NCIS fic

[le_russe_satan]

Title: Tactics and Strategies
Pairing: Gibbs/Dinozzo, pre-slash, eventually slash
Genre; Romance, I guess
Rating: PG-13 overall
Summary: Tony reunites with a friend, who indulges in intrigues and matchmaking.
Warning: AU in respect to last 2 seasons
Disclaimer: Everything belongs to Donald Bellisario and other interested parties.

The hall of the restaurant is dim, shadows from the unsteady candle flames flicker on the faces, here and there there is a rustle of movement barely audible in the soft murmur of voices. Occasionally one of the patrons raises a voice in laughter or irritation, shattering the illusion of privacy. The woman sitting opposite Tony is no exception: she lets out a small but sincere laugh:

-         I knew it, Tony, darling! It’s just like you to flaunt your sexual conquests before your co-workers, - she made a small pause, taking a sip of wine, - So, which one of them are you desperately in love with?

Tony choked on his own drink, nearly spurting the alcohol all over the place. Then he coughed and blushed furiously. Trust her to be able to read him like a book, though they have not spoken face to face for almost two years.

-         What gave you…

-         Oh, come now, Tony, I know you too well.

The young man glares at her in response, but the woman is obviously not intimidated.

-         Ok, I’ll guess. Sooo, let’s see. You talked of Abby, Kate, McGee, Gibbs and .. err.. Ducky, - she threw another playful glance his way and prepared for the strike, - From all I’ve heard I make a deduction, that it is Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs that has got your panties all twisted up in knots!

She couldn’t suppress the chuckle when she saw Tony’s expression and knew that she hit the bull’s-eye. After a brief staring contest Tony gave up the struggle and groaned, letting his eyelids close.

-         So, darling, - purred his friend, - are you going to tell me what exactly is the problem, and listen to some sound advice?

Tony opened his eyes and looked at the mischievous smile gracing his friend’s features. The fight was over: he lost.

-         Yeah, ok, I’ll tell you.

The murmur of the restaurant gently subsides around them, the candles’ flames become more unsteady as the wicks burn down and the wax melts. Tony and the woman are the last to leave. Thankfully the manager considers the pair connected and rich enough not to kick them out. But even this is not enough: their conversation is broken up only when Tony’s alarm goes off in his bedroom, alerting them to the orange glow of the early morning sun pouring in.

 

 Tony is the first one in the office, the cleaners are just leaving and there’s a whiff of disinfectant in the air. Since he did not have to go through the torture of waking up, Tony left the house much earlier than he usually did, leaving his friend to sleep. He knows that despite a shower and quite careful grooming the traces of last night are etched on his face. Thankfully, they stopped drinking after the restaurant, sticking to coffee afterwards. Nevertheless, Tony feels somehow refreshed, probably because he finally talked about everything that was bottled up in him: every last shred of thought and emotion was let out, leaving him much lighter and calmer.

 He stuffs his backpack under the table, than settles down to work, sparing a small smile in the direction of Gibb’s empty seat.

 

 Kate is surprised to see that she is not the first one of the team to come in today. In fact she is astounded, when the sight of Tony Dinozzo working, actually working, greets her. As she approaches her desk, Tony does not even spare a glance in her direction, absorbed in his work. For a moment she panics, thinking that maybe they got called in for a case during the night and she somehow missed the call, though she knows that to be impossible. She drops her bag on the desk with a loud thud, making Tony jerk in his chair, and finally notice her. As the young man greets her, she doesn’t fail to take notice of dark circles under his eyes, nor the change in his smile, that seems diminished and the distant look in his eyes tells her his mind is somewhere far way, probably buried in whatever he was working on. Though she likes when Tony is quiet, it is not natural for him to actually be so before someone had a chance to shut him up. She decides to probe:

-         Long night, Tony?

-         You could say that, - his voice is quiet, his eyes are glued to some report.

-         What, you’re not gonna elaborate? – surely this attitude in Dinozzo cannot be a good sigh.

-         No.

