Chapter 10

They spent their last day in Alaska mostly exploring Anchorage. They went down to a bike trail right along the coast and walked for a while. They went to a couple of museums, including the Anchorage Museum, and tried to get a little history along with their wandering. In the evening, they went to the famous Moose's Tooth Pub for dinner. At least, they'd been told it was famous. Neither Tony nor Tim had ever heard of the place, but the pizza was supposed to be good. So they figured it was worth trying.

Then, it was to bed for one last night in Alaska. They hadn't seen even a tenth of what the state had to offer, maybe not even a hundredth, but it had given them a taste of it and they knew that there was always the possibility of coming back and seeing more.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Tony was suddenly awakened by a pillow in his face. He sat up.

"Hey!"

"Time to wake up!" Tim said, grinning. "You have no idea how long I've wanted to do that."

"You've been planning to hit me with a pillow?" Tony asked.

"Ever since you did it to me."

"Two days ago?"

"No, further back than that."

"When... You mean like three years ago?"

Tim laughed. "Yes."

"You're nuts."

"And you're still in bed. It's time to turn in the rental and catch our flight."

Tim seemed positively giddy, and Tony wondered why.

"What are you on, Tim? It's four in the morning. How can you possibly be so excited?"

Tim smiled. "I don't know. I woke up about an hour ago and I was wide awake. I thought about everything we'd done and the fact that the accident didn't kill us, and I just had to get up and get moving."

"Methinks someone is excited about getting back to his squeeze."

"Maybe."

"Well, I'll be ready in a few minutes."

Tony got up and went into the bathroom to shower. He was glad to see Tim being more upbeat, but he wished that he hadn't decided to regain his joie de vivre so early in the morning.

He got ready as quickly as he could. Then, they drove to the airport, dropped off the rental and checked in for their flight. They had more than an hour before boarding, so they got coffee and doughnuts while they waited. Then, they went to their gate and sat down to wait.

"Well? Good vacation?" Tony asked.

"Yes. With the exception of the accident which I'm still feeling, it was very good. It'll be my last vacation until Christmas, so it's a good one," Tim said.

"I have a nice bruise from the seatbelt, but you have the best trophy," Tony said and reached out to gently pat Tim's bruised cheek.

"I'd rather not," Tim said, pushing Tony's hand away. "But I'm glad that you wanted to come here. I would never have had a trip to Alaska on my own. And we got to see the Arctic Circle."

"Good."

"So, what time is your meeting with Vance?"

"Tomorrow morning, nine."

"Well, I still have tomorrow off, so I'll drive you over, wait for you to finish and then, drive you back."

"My flight is tomorrow night, don't forget."

"So we'll have time for one last meal before your 14 hours on a plane."

"Right. Don't remind me."

"Well, you'd better tell me what Vance says."

"I will."

"Good."

They sat and waited until it was time to board. Then, it was onto the plane for a long flight back to DC. They were lucky to have an on-time, uneventful flight, and they got into DC at about ten that night. Tim drove them back to his place. Delilah was already in bed, so Tony went to the spare room while Tim went to bed.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Tim woke up to Delilah snuggling up to him.

"It's nice to have you back," she said. "I missed my furnace."

"It's nice to be back," he said.

"You had fun?"

"Yes. You'll have to see the pictures. Worth seeing."

Delilah kissed him on his bruised cheek.

"You don't look as bad as I was afraid you would."

"I'm still sore, but I'm just glad that it wasn't worse."

"Me, too."

Tim smiled and put his arms around Delilah, holding her close.

"I have to give Tony a ride to his meeting with Vance, but his flight still leaves tonight."

"Okay," Delilah said. "I have work, anyway. You can enjoy your last day of freedom."

"You want to shower first?"

"No, but I should. I have to leave before you do."

"I'll let you," Tim said, releasing her.

Delilah laughed softly and pushed away. Tim watched as she got into her chair, and he wondered what would happen when the pregnancy got further along. How hard would it be to maneuver herself into and out of her chair when she was also maneuvering their baby? He hoped that everything would go well, but he was afraid of the problems she might face. He sat up and moved to the edge of the bed before Delilah rolled away.

"I love you," Tim said, catching her hand for a moment.

"I love you, too," Delilah said, but her expression was a little confused. Then, she smiled. "And everything will be fine. I'll be fine, and so will our baby, whether it ends up being Thomas or Jane."

