Notes: a nice English lady offered to beta/proofread the rest of the story for me. Thank you very much for all the help! Any leftover errors are all mine.

Chapter 2 – Instructions

Gibbs was drinking his coffee at his desk while thinking about what DiNozzo said the night before. Not that he regretted anything because the only regret he recognized was the loss of his girls. Everything else was done and dusted, and he wouldn't review his decisions after the fact.

But some of DiNozzo's comments did stick with him, especially the ones related to Vance playing him and trying to mess with his team. Gibbs was certain that he could still convince Tony to come back to the team if Vance would stop interfering!

Hearing the noise coming from upstairs, signalling Vance's arrival at his office, Gibbs decided to have his ducks in a row and talk with HR first, even if the up-front attack was his preferred method of dealing with things.

HR and Accounting offices were side by side, on the second floor, and only one person was in the offices this early. Gibbs entered the room and noticed how the young woman stiffened at the sight of him. Seems like DiNozzo was right about the bureaucrats perceiving him as a bully. Not necessarily a bad thing.

'Agent Gibbs…' the girl started.

'Bromstead and DiNozzo already travelled?' he interrupted.

'Ah, yes, sir… Agent. Last night. Anything you need?'

'How long they will be there? One, two days?'

'The agreement is for them to be available for the programme production for 2 weeks.'

'Two weeks baking?!'

'No, they only record a couple of times, but they need everybody available for interviews and if they need to move groups around. A DoD or a DoJ representative is working with the production for scheduling.'

'They gonna be sitting on their butts for two weeks waiting to bake whenever DoD or the tv show want?!' Gibbs was between pissed and surprised now.

'Agent DiNozzo contacted Agent Phillips in RU Monterey to offer his services as TAD when they are free. Ms Bromstead said she would work from the hotel or from RU Monterey office whenever possible. And they should stop by the San Diego office when they finish the programme, before coming back to DC. They won't be idle!' Seems like the girl did find some gumption after all.

'Humph…' was Gibbs's only answer and he turned to leave since he couldn't do anything right now. The young woman's voice interrupted his movement and made him turn back to look at her.

'I did send an email, Agent Gibbs, but I'm sure you don't usually read them,' she said in an officious tone. 'Director Vance sent the order to promote Agent McGee to Senior Field Agent of the MCRT. Agent DiNozzo is officially TAD for the duration of the DoD and DoJ PR campaign, but Director Vance confirmed he would not be returning to the DC office,' she finished with less certainty.

Gibbs focused his icy blue eyes on her. 'What?'

'Ah… Director Vance…'

'This thing hasn't even started, and Vance already transferred DiNozzo and promoted McGee?'

'Yeah…' she gulped. 'I mean, yes, the order came after Ms Bromstead and Agent DiNozzo left for the day. He said to action it immediately. I informed Agent McGee and yourself via email and asked Agent McGee to come down sometime today to sign the new contract. I'll send his jacket to the DoD to process the revised security clearance level because, even if Director Vance signed off on the experience requirement, DoD still needs to evaluate it.'

'Be sure to send his whole jacket, then. Remember that he has a second income with those stupid books of his.'

'Oh!' She seemed to grasp what he was trying to insinuate. 'Of course, Agent Gibbs,' her officious tone was back. 'I'll be careful to send a complete file for an accurate evaluation.'

He nodded, certain she did understand the issue that might cause and left without another word. Time to throw a hench hitch (or wrench would do) or at least some doubt, into Vance's plan. Gibbs took the back elevator towards the Director's office because he didn't want to see his team before his face-off with Vance.

Gibbs barely nodded to Vance's secretary, walking right into his office. Cynthia barely had time to squeak 'Agent Gibbs!' before he closed the door.

'Good morning, Gibbs,' came the sarcastic greeting from Vance. 'I didn't know we had a meeting scheduled for today.'

'You would really offer DiNozzo as sacrifice if someone had complained about our use of the Ronald Reagan link to access the Pentagon?'

Vance's eyebrow went up in clear surprise. He took a toothpick from the metal box he carried in his suit pocket. 'What an interesting take, Gibbs. What gave you that idea?'

