Hey everyone here's the new chapter. Also betaed by the wonderful tealrose.
And as for Emily's character she is not that bad just wait a few chapters and see.
Plz review.

Chap 10

"What the hell happened, Tony? Please tell me you haven't accepted any other undercover operation. Something is wrong kid I can see that. Talk to me Tony, let me help," the Captain looked worriedly at Tony.

When Gibbs heard those words for a moment his blood turned cold. But then he glanced at Tony who was wearing a casual suit. One which Gibbs hadn't seen many times but was still casual; if there was any big problem Dinozzo would be in one of his most expensive suits. That fact alone said everything about the captain's knowledge of Tony. And for a strange reason that soothed Gibbs. The man didn't know Tony as well as Gibbs did. And that was enough for Gibbs. But apparently the captain wanted an answer and kept staring at Dinozzo; suddenly he turned towards the team.

"Do you need a special order to leave this room?"

The nerve of this guy; he was telling Gibbs to leave; even Vance didn't do that!
Gibbs almost smirked as he stated, glaring, "Well captain I work in this agency and you don't have anything on me so I'm not leaving."

"Oh you will agent Gibbs, you..."

The captain's speech was stopped by Tony's "Let it go Kevin. It's no use. And I'm fine- you know me; I can jump back from anything." Why was Dinozzo talking to this man, normally he would try to stop Gibbs; earning himself some head slaps.

"Anthony Dinozzo you are not getting out of this room before I get my answers. As it's clear that I won't get my answers with them in this room, well therefore, Agent Gibbs, you need to leave now."

"Try me captain." Gibbs snarled but before he could say anything Tony spoke again, desperation evident in his voice "Please Kevin, not today. I really don't need this today. Let it go. He will never listen. You will have to get Vance here and then make him leave. It's not worth it, I'm ok."

Was Dinozzo really ignoring him… for a stranger? Gibbs had to fight to hide his shock and jealousy.

The captain stared at team Gibbs and then said, "Fine, let's do it your way. But I want my answers. If they don't want to leave then so be it. I will ignore them for now. You are still going to answer me, J." Now suddenly Tony looked uncomfortable and the captain looked too cool and calm. Just as the 'kid' thing wasn't enough now he was calling Tony 'J'… what was that even supposed to mean? Gibbs was truly confused now.

The Captain ignored the others now, asking Tony, "When did you eat last?"

Gibbs smirked at that. What kind of question was that? Did this man even know Tony; the kid practically lived for eating. Apparently that's what Tony thought if the smirk on his face was any indication.

"Come on Kevin, really? Well I had breakfast…and before you ask it was pizza."

"When?" The captain asked again and suddenly Tony's smirk disappeared.

"Yesterday," Tony mumbled.

What? Dinozzo hadn't eaten anything in last 24 hours? Gibbs knew that normally meant something big was happening. He was just about to head slap Tony when the next question came.

"Sleep?"

"Come on Kevin what is this lets interrogate Tony day?"

Tony was answered by a glare, a really rigid glare and a stern "J…"

"Two hours," Tony mumbled. Everyone in the room as shocked. What the hell was going on - was Tony working on another undercover operation? Two hours of sleep only and twenty four hours between meals, what the hell was going on?

"Do I have to ask Tony? When?" The glare had softened, but the sternness had not abated on the Captain's face.

"Yesterday… night..."

What was this? Tony hadn't slept, hadn't eaten anything…how the hell had I missed that? Was he really on another undercover mission? 'Well, I really need to have that talk with him. No way is he going on another undercover OP,' Gibbs thought angrily, his temper boiling over along with the fear of losing Tony.

"Anthony Fredrick Dinozzo you answer me right now; have you accepted any other undercover assignments?" This time the man was livid with rage. And the tone he was using...well may be now was the time to interfere, thought Gibbs. After all if Tony had an undercover OP he should be the first to know. Whatever else may change Tony would never keep such a thing from him. With that thought Gibbs started to jump in,

"Look captain you can't just..."

Instantly Tony jerked his head up looking the captain right in the eye.
"I gave you my word, Kevin; I will never do something like that again without giving you some kind of signal."

Now Gibbs was at his wits end; Tony was acting like none of them were present in this room. And what the hell Tony meant 'without giving him a signal?'

Wouldn't he first tell his team?

If this is not about some undercover OP then what is it about? Was this because of that bloody prank? McGee was going to be dead, and very soon. But then, why the hell didn't Tony show up at his house? They could have talked this thing out.
Gibbs frowned in thought, staring at Tony.

Apparently the captain was still hell bent on an answer as he too was staring at Gibb's SFA.

