Disclaimer: I own nothing but a few DVDs.

A/N: A very big Thank You goes to my wonderful beta Arress. She does a really great job. Without her this story would be really awkward to read at times.

A/N 2: Also a great Thank You for all of your reviews and to everyone who follows or clicked favorite. You are great. And I'm really sorry I didn't answer everyone who reviewed, but real live didn't like me that much the last few weeks so I hadn't have time for it.

Warnings: Gibbs and Tony are OOC. There will be slash in later chapters, so if this offends you, please don't read any further.

I really like feedback, so please tell me what you think. Thanks ;)

Chapter 10

It was Saturday early afternoon when Tony got home with two bags from the nearby grocery store. He wanted to cook with Abby on Sunday, so he had done some shopping. While he put everything away, he thought about the week. After the horrible Monday and the emotionally exhausting Tuesday, he had to admit the rest of the week had gone really well.

After the cold case he had given to Balboa and his team with a new lead on Tuesday, he had one more case transferred to another team with actually two new leads. Balboa had closed the first case late Wednesday night. The lead had turned out to be the right one and they had booked the neighbor after he finally spilled his guts. The second case turned out to be a joint venture with the FBI, and Tony thanked god that the MCRT wasn't involved. Fornell actually was a good friend, not only to Gibbs but to him, too, but sometimes the feebie just didn't know when to shut up.

On Wednesday morning, he had been rather anxious about what would happen at work. He had gone in a little earlier, just to make sure he would be the first to get there. Sure, he didn't beat Gibbs, but that was okay. After he had booted up his computer and took a new file from the cold cases, he had briefly spoken to Gibbs. The former marine had told him that he would be in MTAC most of the week. Apparently, Morrow had thought it a good idea, to use him as an advisor for a few more operations as long as the team was on cold cases. Tony had known that Gibbs hadn't been happy at all.

After Gibbs had gone to MTAC, Tony had gotten a CafPow! for Abby and went to the lab. He had hoped to meet with Abby before the day actually began for the both of them. The forensic scientist was already there, but they couldn't speak freely at all, because there wasn't only a whole lot of evidence to go through, but Balboa also. His team had made the move on the neighbor during the night, and when Tony arrived in the lab they had just come back with evidence, and the suspect already in interrogation. A little disappointed about the situation with Abby, but also a little proud about the case, he had arranged the cooking session with Abby for Sunday and had gone back to the bull pen.

Apart from that the day had gone really smooth. He had gotten back to the bull pen barely before Kate arrived. And he had been positively surprised by her behavior. She had greeted him politely with 'Agent DiNozzo' and didn't say much otherwise. They both had worked on their cold cases the rest of the day. His highlight had been the lunch break with Gibbs and Ducky. All of them had ordered in and for half an hour they had talked. Ducky had told him what he had already told Gibbs on Tuesday morning before the whole conference room thing. He didn't know for sure, but he thought that something had triggered Kate's blatant change in behavior towards him. And Ducky also said to not expect too much of a real change from Kate because it would take time for her to really see her errors. Tony had already thought that much, so he wasn't really surprised by Ducky's words.

When he had gotten back to work, he had seen a slight change in Kate's mood, but she hadn't addressed him, so he had let it go. When Tony hadn't found anything new on his case by seven in the evening, he had packed his things, and when Gibbs had come down to the bull pen for a short break, he had gone home. What had astonished him was that Kate had also worked till seven and didn't go before Gibbs had come down.

That evening he hadn't seen Gibbs anymore. When normally Gibbs would have come by with pizza or Chinese takeout, he had send a text (No, Tony wasn't surprised at all. He had actually been the one to teach his friend.) that he wouldn't make it, because some stupid kid had gotten trigger happy and Morrow and Gibbs had to save the op.

Thursday had gone by almost as well. He had found one new lead in the early afternoon, but because he had a hunch he had wanted to look further before he gave the case to another team. Gibbs had been in MTAC the whole day without any noticeable breaks. So Tony had gone down to Ducky again and had lunch with the ME.

