MtF7

Kelly had heard her father's voice as he burst into her grandfather's house, looking for her. She knew her dad would figure out where she had left to. That he would figure out where she was staying. She was still so mad at him too, but she was also relieved. If he was here; then the op was over and Tim was safe. She believed that he cheated on her, but she was also still in hopelessly in love with him.

Her eyes were now in a constant state of puffiness and she still felt a heaviness that refused to leave her. But she was all cried out now and had been for two days. Last night she had had some really sobering, gut-wrenching, heartbreaking thoughts. What if Abby had been lying to her? Manipulating her and gaslighting her, just like she use to try to do to Tim and to a lesser extent, Tony. Would Tim really cheat on her? He hadn't seemed the type to cheat and he had been horrified by Ethan's actions. No, Abby wouldn't lie about something this extreme, especially because it would irk her dad. A man that Abby adored. What about the evidence Abby had shown her? She had photographic evidence, too. Evidence that had been convincing.

In her grandfather's home, the walls were paper thin, as was the floor and you could hear everything that was said like it was said in surround sound. Ten times over. She lay on the mat, in her bedroom with her ear to the ground and listened, as her heart hurt. Listened to how her Dad told him that they had been on assignment and returned to Kelly, gone. Listened to her father tell her Grandpa how bereft Tim was to find her gone. How he had been missing her and craving her presence so he could get a full night's sleep. Kelly had even heard how her father had personally overseen their operation and that nothing even remotely untoward had occurred. That he had been just as shaken by the accusations against Tim, as what Tim was, himself.

Hearing her father's declaration, she threw a robe on, over her sweats. She fastened the tie on the waist, as she made her way down the old staircase with a creak in the step on the fourth and seventh step. She hovered in the hallway, by the living room, where her father and grandfather were sitting. Kell listened as her father explained that Gibbs had to almost literally pour the young man into the recliner, after his adamant refusal to sleep in their bed while Kelly was not there. That he wouldn't sleep there again, until she was home because they had an agreement to never go to bed angry at one another.

"I just don't understand what would make Kelly think that Tim would ever cheat on her." Gibbs sighed out loud in a frustrated huff, straight into his coffee mug. "I can't believe that Kelly thinks that I would condone any man, even Tim, cheating on her. Like I would give them a free pass for it. Damn Ethan's lucky that when he did the deed and cheated on Kelly, that hotter heads prevailed.

"Obviously, Kelly had her reasons for believing, what she does." Jackson sympathised with his son. "Our girl is usually fairly level headed."

"Not when it comes to love, she's not." Gibbs retorted at him."When it comes to love she thinks with her heart and ovaries, not her head."

Jackson was taken aback by his son's statement, but he supposed that his son knew better. She was his daughter and he saw a lot more of her than he did.

"What about the photographic evidence?" Kelly asked, angrily. She stormed into the living room and began pacing in front of the fireplace. "Abby came to me and showed me the photos, Dad. Tim was doing ... things to her. Things he's done to me ... Private things. Things that happen behind closed doors. Things that... Things that he told me, he's never done with or to anyone else before. She told me that you already knew about what they were getting up to."

"What. Exactly. Did. Abby. Show. You?" Gibbs asked slowly, in a pained, hissed voice. He couldn't believe the nerve of the lab rat. She had majorly crossed the line. He wouldn't even try to help her this time. How dare she?! "Tell me, exactly what happened from the start."

"I was at the diner minding my own business, when Abby sat down. She said she was picking you guys up some food." Kelly began, as the look on her father's face encouraged her to sit. She was making Gibbs dizzy, pacing back and forth. "She asked if she could meet me at the apartment in an hour. I told her that would be fine. She had something to show me. When she arrived she told me to refill my wine glass and sit beside her. She had her laptop open and the photos were already up on the screen."

"Did she say anything else? Anything about the operation, itself?" Gibbs asked, as he began to ponder what else his lab rat had said. Who else had she spoke with? Did she inadvertently spill the beans about the op? This op was classified, she shouldn't have been telling anyone, anything about it.

