Not what'd; standard disclaimer applies

ENGAGING, Part 11

"Hey, Ziva, what do you mean that I'm not worth defending?" Tony suddenly asked as he remembered what his teammate had said earlier. The two had already explained their most recent conversation with Fornell. Which lead to questions about their first conversation with the FBI Agent that morning.

Gibbs had not been as amused as Ziva had been. He was glad that Tim was now aware of the reason for Fornell's strong reaction, but that didn't mean that he would be okay with Tim dating, or rather, marrying, his daughter. Since Tony and Ziva had finished, his gaze hadn't left the elevator doors.

Ziva just shrugged before turning to Gibbs to ask him a question, "Do y-"

"I'm going for coffee," Gibbs muttered, shooting one more glance at the elevator.

"Oh, no," Tony smirked, glad that Gibbs had left the bullpen, "You can't just shrug it off. What did you mean by that? You also seemed to agree with Fornell that Lexi should be warned about me."

"Not necessarily Lexi," Ziva corrected.

"You mean any and every girl," Tony grinned. "It's because I'm so charming, right?"

"Not quite," Ziva replied dryly.

"Okay, then tell me what you meant."

She shrugged. "You are Tony, we love you for who and what you are," she stated, causing the senior field agent to glow in pride.

"So you didn't mean to say that I wasn't worth defending, but rather, that I didn't need to be defended," Tony advised.

"Not at all. You weren't worth defending because there was nothing I could say or do that would change Fornell's opinion of you."

Tony frowned, "You can't really believe that he has a high opinion of me."

"I don't," she agreed.

"Then why..."

"He has known you longer than I have," Ziva reminded her teammate. "His opinion is based on what you say and what you do. It is not up to me to change his opinion of you, that is why you were not worth defending."

"Oh." Tony contemplated her words, believing he understood her point. It didn't necessarily reflect on what Ziva thought of him, but rather her belief that her words and efforts were pointless to change someone else's opinion. "And warning Lexi, and others," he added when Ziva opened her mouth to comment, "About me?"

She shrugged, "I am sure McGee told Lexi about you. Of course, since your meeting that night was unplanned, it might have worked in your favor."

"What do you mean?"

"Simply that Timothy probably didn't have time to inform her of every little thing you have done in the past and might try to do again. I have no doubt that when McGee is with his love that he has better things to do than talk about work and his team."

Tony snorted, "Like talking about his computer, his high scores, and his books would really interest someone. The only excitement Probie has in his life is because of us."

"Why does life have to be exciting?" Ziva asked. "Besides, perhaps they talk about her life, their shared interests, and hopes for the futures."

"Boring," Tony stated, faking a yawn. "McGee is as dull as dishwater."

"Lexi doesn't think so."

Tony hesitates for a moment, "Okay, I admit, that surprises me. And I understand why Fornell was upset because he thought I was the one dating his daughter."

"You do?" Ziva questioned in surprise, astonished that Tony would admit to something like that.

"Well, yeah, I mean, the guy hates me," Tony grinned. "Probably because of all the times our team has pulled one over on him," he added with a smirk.

"DiNozzo," Gibbs began as he entered the bullpen, "You can't really believe that you are an answer to a father's prayer when it comes to their daughters, can you?"

"Why not? I have a great career that I love. I'm handsome, charming, successful, financially comfortable,"

"Modest," Ziva injected with an eye roll.

"Have a great sense of humor, fun, pleasant to be with, sensitive,"

Gibbs tuned Tony out as he continued listing his own traits. Once he had finished, Gibbs looked him in the eye and asked, "If you had a daughter, would you want her to date someone like you? Not just someone with the traits you listed, but someone who constantly talks about those dates with his coworkers, who rarely dates the same woman for more than two months, someone unwilling, perhaps even unable to talk about their feelings without turning it into a joke?"

Ziva smirked when Tony's mouth open and shut without saying a word as the agent paled.

