Average: Chapter 11

You know, if there was one thing Harry Potter hated above all else in the world, it was waiting around for something to happen. Unfortunately for him, that's pretty much all America was at the moment. He had no paperwork to complete, thank Merlin for small miracles, SIS only wanted him to find Intel at the moment with no definite time limit, NCIS had been quiet over the Christmas holidays, which really was a good thing, but Harry wished something would happen just so he could attempt the justify his existence for a while longer. At the moment all he was doing was sitting in his apartment, going to the bar with Tony, and having Dinner with Ziva on Friday nights, not that that wasn't lovely mind you, it just felt like he should be doing so much more.

And that is pretty much how the three weeks following Christmas went for Harry. On Tuesdays he went to Tonys favourite sports bar for a drink and some 'man time' usually involving Harry watching Tony make a tit of himself as he hit on the barmaids and one time watching in mild shock as he actually got somewhere, then on Fridays he went for Dinner with Ziva either at his place or hers, which was interesting in and of itself. That usually included a light dinner and the usual dinner conversation followed by any inconsequential chatter flying around the world of intelligence at the time and ending with watching a film cuddled up on the settee. Which was where he was at the moment, but rather that watching a film they were currently talking about a case that had dropped into NCIS' lap on Tuesday involving a double homicide.

"The Korean shop owner, Lee Sung, said that he thinks Yoon is a North Korean sleeper agent. I agree with him." Ziva was saying as she leant back against Harrys chest.

"A North Korean sleeper agent?" Harry asked as he slowly rubbed circles on her stomach. "So you think that Sun and Ming found out and she killed them to keep her cover?"

"Yes." She said as she closed her eyes. "Lee sung had suspicions and asked the two to find out where she was born and what schools she went to. Apparently when he tried to connect her with people in South Korea he couldn't do it. I'm thinking Sun Porter and Ming Crane uncovered her real identity and we're killed because of it, yes?"

Harry nodded slightly against the top of her head. From what Ziva had said it did seem possible and if the two other women had uncovered the truth then it would definitely be grounds to silence them, at least in Yoons mind. "So what do you think she'll do now? Reckon she'll run back to North Korea or do you think she'll try and finish whatever it is she's started?" He asked, his hands still tracing idle circles.

"If it were me, I would attempt to finish what I started." She said firmly before she turned her head to look at him. "But we have no idea what it is she was sent here to do. So far all she's done is kill two housewives and attempt to kill a shop owner. There has to be more to it that this."

Harry nodded slightly as he tilted his head to give her a quick kiss. "See what come up at he office tomorrow. I'll probably swing by aswell." He gave her a grin. "International espionage is kinda my thing."

Ziva chuckled lightly and patted his cheek. "Incase you're forgetting, it's my 'thing' as well."

Harry shrugged, grin still in place. "Kinda hard to forget you're dating an Israeli Mossad officer Ziva, the knowledge tends to wake me up at night worrying me that I may have annoyed you."

She outright laughed at that and settled back against his chest with a smile. "If you annoyed me Harry, what makes you think you'd wake up at all?"

Harry gave a playful shudder, with just a hint of sincerity. "Scary lady you are Ziva, scary lady."

"And don't you forget it." She said with a smile as she brought one of her hands and placed it upon one of his, still against her stomach, and started tracing patterns on the back of his hand with her index finger. "My father's reaction to this would be... phenomenal." She said quietly.

Harry looked at her for a moment before he nuzzled her cheek. "Because I'm not Jewish?" He asked with a small smile.

"That." She nodded. "And for many many more reasons. Mossad would not look kindly on this were they to find out. A Mossad officer and a British intelligence operative personally involved? No, they wouldn't look kindly upon this at all."

Harry gave her a small squeeze. "There's no reason for them to ever find out. I don't intend on informing SIS of this... development."

"Development?" She asked with raised eyebrows. "Is that how you see me?"

'Oh very dear...' Harry thought to himself.

