AN: Finally, Tim and Kort's relationship is revealed! But not till the end, so read on!

Disclaimer: I own nothing except what my warped imagination comes up with, so if you recognize it you know it's not mine in any way, shape or form.

Gibbs, following the route Vance had given him, drove himself, Tony and Ziva southward out of D.C., into the open country side.

Where they needed to go was to the North of D.C.

An hour out of the city and across more dirt roads than either younger Agent had ever seen, Gibbs finally turned down a side road- more like an overgrown path- and came to a stop in front of a hidden helicopter.

"Boss?"
"Gibbs?"

"Out." Gibbs ordered as he mirrored action to words. Popping the trunk and pulling out his bags, Gibbs then tossed the keys to the Sedan to the Agent that came towards the car and headed to the helicopter; all before Tony or Ziva had even gotten their doors fully open.

"Hurry up!" Tossing his things in the new transport before climbing in after, Gibbs settled in and then rolled his eyes as one of his younger colleagues (**cough** Tony **cough**) struggled to follow his lead.

"So where we off to now, Boss? And where'd you get the 'Copter from, anyway?" Tony asked as he strapped himself in tightly.

"Don't know, and I didn't." Gibbs replied, hiding his smirk as his Senior Field Agent's eyes grew big as the Helo took off with a lurch and started heading in a Northerly direction.

"What?!"

"Do not worry, Tony, I'm sure we will find out our destination as soon as we get there. Then we may also find out where this helicopter came from." Ziva teased her rattled companion, she was more relaxed as she trusted Gibbs to get them where they needed to go without fuss.

And if they needed to change transports in secret to get to where they were going without being seen then she wouldn't question it.

NCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCIS

Tony was the first to spot their destination, though he didn't think that the spread he was admiring was.

"Will you look at that... Paradise! The driveway alone must be at least two miles long- and that pool! Two tiered and with a built-in hot tub it looks like. And just look at the Tennis Court! Boss, will you look at it? The house is so big I bet it has its own Theater! That is definitely my Dream House down there, Boss! Wait... Are we headed there?!" Tony's face had been pressed so hard against the glass while he looked longingly at the large Estate under them that when he turned around his nose remained flat for several seconds and brought smiles to his companions' faces.

"Looks like it, Tony, I hope you can stand to meet the owners of your 'Dream House'." Ziva let her laughter go at the depressed look overcoming Tony's features at that thought.

Obviously if they were going there to help Tim as they thought they were then it must be a CIA safe house, probably one confiscated from a drug lord or gun runner of something.

"Hey! We're landing right on the Tennis Court!"

"I'm sure they'll let us play through, Tony." Gibbs grunted as he prepared to disembark as quickly as possible so that the Helo could get back to wherever it was meant to be.

"Wrong sport, Boss... but you already knew that." But Tony was talking to thin air as the Team Leader was already halfway across the Court with his bags in hand and over his shoulder, obviously going to meet the man waiting for them in the entrance to the house.

"One day I'm going to learn to move the way he does." Tony commented as he and Ziva slipped from the helicopter with much less grace but at a much more relaxed pace, barely clearing it before it took off again and was quickly lost to view over the tree tops.

"I will hold my breath for that day, Tony." Ziva quipped with a smile.

"It's 'won't hold my breath', Ziva, 'I won't hold my breath for that day'." Ziva's smile only grew wider as Tony fell into her trap.

"I'm glad you agree with me." She began laughing at Tony's stumped expression to that.

"Wait. No. That's not what I meant!" Tony yelled as he tried to keep up with her fast pace, then he caught sight of the familiar face waiting to greet them and all thoughts of bantering around with the Israeli left his mind.

"Probie!" He called out as he raced the last few feet to his friend's side.

NCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCIS

"Nice digs, McLiving-It-Up! Who'd the CIA scam this place off of anyway? MC Hammer? Thanks, Boss!" Tony rubbed the back of his head as the sting from the head slap slowly began to fade and then looked up to see the whole CIA contingent grinning at him- even Probie was looking shifty!

"Tony... the house doesn't belong to the CIA." Tim explained.

"Really? Then how'd you get the use of it, McSquatter? Thanks, Boss!"

"Anytime, DiNozzo. But if you keep it up much longer I'm delegating the task to Ziva." Ziva looked delighted at the prospect so Tony decided to ratchet his enthusiasm back a few notches.

"I think I'll let Kevin tell you how we got this place over lunch, it's his favorite story to tell after all and he doesn't get many new people with clearance high enough to hear it." Tim said this congenially as he led everyone to the kitchen- the Dinning room was big enough for a banquet and so far too big for just the seven of them- where they had lunch already set up and waiting.