After lunch Tony had worked further on his case. He had the feeling he had missed something, but he just couldn't put his finger on it. When he hadn't heard anything from Gibbs or Morrow by three in the afternoon, he had gone to the coffeehouse and bought coffee for Gibbs, Morrow and himself. With his excuse for going into MTAC in his hands, he had joined them for almost ten minutes for a short coffee break.

What had really shocked him was that Kate had approached him on the verge of quitting time to ask for his help on the case she had been working the last two days. Too stunned to say something else, he had promised her to look at it first thing in the morning. Shortly after their talk, she had gone home. In the time Kate had packed her things, he had sent a text to Gibbs, saying he was leaving in a few minutes. By the time Kate was ready to leave, Gibbs had come down the stairs. He had told Kate goodbye and then had waited for her to get into the elevator. When the doors had closed, Tony and Gibbs had spoken about the fake cold case Kate had gotten from them.

Tony had told Gibbs about Kate's approach and what he had wanted to do the next day. Gibbs had just agreed with everything and told Tony 'to do as he thinks is right, because it's also his teaching lesson'. After a few more minutes of talking about the other things that had occurred that day, Gibbs had to go back to MTAC and Tony finally had gone home.

That evening Gibbs had to stay in MTAC, too, because apparently the trigger happy kid had a highly decorated admiral as an uncle, and that had caused more trouble than anybody had wanted. Although Tony had missed Gibbs, the evening had become very pleasant. Liam Kincaid, a good friend from Tony's college days, and his investment banker, had called to let him know he would be in DC over the weekend. After half an hour to catch up, they had agreed to meet in a little Irish pub near Tony's on Saturday at seven p.m.

When Tony remembered about the phone call, he looked at the time and went to the bathroom for a quick shower and to get ready. He had hoped that Gibbs would join them, but Emily stayed with Diane this weekend, so Fornell would go to Gibbs' for bourbon and a little talk in the basement. As Tony got ready for the evening, he thought about what happened on Friday.

He had gone to the Navy Yard earlier than strictly necessary again, and when he had arrived in the bull pen nobody had been there. He had put his bag pack away and had gotten his workplace ready. Then he had fetched the real case file for Kate and had laid it on her desk with a note that had said to read it, they would talk about it afterwards if she wanted. Next, he had gone to the lab with a CafPow! to talk for a bit with Abby, but she hadn't been there, so he had put the beverage on her desk in the office and had gone to the morgue. Once there, Ducky hadn't had time to talk much because he had to go to a crime scene with Balboa's team. So, Tony had let the ME get ready and had gone back to the squad room.

When he got there, Gibbs had been there, if just for a short while. They had talked about their plans for the weekend and had then decided to meet for pizza, beer and a movie in the evening because they both had different plans already. Just when Gibbs had gone to MTAC, Kate had shown up, so Tony had started to work.

He really tried not to, but every ten to fifteen minutes he had looked up towards Kate. At first she had seemed happy about the file, but each time he looked she was more furious than the time before. When he had looked up at around eleven thirty, Kate had been gone. He had felt slightly uneasy about it, but he told himself he could handle everything Kate could throw at him when the time came.

By noon, Tony had found a second lead to his cold case and after reading the file again, had went to Johnson and his team to hand it over. After they had spoken about everything Tony had found, he had gone to get lunch. He had met Balboa at the deli and had decided to spend his lunch break with the agent. Balboa then had told him about his case from the morning. As it had turned out, it had been a natural death with perfect evidence to back it all up.

When he had returned to work, Gibbs had been at his desk. They had just looked at each other and had gone to the back elevator. On the ride down to the lab, Gibbs had told him just why Kate hadn't been at her desk for the last few hours. She had gone home. And she had taken the file with her. In the lab he had listened, a little stunned, to Abby's explanation about what had happened in her office. She had told him about the anger Kate had shown when she had first arrived and then the disbelief when they had talked. But she also had told him about the shame Kate had shown when at last she had understood why Gibbs and Tony had given her the case in the first place. Tony had listened to all of that and had almost felt pity. Almost! He just hoped that Kate would really take it the way it was meant. He also didn't know what to think about her early escape. He had planned for them to talk about the case, what had lead him to his hunch, and also about why Kate couldn't resolve it, but now he had to wait until Monday.

