Hi folks!

Thanks so much for all the reviews and updates, etc. I'm so happy that y'all seem to want me to continue with this story. Sorry I didn't get a chance to reply to everyone personally but I've been working hard. I actually got my first real freelance assignment this week and I'm waiting for it to be edited now.

This chapter gave me some trouble but I think it works now. Hope y'all like it and since I didn't get it to my beta in time to post today, all mistakes are mine and mine alone.

And a very Happy Birthday to Michael Weatherly today! Without whom Tony wouldn't exist.

Chapter Two

No answer.

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As he sat on the cold floor of the elevator, Gibbs could picture the elevator planning its attack. It had obviously been waiting all day for just the right moment.

It hadn't stopped earlier when he'd been chatting with Ducky on the way to Autopsy. It had glided along like a dream on his way up alone to see the Director. Not a squeak was heard when he'd been in there with Abby on the way to her lab. Nary a pause when he'd found himself riding two floors with the new redhead on Special Agent Jackson's team. Of course it figured that it would wait until he was stuck with DiNozzo and McGee.

The damn thing was laughing at him now. He was sure of it.

Gibbs had finished his paperwork and looking up to find that both his agents were still working away, he'd ordered them home and all three had ended up in the elevator at the same time.

The bickering between McGee and Tony had gone on most of the day and Gibbs hoped it would dissipate like it normally did. The tension between them would always build up, boil over and then build up again. They had a unique relationship. If Gibbs and Tony had a father-son relationship, then the two men on his team definitely played their roles of big brother and little brother.

DiNozzo teased and pushed McGee to his limit, toughening him up (even if the younger man didn't realize it). Tony seemed to enjoy having a sibling, it was something he'd never had as a child. McGee understandably didn't enjoy the treatment quite as much. Only having a younger sister all his life he was unused to the torment that an older brother could inflict upon him.

Gibbs wisely kept out of their way most of the time, knowing as any parent did that interfering would do nothing except make it worse. Whoever he dared to side with would be hurt and the other would feel it was his right to act worse than before. It was a lose, lose situation and Gibbs had no desire to get into it.

Only when things got really bad did the team leader occasionally say a quiet word to one or the other, not taking sides but making his own point of view very well known.

The older man realized that he shouldn't be all that surprised at the current situation between his two men. It had taken years but McGee had finally started to taunt DiNozzo back. Gibbs was sure that the younger man did it without realizing how his words cruelly cut into his partner sometimes. Immature Tony may be, but he was never cruel.

Unlike Tony, McGee hadn't yet learned how to control his barbs, striking out like a baby snake. Infant rattlers were well known to have a much worse bite than their adult counterparts. It wasn't because they had less venom. It was because they bit without any control, unleashing all their venom in one horribly fatal bite.

So McGee had become a baby rattler. Striking out at Tony whenever the older man annoyed him, his venom sometimes much more fierce than he intended. He didn't seem to realize that Tony's macho act was just that, an act. Under the well-built wall was a lot of pain and sometimes his baby brother's comments knocked down that wall with much more ease than either of them ever knew.

Gibbs had to wonder if it was because, on some level, McGee viewed Tony as the invincible older brother. Tony played the part well so he really couldn't blame the younger man for falling for it. Gibbs wasn't as gullible. McGee may think that Tony was indestructible but Gibbs knew better.

The team leader knew that he was really going to have to do something about those two. What that was he hadn't the foggiest idea at the moment. All Gibbs really wanted was to get out of the cold metal box they'd been stuck in for the better part of two hours, go home, take a shower and get some sleep.

With an awful lurch, the creak of metal and a whining protest, the elevator moved and within seconds the doors slid open with a gentle "bing". All three of them were on their feet at the first sign of motion and when the doors opened there was a scramble as all tried to exit at once. A glare from their leader sent the younger men back and Gibbs walked sedately out first.

Knowing that if he had to lay eyes on either of them again anytime soon it would mean certain death to one or both, Gibbs ignored both of his junior agents and walked to his car.

"Ah, fresh air," Tony said, taking in a deep breath and stretching his arms out.

"You're in a garage, genius. How can there be fresh air in here?" McGee replied testily.

"Jeesh, who died and made you McGrumpy? It's just a figure of speech," Tony replied, pulling his keys from his pocket.

McGee didn't reply, pulling out his own keys and getting in his car, wanting nothing more than to get away from the other man who'd been torturing him for the past two hours….actually it was more like the past few years.

Tony turned the key in his door and tossed his backpack inside. "See ya in the morning Pro…," but as he looked up, he was surprised to see the younger man's car pulling away already. Shrugging, the older man got in his car and drove off, yawning.

---------

As Tony walked in the next morning he saw that McGee's desk was empty. Glancing at his watch he felt a pang of worry. Not that the younger man was necessarily late but that was a loose term when working on Team Gibbs. If you got in after the boss, you were late, end of story. The look on the Gibbs' face didn't bode well for the Probie if he didn't get in soon.

Gibbs silently sipped his coffee, looking at his computer screen and continuing to ignore Tony as he had for the past fifteen minutes since the younger man had arrived.

Just before Tony was about to text McGee to get his butt in gear, the elevator doors opened and the younger man walked out.

"About time, McTardy," Tony said in a stage whisper, sliding his eyes over to the Boss nervously.

"What? I'm not late. It's barely oh seven hundred," McGee replied as he put down his things and secured his weapon in his desk.

"Well you're later than me and the boss so that makes you late."

At his desk, Gibbs put his coffee cup to his lips, completely forgetting for a moment that the cup was empty. When he realized that not only had he been staring at the same piece of data on his computer for the past five minutes, but he was now sipping an empty cup, he sighed.

