JF24

Saturday afternoon, Kelly had some work to catch up on and Tim called Tony to see if he wanted to come over for a game of one on one or a workout at the building gym. He thought they should catch up with one another. Maybe even get some advice from Tony. "Hey Probie, look the new sofas have arrived. They look much better than the old, tired sofa you had in here." Tony said as Tim led him into the living area. They had met downstairs and played a spirited game of one on one at the park down the street, before coming back for a workout in the gym. Tim had told Tony that he could come upstairs for a shower, and they could watch a movie.

Tim showed Tony the main bathroom, before heading off to his bedroom and quickly showering. Within seven minutes, Tim had showered, changed and was making coffee when Tony came out into the living room. "Coffee before we find a movie?" Tim asked Tony. Tony automatically became suspicious. "I have that hazelnut creamer you like, too."

"What's wrong? You never have my hazelnut creamer on hand, unless you want to talk?" Tony asked with a chuckle. "Come on, make those coffees and we'll talk."

Tim made quick work of making Tony his favourite hazelnut latte, before allowing himself a treat and added a bit of the regular creamer into his own mug. Sitting on the sofa, Tim sat the coffee mugs on the coffee table and leaned back on the sofa opposite Tony in the inside sitting area. Tony agreeing with Tim not to take the coffees on the carpet. "First off, let's talk about you. Gibbs said you're facing an IA investigation." Tim mentioned, getting Tony's problem out into the open.

"Yeah, he even recommended that I get a lawyer." Tony admitted, basically telling him about Gibbs breaking his own rule thirteen. "Called Bud in, he's is the least lawyery type of lawyer I know. And Gibbs likes the man. Gibbs said he'd testify on my behalf that it was an accident."

"Kelly doesn't know that it was you." Tim told him. "Vance didn't say anything and neither did Ducky, so I didn't say anything either... But I probably should."

"Why's that, Probie? You know she's going to kill me. Do you want to see me dead?" Tony asked sarcastically and grinned at him. Tony had incurred Kelly's fiery wrath once before and Tony secretly feared her temper.

"Keeping secrets from your girlfriend, it isn't a good start to a relationship." Tim smiled to see if Tony picked up on his words. He didn't know if Tony already knew, suspected or had no clue what was going on between Kelly and himself.

"Wait... girlfriend, really?" Tony reacted, thinking he was hearing things. "That's great, Probie. What made you decide to ask her out? Did you realise you were already dating, just without the sex?"

"We're still not having sex, Tony." Tim denied, but his best friend didn't buy it, conveying his disbelief in a look. "OK, we're not having sex like you mean. We aren't celestial virgins, either and no I won't give you any details."

"You're probably taking it slow; I mean if you mess up or hurt her, Gibbs is going to kill you. It'll be like the time you drank his coffee." Tony teased his best friend. "Wow, what is with Gibbs breaking all his rules lately? First the lawyer rule, now the Kelly rule. Or have you got some blackmail material on the famous Leroy Jethro Gibbs that he doesn't want the rest of us knowing?"

"Actually, he never said I needed permission or that I wasn't allowed to date her. When we met, he told me she didn't need his permission to date." Tim thought carefully back to that particular night and smiled at his pseudo big brother. "Didn't even cross my mind to ask him. Oops."

The two men laughed easily, and Tim then told Tony everything that has happened with his dad and his family, about the claims John had made and Penny's suspicions of neither of his parents being related to him. "That sucks man, but at least Penny loves you unconditionally. She's always been in your corner and that's good." Tony reminded Tim softly. "You're lucky to have someone as loving and brilliant as Penny in your life. My childhood wouldn't have sucked half as much as it did, if I'd had someone like Penny."

"Wanna stay for dinner, Tony?" Tim asked, changing the subject. He wasn't ready to forgive Penny yet. Although the sting wasn't as painful today, it was still there.

"So you can not get laid, no thank you." Tony joked, then realised that Tim was serious. "Oh, you're serious. Why would you want me to stay for dinner when you could be cooking for Kelly, in the hope she'll take you to bed."

