Khamsin
I have found the paradox, that if you love until it hurts, there can be no more hurt, only more love. - Mother Teresa
Morning did not take long to arrive, and faint sunlight illuminated the two siblings sleeping on the bed. McGee awoke slowly with the sun shining on his face, and realizes he never even left the bed to go to the sleeping bag. He frowns, trying to figure out what woke him up, and hears some noises coming from the kitchen.
He looks at Sarah, who is finally sleeping. She had a night permeated by nightmares, which she would wake up from scared or screaming, only to be calmed by her big brother. McGee rubs his eyes tiredly, trying to dispel the last vestiges of sleep, and checks the clock. It is six-fifteen in the morning.
He slowly leaves his sister in the bed, and puts a robe over his sleepwear and leaves his bedroom, just to be surprised by several shopping bags on top of the kitchen counter, and Jethro eating his dog food eagerly.
Joy suddenly stands up from where she was behind the counter with a frying pan in her hand, turns on the stove fire and puts some rashers of bacon on to fry.
"What are you doing here?"
She looks around the kitchen, then at him.
"Breakfast, apparently."
She puts on several rashers of bacon, and gets some eggs from one of the bags and start beating them to prepare the batter for pancakes.
"No, what are you doing here?"
She looks at him, and shrugs, "half of my things are here, Tim."
She points to a backpack by the door, and continues, "and I remembered that it was my turn to pick up the dry cleaning, and I knew that you had nothing clean to wear to work today so…" she points to the pile of his clothes, all in plastic bags from the drycleaners, hanging on top of his computer chair.
"I picked them up for you on my way here."
He looks at her, then at the clothes, and at the banquet she's preparing for him and his sister.
"I also walked and fed Jethro." She smiles half-heartedly, "this way you don't have to worry with silly little things, you can just take care of Sarah."
He looks at her again, studying her face, and sees sincere worry in her, and for the first time since this whole nightmare started, he smiles. She smiles back, and hurries to turn the bacon.
"The coffee will be ready in a minute, you better hurry to get ready, or we will be late for work."
"What's that smell?" says a sleepy Sarah, coming out of the bedroom in one of his MIT t-shirts.
"Hi Sarah. "
Sarah looks from Tim to Joy, timidly, and stops, not knowing what kind of reaction she will receive from Matt's sister.
"I know you left your dorm in a hurry, and had nothing to wear today, so…" she collects a small travel bag by the door, and, after sending a quick glance towards Tim, walks towards McGee's sister.
"I had Hope going to your dorm room, she collected some essentials, toiletries, underwear, a t-shirt or two, a pair of jeans, just to get by the next couple of days until they allow people back in."
Sarah looks at her things, carefully wrapped in silk paper and organized in one of her smaller travel bags, and looks at Joy, with tears in her eyes.
"It is a small comfort, but…" Sarah shakes her head and hugs Joy, fiercely. Joy folds her arms around the youngest McGee, and hugs her back.
Sarah takes a step back, and whispers, "thanks."
Joy laughs a little, wiping a tear running down Sarah's face with her thumb, "that's nothing, are you hungry?"
Sarah nods, and Joy takes her by the hand and brings her to one of the kitchen stools. She gets some toast, gets the fried bacon and puts a generous portion on Sarah's plate. She goes around the counter and pours chocolate milk and orange juice.
"Start eating young lady, I expect you to eat everything," she orders bossily.
Sarah looks at McGee, who is observing the interaction of the two women attentively, and she starts eating. At first she just takes some bites, but as her stomach reminds her that she had only one slice of pizza last night before it revolted against its contents, she starts eating voraciously. Joy gives her more bacon and some eggs.
"Go get ready McGee, I have everything under control," she says, pouring him a cup of fresh coffee and giving it to him.
As he takes the cup from her, and their fingertips touch and electricity is felt by both of them. Joy freezes and looks up at him. He mouths a silent thank you. She smiles, and goes back to the kitchen, while he goes to his bedroom to get ready for the day. She hears the shower starting, and pours a cup of coffee for Sarah, and goes to the bedroom to make the bed.
