Disclaimer: Nothing is mine except the plot. The series and the mentioned books and movies belong to their respective owners. I don't make any money with this story.
A/N: Sorry for the long wait. I've been away for training last week and only now have internet access again. Hopefully, you'll like the new chapter. Also, thank you for your reviews and the suggestions and wishes. Keep 'em coming :)
Part 6
As promised, Tony met Palmer for lunch and brought him to a restaurant that sold great, vegan pizza.
"This is my secret," he said and smiled about Jimmy's dumbfounded expression.
Jimmy's face looked comical as he showed his disbelief. "Pizza? Are you serious?"
"Yes, very. It's still a little on the fatty side, but no matter what you choose, there won't be any bad cholesterol, and everything is organic and fresh. It's my treat, so don't be shy. Choose whatever you like."
"Uhm, alright. Thank you." After some consideration, Jimmy ordered pizza Hawaii, a small salad, and freshly made lemonade.
Tony ordered the Vegetaria Speciale, tomato soup and a tall glass of water.
"So, how is eating pizza making you look like this?" Jimmy asked once the waitress was gone. "I mean, wow, even I know this'll sound weird, but you're actually kind of gorgeous. You were good-looking before, but now …"
"Thanks," Tony replied and smiled. "You're not so bad yourself, though. Working out much for your lady?"
Embarrassed, Jimmy laughed and stroked a hand over his nicely defined biceps. "I'm doing my best." Their drinks arrived and they both took a couple of sips. Once the glasses were back on their coasters, he continued, "It just doesn't feel like enough. I get tired easily and then I get depressed because I'm not giving it my best. I'm just not feeling well, if that makes sense. Breena's actually getting worried, so I thought I'd ask you before seeing my doctor."
To Tony, who had experienced quite a few rather spectacular momentsof mental clarity and physical improvements during his fast, knew exactly what Jimmy was talking about. He knew this kind of exhaustion himself, and had almost felt depressed at times because he'd been unable to shake it off.
"Maybe you should go see a good naturopath," he replied. "Have them do a blood test and the whole shebang. My doc told me that I was lacking a lot of nutrients and advised me to change my diet. Since then it's gotten way better. Energy's through the roof, actually. Even my lungs are getting better, and nobody thought this could ever happen."
"Really? That's great!"
"Yeah, look, I know this sounds lame, but all you need is the right food. Veggies, fruit, legumes, you know what I mean." Tony chuckled ruefully. "Man, if I told my old self from last year what I'm doing now, he'd laugh himself silly. This pizza? You won't find any animal protein on it. Just cut out the processed bullshit, that's the real secret."
The waitress brought their starters and the pizza and so they dug in. Tony waited until the other man had taken a bite and declared it delicious, before he smirked.
"See? I told you that you'd like it." He breathed in the scent of his own pizza. It was full of every vegetable the kitchen had on offer, and he loved it. Tony took a piece of artichoke and popped it into his mouth. "Mmh, delicioso."
"Yes, this is really good!" Jimmy wolfed down a whole slice and sighed in satisfaction. "And not even the cheese is real?"
"Nope, it's all plant-based."
"Incredible. I thought Abby was having me on when she told me she suspected that you'd given up meat."
"I like it like that, actually. Less naysayers to bring you down."
Jimmy smiled slightly at that in understanding. While they ate, he asked many questions, but he especially wanted to know how he could get better quickly without having to wait for blood test results first.
"Buy a good juicer, look up recipes on the internet, and then get started," Tony said and sucked a bit tomato sauce from his fingers. "It's not so expensive. It's just the juicer in the beginning, but in the long run you'll buy less processed crap, so it all evens out."
He scrawled notes on a piece of paper and handed it over. "Maybe you should buy fresh juices here and there first, see how you like it and what it does for you. But if you do want to commit, I can recommend my juicer and these movies to get you motivated."
"Wow, thank you, Tony. I'll look it up as soon as I can." Jimmy put the paper away and smiled. "Say, can we get a juice now?"
Tony laughed, delighted with his friend's enthusiasm. "Of course!"
oOo
In the afternoon, Gibbs sent Tony down to Abby to get her latest results on the evidence they'd brought in from the suspect's apartment.
"Tony, Tony, Tony!" Abby cried excitedly and flung herself into his arms. He was barely able to put her new Caf-Pow! out of reach. "Jimmy told be about your lunch and I'm so, so proud of you!"
"Wha-whoa, why?" he asked, genuinely confused.
"You were nice, and you didn't make fun of him once," she explained and smacked a red kiss onto his cheek. "Oh, wow, you even smell nice now. That is to say, even nicer than before, because I love your aftershave. Anyway, he told me about the juicing and I decided to join you both. Did you know that the nuns all do this? Reliciously, you could say, but that would be pithy, although this explains how they're all so fit and-"
"Abby!" Tony pleaded. "A bit more slowly, okay?"
She held both his hands in hers and jumped excitedly. "You're my new, favourite role-model. We can do juice parties, and lunch dates, and if you don't already have a pilates course, I could introduce you to mine-"
"Abby!" he groaned.
She closed her mouth and looked at him expectantly.
Tony smiled tolerantly, albeit a little weakly. "That all sounds great, but I've already joined a yoga class."
