Tim didn't completely explain to Kate what Tony had said to anger him so much. After all, said explanation would require him to tell her about the idea of him sleeping with her, and that wasn't something he was comfortable discussing, even now that their relationship had grown closer. He simply told her that he was sick of Tony speaking down to him and had said so, albeit in a much angrier way. Kate couldn't blame him.
There was now an obvious dichotomy between the team with Kate and Tim on one side, Tony on the other side, and Gibbs a neutral party, mainly because he had no idea about the arguing. He recognized how tense the team had become and recognized that Tim and Kate's relationship seemed to have grown closer while both Tim's and Kate's relationship with Tony had grown distant. However, the team was civil and hardworking when doing their job, so he had no reason to reprimand any of them. He sat on the sidelines, letting the trio work out whatever had put a strain on them.
As tensions mounted, Tim focused much of his energy into completing the Firefly webpage. It was coming along much better than any of the three could have imagined, including Tim himself. Peaches had uploaded the newest installments on the comic and planned to work her way backwards until the every installment since the comic's inception was posted. Kate had provided a beautiful header for the front page and had also put together a tutorial on how to draw Firefly, per Tim's earlier suggestion. The younger agent was still learning about creating websites as he went along, but he didn't think even a professional page master could have done that much better than he had.
It was almost two weeks following the big blow-up and the bull pen was empty, save for Tim. He was taking advantage of the rare lull, using his time to tweak a few more things on the webpage. Kate entered and, seeing that neither Tony nor Gibbs was anywhere in sight, approached Tim with a huge grin. "So, Peaches and I were talking about the website," she told him.
"Is there something wrong?" he asked worriedly.
Kate placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. "McGee, relax," she commanded. "We love it! And Peaches thought that, since you've worked so hard on this for free, she and I should do something in return. How does dinner at La Bella sound? Our treat!"
"I really appreciate the offer, Kate, but it's not necessary."
"McGee, there's no need to be modest. You've done a lot for us, and we don't like the idea of not repaying you." Tim opened his mouth to respond, but Kate held up a hand to stop him. "Trust me when I tell you that you don't want to argue with us. We are both very stubborn women and we will get our way, no matter what you say."
Tim pouted at the thought of two women buying him dinner. He'd had an old-fashioned upbringing, and that meant the man paid for the woman. Tim knew, though, that Kate wasn't exaggerating when she said she was stubborn and would get her way; though he'd only met Peaches once, Tim had a feeling she would be the exact same way as her cousin. It was far easier to give in and swallow his pride than try to argue the point. "Fine," he agreed.
Kate grinned in satisfaction. "How does 7:00 pm this Saturday sound?"
"That's perfect."
Tony had run down to see Abby as soon has he'd gotten in. He had done that almost every morning since the blow-up. He knew that Tim and Kate were apt to arrive earlier for work, and he knew that Gibbs usually didn't get in until about twenty or thirty minutes later than everyone else. Tony didn't like the idea of sitting around the bull pen with Kate and Tim if he didn't need to, so he'd made it a habit to bypass the bull pen altogether until he knew Gibbs had gotten in. Abby shook her head in frustration every morning when Tony showed up down there, but she didn't turn him away.
"You guys need to grow up and just move on already!" she proclaimed as Tony sat glumly nearby.
"Hey, don't blame me!" he said indignantly. "I'm the victim here! It's them against me!"
Abby rolled her eyes. "Oh, Tony! Stop with the innocent act. You know you're as much to blame as they are."
He didn't argue the point, mostly because he knew she was right, though he was reluctant to admit it. While Kate had been the first one to sling mud, Tony hadn't helped matters in his attack on Tim. He knew he had only done it because he was angry and wanted to take that anger out on someone, but that wasn't much of an excuse.
"Now, I think you should go upstairs and apologize. Then everything will be better." She firmly took his arm and led him to the door of her lab, giving him a push to the elevator.
He did as he was told. Tony didn't like being at odds with his own teammates, especially when he considered them friends. Even if it meant being the first to offer an apology, Tony just wanted this to be over with.
"So we'll meet at La Bella Saturday at 7:00 pm?"
Tim's statement made Tony stop in his tracks. Who could Tim possibly plan to meet with at La Bella on a Saturday night? He pressed himself against the wall and peeked out at the bull pen. Tim was seated at his desk while a very pleased Kate leaned over. Kate?
"It's a date," she told him, making Tony double-over.
Tim and Kate? Sure, Tony had toyed with the idea, but he had ultimately decided the entire thing was preposterous, even going so far as to tell Tim it would never happen. Tony couldn't deny what he'd just heard, though. La Bella wasn't the sort of restaurant you go to on a friendly outing; it was a high class restaurant, one to which Tony himself had brought many girls.
He took a minute to gather himself and to make it seem as though he couldn't have possibly overheard them. Then, Tony strode out into the squad room, noting that both Tim and Kate looked at him before glancing at each other abashedly.
"Good morning," he said nonchalantly. He gauged their responses to his greeting.
"Morning," Kate told him curtly. Tim just nodded mutely.
Tony wasn't looking forward to apologizing, but he didn't want Abby to get angry at him. Not to mention, he was getting tired of avoiding the bull pen so much. "McGee, I'm sorry," he said sincerely. "I said things that I didn't mean and I shouldn't have. So I'm sorry."
Tim offered a slight smile, not accustomed to hearing Tony actually apologize. He looked to Kate, who was similarly pleased. "Apology accepted," he said with a nod.
"To be fair," Kate interjected, "you wouldn't have been so angry if I hadn't said the things I said. I'm sorry too, Tony."
"Apology accepted," Tony echoed.
It was the end of the feud, but it wasn't the end of Tony's snooping. He already knew where he would be that Saturday night. Something was going on between Tim and Kate and he intended to get to the bottom of it.