A/N: Hello y'all, sorry this took so long. Like I said before, life got in the way and I'm not able to write as often as I had hoped. So progress is slow but I am determined to get through all the chapters.

Quick thing, and i cant believe it took me this long to mention it but my friend reminded me of this: in chapter 5, the line "She knows we fuck!" said by Kelly was an actual thing said by my former partner when i mentioned how we should be a little more discrete so her mom wouldn't have an issue with me spending the night in their bedroom. I just knew I had to use the line.

Anywho, this was originally going to be one long chapter but I decided it would be better to split it into two. Hopefully you all enjoy it. I'll try to get the next one up soon.

Chapter 7

Kelly stepped out of the elevator and took a deep breath as she headed to her office. Despite the interesting morning she had, she couldn't help but feel the worry creep into her stomach.

She wished Ziva could have joined her on her way to work but Kelly didn't want to force the special agent to come to work much earlier than she's supposed to. Especially since Ziva needed to go to her apartment first for fresh clothes.

A fleeting thought passed through her mind of her and Tim waking up in Ziva's apartment. She grinned but quickly tucked the thought away. No need to get her hopes up so soon, not until the three can talk first. Which would require Tim being home.

The thought changed her demeanor quickly and the worry pang hit her stomach again.

"Miss Gibbs."

Kelly jumped and turned toward the source of the firm voice calling her. Vance was walking towards her with great stride.

"Perfect timing," he said as he motioned to Kelly to follow him, "I just got word that we are getting a secure call in MTAC. It's coming from the U.S. Marine base in South America."

"Is it related to Alpha Team?" Kelly asked, unable to hide the hope in her voice.

"It didn't say. Just that they were asking for myself and it involved some operatives, which could mean it is them."

When they got inside MTAC, Kelly had to use all her willpower to keep from running to her station and pushing the technician she was relieving out of the chair.

"Call them back," Vance ordered as he stood in front of the main screen.

Kelly typed in the commands and held her breath as the call was made.

Her screen showed the call ringing for a few moments before it turned to a loading screen then finally to the image of someone in Alpha Team tactical gear and a balaclava sitting in a chair at a table with a white brick wall behind them.

Kelly almost gasped upon seeing them. The first thing she noticed were the green eyes looking at them. That told her who it was but she wanted to be absolutely sure it was him and not wishful thinking on her part.

Though when they removed the balaclava, it confirmed it for her. Looking back at them was Timothy McGee. His face was wet with sweat and some dirt but he looked to be no worse for wear.

"Alpha Leader, it's good to see you again," Vance greeted.

"It's good to see you too, Director," Tim replied, sounding tired but relieved.

"What's the status of the team? How is everyone?"

"No fatalities thankfully. We were able to get to Valkyrie before anyone else. She was able to hold back any curious civilians until we reached her. She has a few broken bones and a concussion but she was patched up and is holding up okay. She's currently in the infirmary."

"You were able to get her out? That's good. I'm glad she survived the crash."

"She was very valuable in our escape. Other than that, just some bumps and bruises. Though the team is eager to finally take off their balaclavas and take a shower."

"I bet they are. I'll talk to the base and see about getting you home as soon as possible. Any casualties?"

"Just the guards that tried to stop us and some injured local police. Thankfully we didn't have to shoot any civilians, though a few did get roughed up."

"That's good. I think we can get away with the non-civilians. I'm sure the C.I.A. will be more concerned that the mission was a failure but given the events that happened, we have a good reason. Though I wouldn't be surprised if they somehow had a hand in the civil unrest going on."

"Oh, the mission wasn't a failure, Director. "

"It wasn't, " Vance asked, an eyebrow noticeably rising to his forehead.

"We were able to extract Flores." Tim told him, with no sign of pride in his voice, "He's currently sitting in the brig with a massive headache and a black eye. We would have had the governor too but we had to use him as a distraction to get past the crowds."

"That's real good work, Alpha Leader. I should have known better than to expect anything but the best."

"T-thank you, sir."

"Have your team rest up and get some food and water in them. I'll get you home as soon as possible."

"I can't wait. I'm definitely eager to get home."

Tim's eyes subtly shifted over on the screen and momentarily looked as if he was looking directly at Kelly despite her being unable to be in frame. Kelly felt a warm feeling come over her as well as a blush creep up her face.

