A/N: My least favorite season is season eight and this chapter addresses moments from then. As a result, I'm not happy with it. Either way, the next chapter I am looking forward to writing more. Enjoy and thank you for the reviews so far.

November 2010

"So." Tony surveyed Ziva, who was seated in McGee's desk, after McSleepy had almost passed out at his desk writing up after-action reports and Gibbs allowed him the rare benevolence of letting him go home to shower, shave, sleep, and then return at the crack of dawn to finish. He arched his eyebrows, watching her as she swayed lightly in the swivel chair. He narrowed his eyes at her. "How'd it go?"

"Go?"

The talk she inevitably had to have had with her father. Then again, talking with fathers wasn't the easiest thing in the world. They shared that in common. McGee wondered how the two of them could stand to be around each other, since they were like opposite sides of a coin. He thought of something his mother said once, when he was a little boy, when he complained how come she married Senior since they weren't at all alike. Sometimes couples are like opposite sides of a coin for a reason Tony. You realize both sides do make up the whole coin, right? He hadn't thought of it like that. Thought of it now. They both responded similarly to the strife with their dads. They shut down, found ways of blocking it out. Hers was to internalize and then focus on something else with 100% gusto. While his was more internalize and crack jokes.

She lifted her head up a little more, from where she'd been playing with her cell phone. He wasn't sure what she was waiting on, since she hadn't left for the airport. Whatever she was doing in Europe she'd been tight-lipped about. As she also had been about a mysterious someone special, who he'd only heard little whispers about the past couple months. "Texting your boyfriend?" he asked.

"Jealous?"

"No, just wondering who I need to send sympathy cards to," he teased.

She smirked; finishing whatever she was texting, shoving her phone into one of the many pockets of her cargo pants. He missed those baggy things. Kate always wore sleek pantsuits and dresses with heels. Very put together she was, unless she was threatening to kill him or a suspect. Ziva always looked like she'd rolled out of bed, but in a sexy way. Except in the past couple years he'd noticed she'd started losing her wild Mossad ways, the feral cat like attitude and behavior transforming into more domesticated housecat. Was most likely planning your death like the feral cat, but was less obvious about it and more calculated. "Sympathy?" she retorted.

"Well yeah, I mean he's trying to date you."

She laughed. He was getting into really dangerous territory here. They didn't speak about their personal lives. Not like this. They stayed in touch, they had phone calls, they instant messaged each other, and yes, she popped into town now and then. They refrained from doing anything further than dinner and the occasional kiss. She hadn't said anything when he didn't go to her US citizen swearing-in ceremony, despite her quiet invitation. He had been working on an assignment for Sec Nav. "And what about you?" she murmured.

"What about me?"

"Are you seeing anyone?"

No, he thought instantly. Except he couldn't say that to her, not right now. Not knowing that she was dating someone. He shrugged, crossing his arms over his chest. "I see women."

"Ah, multiple women."

"Yes, multiple women. Not all at the same time, but maybe." He arched his eyebrow at her smirk. "What? You don't think women would date me?"

"Oh…I think women would…date you. Just once." She held her finger up, like he didn't know what 'once' meant. She grinned, spinning back into the chair again. Her eyes didn't break from his. He didn't trust the mischievousness in her eyes, although he was glad to see it there. "Well I hope you…you find the right one Tony."

This was getting too personal for him. At least, personal in a way he didn't want to get. He glanced up at the balcony, towards Vance's office. There had been a lot going on the past few days. The Israelis came to town, there was an attack on Vance…he was recovering but it had been close there. Eli had been injured. Now Eli was headed back to Tel Aviv, the Israelis were leaving NCIS to clean up their mess as per usual, and Gibbs was going to be acting director for all of three minutes before someone figured out that was a terrible idea. "So," he said.

"So."

Now what did they do? He ran his tongue over his teeth again. "You talk to your…" he trailed off, arching an eyebrow. "Abba?" That's what it was in Hebrew, right? Father?

The dark eyes he normally could read very well shuttered. Figured. She pursed her lips. She tapped her fingertips against the edge of McGee's desk. "I…I spoke with him…very briefly. He is returning to Israel."

