Warnings: Spoilers for "Incognito"
A/N: Happy Friday! Here's a small little treat for you :) First McNozzo tag of the season! Enjoy!
"Confide"
"Why did Ellie speak to you about Jake and not me?" Tim asked, rather in a huff at the diner late the evening after they had closed their case. "I thought we were friends too."
"You are, Tim," Tony assured him, sipping his coffee. "Just... she felt that I would better understand. You know, because I can't talk about everything to Leah, just like she can't with Jake."
Tim frowned at his untouched burger and fries. He was getting married to a woman that worked for the D.O.D. They didn't talk much about their jobs. So, what was the real reason that Ellie had gone to Tony before going to Tim? "Sometimes, since you got married, it feels like you and Ellie have this closed circle and I'm not allowed in."
Tony chuckled at that and took another sip of his coffee. "Do you think me and Bish have some kind of secret society going on? It's nothing more than Leah and I have been struggling to adjust having the baby, and Ellie and Jake are going through a rough patch as well. We figured if we leaned on each other a bit it would be easier to get through the roughness. Last time I checked everything was good between you and the future Mrs. McGee."
"No, but still... I didn't know that there were problems and I think I made things worse," Tim pointed out.
"You mean the spoiled surprise? Stuff happens," Tony said, lifting his mug to his lips, "and I'm sure they'll work it out."
"And what about you and Leah?"
"Leah and I are going to be fine. But this whole baby thing is new to both of us and we just have to... figure things out."
Tim's brow furrowed. So what had been all that talk of finding family and trying to find a sense of belonging? The lack of sleep was apparently starting to get to Tony. The senior field agent was not thinking clearly, or maybe he was and it was Tim that was having trouble putting everything together... "Are you afraid that people are going to find out about your relative possibly being Jack the Ripper... and that's who you named your son after?"
Tony chuckled again, took another sip of his coffee. "Thought has crossed my mind. But there's no proof that he was Jack the Ripper, and anyone that really knows me knows that Jack is named after Jackson Gibbs, least I could do for the boss seeing how I didn't have his six in Iraq. He's still pissed at me for that."
"But at the cookout last weekend he was fine!"
"Gibbs is great at pretending to be fine. He's not. He's angry at me. He's angry at me that I didn't have his back and that I was the one to take out Budd."
"Tony, stop being ridiculous."
"Am I being ridiculous, Tim? When was the last time Gibbs really smiled at me or was nice?"
Tim shoved his plate away and asked the waitress for a box. He would bring the food home to Delilah. "Gibbs is going to be okay? Isn't he?"
Tony shrugged and finished his coffee. "He was shot, but a kid, a kid that he had befriended and tried to save. I'm not sure Luke's remorse was real on that rooftop in China but I sure as hell was not going to put a bullet in him and make matters worse. Maybe the kid can still be saved, who knows. But whatever is going on in Gibbs' head, he certainly isn't talking to me."
"Everything is going to go back to normal soon, right?" Tim inquired.
"No, Tim," Tony said with a shake of his head, "I don't think they are. Not this time."