I know...two different chapters on the same day (by my clock/calendar), it must be an April Fool's Day joke or a sign of the apocalypse. Well, it's not the former.

Not Beta'd; standard disclaimer applies.

Next of Kin Chapter 12 Muzzled

"So, what did you do to her?" Tony curiously inquired when Ziva returned to the bullpen after seeing Abby.

"Nothing. She is not to blame."

Tony snorted, "And you believed her when she said that?"

Ziva glared at him, "I am very good at telling when someone is lying to me," she reminded him.

"Yeah, well, you didn't pick up on McGee and Gibbs," he muttered.

Her eyes narrowed as she turned to face him. "First, they did not lie. Yes," she continued when he opened his mouth to interrupt, "They did not tell us about this, but not once did they lie. Second, the fact the director now knows could very well be placed on your doormat."

"At your doorstep," he corrected as he figured out what she was saying. "How the hell do you figure that?" Tony angrily asked. "I sure as hell didn't tell her."

"No," Ziva agreed, meeting his eyes, "You just said it loud enough for everyone to hear. It was only a matter of time before someone did mention it to the Director."

Tony snorted, "Well, it's not like I planned it," he argued. "I was mad, things came out, maybe a little louder than they should have."

This time it was Ziva who snorted.

"Fine," he rolled his eyes, "A lot louder."

"You probably should not have said things at all if you were that mad."

"I couldn't help it. I either talk when I'm upset or I go deathly quiet. There is no middle ground. When McGee returned from the hospital, everything I felt and thought since we overheard him calling Gibbs 'Dad' just bubbled to the surface. Next thing I know," he shrugged, "It poured out."

"Maybe you should've talked to Bert," Ziva snapped.

"Bert?" a confused Tony repeated.

Ziva sighed, "Never mind, but from what I hear, he gives good advice," she added. "You did not help the situation any."

"I know."

"And saying that you, we were not his friends," she paused and shook her head, "You had no right to speak for anyone else."

"I know," he repeated.

"And to compound the matter, you are making him refer to you by your title," she hissed.

"Hey! I'm not making him."

She glared at him again, "You told him to call you Agent DiNozzo. It is evident that you are upset with him, do you really think he would go against an order like that from the current team lead?"

Tony's shoulders and spirit slumped, "No," he admitted.

"Add to that the fact that you haven't spoken to him since…" Ziva trailed off.

"I told you, when I'm mad I either talk or go deathly silent. If I talk, I know I'll make everything much worse. That only leaves me with the option of ignoring him."

"And you chose that option after pushing him away," Ziva muttered, angrily shuffling papers around on her desk and glaring at the Senior Agent. "I still think you should have kept your muzzle shut."

Tony opened his mouth, whether it was to once again defend himself or to correct Ziva's latest idiom mishap, wasn't to be learned since it was quickly snapped shut at the sight of the Director heading their way.

After updating her on the case, she stated that she wanted him, Ziva, and McGee to meet her in MTAC.

Tim sighed as the large screen cut off. That meeting had been a waste of time. The director and Tony had explained the team's suspicions and the dangers to the ships, but all they received in return were vague comments about doing what was best for the Navy and contacting them if they had something concrete.

The director schooled her features before turning to face the team. "We need to do everything we can to pinpoint this threat and find out where Pinpin Pula is. They," she said tilting her head to the now blank screen, aren't going to act on maybes, probablies or possibilities."

She sighed as she saw the looks on her companion's faces. "I know, it's been a long case, no doubt all of us are tired and can think of a million things we'd rather do, but we promised to protest those sailors and we cannot do that until we figure out the plan."

Her words had all three of them nodding in agreement.

"Where do we start?" Tim questioned.

"Unfortunately, back at the beginning," Jenny replied. "We check and recheck everything we were told. Ziva, talk with the captain again. He admitted Pula replaced Ghalib, we need to know if the captain knows anything else. Maybe someone else knew, someone was helping Pula. Find out what he did in his off time, who he might have talked to. Bring anyone with even a slight connection to him in. Hopefully someone would have more information.

"Tony, resend the Bolo, fax, wire, e-mail, hell, use smoke signals and carrier pigeons if you have to, we need to make sure they are getting this information and that Pula isn't it. Then work with Ziva on interviewing anyone that we bring in based on the captain's information.

"Tim," she began, causing the younger man to blink at the use of his first name. "Did you replace your phone?"

