Hey folks!

Sorry for the delay but this chapter gave me a bit of trouble. Finding the right way to write what's been happening with Tony and Tim wasn't as easy as I first thought. Hope y'all like it and thanks again for all the wonderful reviews and updates, etc.

-Moki

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Chapter Three

"McGee!"

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Speeding along the highway, Tony happily hummed along with the tune on the radio. While he'd been surprised to be sent out on what was sure to be nothing more than a wild-goose chase, Tony didn't mind much. The weather was great, sun shining and not too hot nor too cold. If one had to be sent out for a couple hour drive before searching an old crime site, at least it was the perfect day for it.

Tony only wished his passenger felt the same. Sneaking a glance to his right, he saw McGee staring out the window. The younger man hadn't said more than two words since they'd picked up the car from the Navy lot and Tony was getting a little bored.

"Don't you want a briefing on the case, McGee?"

McGee made a noise that could very nearly have passed for an affirmative response. Knowing that whatever was on McGee's mind was apparently not going away anytime soon and that was probably the best he was going to get, Tony went into the details.

"Lieutenant Mark Ralston. Reported UA by his CO and found the next morning by local LEOs hanging from the rafters in a warehouse about a mile from the docks. Everyone wanted us to declare it a suicide and call it a day but Gibbs' gut was working overtime. Figured there was more to it than that. We ran every lead we found, looked under every stone, beat every bush but came up with a grand total of nada. Zip. Zilch."

Tony paused once again, hoping for a response from his partner but as McGee seemed determined to give him the cold shoulder, he continued.

"This was last year. Back when you took that two week vacation. What was it, your sister's birthday, plus family reunion or something like that?"

McGee didn't answer but Tony could've swore he saw a barely noticeable movement of his head. Taking that as a yes, he continued.

"So that's why you don't remember. You weren't here and by the time you got back, the case was declared closed. Though the old man still keeps the file in the stack behind his desk. The fact that our caseload this week has been like the Sahara probably gave him time to go prowling through all of them. Guess it's not a real shock that he'd ask us to check it out. Though what he expects us to find I have no clue."

Again Tony's account went unacknowledged but this time the Senior Field Agent decided he was done trying. They were nearly at their destination and if McGee wanted to be quiet the whole rest of the trip, that was fine by him. Turning up the radio a bit, Tony looked straight ahead and kept on driving. He didn't know what was bothering the other man but he really hoped that McGee would snap out of it soon.

It had been over a year since Tony had last been to the place and all the warehouses in the area looked the same. It took a full twenty minutes after they got off the highway before the agent finally pulled up to the right one. Addresses in the area were nearly useless, most of the buildings so old and worn down that the numbers had long since peeled off in the elements, no one caring enough to paint them back on when they did.

"Okay Probie, this is it. Grab your gear," Tony said, turning off the car and opening his door. He flipped the switch for the trunk on his way out, both men grabbing their bags containing the few items they thought they might need. Since it was no longer an actual crime scene, their gear really only consisted of their cameras, gloves and a few bags and jars for evidence.

Tony pulled out his water bottle, taking a swig before tossing it into his backpack as well. Zipping up his thick jacket against the cold, he led the way to the warehouse's massive door.

"Anyone home?" Tony said with a smile, knocking on the huge door and listening to the sound echoing inside.

"We still have an original warrant, right? Just open it." McGee said in exasperation.

Tony shrugged then pushed on the sliding door with his shoulder. It creaked and moaned in protest but finally moved just enough to let them inside before sliding back into place.

The interior of the building was dark and both men quickly brought out their flashlights.

"The Lieutenant was hanging from there," Tony said as he walked closer to the center of the floor and shined his light on to the wooden rafters above. The actual rooftop was over 25 feet high but beams ran across at about a height of 15 feet, creating a ceiling of sorts.

"Was there anything around for him to stand on?" McGee asked curiously, training his own light above.

"Nope."

"And they were still trying to call it a suicide?"

"Yep," Tony replied, somewhat relieved that McGee's active mind was no longer wallowing and had apparently started concentrating on the case.

"How?"

"Get this," Tony began. "they said he climbed up over there," Tony slid his light over to a nearby wall. There an absolutely ancient ladder sat, attached permanently to the wooden slats that made up the side of the warehouse.

"Then he supposedly tied the rope, put it around his neck and….," Tony made a diving motion with his hands.

"That's crazy," Me Gee replied.

"Tell me about it. Those beams are maybe two inches wide. No way he scooted his way out to the center, even if he did climb up the ladder in the first place, which we don't think he did since there was about a half-inch layer of dust on it when we got here."

"What else did you find?"

"Not much. The rope was your basic stuff used on pretty much any dock around. We found more of it in a corner. But it wasn't cut. Looked like someone just managed to find the perfect sized piece."

"Prints?"

"None except for the Lieutenant's. We didn't even find footprints. For a place that looked abandoned, the floor was surprising dust-free."

As they spoke, both men continued to walk around the perimeter of the warehouse. Tony trying to look at everything with new eyes to see if there was anything he missed. McGee seeing it for the first time and trying to get a feel for what happened.

"What was the Lieutenant even doing here in the first place?" McGee asked. "If people were trying to say it was suicide, why here?"

"Apparently he liked to jog along the docks. When we couldn't find anything linking the scene to anyone else, the Director said the Lieutenant must've seen the place on a jog one morning. Then came back later when his life went in the crapper."

"Had it? Gone in the crapper, I mean?"

"Not if you ask me. He wasn't dating anyone so there was no broken heart happening. He was on leave from his ship but nothing too exciting had happened onboard during his last deployment. A few fights with shipmates, stuff like that, but nothing too major."

