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It was a rare weekend where they were case free, and Gibbs hadn’t demanded they be on call rotation like he usually did. So Tony went to the little theater around the corner from his apartment and bought a ticket to their matinée showing. They only had one theater, so it was always a take-what-you-get situation, but they also happened to be one of the only theaters in the D.C. Metro that showed foreign films.
On the screen today was Rec; Tony didn’t know much about it, past it being a found footage zombie film set in Spain. All of which was easily discernible from the poster that hung in the theater window.
Tony warmly greeted Georgina, who was working the ticket booth, as he bought his ticket. She and her husband, Julien, owned and ran the theater themselves. He was working concessions and started grabbing Tony’s soda and popcorn before Tony was fully inside the door.
“Long time no see, Tony. Work got you busy?” Julien asked.
“No different from usual. So what’s the lowdown on today’s movie?” Tony shrugged. He took off his heavy winter coat and stamped his feet on the mat so he didn’t track the snow into the theater.
“It’s pretty scary and is already nominated for a couple of awards over in Europe. It’s a good take on modern zombies and well shot for found footage.”
“I mean, the best zombie will forever go to White Zombie. I don’t care if Vanity Fair said it was the worst movie of 1932. It is the birthplace of onscreen zombies. It created the whole trope, and anything that is the direct inspiration of us, the perfection that is George A. Romero’s Night of the Living Dead, deserves a special place in history.” Tony took his snacks and paid. “How many are sitting in the house tonight?”
Julian chuckled, used to Tony’s vast movie knowledge that rivaled his own. “Just you so far, but I’ll be surprised if anyone else comes around with this weather. Me and Gorg have some bookkeeping to attend to, so I’ll be your own private theater.”
D.C. had been hit this last couple of days with a perpetual snowstorm. Some drifts were almost to Tony’s waist. But Julien and Georgina lived above the theater, so it was always open unless there was no power.
“No complaints from me! Just means I can jump without worrying about someone seeing.” Tony laughed.
“Of course. The federal agent can’t get scared by a little ol’ movie.” Julien smiled back, shaking his head.
“Exactly, you get it!”
Tony made his way to the small viewing room. It could only hold 25 people on a packed night, but true to Julien’s word, he had his pick of the seats. So he followed what his mother had taught him from a young age and sat in the direct center. It ensured you could see the entire screen with minimal movement and strain.
…
The movie was good, and Tony could already tell that it was going to win a good number of its nominations in the foreign film circuit. The found footage style camera work was well done and worked extremely well with the story the director was telling. Being trapped and under threat of an unknown disease, coupled with infected people being out to get you, hit a bit close to home for Tony.
Tony wasn’t scared—he had admittedly been startled in the correct places, but after surviving with a 15 percent chance from the pneumonic plague, viral infection zombie movies hit different. He knew more than anyone how easy it was to be infected by something that could rip through your immune system like a knife through water.
He started gathering his things after the credits finished rolling. The crew worked hard on those credits, and far be it from Tony to not stay and give everyone their due appreciation.
Tony’s mind drifted to who he would want with him under threat of an impending zombie apocalypse. The movie had a cast of four main characters, granted one died, but he would ignore that. But if he could only choose three.
Gibbs was the obvious first answer, not only because the man had taught him more about life than his piss-poor father ever did. But who in their right mind would bite Gibbs? Zombies would be too scared of Gibbs to think about going against the Marine and whatever military base he created from the boat in his basement. Gibbs could lock down a level of an apartment building easily to keep safe. It didn’t matter what type of zombie scenario, Tony wanted Gibbs watching his six.
Second was McGee, because his little probie was becoming a hell of an agent, and recently had been getting closer to seeing Tony’s mask for what it was. McGeek would know all the ins and outs about whatever zombies they were up against, the fast-running zombies from Dawn of the Dead or the screamers like in the French Canadian Film Ravenous, directed by Robin Aubert. Tony had heard Tim on more than one occasion talking to Abby about the Resident Evil games. Sure, Tony had seen the movies—they had Milla Jovovich and Michelle Rodriguez, how could he not—but McEncyclpedia definitely had the deep lore on zombies.
As much as Abby was his sister, he couldn’t wish her into a zombie apocalypse. He loved the good she saw in people, and her having to always look over her shoulder would ruin that. She would have to dull her style for sensible practicality. She would stop being Abs.
Tony threw away his trash and gestured goodbye to Julien and Georgina through their office window before pulling on his coat to face the walk home, still mulling over his options.
Kate–Tony shook his head, not from the cold wind that whistled around him, biting any sliver of exposed skin that it could, but to jostle the thought from his mind. He didn’t want to go down that depressing train of thought today.
Ziva, while deadly and more than capable of protecting herself, didn’t bring anything particularly new to the group. Tony and Gibbs were as good a shot, and their hand-to-hand fighting was also all on equal ground with over a year of sparing together.
What he needed to round out the team was a medic. Gibbs and Tony had patched up each other plenty of times when avoiding a hospital or a lecture from Ducky, but their hobbled-together understanding wouldn’t be enough.
Ducky wasn’t a viable option because Tony would be too worried about the older man in that situation, despite what a boon he would be for the group's physical health and morale.
But Palmer was perfect. Young and fit enough to keep up. Tony had helped Ducky move bodies plenty of times to know the job of an ME was way more physically demanding than most people gave them credit for. Autopsy Gremlin was quickly becoming Tony’s most trusted confidant. He understood that Tony played his role in the bullpen for everyone’s sanity, but sometimes needed to just relax and be Tony, not Very Special Agent Anthony D. DiNozzo.
Tony smiled to himself and texted Jimmy, asking if he and Breena would like to come over for dinner. Tony had all the ingredients for homemade lasagna.
Jimmy replied quickly with a resounding yes, as the weather was scheduled to lift and D.C. was usually good at keeping the roads clear in case of some national emergency.
Tony smiled, unlocking the door to his apartment, and throwing himself into the waiting arms of his kitchen. He had three true pastimes that were almost always able to relax him: movies, cooking for his friends, and playing piano. Today, he might just get to do all three.
Zombie outbreak or no, it was shaping up to be a pretty good day.