[Fanfic] All the Right Moves - Chapter Five
Title: All the Right Moves
Show: NCIS
Characters: Tim, Gibbs, Ziva, and Tony
Genre: AU, Drama, Slash
Rating: FR15
Pairings: Gibbs/McGee
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
Challenge: The Boys Wrapped in Plot
Spoilers: Spoilers for characters up to season nine.
Summary: The word ‘Gifted’ is defined as ‘having great special talent of ability.’ But during the mid 21st Century the word gained new meaning as children were discovered to be developing psychic abilities. Tim McGee is a 1st degree technopath, he has managed to keep his gift a secret all of his life...Until Ziva David-Hadar found him.
Chapter Five
The Night Before
“Just a few more steps Tim.”
“Ziva, Ziva! I can make it by myself. I appreciate your help but really I’m fine-”
Tim’s assurances were cut off by a muffled whimper of pain as he attempted to put weight on his ankle. Together they paused, halfway up the stairs to Ziva’s apartment. Tightening her grip around his waist Ziva tried to convince Tim that she could support his weight.
“Tim please, lean on me. The sooner you do that the faster you can lie down and I can check your ankle.”
Sighing Tim did as she asked and the two hobbled the final few steps. Reaching the landing Ziva allowed Tim to lean against the wall as she dug her keys out of an interior pocket of her jacket.
The two had taken off their masks as soon as they gotten down to the street. Together they had stumbled to the car Ziva had stashed for their getaway earlier that day. It had been a harrowing trip, Ziva attempting to keep Tim upright while he kept an eye out for Gibbs and DiNozzo.
The pain in his ankle was a constant worry. Gibbs had seen them jump, DiNozzo had surely seen his less than stellar landing. Surely they would be asking hospitals for men fitting his description admitted with broken ankles. If the ankle was broken he was in trouble. There was no doubt in his mind that Ziva would be able to set it correctly, but they would still need to get a cast.
The door swung open and Tim hobbled inside with a groan of relief. After locking the door Ziva quickly took up her position at his side.
“Can you drive me home after you’ve gotten changed? I don’t trust myself behind the wheel. Damn it!”
Surprised Ziva tightened her grip. Looking at his face though she saw his expression was not one of pain but irritation.
“What is the matter?”
“Sarah.” Tim sighed as they hobbled across the room. Ziva eyed the furniture prospectively, he could not lay comfortably on any of them and still raise his ankle. Subtlety she angled them towards her bed.
“Sarah had a fight with her room mate, she’s staying at my apartment until the two of them make up.” Tim didn’t seem to notice as Ziva lowered him onto her bed. He laid back, wincing as she propped up his ankle with a couple of pillows.
“I can’t let her see me like this. She’d ask questions and I can’t lie to her. She’s already going to be suspicious of me if the papers ever get details about the ‘vigilantes.’ If they publish that one of them is a 1st degree Technopath she will flip out on me. Then she'll call Penny.”
Groaning he threw an arm over his eyes and Ziva used the moment to quickly pick up the bras and underwear thrown on the bed.
“I don’t know what would be worse; Penny scolding me or Penny praising me. It’s just for the best that neither of them know.”
“Then you will simply stay here tonight. I will send Sarah a text message saying you fell asleep after taking inventory. It will be good for you.” She gave him a wicked smile. “She will think we are sleeping together.”
Tim chuckled.
“She already thinks we’re sleeping together. She calls you my ‘creepy hot stalker girlfriend.’” Tim looked around the large apartment. “So where am I going to sleep?”
Ziva grinned.
“On the bed of course! We cannot support your ankle in any of the chairs.”
Tim eyed her suspiciously.
“Then where are you going to sleep?”
“Why, on my bed of course. It is plenty big enough for both of us.”
Tim quickly sat back up, swinging his good leg over the edge of the bed as he fought to rise to his feet.
“Never mind Ziva. I’m gonna just head home anyway. I’ll see you in the morning.”
Ziva frowned, pushing him back onto the bed with hardly any effort.
“Nonsense McGee. You would probably crash your car before getting halfway home.” With an inward smile she put on a pouty expression. “Why do you not want to sleep with me McGee? Is it because I am a woman?”
“Yes it’s because you’re a woman!” Tim was flushed and not meeting her eyes. “Everyone I’ve ever been attracted to before Gibbs was a woman and.” Here he stumbled over his words, looking down at the sheets. “And, I’m still a guy Ziva.”
“That is fine Tim. I will be downstairs long before you wake up and need to deal with any…issues that might have arisen over night.”
Groaning Tim dragged a pillow over his head. Laughing Ziva stretched out beside him, wrapping an arm around his waist. When he didn’t shove her away she rested her head on his shoulder.
“It will be fun Tim. I’ve been told that I am an excellent bedmate and cuddler.”
Three hours later and the loud snores beside him were keeping Tim awake. He laid on his back, staring at the ceiling unable to roll onto his side because of his ankle. Mumbling Ziva turned, taking the majority of the covers with her. Tim resisted the urge to yank them back.
‘Excellent bedmate and cuddler my ass,’ he thought.
Again she tossed in her sleep, turning in bed to face him. Her face was a mask of sorrow. Concerned he reached over to shake her awake. Hearing her voice he paused, hand poised over her shoulder.
“Papa…Tali…”
Again she turned, still mumbling quietly in her sleep. Tim felt his earlier irritation melting away. He remembered what had happened to her father and younger sister. There had been a small side note in her Mossad dossier. It was no wonder she dreamt about them. But would she want him to wake her? Another mumble drew his shocked attention, it had almost sounded like a whimper.
“Ari…please…”
Lightly he touched her shoulder, shaking it slightly.