After the meeting in the lab, he had gone down to the gym for a little work out before he had to get back to his desk to write his reports about his cold cases. He had sent Gibbs a short message about what he had planned to do and that he would wait for him. And so he did just that.

The evening with Gibbs had been great. They had gotten to Tony's apartment by seven p.m. with beer and pizza. After they had settled on the couch, they had watched 'Taxi' from '98, and they had a really good time.

Tony had to laugh when he thought about the faces Gibbs had made when they had watched the movie. Sure, it hadn't been the best film ever, but it had definitely been fun. While Tony thought about Friday evening, he looked at the time and decided to walk to the pub rather than take the car, because it was just half past six. Maybe he would get the opportunity to talk with Daniel Brady, the owner, or his wife Rebecca before Liam showed up.

When Tony arrived at Brady's, he could see that the pub was already half packed. So, he went in and to the bar and decided to stay there until Liam showed up. Behind the bar, not only Daniel worked, but also his beautiful wife of 20 years. When Tony came in, they both smiled at him. So, Tony grabbed a stool and sat down at the bar.

"Hey Daniel, hey Rebecca, how's life?" He showed his mega watt smile already. Those two were the best example just how a marriage should be. They were married for 20 years, had three kids and still loved each other dearly. The whole family reminded him of Ducky. They would always call him 'Anthony' no matter how often he told them not to.

"Anthony, long time no see. Where were you? That boss of yours didn't give you a break?" Daniel watched him closely. Tony looked a little worn, but he had seen worse from the kid in the two years they had known each other.

"Nah, he isn't to blame. A couple of really stressful weeks is all. But let's not talk about work. How are the kids? Anything new I don't know yet?" Tony hadn't seen the kids in a long time. Since the twins went to college a year ago, they didn't work in the pub that much anymore. And the baby girl had also gone to college this year.

This time Rebecca spoke. "Andrew and Matthew are both doing really well. Andy wants to go into law enforcement. Yes, he got the idea from you, Anthony, so stop the smug grin. Matt wants to be a vet." With a rather stern look she continued. "And Emma wants to be a lawyer, of all things."

Tony looked really shocked about the last statement. "Why would such a sweet little girl wants to be a lawyer? She could be anything she wants for god's sake! So why a lawyer?"

"Well Mr. NCIS special agent, she also got that idea from you." The look Daniel shot him could have been described as pure anger, if there hadn't been a twinkle in his eyes which told Tony his friend wasn't that upset about it.

"From me? No way! Nuhu! I would never tell your baby girl to join the dark side. Never ever! You can't blame me for this." Tony protested anyway.

"Well, my friend, she did get this from you, whether you like it or not. She spoke with Andy earlier this year and when he told her his plans, she apparently thought about it. When she told us, she said that law enforcement would be great, but she hated guns so wouldn't want to carry one."

When Tony heard that he had to smile. "Smart girl you both have. So where is she? I would have thought she would be here on a Saturday to help out?"

That put a sad look on both of their faces. Rebecca told him why. "She lives on the campus and doesn't come home that much. You know she went to Harvard, right? I really had hoped she would stay in DC, but when she was told she could go to Harvard, she was gone, just like my boys."

The sad looks on their faces almost broke Tony's heart. When the boys moved out, it had been bad, but with all three kids gone, they had to feel almost forlorn. Before Tony could think about what to say, Daniel spoke again.

"Well, we have new help for the pub, and you never will guess whom we got. When I told him that our kids were all gone to college, he asked me about the pub and if we would want help. So, for the last two months, he's lived with us and worked here." When Daniel told him, his face lit up with happiness, so Tony thought it had to be family.

"It's one of your brothers, right? Is it Craig? Or Ian?" Tony had met both of them over the years and had liked them right from the beginning. They both were just so much like Daniel. How could he not?

"You're right, it's one of my brothers. It's Craig."

