Taking Control Adventure Series!

Tim continues his new work focus with some fun along the way.

Disclaimer 1: I rarely, if ever, write cannon. I write how the story takes me.

Disclaimer 2: I don't own NCIS or their characters. To clarify, I OWN NOTHING.

Loans and Moans! Chapter 1

"I'm sorry Ms. Scuito, even though your work history is excellent and your present job is very impressive, we will not be able to approve this loan for you" the loan officer informed Abby. "The only way we will be able to approve this loan is with a cosigner."

Abby really didn't want to have a cosigner for this loan. She didn't want anyone to know about the loan and she definitely didn't want anyone to know what the loan was for.

"What if I lowered the amount of the loan request, would you be able to approve me without a cosigner" she asked?

"I'm sorry Ms. Scuito but lowering the amount of the request would not alleviate the need for a cosigner" he informed her. "Unfortunately, your excellent work history and very impressive job does not offset your extremely bad credit history. Your credit history makes it impossible for us to approve a loan for you without a cosigner."

The loan officer liked Abby and did not want to add to her misery so he remained silent instead of advising her that coming into a financial institution, dressed as she was, did not scream out to anyone, I'm a responsible person and will pay back every penny of the loan.

Abby was dressed in her normal Goth attire. Not only did this not help her case but in fact made it worse. Already having a bad credit history, no reputable financial institution would even entertain the thought of extending a loan to her in her present state of dress. If she had spoke to any of her coworkers before going to ask for a loan, they all would have told her to wear the suit she wears when she has to appear in court. As it is, since she didn't want any of her coworkers to know about the loan, she didn't go to them for advice. Finally, Abby relented.

"Ok, I'll have one of my coworkers come in and cosign for me" she said dejectedly.

"Very well Ms. Scuito that should satisfy the banks requirement for us to extend the loan to you. Let me call the bank manager over make sure everything is in order."

The loan officer signaled to the bank manager to come over. When the bank manager arrived, the loan officer explained the situation to him and showed him that all the paperwork was in order and was just waiting for the cosigner to come in and sign. What Abby didn't know was the bank manager was a snob and didn't like Goth. He had noticed Abby right away when she came in and had been looking down his nose at her the entire time she had been in the bank. There was no way he was going to allow this person to get a loan at his bank. He quickly thought up a lie to refuse her the loan.

"I'm sorry Ms. Scuito, but the bank just recently instituted a new policy that forbids coworkers from cosigning for loans. "

The bank manager had just glanced at her paperwork without really reading it so he didn't see where she actually worked. He just assumed it was a dump somewhere and any coworkers she had would be just like her. The loan officer sat there bewildered since he had never heard of such a policy. He would have to ask the bank manager about the new policy later.

Abby was stumped. All the people who would cosign for her worked with her. She had already figured she would have McGee cosign for her since she knew his credit was beyond reproach. But Timmy was a coworker or was he? An idea hatched inside Abby's mind and she started smiling at the brilliance of it.

"Ok, I'll have my friend cosign for me" she said brightly.

Speaking in his snobbish way, the bank manager stated "This friend has to be reputable with an outstanding credit history for us to approve the loan."

"Oh, he is" she gushed! "He is a bestselling author."

Still in his snobbish voice, the bank manager said "Have this friend come down to the bank to cosign and if his credit history checks out, we will approve your loan immediately. By the way, what are some of the books he has written?"

"Well, he wrote the Deep Six series" Abby stated smiling. Before she could name some of McGee's other books, she noticed both the loan officer and the bank manager looked like they had just swallowed some very hot peppers.

"Wait" the bank manager shouted before remembering where he was and lowering his voice. "Your friend is Thom E. Gemcity" he asked?

"Yes" Abby said smiling. "He happens to be my best friend"

The bank manager composed himself and not believing a word of what Abby was saying replied snottily "Yes, well, I'm sure he is your best friend but until he comes down to the bank and cosigns for you, we are still unable to approve your loan."

