Kensi watched in shock as Callen went to follow the director and Gibbs stormed off towards the elevator. She then turned to Sam. "Did that really just happen? I thought he was supposed to keep us from losing it."

"Yeah, your boss has quite an anger problem, doesn't he?" Tony asked.

Sam glared at him. "Unless you want to get up close and personal with my anger problem, I suggest you shut up."

"Come on, your boss lost it. He was out of line," Tony said.

"Maybe he shouldn't have said what he did in front of everyone here, but that doesn't mean he was wrong," Kensi said.

"He was dead wrong!" Tony growled. "He had no right to say Gibbs didn't deserve his position. He worked hard to get it! Maybe he's the one that shouldn't be a team leader."

Sam took a step towards him. "You're gonna wanna back off now!"

Kensi got up and got in between them. "Sam, I understand the urge, believe me, but the last thing we need right now is another incident. I think one of us in the director's office is more than enough."

"Before we go home, I am going to wipe the floor with him," Sam vowed before walking away.

"Yeah, you and what army?" Tony called after him.

"Tony that man is twice the size of you and ten times more muscle. He would snap you like a branch," Ziva said.

"Twig. He would snap me like a twig."

Xxxxxxxxxxx

"Would you care to explain to me what the hell you were doing, Agent Callen?" Vance demanded to know as soon as Callen stepped into his office.

"I lost it. I told you this was going to end in disaster. I warned you, sir," Callen said. Not that he would change coming. He came to ensure Tim's safety. He could never regret that.

"And I told you I wanted this to go smoothly! You assured me that you would do your best to ensure your team held themselves together until the end of this operation. Instead you were the one who couldn't hold it together," Vance said.

"He pissed me off, alright?" Callen asked in exasperation.

"He pisses everybody off! We don't all go starting a screaming match in the middle of the bullpen," Vance said. He certainly understood Callen's anger and the need to express it, but the middle of the bullpen was not the right place for it.

"Well, maybe you should," Callen said.

Vance raised an eyebrow.

"Seriously. Maybe if more people did, he'd actually start to get it. Maybe then he'd treat people like human beings," Callen said.

"That's wishful thinking, Agent Callen. You really think you're the first to express displeasure to Gibbs about the way he treats people. You're just the first to do it in front of the entire bullpen," Vance said.

"I am tired of the constant disrespect of my agent by these people. He's not even here and he's still being treated like he's not good enough. He's out there risking his life and all Gibbs cares about is that it's not happening fast enough to his satisfaction," Callen said.

Vance couldn't say he was surprised. That sounded just like Gibbs. He always set impossible standards, even for his own team. And he supposed that worked for Team Gibbs. They always seemed to meet his expectations. But OSP was different. Their missions were more complex and much more dangerous. They needed to take things slow sometimes or they could end up dead.

"Look, I'm not going to apologize for what I said. It needed to be said and I meant every word. But I realize that it shouldn't have been said in the environment it was. I will do my best to make sure it won't happen again," Callen said. He couldn't promise it wouldn't happen again, but he would do what he could to prevent it.

"See that it doesn't. Dismissed," Vance said.

Callen immediately headed back out the door.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Gibbs made his way into autopsy where he found Ducky working up a body.

"Ah, Jethro, what brings you to my neck of the woods?" Ducky asked. He'd already given the man all the information he had on their newest case, so it wasn't about that.

"Just needed to clear my head," Gibbs said.

"Ah, yes, I heard about the incident involving Special Agent Callen," Ducky said.

Gibbs wasn't surprised it was out already. Half the building had heard Callen. The scuttlebutt probably started immediately. "I don't know what to make of it, Duck. I have never seen Callen blow up like that. For as long as I've known him, he's always kept a calm exterior. Even when he was so angry he could burst, he held himself together. It takes something very big to get the type of reaction I just got from him."

"Any idea what it could've been?"

Not really. I mean, I wanted him to push his undercover agent a little more than he was so we could get this finished, but that was it," Gibbs said.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, Jethro, but isn't this agent already putting himself in a considerable amount of danger by doing what he's doing? Perhaps Agent Callen believes that he is already too much at risk as it is," Ducky said.

"Come on, Duck, Tony goes undercover sometimes too and I expect the same from him," Gibbs said. He didn't think he was asking too much by telling Callen to speed his agent along. He'd expect the same thing of his own people. It shouldn't be a problem for Callen's people. They were supposed to be pros at this kind of thing.

"Yes, but when Anthony goes under, he usually isn't under long and it is usually not so dangerous. It's much different than an OSP agent infiltrating a drug ring," Ducky said.

