Tony jumped, startled, when a loud banging started outside his door.

"Right on cue," he muttered, getting up. He didn't rush to the door so when Gibbs started banging again, Tony called out, "Knock it off, I'm coming." He hated when Gibbs did that.

He looked out the peephole, and sure enough, Gibbs stood there, looking grim as ever. Tony opened the door. "Funny, I don't remember inviting you over."

"We need to talk."

"Right, as if you ever talk. Go home, Gibbs. It's late."

"Now, DiNozzo!"

"We're not at work. My name is Tony and I'm tired and about to go to bed. Whatever it is can wait until tomorrow."

"Like hell. Let me in."

"Hey! I don't barge into your house insisting that we talk right before you go to bed. This is MY place and you don't get to order me around here. Got that, Special Agent Gibbs?" Tony was borderline snotty in his delivery of the last few words. Almost instantly, he saw a change in Gibbs' countenance.

Gibbs huffed but he lowered his voice considerably. "Tony, can we talk? It's important."

"Are you actually going to speak or will you just leave it up to me like you always do?"

"Depends on what you say to my questions."

Tony stepped back and let him in. "Yeah, well if I don't think you're saying enough, you're out of here. I'm not in the mood for your shit."

"My shit?" Gibbs questioned.

"Yeah, the silent bastard who expects everything and gives nothing. I've had enough of that guy."

"What the hell kind of bug crawled up your ass?"

"And that's another thing. You're in my house! Show a little respect or get out!"

For a moment, Gibbs seemed a little nonplussed and Tony took grim satisfaction in that. He hadn't stood up to Gibbs and called him on his crap lately. Maybe he should've done it more often. Maybe he shouldn't have been so quick to roll over in his desire to please. Maybe that was the problem…he tried too hard, and only now that he was upset enough to consider leaving NCIS, could he see it. Being on his own turf helped in a way. He knew how he wanted to be treated here and not even Gibbs was allowed to treat him otherwise. This was his home, his sanctuary, his refuge from the world, the only place he felt truly welcome. He wouldn't let Gibbs ruin it.

"Tony," Gibbs said, breaking the heavy silence between them. "I don't want your transfer papers on my desk in the morning…or ever, really."

Tony just stood still, and tried not to react. Despite his efforts, he felt his eye twitch, and for a moment was angry that his eye could betray him like that because he didn't want to react.

Tony looked at him expectantly. Nothing Gibbs had said had warranted comment yet. Gibbs said little enough as it was. He wasn't going to give him an out or help him. As far as Tony was concerned, he was halfway out the door and halfway to a new life.

It was several long seconds before Gibbs spoke again, perhaps realizing that Tony wasn't going to. "I know you're angry about Kate. So am I. But we can't change the past. I think she sees how wrong she was and will do better. We need to give her a chance to prove that, both for her sake and ours."

"We all could've been killed by that bomb! Ducky and Gerald could've been killed! Are you sure you want to give her a chance? One of us could end up dead!"

"Or she could," Gibbs pointed out.

"That's a chance I would rather not take. Maybe I'm just squeamish, but I don't want to end up with her blood and guts all over me."

Gibbs winced at the visual Tony created. "I can't say it would never happen, but I do believe Kate will be more vigilant and not let something like that happen again, if it's within her power to prevent it…or stop it. "I know you don't believe this, but she'd sacrifice herself for any one of us."

Tony thought about Kate's personality and realized Gibbs might be right. He knew Kate knew she'd messed up royally. She would probably feel it was her duty to sacrifice herself for the greater good, if it might mean making up for her mistakes. It reminded him of how subdued she'd been after the McNeil case. It had taken a few weeks and several psychiatric visits for her to come to terms with it and be more like her usual self, though Tony still noted she seemed sadder than she had been before. Gibbs had benched her for a while even after the psych visits had ended. It'd only been in the last couple of weeks that she'd been more like herself.

Tony looked away, suddenly finding his feet rather fascinating. "Maybe," Tony said aloud, at least acknowledging that Gibbs had spoken.

Suddenly, Gibbs was in Tony's personal space and reached out and tapped Tony's chin, forcing Tony to look back up at him.

