Hurricanes, twisters and the odd rat infestation had arrived on American soil with more grace than Leroy Jethro Gibbs as he wrenched open the door to NCIS' DC offices. He was tired, haggard and in no frame of mind to be messed with. He took the stairs to his teams' floor two at time, not content in waiting for the elevator. Storming through the double doors, he was greeted with an apprehensive looking Director Jenny Shepherd. She had clearly been expecting him. Shooting her a glare that was in no way conducive to the chain of command, he made to side step her only to find himself effectively blocked. "You need to calm down and listen to me, Jethro," she instructed quietly, in that maddening "you're being unreasonable" tone that he hated so damned much. "There are things you don't know." Snorting like a bullock on meth, Gibbs shook his head angrily. "Save it, Jen. I don't want to hear whatever BS excuses they've fed you. You should never have brought in a greenhorn to cut his teeth with my team in the first place. I told you, but you wouldn't listen and now look what they've gone and pulled. Just look…."

Jenny waited the tirade out with the patience of experience.

"Are you done?"

He growled.

"I haven't even started. I am going to kill them one by one. Slowly and painfully."

She shot him such a quailing glare that even in his state of agitation he had the sense to tone it down a notch, but just a notch. "Jethro, like I said, there are things you need to know. Follow me? I don't need someone to burst into this stairwell and see your histrionics, I have enough HR complaints about you to last a life time." Rolling his eyes at her when her back was turned, Gibbs trudged grudgingly behind her slim back that was rigid with ire of her very own. No matter how many years passed and no matter how high she climbed the ladder, she would never fully see him as her subordinate and that irritated her. A fact of which he was well aware and enjoyed needling her with. She would always be his probie and they both knew it. She opened the door to her office, exchanging exasperated looks with the long suffering Cynthia, and ushered a stalking Gibbs through it. She had barely snapped it shut when his anger spilled over once again.

"Do you have any idea how ridiculous I looked telling the operation leader that I had to go home because my team couldn't be handled? I told you Jen, I told you. You wouldn't leave a rabbit in charge of a lion's den, but that's exactly what you did. You put a know-nothing imbecile in charge of my people when I explicitly told you it would end in disaster and look where we are now, disaster town. Population: five. Myself and those four…those four…" he trailed off, weariness dogging him as he slumped into the chair in front of the impressive desk. "I don't even have words for what those four are right now. I could string them up. And Tony? I am going to kill him, in cold blood. You put your blood, sweat and tears into training your right hand man and he burns the house down the minute you're out the friggin door…"

For the first time, Jenny felt a stab of sympathy for her old boss.

He looked absolutely exhausted.

"It wasn't their fault Jethro, you're right, it was mine." Glancing up from the floor, Gibbs gaped slightly. Jenny was many things, but forthcoming when it came to admitting her own mistakes she was not. Before he could accuse of her lying to protect his team, she cut across him. "As it turns out, Agent Ellis was responsible for the entire AWOL incident. He forced your team to abscond from duty and then tried to cover it up by blaming them and skipping town. I've been on the phone for the last day or so that you've been travelling and it turns out…his record his actually far from sparkling. Suffice it to say, he is never going to be a team-leader. I knew he was young but I thought his attitude would overcome that, but I was wrong. I left your team with an under qualified, inexperienced and as it turns out, cowardly agent. And for that, and that alone, I…apologise."

She could practically see his tonsils as he gaped at her.

"What are you talking about?" he demanded, recovering quickly. "Do you expect me to believe that they were unwilling participants in their little binge? Have you met my people, Jen? They're not exactly the unwilling sort." Jenny shook her head, sitting down and leaning back in her chair tiredly. "Ellis ordered them to do it. Said he wanted to be shown the sights and then dragged them into a bar and the rest is history I suppose. He pulled rank, Jethro. Tony argued with him, said you wouldn't like it and he was shut down. You told them in no uncertain terms that they were to do as Ellis told them, or else. So that's what they did, they did what he told them to do. I don't see how the blame can be levelled at them, not this time."

Gibbs stared.

"But…how do you know all this? If Ellis did a runner, whose word are you basing this upon? Because let me tell you Jen, they might not lie to me but if they thought lying to you would save their skins…those four would sing like canaries." She glared then, piercing him with her stare. "You may be their immediate supervisor and their apparent God, Jethro, but make no mistake. I am their boss' boss and none of them are imbecilic enough to lie to me. And I could tell if they were, I did used to be a pretty good field agent you know." He smiled then, unable to help himself. "I know," he said softly, the implied apology flitting loosely between the words, "You…were one of the best. I will always give you that, Jen, always."