Joy enters the bedroom and silently gathers the used clothes carelessly thrown on the floor, folding them carefully. She makes the bed, and finds one of his used shirts. She brings the shirt to her face, and inhales the undeniable scent of soup and sweat that is so Tim.
You're so pathetic, Joy.
She is so deeply focused on folding his shirt that she doesn't hear when he comes out from the bathroom only with a towel around his lean hips, and he catches her sniffing one of his shirts in her hands.
He freezes, and she is startled by his presence.
"Tim?"
NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS
Sarah stands up to get another cup of orange juice, and hears the door of the bathroom closing violently. She shrugs, and grabs more bacon and eggs, and keeps on eating her breakfast.
NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS
There were no words or preliminaries. It was just a volcanic explosion of pain, anger, all neatly rolled up with several layers of lust.
They at least had the good sense to lock the bathroom door. The same ferocity burned deeply in both of them, and it burned bright and fast in an explosion of light and lust, leaving both of them breathless.
Joy bit his shoulder firmly, trying to shut up any moan that might erupt from her, and Tim hid his head in her shoulder, panting like a marathon runner, his hands holding her firmly by her hips, her gray pencil skirt rolled up her legs while he attacked her with all his emotional turmoil.
The same storm that started the ravishing also resulted in its fast end, leaving both boneless. Tim had to support all his weight against her body, pressing her against the wall, as his legs were shaking uncontrollably. They stayed like that, without moving, for few minutes, until their legs finally did not feel like rubber and their breathing became normal again.
Tim felt self-loathing burning in his chest, for exposing his weakness before her, his weakness for her, and also he felt ashamed for the total loss of control he showed her. He felt her soft hands sliding over his naked back, and he couldn't help a shiver from coursing through his body.
"You need another shower," she murmured against his neck, and he takes a step back, and she slides against the wall until her feet are touching the floor again. For a moment, both felt extremely awkward about their situation, and Tim stretched his hand to find a towel to cover his naked form.
"I'm sorry, I ripped your…"
"No, it's ok, you didn't rip it, it was just a button…" she slides her hands over her skirt, straightening the creases in it. She starts putting her shirt back inside the skirt, closing the buttons opened in a frenzy.
They finally lift their eyes and see the same hunger reflected in each other's eyes.
"I don't want to fight anymore," he says sincerely.
"Neither do I," she says.
They stay like that, looking but not touching, for what seemed to be forever, their hearts trying desperately to force them to take one attitude, while their brains stubbornly deciding for another.
"I have to…"
"Yeah, we're already running late."
"I, ah… sorry for…"
"No it's ok, I will clean up."
He hops in the shower, again, and Joy goes to the bathroom cabinet, looking for a small hand towel. She gets the first one she finds, brings it to the sink and wets it, and starts to clean herself up.
"How was the interview yesterday in Norfolk?" McGee asks above the noise from the shower.
"Uneventful," Joy brings the cloth under the water again, washes it, and cleans herself again. She looks around for her underwear, puts it on, and checks herself on the mirror. Except for her lip gloss that it is all gone, and a healthy blush on her cheeks, there's nothing out of place as far as her clothes are concerned. She sits down on the lowered toiled lid, and starts putting her shoes on again.
"We found something that I want to run by you, maybe you can do a search with your magic fingers," she hears a laugh from behind the curtains, and smile.
She turns, and looks at the flush button of the toilet, and looks back at his faint form behind the plastic curtains, then again at the flush button.
She grins, and flushes the toilet.
"ARGH," shouted McGee, as the water in the shower became frigid cold.
"DON'T DO THAT," he shouted, trying to protect his body from the freezing water now coming from the shower head.
"Do what?" she asked calmly, "This?" And flushed the toilet again.
She laughed as she was surprised by a long string of epithets she heard from her normally so quiet Elflord.
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a/n: Man, there's nothing better than make up sex! Go McGee!