TONY

Gibbs was glaring at the door as if it had personally offended him. And maybe it had, Tony reflected. A door that just appeared in the evidence garage? That was definitely a Bad Thing, capital letters and all. What was weirder was that Gibbs was undeniably pissed off, but apparently not at all surprised. Reading his moods was a necessary survival trait on the team, and Tony was reasonably sure his conclusion was accurate. Granted, it took a lot to surprise the old man these days, but this was strange enough that it merited some reaction other than anger - didn't it?

Tony had tried to lighten the atmosphere with a joke or two, but had wilted when the glare had been turned on him for a moment. Ziva had examined the door minutely, then asked Gibbs what felt like several bajillion questions, none of which had gotten a reaction never mind an answer out of him.

Ziva could be particularly stubborn and sometimes nosy, given the right situation, and she'd quizzed Tony like that a time or two, but he'd never seen her turn her machine gun interrogation technique on the boss. He couldn't decide what was more unnerving, her single minded determination to get some information, any information, or Gibbs' absolute indifference.

Finally, and with no obvious prompt, Gibbs got up from the filing cabinet he'd been leaning his backside on and approached the door. It was metal and decidedly ordinary looking, all things considered. If a door was gonna materialise out of nowhere, you'd think it'd have the decency to look a little sinister or mysterious, but no.

Gibbs looked at it for a moment, then ducked to one side to use the iris scanner. After a moment the door swooshed open, and for the first time since they'd seen the door he looked a little surprised.

Interesting.

Tony opened his mouth again to ask some of the many questions teeming through his mind - and out of the corner of his eye, he could see Ziva doing the same - when Gibbs shocked him by stepping through the door.

"Boss!"

"Gibbs!"

They both yelled in alarm at the same moment. Gibbs looked round at them, seemingly unruffled. "What?"

He sounded his usual impatient, mildly pissed self. That was oddly reassuring.

"Boss, it could be dangerous. You can't just... wander off into some spooky..." Tony waved his arms around as the words ran out. "We're not gonna... It's not... It's not safe."

"Tony is right." Ziva at least had the grace not to sound surprised at that, or to add the 'for once' he suspected she was thinking. "Gibbs, it is not wise to use this door, we do not know how it got here or where this-" she peered around him "-tunnel might lead. It is a prescription for calamity."

"I think she means a recipe for disaster, boss."

Gibbs propped himself up against the doorframe, half in, half out. "Come and see." He hitched a shoulder. "Nothin' in here to worry about. Besides, I've done this before." A little smirk.

Tony blinked. The sly old fox. They should've known. Gibbs knowing more than he would let on? Hardly a new experience. How the heck he could have prior knowledge of this, Tony couldn't - or didn't want to - imagine. But it figured.

"Care to elaborate, boss?"

Gibbs shrugged again. "Come and see." He turned and stepped down into the strange blue semi-darkness.

Ziva and Tony stared after him and then looked at each other.

"We cannot let him go alone," she said.

Tony grimaced. "Guess not." He shrugged, summoning up his best Gibbs impression. "Well, you heard the man. Let's go see."