"Wow, this smells great! This can't have been from frozen, who'd you get to deliver all the way out here?" Tony asked as he looked over the spread laid of for them, he hadn't seen or smelled anything this good since the last time Ziva had cooked for them- and maybe not even then, but he wasn't saying that part out loud.

"No-one delivers this far out, Tony, Frankie cooked. You're looking at one of his specialties: Four cheese lasagna, antipasti, garlic knots and a fresh greens salad. And don't bother asking about dessert, he won't tell us what he made until after we clean our plates, he's gotten quite devious since he became a dad." Frankie just looked up and beamed at them, a hard look in his eye daring them to try and go for dessert first. No-one was foolish enough to take him up on the dare for fear of not getting said dessert.

Once everyone had dished themselves up and sat down at the- still too big for just seven people but better than the one in the Dinning room- Kitchen table, Tony started questioning Kevin about the house.

"Whoa, Tony! Slow down. I'll tell you all about it, just give me a minute to set the scene!" Tony subsided with his questions and began digging into the fantastic lasagna Frankie had made while Kevin collected his thoughts and nibbled on a bread roll.

"Okay. So it was only a couple of months after I'd joined the Team, and I hadn't yet worked directly with Tim here, when the CIA got a tip-off about a HUGE gathering of all these big time gamblers- I remember thinking at the time that it seemed a lot like the plot from Casino Royal- and we were sent in as one of the security teams to try and gain contacts and information from the more unsavory participants while one of the more well thought of Agents was put into circulation at the tables."

"That idiot Jeffers lost everything within the first hour- and he was supposed to be the best Poker player the CIA had!" Frankie cut in with a chuckle, loving that bit of the story the most.

"So Jeffers lost his spot at the tables first thing, and the CIA Big Wigs all decide that they had lost enough resources for one mission and tried to pull us- but Tim wouldn't have it." All the NCIS people turn to stare at their meek computer wiz in confused wonder.

"I was supposed to be on the mission for three weeks and it had only been two days since I'd left the office, I thought it'd be simpler to just finish out the original intent of the mission rather than try to explain to you all and Director Shepard that the Family Emergency I'd left on wasn't real." Tim looked apologetic about it, and then Kevin started talking again.

"Well, Tim convinced Trent to stay so of course Frankie and I stayed, but we had no clue what we would do. We couldn't hang around claiming to be security since we didn't have anyone at the tables to make secure, and we couldn't loiter about because those doing real security would have pitched us out on our ears. So when Tim bought into the game with his own money... well, we were all a bit shocked I'll tell you right now." Three sets of wide, incredulous eyes turned to look at Tim once more and Tim blushed under the scrutiny.

"How... How much was the buy-in, Probie?" Tony, the first to recover his voice, asked the question they were all thinking about, but it was Kort that answered.

"Buy-in was a Million Euros, with a half Million Euro reserve to be held by the Casino."

"Where'd you get that kind of money, McMoney-Bags? And where did this all take place if you were using Euros?"

"Monte Carlo, Tony, the Las Vegas of Europe- where else would they have held an International, highly illegal Poker Tournament for the ubber rich? As for the money: good investments with my money over the years, plus a very large advance from my publisher on the promise of a new contract and book series upon completion of my Tibbs contract. In truth it wiped me out. I don't know what I'd have done if I'd've lost." Even Tony was rendered speechless at that.

Kevin cut through the sudden tension by continuing his story.

"Tim tried to talk Trent into playing the tables for him, but our fearless leader here quailed under the pressure." That brought a smile to Tony's lips at the mental image of the fearless Trent Kort afraid to sit at a poker table, Kort only snorted at the comment.

"So Tim had to play against the professional gamblers, Whales and sundry criminal elements that had bought in all on his own and with his own money- and all only an hour after first learning the rules of the game!" Ziva gasped at that as Frankie started laughing at the memory.

"I was absolutely terrified." Tim admitted with a chuckle, he could laugh about it now that it was all over and long in the past.

"So we were back in business with Tim at the tables and the rest of us attempting to make contacts while keeping him safe, and all of it unsanctioned by the CIA. They had even gone so far as to tell us that we could all kiss our careers goodbye if we didn't stop our madness and rein it in immediately."

"They changed their tune quick enough when we brought down that Syndicate Assassin guy on the first day." Frankie butted in, earning himself a glare from Kevin who was getting fed up with all the interruptions.

"By the second day Tim was looking bored at the tables- but had already cleared three people from the game! It was a sight to see: Tim lounging at the table sipping his drink, barely glancing at the cards as they were played, bluffing his way through several rounds before being called out on his strong hand. He played those professionals like they were new to the game when in fact he was!" Kevin gushed, excited just remembering the event.

