You don't want to watch it?" Tony said. "Pick another one. DiNozzo's rule number 4, always let the date pick the movie."

Tim snorted. "Come off it, Tony. What is this, now that Ziva's gone, you just switch your flirting over to me? First Kate, then Paula, then four years of dancing around Ziva."

"Three years, McSnoopy. I didn't flirt when I was with Jeanne." Tony's eyes dropped to the floor.

Tim massaged his forehead with the fingers of one hand. "Three years, then. No wonder you told Gibbs the new teammate had to be a woman - you need somebody to flirt with, and god knows I'm not your type."

"Actually..." Tony's voice trailed off.

Tim looked over to see Tony's eyes closed as his teeth worried his lower lip.

"Tony?" Silence. "Look, Tony I'm sorry. That was a low blow. I know you and Ziva--"

"No, McClueless, you don't know." Tony cut him off. "Looks like my mask worked. You only saw what I wanted you to see. What I wanted Gibbs to see." A faint blush stained his cheekbones. "Ziva and I were never more than partners. We had each others' six. When I went to her apartment, when Rivken and I had that fight..."

"You were trying to protect your partner?" Tim snorted. "Sure, Tony. I saw how you hated Rivken. Nobody gets that upset about a friend *or* a partner. You went after Rivken because he thought he was threatening the woman you love." Even as he said the words, his heart felt heavier. Everybody had been dancing around this for too long without saying anything to Tony. Not Gibbs, not Ducky, not Palmer. Not even Abby, who was incapable of holding back when she had something to say.

"No, Tim."

Tim looked over at his partner at the rare use of his first name. "No, you weren't trying to protect Ziva?" He looked Tony in the eye and raised one eyebrow. "I'm not a clueless probie anymore, DiNozzo. I know we all have each others' backs no matter what. You've had my back a lot of times. Coming with me to Autopsy to see Kate. Distracting me after I killed Benedict. But this wasn't that. This was personal."

"Yes. It was personal. I was trying to protect my partner, the partner I trust to have my six. The one who could have been killed in L.A. because Rivken was running an op that Ziva didn't tell us about." Green eyes bored into Tim's skull. "I was after Rivken because I wanted him gone before something else happened and you got hurt. I wasn't trying to protect the woman I love. I was trying to protect the man I love."