Fling 7

Arriving at the office was amusing for Gibbs. The three of them had a meeting in the Director's office this morning, along with Ziva and Tony, whom were going to be added to the protection detail, as of this morning. He gave Leon Vance a grin, as he let them into the Director's office, with Tim and Kelly trailing behind him. He had watched as Kelly and Tim had unconsciously gravitated towards one another and Tim had taken her hand in his without thinking, letting his fingers interlace with hers.

Tony had been like a fish out of water to Ziva, gesturing and pointing to Tim and Kelly, but all Gibbs had done was grin at him and head slap the older Italian agent. Gibbs wasn't naïve and knew that Tony was bursting at the seams to say something. That it must be killing Tony not to comment on the couple's behaviour.

With morning pleasantries aside, Leon Vance exchanged a smirk with Gibbs. It had seemed that the gruff team leader had somewhat thawed to the idea of his daughter and younger agent being together. Vance smirked again when he realised that the woman behind the gruff team leader had probably read him the riot act. When he had been learning how to handle Gibbs, he had taken his cues from the man's wife.

"Any sign of trouble last night?" he asked, as Kelly sat down on the sofa beside Tim, inside his personal space and Tony had taken the other seat on the two and a half seater sofa.

"Nothing to report, inside." Gibbs murmured, his eye line rising slightly at the sight of how close the couple were sitting to one another. Of course, Tony wasn't making it easy for Gibbs, either. "Vargas and Kelson reported seeing the same white Honda Accord repeatedly drive past at a slow pace."

"Vargas only got a partial and by process of elimination, we narrowed it down to Nicholas Samson, a milkman delivery driver out of Baltimore or Oliver Dawson, out of Coral Hills." Tony announced, watching Tim out of the corner of his eye. Tim had put his arm around her shoulder as his other was resting on her thigh. Kelly's fingers' toying with his, as she leaned into him." Since it was Oliver Dawson making the threats and we positively ID'd Oliver Dawson as the one who used McGee as target practice. It is safe to say, that was him."

"On a brunch, I reached out to my contacts at Interpol. My contact said that he is fixated on Kelly Gibbs because she has been studying him." Ziva added, no one bothering to correct her idiom. "He said that he learnt of her study from a source, ' close to the Pentagon.' That was a the quote my source used."

"So, you were right, Director. Tim was just collateral damage." Kelly said, placing her hand on Tim's thigh in comfort. "I am so sorry, Tim. If you weren't with me, you wouldn't have been shot at."

"Don't apologise, Gorgeous." Tim murmured, pulling her close to him. His lips skimming her hairline on her forehead in comfort. "Being with you is worth everything to me."

Gibbs watched his daughter carefully, seeing her revel in Tim's touch and slightly melt her forehead against Tim's lips and for the first time he had to truly wonder just how long his daughter had been harbouring a crush on Tim. "Protection detail, tonight?" Gibbs asked, seeing Kelly and Tim both stiffen up, having the unwanted attention on them both. "Ziva and Tony?"

"No, We will continue with Vargas and Kelson, out the front and Sawyer and Taylor out the back." Vance ordered. "I want Tony and Ziva on the inside. He took a shot at McGee, it's not a stretch of the imagination that he would take a shot at DiNozzo or David. How do you feel about a sleepover together in a safe house? It's going to take Balboa and his team a good couple of days, possibly a week to get up to speed and get their warrants in place. Ready to arrest Oliver Dawson. Where is Shannon?"

Gibbs smiled, it had made him feel positive that Leon had been concerned for his wife's well-being. "She is at the house, with Sandburg and Gleason." Gibbs answered, feeling calm in the knowledge that his wife was safe and that she was smart enough not to disobey the agents on the protection detail. "Shannon knows the rules and she has access to a weapon if her detail becomes indisposed."

"Good." Vance agreed. "DiNozzo, I want you and Gibbs to escort McGee to his place to collect some more belongings. About a week's worth McGee, both work and home clothes, plus anything else you will need. If Dawson makes bail, I am going to organise for you six to hole up in a safe house for even longer. Then the three of you to DiNozzo's place. Gibbs, call your wife and tell her to pack some bags for the both of you, as soon as she has the bags packed; Sandburg and Gleason have orders to bring her in. Ziva, you take Hansen and O'Malley to your place to get some clothes, then over to Miss Gibbs for some clothes, too. I will arrange for a protection detail for our auxiliary members of staff, just as a precaution. But our intel suggest that the six of you are his biggest targets, now."

