A/N: Wow! Thanks so much, guys, for the great feedback on this! :) Totally made my day, didn't expect that at all :) Hope you like the next one, too :)

Chapter Two: 22

"Morning, Boss," Tony greeted Gibbs the next day.

He didn't get a verbal reply, but the older man gave a slight nod, not taking his eyes off of the computer screen in front of him. Tony all but threw his backpack into a corner before he settled at his desk, booting up his own PC.

"Is it just me or is it hot in here?" he then asked, shedding his jacket and rolling up the sleeves of his dress shirt.

"AC is broken," Gibbs answered, his glance resting on Tony for a moment.

"Jeez," Tony sighed, already feeling a lot hotter all of a sudden. "Hope it's not going to be as bad as a couple of years ago. You remember? I practically wanted to run around naked all day."

"Don't you want to do that all the time?" McGee's voice traveled down the hallway from where he had just left the elevator.

"Not when you're around," Tony joked back, a slight smile on his lips.

"Don't say that," McGee teased back, "maybe I'm your soul mate and you just haven't realized yet."

"Sure, McGoogle, unfortunately for you, your clock has long started counting up and not down like mine does. And remember, we kind of have already met like what? Nine years ago?"

"Yeah," McGee answered and laughed, shaking his head as he sat down at his desk, involuntarily looking at his own arm and the imprinted clock that read a little over a year by now since he had met Delilah. "Why were you talking about getting naked anyway?"

"AC's out," Gibbs answered before Tony had even opened his mouth.

"Shit," McGee cursed under his breath, his glance wandering to the windows and the sun that was already burning down on them despite it being pretty early.

"Don't be a wuss, McGee," Tony couldn't help but quip. "I mean, look at the boss, he's still wearing all of his 25 layers and drinking hot coffee."

"DiNozzo!" Gibbs retorted. "If you won't shut up now and do your work, I'll get you 25 layers."

"Shutting up, Boss," Tony replied sheepishly, turning his glance towards the screen of his computer to check his emails.

He was really growing hot by now and he wondered in earnest how Gibbs was able to sit there like that, wearing his jacket, his polo and a long sleeve underneath it all, without breaking a sweat. Just as he was about to ask about it despite his better instincts, Gibbs shook his head and actually shed his jacket. He caught Tony looking at him and smirked ever so slightly, but said nothing. Tony followed his lead and actually started to get his work done.

#

A couple of hours later, Tony stood up to get the -what felt like- 20th water bottle out of the freezer in the break room. He had by now shed his dress shirt, too and was only wearing a t-shirt. He wasn't the only one, though. McGee had done the same and even Bishop, who was usually busy abiding by the rules, was only wearing a black tank top.

"Can you get me a Coke Light, please?" Bishop piped up when he was just about to round the corner.

"Sure thing, wouldn't want you to drink more than a calorie, would I?"

Bishop just snorted, so Tony went his way, suddenly feeling a little annoyed. It wasn't exactly the fact that Bishop refused to drink anything with sugar in it or that it was hot like hell or that he had gotten almost no work done yet, it was something else entirely. He was feeling annoyed at himself. That was weird. His own confusion settled in and a moment later he realized that it wasn't him who was annoyed – it was that strange kind of connection again.

Subtly shaking his head, he got the drinks and went back to the bullpen, wondering whether everybody suddenly felt that connected to their future other half. He was pretty sure he hadn't felt like that the last time, but maybe that was because he'd been younger then, had thought to be in love with Wendy despite his better instincts and had thought to be the boss of his own feelings. That had changed since then. He knew that he couldn't fight it any longer, couldn't make the borrowed emotions disappear.
And yet, he still didn't feel all that excited about meeting him or her. He knew that that would probably change once he would have seen them for the first time, but sometimes he wondered why it couldn't be easier. Why couldn't you actually choose who to love? The world would be a much simpler place without all the regrets and missed opportunities.

Shaking his head again to get rid of these gloomy thoughts, he finally rounded the last corner towards the others. He handed the Coke to Ellie and was just about to turn around when she caught him by his arm.

"Wow, you're close," she said, somewhat awestruck.

"I'm what?" Tony asked slightly confused as he hadn't expected her to say anything.

"Close to meeting the one," Bishop grinned ever so slightly, still not letting go of his arm.

"Yeah, well," he just shrugged. "We'll see… I've been closer before, and still here I am."

"How close?"

"A little over twenty-four hours, I guess. Why?"

"Are you sure?" Bishop asked, furrowing a brow. "That's really weird. I've read a lot about the subject and usually once you're under six days the deal's done. You know if nothing like dying happens before."

Tony looked at her for a moment, considering what she had just said. He knew that she was right, he'd read the same thing a couple of times, too, but he had never thought much about it. There were so many theories flying around about the topic that he didn't believe any of them. Nobody knew for sure why and how the clocks worked, so he wouldn't start worrying about them now all of a sudden.

"Read the same thing," McGee finally joined their conversation. "What you reckon happened?"

"How should I know?" Tony replied, shrugging, as he went back to his desk, casting a furtive glance towards Gibbs who didn't seem to be paying attention to them. "Maybe they just found somebody else for the time being or I did, I don't know."

"Did you?"

"Well, McGee, I was engaged to Wendy at the time, so maybe."

"Did it happen when you met her?" Bishop asked now, still looking at him with a thoughtful expression.

"No, I'd known her for years before that."

"Curious," Ellie just replied, finally averting her glance from him. "Got to read up on that."

"Don't," Tony answered. "It doesn't matter, really."

"Okay, if you say so," she replied and bit her lip for a second before she turned towards their boss. "Boss?" she asked, her voice sounding a bit smaller like every time she talked to him.

"Hm," he just grunted, not looking up from the files he was reading.

"Have you heard about someone being that close before?"

Tony grimaced and gestured grandly, trying to get Bishop's attention. The topic was a no-go for Gibbs for obvious reasons. Tony had caught glimpses of Gibbs' own clock every now and then and every time it had made him sad reading the big zeroes on it, indicating Shannon's death. Bishop finally turned to look at him and looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"What?" she mouthed.

Tony just shook his head, only now remembering that Ellie didn't know a thing about Gibbs' late wife, hadn't probably even seen Gibbs' arm yet. No wonder, when the guy always wore these long sleeves to work. But then, Gibbs finally turned to look at Bishop with an indecipherable look on his face.

"Does that have anything to do with the cold case?" he asked, his voice quiet, his lips forming a tight line.

"N-No," she answered, casting another almost panicky look at Tony before she turned back to her work.

Gibbs stared at her for a second before he, probably unconsciously, rubbed a hand over his right forearm. Tony let out a soft sigh which caused Bishop to look up at him again and Gibbs to glare at him for a split of a second.

"Still think it's weird," she said with a shrug before they all went back to work again and for the first time in over thirteen years, Tony couldn't help but think so, too.

What exactly had changed back then?