A/N - Hey everyone, thank you so much for coming back for the second half of 0MN1! I know it's been a while, but my writing schedule got disrupted by working 3 jobs and having my own run-in with COVID-19. Thank you again, and stay safe!

0MN1 – ACT II

NCIS

Tim huffed dejectedly and leaned back in his writing chair. His right arm was in a sling from being dislocated by a steroid-enraged Marine earlier that day, and without it his free-writing simply couldn't flow through his typewriter onto the page. He had been blocked for several days, and pressure was beginning to mount with a deadline given by his publisher to show at least some progress on Rock Hollow. It was now 8 PM on Wednesday and he wanted to have a useable chapter written by the end of the week.

He finally got up and sauntered to his desk where his new first-generation iPhone was charging. The euphoria of having the latest innovative technology was still strong enough to cure his mood, though the deadline still nagged in the back of his mind. Thankfully, his dominant left hand was free to play with his new toy. The first thing he had done with the phone was take several dozen pictures with the phone's camera, and his favorite subject was Riley.

He and Riley had been steadily seeing each other since they declared their love to each other one month ago. The bulk of their time together was usually on the weekends unless they were on-call, though they often were on-call at the same time, so it wasn't difficult. The occasional weekday night found Riley reading in the overstuffed chair in Tim's bedroom while Tim typed at his writing desk. When Tim would catch Riley particularly focused on his book, he liked to capture Riley's various expressions using the phone's camera. He was flipping through a couple of pictures of Riley when his phone buzzed with a new text message.

Riley: Finally home. Blehhh.

Tim chuckled and clicked his contact to call him.

Riley answered gruffly and sleepily, "Whoever this is better be offering free pizza."

"Hello to you, too," Tim warily greeted.

"Oh shit…" the man mumbled. "Sorry Tim, I didn't even look at my phone. I had such a fun day at work. Someone was trying to hide some documents in their paper shredder, and little ol' me got stuck putting them back together. Then I had a thing with a friend from work and it took forever."

Tim nodded understandingly having had to sift through trash for the same result. "Feeling like a regular agent again?"

"It does bring back memories," Riley lamented sarcastically. "OMNI's been quiet around here for the last month, and the field offices now have people who know what to look for, so life is returning to normal. How about you? How was your day?"

Tim looked uneasily at his arm in the sling. "It was fine," he lied. "I'm having trouble writing, though. Still blocked."

Riley groaned and hissed through the phone like he was stretching. "No inspiration from the new cases? I thought you had an idea from the case with your missing Ranger Scout."

"Eh…" Tim shrugged. "The best inspiration I got from that was when you said, 'If you keep talking about kids, I'm making you wear condoms again. I'm not ready to be an unwed mother.'"

"And I meant it," he chuckled, sounding livelier than before.

"That's not how it even wor- ugh never mind!" Tim scoffed and rolled his eyes with a smile.

"Ah! I can hear it, you're smiling now."

"Yeah," Tim hummed happily. He enjoyed that Riley knew how to push his buttons in the right way to brighten his day.

"So what are you up to? Free-writing to get the ideas flowing again?"

"Uh…" Tim hesitated, and decided to push some of Riley's buttons back. "Can't exactly."

"Why not?" Riley asked. "Out of paper?"

"I uh…" he hesitated, "I'm not at home. I broke my arm."

Riley snickered. "Yeah, right. You're just saying that to get out of riding with me on the motorcycle this weekend."

Tim quietly smiled to himself. He hadn't intended to back down on the motorcycle ride, but it was an unexpected bonus of his injury. He sucked in a breath through his gritted teeth and conspicuously sighed.

"Wait, really?" There was a rustling sound as Riley sat up. "You- You're sitting there with a broken arm but you called me because you have writer's block?! When did this happen?!"

Tim grinned. "We had a Marine juiced up on steroids that went on a rampage. It wasn't a big deal, Ziva's face got bruised, Tony's nose broke, Gibbs probably has a broken rib, and they haven't even set my arm yet."

Tim had to hold the phone away from his ear when Riley yelled, "WHAT?!"

Riley started darting around in rapid fire. "Alright, where are you? Which hospital? Do you need anything from your place? I can come get you and bring you home."

"Riley- Riley! Relax," Tim laughed. "I'm just kidding! I'm kidding, I swear. I'm at home. My shoulder was dislocated but they already fixed it and gave me some meds. Everyone's fine, I just can't use my arm for a few days."

There was a sound of Riley letting out a big breath and him falling back into a chair. "I… just… HATE you," he slowly replied.