“Ziva, wake up. You’re snoring too loud for me to sleep.”
Too quickly for Tim to see Ziva turned again, drawing a gun from underneath her pillow. Tim felt the barrel pressing tightly underneath his jaw. Eyes wide he fought to stay completely still. Ziva blinked at him sleepily, not entirely awake.
“Wha’ was that? Tim?”
She pulled back the gun, placing it back under the pillow. Tim shook his head, speaking low in a tone he hoped was soothing.
“Nothing, everything is fine Ziva. Why don’t you go back to sleep?”
Nodding Ziva rolled back over and soon, was snoring away. Exhaling for what felt like the first time in an eternity Tim looked back towards the ceiling and tried to force himself to sleep.
True to her word, Ziva was gone by the time Tim woke the next morning. Blinking away the sleep from his eyes he saw that his friend had the forethought to prop a crutch beside the bed. Looking at his ankle he was that it had been tightly wrapped. That was good. If it had been broken Ziva would have woken him. They would have had to drive out of the district to find a hospital to put a cast on it.
To his great relief the only morning issue he found himself needing to deal with was nature's call. Using the crutch with his ankle wrapped he was able to quickly make it to the bathroom and then to the couch.
Dropping his head into his hands Tim sighed heavily. So many things needed to be done today. He needed to call Sarah, check that she and his dog, Jethro, had managed to make it through the night in one piece. He needed to browse the news networks, double check that no one had managed to get the drop on him and snap a picture. His one true fear with reporters would be that one would get the clever idea to use film. Digital camera’s he could wipe. Anything on a computer was fair game. But against film he was powerless.
And also, he would need to hack into the police network. Tony and Gibbs had been waiting for them. That meant they had probably gotten a picture, probably quite a few pictures. He also had to wipe out any fingerprints they might have found.
Heaving another sigh Tim looked around the apartment. So much to do; so very little technology up here to do it with.
Ziva made a point to keep her apartment technology free. Even her alarm clock had to be wound every night. Nightly her cellphone was left to charge on the counter downstairs. Tim fought back to his feet and limped to the door. Locking it behind him he eyed the stairs wearily before starting down.
After navigating the stair and the storage room Tim finally emerged into the main room of the store. He paused, leaning against the door to catch his breath as he used his free hand to wipe the dust he had knocked off the storage shelves out of his eyes.
There were a few customers milling around the store. With smiles they wished him well as he limped past. Ziva sat behind the counter, watching him above the magazine she held. She nodded into his office, towards the mini-fridge in the corner, when he was close enough and said.
“I bought you a sandwich for lunch. There is a drink for you as well.”
Tim thanked her but ignored the fridge as he entered his office. He collapsed into his chair with a smile and booted up his desktop with a smile. Ziva leaned against the door jam, watching as he hooked his crutch around a wheeled cart and pulled it close. Two laptops sat on the cart, with a touch he turned them on as well.
“Sarah called this morning. She asked to speak with you but I informed her that you were not yet awake.” He didn’t like the way she was smiling. “I like your sister. She complimented me on wearing you out so thoroughly.”
He groaned.
“Please tell me you did not make up a sex story to tell my baby sister!”
“I told her that she was under the wrong impression and she laughed at me. Asked for you to call her when you woke from your ‘sex coma’ I believe she called it.”
With a curse he rubbed at his temples. It wouldn’t be Anti-Gifted sympathizers that killed him. Nor disease or Gibbs. It would be his little sister and probably his best friend.
“I’ll call her later. I’ve got a little business to deal with after last night.”
Ziva nodded, checking to make sure no customers within hearing distance.
“Detective DiNozzo was here this morning. Apparently you owe Detective Gibbs a free repair. He asked where you were. I informed him that you had food poisoning.”
Tim looked up in shock.
“What!? He couldn’t have broken it already, I just gave it back to him yesterday!”
Ziva eyed him curiously.
“What does it matter? You enjoy working on Detective Gibbs’ computer do you not?”
“Yes, but when he has to keep bringing it in for repairs it seems like I’m doing shoddy work. Eventually he’ll probably tell Tony to take it somewhere else. Or the other customers will find out and go somewhere else.” He frowned. “It’s almost like he’s breaking it on purpose.”
From the corner of his eye it looked like Ziva was smiling. But when he looked up her face was serious.
“Tim, I know that it is fun and exciting sometimes to be chased.” The change of subject blindsided Tim. He felt his face turning red. Of course she had noticed that. “But you must know that you cannot allow him to catch you. It will only end with you in handcuffs.” She paused then corrected herself. “In jail; or worse.”
He raised an eyebrow toward her and she stepped into the office, closing the door behind her.
“Malachi called me this morning. Apparently word has gotten around that there is a 1st degree Technopath living in Washington D.C. He said that his contacts had sighted Agents from the CIA hanging around scenes where we had been spotted.”
Tim felt the floor drop out from beneath his feet.
“You think that if I was found the CIA would just take me? But, I’m an American citizen. They can’t do that!”
Ziva shook her head sadly.
“They can and you know it. They will simply make you disappear. But that is only if the CIA gets a hold of you first. The FBI seems interested in you as well.”
He heard the tone in her voice and despite the sudden fear he smiled at her.
“Just the FBI?”
“I will admit, the Director of Mossad has expressed his interest in obtaining your talents. If the CIA does come after you, you should know that you would have a safe place waiting for you in Israel. They are prepared to offer you a citizenship if you agree to work for Mossad.”
