A/N: To all my newest followers & favourites welcome aboard! To my reviewers, thank you so much, I really love hearing your thoughts & they spur me to keep writing, so keep them coming!

To Guest Reviewer 1: Regarding the xmas presents, you'll just have to stay tuned.. no hints, sorry!

To Guest Reviewer Sharon: I'm so glad you're loving this story so much! Yes, Tim & Gibbs are getting closer. And I'll refer to the above comment regarding xmas - nice ideas, but there are no hints as to what shall come..

Now, let's see what the Doc's say for Tony... and how will that game go for Nix, warning, there is foul language in this chapter!

Tony sat in one of the patient rooms, he'd already had an x-ray & various other 'routine' exams, he checked his watch again, it was 09:30, he had to be at the docks by 10:30 to pick up Ziva, what was taking so long?

Tony let a sigh when Jimmy walked in "Palmer! What's taking so long?" he was getting a little nervous.

"Sorry Tony, the x-ray machine broke down, should be printing off now" Jimmy said.

"I've gotta be down at the port dock's in an hour to get Ziva" Tony said.

Jimmy nodded "I know, Dr Brine, is printing them off now, he'll be here as soon as he can"

Sure enough, 2 minutes later Dr Brine walked in "Sorry Tony, Sunday always seems to be breakdown day"

"How's it look?" Jimmy asked.

"Let's have a look now" Brine replied "have you got his previous ones"

Jimmy nodded & put up a set of his last lot of x-rays. Brine put up the ones from today, the two of them stood there comparing them.

"Well" Tony asked.

"I have to say, your lungs seem to be slightly improving, which is good" Brine commented.

"Wouldn't have thought it would start to heal after all these years" Jimmy commented, all his previous x-rays had never really shown any kind of healing.

"Me either, but I've never really had a patient before that had had the plague." Brine replied.

"Yea, certainly one of a kind, this area seems to have healed more than the rest" Jimmy replied.

"You're right, maybe the system will try healing one section at time, I'll have to do some consulting" Brine replied.

"Hello" Tony said, they were having a two way conversation about him "So? Healing that's good a thing right?"

"Sorry Tony" Jimmy replied "yes, it's a good thing"

"There's still a way to go, lots of healing to come, but it's a step in the right direction" Brine added.

"Ok" Tony he was definitely happy about that "so my throat?"

Brine approached Tony "now that I'm comfortable with the conditions of your lungs, I'm feeling a lot more confident that all you've got is minor case of tonsillitis, there's some minor swelling & inflammation, but nothing too concerning. I'll give you some antibiotics so it should do the trick, especially as you don't really have a temperature, which is a good thing" he finished while checking his throat again.

"Thanks" Tony replied, glad to hear it was nothing serious, all this lung talk & the waiting had made him nervous "can I go now?"

Brine pulled back a step & looked him squarely in the eye "Under some conditions, you assure me that you take your antibiotics religiously every day. You come to me or Jimmy the instant you feel it getting worse & I want to you to undergo a check up in a few days, either Jimmy or myself can do that."

Tony nodded "ok, I can handle that"

"One more thing Tony & this will be the kicker, but given the condition of your throat, I'm going to ask you to refrain from well, kissing. Your throat needs to rest, so go easy on the vocal cords too"

Tony looked at him horrified "what?"

Jimmy knew this would a hard pill for him to take, but Dr Brine was right "Sorry Tony, but he's right, should only need a few days to calm down"

Tony groaned, why why why?

Brine looked at Jimmy glad to have the backup "Jimmy's right only a few days, see Jimmy or myself say, day after tomorrow, that will be 3 doses of the antibiotic & should hopefully do the trick"

Tony slumped in defeat "fine, no kissing until cleared"

Brine smirked "I'd hope so, cause if I find out you haven't kept to your part of the deal, you wont be the one I'm calling"

Tony & Jimmy both shared a look of understanding, he'd call Shannon.

Tony looked back to the doc "message received Doc"

"Good, now I'm sure you have somewhere to be. So take this prescription & go enjoy your day" Brine said handing him the piece of paper.

"Thanks Doc" Tony replied.

Jimmy bided farewell as well & followed Tony, after picking up his prescription they head off "only a few days Tony"

Tony stood on the pier, the Sea Hawk had dropped anchor at 07:00, and given she wasn't technically crew, she was going to be allowed off on the first boat launch, set for 10:30, it was that time now & he couldn't wait to see her! He hated that they couldn't kiss, but at least she'd be home with him & they could still snuggle.

A few minutes later he saw the boat arrive, then he saw her, he headed to meet her straight away.

"Hey there" Tony greeted as she came off the boat.

Ziva smiled "Hello" it had been such a long few weeks!

Tony took her bags & led her away from the hustle of the disembarkation area, finding a quiet area he put the bags down & brought her into hug "hi"

Ziva smiled as she was both enveloped into a hug & returned it "hi back" she had missed him, more than she thought she thought she would, it was testament to how good things we going for them.