"Tony, am I an idiot? For not rushing into sex with Kelly?" Tim asked directly. "Delilah's death is still fresh and while some days are better than others, somedays it hurts. It is, or rather, would have been her birthday on Tuesday."

"No, you're protecting yourself and that is important. You lost Delilah and it wrecked you. You can't let go until you're one thousand percent sure." Tony agreed. "Look, I was just busting your chops before, but you've been burned and you've taken a step back. There's nothing wrong with that. As for intimacy, I'm sure you know there are other ways to be intimate that doesn't involve sex."

"There is." Tim said, as he blushed, and Tony chose not to comment on the redness that graced his friend's cheeks and ears. Tim was not like any other male Tony had ever met. He was a gentleman and the kind of man that fathers wanted their daughters to bring home.

"So, are you ready to tell me what Kelly was doing to you when I called you from the ship the other day?" Tony joked with him and Tim smacked his shoulder. "No comment, I see. I should have known better than to ask."

Kelly let herself in while Tony was at the breakfast bar, pealing and dicing potatoes and Tim was on the opposite side, stuffing chicken with red and yellow peppers and seasoning them in taco seasoning and salsa. "Hey!" she called out. "Can I get a hand?" she asked out loud, her arms laden with grocery bags.

Tony rushed up and took the three bags from her and led her into the kitchen. Putting them on the island bench he turned back to his potatoes to find Kelly kissing Tim on the lips. Grinning to himself, he couldn't help but notice that now they were officially a couple, Kelly was even more enthusiastic about kissing Tim. "I see how it is." Tony jested, interrupting their kiss hello. "I get the groceries and Tim gets the kiss."

Laughing, she pecked Tim's lips one more time and kissed Tony's cheek. "Happy?" she asked, sarcastically.

"Very." Tony quipped with a grin, giving her a one-armed hug. "Tim told me that you two are together now. Congrats! It's about damn time. So, when are you two going to get started on your crazy, smart kids?"

"Whoa! What kids? No, no kids yet. Maybe way off in the future. Thanks for the heart attack." she said, wordlessly offering Tony a beer and handing Tim a glass of the wine that she'd just opened. "We're very happy together, though. Did you boys have a good day, today?"

"Always." Tim replied, as he thanked her for the wine and put the two trays in the preheated oven and set the timer.

Kelly nudged Tim out of the kitchen and prepared a salad, while the three of them discussed mundane topics and caught up with one another. "You've got your hands full there, Probie." Tony jibed at him, and Tim just smiled at him.

"She's totally worth it." Tim smiled at his friend.

Sunday night saw Tim and Kelly arriving at Gibbs' house for dinner. Their first time there, since Gibbs had found out they were a couple. Gibbs had texted Kelly and invited them to dinner, telling them they were expected to attend, and he was doing cowboy steaks for dinner. Both Tim and Kelly felt nervous for very different reasons.

Tim felt on edge with his nerves, not knowing why Gibbs wanted them to come over or what he wanted. Did he want to talk to them about their relationship? Did he want to talk about what happened between him and his father on Friday? Or was it something else? Something that would completely blindside them.

Kelly's nerves were for an entirely different reason. In the past, Kelly had to always practically beg her father to have dinner with her and a boyfriend of hers. She was suspicious that her father was up to something. They only thing that was calming her down a little was that she knew her father liked Tim. He knew Tim well and he trusted and respected him too.

The twenty minutes in the car on their way out to Alexandria, was spent in silence. Tim felt awkward and he could have hysterically laughed at that. Kelly felt like she was wound so tight she could snap. As Tim pulled his car up in Gibbs' driveway, parking his Porsche beside Gibbs' truck, he put the sports car in park and switched off the car. Turning to look at Kelly carefully, he studied her a little. "Are you as scared as I am?" he asked her softly.

"Terrified." she answered him softly. He squeezed her hand in comfort, both for his reassurance and for hers, reminding her that he was hers. "This is suss, right?"

