Chapter 41

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"Hey Tony" Tim greeted his friend as he walked into the bullpen after his week off. "Where is everyone?"

"You're late" Tony said.

"No I'm just not early! Where is everyone?" Tim asked again.

"Gibbs is up with the director and Ziva is in the evidence locker, double checking the inventory from our last case" Tony reported.

"Ouch! What did she misplace?" Tim asked sympathetically.

"Nothing permanently, but one of the pieces of evidence spent a couple of hours more than it should have in the safe in the truck" Tony replied. "Where'd you go for the week. I know you didn't have leave planned. Is everything okay?" he asked about halfway between curious and concerned.

"Paternity leave" Tim replied grinning. "Everything's wonderful except our darling little girl won't sleep in her own bed."

"Putting a bit of a crimp on the honeymoon, is she?" Tony teased.

"You could say that except we're both too tired to care at the moment" Tim said tiredly.

"So you have pictures?" Tony asked.

Tim unlocked his phone and stepped up beside Tony so he could control what his SFA looked at.

"She's cute" Tony said smiling. "What's her name?"

"Rosie. She's eight days old" Tim replied.

"Wow that's young! Is she's definitely yours to keep or is there a cooling off period on the adoption?" Tony asked.

"She's our daughter Tony. Nobody else has any claim to her" Tim said firmly.

"You used a surrogate and an egg donor?" Tony asked surprised. "That's how you knew about the prices a couple of months ago."

"Yeah" Tim lied. He'd looked up the process and prices so he could talk knowledgeably about it if he was asked.

"So how's it gonna work is Hadrian gonna become a stay home dad?" Tony asked.

"He already pretty much was. Teddy was having a hard time with separation anxiety when he came to us. His grandmother hasn't been well for quite some time and Teddy was used to being alone at home with her 24/7. He's getting better thank heavens but we expected that the baby might cause a bit of a relapse. He's coping fairly well though. We'll organise some day care so he can go back to work in a few months or so."

"You don't resent that he's the one to stay home with the baby?" Tony asked.

"Nor really. I miss her, you wouldn't believe how hard it was to leave this morning but I was glad to spend some time out in the real world. Hades is more likely to be jealous of me. Of course, it might be different when she's had us both up all night with her crying and Hades gets to roll over and go to sleep while I have to get up to come to work" Tim said good naturedly.

Tony laughed.

"What are you looking at?" Ziva asked as she and Abby entered their area of the bullpen.

"Tim's new baby" Tony said.

"She's not a babe she's a girlfriend, a grown woman who wouldn't appreciate being infantilised by someone she hasn't even met" Ziva scolded Tony.

"No she's a baby" Tony protested. "A real babe..."

"Chauvinist pig" Ziva interrupted.

Tony looked at Tim to defend him.

"Gear up, we've got a missing Navy dependent, six year old girl who disappeared from a shopping mall about half a mile from the base" Gibbs interrupted before Tim could say anything.

They grabbed their gear and hurried to the van knowing that with a missing child time was of the essence. The conversation with Tony and Ziva was forgotten by all of them as Tim carried out searches on his laptop while Tony drove. He was able to get some history on the missing child's family, schematics of the shopping centre and updates from the local Leos. Being a missing child they hadn't backed off to wait for NCIS but had immediately put up roadblocks around the area and instituted a search firstly of the shopping mall itself and then spreading out to all the public areas inside the roadblock area.

"The FBI are also on the way" Tim reported. "This is the third child reported missing in West Virginia this month."

"We don't need them" Tony growled. "Gibbs is going to be a bear about this."

"Gibbs will be a bear about missing children anyway" Ziva reminded him. "And the more people looking for the child the better."

"Please tell me at least that it's Fornell?" Tony begged.

"No child trafficking and the behavioural analysis unit. I've worked with Katie Cole in the past she's good" Tim reported.

"When?" Tony and Ziva demanded. Tim had come to the team as a fairly new probie. He wouldn't have been experienced enough to have been on a missing child case while at Norfolk.

She was one of the agents we liaised with, in the people trafficking case when you were on leave last year Tony"

The area was crawling with agents and local law enforcement and with a missing child on the line and every minute counting there was not the usual interagency pissing contest. The right to bring charges could be argued later once the little girl was found.

