A/N: This is the third story in my Tony and Tim road trip series. The first two are Out of the Badlands and Back to the Badlands. This story takes into account the recent announcement of Michael Weatherly's departure at the end of the season, but this story contains no season 13 spoilers (mostly because I haven't watched season 13).

Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or its characters. I'm not making money from this story...and I don't own the Lamb Chop song, either. (I'll bet you're curious, now.)

Beyond the Badlands
by Enthusiastic Fish

A good photograph is knowing where to stand.
~Ansel Adams

Chapter 1

Tony took a breath and made his decision. He'd been thinking about it for a few days, and it was time. He got up and walked over to where Tim was working at his computer.

"Probie, it's time for another road trip," he said.

Tim looked up with some surprise.

"It is?" he asked. "Why?"

Tony rolled his eyes. "You're not supposed to question a road trip, McGee. You're just supposed to be enthusiastically in favor of it. Do I need to try telling you again?"

"Where are we going to go? I think we tapped out the wacky tourist traps," Tim said, still with a little bemusement. Tony supposed he couldn't blame Tim for that. He must be trying to figure out where all this was going.

"I'm sure we didn't, but that's not what I was thinking of."

"Then, what?"

"I've never been to Yellowstone."

"Oh."

"That's not very enthusiastic, McGee."

Tim raised an eyebrow. "Well, you seem to be violating one of the cardinal rules of a road trip."

"What's that?"

Finally, Tim grinned. "You told me that you're not supposed to have a final destination in mind. It's about the trip, not the destination."

Tony grinned back, more than a little relieved to see interest. He'd started worrying that Tim was going to say no.

"I never said that!"

"Yes, you did."

"No. I said that you can't plan it all out in advance and you can't duplicate."

"But we did duplicate last time. We went to the Badlands again."

"That doesn't count."

"Yeah, only because it's your idea."

"Of course!"

"Have you cleared it with HR and Gibbs?"

"Nope. I haven't done a single thing except tell you."

"Well, when are we going to go?"

"Whenever HR will let us."

"How long?"

"However long Gibbs lets us."

Tim laughed. "Come on, Tony. I know you resist planning anything, but we should know something about it beyond that we're going. Maybe you could get away with something like that in college, but it's just not going to fly here."

"Oh, I know, but there's no point in making any plans if you were going to say no."

"Did you really think I would?" Tim asked. "After everything else we've done, did you really think I'd say no?"

"All things considered, I think it was possible," Tony said.

"Do you want me to say no?" Tim asked.

"No. I just want to make sure you want to go."

The eyebrow went up again, and Tony figured he'd tipped his hand a little bit. Their road trips had never been simply road trips. There had always been something more to it, and this was no exception. Tony just didn't want to get into it right now. He wanted this to be a fun trip to a place he'd never been.

While he was sure Tim knew there was something going on, Tim didn't ask him to explain. Instead, he just nodded.

"Then, you better get the request in to HR and ask Gibbs. I did it last time. You have to go through the misery this time," Tim said. "Let me know when you've got it all figured out."

Then, Tim turned back to his computer and went back to work. Tony grinned, knowing that Tim was relieved that it wasn't him who was setting everything up. Now that he knew that Tim wanted to go along with it, Tony wasn't worried about getting permission. It wasn't like they took a lot of days off as it was. Ellie was on hand, and there were others to take up the slack.

As he went to his own desk to get some work done before the end of the day, Tony considered why he thought this was how he had to do it. It didn't have to be a big deal like he was making it. People did this sort of thing all the time. It wasn't the end of the world.

But at the same time, he felt like he had to do it this way.

Tim left work at the end of the day, no delays. Tony, on the other hand, lingered so that he could talk to Gibbs.

Gibbs was out of the bullpen for longer than Tony expected and he was about to give up and leave when he came striding in.

Cue the raised eyebrow, Tony thought to himself.

And there it was. Gibbs didn't say anything, but his silence was eloquent. Tony chose to take the opening offered. He got up and walked over to Gibbs' desk.

"Boss, Tim and I are going on a road trip, taking some vacation days. When would work best for you?"

And the eyebrow will stay up because you're trying to figure out if there's something significant about this request.

Tony was not disappointed. After so many years of working with Gibbs, Tony could guess what he'd do most of the time. In spite of the fact that Gibbs could still sneak up on him, Tony knew how he reacted to most things. For being so mysterious about some things, Gibbs really was pretty easy to read, now.

"Where are you going?"

"Yellowstone."

"That's a long way."

"Yep. About 2,000 miles each way."

The eyebrow went down, but it could still go back up in another silent question.

"Since you'll still have Ellie here and Lovitz can help with the load, I figured it wouldn't be too difficult to manage without us."

"How long?"

"One to two weeks. Probably not two full weeks, though. Ten days at the most. Couple of days to drive out there. Couple of days to drive back."

"You check with HR?"

"Nope. We both have the time coming, but I wanted to check with you, first."

While Gibbs wouldn't admit it, Tony knew that he'd appreciate it, even if he'd smack them both down if they tried to ignore what Gibbs wanted.

"You check with McGee yet?"

Tony grinned. "Yep. He's all in...as long as I set it up."

Gibbs looked at his computer.

"Better give HR at least two weeks to approve it."

Knowing that was Gibbs' way of giving permission, Tony grinned and nodded.

"'Night, Boss."

He went over to his own computer and put in the dates on the form he had filled out already. Then, he sent it on and headed out of the building.

Once he got out to the sidewalk, he paused and looked back. If anyone had asked him where he'd finally settle in for a long haul, he would never have thought it'd be NCIS. Back when he'd joined, it was just a way of getting away from Baltimore. As Kate had pointed out all those years ago, he had hopped around quite a bit in his early career. Maybe he was afflicted with some of his dad's wanderlust. If so, he'd definitely tamed it over the years.

Mostly.

He looked around the Yard, across Willard Park and to the U.S.S. Barry on the Anacostia River. This had been home to him for a long time.

Then, he looked at his watch. It was getting late. Better get home. He'd be back here all too soon.

Besides, he had a road trip to plan.