A/N: To my newest followers/favourites, welcome! So glad to have you join us on this ride! To my reviewers, you all rock! I love hearing your thoughts & comments, they spur to me to write more!

To answer my guest Reviewers

Sharon: So glad you're loving this! Shannon does wear the pants, for certain aspects of family life that is, Gibbs though rules the roost when it comes to protecting them all! Kelly making a comment about the Palmer's baby V hers & Tim's, well ... yea, that may come up at some point :)

Guest: I'm glad you're enjoying this! I think Tim would think that bypassing Gibbs with the asking 'permission' might be a bad idea, with the idea of eloping being suicidal! lol. As for calling them Shannon, I seem to think that it's not her insisting on that stipulation, me thinks it a certain Silver Haired gentleman... that'll change though. As for Gibbs & Kelly getting Tim back for the surprise, it'll be fun, not bad, so don't worry!

Let's see what comes from the 'bowl off' night?...

"NCIS personnel only! No dependants!" came a call.

Gibbs & his family had just walked into the bowling alley when he heard the call & looked over, it was Dr Brine "Harm" he greeted shaking hands.

"Jethro" Brine greeted "personnel only, no dependants, they're the rules" he'd heard that Gibbs, DiNozzo & his team were taking Duncan's team place in the bowl off.

Gibbs had to smile "still annoyed you lost out to my wife?"

Brine smirked back "I wasn't the only one, and it wasn't just her!"

"Why Harmon, I'm glad you remember" Shannon smiled approaching.

"How could I forget? My ego & my sons ego's took a great beating the night we went up against you & your family" Brine replied.

Gibbs smiled, his dad just joined them "Dr Harmon Brine, this is my father, Jackson Gibbs. Dad, this is Doctor Harmon Brine, our neighbour & the head doctor at the base hospital"

"Dr Brine" Jack greeted, this man was as tall as his son, but with black hair & a slim but solid build.

"Call me Harm & it's a great pleasure to meet you too Mr Gibbs" Brine replied.

Shannon smiled, but a sound caught her attention, Tony was coughing not too far away, she moved closer "are you ok Tony?"

"Fine, something stuck in my throat" Tony replied.

Shannon just eyed him "and I'd agree, but you've been coughing off & on all day"

Tony wanted to disagree, but he couldn't.

"Jimmy" Shannon called, they'd just arrived.

"Hi" Jimmy greeted.

Shannon smiled "Tony's been coughing all day, could I trouble you to check him out tomorrow?"

"Honestly, it's just a little cough, I'm fine" Tony insisted.

"Anthony, you have to be careful, especially with your scared lungs, we aren't taking chances" Shannon replied giving him a good stare.

"Of course I can check you Tony, you should have come to me earlier" Jimmy said, giving him his own stare. Their health was now his responsibility, it was something Ducky had drummed into him & a responsibility that he took seriously.

"If you like you can come into the hospital, I'm on shift from 08:00" Brine offered as they came closer.

"Honestly doc's..." Tony tried.

Shannon's stare stopped his sentence dead in his tracks "Actually, I think that's a good idea, full check up"

Tony's eyes widened in shock "I don't need.."

"Smile & nod DiNozzo" Gibbs suggested "or I'll head-slap you right here & we can go straight to the hospital now"

"Boss" Tony tried, except he was taken by another brief coughing attack.

"I rest my case" Shannon stated.

Tony just nodded in defeat, he was seriously not liking having to submit for a full check up, or having to get up early on a Sunday, but knowing how much he was cared for gave him a warm & fuzzy feeling. Just like he considered Gibbs like his dad, Shannon was definitely like his mum, but not just his, all of them, Ziva, Tim, even Breena & Jimmy could feel the real family vibe they had going on.

"Good" Shannon smiled "Now though you boys need to get moving & restore some NCIS bowling pride. The NATO team have been winning far too often from what I hear"

Jimmy grinned "we're tough to beat"

Tony looked up, that was a challenge he'd accept "you're going down Palmer!"

"Bring it on DiNozzo" Jimmy replied.

Gibbs took his stance to bowl.

"Don't concentrate too hard Gibbs!" Brine commented.

"Go for it boss!" came a call from Wu.

"any time now Gibbs" came a call, Gibbs knew who that was from, Commander Marks.

Jack just watched his son, it was quite something this whole scene, he knew his son had never been one to mix in the work social scene before, he was always too caught up in shutting himself away from the world, so to see him mixing & participating in such an event was heart warming, he couldn't help but think how much his Anne would have loved this.

"Come on dad!" Nix egged him on.