"Hey, that's great. But if he works here, where is your lil' bro tonight? Shouldn't he be here?" Just as though he heard Tony, a six feet nine redheaded giant showed up behind Daniel. At first Tony felt shocked by the sight, but then he recognized Craig. The guarded smile on Tony's face broke out to full blast. With a voice as deep as his figure promised, Craig began to speak.

"Anthony DiNozzo, it's nice to meet you again. When Daniel told me you hadn't shown up for a while now, I thought for sure you had found another pub. Where have you been?"

"Well, my friend, first of all I wouldn't go to another pub, even if my life depended on it, but I had to work. So, what's with you? Do you plan to stay, or are you here for good? The last time I spoke to him, Daniel told me you worked at the high school in your home town as the coach. That's not exciting enough for you anymore?" Tony didn't want to talk about his work, so he hoped Craig would take a hint and not ask about it.

Craig thought about it for a minute. "I actually plan to stay in DC. Now that my niece and nephews have flown out of the nest, I try to help where I'm needed. So, now I'm here. If and when Daniel and Rebecca don't need me anymore, I'll go back to teaching sports, but here in DC. What's with you? You alone here tonight or do you have a date?"

"If you consider my former frat brother and now investment banker a date, then yes, I have a date." Liam chose just this moment to show up.

"Well, Tony, ten years ago I would've felt flattered, but we both know what my wife would do to me if this was a date, especially with you, so I have to decline."

Tony turned around with a hurt look on his face. "What do you mean 'especially with me'? What's wrong with me? Just so you know I'm a really great catch!" After a moment, he began to smile again. "Liam, it's so good to see you. By the way this is Daniel's little brother, Craig. Craig, this is Liam Kincaid."

Liam looked at Craig. "Little, huh? I have to trust you with that. It's nice to meet you though." After they shook hands, Liam sat down next to Tony at the bar.

"Now that your not so real date is here, what do you two want to drink?" Craig asked.

Craig and Tony had to smile at that and both ordered beer and fries to start off. After he came back with everything, Craig had to get back to work, as since Tony had gotten there, the place had become really packed.

Tony and Liam talked for over an hour about the time they hadn't seen each other and their other friends from college. For a while they sat at the bar, but when they got the opportunity they took a table at one of the windows.

"So, tell me, Tony, what's with your co-workers? You haven't told me anything about them either on the phone or here. So, what happened? Have you quit again?" Liam had asked himself since Wednesday just why Tony hadn't wanted to tell him what's going on at NCIS.

Tony had successfully avoided all talk about work the entire day, but it seemed Liam hadn't received the memo, so Tony answered with anger clouding his voice. "Shit, Liam. That's what happened. The whole friend-with-your-co-worker thing blew up in my face. I told you about Kate and her attitudes, right? Well, she just took it to a whole new level over the last few weeks, so I stopped it. And it wouldn't take too much to just get her fired." At the end he almost shouted.

Liam was shocked to say the least. He had expected gruesome cases or Gibbs on the warpath and Tony on the verge of exhaustion for weeks, but he wouldn't have thought Tony would get this livid while just speaking about it.

"Hey, man, calm down. I didn't mean to get you all riled up. What the hell happened since the last time we saw each other? Did Gibbs call out the anarchy within the team?" Liam had noticed with every phone call they had, that Tony talked more about the team leader. He just hoped Gibbs deserved such loyalty.

Tony really hated to speak about the whole mess again, but he did it anyway. And maybe it was a little more to protect Gibbs than to get it out of his system. After almost 20 minutes he ended with words of defense. "But this has nothing to do with Gibbs at all, so zip it, Liam. On the contrary, he helped me to clearly see what to do about her. And when we go back on rotation on Monday, we'll see whether she's worthy to stay on the team or not. And now it's time to change the subject. I don't want to talk about it anymore." With the last statement, he fell silent.

"Okay, fine with me. Did you get the papers I sent you?" Liam asked.

"Yeah, I got them. I think it sounds fine, but when I do this, I want it to be as safe as possible. Just as usual. I don't want him to get suspicious." Tony looked slightly concerned.

