Disclaimer": I don't own any of the characters from NCIS- they belong to the awesome people who created the show in the first place!

Author's note: I just wanted to say thank you VERY much for your patience and all of the wonderful reviews! Your comments about my story give me inspiration and encourage me to continue writing. Thank you very much! And now, without further ado, here's chapter 4!

Chapter 4

Nicknames

McGee hadn't been typing at his computer for more than five minutes when Vance suddenly arrived at the foot of Gibbs' desk, saying, "Gibbs, I need to see you in my office, now,"

Gibbs stood up from his chair and walked up to Director Vance's office with Vance. Gibbs was gone for several minutes, but when he returned, he addressed the team by saying,

"Get up; grab your gear. We've got a dead marine west of D.C. We've got a new case to work on. Now. Director's orders," He commanded.

McGee willingly complied. A new case would give his brain a chance to reboot after so many hours of working on a specific case. It would also give him some time to rethink some thoughts through and possibly start looking at their current case at a new angle. As he was pondering through different thoughts mentally, Gibbs added,

"Ziva, you're driving." Tony was not very enthusiastic when he heard that.

"Boss, why does Ziva get to drive? Am I not a better driver than her? I could get us to the crime scene just as fast as she does, without making us get sick!" he complained.

"Are you questioning my judgment?" Gibbs asked Tony with a bemused, you'd-better-not-be-questioning-me glare.

"Um, no Boss," Tony replied. "I'm shutting up now," he said with his usual grin.

"Good," Gibbs replied. "The only reason that I chose Ziva is because she is able to drive us to the crime scene the fastest, without causing too many accidents," he added. "You got a problem with that?" he asked Tony.

"Um, no, Boss. Like I said earlier, I'm shutting up now," Tony answered.

"Good," Gibbs replied. "You will be doing us all a favor,"

Tony's jaw dropped as he stared at his boss, first with a look of shock, then confusion, and finally fake hurt.

"What?" he blurted out before he could stop himself.

"You heard what I said, DiNozzo," Gibbs said.

Ziva snickered in the background, but stopped when Gibbs glared at her. McGee couldn't help but laugh out loud as well.

"Oh, stop laughing at me, McGiggles!" Tony yelled at McGee.

"I'm sorry, but I couldn't help myself," McGee told Tony. "No offense, but it's kind of funny when your mouth gets you in trouble with Gibbs," he finished.

"McGee is right," Ziva added. "I thought that it was very funny when Gibbs said that you'd be doing us all a favor when you said that you'd be shutting up," Ziva started to smile with amusement at Tony.

"Ha ha, it's not very funny," Tony started, but was cut off by a head-slap from Gibbs.

Thwack!

Gibbs head slapped Tony on the back of his head. "Alright, let's get moving, Now!" he roared. "I want to be at the crime scene two minutes ago!" he yelled.

"Got it, Boss," Ziva responded.

McGee was grabbing the rest of his gear when Tony yelled across the room,

"Come on, Probie! We're going to be even later than we already are! What's taking you so long, McTardy?"

"I'm on my way right now!" McGee answered. As he grabbed the rest of his gear, he counted the different nicknames that Tony had called him so far this morning.

"Let's see… I've been called Probie at least five times, McGiggles is a new one, what else… oh, there's McTardy as well! How could I forget that?" McGee sighed. "When will Tony ever stop calling me those stupid nicknames?"

As McGee thought about his nicknames, he rushed down the NCIS headquarters' stairs instead of taking the elevator. The more he thought about the names Tony had called him, the more irritated he became. But at the same time he became irritated, he realized that he had an attachment to the names that Tony called him. It was like Tony called him those names in a brother-like fashion instead of in a mean, bullying way. But those names, those words, still hurt McGee sometimes worse than physical pain.

"Come on, stop thinking about nicknames now. I've got to clear my mind and focus on the new case right now!" McGee mentally chided himself.

As he finished his last sentence, he arrived at the garage and found that Gibbs, Tony and Ziva were already waiting for him.

