The elevator doors slowly opened and a near naked Tim and Ziva and a gun welding Bob came face to face with four scientists apparently arguing and shushing each other in the dark while shaking their torches at each other.

"Who the hell are you?" Bob demanded loudly, jamming his gun deeper into Tim's back.

All four of them turned to face the intruders and their eyes opened wide in surprise before they all started speaking at once.

"I promise Elbee I'll fix it I swear" Batty decreed eagerly, his hands clasped together in front of him.

"Are you two up to something kinky?" Reynolds asked curiously taking in the front pair dressed only in their underwear.

"Oh my god it's a sex romp. I told you we would get caught!" Wolverine howled in simultaneous despair.

"I couldn't find any. I mean what sort of Hotel of this size doesn't have any?" Buzzard declared gloomily

"How about you all just shut.."

Ziva took advantage of the confusion and the shouting and slammed Bob into the back of the elevator trying to pin his arm up. Tim turned and tried to wrench the gun out of Bobs hand but he held tight. Tim slammed his hand repeatedly against the wall trying to get him to release the gun.

"Let GO!"

The gun fired once, twice, three times deafening them in the small confines of the elevator.

A distant curse was heard far above them followed an instant later by a loud thump on the elevator roof.

Tim finally freed the gun and slid it across the floor behind him. Bob snarled angrily and Tim twisted his arm behind him and roughly turned him around so he faced the wall. Ziva grinned mercilessly, took over the pinning duties and twisted both of Bob's arms further up behind his back.

"I need something to tie him up" Ziva eyes were bright and gleaming with excitement as she turned to look at Tim.

Tim quickly searched around ignoring the questions of the others at their rather violent arrival until his eyes alighted on an item on a workbench.

"Duct tape?"

"Perfect"

Inexplicably Batty, Reynolds, Wolverine and Buzzard cheered loudly and punched the air as they saw Tim pick up the fat roll of duct tape and start quickly slicing off long strips with a knife. Tim smiled at his strange new friends wondering if the paint fumes and excitement had been a bit too much for them. They descended on Tim bubbling with questions as they eagerly helped tape Bob up securely, binding him hand and foot.

"Is that a gun? Like a real one?"

"Did he find you guys having sex in a closet somewhere? Still not really enough of a reason to pull a gun on you, is it Toby"

"I swear I looked there like five minutes ago and there definitely wasn't any tape."

"Why are you limping?"

"This reminds me of Guatemala…"

"I must say this is very exciting. But I really should get back to my room soon for my allergy medication."

"Should I put more tape around his feet? Maybe around his arms as well?"

"Your eyes look different. Are you wearing contacts?"

"This is much more fun than the last Convention I went too."

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Tony cursed loudly as a ricocheting bullet tore through his red waiter jacket and opened a long gash in his arm. DAMMIT! He wasn't even Ziva's partner and he still got shot!

Tony had already heard Gibbs' loud thump and roll as he landed below. Well he could hardly hang about up here on his own now could he? With a muttered curse Tony held onto the outer edges of the ladder and slid rapidly down into the darkness following behind Gibbs' rather more abrupt descent. Whatever was going on down there he didn't intend on missing out on the action.

Gibbs looked up at Tony as he appeared by his side.

"What took you so long DiNozzo?"

"Getting shot"

Gibbs snorted and carefully pulled up the roof hatch.

Tony, pulling his gun out of his jacket as they prepared to drop into the service elevator through the roof insisted with a whisper.

"No really Boss. I did get shot, not bad but.."

Gibbs gave him a glare. Tony couldn't have been hurt too bad if he was still yammering on.

"And on three, one, two, three…"

Gibbs and Tony dropped quietly down into the elevator, guns drawn and tried to figure out what the hell was going on as they were descended upon by what felt like several people trying to surrender.

"We're not terrorists we SWEAR"

"Why does the waiter have a gun? Are all the Hotel employees around here armed?"

"I'm using the stairs if the elevators broken. There is no way I'm going to be able to climb up there"

"Are you ok?" Ziva asked as she turned to Tim her eyes full of concern as the cut on his temple dripped more blood down his face. His other cheek was swelling and bruised from the pistol whipping giving his face a sort of lop sided appearance.