"I..." Tony looked around the bullpen, noticing that Ziva was also staring at him, waiting for an answer. His gaze flitted to the elevator, "Maybe we should try calling McGee and Fornell and make sure that they are both still breathing," he suggested, hoping to change the subject.

"Maybe we should get to work on those cold cases," Gibbs retorted, glaring until his agents returned to work.

"McGee!" Fornell shouted once he realized who had pushed him into the elevator. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Tim," he replied, as he stopped the car from moving. "If I'm marrying your daughter, you should probably refer to me by my first name," he added. "I prefer that over drug lord or Rapper T."

"You talked to Lexi."

Tim nodded, "Yes, and it wasn't to break up," he pointedly added.

Fornell glanced around uncomfortably, "Look…"

"You thought I was Tony?!"

Fornell frowned, "I thought Allie's boyfriend was Tony," he corrected.

Tim stared at him for a moment, "Would you have acted the same if you knew it was me?"

"I don't know, probably not," he confessed.

"And now?" Tim asked.

"You're a much better choice than DiNutso," he replied.

Tim rolled his eyes, "Not exactly a ringing endorsement," he commented. "You thought a drug lord or a rapper were better choices."

"I know," Fornell acknowledged. "Look, Allie mentioned that there was a friend she wanted me to meet, wouldn't tell me his name, what he did, how they met, or where he lived. Then I get an email from her friend signed with a single letter. We finally arranged to meet and he cancels at the last minute, and my daughter didn't give me any explanation other than something came up at work. I already had enough of this guy when I came to the yard this morning and heard DiNozzo bragging about his latest to Ziva. When he mentioned that the girl he referred to as Sexy Lexi was Allie Taylor, my Allie, I saw red. It's lucky that I left to talk to her rather than shoot him like I wanted."

Tim snorted, "Gibbs would've killed you."

Fornell shrugged, "I think he would've understood. In fact, I think any jury in the world would've sympathized with me."

Tim raised an eyebrow, "Until it came out that you were wrong and that it was a case of mistaken identity."

"Still might've gotten away with it," Fornell argued, "But yeah, that would've been an issue."

"Even if Tony was her boyfriend, how do you think she would've reacted to what you had done?"

Fornell paled, causing Tim to nod, knowing that his point had been made.

The two men continued to look at each other. "I'm not giving her up," Tim finally said. "I love her. These last two years have been the happiest in my life."

"Two years?" Fornell repeated. "I just found out about you a few months ago."

Tim just shrugged, that was between Lexi and her father. "I've known her for a while. I love everything about her and still plan on asking her to marry me,"

Fornell opened his mouth to reply before stopping as he remembered something. "I congratulated you on your engagement the other day."

Tim grinned, "You did."

"You already asked her?"

"Not quite," he admitted, "Tony kinda asked her for me."

"DiNozzo," he growled before Tim explained how Tony had revealed his plan.

"As we talked, well, emailed, I was planning on waiting until we met, assuming that it happened in the next month or two," Tim admitted. "I was hoping for your blessing and approval before hand, but it isn't necessary for either of us," he added. "One thing I am positive about is that when I do formally ask, she will say yes."

Fornell nodded, he really had no reason not to give his permission. He had no doubt that McGee would do anything to make sure Allie was happy. The two cared about each other a lot, any fool could see that. Denying them this would only hurt his relationship with Allie, driving a wedge between them, making her choose between her future and her past. Looking at McGee, Tim, Tobias knew which one she would pick.

"Wait," Fornell said suspiciously as he remembered something else. "Allie told me that she's moving soon."

"Ah, yeah," Tim admitted. "We found a place together."

Fornell froze and stared at Tim, not sure how to continue. Tim just met his gaze and waited as the older man gathered his thoughts. Finally Tobias sighed, "I can't really say much since it is obvious that her mother and I never married, that we had never planned on getting married."