"I know, Tony. I already spoke with Steve. You know he's watched him since I started to buy little bits and pieces. So far, Senior hasn't noticed a thing about any of the purchases. And I just buy every time he needs money, so he's occupied with other things. This time will also be the last one for a while, because everything we don't have is too close to the main concern, so we won't touch it for now. When you tell me to buy, you'll have the majority of the Paddington side in your hands. Everything he tries then will be fruitless. Steve has already prepared the contract. As usual, the minute he agrees, it's yours." Liam watched Tony with interest. "What will you do with it afterwards? Will you sell it to someone or give it back to your mother's family?"

Tony thought about it. Ever since he took notice of his father's problems when he was in college, he set it up so he could buy the part of Senior's enterprise that was once in the Paddington family. In the beginning, Tony just wanted to save it from more corruption, but since college he talked a lot with his Uncle Clive, and the man had told him to do with it as he wished, because the Paddington family didn't need it and Clive thought it right for Tony to have a little of his mother's inheritance. And because Senior just wanted the fast money, he sold everything he could afford to for nothing but what he needed at the time.

That brought Tony to the problem at hand. He actually didn't want to run it, but he knew he didn't want to sell it, either. "You know, Liam, my mother's family doesn't want it and I don't want to run it, but I don't want to sell it, either. I thought that maybe I get a director who can lead it in my name. He could do what I don't want to do. What do you think?"

Liam looked at Tony for a moment. He never understood Tony's fixation on this. He never was a business man, but bought a business. He loved law enforcement and wouldn't want to leave NCIS. So, Liam was impressed that Tony didn't want to sell. He could have made a whole lot of money without his father ever knowing. And even if Tony didn't want to sell, Senior never would see what hit him.

"You know, Tony, this is a great idea. Do you want me to help you search for a director? Because if you do, I already have someone in mind! She would fit real well in this business, has already had experience with your father, just from far away, so don't worry. And she is immune to his charm, so he can't overrule her."

Tony smiled at that. "You seem to have thought about it already. Let's get the last buy over with before we do more. But keep her in mind, because I will definitely want to meet her later on. She beautiful?"

"Oh, yeah, she so is, but also way out of your league and mine. So don't even try it."

With that said their conversation turned back to more pleasant topics for the rest of the night. At one in the morning they decided to leave. Liam had to catch a flight home in the morning and wanted to sleep a little bit beforehand. They would talk again after everything was under wraps with the family business of the Paddingtons. But for now, Liam went to his hotel near the airport and Tony went home.

Sunday morning came way too soon for Tony, but he just thought about his cooking session with Abby today and got his day started with a smile. He went into the bathroom for a short stop and then put on his running gear and headed out. He would take the long route today mainly because it was more fun, but also because on work days he usually didn't have the time.

When he ran by the little bakery at the corner of his street on the way home, he decided to grab a few little baked goodies for breakfast and went home. There he put the bag with his breakfast on the kitchen table, started the coffee and went for a shower and a change of clothes.

Breakfast was really homey with the little baked wonders, the coffee and the morning paper. He sat almost two hours at his table before he finished it. After that, Tony began to clean up a little. He didn't have to do much these days. Ever since he hired a cleaning lady to do the unpleasant chores, his apartment had been really tidy. For the last half a year, she just would come by once a week, but there wasn't that much to do, so Tony didn't change it.

Abby was there early afternoon. Although he had told her to just bring herself, she brought dessert with her. And that was actually a good thing, because he forgot about it. For the first two hours give or take they put together a three-course meal and talked about everything that happened, and for the first time since it all started Tony could speak about it without getting angry or feeling hurt. He felt as though it happened to someone else. Sure, he felt a deep disappointment towards Kate, but that's as far as it went.

Through dinner they spoke about everything new at NCIS. A few teams had gotten new probies right out of FLETC and Abby just loved to analyze everything they did and better yet, what they hadn't done. Tony had been excited about the possibility of getting his own probie, but when he had spoken with Gibbs about it, his boss had declined. He had told him they would have to get Kate straight before they could get a new team member, and Tony had understood, really. But a slight disappointment had been there also.

