Author's Note: Thanks again for the reviews and alerts, I'm so thrilled to see there are still readers after the ridiculously long wait! Still don't own them, wish I did.

Chapter Thirteen - Playing Games

The following day, Ziva was the first to work, well the bullpen anyway, she had seen Gibbs' car in the parking area, but there was no sign of him upstairs. She turned her head, hearing the elevator and saw McGee heading over.

"Morning Ziva." He greeted as he passed by her desk, heading to his own to take his bag off.

"Good morning," Tim glanced over at her, setting up her desk for the day, she appeared relaxed, her expression soft and her body language at ease.

"Ziva, I know we aren't always that close, but yesterday you looked a bit upset... I just wanted to say if you ever wanted to talk about it, I'm happy to listen." Tim offered quietly, coming closer to her desk to keep the conversation private.

"Thank you," Ziva responded with a smile. "I am fine, what was worrying me has been resolved. It was very thoughtful of you to ask though."

"Oh..." Tim seemed lost for words, he'd not really thought any potential responses through, except maybe getting his head bitten off. "That's great. You look great, I mean happy... there's kind of a glow about you... not that I was looking in that way or anything. I mean..." He rambled, not quite sure whether he was coming across complimentary or creepy.

"Thank you Tim." Ziva laughed, giving him an out, embarrassed, he beat a retreat back to his desk.

"Wow, put your tongue back in your mouth McGee!" Tony had stepped off the elevator in time to hear Tim tripping over himself. "Although," He paused thoughtfully, taking in Ziva's soft curls, and loosely fitting yellow blouse. "You're looking particularly stunning today." His voice lowered, speaking only to Ziva, although Tim could still hear.

"Thank you Tony." Ziva said pointedly again, breaking the smouldering eye contact between them.

"Get to work DiNozzo." Gibbs appeared out of nowhere. The four settled down at their desks and fell quiet.

An hour later, Gibbs cast an eye over his team. Although Ziva radiated contentedness, and Tony looked thoroughly pleased, there was an air of restlessness about them, even Tim seemed a bit bored with the prospect of another day at his desk, the previous quiet day and the weather which had cleared overnight to a beautiful day had them all a bit stir crazy. Fortunately - for Gibbs, though unfortunate for whoever they'd soon be investigating - his phone rang before anything had the chance to reach boiling point.

"Grab your gear." Gibbs headed toward the elevator. "Dead Marine, Shenandoah, Ducky's on the way." He tossed the keys for the van over his shoulder, causing a scuffle to break out. Ziva's elbow collected the side of Tim's head as her hand shot up to catch the keys. He stepped back, dazed, rubbing his temple.

"Sorry McGee!" The keys had bounced off her fingertips and hit the floor, she dived for them, Tony right behind her.

"Remind me not to make you hit me on purpose..." Tim groaned, as Tony, landing on Ziva's back, looped his arm under her body and flipped them both, his free arm snatching the keys from Ziva's reach as he did. Tim did a double take as she growled at, but did not immediately flatten Tony, who heaved her off his belly, onto the floor and sprinted for the elevator.

"Move it!" Gibbs ordered, knowing the short lived wrestling match was needed to get the pent up energy out of the way. Tim followed, Ziva behind him, pausing for a second to slip her bracelet into her desk drawer. She cast an apologetic glance at Tony as they got in the elevator.

"It's cool." Tony whispered, knowing Ziva couldn't risk the jewellery slipping or getting in the way on the field. She smiled at him gratefully, McGee caught the look and glanced back at Tony to work out what was going on.

"Whatcha looking at McGoggles?" Tony pasted on his best innocent expression, apparently not giving up his idea of leaving McGee wondering for a while. Ziva too had switched to focused, nonchalant, straightening her hair from the scuffle.

McGee shook his head, confused. "Must've hit my head harder than I thought..."

Soon enough, the team were trudging down a hill, following a park ranger who had met them at the gate. They could just make out Ducky's white coat through the trees as the ranger explained his side of the story.

"Him and his girlfriend hired one of the cabins." He gestured with his thumb, a low, wooden building was visible through the trees. "Came in two days ago. S'posed to check out this afternoon but the girl signed out yesterday, said they'd had a fight. Found him this morning, just lying there. Wasn't till I turned him over that I saw he wasn't gonna wake up." He shrugged, dodging a low hanging branch.

"Has anyone been into the cabin?" Gibbs asked. The slightly scruffy man shrugged again.

"It's one of them rustic ones, ain't exactly five-star living." Gibbs glared at the indirect answer. "There's no turn-down service if that's what you mean. No one shoulda been there except them."

"David, shoot and sketch. DiNozzo, check the cabin. McGee, ID." The ground levelled out a bit near where the ME bent over the body. Several state police officers and a few other rangers were nearby too. Ziva quickly set to work with the camera, Tony heading in the direction of the cabin.

"May I?" Tim asked politely, waiting for Ducky to allow him to touch the body and use the portable fingerprint scanner. He bent, screwing up his nose as he got closer. "Boss, Petty Officer Griffin Theodore Edwards, he's on leave, expected back Saturday for active duty." McGee read off his screen.

