A/N: back in season 8, right after Kate's sister visits NCIS

Chapter 1 –The rest of the day.

Tony watched the elevator doors closed and the lift slowly took away the psychologist...Kate's sister. He silently kicked himself for not realizing who she was immediately, but then they didn't actually look all that much alike. He shook his head to chase away the thoughts of his momentary lack of observation skills, and let his mind settle on his former partner. Ziva was down in Abby's lab, and Tony found himself imagining Kate sitting at her desk, Kate joking around with him, ribbing on McGee, Kate yelling at him for going through her personal belongings again. His mind wondered to all the cases they shared...there were so many, but ultimately, way too few. His mind flashed to Ari, the man responsible for why there were so few, and he felt his anger building again, but quickly shoved it back down – his anger wouldn't change anything, and Ari was already dead.

He was broken from his revere by a very loud and annoyed, "DiNozzo!"

By the tone, Tony could tell it was not the first attempt to get his attention, but he decided to ignore that fact. His eyes snapped back into focus on his very irate boss now standing about an inch from his desk. Plastering on his best megawatt smile he replied, "What can I do for you boss?"

"Quit daydreaming -" Tony had the gall to look indignant at the accusation, his eyes flashing a wall practiced mix of confusion and innocence. Before he had a chance to respond Gibbs continued, "And go restock the van before we get another call. We are starting to run low on supplies."

Still ignoring how close his boss was standing and his obvious anger, Tony jumped to his feet and bounced off toward the elevator, "On it, Boss!". He could feel his boss' eyes boring into his back while he waited for the elevator, but he chose to ignore it.

The moment the elevator doors closed, Tony dropped the fake smile and took a deep breath. Kate's sister's visit was affecting him more than he wanted to admit. Hell he had zoned out in the squad room,in front of Gibbs! Get it together, Anthony! He scolded himself, Gibbs is gonna read right through you if you don't get it together! He got down to the garage and set about restocking the van, hoping to chase the thoughts and memories away.

Gibbs was a worried. He knew Kate's sister being there had stirred up a lot of his own feelings and memories about Kate, but he had come to terms with her death. He wasn't so sure about his Senior Field Agent. Sure, Tony often goofed off and avoided work, but he rarely was so distracted that he wouldn't respond to his own name being called. He hoped having him restock the van would give him a few moments to collect his thoughts and clear his mind. He had known Tony a long time, though, and knew that it would probably take a lot more work than that. Gibbs resolved himself to keep a close eye on his second in command, and look for any signs he was struggling. God knows he wouldn't ask for help.

Tony was grateful for the brief distraction as he mindlessly restocked the van. Gibbs probably realized that... he groaned to himself. Sometimes he really hated how good his boss was at reading his needs – it meant he wasn't hiding them as well as he intended.

Or maybe he just assumed I would be falling apart. Assumed that I would need a break. Weak, emotional DiNozzo, not able to deal with visit from his dead partner's sister. He started slamming the supplies into the drawers in the van, his anger desperate for a outlet.

His anger was tempered when Rule 3 flashed across his mind: Never Assume. He knew Gibb's lived by the rules, and if his boss had sent him down here because he thought he needed the distraction and the space, then it wouldn't have been an assumption. Annoyed with himself for letting his mask slip so far, he took a deep calming breath, and headed back up the bull pen.

It had only taken him about 20 minutes to restock, and when he returned he noticed that Ziva was now back at her desk as well. Kate's desk. Tony shook his head at the thought, and continued back to his, quickly balling it up and tossing it at McGee who seemed very enthralled in whatever geeky thing he was doing. He grinned at the glare Tim shot him, and sat back down at his computer and pretended to read emails. He could feel Gibbs watching him, but ignored it.

"Alright, go home, get some rest. See you all back here at 0700," Gibb's voice cut through the silence.

Tony glanced at the clock, only 1645, but he wasn't going to question it. Quickly grabbing his things, he high-tailed it to the elevator, "Later, boss!" he yelled over his shoulder as got on the lift. He wanted nothing more than to go home and forget Kate's sister ever showed up, and push all the emotions and memories back into the dark recess from which they came.

Gibb's watched his Senior Field Agent leave, barely pausing to say bye. He knew pushing Tony to open up would never work. So for now he was willing to let Tony cope on his own, but would watch for signs he was failing.

Kate's sister's presence had been hard on all of them, and he hoped the early evening would help them all relax, but he knew from personal experience, that one's demons are often much harder to deal with in the night.