"Ok, no problem, I'll come back with Ti uh Thom as soon as he has some free time" Abby stated, almost calling him Timmy. Abby thought this would be the easiest loan ever to approve with McGee cosigning and she couldn't wait to see the look on the snobbish bank manager's face when she came in with McGee, oops, when she came in with Thom. Smiling, she could already see their surprised faces when they see how much Mr. Gemcity adores her and practically trips over himself to please her. She hated people like the bank manager who prejudges her on her looks alone. She knows most of them are thinking there goes another one of those dumb Goth people with nothing going on in their life. Of course, they don't know that just about any room she walks into, she almost always the smartest person in that room. Well, that is, if McGee isn't with her at the time. That guy takes brains to a whole other level. McGee is a certified genius and people still marvel how down to earth he is. With his brain, he could easily be the most arrogant person on earth but he is just not built that way. Timothy McGee is one of the sweetest and most humble guys ever. She wonders if that's why she sometimes takes advantage of him. If you can't be the smartest person in the room, being in control of the smartest person in the room is just as good. That is such a destructive thought. Why would that thought even cross her mind? She is better than this. She has got to do better than this. She has got to stop taking advantage of his feelings for her. She knows McGee still cares for her and would do anything for them to be back together. She has already hurt him deeply on more than one occasion and doesn't want to ever do that again. He is waaayyy to good of a person to be treated that way by anyone, let alone the person who claims to be his best friend. She is better than that. She will be better than that. Putting the thought out of her mind for now as she left the bank, she went back to thinking how stupid these people will feel when she walks in the bank with Thom E. Gemcity.

The next day, Abby came into work early to catch McGee alone so she could get him to cosign for her as Thom E Gemcity. When she got to the bullpen, the only person there was Tony.

"xHey Tony, whatcha doing? Why are you in here so early" she asked?

"Hey Abbs, not doing much of anything right now and I'm in early because every since McSherlock started coming in extremely early to work on cold cases, it's the only way I will catch a glimpse of him or Ziva before they were out in the field" Tony replied.

Feeling jealousy rear its ugly head, Abby asked "so why is Ziva in so early?"

"Well, NCIS regulations prohibit agents from going out into the field alone so Ziva voluntarily comes in early so Probie won't be held up waiting for someone to come in at normal hours."

"But what made McGee start coming in so early? He was the first one in almost every morning anyway, why would he start coming in even earlier?

"I think because it's so quiet with no one else around, he is better able to concentrate on the cold cases and connect the clues that had been missed previously. He doesn't have anyone distracting him so he can really zone in and focus."

The two of them smirked at each other knowing they were two of his biggest distractions.

"Anyway" Tony continued, "by the time Ziva comes in, McGee has already gone through 2 or 3 cold cases and found some new leads. She barely has time to boot up her computer before they are out the door following up on those new leads."

With jealousy still rearing its ugly head, Abby snaps off "Why does he always take Ziva?"

Tony gives her a look but answers her question. "Because neither me nor the boss is in that early and Ziva is. As I said before, she started coming in earlier so Probie would have a partner to go out with him to follow up on leads."

Tony and Abby had been talking for a while and didn't notice Gibbs come in and sit at his desk, listening in on the conversation.

"Why does boss man allow him to do that" she asked?

"Why wouldn't he allow him to do that" Tony replied? "Probie is doing really good work. He is doing everything by the book. He is closing cold cases at an amazing rate. There is no reason for boss not to support him and that goes for me too" Tony finished.

"What do you mean that goes for you too"

"As SFA, I am expected to know exactly what is going on at all times. Boss runs the team but I am responsible for those two. I need to be able to let the boss know where they are, what they are doing, when was the last time they checked in and be able to update him on whatever case they are currently working on. As painful as it is for me to admit, Probie is doing an outstanding job of checking in regularly and keeping me updated so I can brief boss with the most current information. As I said, he is doing a great job. Why would we want to hold him back?"

