Not beta'd; Standard disclaimer applies.

Can't believe this is chapter 50...


If Monday was the day that didn't end, Tuesday was the day that disappeared. The team was so wrapped up in the case, that Tim had barely noticed that the day had come and gone. Surprisingly, Gibbs had dismissed them each night, granted, it was late, and could barely be called the same day, but he did send them home to get some rest, telling them to be back in the office by 0700 the next day.

Both Tim and Ziva were so tired, that neither one attempted a conversation of any kind. In fact, other than, 'We running tomorrow?' or 'Who's driving?' not much was said between the two while in the car, since the passenger took advantage of the opportunity to get some extra sleep.

It took them some time, but they were finally able to close the case Wednesday. Knowing how tired everyone was and that down time was needed, Gibbs dismissed them for the day, stating that reports could be completed the following day.

Tim and Ziva hadn't talked anymore about what happened with Gibbs. One of the reasons why Tim still hadn't shared any more of his and Gibbs's conversation with Ziva, was because he was waiting to see what happened. During this investigation, Gibbs not only made sure the young man got rest and food, but occasionally asked Tim not only for his ideas and opinions on cases, but if he would mind following up on some leads via computer rather than out in the field. The best part of his interactions with Gibbs was that the older man did it out of sight and earshot of his teammates, something Tim was very grateful for.

The change in Gibbs was something Tim knew he could get used to, he only hoped it would last. It was easy to change while something was fresh in your mind, but in a few weeks, a month, that is when Tim knew the real test will come into play.

Taking her cues from Tim, Ziva kept away from discussing his interactions with Gibbs from earlier in the week and instead, tried to keep their conversation more casual and light-hearted. Ziva had teasingly asked Tim if she looked like a 'Peggy', while Tim had commented that Ziva did not exist. That had required some additional explanation, which Tim had provided, noticing that Ziva's frown had gotten deeper with every word that he had uttered.

Before long, the two were comfortably situated in Tim's apartment, partaking in their usual Wednesday routine of Kitchen Sink take out.

"We should see a movie," Ziva decided after the two had finished cleaning the dinner dishes.

Tim frowned, "You want to go to the movies?" Now that he thought about it, that wasn't a bad idea. Going to the movies together could keep him from accidentally mentioning something about either his conversation with Gibbs or his feelings for Ziva.

"What? No, I meant that we should watch a movie here."

"I don't have much," Tim stated.

"Please," Ziva rolled her eyes, "There are tons of movies in there," she said, nodding to his room.

Eyes narrowed, Tim asked, "And how do you know that?" It was true, so there was no reason to deny it, still he didn't know how she learned this fact.

"I…I might have seen them when you were gone with Sarah and I was watching Jethro," she admitted.

Tim crossed his arms and looked at her, "You said you didn't snoop." His eyes letting her know that he wasn't mad or upset, just curious.

"I didn't. I didn't unlock anything or rifle through your desk," she explained, "though I did take a considerable amount of time looking through your bookcase and record collection."

Tim nodded, "Understandable, those are in the living room," the implied question of what was she doing in his bedroom was left unsaid. He didn't mind that she had been in there, she had been in or through their numerous times, first, when using the bathroom and most recently while he had been sick. Mostly, he was just curious about how she had learned the contents of that cupboard.

She smiled, guessing his thoughts, "On my way to the bathroom I noticed that one of the cabinet doors was opened. Knowing you, I figured it was unintentional so went over to close it, to prevent Jethro from getting into it," she told him. "I saw that it was filled with DVD's when I did that. I didn't read any of the cases, nor did I open any other door or drawer," she stated. "Though I did notice that your collection might be able to rival Tony's," she added with a grin that asked if she was forgiven.

Tim snorted, "Thank you for closing it. You were right, it was an oversight that I didn't close it completely. Jethro can have a tendency to chew on things when I leave him alone for too long," he stated, grinning back at her, letting her know that there was nothing to forgive. "And no, my collection doesn't even come close to Tony's, for one thing, most of the movies in my collection are either favorites from when I was younger or Sci-Fi, not much from the last decade," he admitted.

"So, can I look at them now?" she asked, "Under your supervision, of course," she smirked.

"Smart ass," he muttered under his breath. "You do remember that the TV is in the bedroom, and that the only place to sit in there is my bed, right?"

"I know I can trust you, in the past month we've shared not only a hotel room a couple of times, but also a couch and a bed," she responded, heading towards his room.

Not being able to argue with that, Tim just shook his head and shrugged as she walked away. "You know, we can go to the movies if you want."

"No, not tonight, I'd rather stay here, stretch out on your bed, be comfortable, and watch a movie."

