I just want to say I DO NOT SHIP TONY AND ZOE AKA 'TEATS' GOD NO! Tiva is my life line literally. Tony and Zoe in this is a BIG part of the story and there will have to be 'romantic' moments between them (I might actually slit my throat if they get too out of hand) but don't worry...it all leads to something better so it's worth hanging in there for. I won't make you wait too long for it because I can't deal with 'Teats' and the fact that I'm writing them as lovers discusts me and I hate myself for it but the end will satisfy most readers...I hope :) If I gave too much away I'm sorry but anyway...I hope you enjoy it and please don't for get to leave a review :) love to y'all.
Tony was sat at his desk deep in thought, trying to remember the last time he had got a proper night's sleep. He'd been going over to Zoe Keats' house almost every night and when he wasn't there she kept him awake with her endless phone calls and texts. Bishop looked at him, worried something was up "You okay, Tony?" She asked
"Huh?" He said not fully hearing what she said.
"I said are you okay?"
"Yeah…bit tired. Haven't been sleeping well lately"
"Why?"
Tony paused considering telling her of Keats but decided against it "I've just had a lot on my mind"
"Cases?"
"I guess that mostly"
Bishop nodded satisfied with his answer "If you wanna talk about it that cool. If not that is also cool"
Tony nodded and continued to stare at his computer screen. She perched on the front of her desk eating and listening to music while reading a case file. McGee strolled in and looked at the pair. Tony looked depressed and Bishop looked…well...like Bishop. He gave a hearty good morning to the pair but neither heard him. He shrugged and sat down at his desk flicking his computer on cheerily refusing to let them ignoring him, dampen his bright spirits. He hummed a quiet tune as he typed at his keyboard.
Bishop jumped and pulled her head phones out looking at them both "Did someone say something?" She asked.
"Nope" McGee sing-songed at her.
She raised an eyebrow "Why you so happy?" She asked curious. No one should be this happy on a Wednesday at eight am in the morning.
"I just had a good night…that's all"
At this Tony's head snapped round. He'd never pass up an opportunity to poke into someone else's life. Especially McGee's and whenever he said he 'had a good night' Tony always wanted to know. "Who's the lucky lady then?"
McGee grinned at Tony's use of the word 'lucky'. It made him feel like he was worth something more to Tony than just someone to poke fun at. "You know it's Delilah."
Tony wiggled his eyebrows playfully "Of course…so what made your night so….special?"
"Well…I took her out to dinner and then we went to a theatre show. We went back to my place after and talked about where we wanted our relationship to go then I drove her home and then went back home"
Tony nodded "I'm proud of you, McRomantic…you're taking things slow…not rushing into things…."
McGee grinned again at Tony. "So how are you and Keats getting on?"
Bishop nodded "Yeah! How's that going?"
Tony's face dropped "Yeah…it's good…" He didn't want to breach on the topic any more. He didn't know what he felt for Keats. He knew Abby wanted him to move on from…her. It was Abby who had persuaded him to go out on a date with Keats.
"That's all I get, Spider? Good?" Keats asked walking in grinning.
Tony groaned inwardly but turned to face her a cheesy grin on his face. "For now…yeah" He paused "Why you here?"
"Came to see you…you busy tonight?"
Tony shrugged "Well we've got a case…I'm going to be pretty busy for the next few days…I'll text you when I'm next free, kay?"
Keats looked at him "Sure…make sure you get enough sleep and stuff"
"Haha…sleep…now there's an idea"
Keats winked at him before strolling out of the Squadroom. She almost bumped into Gibbs who was stood there watching the exchange. "Oh! Sorry, Gibbs…!"
Gibbs nodded at her and let her pass. Tony looked up hopefully at his Boss. "Have we gotta case, boss?"
Gibbs shook his head "No." Tony looked almost panicked and all other agents picked up on this. "What's up?"
Tony shrugged grinned "Nothing…what do we do now then?"
"Paper-work…there's plenty of it"
They all nodded and started sifting through their papers. The sound of Tony's phone ringing broke the silence. He picked it up "Agent DiNozzo?...Keats? You just saw me…why're you calling me?...because what?...oh come on that's not really a reason…yeah….well not but okay…yes, like I said earlier I'll text you when the case is closed and I'm free" He grinned at everyone else who was staring at him "Okay bye"
"What did Keats want?" McGee asked.
"Oh nothing important" Whatever he had been discussing on the phone he clearly didn't want everyone else to know.