"Well, no, I... err, that is to say that..." Harry stumbled over his words for a moment, scrambling to find an answer that hopefully wouldn't offend the dangerous Iraeli woman currently in his lap. Or at least he did stumble over his words, until Ziva started to laugh. Slowly at first, she began with small giggles that eventually became a deep full laugh as he continued to stutter and stumble.

"You should have seen your face, no? It was very funny." She said with a grin, laughter still evident in her dark eyes.

Harry sighed quietly and adopted a rather put upon look. "I'm glad you got a giggle at my expense."

Ziva chuckled and pressed her lips to his in a slow kiss. "Don't pout." She said as they broke apart. "The man child look doesn't suit you."

"Well, if it gets me kiss when I do it I think it suits me just fine." He said with a grin as he moved his left hand up to cup the back of her neck.

"That was a one-on, next time I'll stab you with that lovely knife you gave me." She said as he drew nearer.

"One-off, Ziva." Harry said as he leant in.

"Whatever." She replied as their lips met.

~O~

The next morning Harry awoke at dawn as normal and went through his usual morning routine. He'd left Zivas apartment at about 23:00 hrs last night and had gotten to bed almost as soon as he'd arrived home. Today he'd be going into NCIS to see if he could tag along with the investigation, if for no other reason than to alleviate his boredom. He stepped out of the shower and towelled himself off before he went back into his bedroom and towards the wardrobe. He pulled out a pair of dark denim Jeans that Tony had given him for Christmas and his brown shirt with the stripes and got dressed. He tucked the shirt in, rolled his sleeves up, did up his brown leather belt, and fetched the boots he'd bought just after Christmas for his bike. Dark brown leather with a round toe and a buckle going over the side. He put them on, pulled his jeans down over the cuffs and grabbed his jacket ready to head out. Harry picked up the keys to his bike from the bowl by the door as he left and headed outside. He swung his leg over the Triumph, kickstarted it, and pulled away - heading for NCIS headquarters.

The ride over took about half an hour on the Motorbike and he pulled up outside NCIS, heading for the coffee cart outside the office that Gibbs and the team often frequented, he was feeling like a pick-me-up this morning and he headed towards the main entrance with a steaming cup of black coffee with one sugar in his hand. He flashed his badge at the checkpoint and attached the visitor tag to the front pocket of his jacket as he rode the lift up to the bullpen. He stepped out when it stopped and headed into the MCRT area of 'Team Gibbs' and found Tony already sat behind his desk typing away on his computer.

"Harry." He said in surprise as he looked up and saw the young Englishman stood by his desk. "What are you doing here? Some international security threat isn't about to wipe out the world is it?" He asked.

Harry chuckled as he leant against Zivas desk. "Nah, nothing like that mate. Ziva told me about the case you guys are working on at the moment, something about North Korean sleeper agents?"

Tony shook his head slightly. "You know eventually Gibbs is gonna have a 'chat' with us all about discussing ongoing cases with you."

Harry shrugged as he took a sip of his coffee. "I have the clearance, like I said last time. I could flash my pretty little spy badge and get the files thanks to inter-agency cooperation. I am technically attached to you guys as a liason officer after all." He said with a smile.

Tony laughed slightly as he moved to lean against his own desk. "Yeah, a lot of you guys in here these days."

Harry chuckled. "What can I say. International relations and all that. For a small agency you guys are pretty potent. SIS likes that about you so we want to see how you operate." Bullshit but plausible Bullshit at least.

"Of course." Tony said with a smile. He wasn't buying it but he liked Harry well enough to trust that whatever the real reason he was here for wasn't going to harm anything. " So what do you already know?"

Harry placed his paper coffee cup on Zivas desk. "Just what Zivas already told me. NCIS got called into a double homicide involving Marine wives and the current suspect could be a North Korean sleeper agent according to a local shop owner, a hypothesis that Ziva thinks to be likely."

