Tony was sitting at his temporary desk looking through the old case notes. He was familiarizing himself with everyone they'd looked at eleven years ago, like McGee wanted. McGee. Man, that was never going to stop being weird. McGee was in charge now. He sat in Gibbs' chair. He called the shots. And Tony had to admit, he wasn't too bad at it. He'd been really effective in his orders. His people respected his authority. Hell, he'd gone toe to toe with Gibbs. Well, sort of. He'd refused to talk to him. He'd actually told him no. That was another thing he just couldn't get over. No one told Gibbs no. Well, the director did, but even she didn't do it often.

Tony looked towards the elevator, wondering how Gibbs' and McGee's second confrontation was going. Gibbs had followed McGee into the elevator twenty minutes ago and neither had come back. He wondered how it went. Gibbs was determined to take over this case, but McGee clearly wasn't going to give it up.

Tony turned back to his computer and made himself focus. He needed to get back to the case. He wanted this case closed just like Gibbs. He'd worked it really hard and was just as pissed when they had to let it go

"Hey, DiNozzo."

Tony turned towards Agent Brooks.

"You remember how these three guys were connected?" Brooks asked.

"Yeah, that was one of the first things we tried to determine. Jacob Talen and Samuel Richards met through Alexander Mickey. Mickey and Richards met in college and Talen and Mickey met through Talen's brother, our new dead marine," Tony explained.

"So Mickey's the common denominator. He knew all three men. Maybe he was the target," Brooks said.

"Yeah, we thought that, but he was a bartender and had no enemies . Talen was most likely, if there was only one target and the others just got caught in it," Tony said.

"Well, I found one link between all three men, well potentially," Ralph said.

"Who?" Ziva asked.

"Mickey's sister, Christina Mickey. If Mickey was linked to the other two, maybe his sister knew them too," Ralph said.

"I remember her. I only spoke to her on the phone She was out of state. She was devastated. She didn't really say much after I informed her of her brother's death. She got off the phone as quickly as she could. I thought it was because she was so upset," Tony said.

"We need to find her and have her brought in," Ziva said.

"I'm on it," Ralph said.

"I think we all need more coffee. DiNozzo, wanna come with me on a run?" Brooks asked.

"Yeah, sure. I should get a cup for Gibbs. It might put him in a better mood," Tony said. before getting up and following Brooks towards the elevator

Brooks got in and held the door for the other agent. Once he was in, Brooks let it close and hit the button for the first floor. Things were quiet for several moments before Brooks spoke. "You screw them over again, you're gonna have to deal with the whole team.

Tony looked at him confused. "What are you talking about?"

"Don't act stupid, DiNozzo. You must realize they don't want you here," Brooks said.

"They're worried Gibbs will take control of the case," Tony said. That was what he told himself anyway. Somewhere though, he knew that wasn't the reason.

Brooks laughed. "You think they're worried about that? McGee has no problem asserting his authority. He's worried you're going to tear his people apart. He doesn't want you to hurt them."

"Hurt them? McGee can't think I'd hurt them," Tony said in disbelief. He felt a pain in his stomach just at the thought. McGee didn't really think that, did he. They worked together and a kind of brotherly relationship going. Yeah, he'd tease him, but McGee couldn't really think he'd hurt him or the others. They had been like a family to him.

"Maybe it's not an act, DiNozzo. Maybe you are stupid," Brooks said as the doors opened. He immediately walked out.

Tony immediately followed him towards the front doors. "What do you mean by that?"

Brooks waited until the were outside to speak again. "I"ve been here for nearly five

years. I was here when McGee was training to take his spot as Head."

"Wait, I thought he didn't take over until three years ago," Tony said.

"He didn't, but he was trained way before that. He was being groomed for the spot since before I started here. It was the plan for him to take over after two years of training," Brooks explained as he walked through the parking lot.

Tony took in the information. It seemed McGee knew almost right away that he would have the spot. He wondered if McGee knew before Tony left, and if he did, why didn't he say anything. Tony would think he'd scream it to the whole agency.

"Anyway, when I got here, they were a mess. McGee, Ziva, and Abby. Hell, even Ducky was kind of hurt, though it was harder to tell with him. They never mentioned you or Gibbs until the case came up. I know you're responsible for it. I don't know all of it, but I know you two left and broke them in the process," Brooks said with anger in his voice.

Tony felt a pang of guilt, but he pushed it away and let the anger of some stranger calling him out take over instead. "You know nothing, Brooks, and I am not explaining myself to you."

"Didn't ask you to. I don't care about your explanations. I brought it up so you know that I won't let you or Gibbs cause them more pain. My team matters to me. I won't let it get torn apart," Brooks said firmly.

They arrived at the car a moment later and got in. "W...was it really bad?" Tony asked after a moment.

"How bad would it be for you if they took off on you?" Brooks asked.

Tony didn't need to even ask himself that question. He knew because of Gibbs leaving. Yes. Yes, it was really bad.