"Ziva bag and tag, McGee shoot and sketch, DiNozzo go interview-"
"-The dock manager and the couple that found the body. On it, Boss."
McGee watched his teammate walk off with less than his usual bounce in his step. Tim really did feel bad about what he'd said to Tony the day before- not that he was ever going to admit it to the other man. Gibbs' comment still rang in his ears too; if the Boss didn't mind being called 'Probie', maybe it wasn't such a bad thing after all. It wasn't like Tony used it as a sign of disrespect, in fact it usually seemed more like a term of endearment. He knew that the team was really the only family Tony had.
"McGee!"
Tim whipped his head around to be confronted by his boss's best you-don't-even-want-to-know-how-pissed-I-am glare.
"What part of 'shoot and sketch' did you not understand?!"
"I- the- um, right away Boss."
Gibbs smirked; at least some things would never change. Jethro watch Tim and Ziva work for several minutes before he found his gaze being drawn over to where his senior field agent was working his magic- or rather, where he wasn't. It turned out that the dock manager was a very attractive woman in her mid-forties, the very definition of the word "Cougar". And apparently she had every intention of sinking her claws into DiNozzo, but for once in his life Tony was completely oblivious to the woman's flirtation.
Gibbs growled low in his throat, not knowing if he was growling at the woman for flirting with Tony, or growling at Tony for not flirting with the woman. His thoughts were interrupted by the very noisy arrival of the ME and his assistant.
"Mr. Palmer, I told you we should have made a Left turn onto Industry Lane."
Jimmy shook his head, "Doctor, I distinctly remembering you telling me to take a right at that light."
"Really, Mr. Palmer, it's a simple case of using the common sense God gave a fly. Turning right would have taken us away front the water front and the directs clearly stated that our destination was Capital Marina."
McGee and Ziva watched with amused smiles as the two made their way over to the body, bickering all the way. "Have they made it to a crime scene without getting lost in the last month?"
Ziva shook her head in the negative, "I do not believe so. How is it that Ducky does not have the entire city memorized; he has worked here for nearly two decades."
"I don't think Ducky's brain works like that Ziva. He's more of an abstract thinker."
Ziva's gaze turned toward her boss as Tim went back to immortalizing every square inch of the crime scene with his camera. At first she figured that he was deep in thought about the case, but it only took her a couple of seconds to realize that he was simply staring at Tony. The Mossad agent frowned as she took in her partner's stiff posture and stony continence; this was not her Tony. Ziva winced as the thought entered her mind; she was spending entirely too much time around Abby, Tony was not hers. But that didn't change the fact that this wasn't the Tony that she had grown to know and love as an annoying brother; she hated to admit it to herself, but she missed the old Tony. Now that she thought about it, it had been a very long time since Tony had made them all laugh. It used to be an hourly occurrence.
Apparently, he'd taken their complaints about his juvenile attitude to heart the second Gibbs had placed his badge and gun in Tony's hand.
They say you don't know what you've got until it's gone- apparently theywere right. And Ziva knew she wasn't the only one that missed the old DiNozzo.
Tony flipped his notebook shut and thanked the Dock Manager for her time; he smirked internally at her disappointed look when he handed her Ziva's card. Contrary to Gibb's thoughts, he hadn't been oblivious to the women's flirting; he was simply so wrapped up with Jeanne that he had no desire to reciprocate. That brought on another smirk; if anyone had told him 6 months ago that he would ignore her advances, he would have laughed in their face.
DiNozzo walked back over to where his boss was taking in the scene with an analytical eye. "Well, she did it."
"Really?" Gibbs turned to his senior field agent, expecting to a broad grin and that twinkle of mischief in his green eyes. Unfortunately, he was met with the same stalwart features he'd been watching since he got back.
Tony gave him a small, half hearted smile, "No, but it'd be nice wouldn't it."
Sorry for the short chapter, big goings on at work the next couple weeks. Thanks for the reviews, please keep them coming. This story isn't coming as easily as I had hoped and the reviews are good motivators. Hopefully the next chapter will be coming soon to a computer near you.