DiNozzo nodded. "Yeah, that about sums it up. The wives were Sun Porter and Ming Crane. Originally we thought Sgt. Porter, Sun's husband, did it but we've given up on that lead as a frame up. The main suspect is now Yoon Dawson, and given that she tried to kill the man who suspected her of being a sleeper agent we're inclined to believe him."

Harry tilted his head in thought. "Any background on this Yoon Dawson?" He asked.

Tony shrugged. "She's good. As far as anyone knew she was a loving wife and mother. She led a pretty scheduled life and seemed to enjoy living in America, she had a happy marriage and liked to bake as far as we could tell from her Internet history. She worked with Sun Porter and Ming Crane a few times for events catered by Lee Sung, the shop owner. He also runs a high end catering business for local events. The only person with any suspicions was Mr Sung and that was because she sometimes used Northern words when she was tired. Other than that nothing."

Harry tapped his chin. "It seems she held her cover well if even her husband didn't suspect anything. How long were they together?"

"About five years according to Sgt. Dawson. The met in Seoul whilst he was stationed there." Tony answered.

Harry nodded slightly. 'Is every bloody person in the American military a sergeant?' He thought to himself as he walked around Zivas desk and sat in he chair.

"So basically all we know is that it's likely she's a North Korean agent and that her covers blown." Harry said. "We've got no idea what her target is?"

"Unless you count Lee Sung, then no." Tony answered.

Harry chuckled slightly. "North Korea may be a petty and... unbalanced nation but I doubt they would go through the trouble of planting a sleeper agent to top a shop owner." He propped his feet up on the desk. "Unless there's anything about Mr Sung that rings any alarm bells?" He asked.

Tony shook his head. "As far as we can tell he is just a shop owner but the FBI currently has hin under surveillance incase Yoon makes another attempt. If anything comes up they'll let us know."

Harry nodded. "Okay then, so the priority would be finding out any possible targets. Any top brass mincing about?" He asked.

DiNozzo shrugged. "There's the Colonel in command of Quantico marine base and a stones throw away Is the rest of DC, quite a bit of Brass around here Harry. None seem a likely target though, not for a single operative with a blown cover."

Harry agreed. It would be suicide, possible sure but the probability was that she'd be long dead before she could actually get to anyone of importance. "So what do you guys do now then?" He asked.

"Wait for everyone to get into work and then let the boss hand out assignments, probably going to check in on Sgt. Dawson and Mr Sung. After that cast a wide net and put out a BOLO. then we hope something trips it."

Harry nodded. "I guess you really don't have much to go on. I can get into contact with James and ask about but we really don't have much contact with North Korean agents... they don't really come up on the radar too often. SIS views the State Security Department of North Korea as a bit of a child really. You know, screaming and shouting and tossing the toys out of the pram but other than that inconsequential to the grand scheme of things."

Tony shrugged as Harry took out His Crypto phone and held the speed dial for James.

A beat later and the electronic voice of a pre-prepared recorded woman answered. "Authenticate agent."

"One one zero nine two eight eight nine." Harry said clearly.

"Harry?" James answered. "What's up, you aren't due to report yet."

"Hey James, yeah I know but I have a question for you." Harry said.

"Okay, shoot." James replied.

"I know it's a long shot, but have you got any information on a Yoon Dawson, it's a possible alias of a North Korean woman NCIS suspects of being a sleeper agent for the SSD." Harry asked, leaning back in Zivas chair.

"When you said long shot I didn't think you meant out in the sticks Harry." He heard James sigh through the phone. "I can try having a look about but I really wouldn't hold your breath. What else do you know about her?" James asked.

"She met a marine, James Dawson, in Seoul about five years ago, moved to America three years ago and up until Tuesday was living on base at Quantico." Harry answered.

"Okay, give me a few minutes to check her up on the database. I'll call back in ten minutes if I have anything for you but don't expect much if anything." James replied.

"Okay, cheers mate. Talk to you soon." Harry said as he hung up.

"Well?" Tony asked.

"He's gonna check for me but it's a long shot." Harry told him as he reached for his paper cup and took a sip of his now lukewarm coffee. He grimaced slightly but swallowed anyway.