"Just that Tim and Ellie had deviated from the operation plan and they had a neighbour take boudoir photos of them. Then she showed me the photos." Kelly replied to her dad. She watched as his face got red and more red. He looked like he was going to explode with anger.

"Nothing like that happened, baby. I promise you that." Gibbs said, moving to sit on the coffee table and offer her a hug. "Tim was nothing but a perfect gentleman. They had to kiss once. It was chaste, close-mouthed kiss. It was on the corner of her mouth, not even on her actual lips. That is as far as they went. Do you really believe I would side with any man that hurt you? Even if they were a member of my team. You're my daughter, I love you."

"Abby said 'she didn't want to cause trouble', though. When I saw those photos, I felt like my heart got yanked out of my chest and ripped in half." Kelly said in a small voice. Kelly was kicking herself for getting sucked in by Abby. She hadn't been going to believe her but when she had shown Kelly the photos, she had taken one look at the people, she saw the content and blew her fuse, internally. "The photos looked so real, though."

"Oh, I have no doubt that she wanted to cause trouble between you and Tim, honey." Gibbs quipped at her. "I am beginning to see what she is really like. See her through Tim's eyes. I don't like what I see. Kell, come back to DC. Back to Tim, he didn't do anything wrong and you guys love each other."

"Oh no, Dad!" Kelly cried out, realising how hurt and heartbroken Tim must be. "TIM!" She couldn't believe how she had let herself be manipulated by Abby. How Abby had used her to hurt Tim. To get her ultimate revenge on him and use her in the process.

"Ducky's with him, Baby." Gibbs explained, in a soothing tone as he held her close. "He's going to be OK, Ducky won't let him do anything stupid."

"I'm going home!" she suddenly declared, standing up and breaking free of her father's embrace. "I have to go, right now."

"Baby, just wait until tomorrow, we can drive back together, convey style." Gibbs suggested to his daughter. He had been expecting this since he saw the realisation of what Abby had done, dawn in his daughter's eyes. "He'll be OK with Ducky, until you get there tomorrow."

"No Dad, I miss him. I have to go now." Kelly argued, as she attempted to make her way up the stairs, to pack her things. "I haven't been sleeping well without him and I am so tired."

"All the more reason to wait until morning, to drive back to Georgetown." Gibbs said gently. "Driving when you're tired is dangerous."

"Kell, honey, it's nearly dinnertime." Jack said, placing his hand on her arm to stop her. "You and your Pops can stay here the night and drive back in the morning. Tonight, after dinner, you give that man of yours a ring and tell him you're sorry, you still love him and want him back. Then you get a good night's sleep and you can drive back to Georgetown with a clear head. You got that?!"

"Sure Grandpa." she smiled at him and leaned over and kissed his cheek. Kelly couldn't wait until after dinner, like her grandfather suggested. She was antsy and when she threatened to drop the plate for the their time, Jack smiled at her and told her to go and sit down, to sit for dinner. They didn't need her help. Her father was readying the fireplace to grill the steak, as she went back into the living room. Her cell phone in hand. "Don't call him now baby, dinner's almost ready."

"What did I tell you about calling me, baby?" Kelly asked, rhetorically. "Tim is the only one who calls me baby, now. Remember?"

"You'll always be my baby." Gibbs cooed softly, singing the lyrics to an old country song. He looked at her, before turning serious. "Make sure you remember that I have been the one by your side, and it's been a hell of a lot longer than Tim has. I've loved you, unconditionally. I've-

"So has Tim." Kelly reminded her father with a knowing grin. "He loves me wholly and unconditionally."

"I've treasured you, I am been blessed to have you in my life." Gibbs finished, letting his daughter speak.

"So has Tim. He tells me that I am a blessing every day." Kelly said at her father, blushing. "Tells me how much he loves me and how blessed he is that we met, that he loves me and has me in his life. Dad, the man's not like you and me, he's an atheist."

"Tell me again, why you believed Abby?" Gibbs quipped at her and Kelly tossed a cushion from the sofa at him, deliberately missing him and the fireplace.

"Ass." Kelly muttered, mostly to herself. "You should have bought him with you. We could have already made up."