'You don't like DiNozzo, not even sure why, and you accepted McGee's plan pretty quickly. You thought the captain would catch up, complain up the ladder and you would offer to fire or demote DiNozzo to appease the brass.' Gibbs was convinced now that Tony was right. And with the comment from the girl in HR, that Vance had already confirmed he wouldn't be back to the DC office, no matter what happened with that DoD/DoJ PR campaign, everything the other man said was making more than perfect sense.

Vance chewed a bit on the toothpick before trying to answer. 'You were right about the time it would take for us to get access, so I went with the hacker plan, but we also needed insurance if something went awry. I thought, if need be, DiNozzo could take one for the team.'

Gibbs nodded, leaving it open to interpretation if he agreed or understood the explanation. 'And what's McGee's sudden promotion and the idea that DiNozzo won't be back to the MCRT? Insurance? Revenge? Punishment? Reward?'

Vance sighed. 'I would expect more respect for confidentiality from HR.'

'I'm MCRT Team Leader. I need to know the changes in personnel.'

'McGee more than deserves the promotion.' Vance continued over the dismissive sound of derision from Gibbs. 'He is an example of the future of federal agents. DiNozzo is a stereotypical frat boy, playing at being a hero when he became a cop. No high-level skills, nothing much to contribute, completely expendable. Look how he fell for Shepard's machinations. So yes, I'm using the opportunity to take him out of the highly visible MCRT of the DC office. The team has one of the highest solving rates of the alphabet. Imagine how far it will go without the clown to slow you down.'

A rash laugh escaped from Gibbs's lips. 'You're a fool, Leon. You didn't take the time to read the agents' jackets, check reports or get to know them! Are your opinions based on the scribbles of a woman's sick mind? Or the Mossad profile reports Ziva did for Haswari? Why do you think MCRT has the highest solve rate? I'm good, but DiNozzo is better!'

'You're trying to save your protégé, Gibbs, but…'

'But nothing! I brought him from Baltimore because I saw the potential! He already had the highest solving rate in his department back then, with barely 2 years as a detective, one of the youngest ever in the force!'

'It might be good enough for the police but as a federal agency…'

Gibbs took a deep breath before interrupting Vance again. 'You thought you're smart whispering in McGee's ears about this PR thing and putting DiNozzo in a place you thought would throw him. That only put his back up. He took the Agent Afloat position as the punishment intended, and he came back planning to start a clean slate and continue with the team as before. But this, the torpedo of his undercover options, I think it was the last straw. He will not blow this up, Leon, he will hit out of the park and then he will move out of NCIS, and we'll all get egg on our faces.'

It was Vance's time to huff in disbelief. 'As if he has a lot of options. If he doesn't want to accept the transfer I will offer, then he can go back to being a cop.' He pulled the toothpick out of his mouth and pointed toward Gibbs. 'Stop being dramatic. You're pissed because I went over your head. Learn to live with it. I'm the Director and you all are my agents.'

Gibbs turned on his heels and start walking out. 'On your head it is.'

'Gibbs!' Vance got up from his chair. 'Don't you try and sabotage McGee's work as SFA. I will transfer you out of MCRT, if you do.'

Gibbs let a dark laugh escape. 'I don't have to do anything. McGee will dig his own grave. He's not the wonder kid you think he is,' and walked away, leaving the office door open behind him.

Vance sighed and sat down, bringing the toothpick back into his mouth, not wanting to think there might be any truth in Gibbs' comments.

While Gibbs was going through his conversations with HR and Vance, McGee arrived at the office, checked his email, and started smiling seeing the message about his promotion. He jumped from his seat and walked across the bullpen towards Balboa's team area with a spring in his step.

'Hey, Taylor,' McGee approached the other agent's desk smiling widely. 'It's official now. I'm the SFA of MCRT! Even if Tony doesn't completely blow that PR thing, Vance said he won't be back in the DC office,' he said with a smirk.

Taylor Carson raised his head from the cold case he was reading since his team didn't have an active one. An eyebrow went up. 'Gibbs signed off on this?'

'The order came directly from Vance,' McGee answered with pride. 'I just saw the email from HR, and I'll go down there to sign the paperwork later today. I just came by to ask if you have anything about the SFA reports to give me a head start.'

Taylor nodded, acknowledging the answer, even if his set mouth showed he was unhappy with it. 'DiNozzo had a notebook with all the tips to get things done in time. Thought he gave you a copy when Gibbs was putting his head back together.'

'As if I would follow any of Tony's advice!' McGee shook his head like the comment was stupid. 'I threw it out. I'm looking for something official, not how to woo the ladies in Accounting.'

