A/N: Thanks again for the reviews! :) Loved every single one of them. This chapter will set the last of the groundwork in this 'world'... things will move on quicker from now on ;) Hope you like it.

Chapter Three: 21

The next day, Tony tried to look as busy as possible. They still hadn't gotten a new case and it was already the sixth in a row that he was looking at the same old cold case. Frankly, he had known since the first time looking at it that nothing new would pop up, but still he was there, working on it - or at the moment, pretending to be working on it. In reality, he was browsing the internet for possible reasons why his clock had changed so suddenly thirteen years ago. There was a lot of nonsense online, there was always a lunatic who'd tell you that your clock was defect or whatever. But there were more plausible ones, too. Some thought, just like Tony did, that they simply chose to see somebody else that day, that they were deliberately walking the other direction. This was still what Tony was thinking, too. Then, there were again others who claimed that you didn't only have one soul mate waiting there for you. The clocks would change so quickly because one of your soul mates had found another one, but there were still others out there for you. Tony reckoned it was a comfortable thought, but it surely didn't explain the millions of clocks that had just turned to zero. Like Gibbs'.

Thinking of the man, Tony looked up and almost let out a startled yell when the bossman himself was standing right in front of him, raising an eyebrow.

"What's up?" he managed to choke out, still trying to recover from the initial shock.

Gibbs just snorted and shook his head, a thoughtful expression on his face. "Pack up for today. Director's orders. Knowing our luck, we'll get called in an hour or so anyway, but might as well try to get home."

"Seriously?" Bishop piped up across from him. "That's awesome. This way I'll actually get to see Jake before he flies to L.A."

"What's he doing there?" Tony questioned while he shut down his computer, glad that Gibbs hadn't seen him not working.

"Visiting his grandma. It's her birthday tomorrow."

"That's nice," Tony replied, packing up the rest of his things. "Why aren't you going?"

"She doesn't like me all that much," Ellie replied, screwing up her face. "She thinks I'm too blond."

"But she's from L.A.!" McGee joined their conversation when they were already standing in front of the elevators.

"Yeah, well, I don't know," Bishop replied laughing, but Tony didn't pay attention anymore as he was suddenly hit by a confusion that clearly wasn't his own.

He let out a sigh and turned around, waving at Gibbs who was still sitting at his desk, watching them closely with a speculative look on his face. He just nodded in reply to Tony's wave and then the elevator was there, effectively interrupting their exchange. Tony got into the elevator, still not listening to his colleagues. Something was bothering him and it surely wasn't his amusement over Bishop's grandma-in-law or the weird confused feeling inside of him. Acting on intuition, he pressed the button to Abby's lab. Maybe she could make him see sense.

Arriving there, he said goodbye to McGee and Bishop and then covered his ears when Abby's usual loud music reached him.

"Abby," he shouted, making her turn around and shut off the music. "Got a minute?"

"Sure. What's up?"

"It's just, um," he started rather awkwardly as he sat down on one of the chairs in front of her computers. "Before you met your boyfriend… um… did you like feel him?"

"What do you mean?" she asked, furrowing a brow.

"Like feeling what he felt. When was annoyed or happy or lonely or whatever."

"Huh, no, I don't think so. Why you're asking? Do you? Feel them? You must be pretty close, right?"

"Twenty-one days," Tony replied rubbing a hand over his face. "I constantly feel annoyed or lonely and I'm sure it's not me who's feeling it. But if you say you didn't have it, I guess I'm just imagining it."

"I wouldn't say that," Abby said, sitting down next to him. "I've always thought that there were different kinds of soul mates. Like, for example, Ryan and me. I mean I love him and all, but I'm pretty sure we'll never have what… I don't know… Palmer and Breena have… or Gibbs had with Shannon, probably. It's not bad or anything, I'm sure I'll be very happy with him. I just think that they were actually made for each other, while others, like me Ryan and me, have just kind of been pushed together by fate. I'm not quite sure how to explain it."

"No, I think I get it," Tony replied slowly before he sighed loudly.

"Just go and ask Gibbs, I'm sure, he'll headslap you at first, but he's going to give you an answer."

"No way, Abs. He's never talked about his clock and stuff before. I'll be dead if I asked."

"Just try. I know you always go to him when something's on your mind. It'll help."

