Sorry this took so long to post. It is now finished, I left it at a point where it has an ending but could be picked up for a sequel. Hope you enjoy. I loved the reviews!

McGee sat at his desk banging on his keyboard like he was trying to punish it. Tony had just gotten off the phone with Petty Officer Gowen's CO. He was about to tell McGee that Gowen's file was being sent over, but seeing the look on his face stopped him. Tony was actually worried. He had never seen McGee like this. After watching him angrily punch away at the keyboard for two more minutes, Tony finally spoke up.

"McGee." The typing stopped abruptly. Tim's eyes flew up and glared. Tony cleared his throat. "Come on, let it out."

"I'm working Tony." He went back to typing.

Tony sighed and turned to his own computer. When Gibbs had come in with McGee and Alexia Jansen, Tony and Ziva were already at the bullpen. The woman they saw looked nothing like what Tony had expected. She was wearing simple kaki pants and a short sleeved dark blue blouse. Her hair was twisted up into a hair clip. But damn, she looked good! If they had met under normal circumstances, Tony would have given McGee hell and gone out of his way to embarrass him. But now…

Gibbs had taken Lexi straight to the conference room. He stopped McGee at the door, not letting him in. McGee got defensive and they argued for a minute. Tony was surprised that McGee didn't get a head slap. Tony couldn't hear exactly what they were saying but when Gibbs finally raised his voice, McGee gave in. He stalked back to the bullpen and kicked his desk chair.

"Are you alright, McGee?" Ziva asked him.

"He won't let me in there with her." Tim threw himself into his chair.

"McGee," Ziva walked over to his desk. "Gibbs knows you have a personal interest in this case. You need to stay objective."

"Having a personal interest never stopped Gibbs before." McGee spoke through clenched teeth.

"Speaking of the big bad, did he give any orders?" Tony tried to get McGee to focus on the case, not just on Lexi.

"He wants the standard work up on Gowen, phone records and back rounds on the paintball players, and…"

"And?" Tony asked.

"And a full back round on Alexia Jansen."

"I think one of us should do the back round on her." Ziva said cautiously.

"Fine, you do it." McGee still sounded bitter. "You've been wanting to anyways." He muttered quietly. Tony knew Ziva heard it, but she just went to her desk and got to work. Tony could understand how McGee felt. He didn't agree with him taking it out on Ziva, but he knew Ziva wouldn't take it personally. Which was the only thing keeping Tony from whacking McGee over the head with his own keyboard.

That was all a good two hours ago. Gibbs had come out of the conference room alone after thirty minutes. He passed by the bullpen and sent a look to McGee before heading to Abby's lab, and then probably on to autopsy. Tony knew he was headed down to see if Abby had gotten anything from the hunting rifle Ziva found at the scene. Since Gibbs left, McGee had either been bashing and glaring at his computer, or sending glances at the door to the conference room.

"McGee." Ziva's voice brought Tony's head up. McGee stopped typing and glared her way. "Did you know that four years ago, Alexia inherited quite a large sum of money from a dead grandfather?" McGee's eyebrows came together.

"She never mentioned it." McGee thought for a second. "That was right around the time she bought the bakery though."

"Almost three-hundred thousand dollars." Ziva said looking at her monitor. Tony let out a low whistle.

"That doesn't mean anything." McGee got defensive.

"No, that doesn't, but… She has a younger half-brother who fought it in court. He tried to stop her from getting the money. His name is Justin Barrett. He lives in Alexandria."

"And has almost three-hundred thousand reasons for motive." Tony said.

"But that was four years ago." Tim shook his head while he spoke.

"Yes, but because of drawing it out in court, she had not received the money until two months ago." McGee got up from his chair and moved behind Ziva to see her screen. Tony was close behind him. "She purchased the bakery with a loan. She had been paying it back over the last four years. After she received the money from the inheritance, she paid off the rest of the loan."

"So," Gibbs was suddenly in front of Ziva's desk. He held a white paper bag in one hand and an Orange Crush soda in the other. "Our suspect list just got bigger." McGee tried not to glare up at him. He kept his eyes glued to Ziva's screen. "Ziva, keep digging. Run down the name Derrick Ness." He handed Ziva a piece of paper. McGee clenched his fists. Gibbs had gotten her to talk about her ex. That had probably put her in a sour mood. "See if he has an alibi. DiNozzo, call the half brother and find out where he was this morning."

