Tony flew down the stairs to his desk, anger coming off him in waves. McGee and Ziva watched in a stunned silence as Tony grabbed his gun and badge from the draw slammed it shut and stormed to the elevator. They exchanged looks across the bullpen, neither of them knowing what was going on.
Gibbs came down from the director's office ten minutes later. The first thing he noticed was Tony was not there.
"Where's DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked.
"Just left a few minutes ago Boss." McGee informed him.
"He seemed upset." Ziva added. "Is everything okay?"
Gibbs looked at Tony's desk. Tony didn't get angry often like he had in the Director's office.
"It's getting late. Go home you two." He told them as he gathered up his own things. His gut was telling him where he was going to find Tony.
"Good kick Franklin." Maggie cheered her son on as he kicked a ball around the back yard. Her son had energy to spare and a good session of running around the backyard before dinner helped to wind that energy down.
"Mama watch me." Franklin would happily call out over and over as his little foot kicked the soccer ball Jamie had given him.
"I'm watching baby. Kick it to me now." Maggie told him. Franklin stuck his tongue out; much like his father did, and concentrated on kicking the ball as hard as he could over to Maggie.
"Good job Franklin."
Maggie looked over to the gate by the driveway to see Tony standing there. Instantly she knew something wasn't right. Tony's smile for Franklin didn't reach his eyes.
"Uncle Tony!" Franklin called out. "Watch dis." Franklin ran over to the ball and kicked it again to where Tony was now standing.
"Come here and give Uncle Tony a hug."
Franklin ran over and threw his arms around his uncle's neck. "You wanna play?"
Tony zipped up Franklin's sweatshirt and tapped the brim of his baseball hat. "Maybe later little man. You go over and practice some more. I need to talk to your Mom."
"Okay Uncle Tony." Franklin kicked his ball back over to the middle of the yard.
"Tony? What's wrong?" Maggie asked when Tony stepped in front of her. She could tell from his body language something was wrong.
"You wanna tell me why Gibbs is leaving?" He asked through clenched teeth.
Maggie guessed Tony didn't take well to the news.
"It was his choice." Maggie felt a chill that didn't come from the autumn air and crossed her arms across her chest.
"Was it?" Tony's eyebrow arched up. "Or was it yours?"
Maggie was astonished. "Excuse me?"
"You heard me. Is this your idea for Gibbs to step down?"
"What the hell are you talking about Tony?"
"You know exactly what I'm talking about." Tony yelled causing Franklin to look over at his mother.
"You keep your voice down." Maggie warned him.
"Or what? What else can you do?" Tony jammed his hands into his pockets. "Since the moment you and Gibbs hooked up, it's all gone to hell."
"Tony, I have no idea what you're talking about. Gibbs made this decision on his own."
"Did he really? Ever since you've gotten here, you've managed to screw things up for me. You had it all in Boston, but you came down here and now my life is turned upside down."
Maggie's mouth opened and closed. Where was this coming from?
"You move down here, seduce Gibbs, end up getting him to marry you and then you have his kid."
"Tony. You're angry and you don't know what you're saying." Maggie stepped up closer to her brother so they were barely inches apart.
Gibbs knew he was right to break the speed limit to get home when he saw Tony's car parked in front of the house. He could hear the dog barking in the back yard and Franklin's voice. Maggie would never let Franklin out alone, so he walked around back.
"Oh don't I?" Tony got even closer to Maggie. "You show up and fucked up everything up. You couldn't just let me be happy? You have to take it all away from me."
"Tony. What the hell are you talking about?"
"DiNozzo, you need to calm down." Gibbs warned when he approached Maggie and Tony. "You will not raise your voice to my wife or scare my son."
Tony turned to face Gibbs; he stared at his Boss and gritted his teeth. "I'm talking to my sister."
Gibbs squared his shoulders prepared to knock Tony on his ass if he didn't back down.
"Daddy?" Franklin carefully approached the adults he loved who looked very angry with each other.
Gibbs looked away from Tony and softened his expression as he picked Franklin up and kissed him.
"Why are Mommy and Uncle Tony yelling?"
"We're just talking loud sweetie." Maggie told her son. "Why don't you go take Daddy inside and show him what you made in school today?" Maggie nodded at Gibbs. "I want to talk to Uncle Tony alone."
Gibbs looked back at Tony and gave him a warning stare letting him know he was close to crossing the line. He took Franklin inside and watched from the kitchen window.