"I'm only going to say this once so listen. You run circles around Kate as an investigator. If the only way that you'll stay, is for me to transfer Kate off the team, I'll do it. I really hope it won't come to that. I like Kate. I still think she has potential. When we finally get that bastard locked away or dead, I will send Kate back to FLETC to take more profiling courses, and maybe a few others while she's at it. Then, we'll go from there. Kate has a lot to prove, and she knows it."

Gibbs reached into his pocket and pulled out a folded sheet of paper. "I know you don't have any reason to believe that I appreciate you so I brought evidence." Gibbs handed him the piece of paper. "I was saving it for a surprise but…" he shrugged. "Ball is in your court."

Gibbs started to turn and walk away, but Tony reached out and grabbed his arm, holding him fast as he unfolded the sheet of paper one-handed and started to read what was a printed email.

To: tmorrow

Date: Thu Oct 16, 2003 at 7:16 PM

From: ljgibbs

Subject: DiNozzo's promotion

DiNozzo is smart, sharp and adaptable. No one better for the job. Full pay allowable for SFA position from day 1. He's earned it.

The bottom of the page showed images of paperclips and attachment titles which indicated that there was additional paperwork showing he met the qualifications for the job. He stared at the words on the page for a moment and noted the date. Gibbs had sent this months ago.

Tony still had a grip on his sleeve and Gibbs stood there and waited. Tony looked up at him, shocked.

"Meant it."

"But…"

"What?" Gibbs asked when Tony didn't speak again right away.

"You acted like you couldn't stand me! You didn't even want me around when I told you I was homeless for a month."

Gibbs looked surprised for a moment and Tony realized that he had forgotten all about that. The fact that he had never spoken of it again probably had something to do with it.

Gibbs frowned as he thought for a moment and then he said, "You never showed up. Thought you'd worked it out."

"Did you really think I'd stay with you after you made it clear you didn't want me around?"

Gibbs winced. "Shit, Tony. That wasn't why I said no."

"Then why?"

Gibbs closed his eyes for a moment. "Every time I ended up divorced, it always happened after a case where I was obsessive. I know I'm obsessing over Haswari but he invaded our turf, held our people hostage and then shot one of them. He's like a rabid dog running loose. He needs to be put down. My ex-wives just snapped when I got like this, and I deserved it. I knew I was being too hard on you but I couldn't stop myself, and I didn't have you stay at my place because I wanted to spare you from my worst. You already put up with enough from me as it is. I thought if you saw what I was like at home, you would leave altogether, and I'd deserve it."

Tony frowned but his irrepressible humor rose to the occasion, and he couldn't help but smirk a little. "So you're saying you were afraid I'd divorce you if you let me stay one night?"

Gibbs opened his mouth to answer, and then confusion flitted across his countenance. "One night?"

Tony rolled his eyes. "I'd just needed a night, maybe two tops, while I worked out the arrangements with my insurance company for an extended-stay place. I never intended to impose on anyone for a month. I like my privacy, too."

Gibbs blinked, looked shocked, then ashamed. "I shouldn't have assumed you wanted to stay for a month."

"Well you did. At least you listened long enough to hear why I needed someplace to stay."

Gibbs frowned. "No one else did?"

"No one else ever let me finish. Even you didn't. Everyone else said no even before I finished asking. They didn't even know what I was going to ask."

Gibbs closed his eyes for a moment. "No wonder you think I can't tolerate you."

"But divorce, Gibbs? Really? Hate to break it to you, but you're not my type. Wrong gender. Wrong body type and way too hairy." Tony grimaced.

Gibbs snorted at this and smiled. "Yeah, not blonde either."

Tony snorted then. "What can I say? Blondes are hot! They're my kryptonite, like redheads are for you."

Gibbs chuckled and nodded. "Yeah." Then, Gibbs face fell. "I should've told you I wasn't mad about the mess. I know you didn't do it on purpose. You couldn't have known the hand mixer had a short in it. I never thought to tell you because I didn't know you cooked. Next day, you seemed to have gotten over it so I figured let sleeping dogs lie."

Tony rolled his eyes. "Yeah, that seems your philosophy on everything."

Gibbs huffed but his shoulders dropped a little. "Yeah, I know. I should've said something. I see that now."

