2
'Dinozzo,' Gibbs stated calmly as he stopped almost nose to nose with Tony, as if to flaunt the irritation seeping from his pores, 'do you care to explain why the Director would have found this in the evidence lock-up before dawn this morning?'.
Tony allowed his eyes to break away from Gibbs's to examine the card being held up in his boss's right hand. A cinema loyalty card. Unequivocally, undeniably, his cinema loyalty card. Anthony D. Dinozzo Jr, Platinum membership.
Tony's colleagues traded looks of uncertainty as they attempted to fade into the background and avoid the wrath that was unfolding before them.
'Oh that's where that was! You know, I've been looking for that, I was getting worried that I was going to lose my platinum status. Be sure to thank the Director for me,' Tony finished briskly and cheerfully in the hope that the sweat gathering at his hairline would go unnoticed. But as he turned to walk away, a distinctive 'clack' rang out, the wooden beads of the bracelet Gibbs had thrown onto the desk in front of him stealing the attention of all four team members.
Tony turned his head to examine the artifact. He bit his upper lip in order to refrain from displaying the same alarm registered in another set of eyes fiercely fixed on the finely painted piece. Only hours earlier he had tenderly swept his hand along the soft underside of the forearm that brandished the ornament, raised in a playful surrender against a bulging archive box.
'This yours too Dinozzo?' Gibbs asked flatly. His mouth formed the first word of a response, but Tony was silenced by Gibbs' piercing stare and growing annoyance. 'And I'd think pretty carefully about your answer'.
'Yes Boss. I mean, no Boss, that's not mine, and yes Boss, thinking very carefully about my answer'.
Tony flinched slightly as he finished his rambling explanation, anticipating the head slap that no doubt awaited him.
'It was found, along with your card, under a shelf in the lock-up. In an area that you really have no reason to access', Gibbs revealed with an unsettling smile. 'Unless, of course, there's a reason that you would be in that area that I am unaware of and you care to enlighten me'.
Tony searched his mind for a plausible fabrication, administering an internal head slap for even considering telling Gibbs a lie.
'I may have been under the impression that that particular area of the garage was not under video surveillance' Tony started apprehensively, while Gibbs remained stone faced.
'And I may have also been under the impression that the secretive nature of my work would impress certain people...and that the evidence lock-up would...'
Tim intercepted as he expelled a disbelieving 'You didn't?', the subtle turn of Gibbs' head in his direction compelling him to add a swift 'sorry Boss'.
'Certain people Dinozzo?' Gibbs questioned coldly.
'A lady person,' Tony revealed anxiously with a gulp, the words tumbling out disjointedly.
Ziva felt a sharp twinge in the pit of her stomach. The evidence that threatened to expose her was in fact a gift she had recently received and worn only once, outside work hours, information the man-on-trial before her was privy to and also the reason she had failed to notice its absence. She calculated that the likelihood of connecting the jewellery to her was on par with the chance of someone discovering the invisible imprint of an archive box on her lower back, and it would therefore be wise to join McGee in his disapproval.
'That is disgusting Tony', she announced vehemently as she made her way over to her desk.
She stayed focused on her destination to avoid the flicker of condemnation she would most certainly receive for her betrayal, if she was to lock eyes with her partner at that moment.
'Dinozzo, did it ever occur to you that the reason we have our evidence lock-up in a basement, surrounded by barb wire fencing accessible only with a certain level of security clearance, is because it is not open to the public?' Gibbs challenged in an acerbic tone.
A deafening silence descended on the bullpen and lingered like an unwelcome visitor.
Tony stood helpless, flailing in his jumbled thoughts as he searched frantically for an acceptable response, when the piercing quiet was shattered by an even more startling sound.
Gibbs's head tilted back, his chin in a prolonged salute to the ceiling, he released a laugh that had slightly hysterical undertones.
Absolute horror washed over the faces of Tony and his colleagues as they waited for their boss, a man who rarely wasted audible noises with words, let alone laughter, to realign his eyes with Tony.