"Very." Tim murmured, in agreement with her.

Gibbs heard the dull roar of the German engine and headed to the front porch of his house to greet his guests. Standing on the front porch, waiting for them, he watched as Tim and his daughter exchanged a few words, before Tim drew her to him and kissed her over the centre console of the car. For the last, almost six months, it had been a guilty pleasure for Gibbs to watch Tim and his daughter Kelly, interact with one another. It was like salve or a balm for his wounded heart, he felt like it was slowly healing the hole that Shannon's death had left in it. Gibbs bit back a grin as Tim took Kelly's hand and they made their way to the front porch to greet him. "Hey." Kelly said warmly, hugging her father as she handed over the bread rolls, they had picked up.

"Come on in." Gibbs happily encouraged them, in his warm and welcoming tone. That tone always unnerved Tim. He offered both of them a glass of wine each and they both declined. Gibbs noticed that since Kelly and Tim began spending time together, she had cut her alcohol intake back. In fact, he couldn't remember the last time he saw her have a glass. He knew Tim wasn't a big drinker and the next time he was alone with her, he promised himself he'd bring it up.

The two of them shared a look of like between them, maybe it was love, they weren't sure, but they kept a respectful distance between them. Soon enough they settled in and enjoyed a great meal together, while Gibbs entertained them with a story Mike Frank's thinking that the movie Men in Black was based on true events.

After dinner, Tim washed the dishes while Kelly and her father were at the island bench, catching up with each other. Gibbs told her that their weekly 6am coffee date was extended to include Tim if he wanted to join them. When Tim yawned for the third time, Kelly told her father that they had better be heading back, that it was getting late. "My boss will kill me if I am late in the morning." Tim grinned at Gibbs. Gibbs returned the grin, which disarmed Tim a little more. He already knew that when Tim was tired sometimes, he let his guard down. Bidding Gibbs a good night was quick and painless and within ninety seconds, he was driving towards his apartment in Georgetown.

Back at his apartment, he was relaxed a bit more, now he wasn't so unnerved at Gibbs and his strange behaviour. He told Kelly he was going to shower, and she sensed that Tim wanted to be alone with his thoughts. He had been extra quiet all day, since he woke up that morning and it was unusual that he did not tell her what was bothering him. She was surprised to see him take his phone with him into the bathroom, something most men did, but she had never seen Tim do, before. She prepared some packed lunches for them to take to work tomorrow, she packed up her work stuff, including her laptop and charger. She set the coffee timer to brew at the correct time in the morning before closing the blinds and turning down the bed.

"Ok Tony." Tim said into his phone, as he came out of the bathroom dressed for bed. "I'll meet you in the morning at Elaine's at 0600."

...

"Yes, we will get breakfast before we head in." Tim reassured his friend before disconnecting the call. "Sorry Sweetheart, Tony wants to talk. He says it's important." Tim told her, as he plugged his phone into the charger on his preferred side of the bed.

"Tim, it's OK." she reassured her boyfriend, kissing his cheek as she headed into the bathroom. "We're a couple, we're not joined at the hip. If Tony needs you, go."

Coming out of the bathroom, freshly showered and changed for bed, she wasn't surprised to see him, sound asleep on his side of bed. Obviously, he had been trying to stay awake for her, but his body was just too tired.

Waking up alone in Tim's bed was a surreal experience for her, Tim's side of the bed was cold, meaning he had been up for hours. She glanced at the clock and saw it was after six in the morning. She lay back in his bed and sighed out loud to herself. Hearing the doorbell, she padded into the bathroom and snagged Tim's robe off the back of the door before heading out to greet the guest who had disturbed her morning.

Asking through the intercom who it was, she was surprised to see it was Penny and Sarah. Until now, she had never met the infamous Sarah McGee. Tim had spoken so lovingly of his sister, yet she could tell he definitely didn't have blinders on when it came to his sister's choices. "Good morning, my dear." Penny greeted her as the two of them breezed into the living room like a whirlwind.

