A/n: This takes place during the first few episodes of the series.

Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS. If I did, the loop hole I discovered for rule 12 would be enforced.

Maybe This Time

Without a word Gibbs greeted the mysterious red head. It was the third time Kate and Tony had seen the two together. They just stared, as if it was impossible for their boss to have a personal life. Tony's body followed his arched neck as he caught a glimpse of Gibbs wrapping his arm around her slender waist, guiding her into the elevator.

"Who do you think that was?" questioned Tony.

"Oh, I don't know, his mom," snarked Kate.

"Well, someone's in a mood," replied Tony. He regretted the statement as soon as the pencil hit him square on the forehead. As if the pencil flipped a switch, Tony's eyes lit up like a light bulb. He swiftly dashed over to his bosses' stoic desk and began rummaging through the drawers.

"What are you doing?" Kate hissed.

"Looking for clues to find Bigfoot. What do you think? I'm looking to see if I can find anything on the ginger."

"You can't do that. He's our boss. Besides it's private property. Do you really think Gibbs keeps anything personal in his desk?

"Technically, Gibbs does not own this desk, NCIS does. Ha" Tony remarked as he pulled on the bottom drawer only to find it locked. That's odd, Gibbs doesn't even lock his house. He pulled out a small pouch from his inner jacket pocket, and extracted two silver tools.

Kate just gaped at him in shock and disgust for his lack of privacy. Moments later a small click was emitted from the locked drawer.

"Did you learn that in juvie or your days as a Baltimore cop?" teased Kate.

"Hey, that was expunged from my record," Tony replied teasing Kate with his 100 watt smile.

Inside the metal drawer were a couple of files; which were of no interest to Tony. He was about to call it quits when something caught his eye. Under a stack of empty folders rested a highly polished oak box with a rose etched into the wood. DiNozzo looked over towards Kate to find her once again lost in paper work. Without taking the box from its' metal safe he slid the recessed lid. Looking up at him were two smiling faces. The picture was worn, with the corners fraying and turning a slight sand color. A woman with auburn wavy hair in an ocean blue sweater was standing behind a girl with crystal blue eyes. The young girl appeared to be 10 or 11. The older woman had her arms wrapped around the girl. On the back of the photo written in elegant script,

Don't forget rules 3 and 8. Love Shannon and Kelly.

It was at this point DiNozzo noticed a few letters and a ring. Suddenly a wave of guilt and shame washed over him. Placing the photo back in place he returned the drawer back to its original condition.

"Find anything Sherlock?" asked Kate.

Still in a daze Tony couldn't bring himself to tell her what he found.

"No, just a file or two and some empty folders," responded Tony still in a daze.

"You okay?"

"Psychologically, I'm very confused... but personally, I don't feel bad at all."

Tony was awaiting a sarcastic remark, but only received a smirk. Pushing aside his thoughts on the new mystery at hand, Tony finished the last of his paperwork.

Later that night Tony was lying on his couch watching "Shop around the Corner". Yet, even distracting himself with a classic movie, his thoughts still wondered back to the box.

Maybe she's his sister, and the younger one could be Gibbs' niece. That would explain the resemblance. No, the ginger looked too much like the woman in the photo, and boss man doesn't seem into the inbreeding thing. Maybe it's a picture of an ex-wife. No, I've heard stories about the ex-wives and he never mentioned one named Shannon or Kelly. Plus there is the ring. I doubt he would keep an ex's wedding band. If it wasn't a divorce then what happened? Ooo, maybe they left him. That's why Gibbs only dates red heads; he's attempting to re-create his lost love. What if the kid is his daughter? Wow, maybe Kate is right, I do watch too many movies.

A/N: Rule 3 ~ Never be unreachable.

Rule 8~ Never take anything for granted