"He is asleep, Gibbs," Ziva says on the phone, commenting on Tony's unconscious condition. "Must I continue to babysit him?"
"You'll watch him until I tell you otherwise." Gibbs, down in his basement, rubs the bridge of his nose. "I don't trust anyone else to keep him in line." He hadn't meant to snap at Ziva, but everything with Tony lately had him on edge. He half expected Tony to crack, get himself in trouble or get killed.
Ziva looks down at Tony, then at the movie collection. "Understood. I will keep him here until you say otherwise."
"Thank you."
Ziva hangs up, pocketing her cell. With nothing else to do, she picks up a movie that Tony had mentioned recently, pops it into the DVD player, adjusts Tony more comfortably, and relaxes next to him on the couch to watch it. One movie, then bed. Perfect plan.
Or so she thought. Halfway through the movie, Tony stirs, mumbling, of course.. quotes from the movie that's playing; even recites along with the movie.
Ziva watches Tony in amusement, nudging at him to either wake up or calm down. Tony, however; feeling a warm body next to him, adjusts himself, snuggling closer to the warmth and soft skin. Ziva sighs and tries to push Tony off; but he only stays for a moment before moving toward and onto her again. This happens once more before Tony lets out a little growl in his throat, leaning in more closely to kiss her neck.
Ziva's eyes widen. "Tony! Wake up before I kick you in the-" she's cut off as he moves to her mouth, which only earns him a wake-up smack from her. He jolts awake, looking around with confusion-the same look to his face as when Gibbs gives him a head-slap, causing Ziva to grin-and lays back in the cushion.
"Hey, Ziva. What was.. oh, hey! Movie." He shuts up and starts watching, attention shift surprising Ziva a bit.
[Just like a child.] She watches the movie in silence with him, glancing at him every so often, amused at his expressions as he watches. At some scenes, he mimics the actors perfectly.
He catches Ziva studying him and glances over. "Why, Ziva, what's that look about?" he inquires playfully.
"Sometimes I think you should have been an actor, Tony. You portray these movie characters just as well as if you were in them, and you excel at acting at work, when needed."
"Oh?"
"By this, I mean speaking with witnesses and going undercover. I do not mean in the office." She gives him a look, and he just grins.
"When I was a kid, I thought about being an actor. I ended up a cop, and I realized.. if I was an actor, I wouldn't be putting away the baddies for real. It would all be fake." He gains a thoughful expression. "I like where I've ended up. Who I work with, for. What I do."
"NCIS would not be the same without you." Ziva directs her gaze at Tony's; they hold it for several long moments before Tony looks back to the movie.
"Thanks, Ziva." He grins at a scene before speaking again. "I love you guys too."
"DiNozzo, why are you here?" Gibbs looks up at Tony, who had just walked in, no Ziva behind him-and Gibbs had not yet instructed her to release the wolves.
"Ziva told me that Ducky's assailant hadn't been caught yet. I think I would be better an asset here than on house arrest at home. I'm perfectly healthy and capable to return to work." He's breathing heavily and he's sweating, suggesting that maybe he's not fine.
Gibbs narrows his eyes at Tony. His gaze shifts to the elevator, which is just opening, Ziva rushing out. She spots Tony and runs over, looking flustered. "Tony! Gibbs, he left the house while I was in the bathroom, he ran here and I could not catch up with him!"
Tony grins. "Can't keep up with me. You're not the first woman to say that-"
"This isn't a joke, DiNozzo. You were nearly killed for what you are, you come to work high while you're recovering, you disobey direct orders." He glares at Tony, who stares back, his expression steady; however, his eyes reveal a mix of stubbornness, nervousness. After several tense, silent minutes, Gibbs turns his attention back to his newspaper and coffee. "Go down to autopsy, DiNozzo. Ducky needs a bodyguard."
Tony turns and heads for autopsy without another word, leaving Ziva alone with Gibbs.
"Ah.. Gibbs?"