The BAU finally managed to interview the mother and as light was fading they identified a suspect. Tim and Tony were both in awe of how fast the profilers and their tech support could run down the lead. The little girl was found, probably heavily traumatised but alive and well. With time and therapy she would make a complete recovery. The locals arrested the perpetrators and arranged transport to Washington for NCIS to take over, for once quite happy to turn the case over since it would mean a longer sentence for the kidnappers. The teams involved decided to shelve the paperwork til morning, and got together to celebrate the victory.

Tim ducked out to ring Hades and talk to Teddy and Rosie. "Hey Tim. Is something wrong?"

"No we just rescued a child from a serial molester and murderer and I felt an overwhelming need to talk to the kids. Can you put me on speaker?"

"Sure let me go into the playroom with Teddy, Rosie's in her carrier so I could get some stuff done. She's awake" Hadrian replied.

"Hey baby girl, are you snuggled up all comfy? Have you had a good day?" Tim asked.

"She's listening" Hadrian said softly.

"Daddy's missed you today?" Tim continued. "I showed your picture to Tony and he thinks you're gorgeous. He's right isn't he beautiful girl."

"Hey Teddy, come and talk to Tim" Hadrian called. There was a noise of running feet and then Teddy spoke loudly.

"Tim. Where Tim?"

"He's on the phone Teddy" Hadrian replied.

"You come home today Tim?" Teddy said anxiously.

"Not tonight Teddy but I'll be home by the time you wake up in the morning" Tim promised.

"I can do better than that, there's an extra seat on the plane. We can have you home before your little ones go to bed" JJ Jareau offered having also been outside talking to her son and overhearing the very similar conversation.

"Thanks" Tim said gratefully, "Just let me clear it with my Boss."

"We're leaving for the airport in about ten minutes" JJ replied smiling going in to clear it with her own boss.

"Why don't I get a ride home?" Tony pouted when he heard JJ tell Hotch about the offer.

"Have you got small children at home?" JJ asked.

"No but I have a hot date tonight I'm gonna have to cancel" Tony replied giving JJ and Emily his best winning smile.

Emily and JJ rolled their eyes. "Sorry DiNozzo we've only got room for one of you and McGee's got the higher claim."

Tony turned to Tim. "You know Gibbs isn't going to like it" he warned.

"Gibbs will have to lump it then. The case is over and Teddy's feelings are more important than his" Tim said. "Have I got a minute to tell him?" he asked JJ.

"Sure" JJ replied. "Hotch is still finishing up with the local LEOs."

"JJ offered me the extra seat on the jet so I could get home to Rosie and Teddy tonight" Tim said nervously.

"Take it" Gibbs said gruffly.

"Thanks Boss" Tim replied grinning. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"And Tim, don't forget you belong to me. Don't let them headhunt you" Gibbs said seriously.

"I won't Boss. JJ heard me talking to the kids when she was outside ringing hers. That's all it is" Tim replied.

"That was nice of them" Gibbs replied sceptically.

Tim talked enthusiastically with the FBI agents grateful for the ride home. It soon became obvious that they were a tight knit unit with one exception. "Did you just join the unit?" Tim asked him, concerned he was being ostracised.

"No, I'm not with the BAU or CARD teams" Auror Thaddeus Billingsley replied without explaining where he worked or why he'd joined the team.

Tim looked at him suspiciously for a moment then leaned in. "Do you work with Agent Hadrian Black?" He asked quietly.

"I have done. How do you know Black?" Thaddeus replied.

"Was there one of yours involved in the kidnapping?" Tim asked.

"You didn't say how you knew Black" Thaddeus said wanting to know how much the other Agent was allowed to know about the magical world.

"I'm his husband" Tim said quietly.

"The missing child is a first generation" Thaddeus replied. "So, we needed to be sure that wasn't why she was kidnapped."

"Her parents wouldn't even know yet would they?" Tim asked.

"No, they haven't been officially told but that doesn't mean that they've never seen any accidental occurrences. Some parents are frightened by what they don't understand. Especially in the Bible Belt and small towns. We keep a close eye on accidental incidents in this area."

