Email: slashgirl@gmail.com

Title: Never mind
Author: Stacy L.A. Stronach
email: slashgirl@gmail.com
Pairing: n/a
Rating: R/FRM for language
Warnings; Spoilers for Boxed In
Archive : DO NOT ARCHIVE. Thanks.

Notes: Yes, I was still pissed off when I wrote this. Yes, Tony snaps.
And you know what, I refuse to believe Abs willingly went along with
Ziva's little party. Gibbs, yes, cus second "b" is for bastard, after
all. And the rest of them. *pshaw* And this is probably NOT what folks
are looking for as a resolution…but, well, I like revenge. *rubs hands
together* And it could've been worse.**

This was written in about two hours and is a reponse to the ep Boxed In.

Summary: "Don't worry sweetheart. I subscribe to the old proverb:
'Don't get mad, get even'," he says, grinning broadly.


Never mind
by Stacy L.A. Stronach

"When I snap, you'll be the first to go." –Unknown
"Don't get mad. Get even."--Unknown

Tony looks around at his…well, he sure as hell can't call them
friends. Unless he's misunderstood the meaning of that word, they are
not that. Co-workers. Yes, that will do. He can't believe they'd be
that cruel to him. He lowers his head for a moment, gathering his
strength. Besides, looking at Ziva, McGee's and Gibbs' smirking faces
is too much. He notices that Abby is looking shocked at his reaction.

Finally he stands, grabs his jacket and his kit before walking around
the desk. His face is a hard, cold mask; he stops next to Ziva,
staring down at her, his green eyes ice cold. "Never mind. I've
suddenly lost my appetite," he sneers at her. "I'm just gonna go home
and crash. It's been a long damn day." He turns and heads for the
elevator.

Behind him he hears flesh slap flesh, then Abby's terse, muttered,
"Tony didn't know about last night? You lying bitch!" Tony hears her
stomping off, following him.

"Tony, wait, please," Abby calls out to him as he walks on the
elevator. She runs and just manages to get in with him. She hugs him
again. "I'm sorry, I honestly didn't know you didn't know. They all
told me that you DID. If I'd known you hadn't known, that Ziva hadn't
invited you, I would've told you and I wouldn't have gone! I asked
Ziva last night where you were and she told me you had a date! I mean,
I thought it was kinda hinky that you wouldn't bring your date with
you, cus I know you love getting together with us, but then I figured
if it was a first date—"

Tony can't hold the stone façade any more and grins. "Abby, it's okay.
I believe you. I didn't think you could be that cruel to me," he says,
stroking the side of her face with his good hand.

Abby gives him a kiss on the cheek and leans her head on his shoulder.
"I'm so sorry, babe." Then she frowns and stands up. "I wonder if
McGee knew…" she pulls out Tony's cell and dials. "McGee, it's me. Did
you know about this?" There's a pause as she listens to his answer and
Tony watches as she frowns, her brow creasing. "I can't believe you'd
be such a little—What? They knew, too? You people are fucking whacked.
Oh, and McGee. Don't talk to me ever again, unless it's work related!"
Abby slams the cell shut and hands it back to Tony. "Apparently every
one but me and thee knew what was going on. Bastards."

Tony chuckles, squeezing Abby close to him. "Don't worry sweetheart. I
subscribe to the old proverb: 'Don't get mad, get even'," he says,
grinning broadly.

Abby looks up at him, green eyes full of curiosity. She smiles.
"Ooooh, Tony, I like it when you talk vengefully. What do you have
planned?"

The elevator reaches the parking level and Tony walks off with Abby
following. "Can't tell you, Abs. Don't want you involved." He leans
over and kisses her cheek. "Thanks anyway," he says and begins to walk
away.

"Oh, no you don't, mister! They betrayed you and made me an unwitting
party to it. I want to help. C'mon," she says, lowering her head and
looking up at him, batting her eyelashes.

"I'm sorry, but no. I'm not involving you with this. You'd regret it,"
Tony says sadly. He leans forward and presses a quick kiss to her
cheek. "You're a really good friend, Abby. Love you."

"Tony!" she says as he turns around to leave. "Please, don't do
anything stupid, okay? They're not worth it."

He turns around and looks at her, grinning. "I just pretend to be dumb
jock, you know that. See you later."

"See you, Tony," she whispers, watching him climb into his car and
burn rubber out of the parking lot.

One week later

Tony is already at his desk when McGee walks in. The younger agent is
looking totally dejected. "Hey, Probie, why the long face. Someone
steal your "Career Girl" Barbie?" he asks, smirking. The first couple
of days after his coworkers turned on him, Tony acted hurt. Not much
acting involved, but then he pretended to get over it and let the team
get back to normal. No need to make people suspicious.

"No! Someone hacked into my computer last night and wiped out my
entire hard drive! My novel is gone—I was almost finished it. And it's
gone! All my RPG stuff is gone, too. I…I can't recreate all of that!"
he whines before plopping dejectedly into his chair.

"I'm surprised you didn't practice safe back up with that novel on
your computer," Tony says.

"I did, but my last two backups were corrupted, both my CD AND my
online one. I must be the unluckiest man on earth. I don't know what
I'm going to do," Tim replies and he's very close to tears. "And on
top of that, it's been a week and Abby still won't talk to me!"