"When did Ziva and I become targets, Director?" Tony asked, confused how he and Ziva went from being on the protection detail, to in the detail.

"About half an hour ago, when Oliver Dawson upped his ante again, openly threatening the six of you." Vance said and his tone was full of anger at Oliver Dawson. He knew the agent's wanted to be the one bringing him in and bringing him to justice, but unfortunately he couldn't risk it. He had a gut feeling that if he did, one of them would put a bullet in his head and that wouldn't be a good look for the agency.

"What was the threat?" Gibbs asked, in a demanding tone. "What was his message? How did we receive it?"

"If you think I am going to let you look at the threat, you're crazy Gibbs." Vance smirked at him. "Both our agency and the FBI have verified the threat and we are looking into his links to domestic terrorism and the white supremacy groups that he is a member of. We are all working full-time on this. Consider this your notice, each and every one of you, do NOT work this case. Do not work any case that is related to Oliver Dawson. I am delegating you all to cold cases. Understood?"

A bunch of murmurs of agreement went around the room and Vance had to bite back a chuckle and smirk. "Verbal answers! I don't want any loopholes, and no rule eighteen either." Vance demanded. He wouldn't have put it passed one of them to pull a fast one on him. They saw their boss do it all to frequently.

"Yes Director." Gibbs offered up first, before Kelly and the rest of his team followed suit. They had been working on a drug smuggling case aboard an aircraft carrier in the Atlantic and not making much headway when Vance had ordered him to shelf the case. Something he hated doing. He and his team were going to pick that case up and see if the could solve it while in the safe house.

Mutual uneventful trips were made to each of the agents' and the analyst's home to retrieve clothing and their personal belongings, and upon their return, each team reported an eerie feeling of feeling like they were being followed. Each of them had also breathed a collective sigh of relief that Shannon was sitting at her husband's desk upon their return. That she was safe and unharmed too.

Shannon was currently on a sabbatical from her teaching job while she was working on writing a novel. Tim had helped her collate her ideas and set her up with everything she would need and she often called him for support. But he had never asked to read it and she had never offered. It was sacred, her novel, not even her own husband had read it yet.

Two sedans and a SUV set out from the Navy Yard, loaded with agents and Shannon, as they headed for the safe house. The safe house was a modern farmhouse five bedroom home set on ten acres of bush land on the edge of Shenandoah National Park. On the first floor was on bedroom, as well as an open plan, kitchen, living and dining room, a large outdoor alfresco area, a theatre room, utility and mud room and the basement was finished with a library, which at the touch of a button could become a panic room. On the top floor was the master bedroom and three additional, generous sized bedrooms with a bathroom, two half-baths and a utility chute for laundry.

Arriving on the property, the agents set out searching and setting up the details. Motion-activated cameras and silent alarms were set along the boundary lines of the property, which would alert the agents on the detail, as well as the agents inside. A bomb sniffing dog was bought through on a full sweep, given Oliver Dawson's link to terrorism and jihad groups in the Middle East.

CCTV was set up in the mail living areas and every window and door was armed with an alarm and motion sensor. The agents on the detail would be using the downstairs bedroom for their resting period. Once they were on the detail, to avoid detection, they weren't allowed to leave the property.

"Me and Shannon will take the master, Kelly in one room, Tim and Tony in the room with the two singles and Ziva in the other room." Gibbs told them, upon arrival as the six of them stood with Vance in the open plan living area.

"Jethro!" Shannon admonished, harshly. The single word meant as a lecture and warning, all in one.

"Tim will be in my room, with me." Kelly amended, as she stared her father down, challenging him openly. "I thought we already covered this."

Tim looked lost, he didn't want to presume, or make assumptions, so he had mentally fallen back to regroup. "Honest mistake, Kell. Tim." Gibbs apologised, having been suitably chastised. He certainly didn't want Gibbs to think that he was taking liberties with Kelly. Even though, as a man, he was pretty sure that Gibbs understood the kind of relationship that she and Tim were having.

