Thank y'all for the nice comments I got :) Hope you enjoy!
I still do NOT own NCIS !
"Hey Tim, what are you doing here?", Annie asked when the young man walked into the Jenkins Bar.
"I think I'd like to have a cheese cake", he said, smiling.
"Good, take a seat and you'll get it. Coffee?"
"Yes, please", he said before sitting down at the bar.
Annie shortly disappeard, and then came back, placing the cake and the cup filled with the hot drink in front of him.
"There you go."
"Okay, thanks." After the cake and the coffe, McGee left again.
And it only took seven minutes, till the next familiar face walked into the bar.
"Hey, McGee told me you worked here, so I thought I should totally check this bar out", Tony explained, sitting down on one of the bar stools.
"Great. So what'd you like?"
"How about a cheeseburger?"
"Cheeseburger it is", Annie said, walking into the kitchen and fastly came back.
"There you go. Anything else?"
"No, it's about it. So... where's your mom? This is a family business, isn't it", Tony asked, taking a bite.
"She travels a lot", she answered while wiping the desk clean.
"And leaves you all alone in this huge and full bar?"
"I can handle it."
"No one can own a bar all byself. The cooking, the washing, the serving."
"I do."
"Good for you. So, tell me about your mom."
"She's not someone you're going to date someday. Yes, she's pretty. Really pretty to be honest", she said teasing.
"How would you know if I wanted to date her?"
"I have my sources."
"And what is the name of your mom, Annie?"
"Kaleena. Other questions, Agent Dinozzo?", she asked, enhancing every single word.
Coming back into the office, Tony was all confused.
"What happened to you?", McGee asked him as soon as he saw his workmate.
"Nothing, Probie. Just... weird days."
"Why?"
"You know, I shouldn't mind that you never introduce me to the girls in your life. They are weird."
"Hey! My sister isn't weird, and neither is Annie."
"Annie is NOT weird you say?"
"So, what is it, that you find weird about her?"
"Nothing at all, she's just mysterious."
"And?"
"What?"
"You said she's weird. Then you said that she's just mysterious. Then what would the sense of this conversation be?"
"Since when do we have conversations which make sense. It's like Gibbs buying a boat instead of building it all byself", Tony answered.
McGee nodded. "Sorta true. But still, what did you really wanna say?"
Tony said nothing, earning a waiting look from McGee. Tony stayed silent.
"C'mon, I'm not you, I won't laugh at you."
"No. You won't believe me anyway."
"Fine. Keep it for yourself", McGee finally said.
Actually Tony was about to tell McGee what he saw in the forest. Who he saw in the forest. But logically McGee wouldn't believe him. He didn't believe it either. It couldn't be real. Not that he didn't want it to be real, no, he wanted it to be real so badly. But it was impossible. He couldn't have seen her. Because she was dead. He was with her on a roof when it happened. He heard her laughing, then saw her falling. He got some of her blood on his face. No, he couldn't have seen her standing there, Annie ranning over to her.
"Tony? TONY", McGee now shouted, making Tony cringe.
"Wh-what is it?"
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah, of course I am! What do you think is wrong with me?"
"Well I was talking and you didn't answer me to what I've said. And now that I shouted your name you cringed. Plus you don't look good."
"Well, not talking while you are talking is called listening. And I haven't slept that much this night, okay? I'm just a little tired. And what do you mean, not looking good?"
"Well not looking good as in, you look sick. You look all pale. As if you've seen a ghost or something like that!"
"A ghost? Now you might go to the doctor, Probie."
"I'm not joking."
"Good, cause this is work", Gibbs who suddenly joined them said.
"That's what I told him, too, boss", Tony said, giving McGee this 'Shut it, Probie' look.
"Tony, you should go home, you look sick, get some rest", Gibbs said after looking at Tony for a few seconds.
"On my way", Tony answered, slowly walking to the elevators.
"What's wrong with him?", Gibbs asked.
"He wouldn't tell me. But he is Tony, he'll tell anyone anyway."
Of course he didn't go home, but he did get some rest. But instead of resting in his own comfortable bed, he rested in Abby, or as she sometimes called it 'Labby'.
"So, McGee said you're all weird since you started with the Petty Officer Sprouse case!"
"Maybe I saw to many bodies, Abby."
"I don't think so. Look at Gibbs, he's all... Gibbs."
"What do you wanna say, Abby? Will I now transform into Gibbs?"
Abby first didn't answer.
"You don't sound the way you usually sound. So I know that you know what's up with you. And I think you should tell someone. If you don't wanna tell Ziva, McGee or Gibbs, it's fine with me. Cause you can totally tell me."
"I know, but it's... nothing", Tony said, laying on the ground.
"That is not true."
"You know, I really don't feel so well, I think my silent room at home would make me feel a little better. But still", Tony got up, now looking eye in eye with the goth, "thanks for everything, Abs."
"No problem. But still, you can really tell me everything", she said, just to make sure that he knew he could tell her.
"I know", he said before leaving.
"What are you doing here again?", she asked.
"Well, the cheeseburger really did it to me. But this time I'd like to try something differnet. So, I'd like to get a coke and a... cheesecake", Tony said after he sat down at the bar.
"Oh, from cheeseburger to cheesecake. Huge step. But shouldn't you be at work?"
"They told me to leave."
"Why, what happened?", Annie asked a little bit confused.
"Give me my order and I tell you."
"Alright", she said before disappearing in the back area, also called kitchen.
After coming back and giving him his order, she listened closely, expecting to hear a huge and interesting story.
"They told me that I looked back and that I'd need to rest. So they sent me home."
Annie just looked at him. "Wait, that's it? No big story?"
"Why do you think would I tell a big story?"
"Cause that's what you do."
"How would you know?"
"I know it from Tim", Annie said, making Tony stop saying anything.
The man just ate a bit, until he finally talked again. "I'm sorry."
"Sorry for what?"
"Annoying you."
"You don't annoy me. You're giving me your money."
"But you don't talk to every customer."
"No, not every customer talks to me."
"But still, you can't deny that I annoy you."
"Well maybe you do, but it doesn't bother me."
"I just wanted to say I'm sorry."
"Sorry for what?", she asked, unsure what would come next.
"Well... you lost your dad and now the best friend of him, who's been a kind of replacement for your dad over the years. I know it's tough and very hard losing someone you're close to and who you like a lot."
The girl didn't say anything for a while. Then she smiled a bit.
"It's okay."
Lying in his bed, he went through his talk with Annie again and again.
Even though he still wasn't sure if what he saw in the forest was whether real or not, he couldn't get rid of the opinion that Annie looked a bit like her.
Just like Kate.
