PROTOCOL

AN: Another Dead Air story, from a very different angle, the conversation that should have gone on between Tim and Ziva.

Tim looked at Ziva. Had he heard her right? Did she want to turn down the radio? He stared at her. She actually turned the volume down. She then went back to her crossword puzzle.

Tim couldn't believe it. He could never even entertain doing such a thing. He knew Tony would never do that to him. And before Tim realized it he had reached over and turned the volume back up. He couldn't leave an agent out in the field without backup.

Ziva looked at him. She was glaring in fact. "I do not wish to hear DiNozzo rumble on."

"It's ramble on." Tim corrected her. "And we are out here working, Zva. Part of that is listening to Tony." Tim paused. "You can always go back to NCIS and explain to Gibbs why you can't or won't follow his orders."

Tim watched her. He noticed her change in expression. He knew that she wouldn't dare turn it down again.

Ziva felt cornered. She had broken protocol. And it was severe breach, even if it lasted only a few seconds. She was not sure it was a reprimandable offense, but, if it was…..She needed to keep this job. She had to keep it to stay in the U.S. And she needed for Vance and Gibbs to never find out about her breach.

Ziva looked at Tim. "You cannot mouse me out."

"It's rat, Ziva." Tim replied. "And what you did could have caused us to miss Tony, if he called us in distress."

"It was only…."

"How long would it have been off, if I hadn't turned it back on?" Tim asked. "Another couple of seconds? A couple of hours? How long?"

Ziva didn't answer.

"I can't not say anything. We're supposed to be listening to him, Ziva, to Tony." Tim replied. "Even now, I…we are supposed to be listening." He paused. "We shouldn't even be having this discussion."

Ziva listened for a moment. "Tony has not been injured. You still hear him, yes?"

"I do still hear him, Ziva." Tim said. "But that is hardly the point."

Ziva still didn't seem to get it.

"It is not okay to break protocol, as long as nobody gets hurt. That's faulty reasoning."

Ziva was surprised by Tim. She had been able to manipulate him in the past, rather easily. Now, all of the sudden McGee was standing up to her. She was not sure she liked it. She tried to intimidate Tim, just the way she had in the past. It didn't work.

Tim saw Ziva's looks. But he was not going to be intimidated this time. And as Tim though about it, he realized he had allowed Ziva to intimidate him a lot. Tim then thought back to when he first came to NCIS. He was very timid, and Tony had toughened him up. Tim realized the process had been slow and covert. McGee had no idea Tony had an agenda, a plan, in mind when he had teased and taunted the young probie, it seemed mercilessly. But that was all a part of the plan, a part of the process of making Probie Timothy McGee into a strong confident agent.

Looking back at it now, Tim realized that he had let Tony down, a little, in that respect, that Tony's lessons had not been effective. But that couldn't have been further from the truth. The fact remained, though, Tim had allowed Ziva to intimidate and coerce him, since she had been at NCIS. But Tim was putting a stop to it. He had stood up to her. He had made her listen to him. And she had believed him and did not attempt to turn the radio off again.

Ziva was very contrite and conflicted. She knew she had been wrong in not following procedure. But nobody had gotten hurt, so why did McGee want to get her in trouble for what she thought was no good reason. She would have to talk to Tim. She had to get him to see that reporting the incident would only lead to trouble for both of them. And the fact remained, nobody had been hurt. As such, nobody needed to know of Ziva's indiscretion. She had to make Tim understand.

"That's not the tip, Tim." Ziva said. "Tony is well. There was no harm done…."

"It's point, Ziva." Tim corrected her. "And there is, Ziva. It's called protocol, you know, rules and regulations."

"I still do not see the necessity." Ziva said, shaking her head.

"We have to obey rules here, Ziva." Tim told her. "I know that assassins have their own set of rules. But you are no longer a Mossad assassin. You work for NCIS and, as such, you can't just make up your own rules. There is agency…."

"Yoda, Yoda, Yoda." Ziva said. "It's all water under the table."

Tim started to address her idioms. But the protocol issue was much more important.

Tim shook his head vehemently. "I…we follow procedure, Ziva. It's not a question. Just because Gibbs wasn't here…."

"There is no need to report an incident that did not happen." Ziva reasoned.

Tim shook his head sadly. "You. Just. Don't. Get. It."

Tim and Ziva ended their conversation as Tony approached the car. The tension was high as Tony got in, but if he noticed, he gave no sign. He just asked for a bottle of water and then started sneezing.

(Continued per request!)