"Ok, go to the office, find out about the girlfriend. Whatcha got Duck?"

"Jethro," Ducky looked up, he had been gently inspecting the body. "It appears as though the young man here felt badly about the altercation with his girlfriend. The smell alone tells us he had more than his fair share to drink, the regurgitation suggests he may have choked." Ducky gestured downward, an unpleasant looking puddle of vomit rested beside the corpse's head.

"Must have been a big night!" Palmer chimed in helpfully, arriving with the body bag. He paled under Gibbs' steely gaze.

"Palmer, bag and tag that vomit and get it to Abs. Time of death?" Gibbs bent closer, then hastened to stand up straight, as Ducky suggested the strong smell of stale alcohol and vomit clung to the body.

"Between four to six hours ago. He appears to have come from the cabin, judging by the trail of emesis." Gibbs glanced over, Ziva had pulled the neckline of her shirt over her nose, visibly disgusted, gingerly laying a numbered card next to another pile and taking a photo.

"Has he been moved at all?" Gibbs enquired.

"Save for our helpful ranger friend rolling him over, no." The sarcasm was evident in Ducky's voice, "The pooling tells me he fell here. No apparent external injuries. If Mr Palmer would assist me here, we'll get him back to the morgue and see what else he has to tell us."

"Thanks Duck." Gibbs moved onto Ziva, "Anything?"

"Looks like he tripped," Ziva pointed to an exposed tree root, some of the outer bark scrubbed clean. "I cannot find any evidence he had company." She gestured to a damper patch of earth from the previous night's rain. The only prints leading away from the cabin, in a wobbly, staggering line, matched the shoes on the body.

"Boss." Tony appeared, shaking a clear orange pill bottle. " Pills in the girlfriend's name - the script was filled the day before they checked in, but it's almost empty."

"Get that to Abby. Anything else?" Gibbs asked.

"Liquor, well bottles anyway. Three of em, cheap whiskey and all empty. Looks like the liquor itself has been keeping Zi busy, there's more puke than Lardass Hogan managed."

"Zi?" McGee appeared behind them, clutching a handful of papers, querying the before Gibbs could tell Tony off about the movie reference.

"Yep, Zi. It's a shortened version of Ziva, or have you never heard of a nickname Timothy?"

"Since when do you call her Zi?" McGee started, quelled by a glare from Gibbs. "Right, girlfriend is Amalia Elizabeth Hopkins, parents' address is in Aspen Hill." He handed over one of the pieces of paper, a photocopied license.

"That is not far from my place." Ziva added, looking at the address.

"David, you're with me," Gibbs ordered. "McGee and DiNozzo, you finish up here."

"Yes Boss." McGee turned and headed back toward the administration office in search of the CCTV footage.

"On it. Catchya." Tony winked at Ziva. Tim paused midway down the hill to glance back as Ziva lifted her hand in farewell, following Gibbs back to the car.

"What is going on here?" Tim queried, as Tony joined him in the cabin again.

"Dunno what you mean - other than you almost stepping in a big ol' pavement pizza." Tim looked at his feet and jumped back hurriedly with a disgusted groan.

"Come on McGurp." Tony laughed, "I need enough time for my appetite to come back when we hit civilization again."

Some hours later, Ziva put her phone down and looked toward the elevator as her colleagues returned. Tim looked uncomfortable, rubbing at a red spot on his face and aggravated as Tony teased him mercilessly.

"What happened to McGee?" She enquired.

"Our Boy Scout's infallible sense of direction..." He paused, trying to think of the antonym. "Turned out to be fallible... is that even a word? Anyway, he got disoriented..."

"You didn't help Tony!" McGee put in, sitting at his desk, scratching his shoulder and neck.

"I was only throwing your cap back to you." Tony smiled innocently, "He tripped and fell into a pile of poison ivy. Where's Gibbs?"

"Coffee," Ziva responded, with a sympathetic glance across the bullpen. "I have had poison ivy before Tim, it is most unpleasant."

"You should've seen him though Ziva... sitting on the ground looking all forlorn and lost in the woods. Kinda like a baby deer." Tony chuckled, unloading several evidence bags from his backpack. Tim muttered under his breath, still scratching furiously at the welts along his arms, unfortunately he'd been wearing a short sleeved shirt.

"Hey, be nice to Bambi." Ziva chided. Tony's eyes lit up.

"You didn't... quoting a TV show with a movie reference?" He crossed the space between their desk in two large steps. "That was brilliant! I must be rubbing off on you." He seized Ziva's face in both hands, smacking a kiss to her forehead, leaving her looking as surprised as McGee felt.

"Hope you won't reward me for good work like that DiNozzo." Gibbs commented dryly, appearing from nowhere. Tony jumped, making for the evidence bags to take them down to Abby. "Hold up. We went to the girlfriend's house and brought her in, she says she's been laid up in bed with the flu for about a week, she's genuinely unwell, but there's no one to confirm she's been home the last two days."