McGee raised an eyebrow "I remember a time when Tony DiNozzo used to talk only about his love life…now he won't utter a single word." He commented.
"Well I remember a time where Timothy McGee didn't want to hear all about my love life and he was less annoying."
Gibbs spoke up next "Well I remember a time where my agents actually did work where they were supposed to and didn't sit around arguing"
Bishop looked between the three men "A lots changed then" She commented.
The three of them looked at her suddenly serious "Yeah…quite a bit" McGee stated.
Bishop nodded knowing not to press them for information she knew they would only give her in time when they were ready. The silence between the agents resumed and they all carried on working until Gibbs spoke up. "DiNozzo….I need to talk to you"
Tony looked up worried "Okay…about what?"
Without replying Gibbs walked out to the elevator holding it for Tony. The young agent stood up and jogged over and stepped in beside his boss. "Gibbs if this is about taking the mick of McGee I assure you I-"
Gibbs cut him off with a sharp head slap. There was a silence both men seeming to wait for the other to speak. Gibbs gave in knowing he was the one who asked to speak to Tony so he should be the one to speak to Tony broaching the subject of whatever it was he wanted to talk about. "Keats Tony…."
Tony grinned "Yeah…great woman…pretty….knows how to fight"
Gibbs turned to look at him "So was…"
Tony cut him off with a curt "I know she was"
"DiNozzo…tell me why you're dating Keats"
"I like her"
"It had nothing to do with Abby or your sexual needs?"
"Abby suggested it…"
"Okay…." Gibbs paused waiting for Tony to continue about what Abby had said or done to make him go out with Keats. Tony knew that Gibbs wanted the silence filled and interrupted with that information.
"Well…when Keats first came along Abby apparently noticed something between us that she hadn't seen since…her…and she told me I hadn't moved on from it so I told Abs that I had moved on from it then she comes back with 'But you haven't moved on from her' and then she said 'I loved her but she left us'. She prompted me into going on a date with Keats"
"So Abby is trying to get you to move on from her by setting you up with someone else?"
Tony shrugged and nodded "I guess"
"Do you like Keats?"
Silence.
Gibbs sighed changing his tack "Are you ready to move on from her?"
Tony looked at the buttons on the side wall of the elevator as if that would make Gibbs disappear and not ask him any more questions. "Not really"
"DiNozzo….I see what you're doing…I've done it myself three times. You need to take a step back and look at it from the outside. Look at Keats. Who does she remind you of? Her looks, her personality…You usually date blondes...until she left that is. You're now interested in people with dark hair, olive skin…fighters…I don't want you to make the same mistake I made three times, Tony…think about this before you commit yourself…and hurt someone else…"
Tony looked at his boss, the words sinking in. He was shocked mostly by what Gibbs was saying but also by the amount Gibbs had actually said. "I don't know any more Gibbs…Keats is cool…she's different"
Gibbs felt like thumping his head against the steel wall. Tony didn't understand what he was trying to say. "DiNozzo!" He almost shouted at the younger man. "Open your eyes…look at what you're doing! If you're not ready to move on don't let anyone push you into moving on when you don't feel ready…move on when and if you feel ready to"
Tony looked down at his hands. "I know…but another thing Abby said…there is no point in waiting for her to come back because she probably won't…" His shoulders slumped.
Gibbs looked at Tony. He said nothing letting Tony continue if he wanted too. "Tell me Abby's wrong Gibbs…tell me there is a possibility she'll come back…"
"She left by her own choice…she needed to do what she needed to do…She'll come back by her own choice when she is ready to. If she is ready to and wants to." Tony swallowed hard knowing Gibbs was right. Gibbs didn't fail to notice and spoke up again "There's a fifty, fifty chance Tony…"
Tony nodded. "I know."
Gibbs nodded and flipped the switch on the elevator to start it up again. Tony looked at him "We come in here to discuss Keats and somehow end up talking about something completely different"
Gibbs shook his head as he watched the numbers go up "No as different as you think…"
Tony frowned in confusion not knowing what his boss meant. "Don't make the wrong decision" Gibbs said walking out of the elevator as the doors opened.
"Well what's that supposed to mean?" He called out.
Gibbs merely turned to him and said "You need to find that out for yourself…."
Tony frowned confused by his bosses words. He shook his head dismissing it getting back to work hoping to finish early so he could go home and get a decent nights sleep for the first time in forever.
Please drop a review...the button is just down there...hope you enjoyed this first chapter...as uneventful as it was it gets better don't worry...