A/N: Here's another chapter folks! To my recent followers/favourites, welcome aboard! To my reviewers, thank you so much! Your comments keep me inspired, so keep them coming!

Now, whilst I'm loving NCIS being back, I was missing our beloved Very Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo, so I had a bit of fun :) Enjoy!

Gibbs stood at the back of his kid's garden as he waited for the phone to be answered, they'd already had dinner & he just wanted to make one call before they watched an evening movie.

"DiNozzo" Tony answered his phone.

"Where are you DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked briskly.

"Boss" Tony greeted "well…ahh…"

"Spit it out" Gibbs interrupted.

"I'm at home" Tony remarked carefully.

"Good" Gibbs nodded

Tony held the phone out in front of him, looked at it to double check the caller ID said 'Gibbs', and yea it did, what the? He brought the phone back to his ear "you ok boss?" it was only 19:00, he was sure his boss wouldn't have been happy that they called it a night already, but they'd all been exhausted & it wouldn't help them to work that way.

"Fine DiNozzo" Gibbs answered "tomorrow, navy yard 08:00, let the others know to be there by 08:30"

That caught Tony off guard "boss?"

"I want you at the coffee cart, understood DiNozzo?" Gibbs added

"Yes boss" Tony replied automatically.

"Good, now go get something to eat & rest" Gibbs added before hanging up with a grin, he knew he'd have his charge confused, but leaving him with the confusion should give him something to focus on other than the pain he knew he'd still be in.

Tony looked at his phone, guess some things didn't change, but why on earth did his boss want to meet him 30 minutes before the rest of the team? And why at the coffee cart? That had never happened before! Like ever! He knew he'd get no answers until the next morning, but it didn't stop him from wondering what the reasons were. He dug out his phone to text Ziva & McGee, he'd also text Fornell to let them all know what time the day would begin. He would however leave out that he was getting there before them.

Having texted them & received confirmations back he leaned back into his couch & rested his feet up on the coffee table. He dug out the numbers for local restaurant deliveries, hmm.. Chinese, Thai, Italian, what to choose… pizza! He ordered his usual, peperoni & extra cheese and he threw in a garlic bread as well, before settling in to watch a movie. He did after all have to rest & eat, it was his boss's orders & he always followed them, not that he'd ever been ordered to eat & rest, but hey who was he to contradict Gibbs?

Tony lay in his bed considering whether to get up or not, it was 06:30 & he'd been up for a half hour already, he thought that was in line with the fact that he'd hit the sack at the early time of 21:30. He carefully stretched his limbs, first his good arm, then his good leg, then he carefully stretched his leg that had the sprained ankle, but he was careful not to stretch the ankle, only his upper leg muscles. He then stretched his arm, but again not his actual wrist that had a slight fracture in it.

Tony then sat himself up against the headboard, and gave his wrist a gentle massage, before doing likewise to his sprained ankle, he knew that both were getting better slowly. He knew just how to manage his ankle, he'd had plenty of sprains both throughout his career with NCIS & the various PD's as well as in his sports career in school & college, so he knew it would be fine within a week or so. His wrist he knew would take a bit longer, given it had a slight fracture, but he was managing it fine. It was his ribs that were giving him the most grief, even with the pain meds he was finding it hard to get comfortable at night, he slept but it had to be on his back. Being on his feet was actually better than lying down, maybe he'd get up.. there was certainly a lot to do! Not to mention the meeting he was due to have with Gibbs, at the coffee cart no less? He was still utterly confused about that!

"Tony!" Abby greeted enthusiastically, she was so happy to see him! He'd been so busy since they got back that she'd barely seen him, she missed him!

"Hey Abs" Tony greeted as they entered the building.

"You ok?" Abby queried.

"Yea, just off to see Ducky" Tony answered "I'll see you later ok?"

Abby nodded as she watched his retreating figure, he didn't look well, so she was glad he was off to see Ducky! She'd check on him later & tell Gibbs about it too when she saw him! She checked her watch, it was 07:00, he should be in soon, that was good!

"Hey Ducky, you here?" Tony called as he entered autopsy.

"Good morning Anthony, you seem to be in rather early" Ducky greeted coming out of his office.

