Chapter Two:

Exiting the elevator he found Gibbs and Tim already in the bullpen. Gibbs barely glanced his way when he placed the fresh coffee and danish on his desk.

Handing Tim his food, he asked, "What's going on, do we have a case?"

Standing and grabbing his coffee, Gibbs answered first, as he headed up the stairs to MTAC. "We do, you don't."

Looking at Tim with a stunned expression. "Tim what's going on, what the heck did he mean by that?"

"We got a call from Hetty in Los Angeles early this morning, she needs some help on a case. Gibbs and I are heading out in about 2 hours. The case is need-to-know, we will be read-in when we get there."

"So what are Bishop and I going to do while your gone?"

"That's easy, Agent DiNozzo," Vance said as he came up behind Tony. "You are going to do your job, I have a stack of cold cases for you and Agent Bishop will be working with Agent Balboa and his team. I think it's important for her to get a sense of how other teams work, not everyone is like Gibbs."

Tony stood just looking at the director without a response, he wasn't sure he could handle much more and this was just a pile of hot shit that had been dumped on him.

"You have a problems with this Agent DiNozzo?" Vance asked. While Vance may not dislike him as much as he had in the beginning, Tony knew he would never be one of his favorite people.

"No, Director, no problem at all," Tony answered.

Turning away from the two teammates, Director Vance headed up to his office.

Tony silently put his things away and started his computer.

From his desk, Tim watched the interaction between Tony and the Director with concern. Tony looked pale with dark circles under his eyes, he was sure his friend had not slept much last night. Tim knew that Seniors' visits were never easy for Tony and he should have supported his friend. Tim knew how complicated father/son relationships could be, having had a father that always made him feel like a disappointment because he did not follow family tradition and go into the Navy. He understood some of what Tony was going through but a part of him liked the attention Senior gave him, he was able to talk to Senior in a way that he could not talk to his own father, and maybe so close to his Dad's death, it had left him vulnerable to Seniors' charm.

Getting up he went to stand behind Tony, leaning forward with an arm on the back of the chair and one on the desk, he spoke softy, "Tony, hey listen, I'm sorry about all that stuff with your father. I know none of this was easy for you and I am sorry."

Keeping his head down as he heard Tim speak, Tony clamped his mask firmly in place, "It's Ok Tim. Senior is who he is, never going to change, plus he's gone now, so it's over."

"Tony, its not ok, my father treated his assistant with more respect than he ever treated me. I know what its like to have your father look at another man with the pride that should be reserved for his son," pausing he looked as Tony glanced up at him. "Again, Tony I'm sorry, when we get back from California maybe we can go out for drinks or something."

Tony shook his head in agreement, "Ok Tim, sounds good, and thanks for that, it helps that you understand, everyone else thinks I'm just being a brat."

"No Tony, I get it, maybe too late, but I get it now."

About half hour later, Gibbs came barreling down the stairs, "Come on Tim, time to go." Stopping in front of Tony. "DiNozzo, stay out of trouble, don't give the Director grief and I better see some results on those cold cases when I get back."

"K, Boss, but can't I get even a hint of what's going on?"

"Nope, if you needed to know, you would know already, just do what your told."

"Sure Boss, I got it, sit and stay, like your loyal St. Bernard."

The sound of the head slap made the agents on the other side of the bullpen cringe. Rubbing the back of his head, Tony watched as Gibbs and Tim headed for the elevators.

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Gibbs hoped he'd have time to talk to Tony today, but the early call from Hetty had not left him any time. He knew that the Senior DiNozzo's visit would have his Agent off his game. Gibbs was glad that after years of not speaking to his Dad, they'd been able to repair their relationship before Jackson died, but while Jackson had been a strong, pigheaded man and they would frequently bump heads, Jackson was never neglectful.

Gibbs hoped that by getting the two DiNozzo men together, Senior would finally tell his son how he felt and maybe Tony would be able to forgive him for years of neglect. Gibbs knew it wasn't going to be that simple, Tony had been hurt and disappointed too many times by Senior, Wendy, Jenny Shepard, Vance, but mostly he'd let Tony down. He had let Tony get close, spending time together after work and building a friendship only to take it all away. He could blame his past memory loss, but he'd started to shut Tony out even before he had been blasted into the metal hull of that ship. The more time he spent with Tony the more he enjoyed the younger man's company, but when he started to feel a strong attraction he pulled away.

When Tony risked his own life to save him and Maddie Taylor by jumping into the cold, dirty river water, pulling them from the car and giving CPR, he had savored the feel of Tony's warm lips on his. He knew at that moment that he could not act on his feeling; submerged, trapped, feeling himself drown, he had felt the spirit of the two women he truly loved. The vivid reminder of what he'd lost, gave him the strength to push Tony away, he could never allow himself to love someone that much. While he and Maddie recovered quickly, Tony became ill, spending a week in the hospital with pneumonia. Using the excuse that he too was recovering, he stayed away, never thanking Tony. By the time they were both back on full duty he had pushed Tony so far away that there was nothing left between them but the job.