"Tony, what is this really about? You've …" Maggie began and Tony cut her off.
"You took it all away from me. Gibbs has changed, work is changing and even Dad doesn't come around all because of you. You couldn't let me have what was mine. My life was perfect and then you came down here and couldn't keep your legs together."
Maggie reacted without thinking. Gibbs was shocked to see Maggie reach out and slap her brother. He'd seen Maggie get upset, but never lose her temper like that. He took a step towards the door and stopped.
"I don't know who you are right now. But you are NOT my brother. Leave." Maggie said as evenly as she could.
Tony could feel the sting on his cheek. He knew he deserved it. He'd just called his sister a slut. He wanted to take his anger out on Maggie. If she hadn't come down to DC, then things wouldn't have to change. He turned on his heel and walked out of the yard.
Gibbs started down the back stairs and towards Tony's retreating form; but Maggie stopped him.
"Don't." Maggie said as the tears pooled in her eyes. "Let him go."
Gibbs put his hand behind Maggie's head and made her look up at him. "What did he say?"
Maggie shook her head. "He's angry."
"Then he should take it out on me." Gibbs looked up to see the headlights on Tony's car moving down the street.
"Why'd you hit him?"
Maggie knew if she told Gibbs what Tony had said to her, Gibbs would tear out after him. But Maggie had known Tony all his life. This was something more. Maggie had to let him cool off first. She shook her head and walked away from Gibbs. Now wasn't the time to get into this.
Tony slammed the wall of the elevator as he rode up to his apartment. If Maggie hadn't come down and gotten together with Gibbs, then none of this would be happening. Gibbs wouldn't be leaving. Tony wouldn't be made team leader. This was everything he'd wanted once and now he wanted things to stay the same. And after the little anger trip he'd just had with Maggie…he wondered if her hand print was still on his face. He was just putting the key in the door when it flung open.
"I was wondering where you were…." Ziva looked up at him. "What happened to your face?" she gingerly touched the red mark on his cheek as Tony stepped into his apartment.
"I think I just got myself fired." Tony bent down and wrapped his arms around Ziva.
"Hey bud, one more carrot." Gibbs pointed at the small orange square on Franklin's plate. Franklin picked up the carrot with his fingers and popped it in his mouth.
"See." Franklin opened his mouth and showed his father that he had it in his mouth.
"Now chew that and eat three more and we can go work on the boat." Gibbs leaned over and mussed up his son's hair.
"Mommy help?" Franklin asked his father.
"Mommy has to eat her carrots too. And some of her chicken." Gibbs noticed Maggie wasn't eating her food; she was just pushing it around her plate.
"Thwee bites Mommy." Franklin told her as he popped another carrot in his mouth.
"Three bites munchkin." Maggie speared a piece of chicken with her fork and put it in her mouth. "Daddy makes good chicken."
"I helped too." Franklin told his mother. "I put the …" Franklin screwed up his face as he tried to remember what he put on the chicken. "What I put on it Daddy?"
"You put the seasonings on." Gibbs told his son.
"Daddy, chew before talking."
Maggie hid a smile behind her napkin. Like father like son she thought.
"All done." Franklin picked up his little plastic plate with Thomas the Tank Engine on it and showed his parents he had finished all his carrots. "Can we go work on the boat now?"
"Go get the wipes to wash your hands and let Daddy finish his dinner." Maggie told Franklin as he climbed down from his chair.
"K." Franklin answered and walked off to the downstairs bathroom.
"You want to tell me what Tony said to you?" Gibbs asked as he ate the last of his carrots.
Maggie shook her head and took a sip of her water. "Not now. Maybe later. You promised you'd take Franklin out to work on the boat. After he's in bed." Maggie promised him.
Maggie cleaned up after dinner and walked out to the garage. Well garage is what they called it, but it was more like a garage on steroids. She could hear Gibbs and Franklin talking.
"Now move it like this."
Maggie watched from the door as Gibbs guided Franklin's hand over the wood with the sand paper. She wished she had brought her camera with her. For Franklin's birthday Gibbs had gotten him his own miniature tool belt, just like Gibbs'. There they stood; father and son, both in jeans, long sleeved tee shirts and work boots. Franklin insisted d on having ones like his father so they could work on the boat. Maggie knew about the other boats Gibbs had built in the past and the one he finished and gave to Amira; but seeing him smiling like he was as he taught his son to use hand tools and building a boat together; she could understand why he wanted to step down at work.