Abby was frustrated. For the past 3 months, she had barely seen McGee and those times had been brief. He was either on his way out into the field with Ziva or he and Ziva was coming in with a dirtbag they were going to interrogate. There had been no time for her and McGee to just sit and talk. He never came down to her lab anymore. At first, she thought he was intentionally avoiding her but listening to Tony, she now knew that he had been doing his job and apparently doing it well. What make it worse was he was doing his job with Ziva. Without another word, Abby turned and left to go back down to her lab. Tony looked over at Gibbs, Shrugged his shoulders, and went back to working on the report he was supposed to have turned in 2 days ago. Gibbs on the other was wondering what was going on with Abby. He liked the way Tony had handled the situation. The things Tony had said to her made him proud. He made a mental note to check up on her to see what was going on.

A little after the lunch hour, Abby came back up into the bullpen looking for McGee again.

Already knowing who she was looking for, Tony answered her question before she could ask it.

"Probie is not here Abbs."

Not being able to hide her frustration any longer, Abby started to vent.

"What, you mean he is still out chasing down leads from the case he went out on early this morning? I thought you said he was doing good work? I'm not a field agent but even I know it shouldn't take any agent this long."

Gibbs looked up sharply with a frown on his face. He didn't like what Abby said or the tone she used when saying it. Before he could address Abby, Tony beat him to it.

"First of all, he is doing a good job. Scratch that. He is doing an outstanding job. Secondly, Probie and Ziva actually caught the dirt bag from the case they went out on this morning. They brought him in, processed him, interrogated him and got a confession out of him. The marines have already come and picked him up to transport him to GITMO since he was one of theirs. Probie and Ziva are already out on another case chasing down another possible lead Probie was able to find. In other words, they are out doing their jobs and doing their job very well. Now, you can either tell me what's up with this attitude or you can go back down to your lab but what you are not going to do is stand here and bad mouth my agents because they are to busy doing their jobs and don't have time to stand around gossiping with you" Tony snapped.

To say Abby was stunned at the way Tony had just spoken to her would be the understatement of the year. Her eyes were wide and her bottom lip was quivering. Gibbs, on the other hand, thought his chest would explode with pride. This was the SFA he always knew Tony could be. This is the man and the agent he saw in him when he hired him away from the PD. It appears McGee's hard work was having good ripple effects on the rest of the team. He had never seen Ziva as happy as when she started helping McGee chased down dirt bags. She seemed to especially enjoy when McGee would explain how he came up with clues and put them together. Tony had also started to change for the better. He took more of an active role in leadership and had almost totally done away with his pranks. The team seemed to be a closer, tighter and more professional unit. He didn't know what was going on with Abby but he would just sit back and let his SFA handle it as he should. He hid his smile behind his coffee cup as he took another sip.

After realizing Gibbs wasn't coming to her defense, Abby finally was able to gather her wits about her.

"I'm sorry Tony, I've just really needed to talk to McGee but can never catch up with him at work or at home. I was just frustrated but I didn't mean to demean his work."

"It's ok Abbs and apology accepted. I apologize for snapping at you but Tim and Ziva have been busting their butts and to have anyone say anything negatively about them just sets me off. I know that's like the pot calling the kettle black because of the way I have treated Probie, but I have been and will continue to try to make that up to him. That guy is a special person and I let my petty jealousy get in the way seeing that. Well, my eyes are wide open now and I refuse to let him take any unnecessary grief from anyone including myself."

"Wow Tony, that's quite a revelation. What brought that on?"

Ducky and Jimmy had just come up to the bullpen from autopsy as Abby asked Tony this.

"It's pretty simple when you think about it Abbs. Name something that Probie wouldn't do for anyone of us" Tony looked around at Gibbs, Abby, Ducky and Jimmy when he said that, getting nods of agreement from each one before continuing.

"Literally, if I asked him for the shirt he was wearing, he would give it to me. If I call him at 2:00 am in the morning and say Probie I need to talk, he would be over at my apartment almost before I can hang up the phone. The thing that hit me the hardest Abbs is that he would gladly give up his life if it meant saving mine. He doesn't have to say it and he never will say it but I know it, you know it and he knows it. All the bad things I have done to him and he would still do that for me without hesitation. That kind of loyalty and friendship makes you take a long serious look at yourself. I might not be his best friend but he is my best friend and maybe the only true friend I have ever had. Yeah, that guy is pretty special."

