Well, it's been awhile, huh? I am so terribly sorry about the long wait, it has been very hectic. Although, for once, I actually have good news to give! After a myriad of tests, it has finally been concluded that the surgery I had last year was a success, which means that I no longer have to worry about that part of my health for a good, long while. And I got the highest overall academic marks for my year, so things are slowly looking up.
But enough of my rambling. Read, enjoy the longer chapter, and let me know what you thought!
"Well, according to the scuttlebutt…"
Tony bound up the steps to the NCIS building, cursing in his head. Jeanne had wanted to meet up for coffee this morning, which meant that he was now nearly forty-five minutes late for work. Gibbs was going to kill him.
As the senior field agent hurried over to the front desk to sign in, he also bitterly thought about how many more rumours this would fuel about his so-called incompetency.
"Hey Jack," he greeted quickly, scrawling his name, ID number, and arrival time into the book.
"Hey, Tony," Jack replied with an easy smile. As Tony rushed through to get to the stairwell, not wanting to bother waiting for the elevator, he also called out, "Hey, and congrats, man!"
Tony paused in front of the door to the stairwell, one hand stretched out in front of him, ready to open it. He looked back at the older, slightly balding security guard, completely confused as to where the out-of the blue statement came from. However, catching sight of the clock and realizing that he would soon be nearly an hour late, he decided to just ignore it, and opened the door, taking the steps two at a time.
But as he cut across one of the floors in order to get onto the right side of the building that the MCRT offices were, his confusion was heightened as agents called out, "Good job, DiNozzo," or "Not bad, Tony, not bad at all!" and a few friendly, "About damn time, hey, man?" to boot.
Tony had been expecting derogatory whispers as he walked by. Those, he had gotten used to. They had been very prevalent over the last couple of months, especially when Gibbs had returned and shunted him back down to senior field. He most certainly hadn't expected to be on the receiving end of awed, friendly, and envious looks from half of the damn agency. Especially considering that he couldn't think of a single thing that could warrant the sudden shift in attitude.
Finally getting out on the right floor, he walked to their bullpen, trying to put everyones behaviour out of his mind and bracing himself for the dressing down he was likely going to get for being nearly an hour late for work.
"Sorry, boss," he called out, throwing his bag behind his desk, not even noticing as it knocked over and then fell on top of his favourite Mighty Mouse stapler, and looking over towards Gibbs' desk. "I, uh… had some stuff to take care of… it won't happen again," he swore, determinedly looking only at Gibbs, knowing that Ziva and McGee were probably snickering about his screw up. He opened his mouth again, trying to come up with a better excuse, when he registered the look on Gibbs' face. He looked slightly… worried? That couldn't be right… Gibbs never got worried, not unless one of them was in mortal danger.
"What were you taking care of," Ziva asked before Gibbs even had the chance to open his mouth. Tony turned to her, hiding his slight surprise. None of them ever interrupted Gibbs when they knew he was going to give a dressing down. It was like an addendum to rule number 23 – "Never, ever bother Gibbs in interrogation (or when he's just yelling at somebody)."
Ziva was leaning forward on her desk, seemingly unaware that she had just broken one of the major unwritten rules of Team Gibbs. Her eyes were narrowed, looking at Tony calculatingly, as though she were searching for something. For what, Tony had no idea.
"Just stuff," Tony responded vaguely, wishing that he had managed to come up with a better excuse while he had been driving here. Although, to be fair, considering the number of road rules that he had been breaking in his attempt to get here faster, it was no surprise that he had been unable to keep his mind on anything except the road in front of him.
"Stuff," Gibbs repeated, making Tony turn towards him, bracing himself for the glare that was bound to be trained on him. He blinked in surprise when he realized that there was no glare. In fact, Gibbs didn't look angry at all. He was looking at Tony as though searching for something. He also looked tense, but not as if he were about to lose his temper. Tony had had enough experience with that look to be able to recognize it without a problem. This look, on the other hand, he didn't recognize at all.
Thinking about everything that had happened since he'd stepped into the building, from all the random compliments, to Gibbs not being mad at him, and Ziva (and even McGee, he noted with a quick glance) looking at him strangely, Tony was seriously starting to wonder whether he'd stepped into some alternate reality.
"Yeah…" Tony answered his boss weakly, still trying to work out what the hell was going on.
"That's all you have to say?" Gibbs asked, eyes narrowing as he stared at his senior field agent.
"…Yes," Tony stated uncertainly, hesitating a moment, trying frantically to work out what Gibbs wanted him to say.
"Agent DiNozzo, perfect timing," Director Shepherd called out, making everyone in their bullpen turn around to where she was standing on the steps leading up to MTAC and her office. The rest of the agents on the floor were also attempting to discreetly listen in, making Gibbs scowl when he noticed it. He hated gossip. He especially hated gossip when it was about one of his people, and about something that he had no clue about.