"Yea I am" Tony nodded

"Your ribs" Ducky guessed "you're not sleeping, are you?"

"Sure I am, slept from 21:30 to 06:00" Tony answered

"But not soundly" Ducky surmised.

"Would you if you had 4 bruised ribs?" Tony asked, he let out a sigh as he sat down "could you prescribe me something stronger perhaps for the nights?"

Ducky's eyebrows shot wide open, Anthony was not one to actually ask for pain medication, there had to be something more to it "I can certainly give you something, but I must insist of checking the state of your injuries first"

"Go for it" Tony gestured, as he started to undo his shoe laces, knowing full well he'd want to check all of his injuries.

Tony sat there as Ducky checked him over & just stared down the room towards the drawers "they all still here?"

"Yes" Ducky answered simply "we're still working on ID'ing the man that was shot in the middle of the main street after he shot Jethro & I am yet to even start to look for any next of kin for MacDonald"

Tony didn't think the asshole deserved it "isn't one of Tripoli's men looking into his family?" because as far as any of them knew he had none.

"Yes, Agent Maurice is assisting with trying to get ID's as well as next of kin information" Ducky answered, he finished with the ankle, glad it was looking ok before moving to the wrist "is everything alright Anthony?"

"Already said yes Ducky" Tony stated but his eyes didn't shift "what happens to their bodies if we don't locate.."

"Their bodies will be cremated & ashes spread by the state in their monthly ceremony" Ducky answered "but we will make every effort to locate someone, it may prove to bring further evidence for the situation at large"

Tony knew that was true, if they found any relations it could certainly help their investigations. "The autopsies didn't reveal anything further?" he queried

"Well, not thus far, but the stomach contents of our mystery man are up with Abby for analysing, we hope to get the results today, hopefully that can tell us where the man has been recently" Ducky remarked as he finished with the wrist, again drawing comfort from the fact that it was ok, not good but slowly beginning to mend.

Ducky moved on to check his ribs "still very tender, you must be careful with your movements, don't go dashing about, let them rest & settle" he wished they could take more time to heal, they really should all be on medical leave! But knew that wouldn't happen until the case was wrapped up.

Tony snorted "yes thank you Ducky, I'll do just that at my desk & in between running around trying to get everything done"

"Do not put any extra pressure onto yourself Anthony, we all know you are more than capable of managing this situation" Ducky remarked, he wondered just how much pressure the lad was placing on himself ever since the Director had told him he would be in charge of the final case file.

Tony looked at him "pressure? I'm taking point on one of the most important cases NCIS has! And its personal, I'm only putting as much pressure on myself as required" what he wouldn't say was that he'd put as much pressure on himself that Gibbs normally did, but for him that was what mattered, it was all that mattered. What Gibbs thought of him & the job he was doing was all that mattered, so he'd push himself as hard as he could to ensure Gibbs would be happy & proud of the job he was doing.

Ducky nodded and didn't say anything further, he'd have to have a word with Jethro to make sure the boy looked after himself. "I will get you something stronger to help you sleep, come & get it from me before you head home this evening"

Tony nodded as he did his shirt back up, he just couldn't take his eyes off the drawers.

"Anthony, whatever is the matter?" Ducky queried, the lad had been looking at the drawers for a long time "the bodies will lay in rest here until it is time to be returned to their families, if any can be found"

Tony looked at Ducky for a moment & then a lightbulb went off "gotta go!" he remarked jumping down "ohh! Can you prepare for 2 autopsies? Sort of.. secondary ones.. this afternoon!" he finished as he high tailed it out of the room & leaving Ducky quite confused.

"Anthony!" Ducky tried to call, what on earth did that mean?

Tony arrived into the bullpen, he looked at the clock 07:30, he had 30 minutes before he had to meet up with Gibbs, right, time to get to work! He powered up his computer as he started to make notes.

"Agent DiNozzo" Jim greeted

Tony looked up, it was the investigator from the law firm "Mr Nelson"

"It's Jim, remember?" Jim commented

Tony nodded "Tony" he commented back

Jim nodded "I am heading into my work, but wanted to stop by first to see you. I've found something interesting"

Tony gave the man his full attention, though he wasn't part of the proper team to make the case, he was helping with background work "such as"

"Lt Rooney.." Jim started

"We've already got the evidence of him tampering with the marine deployment orders" Tony remarked, Tim had found the evidence of the change in orders & they'd even gotten footage of the man on the college campus thanks to the footage from Kelly.