"I'm fine. Just let it go Kevin." Tony tried again, fighting to keep his mask in place. The Captain sighed, "So let me get this straight, in past twenty-four hours you haven't slept, haven't eaten, and you are wearing your best suit. Yes, you are definitely fine." The captain's words dripped with sarcasm.

How the hell did this man know about the relationship between Tony's moods and his clothes? No, that didn't matter, Gibbs thought, the captain was wrong as this wasn't Tony's most expensive suit. Gibbs interrupted yet again, this time smirking.
"You got that one wrong captain this is not Dinozzo's most expensive suit. Hell this is one of his casual ones. Looks like you don't know him as well as you think."
Gibbs wasn't sure why he said the last part. But it sure felt good as it proved that he knew Tony better. Gibbs waited for Tony's reaction. Normally Tony would give a big smile with a 'didn't know you cared, boss.' Normally he would look like someone just made his day. But today he was quiet; he never even looked over at Gibbs.

The Captain just looked at Gibbs, stating, "I wouldn't worry about my knowledge of Tony, agent Gibbs. Believe me I know him way better than you. As to that, well, I never said anything about price… I said best." Suddenly he turned towards Tony; who was still looking at his own shoes, before he added,

"And this is his favorite suit, isn't it? The one he bought with Jeanne? "
It was like a bomb had exploded; Tony was unexpectedly standing inches away from the screen, glaring at the captain. His eyes burned with rage, and his voice became cold, "No one knew about that. Even Jenny didn't know. How the hell do you know? I never told anybody."

The captain quietly looked at him and sighed sadly, "You told me, kid. And I'm sorry for talking about this now but I had no other option. You weren't talking to me. Now please, kid, tell me what is wrong. "

Tony started at this, and then paled as his shoulders slumped and exhaustion was evident on his face.
"I told you... but why can't I...oh wow, I was drunk wasn't I?"

"Yes, you were," the Captain softly replied.

Gibbs wasn't paying attention now. His mind was going a mile a minute. When had things changed so much? Had Jeanne Bennoit been that important to Tony? If she had been, then why did Tony never say anything to him?

"Wow... this day keeps getting worse and worse, doesn't it? Well, what else did I do while I was drunk? Kevin did I marry someone or do anything else just as crazy? You know, it would be good to have a heads up," Tony glumly stated with a bitter note in his tone.

"Do you want to talk in front of them Tony? " captain stopped Tony in between.

"What? No...No… and of course you have other things to do. I have already disturbed you enough. I don't want to cause any more problems. Sorry for the trouble," Tony muttered, embarrassment now added to the bitterness still evident on his face.

"Look at me, kid." The captain stared enigmatically at Tony until he looked up. When Gibbs saw Tony's eyes he was sure that something was wrong, because the last time he had had that look was when Tony had been in the jail cell with the box of pizza Gibbs had given him.

The Captain ignored what Tony had said and continued, "Listen to me very carefully J, you will never be a problem. I'm an old man, kid; with nothing but my job to do. You are a very pleasant change in my monotonous routine… the one that keeps me sane. Do you understand?"

Tony nodded his head, his eyes full of appreciation and a relief as if he had been expecting the man to say something else. Why would Tony ever think of...and then Gibbs remembered their conversation in Abby's lab -

"Can I come to your place tonight boss? That will not be a problem will it? "

"Well that never stopped you before Dinozzo? Don't think it will stop you today."

Gibbs felt like he should be head slapping himself very hard. Now he could place all the pieces in the right spots. Dinozzo had concluded that Gibbs saw him as a problem. That was why he never showed up yesterday. He needed to make his meaning very clear, very fast...before a certain captain got his hand on his SFA.

Tony was grinning now, "Well, I am pretty awesome, aren't I? So…should I ask Vance to come in now? Because I'm pretty sure he is out there terrorizing other teams." The grin was completely plastered on his face now as he turned to leave. Gibbs knew this tactic; Tony was deflecting.

Apparently the Captain had figure out what was bugging Tony, as his face changed, catching Tony as he was not even half way to the door. "You are not turning into your father, Tony. You are a much better man than he ever will be. You don't share anything of his personality."

Tony turned swiftly eying the screen warily. "I... how do you even ...let it go... I don't want to talk right now. I will contact you today, I promise. Should have called you instead of him yesterday… why the hell didn't I? You know sometimes I'm really an idiot."

"What do you mean? Who did you call Tony?" The Captain looked worried now.

"Senior…but of course he was busy. Called someone else after but that doesn't matter as he never picked up. We will talk, I promise… but not now. Not in front of them."