She leaned over and kissed him again and then went into the bathroom.

Tim sat where he was. If asked about the details of how his life would turn out, this wouldn't have been it, but from a more general perspective, it was. He was married. He had a good job. Soon, he'd be a father. All in all, in spite of the complications (that he could never have anticipated), he had what most people wanted, and the main struggle would be remembering that in the midst of the challenges that went along with any life.

But that was how it was for everyone. Being aware of the bad, but focusing on the good.

One deep breath and Tim pushed away the worries and focused on what would be coming up that day.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Tony was waiting for Vance to arrive for their meeting. He wasn't sure why Vance had chosen to have their meeting be at the DC field office instead of at headquarters. Tim was down talking to his team, getting an update...and probably explaining how he'd got the bruises.

Then, the door opened and Vance walked in.

"Agent DiNozzo, I'm sorry for the delay. I had a last-minute meeting."

"That's fine. Director, can I ask why you wanted to meet here and not at headquarters? It would have been fine for me to go that far."

"Because I don't want you getting any ideas."

Tony furrowed his brow. "About what?"

"About regressing to being a part of a team, rather than leading a team. I need you leading one. And being confronted with Gibbs' team might give you bad ideas."

Tony grinned at the description. "I think I'm made of sterner stuff than that, Director."

"Glad to hear it. Regardless, I also have some meetings, later. It was a good way to kill two birds with one stone. Now, I'm guessing that you're about to request a transfer."

"Yeah."

"I'm not surprised. The Middle East isn't the easiest place to be stationed, but I've had only good reports of your work over there."

"I'm glad, but if it's possible, I would like to come back to the States." Tony hesitated and then decided to do as Tim had suggested. "I've heard that there's a position that'll be coming open at Norfolk and that you need people at the CRFO."

"You've got some good scuttlebutt sources, Agent DiNozzo. I don't suppose that one of them is based at this office?"

"Maybe."

Vance smiled a little and nodded. "Well, your sources are correct. There will be an opening at Norfolk. There will also be two openings aboard the CRFO in Georgia. Given your choice, and understanding that I'm making no promises, which of those would you prefer to have? The CRFO positions are a combination of support for SEAL teams, work on your own and training others. The Norfolk position is a typical team lead."

Tony considered the question. He often made decisions on the fly, but this called for genuine thought. He couldn't start jumping around again like he'd done as a cop. He needed to have a place to settle, and after being in Bahrain, he realized that he wanted to be closer to his friends. And with Tim basically calling him family, that meant more than he would have expected. Beyond that, did he really want the stress involved in a job like he'd have with the CRFO? He had to admit that he enjoyed being in charge of a team. He liked the challenges of that, but he had no interest in advancing any further. He was as far as he wanted. It was just a matter being where he wanted.

"Given the choice, I'd take Norfolk over the CRFO."

"Can you tell me why?"

"Because I like leading a team. I feel like I'm good at it, and it's as high as I care about going. I have some experience that might be useful with the CRFO, but if it's about what I want, then, all I want is to lead a team, preferably stateside."

Typically, Vance didn't show what he thought of Tony's explanation or of his choice.

"All right. You understand that, even if this is possible, it'll take time. I'll have to get a replacement in Bahrain. Plus, the position in Norfolk is not yet officially open. All in all, you could be in Bahrain for another year."

"I understand. If I get what I want, I can wait for it," Tony said, with a grin.

Vance smiled as well.

"HR will be in contact with you in the next few months to let you know what the final result will be. Overall, though, Agent DiNozzo, I want to tell you that I've been most impressed with your work. You went into a difficult situation and you not only survived that obstacle, you have excelled in your position. In a way, this was a proving ground. While I am aware of your previous time in a team lead position, it was extremely short-lived. Too short-lived, to be honest, and I needed to see what you could do. You have done well."

Tony felt almost shocked at the glowing review he'd just received. Vance was generally much more stern and less complimentary where Tony was concerned.

"Thank you, Director," he said, not knowing what else might be expected.

"Now, is there anything else?"

"If you could control the weather in Bahrain, I'd appreciate having it be less humid and a little cooler."

Vance chuckled a little. "If I could control the weather here in DC in the summer, I'd do that, first. Unfortunately, that is not part of my authority as Director of NCIS." He stood. "I believe you're leaving today?"