Taking a deep breath, Gibbs aimed & sailed the ball down the alley, he watched it & grinned.

"Damn!" Brine groaned.

"Typical" Marks commented..

"Nice boss!" Wu exclaimed.

"Yeaa!" came the call from Jonas.

"Nice strike Boss" Tim remarked, it was great strike.

"That's showing 'em dad!" Nix grinned.

Gibbs nodded, but his eyes fell to the their baby, their probie agent "Zuse"

Zuse swallowed as he stood "sirrr...boss" he corrected, this guy was still un-nerving him.

"No pressure, but you don't get at least a spare & the Fleet & Hospital teams can over take us for second spot, we need to hold it & push it to catch the NATO dweebs, so a strike is preferable" Gibbs finished sternly.

"Who you calling a dweeb?" Silvano asked with a smirk, he was the Head of the NATO ME team.

Gibbs looked him squarely in the eyes & smirked "you Silverado" the pair of them stood side by side as they watched Zuse. Gibbs was enjoying himself, he'd have to make sure they'd come to more of these 'bowl offs'

Silvano smiled, Zuse had only gotten 2 pins "don't think I've got anything to worry about"

Gibbs was annoyed, his gaze settled on Tony "DiNozzo!" he barked, putting him on the roster had been his idea.

Tony promptly went over to Zuse "you said you knew how to bowl Zuse"

"I do sir" Zuse replied, he'd already been told by Silva that Gibbs was to be called 'boss' & Tony was to be called 'sir', "I was VC of my college team"

"Then what the hell was that?" Tony asked.

Zuse flashed a look at Gibbs "he... unsettled me sir"

Tony couldn't contain the grin "He's Gibbs, of course he unsettled you, but you're in NCIS now for the long haul, so you're gonna have to get used to it, better you get used to it now, than have it drag out"

"how?" Zuse asked.

"Easy" Tony replied "you remember being taught how to use the fear to your advantage at FLETC? yea?" he waited for the nod "then use the fear of being chewed out to prevent you doing anything other than getting the required spare"

Zuse nodded "i can try"

"Don't try" Tony disagreed "do, cause you don't get the spare & Gibbs will pull you from the roster & that wont be pretty"

"right" Zuse nodded again.

Tony went back to his seat next to Tim "if he can't do this, I'm screwed" he admitted to his partner.

Tim smiled "putting him on roster was your idea sir" he finished with a smirk.

Tony Gibbs slapped him "don't you start"

Tim just grinned, he knew the 'sir' thing was annoying him, but it wasn't going to change.

Brine & Marks shared a look before looking at Gibbs who was still standing with Silvano.

"You condone that?" Brine asked.

Gibbs tried to hide the smile, he knew what they were referring to, the head-slap "can be a useful technique"

Zuse took up position, he couldn't believe that he was this nervous, he expected to be nervous around the higher ups, but he wasn't expecting the first time for it to happen in this kind of environment & so soon, but there were so many of the 'higher ups' here it was a little frightening. He push all the negative energy down, he could do this, he had to do this, he wouldn't let the team, his boss & his boss's boss down.

Tony watched & let out a sigh of relief "Nice bowl probie!" he gotten the spare.

Zuse smiled in relief "thank you sir"

"Not bad probie" Tim agreed.

"Thanks Agent McGee" Zuse replied.

"Adequate probie" Gibbs said pushing himself forward "next time, I expect that on your first bowl, not second"

Zuse swallowed "yes boss"

Tony & McGee came up to him.

"High praise from Caesar, you should feel honoured" Tony remarked as he watched Gibbs retreat to where Shannon & Jack were.

"That was high praise?" Zuse asked.

Tim nodded "yeap, sure was, you should feel honoured. We never got that when we had just started, but he has mellowed somewhat"

Zuse looked at him, he kinda remembered Gibbs being a hard-arse, but that exactly how he saw him now, this was mellowed? Oh boy!

Kelly approached the bar & smiled at the bar tender "Ciao , posso tenere a portata di 4 birre , 2 limone e Amari , 2 vodka e arancia & 2 cole" (Hi, can i please have 4 beers, 2 lemon lime & bitters, 2 vodka & oranges & 2 colas), she was getting the latest round for everyone.

The bar tender smiled "Si"

Kelly turned to look back to the alleys, Jimmy & Tim were now bowling, along with the girls on the fleet & hospital teams, she didn't know their names, Donnelly was bowling on the second NCIS lane, alongside the 2nd rep's for the NATO & Navy teams. She saw Lt Gomez approach her, he was with JAG & didn't really think all that much of his abilities in the court room, she also knew just how much of a player he was.