"Uh, yeah, kinda," he nodded. "It's a phone, but that's basically all it is right now," he stated, holding up his temporary device.

"Same number?" Tim nodded again. "Gather your laptop and head back to the hospital."

Her words garnered reactions from most of the team. Tim stared at her in surprise while Tony opened his mouth in protest.

"Check on your father, you can review the case from there just as easily," she finished before turning away from him.

"That's it?" Tony objected, stopped from saying anything else when Ziva placed a hand on his arm in warning.

"If we're lucky, Gibbs will remember something else. I am sure Pula didn't expect Gibbs to survive that explosion, maybe he said more than he should have."

Tim paled at the reminder of how close he came to losing his father before nodding in understanding of her point.

"Okay, Tim, feel free to head out now. I'm sure you want to see how he is. Oh, and if your original phone needs to be repaired or replaced, feel free to do that on the way to the hospital."

Tim nodded again, his eyes briefly sweeping over his teammates before turning to leave MTAC.

"Why does he get to go and question Gibbs about what he remembers?"

"He's not," Jenny snapped, "He's going to the hospital to check on his father."

"You don't seem surprised by that," Tony muttered.

"I'm the one sending him to the hospital," she replied, not about to share how learning of Gibbs's past affected her earlier.

The two stared at each other.

"Come on, Tony," Ziva interrupted the standstill, "We need to get back to work. You have a BOLO to reissue and I have a date with a captain."

"Bolo's are Probie's work," Tony repeated his compliant from earlier. Ziva just shook her head and left MTAC.

Tim had just entered the elevator when he heard his name being called.

After leaving MTAC and a complaining Tony behind, Ziva caught sight of the first friend she had made at NCIS. Rushing down the stairs, she did her best to catch up with him before he left her sight. "Tim," she began, as she slipped into the elevator before the doors closed.

Tim closed his eyes as he slowly exhaled. He was surprised that she hadn't confronted him earlier. "Go ahead," he softly stated, inviting her to let him know how upset she was. Opening his eyes, he was surprised to find a look of confusion briefly pass slide across her face.

"I only wanted to ask how you were doing," she commented.

"Me? I'm fine."

She shot him a look of disbelief. "Timothy, your father was in an explosion, believes it is fifteen years in the past, and had to be reminded of the death of his wife and daughter."

"Exactly," Tim said. "Gibbs is the one you need to worry about."

"You are dealing with all of that as well. You also have the added stress of dealing with your surprised teammates."

"I think you mean upset and angry teammates," Tim muttered.

Ziva inclined her head in acknowledgement of his words. "Not all of us feel as Tony does."

Tim nodded.

"Just, do not erase us just yet," she asked. "It was a shock," she admitted, "And might take longer than it should for us to act as we should, especially with everything involved."

"Okay," Tim replied, understanding the point she was making. "You guys have given me until the case ends before beginning your interrogation," he teased, "I can give you until some time after that before I 'erase' you."

"Thank you," she gratefully replied. "Give my best wishes to Gi-your father and keep us updated on how he is doing."

Tim smiled; it was nice to hear one of his teammates refer to Gibbs as his father so sincerely. "Will do, and thanks Ziva."

"Hey, Dad," Tim greeted, pasting a smile on his face as he entered his father's hospital room. "How are you doing?"

Gibbs eyes scrutinized his son, "Tough day at the office?"

Tim snorted, "You can't remember that you're an investigator, yet you still can gather and analyze the situation with a single glance."

"That's called being a dad, nothing to do with investigating," Gibbs retorted. "Though I do remember some things, mostly schlepping after Franks on crime scenes, toting all the equipment."

Tim smiled and inclined his head, "Did he ever pull a case out from underneath your butt?"

Gibbs snorted, "Apparently, unlike you, I was smart enough not to sit on one."

"Not how I remember it," Frank snorted. "Who do you think gave him the idea to do that? It sure wasn't DiNozzo."

At the mention of the SFA's name, Tim's eyes dimmed and the smile disappeared off his face.

"Kinda early isn't it?" Gibbs asked, making a point to look at the clock. "I remember staying all night with Mike to close the case."

"Another thing to blame Mike for," Tim replied, sending a mock glare in the older man's direction. "I think you learned that lesson too well," he teased his father. "In fact, I wouldn't mind if you forgot about that one."

"The case?" Gibbs prodded.

