From Shariff Returns
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3rd Person POV:
The alarm on the nightside table went off, blaring loudly into the otherwise silent bedroom. Tony grunted in displeasure at the noise, the body next to him shifting around. Jeanne reaches out to turn the alarm off, sighing tiredly at the earliness of the hour. Tony shuffles around to face her, barely conscious.
"Just a few more minutes." He grunts in protest, reaching out to yank her body back down beside him. Jeanne giggles at his antics. Tony however, was already falling back asleep.
"Tony, I have to get ready for work." She protested, not moving to get up from her position.
"Just spray some dry shampoo in your hair and throw it up, cuts the time in half." he retorts with a lazy grin, his eyes still closed. Jeanne leaned back and stared down at him curiously.
"How are you so familiar with womanly hair maintenance?" she asked him. Tony hummed, suddenly more awake. He knew that tone, so he had to tread lightly. His eyes opened fully, and he blinked. The shade of the blue eyes looking down at him weren't right. Tony's brain finally caught up. Right….Jeanne….Running a tired hand down his face he took a second to compose himself, falling back into his role.
"My uh….my best friend is a girl. You learn things." He explained, leaning up on his elbows with an easy grin. Jeanne eyed him warily. At her silence Tony chuckled, raising his hands in surrender.
"I swear it's the truth. Before you I wasn't one to really stick around in the morning." He lied easily. Jeanne hummed, grinning at his explanation.
"So is she just your friend or have you two ever…." She asked, staring down at their joined hands. Tony bit his lip anxiously; not that she could see it.
"No, we never went past friendship. It would be super weird at this point. Just a good friend." Jeanne settled down even more, accepting of his explanation.
"So how did you end up being such close friends with a woman? I wouldn't have thought that was your style." Tony hummed, reaching over to pull her closer to his chest. Easier to keep her eyes of his face as he thought his way out of this. Why did he even mention it in the first place?
"We met early on in college and when I tried to hit on her she wasn't interested in the least. I don't know why but I liked that. So, we just left it as friends and have been ever since." He told Jeanne, keeping as honest as possible so it would be easier to keep up with in the future. Always mix a little truth in with the lie. Jeanne lifted her head up to look at him with a curious grin.
"Why have I never met her? You've met my friends." She inquired. Tony blanked. This was not good.
"Uh….her jobs keeps her super busy. She's rarely free so it makes it hard to catch up." He finally answered. Jeanne hummed thoughtfully again, this time sitting up and stretching.
"Well, let me know if she comes around. It would be nice to meet someone so important to you." she suggested, giving him a pointed look. Tony nodded silently, knowing this would now be something he would have to find a way out of. Jeanne wouldn't drop something like this so easily. He remained on the bed as she walked to the bathroom to get ready for her day. Tony groaned mentally, pressing his face into his hands. Why did he open his big mouth and mention Claire in the first place? Things had just gotten so much more complicated.
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"Hey, I got my own problems. We upsized our operation after 9/11. Things haven't quite panned out. Lines out the door for Game Box 3, and I got a warehouse of this stuff no one wants." He explained to them holding up a gas mask that was on one of the racks.
"And creditors up the wazoo." Before they could continue the conversation, Tony's cellphone rang prompting the group to pause. Tony quickly patted himself down, looking for the cell in his many pockets. Finally pulling the correct one out he scanned the number.
"Give me a second." He requested, turning his back to take the call. The manager looked at her curiously.
"He's got two cell phones. One for each ear." She quipped in tense explanation, leaning against the wall as they waited silently. Claire narrowed her eyes as she listened to his one sided conversation.
"Yeah….I can take a rain check….Everything all right?...All right, I'll talk to you later." Tony lowly replied, before hanging up and turning back around.
"Sounds like you have something up your wazoo. A doctor's probe perhaps?" she teased, with a subtle hint of serious curiosity. Tony stared at her, unamused. He didn't answer. She shrugged off his silence, her mood souring considerably. They turned back to the manager who led them down a side corridor.
