If the rest of NCIS had the same opinion about Tony DiNozzo as the other members of the MCRT did a lot of derogatory comments about the unprecedented occurrence of him getting to work before even Gibbs had arrived would have been flying around the building. Thankfully, for the most part, everyone at NCIS liked Tony so all that came his way when he arrived at about 7:30 am the following morning were polite nods and cheerful greetings. Tony wasn't in the mood for small talk but he did return the greetings, not wanting to burn all his bridges at NCIS in case he did stay with the agency.
He dumped his bag and jacket at his desk, relieved that the bullpen was empty. Tony just wasn't in the mood to deal with Gibbs, McGee or David right now. He then went upstairs to see if the director had arrived yet, knowing that the meeting he needed to have with her was going to change his life forever. There was a letter of resignation in his pocket. He wasn't necessarily going to use it but he would if the meeting didn't turn out the way he and Michelle hoped it would. One way or another Tony was finished with Team Gibbs. Which way depended on the director's reaction.
Cynthia wasn't in yet but the director was. Tony tapped on her open door. "Morning Jen. Have you got time for a chat?"
"Of course, Tony. Come in and take a seat."
As he came into her office Jenny scrutinized Tony intently. Although she was yet to take any action against the perpetrators Jenny was aware of the massive strain Tony had been under these past few months thanks to certain people. Today, though something about him was very different. It looked like, for once, he had been able to get a good night's sleep and there was a lightness about him, a sort of inner peace, which had been missing for months. Jenny promised herself that she would do whatever it took to keep Tony in this state. She'd known all along that Jethro would never be happy spending the rest of his life lying on the beach and would be back sooner or later which was why she had put him on leave rather than filing his official retirement papers. She regretted that Jethro coming back had necessitated Tony's demotion, though. Jenny had gotten to know Tony quite well when he took on the La Grenouille op for her and found him to be a compassionate, engaging and extremely hard working individual. He didn't deserve to be treated this way and she really regretted not telling him all along that his promotion to Team Leader would probably only be a temporary one.
Admittedly she had followed Tony's demotion up with an offer of a promotion to Rota, Spain but she'd known practically before the words were out of her mouth that he would turn down the offer. Tony had so few connections in his life that he wouldn't want to leave the home he had found for himself here in DC. Now Jenny knew that she needed to come up with another offer for Tony, one that would keep him in the city. He was too good of an agent to loose and he would definitely leave NCIS if the situation with the MCRT was allowed to continue. "What can I do for you, Tony?" she enquired.
"You can take me off Gibbs' team," Tony said bluntly. "Today."
Jenny sighed. "I can't say I haven't seen this coming. Tell me, though: what finally pushed you over the edge?"
"Honestly it was a culmination of a lot of things," Tony sighed. "This has been coming for months, really. You already know about the insubordination but it's more than that. It hit me yesterday that I don't feel safe working with them anymore. McGee and David never do what I tell them and Gibbs is too busy hitting me in the head to focus on the guy with the gun. Someone is going to get killed and I don't want it to be me."
Jenny was horrified. "It's really gotten that bad?"
"It's worse than that, really," Tony admitted. "I can tell Gibbs' memory still isn't fully recovered. He called David Kate yesterday. He actually thought it was Kate for a good 10-15 minutes. If he can't tell the difference between a member of his team and a woman who's been dead for years how can he tell the difference between a member of his team and the guy with the gun. Seriously Jen, has he even been declared fit for duty?"
"He's fine," Jenny assured him.
Tony eyed her knowingly. "Is that according to an NCIS approved medical practitioner or according to the gospel of Leroy Jethro Gibbs?" The expression on Jenny's face told Tony all he needed to know. "Come on Jen. I know he means a lot to you, he used to mean just as much to me, but you can't let him cut corners. Not only is it only fair that he's held to the same standards as the rest of us you know he'll never admit it even if there is something wrong with him. How would you feel if someone got injured or killed because he isn't at the top of his game?"
"You're right," Jenny admitted reluctantly. She knew what she had to do but doing it – actually getting Jethro to see a doctor – would be the challenge. "I don't suppose you'd stay if Jethro is officially cleared?"