"At a standstill," he admitted. "We have some ideas about what Pula's plan might be, but no one will listen since we aren't sure and don't have any proof. All they kept saying was that they'll do what's best for the Navy."

"Goddamn Bureaucracy," Frank muttered. "I swear, it's just getting worse."

Gibbs rolled his eyes, "So, get proof."

"It's not that easy."

"If it was easy, anyone would do it," he challenged.

"Anyway, the director told me to check on you."

Gibbs raised an eyebrow in amusement, "You have to be ordered to spend time with your father?"

"When you regain your memories, you'll remember that order and won't think I'm slacking off, after all, the case comes first," Tim stated rolling his eyes. "Plus, I think she's trying to get on my good side. You-"

"She?" Jethro repeated in surprise. "Not Director Scott?

"Right," Gibbs answered his own question before anyone else could speak. "Not if it's a she. And it's been years," he muttered, "Scott was old then, now…" he trailed off and shook his head. "When did she, this new director take over?"

"About a year ago," Tim replied, carefully watching his father, vaguely aware of Mike shaking his head and muttering 'she' and 'getting a coffee'.

A frown furrowed his father's forehead.

"Nothing?"

"No," came the gruff reply. "Name?"

"Director Jennifer Shephard," Tim supplied, before going to offer her nickname. "She goes by"

"Jenny."

Tim nodded, watching his father's face, trying to determine if it was memory or investigative skills that supplied the answer.

"Paris," the man in the hospital bed muttered. "I remember Paris, working together."

"Do you remember when that was?"

"Seems like yesterday to me," Gibbs muttered, frowning in concentration. "Late 90's," he added a few minutes later. "They were already counting down and planning the New Year Eve for the millennium."

Tim nodded. Gibbs had shared a few stories about the cases he worked on with Shephard, as well as other partners.

"She wants to be on your good side?" Jethro asked, remembering what his son had said earlier.

Tim shrugged, "Not sure what else to think," he admitted, "Or how to explain it."

"Tell me."

"She called me by my first name."

"She usually doesn't?"

"She usually tries not to talk to me," Tim admitted, "And nobody really calls me by my first name."

"She doesn't like you?" Gibbs asked, disbelief evident in his tone.

"Let's just say if she was the director when this first happened, things would be different."

Eyes narrowed, "What else?"

"Nothing, it's just suspicious," Tim stated. "She has Tony doing what he called 'Probie work' and sent me to see you instead of him or Ziva."

"Two reasons," Gibbs said holding up two fingers. "One, probably knew you were going to come here anyway, to check up on me, if nothing else; and Two, why send someone I don't remember?"

"Two things," Tim retorted, imitating his father, "One, rest of the team is still working; and two, wanted to know if you remembered anything else that could help us find proof of what Pula is up to."

"One," Gibbs returned, grinning at his son, "You'll still be working while you're here, why else would you haul that thing around," he said, inclining his head towards Tim's bag with his laptop in it, "And two, you're a good kid, who wouldn't be nice to you? Or like you?"

Mentally, Tim responded, 'One, Tony; and two, Abby', while outwardly hi just shrugged.

"So, do you want to hear a bit about the case?" Tim asked before giving his father a few of the details they learned and what they were doing. He was being careful not to mention their suspicions, on the off chance Gibbs did have information.

"Things didn't go over well?" Franks asked, after looking at Tim for a few minutes. Gibbs had fallen back asleep, almost twenty minutes ago.

"That's one way to put it," Tim snorted. "Another would be that I have very angry and upset coworkers, half of which aren't speaking to me."

His father's mentor just raised an eyebrow in inquiry.

"It was even said that we-them and I, weren't friends since I didn't tell them that Gibbs was my father."

"They're a bunch of idiots," Mike snorted. "Crack-shot investigators, my ass. It was happening right under their noses and not a single one suspected a thing."

"Hey! We made a point of keeping it out of the office."

"Yeah, but you didn't always succeed did ya? Not to mention the fact that you guys went too far in the other direction."

"Huh?"

"Now, your father isn't one to show or express much emotion, but he still shows it. Hell, for him, bringing Abby Caf-Pow could be interpreted as a marriage proposal," he said, laughing at Tim's blanched expression that his words had caused. "Something similar could be said regarding the head-slaps he issues to Tony. Probie even has his tells with Ziva, someone that has been on his team for less than a year. By comparison, he never developed something like that with you. Yet not one of them ever questioned the unusualness of that. They just chalked it up as the marine and geek not having anything in common," Frank concluded shaking his head. "Idiots, the lot of them. They only have themselves to blame for not digging deeper."

