So in under a month of meeting Gibbs his life had changed again, and this time if had been for the better. He'd learned quickly that Gibbs didn't suffer fools, he only worked with the best and expected the best from all those he worked with. He'd pushed the boundaries, finding out what the limits were, and found himself quickly feeling like he'd finally found what he'd been looking for. He'd found a place where he belonged, and it felt damn good.
He didn't take it for granted, he worked hard at making sure that he had what Gibbs wanted quickly, worked hard to smooth the way when his Boss ruffled feathers along the way, and learned that his opinions counted and were valued.
People came and went from Gibbs team, some left willingly, sometimes for promotions other times for other agencies, others were shuffled out of the office or even on a few occasions NCIS. Gibbs had one hell of a reputation as one of the best investigators, and those who stood the distance within his team, those who he trained tended to be highly sought after by other agencies. He commanded respect no matter what he doing or saying. If Gibbs spoke those around him listened.
Tony couldn't believe that he had been offered the opportunity to work with and learn from him, and the longer he spent with the man the more grateful he was.
Within an hour of starting his new job he'd been introduced to both Abby and Ducky. He'd known almost instantly that they would become important to him and he'd been surprised that they had been so accepting of him, Abby had greeted him with a hug that had left him breathless, and Ducky had put him at ease with a smile and a story.
At the time he'd thought that that was simply how those two greeted new people, but over the years he'd learned that he was an exception rather than the rule. Some got the cold shoulder, some were conditionally welcomed, others were shown exactly why they didn't belong there. He'd asked them both why they'd made him feel so welcome when he started, but neither would give him an answer. Abby had simply enveloped him in another breath steeling bear hug and Ducky had smiled and told him another story.
His first two years at NCIS had been action packed and full on. The team was constantly changing and after six months on Gibbs team he was promoted to Gibb's Senior Field Agent. Though he suspected it had more to do with the fact that he was still there after his predecessor left, he'd only lasted in the position for six months before he'd requested a transfer, than any real talent on his part. New team members came and went quickly, those who were transferred onto the team by the director tended to last only a few months, others that Gibbs hand picked tended to last longer, before being offered other positions that were too good to pass up.
They had had a variety of cases to solve which at first he'd found a little overwhelming, they investigated everything from theft to murder to abuse and terrorism and at times they had more than one case at a time, taking them down different tracks. But the longer he spent at NCIS the easier it was to jump from one track to another.
When Gibbs had hired Vivienne Blackadder he'd been intrigued. She was FBI, and had spent most of her time, during their first meeting, arguing about what evidence to follow. It had turned out that she had been wrong, but the right path had become apparent because of her as well. Tony had been a little surprised when she'd turned up at their headquaters a week later to start work. But she'd settled onto their team well enough, and things had seemed to be working until they got the case of Lt. Singers murder. From the moment that they arrived on the scene Vivienne seemed to question everything she was told to do, and from there it only went down hill. When they found out about the terrorist that had been captured her focus had shifted, and Tony had watched as everything else came a distant second, including their murder case. When Gibbs had been sent to interigate the terrorist, he'd been proud that he'd been left in charge. Ok so it hadn't been the first time that Gibbs had left him in charge, but this time had been different, the case that they thought to be rapped up had taken a sharp turn, and Gibbs had left him in charge to unravel it, to find the real killer. And for one of the first times he hadn't been afraid to step up to the responsibility, he'd embraced it and had been determined to show Gibbs that he'd been right in his choice.
Then Gibbs had conferenced with them and told him to solve the case, as if he had no doubt that Tony would solve it, and then as they were leaving Gibbs had called him back saying that he needed him. The realisation that Gibbs trusted him, the Gibbs relied on him had made him feel warm, and the fact that Gibbs had trusted his opinion made him want to try harder to keep proving that Gibbs was right to trust him.
They had wasted no time in getting the operation in order once he and Viv had arrived on the carrier. The operation had come together easily with their team working together with other agencies to get the job done. That was one of the things that Tony really appreciated about Gibbs, it was the ability to get the job done and not be concerned about who got the credit and glory for it. It was something that he himself strongly agreed with. After all his father had taught him that he wasn't important in the bigger picture so why should he worry about things like credit and glory.
Things had gone well, until they were getting ready to move. He hadn't been close enough to do anything but watch the operation go to hell. He'd seen Viv give them away and he'd cursed, she was there because he'd told her to come with him. Gibbs had asked for him to come, and bring whoever he thought they'd need. The fact that it had been Viv that had blown the operation weighed heavily on him. When he saw the explosion his heart had stopped. He knew that Gibbs had been up there when it went off and his first thought hadn't been about the mission going to hell, but had been him praying that Gibbs was alive and well. He had found his place in the world and he wasn't ready to give it up yet. Not by a long shot.
Gibbs had survived, a little bruised but alive. They had stopped the act of terrorism, but the terrorist that they had been after was dead, and they couldn't question a dead person. There was no way to find out what other plans he had had, not now and probably not until they were carried it out. Tony felt that he was ultimately responsible for this. If he hadn't brought Viv with them, then maybe things would have turned out differently.
What had shocked him had been when Gibbs had spoken to him on their flight back to headquaters. Gibbs had taken the time to make sure that Tony had known that Gibbs didn't blame him for what had gone wrong. He'd taken time to make sure that Tony knew that he was all right, and that Tony was all right. He hadn't spoken to Viv the entire trip back, and they both knew that no words from Gibbs was not a good thing. But he couldn't feel sorry for her, she had stuffed up, let her emotions and need for revenge to take control and it had cost them. As they had been leaving the plan upon arriving home, Gibbs had spoken quietly, telling Viv that she no longer had a place on his team, or a job at NCIS.
Tony had always known that Gibbs didn't suffer fools. Had seen it time and time again. But this had been the first time that he'd seen Gibbs feeling let down. He had chosen Vivienne to join his team, had thought that she had what it took, but he'd been wrong. It wasn't something that you saw every day. In fact it was something that you never saw. But he also knew that Gibbs had given her a chance, had spoken to her to make sure that she could do this job, this operation, and she'd insisted that she could. And she hadn't been able to. Tony knew that if she had admited that she may have had a problem, that she couldn't have handled it then Gibbs would have taken her off the case, but kept her on his team.
After Viv had left, more agents had come and gone. Again some had been hand selected, others appointed. None had stayed long and had left for various reasons. But still Gibbs had made sure that Tony knew that he was trusted, and after the disaster of the operation he'd worked even harder to live up to the trust that Gibbs had placed in him.
Things had generally been good, they had the best solve rate in the agency, were often called on to help other teams and agencies. His sense of belonging kept growing. For the first time that he could remember he wasn't looking over his shoulder, or looking for anything else. He was happy.