"On it boss." Tony flew back to his own desk.

"McGee." Tim finally made eye contact with Gibbs. "With me." Tim didn't move until he saw Gibbs was headed back into the conference room. Gibbs stopped at the door and turned to him. He held out the bag and soda. "Have lunch with your girlfriend, McGee. I'll be back after a while." Gibbs' face was completely unreadable. Tim took the bag and can.

When the door opened, Lexi expected to see Agent Gibbs with the lunch he had promised her. The interview with him had been short. Lexi suspected that he had gone easy on her on purpose. She knew how cops worked. They got you talking about yourself to open you up and make you feel comfortable. Then they started with the hard questions.

Seeing Tim looking at her with that strained expression brought her mind racing back to the here and now.

"Hi." She waved as she spoke.

"Was he nice to you?" Tim's question came out abruptly when he sat down.

"Um, yeah. Well, define nice." Tim's eyes widened. "I'm pretty sure he was at least his version of nice." She half-smiled and her eyes traveled to the bag on the table. "Is this mine?"

"Yeah." Tim blinked and opened the bag. He handed her a sandwich and pushed the soda towards her. He wanted to ask her a million questions, but nothing came out. After watching her eat for a minute, he finally opened his own sandwich.

"So, are you the good cop?" She asked without looking up.

"Nope, just your lunch date." Her eyes came up and she smiled.

"I figured he would either try to keep you away from me, or use you to pump me for information."

"That's not really how Gibbs works."

"You're right though. He does have the stare."

"I thought you said he was nice."

"He really just asked me basic back round questions. I was kinda surprised." She sighed and set her sandwich down. "Are you gonna tell me about the case?"

"I don't think I really can."

"I get it." She ate the rest of her food in silence. When she was done, she just sat there not looking up. "I told him about Derrick." She twisted her ring around her finger.

"I know." He tried to look at her face but she kept looking down. "That's good though. The more we know the faster we can get whoever did this."

"Do you have any leads?"

"I can't really say… Are you mad?" Her face shot up.

"About what?"

"Me not talking about the case."

"Tim, you're doing your job. Of course I'm not mad." Lexi propped her elbow on the table and laid her head in her hand. "I just…"

"What?" Tim leaned towards her.

"I can't stand the fact that someone died… It should have been me. She died because of." Tim took her hand.

"She died because someone murdered her." Lexi sniffed and faced him. He could see the tears threatening to fall. "You cannot blame yourself for this. You did not pull the trigger."

"I'd like to know who did." Tim and Lexi both jumped at the sound of Gibbs' voice.

"How does he do that? I didn't even hear him come in?" Lexi whispered to Tim.

"And you never will." Tim whispered back. They both looked back at Gibbs. Lexi touched Tim's hand under the table when Gibbs moved to sit across from her and to Tim's right. "Boss, you want me to leave?"

"No, you can stay." Gibbs slapped a folder onto the table and opened it. Tim squeezed Lexi's hand. Folder slapping was something Gibbs did when he wanted serious answers. "You recently came into quite an inheritance." He finally looked Lexi in the eye.

"Is that a question?" Her voice was suddenly hard. She had an unreadable expression on her face. Gibbs just kept looking at her. "Yes, my grandfather died."

"He left you everything." Lexi just nodded. "Were you close?"

"No. I barely knew him."

"Then why would he leave you his entire estate?"

"Guilt." Lexi's bitterness made both Tim and Gibbs look confused. Lexi took a second to glance at Tim.

"Would you feel more comfortable with him gone?" Gibbs asked nodding his head in Tim's direction. Tim's eyes begged her to let him stay. He needed to know what was going on.

"No, I just lose my temper when I talk about my mother's side of the family." Her eyes shot over to Tim and back to Gibbs.

"That's understandable. She left you." Tim tried to reassure her.

"How old were you?" Gibbs asked.

"Five." She saw Gibbs flinch. "The only memory I have of my grandfather is the day my mother left us. He helped her pack and move out. Basically, grandpa never approved of my father and finally convinced my mother to leave him."

"How did he manage that?" Gibbs frowned.

"He threatened to cut her off. He hated my dad because he was from a different class. Or maybe it was because my dad actually had class." She scowled. "After mommy dear left Dad, she married someone gramps approved of. And my dad and I became just a bad memory."