And then Gibbs remembered the ringing of phone. Four rings and then a call ended. Tony called him for help and he never answered. Oh bloody hell... what was wrong with him? Why hadn't he picked up the phone, and why hadn't he called Tony back?

The Captain continued seriously, "You called Senior? Ok...well, we will talk afterwards. But listen to me kid. I don't know what you are going through but you need to remember one thing, you are not your father. You are your mother's son: her eyes, her loyalty, and her forgiving nature… that is what you have to look forward to. You even have her worst quality, which is never saying anything till you reach your breaking point. You will never have to worry about turning into your father, Tony, because you have too much of your mother in you."

There was a deadly silence in the room for a few moments; Ziva and McGee were too shocked by the whole thing to say anything at all. Gibbs was still figuring out the relationship between this man and Tony. Gibbs watched as Tony abruptly came back to life with the captain's words.
Unbeknownst to Gibbs, Anthony Dinozzo was thinking back to his son, the son with his eyes, with his mother eyes and immediately he knew that everything would be all right. After all, Kevin was right… he was just like his mother. There was no chance of him turning into his father. With that thought he could feel his brain starting to work again; especially all the possible solutions to the problem of Davis.

Tony sighed in happiness, "You always knew what to say, Kevin. Hah, you've got to teach me how to do that. Now I can't honestly think why I thought this was such a big problem. I can turn this in my favor so easily. "
Tony could not keep the smile away from his face. He felt so much lighter.
With the smile on Tony's face Gibbs could feel the knot in his stomach dissolving.

"Glad that you got that back into your head; now, can we talk about your resignation?" the Captain asked.

Gibbs jerked in surprise. What the hell? Oh no, no, no he was not going to allow some ship captain to take Tony away from him, no way. The man had the nerve to ask Tony about resigning? What, he thinks that Tony will listen to him? But maybe Tony will, as he had the whole time in MTAC. Better jump back into conversation now, Gibbs realized hurriedly and growled out, "You are crossing your boundaries Captain; do not even try to make Tony resign. You can try but Tony would never ever do that."

The Captain again looked at Gibbs; the look was as if he was speaking to a bug, "Agent Gibbs, try to get your story straight at least once. As much as I know he has already resigned or is writing his resignation now. There is no way in hell that he would talk this much about his personal life in front of your team if he was thinking about working with you. The single fact that he talked with me in front of you says that he is resigning."

Gibbs remembered the envelope on his desk and stiffened, no, it couldn't be...how could...

Ignoring Gibbs once again, the Captain asked Tony, "So, who is the lucky agency? What the hell did they offer to get you to leave this job? Well… may be I can match their offer." The Captain grinned at his last sentence, with an almost plea in it.

Tony grinned at this, "Oh, well, I'm still thinking about it; haven't accepted anyone yet. However I am seriously considering Homeland."

The Captain smirked, "Of course, how could I forget, Morrow is there, so you would choose that agency...but why now? You have had that offer for what, seven years?"

Gibbs could see shock registering on Ziva and McGee's face. He himself couldn't move. He was too shocked …he could still hear Ducky's voice telling him that Tony would resign if he didn't clean up his attitude toward Tony. Gibbs had been so sure that Tony would never do anything like that. He had to stop Tony before anything happened. But before he could speak the captain spoke again. He was seriously starting to loathe him.

The Captain chuckled merrily as he stated, "Well, looks like they had no idea about your resignation, kid."

"What? You must be mistaken I told them yesterday and actually they want me out of here according to their words and actions. So things are pretty clear here." Tony didn't even glance at his team.

"What? Tony how can you even think of resigning? Gibbs would never accept your resignation," McGee said.

"Well, Agent McGee," Gibbs saw McGee flinch at Tony's words. Tim wasn't used to Tony being so formal. "Agent Gibbs had already accepted my resignation so that is not a problem."

"That's because I didn't know what it was. I refuse to accept it, Dinozzo," Gibbs said, his voice full of anger.

Tony now looked at Gibbs, his voice hard, "Well, if you don't want to accept it I'm pretty sure Vance will. And I thought that is what you wanted, Agent Gibbs, due your attitude toward me. So what is the problem?" Now Gibbs could understand why Tim had flinched. Somehow Tony calling him Agent Gibbs was like someone had knifed him in the gut, hard. He was not sure how to react but apparently the captain knew everything that Gibbs use to know, and even knew his SFA better than he did.

The Captain looked pleadingly at Tony, "I want you to take the resignation back."