"To me the fact that he's OSP means he should be able to work more effectively. He's supposed to be a pro. Besides, it's not just that. Callen and his team started acting hostile before I pushed him about his agent. It seems to anger them every time one of us speaks and I can't for the life of me figure out why," Gibbs said.

"I thought you and Agent Callen were friends," Ducky said. He didn't know much about the other agent, but he did know that he and Gibbs were on friendly terms. At least they had been.

"We were. That's why I don't get this new found anger towards me. The last time we saw each other, we parted on friendly terms. He obviously does not see me as a friend anymore. He doesn't even seem to respect me. He actually told me in front of everyone that I shouldn't be a team leader," Gibbs said.

"Did he tell you why?" Ducky asked.

"He said that I push people until they wanna run in the other direction," Gibbs said.

Ducky looked away.

Gibbs narrowed his eyes. "Something you wanna say, Duck?"

"Nothing you want to hear, Jethro," Ducky told him.

"Say it," Gibbs growled.

"There is a certain someone who would probably agree with Agent Callen's assessment. Of course, he isn't here to tell you that because he did, as Agent Callen said, run in the other direction," Ducky said.

Gibbs glared at Ducky coldly. "Don't go there, Ducky."

"I told you you didn't want to hear it. Then again, you never want to hear anything about him, do you? Have you ever thought about why that is?" Ducky asked.

"I know why! He's a deserter and he doesn't' deserved to be mentioned!" Gibbs said angrily.

Ducky huffed in frustration. "He is not in the military, Jethro. He cannot be a deserter! Walking away doesn't make him a deserter. And you know something? I don't think that's the real reason you won't let anyone mention him. You don't want anyone mentioning Timothy because the more you're forced to think about him, the more you will be forced to face the fact that his departure was at least partially on your shoulders."

"I am not responsible for that! I didn't force McGee to quit on his team!" Gibbs yelled.

"Actually, that's exactly what you did. You and your team alienated him to the point where he couldn't take it anymore. Of course I'm not innocent either. I never said one word to defend him to any of you. But at least I acknowledge my mistakes," Ducky said.

"I'm not doing this. This thing with McGee has been over for a year. It's done!" Gibbs said in a tone of finality.

"You're right about that, Jethro. Timothy is gone and he is not coming back. I just hope that wherever he is, he's treated better than he was here," Ducky said.

Gibbs glared at his friend and then stormed out of Autopsy.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Tony walked out of a coffee shop a bunch of coffees. He figured getting coffee would be a good way of calming Gibbs down after earlier. After all, if Gibbs was unhappy, everyone was unhappy.

Tony was heading back to his car when he noticed something shocking at the cheap motel across the street. There talking to some thugs was Timothy McGee.

Tony immediately walked across the street and approached them. "McGee!"

Tim ignored the call. A year of undercover training taught him to protect his cover at all cost.

"Hey, McGee," Tony said again as he got closer.

"I think that guy's talking to you," the guy on Tim's right said.

Tim finally turned around. "Can I help you?"

"What's with the formal greeting? And what are you doing here? Come to beg Gibbs for your job back?" Tony asked tauntingly.

"I think you have the wrong guy," Tim said.

"Oh, please. I'd no you anywhere. You may have built up the muscles a bit, but I know you," Tony said. He was actually surprised by the buildup. McGee must have been really hitting the weights this last year.

"You know this guy, Carter?" The guy to Tim's right asked.

"Never seen him before in my life, Nico," Tim said. He was hoping that by dropping Nico's name, Tony would figure the rest out and back off.

"Carter? Who the hell is Carter? What's going on here, McConfusing?" Tony asked. Now Tony was utterly confused. Why was McGee acting like he didn't know him and where had he learned to act so well? If he didn't know any better, he'd say McGee was telling the truth when he said he didn't know him.

Tim looked over at Nico. The man was looking at him very suspiciously, as were the other men he was with. He was going to have to do something fast before his cover was completely blown.

Within seconds, Tim had grabbed Tony and held him in a chokehold . Tony started whimpering and gasping for breath. "I said I don't know you. I don't know who you think I am, but I assure you it is not me. Now I suggest you get lost before I make sure you do permanently."

Tony was barely able to nod his head in his current position. He felt like was going to pass out any second from lack of oxygen.

Tim held on a second later for affect and then let Tony fall to the ground.

"Nice job, Carter. Now let's get back inside. We still have a lot to discuss," Nico said.

Tim nodded and followed his 'boss' leaving a shocked Tony on the ground trying to catch his breath.