Tim nodded. "Would it be better to explain it to them earlier?" He asked wondering whether his parents would have been more accepting of him being a wizard if they had more time to get used to the idea.

Thaddeus shrugged. "In some cases," he agreed.

"Thanks for the ride. It sure is a nice plane" Tim said. "Tony would have spent half the trip home complaining that we don't have one."

"The plane just means we can travel farther for cases, we've been in California, Colorado and Missouri so far this month" Emily replied.

"Then I'm glad we don't have one" Tim said hastily making the BAU team laugh.

"I hope we didn't make trouble for you with your team. Where do you need to be?" JJ asked as they disembarked.

"I live out in Chevy Chase but near the station if you could drop me at the nearest Metro stop" Tim replied.

"What about your car?" Morgan asked.

"It's safe at the naval yard. It'd take nearly as long to get there as to get home. I'll train in to work tomorrow morning" Tim replied.

"I'll drop you and Spence at the Metro" JJ offered.

"You live a long way from Quantico" Spencer observed.

"Yeah but my team is based at the Naval Yard. It isn't that bad. It only takes about forty five minutes to drive to the Naval Yard. With the hours we keep it isn't worth catching public transport" Tim replied. "Hades has a longer commute if he has to be in the office but that's bot often and it's worth it to be out where we can have a yard for the kids."

"Is Hades your wife?" Spencer asked, wondering if it would be too intrusive to ask where the name came from.

"My husband" Tim replied. "He's on leave at the moment, our daughter's only nine days old and our son's nearly three."

"And that's accepted. That you have a husband and baby?" Spencer asked.

"The Navy is still pretty homophobic so I keep it quiet but my team doesn't have an issue with it" Tim replied, ignoring the fact that only half of them knew. "Your team seems a lot closer than mine is though. I almost envy that."

"They're pretty much my family. We spend so much time living in motels together out on cases that we really don't have many secrets" Spencer said smiling.

"Not having any secrets from Tony would be a nightmare" Tim replied shuddering.

"He picks on you?" Spencer asked concerned.

"It's not malicious, he just likes to tease and doesn't realise when he's taking it too far" Tim replied. "Gibbs rarely pulls him up on it and Ziva tends to oscillate between supporting him and threatening to kill him with a paperclip"

Spencer laughed then stopped at the sight of Tim's face. He looked at him questioningly.

"She's former Mossad. Her brother was an assassin and her father's the director. There were rumours that she was Kidon, I wouldn't hand her a paperclip while she was irritated" Tim explained.

"This is my stop" Spencer said apologetically.

"Nice to meet you Dr Reid" Tim said smiling.

"Nice to meet you too Agent McGee" Spencer replied. "Hopefully next time or won't be over a missing child."

Tim got off at the terminal, somewhere he was sure Hadrian had been and phoned to ask him if he could come and side-along aparate him home.

-o0o-

Tim was half right when he said he'd envy Hadrian the ability to stay home and Hadrian would envy him leaving the house to go to work. It wasn't just the extra half hour of sleep in the morning or the ability to take an afternoon nap. He missed the children. Rosie seemed to change slightly every day and Tim felt like he was missing so much. Hadrian on the other hand was missing the ability to just leave the house without feeling like he was planning a major excursion as well as adult discussions that didn't revolve around babies. Tim realised this and encouraged Hadrian to spend part of the weekend out doing something for himself while he and Tollie looked after the kids. Of course, when your parents plans often have to be changed or compromised at the last minute to meet the children's needs.

-o0o-

Ziva's eyes lit up as she walked into the Japanese cooking class and saw Hadrian there feeding a baby its bottle. "Hello" she said joining him. "You're going to find it difficult to cook like that."

"I'm hoping she'll settle once her tummy's full" Hadrian replied. "How have you been?"

"Good. What's her name, how old is she?" Ziva asked.

"This is Rosie and she's two weeks old" Hadrian said.

"Congratulations, she's a beautiful baby" Ziva said.

"Thank you."

"Why didn't you leave her with your partner?" Ziva asked.