Xxx

After Tim hung up, more calls were made and plans were set in place to get the team home.

Kelly stretched out her back as she stepped out of MTAC. Along with sitting for hours, it felt like a great weight was lifted now that she knew Tim and the team were safe. Even if they weren't home yet, they were at least in a safe location.

Walking across the mezzanine, Kelly peered down at the MCRT desks to see Ziva and Tony at work at their desks. Her father seemed to be elsewhere in the building.

An idea popped in her head and she pulled out her phone to type out a text.

"Tim called me this morning after being able to finally charge his phone. He was having engine trouble but says it can be fixed when he gets home. He was able to get to the conference and catch the presentation. He says he should be home sometime tomorrow, traffic willing. I'll keep you updated."

With it typed out, Kelly pushed send and sent it out.

Moments later, she sees Ziva react to her phone pinging. She pulls out her phone and reads the message from Kelly. Kelly saw her face go from curious, to scrunched up confusion, to wide eyed comprehension, to finally a relieved smile.

Ziva then looked up and directly at Kelly as if she knew she was there. Kelly breath hitched in her throat as the agent flashed her a quick grin and turned back to her phone to type a response.

"How does she know?" Kelly wondered internally, "How did Tim know? Well, Tim can be explained but still…"

As she reached the stairs, her phone let out a chime, indicating she received a message. She opened it to see it was Ziva's reply.

"Good! I am so relieved. When he gets home, after he gets some rest, we should celebrate. Perhaps dinner and drinks?"

Kelly grinned as she sent back an affirmative reply.

Not yet ready to return to work just yet, she decided to go into the bullpen and check up on the agents. As she rounded the corner, she heard Tony's voice.

"New boyfriend, Ziva?" he quipped.

"I am sorry?" Ziva asked.

"The way you smiled at your phone after getting a message and texting back can only mean a new relationship. I've seen that smile plenty of times from women I've texted. So do tell, David. Who's the new boy toy?"

"It has nothing to do with a new boyfriend, Tony. I just received some good news, that is all."

"It must be from a guy though, with the way you smiled."

"First of all Tony, it's none of your bees ear wax–

"Just beeswax."

"–and second, it is not just a message from a man that could make me smile. One from a woman would also do it."

Tony's eyes went wide as his brain could almost be seen behind them working overtime.

"That's not what she meant DiNozzo," Kelly interjected before Tony could speak.

"Why hello, miss Gibbs," Tony greeted, "to what do we owe the pleasure of your visit."

"I'm taking a break to stretch from sitting so long and decided to see what you are all up to."

"Well, currently we are just sitting for a long time too," Ziva replied, "We are waiting to hear back from cyber crimes before we can do anything else on the case. Unfortunately it seems like there is a long line ahead of us."

"If double-o McGoo wasn't on his big assignment for the director, he could have already done it for us," Tony interjected, "instead we gotta wait for the nerds downstairs to finish other things first."

"Okay, first of all, Tim is not a spy," Kelly told him, "so double-o doesn't make sense as a reference."

"Yeah, but I couldn't think of anything else to say on the spot. What would work better? Jack Reacher? No, that doesn't fit, that's more Gibbs. Oh, maybe John Wick? Or how about–"

"And second," Kelly interrupted before Tony could get a full head of steam, "Maybe I could help. If you both don't mind?"

"Will you be able to?" Ziva asked, "We are trying to use a suspect's phone location to see where he's been the past weekend."

"Yeah, I should be able to," Kelly said as she Ziva's desk; Ziva stood up to allow the young redhead to take her seat, "I may not have the education Tim has, but I do know my way around a computer or did you forget what I do at NCIS?"

"No, we just haven't seen you in action yet."

"Besides, the only way to be at McM.I.T.s level is to have less than no life," Tony joked.

"You're lucky I'm ignoring you," Kelly replied as her fingers went to work on the keyboard.

The young Gibbs was silent as she focused intently on the screen. Ziva couldn't help but smile as she was reminded of how Tim looked when he concentrated. She was tempted to put her chin on Kelly's shoulder the way she liked to do with Tim.

"Just a few more things and ...there," Kelly announced as she brought up the results onto the main monitor, "it looks like he was in DC all of Saturday then early next day he was in Virginia all day before returning to DC in the evening."

