"You should take the guest room, Tony," Ziva said as Tony made himself comfortable on the couch.

"I need an incline, Zee," he said as he stacked pillows against the arm of the couch and laid so that his head rested on the arm, and pillows supported his back. "You take the guest room. I owe you that much after letting me take the bed in Paris." She smirked at him.

"You do not owe me anything," she said and he looked over at her. "And I am not going to bed for a while. It is only six. You should take the bed."

"I'm comfortable," he argued. "And I'm not planning on going to sleep right now. Anyway. I asked McGee to pick me up a pizza."

"You can not have pizza, Tony," she said as her brow raised.

"I want pizza, Ziva."

"Well, I already talked to McGee," she said, and the corner of her mouth curled up. He squinted at her.

"What did you tell him to get?"

"Soup!" McGee said as he walked in the door with a grocery bag in his arm. "Lots of soup. And applesauce."

"You're a traitor, Probie," Tony told him as the agent made his way to the kitchen with the bag.

"I got you some iced tea, too," he said as he unpacked the bag. "And if it makes you feel any better, I actually happened to find a pizza-flavored soup," he held up the can.

Tony made a face at him. "I'll pass, but thanks."

"You don't want any of this?" McGee made a disappointed face. Ziva glared at Tony and he pursed his lips.

"I guess I'll take the applesauce," he said finally, and Tim put his hand in the bag and pulled out small jar, then retrieved a spoon from the silverware drawer and brought them to Tony. "Thanks," he said as he took them and opened the jar.

"Thank you, McGee," Ziva said and kissed his cheek. He barely blushed.

"No problem," he said, making his way toward the door. "If you need anything, just let me know."

"Well, now that you mention it," Ziva said and he paused his steps as he turned to her. "I have nothing but this outfit Tony grabbed from my apartment to bring to the hospital for me. If there's any way you can go by there and grab a few things..."

"I've got plenty of oversized tee shirts you can borrow." Tony mischievously grinned up at her. She made a face at him.

"I would rather not...no offense."

"None taken," he said sarcastically as he turned back to his applesauce.

"I guess I could do that," Tim said. "I'll bring an empty evidence box in there and throw some stuff in that. If someone's watching me, they won't know the difference."

"Have fun sifting through the underwear drawer, Probie," Tony said. McGee blushed at his comment and tried not to let them see it.

"I'm not gonna look at anything," he defended. "I'm just gonna grab some stuff and go." Ziva laughed from her nose at his uncomfortable state and she stepped closer to him.

"You are not embarrassed to see my underclothes, are you, McGee?" She grinned at him. McGee furrowed his brow at her, trying to hide his discomfort.

"No," he said. "I'm not embarrassed...I- I'm just gonna go- get your stuff." He turned toward the door again. "I should be back pretty soon." Ziva closed the door behind him with a grin, then turned to go back to the living room.

Tony was still. His hands held the jar of applesauce and spoon lightly on his lap, and as she walked toward him, she noticed he'd fallen asleep. Quietly, she took the items from his hand and brought them into the kitchen. As she went back toward him, she picked up a throw blanket that lay draped on the armchair, and carefully laid it over his sleeping body.

"Thanks," he said sleepily, without opening his eyes. She smiled at him and turned to go to the bathroom.


"What took you so long?" Abby asked as she heard Gibbs enter the lab. He walked over and set the large cup in front of her. "Oh...Thanks!" She picked it up and took a short sip. "So I've been doing a little digging on this Akim Hadar guy," she said. "You know that pipe-bombing case that's been in the news?" She turned her face to him.

"Never found the guy," he said.

"Yeah, I know." She turned back to the screen as she typed. "I got Akim's home address from Bethesda's employee database. Then I checked with the U.S. Postal Service delivery data for anything that had been delivered to that address in the last six months. He's gotten two packages weighing in at about fifteen pounds each."

"He ordered piping through the mail?"

"The packages both came from the same place; a mom n' pop's plumbing company out of Minnesota. The first package was delivered a week before the bombing in Baltimore."

"And the second?"

"Two weeks ago," she said as she turned to him. He picked up his phone as he walked toward the door.

"Good work, Abs," he said as he left. She watched the door for a moment before looking down at her Caf-Pow.


Tim walked into Ziva's bathroom after having packed several pieces of clothing into the evidence box, leaving it on the bed before thinking to grab her toothbrush for her.

His shoes sloshed in the pink water that had mostly been absorbed by towels that had been laid down. He glanced at the tub briefly before opening the medicine cabinet. And he jumped when his cell rang in his pocket. Taking a breath as he closed his eyes, frustrated that it had scared him, he reached into his pocket and answered.

"Boss, I know I'm supposed to back there by now, but Ziva asked me to-"

"McGee, Abs found evidence that suggests Akim may have set that pipe bomb off in Baltimore,"Gibbs explained.

"The one on the news?" McGee inquired.

"Yeah. Never found the guy. BPD said the bomb had been in the toilet tank in one of the stalls. I'm on my way to Ziva's apartment. So is the bomb-squad."

"Boss, I'm at her apartment right now," he said as he glanced at the tank and held the phone between his ear and shoulder and went to remove the top.

"What? Why the hell are you over there?"

"She asked me if I could pick up a few..." his voice tapered off after he removed the top.

"McGee?"Gibbs said when he heard him stop. But McGee was in full panic as he saw the wired pipe bomb duct taped to the dry portion of the tank. There was a timer connected to it, and it was counting down from five seconds...

"Boss..."