Chapter 2

Three days later

Tim was at his desk looking through a suspect's financials while trying to ignore Tony who was carrying on a conversation with him and Ziva. He lost track of what Tony was talking about ages ago and instead had his mind on Victoria.

The next morning after their drunken night, Tim caught a case and wasn't able to stay for breakfast. They were able to exchange text messages in their free time but with her catching a case of her own, the free time that matched up was few and far in between.

Tim was worried that he wasn't able to get more information about her since meeting her. He somehow didn't catch what agency she worked with which he found odd. He caught some of her interest from their small talk before Gibbs called him.

More importantly he wasn't sure what her intention was with their relationship, if they had anything at all. She seemed interested which made him feel better but with little time to even learn about each other and his own diminished confidence with dating, he felt worried.

He let out a sigh as he programmed another search to run. Looking up, he decided to let Tony's words land on his brain and hoped he could hear enough to get the gist of his story.

"And I'll admit I took a discrete look," Tony said, his hands in front of him framing something unseen, "and I can confirm that she has a nice behind."

"Of course," Tim thought, mentally rolling his eyes.

"Of course," Ziva said aloud, seemingly in sync with Tim, instead she physically rolled her eyes, "and did she have a reaction when she caught you."

"There's no way she caught me," Tony assured her, "Years of undercover experience has taught me how to be discreet. To see without being seen."

Both Ziva and Tim scoffed at his bragging but Tony turned only to Tim.

"Pay attention to my work McDoubter, and someday you'll be as good as me," Tony told him, "then you will be able to freely look at beautiful women without consequences. Beautiful women like miss team leader, who I have to say looks good for someone close to my age."

"What does that mean," Ziva asked, her face scrunched up.

"Not quite a Vogue cover model," Tony continued, not hearing her, "but still a nice figure nonetheless. Team, I think… I think I found the next candidate for the future Mrs. Tony DiNozzo. This will be an interesting case team-up."

"Team-up?" Tim asked, realizing he missed too much, "We're working with another team?"

"Did you forget already, McGoo? Were you even paying attention to anything I said?"

"I am surprised I did not stop paying attention sooner myself," Ziva spoke up.

Tony was about to let out a retort when the elevator ding grabbed his attention and he saw two figures, a woman and a man, step out and walk towards the bullpen.

"Speak of the devil," Tony muttered as he put on his signature million dollar DiNozzo smile, "Agent Walker! We meet again."

Tim looked up at the new visitors and his eyes went wide. Victoria walked into the bullpen, flanked by who he assumed was her partner. He was at a loss for words but fortunately she didn't seem to notice him yet.

"Agent DiNozzo," Victoria said with an obvious fake excitement, "Yes we do."

"Welcome to our base of operation," Tony said with his arms spread out, "Where the NCIS magic happens."

"Well, I can't wait to see-" Victoria stopped dead in her tracks and her eyes went wide themselves when she spotted Tim sitting at his desk looking back at her in surprise, "Tim?"

"Victoria!" Tim exclaimed back

"Oh? You two have met," Tony said with an eyebrow raised.

"Yeah, three days ago. We-" Victoria quickly shook her head and turned back to Tim with a wide grin, "I didn't know you worked with NCIS too."

"Too?" McGee asked as he stood up and joined them in the center, "You also work with NCIS?"

"Yeah! I'm SAC at the Norfolk office."

"Really? Longs finally retired?"

"Yup, finally caved in. Oh this is my SFA, Agent Miles Cordova," Victoria said, motioning to the man behind her who nodded in response.

"Nice to meet you," Tim replied, "you met Tony already, but behind you is Agent Ziva David."

Victoria turned around and stuck out a hand to Ziva who was already on her feet to greet her, "Ziva, the former Mossad agent, right?"

"Correct," Ziva confirmed with a small smile, "So McGee has told you about us?"

"Just that I'm afraid. Our conversation steered elsewhere."

"What else has our talkative probie mentioned about us," Tony interjected.

"Probie," Victoria asked curiously looking at Tim, "I thought you finished your probation period?"

"I did," Tim said exasperated, "He just likes to tease me with the nickname."

"Sounds about right."

"Well, I'm eager for us to take time to learn all about each other while you're here," Tony said, trying to get the attention back towards him.

"I'm more eager to learn all we can about this case."

The group looked over to see Gibbs enter the bullpen with a coffee in hand.

"I agree Agent Gibbs," Victoria replied, "Shall we get started right away?"

Gibbs sent her a nod and a smirk as he directed the two guest agents to follow him to the stairs, "You finish finding those witnesses DiNozzo?"

