HIDE WHAT'S INSIDE

By

Ashleigh Anpilova

Few people see the real Tony DiNozzo. Sometimes even he forgets what's inside.

A DiNozzo-centric gen story.

Written: August 2009. Word count: 300.

Tony rubbed the back of his head after Gibbs's latest head-slap and withering glare, and wondered why he kept on doing it.

Why did he keep playing the fool?

Why did he go on pulling prank after prank?

Why did he go out of his way to annoy Gibbs?

Why did he constantly make McGee's life a misery?

Why did he continue to tease Ziva and mock her over her malapropisms?

Why did he spend more time acting like the class clown than the competent special agent he was?

The answer was simple: because playing the fool, being the class clown, annoying Gibbs, making McGee's life a misery, teasing Ziva, was easier than letting anyone see who he really was. See inside Anthony DiNozzo. See how insecure he was.

He wanted to be Gibbs's favorite - well after Ducky and Abby, of course. He wanted to be Gibbs's preferred field agent. He wanted to be the one the boss turned to. He wanted to be the best. And he feared he wasn't. Oh, he was good. But was he good enough?

McGee was ten times smarter than him and had improved considerably as an agent. He had skills Tony would never have; what he couldn't get a computer to do wasn't worth doing. Tony kept on ribbing him, playing pranks on him, in effect bullying him to keep McGee off balance.

Ziva was a trained killer, a trained fighter, better with both gun and knife than Tony was, and she could take Tony any day. But she was more than just a killer now; she was a good investigator and getting better all the time. Tony kept on teasing her to stop her from knowing how good she'd become.

That's why he acted as he did; to hide what was inside.

Feedback is always appreciated

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