Tony nodded as he sat back in his chair and went back to whatever it was he was doing when Harry arrived. A few minutes later Ziva and McGee walked into the Squad room, chatting as they came.

"All I'm saying McGee is that it is unlikely that Yoon will return home." Ziva was saying.

"But what about her daughter?" He asked as he moved towards his desk.

"Probably an operational accident." Harry pitched in from his position behind Zivas desk, making the agents turn to face him.

"Harry." McGee said surprise. "What are you doing here?" He asked.

Harry chuckled slightly. "Why is everyone always so surprised when I show up?"

"Well." Tim began awkwardly. "You don't really show up all that much." He said.

Harry shrugged. "You have a point. Anyway, I agree with Ziva, I very much doubt that she planned to have a child but it is an operational hazard when you undertake an assignment like the one she did."

"Thank you." Ziva said tossing her coat at Harry, it landed in his lap.

"I don't know." McGee said, unsure. "She seemed pretty attached."

"It was part of her cover McGee." Ziva said, sitting on her desk.

"It's also possible that she actually cares for the child." Harry said, playing both sides. "After all, she did give birth to her" He shrugged. "I think it's unlikely that she'll return home but it is possible." He finished.

The team nodded before Tony piped up. "Either way we need to be on the look out for her, whether she goes home or not she still seems to be planning on continuing what she started. Whatever that may be."

"Then why are you all still here?" A voice said from the side. They all turned to see Gibbs stood to the side of Tonys desk, ever present coffee in hand.

"Right boss." Tony said, jumping up. "I'll go see if Abby has anything new."

"And I'll check in on the FBI team watching Mr Sung, see if anything suspicious has happened." McGee said.

Gibbs nodded and looked towards Zivas desk and the two people currently occupying it. "David, potter, you're with me. We're going to go check on James Dawson."

Harry nodded and stood.

"Of course Gibbs." Ziva said, sliding her gun into her holster.

"You have your firearm with you potter?" Gibbs asked as they moved to the lift.

Harry nodded and opened his jacket, pointing to his SIG P226 in the leather shoulder holster he was currently wearing. "Right here."

"Good." Gibbs said simply as the lift doors closed.

The Drive to Quantico was quiet. Harry sat in the back, Ziva sat in the front passenger seat and Gibbs drove. They drove through the checkpoint onto base and pulled up outside the Dawson residence. They now had the unenviable job of informing James Dawson that his wife Yoon was not who he thought her to be and that she was in reality a North Korean spy who likely married him to gain entrance into the country. Not something any husband wanted to hear.

Gibbs knocked on the door and a few moments later it opened, showing a tall man stood in the doorway dressed in jeans and a blue shirt.

"Sgt. Dawson, may we come in?" Gibbs asked.

The man stepped to the side and allowed them in before he spoke. "What do you need agent Gibbs?" He asked as he walked into the living room where a cot with a sleeping child within it sat. The man looked worn down as he sat on the settee.

"We need to talk to you about your wife sergeant." Gibbs said quietly.

"You've found her, you've found Yoon?" He asked, his face hopeful.

"In a manner of speaking." Gibbs said grimly.

The sergeants face fell. "She, she isn't dead, is she sir?" He asked, looking desperately between Gibbs, Ziva, and Harry.

Gibbs shook his head. "No sergeant, nothing like that. But we do have something you need to hear." He said.

"Well, what is it?" The man asked.

"Your wife." Ziva began. "is suspected of being a North Korean operative."

Sgt. Dawson looked at them all in shock before he stood up. "No, no that's crazy. My wife is not a spy!" He exclaimed as he began to pace.

"She attempted to murder a man to keep her cover, we think she killed Sun and Ming as well." Gibbs said quietly.

"No!" Dawson said. "It isn't possible sir, I've know my wife for five years, she the mother of my child for Christ sake! She loves America, hell she knows more about it than I do." He said as he splayed his arms.

