Fling 9

Gibbs was preparing breakfast for him and Shannon. Kelly and Tim had made a fruit salad, enough for everyone and apparently had been up for an hour already, as had Ziva and surprisingly, Tony. A fact confirmed by Leon, who was more than surprised to hear everyone up and moving around before 0500, and he thought he was an early riser with the 0515 wake-up time.

Gibbs had felt like he had stepped into the twilight zone, ever since he woke up. Since when was he and Shannon the last ones to wake up? He wasn't used to being the last one out of bed and it had thrown him off his game. Why was Ziva being overly perky and teasing Tony, a little more than usual? Before getting snippy and cross with him? Tony kept weirdly grinning at Tim and Kelly, too. But no one was actually saying anything. The house was silent of any voices. Sure, there was the sounds of people moving around in the house. Why was it when he welcomed the noise, they chose now to get along like well-adjusted, co-operative adults?

Shannon couldn't help but enjoy the quiet. She couldn't remember ever having heard it with Jethro's team underfoot. There was no one correcting Ziva's idioms or Americanisms. No one telling Tony to shut up for spouting off unwanted movie facts or gossip. No one calling Tim a name or no listening to a ramble about something technological. No Kelly tacking away; either giving Tony crap, talking cooking or dancing with Ziva, no lovey-dove comments with Tim. No husband of hers in a grumpy mood, grouchy and head slapping his agents, which she really wished he'd stop doing. No one arguing and the silence was golden. She couldn't remember a time when they were all under foot and it was this quiet. But even she knew, for this motley crue, it was the calm before the storm.

OK, to Vance this was strange for him too. He knew that the MCRT are only ever happy when they're loud, rambunctious and somewhat uncontrollable. They yell, they correct, they babble, they snipe and nitpick and Gibbs slaps people. What the hell had happened last night to make them all become normal human beings? It was weird and it was making him feel uneasy, too. Not one of them had to be awake at their usual time or even go into the office, besides him. Even then, he wasn't due back at the office until the evening. He had a budget dinner at the White House. So, why the hell were they all up so early this morning?

It seemed that no one needed to say anything and everyone knew what they were doing and who was doing what. As Leon scrapped his plate into the bin, he spied two different brands of used condoms in the waste bin. Knowing what he knew of Kelly and Tim's relationship, it was safe to assume that one brand had belonged to them. He wasn't naïve enough to have thought they'd stop being intimate with one another just because Gibbs and Shannon were under the same roof as them. Especially now that her parents knew what they had been getting up to. He really hadn't wanted to know who else's were in there. He could assume they belonged to Gibbs and Shannon, but like his wife, Shannon would be at the age where she would be in menopause, or passed that stage of life. They wouldn't need condoms. But the other alternate answer was that two of Gibbs' agents had broken rule twelve and while they were under the same roof as him. That thought was almost terrifying and if that was the case, all hell was about to break loose.

"Hey, it's July 4th today." Leon announced with some enthusiasm, breaking the silence as he tried to coax conversation from someone ... anyone would have sufficed. "I know you're all stuck in this crappy situation, but is anyone planning on celebrating? I could organise to get some steaks and burgers delivered and we could have a cook-out?"

"I'm not really in the cook-out kind of mood." Kelly muttered, looking at Tim. They needed to do something, this morning's over-bearing silence was soul-crushing. They were both in a rather good mood this morning, and the silence was making them feel tense. Tony and Ziva were acting really weird, especially Tony. Since when doesn't he tease and torment someone, just for the sake of it? Especially, if he was in the know of something that wasn't common knowledge. He and Ziva were now trading harsh looks instead, when they thought that no one was looking. Kelly and Tim had caught them a few times trading harsh glances and exchanged enquiring looks of their own.

"I am not in the mood to cook, either." Ziva hissed, looking directly at Tony. She didn't bother to hide her anger and disdain this time. Ziva was angry at Tony, but mostly she was angry at herself. Last night after the second movie, the two of them had been talking softly in her room, long after Gibbs and Shannon had headed off to bed. She let herself be seduced by Tony. She couldn't even blame Tony, he had been trying to seduce her since the two of them first met. They'd had sex twice, the first time, they'd been swept up in their emotions and hadn't used a condom. That had been in her bedroom at the end of the hall. Worried, that they'd woken someone with their heated exchange and the trading of harsh words afterwards, Ziva had dragged Tony into the basement. That was where the second time unfolded. The second time had been a more volatile round. Much more vigorous than the slow, sensual, soothing and sexy first round. The second time Tony had also remembered to don a condom, but Ziva wasn't on any other form of birth control. She was terrified about the consequences of her actions, especially since she knew that she was roughly mid-cycle.

