IT'S TIME

By

Ashleigh Anpilova

Tony makes a decision.

A DiNozzo centric gen story.

Written: November 2010. Word count: 300.

"Not again," I groan as I open the door to my apartment and get greeted by darkness and a blast of frigid air. I trudge back down to my car, dig out a torch and trudge back up the stairs - at least the exercise has made me feel a bit warmer.

I swear this is it; this is the last time. I'm moving. I'm getting out of this crappy apartment with the temperamental boiler that keeps breaking down and knocking out all the power. God, it's cold. Why does it never break down in summer? Why is it always the depths of winter? I can manage without hot water for a bit, I can shower at work, but with the temperatures this low, I need heating.

I'm going to move; really I am.

Except I know I won't. I like this apartment too much. It's me; I've got it just the way I like it; it's home. It's my home. I don't want to live anywhere else. I want to live here - crappy boiler or not. I wonder how long it'll take to fix it this time? Maybe I'll get lucky and the landlord can get someone to fix it straight away - or maybe I won't.

Ah, well, there's only one thing to do: call the boss and ask if I can stay with him for a bit. I'm already tugging my cell phone out when it hits me. I shouldn't keep doing this. I shouldn't keep running to Gibbs every time something goes wrong. Other people cope, I should be able to.

If McGee's boiler broke down, he wouldn't call the boss and whine until Gibbs invited him to stay. He'd deal with it; he'd act like a grown-up. That's what I'm going to do. It's time I did.

Feedback is always appreciated

Go to NCIS General Series Gen Fiction Page