Tony had always thought he didn't look good enough, so he'd hidden behind a fake mask of narsicism. if everyone else thought hewas comfortable with himself, then They tended to think he was handsome. It was weird really. "Thank you." Was all he said, not feeling like arguing about it. It always seemed like Tony was the heartbreaker, but right now McGee was doing the heartbreaking around here and he was doing a damn good job of it. Tony decoded to drive tonight and headed to the restaurant, not speaking.

Tim frowned as he followed Tony out of the room and to the car. He could tell that the other man was still upset and he didn't know how to fix it. He hoped Tony was going to start feeling better soon. Otherwise, he didn't think they'd be able to get through this mission without blowing their cover. Tim shifted uncomfortably in the car, not liking the silence between them. It was starting to feel uncomfortable.

Tony didn't really like the silence, but what was there to say? He'd already make a stupid mistake because he'd spoken and saying something else stupid was not in Tony's 'To-Do' list. In fact, he planned on speaking to Tim no more than he had to on the rest of this trip. Gibbs would be mad, yes, he'd be very mad that Tony had screwed everything up because his emotions got in the way. But then, this was kind of Gibbs' fault. Tony wouldn't had have even realized how he felt about Tom if he hadn't been ordered to kiss him and act like they were together. That was what had caused this while thing after all, because once they'd started the kissing and the 'foreplay' of what was supposed to turn into fake sex, neither man had wanted to stop. That was Gibbs' fault right? He should know better than to tell Tony to act like that and he should know that pretty much anything Tony asks, Tim will do. That was the way if always had been. In fact, when McGee was still a probie, Tony had made him use the title sir for him. It had been cute. Tony was realizing just now how long he'd felt this way and it had been for years. How had he not even realized it? He'd always been flirting with Tim....always.. From the practical jokes to the annoying little things he did to get a response from Tim. The whole time he'd been flirting. Had Gibbs noticed it in the past and just never said anything? It seemed like that kind of thing wouldn't have slipped the bosses' attention. He had such a strict rule about dating coworkers, it seemed he would've said something.

Tim tried very hard not to shift uncomfortable. The atmosphere in the car was tense and he was more than relieved when they got to the restaurant and he got out eagerly. He ran a hand through his hair, waiting for Tony before heading into the building. He didn't know what the guy they were meeting with looked like, but he figured the guy would recognize them. Tim had made sure to wear one of the hidden cameras on him so that Abby will be able to run the images through a scanner. He could remember when Tony and Ziva did this and he hoped that this will go as easily as that assignment.

Tony got our of the car and went after McGee. He still felt pretty bad, but he figured he could fake good enough. Come on now James." He said, the smallest of grins forming on his face. Ziva whispered in his ear peice. "They were very open about it Tony. Display more affection." Tony took Tim's hand. "That's better." She explained and he walked in the resterant.

Tim resisted the urge to sigh again. He knew they were going to have to fake this, but he didn't like how Tony was having to force himself for it. Inside the restaurant, they were led to a table and given a menu. Tim looked around at the other people in the room, trying to determine whether or not they were a threat. No-one really stood out so far, but he was going to keep an eye out.

Tony ordered nice red wine for himself. "White wine for 'James'" Ziva whispered. Tony ordered it for him. "Now tell him you love him." Ziva said, but Tony froze. He wasn't going to do that. Not again... "Tony! Listen to me! That's the key. There's a man behind you...he's listening for those three words." She said, frowning. "Tony! Think about your job, stop letting your emotions get in the way!" She groaned. "Damn it." Tony just kept staring at Tim, refusing to say that. Those were the worst three words in the world. Ziva couldn't believe how impossible Tony was being. "McGee. Just say the words 'i love you.' please, you don't even have to be talking to Tony..we need you two to cooperate!

Tim resisted the urge to hit Tony. What was his problem? He was going to ruin the whole operation. He couldn't still be thinking about the whole incident from earlier, was he? After all, he was supposed to be working and that meant keeping his head in the game. Even though Tim knew he could quite possibly make Tony feel worse, he reached across the table and took hold of the other man's hand gently. "I love you."

Tony felt like he'd been torn to shreads, refusing to look at Tim as he spoke. Why? Why the hell did it have to be those three words? A man sat at their table and reached under the table. At first Tony thought the man was fondling him, but he soon realized that wasn't what was going on. The guy was shoving something cold into his underwear, making him whimper. It was more than a little uncomfortable. "There...now, be a good boy and do as I say." He muttered in Tony's ear. "What do you want.." Tony hissed. "The two of you need to do me a little favor..you see, there's a man. He's sitting at the table across from yours, black hair, pink tie. See him?" Tony nodded and swallowed. The thing in his pants was so a gun and he wanted to keep his body intact. "Ok...so you want us to kill him?" Tony asked coldly. "Yep, no payment." Tony shivered, having no idea what to do.