"Okay munchkin, time to get ready for bed." Maggie walked over to them.
"Awww Mommy." Franklin started to protest; but Gibbs picked him up and stood him on the stool and started to brush the dust from the sand paper off him.
"Bath time buddy." Gibbs took the tool belt off Franklin and put it on the bench. "Kiss please." Gibbs said to his son who made a fish face and kissed his father.
"Now you kiss Mommy." Franklin told his father and Gibbs leaned in to kiss Maggie.
"Gwoup hug." Franklin threw his arms around his parents' necks and hugged them tight. Gibbs grabbed Maggie and Franklin and pulled them in and made a bear growling noise and squeezed them.
"My goodness." Maggie smiled. "Group hugs and kisses from my favorite guys! How lucky can I get?"
Gibbs reached out and patted Maggie's backside and winked at her. She smiled and shook her head as she brought Franklin down from the stool and took his hand.
"I'll be up to read your story in a few minutes." Gibbs told his son and watched Maggie and Franklin walk across the back yard.
Gibbs finished reading the last sentence on the page and looked down to see his son fast asleep. He pulled the blanket up over Franklin's shoulders, made sure that Bear the stuffed bear in a Marine uniform Jamie gave him was tucked in Franklin's arms before securing the bed rails up on the side. Once all was as it should be, he kissed his son on the head and left the bedroom. He closed the door and made sure he took the monitor downstairs with him. Maggie was down in the kitchen folding laundry at the table. Gibbs walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, burying his nose in her neck.
"You smell good." He nuzzled her neck.
"You must smell the dryer sheets." She told him as she finished folding the towels.
Gibbs' hands slipped under her shirt to her belly and rested there as he continued trying to distract her from folding laundry. Maggie reached her hand up and stroked his cheek. "You trying to distract me from laundry?"
"Maybe." He smirked and stepped back so he could turn Maggie around to face him.
"Maybe I just want to kiss my wife." He said as he proceeded to kiss her. Maggie forgot about the laundry and wrapped her arms around Gibbs' neck. For a few minutes, while they stood there kissing in the kitchen, she forgot about the laundry and what happened with Tony earlier in the night which was what Gibbs was trying to do.
"Tony, you cannot let this stay like it is." Ziva was sitting on the couch next to Tony. "You have to call Maggie and apologize."
"It's not that simple Ziva." Tony leaned forward, elbows on his knees and ran his hands over his face. "I said some things that I didn't mean and when Gibbs finds out…"
"Maybe she will not tell Gibbs." Ziva commented. "Maybe she knows you were upset."
"No, Gibbs will know." Tony leaned back against the cushions on the couch and let out a breath. "Maggie and Gibbs don't keep secrets from each other."
Ziva lifted Tony's arm up and snuggled into his side, resting her head on his shoulder. Too many secrets were running around. Sooner or later they were going to cause problems. She had always hoped later would be later than now.
The kissing session in the kitchen got a little more hot and heavier than they had intended and Maggie was happy the window shades were down or their neighbors would have seen things that neighbors shouldn't see. After they righted their clothes, Gibbs and Maggie sat on the back porch swing, cuddling and listening to the night.
"I suppose you want to know what happened earlier." Maggie finally said.
"Yup." Gibbs answered and waited.
"Tony didn't take the news well did he?"
"You could say that." Gibbs remembered the scene in Leon's office.
"He blames me."
"For what?" Gibbs said astonished.
"He said that everything has changed because I came down here."
Gibbs pulled back and looked down at Maggie. "What?"
Maggie shrugged her shoulders. "He said I came down here, met you, married you, had your son and now you're walking away."
"That's bullshit and he knows that."
"I know he knows that Gibbs, but there has to be more to that. He even blames me for Senior staying away."
"Come on." Gibbs snorted. "That guy keeps his distance because of me. He knows better than to play games with my family."
"I can't speak for what Senior does. But he has been distant with Tony. I don't know why."
"Don't get involved Maggie. Let Tony deal with him." Gibbs gently warned his wife. "But that doesn't explain why you slapped him."
"You were watching?" Maggie was surprised he knew about it.
"I heard it." Gibbs told her. "Why did you slap him?"
Maggie tugged at the hem of Gibbs' shirt. She wasn't going to lie to him.
"Maggie?" Gibbs prodded when she didn't answer right away.
"Tony basically said if I had kept my legs together back then, his life wouldn't be what it is now."
