Chapter 2

The next morning Tim detoured on his way to the squad room, stopping in at Autopsy to let Ducky know about the changes.

"Jimmy might need a little more leeway depending on who needs him, and for what," Tim said, trying to keep pack details as private as he could. Ducky knew about them, and knew some of the pack dynamics, probably more than any other human in the region, and they all trusted him, but Tim tried to maintain as much discretion as he could.

"Is he in danger? I cannot in good conscience - "

"Not with my people. In other situations... It can be difficult, but Tony sort of set the tone, and I expect Jimmy will be the same kind. When anyone needs him...he takes care of us. However we need it. No one abuses him, but I've seen Tony with one hell of a hangover, or walking a little stiff after some intense nights. Palmer will find his own way to see to his duties, I just wanted to give you a head's up," Tim explained.

Ducky nodded thoughtfully. "I'll keep it in mind, but Timothy, if I see a problem, I will ask you to handle it."

"I wouldn't expect any less, Duck."

~~~NCIS~~~

Returning to work with Tony after the shift in dynamic was less rocky than Tim had feared. Their personas as SFA and Probie served them well, and outwardly, the change was invisible. Gibbs groused and snapped at both of them, they quibbled like siblings, and cases continued. Even short-staffed and without the pack link with DiNozzo, they were a highly efficient team, working together effectively through established habits.

On a personal level, Tony stayed withdrawn, but Tim understood it would take time for them to become friends without the pack bond. If two Alphas could be friends. He hoped so. He looked forward to having someone to talk to about things only another Alpha could understand.

~~~NCIS~~~

Gibbs stalked out of the Director's office, fuming. He pounded down the stairs and stopped abruptly when he saw that Kate's desk was occupied.

"Don't get comfortable," he snarled at the serene-faced woman who sat there. He turned and went right back up the stairs.

Tim walked warily into the squad room. Even with all his wolf senses muffled to human level, he could feel Gibbs' fury and sense the tension in the room. He stopped and stuttered when he saw a beautiful, tan-skinned woman waiting patiently, occupying what had been Kate's desk.

"Um, uh, hi," he said.

"Hello," she replied. Her voice had an accent Tim was unable to identify from the single word. He continued to his own desk and threw a questioning look at DiNozzo. The senior agent shrugged. He apparently didn't know who she was either.

Seated behind his computer monitors, McGee automatically tried to mentally indicate to Tony to distract the woman so he could inspect her. The order had no pathway to follow to reach him, and Tim frowned. Although Tony was no longer his to ask such things of, he knew what Tim wanted and did it anyway, chattering away at her, taking her attention. Staring at his screen, typing the same gibberish over and over, Tim let the shroud thin, brought his senses up, and examined the stranger.

There was something familiar in her scent he couldn't place, but he was pleased when he realized she had the wolf gene, though it wasn't active. He identified her accent as Israeli when she spoke to Tony, and even as he catalogued all the smells he was getting from her, he could tell she was alert to such an extent that she seemed aware of his scrutiny, so he thickened his protections, dimming his senses back to human levels.

Gibbs returned, looking resentful and angry, but they had a callout, so he introduced the woman "Ziva David, Mossad liason officer temporarily assigned to the team," and took her weapons away, allowing her only her knife before they headed out to the crime scene.

They were kept occupied working through the day and all night, and Tim only had a few moments to text Ari to let him know not to expect him home. The vague replies he received informed him that his mate was engrossed in something on his computers and would never miss him. Tim hoped there weren't any problems with his pack being caught in wolf form on any of the thousands of cameras in the region. When one sighting occured, it tended to go viral if anyone noticed, and it was Ari's job to deal with anything which threatened to expose their existance. An arduous, thankless job, but Tim made sure his whole pack knew that his mate was their guardian angel, keeping watch to protect them all.

Around noon, Gibbs sent them home for a break, telling them to return by 10 pm to resume the investigation at a nightclub. Tim drove home numbly, intending to fall into bed as soon as he arrived. Coming through the door and shrugging off the shroud, his mind was so fuzzed from lack of sleep he didn't take note of Ari's stress reaction until his mate followed him into the bedroom and got right up in his face.

"Oh, hey, sweetie, did I forget to call? I'm sorry. We've got this case -"

"My sister!" Ari snapped. Tim blinked dumbly for a moment.

"What?"

"You smell of my sister!"