"I know," he whispered. He lifted his eyebrows again, eyes widening slightly. "I escorted him to the airport." She wasn't in the car. To his knowledge they had had a conversation prior to Eli leaving. She was her usual shut-off self. The relationship she had with Eli rivaled in dysfunction only to his relationship with his father. At least he knew what to expect of his father, whereas Ziva never knew what Eli was going to throw at her or how he would behave. And my dad never left me in a desert to die, he thought. Or put me in a situation where I had to kill my brother. Or trained me to be a ruthless assassin.

She leaned back in the chair. "McGee's desk is very clean," she said.

"Yeah, he's a cute little OCD freak like that. So how did it go with your dad?" He wanted an answer. Even if she told him to shove it, he wanted her to actually say it. Right now she was just pretending nothing was happening.

"It went like it went," she snapped. She got up from the desk, gathering her coat. Okay, we aren't talking about this. She walked over to him and leaned against Kate's desk, rapping her knuckles on it. "Where did Kate go?"

"She went to the hospital to relieve one of the other agents on the security detail for Vance."

"Oh." She moved to sit more on the desk, probably now that she knew Kate wasn't going to be back for awhile. Her hands folded in her lap. She stared down at them. Are you just going to sit there, he wondered. He leaned back farther in his chair, propping his feet up on the corner of his open desk drawer, watching her. The dark curly hair he remembered vividly felt like silk when wrapped around his hand was pulled tight back in a straight ponytail. She was as composed as she always looked. Except her mind was probably all over the place. He cocked his head a little, waiting on her to say something. "He…" She immediately paused. Her eyes closed. "My father…is…not an easy man."

"Yeah," he whispered, his gaze fixing on hers. "My father isn't one either. They tend to be like that."

"My father…trained me." She crinkled her eyes up with her slight smile. "He trained all of us…his personal assassins. The thing is…we all have choices and free will. Ari chose to reject my father. Eli created him, but in the end Ari chose his side." She paused again. Her voice dropped further. "Just like I chose to stay and join the kidon."

"You did not choose to be left there," he began, immediately knowing where she was going with this. Rather than blame her father she was going to blame herself. Damnit. He hated Eli David.

She held her hand up, stilling him. His feathers were still ruffled. "Let me finish. I may have chosen to stay, to do what my father trained and wanted me to do, but you are right. In the end he chose to just leave me because that it how he would have done with anyone. His daughter or otherwise. I always knew my father placed Mossad and the State of Israel over his family. We were taught that as children. We did not disagree, that was how it was, except sometimes…" She trailed off again and looked at her hands, whispering. "I chose this life Tony. My father gave me the tools, but I chose to use them. He is returning to Israel and I will miss him, because at the end of the day he is my father and he is all I have left."

At the end of the day that was what mattered. "I love it when my father leaves," he said. He smiled at her surprised look. He shrugged. "But you're right. He's my dad. Our relationship is just better when there's distance between us. Maybe one day it will be different." He said that more for her benefit than because he believed it would be true for him. Senior would never change. Just like Eli David probably would never change either.

She chuckled, her hands still folded in her lap. "Well I am done talking about this," she signed hard. She flashed a quick smile. "Drink?"

"How about a bottle?" He swung his feet down from the desk, grabbing his things. He slung the backpack over his shoulder, walking out with her. "So who is this boyfriend?"

"I will never tell," she drawled.

"Where do you go now?"

"Spain."

"Fancy."

"Eh, we'll see." She took her car keys out, dangling them in front of his face, grinning at his eyeroll. "I'm driving."

"I'm dead," he groaned, the doors closing on them as she laughed.

May 2011

"Where is she!?" Tony threw his backpack down on the floor, charging at Barrett, whose chin was lifted in defiance, standing her ground as he bore down on her for answers. His heart felt like it was going to pound straight out of his chest. He could barely breathe. All he knew was that she was gone, there was a serial killer who had her, and no one was telling him anything.

E.J. stared up at him. "We're working on it Tony. This…this Agent David? Is she a friend? Here, have some water."

"I can't have water right now!" He knew how this looked. They all knew he had been sleeping with E.J. for the past couple months. Their relationship status was ambiguous at best. They'd never spoken about what might become of it, he expected she wasn't interested in the long term commitment thing which honestly was part of the appeal of sleeping with her, but right now he could hardly think of that. He began to pace, shouting for someone to tell him something. Give him anything, something to figure out where she was.

"We're working on it DiNozzo!" Gibbs barked.