So far, Tim and Kelly had avoided being interrogated by Tony. They had been in the SUV with Vance on the trip out to the farmhouse. Tony and Ziva had ridden in one of the agency sedans and Shannon and Gibbs in the other. Leon Vance hadn't wanted to intrude, but Kelly and Tim had kept the conversation light in the car, choosing to focus on safe, neutral topics in his presence. Leon did discreetly ask if Gibbs had been a bother last night, but Tim had reassured the Director it had been fine, that he had been upset because he was blindsided by the news.

Gibbs walked away, with Shannon following. Shannon was going to start the fire for some warmth, while Gibbs was going to catch Vance and check on the advanced security protocols that they had just installed to make the property more secure. This property was only used in extreme circumstances, both because of it's remote geographical proximity and the size of the property. But Vance hadn't wanted to split team up. Ziva would kill Tony without a buffer between them, Tim and Kelly would want to be together and Gibbs would want to be with his wife and have his daughter close by.

"Any day, you two?" Tony asked with glee, seeing that it was just he and Ziva and the youngest two of the had been waiting patiently, or at least as patient as he was capable of, for Tim to provide an explanation and now that Gibbs was busy with Vance, the timing was perfect. "Just what is all of this?"

Tim was leaning against the arm of the sofa. Kelly was leaning against his frame, her body practically flush against his, as Tim kept a supportive arm around her waist. Tim's large hand was splayed against her stomach and his fingers were wide apart to cover her belly, like he was trying to protect it. "Not any of your business, Tony." Tim grinned at him, enjoying being one up on the senior agent.

"What does it look like, Tony?" Ziva asked, seeing the answer before her eyes. She could not believe that Tony was deliberately being so obtuse. "It looks like McGee and Kelly are together."

"Well, I am hurt. I thought we were friends, Probie." Tony answered in a mocking tone. He had his hand over his chest, as if Tim had mortally wounded him. The only thing of Tony's that was really wounded was his ego, his self-importance and his sense of entitlement. The entitlement that he always felt he had, as if he had a right to be up in everyone's personal business because he is the Senior Field Agent. "I tell you all about my dates, all the time. Here, you've been dating Little Miss Sunshine and didn't think to say a thing. She is our boss' daughter and you still don't say anything."

"I like to keep my private life, private Tony." Tim reminded him with a huff. Tony irritated him, when he got like this and this was why he always tried to hide his relationships from the nosy, lothario agent.

"How the hell is it your business anyway, DiNozzo?" Kelly asked him, calling Tony's poor behaviour out and defending Tim in one fell swoop. "You're not my big brother and I certainly don't answer to you. If I am not going to talk to my parents about it, I sure as hell don't want to discuss it with you."

"Ouch!" Tony declared, feeling hurt and feigning being physically wounded by her hard words. "You have always been like a kid sister to me, Kelly. I can't say that didn't hurt to hear. But you know that I am always here for you, as a big brother and if Tiny Tim steps a foot out of line. POW!"

Tony had made a fist with the sound and a punching action. It was amusing to her and Kelly couldn't help but smirk. She knew something that Tony didn't know. Ziva and Tim regularly worked out and Ziva has been teaching Tim everything that she knows about self defence and hand to hand combat since she joined the team. Kelly was almost certain that Tim could take Tony on and win.

"Tim's never touched me in anyway I haven't wanted him to." Kelly told Tony in a throaty purr. Tim recognised it as her bedroom voice and looked down at her, giving her a questioning gaze.

"Really?!" Tony asked eagerly. None of Tim's former lovers had ever been so forthcoming with details to him regarding Tim's bedroom prowess. He gave up asking Abby after always getting the same result from her. A star-crossed look on her face and a gooey, goofy grin before a throaty lust-filled moan declaring "He's alright."

"But like Tim, I prefer to keep my private left, private." Kelly declared taking his hand in hers and lead him upstairs, intending to stake claim to the one of the bedrooms before Tony claims the room with the king bed, leaving them either the small twin bed which would be too small for Tim's lanky frame or the king singles.

"Where's McGee?" Gibbs asked, returning from Vance overseeing his agent's as they installed the upgraded security measures. "Vance is looking for him. There's a glitch in the operating system."