"Good Evening Kelly" Lt Gomez smiled.

"Lieutenant Gomez" Kelly replied, this guy was full of himself & definitely a try hard, the clothes he was wearing, tight jeans, silk shirt, looked more fitting for a night club than the bowling alley.

"Off duty, call me Diego" Gomez offered.

"Don't think so" Kelly replied.

"You still annoyed about court the other day?" Gomez asked.

Kelly eyed him "why would I be annoyed? I won, you lost"

"Cause the case was wrapped so fast we barely got a chance to spar, think you're disappointed at that" Gomez replied with half a smile.

"Think I live with the disappointment" Kelly replied dryly.

"Maybe we can do a different kind of sparing, can I buy you a drink?" Gomez tried, again with that half smile.

Tony noticed that Kelly was at the bar & had company, he looked Mediterranean, dark hair, olive skin, medium height, but he saw she wasn't impressed with what he was saying, with Tim tied up & not wanting to involve Gibbs just yet, he headed over "need a hand with the drinks Kells" he said, making sure to place himself close behind her.

Kelly looked over shoulder "thanks, they're just being made"

"So that's a no?" Gomez asked, he was new in Naples & didn't know all the players, he wondered who this guy was "this your boyfriend?"

"That's a no to your suggestion" Kelly affirmed "as for who he is, that's none of your business"

"I could make it very worth your while, I'm told that quite often you know" Gomez said wriggling his eyebrows.

"Yea? Are you also told to take a hike often too? Cause that's what I'm telling you, take a hike!" Kelly asserted.

Tony just stared at the guy, it was obvious to him where this guy wanted to take things.

Gomez realised he wasn't going to get anywhere, holding his hands up he backed up & left the pair.

Kelly rolled her eyes & turned back to Tony "Thanks, but I had it covered"

"No sweat, I'm sure you did, I was just thirsty" Tony grinned.

"Sure you were Tony" Kelly laughed, not even a year ago she only had one over-protective male in her life, now she had more than she could count.

Gibbs & Shannon were talking with Commander Evans, the lady was in charge over at the Sixth Fleet JAG offices, when Kelly & Tony brought the drinks back & handed them all out.

Kelly gave Silva her drink "watch out for that prick" he said motioning to Gomez half a dozen lanes down "not pretty"

Silva shared a look "Looks that way, thanks for the tip"

Shannon saw her daughter approach, she'd seen her & Silva looking down the alley to some guy "who's the guy"

Kelly flashed a look at Evans & then down to Gomez.

Evans followed her gaze, Gomez! Crap! He'd been sent to Naples to try to be put on the straight & narrow "Don't tell me"

"Sorry Commander, but that guy needs straightening out" Kelly replied.

Gibbs tensed "what did he do?"

Evans gave an internal moan, of all the people for Gomez to try something with, it had to be Kelly Gibbs, the daughter of the man in command of NCIS investigative operations for all of Europe & Africa... yea, he screwed the pooch!

"He just... tried to ask me out" Kelly put it as nicely as possible, then she saw Tim walking purposely towards Gomez, Tony was flashing concerned looks to her, she headed for them.

Kelly caught Tim before he got to the man "leave it Tim"

"He!" Tim protested, he'd seen them talking & got Tony to spill his guts, he needed to do something.

"He got the message, let it go" Kelly tried, she then saw her dad bursting past her "Dad!"

"Jethro!" Shannon called, finally being able to grab him.

"That prick..." Gibbs started.

"Will be dealt with Gibbs, I assure you" Evans interrupted.

"What's going on?" Nix asked, him & his grandfather had been in the arcade area having a game of pool, he saw how tense his dad, Tim & Tony were.

"Let me handle this" Evan added.

"No" Gibbs stated & walked past them, Tim was right on his heels, Nix wasn't sure what was going on but what ever it was, he'd back his dad & Tim up, so he went too.

Tony followed, he saw Jimmy & a few others watching, this wasn't going to end well.

"Hey!" Gibbs barked.

Gomez turned around, he was in conversation with Colonel Marks & his aide "can I help you?"

Gibbs gave him a good glare "stay away from my daughter"

Gomez saw Kelly standing not too far from him "you're Kelly's father? Hmm, interesting, but all I did was ask her out"

"I doubt that" Gibbs retorted.

"Lieutenant Gomez, we are leaving, now" Evans asserted, she needed to diffuse the situation.

Marks looked between everyone "is there something I should know?" one area of the sixth fleet he oversaw was the JAG core.

"No" Evans stated.

"Yes" Gibbs stated.

