VII. Odd
.::.
"The art of life is the art of avoiding pain; and he is the best pilot,
who steers clearest of the rocks and shoals with which it is beset."
-Thomas Jefferson
.::.
Today could've easily been like any other day, for the sun had managed to rise at 0630; the birds managed to chirp happily as they had their morning snack, people managed to find their ways to work and the patisseries had managed to produce the best smelling pastries and freshly grounded coffees of the day. But something was off, something just didn't seem right.
The soft whoosh of the elevator opened and out stepped a giddily happy McGee with a bagel and coffee in hand. He whistled as he casually strolled into the bullpen to his desk, his strides filled with his new found swagger. He stopped mid way through the bullpen, something was different. McGee's faded azure coloured eyes scanned over to his desk.
Computer. Check.
Motivational CD's. Check.
Half-edited copy of the sequel to Deep Six. Check.
He spun ninety degrees to his left.
Empty desk. Check
Gibbs' bin topped with empty coffee cups. Check.
Another wrecked phone. Check.
Another ninety degrees to his left.
Green coat. Check.
Ziva's hand bag. Check.
Paperclips scattered on desk. Check.
McGee was half startled as he turned and faced towards Tony's desk. He checked his watch. 0724. There was no way Tony would be at work; not this early. McGee rubbed his eyes and blinked numerous times as if he'd seen a ghost.
"What you lookin' at McNosy?" Tony's voice was stained with disdain. McGee knew better then to poke a DiNozzo when they're down. Though he wasn't sure how Anthony DiNozzo Sr would've reacted, he surely knew how Tony would've; and he'd much rather save being embarrassed by Tony.
"Nothing."
McGee took a seat at his desk, after much determination and willpower; he couldn't help it and stole a glance to his left. Tony was a mess. No. That was an understatement, he looked like hell. His hair stuck up and pointed in all different directions. He had bags around his eyes, as if he hadn't slept in days. He didn't say it but McGee knew that it had something to do with a girl. And not just any girl. A girl that at that moment walked into the bullpen, crossed the floor and sat opposite the zombie that was Tony.
He may be oblivious to the many things that happen between the two agents but he wasn't stupid. If Tony had crossed thousands of miles over the Pacific Ocean and god knows how far through the desert to avenge Ziva's death all because she was his partner, then McGee didn't know what life and everything was anymore. He sighed as he stared at the two partners, both were avoiding each other like avoiding land mines and they're eyes intentionally dodging each other every time they looked up.
"Are you okay, McGee?" Ziva's voice chimed in on his mental conversation and snapped him out of his trance. He simply nodded his head which was at a stall to gather any words. She simply smiled back at him and turned back to her computer. He noticed the subtle difference of how her smile didn't quite reach her eyes as they usually do, something was wrong and he knew he'd suffer for it today.
"Gear up! We're heading to Quantico!" Gibbs barked as he pulled his sig out of his drawer.
"Gas the truck," He threw the keys at Ziva before he made his way to the elevator, all three hot on his tail.
.::.
When McGee thought he would suffer for it, he hadn't thought of being in the middle of it; literally. He was wedged in between Tony and Ziva. He felt like a semi permeable membrane where all the shitty stuff that was emanating from the two was clogging into him. The silence was unbearable; he could swear he could hear atoms as they collided together; and his instincts told him he'd have to suffer through this for the whole day. What made the journey worse was Ziva's driving, it felt like they were sitting in a poorly built rollercoaster that threatened to break any minute.
Finally upon arrival at the crime scene, both male agents stumbled out of the car as they clutched onto their stomachs; forcing to keep the food they had consumed inside their bodies. After so many years of her driving, they were still as dazed by their coworker's reckless ways. Out of the corner of their peripheral they could see Gibbs eyebrow arched skywards towards Ziva.
"I am surprised they are not used to it by now," she responded simply with a smirk and headed to the crime scene. Both Tony and McGee joined closely behind her with the equipment.
McGee snapped pictures while the two gathered the evidence. The tension between the two was blatantly evident. Even through the pictures McGee had "accidentally" taken had seemed like there was a block of ice between them. McGee couldn't help but start to feel gloomy after working for nearly an hour with the two; progress as slow as ever.
Ducky had arrived at the scene half way through, "Why who have we here Timothy?"
"Petty Officer Jack Hodgeson, 26 years old."
"Poor fellow, well this does remind me of a time, when I was on my way to…" Ducky stopped mid sentence as he noticed the other two agents were inattentive, as if they were just shadows that lurked in the background. Ducky gave a quizzical look towards McGee. McGee returned with a shrug, he was as much in the darkness as Ducky was when it came to them.
