Tim sighed. Tony was exactly where Tim had thought he would be: slouched back
in his desk chair, staring aimlessly past the cubicles to the night-mirrored bank
of windows. Undoubtably brooding, probably about Ziva and the case, most certainly
about Gibbs.
Over the summer, Tim had found himself becoming more relaxed and a hell of a lot
more confident as an agent. At first, he thought it was because he wasn't frantic
about pleasing Gibbs all of the time. But with Gibbs' return, he'd realized it was
all about believing in himself.
Tony, on the other hand, had gone the opposite direction. Sure, he acted confident
and did what needed to be done--he was Tony, after all. But he never quite relaxed
anymore, even when he was pulling stupid Tony-stuff.
Not at work, anyway.
Holding in another sigh, Tim crossed the room and parked his butt on the edge of
Tony's desk. Tony tossed the pen he'd been fiddling with on top of a stack of manila
folders, then slowly spun towards Tim.
"Ziva's settled in," Tim told him. "And she swears she has the buses figured out now,
so she should be fine tomorrow."
"Too bad about her car." Tony tucked his hands behind his head. "Minis are total chick
cars, but pretty sweet anyway."
"You just like them because of the Italian Job."
Tony nudged Tim's ankle with the tip of his shoe. "Ooh, movie reference. I really like
how much I'm rubbing off on you, McGee."
Tim arched his eyebrow. Tony grinned unrepentantly. Tim decided they needed to get out
of the building really, really soon.
"Are you done yet?" he asked, even though he knew Tony was. "Abby's crashed out in
the lab. All the sugar-binging finally caught up to her."
Tony locked his computer and stood up. "She okay to drive?" he asked casually.
Tim shrugged just as casually. "One of us should probably take her home. Just to be safe."
"Let's go." Tony grabbed his jacket and headed towards the elevator. "You know she's
going to pick me."
"Yeah, whatever." He knew Tony was right, though. Abby'd missed Tony too much to give
up any opportunity to spend time with him. Even if she'd probably zonk out as soon as
they got on the road.
The elevator seemed to take forever and a day. Tony kept fidgeting, managing to brush
his shoulder against Tim's every few seconds. Tim took a step away--and then
the doors finally opened. They got in without a word.
Tony stopped the car the second they were between floors. "What the hell happened to
your wardrobe?" He took two steps forward until he was in Tim's space. Then he took
another, pushing Tim back against the elevator wall, one hand braced above Tim's head.
"What, you don't like it?" Tim smiled smugly. Tony's reaction yesterday had been worth
every penny Tim had spent; Tony's reaction now was worth every pang Tim had felt tossing
his old favorites into the donation bag.
Tony fingered the edge of Tim's jacket, knuckles brushing against the thin material of
his T-shirt. "Are you kidding? It's driving me crazy." Tony ran his hand upwards,
stroking along Tim's chest until his palm was resting against the bare skin of Tim's
neck. "I might have to put a moratorium on your new fashion sense. It's hazardous to
the concentration of a federal agent attempting to do his job."
Tim swallowed hard. He snuck his hands under Tony's jacket, and that was all it took to
get Tony to stop teasing. Tim groaned into the kiss, still amazed at how hot Tony could
make him. The time apart had only added to the need.
"I set a new record for you, you know," Tony whispered against his mouth. "Sixteen days,
seven hours. Going on eight."
Tim shoved lightly against Tony's chest. "Not that we don't appreciate it, but you're
going to have to wait just a bit longer."
"I know." Tony sighed and started the elevator. "Let's go get our girl."
Just before the doors opened on Abby's lab, Tim hit the hold button. "You would have
fixed it without him, you know."
Tony pulled Tim's finger away from the controls. "Maybe," he said. "Maybe."
He slung his arm around Tim's shoulders as they walked into the lab--where Abby was
waiting for them, bleary-eyed but smiling.