This is set pre-season 7... It was written early last season (heh, kinda forgot about it) so it's AU in terms of certain dynamics... you've been forewarned. :)
And there's a substantial serving of Tiva in here - those aforementioned "dynamics".
Ah, well, here goes. Feedback, if possible, is appreciated.
You know you saw this coming.
The corner of the balcony hanging over the bullpen had simply beckoned to him once he'd left MTAC; a place he'd never had the time or reason to visit yet gave him a surprisingly wide overlook onto the floor. The lights had already dimmed for the night, the majority of the remaining agents bustling around being his own, packing up gear and shutting off computers. The faces were serene; perhaps never totally losing the spunk that they exuded during the usual working hours but still carrying the fatigue and calm that entailed the end of the day. The contentment that followed the end of a good one.
His forearm shifted from the railing for his hand to accommodate the weight of his forehead. Palmer and Ducky were just barely visible walking from beneath him, accompanying each other as the older man dropped a video-tape-sized case in his lead agent's fingers. Gibbs didn't need to see Tony's face to keenly visualize the toothy smile that would have just lit up his features. The slightly surprised laugh and promise he would watch the classic later carried over to the departing ME and assistant.
Even McGee in the corner glanced at the exchange and smiled, causing his own lip to twitch slightly. Sometimes he wondered whether DiNozzo took it too far when he teased the boy; more than one bitter look had made him decide he should one day proclaim another rule: never drive your coworkers to murderous intent. But tonight, McGee simply stood and said his goodbyes, a 'see you Monday' and 'bye, Probie' echoing from the desks of the remaining agents who soon refocused their gazes on each other.
Speaking of rules...
It had been enough, in his opinion, last time around when all he'd had to worry about was DiNozzo off scouting for some new girl every other day... it usually didn't bite the whole team back in the rear. Usually. And then had come the situation with Jenny... he sighed tiredly. Once that snowball had started rolling down the hill, it was only a matter of time before it would fall apart. He tried to tell himself he'd known something would happen... he just hadn't been expecting it to blow up in their faces so soon. His gaze shifted from Ziva's animated face to the door to the Director's office a mere few steps away. The ash still hadn't quite settled yet. His eyes snapped back.
You knew it was there.
Yes, the thought had occurred to him, unfortunately. The glances, tension, their underlying dynamic wasn't always obvious but it certainly hadn't escaped him either. The past two or so years had been a transformation... something he knew he should be concerned about but also a change that might even have turned a positive result out of it in the long run.
If it hadn't been her. Him.
Tony squatted down in front of her desk, clasping his fingers before him as Ziva looked on amusedly. She tilted her head this way and shook it that way before finally rolling her eyes and murmuring in some form of consent. Tony instantly spun up and around, an accomplished grin on his lips before leaning forward to rest his arms on her stack of paperwork. It wouldn't take long, he knew, for her mirth to dissipate, for their desires to take on a mind all their own. Experience had taught him that. But the long nights in Paris and twisted paths of life also had their lesson to share. He wondered, absently, how much even a decade had changed his stance; how the images of the dead influenced his take on the living. Even with the abruptness of life, he knew that instants of relief weren't worth the lifetime of regret. It would be nearly time for him to make his unwelcome entrance, as he always did, banishing their thoughts and his. But he didn't yet.
He looked again to the door somehow engraved with her image on his memory, thinking of how he'd managed to screw things up anyway. He still half-expected her to stride out the room, facade as intact as how she'd walked in with it in the morning, eyes remembering all the past they'd promised each other to forget. Traitorous mind. The knob turned. Out through the entrance walked the Director, pausing momentarily, briefcase in hand, at the sight of Gibbs.
"Observing again?"
Vance followed the older man's pointed stare and nodded almost imperceptibly as it landed on the two so absorbed in their conversation they didn't hear the words floating from above.
"Perfect timing, Leon. Here comes the good part."
It was enough. The mirage had broken. A wry smirk rose to his face as he walked down the stairs - despite the silence, they remained oblivious - until he finally stopped right behind a chattering DiNozzo. Ziva had suddenly looked down at her desk not a second earlier. Tony's neck hairs stood on end in instinct probably before he even realized what was going on. He straightened, turned, and smiled cheekily, though his regard told him he was more aware of what he was walking into than he otherwise let on.
"Hey, Boss." Under any other circumstances, Ziva might have broken out laughing, right then and there, at his cracked voice. On any other day, Gibbs would have probably simply whispered 'twelve' in his ear and watch those green pupils light up, taking him only half seriously probably because he didn't take his own self seriously at all. But instead, he only narrowed his eyes a bit, spotting the toll stress had taken on lines of his face and allowing his stance to soften in understanding.
"Go get some rest."
It didn't take long for Tony to skirt around him, grab his bag and gift from Ducky, and with one last look to Gibbs, smile for the woman who briefly turned to wave. After a glance at the figure standing above, he rode the elevator down. Ziva, distracted, wary, didn't take much before trailing a solemn Gibbs as he waited for it himself. Ziva adjusted her bag.
"Gibbs, I--"
"I know." He looked at her then, stare equally matched by hers as she heard the chiming and strode through the opening doors. Gibbs raised his gaze up to the balcony one final time before following.
You've always seen this coming.
Vance watched the lift close in the extreme quiet of a setting that seemed to have been washed clean.
And now it's time to turn the page.