Edit: uploaded the wro g version, and had to fix a couple errors.

sorry for such long delays. i try to write these when i can but life and work get in the way. hopefully i can have the next chapter out real soon.it took me a bit to get this chapter to my liking so hopefully you all like it.

Chapter 5

"Okay, now back to my earlier question," Delilah said as she did the final touches of her makeup in front of her vanity mirror, "Harley Quinn?"

Tim rolled his eyes, not surprised she would come back to that.

As the married couple got ready for the day, Tim has been telling her what transpired on his date with Kelly. He made sure to not forget any detail, from the dinner, to the boardwalk activities, to the walk on the beach, her breakdown, and what he did to try and cheer her up. When he mentioned how he won her the plushy and how she was a fan of the Batman villain, Delilah made a small comment but allowed him to continue. Though Tim knew from experience that the topic would be coming up when he was finished. And sure enough, after she was done gushing about Tim's romantic gesture, she brought it up.

"What's wrong with Harley Quinn," Tim asked as he finished buttoning up his shirt, "she's a great character."

"She's a villain," Delilah stated, looking at Tim as if he wasn't getting something, "and she's Joker's girlfriend, acting all gaga and lovey-dovey with him."

"Actually in the recent comics, she's long broken up with and left Joker. She's dating Poison Ivy now and in some canons, married her."

"So she's dating another villain."

"It's actually a healthy good relationship in most canons."

"Good for villains."

"Yes, but being villains doesn't always determine if a relationship is bad or good. I happen to be a shipper of them myself."

"Ok, fine. She's in a better relationship with someone who actually loves her. Good for her, I'm really happy for her. That doesn't change my first point."

"Which is what?

Delilah put her make up brush down, and snapped her head towards her husband, her eyes narrowing at him.

"She. A. Villain." She stated, punctuating each word.

"So?" Tim replied.

"Well first of all, isn't it a bit weird that as someone whose job is to catch bad guys and criminals would be a fan of a villain? If she was real, you would have a duty to catch and arrest her."

"But she isn't real. She's fictional. Which means it's perfectly okay for me to be a fan of hers."

Delilah was silent for a moment as she gave her husband a look. Tim simply gave her a smug grin.

"Fine," Delilah finally said "Since when has collecting villain merchandise over hero merchandise become so mainstream. I bet she used to love Wonder Woman and Batgirl as a kid. What happened?"

"Sometimes we learn to appreciate the characters, even the villains."

"Just a thing a writer would say."

Tim couldn't help but sheepishly grin at those words, which Delilah responded with a smirk.

"Well, I think I'll stick to the superheroes myself," Delilah told him, "You both can have Harley Quinn and I'll take Wonder Woman."

"Just what I expect from my superhero wife."

Delilah tilted her head and smiled as Tim looked at her with a goofy grin.

"It's a good thing you being a weird goof is one of the things I love about you," she said as she held his hand, "luckily my husband has a girlfriend who's just as weird as you. Or is she the lucky one that she has you who loves her."

"Yeah," Tim replied as Delilah shrugged and turned away, "Yeah… Hey hun?"

Sensing something heavy was on his mind, Delilah turned back around and placed her hand on Tim's knee.

"I think I do actually love her," Tim told her.

"Well that's good," Delilah replied smiling. "That means you were telling her the truth."

"No, Dee, I love her."

"Yes, you already said that. I'm happy for you."

"No, Delilah, you're not understanding. When she said she loves me, when I looked at her face and every time I saw her smile and especially when I kissed her, I… Delilah, the same way I feel about you, I felt with her. I love her."

"Good, make sure you tell her that next time you see her, Tim," Delilah replied with the same warm smile.

"Delilah-"

"Tim, were you expecting you telling me to be a bigger thing?"

"M-maybe. I wasn't sure how you'd react. It feels like a big thing."

"Gasp! You love her? How can you do this to me Tim?" Delilah replied in a fake dramatic tone. She moved her hands in exaggerated ways for emphasis.

"Very funny Dee," Tim said in an unamused tone.

"I too have a confession to make darling. I am not Delilah, but her evil twin, Lydia this whole time."

She turned and placed her hands on Tim's chest who was now holding back a smile.

"My plan was to get back at my sister," Delilah continued, "but I have fallen madly in love with you. But now you tell me you love someone else."

"I get it Dee," Tim replied, "you made your point."