"Getting back to work boss," Tony replied, quickly getting to his desk chair.

Ziva and Tim went back to their desk as well. While Ziva went back to work, Tim looked up at Victoria as she ascended the stairs and headed to where he assumed was to the directors office.

After a moment, Victoria looked back and locked eyes with him. The two shared a quick smile before they turned back to their own tasks.

XxX

Later…

"Meet me somewhere we can be private?"

Tim stared at the phone text message he just received from Victoria. He looked up at his two teammates who were too engrossed in their own work to notice him.

"Sure. Stairwell near the elevators? One floor below the bullpen" he quickly replied.

"See you there."

Tim stood up and tried to nonchalantly walk past his partners though neither looked up from their computer monitor.

"I'm going down to Abby's lab if you need me," he said aloud, figuring it was the most likely to be believed, "see if she needs any help while my searches run."

"Alright McGee," Ziva replied. Tony simply waved him off without turning his attention away from his work.

When he reached the elevator, he looked back to make sure he wasn't being seen, then kept walking to the stairway doors. Taking one last look around, he pushed open the door and quickly entered. He heard a door above him open and closed as he descended the stairs.

He wiped his hands on his pants then put them in his pockets while leaning against the wall, unsure what the secret meeting will entail. He could hear footsteps coming towards. He wasn't sure what he would say or do when he sees Victoria, he just hoped he didn't look awkward.

It turned out his first action was to smile as soon as he saw her join him on the landing. It quickly became concern however when he saw her look of frustration on her face.

"You were right," she stated as she leaned against the wall next to him, her arms crossed, "Kate was definitely a tough woman to be able to put up with your team."

"They're not that bad, are they?" Tim replied.

"DiNozzo thinks he was incognito at the crime scene but it could not be any more obvious he was checking me out if he had a telescope. I can tell he was undressing me whenever he thought I wasn't looking. I hate to know what was running through his mind."

Tim decided it was a better idea not to relay his words from earlier. Instead he replied, "He's not so bad when you get to know him."

"You mean he becomes bearable if you can put up with it long enough," Victoria scoffed, "Yeah, that's going to be fun."

"He's reliable enough when it matters. He jokes a lot but he can be serious when the situation calls for it. He just acts like too much of a jock the rest of time."

"Like I didn't get enough of that during high school. As long as he doesn't go overboard with the flirting, I won't yell at him."

"Fair enough," Tim shrugged.

"Speaking of yelling," Victoria continued, "I don't know how I'm not already yelling at Gibbs. He is frustrating for a different reason."

"It's rumored the second B stands for bastard."

"Shocking," Victoria deadpanned, making Tim chuckle, "he loves to be in charge. I've dealt with plenty of people like him so I know what to expect. Though I don't think I ever got such strong cowboy vibes from anyone else."

"Not surprising," Tim replied, "he is a big John Wayne fan."

"Sounds about right. I'm just hoping the feeling I get that there's more to his gaze is just DiNozzo's flirtation affecting my senses. Last thing I need is these two interested in me."

"At least It's just the two of them on my team. So it can't get worse."

"Ziva's not bi?"

"Nope. Pretty sure she's straight all the way."

"That's disappointing but a relief at the same time."

Tim took a moment to process what she just said and his eyebrows scrunched up in contemplation.

"Wait," he said, "are you saying you're-"

Victoria sighed deeply before responding, "Yes, I am bi, but that does not leave this stairwell!"

"Of course."

"And don't get any ideas mister," Victoria said, standing straight and pointing a finger at Tim's chest, "Just because I am does not mean threesomes are a given."

Tim raised his hands as he shook his head.

"Good," Victoria said as she relaxed again.

"Abby's bisexual, if she caught your attention," Tim informed her.

"The goth in forensic? Ehh no, she is not my type. It'll take an interesting character to date her."

"Uh," Tim let out as he rubbed the back of his head.

"You dated her, didn't you?" Victoria asked flatly.

"Briefly, before I officially joined the team."

"What happened?"

"We both wanted different things. It was a bit awkward working together but we stayed friends and now she's someone I'm close with. Though for a while it would get awkward whenever one of us would show interest to someone else but eventually… Lets just say I realized she turned out not to be my type. Friendship, yes but not romantic."

The two fell into a silence, the only sound being a distant a/c.

"Besides," Tim continued softly, "I found someone else I'm pretty interested in."

Victoria gave him a shy smile and chuckle as Tim's face turned pink. She then reached out a hand, pulled his wrist towards her and laced her fingers with his. Tim looked at their interlocked hands then looked up to lock eyes with her.

