Rifiuto: Non Miriena

A/N: Written: 2014. - Licia

The team returned to the bed and breakfast, gathering in Gibbs' room with lunch and going over evidence; Ducky and Jimmy had taken the body down to the morgue to perform the autopsy, and Abby had followed, to run tests with the primitive equipment Salem possessed. Over burgers and Chinese- because Tony wanted burgers and Tim and Ziva both agreed on Chinese, so Gibbs had compromised, getting Chinese for his two youngest and burgers for himself and his oldest- they plotted out a rough timeline of possible events. McGee had his computer running a search on the woman's identity, and sat back against the headboard of Gibbs' bed, occasionally taking bites of his chow mien, but mostly picking at it without appetite. Ziva sat beside him, legs crossed beneath her, watching her lover silently.

"Are you okay, Tim?" He didn't answer; Tony, seeing his chance, got up and made his way towards the bed, reaching out for Tim's carton. Ziva slapped his hand away, using her chopsticks to jab at his palm. "Do not even think of it, Tony!" Glaring, Tony scurried back to the chair at the table where Gibbs was sitting. Once she'd made sure Tony was safely away from the bed, Ziva turned back to her lover. "Hey, look at me, Tim. Aren't you hungry?"

He sighed, suddenly exhausted. "I'm fine, Ziva. Just don't have much of an appetite."

"You didn't get much sleep last night." She said; Tony's ears perked up.

"What were you two doing last night? Besides breaking Rule Twelve." The couple glared at him, and he winced, feeling Gibbs' hand connect with the back of his head. "Thank you, Boss."

"We weren't, Tony. Tim had a nightmare, and I couldn't get him out of it." Ziva replied, sharing a glance with Tim. He sighed, getting up.

"I'm gonna go check on the search." And without another word, he left the room; Ziva quickly climbed off the bed, following, but Gibbs was by her side in an instant, tugging her out the door and forcing her to stay in the hallway. Once the door was closed, the silver-haired man turned to the Israeli.

"How long has this been going on between you and McGee?" Ziva sighed, meeting his gaze.

"Does it really matter? We have been able to keep it out of the office and away from work. That is all that matters, ken?" Gibbs raised an eyebrow, and then kicked the door; they could hear Tony scamper back across the carpet towards the chairs and table. Minutes passed in silence, and finally, Ziva ducked her head, uncomfortable under Gibbs's ice cold stare.

"When did this start, Ziver?" He asked gently when he noticed her glance towards the room she shared with him. Tony was sharing with Abby, and it was evident that despite Tony's jokes, he was having just as good a time sharing a room with Abby as Ziva was sharing with Tim. She took a deep breath, reaching up to brush her fingers over the Star around her neck.

"After we returned from Somalia. Tim was willing to listen if I needed to talk, and it just sort of... paint balled from there."

"Snowballed." Tim correctly softly; Ziva and Gibbs turned to him. He sighed, going to Gibbs. "Look, Gibbs, if you want to fire me, go ahead, I don't really care but-"

But before Tim could say anything further, Gibbs turned and headed back into the room. "Just keep it out of the office, and we won't have a problem. Besides, you can do a better job of hiding it that Tony and Abby can." Ziva started, surprised. She turned to Tim.

"Did he just-" But Tim was gone, the door to their room closed. Sighing, she followed, shutting the door softly behind her. "Tim? You okay, baby?" He was sitting on the bed, his laptop open, staring at something. "What did the results say?" He looked up as she joined him on the bed.

"Oh, nothing, they're still running." She nodded.

"So what's this?" It was the photograph of the gravestone Tim had taken today.

"It's that stone I found. That belongs to that little girl. Emily Binx." He sighed. "That name sounds so familiar, but I can't think of where I've heard it before."

"What about that movie?" She asked, wrapping an arm around his shoulders. He shook his head.

"No. It's only on around Halloween, besides, we've both been so busy, we haven't had time to watch much TV, let alone movies. It's like... like I knew her. Like I... like I had grown up around her."

"But she died in the sixteen-nineties. There is no way-"

"I know, Ziva. I know. I just... I can't shake this feeling that she was important to me. Like she meant something in my life at one time." Slowly, Ziva reached up, cradling his face in her hands. She studied his eyes, before pressing a soft kiss to his lips.