Tim's grin widened. "I got you good. That really woke you up!"

"Yeah, you really got me," Riley admitted and with a tired laugh. "But if you try that one again, your arm had better be broken or I'll come over there and lovingly break it myself."

"Deal," Tim chuckled.

"Seriously, though, are you okay?"

"Yes, I promise. I'm just frustrated. I can't free-write with only one hand, it doesn't work right. I end up thinking too much about the typing itself, then all I can think about is the typewriter."

Riley nodded. "Well I'm up now, thanks to you. Do you want to come over and get a little change of writing scenery? I can type for you on my laptop and you can just talk. You can even bring over some things that you've written and I'll skim through it. I'll be your secretary, Mr. Author Man."

Tim considered it, thinking it might be nice to relax in Riley's apartment but not convinced it would be the right place for writing. "I've never really done that before. I don't know if I could really write without the typewriter. Maybe I could hand-write some pages of ideas, but probably not chapters."

"That'd be cool. I'd get to see what random thoughts run through that sexy head of yours. Plus, what kind of food can you eat with one hand that can be here in 45 minutes?"

He snorted and chuckled. "Pizza?"

"Atta' boy. Love you."

"Love you too."

OMNI

Riley absent-mindedly chewed a mouthful of pizza while skimming through a small stack of pages from Rock Hollow Tim brought with him. Tim chose the chapter he wrote about Ryan Matthews, the character inspired by Riley, who stole the attention of forensic scientist Amy Sutton from Agent McGregor. He was always nervous waiting while someone read his work, though his own thoughts weren't getting him anywhere and Riley was the only one he trusted to not make fun of him for his story and character choices. He doodled on some blank printer paper using his left hand while he waited for Riley to finish.

"It's…" Riley began tepidly, then pursed his lips. "It's okay. Your free-writing has a lot of descriptive content that can be really useful. The chapter, the writing is okay… but I'm confused. I thought McGregor rejected Amy before for reasons unknown, and now he's jealous that she's attracted to someone else."

Tim nodded. "I know. I wrote that thinking about when we came back from One Club. McGregor rejected her before I thought of your character, and I thought that maybe he would have second thoughts."

"Well, what's McGregor's plot?"

"I… er… haven't figured it out yet," Tim sheepishly answered.

"No conflict or growth?" Riley asked pensively. He took a sip from his beer bottle then looked back at Tim. "Amy's?"

Tim shook his head and sighed. "I haven't even figured out who the killer is, and I barely have a useable crime since I scrapped the original chapters."

"Ok, so we just need a little structure," Riley offered. "Let's leave the main plot out for a moment and focus on them. Assuming there would be a third book, you'll need Amy and McGregor to work well together, meaning at the end of this one they need to be friends, lovers, or at the worst just be awkward around each other."

"True," Tim nodded and jotted down a few notes on the paper. "In my original chapters, part of the plot revolved around a couple of people trying to kill McGregor. Maybe we could use that again, as long as an obsessed fan doesn't try to actually recreate the murders again."

Riley scratched his chin while he thought. "Matthews could be gay, and instead of him and McGregor competing over Amy, it could be Amy and Matthews competing over McGregor while each trying to protect him."

Tim frowned. "I wasn't thinking McGregor would end up gay. I mean, I know Abby thought Amy should fall for someone gay and she did say McGregor and Amy were wrong for each other, but…"

"He doesn't have to be gay, Tim," Riley corrected. "You're bisexual, why can't he be?"

Tim avoided Riley's eyes. "I… my publisher said it might be a good idea to avoid having any main characters being anything but straight because it could hurt the audience's reception." While it was the truth, Tim knew Riley's fearlessness would see it as no excuse, and worried about what he'd think of him.

Riley cringed with disappointment as expected. "Really? She said that? Ugh. It should be what you want it to be. You're the damn author. What do you want it to be?"

Tim sighed. "I don't know. I just want it to work. She called this week checking up and I didn't know what to tell her, so I told her about this. This is all I have that I think could even work as a story, and even then there's nothing to go on before or after."

Riley bounced his leg while he looked over the chapter again, looking over the chapter. A strange look of intrigue crossed his face, and he quickly flipped through the few pages of free-writing.

"Yes," he whispered.

Tim sat up. "What?"

"One Club. You never wrote about it in a chapter, but you have it in your free-writing as Club APEX," Riley explained. "What if we held true to the Matthews character, but made him a woman? What if Agent Matthews was actually a woman that they meet at Club APEX, then Amy and Matthews compete for McGregor, and Matthews wins?"