"What about the parents Boss?" Tony queried.

"On a cruise in Florida. Her sister is away too." Ziva put in. "I have spoken to her physician, who can confirm Amalia had an appointment the day before they checked in at the cabin and was sick, she provided a prescription for antibiotics, but she was not on any other medication."

"McGee - background check." Gibbs instructed. A few keystrokes, punctuated by scratching, and McGee had her info on the big screen. He came around the desk, joining the others as they moved to see the screen properly.

"Amalia Elizabeth Hopkins, 21, she's a student in Nursing at VCU, she has a twin sister, Catherine and lives at home with her parents. No record." Tim finished his sentence with another vigorous rub on his face, partly to relieve his itching, partly to confirm that he was in fact seeing Ziva's hand resting on Tony's shoulder blade.

"Okay - get the evidence down to Abby. Tell her to prioritise the pill bottle. Get something for that rash while you're there. You get anything else from the office?" By the time McGee had another chance to glance at Tony and Ziva they were standing separately again.

"CCTV footage of them checking in." He replied, still scratching away, handing a DVD over to Gibbs, and heading out of the bullpen.

"Tony, put it up. Help Abby and then run Amalia's cell phone and credit records for the last week." He added to Tim's retreating back. Tony fumbled around with the disc for a bit, eventually getting the footage to play on the large screen.

"That is definitely Amalia." Ziva commented as they watched the video quietly. Tony paused the playback, studying the tall brunette girl as she stood in the reception area.

"It is, you two go back and check her bathroom. Griffin's parents will be here soon, I'm speaking to them." Gibbs tossed a set of keys, for the car this time, directly at Ziva. "And Tony, don't use the drive time to work out more ways to torture McGee, or anyone else. Keep your mind on the job - clear?"

"You got it Boss." Tony laughed, following Ziva to the elevator.

"Oh Timmy, what happened?" Abby gasped as Tim came through the doors of the lab.

"Poison ivy," He explained, Abby clucked sympathetically. "Gibbs wants you to work on the pill bottle first. Listen, have you noticed anything odd with Tony and Ziva?"

"There's calamine lotion in the desk if you want. And no, they haven't visited me yet today." Abby pouted slightly, putting on gloves and shaking out the pills. She studied the bottle closely. "I'll see what I can do with the prints. What about Tony and Ziva?"

"They're just different. There was a wrestling match over the keys to the van this morning, and Ziva didn't kill Tony, even though he was kind of... handsy in getting them." Tim found the lotion and began dabbing it on with a cotton ball.

"What do you mean 'handsy'?" Abby asked, distracted as she worked on lifting the prints from the bottle.

"He tackled her when she dove for the keys, and flipped her out of the way." Tim explained, scratching at his arm one more time before applying calamine to that area too.

"I wouldn't protest if a trained Federal Agent decided to wrestle with me." Abby mused with a grin, too focused on getting AFIS started to run the prints to notice Tim's embarrassed blush.

"He's been just kind of... friendly, complimenting her outfit, calling her Zi on the field, telling her she's brilliant. They had some weird secret conversation in the elevator this morning too."

"Tony's always friendly." Abby shrugged, hitting a few more keys on her computer, this time changing the background song that had been pulsing.

"They were standing way closer than usual in the bullpen before too, Ziva had her hand on his shoulder... my eyes must be playing tricks on me." He shook his head, still confused.

"They have the biggest case of URST I've ever seen. Here." Abby took a new cotton ball and began dabbing calamine lotion on the back of Tim's neck for him.

"Thanks Abs," Tim ducked his head to let Abby reach better. "I'm not sure it's unresolved. He kissed her..."

"He KISSED her?" Abby shrieked, still standing behind Tim, who winced. "Sorry." She gave his ear an apologetic pat.

"Yeah, she gave this quote from Scrubs I think, it was pretty good even by Tony's standards. He walked right across the bullpen and kissed her on the forehead."

"And Ziva didn't annihilate him on the spot?" Abby asked, as Tim moved away to begin checking phone records as he'd been instructed earlier.

"Nope. Gibbs showed up..." Tim said, typing away.

"Just in time to ask you what you have." Abby and Tim both jumped as Gibbs finished the sentence behind them.

"Gibbs! Still waiting on prints and Major Mass Spec to tell me what was in the pill bottle, but I checked the vomit, mostly alcohol and Zolpidem..." Abby switched straight back to forensics, and tapped a few keys, bringing up a long chemical formula.

"Ambien." Gibbs finished.

"Yup," Abby nodded, "His blood alcohol was through the roof, I mean he was smashed Gibbs, positive for Ambien there too, overdose levels. What's interesting is there's pill residue in the liquor bottles, I'm running them now to find out what they are, and there's only two sets of prints, I'm waiting for a match on those. Ducky gave me skin fragments from underneath Griffin's nails - a DNA match for Amalia. I smell a rat. Why do they say that anyway? Rats are actually very clean animals..."