"Gee, McTardy, when will you ever stop being so late?" Tony taunted.

Ouch. That hurt, once again. "Tony just won't stop calling me those names now, will he," thought McGee. "It's even worse now that he called me that in front of Gibbs and Ziva," he thought. This day was getting worse by the minute.

"What took you so long, Probie?" Gibbs asked.

Great. Just great. Now Gibbs is calling me names!" thought McGee.

"I decided to take the stairs instead of the elevator," McGee told everyone. "I'm sorry that I kept you waiting! I honestly didn't mean to do that." He said with utmost sincerity in his voice.

"Actually, I got down here 30 just 10 seconds before you did," Tony thought, but didn't say that aloud. Instead, he decided to tease McGee some more.

"Oh, so you're trying to work out some more instead, McFlubber? So that you will lose some more of that fat?" Tony jeered. He didn't mean to say that out loud, but the words came tumbling out of his mouth before he could stop them. After he finished that sentence, he realized that he had gone too far. One glimpse at McGee's face was enough to tell him that in an instant.

McGee looked down quickly to hide the blush that was creeping upon his face and headed towards the back of the van. He tried not to take Tony's words to heart, but he couldn't avoid doing so this time. Those words were the worst words that he had heard that morning, aside from Gibbs' lecture. Did Tony still think that he was fat? That he was made of nothing but flubber? Those words hurt him like hell! McGee had been working out for the past year, in fact the past two years, and he had lost 23 pounds. But did Tony even bother to notice that? No! McGee couldn't believe that he was still as fat as he once was. But was he really?

Ziva watched the exchange between Tony and McGee occur. She heard the words come out of Tony's mouth and saw how hurt McGee was after hearing them. She saw him blush and try to hide it, and then head towards the back of the van. When he was out of sight, she stared coldly and venomously at Tony, who shrunk back from her gaze.

"What?" Tony asked half jokingly, but could no longer play a cool approach. He had to admit that he had gone a little too far with his words that time.

"Did you really have to say that, Tony?" Ziva asked in a cold, steely voice. "Can't you see how much that hurt McGee?" she asked with venom in her voice. "I can't believe that you said that Tony, well, actually, I can. I will tell you this now so that you never forget it- if you ever hurt McGee again by saying those cold, thoughtless and cruel words that you just said, then I will personally come after you with my pen and a stapler," she threatened.

Tony gulped. He could tell that Ziva meant what she said, and that was not an idle threat.

"Okay, so I went a little too far that time, and I know it," he responded.

"A little?" Ziva exclaimed. "That was way too far, Tony!"

"Okay, okay, I know!" Tony snapped. "I'll apologize to him later," he replied.

"You'd better," Ziva threatened once more, "or else."

Gibbs saw the whole exchange take place between Tony and McGee, and then Tony and Ziva. He sighed. Today was not the day for arguments between his agents. He decided that he wouldn't interfere in his agents' affairs, and that instead he would let them work it out in their spare time. But right now, they had a case to work on.

"Alright, enough you two," Gibbs said in a low growl. "We have a crime scene to investigate, so let's get moving, Now!" he roared.

"Yes, Boss," both Tony and Ziva answered in unison.

When Gibbs looked around for McGee, he saw that he was already in the van, waiting for them. How ironic was it that at first, they had been waiting for McGee, but now, McGee was waiting for them.

As Tony and Ziva entered the van along with Gibbs, McGee opted to sit in the back so that way he could avoid direct contact with Tony. Tony seemed to understand, so he let McGee wander in the back until he reached a seat that was located as far away from Tony as possible.

McGee sighed. He was still replaying Tony's hurtful words in his head, along with the events that had occurred earlier than morning. Today was not going to be a good day.

Author's Note: And so we finish Chapter 4! It looks like I'm going to make this story longer than I had originally thought, so I want to say thank you for your patience in advance and don't worry! More action should come in the next few chapters! Thanks again for the wonderful, encouraging reviews, and Happy Easter!