Shock hit Tim, overwhelming his exhaustion for a moment. "Oh my god, Ari, I never considered she might be your Ziva! That was so stupid of me!"

"You did not even think of me. I know I am last on your priority, Timothy, but this...!"

"Last...Ari, what - why -"

The dark fury which always lay just below the surface in Ari shone like a black sun from his eyes and Tim shook his head.

"When this case is over, we'll figure out how to get you reunited with Ziva. I love you, Ari, and I would never deliberately hurt you," he said simply, then stood and waited. The anger sputtered, and the raw, gaping hurt inside Ari was apparent for a moment before he spun and walked away. The door to his computer room slammed behind him and Tim let himself feel his reaction to the confrontation, his shoulders sagging, tears filling his eyes, and worry knotting his stomach. He hated upsetting Ari. The explosion which had killed Ari's youngest half-sister and step-mother had been his one chance to get away from the path his father had set him on, to be a spy and assassin, and he'd taken the opportunity to run away and been presumed dead. Leaving his remaining sister, Ziva, to the machinations of their Mossad father had been the most difficult decision in his life, Tim knew, and had always eaten at him. Tim tried to see this as a chance for Ari to find his redemption, but the hurt his mate had shown him made his tired mind take the darker path of doubt. With heavy heart, Tim went to bed to try to sleep before he'd have to return to work. Ari still hadn't emerged when he left, but he put his personal issues aside to focus on the case.

By the time the dirtbag was in holding two days later, Tim was desperate for rest, and he came home and collapsed on the sofa, nearly ending up with his face in his soup bowl. Ari hadn't left a meal out for him, or even come out to greet him, so he'd heated a can just to get something in his stomach. Slumped over in exhaustion after two-thirds of a bowl, Tim opened his eyes blearily when the spoon was pulled from his hand.

The bowl was rescued and set aside, and Ari drew him to his feet and held him in his arms for a moment to steady him.

"Come, albi," Ari murmured, leading him to bed and letting him fall heavily. He tugged Tim's shoes off and removed his belt, then covered him and smoothed his hair back. The soft caress was the last thing Tim remembered until the next day.

Tim woke alone, but when he rolled over to see the clock, he couldn't fault Ari for getting up before ten a.m. He did sigh heavily at the closed door to his mate's computer room, although he was somewhat molified by the fresh pot of coffee in the kitchen. Making breakfast and eating alone bothered him, still, so when he finished, he went and knocked softly on the door. He waited for nearly a minute before Ari appeared.

"Timothy," Ari greeted. Tim looked deeply into his eyes and checked his scent. The hurt he felt was mirrored, and he moved close and lowered his eyes.

"I am sorry I didn't recognize your sister, my love. I never mean to make you feel unimportant. You're vital to me," Tim said quietly.

Ari sighed. He cupped Tim's face and kissed his forehead and then his lips.

"Ya Habibi Bahebak," he replied in Arabic.

"I love you, too," Tim said. There were only a few phrases in that language that he recognized, but he knew it was a strong expression of love. "I was thinking I could ask Ziva to dinner tonight, and you could join us."

"No. I want to watch her. She is Mossad. I have no wish for my father to know I live."

"She wouldn't tell him...?"

"I don't know. I will watch her."

"Okay. But anytime you're ready, I'll find a way to get you two together. You know she has the gene, right?"

Ari looked sharply at him. "She is not a wolf!"

"No. But I just meant she could be. If she's half as smart and loyal as you are..."

"No! No, Timothy! You cannot take her in such a way. Please, do not think of this."

Tim frowned and nodded slowly. Ari obviously felt strongly, but he knew that they would have to revisit the conversation later. He wouldn't give up the idea of having the whole team at work be wolves; the advantages were too tempting.

Over the next week, Tim tested Ziva in subtle ways. He wanted to see her reactions and actions in a variety of situations, so he had Gibbs put her through her paces. She passed each test in Tim's mind, and each night he went home and asked Ari if he was ready to see her, but the older man shook his head and insisted on more time watching her through all the cameras he'd hacked as well as her online activity.

On Friday, Tim decided it was time to try to talk with Tony about how his pack was going, but when he asked him to go out for drinks after work, Tony shook his head and said he had plans. There was something unsettling in Tony's scent, but Tim allowed him his space and nodded agreeably.

"Another time?"