Tim read through it in his mind. "We could have Amy see McGregor differently while being with someone like Matthews and that would let them stay friends, but… that was the character I made for you. If I change it… it won't be you anymore."

Riley smiled. "It's okay. Just because I'm your boyfriend doesn't mean you don't owe me a character, Tim. You need to focus on what will make this work."

"Okay, if you're sure. Do you still want her to be like you?" Tim asked, stunned and almost feeling guilty for compromising on his vision of Riley in his own story.

"It's not about what I want, it's about getting it done," Riley simplified, though his face betrayed that he wasn't completely satisfied with the idea. "But there you have it, a beginning at Club APEX where they meet, conflict for McGregor on who to choose and growth because of it, then an end where he chooses Matthews. That's a character plot."

Tim leapt up from the table and engulfed Riley in a grateful hug, which pained his shoulder but he didn't care. He kissed him tenderly and brushed their foreheads together. "Thank you, so much."

Riley smiled and gave him another quick peck. "Alright, get writing before you lose it again."

Tim darted back to the chair and started scrawling out notes and outlines for his newly developed plot. Riley padded around the apartment cleaning up after dinner and settled in the chair across from Tim with the original Deep Six from his shelf. Occasionally Riley got up to get them other drinks or more paper for Tim, but the hours ticked on with them at the table.

Tim finally set his pen down and yawned heartily. "11:30 already?"

Riley looked around to see the clock on the oven then stretched. Looking at the small pile of papers he observed, "Looks like you've got your mojo back." He stood up and walked around to embrace Tim from behind while he sat.

Tim sighed with happy exhaustion and reminded him, "Thanks to your help. Getting away from my normal space helped get the ideas flowing."

Riley hummed happily and rested his chin on Tim's head, then breathed a small sigh.

Tim adjusted his sling with a quick twinge of pain in his shoulder. He noticed that Riley seemed quiet. "What?"

"I just had a bit of a thought," he replied quietly. "What if we got a little further away?"

"What do you mean?"

Riley walked around and leaned back against the side of the table with his arms folded. "Do you want to come to the cabin with me this weekend?"

Tim's eyes went wide. They hadn't talked much about Riley's cabin other than the weekend after the OMNI warehouse raid when Riley went there by himself. Tim never asked about it because he knew how important it was for Riley, the cabin being his most personal space, and how much it meant that Riley was asking him now.

"Wow… I'd love to. But, are you sure?" he asked.

Riley smiled. "Yeah. You just let me be part of a really special thing for you, and I think we're at the point in our relationship where it's safe for me to do the same. I love you, and I want you to come with me. We'll leave Friday night, we'll grab food from the store up there for us to cook, and you can use the place as a bit of a writing retreat. Your arm will be out of the sling so I can take you up to the mountain road on the motorcycle." At the look on Tim's face, Riley counter-offered, "Okay, we can drive up there, but I'm telling you the ride and the views up there are incredible."

Tim took Riley's hand in his and smiled at the thought of Riley letting him into his life that far. The thought of being on the motorcycle was a slight buzzkill, but at least Riley had dialed it down to being an option. "Will there be room for my typewriter?"

"Of course," Riley replied with a grin. "But there's no TV or internet. Just books and a tiny bit of cell reception."

"Perfect," Tim whispered and stood to kiss Riley sweetly on the lips.

Riley looked back at the time on the oven, then back to Tim. "It's late. Are you staying?"

Tim frowned. "I don't know, did I leave a clean suit here last time?"

"Maybe," Riley replied with a seductive smirk. "Why don't you come and take a look with me?"

A knowing smile crossed Tim's face as his eyes narrowed at Riley. "I have a feeling if I go into that bedroom I won't be making it out of there."

"Picked up on that, did you?" he coyly answered while tugging Tim towards the bedroom without any further objection.

NCIS

Tim slowly drifted in and out of sleep. His right arm itched in its sling as he slept on his left side to keep from irritating his shoulder. He stirred slightly and felt Riley's arm squeeze him from behind. Tim smiled sleepily and remembered he was in Riley's bed, with Riley's arm slipped under his shirt and being spooned by him, which felt interesting as Riley was smaller than him. As he opened his eyes he could tell it was morning by how bright the room was. One downside of Riley's clean white walls was that when the blackout curtains were open, the morning sunlight reflected brightly throughout the whole apartment. As he was coming to, he smelled an odor from his armpits and put a shower at the top of his to-do list. He shrugged and rotated his shoulder without much pain, and remembered that he could finally take off the sling. Riley whined with a tired groan when Tim sat up, but Tim hushed him.