"I was going to but he's taking Teddy out for the day and Teddy's feeling a little insecure since the baby came home so we decided he'd benefit from some one on one time" Hadrian explained. "I'd already paid for the course and decided to try to come anyway since I really needed some time thinking about something other than babies."

Class started and by the time they were beginning the practical segment, Rose was happily settled in her pram leaving Hadrian free to concentrate on cooking.

"That's the same ring Tim has" Ziva said suspiciously.

"Yes" Hadrian replied, not offering any further information.

"Is it Tim's ring?" Ziva demanded.

"No, they're a matching pair. They've been in my family for a long time" Hadrian said.

"Why would you and Tim wear matching rings" Ziva said confused. "Tim would have told us if he was dating a man."

Hadrian's eyes flashed dangerously. "Tim told you about our wedding. He even had the invitations for you all in his pocket ready to hand out until you all laughed at him and called him a liar" he said angrily. "Don't you dare blame Tim for not telling you about me."

"He really was getting married? He must have been so hurt that we didn't believe him." Ziva said horrified, remembering the day they'd all laughed about it. Thinking back she realised that Tim had been quieter and much less friendly since that day.

"Gibbs, Ducky and Jimmy came to the wedding, and Tony came to Tim's buck's night. You can ask them if you don't believe me" Hadrian retorted.

"I believe you" Ziva said hastily. "I just can't believe how badly we treated Tim. He was our friend, he didn't deserve for us to call him a liar. He really was going to invite us to the wedding?"

"Yeah he had invitations for you, Tony and Abby. He brought them home and burned them. I had to convince him to even try to invite Ducky and Jimmy after what happened. It was laughing at him that hurt the most" Hadrian said quietly.

"How can I make it up to him?" Ziva asked.

"I don't know that you can. At the moment, he doesn't trust you not to hurt him like that again" Hadrian said bluntly. "Not going along with Abby's and Tony's abuse would help though."

"Tim and Abby are friends" Ziva protested. "And Tony goes too far sometimes but he's just teasing."

"Abuse is in the eye of the beholder, Ziva. There's a fine line between teasing and bullying and Tony frequently crosses it" Hadrian agued. "And Tim was always Abby's friend more than she was his friend. Friends are interested in what the other is interested in. When was the last time that they went out somewhere Tim wanted to go? Abby says she's his best friend but open your eyes and look how she really treats him. She abuses Tim's friendship and manipulates him to do what she wants and when that doesn't work threatens to make trouble with Gibbs"

"Yes you're right" Ziva said thoughtfully. "She uses being Gibbs' favourite to get what she wants with me and Tony too. I wasn't aware it was as bad for Tim though, they seem to get going"

"You mean get along" Hadrian replied. "And they only get along when Tim's doing what Abby wants him to do."

"You don't like her? Are you jealous of their friendship?" Ziva asked.

Hadrian laughed, "I have no reason to be jealous" he denied. "I just don't like to see Tim being used like that."

"I'm sure Abby doesn't mean to hurt Tim" Ziva said. "You know they did have a romantic relationship once?"

"She doesn't make a practice of considering his feelings either. To Abby Tim is a play toy she thinks she can do whatever she likes with and he'll keep bouncing back for more no matter how selfish she is or how much she hurts him" Hadrian retorted. "Tim's tired of being treated like that but Gibbs punished him last time he upset her. And yes, I know they used to date."

"Tony's been teasing Tim about a new girlfriend lately and he hasn't been denying it" Ziva said hesitantly.

"A new girlfriend called Rose or Rosie?" Hadrian asked amused.

"Yes! How do you know?" Ziva asked.

Hadrian just pointed to the baby. "Meet Rosie, the new lady in Tim's life."

Ziva laughed. "Wait does Gibbs know about Rosie?"

"Yeah he came over for dinner one night while Tim was on paternity leave. Why?" Hadrian asked.

"The first time Tim mentioned Rosie, Gibbs seemed angry with him but since then he looks away and ignores it" Ziva said.

"He made the wrong assumption just as you did before he found out Rosie was a baby. Gibbs came to our wedding he was probably upset with Tim that either he hadn't been told we were over or Tim was cheating on his husband" Hadrian replied.