Leon was surprised and shared a shocked look with Gibbs. He couldn't believe the constantly changing mood of the group, normally the MCRT were happy, or definitely more vocal than this. It didn't take a rocket scientist to work out that something had flared between Tony and Ziva. Tempers were running high, now and if they thought that they were fooling anyone with their cold, angry, hurt-filled glares and nasty attitudes towards one another. They should think again. No one was fooled.

"I have some work to do in the hub." Tim muttered, walking away. He needed a breather. Tony was being strange, Ziva was in a mood. A mood that he had no doubt that Tony was responsible for. Tim didn't want to get caught in the crossfire of Ziva's ire, he knew better than that. Tim had downloaded some cold case archives from his computer, to a USB stick and had stashed a whole heap of hard copies in his messenger bag. He knew that he would need to keep busy, or he would go stir-crazy.

Gibbs watched his daughter frown at Tim, as he walked away. Something was bothering his youngest agent and he could hazard a guess that it had a lot to do with the other two agents on their team. He was five minutes away from head slapping them both and telling them to get their act together. He didn't know what their problem was and quite frankly, right now, he didn't care. He just wanted his team to snap out of it and get back to their usual selves, not this version of them.

"I was just thinking a simple pasta dish is fine for dinner. I'm not really feeling it either." Tony grumbled, seeing that Ziva still hadn't calmed down from last night. He understood that she was angry about the unprotected sex. But she was just at fault as him. If he had to admit the truth to himself, he was worried too. He had never been so swept up in a woman that he didn't think about protection. He had never had unprotected intercourse before, either. He knew he was clean of STI's, but he also worried that he could have gotten her pregnant. He was so worried about what he and Ziva had done afterwards, he couldn't even focus on giving Kelly and Tim a hard time. Which he knew he should, especially after seeing them both, freshly showered leave the bathroom at the same time, this morning. He knew he should say something to keep the heat off he and Ziva, but he found his brain was so rattled about Ziva, that he couldn't think straight.

"You want some simple pasta for dinner, DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked, as he saw Tony's hopeful eyes look back at him surprised. "You cook and make it enough for everyone. Add in a salad and garlic bread to bolster the meal. Pick someone to help you cook." Tony knew who he would ask to cook and for once, it wouldn't be Ziva. Choosing to keep a safe distance from her until she thawed her temper a little more.

"Sounds like all of the children could do with a nap, this afternoon Gibbs." Leon muttered to Gibbs, who nodded his head in agreement. "I'll talk to Ziva, you take Tim."

Leon managed to catch Ziva alone in the little courtyard off the back of the mud room. "Sorry Director." She apologised hastily, "I just needed a moment alone."

"You and DiNozzo, it's getting pretty hostile between the two of you." Leon observed, dryly. He had seen Ziva in a bad mood, but this seemed to be so much more than the former assassin's bad mood. "Is everything OK? I know DiNozzo's an ass, but he is generally a good man to have around under pressure. Despite his inability to keep his mouth shut, on occasion."

That got a small sigh and a brief smile from Ziva. "Tony is an ass." She agreed softly, quickly looking around to see where everyone was. Seeing that they were truly alone. "I need you to do something for me, no questions asked. If you have to, please consider it a favour to my father, but you can never tell him."

"What is it?" Leon asked, looking concerned at the young woman. Before him wasn't Ziva the agent, the warrior, the former assassin, turned NCIS agent. Before him was the woman, the young woman robbed of her childhood and trained for a war that she had no business being involved in. A pawn in Eli David's game of chess, masquerading as his life.

"I need something. A doctor, perhaps?" She offered, hoping that Leon Vance wouldn't make her come out and say it. "Not Ducky though, as sweet as he is. He can not know, either."

