Little Sister
“No, absolutely not,” Tony said. Stella’s hands curled into fists.
“I can make decisions for myself, Tony,” she said. “I’m not a child anymore.”
“No, but I am still your older brother, Stella. You can’t move here,” he snapped. “If you do, you won’t be able to focus on your dream.”
“I have other dreams, Tony,” she replied, crossing her arms. He sighed and sat down heavily in his chair at his desk. “You can’t stop me. I’m moving here. Why are you so against it?”
“Because you have potential,” he frowned. “You’re going to be stuck here just like me.”
“Stuck, Tony?”
“Yeah, boss. Stuck,” Tony mumbled. Stella looked over at the silver-haired man holding a cup of coffee. Stella thought she remembered Tony calling his boss “Gibbs” once. He was looking her over and then looked at Tony.
“We have a case,” he said. “Where’s McGee?”
“He called and said something about a flat tire,” Tony shrugged. “I don’t know. I was focused on the interesting noises in the background.”
“Snoop,” another man grumbled as he walked in, his hair sticking every which way. He put his coffee down before turning back and his gaze landed on Stella. He offered his hand. “Tim McGee.”
“Stella DiNozzo,” she said, shaking his hand. McGee glanced at Tony. “So, you’re Tony’s sister?”
“Yeah, now back off, Probie,” Tony snapped. McGee held up his hands and went back to his desk.
“Guys, case. Move it,” Gibbs urged. “We don’t have all day.”
“Rude,” Stella said under her breathe. Gibbs glared at her.
“You,” he said, pointing at her. “Out of my office. You’re distracting my team.”
Stella opened her mouth to retort but Tony cut her off.
“Stella, go,” he said. “This conversation isn’t over.”
“I already found a place, Tony,” she said. “I’m pretty sure it’s over.”
He glared at her as she got onto the elevator.
“I mean, why would anyone want to move here if isn’t for a job?” Tony grumbled as he responded to yet another text from Stella. He crossed his arms and leaned against the car the McGee was rummaging through. “She had a dream, McGee, and it was a damn good dream too. Now she’s giving it up to be near family.”
“Tony, that isn’t a bad reason,” McGee said as he stood up, a necklace in his hand. Tony rolled his eyes and took a picture of the inside of the car. His phone rang and he looked at the text. “Why are you so against this anyway? If you love her as much as you seem to, you should be thrilled that she’s closer.”
“I am,” he sighed. “I just… I want what’s best for her, McGee.”
“She’s a grown woman, Tony. She can make her own decisions,” McGee said, looking up at him. Tony looked down at his phone and ran a hand through his hair.
“You don’t understand,” he stated. “She was going to be a director. You should see some of the things she’s done. When she went to boarding school, she started making movies and videos. She was amazing at it. She came back to go to USC to major in film. McGee, she had it all planned out and yet she’s here giving up on all of that. I had my friend Callen look in on her. She graduated at the top of her class!”
“Tony, I’m sure she knows what she’s doing,” McGee stated. Tony groaned and texted her quickly. Before Tony could say anything else to McGee, Gibbs took his phone and called Stella.
“Tony, you’re not talking me out of this,” Stella said.
“It’s not Tony,” Gibbs stated.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “This is Gibbs, right? His boss?”
“Yes,” he said shortly. “You’re holding up my investigation by distracting Agent DiNozzo.”
“Well, let me make a formal apology over dinner tonight,” she said. Gibbs paused. That was… unexpected.
“Okay,” he replied once he regained his composure. He hung up and tossed Tony’s phone back to him. “Keep your mind on the case, DiNozzo.”
“Yes, sir,” Tony mumbled as Gibbs walked away.
“This is amazing,” McGee mumbled as he watched the video over Tony’s shoulder. “She did this when she was in high school?”
“Yeah,” Tony said proudly. “You should see her more recent stuff. She had the proper equipment so the video quality is so much better.”
“She is really good,” McGee said. “I can see why you would want her to pursue this.”
“Yeah,” Tony grinned as she scrolled through the videos. “Oh! This is a good one! It has Callen in it. He played a cop.”
He clicked it and it began. McGee subconsciously rested his chin on Tony’s shoulder as he watched and Tony was radiating with pride.
“What are you guys watching?” Stella asked. Tony smiled up at her.
“Just a few of your movies,” he stated.
“You’re what?” she exclaimed, walking around to look at the computer screen. She paled and quickly moved to turn it off.
“Hey, wait,” Tony said, stopping her. “This is the best part.”
“Tony, no. I’m turning it off,” she said, wrestling out of his grip.
“No, because McGee is watching it,” Tony replied, moving so she was trapped in his arms. “Aren’t you, McGoo?”
The only response McGee gave was the shush them. Tony smiled and, finally, the movie ended just as Gibbs walked up. He only raised his eyebrow at them and Tony grinned.
“Hey, boss. You missed the movie marathon,” he said. Stella pulled out of his grip and huffed indignantly as she fixed her hair.
“McGee, shouldn’t you be tracing the victim’s phone?” Gibbs asked. McGee stood up and walked back to his desk. Gibbs just glared at Tony, who looked at his computer and pretended he was doing something important.
“Are you ready?” Stella asked, turning to Gibbs. Tony’s head shot up and he glanced between the two. Gibbs smiled softly. He and Stella walked to the elevator and Tony just stared at them.
“What the hell?” he demanded, looking at McGee. “Are they… Did that… What?”
“Tony, I think you need to breathe,” McGee stated. Tony glared at him.
"So what's the real point behind this dinner?”
"Maybe I just wanted to say sorry."
"I know there's more than that. You're just like your brother."
"Is that such a bad thing?"
"No."
"Well good. Now, I really want a beer. What about you?"
Gibbs’s lips quirked up slightly and he nodded.
“I could have a drink,” he said. Stella ordered two beers. Gibbs sipped his as he studied her.
“What have you been up to?” he asked.
“Nothing exciting,” she shrugged. “I just graduated and moved here so I'm in the process of finding a job.”
They talked for a while, mostly about her life in college. Suddenly, her phone rang. She glanced at the caller ID and grinned.
“I'm sorry. I have to take this,” she said. She slipped away and Gibbs looked down at the bottle, frowning to herself. A few minutes later she came back with the last of the conversation.
“Goodbye. Yeah, I'll call you when I get settled in,” she hung up and sat down again. “I'm sorry. Just an old friend from LA calling to check up on me.”
Gibbs just nodded and it was quiet for a moment.
“It's getting late,” Gibbs said, standing up. “And I'm sure we'll both have a long day of dealing with Tony tomorrow.”
They walked out to his car and got in. He drove her to her apartment and walked her to the door. They stood there awkwardly for a moment before Gibbs cleared his throat.
“It was nice tonight,” he stated. Stella smiled.
“Yeah, I had a good time too,” she agreed. “I'm sorry about the call, by the way. He worries. We used to have a thing but there's nothing now.”
He smiled and leaned down to kiss her cheek. She smirked up at him.
“I think I need a real kiss, Gibbs,” she stated. He chuckled and leaned down to connect their lips. The kiss was sweet and both wanted more as they pulled away.
“I'll see you around, Stella,” he said. He turned back to the car and she watched until he drove out of sight and then walked up to her apartment.