Delilah smirked then grabbed his shirt and pulled him down and kisses him which Tim gladly returned.

"Oh you're hot." Delilah said, suddenly pulling back.

"Why thank you."

"No, you dork. You're feverish," Delilah said, putting the back of her hand on Tim's forehead and cheek, "are you feeling okay?"

"I think so. I mean, I am a bit tired but I figured that's because I need some more sleep."

"Well, make sure you don't overwork yourself today."

"I'll be fine hun. I'm sure it's nothing.

Later that day, Tim found out the hard way that it was not nothing.

While out for a case, someone Tim and Nick were questioning decided to run. Halfway through the chase, Tim got out of breath and light headed. He gave up and leaned against a wall while Nick continued the chase.

When they got back to the car, Tim told Nick he was fine when asked. Nick had his doubt but let it go. That doubt grew though when Tim collapsed in his chair in the bullpen still breathing heavily. A doubt shared by Gibbs when Tim repeated he was okay.

"Go home McGee," Gibbs ordered.

"Boss-" Tim started but Gibbs interrupted.

"You look like you're dying."

Tim couldn't really argue with that. He felt like he was dying. He didn't feel light headed anymore but his whole body started to ache, he felt hot and he felt exhausted.

He declined a ride saying he should be fine but the drive home was a blur. Before he knew it, he was walking through the front door. As he walked through the apartment, he took off his coat, throwing it onto the sofa, and unbuttoned his shirt. When he reached his bed, he took off his shirt and untucked his t-shirt. When he sat on the edge of the bed, his body felt heavy and he now felt cold.

Quickly kicking off his shoes, he got under the covers and started to shiver. If his body wasn't so heavy, he would turn on the heater. Instead he bundled up as much as he could and tried to sleep.

Sometime later, he was woken up by the front door opening.

"Tim!" came the voice of Delilah from outside the bedroom.

Tim tried to call out but was only able to let out a grunt.

Delilah entered the bedroom and went to his side, placing the back of her hand on Tim's forehead.

"Ellie called me and told me you were sent home because you were feeling sick," she explained as she went to the bathroom and returned with supplies, "I'm taking an extended lunch but I have permission to stay home."

"I'm fine," Tim croaked.

"Mhm, sure you are, you just have a fever" Delilah replied as she prepped the oral thermometer and placed it in his mouth. After a few moments, the thermometer beeped, its screen flashing red, and Delilah pulled it out and read the numbers, "a moderate fever, 101 Fahrenheit exactly."

She put away the thermometer and pulled out a bottle of liquid flu medicine. She poured it out onto the dosage cup and handed it to Tim who pushed himself up, took the cup and drank it down in one before laying his head back down and closing his eyes.

"I'm going to make some chicken noodle soup for you," Delilah told him, taking back the dosage cup, "so if you get hungry and have the energy you can eat it. I'll call Gibbs for you tonight and let him-"

Tim waited for her to continue but a few moments went by without a word.

"Delilah," he called out but there was no answer.

Opening his eyes, he knew immediately why. Instead of his and Delilah's bedroom, he was in his old apartment's bedroom. He looked around the room as if Delilah would suddenly return but he knew it was unlikely.

Before he could come up with an idea, he heard a door in his apartment open and close. For a moment, his mind was telling him it was Delilah until he remembered just as quickly. He got his answer a moment later when Kelly entered his room.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Did I wake you," she asked.

"No. No, I was already awake before you came in," Tim assured her as he tried to get out of bed.

"No, babe, don't get up," Kelly said as she went to his side, "you should be resting as much as possible."

"I'm fine," Tim said automatically.

"Yeah you are, but not health wise. Into bed mister."

Kelly gently guided Tim to lay back in his bed and pulled the covers up for him.

"When I got your text, I stopped at the grocery store to get you a couple things," Kelly told him as she pulled out a thermometer from her purse, "Flu medicine, some tea and a couple cans of chicken noodle soup."

She placed the thermometer in Tim's mouth and turned it on. After a few moments it beeped and she pulled the thermometer out of Tim's mouth.

"101," she read out loud, "is…that high?"

"I think that's moderate," Tim replied.

Kelly pulled out her phone and looked it up on the web. After a few moments she had her answer.

"Yeah, it's moderate," she confirmed, "I'll call Uncle Ducky and see what he recommends. I'll get you the flu medicine to take in the meantime."