McGee didn't notice the cold look from the seated agent, or the few heads turning toward him after the comment. Taylor took a deep breath, like making sure of a decision he reached. Pulling open a drawer at his desk, he picked up a flash drive, throwing it towards McGee, who fumbled a bit to get hold of the small piece of tech.

'I have the original policy and templates from when I made Balboa's SFA, a couple of years ago. You will need to check that this is up to date. Haven't looked into it for a while.'

'Thanks, Taylor,' McGee threw over his shoulder, already walking back to the MCRT side of the bullpen.

'Didn't think you would help him,' came the comment from the other agent on Balboa's team, Mick Andrews.

Taylor kept looking at McGee swaggering back to Tony's desk, well, now McGee's desk, like he owned the world. 'Oh, I'm helping him alright. Helping him see the error of his ways.'

'I don't want to know,' came their boss's comment. Balboa leaned a bit over the desk to look into his 2IC's eyes. 'Don't get caught.'

Taylor smiled widely, leaning back on his chair, imitating DiNozzo's flair. 'As if I would ever.'

Gibbs entered MCRT's area of the bullpen and went directly to his desk, ignoring the other two in the area. He didn't have the time to sit though, since his phone rang right way. After a short, mumbled conversation, Gibbs made some notes, while opening a drawer to pick up his creds and side-arm.

'Body! Grab your gear!' He threw the note towards the new SFA. 'McGee, pass the address to Ducky!' He walked quickly to the lift.

Ziva was behind Gibbs in seconds, the backpack firmly secured on one shoulder.

McGee had to bend down to pick up the note, acutely aware how Tony was always able to catch whatever Gibbs threw at him. He took a bit more time to pick up his backpack, gun, and credentials since he hadn't transferred all his belongings to the new desk and had to run towards the lift after the shouted 'McGee!', just to have to face the smirk on Ziva's face.

The trip to the base housing was made at Gibbs's normal speed. McGee tried to balance his laptop while typing. Not an easy task with Gibbs's driving style. He barely had time to connect the flash drive Taylor gave him when Gibbs came down from the Director's office and now McGee wanted to be sure to have the files he needed in his computer before having to talk to Gibbs about how he could improve the reporting for the team, and maybe the agency. He also wanted to volunteer for one of the shows in the DoD/DoJ PR campaign, the gaming show "Point & Shoot". He was a fan and thought he could shine there. It was a shame not all shows were available at the same time, or he would have done this yesterday after he "volunteered" DiNozzo for the baking show.

The car stopped suddenly, and the laptop almost flew out of McGee's hands. The little flash drive came loose and disappeared on the floor of the car. Gibbs pressed the top of the laptop, closing it forcefully, barely missing McGee's fingers.

'We have work to do, McGee, leave your games for your free time!'

'Boss! I was trying to start the search…'

'I don't care! We don't carry computers on the field! Want to use that fancy laptop next time we go training for shooting evals?!'

'No, Boss,' McGee said quietly, quickly stowing the laptop in his backpack, trying hard to ignore Ziva's sniggers.

'You certainly would be able to hit such a big target, McGee,' Ziva's comment was pure malice.

'Get to work you two! Ziva, bag, and tag! McGee, sketches, and photos! I want to finish today!' Gibbs shouted and walked to talk with Ducky who was just getting out of the NCIS van, a few meters behind their car.

A ping distracted Taylor from his cold case file, and he turned toward his computer. A smile spread on his face when he saw the pop-up window showing the connection with McGee's laptop. Taylor checked with Dispatch where Team Gibbs was heading to have an idea of how long he had to implement his plan. He started typing right way and entered all the necessary information before selecting the specific option he thought would work best. Chances were that McGee would never make it to the show. He would certainly run to Vance to complain, and the director would save his golden boy from the unwanted task. Taylor made sure that Rita had already submitted her application for Point & Shoot this morning as soon as the option appeared on the DoD/DoJ PR campaign webpage. He only wanted to rain on McGee's parade, not spoil anybody else's chances. Most people who would volunteer for the show he'd chosen were too timid to be on TV, so he didn't feel too guilty using the spot.

After making sure everything was correct, Taylor took the time to clean up his access to McGee's laptop, not leaving anything behind that could come back to bite him in the ass. The flash drive was the only risk really, but the little worm should have auto-deleted as soon as McGee took it out from his computer. Now was a waiting game until McSpoiled went complaining to the director.