Not good at all. The ‘no’ is not teasing, not insinuating, just a simple statement. She desperately wants to grill him, but thinks better of it. It would do no good to touch a nerve: with Tony in this mood, who knew what would happen. Giving her co-worker a once over, she also settles down to finish up the reports on the last case.

 

 Gibbs is near to growling when he walks into the office: the coffee had not erased the annoyance from having to queue for it for practically ten minutes, but his own mood does not prevent him from picking up on that in his own bullpen. There is worry that obviously comes from Kate judging by her body language and the covert glances she keeps throwing into Dinozzo’s direction, and there is something else that he cannot define, but it feels strange. He passes between his agents’ desks. Kate throws up her head and greets him and Dinozzo does the same, but the way he does it, nearly makes him halt his footsteps. The young man doesn’t even raise his eyes to Gibbs his glance glued to the computer and his fingers continuing to tap on the keyboard. There is no huge ingratiating smile greeting him, in fact it feels as if Tony has barely noticed him. He almost frowns, but long term training keeps his features neutral. Sitting down at his desk and checking for messages, he continues to watch Dinozzo. After five minutes he snaps.

-         Dinozzo! – he puts his best glare to work as the man finally looks at him, - I hope to see those reports sometime today!

He expects whining, pleading, excuses, smiles, perhaps some nervousness and therefore he’s unprepared when after hearing his order, Dinozzo turns back to the screen with a quiet “On your desk, boss”. He hears a soft gasp that Kate lets out, and nearly gasps himself opening the two files laying right by his keyboard.

 

McGee comes in about five minutes after the ‘report’ incident, and immediately feels that there’s something wrong in the bullpen. Tony’s working for once, which is strange in itself, but it’s the alarming frequency with which Gibbs and Kate divert their attention to look at Tony that disturbs him the most. He groans internally and hopes that whatever Tony’s done, it is not going to reflect on him in any way.

 

 Until the lunchtime Tony gets up only once from his desk and that is only to go to the bathroom, stretching his muscles on the way. During that three pairs of eyes are trained on him. But he somehow avoids looking into any of them, as if none of them are there. It is finally lunchtime and even Gibbs decides to get some food since the day is going quietly. He even decided to join two younger agents at the nearby café. Ton still has not stirred.

-         Hey, Tony, wanna go for lunch? - asks Kate, shoving her cell into the handbag.

Both Gibbs and McGee look at him expectantly, but Tony’s reply is cut short by the shrill ring of his phone. He looks apologetically at Kate, and answers it. The whole universe seems suspended as his other co-workers watch him go about this everyday routine, drinking up every word. “Hey”, “Well, ok, good morning”, “Yeah, it’s lunchtime, but I…”, “Oh, that’s cool! Yeah, sure, on my way”. He snaps the phone shut, noticing out of the corners of his eyes the team watching him. What he doesn’t realize is that they are watching him smile for the first time that day. Tony shoves his phone into the trouser pocket and grabs his jacket.

-         Boss, I’ll be gone half an hour max. Sorry, Kate, we’ll do lunch next time.

With that Dinozzo is gone. The team, without talking, follows him after a few seconds.

 There is a small square in front of the NCIS building with a few benches scattered around. They watch silently as Tony approaches one of them and a woman gets up to greet him, holding up a coffee and a paper bag. They watch as Tony takes the cup and rummages in the bag, that the woman is holding open for him. They watch as she says something to him, eliciting quite a long answer from Tony. They watch as she laughs in the end of his ‘story’ and wipes away something from the corner of his mouth.

 

Helen wipes away a dusting of sugar powder that lodged itself firmly almost on Tony’s cheek. She’s acutely aware of three people standing not a hundred meters away.

-         They are watching us, Tony, - her smile is almost devious.

-         And don’t I know it! I feel like they are gonna bore a hole in the both of us.

-         You must have done something right, Tony, darling.

-         Why, I just did my job today!

They laugh softly in unison, sun beating down on them. Kate and McGee finally decide to rush after Gibbs, who’s already walking away towards the café. Only Tony and Ducky, who are not watching him would be able to see the boss’s shoulders tense just a little more.