"Oh McLoverboy is upstairs with Little Miss Sunshine." Tony answered with glee. Since Kelly hadn't indulged his curiosity, Tony went to his fall back method. Get McGee in trouble with Gibbs. "Boss, are they really doing the mattress mambo?"

"Every ounce of energy I have is going into not asking myself that question, DiNozzo." Gibbs quipped, head slapping his Senior Field Agent and let out a sigh. "But I am only going to say this once, DiNozzo. Leave them alone."

"One more question, before I leave them alone." Gibbs rolled his eyes, as Ziva rolled hers and even Tony knew that his declaration was a long shot. "How did we not know that Little Miss Sunshine was Little Miss Flirty Text Message girl? Wait? She isn't the owner of what I assumed was women's underwear dangling from his finger that morning?"

"Unfortunately." Gibbs groaned, seeing Tim and Kelly return from downstairs. "McGee, Vance is looking for you."

"Let it go, both of you." Shannon warned both her husband and Tony as she returned from checking out the rest of the house. Keeping her voice low, she took a step closer to Tony and dropped her voice to barely a decibel above a whisper. "I am warning you now, I will not hesitate to ground you and if you don't think I can't ground you Tony DiNozzo, you just watch me try. Understood?"

"Yes Ma'am." Tony automatically answered, feeling like his life physically depended on it. He hadn't felt so chastised by an older adult since the time his father caught him stealing one of his prized Monte Christo White Churchill cigars when he was seventeen. Everyone in the office was scared of Gibbs, but the MCRT team knew that if they knew what was good for them, they would be much more afraid of his wife.

Ziva had been successfully muffling her laughter at Tony's expense. It was a secret pleasure of hers, and Tim's too, when Shannon Gibbs chastised Tony because he always reverted back to his preppy schoolboy ways. Even though, Shannon rarely chastised any of them, always choosing be nurturing and supportive, rather than stern and strict. Sometimes, lines got crossed and her husband couldn't see it, so she would step in. She often joked with her father in law, Jack, that it was like trying to bath feral cats. That in some days, it felt like she had gained three extra children.

"Don't you be laughing over there either, young lady." Shannon said, not even looking up, into Ziva's direction. "That edict goes for you, too."

Gibbs was laughing internally, he wouldn't dare laugh out loud. He knew better than that. He knew it wasn't worth the strife and that sofa didn't look all that comfortable to sleep on. It always amused him when Shannon would step in and chastise his agent's. Sometimes they needed. He had tried to step in once, between the boys and it hadn't ended well. That was before Director Shepard pointed something out to him once, late at night in the bullpen. She had reminded him to get to know his agent's backgrounds.

Tony had been ten when his mother had passed, Ziva had been almost seven and Tim had been five. None of his agent's had grown up with a maternal role model. Sure, both Tony and Tim, both had stepmother's, multiple stepmom's on Tony's part and Tim'd had his paternal grandmother, Penny. Eli David had been a womaniser, but had been sure to shield Ziva from that side of his life and very few women he had ever fooled around with had ever made it to the inside of his personal home. None, made it as close as to take the place that her mother held in her father's heart.

"They all need to feel like they belong. They all come from fractured families, Jethro." She had told him. "They've never been in a family situation where they feel like they can be themselves without consequences. They don't know how to be in a family that treats each other nicely and with respect. Tony is an only child, Tim was an only child for the first ten years of his life and Ziva is the only remaining child in the David family. Ziva and Tim have siblings. In Ziva's case, she lost them too soon. In Tim's case, he has to step up and be the responsible one, all too frequently because there isn't anyone else who will. It's all fair and well for Shannon to be there and support them, but when they mess up, they need to be held account too. I believe that's rule forty-five. If Shannon is doing the caring and the supporting, have her do the chastising to. They may just listen to her and your team may even co-operate with each other."

It had been a lifetime since he had thought of Jen Sheppard and his heart still ached at the loss of her. She had been his first probie agent and she had been the first agent that had managed to get under his skin and he had let get close to him, besides Mike. Unfortunately, where he thought of her like a kid sister, he had picked up on the clues that she had thought of him as more. It had all come to a head, in 1994, during an undercover op in Russia and he had physically rejected her advances, that he had her reassigned. They couldn't work together any longer and although, he'd be lying if he said she was just his type with her auburn hair. He knew she was originally a blonde and didn't colour it until after she had met his wife.