Team Gibbs trotted back into the bullpen with angry and disappointed faces. Vance seemed to be waiting for their arrival because he immediately came downstairs.

'Gibbs, sit rep?'

Gibbs barely looked at the director while storing his gun and creds back in his desk.

'A bust!' A civilian using surplus pieces. It wasn't even the correct uniform. The cops didn't check for dog tags. They took one look at what seemed to be a navy uniform and called us.' He sat with a thump. 'I gave the case back to Metro.'

'Well, at least they called us first,' Vance commented.

'Such a loss of time!' Ziva said while still standing close to her desk, without putting down her backpack. 'Cops are so incompetent.'

'At least there was no DiNozzo to make improper comments,' McGee inserted while going back to moving his stuff from his old to his new desk.

Gibbs stood up still upset, but Ziva interrupted before he could say anything.

'I will go out for lunch, Gibbs, is it okay?'

He nodded curtly, following her with suspicion in his eyes until she disappeared into the lift.

'Agent McGee…'

The young man stopped what he was doing to turn toward the director. 'Yes, sir?'

'Did you volunteer for a show in this PR campaign?'

McGee blushed under Gibbs and Vance's scrutiny.

'Ah, yes, sir, Director,' he gulped. 'Point & Shoot, a gamers' show that I thought would a good way to attract more technically minded people to the agency.'

Gibbs snorted at the obviously rehearsed answer and sat back at his desk.

'Point & Shoot?' Vance looked at a printed paper he had in his hands. 'No, your application is for "Pet World". I didn't know you were interested in pets.'

'What?!' McGee paled. He had seen Pet World once when visiting his sister. It was his worst nightmare to be surrounded by dogs, cats, and ferrets. McGee turned to his laptop and logged in again to find the webpage of the DoD/DoJ campaign showing as timed out.

'No, sir! I would never go for that! Someone messed up my application!' He raised his head to look around the bullpen where almost everyone was listening in, without even pretending otherwise. 'This is about DiNozzo?!' He asked in an exasperated tone.

Vance looked around, seeing the glee on the other agents' faces, finally reading the room. He cleared his throat and got more upset when he saw Gibbs holding back his laugh, leaning back in his chair.

'Let's go to my office and try to solve this issue, McGee,'

There was a collective sound of disappointment through the room. Everybody wanted to know how the Director was going to deal with it.

'I will ask IA to check if someone hacked your computer and changed your application,' Vance said while starting to climb the stairs back to his office.

Gibbs didn't control his snort this time, still looking at the scene with unashamed pleasure. The rest of the agents looked more disgusted with the proposition.

McGee followed like an excited puppy, saying, 'My password is really strong, Director. Nobody here could break into my computer.' He took a breath. 'Maybe Abby could,' he conceded. 'DiNozzo certainly doesn't have the capacity and I doubt he knows anyone who can,' he completed.

Vance's response was to quicken his steps and soon the two men disappeared into the Director's office.

Balboa approached Gibbs' desk. 'You aren't worried?'

Gibbs snorted again 'How did Vance put it yesterday? "If you dish, you should take it"'.

Balboa nodded in agreement in agreement and put down a paper onto the other man's desk.

'The old crowd is meeting this afternoon to coordinate our contribution to Toys for Tots. No tv show for us.'

Gibbs agreed promptly. 'They couldn't drag me into one of those.' He picked up the paper with information about the time and reason for the meeting in a well-known sports bar close to the Navy Yard. 'I could use some ideas for new toys to make.'

Balboa tapped the top of the desk. 'See you there.'

'So, you didn't find anything?' Vance asked in confirmation.

The agent sited by his desk and shook his head in denial. 'I checked his laptop, desktop, phone, and tablet. Couldn't find anything. McGee said he was doing the application while on route to the crime scene,' Alex Bayley shrugged his shoulders in a dismissive way. 'He probably selected the wrong shows. You know how Gibbs drives.'

Vance nodded in acceptance. 'So, not an act of retaliation?' He asked, again looking for confirmation.

'Nope, just his own mistake,' Alex answered. He took a deep breath and looked toward the Director. Vance made a hand movement, inviting the other man to say whatever was on his mind.

