Will you catch me if I fall? Or it will it be like I was never here at all? Will you remember the times we laughed or will the tears wash away the memories of the years we shared? Will pain make you want to forget each joyous moment, ordinary day, time doing nothing but being together? What will my legacy be? The way I died or how I lived...
"Probie? Probie? PROBIE?"
"What do you want Tony?" McGee snaps back looking up from his computer monitor to where DiNozzo is standing in the centre of the bullpen looking at him with concern.
"I was asking if you wanted to grab a meal somewhere. My treat."
"Your treat?"
"Well you did save my life in that car park today ya know and with your fear of heights that can't have been easy."
"I was just reacting not thinking. You'd do the same for me. Forget it."
"Ooookay. Then what's upset you?"
"Nothing."
"Come on McGoo. I'm a very special investigator and the way you were staring at that screen was not nothing. What's going on?"
"Just doing some writing, thinking about Arnett and some old cases."
"What about them?"
"About the pointlessness of the way they die. They leave behind loved ones, their work and then there's the potential of all the things they might have done. What they might have achieved. All gone. It gets me down sometimes." He looks away.
"Me too."
"You don't show it."
"Guess I've had more practice at dealing with it than you. Years as a cop before I came here."
"So what do I do about it?"
"You talk to your colleagues. Write perhaps. Whatever you find works for you. You need to look after yourself so we're going to grab something to eat, have a drink or two and then I'll take you home so you can get some rest."
Tim smiles. "On it boss." He shuts down his computer, gathers his gear and they start to head towards the elevator. "That was very deep advice DiNozzo. Thanks."
"Hey probie I want to keep you around."
"Really?"
"Yeah, who else will do the boring tech stuff if you're not here?"
Smiling now they step into the elevator and then head out into the night. Colleagues, partners and friends.