TWO MONTHS LATER

Two months later and it was Tim's final day on the team. After much consideration and discussion, Tim had accepted a new job. Even though he had received countless offers every year, none had ever been enough to tempt him away from NCIS. But Kelly's company suddenly transferred her away from NCIS and the Navy Yard in Washington DC. She would now be working out of the FBI building in New York City. An external trainer who was currently attached to a FBI task force. But she could still make it work, as it was a part time position and she had been negotiating a book deal to write her first book based on her career as an analyst.

Tim had realised shortly into his recovery period that he didn't want a long-distance relationship with Kelly. He wanted the real deal. They were in love and their relationship had only gone from strength to strength during his recovery. It hadn't taken long until Kelly had begged Tim to move into her townhouse in Tacoma Park. So, he had. When the news of Kelly's job broke, Kelly had told him as soon as she had gotten in the door. When she had finished telling Tim the news, he had kissed her and asked, "Where are we going?" It had been as simple as that.

They'd discussed every avenue, listed the pros and cons of Tim joining her. There had been graphs, charts, Venn diagrams, lists and when all that had been compiled, Tim had gone to Vance. Leon Vance had been anticipating a visit from the tech agent, as soon as he had learnt about Kelly's transfer from the Navy Yard. It hadn't taken a rocket scientist, or even a genius to see that the young couple were head over heels in love with one another. He had seen it that fateful day in his office and in every instance, he had seen them together since.

Vance had requested twenty-four hours and had immediately put the feelers out within their industry, despite being reluctant for McGee to leave the agency. But NCIS did not have an office in New York. Only in Rhode Island, and that was a three hour commute each way. Not very practical for Tim.

The Director had returned twenty-four hours, with a surprising number of offers. But in the end, Tim had chosen a mentor position with the CGIS, from his own personal offers. A part time job that was ample to cover their financial needs and gave Tim to focus on his own writing. He had already published two successful novels and was working on the third and final book of the series. He had been inspired by Kelly's drive to write her own piece of her career and had chosen to follow in her footsteps and write his own, as well. He had the education, the degrees, the doctorate and the know-how, he had the publishing contacts, and he had the drive to succeed, so why not?

He just had to pick the perfect case to start out with. That was when they went to Gibbs and Shannon and let them in on the latest developments. Tim had dreaded telling Gibbs, especially since the two of them had been on such good terms of late. But Gibbs, albeit disappointed, had understood, when it came to Tim wanting to follow Kelly to New York. It had hurt, to let his agent go, but it had made him happy to know that Tim would be there to help Kelly settle in, be there for her and to look out for her. Shannon had reminded him that it would also give their relationship a chance to flourish away from NCIS. Gibbs had feared that it would be too much of a test for them.

Kelly had needed to be in New York a lot sooner than Tim. So, they took the following weekend and flew into New York to nail down an apartment. Which they did ... Kind of. They managed to snag a modest three-bedroom Brownstone in Brooklyn for a surprisingly good price. It wasn't too far from either of their offices. The house did have three living areas, but Kelly quickly claimed the smallest and more formal living room, as her office. While Tim took one of the bedrooms on the upper level of the house as his own office. The other bedroom they took an immense amount of pleasure in decorating it, knowing that it would be their guest room. While their bedroom, would have their furniture from their Tacoma Park home.

Gibbs, Shannon, Ducky, Jimmy, Ziva and Leon had helped the couple pack and load everything up into the moving vans, ready for their move. Tony and Tim flew into New York to meet them and helped the movers with their belongings that had been delivered, just before the beginning of his last week at NCIS. Tim still had a week left in DC, and Shannon had moved Tim into Chez Gibbs, for the duration, rather than a hotel. Despite his insistence that a hotel would be ok.

The news of Tim's departure from NCIS had made their way through the agency like wildfire. Some personnel speculated that Gibbs had demanded his resignation over his relationship with Kelly. Others had insisted that Vance had terminated him from his job after his relationship with Kelly Gibbs had been brought into the spotlight. A few brave individuals had even argued that Tim had issued Vance with an ultimatum. Him or Gibbs?

The truth was much simpler. He and Kelly loved each other, and they had been ready to take the next step when Kelly's unexpected transfer had come through.

