Chapter Two: Trip
Tony awoke after sleeping, maybe, half an hour in total. And he was to say the least exhausted. He glanced at his clock. 0600. Tony sighed, getting out of his bed. He put on a long sleeved button down shirt and a pair of jeans, despite it being the middle of summer. He headed straight for the bathroom to try and make himself look somewhat presentable. As he looked at himself in the bathroom mirror, he noticed that he did not look good. Still kind of disoriented from the little sleep he got, he looked dead tired. "Good lord," he breathed.
After some time, he walked out, looking not in the least bit tired. He even looked well rested. Hey, this wasn't his first rodeo. Something suddenly struck him in his tired state. He began searching his apartment for something or someone. After thoroughly checking over his place, he realized what he was looking for was not in his apartment anymore. Sighing with relief, he figured he better run. Gibbs was not one to wait. He made sure to lock his door on the way out.
As Tony walked out of the elevator to his desk, Gibbs said, "Elevator, DiNozzo. You're late."
"Right. That's my bad, boss. But, you know, it's only 0705. Some people wouldn't even call that late. I mean, that's only five minutes. That's not even fashionably late. That's just-"
"DiNozzo," Gibbs said simply.
Tony quickly said, "Shutting up now, boss."
Finally, Tony noticed McGee and Kate as they all got in the elevator. They both looked exhausted. Well, that was to be expected. They walked out of the elevator and got into the car. Gibbs driving and Kate in the passenger's seat. Tony sat in the back next to McGee without saying a word. It did not go unnoticed.
"Wow, Tony," Kate said.
"What?" Tony mumbled out, tiredly. Then, quickly, he cleared his throat, and asked, "What?"
"You didn't say anything about calling shotgun," Kate told him.
Tony shrugged. "Did you want me to? 'Cause I can. You just have to ask. You can ask me to do anything, Kate," Tony charmingly smiled, even though she couldn't see him.
"Why do I even talk to you, DiNozzo? You are a pig!" Kate told him.
Tony shrugged again, the smile unknowingly falling from his face as he began to stare out the window as they traveled across the state.
Tony jumped suddenly as there was a knock on the window that he was resting his forehead against. He realized the car was parked and no one else was in the car. They were all standing in front of his closed door. Gibbs had been the one to knock on the window. Tony shook his head, realizing he must have fallen asleep on the ride. The car was parked in front of an old restaurant. Suddenly, Tony felt very hungry. He unbuckled his seatbelt and opened his door, waiting for Gibbs to say something about him falling asleep. But he didn't. Instead, Gibbs just studied the young man before him, then shook his head slightly, and walked into the restaurant, motioning for the rest of them to follow.
As Tony stepped out of the car, he realized his hair was plastered to his forehead with sweat. Then, he realized that it was really hot.
"Tony!" Kate called out as she noticed Tony just standing there.
"Right! Coming!" he managed.
He walked in and sat down at the table by McGee. Kate was seated by Gibbs on the other side. "You look hot, Tony," Kate said, then realized what she said and inwardly cursed herself.
Tony didn't miss a beat as he smiled and said, "Thank you for noticing, Kate."
"That's not what I meant. I mean, it's, like, ninety degrees outside and you're wearing long sleeves," Kate said.
Tony shrugged once again, saying, "I'm fine."
Before anything else could be said, the waitress appeared and they ordered their food.
Not much was said the rest of their time at the restaurant. They finished their food, paid, and went back to the car to finish their trek to Chesapeake.
After another long ride, with nobody really saying anything, they arrived at their destination.
"Agent Gibbs?" They heard as they stepped out of the car and grabbed their bags. A man was walking towards them. "I have four rooms for you all in the back like you requested. I'll take you if you'll follow me?"
Gibbs nodded as all four followed the man. As they arrived at the back of the place, the man said, "Okay. We got two on the left here, one on the right, and one at the end. Each room has bathroom and shower, television, and bed." The man's phone rang on his hip. "Oh, I gotta take this. You guys okay here?"
They all nodded and he left. Gibbs and McGee chose rooms on the left, Kate chose the room on the right, and Tony had the room at the end of the hall. They walked in their rooms and set their bags down. Tony looked at the time. 1200. It was gonna be a long day.
They gathered in Gibbs room to get down to business.
Within the next seven hours, Tony and Gibbs had talked to two of the men Private Oliver got into a fight with and McGee and Kate had talked to the other three. However, the men didn't want to talk, so it took more time than needed. By the time they got back, it was 1930. And they had to compare the men's stories. As it turned out, all five men blamed the Private. They all said he got drunk and out of control. According to them, he picked the fight with them.
When they finished discussing and informing, it was late. Gibbs said, "Go get some sleep. All of you." For some reason, Tony felt the "all of you" was directed at him. Nevertheless, he nodded as he left with the others.
After Tony had showered and put on a t-shirt with pajama pants, he laid down in his bed at 0200. And he started to think, which was never good for him.