Coming out of the tight embrace Ziva looked up & went to kiss, Tony groaned & pulled back "can't Zi"

Ziva looked at him really confused "why?"

"Minor tonsillitis, Doc's Palmer & Brine have given clear instructions, no kissing for a few days & they want me to rest my vocals" Tony explained.

"Tonsillitis? Are you ok? Should you not be in bed?" Ziva asked concerned, she went to touch his forehead straight away.

"I'm fine, no temperature, just came from getting a full body check up at the base hospital, it's just some minor inflammation, was given antibiotics, don't need to be confined to bed, but maybe in a few days I might need it" Tony answered with a grin.

Ziva smiled "well, I am exhausted, so I think we should go home & we can both get some rest, maybe we should skip the game"

Tony's eyes widened "We can't miss the game!"

"Tony, he's not even playing, I think he will understand" Ziva replied as they headed for the car, even though Nix hadn't made the bench, they'd all gone to the games to show support.

Tony suddenly realised she didn't know, he grinned "He is! He's on the bench, we're going!"

Ziva stopped dead in her tracks "He's made the bench? For tonights game? are you serious?" she was not expecting that!

Tony just grinned & nodded.

"Guess we can't miss it then" Ziva replied.

Tony knew one other piece of information she didn't know yet, Zuse! He wanted to see her facial expression "you remember that case with the gas leak at the school at Quantico, where a young girl got kidnapped & it turned out the grandfather was some former super spy & he got in the way?"

"Yes" Ziva replied, why bring that up now?

"You remember those interns we had with us on the case?" Tony asked.

"Yes, but where are you going with this?" Ziva asked.

Tony just smiled "remember the kid we had, that rich kid who did it just to fill his public relations criteria?"

"Yes, his name was Conrad Zuse & if you don't tell me why we are talking about this I will head slap you!" Ziva was seriously wondering why they were talking this all.

Tony stopped & turned to her the grin was massive "Conrad Zuse is now the NCIS probationary agent of Team DiNozzo"

Ziva stared at him dumbfounded "He what?"

"He's the team's new probie" Tony grinned.

"Since when?" Ziva asked, had she missed that much?

"Friday, at the SSA meeting, Tristan assigned him, Wu's also been given a probie, cause of all the TA's we do" Tony explained.

"Go away for a few weeks & everything changes!" Ziva muttered as they got to the car.

"They should put him on!" Gibbs said, he was frustrated.

"You won't hear an argument from me Jethro, but I'm not the coach!" Shannon replied, it was the 50th minute, and the team weren't playing well, they just couldn't create any chances, they were really feeling the loss of Christof, the striker that had made the step up to the first team about a month ago. Not to mention Trivola, the striker who was out with an injury for another few weeks. They really should put her son on, not that she was biased, but they needed a spark!

"This is ridiculous!" Kelly sighed, it was the 60th minute now, only 30 to go & the other team were outplaying Napoli entirely, she was shocked it was still only 1-0, and that was in large part to great game the Napoli keeper - Medez - was having.

"Put on Gibbs!" Tony yelled.

Shannon, Ziva & Jimmy all shot him a look, none liked that he had yelled.

Tony swallowed "sorry" he whispered.

Tim could see that not only Kelly was getting annoyed, but all of them were, each of them & him included had gotten to understand the rules of the game very quickly & they'd all gotten heatedly involved, sometimes their ventings matched those of the locals & that said something! Because these locals seemed to let rip at every kick, every call. His gaze wandered to the end of the pitch where the Napoli substitutes were warming up & his eyes widened, all of them were still there, except one! "He's heading back!" Nix was walking back towards the bench, could he be going on?

Shannon watched her son head towards the bench, then her heart leapt, he was striping off his training jumper, he was going on! She took hold of her husband's hand "On my g-d!" this was a little overwhelming.

"Here we go" Gibbs whispered, he was feeling just the same, it was overwhelming to say the least! He put an arm around his girl's shoulder's, who was sitting next to him "ever thought you'd see the day?" he asked quietly.

Kelly flashed a look at her dad as she leaned into him "honestly, not in a million years. This is cereal!" this was overwhelming, she had no idea how'd she go if he got up to the first team. As she leaned into her dad she interlocked her hand with Tim's "it's kinda scary"

Tim smiled at Kelly's actions, he took a firm hold of her hand. He knew how Kelly felt about him, he also knew that she'd always be her dad's daughter & had no issue 'sharing', it made her happy, and that's all he wanted.

"Yeap, sure is" Gibbs agreed, he was nervous as anything.

"It's fucked!" Nix growled pacing through the living room.