"Go back to sleep," he whispered. "Just getting a shower."

Riley still had his eyes closed as he hummed agreeably and sprawled himself out over the rest of the bed.

Tim padded to the bathroom and started the shower running. As much as he would've liked to sleep naked like Riley, he was glad for wearing an undershirt so the strap from his sling wouldn't dig into his skin. He gingerly removed the sling and his undershirt, not wanting to risk undoing whatever healing his shoulder had done. Stepping into the shower, the hot water felt good on his skin and the heat seeping into his muscles felt glorious. He started soaping himself up, but the glass door slowly opened and he felt the steam start to escape.

"Think I'd miss this?" Riley flirted and pressed his hands onto Tim's chest. "Someone's gotta get all those hard-to-reach spots."

Tim smiled and wrapped Riley in his first two-armed hug and kiss in days. Without breaking the kiss, Riley slipped the soap out of Tim's hand and started sliding the bar in small circles up Tim's back, pressing and massaging as he went. Tim moaned with relieved pleasure and mimicked the movements with his hands on Riley's back. Riley slid repeated his motions to the top of Tim's back and shoulders, then went back down to his buttocks and started soaping around the cheeks and into Tim's crack. He slowly backed Tim into the cold stone wall of the shower.

Tim giggled and gasped at the cold sensations alarming his body. Riley started nibbling down Tim's neck as hot water continued showering down on them. He slid his face over Tim's chest, letting his morning stubble scratch over the wet skin. Tim weaved his fingers into Riley's hair and pulled him closer. Riley tugged on Tim's nipple with his teeth and continued downward soaping around Tim's thighs and up to his chest as he went. Finally kneeling, he reached his target and let a hot breath ignite the sensations around Tim's awakening cock.

Riley began kissing and licking his way around the base of the shaft, and massaged Tim's thighs apart. He ran a soapy finger along Tim's crack, crossing the rosebud and pressing against it as he passed. Tim's legs tensed at the unfamiliar contact and he pressed himself harder against the wall to stay standing. Riley looked up at him lustfully then flicked his tongue over the head of the cock. Tim shuddered with anticipation and his hand gripped Riley's hair tighter. Riley smiled smugly knowing how he was stimulating Tim, then slicked his finger with more soap and pressed it gently into Tim. Tim gasped and his legs buckled momentarily.

"Relax," Riley whispered, and kissed his way down Tim's throbbing cock.

Tim whimpered as he felt Riley's finger massage his sphincter. Riley had hinted towards wanting to do this in the past but had never done it. Tim had fingered himself on his own before, but it felt much better with Riley at the helm. Riley gently chewed on Tim's navel as water trailed down the skin, then flickered his tongue across Tim's scrotum. As Riley pulsed his finger into Tim's hole, Tim felt a small burning sensation and saw a quick flash of Gibbs' eyes staring intensely into his own, making him gasp, wince, and slap his hand against the shower wall to stabilize himself.

Riley pulled himself out and slicked his finger again, then as he re-entered Tim he engulfed Tim's cock down to the hilt. Tim pushed the image out of his mind and focused on the sensations in his body, feeling his orgasm building within. He let his hand drift with Riley's head as Riley rolled his tongue back and forth along Tim's cock. Riley abandoned the bar of soap and was furiously stroking himself with his free hand. His finger brushed over the spot near Tim's prostate, causing Tim to yelp and buckle.

"Riley, wai- gonna-"

Tim felt his balls tighten to him as the finger inside him seemed to be forcing out his orgasm. He tried to press Riley's head away, but Riley stayed on his target. Fire coursed through him as the spasms and involuntary grunts took over his body, and Tim shot load after load of pent-up cum into Riley's mouth. Riley swallowed each pulse of his lover's cum and kept his finger pressed against Tim's prostate, relishing in the taste and letting it push him over the edge of his own orgasm. He moaned around Tim's cock as his body quaked, and he pressed his hand up to Tim's chest to steady himself.

Their breathing slowly became even as Riley withdrew. Tim chuckled and pulled Riley up from the floor into a deep kiss. They stayed closely pressed together as Riley nuzzled against Tim's cheek. Tim felt dazed and his body seemed to melt with relief.

"Damn, you're good," he breathed into Riley's ear.

Riley smiled. "Damn, you're delicious. Can't keep my hands off you."

Tim blushed and kissed Riley tenderly again. "Want any help?"

"I came just after you. Just have to actually shower now," he chuckled.