"She was supposed to, it was a part of her cover" Ziva said impatiently.

"It's called a honey trap sergeant." Gibbs added.

"Her mission was to seduce an eligible serviceman to gain entrance into this country." Ziva said.

"I don't believe it." Dawson insisted. Harry had to hand it to him, he was loyal to his wife.

"Show him." Gibbs said, nodding at Zivas PDA. She nodded and brought up pictures of Yoon aiming a handgun at Lee Sung.

Sgt. Dawson looked at the photos in shock as he practically collapsed on the settee. "They can't be real." He said desperately.

"They're real." Gibbs confirmed before he continued. "Has she tried to get into contact with you at all?"

"So she really killed Sun Porter and Ming Crane?" He asked, more to himself than to the team. He seemed to be in shock, though Harry couldn't really blame the man. It must be hard knowing that the woman you loved, the person you'd shared the last five years of your life with and the mother of your child had been lying to you. It made Harry squirm slightly inside at his own deception. He'd have to find a way to tell Ziva soon. He couldn't start a relationship with her knowing that he was lying to her face. She wasn't just another job anymore.

"We think so." Gibbs said, breaking both Harry and the sergeant from their respective thoughts. "Now, I'll ask again, has she been in contact with you Sergeant?"

"No sir." Dawson answered quietly.

"Remember Marine, she's a foreign agent, if you're lying to us its treason." Gibbs warned.

"She hasn't contacted me sir." Now some conviction was working it's way into his voice again.

Gibbs nodded. "Okay sergeant, that's all, if she tries to contact you tell us as soon as possible." He said as he moved to leave the Dawson residence.

Just as Sgt. Dawson went to reply the phone began to ring and everybody froze. Dawson looked at Gibbs for a moment before the older man nodded. The sergeant went to answer the phone.

"Yoon! Honey, what's going on?" He asked, grasping in desperation for some sanity in the crazy world his life had become. "NCIS is here and they're saying these crazy things about you."

There was a long pause as Yoon replied and then Dawson spoke again. "Yoon you need to come home right now, we can sort this out. Just please come home." He was practically begging at this point and Harry felt for him. What he was going through right now must be beyond painful.

There was another long pause before the sergeant spoke again.

"Yoon! Yoon, honey are you there!?" He hung his head after a moment and turned back to the team after putting the phone down. "She hung up, I don't know where she is." He said quietly.

Just as Gibbs opened his mouth to question him further his phone went off.

"Gibbs." He said as he flicked the phone open. "Got it." He said before he snapped the phone closed. "Gear up, we're going to the Pacific rim society. Thank you for your time sergeant." Harry and Ziva headed for the car and Gibbs stayed behind a moment as Dawson said something. Whatever it was Harry didn't catch it but Gibbs caught them up a moment later as they all piled into the car. By some horrendous stroke of misfortune Ziva ended up behind the wheel and Harry was subjected to her gut wrenching style of Driving more appropriate for a war zone. He probably should have taken his bike.

They pulled up at the Pacific Rim Society as Tony and McGee flagged them down. Harry stepped out from the car a little ruffled but otherwise fine as Ziva and Gibbs went to talk to the other two.

"We found out why the FBI tail wasn't answering boss." Tony was saying as Harry walked up to join them. "We found them tied up, unconscious in their car. Yoon Dawson is here somewhere."

Gibbs nodded as he listened. "Any sign of Lee Sung?" He asked .

Tony nodded afirmative. "His delivery truck pulled up just before we arrived. One of the Valets said they saw him going to meet the truck but haven't seen him since."

"Then why are we just standing here, c'mon." He said as he motioned the team to follow, drawing his service pistol as he went.

The rest of the team complied, moving to the loading bay with weapons drawn and eyes on the lookout. As they swept the area it became apparent that no one was here. Tony looked towards Gibbs and the older man nodded at the closed shutter leading to the interior of the loading bay. He nodded and Harry and Tony moved to stack up on the door whilst Gibbs, Ziva, and McGee took positions either side of the large shutter. Tony looked at Harry, held his hand up and counted down from three. As hus fist clenched zero he pushed the door open with a heave and Harry shot through, hus SIG raised and ready.

