Sorry for the time between updates. I had jury duty this past week.
Chapter 4- Second Encounters
The afternoon seemed to fly by to Gibbs. If he had known building model boats would keep his most active agents focused and quiet he would have invested in the project long ago.
Tony had indeed claimed the battleship and had quickly assembled it. Apart from his hidden knowledge of languages Tony also had many creative talents. If something could be assembled or dissembled Tony was your man- sometimes even if you didn't want him to be. It was amazing Ziva and McGee had not caught on to his genius in this regard- most of his pranks were actually quite elaborate. Gibbs chuckled thinking back to the time Tony had completely taken apart McGee's computer and hidden the parts around the office leaving clues on sticky notes for him to find the pieces. McGee had angrily demanded Tony find someone to fix his computer, but what he failed to realize was the one to reassemble it had been Tony himself. Knowing Tony was capable of those kinds of feats made it unsurprising that a little battleship was soon in order. Despite putting it together quickly though Tony had continued to work on the model for hours adding intricate detail until the ship resembled almost perfectly the Arizona that had been struck in the attacks on Pearl Harbor. Again Tony's artistic qualities did not surprise Gibbs. Tony often photographed and sketched crime scenes and his sketches were often even more detailed than the photos. Just because he knew of his lead agents talents didn't mean he ever failed to be impressed by them.
Around 6pm Gibbs called Abby and Tony up for dinner.
"You cooked for us Boss man?" Tony asked with a grin.
"Figured since you were kind enough to keep quiet all day I could reward your good behavior."
"Ooh steaks I am so being quiet more often." Tony quipped right back."
An unbecoming snort came from his dark haired companion. "Sure Tony. Give me time to set up a bet about how long that will last. I enjoy taking easy money off people in the office." Abby snickered.
"Wouldn't work. No one falls for a suckers bet." Gibbs replied with a straight face.
"I'm hurt you guys." Tony said with a fake pout. "Surely you think more of my self- control than this?"
A light tap of affection to his head ended the silly discussion as Tony grinned up at the boss he saw more and more as a dad as years went by.
The meal was conducted with in comfort and laughter over the next hour. When it was complete Abby and Tony helped do the dishes and then Tony grabbed his keys intending to head off.
"Leaving?" Gibbs asked straight and to the point.
"Yeah. Got some laundry and stuff to do at home. I might drop by tomorrow sometime if I get my chores done. Thanks for the quiet place to crash and Abs thanks for the great entertainment."
"Anytime Tony." Gibbs replied.
"Don't forget your battleship." Abby demanded as she ran to get it and then reverently placed it in his hands.
"Of course not. I plan to find a prominent place for this in my apartment. Don't want people to forget I play for team Gibbs." Tony remarked as a final parting remark as he headed out the front door.
By the time he reached his place it was nearly 8pm. Upon reaching his floor he was glad to no longer hear the commotion of earlier. As he drew closer to his apartment the new neighbor's door suddenly opened. The same girl from earlier stepped out with a welcome mat and laid it in front of her. Tony grinned at the subtle humor she had for herself when he noticed the mat had hands spelling out the word welcome using the deaf manual alphabet. Truthfully it was a smart way to indicate someone deaf might live in the apartment and Tony found it to be smart and cute.
When she had finished straightening it to her liking she looked up and took notice of Tony. A grin of recognition lit her face causing Tony's heart to beat just a bit faster- the girl was gorgeous when she smiled. Not supermodel beautiful, but a more classic, soft and understated beauty. Her smile was infectious.
"You back. Not scared off." The girls signed.
Tony smiled back and then set down the things in his hands so he could respond. "Me- not scared easily." Tony signed back quickly shaking his head in the negative to emphasize his point.
"I'm glad." The girls signed once more. "Good neighbors- hard find".
"What that?" She continued pointing to the model on the floor. "Have kids?" She asked her eyebrows raised to indicate the question.
"No." Tony signed quickly blushing at being caught with the model that resembled a child's toy though the details spoke of an adults touch.
"My co-worker got it. I work for the Navy. She thought it could be our m-a-s-c-o-t." Tony replied fingerspelling the last word as he was unsure of its sign.
"Oh-I- see." She replied back her hand a closed fist except for the pinky and thumb which were straight up and the whole hand shaking up and down to indicate the phrase.
"Looks nice."
"Thank you." Tony blushed in response his right open hand touching his mouth and then moving down in the sign.
"See you later. Maybe you show me more?" Jana signed as she began back stepping into her apartment.
"Yeah." Tony replied shaking his right closed fist up and down like a nodding head." He stood and watched for a moment even after she had shut the door. They hadn't said much but the whole conversation had left him longing for more. He couldn't wait for another chance to talk to her and started dreaming up ways to invite her over. Maybe he would have to get a few more model boats from Abby so he could use them as an excuse to show her around. With those thoughts swirling in his head Tony finally stepped into his own apartment for the night.