"To listen to you two making up on that sofa, while I am trying to get the fire ready to grill those steaks for dinner. No thank-you." Gibbs complained. She had a point, but he didn't want to make things worse. He had already done something he promised himself he would never do again. He stuck his nose in and got involved. But on this occasion, he felt he had to. He couldn't believe what had been written about Tim. Gibbs knew it in his bones that Tim was a loyal man, a truthful man and that he would never cheat on his daughter. Not only was Gibbs watching from the bullpen, but he could see how progressively more tired Tim was becoming each day, without Kelly by his side. "One more night away from the man isn't going to kill you. Now go get the steaks from Jack."

After a brief dinner in which she barely touched, her stomach was all tied up in knots. She was nervous about the call. She wondered if he would forgive her. Wondered if he would really take her back. It was after third time she swirled her drink with her straw that Jackson put a stop to it. "Go call him Kell, go sort it out already. Your Pops will wrap up your plate and you can eat it afterwards. Everything will feel more settled after you talk to each other."

When Kelly raced upstairs needing to make her call to Tim in privacy, Jackson grinned at his son. "We did OK with her, Leroy. But if that boy doesn't take her back, she's going to be heartbroken all over again. When you came in and she realised that what that Abby woman had done, that was the happiest I have seen her since she arrived. She was a mess when she got here. So much worse than when her and Ethan split. It was so bad, I had to get Cal to watch the store and take care of her. If she came to me, I figured that you must have been away on assignment."

Both men heard Kelly laugh and assumed, that everything must be going well between the couple. "I think this shook me so hard because she truly believed that I would take Tim's side over hers." Gibbs admitted to his father.

"You like the boy, a lot then?" Jack asked, watching his son's reaction. "I mean Kelly told me he was one of your agents. One of the ones that came down here with you on that case of yours, but it was so long ago. Honestly, I was more focused on how you were doing, back then. You hadn't been back to Stillwater since you lost that beautiful wife of yours."

"It was a tough case." Gibbs admitted to his father and briefly wondered why they were suddenly getting along now, when they had done nothing but fight and argue with his father, since his mother died. "Tim was the agent with Ziva, who you met first."

"The polite boy?" Jackson asked his son, enjoying the fact that he and his son hadn't had a single argument or fight since his son burst into his home a few hours ago. "The tall, skinny one who looked like he needed a good feed. He drank coffee like you."

"He's a good kid and a good agent. Most important, he's good to her." Gibbs smiled at his father, thinking back to how Kelly and Tim met and the journey they had been on so far. "Kelly didn't have an easy time of it. But then again, neither did Tim. From the moment they met, sparks were flying. He's a great kid. The situation was tough in the beginning. They were very good friends first and I think that helped them get their act together. They're good for each other."

"Sounds like you more than like the boy. He sounds like the son you never had." Jack offered up to his son, gauging his reaction. All the way back then, Jackson Gibbs had actually suspected that his male agents were like sons to him.

"Kelly plays her cards right and he'll be my son in-law." Gibbs grinned at his father. "How would you feel about that? Grandfather of the bride?"

Jackson watched as Leroy slapped himself across the back of his own head. He had seen his son do it to his agents, especially the Italian skirt-chasing one, but he had never seen it his son do it to himself. "What the hell was that for?"

"Getting ahead of myself." He grinned at Jack's reaction. "Everyone has told me not to get that far ahead of myself. In the beginning, I was more invested in the two of them having a relationship and getting together than they were. Remember how Shannie and I were? Before I lost her. They remind me of me and Shannie"

Kelly never came back down stairs, that night and when the noise upstairs died down and they couldn't hear any voices, the two older men went upstairs to investigate. They found Kelly, sleeping peacefully on her bed, her phone tucked in, under ear. Gibbs picked up the phone, which showed an open phone line with Tim. "You there, Tim?" Gibbs asked, into the phone, only to be met with small snuffing noises. The small snuffing noises he recognised as Tim sleeping, from years of sharing rooms with him on out of town cases and more recently, his hospital stays.

Smiling, he disconnected the call, as he manoeuvred Kelly underneath the duvet, plugged her phone into the charger and turned out the light.