As he stepped in he saw Yoon Dawson stood in front of Lee Sung, her weapon raised at the man who was tied to the chair and appeared to be bleeding from the leg.

"Drop your weapon!" He shouted, his gun trained on her chest.

Tony followed seconds behind him, hitting the shutter controls as he entered before he too took aim at Yoon. "Federal agents! Put it down!" He shouted aswell.

As Gibbs, Ziva, and McGee all entered through the shutter Yoon realised she wasn't getting out of this and dropped her gun.

"You don't understand!" She pleaded. "This man is a North Korean agent!" She said desperately.

Harry cocked his head to the side as Lee spoke. "That is preposterous! This woman is the agent, she shot me!" He shouted.

"I came to this country as part of a North Korean cell, along with three others" She began to explain, her hands still in the air. "Sun Porter, Ming Crane, and this man" She pointed to Mr Sung. "I am trying to stop this attack!" She pleaded.

"What attack?" Harry asked, keeping his gun up.

"In his truck" She said, now looking at Harry. "There is a bomb, he means to blow up the Pacific Rim Society during today's event."

Harry looked over at Gibbs and he nodded his head back towards the truck. Harry nodded and went to check whilst the rest of the team asked questions and called in the local police and EMTs.

Harry holstered his weapon as he came close to the delivery truck and pulled up the rear shutter. There was a large object covered by a sheet. He slowly pulled back the sheet and beneath was bricks upon bricks of C-4, all wired with detonater caps leading to a timer on the front. More than enough to blow the building into itty bitty pieces, along with everyone inside.

"Well shit." He breathed as he looked it over.

"Gibbs!" He shouted back into the loading bay. "She was telling the truth!"

Harry hopped down from the truck and went to walk back into the loading bay as Gibbs walked out. "What is it?" He asked, his face a grim line.

"Enough C-4 to turn this building into an impromptu space program." Harry replied flatly.

Gibbs nodded and waved Ziva over before they moved to the bomb. "Can you disarm it?" Harry heard Gibbs ask Ziva.

"Maybe, if I had a few days!" Ziva replied, throwing her hands into the air.

Harry debated something in his head for a moment. Magic often acted like a localised EMP when used around technology maybe if he fired a small amount into the timer he could fry it and stop the blasting caps going off. He called out to Gibbs. "I think I can."

Gibbs turned to look at Harry and then waved him up. "You think you can?" He asked tightly.

"Well, yeah. Whenever you do anything like this there's always a chance that there's secondary triggers or failsafes so I think I can. All the same I recommend that you take a few healthy steps back just in case." Harry said.

Gibbs nodded after a moment and jumped down from the truck to give him some space, he showed no signs of moving any further than that though.

Tony came over as Gibbs got off the truck. "The building has been evacuated boss. We're the only people still here." Gibbs nodded.

"Harry's skiing to disarm the bomb." He said nodding to where Harry was stood.

"Does he know how?" Tony asked, a little worried.

"He said he does." Gibbs answered simply.

Tony nodded once and then crossed his arms to watch, his hands flexing nervously.

Harry stepped over to Ziva and shot her a small smile as he reached behind her and pulled her close. She started slightly before shooting him a look. Not at work. Harry grinned and drew the knife he'd given her for Christmas from where it was sheathed on the back of her belt. "I need to borrow this." He said with a wink as he tepee back and hopped onto the truck.

"Well here goes nothing." He whispered to himself as he popped the timers case open with the knife.

'I really hope this doesn't blow us all up...' He thought to himself as he placed his right hand on the timer and then hooked the knife in his left hand under a wire leading into the timer. He took a deep breath and then sent a pulse of magic into the bomb, keeping the flash muffled with his hand. When his world didn't end in a fiery explosion he let out a deep breath and cut the wire over the knife.

