Chapter 3

Gibbs wasn't surprised to find that the director was still in his office. He walked in without knocking, earning him an irritated look from Vance.

"I thought we had our daily show-off already," he said to Gibbs.

"That's not why I'm here." Gibbs replied. "There are things that you don't know about, and I'm here to tell you those things, but you need to promise that you will keep them to yourself."

Vance sighed hearing this cryptic description. "I won't tell anyone else," he swore.

"Tim and Tony are living together," he revealed. But when he realized that Vance didn't get what he was trying to say he elaborated. "As lovers."

"Oh," Vance was shocked. DiNozzo had a reputation as ladies man, but apparently he went both ways. "Care to explain why you're telling me this now?" He asked.

"Someone is threatening Tim. He's receiving pictures of him and DiNozzo, showing him as the target, because he's gay."

"Well, protect him and find out who's doing this," Vance ordered, not showing the least bit of surprise about the news. "You know the drill."

Gibbs went to Abby's lab first, but as he expected, there were no fingerprints on the pictures or envelope, only McGee's.

Frustrated he took her back to the sub-basement to check on the progress that McGee and Tony should have made. But they hadn't found a trace of the killer yet. It seemed like they created a little loop in the security camera because one second the desk is empty and the next there's an envelop.

McGee felt frustrated and bashed his head against his desk, only to be stopped when Tony laid his hand on his neck. "Come on Tim, we're smarter than this. We can beat him, because you're smarter."

Gibbs watched with a smile at his agent's interaction. In the squad room during work hours he enjoyed their banter, but it was good to see that they could complement each other. Tony showed a side of himself to Tim that was so different from his usual, joking self.

He cleared his throat to acknowledge their presence.

"Nothing yet boss," McGee answered on autopilot.

"But we will find something," Tony added.
"How about the elevator to the basement, Tim? We know the time that he placed the envelop here, we can look around those times to see if we can find him while he goes in or out of the elevator."

Tony grabbed Tim's hand and gave him encouraging push. Tim sighed and clicked a few times with his mouse. Some time later that evening he jumped up.

"I have it boss," he exclaimed. .

Gibbs walked over to the screen and waited until McGee started his explanation.

"Here you see a tiny piece of the elevator, when you really look you can see something red slide out of the elevator. This is just around the time that the loop is created for the other camera." He explained while pointing at the red dot in the screen. "I checked all the other cameras and this," he said while clicking on another screen. "And see what we have here," the screen showed a man with a red hoodie, walking to the elevator with a white envelope.

"I want a name with that face," Gibbs growled. "Abby, put it into your facial recognition program, and then, go home." He looked over at Tony and Tim. "Tony, you go home and be careful, I'm taking Tim with me, I'm not going to take a chance on this."

After a few minutes everyone drove off to their own homes, Tim in Gibbs' car. He was thinking that driving with Gibbs wasn't really that safe either, but he didn't complain.

When they arrived at his house Gibbs showed Tim the spare bedroom, there was a double bed and a closet, in the corner was a chair, the room wasn't used much, but McGee didn't expect that Gibbs was the visitor's type.

He took a quick shower and told Gibbs that he was going to bed. Gibbs wished him a good night and told him that they would leave at 7 o'clock the next morning.

McGee lay down in the bed but without Tony it felt way too big. He tossed and turned and got up again. He looked outside of the window. To his surprise he saw a dark car standing across the street and behind the steering wheel was someone reading a map.
With a start McGee realized that he was being watched. He turned the lights off and walked over to Gibbs' basement.

"There is a surveillance car outside," he said. "I think we're being watched."

Gibbs settled McGee down and walked up the stairs. "I'll take a look," he promised.

A few minutes later he came back in. "Nothing special, it was just someone who was really lost. I told him which way to go and he went away." McGee's face showed disbelief. "I waited a few minutes but he didn't come back," Gibbs added.
Tim walked back upstairs and a few minutes later he was in bed again. The long day had been tiring and a little while later he fell asleep.

Gibbs was working in his basement, and neither of them noticed a black car parking down the street. A man with a dark hoodie came out. He snuck over to Gibbs' house and opened the back door. He wasn't surprised to find it unlocked.

Careful not to make a sound he slid up the stairs, waiting a few seconds after every step he took. As silent as he could he opened the door to the spare room, smiling upon the sight of the man asleep.

Tim was on the verge of falling asleep when he heard someone entering his room. With a giant effort he pulled his hand from under the sheet and tried to grab his gun from the nightstand, only to be stopped when he felt familiar fingers lacing through his.
"I couldn't sleep without you Tim." Tony said. "I tried not to wake you up, but apparently I failed."

McGee didn't say anything but he smiled. He waited the few seconds until Tony was undressed and laying in the bed with him. They snuggled close and after a few minutes they were both sound asleep.

Down in the kitchen Gibbs smiled, he was aware that Tony had snuck in his house and joined Tim in the bed. Walking down to the basement he decided that there was enough time to do some work on his boat.

None of them knew of the danger ahead.