Hello again! This is just a little story I came up with tonight. It's a Tony study from his college days and his first months at NCIS. No spoilers. Enjoy and please review.

Temper

Coach McManus never figured him out. He was such a good kid, well mannered, talked to everyone even though he didn't have to, popular as he was. He had good humor too, smiled a lot. Nevertheless, when push came to shove he had no control over the kid. He had yelled at him once at a game and had gotten nothing in return but a cold, green stare that froze the blood in his veins. The kid looked dead inside.

Gibbs had a really hard time figuring out his new team member. He seemed to be a good kid with lots of humor, though annoying sometimes, and he even made Gibbs smile on rare occasions. But that blank look he had gotten once when he had bellowed at him, almost made him lose his composure. It was as if the kid had shut down, his eyes glazing. It was after this incident Gibbs started with the head slaps instead. He had gotten a healthy reaction out of those.

McManus watched the DiNozzo kid. He was very fit and a big guy. He was smiling now, as he played ball with his buddies. The coach wondered if the friends ever saw what he had seen that day; that flash of deep, deep hurt that had seeped out from DiNozzo's eyes as a reaction to his own raised voice. He realized that if the kid got out of control on the court he would have to physically drag him out of there, since he would never listen to logic, and definitely not to threats.

Gibbs watched DiNozzo in the ring. He moved smoothly and threw the occasional punch. He was a fairly big guy and was surprisingly fit considering his diet. He had been with NCIS for five months and he looked pleased and calm as he danced around his opponent. Gibbs was glad the other guy didn't seem to piss Tony off. He didn't know if he had the strength to break up a fight today. His new coworker sometimes didn't listen to logic, and definitely not to threats. He wondered about that.

"Hey! Hey, break it up!" McManus' voice echoed through the corridors as he lunged himself at the two young men on the ground, tearing them apart.

"DiNozzo, care to explain?!" McManus was very displeased with his star player, and a little worried that the kid would get himself suspended a week before the playoffs.

DiNozzo wiped the blood from his split lip, but didn't respond. McManus took a deep breath.

Don't yell, don't yell…. "DiNozzo?" His voice now calm.

The kid didn't meet his gaze, but looked heatedly at his punching bag, who now cupped a bloody nose with his hand. "He picked on Douglas again", he said simply. McManus sighed and gave the scared freshman a questioning look. Douglas gave a weak nod and scurried away. "Okay, DiNozzo…", he sighed.

"Hey! Break it up!" Gibbs grabbed DiNozzo as two agents hauled the other guy into the hallway. Tony licked his split lip, but didn't look at Gibbs, who sighed.

"DiNozzo?"

"He was spreading rumors about Abby again", Tony said and then left the room. Gibbs never yelled at him for being stupid, but he suspended him for a week.

It was a great night. They were on their way to winning the most important game of the season, when all cheers and laughter just stopped as the crowd watched one of their star players being tackled in midair, crashing to the ground in tremendous pain. The perpetrator simply smirked.

DiNozzo's eyes flashed with a cold fire, then went totally flat. Afterwards he said he didn't even remember punching the guy and McManus believed him. He had seen that look in DiNozzo's eyes again and knew that the kid was unreachable. He was suspended for five games after that incident and got a really nice shiner that didn't disappear for almost three weeks.

The murderer of a young petty officer ran for his life down the alley of one of DC's backstreets. He saw the end of the line as the alley opened up into a busy street, and pushed forward. Suddenly the female agent stood in front of him with her gun at the ready, yelling at him to stop. He didn't and slammed her smaller body to the ground as he collided with her. He got hold of her gun and smirked as he pointed it to her head. "Sorry, special agent Blackadder."

Suddenly he was thrown to the ground and only caught a glimpse of flashing green eyes before he was beaten to a pulp.

His eyes turned very, very dark and the coach drew a sharp breath. He knew that he couldn't control DiNozzo at this point. He just watched the havoc, pleading it wouldn't be as bad this time. He wished he could get through to him, but had given up a long time ago. He figured DiNozzo was a lost cause.

His eyes turned very, very dark and Gibbs knew he didn't have much time. He put on his most demanding voice; "DiNozzo! I said let it go." He hoped it would help, that he would get through to his agent or else the other man was in for a world of trouble.

Suddenly Tony's eyes softened, just a bit. Gibbs didn't know if anyone else could notice the change but it was as if the world had shifted. He let out a breath he didn't even realized he had held. The kid actually listened to him.

"Good, Tony", he simply said. "Let's get out of here."

END?