Gibbs was startled awake by the running of the shower at 0500, he groaned as he stretched himself out in the double bed that occupied his boyhood bedroom. Gibbs remembered why he never stayed here now, his back was aching and he made his way downstairs for Tylenol and coffee, not in that order. He was sure to tiptoe, not knowing if his father was awake yet and knowing exactly which stairs creaked. "Morning, I take it you need this?" his father asked him, handing him a cup of hot, black, military-style coffee. His father was former army and drank coffee like him, hot, black and strong, not as strong as Marine coffee, but still strong. Overall, it would tie him over until he got back to his house, Tim and Kelly's apartment or to Elaine's.

"Yes." Gibbs said graciously, taking the cup and inhaling the scent. "Dad, you didn't need to cook breakfast. Kell and I could have gotten something to eat, on the road."

"Oh, hush yourself Leroy." Jackson chastised his son. "It's the first time in almost thirty years the three of us have spent the night under this roof. Of course, I am going to cook breakfast for my family. I take it our girl is awake."

"Already in the shower." Gibbs answered, popping two Tylenol in his mouth. "I guess she's eager to get home and see him." Gibbs whistled at Sharni, who was asleep in the corner of the kitchen to follow him out in to the yard.

Kelly came in with a spring in her step and a smile on her face. She smiled at her grandfather making her a plate of pancakes and bacon and kissed her father's cheek, as she went for the coffee pot. "Sit." Jack admonished, seeing her duffer bags were already packed and waiting by the door. "Eat!"

After breakfast was eaten and Gibbs had done the clean up, the three generations of Gibbs said goodbye to one another. Jackson reminded both of them that they were always welcome here, before he promised to visit them in DC soon. "Drive safely." He called out as his son's truck left first, followed by his granddaughter's little red Mazda.

The convoy of the two cars made exactly one stop, for coffee and a bathroom break. Kelly watched as her father pulled in and collected Leon from the side of the road, near a service centre, as they weren't too far from home, but she couldn't wait. She was in a hurry to get home, to Tim. She pulled up in her usual parking spot, in the underground park, hoisted her belongings onto her shoulders and secured her dog, before making their way into the elevator.

She knocked on the door and impatiently couldn't wait any longer. She tried the door handle and was surprised to find it unlocked. Tim was usually so good about locking it. She lowered the bags from her shoulders in a heap, as she rushed inside.

Kelly came rushing through the apartment door, abandoning her bags in the doorway, as she ran straight into Tim's arms, pushing him through the door he had just came out of. Back into the kitchen. "I'm so sorry, baby." She said, muffled into his shirt, as Tim's strong arms surrounded her in her lover's embrace. "God, I love you. I was so stupid to listen to her."

"I love you too, Kell." Tim replied in a whisper, as he pulled her closer and bent down to capture her lips in a kiss.

To Tim, it had felt like an eternity, since he had kissed these lips last. He slid his hands up the length of her back, skimming her neck and into her hair. The back of her head fit perfectly in the palms of his hands, his fingers spearing, carding through her hair as she moved her head slightly to get a better angle. His lips urged hers apart and his tongue slid wetly into her mouth. His hands travelled back down her body, as they took in every shape and every curve of her body.

Finally they came to rest on her hips as her hands began moving of their own accord. Roaming his body, hotly, as she re-familiarised her hands with her lover's body. Kelly knew she was going to need air some time soon, as she felt his velvety tongue caress hers and invite it to tango.

Soon their tongues were battling for dominance, as Tim moved his hands further south, hoisting her up by the back of her thighs and depositing her on the edge of the island bench. His hands toyed with the hem of her shirt as her hands were already working on the tiny buttons of his European cut shirt.

Their kisses and touches began heating up, as Kelly got Tim's shirt unbuttoned and continued to plunder her mouth against his, as her hands left his body to make work of the cuffs of his sleeves. Kelly let her legs wrapped themselves around his denim clad legs, locking them at her ankles, pulling him closer to her. Tim's hand working on opening her pants.

Gibbs had detoured to pick Leon up from the service centre where he had dropped his car. When they arrived back at Tim and Kelly's, Gibbs bit back a feral grin at the sight of Sharni on the sofa, harness and leash still attached to her, the front door wide open. Kelly's duffle bags looked as if they had been haphazardly dumped in the doorway.