"Siddown, Ziva."
Ziva blinks in confusion, heading to her desk and sitting down slowly.
Gibbs glances over at her and smiles a little. "Thank you for babysitting. Bill DiNozzo." He turns, yet again, to the newspaper.
With a grin, Ziva glances over to see McGee's expression-only to find his desk empty. "..Where is McGee?"
"Abby. They're working on a project together." Gibbs' voice lets out a hint of amusement, but he remains silent.
"Oh. I hope they are having more fun than us."
At this, Gibbs can only crack a wide grin.
Tony arrives in autopsy to find Ducky writing in a thick journal while Palmer does a few simple tests, back facing the door with his earbuds in. All in all, a pretty boring day. His nose picks up a few strange smells; death, aftershave, and things he can't identify. He heads in, garnering the attention of the other two men.
"Anthony! It's good to see you again."
"What've you got there, Ducky?"
"Oh, just a journal for writing down memories. Quite full already, but there's always more to add." He closes it and sets it by the computer. "Yes, I thought I would write down some memories from home. Barring the unpleasant recent events, though. I am glad Mother passed on before I was attacked, at least."
"Was there anything salvageable from the house?" Tony leans back against an empty autopsy table.
"Not very much, unfortunately. I was lucky enough that the old photo albums survived the blaze. You know, there was a time when-" he's cut off by the sound of metal and plastic clattering to the floor behind him-Palmer had turned around, seen Tony, and jumped in frightened surprise-dropping what had been in his hands.
"Oh-Uh, Tony, uh-hi," he stammers, picking up the objects nervously. "Sorry about, um, that other night.."
"I don't blame you, Palmer. If someone else were the werewolf, I would've done the same thing."
"..Really?" He sets the items on the desk.
"..Well, not really." Tony grins and gives a little shrug. "Y'gonna be okay with me down here?"
Jimmy adjusts his glasses and smiles hesitantly. "I have to get used to it. I'm fine with it."
"Good, 'cause you don't have a choice. Gibbs asked me to watch Ducky." He pauses, and sniffs, wondering what the mix of smells are. "Uh, hey Ducky.. think you could help me with somethin'?"
"What would that be?" Ducky asks, adjusting his glasses.
"Ever since I was bitten by that first werewolf, my nose has been really sensitive. The only problem is that I smell so many things, but I can't really tell what all the smells are."
"Ah, that sounds like something Abby would be of more help with. Perhaps you should ask her assistance."
"Yeah, but.. Ducky, I have to stay with you."
"No problem. There's no work to be done down here, I'll go with you. Care to join us, Mr. Palmer?"
Jimmy looks up, grinning a little. "Ah, no thanks. I'll.. organize some files that need it," he says, picking the most mundane job he can.
"Later Jimmy," Tony says before he and Ducky head out.
"Hm? Tony, Ducky, hi!" Abby runs to her computer and starts pulling information up. "You came for information, and I will give it to you!" She begins pulling up info, putting it on the plasma behind her computer. "I've finally got something! The neighborhood cameras around Ducky's home caught some of the activity from the night when.. well, y'know." She pulls up a video, plays it, then rewinds to a spot where the dark van is illuminated by the flash of the explosion-and a fuzzy image of the license plate is seen. Abby pulls up her handy de-pixelation program and focuses it; out of the numbers on the plate, they can read three. "The timestamp is right on, of course. They left just before we arrived." She punches some more into her keyboard, bringing up a listing of license plates of dark vans that have that number in them.
"Wait.. questions. Why is this just now coming to light; and why did you do the searching for the license plates? That's usually McGee's territory. Or mine too, but it's easier to have him do it." He looks at Ducky, who looks at Tony out of the corner of his eye. "Heh."
"Until today, we were told that the surveillance tapes were missing. But they mysteriously showed up today, so I'm analyzing them." She hands Tony a printed-out list of the vans that matched.
