A/N: Yes, another ficlet from the NFA Help Haiti auction. The request was for Tim and Tony with the prompt of 'competitive spirit'. It didn't end up being what I expected. I had started out thinking something light, perhaps even humorous. It turned into this.

Disclaimer: Not mine! Not mine! I'm not making money off NCIS and it doesn't belong to me. Lucky DPB.

You Owe Me
by Enthusiastic Fish

"Man, I'm freezing!" Tony whined. "I think it should be illegal to commit crimes outdoors during a blizzard."

"It's always illegal to commit crimes, Tony," Tim said disparagingly. "That's why they're called crimes. ...and it's not even snowing right now."

"Ha, ha. Very funny. Hurry it up, McGoo. I want to get back to the truck."

Tim knelt down in the knee-deep snow and took more pictures. He had inadvertently discovered another site at the crime scene. Their suspects had burned something and it had been a big fire. His reward (and Tony's punishment) had been to stay behind and sift through the ashes, document the scene. Tim was determined to be thorough since anything they missed would come out of his hide. Tony's whining wouldn't make him miss anything. So there.

Thwack!

"Hurry it up, Probie!"

Tim glared. "If you're so cold, go on ahead. I'll finish up here. You're obviously no help."

Tony grinned as if that was what he'd been going for. "Beat you back to the truck, Probie."

Tim leaned over, grabbed the backpack with all the samples. "Take this with you. Maybe it'll warm you up a little." He threw it. Hard. It caught Tony in the stomach and nearly unbalanced him.

"Thanks, McGeek," Tony said, a nasty edge in his voice.

Tim ignored him and went back to his camera. He heard Tony hoof it away and knew that the only reason he hadn't got a snowball in the face was because not even Tony would risk contaminating a crime scene. He was likely to get it when he reached the truck.

He was getting cold himself when he called it good. He stood to start back, had a moment of panic when he couldn't remember which direction they'd come through the trees and then re-oriented himself. It wasn't far, just far enough that he could wander in circles if he went off the wrong way. He smiled to himself wondering when Tony would seek his revenge. He was the kind of person who would never let something like that stand. Tim had briefly gotten the best of him. The scorecard always had to be weighted in Tony's favor. He wouldn't tolerate anything else.

Suddenly, he saw a flash of movement out the corner of his eye. He thought it was Tony and he turned, ready to confront the attack.

It wasn't Tony. As he turned, a fist caught him right in the face, knocking him down into the snow. He was a bit dazed as he looked up...into the barrel of a gun.

"Okay, fed. Nice and easy. Toss your gun into the snow."

Tim nodded and started to reach for it.

"Don't try anything! I'm feeling a bit twitchy. We wouldn't want this gun to go off accidentally, now would we?"

"No."

"Good. Slow. Throw it."

Tim did so, reluctantly.

"Now. I'll take that camera."

Tim almost smiled. He'd already taken the card out of it. Easily enough, he began move the strap over his head.

"What do you think we saw?"

"Enough. You saw enough."

Tim saw that this guy was more than a little twitchy. He was on the verge of pulling the trigger just to do it.

"I didn't see anything. Only ashes."

"You saw enough. You saw the pictures. You saw the bags. You saw it!" Then, Tim watched as the inevitable realization dawned in his eyes. Tim had seen it. He was a witness. "You saw it all," he said, his voice changing.

Tim knew the end was coming...fast. He hoped they'd hear the gunshot and catch this guy. Then, he saw more movement in the trees. It was amazing how much black stood out when it was white all around.

"Federal agent!" came Tony's welcome voice. ...and then something white flew through the air and hit the guy right in the face, knocking him backward. The gun went off but it was wide. Tim surged to his feet and lunged forward, taking another hit to his face as he did so, but so relieved that his death wasn't imminent that he barely noticed...even though his cheek had briefly seemed to explode with pain.

He also barely noticed when Tony came up and pulled him back so that he could cuff Tim's attacker.

"Down, Probie."

Tim fell back in the snow, breathing heavily...and only partly because of the exertion. His heart was beating a million times per second.

"Aren't you lucky I was here?" he said, ostensibly to the man on the ground. "My attack dog might not have been able to hold himself back. You're under arrest for assault on a federal agent."

Tim looked around and found where he'd thrown his gun. There it was.

"You were just trying to show me up, weren't you, Probie."

Tim was trying to decide if he could stand up.

"What?"

"You...trying to take this idiot down by yourself, unarmed. You were just trying to show me up after that perfect snowball I threw. Admit it."

Tim furrowed his brow as he looked up at Tony.

"What?"

"You all right, McGee?" Tony asked.

Tim noticed that he did seem to be a bit concerned.

"Yeah...I'm...I'm fine, Tony. Thanks."

"You okay to get up yourself?"

"Yeah."

"Okay. I'll take this dirtbag back to the car. Makes our case a bit easier."

"Yeah."

Tim watched as Tony hauled the man away. He couldn't seem to get himself to focus on the basic movements. Instead, he clumsily reached out for his gun and then couldn't decide if he wanted to get the gun or the camera. He was still awkwardly reaching out, hand extended between the two of them, when he felt a warm hand on his arm.

"Come on, McGee. Let's go."

"I need to get my gun," Tim said.

"All right."

"And the camera."

"Okay."

Tim felt Tony propel him forward. He wasn't shot. He didn't know why it was so difficult for him to focus. He nearly fell when he leaned over to grab the camera.

"I got it, Probie."

"Sorry."

"Brass knuckles, McGee. You're probably feeling a little loopy, huh?"

"Yeah."

"Well, if you had just done what I told you to do, this wouldn't have happened. That means you owe me, McGee."

Tim laughed and then moaned. Feeling was coming back to his face as the adrenaline faded.

"Why did you use a snowball?"

"I had it all ready. I couldn't waste it!"

"Of course."

"Besides, I had to show you that I could hit a small target. Your head wouldn't have been a challenge. It's much too big."

"Thanks, Tony."

The truck appeared in the clearing of the trees. Tony didn't let him go until he was settled on the seat.

"Tony?" Tim said, quietly because moving his face was starting to hurt. A lot.

"Yeah?"

"It was a nice shot."

Tony grinned. "Don't forget that you owe me."

Tim could almost see him marking a new tally mark on the scorecard. He smiled.

"I won't."

FINIS!