The moment Tony entered the morgue, Ducky was almost ready to throw a fit and take Tony to the hospital himself. The Ducky now, in this reality, had no idea yet what kind of trouble magnet his new friend was.

"It's really not as bad as it looks," Tony complained as he kept wriggling on the cold autopsy table, wearing nothing but his briefs, as Ducky insisted making sure there were no other injuries hidden from him. How had he forgotten there were times when Ducky could be as scary as Gibbs if he ever got into such mood...

"I must say, dear Anthony," Ducky said snappishly, "I'm starting to wonder what your definition of the words 'not so bad as it looks ' and most of all 'I'm fine ' really are." Ducky shook his head. He wasn't angry anymore, but he was upset how the arm was worse than before, when he had seen it last time not too long ago. "There, all done. I think you should still go to the hospital. It could end up getting even worse. I would hate to see you losing your arm."

Tony rolled his eyes. "Ducky, I really am fine. Fine as in F-I-N-E. Fine." Ducky seemed unconvinced, while Tony was more than happy to put the clothes back on for some much needed warmth, which wasn't the easiest thing to do with only one hand and Ducky had made sure the other one was now tightly and unmoving against his body.

"And where is Jethro? I must admit that I'm very curious indeed to find out his secret of getting you to come back."

"He went to see the Director," Tony answered and was silently grateful when Ducky had mercy on him and helped putting the clothes back on. "As for how I'm here... Where should I even begin... My partner turned out to be a dirty cop, but he's paying the price now, which is much better than ending up in your body bag. I quit my job and my boss killed himself because he was about to be exposed to everyone what type of cop he really was and then a bomb destroyed my apartment, along a huge part of the whole building. People got killed and hurt... There were some bad guys involved here and there and Gibbs and I were kidnapped, only to have their boss let us go. I don't know. Somewhere, somehow I ended up coming here." Tony left out his little crash with the car, not to mention that he had been driving the thing in the first place.

Shaking his head at the story, which he was sure only touched the surface, Ducky smiled with a twinkle in his eyes. "Does this mean I'll be enjoying your company more often now?"

Tony's mouth twisted into a slight smile. "Perhaps, Ducky. Perhaps. I'm sure the final word is up to the Director though. He was always my favorite Director."

"In that case, I shall be expecting to hear more about that dream of yours."

"I'll keep that in mind, but I would much rather listen to you and your stories, even if I have heard them already."

The two men chuckled at their shared little 'inside joke'. Then, just as Tony was about to leave the room, he suddenly remembered why he was there in the first place. Gibbs had forced him down there.

"Oh. I think you might want to know the real reason Gibbs didn't come to see you himself. That coward could himself use a doctor. You might want to take a look at his wrists; they looked pretty bad and although I did my best at cleaning them up and wrapping up the wounds, it is as you've been saying, between me and you, you're the doctor."

Tony left the morgue feeling satisfied, knowing full well Gibbs would not be leaving the Navy Yard without Ducky finding him first, and even if he did somehow manage to escape, Ducky would make it into a 'home visit'. Revenge was sweet and if he had to and was pushed into it, he could be just as much of a bastard as the Mr. 'second b for bastard'. After all, he had learned from the master.

Ducky shook his head bemusedly. What was he going to do with not only one but two of the probably most stubborn men around?

Gibbs made sure his sleeves covered the bandages around his wrists. He really was not in the mood to explain the wounds as that would lead to a whole another discussion of what had happened while he'd been away. Satisfied that you could hardly notice anything—unless you knew what to look for—Gibbs opened the door without knocking and stepped inside.

"Ah... Agent Gibbs." There was a hint of sarcasm in Director Morrow's voice as he looked at the man entering his office.

"Tom." Gibbs simply nodded, crossing his arms over his chest.

"So..."

"The ultimatum. I've made up my mind."

Tom's eyebrows almost disappeared somewhere up on his forehead in surprise. Gibbs wasn't one to give in to any kind of ultimatums, but now he had and it happened way under the deadline. There had to be some kind of catch...

"DiNozzo."

Tom blinked and then it dawned on him. "You chose that Detective?"

"Yep." Gibbs raised up his chin in a stubborn manner and the look on his face dared anyone to argue with him.

"Okay then."

"Okay?"

"Okay." Tom was smug and he didn't even try to hide it, much to Gibbs' annoyance. Oh, he had gotten one on Gibbs... Maybe he should celebrate it. "The truth is, I was going to offer him a job anyway. I just wasn't sure what would have been the best way to do it, seeing as he's been turning down offers since he became a cop. One problem solved then. Assuming you got him to agree with this and you're not doing this behind his back?"