She flushed furiously, the rare praise still as coveted as ever.

"Yes, well," she bustled, "That as may be, the point remains the same. You jumped to the same conclusions that I did and now we're left in the position of being rather red faced. Your team is a ball of nerves. I have told them I believed them and that there would be no official sanctions for going off book. But I got the distinct impression they didn't give a rat's behind about that, all they care about is whether or not you are going to believe them and the very strong consensus is, that you are not, and they are all….to quote Agent DiNozzo, deader than the dead that died before death was a thing." She shook her head bemusedly. "He's pretty unusual, isn't he?"

Gibbs raised his brows slowly.

"You have no idea."

He fell silent then, thoughtful. Guilt was quickly beginning to trickle through him and he sighed miserably. He had jumped the gun. He should have known better. True, he would never have envisaged an aspiring team-lead to be so…sleazy, but still, he should have known better. He had warned them to do everything the guy said and he could see why they would take that literally, he was a literal kind of guy. He instantly caught a glimpse into the inside of Tony's head and knew that the kid was probably still beating himself up, before waiting for him to come in and finish the job. Rubbing a hand over his tired eyes he groaned. "Made a right mess of this one, Jen," he muttered quietly, "I shouldn't have jumped down Tony's throat." A sudden memory of the message he'd asked Duck to relay to Tony sizzled at the corners of his brain and the guilt suddenly skyrocketed.

Tell Tony that my garden is doing well this year.

He closed his eyes in despair. How could he have been so brash? He'd been doing such a good job in keeping his temper more in check these days and the minute it was really tested, he'd lost it. Tony would have been working himself up more and more with every passing second, visualising being made to make good on a long ago threat. He'd never really intended to make the kid go and cut a switch, never mind use it on him, but it had seemed like a good deterrent at the time. But he'd been angry enough when he'd learned of their absconding, that he very much meant to follow through on that threat in the heat of the moment.

Jenny looked at him with undisguised sympathy.

"I think they've been waiting long enough to see you, Jethro. I believe they are all in the bull-pen, even Abby. Tony didn't have the heart to keep her separated from the rest of them and allowed her to work files in the office. You should go to them now. How you choose to deal with the situation…is up to you. I am not going to interfere. You do what you think you need to do. They're your team and in future, if you have to go on an overseas op…they're sure as hell going with you. I don't need this aggravation in my agency." She picked up a thick stack of files then, effectively dismissing him. "Go see to your ducklings Jethro, they don't do well out of your nest." Rolling his eyes and standing with a sudden purpose, Gibbs nodded and without another word swept from the room. The nervousness, regret and anticipation hit him like a brick wall as he strode, unseen, into the bullpen.

"Conference Room. The four of you. Now."

Tony, who had been making an elastic band ball nearly fell out of his seat as he jumped clean into the air. Tim, who had been anxiously coding, spluttered on the oxygen that stagnated in his windpipe. Ziva, as per her custom, did not react only to flinch so minutely it was undetectable. Abby, for her part, instantly felt tears spring up in her eyes that she couldn't control. Gibbs didn't wait to see would he be obeyed, and was standing with the Conference Room door ajar by the time the four slowly trooped up to meet their fate. When they'd filed in, he shut the door softly behind him and saw that they'd lined up already, none of them meeting his eye. Tony was positioned unconsciously in front of Ziva, his protective streak shining through. As too was Tim, but with Abby. Gibbs eyed them all for a moment, before clearing his throat and landing in front of them in a drill sergeants pose.

"Eyes up."

It was a simple command, but one would think he'd demanded the reinvention of the wheel such was the time and effort it took for obedience. He opened his mouth then, but was suddenly gazumped as Tony could simply not restrain himself. "Boss," he all but hollered, "You have got to listen to me. I know you're mad and I know you're going to kill me and no one is ever going to find my body and that's fine, but please, you gotta listen. This is all my fault. I should have told that maniac to take a running jump, but I didn't. I was the second in command and I blew it. I really, really blew it. This isn't their fault. They were following my lead. I know I let you down Boss and I know you don't want to hear it, but I'm really, really sorry. But please…don't punish them for what I did, for what I led them into. This is entirely on me and I'm the only one you should be giving a hiding to. Not them."

Gibbs stared for the longest moment, pride burning within him. When he spoke, his voice was soft.