Abby, who had tears in her eyes listening to Tony, had to agree with him. McGee is one special guy. Abby was just about to comment on what Tony had said when McGee and Ziva came in laughing their heads off. They both went to their desk and grabbed their chairs and rolled them over to Tony's desk. Tony loved this part when they came over to brief him. He had not asked them to do this. Tim had instituted this method of updating their SFA when they came into the bullpen. They sat down at Tony's desk still laughing hysterically.

Trying to speak around his laughter, Tim started the conversation.

"Wait to you hear this Tony, you are not going to believe it" then he dissolved into fits of laughter again as he looked over at Ziva and said "you tell him Ziva."

Gibbs, Tony and Abby were already shocked at seeing Ziva laugh this hard. She had tears streaming down her face from laughing so hard. Ziva attempted to call upon her training and pull herself together and then promptly lost it again and joined Tim in laughter. Gibbs was watching Tony with a big smile on his face. This was killing Tony. Something had happened that was this funny and his agents couldn't stop laughing long enough to let him in on it. He looked he was about to burst. Tony was twitching in his seat like a 3 year old that had to go to the bathroom really really bad. Finally, he couldn't take it anymore.

"Come on guys, you're killing me here. What happened" Tony shouted.

Finally Tim was able to get, somewhat, control of himself

"Ok Tony, Ok, so we're out at this farm where we had tracked this idiot too. We have him cornered. There is absolutely no place for him to run and both Ziva and I have our weapons trained on him."

Tony, on the edge of his seat says "yeah, yeah, and then what?"

None of Team Gibbs has noticed that the bullpen was quiet as everyone is listening to Tim tell his tale. The director is up on the catwalk also listening wanting to know what all the laughter was about. Tim continues his tale.

"So, Ziva tells him to stop being ridiculous and just lay face down on the ground so she could cuff him and we could get out of there." Tim starts chuckling again while looking at Ziva who has also starts chuckling.

"Cut it out guys" Tony screams, "Finish the story Probie."

The rest of team Gibbs starts chuckling at Tony's antics. They know this is killing Tony and they also know if Tim doesn't finish quickly, Ducky and Jimmy are going to be busy treating Tony's aneurism. Tim takes pity on Tony and continues.

"Ok, so according to his file, this guy is a male chauvinist so when Ziva told him that, it sets him off and he looks at her and says when pigs fly girlee and if you try to touch me, gun or no gun, I will break your arm."

Tim and Ziva looked at each other and broke out laughing again so hard that they each almost fell out of their chairs. Tony was fit to be tied. No one knew how much longer he would be able to last before he exploded. Tim straightened up and looking at Tony continued.

"The guy turned to run and tripped over a pig that had walked up behind him and went flying through the air and land face down in the dirt."

The whole bullpen broke up. There was laughter everywhere. Even Gibbs, who usually able to contain himself laughed out loud. When the bullpen was getting itself back together, Tony was the first to speak even though it was very difficult for him as hard as he was laughing.

"No Freaking Way Probie. That did not happen and how come I wasn't there when it happened. By the way, where is the dirt bag?"

Tony's question set Tim and Ziva off again and Tony's eyes got wide.

"You mean there's more" he asked? "Tell me, tell me right now Probie or I swear I'll, I'll, well I don't know what I'll do but you better tell me right now."

Ok, Ok, the dirt bag is at hospital, now wait for it Tony, when he tripped and fell over the pig, he broke his arm."

That was it, everyone lost it. Never had there been such an uproar of laughter in the bullpen. Tony did fall out of his chair this time along with several other agents. The director had to hurry into his office before he embarrassed himself in front of his troops. He had an image to maintain after all. When he closed the door, his assistant smiled as she could hear the belly laugh coming from inside the director's office. Gibbs tried his best to be inconspicuous as he wiped a tear off of his face. It would seriously hurt his tough as nails image if it got out that Gibbs laughed so hard that he cried. As much as she didn't want to because she was still dealing with her jealousy issue, Abby could not contain her laugher either. It took a while for the bullpen to get itself under control. Again, Tony was the first to speak.

