4x03 – Singled Out - Gibbs comes back to the team to stay after his retirement, getting Tony demoted back to lead agent. Jenny tells Tony he did such a good job as a Team Lead that she offered him his own team in Rota, Spain.
2. "Are you Afraid They'll Break Your Heart?"
The day might have sucked less if Jenny hadn't offered Tony the job. Not that getting offered your own team (in warm, sunny, Spain, no less) was ever a bad thing, but the difference between the high of his morning and the low of his afternoon just screwed over the whole day.
It was the Lead of an NCIS team, I mean, how was he supposed to say no to that? He bounced back and forth between going and staying for the next few days.
Tony told himself that everything in DC would be fine without him. Told himself that the sensation in his gut saying Gibbs needed him around, was wrong. He could go off to Spain without any guilt – buy bootleg DVDs, send Abby postcards from all over Europe, get a tan, maybe pick up a new language, all sorts of wonderful things. He'd get himself almost talked into going, pull out his phone to call Jenny and tell her he was in, and then Gibbs would do something stupid.
Not that Gibbs ever did anything stupid, just, ya know, less Gibbs-like.
At the beginning Tony thought he was just having trouble adjusting back to life as the right hand man, which he was, but Gibbs wasn't making it any easier. Though, Tony did have to admit there were a few times when he answered questions directed at the boss-man just to piss Gibbs off. More fun that way. Insubordinate but loyal, very Agent J from Men in Black. After all, he couldn't just make it easy on Gibbs.
The man had run off and left his team for beer and beaches. Which was, by the way, not what Tony was doing. They were completely different situations, thank you very much. Tony was still doing the job, still saving the world, just from a much warmer locale. Not that Tony felt really justified in the explanation himself, but he figured it would be a decent defense when Abby thundered in demanding an explanation.
Gibbs made the job offer all the more appealing by making Tony feel like a fool plenty of times over the course of the day, which only got worse with the Boss' sudden desire to think McGoober could do no wrong. Then the new favorite went and basically told Tony to go and get his own team, like with Tony as Lead the team hadn't closed every case, or Tony hadn't been letting Ziva drive (no matter what she said to the contrary), or he hadn't almost caught a bullet in the chest for Probie a few weeks back. Suddenly every good thing he'd done in the last few months just up and vanished in a puff of steam from Gibbs' coffee.
Probie knew he'd pushed the joke too far, but DiNozzo kept walking. He went for a walk, and for the umpteenth time that day he pulled out his phone to dial Jenny. He almost made it that time, but a call from Abby interrupted. She started saying calling the 'hinky' moustache the source of alterna-Gibbs' power, and they had to figure out how to shave it off. Something about "we'll lace a bottle of Jack with sleeping pills, but, no, he'd probably be able to smell that. We could, wait … no, he'd kill us. Or worse, destroy my iPod and make me listen to Country! Tony, this is terrible! Stop whatever you're doing and get back to the office right now! We need a plan!"
After which she hung up for about ten seconds before calling back and demanding pizza and Caf-Pow. Their lunch started with Abby complaining how McGee had suddenly transformed into the golden child, which was an angst Tony tried to passively share because if Tony mentioned Gibbs liking him less now, Abby felt the need to hug him and tell him she was sure he was overreacting. Tony didn't think he could take a hug from Abs without spilling his guts about the job offer.
From there Abs told Tony how everything was wrong in a universe where Gibbs didn't kiss her forehead at least once a day, and Gibbs hadn't even thought about it today. After all these years, Tony knew every step to this dance – when to empathize, when to tease, when to calm, and when to distract. By the time Tony left, Abs was in a much better mood, and Tony's guilt was again rearing its ugly head. Who would Abby talk to about Gibbs being a bastard when Tony was gone? And if this newfound infatuation McPerfect kept up, Abs would need someone to vent to about not being the undisputed favorite.
Abby could vent by phone, though. And if she ever got really irritated, he could take a weekend off and meet her Paris. Gibbs could be as hinky as he damn well wanted, so long as when Abby got too fed up she could tour Europe with Tony in tow.
That was the pendulum swing for the 72 hours Tony had to decide. Little un-Gibbs-like quirks would pop up, and Tony's gut would start churning. Then he'd ignore it and start telling himself all the wonderful reasons to run off to Spain, which usually included whatever Team trait had started up his guilt in the first place.
The part of him that wanted his own team was kicking the trash out of the part that felt the need to stow his ambition and sit in that bullpen while everyone found a way to tell him he wasn't as good as Gibbs.
Then the whole thing went to hell in a handbasket. Gibbs called Ducky, 'Dr. Mallard.'
Tony couldn't leave after that. Not kissing Abs on the forehead was one thing, but Gibbs fighting with Ducky? The two of them were liable to bring the whole damn building down around them.
Today he'd had Gibbs kick around his ego, Ziva laugh at him, McGee reject him, Abby stress him, and Ducky scare him. But he was staying anyway.
They didn't seem to actually want him here today, but he still needed to look after them. This was his team, his family, and Gibbs was his Boss. Who really needed sun, or an awesome title, or people who respected you, or at least didn't laugh at you, or … well, shit.
But he was staying anyway.
