Anthony DiNozzo was home and bored…Or maybe restless was a better term. Four had gone on the initial trip to Israel but only three had returned. He had hoped Ziva would contact him; or, if not Tony, then Gibbs. But another week passed and there was still no word.
It had been a silly, stupid accident. Tony was still nursing a bum shoulder from the showdown with Rivkin. He thought it was getting better and had been doing more and more work without the sling. He was handing McGee a box of folders that Gibbs had requested when he felt his shoulder tweak. He had ignored it, at first, but when Gibbs rounded the corner and saw the dark red splotch covering DiNozzo's shoulder, he had gone almost postal. His final words to DiNozzo were not to show back up at NCIS for another week.
So, here he sat, alone in his apartment, the four walls closing in. No Ziva. No other girlfriends. And all his other coworkers were now busy covering his load, as well as the burden left with no Ziva.
Tony had always loved movies. When there was no family and no playmates, there was always a movie. Most summer days and nights were spent at the movieplex watching every movie showing. Or some afternoons, it was watching old B westerns that a local television channel would show. Sometimes, it was Saturdays and Sundays, renting movies and reliving the classics of Humphrey Bogart, Cary Grant or James Cagney.
His channel surfing of the cable networks was rewarded when he found a World War II movie marathon. He started his day with The Sands of Iwo Jima, followed by The Flying Leathernecks. By lunch time, he was involved with Pearl Harbor followed by From Here to Eternity. By evening, he had watched a total of seven movies and had only moved for the occasional snack/food break and the obligatory bathroom run. He had just settled back into the couch for the evening features. It was The Best Years of Our Lives. Tony couldn't remember ever having seen the entire flick so he was looking forward to it. Thirty minutes after the opening credits, Anthony DiNozzo was sound asleep on his couch.
Funny thing about the subconscious mind – you never know where it's going to take you…