Disclaimer - Don't own the characters, or the settings, just like to expand their horizons.

Clenching his jaw Gibbs struggled to hold on to his temper, nodding at Cynthia as he came out of the Director's office and made his way down the stairs. He couldn't fault the logic of Vance's argument but that didn't mean he had to like it. Mark Henderson was a long term person of interest to both NCIS and the FBI. Not that anyone had been able to pin a single thing on him. Not even tax evasion. But his name came up in all the wrong places far too often for him to be nothing more than the respectable businessman and philanthropist he pretended to be. And right now Gibbs main objective was to stop a suspected criminal from winning a very lucrative contract with the Navy.

"Why can't they just give the contract to someone else?" McGee was wondering aloud as Gibbs made his way back down the stairs to the bullpen.

"Because Henderson's quote is the most competitive by far," DiNozzo explained. "Unless, we can give Sec Nav an actual reason to believe that these accusations of blackmail and intimidation are in fact the truth then it will be a toss up between saving the US taxpayers thousands of dollars by just giving him the contract or costing them a fortune when Henderson's lawyers contest the decision on the grounds of defamation of character."

"Vance won't just shut us down. We've been working on this for almost two weeks." McGee was confident.

"Which is exactly the problem, we have tied up a great deal of NCIS money and resources and we are still no further forward," Ziva pointed out. "Without any new leads the Director will have no choice but to assign us other cases."

"Except," Tony spoke up. "We know this guy is up to something, the FBI know he's up to something. We just need enough time to find a new angle to come at him. My money's on Gibbs getting us a window."

"That won't be enough," McGee shook his head. "If we haven't found anything in two weeks what can we do with a few extra days?"

"Look harder," Gibbs spoke firmly from behind them. "We've got 24 hours to make a break in this case or we're back on rotation. So, what do we have?"

"Honestly Boss, not a great deal. This morning Henderson had a meeting with Michael Robinson," McGee swiftly brought the surveillance footage on the plasma as they all turned towards the screen. "CEO of Robinson Financial Services, the business has been in his family for three generations and Robinson still holds 51% of the shares. He's as rich as Midas. Not sure what he's doing with Henderson. As far as I can tell he's never got anything more serious than a traffic violation."

Afterwards, Gibbs wasn't even sure exactly what it was that had captured his attention. On his left it wasn't if Tony had given any actual sign of recognition as he looked at the screen, except that there was a certain sudden stillness to the usually exuberant young man that stirred his concern. Beside him he saw Ziva narrowing her eyes at her partner as she too looked more closely at him.

"Do you know this Robinson, Tony?"

"I know his reputation," Gibbs watched as DiNozzo made a little show of peering more closely at the image his mouth twisting in a little moue of self depreciation, as he telegraphed his own disappointment that he wasn't going to be able to provide one of those moments of brilliant insight that made him look good. "I don't think our paths have ever crossed."

"So what do you know?" Gibbs pressed.

"Word is he doesn't have his grandfather's guts and determination or his father's brains to keep the family business afloat. He's no criminal but he can be a bit of a con man and sometimes skates close to the edge of what's legal for the sake of closing a deal. He keeps his fingers in a whole lot of pies and he's the poster boy for a free lunch." Tony shrugged.

Gibbs wondered if Tony realised just how well that description would fit his own father. Perhaps, he did, DiNozzo wasn't blind to his father's faults, just too damn quick to overlook 'em.

"His last tax return shows an awful lot of deductibles." McGee had moved across and been busy at his keyboard.

"C'mon McGee everyone does that." Tony protested.

"Not everyone, Tony. I don't."

"Really?" DiNozzo looked genuinely surprised. "McMillions, you're missing a trick there, especially, when you do all your authoring from your apartment. There are so many things that are deductable, light and heat .."

"Light and heat are deductable?" McGee blinked. "Really?"

"Not now," Gibbs barked, cutting them both off. "Tell me something I don't know about this dammed case!"

"It's a smokescreen," DiNozzo realised after a long moment. "Henderson knows he's being watched so he goes ahead and sets up a meeting with a man who is generally thought to be above suspicion and whilst we tie up all our resources wondering what he could possibly be doing with someone like Robinson of all people, the real exchange can take place off stage as it were away from NCI-us prying eyes."

"McGee and I were watching him the whole time," Ziva protested. "He can't possibly have made any exchange. We would have seen it."

"McGee," Tony was all business now. "Go back to the part where Henderson comes in."

They all watched again as the footage was replayed and Henderson was shown to the table where Robinson was already waiting. As he approached he began to sneeze violently. Pulling out a handkerchief he explained that he had allergies and took a moment to move the vase of flowers in the centre of the table onto the bar before continuing with his meeting with the surveillance camera focused firmly on their table. Gibbs gave a low sound of fury as reached for Henderson's file flicking through the pages until he managed to confirm what he already suspected.

"Henderson doesn't have any dammed allergies. He put something in the flowers," He looked at Ziva and McGee. "Did anyone go near that vase?"