"Good work Abs." Gibbs cut her off gently, putting a Caf-Pow! in her hand. "Tony and Ziva are going over her bathroom, they'll bring you anything else they find. McGee phone records?"

"Nothing Gibbs, her phone has had her at home or nearby the last two weeks, no where near the park. Paper trail not much either, she went to the doctors and the pharmacy like she said. So how come her license was used to check in?"

"Guess you'll just have to keep working on it." Gibbs left as suddenly as he'd appeared.

"Work on Tony too... I'll try and find out what's going on from Ziva." Abby added in an undertone.

"So Tony, what did Gibbs mean about torturing McGee?" Ziva wove between four cars in quick succession and braked hard at the lights, causing Tony to yelp and brace himself against the dashboard. They were on their way back to Amalia's house to see what other evidence they could find.

"McGee suspects something, and Gibbs knows I'm having fun with it." Tony admitted with a grin.

"Tony..." Ziva's voice was not quite reproachful enough to hide the smile.

"Zee-vah." Tony mocked in return, thrust back in the seat as the lights changed and Ziva's foot came down hard on the gas. "Besides, that quote was genius. I would've kissed you for it no matter what."

"What can I say? I am a fast learner." Ziva smiled, swerving around a bus this time.

"Except when it comes to driving." Tony teased, clutching at the door handle for balance. "Hey, you're wearing it again!" He motioned to her left wrist with a smile, noticing the infinity bracelet was back in its rightful place.

"Of course I am Tony." Ziva said simply. "I think I might wear it when we take whatever we find in the bathroom back to Abby as well." A devious smile lit her features.

"You were right," Tony chuckled seeing where she was going with the idea, "You are a fast learner. DiNozzo." His phone rang. "Yes Boss will do, see you soon."

"What did Gibbs want?" Ziva asked as Tony pocketed the phone.

"We've got to stop at the drugstore where Amalia got her medicine, she says she left her license there three days ago."

"But it was used the day after to check in at the cabins." Ziva commented, puzzled.

"Precisely. And so the plot thickens...ahh!" Tony mused, yelping and grabbing onto the dashboard again as Ziva swerved once more.

Abby's divide and conquer plan to find out what was going on between Tony and Ziva was thwarted when they both arrived in her lab a while later. Abby's back was to the door, focused on the computer, alternating between begging and threatening it to work.

"ABBY!" Tony hollered to be heard over the music, she jumped and spun around, using a remote to drop the volume a few notches.

"Sorry, AFIS is all jammed up, I can't get it to run the prints properly. What's that?" She left the computer with a final glare.

"There is another pill bottle from Amalia's beside table. It is in her sister's name, however she appears to have been taking the medication herself." Ziva handed the evidence over.

"Amoxicillin," Abby identified the common antibiotic tablets on sight, "The label says Ambien... hey what's with Tony?" Tony had gone to the sink where Abby had antibacterial handwash and had begun scrubbing his hands vigorously.

"Tony is just afraid of a few germs." Ziva said with a smile. "Amalia has been sick for awhile, her room was not the most hygienic place to be."

"There were used Kleenex everywhere, it was like a snowstorm in there!" Tony grumbled. He finished scrubbing and joined Ziva near to the central workstation again.

"I am sure you will be fine Tony." Ziva said, with a would-be patronising pat to Tony's cheek, but Abby's sharp eyes did not miss the affection in the gesture. Her eyes narrowed at the fine silver links that hung from the same wrist.

"Wow Ziva, that's pretty!" She exclaimed, reaching her hand out. Ziva extended her wrist to allow Abby to admire it.

"Thank you, it was a gift." She let Abby continue holding her hand, and turning it slowly to inspect the jewellery properly.

"Well, whoever gave it to you is pretty serious, that's the symbol for infinity... Hey didn't that couple you and Tony were undercover a few years ago have the same thing tattooed on their ring fingers?" She looked up, Tony had vanished.

"I believe they did Abby." Ziva said with a reminiscent smile. Abby let go of her hand, studying Ziva's face.

"So does that mean you and Mr Mysterious who has you off the market are on good terms again?" She removed a Caf-Pow! from one of the fridges and took a long sip.

"You could say that," Ziva answered with a coy smile. Her phone beeped. "Excuse me Abby."

"I want all the details later!" Abby called. She turned back to her work, increasing the volume of her music again. "Tim was right," She murmured to herself, pulling on a pair of gloves. "There is definitely something going on with those two."

The day wore on, dinner was eaten at their desks, putting together the strange pieces of information.

"Gibbs!" Abby came into the bullpen.

"Whatcha got Abs?" He pointed to a take out container with his chopsticks. Abby picked it up gratefully.

"My favourite, thanks Gibbs. Still no luck with the fingerprints." She scowled, "But I can tell you the pills were switched. Whoever brought the Ambien to the cabin put them into Amalia's prescription bottle, and put the Amoxycillin into the Ambien bottle in the sister's name."