On the outside, Abby had taken the news of his relationship with Kelly cautiously. On the inside, she had been seething. Angry that Tim hadn't waited for her to want him, once more. Furious that Tim seemed to no longer worship the ground she walked on and worried about who would be able to fill the role he'd suddenly vacated in her life. Because as soon as she had learnt of it, she had been palpable with anger and indignation that Kelly and Tim had not consulted her, before 'selfishly' starting their relationship. Everyone had told her to smarten up, that it had been unbecoming. Out of everyone at NCIS, shockingly, it had been Tony who had made her reluctantly admit, Kelly and Tim were a good couple. Tony, who had made Abby realise that was reacting nastily.

In a strange twist of fate, the person who was least surprised by Tim's move to follow Kelly, was Shannon. She had seen how worried Kelly had been at the hospital the day when everything had come to a head, when they'd all been in protective custody. Tim had meant everything to her. That was the moment she knew they were serious about one another.

The best thing to come out of that case, was that Tony and Ziva had decided to start an honest relationship and were growing from strength to strength also. Ziva had transferred to the middle East desk, after their first week back in DC because she found that she couldn't concentrate with Tony across the bullpen from her. Which had suited Gibbs fine. He had been hesitant in accepting that relationship too, because he knew what Tony's reputation had said about him. He didn't want Ziva hurt, or worse, killing Tony when he would eventually mess up. But, so far, so good and they were happy together.

Shockingly, perhaps in the biggest twist of all, was that Tony had not even argued with Tim when he had made the announcement that he would be following on to CGIS as a training instructor on a part time basis. That with his new job, it had allowed him lots of time to write and to work on other projects. He had hugged him, congratulated him and offered to always be a friendly ear on the other end of the phone.

In the weeks and months that had followed Kelly Gibbs and Tim McGee's departure from NCIS, Leon Vance had subtly been keeping abreast of their achievements in a professional capacity. He regularly heard from both Agent Borin and the CGIS Director of McGee and his achievements. Both women had nothing but the highest praise for his former agent. He had also heard about the book that Agent Timothy McGee had been working on - Unsolved Mysteries. The NCIS legal department and DOD keep him up to date there, as Tim had chosen the Pretoria Jewel Heist as one of the cases for his book. It was an old NCIS cold case, and he'd had to consult with their agents on multiple occasions. Surprisingly, Leon had also heard from the FBI Director as well, regarding McGee. Tim had worked a couple of joint cases and ops with them, and Director Thomasson from the FBI had been extremely impressed with the former NCIS agent.

Of course, Gibbs and Shannon kept him up to date on a personal nature of what the couple were up to. Mostly from Gibbs. He would comment that 'the kids', as he would call them had been home for the weekend. Or the kids travelled here, went there. They did this, or they did that. Ducky would chime in on occasion that he had seen them at this charity event or that gala dinner. He'd hear Tony tell anyone who'd listen that he and Ziva had done this or done that with Tim and Kelly. Occasionally, Tim would pop his head in and say hello, if he was in the building, within a professionally capacity too, which was nice.

One day, almost a year later, Leon had unceremoniously slumped into the chair behind his desk. He had been in budget meetings all day, and just made it into the office. Pamela was always so good at sorting his mail and dealing with it accordingly, that unless it was urgent, he wouldn't see it until he needed too. But Pamela had left last week to go on maternity leave. That had left him with a temp, Andy. He wasn't as careful and diligent as Pamela had been, nor did he screen his mail. Leon however, had been surprised when a yellow padded envelope had caught his eye, amidst the stack of mail waiting to be sorted.

He didn't recognise the company, but it was a New York based company and the postmark was from Manhattan. Ripping it open carefully, he emptied the contents onto the desk. It was a hard covered book.

An introspective analysis into criminal cases and how to solve them by Dr Timothy McGee and Mrs Kelly McGee.

Opening the book, inside there was A5 card, made of a heavy stock, also. It was embossed with gold calligraphy and underneath was a small, printed image. Tossing the book aside, he studied the card intently.

Nothing fancy, just us:

Timothy McGee and Kelly Gibbs have eloped.
They said I do whilst on vacation in Maui, last month.
Please join them for a small celebration
at the Gibbs family home in Alexandria on
Saturday at 6pm.