"Who am I to argue with that?" Tim muttered. Well, at least he could tell Tony that Zi-Peggy was in his bed.

"Hey, Tim, get in here and help me pick out a movie," she called.

"Anything is fine with me," he replied.

"I have no doubt about that, after all, it is your collection, I just want know more about some of these. Many of these seem similar to one another, part of a series, I want to make sure that I am choosing the first one."

"Just to let you know, some of those are Sarah's," Tim shared as he entered his room. "What kind of movie are you interested in tonight? I warn you though, I don't have much in the way of horror."

"Just as well, if I watch a scary movie, I might not be able to fall asleep tonight," Ziva admitted. Tim raised an eyebrow in surprise at that revelation, he never would have suspected that. "It is not necessarily because I am scared," she responded to his silent inquiry, "but rather that the adrenaline is coursing through my body and I need some kind of activity to offset it."

"Oh," Tim responded, moving his gaze and thoughts back to the movies and away from her body and the images her words invoked in him. "Um, as you mentioned, a lot of these are part of a series. Perhaps some other time we can pick one and have another movie marathon."

"That sounds good," Ziva agreed. "For tonight, perhaps you can pull a few movies out and I will choose one of those for us to watch."

"Okay," Tim agreed, setting about his task and reviewing his collection. About ten minutes later he handed some movies to Ziva, who remained seated on the floor in front of the cabinet, watching him. Gremlins, ET, Crocodile Dundee, Top Gun, War Games, Labyrinth, Back to the Future, Footloose, and Overboard. "Since you didn't specify a genre, I tried to get an assortment, the last two are Sarah's," he added.

"Hmm," Ziva replied, already engrossed in the movie descriptions.

"Um, I'll go make us some popcorn," Tim eagerly offered an excuse to leave the room and lose himself in a task, when he caught himself staring at her. "Can't watch a movie without popcorn," he added.

When he returned, carrying a bowl of popcorn and two glasses, it was to find Ziva comfortably lounging on his bed, shoes off, leaning against pillows propped up against the headboard, remote in her hand.

"Just in time," she called, patting the spot beside her. Hesitatingly, Tim approached, handed her one glass, then the bowl of popcorn before placing the other glass on the nightstand next to him and gingerly climbed onto his bed. Once he was settled, she started the movie and the familiar opening scenes darted across the screen.

Tim bolted up, "Hey, this isn't one that I picked," he stated.

"I know, but I found the title too intriguing to ignore," she stated apologetically, as she pressed the pause button on the remote, "Do you mind?"

"I…if you already had a movie in mind, why did you ask for my help to select one?" Tim asked in bewilderment.

"Because at the time, I did not," she answered. "It was only when you were picking out some, when your hand lingered over the case, did I notice it."

"I didn't choose it for a reason," Tim stated the obvious.

"If you like, we can switch to one of the others," she offered, holding up War Games, "This one looks just as interesting."

Tim groaned, she would have him choose between two movies both involving smarter than average teens. "No, this one is fine," he agreed.

Tim was glad he had most, if not all of the movie memorized. He tried to relax as they watched the movie, to pay more attention to the tv than the girl in his bed, but it definitely wasn't easy. He could not seem to forget that Ziva was next to him, lying beside him in his bed. In fact, he had to keep repeating to himself what Ziva had said earlier, about trusting him. Obviously she didn't want him to try anything, was trusting that he wouldn't. Betraying that trust was a surefire way to not only end this 'relationship', but also their friendship, not to mention his life, he thought, remembering the many skills Ziva possessed.

As the movie continued, it seemed natural to him that she had shifted and was now leaning on him as if he was her personal pillow, his arm lightly wrapped around her. He felt like he was teenager again, so aware of every move she made, every breath she took. Of course, the fact that just when he seemed to relax, either their hands would meet in the popcorn bowl, or she would touch him to get his attentions so she could ask a question. Sometimes the question would be about the movie, but often, it was more personal, like asking him if he had gone through something similar.

When his torture, or rather, the movie, finally ended, Ziva stretched before standing up. "That was nice. We will definitely have to do this again," she said, heading into the bathroom.

"Sure," he replied, deciding he would have to buy a TV for the living room before that happened. He didn't know where he would put it, but if movies were going to be a regular thing, especially the movie marathon he already promised, he was going to have to figure something out. Of course, there was another option, "You know, we can always watch some movies at your place. We haven't spent much time there, just when you were sick."

"We shall see," she stated, as she exited the room. "I am tempted to stay," she admitted, causing Tim's head to jerk up in shock. "I feel so relaxed and comfortable that the last thing I want to do is drive home, even if it is fairly close. Of course, if I do that, that law will come into play and I would need my go bag for a case tomorrow and it will not contain any clean clothes."