"Yeah, well, I sincerely doubt that they'll agree to that."

Mike snorted again, "No, even worse, they'll pin it all on you."

"Well, I did keep it from them," Tim said, his guilt at hiding something so important from his team getting to him.

"No. You and Probie kept it from them," Franks corrected. "But most of them will probably conveniently forget that fact."

Tim sighed in resignation. Yeah, he could agree with that, it had already started with the emails earlier. "I just hope Dad remembers everything before this case is over."

"Why?"

"They agreed to wait until the case is solved before asking questions. At that point, they'll allow me time to explain everything."

"And you want the two of you to do it together," Mike concluded. "A little father/son bonding by knocking some heads together." Before Tim could reply, the older man added, "If you ask me, you should do it literally and not just figuratively."

Tim smiled, "Not sure if all of them deserve that."

"Oh?"

"Ducky's been good, great actually during this. I know he is bursting with questions, and sometimes had even let one or two slip away from him, but he retracts it and focuses on what's important and not appeasing his curiosity."

"So, you have one person at your back."

"The director," Tim stated half-heartedly.

"Who you don't appear to trust or at least am unable to make heads-or-tails out of," came the dry rebuttal.

"Jimmy hasn't said or done anything."

"Good or bad," Franks pointed out. "Not against ya doesn't always mean with ya."

"Ziva asked how I was doing," he admitted. "Seemed to realize the emotional coaster I've been in."

"That is good. Beautiful and deadly," Franks smirked. "Do ya think she'll be willing and able to reel DiNozzo in?"

"I don't know if anyone, even Gibbs could do that at this point," Tim sadly admitted.

"What's he done?"

"Tone-Agent DiNozzo wants me to refer to him by his title, since we are coworkers, not friends."

"No filter on that one," he muttered. "No brains either, apparently."

Tim frowned, "What do you mean?"

"It was easy to keep things hidden when no one knew. Now, everyone knows, and you know they know, so you'll no longer have to or be expected to keep things hidden."

"So?"

"So, things are gonna change."

"But they don't," Tim protested. "Things aren't different, it's how it has always been, the only difference is that everyone knows."

"And that makes all the difference. In fact," Mike said, realization dawning in, "That is probably why DiNozzo is acting as he is."

Tim shook his head, "I'm lost."

"In fact, I can even understand it," Mike finally said.

Tim blinked, "You're taking his side?"

Mike reached out and gave his head a soft slap. "Of course not. You're Probie's son, Timson. I said understand, not agree with or condone. And while I might understand, it still doesn't make it the best way to react."

"Still lost," Tim admitted.

"DiNozzo's thought himself top dog, Gibbs's right-hand man, and while he's still the SFA, he feels threatened. He might not be the one held in highest esteem by Boss anymore. He's always been competitive and easily felt threatened. Now, his competition is the son. Something he can't take."

"Ducky said something similar," Tim softly said, after thinking about Mike's words for a few moments. "But he added that Tony will realize, that me being his son hadn't changed his relationship with Gibbs these last few years, and that once Tony realizes that, everything will go back to normal."

"Ah, but there's the rub," Mike gleefully shared, "It can't go back to normal, and DiNozzo knows this, which is why he's acting like he is."

"Why not?"

"Because you are Probie's son. Probie no longer has to act or not act in a way that keeps that information hidden. How will he act if you are in danger? Hurt? Angry? Upset?"

Tim frowned as he thought about those words.

"How will he act if such a thing happened because of DiNozzo?"

Tim paled, remembering how Gibbs had acted in the past when one of Tony's pranks had gotten out of control.

"Tony's realizing that he's gonna have to put a muzzle on that mouth of his and that his leash will be tightened, and it's about damn time, if you ask me."

4-1-2022

Not as long as the update for No Accident, but it's still and update.

Good news: next chapter should see the end of the case, which means the Interrogation of Tim begins. Okay, so it's not good news if you are Tim, but hopefully the rest of you will get your questions answer :) Feel free to ask those questions in a review.

I think Tim's Interrogation will be like an interrogation, ie: the other characters ask questions, make comments and Tim responds with the answer (often via flashback), rather than having it be done in Chronological order...still not positive though, so feel free to try to change my mind

Thank you for reading.
Hope everyone is well.