All four agents were sitting at their desks, working on paperwork. Tony was spitting spitballs at McGee as he was trying to work on his report. Ziva was working on her second report for the day, and every so often, she would feel Tony's eyes on her. She would look up, but he would look right back down and pretend to be doing his work. She didn't mind if he looked at her. It meant he wasn't looking at anybody else. She would never admit to him that whenever he flirted with a new probie or the mail carrier girl that she got jealous. She had to have some dignity.

As she was about to start back on her report, her computer dinged, signaling a new email. She opened her tab and read the team-wide email from Vance.

Team Gibbs,

This Saturday there will be a government played basketball game that you will be required to play in. Your opponent will be the FBI, more in detail, Agent's Fornell's team. Please bring your A-game and show that NCIS is not always on the bottom.

Good Luck,

Leon Vance

Director of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service

Ziva looked up as Tony let out a cheer from his desk. He looked around the bullpen, and his eyes landed on Gibbs, who probably never heard the email go through to his computer.

"Boss! Look at your email! Or not, I'm not trying to tell you what to do." Gibbs gave him a glare resulting in a laugh from McGee and Ziva. McGee let out a huff.

"Basketball?" Tony's smile was as broad as his face.

"Yeah, McGoo. Basketball. One of the best sports in the world, and a very popular one at that. Come on, Probie, you can get away from your video games long enough to play a real sports game. Right?" McGee glared at him, then looked back down at his screen, rolling his eyes.

"I do not know anything about basketball. I will need to be taught how to play." Ziva spoke up, voicing that she never played the game before. Tony looked her way and smiled even harder.

"No worries, Zeevah. I can teach you. I played basketball in high school and college. Would've gone pro if I hadn't hurt my knee." He looked down, still angry about that fact. He wouldn't trade NCIS for the world, though. If he never would've gotten hurt, he never would've met his family. Or, more importantly, the Israeli goddess that sits across from him every day. Whenever she looked his way and looked at him with those beautiful brown doe eyes, he melted inside. He wouldn't trade that for anything in the world, not even being a pro player.

"How about this. We met at the gym downtown and practice before the game on Saturday. Get all of you playing your positions correctly." Then he thought of something.

"Wait. There are only four of us. We need at least five on the court, not to mention the replacements on the bench." Tim looked up, hopeful.

"Which means we can't play. Great, can we go back to paperwork now?" He usually hated paperwork, but he hated sports more. Especially if he had to play them. Tony looked down with his thinking face on. Something Ziva found adorable. How his forehead and nose would scrunch up as he thought. You could practically see the lightbulb above his head.

"We could get Abby. She was a cheerleader in high school. She would've been there to see the games, which in turn means she knows somewhat of what to do." Tim slunked back into his seat. Why did they have to do this? This was a government office. Not a gym class. Tony picked up his phone and pressed four on speed dial. Almost immediately, Abby picked up the phone.

'Hey, Tony. What's up?'

'Hey, Abbs. Are you busy?'

'Not really. Major mass pec is still working on the results for Colman's team. Why?'

'Great. Could you come up to the bullpen real quick?'

'Tony. What's going on?'

'Nothing. Can you come up here or not?'

'Yeah. I'll be there in a minute.'

'Okay, bye, Abbs.'

Tony set the phone back down and looked around at the team. They were all looking at him as if he had three heads.

"What?"

"We have never seen you this excited over something work-related Tony." Ziva tried to suppress the smile that threatened to be expressed. He was acting like a child on Christmas morning.

"Well, it's basketball. I haven't played since college. This will be fun. Not to mention we could kick the FBI's ass." Gibbs smirked at that. What the three agents didn't know was that he played in high school as well. He was the school MVP for three years straight and was known throughout Stillwater for his talent. He wouldn't tell them that. After all, it was Gibbs, the mystery man.

Abby made her way into the bullpen with worry spread across her face at the sudden call upstairs. Tony saw her coming from the elevator.

"Abbs, you were a cheerleader, right?" Abby looked at him just like the others did earlier. Like he was crazy.

"Yeah." She drew out her word as she was still confused (and somewhat concerned) for what was going on. Tony clapped his hands together.

"Great! So that means you went to basketball games?"

"Yeah." Ziva could see that he was barely containing his excitement. This was important to him.

"Well, Vance sent out an email that we're playing in a government-wide basketball tournament." Abby finally understood what this was about.

"Do you need an extra player?" Tony smiled and nodded enthusiastically.

"Okay. I will play, but I'm not too good, Tony."

"Neither is McGee or Ziva. How about we meet at the gym tonight? There's an outdoor court out there." He looked around the squad room. He saw three nods. He looked at the bossman.

"What about you, boss?" Gibbs looked up from his file. He looked at his watch. It was 17:45.

"Get out of here. I'll meet you when I finish up." Tony smiled.

"Sweet! Let's do this thing." They all packed up their things and headed to the elevator. Tony and Ziva stood extra close as they made their way down.

Tony's smile was still plastered on his face like he had just won the lottery. Who knows? This could be fun. Right?