Chapter 11:
The rest of the morning and early afternoon went by quickly. After lunch Ziva headed out to meet up with Fornell's team to set up surveillance around the cabin where Gibbs and Tony would be spending the night. Abby was going to be monitoring them via the GPS trackers until McGee and Fornell finished setting up shop in a hotel not far from the cabin. Once they were set up Abby would be providing back-up servers for them.
With all of their equipment packed and loaded in the truck Gibbs thought it best to get on the road before traffic got too heavy. While doing a last-minute inventory check and testing the GPS trackers, both Gibbs and Tony received lectures on the importance of keeping the trackers dry again and to not get into any trouble that forced them to perform some heroic action that was equally dangerous.
"Please, please remember to keep them dry! I don't think I can stress this enough!" exclaimed Abby.
"Yes, you can," said Tony, and received a punch in the arm. "Ouch!"
"I'm serious Tony! And don't either one of you let curiosity get the better of you!" scolded Abby.
"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Tony.
"It means that BOTH of you have tendencies to get into trouble, so don't go looking for it!" declared Abby.
"Abs, relax. You will be keeping an eye on us the whole time, how can we get into trouble?" Gibbs said reasonably. "And besides, last I checked Tony was the one who kept finding trouble," he added with a smirk.
"Hey! I resent that! Trouble finds me, not the other way around!" exclaimed Tony.
"Ah good, I had thought you two had left already. Wouldn't want you to be driving without this," Ducky said as he approached the group, carrying a thermos filled with what had to be nothing other than Gibbs' coffee.
"Thanks," said Gibbs. "But I have driven without coffee before you know."
"Yea, and look at all that paperwork that came out of those 'incidents'," remarked Tony. Gibbs cuffed him upside the head as he took a drink.
Laughing, Ducky asked, "So how are you going to survive without coffee tomorrow Jethro?"
"Who says I'll be without?" Gibbs said, raising his eyebrows.
"Yea, cuz with all the development going on throughout the rest of the country they decided to hell with the park and built a Starbucks right along the river. They even installed drive through so you don't have to get out of the raft," said Abby, and with that both her and Tony burst out laughing, with Tony noticeably moving out of reach of Gibbs.
Gibbs just glared at the pair. "Give me the keys, Dinozzo. Let's get going."
Catching his breath, Tony replied "Uhh, why don't you let me drive boss?"
"The keys, Dinozzo. Now," growled Gibbs.
Resigned to his fate, Tony handed over the keys. "Let's go. I'd like to get there before we have to meet with the rest of the group to go over the area," said Gibbs as he headed towards the driver's side.
"If I were you I'd make sure that that thermos survives the rapids," advised Abby. "Your survival and of those surrounding you depend on it, not to mention the mission of course."
"Yea, well if you happen to see me take off at lightning speed in the opposite direction, then you know the coffee drowned," replied Tony.
Abby punched him in the arm again. "Tony! Don't even joke about something like that!"
"Dinozzo! Get in the truck, now!" ordered Gibbs.
"Best get going, Tony. Wouldn't want to push your luck, he hasn't even had half of what's in that thermos yet," Ducky said.
"See you guys later!" Tony called out as he climbed into the truck.
"Be careful!" Abby shouted with a wave as the truck pulled away.
Abby sighed. "You think they'll be ok?"
"Somehow I have a feeling that things will come out better between those two than when they left," answered Ducky cryptically. With that he turned and headed towards the elevator, leaving Abby to her thoughts.
Much to Gibb's annoyance, and one of the first things he noticed within the first five minutes of driving, was that the truck did not accelerate well. Tony knew better than to say anything, and once they got onto the beltway they couldn't go very fast due to traffic anyway. He also knew better than to try to play with the radio, which was why he turned on his IPod not long after pulling away from headquarters. He needed the time to clear his head and let himself soak in the mindset of what was to be his new role.
Although, he knew deep down that it wasn't going to be much of a switch as far as he was concerned. Gibbs had been more of a father, had shown that he really cared about what Tony did and what happened to him, more so than anyone else had before. Gibbs taught him how to be a better investigator, disciplined him when it was necessary without ever humiliating or degrading him. The hard part was going to be making sure that Gibbs didn't think he wasn't taking this assignment seriously. He knew Gibbs would pick up on the fact that some of his behavior hadn't changed.