"Good work." Gibbs nodded. "McGee - got that surveillance from the drugstore working yet?" Tony and Ziva had been told that Amalia had left her wallet behind, but that the pharmacist had called the home, spoken to her, and it had been collected later in the day.

"Almost Boss." He didn't glance up from his computer screen. "There!" He announced triumphantly, rotating his screen around to face the centre of the small space so they could all see, Ziva stood and pulled her own chair closer, sitting again once she had found a better spot, Tony instead using his feet to drag the chair and himself forward.

"Move your hair Zi." Tony griped, batting at the unruly curls. He had ended up slightly behind and to the left of Ziva, closer to Gibbs' desk, but close enough to her that her hair was obscuring her vision.

"Stop it Tony." Ziva stilled his hand, tucking the curls behind her ear.

"Zi?" Abby mouthed to Tim who shrugged.

"Move DiNozzo, McGee show us." Gibbs commanded. Tim started the footage up. The footage was poor quality, but they could see a brunette woman, wearing jeans and a nondescript pink hoodie, looking much like Amalia collecting and paying for medication, leaving her purse on the counter.

"So she did leave it behind, but fast-forward two hours..." McGee hit a few more keys and the replay jumped forward. The same brunette woman, the only difference being her hair was now scooped back into a ponytail approached the counter. After talking for a moment, the pharmacist took the black purse that had been left earlier, opened it, presumably checking the identity of the woman versus the ID inside, and handed it over.

"Ziva you're with me. McGee, get that on something. I want to play that for Amalia." Gibbs rose, Ziva following him quickly.

A few minutes later, Tony and Tim were in Observation, Tony obsessively rubbing his hands with water-free sanitiser he'd 'borrowed' from a desk in HR.

"What's up Tony?" McGee asked as he was setting up a laptop for Gibbs with the video footage.

"Gibbs had me bring her a sandwich." He grumbled, gesturing through the two-way glass. The young woman, between her crying and flu had a constant running nose, red eyes and flushed face. The pre-packaged sandwich from the break room and a cup of vending machine tea sat untouched before her.

"She definitely doesn't look up to committing a murder." Tim agreed. Ducky had determined the cause of death to be suffocation, a result of the high levels of medication and alcohol suppressing his breathing,, finally choking on the vomit when he tripped. Abby had matched DNA to Amalia, but AFIS was still not working, and she had resorted to manual identification. "So what's going on with you and Ziva?"

"I don't know what you mean." Tony paused, considering whether to apply the sanitiser to his face as well, deciding against it and rubbing it up his wrists.

"Come on Tony... she didn't kill you when you wrestled her this morning, or when you kissed her on the head before."

"Maybe she was too overcome by my sheer manliness to fight." Tony was clearly enjoying drawing out the situation. Tim huffed impatiently.

"Tony..." he complained.

"Shh!" Tony cut him off as Gibbs and Ziva entered the Interview Room and sat down.

"I don't know why you have me here!" Amalia hiccuped immediately. "First you tell me my boyfriend is dead, then you accuse me of killing him? I've been sick all week, and trying to get better so we could spend a day together before he ships out." She blew her nose again.

"Your license, DNA and video footage place you at the crime scene." Gibbs informed her.

"I'm telling you it wasn't me!" She insisted, Gibbs raised his hand and beckoned to McGee through the glass, who quickly delivered the laptop. "I lost my license at the drugstore three days ago."

"Can you explain this?" Gibbs asked, nodding for McGee to leave again as he hit play. Amalia watched quietly for a few seconds, still sniffling. Gibbs paused the image as the pharmacist handed over the wallet again.

"That's not me." Amalia protested. "That's Catherine. Look." She pointed at the screen to a dark blob, a tattoo of some kind, on the back of the woman's neck, then turned her own head, moving her hair, no mark was visible.

"You told us that your sister was away." Ziva put in.

"She was... well I thought she was. She said she was going to Atlantic City!" A fresh wave of tears started up. Gibbs pushed the box of tissues quietly across the table, waiting for her to compose herself.

"Do you have any idea where your sister might be in that case?" Gibbs pressed once Amalia had settled somewhat. Heavy footsteps sounded in the hall outside, Amalia turned her head as they raced past.

"We need names or addresses of anyone your sister might be with, anything that will help find her." Ziva slid a clipboard and pen across the table, calling Amalia's attention back as the footsteps slowed and quietened.

"Where's Gibbs?" Tony and Tim had heard the running footsteps too and weren't surprised when Abby burst into Observation, skidding to a halt. McGee gestured to where Gibbs and Ziva were watching Amalia write down names. Seeing him busy, she turned instead to scrutinize Tony.

"What ya staring at Abs?" Tony laughed under the hard gaze. Abby stood on her toes, studying Tony's face.

"You're different Tony... your hair or the way you're standing. You were right McGee." Her eyes narrowed and she bent closer, inhaling deeply. "You smell different too!"

"Whoa," Tony stepped back a little. "What do you mean different? What have you been saying to Abby?"

