"Sorry, Gibbs, but Tony is too angry to speak to you at the moment," said Brad once he was out of Tony's room. "He thinks that there's a double standard when it comes to people's health. I can't say I blame him- there does seem to be a different set of rules for you than there is for your team."

"I know. I think this was what I needed to realise it. I knew Tony was angry with me," said Gibbs.

"You need to fix it. However, I would suggest that you wait until Tony has calmed down. I don't want to keep him in hospital any longer than is necessary."

"Is he okay?"

"Tony's fine. The fresh air and the fact that the time he spent inhaling smoke was broken up has helped him."

"Is Tim still with him?"

"Yes. Agent McGee will take Tony home once I release him in an hour or so."

"Please tell McGee to take Tony home. He can return to work in the morning. And please tell Tony that I am going home too. I don't want him to think he's missing out on working the case."

Tony sighed as he continued to be beaten at a game of poker by McGee. Normally, Tony was really good at the game, but today he was distracted and wanted nothing more than to go back to his desk and work.

"Do you want to play some other card game while we wait, Tony?" asked McGee.

"No. I want to work and close this case already," answered Tony.

"Me too. There's no way that you'll be allowed to go back to NCIS tonight, though."

"I know that. I just want to end this case. I've had enough of looking for terrorists in cold cases."

"I don't blame you, Tony," said Brad as he entered the room with a few papers in his hands. "I have the discharge forms here. You can sign them and go home for the night. Gibbs says that you can go back to work in the morning."

"Is he coming to my apartment?"

"No. I told him not to see you until you've calmed down more."

"Thank you, Brad. For everything."

"Anytime, Tony. Take it easy for a few days, okay?"

"I will." Tony signed the papers and handed them back to Brad. "I guess the next time I see you will be when we play football!"

"Thanks for dropping me off, McGee," said Tony once they were inside his apartment building. "I'm just going to go up and sleep. I'll see you tomorrow."

McGee knew he was being dismissed. He didn't want to go and leave Tony alone. He still felt that Tony might have some smoke left in his lungs, and he was worried that something might happen to his friend.

"Tony..." began McGee.

"I'm fine. I will be at work in the morning. Good night."

McGee sighed as he watched Tony step into the elevator. Other than barging into Tony's apartment, there wasn't much he could do right then.

"Hi, Tony," said an elderly woman as Tony reached his apartment door.

"Hi, Eloise," smiled Tony. "How are you?"

"It sounds like I'm better than you today. Did something happen?"

"Work happened." Tony grinned. "I got some new information on a cold case at work, which ended up with me at the hospital for a checkup..."

"Why are you smiling?" Eloise asked in concern. "You know that hospital trips worry me when it comes to you."

"I'm here now, aren't I?" Tony asked teasingly.

"You are a stubborn young man, Anthony!" Eloise laughed a little. "I guess you really do know how to get to me, don't you? Did you really go to the hospital?"

Tony held up his left hand, showing his neighbour the hospital wristband that he hadn't taken off yet. "I'm fine. It was mostly a precaution."

"They cleared you to come home?"

"Brad did, yes."

Eloise breathed a sigh of relief. "Well, if Brad thinks it's okay to send you home, then I guess I can relax. But, I'm going to keep an eye on you tonight, young man."

Tony chuckled. "I knew you would."

Eloise smiled. She wrapped an arm around Tony's shoulders in what was considered a hug, since she was much shorter than Tony and could only just reach. "Have you had dinner yet?"

"I was thinking of ordering Chinese. You're welcome to join me, Eloise."

A smile lit up the elderly woman's face. "I think I would enjoy Chinese food and a movie."

Tony grinned slyly as he opened his apartment door. "How does Final Destination sound to you?"

Eloise grimaced. "Don't you do that to me, Tony! How about we watch It's A Wonderful Life?"

"I think I would like that, Eloise."

Gibbs sighed. It was almost six pm and he wanted to go home. He had just finished interrogating the terrorist that he and Tony had found earlier that night. Normally, he would have given himself a pat on the back and said that it was a job well done since the guy had folded under Gibbs' stare, but Vance was waiting for him. Gibbs knew he was going to be chewed out for bringing Tony into the field before Monday ended the desk duty. Usually, Gibbs didn't care about getting into trouble, but he had no energy for an argument right then.

"Gibbs, we need to talk. I put DiNozzo on desk duty for a reason- you can't just pull him into the field before the punishment is over," said Vance once Gibbs stepped into the observation room.

"Tony shouldn't be on desk duty, Leon. He did not cause any trouble with that witness on Thursday. Your dear friend Eli David's daughter did. Tony tried to stop her from doing anything, and all he got for his troubles was a hard elbow to the gut. I don't know why you have it out for him, but Tony is not your 'problem child', that I can tell you for sure. You need to stop seeing only the bad things about him and start seeing his good side, his smarts and his positivity." Gibbs took a deep breath to stay calm. "I want Tony off desk duty, right now, Leon. I want him to be able to go back into the field at a moment's notice, and I want you to read- actually read, not skim- his reports on all of last week's incidents. That should tell you enough to be able to figure out who was responsible for each incident and to dole out the blame to the correct people. And, that incident with the van on Monday- that was not Tony's fault. He took the blame because he was driving, but if his two junior agents had been doing what they were meant to do, that wouldn't have happened. Do you understand?"

"Why didn't DiNozzo write up the two agents in question?" Vance challenged.

"Why do you think? Would you have believed that your golden boy let an angry dog loose on a fellow agent, just for a prank? Or that your buddy's little girl put a potentially poisonous rat in his locker to embarrass him?" Gibbs waited out a short pause. "I didn't think so. Leave Tony alone and stop punishing him." With that, Gibbs turned and walked off, heading to his car to go home.