"Morning Penny." Kelly greeted the elder woman. Turning to the younger woman, he her hair a brown in colour, tallish and skinny. Not as tall as Kelly when she wore her high heels or work shoes, but Sarah McGee did dress the part with impressively high heeled shoes on her feet, tight jeans, a loose pink blouse and black jacket. "You must be Sarah; Tim has told me so much about you." Kelly smiled warmly at the woman.

"We'll see." Sarah said coolly. Sarah was eyeing Kelly up and down with scrutinising eyes. She didn't give Kelly even a hint of a smile and Kelly felt the coolness of Sarah's attitude roll off her in waves. "You must be the one he's using to get over his dead girlfriend."

"I am not some woman he is using." Kelly said, reiterating that that was who she really was. Sarah's attitude hadn't impressed her one bit. "I am his -"

"Where is he? I need to speak with him, now!" Sarah demanded; her attitude full of self-importance, as she cut off Kelly's explanation.

"Sarah!" Penny admonished her in a chastising tone. "Kelly is not Timothy's keeper. You can lose the attitude and hostility towards her; it is not her fault you have been fired from your editor." Penny gave Sarah a hard look, one that clearly told the younger Mcgee woman that she was out of line.

"Tim had to meet Tony before work, apparently it was very important." Kelly informed the younger woman, keeping a polite, but firm tone with her. "You're both welcome to join me for breakfast, however I do need to leave by 8am at the latest, so I am not late for work."

"Unfortunately, we can't." Sarah said, her cold tone now replaced with a saccharine tone, full of artificial sweetness. "I have a meeting with a potential new editor, and I need to make a good impression. Penny has classes. I am sure you're late for whatever menial job it is that you have."

"Sarah!" Penny yelled at her, grabbing her by the arm to stop her from stalking off. Penny had a firm grip on the young woman as she held her in place. "You will apologise for your behaviour and stop your superior attitude, right now! I know that this is all an act to get back at Timothy for getting this apartment when you clearly wanted it but get over it. Your grandfather made himself perfectly clear, it was always going to be his. As for your nastiness towards Kelly, it is not her fault that your brother didn't help your father. But he made his bed and now he has to lie in it. He is my son, and he is far from perfect, we both know that. His actions are the only ones to blame as to how he landed himself in prison. Apologise to Kelly and check your ego and self-importance at the door, that is not the girl I love, the one I raised and that is not Tim's little sister, Sarah. The one who he wanted to quit his job for."

"Sorry" Sarah snapped, not looking at Kelly, but at Penny. Her tone still icy cold and unapologetic. When Penny released the grasp on her granddaughter's arm, Sarah stalked out of the apartment.

"I apologise for my granddaughter's behaviour. There are no excuses for it." Penny said softly, smiling at Kelly as she just realised that the young vivacious redhead woman was wearing the robe, she had given him for Christmas last year. She hadn't taken note at the time, but she had been here with Tim when John had arrived. She had been here when she had bumped into Leon and Secretary Porter in the foyer, too. "It is good to see Tim starting to open up and let his heart live again. I hope he finds room for you in his heart, as more than just a friend."

"Have a good day, Penny." Kelly smiled at the warm woman. She liked Penny, but she was hesitant to elaborate on what the true nature of their relationship is. After all, if Tim hadn't told his grandmother what was going on, maybe it wasn't as serious as she had been led to believe. "I must get ready for work. I have a 9am meeting I cannot be late for."

"You have a good day too, my dear. Give my Timothy a hug from me and remind him how much I love him." Penny smiled at her, before leaving Kelly standing alone in the living room of her grandson's apartment.

Tim's phone had pinged at 0400 with a text from Tony, asking if he was awake. Tim had been laying there for forty minutes already, he had woken up in an uncomfortable position and his body had ached from sleeping that way. He had pulled Kelly closer to him and curled his body around hers in an effort to get some more sleep, but he had been unable to switch his mind off. Hearing his phone ping, Tim snatched it off the nightstand and typed out a quick reply to Tony. Tony lived not too much further over from Tim, another ten minutes out of the city. He had told Tim he couldn't sleep. The two men quickly decided that they could not sleep, together. Agreeing to meet earlier than they had originally planned.

