CHAPTER TWELVE
All morning long secretaries, evidence personnel, IT technicians, communications specialists, and a bevy of other female government employees stopped by Tony's desk to tell him how good he looked on the news and to be regaled with the details of the hostage situation earlier that week. They all stood by his desk, attentive and awestruck, as he told the tale of Cal, Tyler and Mick over and over again. To the surprise of both Ziva and McGee, Tony did not embellish the story the more he told it. He simply told his eager listeners what happened and that everyone had been lucky that Calvin Davidson hadn't been a "body count" type of guy.
"But … weren't you scared?" said Bobbi from Personnel, her eyes wide and her cheeks slightly flushed.
"Well … sure," Tony said, "but you've got a job to do and you just, you know, do it."
She perched on the side of his desk, her face turning as thoughtful as the face of a 22-year-old receptionist who went to an all-girls college and still lived with her parents and three cats named Fluffy, Muffy and Scruffy can.
"I would have been terrified," she said, placing her hand on his and looking straight into his eyes.
"I think you'd have been just fine," he said with a smile, patting her hand with his other hand. They looked at each other for a few seconds and then Bobbi blushed bright pink and quickly stood up and composed herself.
"I'm just glad, um, that you're … you know …back safe," she said. She frowned. "Safely," she amended. "I'm always forgetting the 'ly' at the end of things … words … I really wish they had a grammar-check for brains, don't you?"
Tony smiled sweetly and said, "I do."
Bobbi turned a brighter red and hurried to the elevator to get back to her desk. She now had a picture in her mind of Tony looking at her and saying 'I do'. This would make all those fantasies about her becoming 'Mrs. Anthony DiNozzo' so much better. She couldn't wait to call the girls in the evidence garage!
"Nice," McGee said with a half-grin as Bobbi ran off.
"What?" Tony said with an innocent smile. "I didn't do anything."
Ziva looked up from her computer. "Did you just spill your soda, or is that charm oozing out from under your desk?" she said with a shake of the head.
Tony quickly looked at his soft drink cup, which was fine, and under his desk, which was ooze-free.
"Made ya look," she said, with a smug grin. McGee laughed, and Tony turned back to his work.
At noon, Abby insisted on taking Tony to lunch to celebrate his "not being dead." They went to Tony's favorite deli, where most of the patrons there made a fuss over him and his heroics, and where the deli owner – who had never before been known to give anything away – not only paid for Tony's meal but promised to name a sandwich after him.
"Make it prosciutto and provolone, toasted, with banana peppers and oil & vinegar," Tony requested. And that's how a sandwich named "The DiNozzo" became part of the menu at Arturo's Deli.
As Abby and Tony were returning from lunch, one of the IT guys caught up with them in the elevator. He had seen Tony on the news too but was really much more interested in Jess – who she was, what she meant to Tony, what their relationship was, and was she available. Tony took the guy's name and number and said he'd pass it along, but he made no promises. After the whole thing with Gibbs, Tony figured that the last thing Jess needed was an IT geek trying to get a date.
Tony and Abby were also intercepted in the elevator by Ducky, who pulled Tony down to Autopsy, made two cups of tea, and sat down to hear the whole story.
"I know that you've likely told the tale dozens of times today, my boy," Ducky apologized, "but I do so want to hear what happened. Do you mind?"
Tony didn't, of course, and he spent the next hour or so telling the kind of 'all details included' story that only someone like Ducky could fully appreciate. Ducky, for his part, filled in the narrative with "Oh my" and "Good lord" at all the appropriate places, asking questions about the various personalities Tony had met and wondering if perhaps young Harry, the applied nursing student, was a contemporary of Mr. Palmer's at medical school.
Tony actually enjoyed being able to relate the entire saga from the bank, including all of his thoughts and fears and insecurities about whether or not he was doing the right thing through it all.
"I think the worst moment was when Mick started yelling about the FBI not doing anything right," Tony said. He blew out a breath and shook his head. "I thought he was going to snap right there." He looked at Ducky with a kind of wonder in his expression. "But Cal had it handled. It was pretty strange, really," Tony said. "It was like he was channeling Gibbs."
Ducky chuckled. "Well," he said, standing up and taking the teacups and other dishes to the sink, "there are bound to be more of them out there."
Tony chuckled and nodded. "The tricky part is keeping track of which ones use their powers for good versus those who use their powers for evil."
"Indeed," Ducky said with a sage nod. "Indeed."
