Author's note: Hello again, faithful readers! Thank you for your patience with me and with my story, despite the many late updates and such! I have to say that my life has become crazier, now that school has started up once again... can any of you relate? It's as if my free time just packed its bags and suddenly... disappeared! Or disapparated! Or teleported to some other dimension! Anyways, I regret to say that I do not have nearly as much free time as I used to, due to HUGE amounts of schoolwork and homework and essays and studying to do... I think you get the drift.

Due to my new schedule, I am going to try and update a chapter once every Sunday or Saturday, if I possibly can. That way my updates won't be as erratic as they are now. I hope that that is alright with you folks, I'm trying here! This story is a Work In Progress, please do not forget!

A huge 'Thank You' goes out to each and every one of you who have left a review, telling me what is good so far, and what can be fixed. (Such as the level IQ that a genius has. Thank you guys for correcting me on that in my last chapter! If you spot any other mistakes, please feel free to let me know. Constructive criticism is as greatly appreciated as compliments are!)

Just a random funfact, but today is National Encouragement Day in America- most likely considering that yesterday, or the day before September 12th was September 11th. May we never forget that day... or the sacrafices made and those who were left behind...

I want to encourage everyone who chooses to read this tonight. Remember that you are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. Yesterday was the past, tomorrow is the future. Today is a gift; that's why it's called 'the present'.

Without further ado, I present to you the 17th chapter. It is short, but I will try to make up with a longer one, I promise. Thanks again for reading and reviewing!

Missing McGee

Chapter 17

Another Normal Monday Morning?

It was 8:15 on Monday morning.

Ziva was sitting quietly at her desk, working diligently on the current case when Tony waltzed into the Bullpen.

"You'll never believe who I went out with Saturday night," he said as he unceremoniously set his bag down on the floor with an audible 'THUMP'.

Ziva rolled her eyes but continued to focus on her computer screen instead.

"Ah, come on, Ziva! Guess! Guess who I had the wonderful privilege of hooking up with on Saturday?" Tony persisted.

Ziva groaned and turned around in her office chair to stare at Tony.

"If I had to guess, I would say you went out with yet another 'sexy' bimbo of a woman. There, I guessed. Now, will you let me finish my work in peace?"

"Ouch, that hurts, Ziva. And no, I did not spend my time with a sexy blonde over the weekend. It looks like you'll have to guess again!"

Ziva groaned, giving up all hope of being able to finish her search on the computer in peace while Tony continued to speak.

"And me? Allow you to 'finish working in peace'? Come on, Ziva, you should know me better than that by now! Since when have I ever let you 'work in peace'?" Tony asked, with a playful smirk on his face.

"You do when you're busy working on the current case or writing the report that I asked you to turn in last night!" Gibbs said as he made his grand entrance, giving Tony one of his famous 'Gibbs-slaps' along the way.

THWACK!

"Thanks Boss. I guess I had that coming, didn't I?"

"Yes, you did DiNozzo."

Ziva stifled a laugh from her desk, where she was hard at work, typing away on her computer. She couldn't prevent a chuckle from escaping, though. Tony heard her laugh and yelled across the room indignantly,

"Ha, ha, very funny Ziva. That's about as funny as the time I left the screen door open on my submarine."

Tony's last statement only made her laugh harder. She turned in her chair to face Tony, and then asked,

"You have a submarine? I never knew that. Is it yellow? Maybe I can visit you sometime in that yellow submarine of yours, if you really do have one. Don't you think that would be a good idea, Tony?"

Tony stared at Ziva, dumbfounded. His jaw dropped, and then he did a face palm. She wasn't that naïve, was she?

"You're not serious, are you? Of course I don't have a submarine! A yellow submarine, at that! Besides, even if I did happen to have a submarine, I don't think that it would be a smart idea if you came to visit me. You might get seasick. Oh, wait a sec, that's Probie we're talking about. Speaking of, where is he? Shouldn't he be here by now?"

"You're darn right he should," Gibbs growled. "Where is McGee?"

"I don't know, Gibbs. I haven't seen him all morning, and he's generally here before I am." Ziva answered.

"That goes for me as well, Boss. I didn't see his car in the garage this morning. Do you think he could just be running late?" Tony asked.

"He darn better be running late," Gibbs growled once more. "McGee knows that he's supposed to be here on time. And that we need as much help as we can get on this case… Have either one of you heard from him over this morning?"

Tony and Ziva both shook their heads no.

Gibbs silently cursed under his breath.

"Darn it, where is he then?"

Ziva spoke out, "This is not the first time that Tim has been late. He has been late before, Gibbs, and I am positive that he will have a good reason for not being here on time."

"Yeah, Ziva's probably right. McTardy most likely overslept this morning, or something like that. Maybe he's been up all night playing those geeky computer games and simply lost track of time! That would be hilarious if he did… Um, I mean, you never know? What? What'd I do this time?"

Tony looked at Ziva, who was glaring at him for making fun of McGee.

Gibbs ignored their exchange and continued to speak.

"He'd better have a good excuse. If he's not here in the next fifteen minutes, then I'm sending you to personally drag him here back to work, Ziva. Do I make myself clear?" Gibbs asked.

"Crystal clear, Boss." Tony answered, while Ziva simply said, "Yes, Gibbs."

"Good." Gibbs said, and then everyone returned to their work.

Tony started typing up his report, while Ziva continued her search, waiting for McGee to walk through the elevator doors at any moment.

If only McGee could do just that…

Author's Note (Once Again): Thank you guys for reading! Remember what today is, and don't forget to smile!