"Doesn't matter, as long as we can do the juice parties. With movies," Abby replied dismissively.
"Okay, but can you do me a huge favour?"
"Of course. Anything for you, Tony."
"Could you keep this from the others, please? I told Jimmy that it's better not to have too many people in the know, in case they try to bring you down." He shrugged apologetically. "You know how competitive Ziva and McGee can be. I don't want this to be about the job. It's too important to me."
Abby's eyes narrowed, but she nodded. "It's not a problem. When I first went vegetarian, my parents were a little difficult, too. Your secret is safe with me."
Tony hugged her impulsively. "Thank you, my gorgeous queen of the dark."
A headslap hit him completely out of the blue. "Ow, sorry, boss."
"Gibbs!" Abby complained and smoothed over Tony's ruffled hair. "What was that for?"
"For wasting time when we have a killer to catch," Gibbs said and narrowed his eyes at the both of them. "What do you have, Abbs?"
She pouted. "I really shouldn't encourage this behaviour, but here you have it: the semen on the bed is definitely Jameson's and the vaginal fluid from the latest victim of the vintage killer. It proves the rape, but it doesn't yet prove that he is the killer. That guy can clean up, it's spooky. But thankfully, there's more. The bloody wood span particles from under Sarah Highbrow's nail are a perfect match for a certain kind of expensive hardwood flooring. And now you may guess who might have expensive hardwood floors in his second, just-turned-up apartment. Standard results aren't in yet, but bring me a sample and in a few hours the Wicked Witch of NCIS can tell you if she was killed on Jameson's property."
"I'll bring you more," Gibbs growled. "DiNozzo, with me. The scratched floorboard must be loose, or else she probably wouldn't have bothered with just one deep mark on exactly one floorboard."
"Not to mention Jameson probably wouldn't have bothered cleaning her fingers so thoroughly if there isn't something to hide," Tony added, already on his way out.
They collected Ziva and McGee, took the truck, and descended like four avenging angels onto Jameson's apartment.
Gibbs broke the seal on the door and sent his team out to search every single floorboard for markings.
"Be thorough," he ordered. "I don't care how many of them we crack open. I want that evidence!"
A chorus of, "On it, boss!" sounded, and then they scattered.
Due to tiling, they could exclude the kitchen and the two bathrooms from their search. The den, which was Tony's area to investigate, didn't turn up anything. The floor looked new and was, apart from a few light scratches, practically flawless. After finding that out, he found Gibbs in the bedroom and helped him yank a rug out from under the metal-wrought bed.
"Vintage style," he commented. "And heavy as fuck. Of course."
Gibbs nodded irritably. "Why make it easy?" he growled. Finally they got the rug away and could get to going over the hardwood. "Here, a scratch," he said and knelt down. "McGee! The crowbar!"
McGee and Ziva came running and set to prying the marked plank away from the others. Tony shot pictures as they discovered what lay hidden beneath.
"Ugh, disgusting!" Ziva complained and reared back from the rotten smell. She took finger by finger from Gibbs and put them in sample boxes, quickly handing them off to Tony for labelling. McGee had begged off in favour of shooting the photos and Tony had let him - this once. "They even have the rings still on!"
"But he did a good job on their fingernails," Tony remarked as he watched one with blood red nails from all angles. "Means he manicured them before chopping the finger off."
"Sick," McGee muttered.
They cleaned out the space under the floorboard and took a sample of the wood. They then used luminol and black light to find otherwise invisible trace material and searched the rest of the apartment thoroughly for more hidden spaces. Thankfully their effort was fruitless, so they brought everything to Abby before taking a well-deserved break.
"I'm going for coffee," Tony offered once they had stowed their backpacks. His generous gesture wasn't entirely selfless; he craved a juice like nobody's business from the place a few streets down that happened to also sell good coffee. "What do you want?"
"Green tea, please," Ziva said.
"Black, two sugars," McGee added.
Gibbs, he didn't have to ask. Tony quickly left before someone could offer to accompany him. He chose to walk to let off some steam and drank a shot of wheat grass and apple juice right at the juice bar while he waited for his coffee order. He then took a second juice, this time honeydew mixed with apple, pear, lemon and mint, also in a paper coffee cup, and carried everything back to the yard.
"Took your sweet time, DiNozzo," Gibbs said as he came jogging down from the stairs. "That mine?" He grabbed Tony's cup and took a large gulp before he could stop him.
"No, actually-" He faltered as he saw Gibbs's perplexed frown. "Yikes."
Gibbs smacked his lips. "Still got a sweet tooth, eh?" He gave the cup back and curled his fingers demandingly for his real coffee. "Wouldn't mind trying that one myself next time, though."
Flabbergasted, Tony stared after him. Ziva and McGee took their own coffees from the cup holder and smirked.
"If you run now, you might manage to get a new one," McGee snickered.
Tony looked at his watch, sighed, and then shrugged. "Nah, I'm not afraid of Gibbs's cooties."
Ziva laughed. "You're just too lazy, admit it."
"After this shit day? You bet I am." Tony made a show of slurping his drink. Louder, he asked, "When can we go home, boss?"
"Not until Abby's report is in," was the dry reply and they all sighed in response.
Despite their success, it was going to be yet another long night.
End of part 2