"Trying to work out why you're being so... nice." Tim explained. "There's something going on. You were teasing Ziva yesterday, and now you're all over her, and she's not even injured you."

"A kiss on the forehead is hardly all over her Mc40-Year-Old-Virgin." Tony laughed. Tim huffed, offended, and turned back to the window. "Sheesh, sensitive." Tony commented.

"Ah-hah!" Abby seized the bottle of hand sanitiser, opening the cap and sniffing it. "Not that either.., there's definitely something not-Tony about you."

"I'm all here and I'm all me." Tony pretended to pat himself down as though checking he was still in one piece.

"Hmm..." Abby said critically, clearly not buying it. "Remember, I can kill you and leave no evidence."

"Well then you'd never find out what's going on would you?" He teased.

"So there IS something going on!" Abby seized the hint triumphantly.

"Never said there was anything to find out, but if you kill me you won't at all." Tony grinned, Abby gave an exasperated groan.

"Gibbs is on the move." Tim warned. Sure enough, the man in question had risen from the table, taking the list of names Amalia had written down, and had stepped toward the door.

"This isn't over." Abby warned, spinning on her heel and meeting Gibbs in the hall. "Gibbs Gibbs Gibbs!" She accosted him the second he stepped out of the room, "No match on the prints other than Griffin's. Nothing from the cabin or bottles are a match for Amalia. The only thing that matches her is the bottle Tony and Ziva brought back from her room. As far as fingerprints go, it's as if she wasn't there."

"I know." He answered, "McGee,.."

"Find out the sister's number and run a trace on her phone. On it." McGee was already at the door to the room where Ziva and Amalia still sat

"Tony, with me, we're bringing her in. Nice work Abs." Gibbs added over his shoulder striding away.

"We'll pick this up later!" She called after Tony as he fell into step beside Gibbs.

"I thought I told you not to torture anyone else." Gibbs' hand flew to the back of Tony's skull.

"How did you...?" Gibbs silenced him with a look. "On your six, Boss!"

"So, you mean he really thought Catherine was Amalia for two nights?" Abby queried. The case had wrapped up late the day before, and with the following day being Saturday, and none of the team on call, she had demanded (after a sleep in) that they meet for an early dinner and a few drinks. Gibbs and Tony had found the twin easily enough, staying at a friend's place, and on hearing that Griffin had died she'd broken down and told all. The trip had already been planned, and after visiting the doctors, Amalia had called Griffin to cancel, but been told that as he had already paid, he would spend the time up there anyway, and she would join him if she felt well enough in a day or so. Catherine had answered the phone when the drugstore had called to let Amalia know her purse had been found, picked it up in her place, and saw the opportunity to join Griffin, whom she had always held a candle for, and so concocted the impromptu Atlantic City roadtrip to explain her absence to her sister. She called Griffin, claiming a miraculous recovery, swapped the tablets in case he read the label, knowing Amalia in her unwell haze would not notice the fine print, and met Griffin as arranged to ride to the park together. The first two nights had gone well (the reason there had been skin underneath his fingernails that had provided the DNA match to Amalia, Tim pointed out with a blush) and she had been careful to keep her hair down, hiding the one major difference between the two women, until Griffin had surprised her in the shower the day before his body had been found. He hadn't taken the news well, and they had fought, Catherine telling him it was just for fun, Griffin horrified that he had not recognised her earlier, and furious she had pulled such a trick, and he stormed out, telling her he was taking a walk and she was to be gone by the time he got back. She had decided to crush up her sleeping tablets and add them to the bottles of liquor they had brought up hoping that Griffin would drink so much he'd wake up with no memory of the events, and left before he returned. She explained that she hadn't intended to hurt him, just enough to knock him out and forget what had happened, and had no idea that it would end the way it had, it seemed that his early morning stroll when he began to feel nauseous had not done him much good, tripping over the tree root ultimately causing his death, but Catherine would be held accountable though whether she would be held for homicide or manslaughter was not yet determined.

"You saw them," Tony put in, "There wasn't much to tell them apart." Gibbs had yet to arrive, and Ducky and Palmer had declined the offer, but the four youngest team members were present, nibbling on a bowl of fries until Gibbs arrived to place their dinner order as a group. Abby - after being told on no uncertain terms that a goth club was out of the question - had chosen the bar/restaurant with a live band and dancing area, a few couples already dancing to a fun rock blues tune.

"But after two nights together?" Abby took a sip of her water. "I'd like to think if I had an identical twin that my boyfriend would be able to tell us apart before that... and that she wouldn't try to be me!"

"There's only one you Abs." Tim assured her with a chuckle.

"What about you Ziva? No identical twin super assassins we need to know about?" Tony asked lightly, glancing across the table at Ziva. They were occupying two sides of the U-shaped booth, men on one side, women the other, the long back presently unoccupied, Tim and Ziva being in the outside positions, Tony and Abby closer to the middle, so each 'couple' was sitting diagonally across from each other.

"Definitely not Tony." She replied, Tony gave an exaggerated sigh of relief, causing a laugh to ripple through the group.

