Sunglasses teeter on the bridge of my nose, my legs shaky with each stumbled step I take towards the bullpen.

"Morning —"

"Too loud."

From across the room, Tony's dazed figure dumps Tabasco sauce into two glasses of water, Worcestershire sauce, tomato juice, and a lemon: the DiNozzo Defibrillator.

"Sake bombs?"

"It's what I get for thinking I could drink like my college years."

Unbeknownst to me, Ziva maneuvers the desk chair so I don't fall onto the ground flat on my ass.

"DiNozzo."

"Yes?"

I've grown accustomed to people either thinking I'm already married to Tony or assuming I've taken his last name.

Hence why I subconsciously answer "yes" with Tony.

"Tony. . ." Gibbs clarifies with a glance in my direction. "Where were you last night?"

He smiles goofily. "Drinking."

"You alone?"

"Of course not."

He and I lock eyes, and I shoot him an obvious look.

"Not that there's anything wrong with drinking bourbon alone. . .in your basement. . .with a boat — what were we talking about again?"

"Your alibi."

"My alibi? For what?"

And this marks the first — and last — time I ever show up to work with a hangover. And seeing as Tony's being accused of murder again. . .he won't be drinking for a while.

But we find our prime suspect sooner than later when he confronts Tony by the truck.

"McGee, zoom in right there."

With the remote, McGee expands the highlighted area from the hotel's security footage.

"There's Tony's impersonator: Renny Grant."

"But he didn't check out of the hotel till three hours later."

"So, where is he going?"

"Dinner." Tony enters the office space, Gibbs directly behind him, after interrogating Grant. "Or so he says."

"What have we got?" Gibbs nods towards the plasma.

"Our suspect. All over Rosewood's surveillance video."

"But no sign yet of our victim."

"Keep looking."

Clearly, Tony's in charge of this case. Just like he was three years ago.

"McGee, victim's background. Credit cards, bank statements, everything. Gibbs, take a look at Renny's appeal. Use it to catch yourself up on the original embezzlement case, then work with McGee."

"On it, boss."

Hearing those three very words leave Gibbs' mouth sends chills down my back. The universe is a tiny bit off balance, that's for sure.

"So. . .Tony's in charge again, huh?"

"Yes."

"How do you feel about it, Eva?"

"Hmm?" I glance up from my computer. "Feel about what, McGoo?"

"You know, Tony being in charge." McGee raises a single brow.

The blood runs cold within the span of a second. "Right. I think he has the competence and capabilities of a good investigator. I think he's a-a good leader."

"You stuttered." Ziva accuses with a taunting smile.

"I did not."

"You don't agree with your own words?"

"Alright, fine." I succumb to the harsh interrogation. "He walks around like he owns the place when he's boss. Same as he was three years ago."

"Go on."

"And don't forget about that smirk. Like he's the smartest guy in the room." A scoff slips under my breath.

"Anything else?"

". . .how long has he been standing behind me?"

"Since you stuttered."

With my back still turned, I tug the chest of my blouse to expose more of cleavage in hopes of gaining forgiveness.

"Your bosom isn't getting you out of this one, toots."

"Rats."

When Gibbs returns from reading through the embezzlement case, he comes up with a different answer than Tony had years ago: Grant was innocent.

And surveillance shows Renny having dinner at the time of death Ducky came up with for the victim, Lieutenant Justin Grady.

"We've got two embezzlers — and one of them gets trashed. Literally. But why?"

"Maybe his partner got greedy. Decided he wanted all the money."

"But the theft was three years ago. What took him so long?"

I twirl a pen between my fingers. "Maybe he got scared. He figured his partner's meeting with an agent. It wasn't Tony, but our killer didn't know that. If I was him, I'd wonder why my partner's meeting with a federal agent."

"Maybe he's going to flip on me. But he can't if he's dead." Gibbs continues the scenario.

"If that's our motive. . ."

"All we need is our killer."

"May have just found him."

Tony enters the room with that same strut I made fun of him for.

"Abby matched a print from Renny's hotel room to one of his former coworkers, a Commander Carl Davis. Gear up."

Bag thrown over my shoulder, I follow after the temporary leader of the team.

"I'm not gonna lie. . .that was extremely attractive."

"Just doing my job, sweetheart."

But Commander Davis leads to a bust since he was busy cheating on his wife with another woman all the way in Hawaii.

"Sorry I'm late. Couldn't let Ziva or McGee suspect anything." I set down a disposable coffee cup in front of him before propping myself up on the metal desk. "Jamaican mocha."

"You remembered."

"How can I forget?"

His grin widens momentarily before falling short.

"Talk to me."

Similar to three years ago, Tony always thinks better when he's not put on the spot in front of Gibbs, McGee, and Ziva. So whenever he needed to bounce his thoughts off of someone. . .I'd always be there.

So here I am.

"I got three guys who embezzled a cool mil from a Navy base. And Renny Grant was their fall guy."

Tony takes a long sip of his coffee.

"First embezzler was found dead, second was framed for his murder. The third guy had to have done it."

"What else?"

"I can't find him or the money."

"Have you talked to Renny about the third embezzler? Since it's his case, he knows it the best."

Tony remains silent.

"Of course you haven't talked to him."

"Trust me. If I ask for a life vest, he's throwing me an anchor." He twiddles his thumbs. "If I was in his shoes and someone put my innocent ass in prison. . .the last thing I'd want to do is help him."

With a last gulp, the coffee's all gone. "Doesn't hurt to ask, now, does it?"

Tony turns to me, eyes filled with all of the thoughts swarming his head. I caress either side of his face and nuzzle noses with him.

"Thank you."

"You know where I live."

However, when Tony goes to pay Renny a visit, his house has been smoked by a pot roast. And Renny's nowhere to be found.

For the final piece in Tony's plan, to our surprise, he turns it right back around to Sergeant Mitch Wilkins, Renny's supervisor.

"A toast to this last case."

I fill the two wine glass with ginger ale — neither of us wanting to drink anything alcoholic after the sake bomb disaster.

"It was definitely a blast from the past. . ."

Tony slices up the fresh lasagna from the Italian restaurant across the street.

"But you've grown so much since then." I press a gentle kiss to his neck. "I loved you then, and I love you now."

"Even when I smirk like I'm the smartest guy in the room?"

". . .unfortunately, yes."