DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'VE GOT 'TIL IT'S GONE.
NCIS Squad Room.
Seated at his desk Special Agent Tony DiNozzo glances around the room at his colleagues who are both hard at work on the tasks the Boss has assigned them. Ziva is on the phone talking in the overly calm tone that means she is about to seriously lose her temper. That could be either dangerous or amusing depending on the situation, the level of her anger and the proximity of the nearest box of paperclips. Probie is murmuring under his breath as his hands fly over the keyboard at a speed that still astonishes Tony even after all the time he has worked with McGee. Gibbs is upstairs with the Director probably being ripped a new one over the lack of progress since the bodies were found four days ago.
It would be helpful if he could produce something on Gibbs return but so far he had made no headway with finding the ex-wife of one of the victims. The search procedure was routine, a no-brainer, something he didn't have to think too hard about. This was a good thing as he was finding it increasingly difficult to concentrate. He could blame it on the hectic pace and lack of sleep over the past few days, the noise in the squad room or even the appearance of the cute new agent in the cubicle next to McGee's but in his gut he knows it is caused by something much more serious.
It had been almost a month since it had last happened. Three weeks, six days, ten hours and approximately forty minutes to be precise and for Tony DiNozzo that was most unusual. Of course he hadn't taken note of the last time at the time. He wasn't that kind of guy but when the days started to pass without it happening again he had thought back and figured it out. At first he had not been too concerned. Work had been busy and he gone without before. Then he had had a horrifying thought. What if it never happened again? What would it mean?
He had decided he needed to be more proactive. Get out there and make it happen. He had tried all his usual tricks but nothing had worked. It was getting to the point that he was worried the others might notice and that would not be good for his reputation. McGee would be too scared to comment but he dreaded hearing what Ziva's thoughts on the matter might be. He suspected Abby already knew. The last time he'd been in her lab alone she'd given him the type of hug she normally reserved for Gibbs and said "It'll happen Tony. Just give it time." Although he had feigned ignorance he knew she hadn't been fooled.
"Ouch!" Tony rubs the back of his head.
"Daydream on your own time DiNozzo! What have you got for me?"
"Nothing yet Boss." Gibbs glares at him. "Working on it."
As he refocuses on the task at hand Tony smiles to himself. That was what he had been missing. The Gibbs headslap was much more than a simple reprimand. It was words that would never be spoken. It was who they were and what they meant to each other. It was DiNozzo and Gibbs, a team again.