Tony slammed the phone down and hit a few keys on his keyboard, causing the printer to start spitting out pages a moment later.

Gibbs looked over in concern. He hadn't seen Tony this worked up in a while. Whatever it was, probably wouldn't bode well for him or the rest of the team. He briefly debated asking what was wrong, but decided to live in the land of ignorance for as long as he could on this one. Tony would let him know what was going on before it blew up in their faces.

Hopefully.

He was pretty sure.

I mean, Tony could be pretty vindictive sometimes, but he would never leave them hanging like that.

Right?

Gibbs had just made up his mind to ask his second what was wrong when Tony snatched the papers out of the printer, wrote in a few places and stomped over towards Gibbs desk with a glare. Kate and McGee were watching, wide-eyed. They'd never seen Tony acting like this, and certainly not towards the Boss.

Gibbs froze, he'd only been subjected to that glare twice since Tony started working for him, and at least five times while they were in Baltimore before Tony accepted his job offer, but he actively tried to make sure he wasn't on this end of it again. "Something wrong, DiNozzo?" He asked, cautiously.

Tony didn't say a word, instead he dropped the stack of papers on his desk and leaned over it, waiting for Gibbs to get the point and look at what he'd been 'handed'. Gibbs looked down and scanned the front page, then stopped and read through it more slowly. "Ah." He said.

Tony didn't say anything, only nodded slowly.

The top paper was a notice from HR that they'd been receiving complaints from Metro PD about Gibbs' driving habits. As such, his entire team was now being required to attend a 'safe-driving' seminar*. Until then, all their licenses were to be considered revoked.

Gibbs flipped to the second page and closed his eyes in horrified resignation when he realized that the second page was a forwarded copy of an email from the Director to HR, promising that they would be at that seminar, he would make sure of it. He flipped through the rest of the stack, and it was all paperwork that he needed to fill out to take his team off rotation for the duration of the seminar. He almost smiled when he saw that Tony had already filled out most of it, but didn't because he knew that something like that would have Tony challenging him to a spar, and not holding back or goofing off for the audience.

Speaking of... he glanced up from the papers and winced at the look on Tony's face.

He was probably going to get that challenge anyway at this rate.

He saw movement out of the corner of his eye and looked up to see the Director settle in at the rail of the walk above them, watching his and Tony's face-off (the Director always found it amusing how Tony seemed to be the one who was really in charge of the team sometimes).

Clearing his throat, he glanced through everything to see if it said how long this seminar was supposed to last, and where it was, and almost slammed his head against the desk when he realized it started in two days, and it was all the way down in Florida. Why HR was sending them to a seminar in Florida was beyond him. Hm, something to take up with them later on.

"Plane?" He asked quietly, hiding a wince when Tony actually growled. He remembered, too late, that Tony had plans tonight. Plans that didn't involve his television or a movie. He was going to have to do something big to make up for this.

"It takes off in six hours, we need to be at the airport in four if we want to get through security in time. Since all of our licenses are now revoked," Kate and McGee's eyes widened when they heard this, as Tony hadn't bothered to keep it down, and it wasn't hard to over-hear anything within their area, "the Director has arranged drivers for all of us to go home, get packed, and get to the airport." He finished and stalked to his desk, where he started packing his bag with some paperwork he could do on the plane.

"Uh, Boss... wha-" McGee started to ask, but Tony interrupted him while Gibbs started to finish filling out the paperwork without a word.

"Go home, pack for two weeks in hot weather. We're being sent on an HR seminar trip," Another glare aimed at Gibbs. "About safe driving habits. Until we complete it and pass their requirements, HR has seen fit to revoke all of our drivers licenses, so we have been assigned drivers from here, to our houses, and then to the airport."

"What?" Kate demanded. "Do they have any idea what kind of black mark that will leave on our driving records?" She would deal with the rest of what Tony said later.

"Oh, don't worry. They have assured me that the only one getting a black mark from this is the Boss." Another glare. "Come on, we gotta be at the airport in four hours. Don't worry about paperwork, Boss is handling it. And, our drivers have our plane tickets." And he walked towards the elevator without another word, leaving them to scramble to grab some work of their own for the plane ride and follow.

As soon as they disappeared into the elevator, Gibbs scrambled to grab his phone, and made a few phone calls while he finished filling out the paperwork, handing it off to the HR secretary that just happened to be hanging out nearby. The first call was to the Director, to try and get his team out of this, but the Director was firm, and made it a direct order that they go, and that they (Gibbs) learn something from this. His next call was to somebody that he hoped could help him make this up to Tony, so that he could be assured of his continued existence once they returned from Florida. As soon as the calls were placed, he gathered his own things and left to do his own packing.


Four hours later, he made it through security and found the gate the team was leaving from. He winced when he noticed Tony's still-stony expression and the way the man was completely focused on the file in his lap, even though he wasn't really reading through it.