"What? You can't be serious, Kevin! You were the one telling me that I should leave this team for years. Do you remember last time on the ship how much time you wasted telling me that I should not go back to this team, and now when I'm accepting that coming here was a mistake you want me to stay?" Gibbs couldn't believe his ears; Tony thought coming back was a mistake? Suddenly the memories of Domino, Israel and Somalia ran through Gibbs' head, and he flinched once again.

The Captain continued to plead quietly, "Because if you aren't in NCIS I would have no way to keep an eye on you, kid. Because whatever is that you are not telling me I have a bad feeling about it. So just in case something happens I want a way to have you back on my ship. For that to happen you have to be in NCIS."

"But Kevin… I already resigned… there is no way out now." Tony said. His voice was like he had just dodged a death sentence. Gibbs was sure that things were not that bad...or were they?

"I'm sure that Agent Gibbs will be ready to misplace that letter; won't you agent Gibbs?"
Gibbs knew that this was it, his SFA was leaving. He had to say something now to stop Tony. He had to snap out of the numbness and make sure that Tony stayed. He was grateful for the chance the captain was giving him. But somehow he was still angry at this other…man…that was for some reason closer to Tony than he.

"Of course captain what did you think? I would not let Dinozzo go. What the hell were you thinking, Dinozzo? Resigning? Did you really think you can get away from this team? "

"Well I think that was made clear yesterday, wasn't it agent Gibbs? You and your team want silence and a time out from me. So I'm giving you just that. I don't see what the problem is here." Finally for the first time Tony was talking to him; unfortunately without the usual charm and smile.

"You. Are. Not. Leaving. Dinozzo. Did you get that? I won't let you." Gibbs was sure that Tony would see through his anger like he always did and would stay; apparently he was wrong.

Tony just shrugged at that and turned towards the screen. He went back to ignoring the team.
"I'm leaving. Look, Kevin, even if I wanted to stay there is no way. I need some time to sort things out. Plus Vance would never give me that much vacation time I would need. So resigning is really my only option."

Gibbs thought that Tony would be sad at this turn of events but he looked pleased.

The Captain sighed yet again, "…And that's why I want you there. If whatever problem you are not telling me is big enough to disturb you this much then it can turn ugly very fast. If it does turn ugly then I need a way to get you out of there and for that you have to be in NCIS. Oh, don't worry about Leon, I will handle him. "

"But Kevin…" Tony tried again, but Kevin interrupted sternly.
"That's an order, Anthony. You will give your leave of absence; Agent Gibbs, you will accept it. Now go and call Vance back in."

Tony and Gibbs both glared at the captain; Gibbs angry for being ordered around, yet at the same time slightly in debt for the chance to have time to talk to Tony.

Tony on the other hand looked rebellious, so the captain tried a different technique.

"I know you don't want to work with them. But please, I need you working there. I don't care what they think or what they want all I care is you being safe. Will you give me that right, at least until whatever it is to die down?"

Gibbs would have loved for Tony to say 'no, you have no right.' Even if that meant he would be fighting harder to keep Tony.

Tony sighed at the Captain and said, "You know you have far more rights than that. If you want me here, then I will work here but just till we solve this problem and I need that leave of absence. I promise, we will talk today, but honestly, I'm pretty sure you will change your mind after what I tell you."

The Captain grinned, "Good, now go and find that idiot Vance for me."

Tony smirked at that and replied with an, "Aye aye captain."
He quickly left the room.

Team Gibbs was now alone with Captain O'Neill and Gibbs had a feel that the captain had something to say.

"Agent Gibbs I don't care what you think but be sure that Tony will leave this team. If you think that he agreed to work here because he wants to; then forget it. He agreed because of me. So understand one thing he is leaving your team; he is there just until I can figure out what is going on. Do you understand? "

It was hard for Gibbs to answer that. He didn't know what to say. He was rescued by Vance's entry.
"Did you have your chat captain?" Vance came straight to the point.

"Yes I did. Leon, Tony is going on leave."

For a moment Vance looked like he was going to say something but then he thought better of it and turned towards Tony. "I expect the paper work is on my table agent Dinozzo."

"Yes director."

"Was that it, captain?"

"Yes Leon. Oh, and I expect you to keep an eye on Tony. "

"On him? Do you have any idea what all he has done? The whole frog operation for one, not to mention that a director died in his care..."

Everyone saw Tony flinch at Vance's words. The captain was enraged, growling out, "Don't even talk about that woman Leon. It's a good thing she is dead or I would have a few things to say to her. I would actually say the blame lies with the one who assigned Tony as her protection detail. That woman blackmailed him in an undercover OP without any back-up and she thought he should protect her? Even though she had a death wish and was dying anyway?"