"Yeah. This evening."

"Then, have a safe flight and be ready for more information to come in the next couple of months."

"Will do. Thank you, sir."

"You're welcome."

Vance left the room and Tony sat where he was for a few seconds. That had gone way better than he had expected. Certainly, he hadn't expected any kind of compliments from Vance. He hadn't expected censure, either, but the positive evaluation had been bracing. It also meant that he was more likely to get what he wanted, even if it would take another year.

He got up and walked out of the room and to the small squadroom where Tim had his team. Tim was sitting at his desk, looking through some papers. He didn't notice Tony, which gave Tony a chance to look him over. In this moment, Tim took completely at ease. He was doing a task that he could do and had a position in which he was quite comfortable.

"You're not supposed to be doing work on your last day off, McGee," Tony said.

Tim looked up and smiled. "I'm not. I'm just going through mail and memos."

"Well, stop it. They'll keep until tomorrow."

"Sure, but did you expect me to sit around and fidget?"

Tony laughed and yanked Tim out of his chair.

"Yes, I did. Come on, before your team shows up and sucks you into working on your last day off."

Tim allowed himself to be pulled out of the building.

"Well?" he asked.

"Well, what?"

"What did Vance say?"

"You know Vance," Tony said. "He doesn't show his hand if he doesn't have to, but he seemed to think that I'd get my wish with the transfer."

"To where?"

"Don't know, but he did ask me what I wanted."

"See! I told you!" Tim said, triumphantly.

"Yeah, yeah. I guess you can be right every once in a while."

"So what do you want to do with the rest of your day?"

Tony thought about it. Then, he smiled.

"You know what I want to do? I want to go to the National Mall and look at the monuments. I haven't been there in years."

Tim laughed. "Okay. That's fine with me."

So they headed for the National Mall, and they walked around, spending a fun morning and early afternoon looking at the monuments, going up inside the Washington Monument, even going into the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. They got lunch from a street vendor and ate it while wandering around the Mall. Then, they went to the Yard and shared out the souvenirs they'd bought for everyone. Tony noticed that Tim didn't really talk to Gibbs much, but he was happy to chat with Abby and Jimmy. Ducky happened to be there that day as well, so they could give Ducky his souvenir, too. It ended up taking a lot longer than it should have, but they had anticipated that and had the time for it.

Then, they went back to Tim's place and Tony packed up his stuff. He walked out into the main room and sat down on Tim's couch.

Tim came out a few minutes later and sat on the couch.

"Success?" he asked.

"Success."

"Good. Well, what time do you want to go to the airport?"

"I'm supposed to be there three hours early for international flights. So we probably should leave in the next hour. But I could take a taxi."

"No," Tim said, shaking his head. "I can handle DC traffic. It sucks but I can deal with it. There's no reason for you to pay for a taxi when I have a car."

"Thanks for doing this with me, Tim."

"Thanks for having me along."

"No, really. I mean it. I was just thinking that I haven't had someone to do silly stuff with like this for a while. It's only been since we went to the Badlands for the first time."

Tim got an introspective look on his face.

"Funny that it took something so awful to get us to do it. I hate how I still feel sometimes, but I'm glad that we're really friends. I think it's worth it."

"Are you sure?" Tony asked. "I know I can drive you crazy."

"Yes, but you could do that when we weren't friends, too. It's easier to take now," Tim said, dryly.

Tony laughed and then leaned back on the couch, enjoying the roominess that he would be lacking for far too many hours.

"You'd better keep me updated on how everything goes with the baby," Tony said. "Now that I know, you can't keep it a secret."

"Okay, but if you start sharing that out to people before we've decided to tell them, Delilah will kill you and then, if I let her kill you she might let me live."

"Delilah loves you way too much to ever want to kill you," Tony said. "You can see it every time she looks at you."

Tim blushed and shrugged, but he couldn't help smiling.

After a while, it was time to go. Tim drove Tony to the airport, made him promise to call when he was back in Bahrain, and then, Tony checked in, went through security and found his gate. He sat by himself and thought about the trip he'd had. Even with the accident, he had no regrets. He could see that Tim had a good life, and if he was honest, Tony could say that his own life was good, too. It might not be exactly what he wanted just yet, but he had a lot that other people didn't have.

And maybe soon, he'd have even more of what he wanted.