Monday morning rolled around and Gibbs was brewing the first pot of coffee for the day as Emily stumbled out of the guest room where her and Tim are spending the week. "Morning Em," he greeted, kissing his niece on the cheek.

"Ahh, you're showered, shaved, clean, dressed." She started. "It's revolting." Squinting in the sunlight, still trying to wake up. Tim came in to the kitchen, all sweaty, ear buds in and bopping along to whatever he was listening too. He was dressed in sweats and had obviously finished his workout already, he poured himself a cup of coffee, kissed Emily on the cheek and headed for the bathroom, hearing her chuckle at him, over his music. Gibbs looked dumbfounded at the latest development there. He knew his youngest agent kept himself in shape, but he never figured that he ran in the morning before work. Jethro the dog, lay exhausted, collapsed in his rest position on his day bed in the back yard completely oblivious to his surroundings.

"Tim, if you're ready in five, you can ride in with me." Gibbs offered as he prepared his gear and left to retrieve his weapon.

"Ready in two, Boss." Tim confirmed as he retrieved his weapon as well.

Emily came into the kitchen dressed for her day in a white blouse, black pencil skirt and black strapped heels, full office attire, make up and hair done too. Today was a big day, emotionally, for her, today she and Rachel were going into her office. She kissed Tim in the lips gently, opening her mouth a little as Tim kissed her back. "See you tonight Special Agent McGee." She teased, as she pulled away from him, smiling a special smile she has just for him and wiping any residual lipstick from his lips.

"Have a great Day, Em." He replied, winking at her, before noticing the look on Gibbs' face. "What?!" He asked, almost cluelessly.

"Nothing, Special Agent McGee." He teased and they headed off to his yellow charger. Tim groaned in embarrassment, having forgotten that Gibbs was waiting for him and watching them.

The silent ride to work could have been tense, if not for the soft background noise in the radio and Tim typing away on his phone, checking his personal email accounts and having a giggle at a joke email his buddy Jason from MIT that involved a line of computer code and an inside joke between the pair.

Once they arrived at work, they both a voicemail on their desk phones from Captain Vash, telling them that Isaac Yoverti was remanded without bail and Victor Sterling's bail was set at ten million dollars. Tim immediately set forth to see if Diane had posted his bail and sadly she had. Tim called Rachel to inform her of the developments in Emily's case, knowing the pair were meeting today. "Sterling got bail, Diane posted it, boss. Yoverti was remanded." Tim updated him softly as soon as Gibbs had returned. Gibbs had been yet to check his own voicemail.

"Thanks for the update Tim." Gibbs said, as they began their first cold case of the day.

Rachel briefed Emily on the update on her case and Emily wasn't surprised her mother had liquidated their assets to post her husband's bail. She called her Father's colleague, FBI agent Sacks to regularly check on her Dad's house for her, explaining that her Mother and Father have had another massive falling out and she's not speaking with her mother or stepfather. That's she's staying with a friend. "Sure you're ok Emily?" He asked. "You could stay with Tiffany and I." The FBI agent offered.

"Thanks Sacks, but I'm safe with Tim." She said firmly, accidentally revealing her friends name.

"You're staying with a male friend?" Ron sacks said protectively.

"Yes, I am. You've probably met him." Emily surmised that her Dad and Tim knew each other then he probably knew Tim too. "McGee, Tim McGee." She confessed.

"Does your dad know?" Ron asked "about McGee I mean."

"Of course he does, Tim was there when Dad told me he was going under." She sighed, frustrated. She knew he was only being protective because she was his boss' daughter.

"Ok, you need anything, you call me."

"Got it." She said smiling as she closed the phone. As much as she trusted Agent Sacks and his girlfriend Tiffany, she knew and felt more comfortable with her Uncle Gibbs and his team.

Emily made it all the way into her office, without hiccup. After lunch, she met up with Rachel again and they revisited the public library and again without incident. It was on the way back to Rachel's car that Emily stopped suddenly, freezing up. "I was parked here." She suddenly said, indicating to where the the SUV was parked four spaces away. "He grabbed me from behind, something covered my face and I felt my body being dragged." She was trying to control her breathing, using the meditation techniques that they'd learnt in the group sessions. "The next thing I remember is waking up in his apartment." She whispered, before letting her tears fall.

Rachel dropped her off at Gibbs' house and bumped into Tim coming back on her way out. "She's doing well, Tim" he encouraged. "Today was a huge step forward in her recovery." Tim sighed a huge sigh of relief and the good doctor smiled at him widely.

"Hey Em," Tim said kissing her cheek carefully avoiding her lips, no matter how tempting he was beginning to find them. "I was thinking about a quiche for dinner. What do you think?" He asked, staring into her blue eyes.