"Yeah, that does suck. Guess you'll have to just start over," Tony
says sympathetically, turning away to hide the broad smile on his
face.

Two weeks later

Tony is sitting at his desk finishing up a report on the latest case
the team has closed when he hears someone coming down the stairs.
Turning his head, he sees Madame Director stalking down them, a look
of pure fury on her face. She marches over to Gibbs' desk, throwing a
file down in front of him. "Do you care to explain this report that I
received from Director David of Mossad, Agent Gibbs?"

"What?" Gibbs questions grumpily, opening the folder and scanning the contents.

Tony watches as Gibbs pales; it's barely there and one wouldn't see it
if one wasn't looking for it. He waits.

Gibbs throws the folder back on his desk, angrily. "I have no idea.
All I can tell you is that it's full of lies!" he growls at her.

"Oh, I don't think so, Gibbs. I did a preliminary investigation and
those autopsy reports are genuine. What you put in YOUR report was
not. You're suspended, with pay, pending an internal investigation of
this matter," Shepard says, still furious with him. "And Officer David
is immediately recalled to Israel, to answer to her agency for her
part in this…this charade!"

"Goddamnit, Jen—"

"It's Director Shepard!"

"Director Shepard, I'm telling you that what I put in my report was
the truth! How dare you—"

"How dare I? You're the one that has called the integrity of this
office into question, Gibbs. Give me your badge and gun, you're
suspended as of NOW!" Shepard demands sharply.

Gibbs stares at her for several moments and she returns his gaze.
Finally, he pulls out his badge and weapon and slams them onto her
desk. "Whose doing the investigation, you?"

"Agents DiNozzo and Cassidy will be looking into it. Paula Cassidy
will be replacing Ziva." Shepherd turns around and glares at Tony.
"Agent DiNozzo, you'll be in charge of this team until this matter is
cleared up. And I expect the truth!" The director turns and leaves the
bullpen, stalking back up to her office.

Tony jumps up and falls in beside Gibbs. "Boss, I'm sure this is all a
snafu. I know you wouldn't falsify a report. I'll get to the bottom of
this, don't worry," Tony says, being as sincere as he possibly can.

Gibbs stops and looks at him. "I know you will, Tony," he replies,
before turning and walking onto the elevator. "And that's what I'm
afraid of," he whispers.

Grinning slyly, knowing that Gibbs figures he didn't hear him, Tony
walks back to his desk. Things are going according to plan.

One month later

Jen Shepard looks up from the folder on her desk, shaking her head as
she looks at Gibbs. "You're damn lucky that all they're giving you is
a two month suspension, without pay, and that they're taking into
account the two weeks you've already been off. You'll be on
probationary status for two months on your return to duty. I'm
surprised that you'd allow yourself to be influenced by David like
that, Jethro. Very disappointing," she pauses for a moment. "You're
lucky DiNozzo is such a charming bastard. I really think it was his
presentation to the disciplinary board that saved your ass. You might
want to thank him."

"You're probably right. I'm sorry, Jen," he says as contritely as
possible. He can't say much else, he's seen the report and he knows
that Tony lied for him and that Tony now knows the truth. He stands up
and heads for the door.

"Jethro, I'm sorry this happened," Jen says.

"Yeah, so am I," he replies before walking out, slamming the door behind him.

Later that afternoon, Tony goes down to visit Abby in her lab. She
grins when she sees him and gives him a big hug. "How're you doing?"

"I'm good, how're you?"

"Great. I heard about Gibbs. Wow, he' s lucky you lied for him," she
says, nodding when he grimaces.

"Yeah, well, we couldn't lose the Bossman, now could we, Abby?" he replies.

She looks at him for a moment before leaning forward and whispering in
his ear, "As revenge plots go, it's a really good one. And the thing
with McGee last month, well, I didn't know you were that good at
computers." If she hadn't been looking for it, Abby doubts she would
have seen the grin that briefly flashed over Tony's features.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," he says, mock innocently.
"You're not pissed off with me, are you?"

"No way. They got what they deserved," Abby shrugs. "And I have to say
you're way more patient than me. I probably would've gone after the
boat, too."

Tony chuckles. "Well, patience IS a virtue," he says. "But don't think
the boat didn't cross my mind…but there's getting even and then, well,
there's breaking a man."

Later that night

Gibbs is working on his boat when he hears his front door open.
Listening, he recognises the tread and waits for DiNozzo to come down
to the basement.

"Hey, Boss, how're you doing?"

Gibbs leans against his workbench. "I'm fine. So…you know the truth
yet you lied on your report. Hell, you even defended me to the
disciplinary board, why?"

Tony shrugs. "Because I understand why you did what you did. I
understand…revenge. And you're too great an agent for NCIS to lose. I
like working with you," Tony replies, moving to stand in front of
Gibbs.

"I don't know how you hid it from Cassidy. That must've been tough."

"Mmm, not really. I already knew what I was hiding, so as good as
Paula is, I never let her see the real truth," Tony says, a note of
pride creeping into his voice.

"You knew before—" Gibbs stops what he was going to say and stares at
Tony. Realisation rolls over him and he knows he should ask the
question. But as he stares at the younger man, he finds he can't ask
because, deep down, he really doesn't want to know.

//**the end**\\

**And yes, I briefly considered getting rid of the boat, but, well,
that would be cruel and unusual punishment.