And then of course there was the whole 'Dad' issue. He knew he was going to have to say it at some point. More than once, otherwise it would arouse suspicion. But it was all supposed to be part of the cover, an act. It shouldn't be this hard, after all. Seeing Gibbs as a father figure already should have made things easier, right?
Tony sighed to himself. Once they got there he was going to have to be in the role, no hesitation or second-guessing himself. He just wished…hey. Tony suddenly felt like a light bulb went off in his head. Looking out of the corner of his eye, he watched as Gibbs cursed as another driver cut him off while switching lanes. He had to hold in a laugh at that, usually it was Gibbs cutting people off.
Deciding that now would be a good a time as any, he decided to approach Gibbs with an idea that he couldn't say no to.
It had been a few hours since they had pulled out of the NCIS parking lot, and the entire time Tony had sat quietly, obviously lost in his own thoughts. Gibbs had been concerned at first, especially since he didn't even bother to try fiddling with the radio. But on closer examination, he noticed the headphones in Tony's ear. It seemed that Tony wanted to be left alone.
Gibbs could understand that to a certain extent. Often before going on undercover missions he himself found it easier to focus and get into character by sitting in quiet without any interruptions, doing a mental run-down of information. But Gibbs had never seen Tony go quiet for so long before, even with other undercover ops. For someone who was always talking and seemed to vibrate with energy, this stillness was unnerving. And it was starting to grate on Gibbs' nerves.
Keeping his conversation with Ducky in mind, Gibbs had been trying to find a safe way to start up a conversation about the upcoming events. After a while he would have settled for any kind of conversation. He wasn't even sure what to make of this silence, was it uncomfortable or not?
Finally Gibbs had had enough. This silence was going to end, even if all they ended up doing was re-stating what they already knew. It was a safe conversation starter as any and who knew what doors it might open…
"Hey, boss?" asked Tony suddenly. Apparently, Tony had beaten him to the punch.
"What?" replied Gibbs simply, but inside he gave a sigh a relief of not having to say anything first at all.
"You want to get a fresh cup of coffee?" Gibbs spared Tony a brief glance, raising his eyebrows. "It'll give the traffic a chance to clear up, too."
Gibbs mentally shook his head, trust Tony to appeal to his addiction of coffee. Quite the round-a-bout way of saying he wouldn't mind stopping to eat either.
"You have a place in mind?" asked Gibbs.
Suddenly an idea occurred to him. He hadn't had a chance to discuss how their cover was actually going to be played out. Taking a pit stop would provide the perfect opportunity for them to get in the swing of their new roles.
Tony shrugged. "It doesn't matter to me."
Gibbs looked at the signs on the side of the road. McDonald's, Taco Bell, ah perfect.
"I don't drink any of that fast-food joint crap," said Gibbs. "But Bob Evans looks good."
Tony raised his eyebrows at him. "You want to stop at Bob Evans?"
Nodding, Gibbs replied, "It will give us a chance to get settled into our cover more. Why wouldn't I want to stop at Bob Evans? They got bad coffee or something?"
Tony gave a small laugh at that. "Wouldn't know. It sort of gives off the whole 'home-cooked family restaurant' feeling."
Gibbs turned off at the exit. Taking a breath, he said, "And working together for nearly five years doesn't make us family of some sort?"
"No, I didn't mean it like that," Tony said quickly with a hint of surprise in his voice. "I just, umm…"
"I know what you meant, Tony," Gibbs said as he parked the truck outside of the restaurant. "I just hope you know what I meant, too."
And with that Gibbs got out and started walking towards the restaurant. After hesitating a moment to ponder over what Gibbs said, he got out and hurried to catch up.
Chapter End Notes:
Yeah! They are finally on the road! I know, finally right? Lol. Well let me know what you think of their interaction so far. Any suggestions on how you would like to see things go? Let me know, always open to new ideas. Thanks for continuing to read!