"Sounds delicious." She smiled. "But first, can you do something for me?" She whispered softly. She didn't know if her uncle Gibbs was home or not, but didn't want him to overhear her. This morning , her uncle's teasing of Tim had been embarrassing enough for one day. Tim nodded in the affirmative. "Can you … um … kiss me?" She slowly stammered out, shyly.

"Are you sure?" Tim asked, not really sure if this was a good idea or not, but he definitely didn't want to pass up the opportunity.

"I am, I need to feel like I'm wanted."

He bent down slowly, giving her ample chance to change her mind. His arms held her close to him, as her hands came up to rest on his sides. He just barely brushed her lips the first time before preparing for a second sweep when Gibbs voice rang out "Em, Tim?"

"To be continued." He whispered, lightly brushing his lips against hers as they came out to see what Gibbs had called for.

By Friday, Tim's super had notified them that the hot water heater was fixed and they were free to come back to his apartment. He had a movie night pre-planned with Tony and Ellie from before Em had began staying with him and Tony had insisted that they continue with it and Emily was a welcome addition.

"Em, have you actually met Agent Bishop before?" Tim asked as he was grabbing the drinks.

"Once," Ellie confirmed. "At Gibbs' birthday last year, when we went to the bar."

"Remember McGee … " Tony teased. "Oh wait, you don't. Gibbs and Palmer had to help you home. You were wasted."

"I wasn't wasted, Tony." Tim argued. "I was sick and you'd been giving me shit for it all week. Turned out I had pneumonia."

Emily simply rolled her eyes at Tim and Tony's antics and in a stage whisper to Ellie "brothers!" Which set Ellie off in giggles.

They settled in to watch 'Stolen Summer' which had been Ellie's choice. She said it was because she needed a good cry and that movie always made her cry. Jake, her former husband had upped the divorce ante and started proceedings, including having their joint savings account tied up in legal knots. Gibbs had referred the young blonde to his divorce attorney in an effort to help her out.

By the end of the film, Emily was well and truly asleep, Tony had taken the trash to kitchen and Ellie had the dirty dishes. Tim scooped Emily up in his arms and carried her off to bed. Tony stood aghast, at what he'd just witnessed. He'd never seen Tim so 'domestic' even when he'd dated Abby and Simone.

"Emily's down for the count. " Tim said joining his guests in the kitchen. It was still only nine and Tony suggested they make it a double feature and since it was Ellie's night she chose 'Steel Magnolias' to round it out. Tony admitted to not knowing much about the movie but was impressed by the powerhouse of female big name actresses.

Emily didn't awaken throughout the entire night, even when Ellie had squealed her goodbye. Tony just sat on the sofa and waited for Tim to return from walking Ellie downstairs.

"What's going on between you two?" Tony asked softly in a sing-song voice. "I saw you and her cuddling. Does Fornell know you're with his daughter?"

"I'm not with her, like that." Tim said exasperatedly. "We're just friends."

"Like Ziva and I were just friends, Probie?" Tony countered and Tim knew exactly what he meant. "Does Gibbs know?"

"He knows. We've spent the last seven days under his roof." Tim admitted.

"Oh McGee!" Tony sympathised. "That sofa is awful to sleep on. No wonder the mood you've been in that mood all week."

"Actually, I was in the guest room." Tim teased Tony playfully.

"Guest room?" DiNozzo asked. "He doesn't have a guest room. Besides, agents get the sofa, McGee."

"Look, it's not my place to say what's going on. It's …"

"Complicated." Tony supplied. "Relationships always are, my friend."

One week had passed and then two more, soon three more weeks had passed before Tobias returned home from his deep cover assignment and true to his word he immediately sought Gibbs out for an update.

"Gibbs" Fornell greeted his long time friend.

"Tobias, welcome back." Gibbs greeted his absent friend in good humour.

"So update me, I'm having dinner with Emily at her new place tonight. I need to this to go well."

"Everything will be fine." Gibbs reassured his friend, before giving him a heads up. "I should warn you, McGee will probably be there too."

"So he is Emily's boyfriend, then?" He asked, trying to get a definite answer, only problem was Gibbs did t know the answer to that himself.

"Nope, roommate." Gibbs supplied tactfully. "She went to stay with McGee, for protection, while Victor and her rapist her arrested and she never left. Jethro, his dog and arm bonded."

"Give it to me straight, is Emily and Timothy McGee dating?" Gibbs shook his head.

"I just don't know." He said sadly. "They've kissed, happened right where you're standing, but dating, I don't know." Fornell jumped back a good three feet, as if trying to get away from the location. A fact Gibbs found highly amusing and chuckled at accordingly.

"Besides the fact he kissed my daughter, what do you know?" Tobias snapped, not liking being the source of his friend's amusement.