'With your request that IA investigated McGee's application, you practically broadcast that he was the one to enrol DiNozzo into that baking show and that you approved of it.'

Vance put a toothpick he was holding in his mouth, not answering.

'Bad form, Leon. Agents saw it as more than blatant favouritism. They think they can't trust you.'

'Nonsense!' the Director contradicted the comment. 'DiNozzo was always pranking people. The stories are all over the agency, not only the DC office.'

'Yes,' the other man accepted. 'And everybody always laughed it out. Including Gibbs. McGee never made a complaint about it, besides whining by his desk. And DiNozzo was not the only one to choose jokes as a stress reliever around here, or in any law enforcement place.'

'I don't get what all the fuss is. McGee is an important member of MCRT, and I just want to be sure nothing more sinister happened.'

Alex stood up. 'You really should read the agents' jackets and reports with HR, Leon. You're barking up the wrong tree here. The scuttlebutt going on around here says you already missed the train. Bad show after Shepard.' He walked towards the door.

'Alex, what's that supposed to mean?' Vance stood up behind his desk, leaning over it a bit, half in query, half for intimidation.

'Like I said, learn about your agents before trying to funk them up,' and he walked out of the office, closing the door silently behind himself.

Vance sat back, toothpick in his mouth, not happy with the comment and how close it was to the conversation he had with Gibbs in the morning. But he didn't have much time to stew on it because a sharp knock on his door brought in Agent Rita Zamora, whom he requested to see before IA gave him the result of the investigation on McGee's computer and the messed-up application. Now he was not so sure this was a conversation he wanted to have.

'Asking me to give up my place on Point & Shoot because he made a mistake is the request of a spoiled child. If you decide to override me on this, Director, or I'll make a discrimination complaint. If he really didn't want to do the show, take him out of it and offer the spot to someone who would enjoy it, like Jimmy Palmer or Jennifer Owen. He used to work with a vet and she's animal crazy. It would look really good to have more female agents out there, especially on this PR campaign.' Rita nodded to Vance, did a perfect turnabout, and walked out of the Director's office without waiting for his permission or further comment.

They had barely four hours of sleep between their travel from DC to San Francisco and the scheduled meeting with the Baking Battle show production. Not a big problem for Tony since he was used to the long hours of Team Gibbs style of work during cases, but Delores was grumpy, a bit muddle-headed, and holding to a black coffee cup like her life depended on it. Tony smiled but kept his comments to himself, preferring to guide the sleep-deprived woman around, trying to avoid accidents or bad impressions.

By the time the meeting started with the show's producers and the DoD representative, Delores Bromstead was at least cognisant after 2 cups of black coffee.

'Oh, my, Agent DiNozzo!' Former Army Captain Daniel Hill, the public relations liaison for the DoD, exclaimed. 'You can't be on the show with these injuries!'

'Hey, calm down, man,' one of the producers, Carl Sanders, said in a pensive tone. 'Actually, if we wait a couple of days and do a light makeup, it would be really cool. Show that the good guys get hurt too. Bring in some sympathy.'

'I like that!' The woman, executive-producer Janelle Foster, said. 'Yes, make it real. Too many of these agents, police officers, and firefighters are too good looking! We are not doing a calendar here. Not that wouldn't be a good idea. But a bit messed up would be more real and certainly bring some sympathy.'

'I live to serve,' Tony answered in a slightly sarcastic way.

The producers laughed, Daniel Hill shrugged, a bit uncertain, but Delores lightly tapped one of Tony's knees. 'Behave, you. But they are right. It will gather sympathy and since this whole thing is part for charity, part for good publicity, we can use all the help we can get.'

Tony nodded in acceptance and the group went on to discuss how the whole recording would happen, reserve the days for Tony and Delores to be present and schedule some interviews. Daniel Hill had a list of approved charities that each pair of participants could support to bring in donations. Some on the list were already selected by people that arrived before them, but Tony and Delores were thrilled to be able to select the Gary Sinise Foundation as their preferred charity. During the trip, they talked and made a list of charity options and the GSF was the top one. They thought they never would be able to pick it, but it seemed that a couple of other contestants that came through so far gave preference to closer to home charities, local to their areas. Since NCIS cover the entire country and even overseas, an all-encompassing charity seemed to fit well.