Tim kissed Kelly softly, as she slept in his bed. He had packed his gym bag and gotten dressed in the dark. He had holstered his weapon and pocketed his creds, as he kissed her again and headed out. He detoured to the kitchen and reprogrammed the coffee machine to come on at 0715, the time he knew Kelly would be looking for her coffee, before leaving for the day.

Meeting Tony at the yard by 0430, with Tony pulling in at the base entrance right behind him. The usual Marine on night duty raised his eyebrows at the sight of both agents, but not their gruff team leader or quiet, mousey blonde probie agent. The two men parked in their usual carparks and wandered over to the gym in a relative silence with the exception of their morning greetings. Heading straight for the men's room, the two men changed into their sweats and headed out to begin a strenuous workout.

After the two men sparred and each had a turn on the bag with the other one holding the bag, Tony suggested a run still feeling wired. Running out of the north gate, nodding at the Marine who was on guard duty there, they turned left and headed along the Potomac River, past where the Barry was docked and along the long jogging path that was rarely used. Turning back at the three-mile mark where Gibbs had tied Kate's fluorescent pink scarf to the tree when Tim was a probie agent and Gibbs was testing his fitness, the two of them headed back to base. Nodding to the Marine who was changing with the day shift Marine, Tony and Tim made their way back into the NCIS employee gym and back into the men's room.

Wordlessly, the two men both snagged clean towels off the shelf and headed for the showers. Once they were clean and now void of the sweaty mess, they'd worked themselves into, the two men headed upstairs to the bullpen, dropping their bags off and logging into their computers, before locking their workstations and heading out to find breakfast at Elaine's.

Tim nodded to Tony to take the far booth in the back. When Tony noticed the look that Tim had on his face when he went to take the side of the booth against the wall, Tony diverted himself and took the opposite side of the booth. That allowed Tim to see the comings and goings of the diner and he saw the discreet nod of thanks that Tim had sent Tony, as well as a look of relief on his friend's face. "That got anything to do with the PTSD flashback Abby told me about?" Tony asked softly, once they were seated.

"The one that she caused; you mean?" Tim corrected his friend softly and the look on Tony's face told Tim that once again, Abby hadn't told Tony the truth about something. "You can ask Gibbs and Elaine, if you don't believe me. That's why Abby didn't come to stay at the beach house with us. She was feeling sorry for herself because she got into trouble."

"Whoa, Probie! I didn't know, I am sorry. I know Abby pulls a lot of crap that she doesn't get called out for, especially on you." Tony admitted, as Elaine came and interrupted the boys. She had already pre-made their coffees and delivered them when she had come to get their breakfast order. Giving Elaine their breakfast orders quickly, she promised she'd be back in a flash with their food, before she grinned widely at the boys and heading off to get started. "It's not right, man. Gibbs, he was always punishing you for Abby's bad behaviour."

"Not as much these days." Tim murmured in agreement. "That's probably why he was so weird last night, too."

"Wait, you saw Gibbs last night and he was still being weird? What was he doing?" One of the things Tim both loved and loathed about Tony was his insatiable curiosity about everything and anything.

"Nothing much, just being weirdly nice. It was like when Kate had died all over again." Tim grumbled softly. "It was ... unnerving. My gut felt really unsettled."

"Don't blame you, imagine sitting there and hearing Gibbs tell you to get a lawyer, rule thirteen be damned!" Tony quipped.

"Right." Tim murmured in agreement and redirected the focus on Tony's situation. "You wanted to talk?"