"He knows."

"Good. Since he's still on sick leave and you're not working right now either, we can deal with the paperwork and any other work related details later."

Before Gibbs could leave, Tom spoke again. He just had to know... It wasn't everyday that Gibbs would choose someone to work with. Someone he most likely hardly even knew yet. "So tell me, is this one of those infamous gut feelings of yours or what? Is he going to be the next Agent Gibbs?" God, he prayed that wasn't the case. He didn't need another Gibbs to deal with.

There was a smug half-smile on Gibbs' face as he answered with unwavering certainty, "No. He'll be the next Agent DiNozzo."

While Gibbs was with the Director, Tony walked in the bullpen and looked at the steady working that was going on in there. Leaning against the wall he almost laughed at the movie quote popping in his head; 'Oh yes, the past can hurt. But from the way I see it, you can either run from it, or learn from it...' Children's movie or not, that quote did have some wisdom in it. That and Ducky's 'don't make any decisions in anger '.

Hearing the elevator's 'ding ' sound, Tony didn't think much of it, until he recognized the sound those shoes made. He grimaced and put on a neutral mask on his face before he turned to look at the young lab goth spotting him and then running toward him. 'Well, there are some things a man just can't run away from...' Still, it wasn't easy when Tony was overwhelmed by flashbacks of Abby. Many of them with her running toward him, giving him her bone crushing hugs, jumping on him, hugging some more... She really had always liked hugging and physical contact in general. Whereas he had always both craved and feared it at the same time. For a second Tony almost feared the woman would indeed give him one of those bone crushing hugs and as much as he had told Ducky that he was fine, he really could do without one of those right now. Even Abby seemed to be very uncertain and her arms looked almost like nailed to her sides as she had to hold herself back and to not give a hug.

"Abigail." Tony nodded and Abby's eyes were filled with tears. "Gibbs is with the Director. I'm sure he'll be out soon enough."

"No, that's not what I... I'm..."

"What?"

"Thank you. You know."

"Not exactly." Tony frowned.

"Caf-Pow. I know you brought it to me. I know Gibbs never told you to and I was... I was bad. No, that's not right. I was horrible. Can you ever forgive me?"

"I wouldn't go that far. I've met people way worse than you."

"Oh!"

Tony was completely unprepared, which was why he let out a loud and somewhat high-pitched yelp as he not only felt but heard his bones making a cracking sound when Abby finally jumped on him, hugging him tightly.

"You finally called me Abby! Don't ever call me Abigail! It sounds so... So... So formal," she finally decided with great distaste. "And cold."

"Abby... Abbs... Abby!"

Abby looked horrified as she finally let go of the man, seeing how pale Tony was. "Oh no! I totally forgot your arm! I'm so sorry!"

Tony didn't whimper, but it was close. "It's fine... I'm fine... I just... Kind of would like to sit down for a minute..."

It was as if all her hesitation was gone and she wrapped her arm around Tony's waist and put his good arm over her shoulder.

He gave her a funny look. "I'm not going to faint. DiNozzos do not faint. I just need to sit down for a moment."

"Don't start arguing with me, Tony-boy. We'll go to my lab where you can lie down or sit, whatever feels the most comfortable, and then we can talk."

"Abi— Abby. I'm not exactly in a mood to talk with anyone right now and as soon as Gibbs comes, we'll leaving." Tony decided to leave out the fact that they might stay there a little bit longer if Ducky got his hands on Gibbs. When, not if.

"Please, Tony..."

Tony grimaced at the pouting not fit on the face of a woman her age. At least she wasn't in her forties... Even so, he was powerless against it with his current mental state and with the painful wound giving him a hard time. "Fine. But let me walk on my own. I've already gotten kidnapped and injured during my last, very short, stay in here when I was supposed to be helping with the case. I would at the very least very much like to keep my remaining dignity if I'm going to start working here."

Abby looked at him sharply at this, but didn't say anything as she let go of him. They made it to the lab in complete silence and despite the heavy atmosphere, Tony was relieved when he was finally able to sit down, even if he was sitting on the floor with his back against the wall. He felt surprisingly tired. Ducky must've slipped a little bit of something in the tea he had given to him before... He felt angry and yet he could never hate Ducky.

Tony sighed, feeling her eyes on him even without opening his eyes, which he had closed the moment he sat down. "I can feel you staring at me... What is it?"

"Is it true? You'll be working here, working with the Bossman?"

"So it seems. I figured I could try out another place for two years."

