VI. Fire is a Good Servant, But a Poor Master

"Good morning, beautiful." Tony smiled as Ziva rolled over in his arms. "Breakfast?"

"Mm…toast." She smiled.

"With?"

"Marmalade." She slid out of bed and stretched. "There is a new jar."

"Okay." He jumped up and walked out of the room. "Bahg! McGee!" Tony yelled, running back into the bedroom, grabbing a shirt and jeans. "You might want to put more clothes on than just my t-shirt."

"You forgot that McGee was sleeping on my couch." She grinned, standing in front of him.

"You remembered?" He said. "And you didn't tell me? McGee just saw me in my boxers!" He exclaimed.

"I think you look good in your boxers." She flicked her eyes up and down his body.

"Yeah, but I don't think McGeek is so into this look." He said.

"Aw, poor Tony." She stroked his chin. She kissed him and pulled on a pair of cargo pants. "Come on, I am hungry." She grinned.

"Tony, I'm sorry." McGee said as they walked through.

"McGoo." Tony glared. "You're eating the last of my cereal."

"Oh, I, uh…" He dropped the spoon.

"Tony, I can buy you another box." Ziva kissed his cheek as she placed bread in the toaster.

"It's principle, Ziva. You don't eat another man's coco-pops."

"I did not think men ate coco-pops." She grinned.

"We have been through this," Tony said, wrapping his arms around her waist. "The food does not make the man, the clothes make the man."

"If you say so, mon petit pois." She kissed his nose.


"Can I just…how did you manage to keep this a secret?" McGee asked as they stood in the elevator together.

"Not very well, obviously." Tony sighed.

"Yes, and if anybody else finds out I will start with your fingers and not stop until every bone in your body is broken. Is that clear, McGee?" Ziva asked, holding his tie so he could not look away.

"Crystal." He nodded.

"You two need some time alone?" Gibbs asked as the elevator doors opened.

"Er, no, boss, Ziva was just clarifying a couple of points on interrogation and torture techniques." Tim stuttered as she let go of his tie.

"You wish to share them with all of us, David?"

"No, Gibbs, that is quite alright." She smiled.

"Glad we've cleared that up. Come on." He stepped into the elevator and hit a button.

"Where're we going, boss?" Tony asked, frowning.

"The foster home where Elsie and Mina stayed last night was burnt down." Gibbs stated. "Tony and Ziva are going to organise a safe-house. McGee, you're going to go and investigate the fire."

"Er, what about you, boss?" The computer geek asked, frowning.

"Well, I'm going to go pick the girls up McGee." He said, slapping Tim on the back of the head.

"Of course you are, boss."


"I hate this job." Tony grumbled as he dropped a mouldy coffee cup into the bin.

"Stop complaining!" Ziva snapped.

"What I don't get is why there can't be a housekeeping team that does this." He sniffed a dirty sock that he picked up and immediately dropped it again.

"Because it is always you that makes the mess." Ziva sighed, placing a pizza box in the bin.

"Actually, I think you were the last one to use this safe-house." Tony said, pulling a face at the content of the fridge. "Why would anybody stock a fridge for a few days and not remove the items afterwards?"

"We are going to need somewhere for Mina to sleep." Ziva looked at the table that she had finished cleaning.

"Ah, yeah…" Tony sighed. "The boss is gonna kill us. Where do you get a travel cot quickly?"

"I do not know." She looked at him.

"Don't you have a contact? You have contacts for everything."

"Not for getting baby supplies!" She threw her hands up in the air.

"Well, why didn't you ever think about that?" Tony yelled.

"I do not know!" She screamed back as she turned around and walked out of the front door to the tiny bungalow, sitting down on the porch and putting her head in her hands.


"Well can you tell me what accelerant was used?" McGee asked, growing frustrated with the fire investigator.

"Not until I have got tests run."

"Then can I take samples back to the NCIS forensics lab for analysis?"

"Nope, can't do that." The investigator shook his head.

"Why not?"

"It's not protocol." He said. "Why do you navy cops think this is your case, anyways?"

"Two of the children who were in there were orphaned yesterday when their mother was murdered. Their father was a navy lieutenant who was killed in a training accident two days ago. So now that an attempt on their life has been made, we are thinking someone is trying to silence this family for some reason."

"Why didn't you say so? I have a son and if anyone tried to hurt him, boy I don't know what I'd do…" He shook his head. "I'll get those samples and photos you asked for." He walked away and McGee grit his teeth.


"Hey, you and DiNozzo finished in the house?" Gibbs said as he stepped up onto the decked porch carrying Elsie in one arm and a car seat in the other.

"I am not sure. I had a headache, sorry, boss." She stood up. "Hello, Elsie, how are you today."

"Sleepy." The little girl yawned and placed her head on Gibbs shoulder.

"Well, there is a bed ready for you inside. I am sure it will not be a problem if you want to sleep." Ziva smiled and opened the door, amazed to see that Tony had finished tidying the whole house whilst she was outside.

"Boss, how'd you like it? Me and Ziva worked really hard." He smiled at her apologetically as he finished polishing the table.

"I'm surprised. I thought I left this place in a real mess the last time I was here." Gibbs looked around and grinned. "Good job, both of you."

"Gibbs, there was one slight problem." Ziva sighed. "We do not have anywhere for Mina to sleep."

"Back of my car, there's a travel cot." He shrugged as they looked at one another and rolled their eyes. "What?" He asked, placing the girls down.

"There was a slight heated discussion over where to get the cot from, that's all." Tony shrugged, smiling. "I'll go put the cot up."