Vance had the decency to look ashamed at that, even as the Captain continued, "As for the frog mission the only wrong thing he did was not choosing Jeanne."

The captain glared at Tony in the end, who muttered a small, "Should have chosen her."
Gibbs wasn't sure what that was about. Either way it looked like one more things that the captain knew about Tony and he didn't.

"He has carried that guilt too long, Leon. Don't even try to start anything about it again. Because like your golden boy here," he said pointing towards McGee, and stated, "Anthony Dinozzo is my golden boy more than that he is family. So I expect you to keep an eye on him. Do you understand?"

Vance was too stunned too reply so he just nodded. With that the connection was ended by the captain. Vance muttered something about a meeting and left the room.
Gibbs was sure that after the captain's last words Tony would be stunned but it looked like Tony wasn't even affected by them. Then it dawned on Gibbs; this wasn't the first time for the captain to say those words to Tony. That knowledge somehow made him madder.
Tony left the room, leaving team Gibbs in MTAC alone. Each member couldn't stop thinking about the resignation of their SFA.
McGee was the first to recover, "He is just playing a prank to get back at us. I'm sure he is. He just wants some attention that's it."

Gibbs was beyond angry at this point, "You think, McGee? This whole mess is created by your stupid prank and now instead of fixing your mistakes you are blaming him? Well if it is just a prank then why the hell there is a resignation letter on my desk? Answer me!"

Ziva broke in, "Gibbs don't be angry at Tim. We all know Tony will be back. He loves his job way much to leave and he can never hold any grudge long toward you."

Gibbs sighed, "I hope you are right, Ziver." With that Gibbs made his way towards bullpen with McGee and Ziva behind him.

When they arrived at the bullpen Gibbs didn't see Tony; for a moment he was scared that may be he had already left. McGee noted that Tony was coming from the director's office, and pointed in that direction for the other's to see. Of course, Gibbs had forgotten, he had to submit all that paperwork to Vance first.

After entering the bullpen Tony immediately started to clear his desk. Not paying any attention to his co-workers, he just took his things. No one knew what to say, but they were saved by Ducky's entry in the bullpen. The M.E. directly stood in front of Tony, who looked up, surprised at Ducky's closeness.

"Dr. Mallard…" Tony stated formally.
Gibbs flinched at the wording once again; Tony hadn't called Ducky Dr. Mallard in ten years. It was like they were strangers all over again - but Ducky didn't looked fazed by the turn of events. "Anthony my boy; please hear me out before you say anything."
Tony nodded, stunned by Ducky's behavior, and let him continue, "I want to apologize for yesterday. What I did was out of line and I had no reason to do that. You have to understand Anthony, that it was just a mistake in judgment on my part. Rather a grim mistake I agree but I had no intention of hurting you. Please forgive me, Anthony."
Everyone else was speechless at this turn of events. The sincerity in Ducky's tone was overwhelming.

Ziva was the first to speak, and did so spitefully, "He resigned today."

Ducky smiled , "Did you Anthony? I have to say that was a good decision. "

Whatever Gibbs thought Ducky would say, well that was definitely not it. Apparently Tony also was having hard time believing Ducky as he stared at him.

Ducky sighed in understanding and continued, "Don't look at me like that Anthony. I knew it was inevitable and I'm really sad that I may lose a good friend like you but I understand. To tell you the truth I think you should have accepted Rota."

"You and I both, Ducky," Tony muttered, once again starting to clean his desk.

What were they talking about? Gibbs decided to get the information from Ducky afterwards.

"Now Anthony please tell me is there anything I can help you with?"

"No Ducky; actually I'm just going on a vacation. I will resign after it is over," Tony said finishing his cleaning. There was nothing personal on Tony's desk now.

"Why not now, what is it, Anthony?" Ducky looked worried now.

"Well Ducky, it is a long story and I have something really important to do now so I will tell you when I come back, ok?"

Gibbs heard the hidden words in that dialogue.' I'm not calling you and you will not call me.' From the slight sadness in Ducky's eyes it was clear that he too received that message. "It is certainly all right, my boy. Again, I truly am sorry for my part, Anthony."

"It's nothing Ducky. I'll talk to you when I come back. Bye. "
With that Tony started making his way towards the elevator. Gibbs followed Tony, ready to talk some sense into his SFA.

When Tony entered in the elevator with Gibbs in tow he never even gave any reaction. He just pressed the button for lobby and stared straight ahead. Gibbs waited two seconds after the doors closed and pressed the STOP button as he always did.

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