"As far as I'm concerned, you're irreplaceable….forget it McGee, he's still alive."
--
Gibbs couldn't help but notice something was different about Anthony DiNozzo. He had only spouted one movie reference all day; and made less eye contact with him than usual. He hadn't smiled yet and McGee had suddenly become the life of the bull pen. Gibbs just couldn't take it anymore. He got up and motioned for his Senior Agent to follow him into the elevator; and switched off the power the moment the doors came to a close.
"You sick?"
Tony shook his head.
"Tired?"
He shook his head once more.
"Trying to get a point across DiNozzo?"
He opened his mouth to speak; but nothing came out. He remained silent until Gibbs started at him again.
"Tooth ache?"
Tony managed a smile. "No."
"Good. Cuz I'm gonna give you one if you don't tell me what's going on..."
"You really don't know?" He watched as Gibbs shook his head slowly. "Not even in your gut?"
"If I knew, I wouldn't have listened to Tim makes stupid jokes all day. Now what is it?"
"We can talk about this somewhere else boss. I know how the Director mentioned she'd been getting complaints bout the elevator wait and…" He met Gibbs stare and nodded. "Or we could talk about it now." He cleared his throat. "Okay, well remember yesterday when I got kidnapped, saved that marine and all that?"
"No DiNozzo, I tried blocking it out."
Tony shrugged. "Well me too, but when we got back and the Probie was at my desk…well that kinda hurt boss."
"Did it?"
He nodded his head up and down. "And contrary to popular belief, I have feelings."
"So you want me to apologize?"
"I know better than to ask for that boss…" He looked towards the power switch and expected Gibbs to be hitting it any second now.
"I said you were irreplaceable. And I meant that." He reached for the switch then hesitated. "Next time you have an issue, tell me; don't leave me wondering what the hell is wrong all day long…understood?"
Tony nodded. "Understood."
"Good." He flipped on the switch then turned it back off. "And one other thing…you should know better than anyone on this team how I feel."
"Guess I just…overreacted a little."
"A little?" He turned to face him. "You keep this up and we're gonna be at sensitivity trainings till I kill someone."
Tony had to laugh. "I'd hate to see that happen boss."
"That's good, cuz it'd probably be you." He finally flipped the switch and the doors opened to a group of people waiting impatiently. The Director was at the forefront with her hands on her hips.
"What's your explanation this time Gibbs?"
He shrugged then pointed at Tony, before throwing his arm around him. "Sensitivity training Director. Sensitivity training."