I know, I know, he thought, dropping into his chair and pushing his head into his hands. There was just so much at stake here right now. "I just…Gibbs if he's got her," he said, unable to finish. E.J.'s team was all but gone, one of her teammates dead and the other fighting for his life. Trent Kort was missing an eyeball. The SecNav was all but done with his tenure. And Mike Franks was dead. Kate had had a run-in with the Port-to-Port Killer and was sporting a white bandage on her head, where he'd knocked her out as she stood by Gibbs's house waiting on him and Franks. Then there was E.J., who was still shaken. He'd tried to calm her down, but she was hell-bent on revenge.

Just like he would be if anything…again, he couldn't bring himself to think about it. CI-Ray was nowhere to be found. The smarmy agent had disappeared after he'd initially popped up in town, Ziva not far after him. She was dating him, apparently, after they met in Spain. He'd never told her that he was working the same case. She'd said she was leaving, going back to her hotel to grab some things and she would be on the next flight to France, where she had another assignment waiting for her. All he'd said was "have a nice flight." He wanted her away from this for other reasons, not just that there was a murderer on the loose.

He pushed out of his chair, sending it flying back into the file cabinet behind him. "Tony!" E.J. exclaimed.

"I'm fine!" he shouted. He made eye-contact with Kate, who said nothing, turning back to her computer. She knew. They all did and he didn't want to explain it to E.J. He turned around and faced his girlfriend, if that's what she was. "It's just different."

E.J. narrowed her eyes as she tried to read him. "We'll get her back," she finally said, by way of providing comfort.

Yeah, I know, we will. If I have to hunt down Cobb myself and kill him with my bare hands, we will get her back. He pulled open his desk drawer, removing the favorite photo from Paris. He stared down at it. Happy times, he thought darkly. He dropped it back into the drawer and slammed it shut, angry. Angry with himself for one. "I should have taken her back to her hotel room," he mumbled. He was just relieved she was leaving. For selfish reasons. Ziva did not get along with E.J. He was mad at her for never telling him about CI-Ray. He hated CI-Ray. He hated this case. He was just…just mad. She said she was going back to her hotel, she would try to get in touch with Ray to find out what all he still had on Cobb that the CIA was not sharing, and then she would be on her way back to France.

It was too late now. He raked his hands through his hair again, his fingertips gripping at the back of his head, his eyes shut tight. He felt a hand lightly touch at his shoulder and flinched, looking back up at E.J., who was looking at him with the concern a girlfriend might give her boyfriend. He felt Gibbs eyeing him and shrugged her away, getting out of his chair and walking around his desk, leaving the squad area. He needed air. Just…just to get out of there for a minute. He walked around the corner and leaned back against the wall, closing his eyes and taking a few breaths.

"I know you think you're trying to help E.J., but Tony and I have been partners for almost nine years now. When he gets like this, it's best to leave him alone."

He frowned, opening his eyes and looking up. Kate was talking pretty loud if he could hear her all the way around the corner of the squadroom. He stepped to the side, hearing a response. It was E.J. and she sounded pissed. "I didn't ask you for your advice Kate, but thanks anyway."

"No, I'm serious. It's different with this one."

This one? What did Kate mean by that? He pressed himself farther against the wall, hoping they didn't catch him. E.J. snapped at her. "And what's that supposed to mean? She's an NCIS agent just like we are, we are doing all that we can to find her. McGee said he was working on something Cobb said, something about Samson and there was horse oil or something..."

Kate interrupted her. "It's different with this one Barrett." She chuckled. "Tony never told you about Ziva David, did he?"

Barrett's voice did not give away any feelings of jealousy or upset, which was pretty good on her, he thought. Then again, E.J. hid her true feelings behind false bravado and sarcasm. Probably why they got along so well. "Tony didn't have to tell me anything, I worked with Ziva in Rota, Spain. She was the NCIS go-between with CIA for us. She's a good agent."

"Hmm….you know she's former Israeli Mossad?"

"Yeah and she killed the guy who shot you, I do my research Agent Todd."

"Do you also know that she and Tony remained in contact after they met?"

"What do you mean?" There it was, he thought, closing his eyes briefly. He wanted to walk around the corner just then. Kate had no business doing this. She was being the big sister, who didn't like little brother's new girlfriend. She was also pissed that Gibbs and their team didn't get the case and E.J.'s got to continue working it. If Gibbs didn't like someone, Kate didn't like them either. E.J.'s voice, the slight hesitation in her question, betrayed her personal feelings.