"Ah, I know. I take it that the two of you didn't plan it." Leon guessed and Ziva let him put his arm around her in comfort. He had a niece whom had been in a similar situation when he was a younger man and living in San Diego. She had come to him for help. But unlike in Ziva and Tony's situation, his niece hadn't consented to what had been done to her. That didn't matter here, he knew exactly what the young woman needed and how to help her. He felt the relief leave her body, by understanding what she needed and not letting her verbalise it. He knew one thing with Ziva David, if she verbalised it, it became real. As long as it was unspoken, she could compartmentalise the threat. "Go on, go grab your gear. You can come with me to do the surroundings threat analysis. We will stop in town for more food and sort you out. Away from the prying eyes of your team and Gibbs' burning questions. I know that in the state of West Virginia, you don't need to see a doctor. You just need your ID, bring your undercover ID, not your usual ID. When you go into the drug store, be sure to use your undercover accent too. Bring your cash, too. Cash talks and is untraceable."

"I can do that." She giggled and Leon's last line, that was said to cheer her up and it did the trick. Of course, she knew that cash talked.

Down in the basement, Gibbs found Kelly and Tim working on a cold case. Tim has his laptop open and Kelly was reading a hard copy of the case file. Tim had dragged a cork board that flipped over to become a whiteboard over from the storage area down there and they were piecing together an old case from the 1960's. "What are you guys doing down here?" Gibbs asked, surprised. Gibbs honestly hadn't thought of bringing anything to occupy his time. Clearly Tim and Kelly had thought of it, even if it was old cold cases that they could take a look at fresh eyes with. He knew Shannon had brought some books from home that she had been reading and her laptop so she could get to work on her novel.

"Cold cases" Kelly murmured, not looking up at her father, as she focused on the file right in front of her. Her father always told her that when you ask stupid questions, you get stupid answers. Kelly had just finished her profiling training and was waiting to receive the paperwork so she could start profiling for NCIS as well. Tim had asked her create a profile on the serial killer that was suspected to be responsible for this woman's murder. "May as well be productive in our down time."

"Using only the DOJ and DOD extra-net and our offline databases, as well as the hard copy and digitalized case files, we are seeing if he can make any headway on any of these cold cases." Tim added with a smile. "Even if we can only find an avenue to pursue when we get out of this mess. We can make a note of it and follow up when we're free of the protection detail."

"That's good work there, Tim. You too, Kell." Gibbs praised him with a pat on the back and a ruffle of his hair. Gibbs was impressed with his ingenuity and his initiative. "I'm gonna go send Tony down to help. He needs something to do, before Ziva kills him."

"What's up with Ziva?" Kelly asked, voicing the thought that she knew was plaguing the other two occupants of the room. "She's more tightly wound than usual. Oh Tim, remember how tightly you were wound the day that Dad showed up just as I left your apartment? You didn't even check your peephole and answered the door with my underwear twirling around on your finger. Is it possible ...? No, I can't even think it. That makes me as bad as Tony, no one wants that."

"I could have lived my whole happily not knowing that they were your underwear, Kell." Gibbs groaned out loud in frustration. He had deliberately ignored Kell's not so subtle segue in to Tony and Ziva's rift too. As much as he hated to admit it, she was probably right, too. "Since when do you own lace panties like those?"

"There is such thing as lingerie shopping, Dad." Kelly argued vehemently. "How is it any of your business what lingerie I own? For your information, I have been buying my own underwear since I was thirteen years old."

"Thirteen?! Kell. Please don't tell me anything else." Gibbs begged him. "Let me live in bliss. At least you two had enough respect to not do anything while you were in the next room."

Tony had been sent into the basement by Shannon and Gibbs grinned at him, as he made his way down the stairs. Apparently, Tony had annoyed Shannon one to many times and she had sent him to the basement, too "Cold cases, really?" Tony asked in disbelief at Tim. "Really, probie? Couldn't you think of anything more productive than cold cases?"

"Play nice, Tony." Kelly warned him and Tim grinned. Gibbs took his own cold case file from the stack of the victim files, settled down on the old, well-worn sofa, with his reading glasses perched on his nose and went to work.

"Why?" Tony glowed at them. "Afraid I might say something to your father about the two of you and your wet and wild rendezvous, this morning? You two getting all wet and whatever the hell else you were doing in that bathroom. You do know that other people have to use that bathroom too, besides you two?"

"It's called showering, Tony. Why don't you try it sometime?" Kelly argued, prolonging the argument with Tony. Kelly couldn't help herself. Tony was pushing her buttons and being a member of the Gibbs family, it was in her nature to retaliate. "You were only up early to try and catch us doing something, weren't you? You've been in a weird mood since you found about the two of us. Are you jealous, or something?"