"They never tried to contact you." Lexi glared up at Gibbs.

"Not until a lawyer called me to attend a will reading."

"But you took the inheritance."

"Do you always ask questions by making statements?" Tim shot Lexi a warning look. "Yes, I took it. And when they tried to take it away from me, I fought." Lexi's hand jerked away from Tim. "What does any of this have to do with Jessa Gowen's murder? Or do you just enjoy watching people lose it?" She was almost shouting.

"Do you think your mother or half-brother would try to hurt you?" Tim asked quickly. Gibbs seemed totally unphased by her outburst. But Tim wasn't taking chances. He needed to diffuse this.

"Even if they did, they wouldn't get the money. After my grandfather died, it opened my eyes." She seemed to be calming down. "I went to a lawyer and made out a will of my own."

"And?" Gibbs asked crossing his arms.

"If I die, Mitch gets the business. The rest gets divided between Amelia and Gavin, and my uncle Jimmy and his wife. And eventually if I get married, I'll change it to include my family."

"Uncle Jimmy?"

"He was my Dad's best friend. He's been family to me since I was born. He and his wife, Sue, helped me through a lot. He's a cop in Philadelphia. Sue is a teacher." She paused and leaned forward. "And before you ask another question or make a statement about either of them. They don't even know I made a will, no one does."

"And you honestly can't think of anyone who would want you dead?" Lexi shook her head, looking exhausted.

"No." Lexi's voice was level but Tim knew Gibbs was starting to hit the wrong buttons. "I live a very simple life. I work. I relax. I go fishing at my dad's old cabin when I wanna get away from the city. I don't party. I hate crowds. I don't make it a point to piss people off. I have a very small group of friends that I hang out with. I wouldn't suspect any of them of murder, not after what they've all helped me through."

"Your father's death…" Lexi stayed silent. "You were barely an adult. That must have been hard." Gibbs' voice had softened. "Made you vulnerable."

"My friends watched me fall apart and still stuck around to put me back together." She leaned forward and put her arms on the table. "They looked out for me even after I tried to drive them away. They cared about me, more than I did. Does that sound like anyone who would want to shoot me?"

"You'd be surprised." The door opened just as Gibbs spoke. Tony came in, but paused when he saw Gibbs squared off with Lexi. "Yeah, DiNozzo?" Gibbs prompted.

"Uh, got a hold of the half-brother…" Tony looked at Lexi and back at Gibbs. "Should we talk out here?" Tony pointed behind him. Gibbs didn't move. "Okay… The half-brother and mother were both in Greenwich all weekend. It checks out. Derrick Ness is…" Tony glanced back at Lexi. Her face went from angry to frightened. "He's been in jail for the past three months. Assault charge." Tony took another step into the room. "Ziva ran down phone records and uh…"

"Just speak Tony!" Gibbs was getting impatient.

"We have a theory." Tony moved his head, signaling Gibbs to follow him. Gibbs growled and got up. He grabbed the folder and headed out. Once at the door, he turned. "Come on, McGee." Tim looked at Lexi and got up.

"Just um, wait here." Tim said before following Gibbs.

Back in the bullpen Ziva had a photo of a hunting rifle up on the plasma.

"Boss," Tony was standing next to her. "Abby didn't get anything from the rifle. The serial number had been filed off. No prints, killer had to have been wearing gloves."

"You have a theory." Gibbs reminded Tony.

"Yes, boss." Tony grabbed the remote from Ziva. "This," he clicked the remote, "is Seth Price." McGee glared at the screen. "In the last year he has called or texted Alexia Jansen at least three to five times a week. That's more than any other person on her contact list." McGee's glare intensified. Tony glanced over his shoulder just in time to catch it. "In the last two weeks, that number has doubled. And the text messages have been… Well…" Tony clicked the remote again and the screen showed Lexi's text history. Tony began to read the texts out loud.

"Lex, I need to know where you are. Why aren't you answering your phone. Don't ignore me."

"Lex, I know you're with him. Does he not let you answer your phone? What is it with you and control freaks?"

"If he hurts you, I'll kill him. I'm here if you need me."

"He's not good enough for you. You deserve better. Please call me."

Tony stopped reading and turned to Gibbs.