Tony shook his head. "Not a chance. I can't work for Gibbs, not anymore and I won't work with McGee and David anymore, either. You've seen what's been happening these past few months, Jen. I can't do it anymore."
"I understand," Jenny sighed, knowing that getting Tony away from Gibbs was the right thing to do. She could see the younger man was becoming bitter and rather jaded. If she wanted to keep him with NCIS she needed to give him a new challenge. "Tell me, do you think Agent McGee is ready to step permanently into the role of Senior Field Agent to replace you?"
"No," Tony said emphatically.
"Explain," Jenny requested.
"When Gibbs left I knew McGee wasn't ready so I only passed on part of the workload, doing the rest myself," Tony explained. "In the end I created more work for myself but that was probably a good thing considering the half assed job McGee did on most of the tasks I gave him. I doubt he even realizes that there's far more to the job than he ever did. It's also part of the SFA's job to train and discipline the junior agents. Can you really imagine McGee standing up to David, let alone her obeying him? Plus I don't think he would be able to handle Gibbs in a mood."
Jenny smiled ruefully. "I'd have thought that you would be thrilled to let someone else deal with Gibbs' head slaps."
Tony snorted. "There are head slaps and then there's a punch in the head. I don't mind taking a slap to the head if it diffuses Gibbs' anger which, by the way, I'm not sure McGee and David realise I do, but ever since he's gotten back from Mexico he's gotten violent Jen. I've had a headache for a week now. My partner tried to tell me that I should file an official complaint against him."
"Partner?" Jenny asked, startled. "I didn't cause any problems for you with the La Grenouille op, did I?"
Tony shook his head. "Michelle and I've been together off and on for eight years now but until now we've had an open relationship. Besides, although she's just taken early retirement and started working for NCIS, Michelle was in the Navy. She would have understood if she'd known at the time."
"Not Michelle Jenkins?" Jenny asked, remembering the newly retired young Lieutenant she'd met the previous day.
Tony nodded. "Come to think of it I'm supposed to declare any serious relationships, aren't I? It was never an issue before but now she's in DC for good I should probably do that. If I stay with NCIS I'll also be changing my power of attorney, medical proxy and next-of-kin, everything, to her."
Jenny was pleased that Tony had someone special in his life. She also saw an opportunity to keep Tony, who she believed had a bright future with the agency, at NCIS. "So you would consider staying with us, then?"
"I love NCIS so if you can find me a position here in DC that doesn't involve interacting with Gibbs or his team I'll stay," Tony said.
"Would you consider moving into the operational side of things rather than doing field work?" Jenny asked.
"What would I be doing?" Tony asked warily. His doctors would be thrilled if he retired from the field but he couldn't imagine riding a desk 24-7.
Jenny eyed him seriously. "I'll be blunt with you, Tony. You're an excellent Senior Field Agent and you did an exemplary job as Team Leader, especially seeing as you were dealing with an undercover operation for most of that time. You get along with most people here at NCIS. You handle field work brilliantly but you can also play the politics game when necessary. Honestly, I can see you sitting in my chair one day. If you're going to do that, though you need some operational experience, instead of just field work. You're familiar with the OSP unit in Los Angeles, I trust?"
"Of course," Tony said, amazed that Jenny envisaged such a future for him. He'd always thought that he would stay in the field for as long as he could then move on to a whole new career or retire altogether. Director DiNozzo…that was both an exciting and a terrifying thought.
"We're in the process of opening a sister unit here in DC," Jenny said, knowing that she had shocked Tony with her plans for him. "It would start with one team but, in time, would grow to three, possibly four, teams. I've been looking for an Operations Manager to run the unit. What would you say if I were to offer the position to you, Tony?"
Tony was stunned. Operations Manager of OSP would be a huge step up. If he took the job he would basically be answerable only to Jenny, Deputy Director Vance and the Sec-Nav. It was also one office bound job he could see himself doing without going mad from boredom. He could see a potential problem, though. "OSP works in conjunction with counterintelligence, doesn't it? That means Michelle and I would be interacting quite a bit. I know Rule 12 isn't an official rule on the books but I imagine there are regulations against couples working together."
"There are for field work but in operations there won't be any issues about objectivity so as long as your relationship is officially declared it won't be a problem," Jenny said. "What do you say? Will you take the job?"