"What I mean is, when we needed to talk to Mossad, we went to Tony who went to Ziva. They have a connection."

Okay, I've had it, he thought, getting ready to walk around the corner, when Barrett let out a laugh. "What is this, high school? I don't care if they used to be a thing…it means nothing to this investigation. Tony is upset that a co-worker…"

"She's not a co-worker to him and the sooner you understand that, the sooner you can help him when we find Ziva." Kate paused. "We should get back. I just thought you should know what you're dealing with here."

"Well thanks," Barrett said, snapping. She had a point, he thought. Kate had been super bitchy, but she was just being protective. She stormed away and he moved closer to the wall, peeking around it.

Kate was standing there, watching him, her eyebrow arched. She smirked at him as he gave up hiding and walked towards her. "We'll find her," she said, the smirk fading into a furrowed concern. She shook her head, her voice soft. "He's playing with us Tony, you know that as well as I do. The profile holds. He's escalating, yes, but while he intended to kill Franks to get to Gibbs, he's not going to do it with Ziva. It serves no purpose for him to kill her right now. She's a distraction from his ultimate endgame. We find out what that is…"

He interrupted her. "I don't care." As nice as it was to know that Kate had it all figured out, that they'd find Cobb and kill him or put him in jail, however it ended, he didn't care. He wanted Ziva back. He wanted her safe. Her old life may have had her preparing for an early out in life, but she wasn't in that world any longer. She worked for NCIS and it was dangerous, but this was not how Ziva David should go out. She'd go out guns blazing, not the victim of a deranged serial killer.

"We got something!" McGee shouted.

He almost knocked Kate down, flying around the corner and immediately attempting to compose himself. Gibbs pointed to the elevator. "Go! It's an old stable in Virginia."

I don't even know how you figured it all out, he thought, grabbing his gun and badge from the drawer, hurrying after Gibbs. They spend through Virginia, the car not even at a complete stop as he jumped out, Kate hissing at him to stay back, they didn't know what they were walking into. He stayed silent, following Gibbs's lead. He wasn't an idiot. This may have been about finding a friend, but he wasn't going to forget all of his training. Just hold on Ziva, he thought, holding his breath as they surrounded the old stables, edging in one by one.

In the corner he heard rustling and the muffled sounds of someone yelling, quickly moving around the corner as Kate took the first check. "I've got her!" she yelled.

"Clear!" McGee shouted from outside. He ran into the stables. "No one's here."

Ziva, he thought, running around the corner and finding her on the ground in a stack of hay, Kate cutting through the zip-ties holding her wrists together, the tape that had been over her mouth thrown onto the ground. "He's gone," Ziva exclaimed, gasping for breath. She shook her head, her eyes bloodshot and her hair wild around her face. "I went to Ray's apartment to tell him what we had and see what else he knew when Cobb grabbed me. I don't know what he's doing, he just dumped me here and left..."

His eyes locked onto hers as Gibbs ran out to make a phone call. Kate moved away from her and left the two of them sitting there. He picked up her wrists and rubbed at them, getting the blood flowing back into the bruised skin. "You freaked out McGee, he was crying and…and so upset," he said, trying to make light of what was happening. He also realized how stupid he must have looked, practically hurling himself at her. She was just a friend, he told himself, lifting his eyes up to hers.

Tears were shining in her eyes. They wouldn't fall, not in front of all of them, as she was too well-trained for that, but she had almost been killed. Been in the custody of a lunatic. She reached for him and wrapped her arms around his neck. "I'm fine," she whispered, rubbing at his back. "I'm fine."

"I told you, McGee was so freaked out. What would we have done without you, I mean…who would we make fun of all the time?" He pulled back and wiped at her face. There were sticks of straw in her hair. He plucked a few of them out, standing slowly and helping her up to her feet. They would have time to talk later, but they had to get back to the office and figure out what was going on now. "Come on, you okay to walk?"

"I am fine," she said, closing her eyes and wincing as she lifted her hand to the back of her head. "He hit me hard, but…don't think he broke the skin."

As they walked to the car, he checked her scalp. "No, he didn't break the skin, you're not bleeding, but Ducky is going to look at you to be safe."

"No I am fine."

"Cobb's loose!" Gibbs bellowed, jumping into the car. "Back at the office! Let's move!"

