Monday morning found the team members strolling in to the squad room as usual, with Gibbs already sitting at his desk, hard at work. With typical chatti-bickering, Tony and Ziva arrived off the elevator mid argument and while Gibbs usually paid scant attention to what they were squabbling about, the topic this morning grabbed his attention immediately.
"Tony, I am sure McGee has a perfectly reasonable explanation why he did not answer your calls or return them."
"All weekend, Ziva? I don't think so. Besides, that's literally breaking Gibbs' rule, remember? 'Never be unreachable.' Tony reminded her.
"Doesn't cover pesky co-workers, DiNozzo." Gibbs quipped from behind his desk without even looking up from his work.
"Hey, Mornin', Boss! Okay, I give up. But still, don't you think it's odd that McGee hasn't answered his phone all weekend? I mean, especially after the week we had last week? Doesn't that worry some body around here?" Tony demanded as he kept his eyes on his boss. He hadn't seen the man since Mike Frank's funeral last week and the fact that Gibbs hadn't been home when Tony tried to check on him yesterday had kept Tony wondering how he was doing.
Gibbs' eyes snapped up and immediately looked over to his junior agent's empty desk, the young man's words coming back to him now:
"I've got you. I'm here... Because I'm not gonna let you go through this alone."
"If he's not here in ten minutes, get Abby to track him while you two go find him." Gibbs said quietly as he continued to look broodingly at Tim's desk.
No sooner had the boss spoken the words, than did Tim appear from the back elevator, carrying two drink trays full of drinks with him. "Good morning. Sorry to cut it so close, Boss, but, wanted to stop and get everyone a little breakfast. I'm sure we could all use the pick-me-up." He offered as he set a drink and a wrapped breakfast sandwich on each of their desks before returning to his own.
"Thanks, McGee." Gibbs offered almost immediately, as did Ziva.
"Thank you, McGee. That was very thoughtful of you."
"No big deal, but you're welcome." Tim smiled as he focused on opening his emails and going through them.
"Yeah, thanks, McScout." Tony said with a touch of snideness.
"You're welcome, Tony." Tim answered almost offhandedly without looking away from his computer screen.
With a glare from the boss, Tony settled down and got back to his own computer screen and the work on his desk. Nothing more was said and the morning marched on with a great deal of quiet in the squad room.
The first time Gibbs left the squad room for a refill of his coffee or whatever else he'd gone after, Tony was up out of his chair like a fully loaded spring – determined to find out what he wanted to know. "Spill it, McGee."
"Spill what, Tony?" Tim asked in surprise as his attention was drawn away from his work and onto Tony who'd come to stand in front of his desk.
"Just where the hell did you go when you left here on Friday? You went to Gibbs' didn't you? What happened? Did you piss him off? Nah, I'll bet he sent you packin' the minute you showed up, didn't he?" Tony demanded.
"Tony. It's none of your business where I went when I left here. I'm not gonna have this conversation with you." Tim told him firmly before returning his attention to his work; effectively turning his back on the irate older man.
The Senior Field Agent was left fuming and feeling his seniority was being mocked which was unacceptable. Taking the high road, he walked around Tim's desk to where he could lean over the younger man's computer monitor and leaned in so close, Tim had to actually push his chair back to get out of Tony's breathing space. "You don't think I have the right to know where you disappeared to? As the Senior Field Agent in charge of this team at the time you pulled your little disappearing act, I have that right, you know. Tell me!"
"What? No. You can stop trying to pull rank on me about it, DiNozzo, because it doesn't change the fact that it's not your business. We weren't technically on the clock which means it was my own personal time. Leave it alone." Tim snapped as he angrily stood up.
As the two faced off with tension so thick you could cut it with a knife, Gibbs silently returned to the squad room and nonchalantly went back to his desk, knowing his presence would be enough to halt whatever his boys were in the middle of, without even a word being said. Being able to revel in the fact that Tim had come back to work as if nothing had happened, thereby keeping all things normal between them, had gone a long way in buoying Gibbs' mood this morning and even this argument happening in his squad room between his boys wasn't going to sour it.
In fact, since he'd heard the argument, he couldn't help but be proud of Tim for standing up to Tony and for keeping quiet about the events of Friday. Senior Field Agent or not, Tony often times pushed too hard and crossed the line into being nosey and Gibbs was not going to get in the middle of that. Just as he expected, Tim immediately backed off, sitting back down in his chair and getting back to work, ignoring Tony and whatever his reaction to Gibbs' return might be.
The rest of the day seemed to become filled with more and more tension as the day wore on, even if it all seemed to be radiating from Tony's corner of the room. Tony felt disrespected; his feeling the need to know what was going on, especially since Gibbs had been absent when Tim had taken himself off work and Tony had been in charge at the time, felt right. He resented Tim's attitude and refusal to explain himself and if he were honest with himself, he'd have to admit that he also resented Gibbs for not interfering and setting Tim straight about it.
When Gibbs gave the call at the end of the day to go home, Tony was the first one out – without a word to anyone. Tim left in his normal fashion, shutting down his work station and saying goodbye to Gibbs and offering to walk out with Ziva. Nothing had changed for him, except that Tony's behavior seemed to be a non-issue with him whereas he would normally be asking what had happened to make his teammate so disgruntled and angry.
Gibbs was pondering that new occurrence when he heard Ziva verbalize that very question. "McGee, does it not bother you that Tony is very upset with you?"
"A little, Ziva. But, I can't help it if Tony thinks his rank gives him the right to intrude into my private life. I've put up with it for over 7 years. I don't have to put up with it anymore." Tim replied calmly with a touch of apology as they walked toward the elevator.
"What changed? Why do you suddenly put your leg down about it?"
Tim chuckled as they stood at the elevator, waiting for it to arrive. "Foot, Ziva. Put my foot down. And there are just some things that that you should be able to not share with the world; offered up for public discussion or ridicule."
"I agree with you. And I am glad to see you finally choose to see that as well." She admonished him. "You have let him get by with invading your privacy for far too long, McGee."
"Yeah, I know. But, it stops now. Hey, you wanna go get some dinner? My treat?" Tim offered as the elevator opened up and they got on it.
"I would like that. Thank you." Ziva answered.
Gibbs smiled as the elevator took his agents away from work for the night. Most everything was back to normal. Anything that wasn't would take some time to work through, but he wasn't worried. He knew his team would rise to the occasion and stay strong.
A/N: Fasten your seat belts and keep all hands and feet inside the cockpit, ladies and gentlemen, we're in for a little bumpy ride.