Tim kissed him again then stepped out to dry off. As he toweled himself, he watched Riley lather himself up with soap. He remembered the flash of Gibbs's eyes, and he felt slightly worried. He thought he was getting over the attraction to Gibbs and hadn't thought of him that way for some time. After re-equipping his sling he padded out of the bathroom towards the bed and he felt a twitch in his sphincter. Riley had definitely hinted at wanting to top him for a while, and Tim wanted him to but there never seemed to be a good time to try it.

'The cabin,' Tim thought to himself as he crossed the bedroom to get into his overnight bag. He knew he'd need to experience it with Riley to make the memory of Gibbs go away permanently, and the getaway to the cabin was the perfect opportunity. He mentally resolved himself to making it happen and getting the last vestiges of Gibbs out of his mind, and with a plan he began to feel better.

He sat on the edge of the bed and dug through his backpack looking for a t-shirt. When he found it, he realized it was an old one from his last sleepover at Riley's. "Hey, do you mind if I borrow a shirt?"

"Go for it," Riley yelled, leaning over the sink as he began shaving.

Tim had only seen Riley's closet with the door open but had never actually gone through it. On one side there were several button-down shirts and familiar suits that were undoubtedly for work. On the other there were several colorful t-shirts and sweaters neatly hung up, many of them had different rock bands or pop culture brands. Tim was surprised to find a gray MIT shirt that he was sure was his own. He chuckled to himself wondering if he had left it there once or if Riley had sentimentally "borrowed" it without saying so. He figured it was the latter. Returning the favor in kind, he found the green shirt from an Irish pub that Riley wore on their first date and slipped it on.

He retrieved his "backup suit" that he recently started leaving at Riley's for the spontaneous overnight. As he was emptying the pockets of yesterday's pants, his wallet fell between the mattress and the bed frame. Reaching down to retrieve it his fingers wrapped around something cold and rough, and he pulled up a .45-caliber Colt Defender compact pistol. Its polished gray slide was engraved with Semper Fi towards the tip. The motto seemed out of place for something of Riley's, though knowing Riley slept with an extra gun by his pillow added a dangerous mystique that Tim found quite erotic.

Riley strolled out from the bathroom with a towel around his waist looking fresh and renewed from the shower and the events during it. "Found something you like?" he asked.

Tim was startled and quickly turned around. "Oh, yeah. I accidentally found this," he displayed the gun. "Semper Fi? I would've pictured you with a Han Solo quote more than something from the Marines."

Riley snorted. "Maybe it would if I had a choice. Gibbs gave this to me as a spare years ago, so of course it had to have some kind of Marine angle to it. I think he chose the short-barreled one to make fun of me, but it's really nice and light even if it does have the .45 kick to it. Feel it out, you might like it."

Tim curiously gripped the weapon and unloaded it for safety. He felt a small bit of nervousness knowing the gun was a gift from Gibbs, and surprised that Gibbs never gave any of the team something like this. The grip was comfortable and the weapon was very lightweight even fully loaded.

"I've never seen Gibbs give a gun as a gift. The most he's given me was a clicker tied to Tony's computer after he threw his tantrum over the computers." He quickly looked around to make sure Gibbs wasn't about to appear behind him, even though he wasn't at work, then smiled and handed the gun to Riley.

"Yeah," Riley paused as he looked fondly at the gun. "He gave me this after I passed his version of the Marines' sniper school exam. I was going to give it back when I left, but he wanted me to keep it."

"Ah, right, you mentioned he trained you before. He never offered to train any of us like that, but I think I'm okay without it. Between him and Ziva we have more than enough firepower on the team." Tim thought about it and a thought occurred to him. "Erm… why do you sleep with it next to the bed?"

Riley smiled slyly as he put it back in its holster and placed it on the bed. "A boy like me can't be too careful. I started carrying it regularly when things with OMNI were going sideways, and I still carry it as a spare for work. What do you use as your spare?"

Tim grimaced at the question, unsure how Riley would react and not liking the idea of Riley in personal danger. "Well… I don't."

Riley's jaw dropped in surprise. "You're on Gibbs' team and work with a Mossad agent and neither of them have made you carry a spare?!"

"It's never come up!" Tim reasoned. "I've never lost my weapon or been out of ammo. I've only had to borrow Gibbs' spare revolver once."

A small, sly smile crept across Riley's face as started dressing. "Well, I know what your birthday present will be."

Tim smiled and continued getting dressed for work. "Trained by a Marine sniper, sleeping with a gun next to your pillow, if I didn't know better I'd say you're a secret agent like those kids said after all." He continued smiling, but still had a seed of concern planted.