Shannon just sighed, she'd let the language pass, he clearly needed to vent, it was a horrible situation. She felt so bad for her son. She also knew if she enforced the jar & its rules then there'd be a line outside the bathroom, her entire family & the team, they'd all let loose, so it wasn't really appropriate in this situation.

"It wasn't offside! and I didn't handball the bloody ball!" Nix vented.

Gibbs just watched his son pace, he had to admit he was angry as well.

"The ref was blind! He was no where near close enough to make that call!" Nix vented as he kept pacing.

Kelly had sat down on the couch & watched her brother, she had to admit she'd done her share of yelling at the referee, he was blind!

"How the hell could he disallow the goal & send me off! It's fucked!" Nix yelled.

Gibbs & Shannon shared a look, they had to agree, they had no idea how the referee viewed his goal as not only off-side, but that he'd hand-balled the ball. The big screen had shown the instant reply & it had shown that neither of those calls had been right.

Jack was feeling helpless as he watched his grandson pace & vent his frustrations & anger at what had happened, it was not a good way to start his playing career.

"It's fucked!" Nix yelled, he was so damn angry, so frustrated, so pissed off!

"Fubar" Kelly agreed, it was most certainly Fubar - Fucked Up Beyond All Recognition!

Gibbs walked up to his son & took him by the shoulders "I know, it's not right, the ref screwed up, but there's nothing we can do about it right now."

Shannon approached "Darling, it's not right & the coach said they'd appeal the red card, but dad's right, there's nothing we can do about it right now" the red card meant instant suspension from the next game & there was even a chance of the suspension being for more than one game.

"Kell should sue the bastard!" Nix vented.

Kelly grinned "I can do that! Be glad to!"

Gibbs let out a smirk "if the appeal doesn't go through we can consider it"

"Maybe" Shannon agreed, but shot her husband a wry look.

"It was my first appearance! My very first, how could that happen!" Nix choked out as he collapsed down onto the couch, he'd only ever been sent off once before & it had been years since it happened.

Shannon sat down with him straight away "darling, I know it hurts, we're all hurting. But you know what?"

Nix looked up to his mum, he'd buried his head into his hands "what?"

"I'm proud of the way you handled it, you were a lot more restrained than I was expecting, you were professional about it, mostly. That couldn't have been easy" Shannon remarked, after his initial outburst at the referee, he just walked off the pitch, all the others players were ranting & raving for minutes, but not him, he just let it out once & then left the field.

"That's cause I was in a state of shock!" Nix replied "I think Vincenzo learnt some knew english in the locker room" he'd been in shock at being sent off, but that wore off once he got to the locker room & he let loose with the only person in the room & that was the assistant team manager.

Shannon's eyes widened "Phoenix!"

"At least he did it off the field" Kelly commented, sharing a smirk with her brother.

Jack had to smile "must say Kell makes a valid point, I don't imagine that would have been wise, best he did it away from prying eyes" sharing a knowing look with his grandson, he had to admit, he was angry at the referee, how dare the man get it so wrong!

"This family is all the same, where did I go wrong!" Shannon laughed, she wanted to try to lighten the mood.

"Your own fault, you said yes" Gibbs grinned, he was sitting on the other side of his son to where his wife was & knew what she was trying to do.

Shannon grinned "you asked!"

The pair grinned again & leaned across their boy to kiss.

Nix had no choice but to lean as far forward as possible "can you two get a room?" he laughed, it felt good to laugh. He was however used to being stuck in the middle but it was never that pleasant.

Gibbs & Shannon pulled back, their little kiss had broken through the tense atmosphere just like they'd hope it would.

"We have one, numerous in fact" Shannon smiled.

Gibbs got an idea, yea it was close to 23:00, but none of them were going to be sleeping anytime soon "why don't we grab some ice cream & cookies & go work on some stuff in the garage?" he knew that if he got his son working on his project, it would take his mind off the game & would allow him to relax in order to sleep.

Nix nodded "ok, but can I have some tuna pie with extra cheese too, still hungry" he already had a bit to eat at the club, but he was still hungry. The hours after a match he was always starving & could splurge on some of the more fatty foods, because their bodies had used so much energy, their systems were still burning off fat. He'd loved dinners after he'd played in "full on" training games.

Shannon smiled "of course darling, why don't you, dad & gramps go in & start. Kells & I will sort the food"

Kelly followed her mum into the kitchen "I'm going to sue him!"

Shannon looked at her daughter "Like dad said, we'll wait for the appeal process, but maybe we should send him a pair of glasses" she finished with a smirk.

A/N: Poor Poor Poor Nix! That's definitely not a good way to start a career! As for Tony, that poor guy can't catch a break!

Can Kelly help her brother out? How will Tony go keeping to conditions the Doc set for him? Especially the kissing & dare I say rule with resting his vocal cords? That may be harder to do especially when he gets some unexpected visitors turn up at a crime scene!

More to come, but may be a few days away.. I always appreciate hearing your thoughts/comments, so review away!