Tony just nodded before he stood up, gave her a quick hug and was about to leave the lab when she started talking again.

"Don't go looking like it's the worst thing that's ever happened to you. If my theory is right, you'll be one of the luckiest people on earth, Tony."

Tony just nodded, giving her a smile as he turned around. He knew that she was probably right, but he didn't exactly feel euphoric about it all. Something was so strangely off lately and he had no idea how to stop the feeling of utter loneliness.

As he pressed the button to the garage, however, he suddenly didn't feel lonely at all. It was like his soul mate was feeling apprehensive now. Great, now he had something to worry about them, too. What if something happened to them? Letting out yet another sigh, Tony climbed into his car. Maybe talking to Gibbs actually would help. He'd at least talk the nonsense that Abby had just implemented into his brain right out of him.

##

Tony walked down the steps to the basement a little while later. Just like expected Gibbs was down there, sanding down a piece of wood.

"What are you working on this time?" Tony asked en lieu of a greeting.

"Thinking about starting another boat," Gibbs shrugged indifferently as he wiped sweat from his forehead.

"Haven't built one of those in a long time."

"Hmm," Gibbs just replied as he walked over to the workbench to pour Tony a jar of bourbon. "What's up?"

"Can't I pay you a friendly visit?" Tony asked as he took the offered drink.

"Sure can. Is this one? A friendly visit?"

"No," Tony chuckled despite himself. "I got a question, but I'm not sure you want to answer it."

"Is this about your clock?" Gibbs asked, tilting his head ever so slightly.

"How did you…?" Tony started, but the older man interrupted him with a chuckle of his own.

"You've been watching the damn thing for weeks now, DiNozzo. I'm not blind."

"Yeah, sorry about that."

"No, I get it. Exciting times ahead."

Tony just wanted to reply but stopped dead when he saw the faraway look in his boss' eyes and suddenly felt like he was intruding in a very private moment. When Gibbs started speaking again, however, his voice was steady and his eyes trained back on Tony.

"So what do you want to know?"

"It's… kind of weird, I suppose, because Abby didn't have it and McGee and the others never mentioned it either. And you really don't need to answer or anything because I know that you…"

"Just spit it out, Tony," Gibbs replied in an impatient but still strangely soft kind of voice.

"Did you… before you met Shannon… did you, like, feel her? Like when she was sad?"

Gibbs looked at him for a moment, his expression unreadable before he nodded once, his eyes glazing over ever so slightly.

"You did?"

"Yeah. It stopped after we met, though."

"Okay, good to know I'm not going crazy over here," Tony tried to joke, but it fell flat when Gibbs looked at him sharply.

"You don't seem happy about it."

Tony downed his bourbon in one go and sighed again, trying to come up with the right words to say.

"Yeah, it's just… it's weird, you know. I'm actually kind of happy as things are right now. I don't need anyone right now. I know I'll probably change my mind when I meet her or him and all… but, I mean, if something happens to them, I'm not sure I'd be able to live through it like you did. You still managed to move on somehow. I'm certain I can't do that."

Gibbs looked at him for a long moment before he sipped from his own bourbon and cleared his throat.

"Everybody is afraid of that, Tony. You can't change that. But when you've met them, you just know that there's nobody better out there. You just click from the moment you meet. You know you belong to them and never want to spend a day apart, trust me. All the stuff you're thinking now won't be important anymore."

Tony nodded thoughtfully, feeling something settle inside of him. He knew Gibbs was right, he had had it once before after all. His boss just nodded in return, indicating that the conversation was over before he turned back to his boat-to-be. Tony watched him in silence, occasionally catching a glimpse of the big zeroes on his arm. He stayed a little while longer before he finally got up to drive home.

But something wasn't quite right. Even when he lay in bed that night, he couldn't shake the feeling that he had felt that way before. The way Gibbs had described to him earlier in the basement. He just couldn't put a finger on it.
Before he could dwell on it for too long, though, he felt a wave of jealousy wash over him without his consent. He wondered why the soul mate would feel jealous all of a sudden when the meeting date was approaching so quickly. Shaking his head, he turned around and tried to think of something else. This soul mate thing was really messing with his head and he'd try his best to stay focused on different things for the time being. These twenty-one days would go by too fast anyway.