Riley chuckled evilly and straddled Tim as he sat, carefully minding the sling. "Guess that means you'll have to blow my cover." He started nibbling below Tim's ear and tugging at his shirt buttons.

"Ril- wait," Tim gasped at the electric contact as Riley continued his sensual assault. "We-we just got dressed, we have to g-ohhhhhh… okay, ten minutes."

NCIS

McGee had an unbreakable smile as he exited the elevator to the squad room. His bag was slung over his left shoulder as his right was still in the sling. His shoulder didn't hurt much, but he made sure to have a bottle of aspirin in his bag and took one just after leaving Riley's. Tony still had a bandage on his broken nose and was studying it in the reflection on his monitor, while Ziva was at her desk applying cover-up to the bruise around her eye. Over the past month there was no hiding that McGee grew happier as his relationship progressed, which led Tony to try to play his hand that he was in on Riley and McGee's prank all along and they had all tricked Ziva. Ziva, of course, knew better but simply rolled her eyes and never betrayed McGee's confidence regarding their conversation about Gibbs.

Gibbs had kept a small distance from McGee for a few days following the warehouse raid, though returned to his usual head-slaps whenever McGee went on a tech tangent or slacked off. McGee also noticed a few more opportune jabs from Gibbs towards Tony or Ziva, which at least for him was entertaining. There were a few more concerned glances than usual since McGee was injured, but Gibbs didn't appear uncomfortable around him anymore and even managed a few smiles while keeping the same physical proximity that he kept for the other agents.

As McGee rounded the bullpen, he kept his eyes open for anything unusual indicating that his desk was tampered with. With life returning to normal he knew he was overdue for a Tony prank, but upon sitting at his desk he seemed to be safe for another day. He looked over to Gibbs at his desk to make sure that there wasn't any sign of another computer malfunction, then proceeded to log into his computer as normal. The busy silence was split by Gibbs' desk phone, instantly drawing all of their attention.

"Yeah?" he answered. He put on an extra air of interest in the phone call to make the other agents freeze in anticipation for his own amusement. "Okay." He hung up the phone and quickly breezed to the stairs up to the Director's office.

Tony let out a sigh. "I really hope he's not coming back with a case," he whined. "We look like those football players who literally got run over in the homecoming game."

Ziva rolled her eyes. "I'll lend you some of my makeup if that'll make you feel better about your nose."

"Guys don't wear makeup, Ziva," Tony replied. "But imagine if cops came to your door looking like the suspect took them down. Doesn't inspire much confidence, does it?"

McGee grinned as he saw an opportunity. "Better get used to it, Tony. That kind of nose damage might need a plastic surgeon to fix it."

Tony turned around to glare at McGee. "You know, Probie, I had half a mind to put superglue on your keyboard this morning, but I didn't. And do you know why?" he huffed.

"Because I have this?" McGee replied cockily as he opened one of his drawers and pulled out his bottle of superglue solvent. Only after picking it up did he notice the slight stickiness on the bottle, and found it sticking to his hand. "TONY!"

Tony leaned back in his chair and grinned with satisfaction at his work. "Ah, that does take the sting away."

Ziva giggled in her chair. "Uh, Tony?" She pointed towards McGee.

He looked at her, then over to McGee who was inexplicably smiling. McGee casually peeled the bottle away from his hand with little resistance and set it on his desk. Tony's smile fell flat and his eyes shot open.

McGee's smile only widened as he explained, "I replaced your superglue with Elmer's school glue two weeks ago."

Tony grumbled and started powering on his computer. "You ruin everything."

"Come on, Tony," Ziva consoled him. "Face it, he won this one."

A few minutes later Gibbs strode into the bullpen past their desks, holding a folder that he dropped onto his desk and motioned the team to him. "Master-at-Arms Force at Pax River found intercepted a shipment of cocaine, we need to find out who's running it. McGee, get Abby and collect evidence from any unsolved cases related to Pax River. DiNozzo, David, start pulling personnel files on all active duty officers." He handed out the papers with their assignments.

McGee quickly read the case and evidence reference numbers, then proceeded to the elevator. He wondered if he should tell Abby about Riley bringing him to the cabin, or if she even knew about it since Riley mentioned he didn't tell many people. He figured he'd tell her that they're going away for the weekend, and if she knew about the cabin then she'd say. Leaving the elevator and walking into her lab, her back was to him as she started putting on a black wrist brace on her right arm. McGee noticed a thick white gauze pad taped to the bottom of her wrist as she put on the brace.

