Rising Knights—Chapter 14

Tim walks Ziva out to her car and asks her if she wants to follow him or if he should leave his car and they can just take hers.

"You would allow me to drive you, McGee? I am honored, yet feel it unnecessary for us to carpool. I will follow you home."

"You do remember that I don't have a lot of furniture?"

"I trust you McGee. If you would rather spend the night at my place, we can stop by and pick up a change of clothes for you and drop off your car?"

Tim nods grateful for her understanding. He knows that she has questions and anticipates a night of Q & A.

An hour later Tim is standing outside Ziva's apartment as he waits patiently for her to open the door. When she does so, he walks to the kitchen and carefully places their groceries on the table before slipping his backpack off and stashing it beside the couch.

He helps Ziva make a quick supper of salad and spaghetti. Afterwards, they sit on the couch and Ziva finally asks him why he told Tony to protect Sarah.

"You can see they are attracted to each other, can you not?" She can't help the slight tinge of jealousy in her voice. Tim sighs and reaches for her hands, knowing full well that she can easily knock him into next week.

"Hey, look at me. I know what I'm doing, especially where Sarah's concerned. While I don't think that our parents are capable of murder, at least I'm hoping they aren't, I want Sarah to have a chance to spend some time with the man that she's loved for the last few years."

Ziva stares at him in shock and wonder. Tim smiles and nods at the book lying on the table. "She's been in love with Agent Tommy ever since I wrote Deep Six. She'll deny it of course, but when she admitted that mom and dad don't like who she's in love with it had to be Tony."

"Why did it have to be Tony?"

Tim sighs and stands up to pace for a minute. Ziva can tell that she's about to hear something that this man has never told anyone else.

"When I first called home and told our parents that I would be working for NCIS, they thought it was wonderful. Until I told them I wanted to be a field agent. According to them I'm wasting my degrees. It wasn't until Vance put me in cybercrimes that they even started talking to me for more than five minutes."

"They wanted you to stay behind a desk."

"Yeah, but they don't understand that I was dying in cybercrimes. It was exciting for all of 24 hours, and then I realized what I was missing and just existed until Gibbs brought us all together again."

"I can honestly say that I missed you too McGee. I also hope that Tony realizes what a gift you have just given him."

Tim reaches down for her hand and when she places her hand in his he gently pulls her to her feet and into a loose hug.

"You'll find him some day Ziva. We'll both find our special someone eventually; it's just a matter of faith."

Ziva lets herself shed a few tears as she rests against McGee's chest. She knows that he is just as leery as she is about the dating game anymore. Not for the first time she wishes that she could feel something other than sisterly affection for this gentle man who could no more hurt her than he could his own sister. He hands her his hankie and she blows her nose with it as she sits down again.

"What are you going to say to your parents when they get here McGee?"

Tim starts pacing again. "I don't know. I just—I've always been taught to 'honor thy father and thy mother.' I just don't know why they would put Sarah through this hell again. Especially since I didn't tell them what happened the first time."

Tim turns to Ziva as he realizes what he just said, "Ziva, I never told them. They couldn't have known. Sarah was too embarrassed to tell them and I swore to her that I wouldn't. I gotta call Gibbs."

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Miles away from Ziva's apartment, Leroy Jethro Gibbs steps out of his car just as his cell phone rings. Listening to Tim on the other end Gibbs tells him good work then heads up the stairs to bring in a cheerleader for questioning.

###

Ziva watches in mild amusement as Tim retrieves his backpack and pulls out his laptop. When he sets it up she comes over to see what he's doing.

"You are actually going to do what Gibbs suggested? Write up all the occasions that your parents interfered in your life?"

"I figure I may as well; I don't think I'll get much sleep tonight."

"If you are referring to someone saying that I snore when I sleep then…it's true. I do."

Tim smiles at her and she can see that she made the wrong assumption. There are clouds in those deep green eyes. Shadows put there not by her, but by his parents.

"I need to do this, for both me and Sarah. Maybe this way—"

Ziva prompts him to continue, "Maybe this way what Tim?"

He shrugs, embarrassed to explain it, yet knowing he needs to tell someone. Ziva steps closer and sits down on the edge of the chair. Tim looks up at her, silently asking permission to hold her while he tells his story. Ziva nods and slips onto his lap, relishing the feel of warm arms holding her close and leans her head on his chest.

"I just want to know why it's so difficult for someone to want to love me. I don't think I'm as needy as I was when I first started working at Norfolk. I know that I have some issues due to what's happened in the past, but am I that unlovable? Do I have to be part of someone's assignment to even find a girlfriend these days? What's wrong with me?"

Ziva can't halt the tears that are running down her cheeks. Her friend, her best friend has just asked all the questions that she has been wondering about concerning her own personal life.

Tim holds her, knowing that she's feeling the same way that he is. While he wonders why he couldn't have fallen in love with this exotic beauty in his arms, he's also grateful for the friend that he has in her. No one else knows how to relate to him, at least not on this particular subject, which is another reason he'd wanted her with him tonight. With Abby he can talk all things scientific; with Ziva he knows he can trust her not to humiliate him when he bares his soul to her like this.

Soft feminine snores emanate from Tim's chest area and he smiles at the sleeping beauty in his arms. Letting her sleep, Tim carefully lifts his laptop so that he can type and hold his friend at the same time. Ziva carefully peeks every now and then at what he's writing; trying not to let on that she's not actually sleeping so much as observing what the senior McGee's have put their children through.

A/N: So, next chapter is your choice my readers: Tony and Sarah's chat, Gibbs and cheerleader chat, or Ducky finally admitting something is wrong with him?