"Look I got a business to run. If you have any more questions you can ask our chief engineer. He's in here." He led them through a security door into the lab. As the door opened, an attractive dark-haired man turned around to face them. Claire paused in the door and stared at him a moment.
"Dane, tell them what they need to know." With that the manager was gone. Claire cleared her throat lightly before making her way towards Dane. Tony lingered in the door for a moment, glaring in disgust at what he was witnessing. Reluctantly he followed her inside, standing next to the desk alongside her.
"What do you need to know?" Dane asked politely.
"My partner probably wants to know your home phone number." Tony grumbled bitterly. Claire swiftly thumped him in the chest, knocking the wind out of him. Tony groaned, rubbing his chest.
"If you let it go, he would have thought I was kidding." He pointed out tensely. Claire shot him a glare.
"I don't want your number." She corrected, turning back to the engineer.
"What do you what?" He inquired curiously. Tony pulled out his notebook to distract himself with jotting down things while Claire asked the questions.
"You got a delivery of BZ gas last week? We need to confirm shipment details." She explained.
"Invoice number?" the man requested. Claire pulled a slip of paper from the chest pocket on her jacket. Tony rolled his eyes to the ceiling as Dane watched the action with interest.
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Tony huffed and quickly dragged the woman out of the building. Walking back to the car Claire watched Tony's tense form in confusion.
"What is your problem?" she finally asked as they reached the vehicle. Tony stared at her incredulously over the top.
"My problem? What's yours?" he shot back, sliding into the driver's seat. Claire followed into the passenger.
"What?" she asked. Tony growled irritably as he threw the car into gear, heading back to NCIS.
"You were drooling all over that guy. What happened to professionalism?" Claire's jaw dropped.
"I was not! You're being so dramatic." She countered. Tony chuckled humorlessly.
"Right. I'm not blind Claire, the looks you were shooting him were sickening." She scoffed, turning to look out the window as she gathered her thoughts.
"So I found the man attractive, what's the big deal? There's nothing wrong with acknowledging a good thing." Claire pointed out, watching his face intently.
"The big deal is…you can't just…." Tony sputtered, trying to come up with some excuse. Under the current circumstances there was none. Claire became silent as she watched him struggle internally.
"Tony?" she probed, her eyes hopeful as she waited for him to get collected. Tony glanced over at her before returning his gaze to the road. His jaw clenched tightly.
"Just forget it." He muttered quietly, his anger quickly dissipating. Claire sighed. Definitely not what she was hoping for.
"Dane is a stupid name anyway." Tony grunted; his eye twitching as he circled back to the encounter. Claire rolled her eyes, a sad grin crossing her face.
"No, it's not. I think it's interesting." She quietly countered.
"It's a type of dog, Claire." He countered. Her grin widened.
"And Tony is a cartoon tiger." She quipped. Tony pursed his lips.
"Now that was uncalled for." He grinned, not offended by the jibe. Claire chuckled, looking back out the car window. Soon the vehicle dropped back into silence, both parties replaying all that just happened. This whole situation kept getting more complicated.
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"Claire, you and Tony find out if anyone else saw…." Gibbs trailed off as he spotted the empty desk. The man stood with a stern frown and glanced around the room. Everyone else remained silent.
"Where the hell is DiNozzo?"
"Why don't you ask Claire? Oh wait, she won't answer." Ziva imputed, cutting a sharp look at the woman. Claire glared back silently. Gibbs turned his gaze towards the woman who stared back imploringly. He knew where her stance was on the situation, despite what Ziva suggested. She was just as lost as they were when it came to Tony's absences.
"Find him. Now." He ordered. She nodded, walking away as she found the number in her cell. Heading towards the stairs, she glanced up towards MTAC thoughtfully. Changing her mind she climbed up, being sure that her team was distracted as she did. Slipping into MTAC, Claire found the director sitting in the theatre seats while the techs worked on pulling up footage and video calls. She slipped into a seat beside Director Shepherd who turned to look at her curiously.