"Not jealous, just ..." Tony answered truthfully and Tim touched Kelly's arm in warning to tread lightly. "You're like my kid sister, Kelly. Not literally, of course. But, I've always thought of you as a kid because of that. Now that I know that you're doing very adult things with my probie, Tiny Tim. It bothers me a little."

"She's an adult, Tony." Tim began, but was cut off by Gibbs.

"She's an adult, Tony." Gibbs said, simultaneously to Tim. But he didn't wait for Tim to stop speaking, cutting the younger man off. "No matter how much we want to protect them, we can't protect them forever. As much as she will always be my little girl, she is an adult; physically, emotionally, mature and responsible. We have to trust the values that we instilled in her will help her make good, safe life choices."

"But, Probie! Really?" Tony protested loudly.

"What's wrong with me?" Tim defended himself. He was done sitting idly by while Tony emasculated him once again. "I am responsible and reliable. I make a good living and I treat women with respect. I don't two, three or even four time women like some men do. I have an honest job and we have the beginnings of a good relationship. Kell and I talk a lot, have a lot in common. We have shared interests, we trust one another and we care for one another. We enjoy spending time together, why shouldn't it be me?"

Gibbs was proud of Tim for standing up for himself against Tony. Tony was being much like he was, when first found out. Very flip-flop, with a wish-wash attitude. But Shannon had beat some sense into him with her words and now, Tim had used the same words to beat some sense into Tony and his brain. "Wasn't it you, who just last night said that Tim is the kind of man that parents want their daughter to bring home?" Gibbs asked, turning Tony's earlier words against him.

Ziva was both relieved and terrified that she had been able to leave the house with Leon. As promised, Leon was by her side and he hadn't told a soul what was bothering her. He'd just told Shannon that he was going into town for the security risk analysis and that he was taking Ziva with him. Now that they were in town and the analysis was done, they headed to the drug store. Normally, Leon would have been happy for them to part ways, but it was too dangerous. They didn't know if Oliver Dawson had tracked them to the safe house or not.

Leon hung back, pretending to look at knee braces on the display by the drug counter, as he watched their surrounds for their suspect. As Ziva went to the counter and spoke with the pharmacist. She had spoken with a Latino accent and explained that she was travelling through with her boss and that they had gotten swept up in the moment. That boss was married and she had a boyfriend back home. That she could not risk getting pregnant because she had been on the road for a month already and her boyfriend would know that it wasn't his. When she paid for the drug, she let her wallet hang open to show a deliberately placed picture of her and Tim, under the mistletoe at Abby's Christmas party, the year that she joined NCIS. Tony had snapped the photo of her and Tim. They had been enjoying Abby's eggnog and she had sat herself in Tim's lap to avoid Abby and the mistletoe, when Tony had snapped the picture. The picture depicted them being loved up because he had snapped it at the precise moment that Tim had asked her what she thought she was doing. Ziva had leaned in close to threaten him playfully, making it look like they were about to kiss. This photo was usually kept in the lining of her case, for safe keeping, but she had dug it out to help her cover story.

With the Plan B medication and some protection in hand, paid for, she tucked them into her messenger bag, as they left the drug store together. Leon had suggested that they hit the butchers next. He was going to get them some steaks and burgers, anyway. He suspected that a lot of the negative energy around the not wanting to celebrate was the tension between him and Ziva.

After the butchers, Ziva suggested a quick dart in to the market, getting some more fresh fruit, vegetables, bread and some additional ingredients for a cheesecake she was planning to make when she got back to the house.

The whole trip into town was functional, successful and uneventful. As soon as they were back inside the house, Ziva muttered a thank you to Leon and headed straight for her room, upstairs. While Leon went to find the rest of his staff. Leon was surprised to see them all down in the basement, a cold case fully unravelled as the agent's bounced theories off one another, while Kelly worked on the profile and Shannon was reading her book quietly in the recliner. He tiptoed back out of the basement, not wanting to disrupt the flow of thoughts and theories. It sounded like the team, minus Ziva were actually making headway on a cold case, despite their limited resources and he went to check in with the security team.