Tim nodded and Ziva stepped away to brief Gibbs on what had happened. Tim took a deep breath and slid slowly, painfully down the wall to the ground where the floor could support his weight instead of his throbbing knee.

"Could someone please turn all the lights on?"

Gibbs had his gun pointed at a man in a maintenance coverall who appeared to be bound and gagged with duct tape at his feet. 'Bob' didn't look very happy.

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Tim looked up blearily at the kind eyes and halo of dark hair above him, looming out of the darkness. He would tell her now before he changed his mind. Before he thought of all the reasons why he shouldn't. He needed to confess his feelings before everything went back to normal. Before he went back to normal.

"I….I think I love you" Tim whispered, his heart pounding in fear.

Tony smiled down at his damaged and bloodied friend who was smiling foolishly up at him.

"Yes and I love you too buddy. You really had us worried for a moment there."

Tony knelt down and placing a firm hand on Tim's shoulder tried to help him sit up.

Tim frowned as the vision answered in a voice that sounded just like Tony's

"Looks like they got a couple of head shots in huh? Can you walk?"

"Tony?"

Tony sighed and tried to be patient. He had had plenty of experience at being on Tim's side of the equation and he had forgotten how long it could take to get your thoughts together after the surge of adrenaline subsided and the pain kicked in.

"No it's your Fairy Princess. Come on Sleeping Beauty up you get. You wouldn't want Ziva to see you sleeping on the job would you? OW! Don't pull on that arm. Use the other one. Oh your leg. Ok so if I go around this way I should be able to help pull you up?"

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Ziva stared at the blank wall, her arms wrapped around herself for warmth ignoring the cacophony of noise around her as Buzzard, Batty, Reynolds and Wolverine excitedly tried to explain to Gibbs what had happened, who they where and why they were there. Simultaneously.

Ziva felt like she was sealed in a tiny perfect bubble and any moment now it was going to burst. With a silent 'POP' it would all disappear taking the last couple of perfect days with it. She would walk out of here and be taken back to head quarters. She would shower, she would change and soon she would be back in the bull pen, writing up her report. The Op would dissolve and she would return to being Officer David and pretending everything was normal.

But it wasn't. Not really. Everything had changed.

She had to tell him. And she had to tell him now before she forgot how it felt to be in his arms as he twirled her confidently across the dance floor and spun her back into his warm embrace, his eyes laughing. She would go to him right now and..

She felt a tall masculine presence behind her and she smiled as she imagined his warm arms slipping around her and pulling her close. He was already here.

"Ziva?"

Gibbs stood holding his warm jacket out to her.

"It's cold. I thought you might need this."

Gibbs didn't miss how Ziva's face fell when she realized who it was and he tried to hide his own smile. Oh yeah. Like he couldn't tell who she was hoping he would be.

Ziva and McGee had been all over each other the last couple of days and while they could claim the closeness was because they were doing their jobs they couldn't fake the way their eyes lit up and the smiles they tried to hide.

Gibbs had to admit they made a cute couple. He wouldn't have picked them as ever working out but after watching them teasing and touching and laughing together now he wasn't so sure. There was something about McGee that allowed Ziva to relax and she seemed happy and feminine at his side. McGee on the other hand seemed strong, protective and adoring with her standing beside him.

Huh who would have thought?

"Thanks"

Ziva slipped Gibbs' warm jacket over her bare shoulders and shoved the much too long arms up to her elbows. She couldn't shake the ache in her heart at the scent of the unfamiliar cologne. The smell was wrong. It shouldn't be Gibbs's scent wrapped around her. It should be Tim's, making her feel safe and loved and beautiful.

Ziva turned and saw Tony awkwardly helping Tim to his feet and trying to take his weight so he could walk back towards the hated elevator.

Was Tony bleeding? Ziva frowned. Seriously she couldn't leave that man alone without him doing something to hurt himself!