By about four o'clock, the novelty of Tony-the-Hero had worn off and it was work as usual. Jess had finally e-mailed him to give him the scoop on her talk with Gibbs. After calling Tony a chicken for sprinting off so quickly, she wrote: "It really wasn't all that bad. I told him that I thought he was a great guy, but that there was really nothing there, and he agreed with me. I think we parted as friends, which I realize is not the way any of us expected it to go. It was very grown-up, really. Of course, now I'll be stuck with nothing to do on Saturday nights, but such is life."
"Poor, poor, pitiful Jess," Tony teased in his return e-mail. And then he passed along the IT guy's number, writing that "this computer guy – who is NOT my boss, please make note – cornered me in the elevator to tell me how hot you were … you should call him." He smiled as he hit the 'send' button. What were friends for, anyway?
They were all just about to call it a day when a late call came in that pulled the entire team up to MTAC.
"We have reports of an Abu Sayyaf terrorist trying to assimilate onto the crew of a Navy cargo ship," Director Shepard began as soon as the team was seated. "However, we also have an NCIS operative – Abog Galib" – on board who we believe has identified the terrorist among the crew. We need to send someone onto the ship to make contact with Galib and collect any information he has. That someone, Jethro, will be you."
"Okay," Gibbs said, taking a sip of his coffee. "How?"
"You'll be boarding the ship tonight for a routine credentials check – passports and shipping orders – just prior to them sailing. Galib's passport will be in question. You'll pull him aside, get his intel, and then clear him to sail. He'll monitor the situation on ship; we'll pass along the information you receive to Navy Intel, who will intercept the ship en route and capture the Abu Sayyaf radical."
"Sounds pretty simple," Gibbs said, nodding.
"It should be," Director Shepard acknowledged. Then she looked at Tony. "I'm sorry we can't give you a more exciting first day back, but it can't all be bank robberies and interviews on the evening news." She smiled. "Congratulations, by the way," the Director said with obvious pride. "You made us look good on Monday. I've had a dozen phone calls from all levels to congratulate the agency. There's talk of an Award of Merit being presented. And the FBI wants to borrow you for their Hostage Negotiation unit."
To everyone's surprise, Tony did not puff up at the praise. In fact, he seemed somewhat embarrassed by the attention. He blushed slightly and looked at his feet, a sheepish smile on his face. "Yeah," he said. "Fornell mentioned that."
The Director continued. "I told them that I'd pass along the offer and leave it up to you." Then she changed back to a more serious tone and indicated, again, the pictures of the ship and past Abu Sayyaf operations behind her. "For the time being, though, you're needed here. You'll be running the operation from the docks."
Tony looked up, any hint of embarrassment gone. "Yes Ma'am," he said.
"That's all," said Director Shepard, as she turned and left MTAC to return to her office.
"The Hostage Negotiation unit, Tony?" McGee said, obviously impressed. "That's pretty cool. You didn't tell us that."
"No need to, Probie," Tony said casually. "I wasn't really considering it at all."
"Too much work, Tony?" Ziva teased.
"No, Zee-vah," Tony teased back. "I just couldn't bear the time away from you." He cocked his head to the side and smiled sweetly. Ziva made a face and was about to answer when Gibbs cut her off.
"We have a mission that goes down in less than four hours," he said as he led the team out of MTAC and back down to the bullpen. "Maybe you can all wait until later to decide what DiNozzo wants to be when he grows up." As soon as he said the words, Gibbs again remembered what Ducky had said about him not giving Tony enough credit, and he again reminded himself to make good on his promise to Jess.
"On it, Boss," Tony and McGee said, in unison, as the three agents went to their desks.
By 9 p.m., the team was dockside at the Norfolk Naval Yard. They were waiting for the final go-ahead from the Director. Ziva and McGee were doing a final sweep of the area for anything suspicious while Tony and Gibbs set up the surveillance equipment and double-checked the timeline. At 9:15 they got the signal, and Gibbs glanced towards the car that held Ziva and McGee, making a "we're rolling" signal. He looked at Tony, who gave him a thumbs-up, and then Gibbs headed to the ship. Tony was just about to join the others in the car when his movements were interrupted by Gibbs.
"Tony," Gibbs said, turning back as he approached the gangplank. "Monday night, after the bank thing. I never got a chance to tell you."
"Tell me what, Boss?" Tony said, a bit distracted as he ran the op scenario through in his mind one more time.
"You did good work in there," Gibbs said, walking back and putting a hand on Tony's shoulder. Tony was startled, and looked straight at his boss.
"What?" Tony said, in surprise.
"You did good work in the bank. You're shaping up to be a great agent," Gibbs continued.
"Boss?" Tony said, confused now.
"Don't make me say it again, DiNozzo," Gibbs said with a slight smile and a look designed to force the point home.
Tony smiled. "Thanks Boss."
Gibbs smiled and nodded, and then he turned and headed up the gangplank to board the ship.