"I know that it was Emily who kissed him, not the other way around. I know both of them claim they're 'just friends' and I know that, no one knows for sure what's going on between them. Mostly because I'm not sure they really know what's going on." Gibbs admitted.

He wasn't going to admit that he known that they shared a bed at night when Em was having nightmares. He certainly wasn't going to admit that when he was picking McGee up the a stakeout last week he saw his young agent come out of his bedroom with his gear and weapon, followed by a tired, bed haired Emily wearing Tim's MIT tee and bare legs. Nope, he had Tim's six there. Of course, at the time, Gibbs pretended not to notice Emily and didn't tell they young man what he'd witnessed. He'd tried to get Tony to snoop and surprisingly, he got a flat out no and a story about respecting boundaries, in a highly weird hypocritical voice.

"I guess we'll all find out together then." Fornell decided. Not really liking what he heard but he had to remember she wasn't a teen anymore, she was a grown woman capable of making her own choices.

"Oh no, not me pal." Gibbs refused, shaking his head for good measure. "They stayed here for a week when the hot water heater was out and they were stuck on stupid around each other. Since then, I've been keeping my distance, or I'm going to head slap them both."

At fifteen weeks, Emily has just begun to show, but only Tim has noticed so far. Only because he has been taking photos of her for her pregnancy journey since eight weeks when she found out and three weeks ago she began wanting photos with just her bra and a pair of Tim's boxer shorts.

Since that night Gibbs interrupted Emily's request Tim and Emily have been tiptoeing around it, never really circling back. Emily's nightmares have all but stopped and 'platonically' she's continued to sleep in Tim's bed.

Tim found her a great doctor in Dr Edward 'Ed' Green and she's been under his exclusive care since. She had a scan at twelve weeks and everything was looking perfect. She had invited Tim and he held her hand tightly as they watched the little image wiggle and dance on screen. They were hoping for a glimpse of the gender, but to no luck. Em's nausea had even eased up and she no longer needed the antiemetics that Ducky and then Dr Green had prescribed. Although, she kept them on standby, just in case.

"Dad!" Emily shouted excitedly before hugging him tightly. "Welcome, come in." He stepped into the apartment tentatively at first and looked around. It was clean, almost obsessively. He could hear the clacking of a typewriter muffled by a door in the hallway. "This is my room." She says softly. Showing her father the room, sure her belongings are in there but he doesn't need to know that she doesn't sleep in there. "Tim's study is behind that door and Tim's room is there, bathroom is through here and best of all," opening a hall cupboard. "Laundry's here"

"This place is great Em!" Fornell said and he truly meant it. It was better than the dive he lived at 28. He was a grunt and focused more on his career and where he was going with that, rather than making his place a home.

Tobias Fornell especially enjoyed the added security of a locked front door, intercom system to speak to the desk. All visitors had to go through the desk and a manned 24/7 security desk. He looked around at the additional security measures McGee had installed in the apartment, lockable windows - no doubt Gibbs doing, a security alarm system, and a video doorbell. At least McGee takes security seriously so Emily's safe living here. "Is McGee joining us for dinner?"

"Sure he is, so be nice." She warned sternly. "He is on a deadline, his editor wanted a rewrite of the last three chapters and he's putting the last of it together and then he'll join us."

They moved to the kitchen so Emily could turn the vegetables and check out the roast lamb, resting on the stove that Tim had already roasted. "Tim's been cooking up a storm since he left work today. Where's Uncle Gibbs?" She asked, both he and Tim fully expected him her. Secretly, she was depending on him too, so it wouldn't be too awkward between Tim and her Dad.

"Sorry baby, he apparently had other plans."

"Like hell he did." She grabbed her cell and called him.

"Yeah, Gibbs"

"You're late." Was all Emily said. Silence breathed down the line.

"Where am I supposed to be?" Gibbs asked with a chuckle.

"Here" she sighed, exasperated at Gibbs.

"Your Dad's a big boy, he doesn't need me to hold his hand, Em."

"Leroy Jethro Gibbs, get your backside over here for dinner. We are serving in fifteen minutes."

"Em, I have plans." He tried to lie to her, wanting her enjoy seeing her Father.

"Chinese take out, bourbon and sanding that damn boat is not dinner plans. Come!" Then she pulled a page from his book and hung up.

"Uncle Gibbs will be here in ten minutes." She announced in a chuckle, entering the room. Tobias looked at her carefully, something was different about his daughter and then he remembered the dreaded news from before he went under.

"How's the baby doing, Em?" He finally asked. "How are you doing?"

"I was really sick in the beginning, but Tim was all over it. Crackers and Apples. Ducky ended up prescribing me something safe to help with the nausea. When I finally found a doctor I liked. Well actually Tim found him for me, he agreed and put me on a regimen of anti-nausea medication because I was really sick. But two weeks ago it eased off and it's barely there." She explained softly. "Dr Green says the baby is measuring right on schedule. We had an ultrasound and all, see" pulling the prints off the bookcase that were propped up against a photo frame of Tim and Sarah, hiding the photo. "Tim was just as excited to see the baby as I was. In a month, we have another scan."

