A few more days of bus travel saw something of a landmark in Tony's travel history. Once again, the bus was crowded and there weren't two empty seats together but the passengers didn't rearrange themselves so Tony had to sit next to someone other than Joe. Tony was obviously now 'trusted' to fly solo.

Joe went to sit next to an elderly woman while Tony sat on the back seat. On one side sat an earnest young man who was absorbed in what was coming through his headphones; he reminded Tony of McGee and he wondered if, like Tim, he also was listening to a self-improvement CD. On the other side was Martha who began to show him pictures of her grandchildren.

"They look keen on sports," commented Tony, as he looked at a photo of two boys and a girl dressed in blue and yellow and holding a basketball each.

"Yes," said Martha fondly, "I wish they lived a bit nearer."

"Where do they live?"

"Michigan, but I'm lucky that my other daughter lives close by so I can't complain."

A horrible suspicion crossed Tony's mind, "They're not Wolverine fans, are they?"

"Fans? That's putting it mildly. Mac, my son-in-law is mad keen. He won't be happy unless at least one of his children goes to Michigan and play some sort of ball for them." She noticed a frown on Tony's face, "that's not a problem, is it?"

"No. Of course not."

"You're tall. I'm guessing you played sport?"

"Yep, football and basketball."

"Were you good?"

"Not bad. I thought of going pro."

"What happened? Why didn't you?"

"Bust my knee. Then got my leg broken."

Martha nodded. Somehow, this was what she had come to expect from Tony. "How did you break your leg?"

"In a match against Michigan," said Tony, "got tackled."

"No wonder you scowled when I mentioned Michigan," said Martha, "guess Wolverines aren't your favourite people."

"Oh, they're not all bad," said Tony fair-mindedly, "in fact I became friends with the one who broke my leg."

"How?"

"He was my doctor when I caught … um, when I was ill one time."

Martha nodded sadly, "Have you thought of parcelling yourself up in bubble wrap, dear?"

Tony smiled ruefully but, before he could reply, became aware of Joe talking to his own companion.

"Doreen? What's the matter? Doreen! Speak to me!"

Tony looked down the bus and saw that Joe was shaking the woman's shoulder. As he watched he saw her slump into Joe who sprang up in alarm.

"Doreen! She's fainted! She's ill! Help!"

Tony jumped up.

"Is there a doctor on the bus?" He was greeted by blank stares.

"Someone call 911!" he said firmly. He looked at the traffic outside and saw that they were stuck in a jam. An ambulance would take time to arrive. This was up to him. He checked Doreen quickly and realised that her heart had stopped beating.

"Help me get her on the floor," he ordered Joe.

And then he went to work.

The following day, Tony and Joe got a round of applause from the passengers when they boarded the bus. A manager from the bus company presented Tony with a Smartcard with a month's worth of trips and a photographer took a picture for the in-house magazine. Doreen's niece was there and gave him a hug and a bag of donuts and assured him that her aunt was doing well in hospital.

The earnest young man with the headphones told Tony that he was going to sign up for first aid classes after seeing Tony in action.

Martha and Joe beamed with pride but couldn't help but think it was unsurprising that the apparently accident prone Tony should be good at first aid.

NCISNCIS

"We enjoy having Tony on the bus," said Joe, "he's had a big impact on us."

"He has?" said McGee rather nervously, aware that the impact Tony had on people wasn't always for the sensitive or squeamish.

"Douglas there," said Martha, "he used to get on the bus and just shut himself into his own little world, listening to his music or whatever. Didn't you, Douglas?"

The earnest young man nodded.

"But now," said Martha, "he talks to us all the time. Don't you, Douglas?"

Douglas nodded. Gibbs began to wonder about Martha's definition of all the time.

"About his first aid course. Don't you, Douglas?"

"Yes," finally managed Douglas.

"Right," said McGee, "good."

"I'm doing the first aid course because of Tony," blurted out Douglas.

"Right. Good," said McGee again. He resolved not to enquire why close acquaintance with Tony led to a burning desire to know about first aid. He hoped it wasn't because Tony had inflicted some sort of bodily harm on the young man. A sudden thought struck him and he leaned over to whisper in Gibbs' ear, "Boss. Are we sure they're talking about our Tony? Shouldn't we check?"

Gibbs nodded, "Good idea. You got a photo of him on you?" he whispered back.

Tim looked a bit affronted that Gibbs thought he might carry a picture of Tony around with him but he got his cell out to check. "The only one I've got is from that time we were both arrested. Not sure that would be a good one to show them."

Gibbs refrained from asking why McGee had a police mugshot of Tony on his phone but agreed with Tim that another picture would be better. He cleared his throat,

"Have you got a picture of Tony?" he asked.

He was surprised when all the passengers nodded. They rummaged in purses and wallets and produced the picture taken by the Metro photographer the day after Tony had saved Doreen.

"Do you often have photos taken on the bus?" asked Gibbs, thinking that bus travel had changed a lot since his bus days.

"That was a special occasion," said Joe, "that was the day after Tony brought Doreen back from the dead."

"What?" asked McGee.

"Doreen collapsed," said Joe, "we were all panicking but Tony was cool as a cucumber. Told us to call 911 and did CPR. He did it for about ten minutes. The ambulance crew said he saved her life."

"The company gave Tony a special free ticket," said Martha.

"And Lucy – that's Doreen's niece – gave him a bag of donuts," said Joe.

McGee thought back and remembered Tony arriving at work one day with a huge bag of donuts which, uncharacteristically, he had shared with everyone. When asked about this unusual display of largesse he had simply said that he hadn't had to pay for them. Now, Tim knew where the pastries had come from.

"They must have been really grateful," said Tim.

"Well, of course," said Joe as if it was obvious, "Tony saved Doreen's life. Of course they wanted to show how grateful they were. Wouldn't anyone?"

Tim couldn't help but look at Gibbs with a slight question in his eyes. Gibbs seemed momentarily stunned and, for the moment, was diverted from continuing to investigate the bus passengers' concerns about Tony.