Ziva was jealous yet again at the mention of him spending a weekend with Scarlett before his week with her. She wanted to yell and say that she needed to talk to him but she knew that after the confrontation in the toilets they needed time apart to figure out how to get back to how they started. Tony was shocked that Scarlett had stuck to her plan to kidnap him for the weekend so she could talk to him about him and her and if anything was going on between him and Ziva.
After the camp fire had ended McGee took Tony aside to talk to him. Tony waited for McGee to say something but he just stood there smiling…A little too much.
"McGrin… you wanted to talk?" Tony pushed. McGee gathered his thoughts.
"Erm…Yeah I just wanted to say we are all here for you. You can talk to me whenever you want. Just don't call me just to wake me up like you did after I said this after what happened with you and Jeanne." Tony grinned at the memory. He called McGee once every hour to see if 'he was okay' and 'was sleeping okay' it got to the point McGee changed his number so that he could get some sleep. As Tony turned to walk back to his desk after a quick handshake to say thank you, McGee remembered about Abby.
"Abby also said, Drinks tonight and she isn't taking no for an answer because you can still have no alcoholic drinks with your pain meds." Tony knew his welcome party would be soon but he didn't expect it tonight. After two hours of filling his and all his teams paper work, Tony stood up only to be pushed back down by Abby, who appeared from nowhere.
"Jeez, Abby where the hell did you come from-"
"Tony, Ducky will be here in a minute and we are ALL going for one quick drink." And as if Ducky had heard the Elevator arrived in the squad room.
DING!
The doors opened revealing an already ready Jimmy Palmer and Ducky.
"Come on… Drink time!" Jimmy's yelling got everyone moving but not after everyone except Tony rolled their eyes. Tony loved Jimmy's enthusiasm. When Tony left he kept in contact with both Jimmy and Abby however he only met up with Jimmy for drinks. While he was away Jimmy and Tony had become close as they realised how much they actually did have in common. Tony stopped seeing Jimmy as the Autopsy Gremlin and more as a weird step brother.
Later at the bar
They were all sat in a booth that started on one side with Gibbs, Abby, McGee and at the head of the table was Ducky and on the other side of him sat Palmer and then Tony and Ziva who were pressed against each other because of Jimmy's drunk swaying while singing 'Hot blooded.' Ziva leaned into Tony and whispered in his ear.
"Do you think Jimmy likes that song?" She laughed a little. Tony laughed too because it was the fourth time Jimmy had asked for it to be put on. Tony turned and whispered in Ziva's ear
"I'm not sure, maybe if he puts it on AGAIN I'll know and maybe after he sings it he will tell us." Ziva started to laugh loudly which earned her curious looks from all her team members. In the most un-Ziva like way she blushed because she knew everyone was looking at her trying with Tony. It was Abby's knowing smile that caused her blush to deepen. When Tony had been rescued Ziva drunkenly admitted to Gibbs and Abby that she loved Tony and that she had done from the first time they went undercover together. She told them she loved him more than Michael but she had to openly love Michael more because her father would never approve otherwise. That was the night Gibbs told Ziva rule 12 could be broken if she promised never to hurt Tony again. After three more drinks everyone hugged Tony and went their separate ways leaving Tony and Ducky to go home.
At Ducky's
"Mother!" Ducky screeched embarrassed as Tony just laughed off all her insults.
"What he is Italian. They like to fight. He looks beaten. You work it out. He is a pizza delivery man." Tony laughed even harder as he didn't know how Mrs Mallard's mind worked but he liked it. As Ducky showed Tony his bedroom for the week he felt the need to apologise.
"I am sorry about her my dear boy."
"It's okay Ducky, I actually like it. It's different from everyone being so kind and not themselves with me. The only people who haven't been careful with me are Abbs, Jimmy and your mother."
"How about Ziva, has she been 'careful'?" Tony smiled at the question as he remembered their earlier insults by the elevator.
"At first no, but once she heard Abby yelling at me, she followed me to the bathroom to apologise and she just broke down. Duck she looked so broken I didn't know what to do." Ducky smiled sympathetically at the man. Ducky knew Tony had been through a lot more than he was letting on but he would let him work it out in his own time because he was recovering nicely. That was evident in the way he acted with Ziva tonight. Even though Tony had been tortured because of their actions he began acting like his normal self. A little jumpy but he was getting there. At first not many of his team would touch him but eventually the horror of his time in Somalia dulled and people began treating him like he was actually human and not a glass man that could break with just one blow.
Over the week that he stayed with Ducky he was put on house arrest so he watched Movies with Mrs Mallard while Ducky was at the office. Tony couldn't help but laugh at her statements during the films. His favourite was when they watched titanic and Rose said she'd never let jack go. Mrs Mallard yelled out
"LIAR! You let him die. He could of fit on there with you…you wench."
After such a relaxing week with Ducky he was off to the madhouse better known as Abby's.