Marks saw the looks on not only Gibbs's face, but McGee's & Tony's "Commander, take the Lieutenant now, I expect to see both of you at 07:00 Monday morning, my office."

"Sir, I can handle this" Evans tried.

"Given the situation the Lieutenant has brought upon us all, no, I will handle it" Marks asserted, He had an idea as to what was going on, Gomez's file was one he read carefully, he knew the man had been set from HQ in DC to try to get himself straightened out on some of his 'behavioural issues'. It was obvious he had to do something, or Gibbs would & that wouldn't be pretty.

Marks turned to Gomez, using his 6"2 solid frame he brought himself to full height, he could be damn intimidating when he had to be & needed to drive this point home "you Lieutenant are damn lucky that I am here right now, otherwise I have no doubt that NCIS Deputy Special Assistant Director Gibbs will be mopping the floor with your ass!"

Gomez's eyes widened, Kelly's father was who?

Marks saw Gibbs was still teetering on the brink "Commander get your man out of here & counsel him on the proper way to behave"

"Yes sir" Evans answered "Move Lieutenant, now!"

Gomez followed Evans, now realising he picked the wrong girl, he'd have get a better lay of the land before trying again.

Tim put himself in Gomez's path & stared until they made eye contact "stay away from her!"

Gomez saw the threatening nature of his stare, guess Kelly was taken, but the guy wasn't alone, there was a younger redhead guy, that guy from the bar & another guy with glasses, all were giving him a good threatening glare. "My mistake, didn't know she was taken" he said holding his hands up, before leaving.

Evans took the Lt towards her car "Congratulations Lieutenant, within 10 minutes of being here, you've managed to piss off the entire NCIS EUFO command, the NATO ME team, Base Hospital senior staff, the largest private law firm we deal with in Naples, Colonel Marks and me! That really is something!" The conversation had basically been watched by everyone & she'd seen numerous people, including Dr Brine & Dr Silvano, Agents Wu & Donnelly all move closer in case anything transpired.

"He'll be dealt with, I assure you" Marks commented, looking between everyone. He knew that Gibbs was protective of his family, he knew the story, most senior officers in Naples knew. What he didn't realise was how protective the rest of them were, they'd all basically jumped up to defend instantly, Palmer had crossed the alleys so fast it wasn't funny.

Gibbs was still tense, how dare that prick!

Brine had kept some distance, but like Marks he knew how protective Gibbs was, being neighbours with the Gibbs's had given them a great insight into their family dynamic, which to a random off the street would seem strange, what with the adult children still living at home & all their interactions, but given their experiences, he considered it natural.

Kelly could see how tense they all were, Tim looked ready to strangle something, or someone "come on Tim, let's go grab some fresh air" she said taking his hand, her mum could deal with dad.

Tim wanted to punch the guy, however he let himself be pulled towards the roof top balcony.

Marks came closer to Gibbs "I'll deal with him, I promise you Jethro"

"Thank you Ian" Shannon replied, she had to admit, she was wanting to give that guy a piece of her mind "come on, we can't let that guy ruin our night" she commented to her husband, when he turned to look at her she continued "Kells said she's fine, so relax, please" she asked, she looked between the others "all of you, let's get back to the bowling"

Tony, Jimmy, Nix all nodded & headed back towards their lanes, none we're all that relaxed.

"I see that asshole, he's gonna meet my fist" Nix commented tensely.

Jimmy looked over "not your fist, might leave trace evidence, use your boot, then you can throw it away" he smirked.

Tony looked at Jimmy a little surprised, being over here had certainly brought his confidence out to a whole new level & he saw how much he considered everyone family "Palmer, that's one smart idea"

Nix smirked "sounds good to me"

"He!" Tim vented, he was pissed off.

"He was dealt with" Kelly replied calmly.

Kelly just watched him pace, and pace, and pace.

"Tim... Tim" Kelly said, but he wasn't hearing her "Timothy!" she said a little louder.

Tim stopped his pacing & looked to her.

"He asked me out, none too politely I admit, but I told him where to go. It's not the first time a guy's propositioned me & it probably wont be the last, I know how to deal with it. Nothing would have happened & besides, Tony came charging in to make sure, think the quota of overprotective males in my life has reached it's peak" Kelly said, she'd dealt with plenty of his kind of guys.

Tim had to smile at that, they certainly protected their own, he let out a sigh as he pulled her close "I know, I just hate that it happened, you shouldn't have to deal with those kind of guys, they give the rest of us a bad name." he also wished, it had been him to have seen what was going down & went to stop it himself, but was glad Tony had seen it.

"He could never give you a bad name, not in a million years" Kelly replied.