"So... now that we're all here..." Kate said slowly, eyeing her boss and her partner. "Why were all of our licenses revoked again? And why do we all have to attend this seminar when he's the reckless driver?" She tilted her head towards Gibbs, not wanting to say anything else and risk getting in trouble. But, it seemed like the boss was the one in trouble here... which was strange.

"The email from HR said that they wanted to head off any bad habits we might pick up in our driving through exposure. In other words, they feel like Gibbs is a bad influence on us." Tony said, still not looking up.

"Ok... but why go so far as to revoke our licenses?" Tim asked. His curiosity overrode his fear of Gibbs, and of Tony at the moment.

"Because they want to make sure we actually pay attention and do as we're told. Apparently we have gained a reputation among HR staff of being uncooperative." Tony finally looked up and gave Gibbs a dead-stare. Although, he had to admit that he was already uncooperative with HR type people long before he met Gibbs. "Therefore, they are dangling a carrot to make us cooperate with them."

"They do know I can just hack into the DMV and reinstate our licenses?" Tim asked, snorting. Ignoring the fact that hacking was illegal and he was careful to only hack into government systems (except the FBI) when he had written orders or a warrant.

"Hence why they waited until the last possible minute to inform us, and the scramble to pack and get here to go through security with plenty of time to spare." Tony answered dryly.

The other three stared at him in shocked surprise. "Wow. Have we really gotten this predictable?" Kate asked the men she worked with. They all shrugged.

This wasn't the first seminar they were required to be at that they managed to somehow get out of. Whether it be because a case came up that required their attention, or a 'family emergency' back in Indiana, their names suddenly disappearing from the attendance list with no explanation or digital trail to follow... Tim and Kate had gotten just as good as Tony and Gibbs at avoiding HR seminars, despite the short amount of time they'd been with the two senior agents.

"But, even if we don't cooperate, and they refuse to reinstate our licenses, I can just hack in and do it myself, anyway." Tim said.

"Which is why among the paperwork they sent me for Gibbs to fill out, was a compliance agreement for each of us. Basically, Gibbs agreed to take full responsibility for any actions we take before, during, and after the seminar. If you do that, they will figure it was you, and Gibbs will be the one getting in trouble for it." Tony said absently while he studied the picture in front of him. Tim looked at Gibbs, horrified, and Gibbs nodded.

At the time, he'd thought it was a strange form to be in the pile, but hadn't thought too much about it. Even if he had, it wasn't like he could have gotten away with hiding it to be destroyed later, not when the secretary that took the stack checked each paper to make sure everything was there that she was told would be.

Yeah... they got way too predictable.

After sitting around for a couple of hours, during which Kate left to go find food for the team, they were finally called to board. A quick wave of their badges earned wide-eyed looks at the guns on their belts from the flight attendants, and they were rushed through the doors to find their seats before the other passengers could see and raise a fuss or panic over nothing.

Once in the air, everyone sat back with some sort of work. Tim was the only one having problems with it, since he didn't have his computer, which was where most of his work was.

When they landed, they were met outside of baggage claim by a perky blonde.

The death glares that had subsided during the two hour wait to board their plane, were back in full force within five sentences from her.

This was going to be a long two weeks.


The next day, Tony dragged his team out into the city to explore before the seminar started the next day. He ended up having to glare Gibbs into coming along instead of hiding out in his hotel room with his wood-carving.

"If they didn't want to give us time to get out of it, then why not get us plane tickets for today? Why yesterday, this is giving us an extra day to figure something out." Kate commented.

Tony shrugged while Tim spoke up. "I checked the flight schedules last night. The flight we took was the latest they could get for us on the short-notice." He answered.

"And don't complain about it, when's the last time you had a real vacation? Today we play, tomorrow is back to work, sort of, for us." Tony said airily, although he threw in a small glare at Gibbs for good measure. Gibbs sighed, but didn't grumble too much.

He knew that he was a... bit of a reckless driver. He knew it, but he usually didn't have a problem. Not with Metro, not with LEO's. And as reckless as his driving may seem to others, he'd never gotten in an accident or caused one. He'd gotten emails and calls from HR in the past about his driving, (which he didn't get, because they'd never had to chase a suspect or been on the clock because if they didn't get there right now somebody was going to die, so what gave them the right to dictate how he could drive?), but they'd never forced him back to driving school before. And why they were punishing his team, was beyond him.

For that matter, why the Director was going along with it, was also way beyond him! When they got back, he was going to have a long talk with the Director, and he was going to find out who nagged him enough that he finally had enough and caved, just to make them go away.