Shock was written all over Tim’s face. With a final smile Ziva wished him happy hunting and left the office, closing the door behind her. Tim watched her for a long while afterwards. Trying to gauge the sincerity in the offer. It had seemed like ages since Ziva had lied to him, even though they had only really known each other for a few months. Finally he decided it wasn’t Ziva’s sincerity he should question. Though they had only known each other a short time their friendship was strong and real. The motives he needed to question were those of her superiors.
He watched her deal with customers as his computers connected to the Internet. Such a short time in the long run of things. But they had come so far together.
-NCIS-
The Christmas decorations strung along the streets were brightly lit by the time Tim closed up shop for the day. He flipped the sign over to CLOSED and shut off the electric sign hanging in the window. Retreating to his office he sighed at the stack of paperwork and bills covering his desk.
Who knew being a storeowner dealt with so much paperwork?
At the place of honor on the desk was an older model laptop. The edges were scuffed from years of use. Tim felt his gut wrench at the sight of it. Usually he would have been overjoyed to have it in his shop. But this was the first time he had seen it since…Kate had been murdered. Officer DiNozzo, but then it was Detective DiNozzo now wasn’t it? DiNozzo had brought it in that morning. Neither man had said much to the other, the absence of Kate was felt deeply by them both.
Sitting heavily in his chair Tim brushed a finger over the scuffs to the casing.
No more would Kate come into the store, asking if he could fix her broken PDA. No more would she stop by to browse the computers for sale. Never again would she watch as he repaired something, telling him about the time she and her partner, Detective Gibbs, did ‘this’ or the time they did ‘that.’ They would never laugh together over the things DiNozzo did to get assigned to be liason between the police agency and them.
Those stories were over now. He couldn’t imagine DiNozzo taking the time to tell him stories.
It was so hard to believe that she was dead. Tim hadn’t even been able to attend her funeral. He wasn’t really her friend, just a lonely shopkeeper she had taken pity on.
With a sigh Tim decided it was for the best to call it a night. Tomorrow was Christmas Eve. Sarah was already on his case; trying to making him come home and spend the holiday with their parents. Tim planned to avoid that landmine by spending the next two days under a heavy workload to accommodate after Christmas shopping. Truthfully his shop never got too busy during the main shopping seasons, but his parents didn’t know that.
Penny did however. He was sure that she would make an appearance sometime in the next two days to drag him along to whatever function she was supporting this season. Hopefully they wouldn’t have to flee arrest this time. Last year Penny had been only too happy to get arrested with her friends, until Tim’s insistence that he did not want the authorities to have a paper record of his fingerprints got her moving.
Tim stood, collecting the trash from his office before leaving his office. With the brush of a finger he shut down all the computers in the store. He flicked off the light switch manually before entering the storage room and making his way to the exit.
The night air was frigid as he stepped outside. It stole his breath for an instant and he regretted not wearing a warmer coat. Despite the freezing temperature there was little to no snow or ice on the ground. After locking the door securely behind him Tim ran to the dumpster behind his store. Quickly he tossed the bag of trash inside and ran for his car.
Shaking fingers pulled the keys from his pocket and, not for the first time, Tim wished he had the money to buy a new car. One with remote locks. He cursed violently when the keys slipped through his fingers and he bent to pick them up. The loud thud of something striking the side of his car startled him.
He looked up into a pair of wide brown eyes. The woman looked startled as well. But quickly the emotion vanished, replaced with wild fury. Again she reached for him. Tim scrambled away on all fours. For an instant he considered calling for help. But in this back alley no one would hear him. His shop was surrounded by other businesses, that had closed much earlier than his for the holiday.
A hand closed on the hood of his coat and hauled him backwards. Choking slightly from the coat pulled tight against his throat Tim was brought face to face with the woman. She was pissed! Violently she slammed him against his car, silencing his cry of pain with a hand over his mouth.
What the hell was her problem?
“Where is he? Where is Ari?”
For a moment Tim was confused. Ari? He didn’t know anyone named Ari. But then his mind jumped to the police report he had hacked and read. Ari Hasewari was the man that had killed Kate, had gunned her down in broad daylight.
“You are a Technopath! Ari has recruited you has he not? What is he paying you? Or is he threatening you and your family? Where is he?”
Tim felt rage of his own bubbling towards the surface. It didn’t even occur to him that this woman knew his greatest secret.
“Ari Hasewari? I have no idea where that bastard is. But if I did I’d have but a bullet between his eyes a long time ago!” Tim violently pushed the woman’s hands away. “I would never work for that man! I would kill myself first!”
The woman watched him, as if she could read the truth on his face. After a moment she knelt and picked up his car keys. She tossed them to him with a warning.
“If you do not know Ari now you might come to his attention in the future. My advice is to stay far away from him.”
The keys slipped through Tim’s cold fingers. Instinctively he leaned over to pick them up. By the time he stood the woman had already disappeared.
He caught sight of her several times in the weeks following that night. Eventually even Sarah picked up on her presence.
“Tim…I don't want to alarm you or anything. And I might be wrong but there seems to be a hot babe stalking you.”
Tim rolled his eyes as his little sister entered his apartment. Jethro bounded towards her, barking excitedly. Sarah knelt to scratch him behind the ears.
“Seriously Tim! She’s been parked out there the last two times I’ve visited you this week. It has to be you she’s watching. All the other residents in this complex are little old ladies and she doesn’t seem to be ‘that’ kind of woman.”
Laughing Tim grabbed Jethro’s leash from the hanger on the wall. He whistled for the dog as he passed his sister in the doorway. She watched him with confusion as he attached the leash to the dogs collar.
“Where are you going? Should you leave the house while she’s out there? She could sneak in and steal your underwear or something.”
“I’m going to go talk to her.”
Sarah grabbed his arm as he made to close the door.
