Disclaimer is in Chapter 1.
Chapter 11
Tony watched as Rebecca entered the breakfast room. Tim signaled her over to their table.
"Hey, watch it, DiNozzo!" Ziva said sharply.
"Huh?" Tony looked down and saw that he had overfilled his coffee cup at the buffet table. "That's what the catch basin is for Ziva. For those of us not quite awake."
"Problems sleeping?" Ziva asked innocently.
Tony couldn't tell if she was honestly concerned or if she would have some sharp retort to his response. Erring on the side of caution, he proceeded down the line to fill up a plate with eggs, bacon, sausage, hash browns…
"No problems with your appetite, though." Ziva continued.
Again, Tony ignored her and watched as Rebecca sat at their table. Great, she picked the chair beside him.
"Good morning, Rebecca." Ziva said as the two agents approached the table.
"Ziva. Tony." Rebecca acknowledged. "Gibbs and Tim were telling me how wonderfully they slept. How about you two?"
"I slept great." Ziva replied as they sat down. "But I don't think Tony slept too well."
"Oh. I'm sorry to hear that." Rebecca looked apologetically at Tony.
"I'll bet you are." Tony replied, digging into his scrambled eggs.
Gibbs frowned at Tony's less than hospitable answer, but decided to hold off as Rebecca stood up.
"Back in a moment." She announced and made her way to the breakfast buffet.
"Okay, DiNozzo…what's with the attitude?" Gibbs asked sharply.
"Nothing." Tony replied solemnly.
"That's a load of bull."
"Look, boss." Tony almost hissed. "We're here to solve a case, right? We do a bit a play acting but we're here to find our colonel. If you want me to play nice to Miss Lyndsey, I will, just let me know. But last time I checked, we were paid to solve cases…not be Miss Manners."
Tim looked up behind Tony and immediately looked down.
Ziva stared at something beyond his shoulder.
"I just realized that I need to finish setting up the room. Please be on time for 0730." Rebecca said softly behind him. She set her food down and left with just her coffee.
"Tony, you're being an ass." Gibbs proclaimed.
"Just being me." Tony retorted.
"No, you're not." Gibbs determined. "Now I don't know what the hell kind of sleep you had last night…or didn't have…frankly, I don't care. You're going to apologize to her, now."
Tony glared at Gibbs who stared back unflinching.
"Now, DiNozzo." The older man ordered.
"Fine." Tony pushed himself up from the table and grabbed the plate that Gibbs thrust towards him.
"She'll need food." Was the only explanation offered by Gibbs.
Tony left the dining room leaving the team to eat in awkward silence.
"Think it's because he didn't sleep well?" Tim asked, breaking the quiet moment.
Gibbs didn't respond. Internally, he was musing over the young agent's attitude. It was rather juvenile…the kind of attitude given when there was some form of attraction involved. The last thing he needed was Tony getting involved with Rebecca. The last thing he needed was explaining to Ducky how Tony became involved with Rebecca.
Tim bit his inner lip at the silence. Even Ziva wouldn't look at him.
Gibbs pushed his scrambled eggs around on his plate.
Tony approached the room designated for their team and peeked in. Sure enough, Rebecca was there, but judging at the layout she had finished setting the room up earlier.
He kicked himself for hurting her, but he really wanted to prove to Gibbs and himself that he was a good agent. And Rebecca with her long black hair, big blue eyes, perfectly manicured fingernails, soft lips, adventuresome spirit….Tony kicked himself again…Rebecca just wasn't helping him.
Still it galled him that she'd tell Gibbs stuff and not him.
Male ego. It was a bitch.
"Gibbs thought you might get hungry." Tony announced his presence to her back. She stood at a window, staring out.
"Leave it on the table, please." She didn't turn.
"Aren't you going to ask why Gibbs didn't bring it himself?"
"He probably ordered you to apologize to me."
"Yeah."
"I can tell by your tone that you won't mean it, so please spare us both the lie."
"It's not that."
Rebecca turned to look at him. Tony could see her eyes were watery, but not a tear had escaped. He marveled at how she controlled her emotions…allowing them existence, but not to rule her.
"Then what?" She asked, approaching slowly and eyeing the plate with the fruit and muffin she'd collected earlier.
Tony caught himself. What to tell her?
"Try telling me the truth, please." Rebecca grabbed a strawberry and bit into its red, juicy flesh.
Tony stared.
"Iwannabeagoodagent." He blurted and then slowed himself. "I mean, I know I'm good. But I want to prove it to Gibbs, to the team. Ziva's great…interrogation, stamina…she's like Gibbs with breasts. McGee and his damn computer skills. Abby's reign in the lab. Even Ducky, how corpses tell him things. What do I have to offer them?"
"Oh, Tony." Came the soft voice. "You have so much to offer them and they know it."
"Yeah, comedic relief." Was the sardonic reply.
"You don't know how helpful that can be." Rebecca touched his arm and looked up at him. "You remind them to be human…that the job can't consume them, even if it is their life. Besides you have all the skills of a good agent and deserve to be there…I doubt Gibbs would have let you stay this long if you didn't."
Tony shrugged.
Rebecca offered him the half-eaten berry still in her hand. His white teeth nipped the remaining red fruit from the green leaves.
"If I'm so good, why did you say you'd tell Gibbs about today and not me?"
Rebecca looked down and smiled in embarrassment.
"Because he's the boss…your boss. It's like how children will tell their mom stuff but not their dad. We all know that mom runs the house…information can never be hidden from our moms."
Tony nodded, slowly beginning to understand. He reached down to the table and picked up a ripe blackberry. Holding it up to Rebecca's mouth, he prompted her to open.
Biting back a hiss, he watched as her mouth enclosed over his finger and thumb. A warm, moist tongue flicked the berry out of his grasp and further into her mouth. Slowly, he removed his hand.
"You think I'm good?" Tony asked.
Rebecca smirked.
"Agent-wise." He clarified.
"Based on what Ducky's told me, yes, I do. You have your serious moments...when something means a lot to you. But you're also like Peter Pan, Tony. Full of life, refusing to grow up…sometimes, that can be misinterpreted and even found to be annoying by those that have grown up."
Tony's eyes began to sparkle.
"And that's the joy you get out of life, isn't it?" Rebecca asked.
He shrugged innocently.
"But it can't always be about you, Tony." She said, finding small honeydew melon ball and holding it up to his mouth.
"Hey, you're the one feeding me now." He replied and took her fingers into his mouth.
"Consider it my way of saying your apology is accepted."
"I didn't apologize."
A dark eyebrow raised up expectantly.
"Okay…I'm sorry for being a jerk. I'm trying to be a good agent. But I'm a man. You're gorgeous and tell me that you'd share stuff with Gibbs instead of me. The ego can…."
"Tony…" Rebecca held a finger against his mouth as he started to chew the green fruit. "I'm not feeding Gibbs."
"Would you?"
"With or without his dentures?"
Tony choked on the melon ball.
"That's my way of saying he's not my type…sure, he's handsome…." Rebecca grinned at Tony's glare.
"But he's too old for me…besides…." She started and trailed off.
Tony swallowed the fruit.
"Besides…" He prompted eagerly.
"Ducky warned me about you. Girls always want the ones they're warned about." One side of her mouth quirked up.