"I'm calling your bluff Probie that did not happen!"

Smiling evilly, Tim got up and walked over to his computer. He hooked his phone up to his computer and sent the pictures to the plasma. Everyone looked up at the screen and lost it again as picture after picture of the dirt bag on the ground holding his arm with a pig tangled up in his legs was shown in various stages. Tony, again, fell out of his chair and had tears pouring down his face. He couldn't remember ever having laughed this hard. When Tim finally took the pictures off the plasma, Agents started slapping him on the back as they were going back to their desks telling him that has got to be the story of the year. Everyone was finally back at their desk and things were about as back to normal as they were going to get. There was still the occasional chuckle or outright belly laugh as agents remembered their favorite parts of the story but the bullpen was calm again. Tim had come back over to Tony's desk to sit down and looking at him, Tony smiled and addressed Tim.

"Ok Probie, I have to admit, hands down, that was the best story ever."

Before Tim could comment, Abby approached him.

"Hey Timmy, I haven't seen you or Ziva in ages. When are you going to have time so we can catch up? I really need to talk to you about something very important."

"Well, Abbs, Ziva and I have to update Tony first, and then we have to go over to the hospital and get our suspect once they have the cast on his arm. When we get back, we have to process him and do the interrogation and finally we have to type up our reports so I don't think I will be able to talk to you today."

Tony, seeing the look on her face and remembering their earlier conversation took pity on her and decided he would do something he really didn't want to do. He was going to let McGee skip the update and go talk to Abby. He really didn't want to do it because number 1, he enjoyed when the three of them got to talk about the day's events and cases. Number 2, it was better when they both updated him because one of them always remembered something the other had forgot which made for a complete and detailed update.

"Hey Probie, you can go ahead and talk to her if you want. Ziva can give me the update. Its better coming from both of you but Abby has really been trying to discuss something with you and no, I don't know what it is but I leave it up to you."

Tim turned and looked at Abby and saw her biting her lip and made a quick decision.

"All right Abbs, I'm all yours. Let's go down to your lab so we can chew the fat" Tim said as he walked over to her and put his arm around her shoulders. Smiling brightly, Abby put her arm around his waist as they started walking toward the elevators. The rest of the team smiled as they could hear Abby talking a mile a minute. They could not see her face but they could hear the happiness in her voice as she finally got a chance to talk to her friend. When the elevator had taken them down to the lab, Ziva turned to look at Tony with a question on her face.

"Yes Ziva" Tony inquired?

"I know for a fact that McGee has changed his eating habits. He only eats healthy foods now. Why would he deliberately stop eating healthy and start chewing fat just to have a conversation with Abby?"

Well, that was all she wrote for Tony. He was on the floor again. Ducky had to sit down before he fell down and jimmy was bent over the desk hiding his face in his arms. Gibbs was trying valiantly to contain his mirth and was failing badly. He might have succeeded if he had not looked over at Ziva and saw the puzzled look on her face. He jumped up out of his chair and mumbled something about coffee and practically ran out of the bullpen before he embarrassed himself. Everyone could hear a suspicious bark of laughter come from the hall Gibbs had just disappeared into. Looking over at Tony and smiling, Ducky saw that poor Anthony was not going to be any good to anyone the rest of the day. Pulling himself together, Ducky got up and always the gentleman walked over to Ziva and held out his hand to assist her in standing.

"Ziva my dear, would you care to accompany me to autopsy for a spot of tea and I shall attempt to explain the term chewing the fat to you."

Taking Ducky's hand, Ziva rose with a smile on her face "Yes Ducky, I think I would enjoy that very much."

"Come Mr. Palmer; let's not dally any longer than we already have.

"I'm right behind you Dr. Mallard "Jimmy said with a big smile on his face.

Tony, who had been under his desk laughing after Ziva's latest mix up of American idiom, finally came up from under his desk and looked around finding the bullpen empty.

"Hey, where did everybody go?"