“Tim that’s a bad idea! In those safety classes you made me go to they always said you should never engage a stalker.”
“She isn’t a stalker Sarah. I’ve got a pretty good idea what she’s up too. No I’m not going to tell you. She’s got a good reason, I think. I’m just going to make it a little easier for her.”
The woman rolled down the window of her car as he approached. She was smiling. Jethro poked his nose towards the open window and she offered her hand for a sniff.
“You aren’t being very stealthy. My little sister thinks you want to break into my apartment and steal my underwear.”
She laughed.
“Was she the long haired brunette? I wondered why she was giving me the evil eye.”
Tim leaned against the car and looked up to his window. Sarah’s nose was pressed against the glass, phone clenched in her hand. Most likely ready to call 911 if she felt the need.
“Are you waiting for him to find me?” She did not deny it. “You might be waiting a long time. So far I’ve done a pretty good job hiding my gift. How did you know if you don’t mind my asking?”
“I’ve been very well trained.”
Tim nodded.
“My store has an apartment space above it. I never had much use for it. I’m under contract here till the end of time it seems like. I spent the last week cleaning it up. If you don’t have a place to stay you can move in. You have to help me in the store as payment though.”
The woman cocked an eyebrow at him.
“Surely you know better than to offer something to a complete stranger.”
Now it was his turn for a big reveal.
“Ziva David-Hadar. Birthday November 12, 1982. Your father was Eli David, former Deputy Director of Mossad. You were adopted by his bodyguard Amit Hadar; after your father and little sister were murdered by your older brother, Ari.”
Ziva looked stunned. Tim couldn’t resist the smile that crept across his face. Getting the information hadn’t been easy. But it had been fun.
“You are not an official member of Mossad, but you have had all the training. You have also had extra training in recognizing Gifts and dealing with them.”
“You have read my dossier! How is that possible? Those files are protected twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week by a team of 2nd degree Technopath’s. You could not have gotten past them all!”
“They did seem to have me cornered for a little while. On one hand I was leading the Mossad Technopath’s on a wild goose chase through China. All while the other hand snuck behind the firewall and downloaded your dossier. Dual screening like that isn’t easy, you’ve got to pay a lot of attention to everything that's happening. But I've never found a 2nd degree that can see the network as clearly as I can. And I’ve always been pretty good at multi-tasking.”
-NCIS-
The beeping monitors and the pain in his ankle brought Tim back to the present. He winced. It would be a good idea to finish this up without any more distractions and get some ice. Tim turned his attention back to the computers. All were online, all were safely protected by firewalls of his own design. Taking a deep breath Tim reached out. He laid his right pinky and index finger on the smallest of the laptops. His thumb and index finger stretched over to the other. He rested his dominant hand on the keyboard of his desktop and closed his eyes.
For a moment all he could see was the darkness behind his eyelids. Then he reached out with his gift and the network lit up brightly in his mind. Hitching a ride on one of the millions lines of code speeding around the wireless world he accessed a highly protected system.
The initial firewalls were pretty simple to get past. While they were flashy it required almost no effort at all to bypass them. Once all three of his computers were through he moved in on the firewalls set by Abigail Sciuto. For a moment he paused to marvel them. In his vision they reflected their creator.
A dark appearance, but a playful nature. Several times he had sat back and watched lesser hackers try to access her system. The places those firewalls threw them and the viruses they unknowingly carried home were hilarious.
Tim had accessed this system a few times before in the recent past. The investigation into Kate’s death had been the first time. After he joined Ziva in the field he had accessed it more regularly to ensure the police didn’t have anything to identify them with.
Plus, getting into this system was actually fun!
For a 2nd degree Technopath Miss. Sciuto was powerful and she clearly knew her how to make her computers sit up and beg. Leaving the laptops to keep the firewalls busy Tim focused on his desktop as it slipped into her system.
She always had something interesting running. Sometimes he would access her web cam, just to see what was happening in her lab.
Today she was running his prints…again. It didn’t appear like anything else she was up too had anything to do with Ziva and himself. He prepared to divert the search, give it an incorrect set of results. Maybe that creepy birthday clown who lived two streets over. He could sit at the coffee shop across the street and watch as they brought him in. Tim was almost positive the man was a pedophile. A police investigation would probably uncover that.
Just then something new came into the network. He paused. New files were added to the system. She began running them through a facial recognition program. He could feel Miss. Sciuto enter the network, uncertain of just how clear her vision was, he was careful to stay out of her line of sight as he crept up to get a closer look.
Damn! He rearranged his plans. The laptops were brought back to the forefront of his mind.
She was running Ziva’s picture against immigrants from the Middle East! He pushed on the other presence, shoving Miss. Sciuto out of her own network and quickly copying the files.
With a heavy heart he rammed the firewalls. They shook but bravely held their ground. Tim frowned, she was such a good programmer; had no doubt spent a lot of love and time on these. It hurt him to do it but there was no other choice. Another ram and the firewalls came crashing down. It only took an instant for Tim to upload a virus and retreat, erasing his trail behind him.
Reaching his home system Tim secured his own firewalls, setting up a secondary and third set just in case. He exited the network, gasping in a deep breath of air. Too much time in the network. He coughed violently and moaned at the pain in his ankle. He definitely needed to ice it now.
He looked at the files he had copied. Pictures of Ziva, pictures of himself.
Gibbs had been there in her lab. Gibbs had given her these pictures. They were from Gibbs’ memory card.
That memory card wouldn’t survive the virus.
“He’s going to be with pissed with me.”
Tim couldn’t decide if he was terrified of that prospect; or if he was pleased that Gibbs would be thinking about him.