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Ziva snuck into the small private room and stood beside the hospital bed Tim was currently lying in. He was being kept overnight for observation after the blows to the head. It was the first chance she had been able to sneak away from Tony's excited bow by blow replay of the hostage situation. The last version had sounded suspiciously like a Die Hard movie as Gibbs and Tony gallantly clung to metal cables with their bleeding bare hands and repelled through open space while being shot at by multiple gunmen with heat seeking machine guns. Ridiculous. Still the nurses seemed to enjoy it.

"Tim? Are you still awake?"

Tim's head jerked up with surprise and he couldn't help the smile stealing across his face at the sight of her. He seemed a little pale and worried about something.

"Ziva? Yeah I'm awake. I couldn't sleep. There's …there's something I have to say to you. I'm sorry. It was my fault. The whole Operation was blown because I wanted to show off"

Tim bowed his head in shame and cursed himself and Ziva lifted his head up to look at her.

"McGee. Tim. Please, the fact that Toby Wilson does not dance was never included in his brief so you weren't to know. No one could have anticipated something like that as being what tipped them off. THAT'S what makes these situations so dangerous. You NEVER know what it might be. Besides….."

Ziva looked at Tim's battered face as he looked up at her hopefully. Even with the blood washed away and the cut stitched up he still looked like a mess. A beautiful sweet mess. She trailed her finger down the ridge of his nose carefully and leaned in closer staring deep into his eyes.

"YOU were the only one who paid the price for it. AND now we have Bob and Phil under arrest and the rest won't be far behind. Even Toby and Damita are unharmed. Damita had some mace and handcuffs in a hidden compartment in her handbag. Their attackers barely made it to the end of the street. Fornell is ecstatic'

Tim looked at her doubtfully as she tried to ease his concerns "You paid a price too Ziva"

Ziva grinned and flicked her hair behind her shoulders in a sultry Damita fashion.

"What? Please I strip down to my underwear and run through elevator shafts every Tuesday night. Didn't you know? Much better than yoga."

Tim laughed softly and then Ziva found her hand automatically creeping into his. A silence settled over them and it seemed to get very loud as they looked at their hands entwined, resting on the top of the covers of the hospital bed.

"I have a Confession"

Tim and Ziva spoke at the same time and then stared at each other nervously.

Tim flushed but always the gentleman insisted Ziva went first even though his face fell slightly.

She's going to tell me that it was all just about being undercover. That's it's all over and didn't really mean anything anyway.
Ziva paused trying to work out what she should say. She watched as Tim subconsciously ran this thumb gently across her knuckles as he watched her.

But it meant something to me.

"I…just wanted to say that I enjoyed being undercover with you. I enjoyed being Damita for a while. It meant I got to see another side of you Tim that I don't get to see at work. And…I would like to see more of it. If you don't object?"

Tim felt a huge weight lift off his shoulders and he beamed at her

"That was just what I was going to say."

"So Timothy would you take me dancing again sometime?"

"I would love to dance with you again Ziva."

"You promise?"

"Yes. Of course! As soon as my knee is all healed up we can dance to whatever you want"

Ziva dipped her eyes suddenly shy at the sheer joy Tim was managing to convey. He leaned down and picking up Ziva's hand gently kissed her knuckles before looking up at her intensely.

"I would like that very much indeed."

Ziva felt her toes curling up and she tried to hide the slight blush she felt racing across her skin at the sound of his voice soft and low. She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and turned to go before she embarrassed herself, her thoughts whirling.

She turned back quickly to Tim grinning.

"Oh you should get some sleep but be warned Tony was very keen to see you. He is getting a couple of stitches in his arm so he might be a while. Something about giving you a t-shirt? "

Tim frowned imagining what on earth Tony would have come up with to want to give him a t-shirt. Maybe it would have - I survived this undercover Op and all I got was a cracked knee and a minor contusion?

"Thanks for the heads up. I will see you in the morning?"

Ziva smiled and nodded, blowing him a Damita style kiss.

"Goodnight my Little Skittlebear"

Tim watched her leave and settled back onto the hospital pillows grinning. Maybe he did have something to look forward to after all.