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"Choice & Consequences"

chapter 10

October - November.

All NCIS team leaders around the world were working on the mole hunt.

In DC, Gibbs, who had involved McGee despite Vance's orders, was very nervous because of what had happened between him and DiNozzo and the secret assignment. None of the team members knew how to act around him.

Even Ducky and Abby had been the targets of one of his legendary fits of anger. So now the lab tech was on the verge of tears any time someone looked at her, while the ME refused to talk to Gibbs, except about reports for their current cases.

McGee had caught Ziva staring at him with a disturbing look, and more than once he had noticed her following him around the office even though she had no reason to do that.

It was clear that the Israeli woman had sensed that something important was happening and that Gibbs and McGee had left her out of the loop.

In Hawaii, Tony and his new team had already found their stride. DiNozzo's idea of dividing the team in three parts had not only given all agents the chance to work much more efficiently, but also the chance to show their skills. This change had greatly increased the case closure rate.

While Tony's team was working in harmony both on the current case and on Colonel Baxter's cold case, the MCRT in DC had more and more problems mostly because of its boss' difficulties in keeping his anger under control.

Gibbs' stress had never been so high and realizing that his agents were not as efficient as in the past just added more tension to the secret investigation he and McGee were involved in.

December.

Gibbs was in basement sanding a rocking chair he was making for his father, when he heard the main door opening, closing and someone walking inside.

After a few seconds he saw Ducky walking down the stairs in silence.

The last few weeks had been very stressful and the younger man still felt guilty for how he had treated his old friend.

The ME stepped off the stairs and stopped a few steps away from Gibbs. He looked straight into his firend's eyes.

"Duck," Gibbs greeted him but received no reply. "'Ya wanna some?" he asked raising the bottle of bourbon that was stationed on the counter in front of him.

The older man shook his head but didn't utter a word.

Gibbs sighed in frustration. "What can I do for you?"

"Do you need to ask?"

Gibbs rolled his eyes and shook his head. "No," he murmured and gulped down the last sip of bourbon in his glass. "I'm..."

"You want Anthony back and you are venting your guilt on us," Ducky stated.

Gibbs incinerated him with his look, but the ME was not affected by the glare. "I do not know the details," he continued, "but, judging from your behavior, I can deduce that Anthony left because of something you did and this is eating at you."

Gibbs inhaled loudly and looked up at the ceiling.

"I have known you and Anthony for many years and I would never imagined that your partnership would break so abruptly and in such a gloomy way," Ducky took a few steps towards the table where Gibbs was standing. "I am really sorry about that. Anthony is such a good fellow and a very qualified agent..."

Gibbs demonstrated signs of impatience with this tangent.

"Are you going to deny that, Jethro?" the ME raised his eyebrows.

"No," Gibbs replied, sotto voce, lowering his eyes.

"I am not going to ask you what happened between the two of you because it is none of my business, but we can't go on this way. You are clearly upset and Anthony's goodbye was so sudden that his reason must have been really serious."

Gibbs nodded, looked at his bottle of bourbon in front of him, but didn't utter a word.

"Jethro, you need to solve this problem or your team will fall apart."

The younger man nodded again but didn't look up at Ducky.

"Mr. Palmer and I talked with young Anthony..."

Gibbs' eyes widened in surprise as he shot Ducky a look. "How is he doing?" the MCRT leader then asked, his concern clear in his voice.

The ME grinned at Gibbs' reaction and answered, "He is doing very well. We have talked via Skype and Anthony looked to be in very good shape, tan—"

"What about his job?" Gibbs asked, taking a few steps towards Ducky.

"He said only positive things about the agents he found in Pearl and it seems that the Hawaii office's case closure rate has already improved."

"Yeah," Gibbs sighed, "I know."

"You know?"

"I checked this morning."

Ducky checked his watch. "I need to head home," he said before leaning forward and touching Gibbs' arm. "Jethro, you need to talk to Anthony. Swallow your pride and talk to that boy." He squeezed his friend's arm, whispered, "Please," and left.

Gibbs knew that Ducky was right but he didn't know how to accomplish that objective. Calling Tony wouldn't solve anything because a phone call was too impersonal and his former SFA would certainly be too busy to waste time on the phone with him.

Email was definitely not an option: first, because Gibbs hated anything that had to do with technology and second, because it was even more impersonal than a phone call.

A letter would take too much time to arrive and Tony could decide to not reply, though the MCRT leader was sure that DiNozzo would never be so rude.

Gibbs stared at the staircase, weighing his options. After a few more minutes, he took his cell and made a call.

TBC