Maggie cringed when she felt Gibbs' body stiffen. She looked up at his face and saw the anger in his eyes. She put her hand on his chest.
"Gibbs."
"I don't care if he is your brother, he called you a…."
"I know what he was saying." Maggie cut him off. "But Gibbs, this is a brother/sister thing. I need to deal with Tony."
Gibbs jaw clenched and unclenched. "I can't allow him to say that to you."
"No. No you can't." Maggie agreed. "But whatever is really upsetting him Gibbs, I need to deal with him. Okay?"
Gibbs didn't answer.
"Gibbs look at me." Maggie put her hands on his face and made him look at her. "Don't bring this to work. Promise me."
Gibbs looked at his wife but couldn't say anything.
"Please. Promise me."
Gibbs finally nodded. "Okay. I promise. But you need to find out because the husband side of me wants to put his ass on the ground. The boss side of me does too, but that side will stay focused."
Tony sat at his desk and waited. For what he wasn't sure. Director Vance had walked by and nodded to him. Maybe he wasn't being fired. Why would he be fired for an argument with his sister? That was stupid. No, he was waiting for Gibbs and to see what would happen.
"Tony, you are too round up." Ziva whispered from her desk.
"Wound up. It's too wound up. And I think I should be." Tony said as he saw Gibbs on the phone stepping off the elevator. The moment of truth was here. Gibbs made eye contact with Tony, and in that second he knew that Gibbs and Maggie had talked. He waited for Gibbs to say something. And he did.
"Grab your gear people. Dead Marine in Anacostia." Gibbs said as he walked by.
"Gibbs seem a little….quieter than normal?" McGee asked Ziva as they walked the perimeter of the crime scene.
"No more than usual." Ziva lied. She knew what was causing Gibbs to be quieter than usual. She kept an eye on Tony and noticed he was keeping his distance from Gibbs.
"Bag and tag DiNozzo." Gibbs ordered without looking in Tony's direction. "McGee with me, Ziva finishes sketching the scene."
McGee followed Gibbs over to interview the witnesses while Palmer and his assistant finished loading the body into the ME Van.
"Has he said anything to you?" Ziva commented as she held open an evidence bag for Tony.
"Not a word. I always thought Maggie was scary when she was mad."
"Why would Maggie be scary?" Ziva signed her initials on the evidence bag.
"Maggie will ignore me; treat me like I'm not even there." Tony stood up.
"You done sketching Ziver?" Gibbs pronounced her name in his usual manner.
"Just about." Ziva told him.
"Just about isn't the same as done." Gibbs handed the truck keys to McGee. "I'm hitching a ride with Palmer."
McGee watched Gibbs' retreating back as he walked to the ME Van.
"That's a first."
"What?" Tony asked McGee as he joined him.
"Gibbs hitching a ride with Palmer."
Tony adjusted his hat as he saw Gibbs get in the back with the body. Gibbs sat on the bench and for a split second looked up and made eye contact with Tony.
Gibbs looked down at the body bag in front of him. He needed some time away from DiNozzo. He'd made a promise to Maggie, but he was finding it hard to keep. Gibbs was an only child so he didn't grow up with sibling issues and when you're in the Corps, well those kinds of family issues were different. Gibbs was fighting with himself. The 'boss' in him knew it should be let alone. This was a family issue and had nothing to do with work. But the 'husband' side; well that side wanted haul off and hit Tony for what he implied. Tony told Maggie she should have kept her legs together. Who the hell says that to their sister! Gibbs slammed his fists down on the bench beside him.
"Everything okay back there Agent Gibbs?" Palmer asked through the small window between the cab and the back.
"Fine." Gibbs spit out.
He went back to thinking about Maggie and Tony. Maggie knew Tony had his faults, but never used them against him. She had Tony's back no matter what he said or did. She was there for him when Senior wasn't. She just about raised Tony. For Tony to say she …. Gibbs didn't even want to finish that sentence. Whatever Maggie was planning on doing, she needed to do it fast.
"And that's the last time you talked to him?" Maggie cradled the phone between her ear and shoulder as she talked to Jamie and stirred the beef stew in the crock pot.
"It is Mom. He e-mailed me about a month ago, I couldn't figure out where he was. He asked about Franklin and liked the pictures I sent him." Jamie said on his end of the phone. "You're not mad I send pictures to him are you?"