Senior showing up at this time just made it harder, he knew Tony had been embarrassed when his father came into the bullpen in his pajamas. He had seen the look of hurt and disappointment when Tony entered the conference room and saw the team start without him. Having a murderer to catch, Gibbs did not have time to deal with hurt feelings and if the senior DiNozzo's contacts could solve the case faster then he wasn't above using him, but no way could he let Tony and his father work together, even if Tony got upset.

Gibbs also knew he would eventually have to talk to Tony about what happened at the Adams House. For a man who usually chose his words carefully and was not known for long speeches he had really blown it, disclosing Tony's personal information to the team. He had wanted to drive the point home to Senior but that was really the wrong time and place. It did get him thinking again about his own relationship with Tony and maybe it was time he took his own words to heart. Tony really was precious and Senior wasn't the only one who had work to do in repairing their relationship with Tony.

Tony would have to wait until he returned from Los Angeles. Hetty had requested his and Tim's assistance on a case. They had been tracking a group of sailors involved in human trafficking; finding the murdered remains of a 17-year-old woman in the hotel room rented by a 22 year old Ensign. The young man was in custody. Scared, he had quickly disclosed that Navy personnel stationed in Long Beach were renting rooms off base to have sex, while this was not new there appeared to be a sophisticated system for ordering the girls and with increase awareness in trafficking, the local and state police were cracking down hard on these cases. The Ensign denied murdering the girl though he admitted to having sex but he thought she was 19 and she was alive when he left. The hotel was run down and seedy, chosen because no one would notice or complain about this type of activity. While normally the purview of the local police or FBI, the involvement of Navy personnel had lead to the involvement of NICS.

Hetty had a strong team of computer experts but Tim was still one of the best. Gibbs would be going in undercover as a retired marine looking to get into the action, offering to supply fresh girls. Hopefully they would be able to trace the operation back to the ringleaders. Gibbs had been working in Washington for so long, he was an unknown in Southern California. Tim would get a full briefing when they got to L.A. Director Vance wanted to keep the whole operation need-to-know, from past experience you could catch some pretty big fish, men in positions of power and he did not want anyone tipped off. Tony would not be happy to be left behind again and this had been part of his discussion with Vance.

"Leon, I'd really like to include DiNozzo in this."

"Look Gibbs, Hetty asked for you and Agent McGee, her team will back you up, they need McGee's computer skills and they really don't need two agents set up uncover. Plus, did we not talk about giving Agent McGee more responsibility."

"Leon, I've given McGee the lead on several cases recently and he has gone overseas with me several times."

"Good, Good, with DiNozzo in the Senior Field Agent position for this length of time, it has held Agent McGee back a little, he needs the supervisory experience. His time as supervisor in Cybercrimes helps but he needs to be able to lead investigations. Your not going to be here forever no matter what you think and I'd like to see that young man move up."

"Your not trying to push me out, are you Leon?"

"Not me Gibbs, but age catches up to all of us eventually."

"Leon, DiNozzo is a good agent, you better not mess with him while I'm gone or you'll answer to me."

"Wouldn't think of it Gibbs, but you better tell him to mind his p's and q's."

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Coming down the stairs, Gibbs watched Tony and Tim in conversation, Tony had his head down and was not looking at Tim, he could tell they were talking about Senior's visit and from the pale look on DiNozzo's face he knew it had not gone as well as he hoped. Feeling rushed Gibbs looked at his watch, he and Tim had to leave to catch their flight. Tim would be glad they at least were going on a commercial flight not military transport.

Out front, Agent Ned Dorneget waited for them with the car. He would drive them to the airport and return the car to Navy Yard as this operation was expected to take several weeks to a month.

Settling in for the long flight, Gibbs knew he had taking his anger out on Tony, he'd giving him the mother of all head slaps when he made that smart remark about staying like a good St. Bernard. He thought that Tony was probably feeling the changes in the team, Tony was an astute investigator but it did not take great powers of observation to see that Tim was being treated like the Senior Field Agent on many of their recent cases. The only thing Gibbs was thankful for was that Ellie Bishop had taken a genuine liking to Tony; she looked up to him and now more than ever he needed a supportive teammate.

Gibbs was also annoyed with Vance, his plan had always been for DiNozzo to take the team when he finally retired, but it was clear, Vance was grooming McGee. It was entirely possible he would promote Tim over Tony when the time came. He would do all he could to prevent that but once he was gone, he would have no control and that pissed him off.

Looking out the small, scratched up window he watched as the landscape below became smaller and smaller, as the plane gained altitude, he wondered what he would find when he got back, he could see still the image of Tony sitting at his desk, elbows on the desk holding his head in his hands. At that moment Tony did not look like the competent Federal Agent that he was, he looked like a broken 8 year old and it took all his will power not to run back and take his agent in his arms. Not able to keep his eyes off Tony, he had held his breath as their eyes briefly met as the elevator doors closed, so much pain expressed in that one unguarded moment.