"Hey, are you okay?" he asked and stepped forward.

She was startled as she spun around. "Oh! Tim, god I didn't even hear you. You've been taking lessons from Gibbs!"

He looked at her with concern. "No, I just saw that. What happened? Did you get hurt?

"Huh? Oh, that? I'm fine, just… er…" she stammered as she raised her hand, "… My wrist was bugging me after that last bowling night with the nuns, and it turns out I just strained a tendon."

Hearing that it wasn't serious put him at ease, but she seemed a little jittery and hesitant to him. "Oh wow. I hope it's not serious."

She shook her head. "Well no, we… I just had to get a little surgery to fix it before it got worse. Otherwise if I left it alone it would've led to carpal tunnel, then that would've really had me out of work for a while. I mean, could you imagine me working with only one hand for a few weeks?" She chuckled nervously then looked at his arm, still in the sling. "Oh, yeah, I guess you could. Well, anyway, what's up?"

He held up the evidence list, decidedly ignoring her squirrely responses. "Gibbs wants to get some case evidence out from storage. New case, checking for any correlation."

"Alright, let's march!" she replied cheerfully and headed for the elevator. "What's new with you?"

"I made some progress on the book. Riley gave me a couple ideas."

She giggled. "That's good. Did you make him a stripper or a full-on hooker in the story?"

He rolled his eyes and sarcastically quipped, "Neither. But I think you'll like what I'm doing. We decided Matthews should be a woman, and she and Amy compete for McGregor while on a case."

"Oooh, that's new," she remarked with interest. "And 'she' ends up with Matthews?"

"I'm considering it, but I thought he'd end up with Amy so they'd continue working well together."

She shook her head and looked skeptical. "I don't know, I still think he and Amy are wrong for each other."

He shrugged as they exited the elevator into the evidence garage. "Well, I've got some time to write it out and see how the characters flow with the new chapters. We're going away next weekend to help clear my head and get some inspiration."

Abby smiled knowingly. "Oh yeah. 'Inspiration.' That's totally what you've been up to when you've spent the last few weekends together."

"Hey! That's…" he paused as he remembered the morning, "Well that's not all we do. This is time away from my usual space and will at least get me out of this writer's block."

He wasn't sure about mentioning the cabin since Riley never said if he told Abby about it. The way Riley talked about it, McGee didn't get the impression the weekend would be just about sex. Abby picked out a small crate with several evidence bags inside and they each took one side with their good hands, then they made their way back to the lab.

Abby grinned as the elevator doors closed. "Well, I hope you have fun, but you better have Riley teach you some good pick-up lines. McGregor's gonna need them if he wants a chance with my girl Amy."

McGee chuckled. "I'll be sure to tell him you said that. I just hope I can be so busy with writing that he won't make me go on the motorcycle."

"Why not?" Abby asked curiously. "It's so much fun. It's like… it's like you're a dog sticking your head out of the car window, just letting the movement and the wind blow right through you."

"I'm more concerned about a car blowing right through us," he countered.

Abby scoffed. "Oh please. It's not like you'll be having to ride the bike all by yourself. And besides, Riley's done this before. He'd teach you what to do and wouldn't let anything bad happen to you."

"Eh…" McGee groaned worriedly. "I just keep remembering being in traction after getting in an accident with my Camaro, and that was a car!"

She shrugged as they made it to the lab. "Well, you know if you tell him a flat 'no' that he won't pressure you."

"I know, and he did say it was an option. I don't want to let him down though, I want to impress him. It's just risky. This weekend is kinda a big deal for us."

"Why? Is he introducing you to friends or something?"

'So Riley didn't tell her about the cabin.' McGee thought to himself. He paused to think about her question. "I don't know. He didn't say he was, but he could have another trick up his sleeve."

"Goes without saying with Riley," Abby noted while snapping on a glove. "Be prepared for anything."

McGee nodded and agreed, but before leaving he turned back to her. "You're sure you're okay though, right?"

"Huh?" she looked curiously back at him.

He pointed to her arm. She smiled understandingly and walked over to him, though had to negotiate giving him a one-armed hug with both of them injured in one way or another.

"Trust me," she assured him and held up her braced wrist. "With this taken care of, I feel better than I have in a long time."

"Good," he smiled and walked back upstairs to report to Gibbs.

After he left, Abby tapped her foot while thinking for a moment, then turned back to her computer and opened up her calendar. She went back to the previous day's list and found an appointment marked 'Tattoo Excision – Dr. Metzger,' and promptly deleted it.