Tim shrugged, "She's your daughter, you can say a lot," he argued, before explaining, "That was one of the reasons why I planned on proposing within the next two months, well, that and because I hoped to celebrate the holidays this year with my fiancee or wife," he sheepishly added.

Fornell fell silent as he once more thought about things.

"DiNozzo referred to me as the deadbeat dad," Fornell shared.

Tim winced, "I'm sorry. I kept telling him not to."

Fornell shrugged, "In a way, he's right. Yeah, her mother told me I wasn't the father, but I was very happy to hear that and eager to believe it, didn't even argue."

Tim shrugged, "You were a kid and you can't be blamed for her actions."

"I was excited when her mother finally told me the truth, I was also angry. I missed out on so much with her."

"You can't change the past," Tim reminded the older man. "The only thing you can do is build a relationship with her now. I know she wants that," Tim shared.

"So do I," Fornell admitted.

"She also wants your blessing on our relationship," Tim stated, staring at his companion, this time demanding an answer.

"I…" Tobias hesitated. "We've probably known her for the same amount of time," he began.

"Uh, not really," Tim interrupted.

"What do you mean?"

Tim swallowed, before explaining how he knew Lexi, Allie when they were teens living in California.

Fornell sighed, "I don't know if that makes me feel better or worse," he admitted.

Tim shrugged, "Does it even really matter? We both love her, want the best for her, and want her to be happy, right?"

Fornell nodded before the two fell into an awkward silence.

"You know, I figured I would have at least a dozen years before I had to worry about having this conversation with someone about Emily. I didn't know that I would find out that I was a father to a daughter in her late twenties. It hasn't even been two years since I found out about her," Fornell added.

Tim nodded in understanding. "I get it, I really do," he stressed. "But you have to realized that how you react now is going to set the tone for any relationship you hope to have with your daughter, if you want a relationship," he added.

"I do," Fornell confirmed, his decision made.

"Just promise me one thing, Tim?"

"What's that?" Tim asked hesitantly. He was pleased that Fornell used his first name, hoping that it meant the older man was accepting about Tim's relationship with his daughter, but years of working with Tony had cured him of the habit of agreeing to something before he knew what it was.

"That when you two move, you make Tony carry all the heavy furniture," Fornell asked with a wide grin.

"I can do that," Tim replied, happily as the two men shook hands, glad that he and Fornell seemed to have reached some type of peace.

"Call me, Tobias," he suggested, "Unless you want to make that 'Dad'?"

"Uh, maybe after the wedding?" Tim proposed tentatively, not wanting to give the Feeb cause to rescind his blessing.

"I'll hold you to that," he replied with a grin. "Of course, if you decide to do it before then and DiNozzo's around..." his voice trailed off as he smirked at his future son-in-law.

As Tim restarted the elevator, Tobias added, "Please don't have him be your best man," he pleaded, as he imagined the toast and scene the loud SFA would create. not to mention the bachelor party.

Tim grinned, as much as he and Tony got along, the older agent was a bit too wild for him. "How do you feel about Jimmy?"

"Palmer's good, I can handle Palmer."

The two exchanged smirks.

"Oh, and one more thing," Tobias requested, "Can I be please there when you tell DiNozzo that?"

The elevator doors opened at that point, letting everyone witness the two breaking into gales of laughter.

Gibbs smirked at the sight, it looked like things turned out well for his agent, he couldn't be prouder.

11-14-2018

Okay, that might be it for this story...have a few tentative scenes about holiday dinner with the Team and Fornell, and perhaps one of the wedding. Mostly snippets, let me know if you guys want more or not.

I'm just glad I was able to get this done up to this point and posted before tomorrow, I'm going in for dental surgery and am not sure how much I will feel up to writing or posting this weekend and after that it is the holidays and since I work in retail, something tells me I'm not going to have a lot of 'free' time on my hands.

Anyway, I want to thank everyone for reading and this, and special thanks to those who review. I love hearing from you guys.