"And it gets weirder from there. Boss, this guy sounds a little too stalkerish." That was all the confirmation Tim needed to know that Seth had been the one texting him from Lexi's phone at the reception.

"He is." Tim said bitterly. "He's been trying to get her to break it off with me."

"He also happens to be a Marine sniper." Ziva added.

"Bring him in." Gibbs turned back to Tim. "Take her home. Stay with her." Tim didn't hesitate this time. He went to his desk and grabbed his things. "McGee!" Tim turned back around. "This is a protection detail. Not a night off."

"Got it boss." He practically ran to the conference room.

By the time Tim pulled into the parking lot of Crafted Confections Lexi had fallen asleep beside him. She hadn't said a word the entire drive over. He turned off the engine and shifted in his seat to face her. He reached out and touched her cheek. Her head came up slowly.

"We're here." He spoke softly. Without saying a word she got out of the car. Once they reached her door, she unlocked it. She was about to open the door but Tim stopped her. "Let me check first." Lexi's eyes widened when he pulled out his gun. "Just wait a minute." Tim walked through the apartment and checked every nook and cranny where someone could hide. After not finding anyone, he headed back to the front door. He made it to the middle of the living room when he heard-

"Lexi!"

Tim rushed out of the apartment and found Amelia bear-hugging a tired looking Lexi. Amelia quickly let go of Lexi when she looked up and saw Tim pointing a gun in her face. Tim put his gun away and sighed. Amelia turned back to Lexi.

"What is going on? I've been so worried! Gavin and I waited for you at Mitch's. Did you know we had to give our camos and gear to some lab at NCIS? And they are looking for Seth to question him! What is that?" Amelia paused her super fast interrogation to hug Lexi again. "Oh, I was so worried!" Mitch's door opened and Gavin and Mitch both came into view. Amelia turned to Tim and glared. "What the hell is going on?" She demanded.

"I can't really talk about an open case." Thank God he could hide behind protocol. Amelia really did frighten him.

"Excuse me." She took a step towards him. "Excuse me!" Gavin slipped behind Amelia. Tim couldn't tell if he was going to back her up, or try to hold her back. "You cart my best friend off after a murder and you won't tell me why? Is she in danger?"

"I can't tell you about the case. I'm only here to watch out for Lexi." He was afraid to say 'protect.' That word sent all the wrong signals sometimes.

"So, you're working right now! She's just a case to you now! Well, she's a person to me!" By now Amelia was hysterical with anger. Tim wanted to yell at her. How dare she accuse him of treating Lexi like another case. The fact that Lexi happened to be standing there (or about to fall over from the looks of it), kept Tim from telling Amelia to shove it.

"Stop it." Lexi speaking brought everything to a halt. "Just… Stop." She swayed and Tim reached out to steady her. "I just wanna lay down." She pushed past everyone and went into her apartment.

"Do you see what you did?" Amelia hissed at Tim. His eyes narrowed. What he did? He wasn't the one yelling. Amelia followed Lexi into the apartment. Tim knew he should stop her but once look at Gavin told him that even trying would be pointless.

"We'll just be in here." Gavin said pointing at Mitch's door. Tim nodded and stepped in Lexi's door.

Tim shut and bolted the door. He didn't bother going into Lexi's room. He really wasn't up for another encounter with Mama Bear. Tim just plopped down on Lexi's couch. The couch faced the door to the bedroom. He could hear Amelia but her voice was muffled. The door was open slightly and he saw Lexi cross into the bathroom. A minute later she came out and glanced up long enough to see Tim on the couch. The light in her room went off and Amelia came out and shut the door. Tim sighed when she came to sit next to him.

"She wants me to leave." Amelia sounded both surprised and sad. "What is going on? She hasn't shut me out like this since…"

"Since Derrick?" Tim let his head fall onto the back of the couch.

"Yeah."

"I did not tell her to ask you to leave." She was not going to accuse him of being controlling. He was getting really sick of that.

"I know." Amelia paused long enough to make Tim finally turn his face to look at her. "She's in some kind of danger isn't she." Tim nodded. "That bullet… It was meant for her." Tim nodded again. "She does this when she feels threatened. She pushes people away. It's like she thinks her bad luck is contagious. Who would even want to hurt her?"

"Tell me about Seth Price." Tim brought his head up.