Just your presence is required, no presents.

Underneath the gold announcement and invitation was a photo. Kelly in a soft, white maxi dress, long beach curls, sun kissed skin and bare feet. Tim in a white button-down shirt, untucked, messy and loosely buttoned, sleeves rolled up. Cream chinos rolled up and bare feet. Kelly in his arms, bridal style. One hand on Tim's shoulder, the other on his face. Her gold ring glistening in the low lights of the sunset behind them, while the incoming tide lapped at their feet.

Leon leaned back in his chair and smiled at the image of the newlyweds. He would be there on Saturday. He leant the card against a silver frame of his family and studied the book, smiling. They had really done it.

Saturday had come and Gibbs' rear yard was decorated tastefully. Hession and lace adorned the extra-large table, with tea candles in mason jars burning brightly. Citronella tiki lamps burn along the edge of the garden. There was a small table with a board of photos, that had depicted the journey of the happy couple's relationship and even a smaller gathering. Everyone who was there, knew everyone else. So, there was no awkward small talk to be had, no stilted conversations with strangers. A large cooler of drinks and catered finger food.

Gibbs wore a smile that could have lit up the whole world, as did Shannon. Tony and Ziva were chatting with Jimmy and Breena over by the outdoor heater. Ducky and Abby were deep in discussion over a conference they had both been a part of the week before. When Leon arrived and looked around, he smiled seeing Pamela, her husband and baby Lucas before heading over to meet his PA's brand-new baby son.

Hearing some noise hollering from the boys, which were quickly joined by the girls, the rest of them looked up as Kelly and Tim let themselves into the rear yard by the side gate. In his best announcer's voice, Tony shouted. "Let's give it up for the newlyweds. Congratulations to Dr and Mrs McGee." Leon grinned widely; with an armful of baby Lucas, he couldn't clap.

Over dinner, the rest of the gathering learnt that Tim had proposed on the beach in Maui and before the day was out, they had decided to just elope. Tim organised for Gibbs and Shannon to join them for the ceremony, knowing Kelly would never get married without her parents there. They had doubled as their witnesses and Shannon had been Tim's best man, while Gibbs had given his daughter to Tim. It had taken place on a Saturday night, and the couple barely kissed and said I do, before Shannon and Gibbs were back on a plane to DC. They had been sworn to secrecy and no one had known that they had even left Virginia.

Almost three hours into the evening, Jimmy had mentioned the book and a new round of congratulations had been shared with the happy couple. "You know that we weren't even planning on writing the book together." Kelly told them, as they all sat around the table in Gibbs' backyard. "When we realised we were putting together the same cases for our respective books, we decided to collaborate. We'd just got married the weekend before and it seemed like a good idea."

"The book is brilliantly done." Ducky grinned at them. He and Gibbs had exchanged grins at how happy they both truly looked.

Ziva had made a delicious lemon and lavender wedding cake, with a vanilla bean butter cream icing that had looked scrumptious. With lots of love and encouragement from the guests gathered, Kelly and Tim cut into the cake. Sharing the first slice, feeding one another. Blissfully happy and kissing one another.

Jimmy and Tony started up a little music and Kelly danced with her husband and then with her dad, while Tim danced with her mom. While the other couples joined them before they all really enjoyed themselves on the makeshift dance floor.

Ducky made the final toast of the night, confessing that he has known they were a couple before anyone else. Having caught the two of them kissing, like teenagers sneaking out of the house.

By Monday morning, everything was back to the new normal and the hoopla had died down. But something was gnawing at Leon, but he didn't know what. It took until Friday evening, just as he was leaving to find out what it was. It came from Gibbs.

Gibbs was taking leave. Not just a single day here or there, but a block eight weeks leave. Gibbs of course had given the appropriate amount of notice to him, seeing as how Gibbs start date for his holidays was five months away.

When Leon enquired with the MCRT team leader to his plans. He smirked at him. "Gotta get ourselves to New York, gonna be a granddad, Leon. Here's hoping Kell doesn't go early." He crossed his fingers and widely grinned at the Director.

Leon Vance had never seen Gibbs look happier in all the time he had known him, than what he did in that moment.

Finished