After dinner they cleaned up and set up the coffee to brew. The dessert Abby brought with her was a dark chocolate mousse and would be great with coffee. When they both had their coffee and dessert, they settled down on the couch to watch one of Tony's many movies.

Halfway through 'Goldfinger', a Bond film they both loved to watch together occasionally, they began to talk again.

"Tony?"

"Hm?"

"What's going to happen tomorrow?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean with Kate. What will happen tomorrow?"

That got Tony to look at her. "Well, when I spoke with Gibbs Friday night, and we decided to talk with her first thing in the morning. I wanted to do this Friday afternoon, so we would all have a fresh start at Monday, but you know that wasn't possible at all."

"Oh, okay. And what happens afterwards? I don't mean cases, but with the team. She told me she got one last chance to get it right. Gibbs told her so on Tuesday. What will happen with her if she doesn't get it right?" Abby looked really worried about it, so Tony tried to be just as serious about it.

"The talk tomorrow will be about what happened last Monday, about the cold case we gave her and the most significant thing will be about the future of the team, what Gibbs and I expect from her and what she will get back, and also what will happen if she doesn't make it." With that he fell silent again and waited for Abby to speak.

"And what do you two expect from her? I mean, don't get me wrong, but will she get a real chance, or is she bound to fail?"

At first Tony got really angry but oppressed the urge immediately. It wouldn't get him anywhere if he started a fight with Abby. He knew she was just trying to understand his and Gibbs' motivation behind all this.

"I want to have a good team, Abby. People I can trust with my life in the field, but also trust with my life and my person. With Gibbs, Ducky and you, I have that. And at the beginning I also thought I had that with Kate, but what began as a little teasing between colleagues changed in the last few weeks, if not months, into deliberate cruelty on her part. She hurt me, Abby, really bad, and even after I told her to stop, she did it again. And I think that had a lot to do with her lack of respect towards me, because if you respect someone, you mind his feelings." Tony looked at Abby. He expected her to cut in by now, but when she didn't say anything he went on.

"You know the chain of command, Abby. You know I'm Kate's superior. And she learned that in FLETC, too, but she forgot. I wanted too much to be her friend and forgot to stay above her professionally. I made us even, but we're not. And for Kate to stay on the team she has to accept that, and especially respect my position. I don't expect her to do everything to please me, but I have to know that she'll have my back in the field, and that means she also has to follow my orders without questioning them because that could get someone killed. Do you understand that, Abby? I need to work with people I can trust and I don't want to leave the team or NCIS, so I have to change my behavior from the clowning friend to the serious agent so she can see my skills as SFA, and maybe even learn to respect me and not just my position."

After a moment Abby asked him the question that she wanted answered the most. "Tony, what will happen if she doesn't learn it? If she can't respect you?"

"Then she has to go. I know that sounds mean, but if she can't change it would mean one of us has to go, and to be honest, Abby, I will not give up my life and my friends and loved ones for someone who is still too new to matter much."

For a moment Abby thought about it, until she realized that there was nothing to think about at all. "You know, Tony, at first I didn't really understand it. Sure, I understood the hurt she inflicted on you and I didn't like it at all, but I didn't understand just how deep it went. What you told me just now showed it. That you don't trust her out in the field is a real big problem. And to be honest, I really don't know if you should. Trust her, that is. So, I hope with all my heart we'll be all friends again. But if she doesn't make it, it's her loss." Just for a moment she fell silent, but before Tony could say something, she continued. "I don't want to lose you, Tony. If that means Kate has to go, then I'm not at all sorry."

With that she almost crushed him in one of her bear hugs. After a moment Tony's muffled voice could be heard. "I hope that won't be necessary. I really hope we can all be friends again."

When Abby left for the night, Tony was really happy about the day he had. After their talk, they had made popcorn and watched another Bond film. And when the time came for her to go home, she hugged him so tight he thought briefly about begging for air.

Now, he was ready for Monday morning. He knew his friends would stand behind him. So, whatever happened, he would face it head on.

TBC…