This obsession definitely wasn't healthy.
Show: NCIS
Characters: Tim, Gibbs, Ziva, and Tony
Genre: AU, Drama, Slash
Rating: FR15
Pairings: Gibbs/McGee
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
Challenge: The Boys Wrapped in Plot
Spoilers: Spoilers for characters up to season nine.
Summary: The word ‘Gifted’ is defined as ‘having great special talent of ability.’ But during the mid 21st Century the word gained new meaning as children were discovered to be developing psychic abilities. Tim McGee is a 1st degree technopath, he has managed to keep his gift a secret all of his life...Until Ziva David-Hadar found him.
Chapter Five
The Night Before
“Just a few more steps Tim.”
“Ziva, Ziva! I can make it by myself. I appreciate your help but really I’m fine-”
Tim’s assurances were cut off by a muffled whimper of pain as he attempted to put weight on his ankle. Together they paused, halfway up the stairs to Ziva’s apartment. Tightening her grip around his waist Ziva tried to convince Tim that she could support his weight.
“Tim please, lean on me. The sooner you do that the faster you can lie down and I can check your ankle.”
Sighing Tim did as she asked and the two hobbled the final few steps. Reaching the landing Ziva allowed Tim to lean against the wall as she dug her keys out of an interior pocket of her jacket.
The two had taken off their masks as soon as they gotten down to the street. Together they had stumbled to the car Ziva had stashed for their getaway earlier that day. It had been a harrowing trip, Ziva attempting to keep Tim upright while he kept an eye out for Gibbs and DiNozzo.
The pain in his ankle was a constant worry. Gibbs had seen them jump, DiNozzo had surely seen his less than stellar landing. Surely they would be asking hospitals for men fitting his description admitted with broken ankles. If the ankle was broken he was in trouble. There was no doubt in his mind that Ziva would be able to set it correctly, but they would still need to get a cast.
The door swung open and Tim hobbled inside with a groan of relief. After locking the door Ziva quickly took up her position at his side.
“Can you drive me home after you’ve gotten changed? I don’t trust myself behind the wheel. Damn it!”
Surprised Ziva tightened her grip. Looking at his face though she saw his expression was not one of pain but irritation.
“What is the matter?”
“Sarah.” Tim sighed as they hobbled across the room. Ziva eyed the furniture prospectively, he could not lay comfortably on any of them and still raise his ankle. Subtlety she angled them towards her bed.
“Sarah had a fight with her room mate, she’s staying at my apartment until the two of them make up.” Tim didn’t seem to notice as Ziva lowered him onto her bed. He laid back, wincing as she propped up his ankle with a couple of pillows.
“I can’t let her see me like this. She’d ask questions and I can’t lie to her. She’s already going to be suspicious of me if the papers ever get details about the ‘vigilantes.’ If they publish that one of them is a 1st degree Technopath she will flip out on me. Then she'll call Penny.”
Groaning he threw an arm over his eyes and Ziva used the moment to quickly pick up the bras and underwear thrown on the bed.
“I don’t know what would be worse; Penny scolding me or Penny praising me. It’s just for the best that neither of them know.”
“Then you will simply stay here tonight. I will send Sarah a text message saying you fell asleep after taking inventory. It will be good for you.” She gave him a wicked smile. “She will think we are sleeping together.”
Tim chuckled.
“She already thinks we’re sleeping together. She calls you my ‘creepy hot stalker girlfriend.’” Tim looked around the large apartment. “So where am I going to sleep?”
Ziva grinned.
“On the bed of course! We cannot support your ankle in any of the chairs.”
Tim eyed her suspiciously.
“Then where are you going to sleep?”
“Why, on my bed of course. It is plenty big enough for both of us.”
Tim quickly sat back up, swinging his good leg over the edge of the bed as he fought to rise to his feet.
“Never mind Ziva. I’m gonna just head home anyway. I’ll see you in the morning.”
Ziva frowned, pushing him back onto the bed with hardly any effort.
“Nonsense McGee. You would probably crash your car before getting halfway home.” With an inward smile she put on a pouty expression. “Why do you not want to sleep with me McGee? Is it because I am a woman?”
“Yes it’s because you’re a woman!” Tim was flushed and not meeting her eyes. “Everyone I’ve ever been attracted to before Gibbs was a woman and.” Here he stumbled over his words, looking down at the sheets. “And, I’m still a guy Ziva.”
“That is fine Tim. I will be downstairs long before you wake up and need to deal with any…issues that might have arisen over night.”
Groaning Tim dragged a pillow over his head. Laughing Ziva stretched out beside him, wrapping an arm around his waist. When he didn’t shove her away she rested her head on his shoulder.
“It will be fun Tim. I’ve been told that I am an excellent bedmate and cuddler.”
Three hours later and the loud snores beside him were keeping Tim awake. He laid on his back, staring at the ceiling unable to roll onto his side because of his ankle. Mumbling Ziva turned, taking the majority of the covers with her. Tim resisted the urge to yank them back.
‘Excellent bedmate and cuddler my ass,’ he thought.
Again she tossed in her sleep, turning in bed to face him. Her face was a mask of sorrow. Concerned he reached over to shake her awake. Hearing her voice he paused, hand poised over her shoulder.
“Papa…Tali…”
Again she turned, still mumbling quietly in her sleep. Tim felt his earlier irritation melting away. He remembered what had happened to her father and younger sister. There had been a small side note in her Mossad dossier. It was no wonder she dreamt about them. But would she want him to wake her? Another mumble drew his shocked attention, it had almost sounded like a whimper.
“Ari…please…”
Lightly he touched her shoulder, shaking it slightly.