Enough was enough.

"Tony, give me a break will ya? You know how many times you've been late? I really don't think you should…."

"Hey!"

Gibbs yell silenced McGee instantly and both men turned to look at him sheepishly.

"DiNozzo, take McGee and go search the original crime scene for the Ralston case."

Tony raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"But Boss, that's a cold case. An ice cold case. That one's so cold we should put on parkas before we even get out the….."

The Glare shut him up, and fast.

"On it, Boss," McGee answered for Tony. He didn't know what the Ralston case was but he was smart enough to realize that any more comments would not be appreciated.

As they walked out and the elevator doors closed behind them, Gibbs took the first relaxing breath he had all week.

For the next few minutes Gibbs tried to concentrate on his work but found it harder and harder as the younger men continued to stay on his mind. He hadn't just sent them out of the office to get them out of his hair. He was hoping that some time alone would help them work out whatever was happening with them. Gibbs just wasn't sure if they wouldn't kill each other first.

The experienced team leader had never had such a hard time with his "girls" as he had with his "boys". Abby, Kate, even Ziva were all (comparatively) easy to handle. The right word, a listening ear, a shoulder to cry on when things went badly, these were all he needed for them. Perhaps it was because he'd once had a smaller version of them, a little girl who looked up to him like only a daughter could.

Gibbs had never had a little boy running around the house but now that he had two men (who often acted like little boys), he often didn't know what to do with them. If he treated them like equals, they wouldn't get it, nor would it be wanted. He wasn't their equal. He was their leader and for all intents and purposes, their father when they were under the Navy Yard's various roofs. They looked up to him.

Having had no siblings of his own, Gibbs knew that was part of the problem. Sometimes he wondered if he was making the right decisions with them. Should he let them fight it out? Split them up? How could he make the two of them see that they needed each other? That deep down they really did care, even if sometimes all they wanted to do was strangle each other?

Gibbs' mind continued to ponder even as he pulled out various cold case files. He didn't bother with the Ralston file though. He'd never admit it but DiNozzo was right. That was an ice cold case. It was the reason Gibbs brought it up.

That and the fact that the original crime scene was a more than two hour drive away.

Gibbs finished another piece of paperwork, dropping in his "out" basket to be picked up by a courier later. Glancing at his watch he saw that it was already lunch time and got up to head to the cafeteria. As he ate, his men invaded his thoughts once again.

From his vantage point, Gibbs could see what they could not. Though he also knew it would do no good at all to try and explain it to either of them.

First of all McGee wasn't used to being a younger brother and didn't realize that's exactly how DiNozzo was treating him. He was used to being the one in charge, the big brother. McGee had always resented being treated like a kid from Tony and Kate and while he had put up with it at first, it was obvious he had grown tired of it.

Gibbs had stepped in once, after he'd come back from Mexico and caught McGee bristling at Tony's continued use of the term "Probie". When Gibbs had quietly pointed out to the younger man that he himself was still known as Probie to his first partner (and still dear friend), all had been well.

Things had gone along okay after that point but then everything changed. When Vance split up his team, sending McGee downstairs to the cyber unit, it changed the younger man. Gibbs saw it and he knew everyone else on his team did too, though they may not have figured out why. The younger agent had gotten a taste of leadership and respect down there that he hadn't gotten before.

As far as Gibbs could see, McGee now hated Tony's treatment of him. Gibbs had to fight hard his instinct to tell the younger man how he was. Gibbs didn't know why McGee couldn't see it, but in truth Tony's behavior showed just how much he cared for the younger man.

Tony hadn't had any brothers and sisters, had lost his mother way too young and had been outright ignored by his father. He was still learning about relationships and Gibbs had seen how he had immediately taken a liking to McGee. Being unable to express that very well, the Italian had turned to the hazing and teasing he had learned in college. It was the only thing he new how to do to show his affection for the younger man.

When Tony dealt with other Probies on TAD with their group, he barely gave them the time of day. If Tony was busy with a case he'd simply be polite and move on with what he was doing, not sparing them much more than a glance. It was only when he wasn't busy or perhaps a bit bored that he chose to torture them for his own amusement.

Unfortunately McGee saw that exactly the wrong way. He saw Tony being "nice" and "polite" with the other Probies. The younger man didn't realize that it was Tony's way of basically showing them how little they mattered to him. The fact that he took the time to mercilessly tease McGee was proof positive of just how much he cared for him, even if the younger man hadn't figured it out yet.

Gibbs feared that McGee would never see it that way and he was helpless to get either of them to understand where they were going wrong. Tony couldn't figure out why McGee was always pissed at him and McGee couldn't figure out why Tony wouldn't treat him like a grown-up.

Some days it gave Gibbs a headache.

Back at his desk, Gibbs finished yet another file and reached for his countless cup of coffee that day. Taking a long swig, he swallowed appreciatively and looked at the now overly large stack of finished files and reports on his desk. He had gotten more work done in the last 8 hours than he had most of the week.

Maybe I should send them out again tomorrow. Gibbs thought to himself with a smile, looking at the clock. As he caught sight of the time, his smile faded.

He realized with a jolt that the entire day had gone by and he hadn't heard a peep from either of his men. The relief he felt just a few seconds before melted like an icicle dropped in boiling water.

No matter what had happened on the case, no matter how boring the search at the crime scene, no matter how long and annoying the drive, there was no way that DiNozzo wouldn't have reported in by now. No way that McGee wouldn't have at least called once to ask him an annoying question in technical jargon that would make the team leader want to smack them both into next week.

As Gibbs' gut tightened, he reached for his phone, knowing even before he dialed Tony's number what would happen.

No answer.