She left the room as she made her call. Tim laid his head back again and closed his eyes. He wondered if whatever universe hopping he did normally when he slept, if whatever sickness he has affected it. Especially if it happens when he dozes off mid-sentence.

"Hopefully this doesn't last long," he thought to himself, "I wonder if there's a way to make it go faster. Sleeping through it is one way. Ok Tim math time. Let's say this thing lasts five days. Twenty-four hours in a day, that's… one hundred twenty hours. Eight hours a day is a given but since I'm sick I'll be sleeping more. So…. Twelve hours? Well obviously not consecutively but if I space them out just right-"

Tim was suddenly jerked awake by someone tapping his shoulder. He looked up to see Kelly looking at him while holding out a dosage cup of medicine for him in one hand and her phone to her ear in the other. Tim took the cup and drank the medicine in one gulp. He was thankful the mathematics was just in his head, he felt a little embarrassed just thinking about it.

"It reads 101," she replied to, who Tim assumed was Ducky, "hang on, let me ask. Tim, have you been coughing?"

Tim shook his head as he handed back the dosage cup.

"Sore throat?"

Tim shook his head again.

"That's a no to both, Uncle Ducky," Kelly said, turning back to the phone.

As she continued her call Tim closed his eyes and tried to fall asleep. As soon as he closed his eyes again though, a series of mathematics ran through his mind again. He could see almost an invisible white board behind his eyelids as his brain started to calculate how long he'll be asleep.

Tim suddenly felt something damp touch his forehead. Reaching up, he grabbed a hand and felt that it was a small cool towel placed on him.

"Thanks Kel," he said, squeezing the hand.

"Kel?"

Tim opened his eyes and looked over to his Delilah giving him an amused look.

"Oh, I must have dozed off," Tim explained.

"Sick over there too?" Delilah asked.

Tim nodded as he laid his head back and pulled the blue blanket up to his chest.

"I'm glad to know that she's taking care of you over there too.

Tim's mouth said "yeah" but no words came out as sleep started to creep in.

He remembered being in darkness before a whiteboard appeared floating in front of his vision. Random assortments of numbers and equations started to appear as if he was writing them but he couldn't make out any details of what they were.

"Sleep equations" said something in his mind, as if it was obvious what was going on.

Just as it seemed the whiteboard was filled, somehow more numbers kept rapidly appearing, pushing past the edge. Some even started falling on the floor.

Tim tried to keep up reading them but was quickly overwhelmed as they started to overlap over each other.

"Wait, slow down," he wondered aloud.

The numbers laughed at him in a high pitch in response.

He slammed his hand on the whiteboard only for the numbers to crawl on it like bugs. He swore he could feel them crawling on him when he jerked his hand back and jolted awake.

"Tim?"

The numbers slowly faded away from his vision as he caught his breath.

"Tim?"

"Delilah," he responded in relief back when he heard her concerned voice again.

"Delilah?"

Tim looked over to his bedroom doorway to see, instead of his wife, his girlfriend Kelly walking towards him.

"Are you dreaming of other women Timothy McGee?" she asked with her arms crossed.

Tim looked at her with wide eyes. He tried to speak but no words were able to come out of his open mouth. Kelly chuckled as she sat on the edge of the bed.

"I'm only joking babe," she informed him with an amused smile on her face, "I hope whoever this Delilah person is, she is taking care of you in your dreams."

"Yeah," Tim softly replied, closing his eyes again.

"I love you Tim," Kelly said, pulling the purple blanket up his chest

"I love you too Kelly," Tim replied softly as he smiled.

As he could feel sleep creeping up on him, he suddenly got worried that he said it too softly. In a panic, he reached out and grabbed her hand.

"I love you," he said louder than he intended.

He heard a familiar chuckle as the hand squeezed his back except it was not from the familiar voices he expected. He opened his eyes and looked up to see neither Kelly nor Delilah but Ziva looking down at him with a warm smile on her face.

"I love you too Timothy," she said as she pulled the red over him again, "but you are ill and are supposed to be asleep."

Tim looked at her, unable to come up with anything to say. Ziva grabbed the nearby towel from the nightstand and dabbed the sweat he didn't realize he had off his forehead and cheeks. He then heard a low whine coming from the end of the bed. He looked down to see a German shepherd laying its head on the bed and looking at him.