Since the final decision was that Tony and Delores would have their first baking battle recorded in two days, giving Tony's face a bit more time to heal, they left the studio early afternoon and decided they would have an early dinner and night. For the next two days, they would be on the Monterey RU and be back in San Francisco the night before the recording.

On the first full day in San Francisco, they drove down to the Monterey RU office to see how DiNozzo's TAD assignment would go and to offer Delores some secure connections to work with.

The conversation with the agents went so well that Tony was invited to use their first names in the first half-hour. He quickly reciprocated and the first request for help was an online meeting with a couple of agents afloat that were looking for guidance but didn't want to contact the Agent in Charge of the San Diego office, trying not to show their inexperience. The team leader, Agent Doug Phillips, had served as agent afloat for 3 years before being promoted to lead the Monterey RU a couple of years ago, and he was always available to help other agents with it. Tony thought it was a great idea and would also put his much more recent experience to the test.

Phillips and DiNozzo were in a small, secured office, computer on, waiting for the agents afloat to make contact when an unexpected call connected.

Tony wanted to face-palmed when he heard the shrilled 'Tony!' coming from the screen. Abby was probably monitoring his phone and his login to find him here.

'Abby, this is not…'

'Don't Abby me, mister! You travelled without talking to me! Now McGee is all upset about this PR campaign! The IA had the audacity to ask if I had hacked it to put McGee's name down…'

'Abby!' Tony shouted to stop the goth mid-rant. 'I have no idea what you are talking about. I left a message because I didn't have much time before travelling. But now is not the time to discuss that, we are waiting for a meeting…'

'Make the time, DiNozzo! People are making fun of Timmy and I know you had something to do with it!'

Tony rubbed his brow, upset that all the drama from the DC Office and Team Gibbs was following him around. Before he could say anything else, Agent Phillips came to his rescue.

'Ms Sciuto, we have a scheduled meeting with two other agents, and you are interfering. I will give you 5 minutes to settle this, then I will cut the connection. This conversation doesn't seem to be work-related, so deal with it outside of work hours.'

'And who are you?!' Came the rude question from Abby.

Phillips's face lost any sympathy, and his naval officer training came to the front. 'Agent Phillips, team leader of Monterey RU. You just lost a minute of your time, Ms Sciuto.'

'You can't just…'

'Abby!' Tony interrupted, really done with the drama. 'I arrived at 4 am yesterday. I had a meeting with the show producers from 11 am to 2 pm. Delores and I walked around a bit, had an early dinner, and went back to the hotel to sleep. We left San Francisco at 7 am today to come to Monterey. I don't know what happened in DC, or with McGee, and I really don't care. I have work to do.' And with that, he cut the connection.

'Sorry, Doug…'

The other agent raised a hand to interrupt his apology. 'You need to stop apologizing for other people's attitudes, Tony. You didn't ask for her to call or blame you for whatever is happening in DC.'

'I'm always the scapegoat…' Tony whispered.

'That better stop right here and now, then.'

'Yep, on my list of things to do,' Tony joked.

Before Agent Phillips could comment, the computer beeped and a new connection came in, now with the two agents they were expecting.

In the end, the two days at Monterey RU were very productive for Tony and Delores.

Tony helped the two-man team to close an investigation, being the one to make the final arrest and get a confession from a midshipman who went AWOL after stealing from his teammates. Maybe nothing big or newsworthy but satisfying nonetheless. Tony also started working on some cold cases, just to offer fresh eyes on them. The conversation with the agents afloat on the first day bore fruit, with a couple of others contacting the RU looking for support and sometimes, just some conversation. Tony even had some time to catch up with Stan Burley, still afloat but with a wedding planned. DiNozzo warned him about Vance's plots, less because he was worried about the other agent's chances of getting caught in them, but more to prevent him from being pulled into something without full knowledge of the DC office landscape.

Delores was upset at the beginning after seeing the messages and information sent by her assistant, Beverly, on Director Vance's orders to promote McGee and that DiNozzo would be transferred out of DC no matter what. But Tony said he already expected it, he even warned Gibbs about the director's machinations, so no real surprise there. This only helped him to make the changes he knew he need to make but was always postponing. Like he told Agent Phillips, he was not going to be their scapegoat anymore.

They worked together to organize Tony's move away from the agency but tied it in with the filming of the show to include his 2-weeks notice. If everything worked out as planned, Tony would give NCIS and Vance his goodbye before the director could try to boot him out. It's the small things, after all.