Harry stepped down from the back of the truck and shot everyone a grin. "Well, the good news is: we aren't going to be blown to Kingdom come." He said.

"And the bad news?" Tony asked.

Harry's grin grew everlarger "you guys now have to deal with those two." He pointed to the two Korean agents. "And the paperwork that comes with them."

Tony picked up a pebble from the ground and threw it at Harry as the latter began to laugh as he dodged out of the way.

~O~

Harry rode back to NCIS with the team and returned Zivas knife, whilst making plans for dinner at his place tonight, before he wished them all luck on their paperwork with a grin, something that caused Tony to walk off chuntering to himself, and then hopped on his bike and rode home. He pulled up outside of his apartment at about 16:00 hrs and parked up next to his agency saloon. He climbed off of the bike and headed inside, whistling to himself as he did. He hung his jacket up as he entered his apartment and then went to the kitchenette to make himself a cup of tea. Minutes later he sat in his armchair, tea in one hand and his cryptophone in the other. He took a sip of his tea as he held the speed dial for James.

"Authenticate agent." Came the familiar electronic voice of the non-existant woman.

"One one zero nine two eight eight nine." Harry said clearly.

"Agent Potter, how goes the search for the North Korean sleeper agent?" James asked as he was put through.

"Over now." Harry replied. "It turns out that it was a cell of four. Two of which are dead and are the reason NCIS was involved in the first place. And the other two are in custody. It would appear that Yoon Dawson had a conflict of interest and chose her new family over her original mission. She then set about trying to stop the attack she was meant to orchestrate."

"Interesting, but inconsequential. How goes your actual objective Potter?" James asked.

Harry paused for a moment and then placed his cup on the side table before he spoke. "There's nothing new on that front." He answered. "I'm beginning to think that it's a waste of time, there won't be any new Intel coming from this direction." Now this was a lie, a small one perhaps but still a lie. In actuality Harry thought that Ziva knew quite a few damaging secrets about Eli David but he was hesitant to actually go digging for them. With other marks such a thing would be easy but it felt wrong to do this to Ziva. After all, using someone you neither knew nor cared about to get information was easy... but using someone you were beginning to develop feeling for was another matter entirely.

"Is that your professional opinion agent?" James asked.

"It is." Harry answered firmly.

"I see." James said before he paused. "Well, keep at it for a while, we have other avenues of investigation currently open so until the boss sees fit to reassign you you'll be in America a while yet, lack of information or not."

"Of course." Harry said.

"Chin up agent. If you truly think that you've exhausted this opportunity then use this time you have to unwind a little, maybe you'll still find something. I'll speak to you in a few days."

"Okay, goodbye James." Harry said, hanging up and retuning the Cryptophone to his pocket. He picked up his cup and took another sip of his tea as he thought to himself. One way or another his mission in America would be over soon. He couldn't see himself being here after March at the latest, he'd been in America since late November and it was almost February already. It all came down to whether he would be able to place his personal feeling aside for the job that he'd been given. Either way he wasn't sure what would become of his burgeoning relationship with Ziva. On one hand he could complete his mission by destroying her trust or on the other he could continue to state that it was a waste of time and be reassigned somewhere else on the globe. Neither of the two options really led to a longterm relationship.

He sighed and pushed such thoughts from his mind, he'd deal with it when the time came, until then he was just going to take it day by day and today, or more specifically tonight, he had a dinner to make and prepare for.

A/N: I would like to take a short moment to jump up and down on the spot in celebration of the fact that this story has now broken the 1000 follows mark. That is, frankly, ridiculous as I thought that this was a fairly average attempt at writing, not awful but nothing special either. This is awesome guys, seriously. Onto the chapter itself, I'm actually quite pleased with this one as I feel that it is more in line with the style of earlier chapters and I feel as though the character interactions are more normal. I am still typing these up on my phone whenever possible and will probably continue to do so for the foreseeable future so I apologise for any typos. As always, please read, review, and enjoy the rest of your day :)