---------------
The case was a nightmare. A dead sailor and local law enforcement tramping all over the rainy crime scene. It was a long night, and by the time they all got back to the office through the rush hour traffic, they were wet and everyone was cranky. Tony and McGee dropped off all the evidence to Abby and Tony headed upstairs to change into some dry clothes. Tony found himself in the men's room with Gibbs who was changing his own soggy clothes. Neither were in the mood to talk, and just nodded at each other in greeting. Tony peeled off his wet sweatshirt and t-shirt and quickly toweled off and threw on a dry t-shirt. Leaving the sodden shirts in the sink, he stepped into a stall to change his soaked jeans and underwear.
Gibbs had been standing next to Tony as toweled himself off. When Tony had pulled off his wet shirts a faint trace of woman's perfume caught Gibbs attention. It was familiar. As Tony slipped into the stall, Gibbs smirked to himself. He didn't know much about perfume personally, Tony was the one that could probably identify a brand with the faintest of whiffs, but this one he did recognize, it was what Claudia wore. He had even teased Claudia about it as they danced at the retirement party. She laughed and told him it was what she got when she sent Joshua off with the sales girl at the store with money to buy her a Christmas gift. He picked the perfume because it had been fastened to a teddy bear, which made it great perfume in his five-year old mind. In reality it was a cheap flowery perfume that she really didn't like, but Joshua checked the bottle on her dresser often to see if she were using it, and not wanting to disappoint him, she did. She had laughed as she told Jethro the story and he had shared a similar tale about Kelly and a bottle of horrible birthday cologne.
Standing there at the sink, Gibbs finally figured out what kept niggling at him about her perfume, he had caught the same scent on Tony a couple of times in the past few weeks. Tony must have a new girlfriend. And given what Claudia told him about the perfume, he wondered what type of woman she was, and exactly how old. He knew that that the op with Jeanne had really hurt Tony although the other man would never say anything. But he had to admit that whoever the woman was that he was seeing, she seemed to be good for Tony. He had been focused and grounded lately, and he seemed relaxed and maybe even happy.
Tony came out of the stall carrying his wet jeans which he added to the pile of his wet shirts. He leaned against the sink to slip on some dry socks, and noticing something he teased Gibbs, "Doing some painting, Boss?"
"What?" He asked, wondering how Tony knew. Then he caught Tony's line of sight and followed it to the stripe of blue paint on the back of his forearm. He chuckled, "Oh, missed some."
"Nice color, Boss. You remodeling?" Tony knew Gibbs' house was painted all in neutral tans, nothing like the cheerful blue that was gracing his arm.
Gibbs shrugged, "Just a coat of paint in the spare room."
Tony had known Gibbs long enough to know when he wasn't telling Tony everything, and this was one of those times. But he just left it alone. Gibbs had seemed very relaxed lately, and some of the rough edges had been smoothed over, and he seemed, for lack of a better word, happy. Tony wondered if he was seeing someone new. He had certainly been grouchy after the breakup with Mann, but now he was almost mellow and even playful at times. He wondered what type of woman could manage that in Gibbs.
---------------
Tony ran out and got them all coffee, and he made a special trip to deliver one to Agent Lee's desk in the legal department. She looked at the cup he placed on her desk and looked up at his grinning face. "Whatever it is, forget about it, Tony."
"Can't a guy just buy you a cup of coffee?"
She shot him an exasperated look and raised an eyebrow in reply.
"Right. See, here's the thing. I need your expertise. But I don't want to talk about it here. Can I buy you lunch and explain everything?"
His sudden departure from teasing surprised her a little and she could see that whatever it was that he needed her help on, it was important to him. "Sure."
She was rewarded with one of his ear to ear smiles and she shook her head as he walked away, she couldn't wait to find out what it was that he wanted her help with.
---------------
Claudia was getting ready to head out to drop Joshua at the sitter's and go to work, she had the lunch and dinner shift, when the phone rang. It was Vicky's sister Beth that she had met at the retirement party with a job offer for Claudia.
She was floating on air with the thought of it as she dropped Joshua off and got to the diner. Things were looking up. Now if she could just somehow resolve everything with Tony and Jethro she would have the perfect life. She didn't notice the scowl on the man in sunglasses sitting in the car across the street from the diner and no one saw his hands ball into tight fists as he saw her whistling happily through the rain as she entered the diner.
---------------
Jimmy checked his voicemail to find one from Michelle, telling him that she couldn't meet him for lunch, that she had to take care of something with Tony. He managed to get away from Ducky and up to the bullpen just in time to see her getting into the elevator with Tony. And the sight of Tony standing so close to her and smiling made his mind go in all sorts of directions that he really didn't want to think about. Michelle had been very vague as to what they were doing. And a streak of possessiveness flared up in him that he didn't know existed.
---------------
Gibbs decided he needed food and he needed to get out of the office for a bit and clear his head. The lack of sleep catching up to him. He let McGee know he was going to lunch and he headed for the diner.
As he was about to walk into the diner, all the hairs stood up on the back of his neck and he spun around quickly, looking for the cause. All he saw was a non-descript sedan pulling away, but he caught sight of the man's sunglasses in the driver's side mirror. The rain obscured most details, but it was certainly odd that the man was wearing dark glasses on rainy, overcast day.
He went inside and immediately saw Claudia walking in his direction, plates in one hand and a coffeepot in the other. She beamed when she saw him and paused in her travels to say hi.
He was distracted by the man outside but shook it off and gave her a kiss on the cheek before finding a booth of his own. A moment later there was mug of steaming coffee in front of him. And Claudia standing there looking like she had a secret to share.
"You look tired, Jethro."
"Caught a case last night."
"Ugh."
He nodded in agreement, he could see that she was holding something in, something she was dying to share with him, "Okay, spill it. Whatever it is that has you bouncing more than Joshua at the marina."
She leaned in close, so no one else could hear and told him about the job interview she was going on next week. He was excited for her. He knew how hard she had worked and how much she had sacrificed to get to this point. They talked for a minute, but it was busy and she had to run around. As he ate and indulged himself in watching her animated actions and the beautiful smile she kept flashing at him, he came to a decision that he had stewed over long and hard as he painted over the blandness in his spare room. He wanted warmth and color in his life, he wanted a family in his home, and he wanted it with Claudia. And Joshua.
---------------
Tony explained what he needed to Michelle as she nibbled on a salad. To say she was surprised would have been an understatement, guardianship of a small child was just not something she would have thought Tony would take upon himself.
"So are you looking for guardianship just in the event of his mother's death, or do you want something that also encompasses temporary guardianship if she becomes incapacitated for some reason?"
Tony had just taken a big bite of his sandwich and chewed thoughtfully before answering, "Wow. I didn't think about that. I, we, just don't want him to end up with Social Services if something happens to Claudia. So I guess we need both."
They talked some more and hashed everything out. And she promised to have the paperwork by the end of the day. It was pretty straight forward and would just need both of their notarized signatures before being filed with the court.
When they returned to the office Michelle was a step ahead of Tony out of the elevator and before she could go too far he said, "Michelle?"
She paused and turned to face him, waiting for him to continue.
He gave her a little smile, one of his genuine ones, "Thanks."
She wondered for a moment what sort of woman this Claudia was, because anyone that could turn Tony into an adult was someone she wanted to meet. She smiled back at him, "You're welcome, Tony."
Neither of them saw Jimmy standing across the room watching them, his jaw almost hitting the floor when Tony smiled at Michelle.
---------------
tbc....
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended.