Work Text:
Moving Day 4 - Fish wish
by fanficwriter101
`Tony! DINOZZO!!' Gibbs snapped impatiently.
The restaurant owner hadn't seen the hit-and-run they were investigating, and he was ready to leave. Tony was staring, apparently mesmerized, into the large fish tank in the far corner of the room. He turned, his reluctance to leave evident on his expressive face. `Sorry boss.'
`Something in the tank Tony?' Gibbs asked sharply.
`Fish, boss.'
Gibbs sighed. `You were expecting something else?'
Tony looked uncomfortable. `I...uh...always wanted a tank like that.'
Gibbs' eyebrows lifted. `A tank like that would fill your apartment Tony!'
Tony nodded. He knew in public Gibbs still acted as if they lived apart. `You never wanted something you couldn't have boss?'
Gibbs frowned for a moment. `Nope.'
Tony closed his notebook and walked out, sensing he was reaching the point at which Gibbs would either snap at him or, worse, drive him back to the office via a `short cut'.
Hand on the door, Gibbs paused, turning to look back at the tank.
*****************
`A fish tank? Are you sure?' Ducky was cleaning up after a particularly messy autopsy and Gibbs stood well back from the bloody table and floor.
`Yes Ducky! A damn' fish tank! Of all the things we need...'
`You have *never* purchased something you didn't really need, have you Jethro.' Ducky said in a disappointed tone.
`No.' Gibbs said, frowning at the idea of doing such a money-wasting thing.
`The boat?' Ducky enquired softly.
`That's therapy. Saves me money and time laying on a couch somewhere.'
Ducky smiled. `All the boy wants is a goldfish Jethro. And it is his birthday on Friday.'
Gibbs huffed. `He won't take care of it and it'll die and I'll have to listen to him...'
Ducky walked across, stripped off his gloves, and rested his fingertip gently on the younger man's lips. `Buy him a goldfish and at our lunch tomorrow I won't tell them how you and Marilyn used to do an impression of Sonny and Cher at the local pizza place for free food.'
`That was twenty years ago Ducky!!' Gibbs protested.
Ducky nodded. `Yes. Yet it still makes a good tale to convince them you are human. But, if you want to maintain your air of... invulnerability, it will cost you one fish tank. And a fish.'
Gibbs sighed. `You're gonna tell me you know a good fish...buying place.'
`Aquarist.' Ducky corrected. `And yes. I happen to know a very...experienced young lady in Georgetown. I'll find the number for you and call you later.'
`A fish tank.' Gibbs sighed, walking out.
Ducky smiled, remembering just *how* experienced the young lady had been. And they hadn't even discussed fish keeping. But he believed she was equally experienced in that area. Her shop was certainly impressive.
********************
Four pm the next day...
Gibbs looked at the clock on the wall, checked his watch as if he didn't believe the clock and got up, locking his weapon in his desk drawer. `Dinozzo. With me.'
Kate looked up. `A case boss?'
Gibbs frowned. `You have the hit-and-run to finish up Agent Todd.'
Kate sighed and re-opened the file she had closed a moment earlier.
Tony cast a `What did I do now?' look at Kate and followed Gibbs out.
******************************
`Twenty-one oh five.' Gibbs had spent the previous few minutes scanning the numbers on the various storefronts and pulled in sharply and without warning when he saw the one he was looking for.
`Uh...boss...where the Hell are we?'
`Fish, Tony.' Gibbs nodded at the glass-fronted store.
Tony began to catch up with Gibbs' thought processes and groaned. After he'd mentioned his interest in fish to Ducky, who seemed to have shared it with Gibbs, he had expected a Gibbs-type comment, but not this. `It's the end of the month boss...I've got about...fifty dollars in my checking account.' //Or fifty cents if my rent check already got cashed.//
Gibbs ignored him and walked inside the store, eyes sweeping the place as if he expected a terrorist attack at any moment. `It's a birthday present.'
Tony heard his voice climb an octave. `I didn't think you...uh...knew it was my...uh...birthday.'
Gibbs looked over his shoulder. `I did.'
`Hello.' The young woman who emerged from behind a bead curtain smiled politely.
Caught out, his train of thought interrupted suddenly, Gibbs managed: `Ducky...uh...Dr Mallard...recommended...'
The answering giggle and blush made Gibbs wish he had gone elsewhere for the stupid...
`How is he? I haven't seen him in...oh, months.'
Tony's `anything with breasts and a cute smile' radar flicked on the instant he walked in the shop and saw the woman, around his age, dark pony tail swishing as he spoke, hazel eyes sparkling as she spoke to... Gibbs. //NOOO!!!// `Hi.'
The woman turned her attention from the cute older man to the cute younger one. `Hi. Are you here for a set-up or supplies?'
`I'm a *complete* beginner.' Tony confessed bashfully, his smile flashing.
`Well, lucky for you I'm *very* experienced.'
Gibbs restrained a groan as the woman began to flirt with Tony. `We'll take a tank and a fish.' He said firmly.
`You don't know a whole lot about fish do you?'
Gibbs scowled at the teasing tone. `You keep `em wet and feed `em.'
The woman smiled the smile of someone used to such comments. Tight and just this side of throwing him out of the store. `There is a *little* more to it Sir.'
Tony leaned on the counter. `I wanna know everything.'
Gibbs gave up and sat in the armchair at the far end of the store.
******************
An hour later...
`Boss...uh...Gibbs...which do you think? Treasure chest or diver?' Tony asked holding up two shrink-wrapped bags containing garishly-colored plastic shapes.
`They need toys?' Gibbs enquired sharply.
`They're air...things.' Tony said, looking from one to the other.
From the counter, wrapping the tank Tony had settled on in bubble-wrap, the woman called: `Remember, if you have a filter, you can't run one of those unless you have two air supplies.'
Tony sighed disappointedly and put both packets down. `I'm done. I've gotta set the tank up for a week then come back for fish.'
Gibbs stared at him. `I've gotta do this *twice*?'
Tony swallowed hard.
The woman nodded. `Yes. If you want a tank and fish on the same day, you'll have to find another shop.'
Grateful for the woman's intervention, Tony nodded. `Uh huh. The tank needs to...uh...mature.'
`The tank?' Gibbs muttered.
Gibbs pulled his wallet out of his pocket and Tony frowned. `Uh, boss, you don't have to...'
`Birthday.' Gibbs reminded. He nodded at the tank. `Get that in the car before you agree to buy a shark Tony.' Gibbs snarled.
Tony flashed his smile at the shop owner. `Thank you...Barb...you were... really...helpful.'
The woman's voice was soft, eyelashes fluttering. `Anytime...Anthony .'
Gibbs groaned inwardly, made a mental note to yell at Ducky as soon as he could.
Barbara tapped on the calculator on the counter. `Seventy-fifty.'
`Seventy dollars?!' Gibbs gasped disbelievingly. `For a fish tank?!'
`And gravel, food, water neutralizer, air pump, spares, plants, a hide for the fish...'
Gibbs put his hand up. `Okay.'
Swiping Gibbs' credit card, Barbara filled the silence: `Ducky said you were probably gonna drop by.'
`Where did you two meet?' Gibbs couldn't work it out and it bugged him.
`I'm Tom Morrow's niece. Ducky and I met at his last birthday party. He's very...charming. That accent...' She smiled, remembering.
Gibbs replaced his credit card, lifted the paper bag from the counter and adjusted his grip. `We can get the fish in a week?'
`Yes. Bring a small amount of the water and I'll test it. If the levels are okay, you can have fish.'
`And if they're not?' Gibbs asked, already knowing the answer.
`Then you wait patiently until they are.'
Gibbs scowled, relieved the woman couldn't see his face, hidden as it was by the tank. `Tony and patiently aren't words that fit together well.' He muttered.
Continued in the next part...