"Agent Conners did you need something?" she asked politely. Claire nodded, staring ahead at the blank screen.
"Yes, actually. Agent DiNozzo is missing and I wanted to inquire if you knew of his whereabouts." Jenny blinked curiously.
"Why would I know?" Claire turned to face her director head on.
"He's been running errands for you for months. A lot of them seem to be in the middle of our investigations which in turn makes Tony look very bad. I was inquiring if this was one of those times. If so, may I say I think it's inappropriate timing seeing that we have an ongoing terrorist investigation." She told the older woman, her face never wavering. Director Shepherd grinned tightly.
"I think you're beginning to overstep your bounds Ms. Conners. What I use my agents for is none of your concern and is completely necessary. Nevertheless, I don't have him out on an errand at the moment so I'm afraid DiNozzo has skipped out on his own." She assured Claire calmly, her eyes hardening. Claire clenched her jaw. Tony wouldn't step out on a case as important as this one. Something else was going on but she wasn't getting her answers today. With a nod she stood to leave.
"Oh, Agent Conners." Jenny called, having the woman pause on the exit ramp to look back at her.
"I admire your loyalty to your teammates but be careful who you choose to point fingers at. It may come back to bite you." she warned. Claire said nothing as she left the room, even more exasperated than when she had entered. What wasn't Tony telling her?
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"Hey, is this about the mystery illness?" Tony asked in lieu of greeting.
"I don't know, you tell me. Or if you'd like you can decline my call and I'll ask again later." Claire growled in annoyance as she hid behind the stairwell back at NCIS. Tony clenched his eyes shut.
"I am telling you. I just got the newsflash. Shariff?" he asked quietly.
"Yes. You want to tell me went you are that was so important?" she asked tightly, pacing in the small corner away from everyone else.
"Off duty." He answered. Claire rolled her eyes.
"Alright this disappearing act is getting old, Tony. You want to keep things a secret, fine but now I'm starting to get heat about it and it's not ok." She hissed, crossing her arms over her chest as she took in some deep breaths.
"That's why I don't answer your calls. Gives you an out." he explained. Claire blinked in confusion as she processed the admission.
"You….what?" she stuttered. Tony licked his lips, wincing at the slip.
"If I don't answer you that's not your issue, it's mine. So, what are you calling for?" he quickly explained. Claire shook her head absently, trying to remember what her purpose was.
"Uh McGee found a connection between the victims. Their homes were fumigated by the same firm."
"All right, text me the address."
"Where are you?" she insisted.
"I can't….You…we…" Tony began dramatically breaking up as Claire protested on the other side. Hearing footsteps he quickly hung up. Jeanne stepped into view, wearing only her silk bathrobe as she grinned at him.
"Tony? The water's getting cold." Tony held up his phone apologetically.
"About that rain check…."
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Claire's POV:
"So, this was the guy Claire was drooling over?" McGee hummed teasingly.
"I see the appeal; he is very attractive." Ziva pointed out, eyeing the engineer in interrogation. I threw out my hand towards her in appreciation. Sure I still had feelings for Tony but I wasn't blind nor dead.
"I was not drooling." I insisted.
"Please. I saw you undressing him with your bedroom eyes." Tony countered, scowling at the man. I scoffed in offense.
"At least I'm not the one asking him if he waxed his eyebrows. I think we left him feeling like we both were hitting on him. Which I wasn't." Tony turned his scowl towards me as McGee and Ziva shot him amused glances.
"It's important to appreciate the competition." He countered. My head shot his direction almost instantly. The competition? Tony clammed up, realizing what he had blurted. Tony and I eyed one another uncomfortably. Thankfully the other two didn't take notice and took it as a joke, chuckling at the absurdity. Needing to keep up the act we tensely laughed along, turning to face the viewing window instead. I kept my eyes locked on the room in front of me, trying to get my emotions back under control. Where had that come from? I let out an internal sigh of relief when Gibbs and Colonel Mann walked in. I needed something to distract me.