It was midsummer and Vance had ordered everyone to go out on a team building field trip to the zoo. Really he just wanted the sweaty, whiny, restless agents to disappear for a few hours while he worked on important directorial matters.
"Look, a giraffe!" Tony exclaimed and pointed.
"We know, Tony; the long neck and spots kind of give it out..."
"Give it away, Ziva, not out." McGee corrected wearily. She was worse than usual. Heatstroke maybe.
"I've never seen one in real life! My dad was too busy putting a roof over my head to sign the field trip permission slip. My mother was busy drinking my sea monkeys... No one would take me!" Tony was vacillating between excited puppy and lost little boy.
"I thought that sea monkey story was a joke." McGee frowned while dabbing his forehead.
"Unfortunately, no. Mom was so loaded she didn't even get sick. I think the sea monkeys died of alcohol poisoning."
"Ya wanna go see the monkeys, DiNozzo?"
"I thought you'd never ask, Boss! Can we have ice cream after?" Tony beamed (and McGee could have sworn he saw a tail wagging).
"Sure, but it better not ruin your appetite. Almost dinnertime." Gibbs smiled and ruffled Tony's hair as they were walking away.
"What just happened?"
"I think they were, how do you say... Messing with us?"
"How do you only get those wrong around Tony?"
"You are imagining, McGee. I want to see the monkeys. Lets go.
"Fine, but only because I wanna see Gibbs buying Tony ice cream."