Tim just held her from behind as they looked out over the the city, they could see the port, the city really was pretty at night "he should have ended up on the floor" he whispered.

Kelly had been looking out over the port, but something in the car park had caught her attention, oh my! "ahh, he did!" she watched... "oh my g-d, gramps!"

Tim looked down, with the lighting in the car park on, they could see it clearly, Gomez was on the ground & Jack was walking away, holy crap!

"We have to go inside!" Kelly said, as they rushed back inside.

Tim saw that Gibbs was still up the back with Shannon, obviously still stressed.

Kelly saw her parents & coming towards them from the opposite way was her grandfather "Gramps!"

Jack looked at his granddaughter "yes Kelly?"

"What did you do?" Kelly asked.

"Me?" Jack asked

"yes you, what did you just do?" Kelly asked again.

"Nothing" Jack replied, he saw her just eyeing him "I merely conducted an introduction for the Lieutenant, he hadn't had the chance to meet the pavements of Naples, so I obliged"

Shannon's eyes widened "Jack!"

Gibbs smirked & nodded in gratitude & thanks "good work dad, I'll get you a drink" he turned to Tim "come on Tim, we owe my dad a drink"

Tim smirked "sounds about right"

Jack went up to Kelly "my dear, that man needed some sense knocked into him, I merely assisted" he certainly didn't like what he had done, and was glad to have gone unseen as he followed the man.

Kelly just smiled "guess dad has to get it from somewhere"

Jack grinned "and I'm proud of it"

Things had eventually settled down & Kelly was now sitting along one of the bar areas, which was just above the lanes, she was watching on with Breena & Silva.

"I think you should go for the black & blue one, it looks jazzy" Silva suggested.

"You don't think it's a bad idea?" Breena asked.

"No Breena, he obviously enjoys bowling, so I think getting him a ball would be make for a great part of his Christmas present" Kelly replied, she turned to Silva "So Shaz, thought about what you're going to get Chris?"

Silva smiled, she actually really liked these girls, they weren't stuck up at all, like most American girls she'd previously met that were either lawyers like Kelly or ones that like Breena came from a well to do family. They were both just regular girls that liked a bit of fun "I have to say, no. It'll be our first Christmas together, I hope, so the pressure is on" Chris was in the marines, but had christmas off, and was planning a visit if nothing came up.

Kelly smiled, it was shaping up to be a special Christmas for a lot of them "know what you mean"

"Do you know what you're getting Tim" Silva asked.

"Have a few ideas, but I'm still looking for that really special thing" Kelly replied, she knew what some of the presents would be, but hadn't worked out the big one yet.

"I'm sure you'll come up with something" Breena replied, she saw Nix "looks like your brother is ready to go"

Kelly turned & saw Nix, he had changed into his team tracksuit & was heading towards her "you off?"

Nix didn't sit, but motioned her away, as they went to a more private part of the alley he started "yea, I'm going"

Kelly watched him "relax huh? You've been working really hard, this is the pay off, just consider it a game like when you first made varsity"

"I was nervous then too!" Nix retorted.

Kelly smiled "I know, but you got past the nerves didn't you?"

"yea" Nix agreed "but what if..."

"What if what?" Kelly asked.

"What if..." Nix started, he took a deep breath "what if I don't make it onto the pitch, there's so many people coming"

"Listen to me Phoenix" Kelly stated "You making the bench after being here only 2.5 months is an achievement in itself, it's a massive step. Don't worry if you don't make it onto the pitch or not, no one coming will be disappointed if you don't, we're all there to support you & this is a step up, people want to be apart of that. Just focus on what you can control, and that is you, get a good night sleep, focus on the game plan & just make sure you're ready, so if you do get called onto the pitch you're ready to give it your all, ok?"

"Yea, thanks Kells" Nix smiled, yea he had his folks, but they still relied on each other for a lot.

"No worries, go say bye to everyone" Kelly replied.

Kelly watched as her brother said bye to their parents, to their grandfather & various other people, she wondered what tomorrow would bring, she hoped that he could get the nerves under control. She also prayed that he'd be given the chance to make the pitch, that would be fantastic!

A/N: Well that was an interesting night? Wasn't it just? Think that Lt Gomez was lucky to get away with only one decking! But good on Jack for sneaking out! Think Gibbs was taking the bowl off pretty seriously though, and who ended up winning it?

But with a new chapter brings a new day & Tony's got not only a doctor's appointment but a certain Israeli to pick up & then there's the small matter of the game! How will it all go? How will Tony & Nix cope with it all? You'll have to wait to find out!

The next chapter will be a few days away, still working on it, but remember I love hearing your thoughts, so review away!