"Can I-" both spurted.

"Oh, sorry, go ahead," Tim said first.

"I was just… Can I kiss you," Victoria asked.

Tim's smile grew in record time at her request. He leaned in and the two's lips met. Their kiss melted more each time they connected. Victoria reached out with her other hand and grabbed on to Tim's free hand as the two enjoyed the other's touch.

When they needed air, the two touched foreheads and looked at each other with goofy smiles as they caught their breaths.

A distant noise broke their attention, returning them back to the stairwell.

"We should probably get back before our team comes looking for us," Victoria told him as they pulled their faces apart.

"Yeah," Tim agreed.

He went to take a step but Victoria held firm and pulled him back."

"Come to my place tonight? Please?," She asked him, "You don't need to stay tonight. I'll even cook you dinner"

"I'd like that," Tim answered, squeezing her hand.

The two then left the stairwell, with Victoria sending him the address from her phone.

XxX

"Nice of you both of you to join us," Tony called out as Tim and Victoria walked into the bullpen.

Tony, Gibbs, and agent Cordova were gathered around the center, looking at the large plasma screen while Ziva was on the phone at her desk.

"What do ya got," Victoria asked, her voice seamlessly becoming all business.

"Basically nothing we don't already know," Tony told her, "two dead bodies and a suspect that seemed to have disappeared into thin air."

"Anything on your end McGee," Gibbs asked.

Tim quickly went to his computer and looked through his data, "Nothing yet. His cards haven't been used yet and there is no discernable pattern with his purchases. He could be using cash."

"That was the local police," Ziva announced as she hung up the phone, "They were able to bring in the other witnesses."

"Take DiNozzo with you and see what you can find out from them," Gibbs ordered,

"Cordova, go with them and help them out," Victoria added. Gibbs gave her a glance but continued uninterrupted

"McGee, keep digging into his financials. See if he had any big withdrawals months before. We'll be in the morgue," Gibbs said referring to Victoria, "Ducky should be done with the second body. Maybe it'll give us some insight."

"What's a Ducky?" Victoria asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Our medical examiner."

"Why is he called Ducky?"

Gibbs walked past her with a smirk without answering. Victoria looked at Tim with a confused look. All Tim could do was give her a small grin and a shrug. She let out a sigh as she followed the other agents to the elevator. When they were gone, Tim went back to work, trying not to let his excitement for tonight distract him.

XxX

Tim did a mental checklist as he held his backpack in front him on the desk. It was the end of the day and he was preparing to leave. Ziva and Tony had already left and last he known, Gibbs was with the director.

Feeling satisfied that he had everything, he zipped up his bag and slung it over his shoulder.

"Agent Tim McGee right?"

Tim turned around and found Miles walking towards him. Finally able to get a good look at him, Tim studied his appearance. Miles was a few inches shorter than him, about the same age. He had short black hair and looked to be athletic under his suit.

"That's correct," Tim replied, "Agent Miles Cordova?"

"Yup."

"You finding everything alright?"

"Pretty much. You have an interesting team."

"Yeah, we're quite a cast of characters."

"Agent Gibbs reminds me a bit of Walker. Both run a tight ship."

"Yeah, Gibbs can be a hard ass but he's a good guy."

"Same with Walker. She can be pretty strict but you can tell she cares a lot. Actually lately she seems different. Happier."

"Really? What makes you say that."

"It's subtle and easy to miss if you haven't worked with her before but you can tell she's just…" Miles moved his right hand in circles trying to find the right words before settling on the only one he could think of, "happier. I don't know. Maybe she received some really good news."

"Interesting," Tim replied, though inwardly he was smiling, unable to stop his mind from thinking he was the reason.

"Yeah. I think she's interested in you by the way."

"What?" Tim sputtered, unable to stop the look of panic hitting his face.

"She's always on the lookout for someone good with technology. Her and I are limited with our computer skill so you would be valuable."

"Oh," Tim replied, inwardly letting out a sigh of relief, "Yeah. That's why I was brought on originally. They needed a field agent who could work a computer so they didn't need to rely on cyber crimes."

"We had a guy like that. Green as a pepper tree but he was good. Made things feel streamlined and he was a really nice guy. Unfortunately he was killed during a warrant raid last year."

"I'm sorry for your loss."

Miles shrugged as he sat on the edge of Tony's desk, "It was a rough first couple of months but we been able to move forward. Walker has been a strong anchor though I know it affected her too. Still, she kept us grounded. I'm lucky to have my wife and daughters too. They kept me going, you know."

