Chapter Ten: Princess Protection

A/N: Sorry for the wait, I've been super busy personally. I hope you like this, I changed it about four times.

Olivia squealed, running down the hallway from her room towards the living room. She had a pillowcase tied onto her shirt, creating a cape. She held a novelty wand in her hand.

"To the castle!" she yelled, turning to look back down the hall.

"Yes, my princess," Tim walked up behind her, reaching to grab her. She ran away from him, disappearing into the fort they had created in the living room. Tim heard Abby giggling from the dining room, and he scowled at her as he got down onto his hands and knees to crawl into the fort.

"McGee, McGee, look!" Olivia called to him, and he settled down next to her as she pulled over a book that was on the floor. She opened it to a random page and pointed to the middle.

"Here is bad guys," she said, making a sloppy circle with her finger. Tim nodded.

"As your loyal guard, I shall protect you," he said, putting his hand to his heart. Olivia giggled loudly, reaching over and hitting his arm.

"Silly," she pointed to the book again, "we both fight."

Tim laughed, reaching over and fluffing up her wild hair. The static electricity from the blankets was making it into a puffy mess.

"Okay, then what's the plan?" he asked, and she frowned. She looked around at the assorted items she'd brought into their fort. Tim watched as she grabbed some of the markers, sloppily handing him a couple.

"Arrows," she said, turning back to the pile. Tim smiled, staring down at his hand. He looked back up as she held up two more books.

"Shields," she suggested, and Tim nodded enthusiastically. Olivia smiled widely, looking back down at the book she was using as a map.

"We attack here," she showed him the point, which was actually the word 'reasons', but he smiled and nodded anyway. She smiled smugly, putting her finger to her lips. He followed her out of the fort, holding his book shield in front of his face. He crouched down so she could whisper in his ear.

"Be quiet, it's a sneak attack," she breathed into his ear, and he grimaced at the warm breath filling his ear. He nodded nonetheless.

She shuffled towards the front door and around into the kitchen, and it clicked in his mind that she was going to throw markers at Abby. He almost broke their cover.

Olivia stopped at the edge of the counter, peeking her head up to look at her Aunt Abby. She sunk back down and looked at Tim.

"Ready?" she breathed, and Tim nodded.

"Got'cha!" she screamed, running around the island and racing at Abby. Abby screamed in response, standing from the table and running out of the dining room and towards the back of the house. She easily slipped into Olivia's room, holding herself against the door.

"Oh no! That's my room!" Olivia yelled, looking up at Tim in desperation. Tim smiled.

He leaned down and whispered into Olivia's ear, and she began to nod enthusiastically.

"Okay, I'll be at the fort," she said, turning on her heel and skipping down the hall. Tim sighed.

"Abby, open up," he said, and the knob turned. She looked out at him, pouting.

"She threw markers at me, Tim. Did she tell you I was the enemy?" she said, letting Tim into the room. McGee shrugged.

"I had a feeling," he said, and she slapped his chest.

"And you didn't tell me, thanks," she replied, reaching up and scratching her head. She smiled at her partner in crime, and laughed.

"Let's go attack her," Abby said wickedly, and Tim's eyes widened.

"Uh, Abby, I don't-"

"Yes, don't think, just go!" she said, pulling Tim through the door and down towards the living room.

"Counter attack!" she yelled, and Olivia screamed from inside the fort.

"No!" she screamed, and pens flew.

(…)

Tony opened the door for his wife, helping her out of the car. She smiled at him, hooking her purse over her shoulder.

"That was nice," she said, and Tony smirked.

"Ten full hours of no child is more than nice," he said, and Ziva slapped his chest.

"I feel guilty about it," she mumbled, and Tony shook his head.

"We need a break every now and then," he reasoned, and she shrugged.

"I guess. As long as she had fun with Tim and Abby," Ziva said as she unlocked the front door. She pushed it open and frowned as she heard screams and a marker flew across the space in front of her. Tony began to laugh.

"Oh boy," he said, moving past Ziva into the living room. A marker flew right past his ear, and he yelped.

"McGoo, what's going on here?" Tony demanded as McGee skittered up to them, his face red and a smile on his face.

"We made a fort, and it kind of turned into a battle," he said, side-eyeing Ziva. She bit her lip as she saw the couches turned over onto their sides, the cushions on the floor. Every blanket from the hall closet was draped over the cushions and couches.

"Don't worry Ziva, we've been really careful," Tim tried to sooth her, seeing the distress in her face. She blinked and shook her head, laughed as Olivia appeared out of the blankets.

"Momma! Daddy! We made a fort!" she exclaimed, hugging her father's legs. Tony reached down and patted her mess of hair. Ziva chuckled at the site.

Abby emerged from the fort, her hair disheveled. She waved at Ziva and Tony, offering an apologetic smile.

"We'll clean it up," she promised, and Ziva shook her head.

"I might want a little tour before you do that," she said, and Olivia perked up.

"I'll show you!" she basically screamed, grabbing her mother's hand and pulling her into the living room. Abby look at her friend and shrugged, following Olivia and Ziva into the fort. Olivia's wild giggles could be heard clearly from underneath the blankets.

"You guys have a good day?" Tim asked, following Tony as he moved towards the door again, heading for the trunk of their car. Tony nodded.

"Oh yeah, it was great," he handed Tim a bag, "especially being able to wander a store without constantly having to search for a runaway two-year-old."

Tim laughed, taking note of the names on the bags. He saw clothing brands, and smiled at the thought that Tony and Ziva finally going clothes shopping without a rowdy child.

"Sounds relaxing, I'm glad we could help," Tim said softly, and Tony smiled at his friend.

"Thank you guys, so much. Ziva… she really needed it. We both did, but I think Ziva more than me. She dragged me to nearly every store in the mall," he said with a chuckle, and Tim laughed.

" Well, good," he responded, following Tony back into the house. Ziva, Abby, and Olivia were still playing in the fort, and Tony could distinctly hear Ziva laughing.

"Sorry for leaving the living room a mess. Olivia insisted on making a fort," Tim offered, and Tony shook his head. Ziva looked out from the blankets, winking at her husband. She gasped, and Tony could see short arms pulling at her waist. Ziva disappeared again.

"No, it's okay. It's a good mess."

A/N: This gives me feels. A huge thanks to Nicole (McGeekle) for the help on the plot of this chapter.

Reviews, per usual, are greatly appreciated.

-Izzy