'Ahh, Dinozzo. I expect a hell of a lot more from you', Gibbs stated matter-of-factly, his usual demeanour returned, though the glint in his eye alluded to a hidden punchline that was yet to be revealed.
The sudden instability of his usually stable leader was so unnerving, that Tony could only think to provide one response; 'Sorry Boss, it won't happen again'.
The words had barely left his mouth when Gibbs had taken two seamless paces to reassert his initial stance, the nutty scent of his morning brew struck Tony's nostrils as he remained motionless but for the deepening creases in his forehead as his eyebrows drew together.
'You're damn right it won't', he ordered, the hoarse, throaty tone resembling the Gibbs Tony was familiar with.
'And you know why it won't, Dinozzo?' Gibbs added, each word allowed to land before the next was revealed, the bemused expression on his face banishing the familiarity once again. Gibbs' head tilted slightly to the right, then the left. Two sharp motions to indicate that a reaction was warranted.
'Ah, no Boss, I don't', Tony answered in utter defeat.
Gibbs allowed the silence he had dispelled moments earlier to resettle momentarily before he leaned even closer, to ensure his husky whisper was spoken directly into Tony's ear. 'Because no member of my team would be so careless as to leave content from an evidence box to be found by Security during their morning sweep of the garage. Specifically, a file from an archive box that had clearly been reassembled, for God-knows what reason...with duct tape'.
Gibbs took a step back and relished in the absolute bewilderment oozing from Tony's entire being as he informed him, 'You can explain everything to the Director when you get back. He is going to want to know why he received a phone call at 5am'.
Tony let out a small whine of protest to which Gibbs shook his head and picked up his coffee.
Abby slinked away, deciding that she would press Gibbs for information at a later stage in the safety of her lab, while McGee had well and truly emerged himself in rearranging his desktop icons.
'Get back? Where am I going?' Tony dared to ask.
'To the evidence garage Dinozzo. The Director has decided it would be good time to reorganize some of the filing systems we have down there. I've nominated you for the job'.
Ziva expelled a small grunt, a badly stifled giggle, to which Gibbs responded, 'you too David, seeing that you seem to find this whole thing so amusing'.
Feigning horror with the appropriate sounds of objection, Ziva joined Tony as he made his way towards the elevator, neither wanting to make eye contact until they were safely out of sight.
'Dinozzo' Gibbs called, a look of amusement upon his face as Tony found himself catching the bracelet his boss had just propelled across the partition.
-oOo-
As the pair waited for the elevator to arrive, keeping his sights locked on the metal doors in front of him Tony let out a hushed condemnation.
'I cannot believe I just implicated myself in something that breaks, like, every NCIS protocol, plus admitted to Gibbs, McGoo and Abby that I wanted to show off 'the secretive nature of my work'...while you get to strut out of here Little-Miss-Innocent, reputation still intact'.
'Are you going to give me my bracelet back?' Ziva responded in a matched tone, the upward inflection at the end of her question indicating she already knew the answer.
'No. I think I deserve at least some kind of memento as a reward for the heroic actions you have witnessed here today'.
Both fought back smiles as the familiar 'ding' greeted them, each recalling the frantic gathering of strewn documents, the split side of the cardboard container sagging sadly off the shelf, the feeble attempt at reconstruction.
Tony continued as they stepped into the cubicle, 'I can't believe I now have to go through all those files...the papers, the little plastic bags...ugh'.
As he hit the button for the basement, Ziva coiled her index finger gently around his pinky, an attempt at a peace offering.
Tony look down at her with his eyes only, head held high, the left side of his mouth upturned in a prelude to a smirk, as he admitted, 'you know, it seems that you were actually right after all Miss David. I really do do the dumbest things...for you', he finished, the smirk transforming into a cheeky grin as he leaned forward to emphasise the last two words.
'It could have been worse' she teased, tilting her head so that she he had a full view of her features, a glimmer in the deep brown eyes locked onto him.
'Oh really? How exactly?' he queried, his grin softening and his eyes filling with adoration.
'You could have been the archive box,' she replied suggestively before her lips landed softly upon his, the contact fleeting as the elevator reached its destination and the doors opened.