Hello, readers. This is a short, fun piece and ventures away from my usual writing fare. I hope you enjoy :) For this fic to make the most sense, pretend episode 200 never happened.
McGee walked into the office early Monday morning. His backpack was slung over one shoulder and a full cup of hot dark coffee was warming his hand. The office was pretty empty this early in the morning, but McGee wanted to finish a report in case they had another body today. He hated when work piled up.
Gibbs' desk was empty, as was Ziva's. Ziva he wasn't expecting, but Tim didn't think he'd ever gotten here before Gibbs. He stood in the middle of the bullpen, looking at Gibbs' dark desk for a moment when he heard,
"Psst! Probie!" Tim turned and saw Tony crouched behind his desk, stealing nervous glances at Gibbs' unoccupied space.
"Tony?" Tim said. He dropped his things at his desk and sipped his coffee, enjoying the hot liquid racing through his veins as he watched his partner.
"C'mere!" Tony motioned him frantically over and Tim walked to him with a sigh.
"What's going on?" Tim asked, wondering what the hell Tony was doing squatting on the floor, using his desk as a barricade. At another frantic wave, Tim crouched down beside Tony, an expectant look on his face.
"Did you hear?" Tony whisper yelled, even though no one else was around.
"Hear what?" Tim said.
Tony's face turned grave and he gulped. With a deep, somber breath, he reached out and rested a hand on Tim's shoulder, looking like he was about to deliver the worst news in the world. Tim licked his lips, feeling genuine concern. What on earth could have happened?
"What's wrong, Tony?" Tim asked. "Did…did something happen to Gibbs? Or Abby?" The thought of his friend or his boss lying in a hospital somewhere made Tim's stomach clench.
Tony spoke in a solemn voice. "Gibbs' coffee shop closed."
Tim frowned, confused. What was Tony playing at? All that dramatic build up and then nothing but a shop closing? Tim threw Tony's hand off his shoulder, irritated.
"So?" He groused. "That's all? Jeez, Tony, I thought—" He yelped when Tony slapped him upside the head, nearly causing Tim to drop his coffee.
"Hey! What—"
"McGee!" Tony barked. Tim fell quiet, rubbing his head. "Listen to me: Gibbs. Coffee. No more."
Tim blinked, then his eyes widened and realization broke through his mind. His jaw dropped and Tony nodded in empathy.
"Oh no." Tim whimpered.
"Yeah." Tony nodded.
"But, we'll be…"
"Yup."
"Gibbs is gonna be…"
"Uh-huh."
The thought of a coffee-less Gibbs was by far the most terrifying thing Tim had ever faced as an agent. Scarier than serial killers. Or even Ziva when she was angry.
Tim looked at Tony helplessly.
"What do we do?" He said, pulling himself together.
"We gotta find him another brand of coffee, and fast." Tony said with a hopeless shrug. "What other choice do we have?" His voice was weighed down by the heavy burden they now carried, and Tim rested a hand companionably on his shoulder. "We'll get through this." Tim said sincerely. Tony nodded and patted Tim's hand, a relieved smile on his face. "Thanks, Probie. Don't think I could manage alone."
"I got your six."
Gibbs came into the office that morning like a tornado, muttering and banging things around. He looked a little rough around the edges. His hair was disheveled and his polo was a bit wrinkled. His eyes were slightly bloodshot and he was massaging his temple, growling to himself. Tim and Tony exchanged glances across the bullpen. This was worse than they thought.
"McGee!" Gibbs barked.
Tim winced and looked at the older man.
"Yes, boss?"
"Where's your report?" He said in a groggy, irritated tone.
"Oh, right there, boss." Tim got up and pointed to the center of Gibbs' clean desk where his report lay. It was hard to miss, really, but Tim wasn't going to mention that.
Gibbs grunted at it, then eyed the half-full coffee on McGee's desk. He got up and grabbed it, drinking some down. Behind him, Tim saw Tony watching Gibbs' reaction carefully, hoping Tim's brew would be enough to satisfy Gibbs.
Gibbs pulled the cup away from his face in disgust and threw it in the trash before storming towards the stairs. He hadn't even said anything about Ziva's absence.
Tim stared down at the ruined remains of his coffee, spilling into the garbage can. He whimpered a little and Tony came up behind him, patting him on the shoulder. "We're all going to be making sacrifices, Tim." Tony said in a sage voice. "At least until all this is over." They both stared down into the trash can. "Better the coffee than you." Tony added.
Tim had a brief mental image of Gibbs stuffing him into a trash can before he nodded and bravely went back to his desk.
"I've been thinking about it." Tony said, leaning down beside McGee. "I have a plan."
"Really?" McGee stared sadly at the spot on his desk that the coffee had recently occupied.
"I did some research, and there's a bunch of places within a ten-mile radius of this office that sell coffee." Tony slid a sheet across the desk that bore names of local cafés. "If we could just sneak out and bring back a coffee for him from each place, we're bound to find one that he likes, right?"
Tim chewed his lower lip, nodding slowly.
"If we don't get a call-out today." Tim nodded. "He's so out of it, he probably wouldn't even notice if one of us left now and then."
"Exactly, Probie!"
"What is exactly?" Ziva came around the corner of the bullpen, setting her things down and looking at them curiously.
Tony jumped up, wanting to warn her about Gibb's delicate state, when—
"David!" Gibbs' voice rang through the office, causing some bewildered glances from around the room. He stormed into view. "You're late!"
"The bus—" She began. "There was an accident and it was rerouted—"
"Don't let it happen again." Gibbs muttered. He rubbed a hand over his face. "Conference room three, all of you."
"What for, boss?" McGee said.
"Safety training video." Gibbs said in disgust. "Director wants everyone to watch it. Take a potty break, it's an hour long."
McGee mentally rolled his eyes as he stood up to go to the conference room. Tony's plan would have to wait until after…McGee looked around as the office emptied towards the conference room. Tony was nowhere to be seen.
I hope everyone's liking it so far! Please review to let me know!