"I know" Jim conceded "but I went back at looked at his service record & history, he started off as enlisted before going to officer candidate school"

"What's your point?" Tony wondered

"The man's been in the marines a long time" Jim remarked "long enough that he was in the service back during Desert Storm" he finished with a raised eyebrow "and he was stationed at Camp Pendleton"

Tony's eyes widened, Rooney was at Camp Pendleton when Gibbs was? He got down to it all, and went through everything that Jim had found, his eyes were bulging at it all!

Tony looked at his watch, it was 07:55 & he was waiting at the coffee cart as ordered, he had ordered his own coffee & one for Gibbs, glad the people knew their orders. He had just received the pair of coffees & sat down at a nearby bench when he saw Gibbs approach.

Watching the man walk towards him Tony could see that he was back to wearing his usual attire of his suit with his polo top, his arm though looked to be back in the tight sling & though he was still bruised, they appeared to be getting better. He could see the stiff walk he was doing, so he was clearly still feeling the effects of his bruised ribs! He guessed they would both be feeling their damaged ribs for some time still.

Tony waited until his boss was almost upon him to stand up & hold out his hand "here you go boss"

Gibbs took the coffee & looked at his charge as he took a sip, the boy certainly knew how he liked it & was glad he knew what he should have ready for him. He simply sat down & watched as his charge did likewise. He could see the nerves in the body that was just building as he drank his own coffee.

Tony always hated when Gibbs just remained silent, he couldn't stand it, so he always had to fill the void "ah so we got through a fair bit yesterday after we spoke boss. We finalised the interrogations & got a name from the guy that we arrested in Stillwater, his name is Jethro Lancert, Tripoli's team are working on ID'ing the body of the man that shot you as well as locating any known relatives of MacDonald. We've secured the evidence proving that Rooney did the deployment switch, got video evidence off the footage your daughter provided to back it up"

Gibbs just listened as Tony gave him the update, he couldn't help surprise at the man's name being Jethro, but was glad they'd secured the evidence against Rooney.

Tony took breath, he knew his boss was listening intently "ah, speaking of Rooney boss, Jim Nelson looked back at his service history and we found that..…"

Gibbs looked at his charge & simply raised an eyebrow in query.

"He was stationed at Camp Pendleton whilst you were deployed" Tony remarked & waited for the response.

Gibbs' eyes widened, Rooney was there at the same time he & his family were there?

Tony realised his boss was in a 'no talking' mood, he could see the surprise though "thing is, he was transferred off the base 2 days after the accident happened"

Gibbs knew this couldn't be a coincidence, this man must have known Mac & known him since way back then, that really didn't sit well with him! He just continued to look at his charge.

"I ummm.. I also had another thought boss" Tony began, this one would actually require some input from him, if he could drag it out "maybe it would be a good idea to…. "

Gibbs could see Tony was really nervous with this idea of his, he knew he had to give him something "to what?" he asked, there that'd do it.

Tony was glad his boss had said something finally! And he got 2 words! Not just one, that was something! and it gave him the confidence to continue "exhume the bodies that were buried 13 years ago, see if there's any evidence as to…"

Gibbs eyes widened again, he hadn't even thought about those 2 bodies, of course they weren't his girls, they had to be someone's girls though & there may be something on their bodies that pointed to whomever put them in his girls places. He took a breath & just nodded in agreement.

Tony saw the nod & pulled something out of his pocket "as weird as it seems boss, you need to authorise the action" he said passing his boss the form & a pen.

Gibbs took the items & looked down, the form had his girls names on it, of course they did, getting his girls resurrected wasn't that easy, it was another thing that the Barnes's were helping them sort out. Marrying the 2 sets of lives each of his girls had into the proper one wasn't that easy. He signed the form, hoping this was something that would help them all move forward.

Tony took the form back "I'll get it sorted & Ducky will give the bodies a once over" he stated quietly.

Tony saw the slight nod he received, he saw that his boss was back to staring at him & it had him nervous again.