Leon retrieved the bags from the doorway and closed the front door, while Gibbs made light work of removing the dog's harness and leash. "Should we call for back up?" Leon asked Gibbs, concerned. No matter what Leon knew of the situation, he couldn't imagine Tim being so careless that he would leave the front door wide open.

Gibbs smirked at his friend and shook his head no. Gibbs called out, as he made his way into the kitchen. "If you're not out of that bedroom, by the time the coffee is done, we're... - Oh My God!"

Kelly and Tim guiltily broke apart. Tim's shirt was on the floor, Kelly's shirt was on top of it. Her cami tossed over the back of the breakfast bar stools. Tim's denim jeans open and Kelly's jeans were shimmied incredibly low on her hips, her backside partially visible, as well as the back of her pink lacy G-string. Tim's hand inside her panties stroking and caressing her intimate centre. Kelly's hand had pulled him free, her hands working on his hardened sex, pumping him.

Before either of them could yell at Gibbs to get out, he had retreated back to the living room. Faster than the speed of light. They were silent for a whole thirty seconds before they burst out, into laughter. Tim chastely kissed Kelly's lips. As they removed each other's hands from one another's body. They rested their foreheads against one another in a sigh. A sigh of relief, that they were together again. A sigh of frustration at the untimely intrusion.

Out in the living room, Leon had to turn his back from Gibbs, swallow his laughter and smother his smirk, as Gibbs had retreated from the kitchen faster than he'd ever seen the team leader move before. Gibbs' face was beet red, something that the Director would have sworn was impossible for the older man. "Everyone OK in there?" Leon managed to ask with a straight face. He thought that his question was an Oscar-worthy performance, if he did say so, himself.

Gibbs felt mortified. He was beyond embarrassed. He had seen Kelly in a compromising position before, but Tim was always the picture of decorum; the perfect gentleman. But not like that. Tim, he's always so well put together. The definition of decorum and his hand was in her ... It was bad enough that Gibbs thought he would never be able to look at senior field agent or his daughter in the eye, again. It was made all the more humiliating by knowing that Leon had witnessed the incident. "More than OK." Gibbs managed to get out in a strangled voice. He had not expected to for them to have gotten that far, he'd only been four minutes behind Kelly. Just long enough that Gibbs had pulled over, let Leon get in and pull back out in to traffic. Hearing laughter coming from the kitchen, Gibbs called out in his best team leader voice. "Hey, clothes on, don't take more off, in there!"

Leon let a smirk grace his face. "Poor Jethro, are you traumatised?" he asked his friend in a mockingly condescending voice.

"No amount of bourbon is going to make me unsee what I just witnessed. It's burned into my retina's." Gibbs grumbled to his friend, rubbing his eyes. The ringing of the doorbell, had Gibbs moving to the door, Sharni under his feet. "Sit! Stay! Good girl."

Gibbs answered the door, surprised to see Ducky on the other side of it. "Ah hello Jethro. Welcome home." Ducky said cheerfully, as he came in the open door. Two large brown paper bags with groceries in hand. "I just popped out to the market for a few necessities for the young couple. I'll just go pop these away."

"I'd wait a minute, Duck." Gibbs grimaced, as he stopped his friend with an arm on his. Gibbs implored his friend with a look and hoped that the good doctor had understood what he was trying to convey with the look.

"Oh hello, Director." Ducky added, just noticing Leon, as Gibbs took the bag from the good doctor. "I take it the young couple are saying hello in the kitchen."

"Hello Ducky." Kelly greeted him, as she and Tim joined them in the living room, both fiddling with the final buttons on their shirts. Leon smirked as he noticed that Gibbs couldn't meet either of their eyes and Tim was struggling to meet Gibbs'.

With more pleasantries exchanged, Tim took the bags and thanked Ducky, as the older man handed his friend back his credit card. "Well, If I am not required here, any longer... "

"Actually, please stay Doctor Mallard." Vance all but begged the man. "We will require your professional opinion. We need to discuss what should be done with Miss Sciuto."