"No Jamie, I'm fine with that. I know you and Senior are closer than he and I are. I'm just trying to figure out where he is." Maggie put the lid back down on the crock pot. "Have you talked to your Uncle Tony recently?"
"We went out for dinner the other night." Jamie said and then Maggie heard him cover the phone and speak to someone in the back ground. "Sorry Mom, I'm kind of in the middle of something. Is there anything I should know?"
"Nope. I'll save some stew for you and you can pick it up during the week." Maggie told her son.
"Homemade bread?" Maggie could hear Jamie drooling and laughed.
"What else would I make?" Maggie told him. "Love you."
"Love you too Mom."
Gibbs kept his mind on the case at hand. Something was gnawing at his gut on this one. There was more to it than he could see right now. His gut told him that this case was going to be his last one and it wasn't going to be a slam dunk case. He picked up the phone and called home.
"Let me guess." Maggie recognized Gibbs' office line. "Tough case. Dirt bag won't break under the Gibbs stare and interrogation techniques?" Maggie smiled as she answered the phone.
"More like a tough case. I won't make it for dinner." Gibbs told her.
"Well good thing beef stew tastes better the longer it sits." Maggie told him.
"Homemade bread too?" Gibbs asked.
"I made more than one loaf. Don't worry."
"Mommy I don't feew good." Franklin came into the kitchen and leaned against Maggie's legs.
"Is that Franklin?" Gibbs heard his son's voice.
"Yeah. He's feeling kind of warm." Maggie picked Franklin up and felt his forehead. He was warm.
"I'll be right there." Gibbs told her.
"Gibbs. He's has a little fever. It happens. I'll give him some fever reducer and some juice and he'll be fine. It's been going around his pre-school class. Layla said Amira had it last week. Just a cold. No worries."
Gibbs wanted to be home with Franklin and hold him while he didn't feel good. Read him stories and make him feel better. But Maggie was right. It was a cold most likely, kids get them.
"Okay. Give him a kiss for me and I'll be home as soon as I can. Does he need anything?" Gibbs heard Maggie ask Franklin if he wanted Daddy to bring him anything.
"He wants popsicles." Maggie told him.
"The superhero ones. I know which kind." Gibbs wrote a reminder note for himself. "I'll be home soon. I love you."
"Love you too." Maggie replied.
"Everything okay?" McGee asked. "I didn't mean to eavesdrop."
"Franklin's running a fever." Gibbs answered. "I need to get popsicles for him when I go home."
"I'd be happy to do that for you Boss." McGee told Gibbs. "I was going out to pick up dinner for us, it's my turn. You don't live that far away."
"You're not my personal delivery service McGee." Gibbs told the agent.
McGee walked over to stand in front of Gibbs' desk. "Boss. I insist. It's no fun to be sick when you're a kid and if Franklin wants superhero popsicles, then I'm getting them for him."
Gibbs looked up at McGee and cocked his eyebrow. McGee wasn't asking for permission, he was telling Gibbs he was going to do it. McGee had definitely come into his own in the past few years.
"You know the ones?" Gibbs reached into his wallet to pull out some money. McGee put his hand up to stop him.
"My treat boss. The little guy has made some of the best artwork in my apartment."
Gibbs called Maggie to tell her to expect McGee and then went left the office to get his coffee fix. When he came back, he held a cup in each hand and waited for the elevator to open on the ground floor. What he didn't expect was that he'd have to share that elevator ride with Tony who was coming up from autopsy.
Gibbs stepped into the elevator and tuned his back to Tony. It was silent in the small space.
"McGee said Franklin has a fever." Tony started to say.
Gibbs flipped the elevator to stop and turned to face Tony. They stood a foot apart, Gibbs gritted his teeth. "I promised my wife that I would not say anything to you about what happened yesterday."
"Boss. Listen…" Tony wanted to defend himself.
"No. You listen." Gibbs started to lose his calm. "If you EVER insult my wife like that again, I will knock you on your ass. DO YOU HEAR ME!"
"I think the whole building can hear you." Tony was getting angry now.
"WHAT!" Gibbs got in Tony's space now.
"Gibbs, this is between me and Maggie. She's my sister too. This has nothing to do with work."
Gibbs gritted his teeth and was happy there was a cup of coffee in each hand or Tony would be shoved against the wall right now.
"Right here. Right now. In this elevator it's about family. Up there." Gibbs nodded his head upwards. "It's work. You have issues with my stepping down, you deal with me. Got it."
