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I'm going to use some NCIS original dialogues, but in a different context.
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§ On this chpater, it seems that nothing related to the case happens but... ;)
"The Perfect Murder"
Chapter 7.
Next morning, Tony woke up in Gibbs' guest room and his nose was immediately tickled by a good smell of bacon, eggs, coffee and milk.
He stretched in bed and yawned. He didn't remember the last time he had slept through the night and so deeply.
After a quick visit to the bathroom, a barefoot Tony slowly headed towards the kitchen, where he found Gibbs leaning against the sink, not far from the stove where a big pan of scrambled eggs was sizzling.
"Good morning, Gibbs," he mumbled rubbing his nape.
The older man just nodded. He took the pan and gestured with his head, inviting Tony to sit down.
Gibbs unloaded a generous portion of eggs onto their plates where some slices of bacon were already steaming.
They immediately started eating and Gibbs was pleasantly surprised by Tony's appetite.
"It's like you haven't eaten in years," the Team Leader joked.
Tony just nodded with his mouth full. He swallowed and drank half of his cup of warm milk. "Yeah," he finally answered.
"No sleep and no food, huh?"
Tony nodded again and lowered his eyes.
"No wonder you were a bit off."
"Gibbs, I... I'm sorry."
The older man shook his head showing Tony that he was not mad or disappointed.
"Uhm... about last night," Tony took a deep breath. "Thank you, boss," he softly smiled.
"Do you want some more eggs?" Gibbs deflected, already reaching for the pan.
"Yes, thanks."
After another hearty portion of eggs, a cup of Cheerios with milk and a big cup of ultra-sugared coffee while Gibbs was on the phone with Ducky, Tony took a hot shower and dressed in the clothes he had worn the night before. Then he and Gibbs headed towards NCIS HQ.
They spent most of the drive to the office in companionable silence and, though Gibbs enjoyed the silence, it bothered him too. He missed Tony chatting incessantly.
After eyeing his SFA a dozen times, Gibbs gave in and asked, "Are you okay, DiNozzo?"
"Yeah," Tony replied. He didn't seem sad or worried as he had been in the last days.
"So?" Gibbs prodded.
"So, what?" Tony's surprise was clear in his voice.
"You're not talking my ear off."
"Oh!" a lopsided smile graced the younger man's face. "I was thinking about our case," he explained.
At those words Gibbs took a deep satisfied breath and nodded. You're back in game, finally!
"It doesn't make any sense," Tony began and Gibbs nodded again.
Encouraged by his boss' approval, Tony turned on his seat and shared his thoughts with his leader, "I mean, as Monsieur Hercule Poirot used to say, to understand a murder you've got to start from the victim, but our victim is too normal. We didn't find anything in Corporal Cash's life and career."
"It seems there were no reasons to kill him," Gibbs added.
"Exactly!" Tony got animated. "But there's always a reason to kill a man."
'Till now I didn't realized how I missed this, DiNozzo.
"Yep, but our victim is completely clean and his body didn't tell Ducky anything useful," Gibbs added as they entered Navy Yard and he parked the sedan.
"It doesn't make any sense," Tony huffed, frustrated, as he got out of the car and headed towards the elevator alongside his boss.
When they entered the bullpen, Gibbs and Tony found McGee and Bishop already at their desks working.
"Found anything, McGee?" Gibbs made his third-in-command jump in his seat.
Tony just shook his head. You'll never learn, McGee!
"No, boss," Tim shook his head.
"Bishop?!" Gibbs questioned their probie.
"Nothing, Gibbs. Sorry."
"What about Abby?" Tony asked as he and Gibbs sat down at their own desks.
"I saw her this morning and she said she was waiting for her babies' results," Bishop answered.
"Have you checked recently?"
"No."
"So? What are you two waiting for?!"
McGee and Bishop jumped out of their seats as if their chairs had burned them.
"'Ya know, Gibbs. You should stop startling them," Tony said as soon as he was sure his younger colleagues couldn't hear him.
Gibbs frowned, trying to hide a smile and already figuring out what Tony was going to say.
"They're young but you risk giving them a heart attack," Tony continued, not at all affected by his boss' glare.
Gibbs' frown deepened and Tony quickly said, "Back to work, boss."
Both men returned to their jobs, shaking their heads and grinning.
After a few minutes, Gibbs got a call from Abby and he and Tony went down to her lab.
"Whaddya got, Abby?" Gibbs asked as he entered the lab and stood next to Bishop and McGee around the plasma.
"Ducky found some pieces of glass embedded in our victim's head," she informed them as she gestured to the magnified splinters on the plasma.
"I can confirm they match the type of SUV I was able to identify thanks to the paint slivers you found on the street lamp. Then I—"
"So nothing new?" McGee said.
Abby 'killed' McGee with a glare. Behind them Tony and Gibbs shared an evil grin that made Bishop smile.
"As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted," she continued, "I analyzed what remained of the car. I know for certain the fire started inside the car. They used a mix of normal gasoline and alcohol," she sighed, disappointed that she couldn't find a specific clue that could help the investigation.
"Thanks, Abs," Gibbs said, heading towards the door. "Keep digging."
"Yes, Sir," Abby joked as the rest of the agents left as well.
They worked all day but didn't find anything useful.
About 1700, Vance called Gibbs into his office for a briefing with the SecNav about Corporal Cash and other cases that involved a possible terror attack.
Before joining his superiors, Gibbs talked with Tony in private and they decided to call it a day at 1800.
After Gibbs left the bullpen, Tony got a call from Dr. Pitt who invited him to play two-on-two and, after that, go out for pizza and beers.
Tony would pick up his Buckeye friend Dave Merrill, who now was a Baltimore Homicide Detective, at the police station and together they would join Brad and his cousin John at the basketball court not far from Baltimore PD Station, that Brad had booked that morning.
"Tony DiNozzo!" a Baltimore detective exclaimed leaving his desk. "What is the legend of Baltimore Homicide Department doing here?!" he joked as he shook Tony's hand.
"I'm here to pick Dave, Bob" he answered with a wide smile.
"He's with the Captain," Bob informed him.
"Okay. I'll wait."
"Meanwhile you could help our probie," Tony's former colleague joked as he patted a young man's shoulder. "Billings," he addressed him. "This is a man who can teach you many things but be careful cos he's a fed now," he winked.
Tony laughed and winked at Billings. "I'm an NCIS Agent. Don't worry."
"Here!" Bob offered Tony a chair. "You can wait at Dave's desk."
Tony nodded his thank you and sat down.
After 30 minutes, Tony got bored and started flipping through the files and photos that were on Detective David Bryce's desk but found nothing interesting.
Finally, after other 20 minutes, Dave left his Captain's office, apologizing for the wait. They then headed to the basketball court and, after working up an appetite, spent a pleasant night in a pizzeria that Tony had loved since his days as BPD Homicide Detective.
TBC
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