Tony DiNozzo's luck couldn't get any worse. First, his date was over an hour late. To make it even worse, his date brought a date when she finally showed up.
"EJ, you two have fun," Tony said, walking out of the restaurant. 'Un-freakin'-believable,' he thought bitterly. 'My date brings a date, and then she expects me to go along with it. No way.'
He got in his car and headed for his apartment. When he got there, however, he realized that he didn't want to be cooped up all night.
"2130," he said to himself, checking his watch. "It may be Friday, but the night's still young." He got out of his car and just started walking.
"I walk a lonely road, the only one that I have ever known. Don't know where it goes, but it's home to me and I walk alone."
He figured that he'd been walking for about an hour when he finally looked somewhere other than at the ground. On his right was an entire line of bars and all-night diners. To his left was a row of small shops.
The street was deserted, and the sidewalk was nearly so, save for the occasional hooker, hobo or drug dealer. Whenever Tony was approached by one of these people, he needed only flash his badge and his SIG, and they would back off. Halfway down the street, he started kicking a can, just thinking.
"I walk this empty street on the Boulevard of Broken Dreams, where the city sleeps. And I'm the only one and I walk alone. I walk alone. I walk alone. I walk alone. I walk alone."
Tony's thoughts began frustrating him, and he kicked that can so hard that it hit a hobo in the forehead. Tony sat down on a bench, trying to ease his thoughts.
Completely unaware that he was being watched, he looked to the sky and said, "Hey, God. This is Anthony DiNozzo. I know that we haven't talked for awhile, but I need to get this off my chest. I'm sick of all these disgusting, meaningless dates, just one after another. Would it be too much to ask for You to point me to the right woman just once?" The wind kicked up a little bit. "That's what I thought. Thanks a lot."
"My shadow's the only one that walks beside me. My shallow heart's the only thing that's beating. Sometimes, I wish someone out there will find me. 'Till then, I walk alone."
He got up from the bench and walked across the street into one of the bars.
"What're you drinking?" The bartender asked as soon as Tony grabbed a seat at the bar.
"Bud Light," Tony said, as a woman entered the bar and sat down next to him.