Things ended up getting far too interesting at work for Jethro's liking. The MCRT team ended up having to deal with a serial killer on the loose. It took federal authorities way too long to apprehend the Port-To-Port killer due to, in Jethro's opinion, the arrogance of the original NCIS Special Agent in Charge on the case.

Admittedly, Jethro had probably been driving Shannon up the wall as a result of all the stress. Things had become rather tense at work and the veteran agent had done more than a little griping since the head of the Rota team, who had a hell of a lot less work experience than he himself did, barged into headquarters and started treating Jethro as though he was an idiot and had no idea what he was doing. The obnoxious blonde wouldn't even let him run an interrogation without overriding him.

Secretary Davenport's niece, Agent E.J. Barrett, ended up landing her entire team in some seriously hot water. Unfortunately, several of them lost their lives when the team ended up in a very nasty trap. She and several other agents ended up resigning their posts, including the former SecNav.

So, in the last month, they'd all also had to adjust to quite a few changes, including the new Secretary of the Navy. SecNav Clayton Jarvis, an old friend of Vance's, had taken on the position and well, there had been some growing pains.

This particular September morning though, Jethro woke up to some really great news in the form of a front-page article in The Washington Post.

Statement by the President on the Repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell

Today, the discriminatory law known as 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' is finally and formally repealed. As of today, patriotic Americans in uniform will no longer have to lie about who they are in order to serve the country they love. As of today, our armed forces will no longer lose the extraordinary skills and combat experience of so many gay and lesbian service members. And today, as Commander in Chief, I want those who were discharged under this law to know that your country deeply values your service.

Opting to not finish the rather long article right now, he passed the newspaper back to his wife. He had got the gist of the situation anyway. Shannon shot him a pointed look. "It's about damn time, hey?"

"Yeah," Jethro agreed easily. He'd had too many witnesses over the years who'd been terrified of talking to him because it would've cost them dearly if he reported back to their bosses. And for what? Who they cared about? It was absolutely ridiculous. It was not as though it had any bearing on their ability to do their job. Not that it was going to magically fix everything as a lot of people were still going to hold the same beliefs that they had held for years, but it was a massive step in the right direction.

"That field training class you're teaching's today, right?" Shannon asked before taking a bite of her peanut butter toast.

"It is," he confirmed. "At 0800. Quinn set everything up last night."

His wife grinned. "Then you still have some time."

He took a sip of his coffee and then smiled back at her. "That I do."

"Great," Shannon chirped happily. "So, I know a lot has been going on with you lately, but how do you feel about -?"

The pair continued to chat for a while until Kelly joined them, Bailey having apparently crashed in her room. It wasn't long after when he and Shannon both had to leave for their respective places of employment, Kelly still having another hour before she had to head to work herself.

Jethro was quickly reminded though as to just why it was that he had zero desire to become a full-time training officer. Normally the groups weren't bad but this particular group had made him feel like he was pulling teeth the entire time.

One of the probies was extremely arrogant and another one had just barely met the physical requirements and wanted to put in the absolute minimum effort. The other three probies in the group weren't that bad, but they had no backbone to speak of and he was relieved when the class was over.

Walking into the NCIS building, coffee in hand, Jethro scanned his I.D at the employee entrance and stepped through the security gate.

A long-time security guard got his attention. "Gibbs."

"Hey." He walked over to the guard he'd formed a sort of friendship with. They weren't exceptionally close but would swap restaurant ideas or little things like that. They saw each other almost daily and had for decades now. "Morning, Henry."

"Late start today?" the man quipped.

He shook his head. "Was busy training probies."

Henry eyed him. "How was that?"

He raised an eyebrow. "No bloodshed."

"God help 'em!" the security guard said with a chuckle.

Rolling his eyes, feigning slight offence, Jethro said goodbye and made his way over to the elevator, heading upstairs to meet his team. The MCRT hadn't caught a case yet so they were just sitting around and catching up on some paperwork

"Morning, Boss!" his Senior Field Agent chirped when he walked in.

Ziva pipped up as well. "Morning, Gibbs."

He smiled cheekily over at the brunette. "It is now."

"Class went well, I take it?" DiNozzo pressed.

"Highlight of my day," he drawled. "Where's McGee?"

"Visiting Abby," Ziva informed him before taking a sip of what looked to be the young woman's go-to smoothie.

"Ah," he said. Jethro then gestured to her cup. "Berry Mango Madness?"

"Yes," she confirmed, taking another sip of her drink. Ziva then eyed DiNozzo. "At least someone remembers what it's called."

DiNozzo rolled his eyes.

The young Israeli smiled at DiNozzo and then stood up and walked what was clearly a finished report over to Jethro's desk.

"Gee, thanks!" he drawled, eyeing the small stack of paperwork that had already pilled up on his desk while he'd been gone that morning.

She shot him an amused look. "But, of course."

DiNozzo snickered at the pair's interaction, shutting up immediately when Jethro shot him a dirty look. Man, he absolutely despised paperwork.

He'd only managed to get through reading one of his agents' reports though before he got a call from dispatch regarding a case. "Yes, Gibbs."

"Agent Gibbs," somebody who was likely new to dispatch said, "this is Dispatch. We have a suspected robbery at 1723 N Wayne St in Arlington." That's just ten minutes out from my house. Thank God Shannon and Kelly aren't home at the moment. "The home belongs to Commander Chris Donahue and his wife Lilian. They live there with their seventeen-year-old son, Jonah."

Jethro frowned slightly. If this was an active robbery anyone in that home was at risk. "The robbery ongoing?"

"No," the dispatcher informed him. "They came home to signs of a break-in."

"Alright," he said, "we're on it."

As Jethro hung up the phone, DiNozzo caught his attention. "What's up?"

"We've got a robbery in Arlington," he explained. "Get McGee."

His Senior Field Agent nodded. "On it, Boss."

Petty theft was definitely a refreshing change of pace compared to everything else the team had been dealing with lately.