"Law?" Tim echoed, his brain had stopped processing her words after her initial comment about staying.

"Yes, you know, Muffy or something like that," she frowned, as she tried to remember. "Seems to apply in the worst of situations. You spoke of it regarding this scenario, when we returned from Florida."

"Oh, right. Murphy's Law," Tim supplied, finally understanding what she meant. "And if you don't feel up to driving, you are more than welcome to stay, I can sleep on the couch," he rushed to reassure her. "If you really fear Murphy's Law, we can set the alarm early so you have time to return to your place to get ready for work."

Ziva gave it some thought, looking at him searchingly before shaking her head, "No, that is okay, it is a short drive and not really that late. I will be fine," she confirmed, as she left his room and started to gather her belongings.

Tim nodded, partly relieved, "If you are sure?"

Ziva nodded an affirmation and proceeded to put on her shoes and coat, McGee imitating her actions. He automatically grabbed his phone and his keys before reaching for Jethro's leash, and held the door open for her, escorting her outside and to her car. "Text me that you got home okay."

Ziva smiled at the concern he showed before first petting Jethro and then turning to Tim. She embraced him in a quick hug before placing a kiss on his lips, entering her car and driving off, Tim staring after her.


Tim had a difficult time sleeping Wednesday night. He had remained standing in the parking lot staring at the road long after her car taillights had disappeared from view. In fact, it was only her text message, 'Home safe' with a heart emoji that had jolted him back to reality.

He quickly returned to his apartment and room, determined to fall asleep and not think about Ziva. That was easier said than done since his bed and pillow smelled like her perfume. He ended up spending a restless night thinking about Ziva, about how he felt, the kiss she gave him before she left, the emoji in her text, and wondered if she was thinking about him as more than a friend or partner.

In the morning, he was no closer to figuring out an answer. However, he did make one decision and that was to distance himself from her, temporarily, and see if it was just the situation that was causing the feelings or if they were real.

He immediately put his plan into action, texting Ziva once he knew she was up, and informing her that he would be driving himself into work that morning as he had some errands he needed to do afterwards. Ziva was curious about why he had not remembered about his errands the previous evening, nor why he had not mentioned this then, but decided not to comment. After all, as Tim had told her, they did not need to live in each other's pockets.

Now, however, it was late Thursday afternoon and Ziva was beginning to think that Tim was avoiding her. He rarely looked at her and when she tried to tease him about who would complete their reports first, he had just nodded and returned to his work. Not even gloating when he had finished before both her and Tony. The only reason why she had yet to follow him into the men's room and confront him about this is because he seemed to be treating everyone the same way.

Tony had also tried to engage Tim in conversation, also without success.

The senior field agent couldn't understand what was going on with the team, and he meant the entire team. The only one not acting weird was Palmer, and well, that was weird.

Ducky seemed to take any excuse to come up and visit the bullpen that day, something he rarely did, at least not without a specific reason for the visit. While there, he wouldn't say much, which again, was unusual, but instead just watched intently as if preparing to perform a living autopsy on them.

Every spare moment Abby had, she was calling either Tony or Ziva or appearing in the bullpen hoping to talk to one of them. Although she greeted Gibbs if he was around, she hadn't said a word to Tim, not that Tim had noticed, he seemed solely focused on the computers and files in front of him.

Ziva was annoyed, that was obvious. Tony wasn't sure why, but suspected that she had a fight with guy in tights and was taking it out on him and Tim. Whenever Tony teased McGee or used a McNickname, Ziva would glare at him. She could also be found occasionally glaring at Probie, especially when he didn't respond to her comments. For some reason, she seemed happy when McGee also ignored him.

McGee seemed to be ignoring anything and everything that was happening in the bullpen, not participating in any conversation that wasn't work related. Tony really hoped that it just meant that he had an interesting cold case he was working on, or that he might have figured it out, but somehow, Tony didn't believe that was what was happening.

Gibbs seemed to be keeping more of an eye on his male agents than usual. McGee, Tony thought he understood, especially if something did happen during the drive to the crime scene, but himself? The SFA thought with a frown, he wasn't involved in that situation. He also noticed that Gibbs seemed to scrutinize Ziva's every action and interaction as well.

The entire atmosphere of the bullpen was driving Tony crazy. He really wanted answers, but so far, no one was answering his questions. Or, Tony thought, he just wasn't asking the right ones. With a nod, Tony decided that he would continue to observe and gather clues about what was going on, then he would be able to figure his teammates out.


1-14-19

Guess what 'tomorrow' is (in the story)...Friday the 13th...