"What no comments about how good she looks tonight?" Tim teased. She did, they all did, casual but smart shirts on the men, Abby in one of her standard mini skirts, dark stockings and a fitted t-shirt, Ziva that same purple dress she had worn two nights earlier, and the knowledge that they were not on call, and the prospect of a night in good company leaving them relaxed and smiling.

"I don't think she needs to be told." Tony grinned, taking her hand. Ziva smiled back knowingly, they had gotten ready together at his apartment, and Tony on seeing her dressed up for the evening had done his best to kiss her into agreeing not to go. "Although, it's a shame to waste a nice dress like that - dance with me?"

"Would you two just tell us what's going on already?" Abby demanded.

"Nothing," Tony deadpanned, "Just asking my colleague to dance. I'll have one with you later too Abs." He leaned to press a placating kiss to her cheek, though she looked unconvinced as Ziva followed Tony to the floor.

"Wish they'd make up their minds." Tim commented, taking his seat again, having risen to let Tony out of the booth.

"What do you mean Tim?" Abby asked watching the pair dancing, they looked relaxed in each others' company, though still at a distance that said 'just friends'.

"I think all this teasing and game play is their way of figuring out if they feel the same." He explained.

"No, Ziva told me that bracelet was a gift." Abby cocked her head, smiling unconsciously as Tony dipped Ziva enthusiastically, her face lighting up in such a way that Abby did not need to hear her to know she was laughing. "I think Tony might have realised he's about to miss out."

"Tony wouldn't try and get in between Ziva and her boyfriend if she has one. He's more likely to get jealous and invade her privacy - annoy her into telling him." Tim responded doubtfully. Abby nodded agreement with the statement, her eyes still on the couple.

"Good point Timmy." Her eyes flicked to Tim's face to smile at him. "So does that mean the bracelet was from Tony?"

"Ziva wouldn't wear it at work... would she?"

"Guess it depends what it meant... I mean, infinity to them isn't necessarily a love thing. They've been to hell and back for each other." Abby mused, the upbeat song changed to a slower one, the dancing couples moving closer together. "I think we're about to find out." She added, still watching Tony and Ziva carefully.

"That," Tim said definitely after a moment. "Is not just colleague dancing." Ziva's arms had come around Tony's shoulders, his hands on her hips as they rocked slowly together. Tim and Abby watched quietly for a minute, Gibbs appearing about halfway through the song.

"Hiya Abs, Tim." He dropped a greeting kiss to her temple and nodding at McGee. "Where's Tony and Ziva?" Both people pointed mutely to the dance floor. One of Ziva's hands were in Tony's hair, his right arm close around her back, his left hand cupping her cheek as their foreheads pressed together, eyes locked and totally unaware of anything around them. "Ahh." Gibbs nodded, his face impassive.

"They just..."

"A minute ago..." Tim and Abby spoke over each other, trying to explain or defuse the situation as they saw it, Rule 12 being broken right in front of the man who made the rule.

"I think I'll grab a beer." Gibbs remained unreadable, heading for the bar.

"Hey," Tony whispered as the song ended, his eyes not leaving the dark ones he was gazing into. "Think we've got an audience."

"I know." Ziva returned softly, gently breaking away, taking Tony's hand and walking with him back to the booth, getting there at the same time as Gibbs returned with a jug of beer and some glasses.

"Thanks Boss." Tony accepted the drink gratefully, "Pretty warm up there." He gestured to the dance floor.

"Didn't know you could work up much of a sweat slow-dancing." The older man replied with a wry smile. They sat back down in the original spots, Tony and Tim moving down so Gibbs could join them.

"That all depends who you are dancing with." Ziva put in, taking a glass as well. A sweet, sexy smile lit her features and Gibbs could tell it was all Tony could do not to lean across the table and kiss it off her. He cleared his throat, bringing Tony back to reality.

"Alright, that's it!" Abby insisted, banging her hand on the table. "Enough coy looks, enough compliments, enough secret smiles, and enough subtle touching. The room is about to explode with the tension between you two! Just get together already!" She looked shocked at her own outburst, clapping a hand over her mouth. "Well... someone had to say it." She added sheepishly.

"You make a good point Abs," Gibbs seemed to have an uncharacteristically hard time keeping his face straight. "Tony, Ziva, what do you have to say for yourselves?"

"Well..." Tony was clearly debating whether or not to keep playing around, stretching it out further. Gibbs raised his hand, a mock threat, reminding Tony of the headslap from the previous day.

"What did I say about torture DiNozzo?" He warned.

"You mean you know what's going on?" Abby's jaw dropped, staring hard, although not angrily at Gibbs.

"Yup. Not my news to tell though." Gibbs shrugged, taking a swig of his beer. Abby looked like she was considering arguing with him, but changed her mind and turned her attention to the couple in question.

"Right, Ziva... Tony..." She eyed them both seriously, "Spill!"

"We are together Abby." Ziva said simply. She managed to time the admission perfectly with the end of another song, and for a second the room was so quiet you could have heard a pin drop. Tim's eyes went wide, flashing between Ziva and Tony.