"Wow, we didn't have this when we were expecting you." Tobias said softly, subtly stroking the image of his grandchild. He had seen ultrasound photos from other friends and agents, but they'd never contained someone who he'd instantly fallen in love with, just from looking at the image.

Gibbs knocking interrupted the slowed conversation and Tim appeared out of his study to answer the door. Emily and Tobias were in the sofa catching up. "I was summoned for dinner." He said to Tim with a smile in greeting, handing him a bag of rolls.

Dinner was great with a roast lamb and vegetable dish and a salad and Gibbs' rolls. Tim made that berry thing that Gibbs loved and Emily added chocolate sauce to hers, claiming to need chocolate. She was in denial that it was a craving though. The conversation centred on mostly neutral topics before the topic of Emily moving him was raised. "So now my case is closed, I can help you move back home." Tobias had said suddenly as Tim and Gibbs were collecting the dishes and packing the leftovers away, minus two containers for Gibbs and Tobias for tomorrow night's supper that Emily was forcing them to take.

"I'm not moving back home. I love it here." She said not taking her eyes off her father. "I feel safe here. Feeling safe is everything these days for me." Gibbs gave Tobias a look that clearly said 'drop it'. Knowing and seeing first hand how safe she truly had began to feel, staying here with Tim. How she was recovering.

"Honey, if you want to stay, then stay." Tobias placated. "If McGee is happy to continue having you here. That's fine." He was happy to back Gibbs' play. Clearly he knew more of what was going on.

"Tim," Tim corrected Tobias. "You should probably call me Tim when we're away from the office."

"Tim then, not Timothy?" Fornell asked trying to tease the young man but not quite pulling it off.

"Not if you expect me to answer. Only one person is allowed that luxury and you're not him."

"Ducky" Gibbs supplied with a warm smile and Tim nodded.

They moved the conversation to the living area after the dishes were done by Tim and Gibbs. Tobias and Gibbs took the sofa and Tim took the oversized armchair that he loved. Emily bought the coffee in and herbal tea and made her seat next to Tim in the oversized chair with her legs angled over his for good measure. Tobias raised his eyebrows in surprise at this, but Gibbs sent the 'leave it alone' look too.

Eventually, Tobias and Gibbs took their leave. Both men with a delicious dinner for another night. Tobias followed Gibbs to where his truck was parked next to Fornell's car in the guest parking. "We have to talk, Gibbs!" He spat as soon as they arrived at their cars. "What the hell was that?"

"Dinner, Tobias." Gibbs deadpanned. "What did you think it was?"

"I think hearing my daughter would prefer living there than with me fried a brain cell or two."

"Look, there's something there between them. They're figuring it out, themselves. Let them." Gibbs warned. "They're both adults, now's not the time to push. It's time to back off."

"Since when are you the expert at parenting?" Fornell snapped at his friend in annoyance. He knew Gibbs was right.

"Since I began moulding that green rookie I recruited from Norfolk into the man your daughter trusts more than anyone else." Gibbs answered truthfully. "Did you know he's never had a parental figure before? His parents died when he was young. His mum died of cancer when he was nine, father commit suicide in his grief and before he was ten, his paternal grandmother abandoned him and his sister in her grief. Spent their lives in foster care." Gibbs took a cleansing breath. He always got angry at the thought of McGee's father and grandmother. "Until Ducky and I came along, taking Tim under our wing. He was a shy, bumbling kid, still naive. Ducky and I moulded him into who he is. We learnt early on, that you can't rush him, Tim does things in his own time and when he's ready. That's why we follow his lead."

And DiNutzo?"

"Parenting DiNozzo is a whole different ballgame. He needs authority and rules."

"You're actually good at this Gibbs." Fornell said, surprised.

"Don't spread it around, Tobias!"

Upstairs, Tim and Emily stood facing one another, in the kitchen. They'd just finished washing up the coffee cups. "You still owe me a kiss." Emily said softly, she reached for Tim's hands.

"I do, don't I?" He asked playfully, trying to tickle her. "Suppose you want to collect now?"

Instead of answering him, she reached up and kissed him softly, opening her lips a little. Tim responded by kissing her back. When he opened his mouth a little, Emily brushed her tongue against his, eliciting a moan from him. He used his tongue in retaliation and he pulled her closer. She moaned in pleasure at the feelings he was creating in her and feeling his body flush against hers. He picked her up effortlessly and put her on the island bench top, stepping between her leg as she wrapped them around him, needing to get closer to him as they continued to kiss.