“Ziva, wake up. You’re snoring too loud for me to sleep.”
Too quickly for Tim to see Ziva turned again, drawing a gun from underneath her pillow. Tim felt the barrel pressing tightly underneath his jaw. Eyes wide he fought to stay completely still. Ziva blinked at him sleepily, not entirely awake.
“Wha’ was that? Tim?”
She pulled back the gun, placing it back under the pillow. Tim shook his head, speaking low in a tone he hoped was soothing.
“Nothing, everything is fine Ziva. Why don’t you go back to sleep?”
Nodding Ziva rolled back over and soon, was snoring away. Exhaling for what felt like the first time in an eternity Tim looked back towards the ceiling and tried to force himself to sleep.
True to her word, Ziva was gone by the time Tim woke the next morning. Blinking away the sleep from his eyes he saw that his friend had the forethought to prop a crutch beside the bed. Looking at his ankle he was that it had been tightly wrapped. That was good. If it had been broken Ziva would have woken him. They would have had to drive out of the district to find a hospital to put a cast on it.
To his great relief the only morning issue he found himself needing to deal with was nature's call. Using the crutch with his ankle wrapped he was able to quickly make it to the bathroom and then to the couch.
Dropping his head into his hands Tim sighed heavily. So many things needed to be done today. He needed to call Sarah, check that she and his dog, Jethro, had managed to make it through the night in one piece. He needed to browse the news networks, double check that no one had managed to get the drop on him and snap a picture. His one true fear with reporters would be that one would get the clever idea to use film. Digital camera’s he could wipe. Anything on a computer was fair game. But against film he was powerless.
And also, he would need to hack into the police network. Tony and Gibbs had been waiting for them. That meant they had probably gotten a picture, probably quite a few pictures. He also had to wipe out any fingerprints they might have found.
Heaving another sigh Tim looked around the apartment. So much to do; so very little technology up here to do it with.
Ziva made a point to keep her apartment technology free. Even her alarm clock had to be wound every night. Nightly her cellphone was left to charge on the counter downstairs. Tim fought back to his feet and limped to the door. Locking it behind him he eyed the stairs wearily before starting down.
After navigating the stair and the storage room Tim finally emerged into the main room of the store. He paused, leaning against the door to catch his breath as he used his free hand to wipe the dust he had knocked off the storage shelves out of his eyes.
There were a few customers milling around the store. With smiles they wished him well as he limped past. Ziva sat behind the counter, watching him above the magazine she held. She nodded into his office, towards the mini-fridge in the corner, when he was close enough and said.
“I bought you a sandwich for lunch. There is a drink for you as well.”
Tim thanked her but ignored the fridge as he entered his office. He collapsed into his chair with a smile and booted up his desktop with a smile. Ziva leaned against the door jam, watching as he hooked his crutch around a wheeled cart and pulled it close. Two laptops sat on the cart, with a touch he turned them on as well.
“Sarah called this morning. She asked to speak with you but I informed her that you were not yet awake.” He didn’t like the way she was smiling. “I like your sister. She complimented me on wearing you out so thoroughly.”
He groaned.
“Please tell me you did not make up a sex story to tell my baby sister!”
“I told her that she was under the wrong impression and she laughed at me. Asked for you to call her when you woke from your ‘sex coma’ I believe she called it.”
With a curse he rubbed at his temples. It wouldn’t be Anti-Gifted sympathizers that killed him. Nor disease or Gibbs. It would be his little sister and probably his best friend.
“I’ll call her later. I’ve got a little business to deal with after last night.”
Ziva nodded, checking to make sure no customers within hearing distance.
“Detective DiNozzo was here this morning. Apparently you owe Detective Gibbs a free repair. He asked where you were. I informed him that you had food poisoning.”
Tim looked up in shock.
“What!? He couldn’t have broken it already, I just gave it back to him yesterday!”
Ziva eyed him curiously.
“What does it matter? You enjoy working on Detective Gibbs’ computer do you not?”
“Yes, but when he has to keep bringing it in for repairs it seems like I’m doing shoddy work. Eventually he’ll probably tell Tony to take it somewhere else. Or the other customers will find out and go somewhere else.” He frowned. “It’s almost like he’s breaking it on purpose.”
From the corner of his eye it looked like Ziva was smiling. But when he looked up her face was serious.
“Tim, I know that it is fun and exciting sometimes to be chased.” The change of subject blindsided Tim. He felt his face turning red. Of course she had noticed that. “But you must know that you cannot allow him to catch you. It will only end with you in handcuffs.” She paused then corrected herself. “In jail; or worse.”
He raised an eyebrow toward her and she stepped into the office, closing the door behind her.
“Malachi called me this morning. Apparently word has gotten around that there is a 1st degree Technopath living in Washington D.C. He said that his contacts had sighted Agents from the CIA hanging around scenes where we had been spotted.”
Tim felt the floor drop out from beneath his feet.
“You think that if I was found the CIA would just take me? But, I’m an American citizen. They can’t do that!”
Ziva shook her head sadly.
“They can and you know it. They will simply make you disappear. But that is only if the CIA gets a hold of you first. The FBI seems interested in you as well.”
He heard the tone in her voice and despite the sudden fear he smiled at her.
“Just the FBI?”
“I will admit, the Director of Mossad has expressed his interest in obtaining your talents. If the CIA does come after you, you should know that you would have a safe place waiting for you in Israel. They are prepared to offer you a citizenship if you agree to work for Mossad.”