"Two years... Guess I can live with that..." Abby grinned and Tony opened his eyes with a snort.

"Don't get too happy. As you probably know, I am very accident prone. Always have been and always will be. I don't think that's going to change if it hasn't so far. Don't ask me why. I almost got Gibbs killed in a bomb explosion, and then again because of some bad guys who were after me and he happened to be there. He injured his wrists because of it. And we can't forget those big bad guys trying to kill us with their big bad guns, way before any of those things happened. Oh, and I also crashed my car. Lucky that Gibbs wasn't in it. I might have forgotten something, but that pretty much sums it up."

Abby was chewing at her bottom lip, looking uncomfortable. Part of her wanted to tell this newbie that she could kill him without leaving any evidence behind, but... "I know. Gibbs already told me when I called him." And her Bossman had actually warned her for doing anything 'stupid' like threatening this new golden boy here— Stop it! she scolded herself. She had already been scolded by Ducky for acting like some spoiled brat. However, she was still wondering what it was about this man that it made her beloved Gibbs act so not like Gibbs. Even her deeper than deep background check—or few—hadn't been able to solve all of the mysteries. If any. Surely Gibbs wasn't interested in DiNozzo because of the past full of unanswered questions? It wasn't like the man was the only one with some secret past and full potential to become a good Agent that had come across them. Or was it truly because of Gibbs' gut feeling? Not that she would ever doubt Gibbs, but still...

Tony rolled his eyes. "Figures... And don't ask me why Gibbs felt the need to drag me here with him. Once he sets his mind on something, he becomes obsessed. So I agreed to give it a try. He's like... like a mad dog with a bone he's unwilling to give up."

"Don't compare Bossman to a dog!"

"I've been nicknamed loyal St. Bernard by some. Besides, I compared myself to some dead bone between his teeth, so I don't see the reason to get upset. Also we all go a little mad sometimes. Although when he gets mad, he gets Captain Ahab mad... Trust me, I know... Don't ask me how I know it. That's a secret."

Abby grinned widely. "That was from Psycho, wasn't it? Alfred Hitchcock."

"Maybe." Tony flashed his trademark smile and seeing the full megawatt for the first time in person, Abby was blinded by it for a moment.

"Okay. Maybe I kind of could like you... I mean really? Psycho. Captain Ahab."

Hidden from their eyes was Gibbs who chuckled inwardly as he stood at the door. He had almost walked in when he had heard the two of them talking. What he heard, didn't make him happy, to say the least. Annoyed was more like it, at best.

"...figured I could try out another place for two years..."
"Two years... Guess I can live with that..."

Two years? Was the now former Detective really going to set such timeline as that? Stay for two years and then skip the town. Not on his watch. Gibbs was also feeling rather dismayed at the way Tony had mentioned their little 'adventure' back in Baltimore. And what's with those nicknames; Bernard and Ahab? Comparing him to a mad dog? He almost missed the fox in a henhouse parable. Almost... At least the enmity between the two 'kids' seemed to be forgotten. From the sound of their enthusiastic chatter, maybe they'll even get along. What were they talking about anyway? Movie quotes and names Gibbs had never even heard of. Not that he'd really been watching too many movies during his whole lifetime anyway. He couldn't help but smile as he observed those two, both of them almost thirty years old big children. He wasn't sure yet which one of them was the biggest kid...

Gibbs was so focused observing the two that he didn't notice anyone behind him, until he felt the hand on his shoulder. Startled, he turned around. "Ducky... Morning..."

"Good morning, Jethro." There was that special kind of odd gleam in Ducky's eyes and the man's voice was full of the sweetest honey. Hearing the all too familiar tone of voice, Gibbs frowned. Then he noticed someone observing them with a smug and full 1000 megawatt grin on his face.

Still talking with Abby, who hadn't noticed anything, Tony felt the day had suddenly become so much better when he saw Ducky taking full control of the situation in less than few seconds.

That... DiNozzo! Gibbs growled in his mind. This was truly a head slap worthy action from the young man.

"Do not be hard on our dear boy, Jethro. He's only making sure you're being taken care of."

"Oh, I'm sure he is."

Ducky didn't let Gibbs argue and somehow managed to 'sweet talk' his friend into following him. It would be couple of hours later when Tony and Gibbs could finally leave the Navy Yard—since Gibbs' other wrist had needed some serious tending—which worked just fine for Tony who finally couldn't keep his eyes open any longer and he took a nap in the lab.

As soon as Ducky wasn't around anymore and it was just he and one very smug DiNozzo, Gibbs delivered the head slap.