"Can I have a quick word with you, please?" Shepherd requested, hiding her smile at everyones reactions to her request to talk to Tony, who, incidentally, was looking horribly confused as to what was going on.
"Uh, I need to…" Tony said feebly, trying to find an excuse to put off his briefing with the Director until such a time that Gibbs wasn't furious with him for being late. Even if Gibbs was being unusually understanding, and wasn't yelling at him in front of the whole bullpen, Tony was under no illusions that Gibbs was definitely mad at him. He had to fight down the urge to just tell him that disappearing for one hour was a heck of a lot better then disappearing for four months, but knew that that would be asking for some kind of public humiliation, and he really didn't feel like he could take any more of that.
"I'm sure Agent Gibbs can spare you for a few minutes," the director interrupted him, turning around to head back up the stairs, motioning for him to follow her. She studiously avoided looking at Gibbs, who was scowling at her fiercely, probably thinking that she was going to take another step in transferring his senior agent away from Washington.
"Right," Tony muttered, throwing an awkward glance at his team before following the Director up the steps. "I'll be right back," he threw over his shoulder, wincing when he caught the look on Gibbs face, knowing that he was definitely going to be chewed out when he returned. He had been hoping to finish putting his desk back together today, too, since he still hadn't managed to put everything back to its rightful place with all the switching of desks that had occurred. But it looked like he wouldn't have the chance, today.
There was silence in their bullpen for several minutes after Tony disappeared into the Directors office. The rest of the office had already diverted their attention from the area after Tony and Director Shepherd had left, though many of them were talking together in hushed whispers.
Gibbs was staring at the spot where his senior field agent had been standing. Tony had winced when he had looked over at Gibbs. The ex-cop obviously hadn't been happy that Gibbs had observed the Director asking Tony for a meeting, which proved that Tony really was actively trying to hide the fact that he was leaving from the team. He knew he was still scowling, but he was so mad at himself for letting the situation with his second in command, his protégé, deteriorate to the extent that Tony didn't share such a major decision with him.
The silence in the bullpen was finally broken by McGee, who said uncertainly, "You don't think-"
"Think what, McGee," Ziva interrupted angrily, gripping her computer mouse tightly enough that her fingers were beginning to turn white, "That Tony was probably late because he was clearing out his apartment, and he still does not even want to tell us that he is leaving!" She clicked at her keyboard viciously, as though trying to take out her hurt and anger on the inanimate object.
"At least he hasn't cleared out his desk," McGee offered weakly, as though trying to find proof that Tony would never leave without giving them ample warning beforehand. He pushed off from his desk, rolling his chair over to the desk that had been his for four months, as though wanting to prove his statement.
But as he looked at the belongings strewn across the desk, he felt his heart go cold as he realized that there were definitely not as many objects as there usually were on the desk.
"What," Ziva asked sharply when she noticed McGee pale slightly. Hearing her tone, Gibbs also looked over from where he had been staring at his computer screen and brooding.
"There is some stuff missing," McGee admitted, looking almost defeated. "Like his Mighty Mouse stapler, some of his knick-knacks… his coffee cup and letter opener are both still here, though," the junior agent added, as though determined to find something to tie the senior agent to the desk that had belonged to him for so long.
"Coffee," Gibbs grunted suddenly, sparing one more glance at the photograph he had been staring at, which had been snapped when Abby had dragged him, Ducky and Tony to the fair. They had had fun then, no strained tension, no secrets… just enjoyment. He exited the program as he stood swiftly, grabbing his gun from his drawer and then slamming it shut as he strode to the elevator.
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Clutching his extra-large, extra-strong cup of hot, black coffee, Gibbs strode into autopsy, bypassing Palmer and Agent Lee, who were going into another room to take care of some paperwork, judging by the files held by Lee.
"Did you know?" he barked as he entered the main area.
"Ah, Special Agent Gibbs," Ducky greeted formally, and slightly tensely, "did I know what, exactly?"
"About Tony, Ducky," Gibbs snapped, ignoring the iciness in the ME's demeanour, and addressing him by his nickname for the first time since returning from Mexico.
"Ah," Ducky said in realization, pausing in the act of removing his bloody gloves for a moment as he tried to work out what to say. Deciding to set aside his anger at the lead agent for the moment, he stated, "I had heard some of the rumours that are floating around. I'm guessing from your reaction that Tony really will be leaving us?"
"You don't sound all that surprised," Gibbs answered him, sounding slightly suspicious. He knew how much support the elderly ME could give, and had suspected that Tony had gone to him for advice during the time that he had been team leader. With that idea, it wasn't too much of a leap to think that Tony had consulted Ducky when first being offered the Rota position. Ignoring the stab of hurt he felt when he thought about Tony – the man that he had treated as his protégé – going to Ducky and not him for advice, Gibbs focused on Ducky's answer.
