A/N: I know, I know, I've been universally absent. I'm sorry! School's just been hectic. Thank you all so much for your feedback on Chapter 24, I really appreciate the kind words and whatnot. I was so nervous. What became of that chapter was like nothing I have ever written before and I was so pleased that you all liked it. And wow, we are quite close to 300 reviews, too! I am really proud of that. Thanks, guys!

Also, I just watched Bloodbath, Jeopardy and both parts of Hiatus, so sorry if Ziva seems a little…season 3-ish in her dialogue.

"You kissed her?" Tony asked, stunned at Tim's courage, both to Abby and the consequences in the future when he would have Gibbs to deal with. "What happened?"

"Well, I just did it," McGee replied, a proud smile on his face. "She grinned at me, asked for the cheque and we left straight away."

"Then what are you doing over here, get in there!" Tony grinned, slapping his friend on the back. "Time to collect, my friend." With that, he retreated to the bedroom with his partner to enjoy their newly consummated relationship and post-sex cuddling possibly.

"What did you and McGee talk about?" Ziva asked.

He smiled cockily. "I may just be the world's greatest matchmaker," he told her, looking up at the ceiling. "Love-maker is a close second to that," he said.

"Now there, I may have to agree with you," she said, knowing it would go to his head, but not really caring. "So, in the mood for some whipped cream?"

"I don't know…I'm kinda tired," he said. "Sex with you is like…well, it's tiring."

"I'll take that as a compliment."

"My stamina isn't quite what it used to be."

She frowned at him with a smile.

"That makes me sound old, doesn't it?"

She laughed, fingering his scalp. "Is that a grey hair?" she teased.

"Not funny," he told her.

She tried to look innocent, and held up the canned dairy product. "It was cheap because it expires on the day after tomorrow."

"Guess we better use it, then."

…

The next morning at breakfast Tony kept eyeing McGee, trying to read the younger man's thoughts in some way. So far he had been unsuccessful.

"So, how did everyone sleep last night?" he asked, quite a pathetic attempt at retrieving information.

"Just fine," Ziva muttered, and winked at him, to which he grinned.

"Great," Abby answered with a big smile, and stretched her arms out. Tony quickly glanced at Tim, who gave him a very small and subtle nod. Tony telepathically sent him a thumbs-up. McGee was like his pesky little brother, but brotherhood was a strong bond. He was proud of him. His little Probie was finally growing up.

…

"Ziva, can I talk to you?" Abby asked as the two women loaded their dirty laundry into the washing machine.

Ziva looked up at her friend. "Of course, Abby. What's wrong?"

"You know this whole thing with you and Tony?" she asked, shuffling from side to side a little, twiddling her thumbs and chewing her lip like she always did when she was unsure of something.

"Yes…" Ziva replied, getting a little concerned. "Is there a problem?"

"No, no, of course not," the Goth quickly assured her. "It's just…how are you going to handle things? You know, with Gibbs and Rule Twelve and everything?"

Ziva closed the door of the front loader and stood up, her height nearly matching Abby's without her gigantic platforms on. "You looking for advice?" she joked.

Abby chewed her lip again, hoping desperately for a positive reaction, which is ultimately what she got.

"Abby, I am proud of you!" Ziva said happily, placing a congratulatory hand on Abby's shoulder. "Good for you."

"Thanks," Abby said. "Um, so…advice?"

"Right," Ziva huffed, placing her hands on her hips and frowning in concentration. "For your situation, I think you should be the one to tell him. Who knows what he would do to McGee."

They both shuddered at the very thought.

"Still, you are the favourite. I am not sure how well he would react at the thought of his 'Little Angel' finally growing up."

"So do I tell him or not?"

Ziva considered this for a moment. "Well, pretend that you are me, and you are trying to give you some advice. What do you tell yourself?"

Abby paused. "What?"

"I don't know."

"OK, we need to look at this from a new angle, for both of us."

"I agree," Ziva said. "I feel like we need a flow chart or something."

"No. A flow chart isn't what we need. What we need is…" Abby hesitated.

"I know what you are going to say," Ziva interrupted.

"And I am regretting the idea already," she finished.

"I think it may be our only option."

The girls looked at each other, and spoke the word that was on both of their lips in complete unison: "Campfire."

…

"I hereby call this campfire to order!" Tony announced as the other three sat in the living room while he stood at the front.

"Tony, this isn't work, you don't have to—" McGee tried to say, but was interrupted.

"Our problem is: we need a tactic of how to inform Gibbs of our newly established summer romances," followed by a murmur of, "Congratulations on that by the way, McGee," and an impressed expression. "We need a solution. Ideas: go."

"Why don't we just tell him all at once? Get it all out of the way?" Abby suggested.

"I dunno, Abs. Too much too fast could result in some serious head-slapping…or other types of physical violence in more sensitive parts of the body," Tony declined.

"I think the girls should do it," McGee said.

"You're scared!" Abby accused playfully.

"I am not scared, I am just…" He looked sheepish under Abby and Ziva's amused grins and Tony's doubtful stare. "OK, maybe I'm a little scared. Gibbs has tried to kill me for a whole lot less."

"We're looking at this the wrong way," Tony concluded. "Maybe Gibbs should be seen as not the problem, but part of the solution."

"What do you mean, Tony?" Ziva asked.

"We wanna be happy, right?" The other three nodded like little puppets. "And we want Gibbs to be happy, because we care about Gibbs' happiness, right?" Again, they nodded. "So, we find a way to make him see this as a step forward rather than an issue that needs to be dealt with."

"And how do you propose we do that?" Ziva questioned, sceptically.

Tony sat down. "I've got no freaking idea."

A/N: I'll try to update quicker next time. In the meantime, reviews!