Shock was written all over Tim’s face. With a final smile Ziva wished him happy hunting and left the office, closing the door behind her. Tim watched her for a long while afterwards. Trying to gauge the sincerity in the offer. It had seemed like ages since Ziva had lied to him, even though they had only really known each other for a few months. Finally he decided it wasn’t Ziva’s sincerity he should question. Though they had only known each other a short time their friendship was strong and real. The motives he needed to question were those of her superiors.
He watched her deal with customers as his computers connected to the Internet. Such a short time in the long run of things. But they had come so far together.
-NCIS-
The Christmas decorations strung along the streets were brightly lit by the time Tim closed up shop for the day. He flipped the sign over to CLOSED and shut off the electric sign hanging in the window. Retreating to his office he sighed at the stack of paperwork and bills covering his desk.
Who knew being a storeowner dealt with so much paperwork?
At the place of honor on the desk was an older model laptop. The edges were scuffed from years of use. Tim felt his gut wrench at the sight of it. Usually he would have been overjoyed to have it in his shop. But this was the first time he had seen it since…Kate had been murdered. Officer DiNozzo, but then it was Detective DiNozzo now wasn’t it? DiNozzo had brought it in that morning. Neither man had said much to the other, the absence of Kate was felt deeply by them both.
Sitting heavily in his chair Tim brushed a finger over the scuffs to the casing.
No more would Kate come into the store, asking if he could fix her broken PDA. No more would she stop by to browse the computers for sale. Never again would she watch as he repaired something, telling him about the time she and her partner, Detective Gibbs, did ‘this’ or the time they did ‘that.’ They would never laugh together over the things DiNozzo did to get assigned to be liason between the police agency and them.
Those stories were over now. He couldn’t imagine DiNozzo taking the time to tell him stories.
It was so hard to believe that she was dead. Tim hadn’t even been able to attend her funeral. He wasn’t really her friend, just a lonely shopkeeper she had taken pity on.
With a sigh Tim decided it was for the best to call it a night. Tomorrow was Christmas Eve. Sarah was already on his case; trying to making him come home and spend the holiday with their parents. Tim planned to avoid that landmine by spending the next two days under a heavy workload to accommodate after Christmas shopping. Truthfully his shop never got too busy during the main shopping seasons, but his parents didn’t know that.
Penny did however. He was sure that she would make an appearance sometime in the next two days to drag him along to whatever function she was supporting this season. Hopefully they wouldn’t have to flee arrest this time. Last year Penny had been only too happy to get arrested with her friends, until Tim’s insistence that he did not want the authorities to have a paper record of his fingerprints got her moving.
Tim stood, collecting the trash from his office before leaving his office. With the brush of a finger he shut down all the computers in the store. He flicked off the light switch manually before entering the storage room and making his way to the exit.
The night air was frigid as he stepped outside. It stole his breath for an instant and he regretted not wearing a warmer coat. Despite the freezing temperature there was little to no snow or ice on the ground. After locking the door securely behind him Tim ran to the dumpster behind his store. Quickly he tossed the bag of trash inside and ran for his car.
Shaking fingers pulled the keys from his pocket and, not for the first time, Tim wished he had the money to buy a new car. One with remote locks. He cursed violently when the keys slipped through his fingers and he bent to pick them up. The loud thud of something striking the side of his car startled him.
He looked up into a pair of wide brown eyes. The woman looked startled as well. But quickly the emotion vanished, replaced with wild fury. Again she reached for him. Tim scrambled away on all fours. For an instant he considered calling for help. But in this back alley no one would hear him. His shop was surrounded by other businesses, that had closed much earlier than his for the holiday.
A hand closed on the hood of his coat and hauled him backwards. Choking slightly from the coat pulled tight against his throat Tim was brought face to face with the woman. She was pissed! Violently she slammed him against his car, silencing his cry of pain with a hand over his mouth.
What the hell was her problem?
“Where is he? Where is Ari?”
For a moment Tim was confused. Ari? He didn’t know anyone named Ari. But then his mind jumped to the police report he had hacked and read. Ari Hasewari was the man that had killed Kate, had gunned her down in broad daylight.
“You are a Technopath! Ari has recruited you has he not? What is he paying you? Or is he threatening you and your family? Where is he?”
Tim felt rage of his own bubbling towards the surface. It didn’t even occur to him that this woman knew his greatest secret.
“Ari Hasewari? I have no idea where that bastard is. But if I did I’d have but a bullet between his eyes a long time ago!” Tim violently pushed the woman’s hands away. “I would never work for that man! I would kill myself first!”
The woman watched him, as if she could read the truth on his face. After a moment she knelt and picked up his car keys. She tossed them to him with a warning.
“If you do not know Ari now you might come to his attention in the future. My advice is to stay far away from him.”
The keys slipped through Tim’s cold fingers. Instinctively he leaned over to pick them up. By the time he stood the woman had already disappeared.
He caught sight of her several times in the weeks following that night. Eventually even Sarah picked up on her presence.
“Tim…I don't want to alarm you or anything. And I might be wrong but there seems to be a hot babe stalking you.”
Tim rolled his eyes as his little sister entered his apartment. Jethro bounded towards her, barking excitedly. Sarah knelt to scratch him behind the ears.
“Seriously Tim! She’s been parked out there the last two times I’ve visited you this week. It has to be you she’s watching. All the other residents in this complex are little old ladies and she doesn’t seem to be ‘that’ kind of woman.”
Laughing Tim grabbed Jethro’s leash from the hanger on the wall. He whistled for the dog as he passed his sister in the doorway. She watched him with confusion as he attached the leash to the dogs collar.
“Where are you going? Should you leave the house while she’s out there? She could sneak in and steal your underwear or something.”
“I’m going to go talk to her.”
Sarah grabbed his arm as he made to close the door.
