Hi guys :) This is the first story I ever wrote which I published - and the first I finised too. I have gotten lovely reviews and because I sincerely believe that my English has gotten better since I started this, I went over it a couple times and rewrote some things. Still, there will probably be quite some mistakes in it, sorry for that. I tried my best.

Well, on with the story. It starts about a month or two after Ziva stayed behind in Israel in Aaliyah - because I couldn't leave Ziva hanging like that. It may look like what happened in the series, but I promise you I thought of it myself. So read, enjoy, and leave behind a review :)

And obviously, I don't own anything. Such a shame.

It was very early, especially for Tony, when he entered the office. It was totally empty. No typing, no ringing phones, not even a light revealed the presence of a fellow human being. Tony flipped a light on and walked to his desk. He had woken at 3 o'clock and had been thinking – worrying – about Ziva ever since. That happened pretty often, and the uselessness of it drove him crazy. Not only was she in Israel and not planning to come back anytime soon, Tony had also killed the man she most likely loved. And still he couldn't bring himself to get over her, to try to forget how disciplined but elegant she was when she was doing about anything, or how her deep her brown eyes were above her high cheekbones.

Three weeks had passed, and a replacement for Ziva had been found in the end: special agent Samantha Fanning, a slow and boring woman whose speciality was bureaucratic paperwork. How different she was from the hot-tempered, self-confident Ziva. Tony winced at the thought and was happy Fannings desk was empty for once, that the office was still clear of the scent of her overly sweet perfume. It wasn't just the fact that she was tardy and smelly and annoying, the fact that she replaced Ziva was Tony's biggest problem about the woman.

Now Fanning wasn't around, Tony could go through old files without getting stupid remarks about how he was missing his traitor-girlfriend. He had put his arm around Fannings neck just once, make the move he had seen Ziva do so many times. He could've shut Fanning up, just by putting a little more strength into it. He was quite sure that Gibbs wouldn't really disapprove, he liked Fanning just as much as Tony did – only Gibbs was a bit more subtle about it.

After working with Fanning, Tony had found out that McGee wasn't so bad. He had even started to think that, in comparison to Fanning, McGee was his kind of guy after all. One symptom of mental disorder – along all the others.

While reading about a serial killer who had met justice long ago, he suddenly laid eyes on a brown envelope packed in an evidence bag on Gibbs' desk. Curious, Tony put down the thick file and walked to the ill-lit desk. On the envelope was Gibbs' full name, the address of the NCIS-office and a stamp with an to Tony unknown black president on it. The envelope was filled with a small pile of sheets, Tony guessed by the size of it. He took another step forward, and his hand was already outstretched when he heard a very familiar voice right in his ear.

'Exiting, isn't it? I'm dying to know what's inside. Too bad it's for Gibbs. Somehow he always finds out things like that. I have always wondered how he does that. You know, some time ago, when he..'

Tony's heart had stuttered once, but picked up the rhythm when he recognised the voice of Abby Sciuto.

'Abby' he interrupted her babbling. 'Why are you here this early?'

The black-haired girl – she might have been an adult, but the word girl still seemed more appropriate – stopped talking immediately. She stared at her black leather boots. Even for Tony, who wasn't too familiar with subtle emotions, this was clear as if she had printed it on a billboard. The office fell totally silent for a while.

'You miss her too, don't you?' Abby said quietly. It wasn't a question. Tony didn't answer.

'Do you remember when she said I looked fine when that guy had told me I broke the dressing rules?'

Tony chuckled. 'It took weeks for you to get over that.'

Abby nodded. 'It still bugs me. At night, you know. I never really apologized.'

Tony ignored that last part and continued: 'And when she took down three marines in our war game, while they were armed and she wasn't.'

'She did? Wow, that's so cool. You never told me that…'