"Virginia?" Tony repeated curiously, "can you zoom in closer to where he was?"

Kelly clicked a few buttons, and the image zoomed to the specific spot of Virginia on the monitor. Tony and Ziva stepped closer to the screen for a better look.

"That is the Scuro's farm," Ziva pointed out.

"Which means he lied about never being there this weekend," Tony added, "he has to be the killer."

"or at least knows who is."

"Well, what do you know? We don't need McGoo to do the tech work. We got a back up nerd right here. He better step up his game."

Kelly narrowed her eyes and gave Tony a glare that threatened to set him on fire.

"I'll uh call Gibbs and let him know," Tony nervously suggested.

"Let me know what?"

Kelly and the two agents looked over to see Gibbs walk into the bullpen, coffee in hand.

"Corporal Jenson lied about not being in Virginia last weekend," Tony informed him, "his phone's GPS puts him on Scuro's farm."

"Grab your gear," Gibbs ordered, "let's go pick him up."

Kelly stood up and went to the center of the bullpen and as the three agents went to their respective desks and got their things. Ziva and Tony were the first to finish and head towards the elevator with Gibbs following shortly after.

"Good job," he said to Kelly before leaning over and kissing her cheek.

Kelly smiled proudly as she watched her dad catch up to his agents and enter the elevator.

Xxx

Later that night, a noise woke up Kelly from her slumber. She was sleeping over at Tim's apartment again and didn't know how long she was out before being woken up.

Realizing it was coming from within the apartment, she groggily got up to see what it was.

She stepped into the living room and jumped slightly to see a human figure in the living room. They were emptying their pockets onto the coffee table unaware of Kelly's presence.

Kelly let out a gasp when she realized who it was, alerting the figure.

"Hey hun," Tim said looking at her, "I'm sorry if I woke you."

Kelly responded by running up to him and throwing herself at his torso in a hug. Tim hugged her back and the two swayed in their embrace.

She then released him and stood on her toes and kissed him, trying to convey how much she missed him. Tim grabbed her face and kissed her back with as much passion.

"Tell me I'm not dreaming," Kelly whispered in-between kisses.

"You're not," Tim answered breathlessly, "you're real….I'm real."

The young couple kissed again fiercely before returning to their tight embrace.

After what seemed like hours, the two released the hug but still held each other in their arms.

"Welcome home," Kelly said, her voice emotional.

"It's good to be home again," Tim replied.

Kelly could see the tiredness in his eyes. He looked ready to fall asleep.

"Come on, let's get you to bed," she told him.

"I should… shower first…. Get cleaned up…. Or maybe not…"

"Quick shower then. I'll help you out."

"Thank you."

Kelly took Tim by the hand and led him into the bathroom where she helped him strip off his clothes.

They had to practically peel off his t-shirt and underwear off his skin.

Once he was fully nude, Kelly took off the slip she was wearing and got nude with him. She turned on the shower, and once it got to the right temperature, she helped Tim step into the bathtub.

Tim let out a deep sigh as the warm water hit his skin. He stood unmoving underneath the stream and could feel the grime already coming off him.

Behind him, Kelly grabbed the body soap and squeezed a dollop onto a bath sponge then proceeded to scrub Tim's back. She made sure to work up a lather as she worked onto every inch.

Tim closed his eyes and stood there, only moving his arms to give her more access as Kelly worked on his arm and shoulders.

Being extra careful at his neck, Kelly studied what was left of the dog bite. It was swollen and looked tender but didn't seem to be any worse for wear. Still, she made a mental note to ask Tim to have Ducky take a look at it.

She reached around his waist to start at his front when Tim grabbed her wrist. He then quickly turned around and pulled her close into an embrace. Kelly let the bath sponge fall from her hand and grasped at his wet skin, returning the hug.

He placed his face against the top of her head as Kelly's face buried into his chest. She closed her eyes and allowed her tears to freely flow out and mix with the shower water as it went down in-between and around where their naked skin touched and down into the bath.

Tim's breathing was deep, as if he fell asleep but he had a firm hold on Kelly as if afraid to let her go.

The two lovers held each other's naked wet body underneath the shower for a long time into the night before either of them made a move.