"No one is getting a hiding. Not even you, Tony. Not today."

They may as well have been quadruplets then, such was their matching expressions of shock. Before any of them could interrupt, Gibbs held up a hand and took a deep, deep breath. This was going to be hard as hell. "I jumped to conclusions," he admitted simply. "I should have known better than to think that any of you would willingly do what was done and I shouldn't have lost my cool the way I did. I warned you that you were all to do exactly what Ellis told you to do and that is what you did. I should have remembered that, and I didn't." He closed his eyes and forced himself to do the unthinkable. "And for that, I'm… sorry. You have my word that it won't happen again." He opened his eyes to find expressions that wouldn't have been out of place on discovering a chain of Wendy's on Mars. "That being said, I should have been called when this all went belly up. One of you should have called me. And for that, yes, you're in trouble. But only for that. Now like I said, no one is getting a sore behind for this but I think one weeks confinement for the whole lot of you, with no cells, will reinforce the value of treating freedom wisely and how useful technology can be."

He held out his hand.

"Hand them over. You have pagers for work and you will use them and them alone for the next week. Those fancy doo-dah's you've all got are going into lock up and you'll get them back in seven days time. During those seven days, you all come here and you all go home. Nowhere in between and so help me god if any of you defy me on that." He crooked his outstretched hand. "Cells, four of them, now." There was a stunned silence for a moment, before a mass exodus of technology. Stuffing two cells apiece into his pockets, Gibbs nodded in satisfaction. "There's no point in being the boss if you can't break your own rules now and then, so I'm paroling you all to my place tonight, one night only. Boys', you bring the food. Girls', the movies. Is that clear?"

Wide grins suddenly broke out and four heads nodded in tandem.

Rolling his eyes at how annoyingly happy those toothy smiles made him, Gibbs waved to the door.

"Good. Now go on and get out of here and back to work before I change my mind and whoop you all into next week." Beaming, Abby bounced over on the balls of her feet and took his breath away with her traditional bear hug. "I knew you'd believe us," she squeaked. Tony and Tim exchanged exasperated looks. "That's not what you were saying last night," Tim mumbled under his breath, to Tony's agreeing snort. Kissing Ziva gently on the head, Gibbs shooed her out with McGee close on her heels, receiving a quick squeeze to his shoulder as he went. The sounds of their disappearing chattering were jovial as Tony made to exit, however, the door was suddenly blocked with a Gibbs like barrier and the second in command couldn't help the gulp that resonated in his windpipe.

"This the part where you kill me and make sure no one ever finds my body?"

Gibbs couldn't help but grin as he rapped the kid lightly round the head.

"Nope, but it's good to know that you know I could." He hesitated for a moment. "Tony…about what Ducky told you…" the guilt was clear upon his face and the younger man looked at him in confusion. "What are you talking about, Boss? Ducky didn't tell me anything, I've barely seen him since you've been gone." A huge wave of relief crushed Gibbs in that moment and he smiled freely. At least the kid hadn't been working himself into a state of fear for the last day or so, expecting a switching that Gibbs never expected to give him. "I must be losing it in my old age, that plus the travel and I don't know what I said to who," he deflected casually. "Go on then, get back to work. And…Tony? Don't forget. This wasn't your fault and I don't blame you. So quit blaming yourself. You got it?"

Smiling widely, Tony nodded.

"Got it, Boss. See you tonight! I hope you like pizza baked in pizza, cos that's what's on the menu."

Gibbs grimaced.

"Sounds great."

Chuckling, Tony nodded and sidestepping the elder agent, made his way down to the bullpen. As he took the stairs two at a time, he mentally erased the message Ducky had given him and the puddle of fear evaporated in his chest. He'd been up half the night wondering how he was going to survive being made to cut and receive his own switch, having had no issue in deciphering Gibbs' cryptic threat. He should have known that the old man only left the message in anger, which is why he played dumb about receiving it. Gibbs might think he was an emotional mute, but he was way easier to read then he thought. To him anyway. To someone who knew he was as flawed as they came but cared as deeply as one could. No need in making him feel any guiltier than he already did. Not that Gibbs would ever admit to feeling guilty. Or admit to having feelings full stop.

Those were for mere mortals.

…..

A/N: Question. I've been warming up to Ellie Bishop (Slowly, very slowly) and was wondering whether you guys' would like to see her in a fic? Maybe not this one because I'd have to write off Ziva, but in another, stand-alone one? Let me know!

_Inks

….