"Are you and Gibbs friendly?" Ziva asked awkwardly.

"Friendly?" Hadrian asked.

"I mean does he visit often, have you got to know him?" Ziva asked.

"Not very well but we met when Tim was shot last year" Hadrian answered. "He pretty much interrogated me about my intentions and threatened to harm me if I deliberately hurt Tim. Like I said he came to the wedding and he came for dinner one night last week to meet Rosie."

Ziva laughed. "He gave you the brother speech?"

"I think you mean the big brother talk but yeah he did" Hadrian confirmed. "It was kind of awkward but I was pleased that Tim's team leader had his back. It gave me confidence that he was supported out in the field."

"It can't be easy knowing that his job is dangerous but really it's not as dangerous as you think" Ziva tried to reassure him.

"I know. My job is often more dangerous than Tim's but I'm used to being in control of the risks to myself and my team. Not being able to even know when Tim is at risk and having to wait until he comes home at night is harder than I expected it would be" Hadrian replied. "It didn't help that the last two times he's been injured nobody called me."

"If you give me your phone numbers I'll make sure I call you if he's injured again, or anything else that he'll need your support for" Ziva offered sincerely.

Hadrian looked at her searchingly before agreeing and giving her the numbers before they both turned their attention to the class laughing with each other over trying to understand the teacher's accent and their attempts at learning to roll sushi.

-o0o-

Ziva arrived at work Monday morning with a large, elaborately wrapped pink present which she put on her desk until Tim arrived.

"What's that for?" Tony asked curiously.

"It's a gift for Tim's daughter" Ziva replied.

"So he's finally told you, and you believe him now?" Tony said.

"Actually Tim didn't tell me. Hadrian was at my cooking class this week and I recognised his ring. He had little Rosie with him" Ziva replied.

"Tim did tell you about the wedding, and I told you and Gibbs told you. You refused to believe us" Tony retorted.

"I know and I will apologise to Tim for my behaviour when he comes in" Ziva said soberly.

Once Tim had arrived and settled at his desk waiting for the computer to boot she approached him. "Congratulations Tim. I met Rosie on the weekend and she's a beautiful little girl" she said sincerely. "I'm more sorry than I can express that we disbelieved you when you told us about your marriage. Our actions must have hurt you and I for one really never intended to hurt you like that. I hope one day that I can earn your trust and we can be friends again"

"Thank you Ziva" Tim replied more touched by the sincerity of her apology than the fact she'd bought his daughter a gift.

"Well open it" Tony urged impatiently.

Tim looks across at Gibbs walking in with his coffee. "Let's see what Rosie got Tim and then we can all concentrate on our work."

"Thanks Boss" Tim opened the box and found a baby swing.

"Hadrian said she doesn't like the lack of stimulation in her crib. I hope she will like this and give the two of you a bit of a break sometimes. It has a very good safety rating" Ziva said handing over the article she'd found comparing baby swings.

"Thanks Ziva, that's really thoughtful" Tim said smiling. "We should have thought of something like that." He glanced at the article and saw Ziva had bought the one with the best safety reviews, it was quite an expensive gift and he felt a little guilty about it considering how well off Hadrian was compared to Ziva who lived alone and spent most of her savings each year returning home for her holidays.

A/N: Thank you to Locket1, Maben00, DS2010, Kourtney Uzu Yato, Firehedgehog, julschristine975, DarkRavie, Silvermane1, buterflypuss, Rori Potter, mother oracle, acherongoddess, icyquest4, xDarklightx, serenityselena, charm13insomnia, lilly-flower15, Lientjuhh, mayawene, lia (Guest), Almonda, Readerholic90, Gracie15Trowa, DevilishAngel666, asdf (Guest), .9, PercyJacksonROCKS4ever, Darling De Piaget, Kris (Guest), Syla07, ashleymariestel, niesha-16, 1, Soul D Phoenix, Camilla-K-09, shannon. , LadySaphire, blackphoenix4ever, light-hunter1999, scanrp, Sorrow7e, Lil-love-neko, ShayyRenee and Gaia Emma Brorhaist for your support.