"Then why say he was a suicide?" McGee wanted to know.

"Because without any evidence to the contrary, there was nothing else it could be. At least in the eyes of the Director. He said that not every man showed obvious signs of stress before taking their own life."

"Yeah, I guess…," McGee didn't sound too convinced.

Tony sighed, not convinced himself but considering that he and the Boss had already been over every inch of the place, didn't know what else they were expected to find. Continuing to slowly walk around the empty building, Tony slid his flashlight back and forth across the floor dutifully. He wasn't going to go against Gibbs' orders, whether he expected to find anything or not.

The two men continued to search the room silently for a while, the only sound the occasional scrape of their shoes on the hard cement. After a few minutes, Tony noted that the interest McGee had shown earlier was starting to wane. That wasn't good. It would only be a matter of time before the other man got cranky again.

"This is stupid," McGee said, scuffing his toe into floor.

And there it is, McCranky has returned and I'm just about done with being nice, Tony thought to himself.

"Just keep looking, McGoo. The boss wants us to look so we're looking. I know you probably have a hot date with one of your online babes but that'll just have to wait."

"Knock it off, Tony."

"Knock what off? I'm just telling it like it is, Elf Lord. Met any hotties on your little game, recently? That blonde cheerleader was hot. Too bad you couldn't close the deal," Tony said with a grin. He was getting a little fed up with his partner's attitude. Maybe a little teasing would snap McGrumpy out of it.

"Keep it up, DiNozzo." McGee said. If Tony had been paying closer attention he might've heard the slight change in the other man's voice.

"Keep what up?"

"Nothing."

It was only one word but Tony didn't miss the tone that time. Sensing that something wasn't right, he turned to McGee.

"Hey, I don't know what you're talking about, man," Tony replied sincerely, unsure of why things had gotten so serious, so suddenly.

"Yeah right, of course you have no idea what I'm talking about…" McGee muttered.

Tony stopped dead in his tracks, looking at his partner in shock. The pure hatred emanating from the other man was tangible.

"Jesus, Tim! What the hell?" Tony said in confusion, unable to fathom what was going on in his partner's headspace.

"Nothing. Just forget it," McGee said, walking ahead.

Tony had had enough. He didn't know what was going on but he was going to get to the bottom of it. Whether the Probie liked it or not.

Reaching out, Tony snatched McGee's jacket as the other man tried to walk by, stopping him from taking another step.

"No seriously, did you just find out that I killed you in another life or something? What is going on with you?" Tony asked.

"What's going on with me? You've been on my ass all week Tony, and I'm sick of it." McGee replied, purposely keeping his face turned away from his partner.

"On your ass? What are you talking about? I'm just kidding around. Like I always do. It's never bothered you before. I've been doing it for…"

Before the Senior Field Agent could utter another word, his partner turned on him, walking right up until they were eye to eye.

"Years! That's right, DiNozzo. You've been messing with me for six years. Don't you think I might be tired of it by now? What, did you expect me to just sit back and be your little whipping boy for the rest of my career? Well, you can forget it. You may not think I'm a good agent but there are plenty of other people who do. I'm done taking your crap."

Tony opened his mouth to speak but the mechanics between his brain and jaw stopped working for at least a full ten seconds and nothing came out. McGee turned on his heel, stomping off and leaving his dumbfounded partner behind.

When his wits finally returned, Tony closed his slack jaw and stared after the other man. Not sure what to say, he wisely decided to keep his yap shut for the moment. He really needed time to think about the tirade before coming up with an appropriate response.

The first thought Tony had was that Tim must be upset about something else and simply taking it out on him. Tony quickly dismissed that idea as he realized that the younger man had been griping at him for a while. In fact, the more he thought about it, the more he realized that it had been going on for a very long while. Not days. Not weeks.

Months.

McGee had marched over to the opposite side of the room. Ignoring Tony he continued to search around the site. For the first time since working with the team, McGee felt real anger towards the other man. Anger that made the younger agent not trust himself. Anger so harsh, so deep, that if Tony pushed him right then McGee couldn't be sure that he wouldn't strike back.

Taking a few deep breaths, McGee continued to point his light at the floor. He didn't really expect to find anything, it was just something to do. Something to keep his mind from wandering further towards that angry place that he was trying to avoid.

On the other side of the room, Tony wasn't even pretending to continue his search. His flashlight was pointed at the floor and it was moving but his eyes weren't focused. He purposely kept his back to the other man, hoping that McGee would cool off. Tony hadn't missed the way McGee's fists had tightened when he'd been in the middle of his tirade. It wasn't that he thought the Probie could take him (as if), he just had no desire to go there. It wouldn't solve anything and would undoubtedly make whatever was happening worse.

Therefore Tony deliberately kept his back to McGee, affording the other man some privacy and time to chill out.

So when he heard the loud crack, Tony had no idea what it meant. Reacting quickly, he turned just in time to see his partner go down.

"McGee!"

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Okay so there's chapter 3. Next one won't be up until at least next week as I'm going to Comic Con in a few days and probably won't have time to write before then.

Also wanted to mention how very excited I am that Black Ice was nominated in the NCIS Fanfic Awards on Livejournal. Thanks very much to Squee Bunny for the nomination. Even if I don't win I wanted to say that I am truly honored to have been nominated.

Finally wanted to say that I've changed my profile to add a link to a couple articles I got published (yays!). I've also taken down the link to my blog temporarily as it is in the process of getting moved to my very own site (double yays!). So stay tuned.

...Oh and orry for the extra long Author's Notes. Guess I have lots to say today. :o)