Gibbs eyed him, he already finished his coffee & signalled to the cart owner to make him another one, but he just stared at the boy. There was something he knew that was still to come, something that he'd not been told yesterday, but what was it?

"The case is going to court next week boss" Tony blurted out finally, he just couldn't take the continued stare. It was like his boss knew he was withholding something from him.

Gibbs eyes widened, he was so not expecting that, it caught him for six! He was utterly shocked! He raised a querying eyebrow.

"Director told me yesterday, apparently some favours were called in & the case has been rushed through to the courts, they want to get it cleared through in a hurry apparently" Tony confirmed further.

"Who?" Gibbs asked evenly, he'd never known a case to go through to the courts so fast!

"She didn't say boss" Tony answered, his boss had spoken again! Well, Gibbs version of speaking!

Gibbs wondered who had put the rush on it, they couldn't have everything done already, they'd only just scratched the surface of investigating everything!

Tony knew what his boss was thinking "The Director has every agent who isn't working a hot case on this boss & we're ploughing through a lot, Fornell has seconded a fair group to work on it too, plus all the SWAT teams are still with us. And boss?" Tony wasn't sure what he'd make of this

Gibbs merely raised an eyebrow in query again, he couldn't wait to hear what he was coming next.

"The case against Lt Rooney….. it's going to court martial next week too" Tony started

Gibbs took a breath, wow! Were they serious? How on earth could it all come together so quickly? He stood up & crooked his finger to his charge to follow. He started walking towards their building, knowing full well he was being dutifully followed, but he stopped about half a dozen steps once they past the coffee cart.

Tony instantly rose & followed his boss, he knew where they were headed, his boss was obviously shocked at the news & wanted answers from the Director, this was going to be a fun conversation! He'd tried to get more answers from the Director, but got none, he was sure that his boss would get more information out of her. He almost bowled into his boss though when he abruptly stopped, he was now being stared at & he had no idea why!?

Gibbs turned to look at his charge, when he didn't get hint he merely pointed at the cart "coffee!" he ordered

Tony instantly turned & almost ran "yes boss"

Gibbs hid the smirk as he watched the young man almost run between him & the cart and back.

"Here you go boss" Tony remarked, he wasn't expecting anything in reply, I meant the man had barely said 5 words since they'd met up. He was therefore completely taken by surprise when his boss gave him a double tap to his cheek & even a small smile, he couldn't help the grin that formed, and the grin stayed planted on his face as they continued to walk to the building. That double tap & smile was way better than any words could possibly be!

Gibbs couldn't help but smile to himself at Tony's grin, it was almost infectious, he heard his cell go off though "Gibbs" he answered.

Tony was walking next to Gibbs & heard the other person on the call, it was Gibbs' father! He listened as best as he could.

"Jethro, I'm with Joanne, you need to get here, she's awake!" Jackson said hurriedly.

Gibbs eyes widened "coming" was all he said before he hung up.

Tony's eyes widened, she was awake! He hoped that was a good sign! He followed his boss into the lift, he could see what was now playing on his boss's mind "boss" he called, he didn't speak again until he was looking "do what you need to do boss, I've got this"

Gibbs stepped off the lift & looked at his charge "I know DiNozzo, I know"

Tony had to grin again, what was going on with Gibbs? Right now though, he didn't care! Gibbs was being... awesome!

"Back to work DiNozzo!" Gibbs barked, he chuckled as he saw the man head off quickly.

"On it boss!" Tony responded automatically & hurried back to his desk.

Tony headed back to his desk feeling rather chuffed with himself, he sat down and dug up the phone number for the cemetery. He was about to make the call when he paused, wait a sec, why'd Gibbs want to meet him at the coffee cart? He didn't really say anything? He had done most of the talking, well pretty much all of the talking? He really couldn't work it out, but he couldn't deny that he was feeling so much better than he had been earlier.

Smiling to himself Tony dialled to make the arrangements, he'd then take a look at the final interview reports with that Jethro Lancert guy. As he hung up the phone he saw Gibbs head back towards the lift with his family, as well as the 2 Bond boys, he also caught sight of the Director & she was heading for them! This was going to get interesting!