"There were a lot of people who went up to the bar," Ziva recalled. "Many of them were near the vase. I couldn't say for sure if any of them touched it."

"The restaurant has its own CCTV trained on the bar after a couple of law suits involving patrons and spiked drinks. It's pretty discreet. Henderson would never have spotted it unless he knew it was there. We can go back through that footage and see what it turns up," McGee suggested. "Also, we could try and identify the other patrons. Maybe, one of them saw something."

"You and Ziva do that," Gibbs agreed, as he veered towards his desk to collect his gun and badge. "DiNozzo. You're with me. It's our turn to go watch Henderson."

"Are you sure, you don't want to take Ziva, Boss?" Tony didn't move. "Not that I'm questioning your orders. But she's a lot quieter than I am. She won't move around as much. Or need so many snacks, or trips to the head. And much as I love you, frankly you've been a bit of a grouch this week and I've already got a bit of a headache coming on. So, I'd just as soon skip the head slaps if it's all the same to you."

"It isn't," Gibbs headed to the elevator. "Move it, DiNozzo or you'll be walking."

He didn't miss the way his senior field agent scowled fiercely as he grabbed his gear and slipped into the elevator just seconds before the doors slid closed. Beside him DiNozzo leant stiffly back against the wall but didn't speak as they rode down to the parking level. Despite what some people might think the former sniper knew how to be patient when it was really important. So, Gibbs bided his time as they drove across town, before pulling in at a convenience store.

"I'm getting coffee. Grab what you want," He instructed. "We've on watch until 18.00."

"I'm good, Boss," Tony shook his head.

"Well yeah, DiNozzo, I know that," Gibbs grinned. "But you still gotta eat."

He counted the brief bark of laughter, swiftly followed by a release of some of the tension DiNozzo had been wearing around him like a cloak as something of a victory. Especially, when his partner got out of the car and fell easily into step beside him as they entered the store. Gibbs picked out two coffees and a roast beef sandwich. Tony went with a soda and a couple of bagels. Gibbs ignored his curious look as he added a selection of his favourite candy bars and a book advertising itself as "The World's Hardest Crossword Puzzles" to their shopping.

"Are you going to buy me some colouring pencils too?" Tony asked with a hint of bemusement.

"You'd rather play Tetris on your phone." Gibbs reminded him as he paid.

"That is true." Tony agreed.

"Make sure it's charged, I don't want to put up with your whining when you run out of juice and lose your high score." Gibbs counselled as they exited the store.

"Fully charged, Boss, McGee would be proud of how prepared I am," He paused mid step. "Hey, Boss ..?"

"If you know what's good for you, DiNozzo you won't ask .." Gibbs anticipated his next question.

"Oh come on, Boss. You must have been a boy scout. I bet you have all the badges. Probably made eagle scout too. Am I right? I am aren't I?"

"Never a boy scout. Never made it past the cub scouts." Gibbs admitted with a scowl.

"Really? You too?" Tony grinned. "What did you get kicked out for?"

"None of your damned business, DiNozzo. Now get in the car."

Secretly congratulating himself on having successfully untwisted all the knots DiNozzo seemed to have tied himself into as his senior field agent talked about nothing and fiddled with the radio station as they drove over to the stakeout. Gibbs still waited, until they were in position and DiNozzo had drunk his soda, eaten both his bagels, two of the candy bars and was frowning in concentration at his crossword puzzle before he asked as if it was no big deal.

"Are you sure you've never met Robertson?"

Bright green eyes turned to look at him with a guilelessness that didn't fool Gibbs for an instant. DiNozzo at his most innocent was always a worry.

"Didn't I already say that?"

"No," Gibbs corrected. "You said you didn't think your paths had ever crossed, which means you also think they might have."

Tony sighed. Most of the time he liked that Gibbs could read him so well. If anyone was going to catch him out, his ego demanded that it be somebody he respected. And truth be told he generally appreciated the fact that he couldn't continually run rings around the senior agent like he could with so many other people. It didn't stop him trying, (where would be the fun in that?), but instead of resentment he usually felt something like affection when Gibbs called him on some deflection or other.

This wasn't quite like that

"Honestly, Boss I just don't know," Tony met Gibbs gaze with raw honesty and just a degree of vulnerability. "I don't remember meeting him. But there is just something about him I can't put my finger on. I know I never arrested him. I don't recall ever interviewing him. He wasn't a victim in any of my cases. But as soon as I saw him there with Henderson, I couldn't help but feeling like it was some kind of déjà vu."

Gibbs eyed his partner and friend closely, his eyes dark with concern. Something had deeply unsettled DiNozzo in the bullpen when he first saw Henderson sit down with Robinson on that tape and he was determined to get to the bottom of it, before it blew up in both their faces.

"Well you sure as hell haven't met him since you were at NCIS. I'd remember that too. So if you didn't meet him when you were a cop," Gibbs took a deep breath as he delivered the only logical conclusion. "What about when you were just a kid?"