Tim wanted to hit Tony. He was on a fast tracj to ruining this whole thing and Tim would like to get through this whole thing alive. He frowned as he looked over at the man they were supposed to kill. He hoped they ouldn't have to actually do anything. Tim nodded slowly, glancing at the man who spoke. "Consider it done." He said, hoping that would make the man leave. He didn't like the thought of this man holding a gun to Tony.

Tony gasped as the gun was removed. The man left the building. "I'll be watching you both." the guy said with a smirk. He looked at Tim. "Nice ass by the way..." He said, basically telling them he'd already been watching. Tony felt horrible. "Let's go." He said to McGee. He didn't want to be here any longer.

Tim frowned. Sure, he knew that they have been watched, but that didn't mean he wanted to hear some guy he didn't know commenting on it. He watched the man walk away before turning his attention to Tony. "We haven't eaten yet." He saw no point in skipping out on the food. He's heard that the food here was good and he wanted to try it.

Tony stared at Tim like he was insane. "Yeah? You want to eat? Ok, fine, I'll be in the car when you're done." He said, getting ready to walk out. Tony had just nearly had his manhood bleon off and Tim could only think about food. Not to mention the fact that Tim had said those stupid words. "And the next time you lie to me for the sake of your god damn job, don't you dare look me in the eye and sure as hell don't take my hand." He took his coat and went straight to the sleek black car, sitting in tue passenger seat and locking the doors. The windows were tinted so no one could see in. He knew he shouldn't be mad at Tim for doing his job, but he didn't have to look him in the eyes and do it. That made it hurt so much worse. He began to understand what Shawn, that girl he'd lied to, felt. It was painful and he wasn't sure how he was supposed to deal with it.

Tim frowned as he heard what Tony said. What was his problem? He was doing as he was supposed to in order to get the job done. Tony knew that. So why was he so angry? Because Tim said 'I love you'? He was just doing what Ziva said he needed to do. Tim became aware that people were staring at him after Tony's little display. He shifted uncomfortably before heading outside, his apetite gone. He got in the car and started it, heading back to the hotel without saying anything. After all, he wasn't the one who was acting irrationally.

Tony waited until they were at the hotel and then got out of the car, still not saying anything. he went straight up to their room and grabbed a pillow and a blanket, going to the couch and setting up a place before getting ready and getting in his makeshift bed, not even giving Tim a glance. "I'm going to sleep and if you make any damn noise I will shoot you." He yelled, not caring if Tim heard him or not. He turned off the lamp and laid there, thinking. It was competly uncalled for. Tim had known how Tony had felt. He'd known, and still he'd gone and acted like an ass hole. Sure, he'd had to say what he had, but the intimate way he'd done it was plain insensitive. He wanted to punch something. Seriously, how could he? He'd torn Tony apart doing that. He eventually fell asleep and then had dreams.

Tony woke up and saw the man from the restaurant staying above him, gun pointed to his head. "I thought I told you to shoot that man." He demanded and Tony held his hands up. "You didn't say tonight. We have to plan these things. I thought you'd understand." He begged and pleaded for his life. "Too bad." The man said and busted a cap in Tony's skull, blood going everywhere.

Tony woke up, startled to find all that was only a dream, though something like that could very easily happen. He got up from his couch bed to see it was three in the morning. He got up and sighed, walking out and standing on the balcony. Sure, it was far from safe for a man who was supposedly a professional sniper to be standing out in the open like that, but he couldn't sleep and roaming around the room would make noise, potentially waking up Tim. He stared off into the distance, wishing he was at home with some drunk slut and that none of this ever happened. "Tony...Tony..??" it was Ziva. "Get back inside the room!" She demanded and for the billionth time this mission he turned her off. From now on he was doing what he wanted, his way.

Tim followed Tony up to the room, wincing slightly at the threat. That seemed a little uncalled for... He sighed, heading to the room and changing into his pajamas. He figured Tony just needed some space. Hopefully the other will calm down by tomorrow. If not, he was going to end up blowing the mission and getting them both killed. He laid down on the bed after flicking the light off, but he didn't go to sleep. He didn't think he would be able too. Thoughts were racing around and around in his head, making it hard to put two and two together. He couldn't figure out why exactly Tony was so angry with him. After all, they were on a job and were supposed to be professional and Tony was acting like a child. He needed to get his act together soon.

Tim sighed and sat up in bed. He turned on the lamp on the bedside table before pulling out his book. Since it didn't look like he was going to be getting any sleep soon, he figured he might as well read. It didn't take long for him to get wrapped up in his book and only looked up when he heard movement in the other room. Time got out of bed silently and headed to the door, not sure if it was Tony or someone who broke in. Either way, he wasn't going to take any chances.