"Yeah, I did." Tony paused while Elaine delivered their food. Tim snatched up the pepper and lightly sprinkled his eggs before he swapped Tony for the salt and doing the same. "So, I met with Bud yesterday, by the way, he told me to ask you about the Alameda JAG office and the Christmas party of '90." Tony laughed out loud as a look of horror that crossed his friend's face. "Anyway, Bud thinks I should plead guilty. Might mean that I get a slap on the wrist and a temporary demotion of kind. It wouldn't drag, you, Gibbs and Ellie into it. Especially Ellie, since she was on board with me and if I co-operate into the investigation of Gibbs' drugging at the hands of the ship's doctor, IA will go easy on me."

"Wow Tony, what do you think?" Tim asked "I can see you are tempted on the protection aspect alone. You're a loyal teammate, you always have our sixes, that has never changed, since the day we first met."

"If I plead not guilty and get found guilty, it's a mark on my record. Plus, all of you get marred by association. That doesn't sit well with me. You and Gibbs are great agents, you have the potential to go far. Ellie's just at the beginning of her career and if she plays the game right, she could be your right hand, in years to come." Tony surmised carefully. "But right now, she is impulsive and reckless. She has got good instincts; but she needs to learn to hone them and weed out the bad habits that she picked up at the NSA. I think I am going to plead guilty and let the chips fall, of course I am going to run it by Gibbs, first."

"It's admirable, Tony but do it because you feel guilty, not to spare us." Tim started softly, looking at his best friend. "You need to think this through. Say you're demoted, how are you going to feel everyday taking orders from some agent like Waters, or Hayes? Talking to Gibbs, definitely a good idea. Maybe run it by Ducky, it seems weird, but he is a good and focused confidant when you need him to be."

"You're right, I'd hate it. Hate taking orders from agents like them. I'd probably even snipe, snip and whinge at taking orders from you, too. But I'd be proud of you man, you're my probie and if I have to be punished and demoted, I am going to request that you step up into my place. You did a good job when Gibbs was on his sojourn in Mexico, but age-wise you were still too green. Now you're older, more mature and more skilled and I'm not talking about in the cyber world because you're a ninja there. They treat you like an immortal demi-god, one who will always live on, forever through time. But I am talking about being an actual, hands-on field agent. I've seen you do some bad-ass stuff and that's without me and Ziva's pressuring you to do it." Tony praised his friend, while keeping honest about his feelings. He had heard from Brodie at the NOLA office, when she had been in town three weeks ago that his Probie had gone all badass and scared a suspect into confessing and frightening Fornell in one fell swoop. "Honestly, you outgrew being a JFA a long time ago, but we all hate change and that's why everyone resisted messing with our status quo."

"Remember when Zee left, and it was just the three of us? Gibbs was the leader and you and me were partners. We were becoming closer than what we were, back when Zee was here." Tim asked as Elaine came over to refill their coffee mugs. "Jackson needed Gibbs for something one day and you and I agreed to share the co-point on the investigation."

"Until Gibbs pulled the rug out from under me and gave the lead to you. What about it?" Tony wondered where his friend was going with this trip down memory lane.

"Think about how you felt, taking my orders back then and think about how you would feel, now." Tim explained, he had remembered that Tony hadn't been crazy about taking his orders during that case. Tony had made it his mission to be very difficult. He knew Tony had the ability to screw his career over too, and had done it before, as well. "When you think you've made a decision, I need you to think it over, again. Be more than one-hundred percent sure with your decision and be comfortable with it. Don't screw me over, if you do decide to go down that path."

"Screw you over, I would never screw you over." Tony denied, vehemently. He felt slighted that Tim would think him capable of such an act of betrayal.

"Iraq." Tim commented with one word and Tony's gut sank. He knew Tim was right.

"I've been a shitty trainer. Not the best SFA to you in the past, but I swear I won't do it." Tony swore, promising his friend. "I guess I owe you a boat-load of apologies for all the stunts I've pulled over the years."

"I'll settle for the now." Tim said, he had let go of the past. That didn't mean he forgot, just that he no longer held any hostility towards Tony for it. "Your promise holds more weight now because we are closer now. But mark my words, if you screw me over, you better watch your back."

"I won't let you down." Tony promised. "Let me talk to Gibbs, too. But if all goes well, I'll call Bud and tell him to set it all up."