They both forgot all about her head injury and ran to their cars, Kate driving this time, spinning away and down the dirt road, racing back to the office.

A few days later, he hadn't spoken to E.J., other than to tell her that she had to figure things out, and she agreed. She said she was going to go be with her parents and left. He wasn't sure if they'd stay in touch. They said they would, but…he didn't know. They weren't meant to be permanent, never were. It was just fun between coworkers. He left her at the elevator, turning around and walking back to his desk, finding someone was already in it.

"Where did E.J. go?" she asked.

"She's taking a bit of a break from NCIS for awhile."

"Hmm…and Kate?"

"The new Sec Nav called her upstairs. Not sure what that's all about." He leaned on the edge of his desk, watching her for a few minutes. He smiled quickly. "So what are you going to do now? Go find CI-Ray?"

The eyeroll he got was probably answer to that question. She followed it with: "No, I do not believe I will be speaking to him for some time. We are…cooling it out."

He squinted at her, his nose wrinkling. That could be a few things. "Um…cooling off or…airing it out? I don't know which one you want."

"Cooling off works I suppose." She fiddled with her fingers, shaking her head and lifting her eyes to his again, her voice soft. "When Cobb grabbed me, I thought perhaps that was it. I have prepared myself for death many times, but this was the first time…" She didn't finish. This was the first time you were scared of it; he finished silently. This was deep stuff. Ziva admitting fear. She looked at her hands again. Her throat constricted and she cleared it, the scratching sound breaking the silence in the dark squadroom. "It doesn't matter. It's over and he is dead and the people whose lives he ruined can finally start to move on."

Spoken like someone who wanted to put the past behind her as well. He glanced at Kate's empty desk. Weird that Sec Nav would give her an assignment, he wondered if Gibbs knew about it. He glanced at her again, leaning in and taking her hands into his once more. There were still angry red marks where the zip ties had been pulled. He ran his thumb over her wrist. A tiny smile tugged on his lips when he felt the pulse under the thin skin quicken. "You shouldn't be alone tonight," he said.

That came out wrong, he immediately thought, pursing his lips and looking up as he thought it through in his head. Meanwhile, she laughed, her lips pulling back over her teeth in a sly grin. "You do not want me alone?" she cooed.

"Uh…what I meant to say…" He stood quickly, crossing his arms over his chest. He didn't know what was going on with E.J. Could be over. Could probably not be over, who knew. She was in the same space with CI-Ray. "What I meant to say was actually that…you probably shouldn't go back to your hotel room."

"So where should I go?"

"Well since Kate probably isn't going to offer you a room and since I have no space in my apartment because well you know, I don't like guests, uh…" he trailed off and shrugged again, smiling and rolling his eyes theatrically. "Uh I suppose…you could…maybe…sleep on my couch. It's all yours. I won't kick you out the minute the sunlight comes up either."

She laughed, getting to her feet. Her hands patted his shoulders. "Tony I thank you for your…" she searched for a word, laughing as he grinned. "Hospitality, if that is what you could call it, but I am fine. One of the things I did while I was here was get another apartment for when I come back. Sleeping in hotels in a city that is supposed to be my home seems wrong somehow."

"Ah, so where is this new apartment?"

"It is in Georgetown, like my old apartment was." She grabbed her backpack, slinging it over her shoulder. He did the same, figuring Kate could take care of herself. McGee had gone home to shower and sleep, he said, and no one knew where Gibbs had gone. He followed her to the elevator, stepping in and leaning against the back. She leaned forward and hit the button for the first level, falling back to lean beside him. "You were worried about me," she murmured.

Where was this going? He cleared his throat, shifting a bit in his boots. "Uh…yeah, well you know…we all were. Even Kate."

She snorted. "I doubt that."

"Hmm…you'd be surprised." Mostly he thought Kate didn't want to have to deal with another agent who he trusted as much as he trusted her. He glanced at her as she stepped forward. "What are you dong?" Oh man. The elevator thudded to a stop, the lights dropping and then the emergency ones flicking on. He lifted his eyes to the ceiling and dropped them down to her. "Okay, so we're doing this."

"Doing what?"