"You're tired. What you need is a good night's sleep. And I'll be right here, I promise." Tim nodded, conceding that she might very well be right.

Four.

He sighed; he shouldn't be going for a run at four in the morning in Salem, Massachusetts, but he couldn't just lie in bed next to Ziva and expect this nervousness to go away. So silently, he pulled on his running shoes and grabbed his windbreaker, pressing a kiss to Ziva's forehead before slipping out of the room. He took in the bright fall colors as he started off on his run, drinking in the fresh New England air as he passed by several beautiful old Victorian homes.

This case had barely even started, and Tim was already being tormented by nightmares and black feelings in the pit of his stomach. And it wasn't even the petty officer's murder that was making him sick and setting him on edge; it was the town itself, and the fact that he couldn't shake the feeling that he knew this town, even though he'd never been here before. And that Emily Binx buried in the cemetery-

He stopped, doubling over to catch his breath. When he finally straightened, he found himself in front of an old thatch-roofed cottage. Glancing behind him, he found that he'd somehow left the bed and breakfast, and made the mile and a half jog across town and out towards this small cottage. Once he caught his breath, he wandered over towards the sign posted in front of the house.

The Old Sanderson House Museum

Glancing over his shoulder, Tim stepped up to the window, peaking through the dusty glass. Blurry objects sat around the house, some in glass cases, others out in the open air. As Tim pressed a hand to the wood to step back away from the window, he stopped, a sick feeling coming over him.

The rough wood was cold against his calloused hands, and he ducked beneath the open window when one of the women- the redhead- walked past the window. Crawling around the side of the house, he made his way towards the water wheel, and quickly, deftly, silently climbed up it. Slipping into the upper loft, he crawled forward on his stomach, peeking over the edge in time to see the sisters suck the life force out of his baby sister.

Emily.

He jumped at the sound of leaves crunching behind him, and turned, in time to see a black cat take a seat and meow at him. Shaking his head, he made his way past the cat, making his way back to the bed and breakfast, unaware that the cat had followed him the entire way.

"Tim, Ziva, I want you two to track down those kids who found our petty officer's body. Get as much information as you can from them. Tony and I will stop by the morgue, see if Ducky's found anything useful that will help the case-" Gibbs stopped, and everyone turned to see a black cat- the same cat that had found Tim at the old museum- sitting on the sidewalk, as though it'd been waiting for them.

"Is that a-" Tony started, as Tim sneezed; the cat, upon seeing Tim, had immediately gotten up and made its way towards the young agent. A moment passed before Ziva knelt down, scooping the cat up.

"It's a cat." Ziva cooed; she let the cat nudge its nose against hers, and giggled. The ball of black fur purred loudly, staring at her with its bright green eyes, before turning its head and letting its gaze land on Tim. With a mew, it reached out one arm, stretching to bat at Tim, who backed up instantly. After a moment, the cat leapt nimbly from Ziva's arms and landed on its feet, going to Tim. As the black animal began to rub its coat against Tim's legs, Tony cracked,

"Looks like you've got a pet, McGee." Tim glared at the older man and backed up, bumping into the wood railing that led up to the front door. The cat continued to follow, clearly set on making sure Tim knew that it had claimed him as its human.

"No, I don't. I already have Jethro, I don't need another animal, especially a c... c..." He sneezed, sniffling. "Cat."

Tony snorted. "Sure you don't, Probie." He grinned at Ziva, who shook her head, going to Tim and kneeling down. She scooped up the cat, walking down to the sidewalk and dropping the cat gently on the sidewalk.

"Go on, shoo! Shoo!" But the cat just sat there, watching her. She sighed, turning and heading back towards Tim. "You okay?" He nodded, sniffling. Gibbs watched his two youngest before,

"Go take some medication, McGee, and then you and Ziva head out and see if you can get those kids' statements." Tim nodded, as his boss and Tony headed to the car. Once they were gone, Ziva took his hand.

"Come on. We can stop by the drug store and pick something up before we talk to those kids." She pressed a kiss to his cheeks, before gently tugging him towards the other car. As they drove off, the cat jumped onto the porch and settled down to wait.