After Ducky had left, the silence was still as ever; if not even more if that was at all possible. The air around them made McGee feel suffocated and constricted like invisible hands strangling him by the neck, which was definitely not helped by the rotten dead body that had laid there a mere ten minutes ago before Ducky had wheeled him away to the van.
They were minutes away from packing up when Tony got up, ripped his gloves off and chucked it into the bin with much more force than necessary and made his way out.
"Okay that's it! I don't care what the hell is going on with you two, but you need to sort this… thing out," McGee waved his hand around furiously.
"You've been spending too much time with Abby," His remark that usually made Ziva laugh, came out flat and emotionless. Ziva hadn't even reacted to McGee's outburst or Tony's comment; she merely packed the rest of the equipment up and followed Tony out to the van.
For the second time today he sighed as he watched his two very close friends leave.
.::.
"Here's the evidence we collected from the scene Abby," McGee spoke flatly, as he dropped several boxes on the table, exhausted from the events of the day.
"I know what they are Timmy, which leads me to speculate why you needed to tell me all that useless information, what's up?" She smiled happily as she examined the boxes.
"It's Tony and Ziva…"
"Oh god, that's the four words I never wanted to hear in that tone, ever!" Abby paused from her examination and focused her full attention to McGee, and indicated with a wave of her hand for him to continue.
"They're like two negative charges, and when they repel they're lashing it all out on me, we were at the crime scene and Tony totally… uhh…" McGee stopped mid sentence, and within a second felt a sharp pain to his head.
"What was that for!" He rubbed the back of his head.
"Tony totally what? Tim?" Tony's voice lacked the usual comedic ring to it.
"Nothing…" Tony was about to press on, but before he could Gibbs had wandered into the room.
"What ya got Abs?" he stood staring at the blank computer screen with a Caf-Pow! in hand.
"Haven't started yet," she made for a reach towards the Caf-Pow! missing it of course as Gibbs pulled it away. He sighed, took a sip of the Caf-Pow! and stared at his team in front of him. Tony in particular, something had been off since this morning and he wasn't quite sure what it was, but he had a gut feeling about something, but something he couldn't quite put his finger on.
"Tony, Rule 51," it came out more of a sigh, and with a twitch of a finger Gibbs directed McGee to follow him towards the elevator. As soon as the door whooshed closed, Abby shut her lab door and turned around with a look that said she was on a mission and wasn't going to back down at any cost.
"What's going on Tony?" her voice dead serious.
"Nothing, what would make you think there was something wrong?"
She walked up towards him, "This! This! And This!" she poked her finger into his hair, at his face then at his heart. He grabbed her hand and removed it from his chest; his eyes turned a deep emerald green and his message was clear. Abby backed off a bit, unsure whether to pressure on but her curiosity got the better of her.
"You can always talk to me Tony." She heard him release a long sigh, she was sure he would've turned and left but instead she was faced with a very sad looking Tony who stood there like a statue, his body tensed from head to toe.
"I'll take that person down, and he or she wouldn't even know what hit them," She added cheerily, "I can kill them without..."
"…Leaving any evidence, yeh I know Abs," Tony laughed at that; he composed himself before he spoke, "But its Ziva."
"Yeh I figured." A squint of his eyes told her better not to interrupt, which she obliged willingly, anything to get Tony to open up; which was not often if it ever happened at all.
"I.. You know when we were at your house for the party? And I went to check on Ziva?" She nodded in confirmation.
"I overheard her talking to someone on the phone…" She nodded.
"She said…" His eyes became distant and he hadn't the strength to say the three words that were killing him inside and thank goodness Abby understood. She didn't need to hear what he had to say, because it was written all over his face, it was like a giant billboard hovered over his head that spelled it out so clearly if you'd missed it you must've been blind.
"Maybe you should talk to her, sort this thing out, I'm sure it's just a huge misunderstanding," Abby enveloped him in a huge hug.
"Thanks Abs, that must be it," Though he didn't sound convinced, Abby knew that she'd done her job, spark the embers that will turn into a full on blazing fire.
She smiled as he left her lab, than it faltered and worry took its place. What if… two words that could haunt people for the rest of their lives, just because they never pursued it. The smile reemerged on her face, because she knew… Tony will pursue it.
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A/N : Okay, wasn't sure about this chapter, wasn't confident about it at all… and if you found Tony too OOC please don't flame me about it, I just wanted to make you guys see him in a better light, that he really actually cared about Ziva (Soph's chap got a few ppl sayin' he's acting like a child). - Got no problems with your opinions though; so please speculate on!
Review on your way out, it is very much appreciated and really gives us the inspiration to write!
P.S. If you can identify the quote/movie that inspired the last paragraph, you can have a free cookie out of my cookie jar XD!
-Ash