"I can't believe I forgot them," Tim muttered to himself as he took the elevator to the Major Case Response Team's floor.

It was Sunday morning and he was supposed to be meeting his sister. He had gotten up late, thinking he had plenty of time to get to the university, but he had forgotten to bring the books she'd asked for with him Friday night before he had left the office.

He got off of the elevator in such a rush that he almost missed Tony who sat working away at his desk.

"What are you doing here?"

Tony looked up startled. "My friend e-mailed back with details about the case. His is still open. I wanted to look over some of the details, compare notes and figure out if I want to bring it up with Gibbs."

"Why don't you just do that tomorrow?"

Tony shrugged. "I had nothing better to do."

"Really? Nothing better to do on a beautiful Sunday morning but to hole up at your desk?"

Tony looked vaguely uncomfortable, but said simply, "Peter Taylor's waited almost fifteen years for some answers."

The two agents stared at one another until Tony, a little embarrassed, looked down and resumed his work.

Tim silently made his way towards his desk, grabbed his chair and wheeled it over.

"I just came to pick up a few books I forgot, but I've got some time. What do you have?"

"Look, Tim, I didn't say that so you would feel obligated…"

"I know you didn't. Which is why I'm sitting here."

They shared a smile and Tony gave him a brief breakdown.

"The victim in the Baltimore case was Susan Moss, aged 27. She was a waitress, married to Henry Moss for approximately six months prior to her death and they rented an apartment in a low-income subdivision of Baltimore. Henry, now deceased, had been arrested a few nights prior to the incident on a D&D charge."

"He hadn't been released?"

"Apparently, he couldn't come up with the bail. Susan was sexually assaulted and killed by asphyxiation. Her body was found on the bed, fully clothed. Only a few items of jewelry were taken from the home, most notably Susan's wedding ring. According to the notes, the other items taken weren't catalogued."

"That's surprising."

"Yeah, I'm going to ask about that. It seems a little off."

"Any suspects?"

"Not really. Witness statements are non-existent."

"No witness statements?" Tim said incredulously.

"The area runs on the 'saw nothing, heard nothing, know nothing' philosophy," Tony replied disgustedly.

"So, other than similarities in assault, method of killing and the whole clothes thing…"

"It appears that the two crimes are completely unrelated. I'm reaching, I know."

"Not necessarily. All you have are your friend's notes. Maybe if you can look at actual pictures of the crime scene and the ME's report you'll have a better basis for comparison."

"True. Now that I have more details, I should be able to access the official records in the database. If I want pictures and the whole nine yards, I'll have to pitch it to Gibbs. I can't get access to all of that until it's approved. We wouldn't want to step on any toes." Tony said, rolling his eyes.

"It seems kind of pointless for me to pursue this," Tony mused.

"What's your gut telling you?"

"It's still tingling."

"Always trust your gut," Tim said solemnly.

They both chuckled and Tim stood up, returned his chair to his desk and picked up the books he came by to get.

"Sorry, I can't stay…"

Tony waved him off. "Have fun. Tell Sarah I said hi."

"How did you know I was going to see my sister?"

"She wrote it on her blog."

"You follow her blog?"

"Sure. She's a good writer – insightful, entertaining and sometimes, a little bit mean. Plus, she puts up funny pictures of you that I've been saving for future pranks."

Tim's jaw dropped. "I'm going to kill her."

Tony laughed. "I'm kidding." He paused for typical DiNozzo dramatic effect. "Maybe."

Tim waved, making his way to the elevator. Tony watched him go, thinking that maybe he should say something else, but not knowing what.

4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4

As Tim got into his car, he couldn't stop himself from thinking about Tony. He liked to rib him about being a slacker and always looking like he had nothing to do, but Tim knew that Tony was really a good agent. A very dedicated one, too.

After dinner on Friday, the two had stuck around the pub until closing time, just talking. They had often gone out with the rest of the team, especially after a difficult case, to vent and unwind. He felt, somehow, that this had been different.

He'd spent Saturday puttering around his apartment, not doing much of anything, which gave him far too much time to think. Tony had revealed more to him on Friday night then he had in the five years that they'd known each other.

Their dynamic had changed so much from when he had first started working with NCIS. He couldn't recall the exact moment that he stopped thinking of Tony as the movie-loving, goofy playboy and started thinking of him as a friend.

If he were honest with himself, for the last few months, especially after Ziva had left the team, he had begun to see the older man as something… more.

Of course, just because he could be honest with himself didn't mean he knew what to do with those feelings.

Tony wasn't even gay, he admonished himself. The never-ending stories of his sexual exploits (and seriously, enough already with the stories) were proof of that. He might be completely disgusted by the idea. And even if he were interested in men, who was to say that he would be interested in someone like him, Elf Lord geek extraordinaire?

It was not just that, though. Tim could put aside his insecurities because Tony had been right the other night, he was manning up, all around. The other worry was that they weren't just co-workers at some boring office job, they were federal agents who depended on each other in dangerous situations.

Their mission in North Africa had cemented his respect and admiration for Tony. Before going, he knew without question that Tony always had his six. But North Africa… it had been an insane mission from the get-go, one that could have ended very, very badly. Had it not been for Tony's uncanny ability to find the right words to say and how to get inside Saleem's head, he knew he would be dead.

He owed Tony his life many times over.

Was he willing to risk damaging all of that for something he wasn't even sure about himself?

He shook his head, trying to clear it. He pulled into the parking lot of his sister's place and tried to push all of those thoughts out of his mind like he always did. The trouble was, it was getting harder and harder to ignore his feelings for the older man.

Something had to give. And soon.