"If you don't need me for anything, perhaps Kelly and I can sort out some dinner for all of us?" Ziva offered, interrupting his trip down memory lane. Ziva had an ulterior motive for wanting Kelly to help her in the kitchen. One, she hadn't spent much time, one on one with the vivacious young Gibbs woman who seemed to have captured her friend's heart and two, she wanted to tell her; woman to woman, what she would do to her if she broke her friend's heart. She hadn't even needed to talk with her friend, she could see it in his eyes that to Tim, it was beginning to get serious.

"Good idea, Zee." Gibbs answered her, but his focus was on his daughter and the starry look in her eyes, as she watched Tim run through the security system and protocols with Vance, before pointing out where the glitch was and how he could solve it.

"She's got it bad, Jethro." Shannon whispered in his ear from behind him. Hearing Shannon's whispered declaration, Gibbs tucked his arm around his wife and pulled her beside him. "I recognise the look."

Smiling, Gibbs looked down at his wife and kissed her quickly. "Yeah." He smirked at her, amused by her tone. "I recall you used to look at me like that."

"What do you mean used to?" She asked, amused.

In the kitchen, Ziva had to stop and smirk at the young woman, she couldn't keep her eyes off Tim. "You really do like him, yes?" Ziva asked her, garnering Kelly's attention away from Tim to focus on what they were doing in the kitchen. "He is a good man, our Tim."

"Yes, he is." Kelly confessed and she could feel a blush creeping onto her face under Ziva's scrutiny. "I know you care for Tim very much, Ziva. Tim cares for you, too. HE has told me about everything that the two of you do, outside of work."

"Yes." Ziva agreed, she was glad Kelly had made mention of her and Tim's friendship outside of work, because it was about to get very real to the red-haired woman standing before her in the kitchen of their safe house. "So you can imagine my shock, that Tim would enter into a fling, then? He is a gentleman and not normally one who would engage in such behaviour outside of a serious relationship."

"Tim's a sweetheart, Ziva." Kelly reassured Tim's teammate and friend. Even Kelly could see that Ziva was just looking out for Tim. "I am not using him, if that's what you're afraid of. I am not going to intentionally hurt him, I promise you."

"Good." Ziva muttered, as they pulled the vegetables out of the crisper that they had brought with them from DC. "I would hate to have to hurt you for hurting him. He is more than just my friend, he is like my little brother and I take my role as his big sister very seriously."

"So you should, Tim loves you like a sister." Kelly reminded her, as both woman began chopping the vegetables for a quick and easy dinner. "I will be careful with his heart, just as he is careful of mine."

Tim entered the room and the woman both suspiciously went quiet. He was done and the security system was finally working the way that they wanted it to, glitch-free. Kelly was chopping up bell peppers for a stir-fry that they were planning to make, while Ziva was preparing some zucchini noodles to have with it. Tim slowly eased his arms around Kelly and murmured in her ear that he was sorry it took so long before kissing her cheek and stepping back. He found an additional chopping board and began chopping the chilli pepper up to add to the dinner.

Twenty minutes later, Tim had the wok nice and hot, as Shannon, Gibbs and Vance watched from their vantage point at the dining table, as Tim gave the girls a lesson in cooking authentic Asian fusion food. Ziva and Tim had cooked together many times before and as such, Ziva knew that Tim had taken cooking lessons when he lived in Shanghai and Okinawa, as a child with his grandmother.

"Didn't know he could cook." Gibbs muttered to the two other occupants of the table. The three of them watched keenly, as Tim pulled Kelly in close to him and showed her how to toss the vegetable inside the hot wok without dropping any.

"Impressive." Vance agreed gently. But his attention was on Shannon, who's eyes were on Kelly's bright smile and sparkling eyes, as Tim made her laugh again.

Tony joined the three of them at the table, adding in a low voice. "That's a fling?" Tony looked to see that Gibbs had a smile on his face, as well as Shannon did too. "Looks to me like Probie's trying too hard."

"I'd say he's trying just the right amount." Gibbs murmured, but the four of them heard his declaration.