"Got it. Maybe you should remember that too." Tony held Gibbs' stare.
Gibbs turned back and flipped the switch to run the elevator. "That's why you're still standing right now." Gibbs told him.
"I can't send anyone else. It has to be you and David." Director Vance held his ground.
Gibbs took a deep breath and moved his line of vision from the Director to the window that looked out over the Navy Yard. Vance was right. It had to be him to go. DiNozzo needed to run things from this end and McGee's expertise in computers was needed here too. He glanced down at his watch and did some mental calculations.
"Twelve hours." Gibbs commented. "Have the plane ready at Andrews then."
Vance nodded. He knew that the next part, telling the wife that you had to go undercover; that was a conversation he always dreaded having with Jackie.
Gibbs bounded down the stairs knowing the eyes of his team were on him. He walked past Ziva and Tony's desks and sat down at his. He gestured for the three to come to his desk.
"Tony, you'll run the op from here. Ziva and I will fly out of Andrews at 0800 tomorrow morning. McGee you'll take control of things in MTAC."
McGee nodded and went back to his desk.
"I will go get ready and meet you back here at…" Ziva waited for Gibbs to reply.
"0600. I want to go over everything again before we leave." Gibbs told her. "DiNozzo. A moment please." Gibbs got up and walked to the rear elevator.
Tony glanced at Ziva before he followed Gibbs into the elevator. He stepped in and waited for Gibbs to press Abby's level and then stop the elevator. The emergency lights went on and Gibbs turned to Tony.
"Yeah Boss." Tony responded.
Gibbs straightened up and looked at Tony square in the eyes. "Family in here now."
"Okay." Tony acknowledged.
"I'm asking you to stay at the house while I'm gone."
"But…" Tony started. "Maggie…"
"The last time …James went undercover." Gibbs started and stopped.
Tony understood what Gibbs was trying to say. The last time Maggie's husband went undercover; he was killed.
"I get it boss."
"Good. Just stay there at night. I'll explain it to her."
Gibbs turned back to the elevator and flipped the switch. Now to explain this all to Maggie.
Maggie sat in the middle of the bed; watching as Gibbs pulled out his backpack and put what he needed inside of it.
"A week at the longest." Gibbs reassured her for the third time.
"I know Gibbs." Maggie answered.
"Tony'll stay here at night. I don't want you alone."
Gibbs finished packing and put the bag next to the door. He closed the door and went over to where Maggie sat on the bed. There was nothing he could say that would calm her nerves. Instead, he leaned forward and kissed her softly. Maggie's arms snuck up around his neck and he leaned into her body, pushing her back against the pillows. Hands slipped under clothes and removed them until there was nothing left between them. They made love without saying a word, their bodies doing all the talking they needed.
Gibbs did not sleep that night. He held his wife's sleeping form spooned against him. He inhaled the scent of her shampoo as he watched the minutes click by on the nightstand clock. No matter what, he would make it home. He was given this second chance at love and family and didn't want to lose it.
Maggie woke the instant she felt Gibbs leave the bed. He kept the light off while he used the bathroom and dressed. Maggie closed her eye when he bent down next to her side of the bed and kissed her. He told her he loved her as he left the bedroom. She heard him stop in Franklin's room and kiss him goodbye. He told Freckles to keep an eye on Franklin. When she heard the kitchen door shut and his truck start, she buried her head in his pillow and cried.
Tony thought about picking up pizza on the way to Gibbs and Maggie's but if memory served him right, when Maggie was upset, she cooked. As he walked up the back stairs, he could smell tomatoes and garlic and knew Maggie was cooking.
"Hello?" Tony called out as he knocked on the kitchen door.
"Uncle Tony!" Franklin ran from the living room into the kitchen and let Tony sweep him up in a bear hug.
"Who's the best nephew ever?" Tony asked Franklin.
"Me!" the little boy yelled out. "Come play trains with me?"
"Let Uncle Tony put his stuff upstairs first Franklin." Maggie told her son as she stirred the sauce in the pot.
"We'll play in a few minutes." Tony ruffled Franklin's hair and watched him walk back to his trains. "I know you're not okay with me staying here." Tony started to say to Maggie but she put her hand up to stop him.
"I can't do this now Tony." Maggie didn't even look up at him. She just stared down at the pot in front of her and kept stirring. "We're having ravioli."
"I love ravioli." Tony commented. "I'll just bring my stuff upstairs and then keep Franklin occupied."
