"Where is Tony?" Ziva asked Gibbs as she reentered the squadroom.
"Ducky is examining him." Gibbs answered without looking up from his desk. Ziva could not hide her concern. She continued to watch Gibbs, waiting for him to elaborate, but he continued to work.
"Tony is still cleaning the car?" McGee laughed as he entered and sat down.
"No. He is not." Ziva finally answered, as she continued to watch Gibbs. McGee finally caught Ziva's attention and mouthed "What is going on?" Ziva just raised her eyebrows at him, shaking her head to indicate that she did not know.
All of them noticed Tony slowly reenter the squadroom, but Ziva and McGee tried to hide how they were looking back and forth from Tony to Gibbs. Tony looked down at the floor the whole time, avoiding eye contact with all of them. Gibbs had a strong eye on DiNozzo from the second he approached, which was finally interrupted when the phone rang.
"Okay. I'll be right there." Gibbs said quickly, as he left. Tony gave an audible sigh, as he believed that Gibbs was going to see Ducky as he felt Gibbs rush past him. He bent down to go through his desk drawer, again. He grabbed another rag and headed for the maintenance closet. McGee and Ziva both watched him suspiciously, but they said nothing as he left to go clean the car. They both looked up as Gibbs made his way back down from Vance's office.
"Where is DiNozzo?" Gibbs barked in confusion.
"He brought some cleaning supplies down to the car." McGee answered with a surprised laugh. Gibbs shook his head in disbelief and irritation.
"You guys can go home. Vance's orders." Gibbs stated as he headed for the elevator. Gibbs quickly headed down to autopsy.
Ziva and McGee finally went over to hit the elevator button. As the door opened, they saw Tony standing there with some cleaning supplies.
"All clear, McGee." Tony announced. "I am sorry again about that." Tony added with an embarrassed laugh, as he looked away from them. McGee looked him over in genuine surprise to the whole gesture. Ziva regarded DiNozzo suspiciously.
"Thank you, Tony." McGee said slowly in disbelief of his own words. "I'll see you tomorrow." McGee quickly added as he entered the elevator.
"Vance ordered us all to go home." Ziva stated almost in disbelief of her own words. Tony chuckled and slowly headed for the squadroom. Ziva waved to McGee, and she started to follow Tony back.
"Are you all right?" Ziva asked as she watched Tony return the cleaning supplies.
"I am sure hearing that question a lot lately." Tony answered sadly, avoiding her gaze.
"You are sure being nice to McGee lately." Ziva finally broke the silence. Tony turned his body to face her, but he continued to look down. As Tony finally looked up to face her, he visibly jumped when he saw that Gibbs had been standing there behind her.
"Go home. Both of you." Gibbs ordered as he directly stared at Tony. Tony stopped himself from asking why they were being released so early in the day. Gibbs watched as Tony and Ziva headed for the elevator.
"Tony." Gibbs said sharply. Tony abruptly turned to face him, as he stood by the elevator. "You take better care of yourself." Gibbs slowly and softly ordered. Tony nodded in surprise of the comment.
Ziva and Tony entered the elevator. After the elevator began to move, Ziva hit the emergency stop. "What is going on? Did you fall off the cart?" Ziva asked.
"The correct term is wagon. Did you fall off the wagon? And the answer is no because I am drinking far less now than I ever have, and I have never missed an AA meeting, Ziva." Tony answered. Ziva gave him a long, examining, stare. Then she released the emergency stop.
"You should not be drinking at all. That is the purpose of AA." Ziva lectured.