"Are you asking me for the case or because you want to protect her?"

"Both. And solving this case will protect her."

"Seth fell in love with Lexi the day they met. At least he said he did. Lexi never caught on to it. She had no idea until a few days ago. I had to flat out tell her. Seth had been trying to get me and Gavin to help him get Lexi."

"And?"

"We made it clear we weren't gonna play matchmaker. Lexi needs to make her own decisions. And I knew she could never love Seth. He's too cold."

"And I'm not? You didn't have a problem giving me advice."

"I see the way she looks at you."

"How?"

"Like she's looking at everything she's ever wanted. She told me you made her forget what it was like to be afraid. That's when I knew you were good for her."

"I'm not so sure anymore…" Amelia sat up straight.

"What?" Her voice came out hard.

"I don't think I'm what she needs. I just feel like she can do better."

"Better than what? Better than someone who makes her feel as happy as she was before her dad died? I knew Lexi when her dad was alive. She was probably the happiest person I'd ever met. She was bright and funny and loved everyone. She looked at the world and saw how good it was. Then she got that one damn phone call. That "we regret to inform you" bullshit… I've never seen anyone break into a million pieces like that." Amelia stopped and sighed. "You should see how she glows when you walk into the room. You did that, Tim. You did what no one else could. So don't you dare tell me she can do better."

"Wow, I really didn't expect you to champion me after the yell fest at the door." Tim smirked.

"Well sometimes my over-protective nature gets the best of me."

"Yeah." Tim nodded. "But I know how you feel. I nearly punched my boss earlier. And if you've met my boss you'd know how crazy someone would have to be to even think of doing that."

"Okay. Well, before this gets so awkward, I actually blurt out the word awkward, I'm gonna go." Tim got up and locked the door after Amelia left. He sat back down on the couch and closed his eyes.

"What a day." He said out loud.

"You don't really believe that do you?" McGee's eyes popped open. Lexi was standing in her room with the door open. She had changed into a Waverly College t-shirt and a pair of yoga shorts.

"Believe what?" Tim asked. Lexi crossed into the living room and sat in her desk chair, facing Tim.

"That you're not good for me."

"It just feels like, since I came into your life… Maybe it's my bad luck that's contagious."

"What happened to "this isn't your fault, you didn't pull the trigger?" Or does that only apply when your trying to make someone feel better?" She sounded angry. Tim leaned forward and put his hands on his knees.

"Do you think I didn't mean that?"

"I dunno, did you?" Her sarcasm was like a slap in the face.

"Where is this coming from? Why are so pissed at me all of the sudden?"

"I'm not pissed at you genius!" She stood up and pushed the chair back. "I'm scared okay! I'm scared and embarrassed! And I don't like it!" Tim stood up and took a step towards her. She moved back towards the kitchen.

"Lexi…" Tim tried to calm her down. "You have nothing to be-"

"Don't. Just, don't give me that 'no one's gonna hurt you' speech. It will not help."

"I was going to say, you have nothing to be embarrassed about. Why would you even think that you did? Because now I know your mother's family are all jerks? I kinda figured that already. And I honestly believe you have every right to hate them."

"I've tried so hard to keep my private life, private. And now… Now the people you work with. The people you have to see every day… They know all about your sad, pitiful little girlfriend." Lexi hugged herself. "There's an innocent woman dead, and all I can think about is whether or not you'll ever want to look at me when this is over. I embarrassed you in front of everyone. I feel like some pathetic baby."

"I don't care if I'm working." Tim's voice was low and serious. Lexi's eyebrows came together in confusion. "And if Gibbs finds out he can fire me."

Tim closed the distance between them and pried Lexi's arms apart. Wrapping his hands around the back of her neck he pushed his lips onto hers. Lexi gasped, completely caught off guard. As soon as her lips parted, Tim slipped his tongue in her mouth. He kissed her hard, trying to put all his conviction into it. Words were useless right now. He needed to show her. She just stood there and let him kiss her. He moved his hands to cup her cheeks. When she still didn't return the kiss, he finally let go. She looked up at him completely stunned. His hands fell from her face to her shoulders.

"If that doesn't tell you how I really feel, I can do it again." He said touching his forehead to hers. She blinked like she was coming out of a trance.

"Do it again."