"What do you mean together?" Abby questioned, coming back to earth as the music started again, "Friends with benefits? Dating? Till death do you part?"

"Slow down Abs, it's only been a month." Tony chuckled, but not actually seeming put off by the idea of a commitment of that length.

"A month of what?" Abby insisted.

"Dating," Ziva replied. "Tony is my boyfriend." Abby couldn't fully contain her excited squeal at hearing those words coming from Ziva's mouth.

"The friends with benefits started around Christmas." Tony added with a laugh, earning him a fondly aggravated glare from Ziva.

"You mean you and Ziva... were... this whole time..." Tim trailed off, gulping his beer, his cheeks scarlet.

"Yes, that's exactly what I mean McModest." Tony informed him.

"Well it's about time! Although you both owe me big for not telling you sooner... and you Gibbs." She glared at him, receiving an affectionate chuckle in return. "This calls for a seating rearrangement!"

"How Mad Hatter of you." Tony quipped, allowing Abby to drag him out by the arm. The others submitted to the same treatment, quietly amused at Abby's enthusiasm. She got Tony to sit down first along the back, Ziva next, and sliding in herself along the side seat, beside Ziva.

"After you Boss." McGee paused quietly for a moment, allowing Gibbs to take the place beside Abby.

"Ah... what the hell McGee." Gibbs shrugged. "Be good to her."

"Boss?" Tim queried, uncertain what he just heard.

"You might be better at keeping things to yourselves than those two, but I'm not stupid." Gibbs laughed, moving around the table to sit on the empty side, nearer to Tony. Tim's only response was to stand there, gaping. "D'ya hear me McGee? Sit down with your girl."

"Uh... right Gibbs." Tim eased into the seat beside Abby, who had flushed somewhere between purple and red between embarrassment and helpless giggles. Ziva was unsuccessfully hiding a smirk and Tony looked thoroughly bewildered.

"Wait so you and McLovin' have been...? Oh god, I just imagined it." Tony hid his face in his hands.

"Yup." Abby nodded proudly, lacing her fingers with Tim's.

"So asking Ziva to double date with you?" Tony muttered, unable to quite look at either Tim or Abby.

"Keeping you off our trails." McGee shrugged, finally finding the use of his voice again.

"So the whole time you were... and we were... and you thought... and we thought... but then..." Abby punctuated each group of words with another fit of giggles. "And you knew all along!" She finished, pointing at Gibbs.

"Yep, some investigators you are." He chuckled, draining his glass. "It's a wonder I don't fire the lot of you sometimes." There was no real threat, rather warmth and amusement. A collective laugh broke out, and glasses were tipped against each other.

"Well, I for one am starving." Ziva put in, when the group had composed themselves somewhat. "I think it is time to order."

An hour or so later, with plates emptied, Gibbs took a serious tone to his voice, addressing his team equally. "Everyone needs a code to live by. Shannon taught me that years ago. It's time you had your own codes."

"Already do," Tony put in, thinking of the 50-something they followed as part of Team Gibbs.

"Nope. If you wanna do this as couples, you'll need your own rules. But there's one rule that supersedes all others, the one you have to take with you whatever ones you come up with along the way."

"Which one?" Tim queried.

"Rule 1." There was a momentary silence as each person brought the rule to their mind.

"Never screw over your partner. Nice." Tony smiled, catching Ziva's eye. She squeezed his hand lightly in return.

"Good choice." Abby agreed as Tim slid his arm around her shoulder.

"Precisely." Gibbs raised his glass, pausing to make eye contact with each person. "Semper Fi - always faithful."

"Semper Fi." They returned in unison, touching their glasses together as a group.

Author's Note: You've got to imagine that end scene finishing with a black and white 'phoof' of all the glasses being clinked together to make it really work ;)

Well, there were a few movie quotes in there this time! For reference: Lardass Hogan appeared in Stephen King's novella The Body which was made into the 1986 movie Stand By Me. Ziva's one-liner "be nice to Bambi" is a quote from the pilot episode of Scrubs, and Tony calling Abby the Mad Hatter when changing the seating arrangements of course comes from Alice In Wonderland, given that this is happening around Season 7, we'll say it was a reference to the Disney animation rather than the more recent Johnny Depp film. Lastly, 40 Year Old Virgin I think speaks for itself. Like NCIS, I only borrowed them to play with.

The reference Abby made was from Season 3, Under Covers, Sophie and Jean-Paul Renier whose identities Ziva and and Tony had assumed had the infinity symbol tattooed on their ring fingers as their sign to commitment. The similarity in the bracelet Tony gave Ziva in this fic is not unintentional ;)

A note regarding the use of Gibbs' Rule #1, I have used the later and more commonly repeated version of the rule, "never screw over your partner" rather than "never let suspects stay together" which was only used in the first episode.

Please, keep reviewing, I love seeing all the alerts and favourites, but actual wordy feedback truly makes my day!