"Just in case," she mumbled to herself.

NCIS

Tim typed feverishly on his typewriter that night, laying out a scene between Agent McGregor and Agent Matthews based on Tim's first date with Riley. His arm was still in in its sling, but with the typewriter moved to the edge of his desk he was able to type with both hands without aggravating his shoulder. When he reached the bottom of the page he quickly scanned it for any problems and added it to his binder. Looking at the pages beforehand, he realized he left the pages of hand-written freewriting at Riley's apartment.

He picked up his phone and tapped Riley's icon to call him. The line kept ringing, but there was no answer. Tim thought that was odd as Riley had texted him earlier saying that he was home. He tried again and Riley finally answered.

"Hey, that was weird. I was hitting 'answer' but my phone wouldn't pick up."

Tim smiled. "It's a sign. You need to upgrade iPhone."

"Oh my god," Riley chuckled. "You've had it for maybe three days and you are addicted. iPhones are just a fad, and BlackBerry will regain its status as king."

"Sounds like somebody's jealous," Tim teased.

"Well I think I'm jealous of anything that gets to sit in your pocket next to your package all day," he replied coolly.

Tim felt a stirring in his cock at the suggestion. "I guess I should be jealous of your wallet in your back pocket then?"

Riley dropped his voice to a seductive tone. "If you're fishing for an invitation over here to come grab my… wallet… you've got one."

"Not quite," Tim laughed. "But it's nice to know the door's open even though I was just there. I'm actually on a good roll with typing up some content and I realized I never took the pages from last night. Could you send them to me?"

"Oh great! Yeah, give me a minute to scan them and I'll email them over."

He heard quiet rustling as Riley got out his laptop and logged in. There was a moment of silence from Riley as the scanner whirred the background.

"I swear, my electronics are rebelling," Riley admitted sheepishly. "Sorry it's taking a while."

"It's okay," Tim smiled. "How was your day?"

"Weird. I had an odd feeling in my gut about something earlier, but it turned out to be nothing."

"OMNI again?" Tim asked worriedly.

"I thought so, but it wasn't," Riley hummed. "It's funny, before I couldn't wait to not be investigating them anymore. Now I almost expect them around every corner. There, check your email."

Tim rose from his writing desk and crossed over to his computer. Seeing Riley's email he opened the document and started printing it out the pages. Also attached was a link to a motorcycle website about being the passenger on the motorcycle.

"I see you're dropping another hint," he replied while looking through his email.

"Mmhmm," Riley hummed. "Just in case. But anyway, how was work today? Did you dislocate your other shoulder?"

Tim rolled his eyes and chuckled. "Not today, but there's always tomorrow. Found some drugs moving through a Navy base, no solid leads but thankfully no one ran from us either. It's a good way to end the week while half our team is injured in some way. Even Abby had a wrist injury from bowling." Tim had a quick thought and started searching for getaway cabins in Virginia. Most were small 1-2 bedroom log cabin shacks with wood-burning fireplaces on various campgrounds. They looked cozy, but he remembered his conversation with Abby and wondered what Riley had in mind for them. "Oh, that reminds me, what are our plans when we're up in the cabin this weekend?"

Riley thought for a moment. "I didn't really have much of a plan, other than you writing and me cleaning up the place. I'm hoping the skies stay clear, though. One thing I love doing up there is watching the stars from the hammock."

Tim notched up an eyebrow. "You have a hammock? That sounds very relaxing."

"And it fits two," he replied in his sultry voice. "It'll get cold at night, but I have a nice blanket or two to keep us warm."

A smile spread across Tim's face at the thought of curling up outside with Riley. "I'm beginning to really like the sound of this trip."

"Good, because we're leaving tomorrow after work. Try to keep yourself busy though, otherwise the day will drag on forever."

"Ugh, you're right," Tim agreed. He pulled the printed chapter from the printer and remembered something else he wanted to write. "Alright, well I guess I'll see you tomorrow then."

"Me too. You gonna write a little more?"

"Yeah, just for another hour or two."

"Or four," Riley snickered.

Tim grinned and shook his head.

"Get all those ideas ready for some hardcore typing this weekend. Goodnight babe, love you."

"Love you too. Night."

He hung up and walked over to his writing desk, then began feeding a piece of paper into his typewriter. On his computer, the screen was still open showing the document Riley sent him. The cursor added a couple of empty lines to the end of the document, then slowly the characters '0MN1' typed themselves onto the screen. Several black command boxes flashed on the screen with command lines quickly running themselves, then the boxes and the 0MN1 text in the document disappeared.