Feeling a stab of annoyance at his friends constant stubbornness, Ducky answered somewhat sharply and pointedly, "Well, considering what a brilliant job he did at being the team leader of a Major Crimes Response Team, it does not come as much of a surprise that he received another, permanent position when it suddenly turned out that the other was merely temporary. Of course, the deplorable way in which it was made clear that the position was temporary could have also been a factor in his decision."
Gibbs couldn't help but flinch at the harsh but truthful words spoken by the ME. Watching Ducky head across the room to wash his hands, it really hit home how much he was to blame for his current predicament. His memory may not have completely returned, but he remembered virtually everything about his team. He had known that Tony and McGee would both get slightly hurt and insecure with returning to their previous positions, and had vowed to try and lessen the impact as much as possible.
It had seemed that the praise and attention he had given McGee had worked on the junior agent, but when he had attempted to do the same to Tony, it had almost been brushed off. Even then, he hadn't realized the extent of the damage he had caused. He had simply assumed that after four months of leading the team, Tony's confidence had built up enough that he no longer craved praise as he used to.
He'd been a short-sighted idiot, and he was paying dearly for it now.
He wanted to ask Ducky if he thought that there was a chance that Tony could be talked out of it, but he had to admit that he was afraid of the answer. Besides, however grudgingly, he did have to admit that Tony was ready for a promotion. He just hadn't expected to completely lose him at the same time. In the rare times he'd imagined it, he'd thought of Tony coming down to his basement, sitting on the bottom step and bitching about his team or asking his advice on a difficult case. He'd expected to still be able to act as the mentor to the former cop that had somehow, improbably, wormed his way into his life and heart all those years ago in Baltimore.
He shook his head and sighed as he headed out the doors, calling back tersely, "I'm taking the day off."
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Finished with debriefing the director about his progress with Jeanne, Tony walked down the steps as slowly as he dared, dreading the comments he was probably going to get from his fellow team members. Not to mention the fact that Gibbs still hadn't said anything about being so late…
Walking into the bullpen, Tony unconsciously straightened up, steeling himself for the confrontation, only to look around in confusion when he realized that Gibbs wasn't even at his desk. He sat down at his own desk cautiously, still looking around, thinking that maybe Gibbs would pop up out of nowhere as he was wont to do quite often.
Turning to Ziva and McGee, unnerved by their furtive glances and lack of comments, he opened his mouth to ask where Gibbs was, but was given the answer by McGee before he could even voice the question.
"Gibbs took the day off and went home," McGee told him, setting aside his pen and turning to face Tony, looking like he was arguing with himself over whether to say more or not.
"He took the day?" Tony responded sharply, immediately feeling worried as he continued, "Is he sick, or something?"
"He is fine," Ziva answered him, throwing him an exasperated look, as if he should know why Gibbs decided to take the day off.
Feeling worried that maybe Gibbs was still feeling some of the effects of his coma (it could explain his strange behaviour earlier), Tony got up again and headed over to the elevator, calling out behind him, "Going to see Abby," hoping that maybe she had some more information about what was going on.
Getting into the elevator, he gave a genuine smile to one of his fellow MCRT senior field agents, Mick. "Hey, man," he greeted, hitting the button for the lab as the doors closed.
"Hey, Tony," Mick said, returning the greeting and scrutinizing the other agent. Tony still looked stressed and overworked, but it didn't seem quite as bad as it had been.
Despite the fact that he knew that he would miss the ex-cops company and insight, he was glad that Tony was going to be moving. Tony didn't deserve to be the constant source of cruel gossip, and not to mention the way that his fellow team members treated him.
Mick didn't care how many times Tony called them 'a sign of affection', those headslaps Agent Gibbs constantly gave out seemed like abuse to him. And then there were also the verbal putdowns that he could sometimes hear as he crossed the squadroom, or that Tony admitted to being hurt by after a couple of drinks.
If it weren't for the fact that he could see the worry in Gibbs any time that Tony was in danger, and that Tony had been incredibly vehement the one time he had voiced his idea, Mick would probably have reported Gibbs to IA long before now.
"Hey, listen, Adam and I were just saying that we have to take you out for a couple of drinks to celebrate," Mick said to Tony, shifting to face the other agent. Actually, going from an idea that Flora had given them, they were considering throwing him a surprise going away party. They thought it would be a way to show Tony that he had been appreciated here, and that they would be sorry to lose him.
"Hey, Mick?" Tony asked, again trying to work out what he had done that was apparently such a cause for celebration.
"Yeah?" Mick responded, slightly surprised at Tony's reaction. Or rather, lack of reaction when reminded of his promotion.
"What, exactly, are we supposed to be celebrating?"
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So… what did you all think? Please, drop me a review and let me know! Oh, and this time, I really do promise that the update will be quicker. :)