He gestured to the elevator. "This." What was she up to? There wasn't anything else to say. Everything turned out okay. The bad guy was dead, the sort of bad guys with the CIA were back in the wind like they usually were, and the team was safe. Back to live another day, solving crimes and protecting the US Navy. Yes, he was glad she was safe, but it wasn't like how Kate was talking to E.J. earlier. He cared about her. She was his friend. A friend who he had a connection with. Who somehow popped up in his life when he most wanted her there and at the same time wished she'd never been around to begin with.

She moved towards him, dropping her backpack onto the floor and wrapped her arms around his neck. Her chin dropped into the crook of his neck. "When Cobb grabbed me I thought…I thought that was it and it was all over." She sighed, her breath tickling his ear. "And I thought of Mike Franks, after he died…I am so tired of death, Tony. It follows me. I wish it would just all be over some days."

What was she talking about? His grip around her tightened, his arms around her waist. "I missed you." Whether that was when she was missing or…or all this year, he couldn't answer. Just that when she was around it seemed like things were better. The family as together, he figured. He rested his cheek to her soft dark hair, smiling to himself. This was actually really nice. It was rare when she was still. Right now she was very still. Almost too still, he thought, frowning slightly and pulling back, his hand going to rest against her cheek.

She pressed her face against his palm, closing her eyes as tears trickled out. "Hey," he murmured. This was new. He dropped his forehead to hers, whispering. "It's okay. It's all over now."

"There is so much death," she said. A hiccup had her jumping a little in place. She shook her head quickly, tears falling down her face. She ran her fingers beneath her nose, hiccupping again, fighting them back. "I am so tired of it!"

"We got him," he said. That should count for something. "It's over Ziva. It's done, we can go back to normal now."

"And there will be another! There will be another and another and another!" She wiped at her eyes, furious. At herself or at him, he couldn't tell. He let go of her as she grabbed at her backpack again, slamming into the back wall of the elevator. "It doesn't matter. I just…I'm really tired. I should just go home right now…I have a long flight tomorrow."

Wait…what? "You're leaving?" he whispered.

"Yes, I am leaving. I'm returning to France. Vance wants me in Marseilles."

I guess we'll never actually be in the same place at the same time again, he thought, reaching forward and flicking the switch, sending the elevator rumbling back to life, the bright lights blinding him momentarily. When he blinked back to reality, the doors were open and she was striding away. Guess that's it then. He stepped out after her, calling out. "Ziva! Where are you going? Come back!"

"I will see you later Tony!" She turned around, her face still pink from the tears. She lifted her hand in a silent wave. "We will be in touch!"

What was that supposed to mean? Damnit. There were always questions with her. Every time he thought they could maybe be on the same…astral plane as it were, she was running off somewhere else. He watched her disappear into her rental car, the taillights blinking for a few seconds before she peeled out of the parking lot. Guess that was it then. He watched the empty road for a few more minutes, just letting his mind go blank. After another minute, he turned around to go to his car, his phone vibrating with a text message in the back pocket of his jeans. He fumbled for it while he unlocked the car, glancing at the screen.

I really should get one of those fancy phones like McGee has, he thought, trying to read the text on the tiny screen. He lifted it up, beneath the lamppost, and scanned the message. There were two. The first was from Kate, telling him she would be busy for a few weeks and to not bother her. The second was from Ziva. He had to read it twice to finally get what it meant.

You can pick me up at the airport next week. Rule #12 goes back into effect.

"She's coming back," he whispered. His eyes widened at the text. "She's coming back!"

"DiNozzo what are you doing?"

He whipped around, seeing Gibbs in his car, watching him. How did he sneak up so quietly in a car? "Uh…hey Boss. Going home? Long day. Long…year." He held up his phone, eyes widening. "Ziva's coming back!"

"Uh-huh."

"Where's she going to sit?"

"Dunno."

"Oh…well okay." He smiled again. "This is going to be fun. Right Boss?"

Gibbs only narrowed his eyes at him. "Rule #12." He rolled his eyes. "Not like you follow it anyway." Then he turned to look forward, the Dodge Charger roaring away, a blur of taillights and screeching tires. Well okay then, Tony thought. He smiled down at his phone and shoved it into his pocket. Something to look forward to. They hadn't had a lot of that around here in awhile. He ran his tongue over his teeth. Well then, okay. This could be good. He sent back a text to her.

McGee will be so happy you're coming back. He's crying tears of joy.

He tossed the phone into his car, climbing in and smiling to himself. Yes…this could be really good, he thought, nodding. Time to change things up.