[From Sandblast]

...

After being sent home for the night Claire slung her bag beside the door as she entered her house, Tony close on her heels. She slipped off her shoes, tossing them by the wall under the coat rack.

"I was surprised Gibbs let us go home earlier for the night. Usually he would bite our head off if we suggested going home before midnight." Claire commented, heading straight into her kitchen to grab a water.

"Tony do you want anything to drink?" she called. Tony fidgeted from his spot in the hall by the door.

"No, I actually need to be heading out. I have plans tonight." He explained, glancing down at his watch. Claire peeked her head around the door frame.

"Oh with who?" she inquired. He hadn't mentioned anything about plans to her. Tony shrugged.

"Just with a friend. I told them I would help with something." Claire frowned curiously, fulling walking into the living area. He was being vague.

"Do you need any help?" she continued.

"Nah, guy stuff." He quickly assured her. Claire nodded, not fully satisfied but didn't want to push.

"So where did you say you were meeting him?" she asked curiously, taking a sip of her water. Tony instinctively opened his mouth to answer her but caught himself. He frowned.

"I didn't." he reminded her pointedly. Claire shrugged with a grin.

"Is this really a secret errand for a certain director?" she asked seriously. Tony bit the inside of his cheek and nodded. Claire sighed and made her way towards him. As she approached he opened his arms and held her, nuzzling her hair as she pressed her face against his chest.

"..are you sure I can't help?" she asked quietly. Tony internally sighed at how small she sounded. He hated hiding things from her.

"I'm sure. It's just something I need to take care of." He whispered, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. Claire nodded. Backing away she smiled tightly.

"I won't hold you up then." Tony nodded, the lump in his throat preventing him from commenting. As he turned to open the door she spoke up.

"Are you planning on going home after or should I expect you back here?" Tony stared at her for a moment as he thought about it.

"I'll be back. But don't feel like you have to wait up, it might be a while." He explained. Claire nodded, waving as he finally left. Walked over to the window and watched as he drove off. This whole thing with the director was getting old and as of late had been much more frequent. He was out at least once a week doing who knows what. Something was wrong about all this and she didn't like feeling as useless as she did. Biting her lip, Claire waited for him to be well out of sight before walking back over and grabbing her shoes. Maybe she could get some advice from an outside source.

...

Across town at a café Tony sat across from another woman, a laptop in front of him.

"This hypothesis states that the transplanting of embryonic cells is independent of their new position in the embryo." He dramatically read off from the laptop.

"The Mosaic Hypothesis." Jean Benoit answered with a grin.

"I'm sorry, I'm going to need a complete answer." Tony pestered pointedly.

"What is the Mosaic Hypothesis." She sighed with a grin, appeasing the man. Tony smirked, closing the laptop.

"Correct. Hot and smart, the female version of me." Tony mused, leaning back to sip on his coffee.

"Oh…so you think I'm ready for the exam tomorrow?" she asked with an amused grin, bypassing the compliment he had given her. Over the past month the two had grown from acquaintances to friends. The man had literally show up at her hospital one day and from there had gradually wormed his way into her life. However, as of late she had been getting attached to him on a more romantic level. How could a young single woman not notice how attractive he was?! And Tony oozed charm, but what she was most intrigued by was the heart he had buried under all the goofball antics. She wanted to know him better, but he wasn't picking up on any of her hints. That and he seemed to be a flirt naturally, so for now she was just being his friend and wait for an opportunity to open up relationship wise.

"I have 20 bucks saying you're gonna set the curve." He assured her kindly.

"Okay that's good to hear. Because that means…I get to ask you some questions." She hummed thoughtfully.

"Fire away." He nodded for her to continue.

"Alright how's a uh….how's a kinda cute, very charming guy like you who does some bad impersonations.." Tony chuckled, ignoring the compliment.

"I don't know…what that means…but I thank you." He muttered in a godfather accent, getting Jean to giggle and hopefully away from her flirting.

"….manage to stay single for so long." She finished, staring at him intently. Tony stared at her in stunned surprise.

"Oh you're….you're gonna ask a real question…that's a real question." He rambled uncomfortably, unprepared for something so serious. They had steered clear of these types of conversation so far but he figured he couldn't keep it a superficial friendship for long. At least not for what the director wanted from him.

"Um…what are commitment issues." He answered with an easy grin. Jean laughed.

"Uh uh, not buying it." She denied.

"Really? And why is that." He asked her curiously. Usually that would do it for other people.

"In the last hour…"

"Yea?"

"…at least a dozen hot coeds have walked by. Your eyes haven't wandered once." She pointed out to him seriously. Jean snickered at Tony who was now wildly looking behind him for these coeds.

"Really?" he hummed, hoping to joke his way out. He hadn't been noticing other women in that way for a while now.

"Well obviously yours have." He shot back teasingly. Jean laughed in surprise at his implication.

"Don't get your hopes up. I'm a very um…traditional girl." She muttered, taking a sip of her coffee. Tony stared down at his own drink, taking care not to notice her eye contact. This needed to remain platonic.

"Well so was Anne Heshe." he shrugged, getting her to giggle again.

"You still haven't answered my question, Tony." She insisted, not letting him avoid the question as he would like.

"Okay…okay.." he conceded, settling into his seat as he seriously thought about his answer without giving up too much about his real life.

"Well I suppose that I am patiently waiting for the right girl." He answered honestly, a small smile flitting across his face as he thought of one particular girl that was back at home.

"Do you think you'll ever find her?" Jean asked, staring at him with a hopeful smile.

"I'm getting more and more confident by the day." Tony answered distractedly. Jean grinned and nodded, pleased with his answer. But what she didn't understand is that Tony's thoughts had gone to another woman. One with black hair and eyes a darker blue than Ms. Benoit before him.

...

Claire shifted slightly as she heard the front door open and close. As the footsteps neared her bedroom door she lazily dropped her hand to the underside of her bed frame, where she stashed one of her guns. Eyes still closed she grasped the weapon.

"Unless it's Tony DiNozzo, you had better leave now or risk getting your head blown off." She sleepily called. A low chuckle was heard from the other side of the door.

"It's me. I come in peace." He joked, slowly opening her bedroom door. Claire peeked one of her eyes open and grinned lazily. As Tony made his way into the adjoining bathroom to change she tilted her head to look at the clock on her nightstand.

"You're back earlier than I thought you would be. Everything go ok?" she inquired. Tony turned off the light before slipping into bed behind her. He tugged on her shoulder insistently. Claire laughed groggily and obliged, rolling over to snuggle into his chest.

"It went well, just ended earlier than planned." Tony explained, not elaborating further. She nodded.

"So, it went well?" she hummed in concern. He grinned thoughtfully, thinking back on Jean's question.

"Yea…it went pretty well." Tony assured, pressing a kiss to her forehead. Claire nodded and smiled, snuggling closer to his chest. The two lied there in silence for a moment.

"Want to hear something interesting?" he hummed in response to her question.

"Gibbs and the Colonel lady were checking each other out in his basement. Checking out one another's asses to be specific." She grinned at Tony noise of disgust.

"Why would you tell me that?! That's just wrong." He grumbled, smiling as her drowsy laughter rang out and vibrated on his chest.

"I'm sorry." She hummed halfheartedly, drifting right back to sleep. Tony rolled his eyes fondly before drifting off to sleep shortly after.