"Good morning Agent Gibbs, I need a word about…" Jenn tried to say

"Will have to wait, we're going out" Gibbs said interrupting her, he knew his wife would want to get to the hospital as quickly as possible. She was gripping his arm for dear life with concern and trepidation.

Jenn didn't know what to say to that "ah ok, when can we expect you back?"

"Later" Gibbs replied shortly as he continually to press the button for the lift, hurry up!

Jenn couldn't really say anything but there was something else she wanted "Lt Bond, I'd like a word if we could please"

Mike flashed a look between her & Gibbs, he had no idea what to do, did he say yes or no? He had driven the family into the yard with his brother, they were just chatting in the conference room when Gibbs had come back & said that Kelly's grandmother was awake, and they should go straight away. He was going to offer to drive them or say they'd hang round the yard until they got back, but Gibbs had looked at him & stated quite categorically that both he & his brother was to go with them too. "Ahh.. well…"

"He's coming with us" Gibbs stated, "your conversation will have to wait"

"Excuse me?" Jenn queried, what was he trying to do? Where was he going? And where was he going that he wanted to take the young boy with him so insistently?

"He'll be back later" Gibbs stated to her as the lift arrived, he shifted his gaze "in!" he ordered Mike.

"Yes sir" Mike responded & moved into the lift as directed.

Tony had watched the brief conversation unfold with interest, but he couldn't believe that Gibbs had not only brushed the Director off, but also taken the Bond boy with him even though she wanted to talk to him! The young boy though reacted almost as instantly as he did when Gibbs gave a command.

"Tony" Jenn called as he approached him "do you know where Gibbs has gone? He'd barely just arrived! I thought we agreed that the first thing we were going to do today was sit down & go through where we were up to. You said you'd give the update to Gibbs & tell him about the meeting"

Tony didn't know what to say, if Gibbs didn't say, was it his right to say? "Well, ahh…"

"Hey I just saw Gibbs & his family get into their car & go" Fornell remarked entering the bullpen "didn't you text to say meet at 08:30?" he asked Tony, he checked his watched & it was just getting on 08:30 now!

"Everyone's here already?" Ziva asked as she & Tim walked into the bullpen.

"You said to meet at 08:30" Tim added, to him it looked like Tony had been in for a while already.

Jenn looked around, they all appeared to be looking at Tony "apparently, everyone baring me was given some kind of notice, care to explain Tony?"

"Ah, well, Gibbs told me to get the team here at 08:30 to start our day, think he wants us to make sure we are resting & getting better as well as work the case" Tony remarked

"So where'd he go?" Fornell asked.

"Gibbs went somewhere?" Tim asked

"Joanne's awake" Tony blurted out "Gibbs & his family have gone to see her" he added as an afterthought, thinking it was a no brainer.

"Awake?" Fornell queried, whilst he knew it was amazing news for the family, he couldn't help but think she could add something to the case against these men.

"That's wonderful" Jenn remarked "but why would Gibbs insist on taking Lt Bond with them?"

Tony shrugged "can't answer that Director, but he will be back here, he wants to discuss the whole case to trial next week"

Jenn narrowed her eyes "I thought we agreed to tell him about that this morning?"

Tony just looked at her, he wanted to scream at the top of his voice that his boss had had a one on one conversation with him about everything that he'd missed. He wanted to say that his boss had faith in him, so much faith that it was making him dizzy. He just grinned, he was considering what to actually say when he got interrupted.

"Agent DiNozzo!" Jim called walking closer "got something, want come & see?"

"You bet" Tony replied standing up "would love to stay & chat but duty calls" he turned to his team "keep going on where you left off yesterday, we'll regroup when I get back" he finished before promptly walking away with Jim.

Tim watched as Tony walked off, he was smiling like there was no tomorrow, he found it really odd. Looking around, he saw that the Director wasn't looking happy, Fornell was looking confused & Ziva, well, she looked like she was hurt, like there was something she hadn't been told, he felt it a little too. He knew there was obviously something that Tony knew that they, he didn't. He had no idea what the whole 'case to trial next week' meant. There was nothing he could do about it though, he would ask Tony when he got back though & hoped to get some answers.

A/N: Well we certainly learnt a few things! And Tony is definitely feeling better :) But why is the case going to court next week? And what condition will Joanne be in when they get to the hospital?

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