AN: Thirteenth in my vocab oneshot series. We are back to the NCIS fandom! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

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He'll be the first to admit that he had missed them. Very Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo had missed the awful orange colored walls of the NCIS building in DC. That realization only confirmed the fact that he had been stationed on the USS Seahawk for far too long. Returning back to DC was something to celebrate. So Tony did.

Arriving early to bubble wrap McGee's entire desk was completely worth it. Given that they were federal agents, the behavior was probably incongruous and not condoned, but Tony had never been verbally reprimanded in the past. Usually the pranks would garner a raised eyebrow from their boss if anything at all. The worst that had ever happened was a trademark Gibbs head slap and a firm, "DiNozzo! The case?" Tony knew that the bubble wrap would be tolerated for today since it was the first time in months that he was back. Besides, the look on McGee's face was priceless when McGee realized that, in addition to the bubble wrap, Tony had changed his computer background to the Caltech logo. Even after graduation, McGee was still a dedicated MIT beaver. He was still a geek, and Tony was pleased that that hadn't changed in his absence. It would have taken away from the prime source of all of Tony's jokes.

What would have made Tony's day would to have pulled a prank on Ziva. That would never happen. It was an unassailable fact. Tony's female counterpart was just too quick and too cunning to be caught by one of Tony's pranks. That and he didn't want to be at the receiving end of any virulent retribution. Ziva was a trained assassin; the only fight he would ever win with her would be verbal. English being his first language and not hers would probably give Tony an upper hand too. So instead of antagonizing her on his first day back, Tony opted to just laugh alongside her at McGee's predicament. There would be time later to verbally spar with her and explain American idioms, much more time…

Tony had known that despite the fact that Abby, NCIS's forensic scientist, had spent over two hours last night chattering about what he missed while he was gone, she would want to see him. During his lunch break, Tony had arrived at her lab with a Caf-Pow in one hand and a bouquet of black roses in the other. He spent only twenty minutes down there but received no less than six hugs from Abby. Her peppy and off-the-wall personality was something he had missed.

A quick chat with Ducky, their MD, and his assistant Palmer had Tony in high spirits by the end of the day. The day had been uneventful due to the lack of cases and the overabundance of paperwork, but it had been a good day. A great day.

Tony was the last to leave besides Gibbs. He called out that he was heading home, and Gibbs acknowledged him with a small nod from his desk. Tony paused. There was a lucid expression on his boss's face; usually it was unreadable with secrets well hidden below the surface. But it wasn't like that at that moment. Gibbs didn't say anything; he didn't have to.

It's good to have you back.

Tony nodded in return and as the elevator doors closed he whispered to himself, "It's good to be back."