"I started out by calculating the odds for each hands in my head, when that wasn't distracting enough from my terror of being there with everything ridding on my shoulders I switched to calculating pi and then to calculus equations. I had no idea I looked so laid back from the outside until Kevin began gushing over the fact- much like he's doing now." Looking chastised at the subtle rebuke, Kevin continued his story with much less flare.

"By the end of the Tournament, Tim was sitting up with the Big Boys at the final table, and the CIA Big Wigs were nearly tripping over themselves to take credit for what we'd done. Six high-profile arrests- one of which was a terrorist that was supposed to already be dead, the FBI were so embarrassed about that- two higher up subordinates turned into Moles for us and Tim at the lead with new 'friends' in the Upper Crust of the Underworld's gambling sect. We were their darlings, and they were so pissed that they couldn't legally or otherwise touch a dime of what Tim had won because they had cut all ties to us before he had ever sat down at that first table." Kevin paused to take a drink, loving having the three NCIS people he'd been taking orders from for weeks hanging off his every word.

"Tim ultimately won the Tournament, of course, and this place with it too as one of the men playing hadn't been able to match his bets- too many rebuy-ins. He lets us all use it whenever we want since he can't live here full time- too far out to drive into town everyday, but great for the weekends- and it's really too big for one person; and so we all figured it was the best place to lay a trap for Peterson since we know its layout and already have it secured."

"So..." Tony began once Kevin had winded down, but had to pause to let it all sink in some more before continuing.

"So! McMoney, how much did you win? Thanks, Boss!" Tim smiled a bit as Tony rubbed his head, then decided to have pity on his friends curious nature and answer the question... mostly.

"I won enough to never have to worry about money again, Tony, other than that I'll leave it to your imagination. I will say that I've been using what I won to help people, and that I paid the CIA back what they lost during the Tournament." Tony muttered something about 'McBoy-Scout' but refrained from speaking up as his head still hurt from that last slap.

"I've got a question." Gibbs' voice broke the silence that had descended on them all and all eyes turned to him expectantly, but he himself focused in on the man sitting to Tim's left.

"Were you sleeping with my Agent before or after he became rich?" Kort just smirked even as Tim went bright red and Tony began choking.

Ziva pounded her partner on the back and noticed as Kevin and Frankie discreetly exchanged money, no doubt having bet whether or not the all-seeing and all-knowing Gibbs had caught on to Tim and Kort's relationship. She had she knew, but it seemed poor Tony was the only one to not have figured it out before now.

"We began flirting the moment we met, and we began sleeping together casually a few months later after we had gotten to know each other better." Tony was spluttering now, not wanting to hear anymore about his Probie's sex life- especially if it was with Trent Kort!

"We became exclusive the day Tim saved my life, and my beautiful face, from the unwanted attentions of a psychotic ex-CIA project that no-one else had realized had come back for revenge." Tony had just rolled to the floor at this point, hoping that everything he had just heard had been some sort of nightmare and that Gibbs would put a stop to it immediately.

"Alright then." Gibbs said, and just like that Tony's last hope that this would all be over soon vanished and he slumped with a pained moan; nobody bothered to comment on his dramatics.

"Boss? You're really okay with this? Ziva?" Tim looked confused, not having expected any of his NCIS colleagues to have realized he was in a relationship with Trent; and definitely not expecting them to be fine with it.

"Yes, Tim, I am fine with it. I can see that you two are happy together and that is all that matters." Ziva reassured with a sincere smile.

"Boss?" Tim asked, still not believing what Gibbs had just said and needing to hear it again.

"No, Tim, I'm not really; but it's obvious that he cares for you and makes you happy so there's nothing I can honestly object to." Gibbs answered honestly, knowing that anything less would be an insult to his youngest Agent's intelligence. He then leveled a hard stare at Kort that made the other CIA men begin subtly reaching for their guns, only to be halted by a hard stare from Ziva and a shake of her head.

"Just remember that if you hurt him I won't let you get away with it." Kort acknowledged that with a nod as he wrapped an arm protectively around Tim in a silent promise to never hurt him.

And Tony just groaned in his forgotten position on the floor, wondering when his world had gotten so topsy-turvy.

)

AN.2: So, next week is Thanksgiving here, and then comes Black Friday and all the horrors of that particular shopping day. I work in retail and am having to work a twelve-hour shift that day, 7pm to 7am- I already feel exhausted- from Thursday night to Friday morning.

I'm telling you all this so you will know why I probably won't be posting a chapter next week.

That said, if I don't post before then: Happy Thanksgiving to those of you who celebrate it! And for those of you who don't: Happy Thursday!

Oh! And before I forget: If anyone has any suggestions on movie references Tony can make concerning the situation they all find themselves in I'd really appreciated it. I like movies and all, but I just can't think of any good movies he can talk about.