His lips were back on hers in a second. This time she returned the kiss. He felt her pushing him back towards the couch. He broke off the kiss abruptly.

"No," his voice whispered in her ear. "The bed." She promptly turned and pulled him to her room.

Tim groaned when he heard his phone ring. He distangled himself from the bed sheets and dug his phone out of his pants. Before he flipped the phone open he looked at the clock beside the bed. It was 10:23p.m.

"McGee." He said into the phone.

"Hey," Tony's voice was all business. "We had to release Seth Price."

"What?" Tim exclaimed. Lexi stirred and mumbled. Tim went out into the living room.

"We had nothing on him. But he gave me and Gibbs a nice creepy feeling. I've been ordered to take you and Alexia to a safe house."

"So, I need to bring her into NCIS?"

"Yep, right now."

"Got it." Tim ended the call. When he got back into the bedroom, Lexi was awake and sitting up in the bed.

"Are we leaving?" She asked drowsily.

"Yeah. You might want to pack a bag." Lexi sighed and pushed the covers off of her legs.

In less than ten minutes they were ready to leave. Tim grabbed Lexi's bag while she sent a quick text to Amelia. They quickly made their way outside. Tim popped the trunk and had just set Lexi's bag down when he felt a sharp pain on the back of his head. Lexi screamed. Then nothing.

Tim blinked several times. Son of a bitch, his head hurt! He could feel something sticky coating the right side of his face. He tried to move his hand to wipe the stickyness away. But he couldn't! He took stock of his surroundings. He was in Lexi's kitchen, sitting in one of the wooden chairs facing her table. His hands were bound behind him by what he was pretty sure was duct tape. As his eyes adjusted to the brightness he quickly zeroed in on another figure. Lexi was in a chair, bound the same way he was. Her hair was covering her face. She was slumped over, still unconscious.

"Lexi?" He called out softly. "Lexi can you hear me?" She stirred and moaned.

"Don't think she can, Special Agent." Tim whipped his head around and saw Seth Price come out of Lexi's bedroom. "I had to knock her out, wouldn't stop screaming… And I wanted the chance to enjoy this."

"Enjoy what?" Tim growled.

"You took her from me. I'm going to make you watch her die. Then I'm going to kill you, then myself." Seth's calm voice scared the hell out of Tim. Seth pulled something from underneath his shirt.

'Great.' Tim thought. 'He's going to kill Lexi and me with my own gun.'

"If you love her, why do you want her dead? Just kill me." Tim pleaded.

"No… That wouldn't be right."

"Why the hell not? You'd be rid of the competition!" By now Lexi was lifting her head. "Just let her go! Kill me and let her go." Lexi blinked several times and stared at Tim.

"It's not about competition." Seth walked over to Lexi and ran a hand through her hair. She jerked her head away and glared at him. "It's about a true love story." Seth moved to stand behind Lexi. "She loves Shakespeare. And we're gonna be Romeo and Juliet."

"You're insane." Lexi breathed out. "You're not in love, you're just freaking nuts." Seth grabbed a handful of Lexi's hair and pulled. She cried out in pain as her head was jerked back.

"Stop it!" Tim yelled. Seth's hand shot up and suddenly the gun was pressed against Lexi's temple.

"You both need to stay quiet. We don't want to wake the neighbors." He jerked Lexi's hair again. This time she bit down hard to keep from making noise. Seth leaned forward and kissed her cheek before letting go of her hair. "Now," he moved to stand beside Lexi. "It's confession time." He pointed the gun at Tim. "Do you love him?" Lexi opened her mouth to respond but nothing came out. Her eyes began to tear up. She closed her mouth and looked at Tim. "Do you?" Lexi's lips tembled.

"I don't know…" Her eyes fell away from Tim. Seth stepped towards Tim.

"Do you love her?" Tim looked Lexi square in the eyes.

"Yes. I love her. And I will fight for her." Tim saw Lexi's eyes go wide. "What would a love story be without a fight for your true love? There was a lot of that going on in Romeo and Juliet." He looked at Seth. "Let's have a go." Seth seemed to consider this for a second.

A knock at the door made everyone jump. Seth whipped around and shoved the gun in Lexi's face.

"If you make one sound, I will shoot whoever that is!" He hissed at her.

"My car is downstairs." Tim whispered. "They know we are in here." Seth glared at Tim. Another knock.

