'Alright, listen up. Kate, McGee, I want you at the crash site. Make sure there's nothing wrong with the helicopter that could've contributed to the accident.'

'You mean other than the RPG taking out the main rotor?'

'Yeah, Kate. We don't assume...'

'Double-check. I know.'

'Ok, then. Get going. Tony, you're with me. I want you where I can keep an eye on you.'

'Gibbs!'

'C'mon. We're gonna go find out why we shot down that bird.'

X X X

'Hey, Gibbs! Have you seen these things?'

'Stop playing with the evidence, Tony, and finish taking those photos.'

'Done, Boss. And don't we have to test all this stuff, make sure it's working properly?'

'DiNozzo, how do you expect to tell if it's working properly, when you don't even know how to work it in the first place?'

'C'mon, Boss. How hard can it be? You look through this thing here, and...OW!'

Gibbs pointed him towards one of the witnesses and told him to go take his statement.

Ten minutes later, Gibbs looked up from his own interview and stormed across the few yards that separated him from his senior field agent.

'So, you see, I was standing about here, and Corporal Johnston was taking the targeting readings and relaying them to me, and I just aimed where he told me to. And then the Staff Sergeant told me to fire, and I did.'

'And you were holding this thing like this?'

'Yes, Sir. That's pretty much...'

'What the HELL do you think you're doing, DiNozzo?'

'Uh, Boss, the Corporal here was just showing me...'

'Put down the grenade launcher before you blow up half the base.'

'I'm not...'

'NOW, DiNozzo!'

'Jeez, Boss. You're always telling me that you learn by doing...'

The head-slap wasn't unexpected, but the force behind it was astonishing. Tony yelped.

'Touch anything else, and I'll hand-cuff you. Now take statements. Without the sideshow.'

'Yes, Boss.'

X X X

'Agent Gibbs?'

'Yeah, Gunny?'

'Uh, I don't know quite how to say this... The agent that you sent to get the comm logs for this morning...?'

'Yeah?'

'Well, there was an LAV parked near the admin building...'

'Oh, for the love of... How much damage did he do?'

'Well, he ran over a couple of shrubs before he figured out how to stop, but it could've been worse.'

'Thanks, Gunny. I'll deal with it.'

X X X

'Alright, then. The targeting laser was defective. It wasn't murder. We're done here. Kate, you and McGee take the truck back and make sure Abby gets all the evidence, but tell her she doesn't have to stay and process it tonight. Dotting the i's can wait.'

'Sure thing, Boss.'

'Ok. I'll see you Monday.'

Gibbs headed towards the sedan, leaving the rest of the team standing near the truck.

'DiNozzo!'

'Yeah, Boss?' Tony shouted after him.

'With me!'

Kate and McGee gave him sympathetic looks.

'D'ya think he'll leave without me if he gets to the car first?'

'I wouldn't bet on it, Tony.'

'NOW, DiNozzo!'

With a wistful glance at the safety of the truck, Tony jogged after his boss.

X X X

'What the HELL has gotten into you, DiNozzo? You were acting like a goddamn toddler out there today.'

'Boss, I...'

'Joyriding in an LAV? Have you completely lost your mind?'

'It wasn't exactly joyriding, Boss. The kid who was washing it told me I could take it for a spin around the parking lot.'

'Did you somehow miss me telling you to leave the damn thing alone? About a dozen times?!'

'No, but...'

'And you sure as hell know better than to fool around with live weapons.'

'I wasn't trying...'

'So what were you trying to prove out there?'

'I wanted to know how that stuff worked.'

'Tony, it's not an overgrown toy store where you get to play with the displays!'

'That's not what I meant, Boss! It's just that you know about all this stuff from the Corps, and I thought that if... oh, never mind.'

Gibbs glanced over at his agent. Tony was slumped in his seat, arms crossed over his chest, staring resolutely out the window. Making a sudden decision, he turned the car away from the Navy Yard and headed to his own house, ignoring the look of surprised curiosity from the younger man.