"Well, not to put a damper on your efforts or enthusiasm, Abbs, but.. there's been plenty of time between now and then. What is the tapes are fake? People have had plenty time to forge a completely new scene.. or even just change the numbers on the license plate."
Abby huffs indignantly, facing Tony. "Do you doubt my skill?" As Tony opens her mouth, she holds up a finger and cuts him off. "Do you doubt my experience? I know whether something is forged or not, whether something is made up! Trust me Tony, I know. This is the original." She points to the paper. "Now go consult with McGee and Gibbs."
Tony grins sideways. "Uh, see, I'm supposed to stay with Ducky. Gibbs told me-"
"To be Duck's bodyguard." Gibbs takes the paper from Tony, looking it over and nodding. "No way to shrink the list down more, Abbs?"
"Not without further analysis by Tony or McGee." She looks at Tony. "Since Tony's busy.."
"Yeah, I got it. I'll give it to McGee. Thanks, Abbs." He heads out just as fast as he'd came, leaving the others looking a bit confused.
"Boss and his gut.." Tony grins, then turns to Abby, letting her know why he's here with Ducky.
"Oh, Tony, I'd be glad to help!" She gets out anything that she can find that has a scent, placing it on a table, categorized with the Abby system. "'Kay, here's how it is. There's nothing toxic here and no sneezing powder either. I do have some drugs that drug dogs sniff out; wouldn't it be awesome to learn those too?" She grins, rather enthusiastically at the prospects of training her friend.
Tony misses this general intention, instead seeing the practical side. "Yeah, this would really come in handy. I could bust people for having drugs on 'em.. I'd know right away!" He runs a hand through his hair, as he usually does when he's feeling awesome. "Which ones y'got?"
She points to the various baggies. "Marijuana. Cocaine. Crystal Meth." She grins at the questioning look on Ducky's face. "What? I save a tiny bit each time some comes my way, so I can have sample bags like these. For reasons like this! Not that we train dogs often.."
"Wolf, Abby, I'm not a dog," Tony corrects, picking up the weed first, putting it to his noce and giving a great big sniff. Even through the bad, he gets a very deep exposure, holds it out from his face and blinks his eyes. "Whoa-ho-hooaa. Strong. Strong stuff." He hands it back to Abby, sure that he'll never forget the smell of that.
"Too strong, Tony?" Abby asks, holding the bag with a sheepish grin.
"No, no, just.." He rubs his nose, still filled with the aroma. Ducky looks up at him with mild concern.
"Do you want to continue another time, Anthony?"
"No, no, wanna keep goin'." He looks at the baggies, has a mischievous thought, and picks up the cocaine. He takes a deep whiff of this one, deep as he can-and is rewarded with burning nostrils. He looks down, noting that the bag, somehow, was not sealed. "Oh.. c'mon, really?" He hands the bag to Abby. "Gibbs is gonna kill me," he mumbles.
"Kill ya? Why's that, DiNozzo?" Gibbs walks into the party, looks at the table, then at Tony-whose pupils are starting to dilate. [That's new.]
"Oh, uh, hey.. hey Boss!" Tony's tone suddenly shifts from nervous to quick and eager. "Heyyy! Abby's helping me with my nose. Smelling things. Smelling. So when I smell things when we're out on a case or just out anywhere I can tell what they are and now I know what pot and crack smell like and they smell funny but the crack makes you high! Woo!" He laughs and shakes his head. "Ah, ah man, y-you gotta try this! Hey hey Boss, try thi-"
"DiNozzo," Gibbs warns angrily, shortly after the head-slap, "you keep your mouth shut until that wears off. Abbs, don't let him sniff drugs unless the bag is closed." He looks at Duck, shakes his head with a look of disbelief. "Not five minutes," he whispers, throwing his hands up before leaving.
"Ah-wait, Gibbs, what'd you come down for?" Abby asks, looking after Gibbs. All she receives is a call back from him.
"Had a feelin'."