Coming back from his check in with the security team, he bumped into Ziva with the instructions in hand and a confused look on his face. He wasn't familiar with the product that the pharmacist had sold her and a quick read of the leaflet proved to be confusing for even him. "You might have to ask Tim for some help." Leon suggested. "He has a biomedical engineering degree with a background in health science from Johns Hopkins. He knows how medications work and will be able to answer the questions you may have."

"Can you please send him upstairs?" Ziva asked, not trusting herself to not attack DiNozzo the second she saw his smug face. "I do not trust myself not to kill Tony, yet. He is lucky my weapon is locked away."

"That I can do." Leon smiled at her. He was trying to wordlessly reassure her that everything was going to be OK. Ziva was never good with relying on other people and now she had to lean on Tim for help and advice too, after relying on Leon all morning. He knew this was taking the young female agent further out of her comfort zone.

Ziva headed upstairs and Leon went down into the basement. "Ah, can I please borrow Tim for a moment?" he asked, doing what he really had been trying to avoid, breaking their concentration on the case they were working on. He had been truly impressed at their initiative, but he suspected that the young man whom he had just requested the presence of, was solely responsible for this idea of cold cases.

Gibbs gave him a questioning look, before giving Tim the nod to join the Director upstairs. Before he returned his attention to debating the current point with DiNozzo. After all, it was probably just a glitch in the monitoring system again that Tim needed to fix, again.

"Don't ask any questions, just go up and see Ziva. She's in her bedroom." Leon instructed the young man, as was in a part of the house, by the stairs, well away from the entry to the basement. He kept his voice low, as not to carry downstairs. "She's in her bedroom and take this with you." He handed Tim an unopened bottle of water to take with him. Tim recognised the label as the nutrient rich water brand that Ziva preferred.

Nodding his OK to the Director, he wordlessly took the stairs, two at a time, eager to see his friend and speak with her in private. He tentatively knocked on the door, not wanting Ziva's ire to get the better of her. He knew that she was a shoot first and ask questions later, kind of girl. "Come in, Tim." She whispered opening the door to him.

Tim cautiously stepped in to the room. He didn't know what to expect. Ziva looked distressed and upset, it was a look that was foreign to his friend. "Are you OK?" He asked tentatively, as he slipped into the room and closed the door behind him. "What can I do?"

"You can help me." Ziva sighed, before she told her friend everything that had happened between her and Tony, since he went to bed last night. Right down to begging the Director for some help. "This is what I need your help with." Ziva explained, holding up the two boxes of Plan B medication she had purchased.

Tim gave her a half hug and held her close to him, as she soaked up her close friend's presence. "It's going to be OK." he murmured, as he kissed her temple. "First off, the sooner you take this the better." He handed her the water and encouraged her to take the single dose medication.

Once she had swallowed the pill, she looked at her friend with a questioning gaze. "That's it?" She asked, surprised. She was also confused why the pharmacist had insisted that she buy two packets.

"That's it." Tim smiled at her. "If you don't vomit it back up within two hours, just pack the other box away. If you do, you will need the second box."

"What are some of the possible side effects?" Ziva asked, knowing that Tim would have already read all about them before he encouraged her to take the dose.

"Side effects can be some nausea, vomiting, abdominal or stomach pain, tiredness, dizziness, changes in menstrual periods, breast pain or tenderness." Tim told her, hugging his friend close to him. "The side effects can last up to four days. But some women don't get side effects at all."

"Thank-you Tim." Ziva said through some watery eyes. She had been fighting back tears, scared. But had been trying not to let the fear rule her.

"Anytime and you can count on my discretion." Tim reassured her, before Tim took Ziva's wordless hint that she wanted to be alone. "Never be afraid to come to me for help, Zee. I am always here for you. I'll check in on you soon."

As Tim made his way downstairs, he and Leon traded looks, as the rest of the group were making subs for lunch. Tim gave Leon a discreet nod, and went about fixing a sub for Ziva of chicken and salad, her favourite, before fixing his own lunch. He covered Ziva's sub in cling wrap, keeping it from going stale and took it her, as soon as he was finished eating.

Gibbs had completely missed the exchange between Leon and Tim, but Shannon hadn't. Whatever had been ailing their Israeli ninja had been taken care of. Shannon made a mental note to check on Ziva later in the afternoon and double check that she was OK. She knew how hard it was to deal with the men on her husband's team. She was hoping that Ziva might open up to her.