The Protector

Spill it out!

Time jump: 1 month.

Walking into the bullpen, Alex trotted over to Gibbs's desk. Seeing he wasn't there, she jumped onto his chair. 'Might as well wait for him here. He won't mind.' Looking over at Ziva, she watched as the agent took one whiff of her coffee and nearly threw out her breakfast. 'Note to self, get her some crackers.' Alex knew it was only a matter of time before she found out about her pregnancy. 'Eyal is going to have fun explaining this to her.'

"What are you talking about Tony?" Ziva made her way over to Tim's desk, gapping at the computer screen. "I am going to kill him."

Alex hadn't caught what Tony had said to her, but one look at her face, I knew Tim was about to get it. 'Oh shit.' Just then McGee stepped out of the elevator. 'You always had horrible timing.' Alex was not about to get in the middle of this. Ziva was a pissed-off pregnant female. You don't mess with them, no matter how tough you thought you were.

Tony rushed over to Tim, trying to push him back into the elevator. "Run for your life probie, run."

Tim frowned, ignoring the man's pleading. "What are you doing?"

"Just trying to save your life." Tony whispered/yelled, glancing from him to Ziva. Alex was surprised the man didn't get whiplash.

"What did you do?" Tim went from confused to suspicion in 0.1 seconds.

"Why do you assume it's me?" Tony scoffed, even him finding that question stupid. "That's a good point, but in this case, actually-"

"McGee!"

Tony flinched. "Too late."

'I just got major flashbacks.' Ziva sounded like Alex's mother did when she'd do something really stupid. And she did a lot of stupid things.

"Why is she sitting at my-"

"You're on your own, probie." Tony moved back to his desk, taking a seat.

"McGee get in here!" Ziva held a stern tone, glaring at the screen of the computer.

Tony leaned over his desk, attempting to whisper at the confused man. "Plead temporary insanity. It's your best bet." Attempting being the keyword here.

"What did I tell you, McGee?" Ziva's tone was raised a few levels.

Tim frowned. "About what?"

Ziva pushed herself away from the desk and stood up with a growl. Walking over to him she grabbed his hand and pulled him to his desk. "I told you to destroy those...twice." She raised two fingers, making a face.

Tim tripped over his words. Clearly, his life flashing before his eyes. "I did. I did. No. I-I-I didn't, um-" His wide eyes looking from her to the computer. "Tony. Tony. Tony must have-" The face Tony had was of pure betrayal.

"What, when you went to get coffee?" Ziva scoffed. "You did not erase those photos, did you? Hmm?" Glancing over at Tony, Alex laughed at the look on his face. The man had a twinkle in his eye, watching them like a kid watching cartoons. "Admit it, and I will spare you one of your eyes."

Tim gave in quickly. "I did not erase those photos."

Alex chuckled. 'That woman can scare anyone into a confession.'

Ziva gasped, making the man even more scared, causing an even worse stutter. "I think I know what happened. Um, I-I-I-I...I just deleted my old screensaver, and theoretically, the operating system could have defaulted to the photo directory, but, you know, the odds..."

'Just shut up and take the punishment, Tim.'

"Today's not your lucky day." Ziva whispered.