"Yeah."

The two men fell silent as they stood across from each other. Tim wasn't sure what to say next. He was saved though by a voice that approached them.

"You ready to go," Victoria called out as she joined the two agents in the bullpen.

"Yeah, ready when you are boss," Miles answered.

"It was really nice to see you again Tim," Victoria stepped towards Tim with a hand outstretched.

"Likewise," Tim replied, taking her hand to shake.

He resisted the urge to pull her in and give her a kiss and instead shook her hand reluctantly let go. It made him more excited to see her tonight.

XxX

Tim took a deep breath as he turned into Victoria's street, trying to calm his nerves. He reasoned that even if he was drunk for most of it, and couldn't stay long in the morning, he had been to her house before…. Technically. Yet that did nothing for his nervousness.

No matter how many times he thought back to their rendezvous in the stairwell and her invitation to her home, he still couldn't help but be worried about her intentions. It helped that she was put off by Tony, but what did she want out of what's going on with Tim? Then there's Tony's success rate. Tim rolled his eyes and teased Tony about it but the thought of it still lingered.

He buried the thought once he spotted the house number. He parked at the curb, took another deep breath and stepped out. As he walked to the door of the two story house, he took note of the Camry and an old pickup truck parked in the driveway. If his mind wasn't so occupied he would have noticed that the truck looked familiar.

He could hear muffled hurried conversation behind the front door. As he went to knock, the door was flung open revealing a flustered Victoria and a surprised Gibbs standing behind her.

"Tim," Victoria exclaimed, her eyes going wide.

"McGee," Gibbs loudly stated, "What are you doing here?"

'Uhh," Tim was in a panic looking between the two. Sharing a look with Victoria who was at a loss for words herself, he said the first thing he could come up with, hoping it was believable enough and praying Victoria could play along. He prayed Victoria would play along.

"Agent Walker asked me to come by tonight to take a look at her computer," he said, trying not to stutter, "she said she was having some issues with it and I offered to see what I can do."

"Yes, that's right," Victoria agreed, turning to Gibbs, "and being the computer whisperer as agent DiNozzo so eloquently put it, I figured I may be able to save some money by recruiting agent McGee."

Gibbs gave Tim the soul piercing stare that Tim always suspected could break any lie.

"Sorry if I interrupted something," Tim said before he could stop himself.

"Rule 6 McGee."

"Rule 6?" Victoria repeated.

"Never apologize, it's a sign of weakness," McGee stated automatically.

"What? That's a dumb rule," Victoria exclaimed, earning her a glare from Gibbs but she took no noticed, "It takes a lot of strength to admit you're wrong and want to fix it. You don't actually follow that rule amongst your team, do you?"

Tim answered with a noncommittal shrug. Victoria then saw the look Gibbs was giving her and quickly changed topics.

"So yeah, as I was saying Gibbs," she said feeling flustered, "Thank you for offering to do my oil change but I have a very busy night and the faster agent McGee can fix my computer, the faster I can get done with it. So thank you again and I'll see you tomorrow morning."

Gibbs looked at her for a moment then at Tim.

"Don't be late tomorrow McGee," he finally said.

"Sure thing boss," Time replied as Gibbs turned around and walked back to his truck.

Victoria grabbed Tim's arm, pulled him inside and quickly closed the door. She let out a breath she was holding and leaned her back against the door while Tim stood awkwardly looking at her, not knowing what to say.

"Does he usually do that?" she asked.

"Do what?"

"He was in my driveway when I got home which was weird enough. He offers to do the oil change on my car since he remembers I mentioned earlier how I been too busy with this case to find the time. I didn't know what to say so I said I didn't have all the things needed and he says he brought the tools with him and somehow we ended up in my garage looking for my motor oil. Then we ended up inside the house and no matter what I said he just didn't get the hint."

Victoria sighed as she undid her ponytail and fluffed her long straight hair, letting it fall onto her shoulder.

"I should have just been upfront and rude and told him to get out. I'd deal with the consequences tomorrow. You're a lifesaver Tim."

"Happy to come to the rescue," Tim quietly replied with a smile.

Victoria expelled air through her nose and returned the smile. The two fell silent, neither knowing what to say. A ringing phone unfortunately didn't allow them to come up with something.

"Oh what now," Victoria lamented as she got off the door and pulled out her cell from her pocket, "Agent Walker."

There was silence again as the caller spoke. Tim felt awkward again not knowing what to do and figured he should sit at the nearby loveseat when he saw Victoria's face quickly turn into one of annoyance.

