Chapter 3
Kate walked into the room with the refreshments, a worried look appearing on her face when she saw Tony sitting on the couch with his arms crossed across his chest, pouting. "What happened?"
"Aqua Smurf thought it would be funny to hang up on me when I called him to ask for help. I give up Kate. Forget the movie. You got anything else you wanna do?" All Tony could think about was getting back at McGee for being such a jerk.
"I know what you're thinking Tony, but McGee wouldn't act like this if you'd just stop bugging him. But anyway, I'm up for anything." Kate sat down next to Tony, shrugging her shoulders and waiting for a reply. Tony just sat there, and by the look on his face, Kate could tell that something was up. "Are you feeling okay, Tony?"
Tony didn't know if he could tell her the truth, but he knew he should. "I'm just thinking that you're right about McGee. Maybe I have been a little harsh." Tony lied. He couldn't tell her what he was going through. How she made him feel. How his emotions ran wild every time she said his name, walked by his desk at work, made fun of his movie quoting. He was too manly for such romantics, but when it came to her, everything he knew went out the window.
Kate could tell he was lying, but decided not to push, knowing that Tony would just shut her out. Her own mind started wandering. Gosh, that suit he wore today. Mm-hmm. She especially loved the way the suit looked against his tan skin, the way it fit his body perfectly. But she would never tell him any of this. How could she be thinking about Tony like this?! He was like an annoying little brother, going on and on about movies, women, men's fashion and sports. He thrived on playing immature pranks on her and McGee and irritating them to no end. Now she was finding herself attracted to him?
Tony realized that he and Kate had been sitting on the couch in awkward silence for too long. "Look, Kate, we can just see if anything is coming on. You know, I think I heard something about a Tom Crui…" He then got cut off by ringing of his cell phone. He glanced at the front screen, which said "Gibbs" in plain black lettering, and made an annoyed face.
Kate saw his face scrunch up in annoyance, and started to say something, but decided against it. It could be an ex-girlfriend, his mom…but then she realized he was looking at his government authorized cell, not his personal. Must be McGee trying to prank him or something. He'll probably pretend to be the Secretary of the Navy.
Tony flipped open the phone, put it to his ear, and said, "Hey, Boss. What's up?"
Gibbs? At 2 in the morning? Dear, Lord. Kate knew this couldn't be good.
Tony looked concerned. "Gibbs? Are you ok? Where are you? Gibbs? GIBBS!" The line went dead. Tony was beginning to panic because Gibbs hadn't sounded like himself. Something was wrong and Tony was determined to find out. "Come on, Kate, let's go."
"Where are we going, Tony?" Kate was worried. "Should I call for help?"
"We are help, Kate." Tony quietly answered.
What is that supposed to mean? Kate didn't understand what Tony meant. Maybe he's just trying to be dramatic.
As if he were reading her thoughts, Tony said, "Look, Kate, Gibbs is in trouble. All I got out of him was that he was at his house. It sounded like he had been drinking. You know how he likes his bourbon. Or maybe he was drugged. His words were slurred and his cell reception was crappy, I just don't know." Tony was frustrated with himself. After his ordeal with McGee and the DVD player, Tony didn't know if he was up to dealing with Gibbs, especially if he had been drinking.
The entire ride to Gibbs' house was in silence. Tony didn't even turn on the radio. Both agents were stressed out about what could possibly be happening to Gibbs that they couldn't think of anything else. Kate was running every possible situation through her mind: Was it the Petty Officer we wrongly accused last month? A ticked off agent? An ex-wife?
Like Kate, Tony could only think of the horrible things being done to his boss. Maybe it was just Fornell playing some prank on Gibbs. Maybe he's just really drunk. God, I hope he's ok. Tony loved his boss. He looked up to him and had even unconsciously learned some of Gibbs' mannerisms. He had been with Gibbs for a few years now, but still learned something new about him every day. Granted, there was still a lot he didn't know, but he was glad Gibbs gave him little insights into his past.
Little did he know that he was about to learn the biggest secret about Gibbs.