"Lexi?" Lexi's jaw dropped at the sound of Amelia's voice.

"Please, I'll get her to leave." Lexi pleaded quietly. "I promise, just let me answer her. Then you can have all night…" Seth made up his mind and quickly got a knife to cut the tape on Lexi's wrists. He stood her up and shoved her to the door.

"If you do anything I don't like, I'll shoot her. Then I'll go next door…" He reached up and hooked the door chain so Lexi couldn't open it all the way. Lexi cracked the door.

"Hey," Lexi's voice was level. "Sorry, we were sleeping. What's up?"

"I thought you were leaving?" Amelia sounded worried.

"We were but they called us back and said they had a suspect in custody. Tim's boss said I'd be okay here if he stayed with me. And I honestly didn't want to go to some strange house in the middle of the night."

"That's understandable." Amelia's voice was calm now. "So, everything okay?"

"Yeah, it's all peaches and cream. Can I go back to bed now?" Lexi managed a laugh.

"Yeah. Night night, wonder girl." Lexi closed the door.

"That was very good dearest." Seth led Lexi back to the chair. "Now you just sit and continue to be a good girl." He moved to stand behind Tim. As Seth crossed, Tim saw Lexi wink. Tim perked up slightly, letting her know he caught it. Seth paced back and forth behind Tim. Three minutes passed. Tim knew because he was facing Lexi's wall clock. He kept glancing at her but her eyes were on Seth. He could actually see a plan forming in her mind.

"It's not my favorite love story." Lexi suddenly said. Seth faced her, still behind Tim. "Romeo and Juliet… I never liked that one. I thought it was a waste, them dying in the end."

"What story was your favorite?" Seth asked. His tone had changed slightly.

"I always liked Much Ado About Nothing. It has my favorite quote in it."

"Which is?"

"Silence is the most perfect herald of love. I always liked to think that it meant, shut up and kiss me."

"So you like action, not just words?"

"I always have." She sat up straight in her chair. "Your actions tonight… If I had known… Why didn't you let me know sooner?"

"I tried!" Seth moved to stand in front of Lexi. "I did, I tried! I tried everything to get you to notice me. But you never did. And then he came along."

"Why didn't you just try kissing me?" She said quickly. She wanted his focus on her, not Tim.

"What?" Seth shook his head.

"Try kissing me. Just shut up and kiss me." She leaned forward. "Kiss me." Seth knelt down on one knee and looked her in the eyes.

"You want me to…?"

"Kiss me. Actions, not words." She smiled and leaned further. One hand touched his cheek. He closed his eyes and moved in.

Lexi gave a cry of anger and lauched herself at his crouched form. Tim shouted her name but was helpless to do anything. Seth yelled out in pain when Lexi's elbow connected hard with his face. His gun hand flew up and Lexi grabbed it with both hands. Tim tried scooting the chair towards them, thinking he could kick Seth. Tim heard a shot go off.

"No!" He screamed. Suddenly, Lexi and Seth were standing. Tim's heart sank when he saw that Seth still had the gun.

"That was very stupid!" Seth yelled. He grabbed Lexi's shirt and pulled her towards him. Putting the gun to her temple, he forced her to face Tim. "Ready to watch her die?"

At that second the front door was kicked in and three people were yelling and pointing guns. Tim had never been so releived to see his team!

"Put it down!" Gibbs yelled.

"You put yours down!" Seth yelled right back. He ducked down, behind Lexi. "I'll kill her!"

"You won't have the chance." Tony spat out.

"Ziva?" Gibbs asked, not taking his eyes off Seth. Ziva had inched around and Tim could see she was aiming her shot.

"Got it." She replied calmly.

Seth ducked further down and shoved the gun in Lexi's back. What had her dad told her to do a million times if someone had a weapon on her back. Lexi's eyes connected with Gibbs'. Her eyes went wide for a second. Then she used all of her weight to drop forward onto her stomach. Seth was still gripping her shirt and fell forward with her. The gun went off again as he landed beside her. Pain. Lexi heard three more shots and Tim yelling her name. Then the world slipped away.

Lexi's eyes opened slowly. The first thing she saw was a bright light.

"Great, I'm dead." She muttered.

"Not quite." A voice beside her made her jump. She turned to see one of Tim's team members sitting beside her.