He frowned when he saw Tony on the balcony. That didn't seem very safe. He headed over to the other man, but stopped a few feet away. "You okay?" He asked, concerned that something was wrong... Besides the obvious.

Tony heard someone walk up behind him and he figured it was Tim. Who else would be prowling around and piping up when he least wanted to see them? "Go away. I'm fine." He said blandly and as coldly as he could manage. "And I'll have you know that I'm serious. After this mission, I don't want you to speak to me ever again. If I need to transfer to a different unit then I will. I have plenty of job offers. I can just have my own team." He was being an ass and he knew it, but Tim had pretty much ruined him. He wasn't sure if he was pissed or if he should be crying. He kind of felt like both. "There's a difference in doing your job and being a downright dickhead just so you know." he said. "You didn't have to look at me like that. You could say it in a different way...and to make things worse, you just went and grabbed my hand. Do you even know what that was like? It was like being ripped apart...slowly and painfully. You knew how I felt, but you went and did that anyway."

•NCIS•

Gibbs and Ziva knew there were no bugs on the balcony or cameras since they were in a room by the street so it would be to loud for any listening device to hear, but Tony still needed to shut up. Gibbs had known how Tony had felt even longer than Tony had and he knew he should never have sent them misson like this one together. It was like asking for trouble. Gibbs also knew that love was his one weakness. Love made Tony a weak man. Even though this was partially Gibbs' fault though, did not give Tony the right to act like a sixteen year old girl who'd been dumped for her best friend. Gibbs was pissed and planned on punishing Tony when they got back...if they got back..

Hearing what Tony was saying was like a punch in the gut. The things he was saying hurt, but Tim wasn't going to say anything about it. He didn't really understand what it was he did for Tony to hate him so much all of a sudden, and he didn't like it. He narrowed his eyes at the other man and crossed his arms, really getting tired of this attitude that Tony had. If the other man wanted to be an ass, Tim was going to be one right back. "Why wait til after the mission? Since you can't stand the sight of me, why don't you leave now and save yourself the stress. I can handle the rest of the mission on my own." Since Tony didn't want to help with the mission, Tim figured he'd have a higher success rate on his own without risking someone blowing his cover. And if he ended up getting himself killed, then he'll be doing Tony a favor.

Tony very suddenly smacked Tim in the face, as hard as he could and he used the ring on his hand to leave a mark on Tim's cheek. After that he slammed the other against the wall and pinned him there, kissing him roughly, almost violently. He ripped Tim's short clean off his body and then heard a noise in the room. "Damn. People always got to interupt. He grabbed his gun and walked back in the place, ready to shoot whoever was in here. It was.... "Hey boss!" Tony exclaimed, suddenly seeming cheery. Gibbs looked at him funny. "You having mood swings Dinozzo?" He asked, clearly disappointed. Tony laughed. "Come on! You all know me better than that! I would never act the way I did in the past few days. Besides, I solved our murder." He said, a little smirk on his face. Gibbs frowned. "Let's hear it then." Tony began. "Well, when I saw the bodys that Ducky had, there was a mark on James' left cheek. It was a ring, a wedding ring. I saw the wedding ring on Donito's hand right? So I figured, ok, Donito was abusing James for one. Then I noticed something else. You all determined that there was Donito's semen inside of the corpse of James right? Well, in theory, gay relationships always switch it up. No one tops all the time. I guess straight men and a woman wouldn't know that though, so don't feel bad. You see, I think that Donito and James were competition, NOT lovers. Donito raped James and then killed him. End of story. I know you saw the places on James' wrists too right? Well, that's because Donito was holding him against a surface, probably a wall." Gibbs blinked a few times and Ziva started laughing. "That's just what we were coming to tell you both. Dontio raped/murdered James!" Tony glared at Ziva. "Don't smile when you talk about horrible things. Donito was a bad man. He's better off dead." Ziva nodded. "We still don't have any idea who murdered Donito though..." She frowned. "The guy who hired you is most likely going to try and kill you both since you haven't done as he asked. I think you might want to go into protective custody." Tony crossed his arms over his chest. "Ziva, we're to highly trained NCIS agents. I don't think that one loser can kill us. We'll watch our backs...won't we McGrumpy pants?" Gibbs didn't seem pleased at all. "I'm not sure if I like the idea of you two being out in the open until we find the guy who told you to murder the target last night. You'll go into custody if you want to keep your jobs." Tony groaned. "For how long?" Gibbs shrugged. "Until we catch the guy and send him to prison for plotted murder." Tony really didn't think he could take any more of an abnormal life. He just wanted to go back to his life the way it was, plus McGee.