"So you don't just barely tolerate me?"

Tony could see the beginnings of a smirk starting at Gibbs' lips, but then he seemed to think better of it and the smirk died before it ever really formed. "I wouldn't make you my SFA if I barely tolerated you."

Tony's eyes narrowed. "Couldn't prove it by me."

"Not trying to snow you. I've even told Tom that sometimes I don't know how I do the job without you."

"That's only because I do your paperwork."

Gibbs sighed. "No, that's just a bonus. You're a good partner. Couldn't ask for better. Will try to remember to show that once in a while. Maybe you can remind me to not take you for granted. Just don't expect it every day because that won't happen."

"A 'Good job, Tony' now and then would be a nice change."

Gibbs nodded. "I can do that."

"Okay."

"So you won't transfer?"

Tony chewed his lower lip. He still wasn't sure he trusted Kate but he also was willing to admit that her mistakes did not go unrealized. Maybe if he was super-vigilant and didn't let her ego go unchecked, they might be okay.

"A little backup when I rein her in might be needed. If I think she's being stupid, I'm going to say something. I'd appreciate it if you don't blow me off when I'm concerned about something, like when I think her judgment is lousy."

Gibbs nodded. "I won't. I'll listen to what she says, but I won't blindly trust her because she thinks she's a good profiler. I think she understands that she has a lot to learn. We'll give her a chance to learn after we get Haswari."

Tony nodded. "Sounds good."

Gibbs looked relieved. "If you ever think about leaving again, say something to me, okay? Give me a chance to fix whatever is going wrong?"

"I wasn't sure you cared enough to want to fix things."

"That's why I need you to speak up. You know I suck at this."

"Not always." Tony remembered he had the printed email in his hand and handed it back. Gibbs shook his head. "Keep it. Let it remind you when you start doubting your place on my team. I've regretted a lot of things in my life, but I've never regretted recruiting you to my team." Gibbs put emphasis on the word 'never.'

Tony felt heat rush to his cheeks. "Thanks, Boss."

Gibbs smiled then. "Look, Tony…" Gibbs paused a moment and Tony could tell he was gathering his words. "After my divorces, I was never sorry they left. But I would be sorry as hell to see you go." Gibbs paused for a moment. "Someday, probably sooner than I would like, you'll be offered promotion and move on. I'll hate it but I'll be happy for you, too. You have real potential. You could go all the way to the top. Don't let anyone, not even me, make you feel like you're less than that. You got me?"

Tony swallowed hard. No one had ever said they thought that, certainly not his own father, no one else either. He could tell Gibbs meant it, too. He could always tell when Gibbs was lying to a suspect in order to get information. His eyes wavered just a little. This time, there was no wavering.

"Thanks, Boss."

Gibbs reached out and squeezed Tony's shoulder. "We good?"

Tony nodded.

Gibbs nodded back and turned and headed for the door. When he reached it, he turned around with a grin on his face. "One more thing…"

"Yeah, Boss?"

"You'd make an ugly redhead."

Tony was so surprised he burst out laughing. "You'd be an uglier blonde."

Gibbs grinned and snorted. "Blondes are overrated."

"Not as much as redheads."

Gibbs snorted. "Ain't that the truth?" he muttered. He then pointed at Tony but the smirk was still firmly fixed on his face. "Don't be late!"

"I won't. Night, Boss."

Gibbs nodded once and left. Tony locked the door behind him and then sank down on the couch. Something in his heart felt a little lighter. Gibbs used to joke around with him more and now it felt good that it was happening again. He looked at the email once more and smiled. He knew how terse Gibbs' emails were, when he sent them at all. The fact that he used four full sentences was effusive for him. Tony couldn't help but feel pleased.

It was a balm he needed. He felt like he had his friend back. He should've thought about the fact that Gibbs just wasn't good at communicating. On the other hand, Gibbs was right. He should've said something. They were just going to have to help each other meet in the middle better. He used to know that, but had apparently forgotten how important it was.

It didn't resolve everything thing else with his coworkers, but he wasn't about to bring any of it up again. Knowing Gibbs valued him, even if the others didn't, was enough.

For now.