Disclaimer: I so do not own NCIS, Kort would've gotten his own spin off if I did.
Everyone eventually made their way back to the kitchen for dinner, where they again saw that Frankie had out done himself.
"Why all the junk food?" Ziva asked indicating the heavily laden table causing Tony, who had begun drooling as soon as he walked in, to gasp in feigned shock.
"'Junk food', Ziver? I don't see any junk food, only the food of the Gods!" Sitting down, Tony then began to pile his plate high with the cheeseburger sliders, buffalo wings, nachos and all the other little goodies that were loading down the table.
"There is nothing even remotely healthy here, so that makes it junk food." Ziva defended her stance even as she sat and started poking around several platters wondering what to try first, eventually deciding on the jalapeño poppers.
"Well, you can blame Frankie's wife, Margret, for what you see here." Tim said with a grin directed at his friend who grinned back.
"She's a nutritionist and has been on a vegetarian kick... for the last two years. Frankie now takes any and every opportunity- almost exclusively when he's with us, by the way- to cook more meat filled and... less healthy foods. I'd suggest to just ride it out for now, Ziva, he'll even things out again in a day or two." Chuckling as Frankie received a sympathetic slap on the back from Tony and a knowing look from Gibbs- who'd had more than his fair share of woman trying to control his diet- Tim began filling his own plate before relaxing back to share a relaxing meal with his friends.
"So, Tim, what exactly happened between you two that has this Peterson guy so bent on killing you?" Tony asked as dinner began wrapping up.
"Well," Tim began.
Flashback
The CIA had spent months creating the fiction of a hacker without peer, and who was scrupulously honest with his clients, named Murray selling his skills to anyone with the money to hire him; and the rumor had finally reached the right ears.
Peterson, a simple Lieutenant in his Family but one that could be used to gain access to sensitive information, had taken the bait that Murray represented and demanded that the work he wanted done be done in person; and that is where Tim stepped in to become 'Murray'.
Peterson wanted a new security program built that he could present to his bosses so that he could climb up the ladder, and had foolishly given 'Murray' access to his own computers to get it done.
Within a few hours of his arrival Tim had managed to upload a program to make it look like he was building what Peterson wanted while he instead took to snooping around the Family's database, and that's when he was confronted by Peterson who was trying to prove his power by pushing his newest employee around.
"What do we have here?" Peterson sneered as he flung open the door dramatically.
"Sir? I'm only about halfway through..." Tim couldn't say anymore as the meaty hand of a lackey clamped down on his wrist, yanked him from his chair and flung him hard into a wall.
"Well, you won't mind my taking a look now, would you?" Tim said nothing to this as Peterson sat in his chair and started going over the program as if his could actually read it, which Tim tactfully didn't mention he knew the man couldn't.
"Everything looks to be in order here... Just watch yourself, Murray, you could do big things; and I wouldn't want to be the one responsible for cutting your career short." Getting up, Peterson left the room followed by his muscle who gave Tim one last bruising slam into the wall for good measure.
End Flashback
"I stayed another day after that to 'complete' the program, and also get every last secret his Family was hiding before making it look like Peterson had sold them all out, then I was done and Trent got me out of there. By Monday Peterson was on the run from his own Family as well as the authorities and so came after me for revenge, you all know the rest." As Tim finished his matter-of-fact telling of his harrowing adventure Tony, Ziva and Gibbs could only stare in baffled awe.
"You did all that, and then came back to the office as if nothing had happened? Man, Pro- Tim, you are really something else." Tony said breaking the silence, Tim just dropped his head in embarrassment at the unexpected praise.
"Indeed, Tim, I myself am quite impressed." Ziva stated causing Tim to flush, Kort then took over the conversation to give Tim chance to compose himself.
"So, tonight- and every night until they show- we're going to split up into teams and monitor for signs of movement on the road, and to lesser extents the other directions. As we know more about the grounds and the security system I suggest we pair up CIA with NCIS- Frankie and Tony, Ziva and Kevin, myself and Gibbs-."
"Hey!" Tim protested his exclusion.
"We talked about this already, you're still injured and so need to rest." Kort stated firmly with a look saying he would remain unyielding on this subject, which gained him a half smirk in appreciation from Gibbs.
"I call first watch!" Tony quipped to break up the slight tension in the air.
"You can't watch the monitors from the Theater, Tony." As Tony exaggeratedly pouted at Tim's shot everyone laughed, glad that the mood had taken a swing back to its former lightness.
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"Did everything go alright today? Did the talks you wanted to have go well?" Kort asked as he gently ran a hand up and down Tim's back.
"Better than I expected actually, though I haven't talked to Ziva yet." Tim sighed out as he relaxed further against Trent's chest, loving the feel of the thick, curly hairs there against his cheek.
"You'll have a chance tomorrow, I'm sure. After all, I doubt that that idiot will attack tonight; he's probably thinking that Sunday morning would be better time to attack, that we would be less prepared then." The two chuckled at that before drifting off to sleep, Tim wrapped securely in Trent's arms.
NCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCIS
"So! What's it been like working with Timmy?" Tony asked as he watched the monitors overlooking the grounds of the estate, casually munching on the popcorn that Frankie had courteously brought in with him.
"Don't call him that! Tim is a grown man, not a child." Frankie snapped, ready to pounce on any disrespect shown to his friend. After so many years of hearing about Tim's poor treatment at the hands of his NCIS colleagues, Frankie was more than ready to fight over this- even if Tim just wanted to forgive and forget.
"Oh. Okay." Tony said warily, not having expected this side to the CIA man.
Frankie sighed, realizing that he should at least give Tony a chance since Tim was doing so.
"He's really fun to work with, but highly focused on whatever project he's working on too." Frankie began before giving a short bark of laughter.
"Tim can take one look at a problem no-one else thinks can be solved and come up with six different options, then ask if we'd like to get some pizza and discuss them. He's always looking out for us, even though we're supposed to be looking out for him. He also never forgets anything we tell him, even when we ourselves do." Frankie then sighed out at the memory that came to mind.
"Just last year I forgot all about my Tenth Anniversary while we were on a mission; but when I got home Margret was all over me, thanking me for the impromptu, all expense paid trip to Six Flags for her, her sister and all the kids. I had no clue what she was talking about until I got a text from Tim telling me to just roll with it." Smiling at the memory, Frankie looked over to see Tony deep in thought and so continued on while also keeping an eye on the monitors.
"Tim is the best friend- hell, best brother- that anyone could ask for, and all he's ever asked for in return is a modicum of respect- I just think it's sad that he gets it so rarely." Tony looked over at that, knowing that the barb had been directed at him and knowing he deserved it.
"I'm going to try..." Tony began but stopped, knowing it would sound trite after all that Frankie had just shared.
Taking pity on Tony as he could see that the poor man had been giving a lot to think about today, Frankie decided to change the subject.
"If it makes you feel any better, Kevin and I have a running bet on just when and under what circumstances Tim will turn into a Bond villain."
"What?!" Smirking, Frankie elaborated.
"Well, he's super smart, amazingly talented at everything and probably one good betrayal away from concurring the Globe. So: Bond villain." Laughing so hard it hurt it took Tony several minutes to gain enough air to speak.
"That would never happen in a million years! Tim is too good a guy to even think about doing that let alone actually do it." Calming down a bit, Tony then looked over at Frankie with a thoughtful expression.
"So, how much is it to buy in and what are the odds so far?"