Next, Tony turned to Tim. "So, just for the record, I don't hate you. I was never even really upset. I just needed you upset with me so we didn't blow our cover. In fact, I was going to separate from you, because I figured out that Donito and James were competing with each other, not working together. So, I hope you can forgive me." He said, grinning at him. "And the next time we do what we did the other night, which I do hope you'll consider doing that again, I want to be screaming your name, not James'." he added. "Because I may not 'love' you, but I certainly like you as more than a friend." He pulled Tim to him and kissed the other, gently, but passionately. "I want you again..." He muttered and Ziva stared, surprised. "Gibbs..?" She questioned and the man shrugged. "I trust them both." He said and Ziva frowned. "But your rules..?" Gibbs smirked at her. "I break federal laws all the time. Do you think I care about bending one of my rules slightly?" He looked at Tony who seemed obsessed with kissing Tim. "Come on. We need to get your stuff and go. The government won't be paying for this room after tonight. Tony got off of Tim reluctantly and packed his bags. "looks like we'll be living together a little longer." Tony said to Tim.

Tim winced when Tony hit him, shock causing him to freeze. What the hell was his problem? Sure, he knew the other man was mad at him, but there was no need for the assault. Especially considering the fact that they were out on the balcony where there were no cameras or bugs. So if Tony was acting, it was defintely uncalled for. Tim listened to Tony's explanation, aggrivation and anger at the other man growing with each word. This information would have been something that he would have liked to have known beforehand so he didn't waste his time or energy worrying that Tony was mad at him. But the way Tony was acting wasn't really upset though... He's been acting like a child when Tim didn't say 'I love you' back to him that morning or the whole thing at the restaurant. It didn't make any sense. What Tony was saying wasn't adding up and Tim wasn't sure if he even wanted to waste his time figuring it out. But one thing that he did know, he wasn't going to be forgiving him for it any time soon. He nodded to Gibbs, knowing he wouldn't get a choice in the whole going into custody thing since he didn't want to get fired, so he went to go pack up his things before looking at Tony. "Yeah... Looks like it." He agreed, not really liking that idea right now.

Tony was ready to go and wondered just how ling they'd be stuck in protection. It seemed that they would be perfectly capable of caring for themselves, but arguing with Gibbs was pointless so he just decided to do as he was told. Maybe he'd get to go back home in a few weeks or something. After all, how long would it take to catch one bad guy? If things went well, they might even be put in the next few days. That was just one of the things that came with this job. There was always danger and sometimes they didn't get to live life like normal.

Tim grabbed his bag, wondering where exactly they would go for their protective custody. He wasn't looking forward to spending more time along with Tony, despite what the other man says about not meaning anything. He was still a jerk even when he didn't have too and there was no way Tim was going to forgive him that easily. Honestly, his face still hurt from the very uncalled for slap and until it stopped, he was going to remain ticked off.

Tony was back to his normal self pretty much, just talking about movies, sex, women, sex, food, and well, sex. What else did Tony really ever talk about? "So Ziva, did you miss me?" He asked, already knowing the answer, but asking anyway just for amusement. "No, Tony. I really didn't." she said, clearly lying. Of coarse shed missed her coworkers. They were like brothers to her. "I missed McGee though." She added, making Tony laugh. "You missed Mr. Elflord, but you didn't miss me. How very sad." Tony wasn't about to admit it, but he hadn't been competly acting when he was being a baby. He really had been upset, and he hadn't figured all of the information out until recently. He just didn't want to let McGee know that he gave a damn about him in more than just a friendly way. Anything that they could have had before seemed impossible now. He already knew how Tim felt and he obviously didn't like Tony like that. He'd just have to get over it. That was certainly easier said than done.

Tim couldn't help but roll his eyes at Tony's choice of conversation. That was typical DiNozzo.But he would admit it was a nice change from the attitude he's had recently. Hell, anything would be better than that. Tim smiled at Ziva's comment, knowing she was just joking with the other man. He flung his bag over his shoulder and despite wanting to spend more time just joking around, he knew they should get moving. After all, the faster they got this assignment done, the faster he could go home. Tim already had an idea for his next novel and he wanted to be able to write it down before he forgot it. He hoped it would stay in his head that long though. "We should get going." he said, looking over at Tony.

Tony looked at Tim, wondering if he was ok. He hadn't really said much. Maybe he was just thinking, or wanted to go home or something. "Alright, yeah, we probably should be going." He glanced at Tom one more time before walking out to the car. "Who's driving?" He asked, and Ziva said she would. Tony sat in the back so Tim could have shotgun if he wanted. He didn't really care himself. He was just worried, and sad, and tired all at once. He was pretty glad that he did an on job of hiding how he was feeling. At the moment he was still just slightly hurting, but he was hiding behind his mask of humor and silliness.