Maggie nodded her head. She wanted answers. Had he heard from Gibbs? Was he able to contact him? But she knew better than to ask. Instead she focused on dinner and keeping things normal for Franklin.
Tony loved spending time with Franklin. The little boy had an amazing imagination for a three year old. As Tony watched him play with his trains, he could see Gibbs in him. He saw Maggie and Jamie too. He even saw some of himself in his nephew. He wondered what a son of his own would be like. He hoped it wouldn't be too long before he'd be a dad himself. But now with Gibbs stepping down and him stepping up to be team leader, would he have the time? Could the next step happen?
Once Franklin was in bed, Tony checked in with McGee in MTAC. No physical contact had been made with Gibbs and Ziva, but their plane was landed and their local contact who had helped to set up the undercover op said Gibbs and Ziva were in place. Tony hung up with McGee and flipped to his contacts. Ziva had become his number one on speed dial. He tapped the image he'd put with the phone number and looked into her brown eyes and said a silent prayer that she'd come home in one piece.
He found Maggie sitting out on the back porch swing. He saw an extra cup of coffee on the table next to the swing.
"That for me?" Tony asked and Maggie nodded.
"Is it poisoned?" Tony tried to lighten the moment.
Maggie looked at her brother.
"Tony, do you really hate me so much that you wish I hadn't come here and hadn't had my son?"
Tony sat down heavily.
"I deserve that."
"Damn right you do. How dare you say what you did to me." Maggie's voice shook with tears and anger.
"Mags, please, let me explain." Tony turned to face his sister.
"I wish you would. Because for the life of me, I don't know what I did to deserve that."
Tony put his cup back down on the table and did the same with Maggie's.
"When Gibbs came back and took over as team leader again, I got the chance to branch out and do special ops for the Director. Did you know I was even offered my own team?"
"In Rota. Yeah I know. Gibbs told me." Maggie explained. "McGee was offered a job in Okinawa too. Gibbs knows all about them."
"Of course he does." Tony sat back in the swing and continued. "I liked not having all the pressure on me. I liked being part of a team. Don't get me wrong, being the leader had its perks too. I mean…"
"Tony, what does that have to do with why you blame me for Gibbs stepping down? For Senior not being around?"
"I was angry and I wanted to take it out on someone who I know would not hold it against me …. Well not hold it against me forever. I'm sorry for what I said to you about …."
"Keeping my legs together I believe you said."
Tony cringed. "Yeah, that was crass for even me."
"Are you that scared of being in charge when Gibbs leaves?"
"No, it's not that." Tony ran his hand through his hair.
"Or are you afraid you'll have to stop seeing Ziva?"
Tony's jaw dropped as his head snapped to look at Maggie. "How?"
Maggie smiled slightly. "I figured it out a long time ago. You started seeing each other after 4th of July this past summer."
Tony nodded. "Does Gibbs…"
"Yeah Gibbs knows. And no, I didn't have to tell him. He figured it out on his own."
"Crap." Tony commented. "We don't know what it is. It just is. I can't explain it." Tony paused. "No wait, if he's known for all these months, why didn't he say something? He's got his rules about stuff like this."
"And some of those rules have good use, but even he knows that you can't always be right. Rule #51."
"51? 51?" Tony questioned out loud. "I don't think I know that one."
"Sometimes – You're wrong."
"Any word?" Tony asked McGee as he came into MTAC.
"Nothing." Director Vance answered from his chair. "All we know is they were set up."
"But by who?" Tony needed to know. "And for what? This was supposed to be an easy in and out job, back Stateside by now."
"I'm going over all the surveillance tapes now. I'm trying to see what I may have missed." McGee told him.
"Try harder McGee." Tony barked.
"McGee, take the tapes down to Abby. Two sets of eyes are better than one." Director Vance told McGee and then turned his attention to Tony. "We'll find them Agent DiNozzo."
Ziva and Gibbs had been in Algeria for 48 hours and their cover had been blown. The job was to find out who was selling stolen US munitions to a local terrorist cell. They had been sold out by their contact and were now being held hostage in an abandoned warehouse. They are tied to chairs facing each other. Gibbs has a cut on his face and dried blood from when he was knocked out. Ziva assesses the situation.
"The last time I was in this position, Tony was across from me and you were on a hill 1000 meters away, with your rifle." Ziva commented.
"Too bad I left it at home." Gibbs smirked.