This is my very first attempt - please be gentle on me :o)
On your six …"
As Tony sat there he thought about how often he had said those words in the last how many years. Twelve years was it now? The two "pre-Kate" years, the two "Kate" years and now the eight "Ziva' years. Since when did he start counting his years based on the women he worked with, he thought with a smile. Anyway, too many years to start counting "on your six"s now.
He tried to remember the first time he said it. He knew he said it when he was at Rhode Island but he didn't really start saying it until he worked for Gibbs. Now the "on your six"s, the "gotcha Boss"s, the "right behind you"s kind of blended in together. Nothing surprising about that he supposed, for a not very vocal man, Gibbs always did prefer a vocal response to a command. Some of them were memorable, he had to admit. The "gotcha Boss" when Gibbs said he wasn't going to die, he certainly remembered that one. He never knew how everyone found out Gibbs had said it, he was pretty sure he was the only one in the room (maybe Nurse Emma was there, it was still pretty hazy even now), but he knew they had it wrong. Everyone said that Gibbs had ordered him not to die, and he had "gotcha Boss"ed in reply, but it didn't happen that way. Gibbs hadn't ordered him to do anything; it was a simple, direct assessment of the situation without any of the drama that had been surrounding him until then. Gibbs had simply said, "You will not die", in his mind, Tony had said "I understand now, thank-you for bringing this to my attention, I thought for a moment that it was all over and there was no hope", but instead "gotcha Boss" was his reply. At the time, he laughed to himself, it seemed the most appropriate response. But as for the "on your six"s, those weren't so memorable, weren't so special.
Tony didn't realise how often he said it until McGee asked him what it meant. Tim hadn't been there for very long when he asked "Tony, on your six, what does it mean?". He hadn't thought about it until Tim asked. "Well", he said "Picture a person as a clock, their front is 12 o'clock, their left is 9 o'clock, their right is 3 o'clock and their back is 6 o'clock. You know when someone says bad guys at 10 o'clock, this is what they mean". Tim looked at Tony. "Tony, I'm a navy brat, I know what it means, but what does it mean mean?"
"Oh, I'm not sure. I suppose it means I've got you covered, that I'm there to back you up, that sort of thing."
"Then how come you say it when we aren't in the field, when we are here or when you're on the phone to someone. Times when they don't need backup or covering"
"Um, well … I don't know, I've never really thought about it. I figure I just say it so the other person knows I'm there when they need me to do whatever they need me to do"
But now Tony was thinking about it. What did it actually mean? What did it really mean to have someone's six, and what did it mean for them to have yours? Sometimes he had said it without even thinking, an automatic response to a command given. That didn't mean he didn't mean it, he always meant it, but it just flipped of the tongue much like a yes sir would. There were other time times though, if he was really honest, that when he said it he wondered what trouble that response was going to get him into. There were the times that it was implied but never said. Tony thought you don't go diving off the end of a pier to get to a sinking car without being on someone's "six". You don't go around to someone's house, shoot their boyfriend and get your arm broken in the process without being on their "six". Geez, even telling someone how you peed yourself during your first shooting meant you were on their "six". Not that it was one sided though, others had been on his "six" plenty of times. And now, in retrospect (good word, Tony thought to himself), a lot of those times hadn't been about work at all. Maybe McGee had a point, maybe "on your six" wasn't always about making sure that someone had backup. Maybe it was sometimes about letting that person know that if and when they needed support it would be unquestionably there. Rock-solidly there. Without fail, without fault and without blame there. That's a comforting thought, Tony laughed, a bit too deep for me, but nice all the same.
Tony's nice and comforting thought was interrupted by a familiar voice, "Hey, DiNozzo". Well that's enough daydreaming he told himself, Gibbs was here and there was work to be done. "Good to see you Boss, didn't think you were going to make it". And as Gibbs sat next to Tony and placed a hand over the ever growing red stain on his crisp white shirt he just looked at him "I said I was coming". No you didn't, Tony thought, you didn't say that at all. "On my six, Boss?", "On your six, Tony".