“Tim that’s a bad idea! In those safety classes you made me go to they always said you should never engage a stalker.”
“She isn’t a stalker Sarah. I’ve got a pretty good idea what she’s up too. No I’m not going to tell you. She’s got a good reason, I think. I’m just going to make it a little easier for her.”
The woman rolled down the window of her car as he approached. She was smiling. Jethro poked his nose towards the open window and she offered her hand for a sniff.
“You aren’t being very stealthy. My little sister thinks you want to break into my apartment and steal my underwear.”
She laughed.
“Was she the long haired brunette? I wondered why she was giving me the evil eye.”
Tim leaned against the car and looked up to his window. Sarah’s nose was pressed against the glass, phone clenched in her hand. Most likely ready to call 911 if she felt the need.
“Are you waiting for him to find me?” She did not deny it. “You might be waiting a long time. So far I’ve done a pretty good job hiding my gift. How did you know if you don’t mind my asking?”
“I’ve been very well trained.”
Tim nodded.
“My store has an apartment space above it. I never had much use for it. I’m under contract here till the end of time it seems like. I spent the last week cleaning it up. If you don’t have a place to stay you can move in. You have to help me in the store as payment though.”
The woman cocked an eyebrow at him.
“Surely you know better than to offer something to a complete stranger.”
Now it was his turn for a big reveal.
“Ziva David-Hadar. Birthday November 12, 1982. Your father was Eli David, former Deputy Director of Mossad. You were adopted by his bodyguard Amit Hadar; after your father and little sister were murdered by your older brother, Ari.”
Ziva looked stunned. Tim couldn’t resist the smile that crept across his face. Getting the information hadn’t been easy. But it had been fun.
“You are not an official member of Mossad, but you have had all the training. You have also had extra training in recognizing Gifts and dealing with them.”
“You have read my dossier! How is that possible? Those files are protected twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week by a team of 2nd degree Technopath’s. You could not have gotten past them all!”
“They did seem to have me cornered for a little while. On one hand I was leading the Mossad Technopath’s on a wild goose chase through China. All while the other hand snuck behind the firewall and downloaded your dossier. Dual screening like that isn’t easy, you’ve got to pay a lot of attention to everything that's happening. But I've never found a 2nd degree that can see the network as clearly as I can. And I’ve always been pretty good at multi-tasking.”
-NCIS-
The beeping monitors and the pain in his ankle brought Tim back to the present. He winced. It would be a good idea to finish this up without any more distractions and get some ice. Tim turned his attention back to the computers. All were online, all were safely protected by firewalls of his own design. Taking a deep breath Tim reached out. He laid his right pinky and index finger on the smallest of the laptops. His thumb and index finger stretched over to the other. He rested his dominant hand on the keyboard of his desktop and closed his eyes.
For a moment all he could see was the darkness behind his eyelids. Then he reached out with his gift and the network lit up brightly in his mind. Hitching a ride on one of the millions lines of code speeding around the wireless world he accessed a highly protected system.
The initial firewalls were pretty simple to get past. While they were flashy it required almost no effort at all to bypass them. Once all three of his computers were through he moved in on the firewalls set by Abigail Sciuto. For a moment he paused to marvel them. In his vision they reflected their creator.
A dark appearance, but a playful nature. Several times he had sat back and watched lesser hackers try to access her system. The places those firewalls threw them and the viruses they unknowingly carried home were hilarious.
Tim had accessed this system a few times before in the recent past. The investigation into Kate’s death had been the first time. After he joined Ziva in the field he had accessed it more regularly to ensure the police didn’t have anything to identify them with.
Plus, getting into this system was actually fun!
For a 2nd degree Technopath Miss. Sciuto was powerful and she clearly knew her how to make her computers sit up and beg. Leaving the laptops to keep the firewalls busy Tim focused on his desktop as it slipped into her system.
She always had something interesting running. Sometimes he would access her web cam, just to see what was happening in her lab.
Today she was running his prints…again. It didn’t appear like anything else she was up too had anything to do with Ziva and himself. He prepared to divert the search, give it an incorrect set of results. Maybe that creepy birthday clown who lived two streets over. He could sit at the coffee shop across the street and watch as they brought him in. Tim was almost positive the man was a pedophile. A police investigation would probably uncover that.
Just then something new came into the network. He paused. New files were added to the system. She began running them through a facial recognition program. He could feel Miss. Sciuto enter the network, uncertain of just how clear her vision was, he was careful to stay out of her line of sight as he crept up to get a closer look.
Damn! He rearranged his plans. The laptops were brought back to the forefront of his mind.
She was running Ziva’s picture against immigrants from the Middle East! He pushed on the other presence, shoving Miss. Sciuto out of her own network and quickly copying the files.
With a heavy heart he rammed the firewalls. They shook but bravely held their ground. Tim frowned, she was such a good programmer; had no doubt spent a lot of love and time on these. It hurt him to do it but there was no other choice. Another ram and the firewalls came crashing down. It only took an instant for Tim to upload a virus and retreat, erasing his trail behind him.
Reaching his home system Tim secured his own firewalls, setting up a secondary and third set just in case. He exited the network, gasping in a deep breath of air. Too much time in the network. He coughed violently and moaned at the pain in his ankle. He definitely needed to ice it now.
He looked at the files he had copied. Pictures of Ziva, pictures of himself.
Gibbs had been there in her lab. Gibbs had given her these pictures. They were from Gibbs’ memory card.
That memory card wouldn’t survive the virus.
“He’s going to be with pissed with me.”
Tim couldn’t decide if he was terrified of that prospect; or if he was pleased that Gibbs would be thinking about him.
This obsession definitely wasn't healthy.