"Good thing, cause if this is supposed to be heaven, I got jipped. I figured there would at least be a giant chocolate fountain." Her voice came out scratchy but she was smiling. The agent beside her smiled back.

"I could rustle you up some chocoalte pudding." He offered.

"You must be Tony." His eyes narrowed slightly.

"Why must I be Tony?"

"Cause you're being nice to me. Well, that, and I've already met Gibbs. And I know Ziva's the girl."

"He does talk about us. I knew it." He snapped his fingers. "Was it all bad?"

"I'll never tell." She tried to sit up. "Ah!" Pain shot through her left side.

"Easy now." Tony stood up. "You've been shot. The bullet hit you just below your collar bone." Lexi's eyes flew up at him.

"What about Tim?" She asked desperately.

"He's fine. Just a concusion and a few staples in his head."

"They stapled his head! Oh my God! Can I see him?"

"Not yet." Tony tried to calm her down.

"Why the hell not?" She yelled trying to roll out of the bed.

"Hey!" Tony turned at the female voice behind him. "What the hell did you do to my best friend?" Lexi calmed down when she saw Amelia.

"Ma'am I don't think you can come in here. It really should be family only."

"In that case, I'm coming in." Tony turned back to Lexi.

"She is family. And if you want her gone, good luck." Tony shrugged and pulled his chair into the corner of the room. He made sure he was facing the door and sat down.

"You will be happy to know, I just got back from checking your man. He is on his way here. They had to do X-Rays and stuff. He's gonna be fine"

"How long have I been out?" Lexi wanted to scratch her head but couldn't get her arms to work properly.

"Not long." Amelia laughed when Lexi resorted to rubbing her head into her pillow. "What are you doing?"

"Head… Itchy." Amelia leaned over and ran both her hands through Lexi's hair, letting her nails gently massage Lexi's scalp. "Ahhh. Thank you."

"You are welcome, wonder girl." Amelia pulled her hands back.

"So you caught it?"

"Yuppers, sure did."

"Caught what?" Again, everyone turned towards the door. Tim was standing there with a bandage taped to the side of his head. Ziva and Gibbs were right behind him. Tim shuffled into the room. Tony quickly got up and moved his chair next to the bed. He helped Tim sit down. "What did she catch?" Tim asked as he reached out to hold Lexi's hand.

"Peaches and cream." Lexi said, only looking at Tim.

"I do not understand…" Ziva spoke quietly.

"Peaches and cream was the code I used when I was with Derrick. It's what I said when I needed to tell my friends that I needed help."

"So when I came to the door and asked if everything was okay… She said the code, and I called you guys." Amelia added.

"And when she called me wonder girl, I knew she remembered the code. Wonder girl was what she called me when I actually stood up for myself."

"Tim told us all how you stalled for time. Way to go with the love story crap." Amelia stepped forward and gently head-slapped Lexi. "But, bad girl, for jumping on him instead of waiting for the cavalry." Lexi cringed away from Amelia and looked up at Gibbs.

"Is he dead?" She asked. Gibbs only nodded. Lexi squeezed her eyes shut.

"Come on team, let's let these two alone for a while." Gibbs surprised everyone. Tony and Ziva both sent smiles before they exited. "You too Mrs. Shorne!"

"Who does he think he is?" Amelia asked jerking a thumb in Gibbs' direction.

"Trust me." Lexi said grinning. "Just follow the man." Amelia quirked an eyebrow but did as she was told.

When they were finally alone Lexi looked back at Tim. They stared at each other for several minutes, both of them trying to think of what to say. Finally Tim spoke first.

"I was being serious you know." Lexi's face questioned him. "When I said I love you, and I'd fight for you."

"I thought you were just trying to provoke him…" She looked away.

"Well, I was. But I was also being honest."

"I lied."

"When?"

"When he asked if I love you. I said I didn't know. I lied." His grip on her hand tightened. "I do know. I have for a while. It's why I've been so scared." Her voice faltered. He waited for her to go on. Her eyes came back up. "I love you, Tim." They both smiled.

"Is that silence, herald, thing, really your favorite quote?"

"Yeah. Well, that one and, "first, let's kill all the lawyers."

"You and my boss would get along so well." He shook his head and laughed.

"Tim."

"Yeah?"

"Shut up and kiss me." And he did.