For now, though, they were going to enjoy some downtime. It wasn't often the team got to meet up and just hang out, no work attached. Of course, they saw so much of each other at work, that they generally tended to scatter and stick to doing their own thing after work anyway, but they still had relationships outside of work. Just last week, Tony helped Kate move her new kitchen/dining set into her apartment. The week before, he helped Tim pick out a new refrigerator after his old one quit on him. And then helped him move the old one out before installing the new one. Tim volunteered to help Abby with her Habitat for Humanity buildings all the time.

So, they did do stuff as friends outside of work, they just didn't often meet up as a team. And it was even more rare that Gibbs was with them when they did meet up.

Looking around, Gibbs was intrigued to see a sign for a wood-working museum, and pointed it out. Tony gave him a stare, but agreed that they could check it out, and the others didn't really care either way, so they figured out where it was and decided it was within walking distance, so they didn't bother calling for a cab or anything. It wasn't like they could rent a car for while they were here, after all. Rental companies required a valid drivers license before they would hire out their cars to people.

The museum was interesting. Gibbs certainly came out of there with new ideas for a project. Most people didn't know it, but he did have an actual workshop in his backyard. It just wasn't big enough for a boat. His basement, on the other hand, was. And, he just happened to spend the most time on his boat. Speaking of... he had a project in his workshop that he really should finish if he was ever going to give it to DiNozzo. He'd started it months ago, and if he wanted it finished in time for the other mans birthday, he was going to have to get a move on.

The rest of the day was spent hanging out around town, and finding somewhere nice to eat dinner.


The next day, when they stumbled into the hotel lobby, they were met with the same perky blonde that met them at the airport. "Good morning! Are we ready to learn safer driving habits?" She asked cheerfully, in that 'should be illegal this early in the morning' way that some people have.

Gibbs stared at her for a moment while his team moved around him towards the food, after a moment he grunted and made a beeline for the coffee machine, ignoring her completely.

(He'd been relieved when Tony informed him the night before that the center where the seminar was being held had been informed to keep a continuous stream of coffee on hand. Of course, this was a law enforcement seminar, so he was sure they already planned on that, but he was too busy being glad that apparently Tony wasn't that annoyed with him anymore that he was still looking out for him. Of course, Tony would probably say he was just looking out for everybody else around them who didn't know how to deal with a coffee deprived Gibbs.)

She blinked for a moment before recovering quickly. She was used to dealing with law enforcement personnel who didn't want to be at these types of things, but were being made to be here by HR under some kind of threat. "We have to leave in half an hour in order to be there on time, so I suggest eating quickly. You aren't the only group taking part in this, so we wouldn't want to keep everybody waiting! I've heard that the FBI agent in charge of your group this time around can be pretty impatient, and is a bit of a stickler, so you don't want to get on his bad side first thing. Especially since he has to sign off that you completed the course to his satisfaction." She warned, looking up from her paperwork to eye them.

Gibbs grumbled wordlessly, but a small smile quirked at his lips when Tony placed a stack of pancakes and waffles on the table in front of him, freshly made while Gibbs got his coffee and their hostess spoke, (what was her name again?). McGee followed a moment later with a couple of plates piled with eggs, sausage, and bacon, and Kate followed with breakfast pastries, yogurt, plates, and silverware for the group. Tony came back after a moment with an appropriated pitcher that he'd filled with juice, and cups. Gibbs smile grew as he watched his 'kids' sit down while he served himself and started off on passing plates around to his right, where Tony helped himself before passing it on to Kate.

"Sit, join us." He finally grunted after a moment, and crooked a finger at their hostess. It would be rude to just sit here eating in front of her.

She blinked at the team before she sat down at the empty chair. "I've already eaten, so I'm fine." She took a bagel anyway and picked at it while they ate and talked among themselves.

They didn't take long to finish, and once everything was cleaned up, they disappeared back to their rooms to gather their things for the day before gathering back in the lobby, where she led them out to the passenger van hired for their use. Unfortunately, due to not having valid drivers licenses at the moment, none of them could drive themselves anywhere, so they had to rely on walking when they weren't going somewhere seminar related. For that, they had to rely on her to drive them.

Arriving at the center, Gibbs froze in the doorway when he walked in, making Tony almost walk right into him. "Woah, boss! What... oh." Tony trailed off when he saw what it was that caused his boss to just stop like that.

"Gibbs! Imagine seeing you here." Tobias Fornell greeted, walking towards their group with a clipboard in hand and a smirk on his face.

"Tobias." Gibbs greeted warily.

Tony looked around carefully, but didn't see any of Fornell's team. And from what he remembered seeing, Fornell was actually a really good driver... so why was he here... oh no.

Fornell caught the look on Tony's face and had the nerve to laugh in Gibbs face. "That's right, DiNutso. I'm the instructor for this course." He grinned while Gibbs wary look vanished to be replaced by a glare and the rest of the team moaned and groaned about it.

He was so going to enjoy the next two weeks!


*I don't know, or care, if this actually exists or not.