The atmosphere in the bullpen the following day was tense. Ziva and
McGee just kept their heads low and as often as possible when to see
Abby. Even Director Shepherd had noticed that the smooth running of
Gibbs' team was off.

Eventually they had a case and Ziva and McGee followed Gibbs to the
truck. Tony offered to stay behind and do the background check.
Alarm bells were ringing in Gibbs' mind. DiNozzo HATES background
checks. Tony had said it was the least he could do after coming in
with a hangover yesterday.

As the day worn on Tony became more and more disillusioned. It was
Christmas Eve and he just wanted to curl up somewhere and forget
Christmas existed.

"Are you sure you cannot get home? OK honey. Take care and see you
tomorrow. Merry Christmas baby. DiNozzo? Yeah he is still here.
Yep I will tell him. Love you".

Tony looked up at his name being mentioned. Jenny was walking down
the stairs on her mobile.

"DiNozzo, that was Jethro. He is not going to be able to get back
tonight. This case just needs some loose ends tying up. He sent
Ziva and McGee home. He told me to tell you to go home too and Merry
Christmas". With that she disappeared.

Tony rubbed his head. `When will it stop hurting to hear her call
Gibbs "baby". He powered down and made his sulky way home.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Hey", the soft voice made Tony jump out of his skin as he closed his
apartment door.

"What the fuck. Boss? What are you doing here? You scared the shit
out of me. Director Shepherd said you were tying up loose ends".
Tony finally got out as his heart slowed down in his chest. The
younger man's eyes darted everywhere but at Gibbs face. "Want some
eggnog?" Gibbs asked holding the glass out to Tony.

"Thanks".

Gibbs turned and walked back to the kitchen. Tony sipped the eggnog
as he moved to his living room. His eyes went wide. There were
candles everywhere. `What the hell is going on?' he thought as he
walked to the kitchen. `I am in the Twilight Zone' Tony decided.
Gibbs was at the stove cooking vegetables and the table was
beautifully laid out. The smell of turkey filled the air.

"Boss did I get bumped on the head again?" Tony asked unsure of what
was happening here.

Gibbs laughed. "No Tony, no bump. Wine?"

Tony just nodded as Gibbs brought him a glass of wine. "Go and have
a shower and dinner will be about ½ hour ok".

"Sure", Tony said as he left his glass on the side and went to the
bathroom. What was strange about his boss being in his kitchen,
cooking a Christmas dinner for him when he had lied to his fiancée
about him not getting back because of the case? Everything.

TBC