"Do your rest," she said, "Jet and I will be in the living room if you need us."

Too exhausted to question anything, Tim just nodded his head, got himself comfortable again and closed his eyes.

"Me and Ziva?" Tim wondered to himself, "I guess there's another whatever this is, where we are together. Wow, that is surprising."

"More like unlikely!"

Tim jumped and looked back to see Tony standing in the middle of the bullpen. Except he looked different. He looked off .

Tony had a wide grin on his face, but it stretched much wider than it naturally should, causing his cheeks and mouth to become distorted. He had an impossible amount of dazzling white perfect teeth showing in an even row. His eyes had a bright mischievous glint to them. He was wearing his usual work suit but it was perfectly pressed and seemed to have been made of silk.

"You and Ziva," Tony continued, "you're definitely dreaming McDelirious."

"You don't think it's ever possible I can be with Ziva?" Tim asked as he looked away from Tony and to his work monitor, which was filled with lines of words he couldn't make out.

"Pleeeaase. You have to be a real man to attract Ziva. A man of action. A man who is sauce and classy yet tough and competent. A man who trains to fight everyday instead of a nerd who plays video games everyday."

"You mean someone like you?"

"Well yeah. Is there a more obvious choice than yours truly? You gotta be someone who has a good track record in the dating game and unfortunately your record isn't exactly putting you in a good light."

"And I'm sure yours is still spotless even after Jeanne?"

Tony's eyes lost its glint and anger flashed through them momentarily before the glint returned. His grin did not waiver the whole time.

"It's nothing short of a miracle you were able to get married to Delilah," Tony responded, "I'll admit you did something right there. You were smart to get her to fall in love with you before I met her. I'll stay out of this one McGoo, though I would be saving you a lot of heartbreak. And you think I don't help out my little probie."

"Whatever you say Tony," Tim replied as he tried to dismiss Tony. He turned to his work but somehow he could not read what was on the screen.

"BUT," Tony said loudly, "I'm gonna put my foot down on you dating the boss's daughter. Now you are getting too big for your pocket protectors. Although I must give credit where credit is due. Swooping in when a girl is most vulnerable, after a bad break-up? That is some fine work probie."

"Seriously, Tony?"

"But she is still a young naïve little thing. She's gonna need a real man in her life and face it McLoser, you still have a long way to go. You gotta be a special man to be able to date the daughter of the legendary Leroy Jethro Gibbs and who better than the very Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo, someone he sees as a son."

Tim rolled his eyes as he tried hard to not be baited into engaging with Tony.

"As it is probie," Tony continued, "you are gonna be in big trouble when Gibbs and Abby find out about your fling with Kelly."

"How does Abby have any say in this?" Tim asked, finally looking up from the screen.

"HOW DARE YOU MCGEE?!"

Tim flinched at the loud shrill words filling the bullpen. Seemingly appearing from nowhere, Abigail Scuito stomped into the bullpen, except she didn't look like the Abby that Tim last remembered.

Her makeup was seemingly caked on. Instead of her usual pale skin, it was white with layers of black on her eyes, cheek and lips. Her hair was tied up high in her signature pigtails but somehow they seemed fake, as if she took the hair off a doll and put it on her own head. She wore a black mini-dress filled with lace, spikes, chains and skull decorations covering every inch of it. Her hands, that she had planted firmly on her hips, had an impossible amount of rings, with spiked or studded wristbands up and down her wrists and forearms. Where her skin was exposed, she had more tattoos than he remembered her having.

"How can you say that my opinions don't matter?" She screeched.

"Abby, I didn't say your-" Tim tried to say but was interrupted.

"After everything I've done for you? I got you your job, mister! One word to Gibbs and I can have you fired in a snap," Abby snapped her fingers for emphasis, "but this is how you repay me? By risking your job by cheating on me with that little slut?"

"Hey! Hold on Abby-"

"First you shot and killed an innocent dog, then you cheat on me and disrespect Gibbs, and now you are saying my opinions don't matter. You are such a bad McGee!"

Abby pointed a finger directly at Tim as she said that.

"Bad bad McGee!"

"ABBY," Tim exclaimed. He was standing now, ready to tell Abby off when a third familiar voice stopped him dead.

"Hey! What's going on here?"