"Yeah, sure thing, Probie," Tony answered flippantly, and left.

~~~NCIS~~~

"Shh, you'll be okay," Tim reassured, upending his water bottle across Gibbs face. "Ziva took him down. She's damn good, Boss. I like having her on the team. Probably kept you from a knife wound," he continued, soothing Gibbs with his calm voice. His eyes darted around, looking for the ambulance. The skin around Gibbs' eyes and his cheeks was an angry red with white-rimmed spots that looked like chemical burns. Tony handed him another water bottle.

"I called. Ten minutes. Ziva is out of visual," Tony reported. There would be medical personnel arriving shortly. Tim sighed in relief and let pack energy flow into his Beta, healing him only partially, but pleased there would be no permanent damage to Gibbs' vision or skin now. He had to leave the injury still painful so that no one would be suspicious of his recovery, but he knew Gibbs could handle the discomfort.

The team leader stood up as soon as he could see again and barked orders at both younger men, ordering Tim to help Ziva and Tony to secure the area. They hadn't expected to find anyone hiding at the alleyway crime scene when the local LEOs had turned it over to them, but the young man was obviously frightened and possibly high as well. When Gibbs had gotten near him in the back corner behind and beneath some trash, the attacker had leapt out, throwing a cup full of caustic liquid at him and brandishing a dirty knife. Ziva had pushed the blinded Gibbs aside and quickly disarmed the filthy man. Tony had told her to cuff him and restrain him near the car at the entrance to the alley while Tim saw to Gibbs.

Once the EMTs arrived, they praised Tim's quick action of washing the burning fluid away. They credited him with Gibbs' injuries being so minor, and grudgingly allowed him to stay on site after he'd agreed to follow up with a physician. Tim snickered to himself. Talking to Ducky about the body they were here for was as close as Gibbs would get to actually doing as he said.

As they always did while processing a crime scene, Tim and Gibbs had their senses dialed up to be sure they didn't miss anything. The human part of them recoiled at the smells in a downtown back alley, but they both had years of experience filtering such things through their lupine selves so that it was just information, rather than nausea-inducing foulness. They had their hearing up as well and turned in unison at a pained gasp from Tony, twenty meters away. Their suspect had elbowed him and he was rubbing his arm, his face noticibly showing his distess to their heightened eyesight. They shared a look, and Gibbs went to check on him while Tim continued to photograph, listening for the explanation with partial attention.

"It's nothing. There was this valet at the restaurant the other night, and he was overeager and didn't see that I'd reached back in for my coat before he tried to shut the door. It's a bruise, but I can tell you it came out of his tip for sure!"

Tim could tell Gibbs was suspicious, and planned to ask him about that later, but he'd just spotted something...

"Boss! We may have the murder weapon here -"

The rest of the day passed quickly. Ducky and Palmer arrived and took the body away. The only comment on Gibbs' facial injury was a raised eyebrow from the doctor, to which Gibbs responded with a shrug. Ducky was quite aware of how fast the team members with an active wolf gene healed, and rarely concerned himself with their health. It had been another complaint of Kate's that she always had to go to the doctor when she got hurt but none of the rest of them did. It would be so convenient if Ziva were a wolf, too. She was demonstrating all the traits he looked for in his pack; loyalty, self-sacrifice, intelligence, the ability to work with a group. He had to convince Ari. Somehow.

Bringing it up again that night, before Ari had even chosen to speak to her was a mistake. The older man grew agitated, then angry, and finally stormed off back to his computer room. Tim knew better than to push his mate, but he was just so excited about what the team would be capable of!

The case wrapped up; Tony begged off early, and Ziva left as well. Tim had received little or cold welcomes at home since the fight, so he puttered on his computer until late. Gibbs worked late as well, although it wasn't until the team leader cursed and threw his phone down that Tim even noticed he wasn't alone.

"Everything okay, Boss?" He asked tentatively.

Gibbs shook his head sharply. "There's something wrong with Tony. I've had my suspicions, so I put some feelers out, but I trained him too damn well. He shakes the tail every time I send one. He just did it again."

"What suspicions?" Tim asked, his voice low. Gibbs' face was like granite, but Tim could sense his Beta's tense concern was bordering on panic, and that took him aback. "What. Suspicions. Gibbs." His voice held Alpha authority, and even Gibbs flinched, a mere flicker of his eye betraying his submission.

"He's in trouble."

~~~NCIS~~~