"Agent DiNozzo," she stated with a constrained voice, "Good evening."

Tim froze when he heard his teammate's name said aloud.

"Thank you for the offer DiNozzo, but-…Tony, but I'm gonna have to decline. I have a very busy night tonight."

Victoria gave Tim a look of disbelief as she pointed to her phone.

"I'm gonna have to give you a raincheck," Victoria said, continuing the phone conversation, "Until then have a good night. I'll see you tomorrow."

Victoria hung up, cutting off whatever Tony was going to say, and threw her phone onto the loveseat. She placed her hands on her face and let out another deep breath.

Tim felt guilty for thinking this but she looked beautiful as she composed herself and fixed her hair again with her fingers.

"He called to ask to have dinner and a movie at my place," She informed him, putting her hand on her hips, "Probably pizza and a sappy romance."

"As long as it's a classic film he could quote later," Tim amended, "The pizza is not far off, or takeout Italian dish."

"I really hope Ziva doesn't suddenly realize she's into women any time soon. That is the last thing I need right now."

Tim gave her a sympathetic smile.

"You could…" He started, but he thought better of finishing his idea.

"Not yet," he thought somberly to himself, "Don't push it."

"I could?"

"It's nothing. I'm sorry about those two."

"It's fine. I'm just really glad I met you before I met them."

Tim's smile got bigger at her words which made her have a genuine smile herself.

"Can you…," Victoria started, "can you please kiss me already."

Tim was surprised his smile grew even bigger. He stepped towards her and she met him half way, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulled his lips to hers. Tim placed his hands on her hips as the two increased their intensity, burning off the tension that built up since his arrival.

XxX

Some time later, the evening found the two lovers sitting in the love seat, Victoria cuddled against Tim's arm, as the television played an episode of their chosen show.

After their make out session, Victoria pulled Tim to the dining area where she cooked a chicken dish for them. They talked as she cooked and all the way through the end of dinner. Tim learned a lot about her which got rid of a worry he had earlier in the day.

He learned that her father was in the Marine Corps, which inspired her to pursue a career in NCIS. She had a younger sister who actually lived with her when she was in town, but she usually traveled for work so Victoria had the house to herself most of the year. Her bachelors was in criminology and basic forensic, a change from her high school where she described herself as a jock mixed with an outsider (which she said was funny since she had a lot of friends.)

Along with other details here and there, Tim absorbed and tried to retain as much of it as possible, finding her fascinating to listen to. When dinner was finished, they moved to the living room where they discussed what to watch. They surprised each other again when they found they shared a lot of favorite shows. Which is how they found themselves on the love seat, Victoria curled into the seat sleepily clutching Tim's chest, his arms wrapped around her, as the ending credits for Cobra Kai played on the T.V. screen.

Tim glanced at the time displayed on the T.V. and figured it was best to call it a night.

"I better head home now if I'm going to be at work on time like Gibbs ordered," He said to Victoria.

"Please stay tonight," Victoria asked.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. Please, I need my Tim bear."

Tim chuckled at her words, "Sure thing V."

Victoria mewed into his chest.

After turning off the television, Victoria led Tim by the hand upstairs to her bedroom where they stripped out of their clothes to get comfortable. McGee laid on the queen sized bed in nothing but his boxers and admired Victoria as she searched for a t-shirt wearing nothing but her bottom underwear herself.

"Nice boxers," he said to her.

"They're boy-shorts, shut up," she retorted, "They were the first thing I grabbed this morning and I happen to like them."

"No judgment here. I happen to think they look really good on you. I like them too."

"You're lucky you sound so sincere," She warned though she had a wide smile on her face that she didn't hide.

After finding an adequate sleeping shirt, she turned off the light and joined Tim in the bed where the two gave each other a kiss and snuggled close to each other. Victoria settled her head against Tim's chest and closed her eyes, ready for sleep but Tim kept his eyes open longer, looking at the window letting in the dim light from outside.

He thought back to what he almost said earlier.

"You could say you have a boyfriend."

He knows it's not the same as saying "I'm your boyfriend" but he was worried Victoria would take it the wrong way. He hopes they could get to that level and with the way things went today, it seems like a strong possibility of happening. And yet his insecurities couldn't help but force their way into his thoughts and give him worries on what would happen and what she would do.

Feeling tired, he forced himself to think about it later and enjoy the time now. He looked down at Victoria who he was sure wasn't asleep yet. He bent down and kissed the top of her head. She responded by rubbing her head against his chest and giving him an unseen smile.