The prank had been an excellent way to not have to go home that night. He'd stayed at the office to keep himself busy, and wanted something to not only explain why, but also an elaborate distraction from anymore questions. He just wanted to work; keep his mind away from the one thing he didn't want to allow himself to think about. Questions only made him remember that he was trying to forget.

Of course, he hadn't really meant to stop being 'Tony DiNozzo'. It's just that in order to distract himself completely, he needed to keep himself busy, and the level of busy he'd ended up needing to keep himself didn't allow for much time to think of clever quips and movie references. As far as his interaction with his teammates, they were damned-near automated. Every now and then he'd notice McGee or Ziva becoming agitated, and he'd give them something to make up for the fact that he'd pretty much done everything himself; handing off the remote or giving credit for things he had done himself.

Whilst he'd hoped it would make them back off a bit, it only seemed to worry them more, but he'd barely had time to freak out about that before forcing his train of thought back to business.

He was getting pretty tired, and it was barely lunchtime.

Tony had managed to sneak a shower in the gym locker room fairly early that morning, after catching a couple hours of sleep. Making himself appear well-rested wasn't something new to him. He'd managed to keep up the facade up to this point, anyway.

But he couldn't deny the fatigue that suddenly crept up on him.

Tony heard his teammates readying to leave for lunch, and he rubbed his palms against his eyes in order to fend off what he now realized was an impending headache.

"You wanna grab something to eat with us?" McGee asked, now standing in front of Tony's desk looking a bit concerned.

"Not too hungry, Tim," he said without looking up. "Rain check, okay?"

McGee furrowed a brow and glanced at Ziva before looking back at his mentor. "'Kay. I'll bring you back a coffee..."

"Thanks, Probie." Tony glanced up at him and nodded before leaning back in his chair.

Tony was unaware of the three sets of eyes on him as he turned to retrieve something from the file cabinet, but Gibbs motioned for the two younger agents to head out; a silent gesture that he'd look into it. He waited until the elevator doors closed the other half of his team inside its shaft before looking back over at his agent.

"You sick, DiNozzo?" he asked, hoping for a real answer this time.

Tony's eyes shot up to meet his. "Told you I was fine, boss," he insisted with a slightly furrowed brow. "Do I look sick?"

"Ya look tired," he replied with a raised brow. "And you've done enough work the past few days to warrant the rest of the day to rest."

"We work non-stop all the time, Gibbs," Tony retorted, narrowing his eyes. "I get tired a lot. What's so different now? Why is everyone on my case?"

"What's different is that you're not you lately," he replied. "They say it's when a dog doesn't eat..."

"Oh what, now I'm a dog?" he asked incredulously.

"DiNozzo..."

"No, I get it, boss. Just...I'm not goin' home, but I'll take my lunch, okay?" He tried to compromise.

Gibbs considered him for a long moment before finally giving in with a nod. Tony stood from his chair, not even bothering to grab his bag, and headed for the elevator...

Tbc...