Night fell on the nation's capital, and the Navy Yard was mostly barren this Saturday night.
The third floor of NCIS headquarters in Washington was almost empty.
Anthony DiNozzo, Jr., Special Agent, NCIS, was at his desk, working on a lead for a case involving a missing petty officer.
When his eyes weren't wandering over to the empty desk directly across from him - as they were every 30 seconds - and his mind wandering to the woman who sat there for eight years.
DiNozzo's boss, Special Agent In Charge Leroy Jethro Gibbs, was reviewing files on two potential members of his team.
Unlike Tony, Gibbs' mind - and eyes - were focused on the job at hand, even as he noticed that his agent wasn't focused on his own.
"Got somewhere you need to be, DiNozzo?" Gibbs said from his desk.
Tony didn't seem to hear him; his attention was going back and forth between his own desk, the empty desk across, and whatever was on his computer screen.
"DiNozzo!" Gibbs said, a bit louder.
"Uh...sorry boss."
Gibbs' near yell momentarily shook Tony out of the mental funk he had been in, and his attention went back to his screen.
"Got any more leads, DiNozzo?" Gibbs said.
"No...we won't be able to check out the scene before tomorrow morning. Place opens at 0900," Tony said, half-heartedly.
Gibbs took a drink of his coffee, then closed the folder he was reading through. Tony's gaze shifted back to the empty desk.
"Tony, take the rest of the evening off," Gibbs said quietly. "You and McGee can check the place out in the morning."
Tony heard Gibbs, but kept staring across at the empty desk.
"Tony," Gibbs said, softly and firmly. "Ziva's not coming back. No matter how badly we want her to."
"I know," Tony said, as he gathered his stuff and powered down his PC. Gibbs's attention went back to the files and folder on his desk; Tony walked towards the elevator, then stopped halfway there, reversed himself and walked back to his boss's desk.
"Go home, DiNozzo," Gibbs said.
"Boss," Tony said, then stood there for a few moments.
"Got something to say, DiNozzo?"
"I...I...yeah. I didn't love Kate. I didn't love Jeanne. And I didn't love Ziva. I never loved her, boss."
Tony turned around, this time walking to the elevator and hitting the down button. The elevator dinged as the door opened, and he stepped inside, to go home and drown his sorrows with a DVD and some liquor.
Gibbs considered what Tony had just said to him, then decided that going home to work on his boat might be a good idea after all.
He made a note to talk with Leon about a psychiatrist to counsel Tony, McGee and Abby to talk - Rachel, Wolf, maybe that Nate Getz guy from Los Angeles.
Hell, maybe I should send DiNozzo to Los Angeles, Gibbs thought as he wrapped up for the night.
Gibbs stepped out from behind his desk, took a look at the empty desks of the two agents he knew were still a part of his team - DiNozzo and Tim McGee - then took a hard look at the empty desk across from Tony's and next to his own.
A thousand memories seemed to flood Gibbs' mind in a single moment.
Two stood out.
Kate sleeping behind that desk, Gibbs laying a hot cup of coffee on the ground next to her.
And Ziva, sitting at her desk, laughing, enjoying herself.
The memories were as clear as day, Gibbs thought, and they're all he had left of two very special agents he would miss to his dying breath.
"Sure you didn't," Gibbs said to himself, and he walked to the elevator. It dinged and he stepped through the doors, to go home to his basement and to his memories.