Coming from the opposite where Abby did, appeared Gibbs, looking like his usual self except his face seemed even more stone like. Sterner than usual, the lines on his face were very sharp. All of it in an angry murderous expression directed at Tim.

"Gibbs, I-" Tim started but was interrupted by Abby yelling over him.

"Gibbs, Gibbs, Gibbs," Abby said, sounding almost like a child, "McGee said my opinions don't matter! That I don't matter!"

"what?" Gibbs exclaimed.

"No, I didn't-" Tim tried again.

"He also talked back to me when I tried to give him an order," Tony added as his eyes danced with mischief.

"Tony-"

"First you go behind my back and defile my daughter," Gibbs cut in, not letting Tim speak, "then insubordination against a superior officer and now you insult Abby and say she doesn't matter?"

"Gibbs-"

"This will not stand! You will stay at your desk until I find somebody more competent to take over your field work."

Behind Gibbs, a soft high-pitched chuckle came from Tony but he and his grin were unmoving.

"No, you can't," Tim tried again, feeling desperate .

"And I order you to break up with my daughter," Gibbs continued, "I will order her to do the same."

"NO! Gibbs, you can't!"

"ENOUGH! I will not put up with your incompetence any more!"

"Gibbs-"

"Bad McGee!" Abby interjected.

"No."

"Too bad, McLoser," Tony added.

"Wait."

"Incompetent!" "Loser." "Bad McGee!"

"Stop." McGee said, his voice cracking with emotion."

"INCOMPETENT! "LOSER." "BAD MCGEE!"

"Stop!"

"INCOMPETENT! LOSER. BAD MCGEE!"

"STOP!"

It's at that moment that Tim noticed the three were suddenly a lot bigger, towering over him, and their voices now coming all around him instead of their mouths.

"INCOMPETENT! LOSER. BAD MCGEE!"

"Stop it," Tim begged, tears now going down his face.

Their voices now inside his head, repeating over and over as the bullpen got darker and closed in on him.

"INCOMPETENT! LOSER. BAD MCGEE!"

"Stop it!"

"Tim?"

Tim looked around desperately for Delilah, recognizing her voice.

"Delilah."

"Tim?"

This time it was Kelly's voice that called out.

Tim looked around the bullpen but could not find her either. There was nothing but darkness beyond the cubicle walls. Outside the windows, he couldn't see usual night time scenery but more darkness and nothing.

"INCOMPETENT! LOSER. BAD MCGEE!"

Tim jumped in surprise, the voices scaring him. He turned around in circles looking for somewhere to run, but the voices of Gibbs, Toby and Abby were starting to hurt his head. His tears now flowed down his face and his vision was becoming distorted.

"INCOMPETENT! LOSER. BAD MCGEE!"

His breathing got heavy as he started to panic. His head felt full and each syllable of the voices pounded into his head.

"INCOMPETENT! LOSER. BAD MCGEE!"

He closed his eyes, clutched his head and crouched on the ground, at a loss at what to do.

Suddenly he felt a hand touch his shoulder, causing him to jump up. When he opened his eyes though, he could tell he wasn't in the bullpen anymore but what he saw instead confused him.

It was like he had double vision: in one eye he could see Delilah and their bedroom behind her. In the other, he saw Kelly over him, and his old apartment bedroom in the background. Both were just off to the side that he had to turn his head to get a good look at either of them

"Tim?"

"Tim?

Both of them spoke at the same time which only caused him to become more disoriented. He closed his eyes and reached out, grasping both their hands to help steady himself. The voices of his coworkers, that persisted when he woke up, were now distant echoes, slowly faded away, though too slowly for his liking.

When he was able to get his breathing under control and his heart rate to slow down, he opened his eyes. This time, all he saw was Kelly looking at him, his old apartment bedroom the only place he was in.

"It's okay Tim," Kelly said soothingly, "it was just a bad dream. You're fine now."

Tim nodded his head in response as he took a deep breath.

"Here, let me just…" Kelly said as she reached for the nearby towel on the nightstand and dabbed his face, " you're covered in sweat."

"Please don't leave me," Tim said desperately before he could stop himself.

"I'm not going anywhere babe. I'll be right here until you are feeling better."

Feeling relieved that that's how she interpreted, Tim sighed and laid back, feeling sleep sneaking up on him again.

"I love you," he said, loud enough for her to hear."

"I love you too Tim," Kelly replied, grabbing his hand and smiling warmly.