Tony had thoroughly enjoyed his dinner with Eloise on Saturday night. They had laughed and chatted about anything that came to their minds, and it had helped Tony to relax. He had been happy and comfortable all night long. When he had woken up on Sunday morning, he had found that he was still feeling good and was much calmer than he had been. He was looking forward to going to work and closing the cold case that had been re-invigorated the previous day. He was even feeling calmer towards Gibbs, though he had no intention of admitting that until the team leader decided to admit that he should have gone to the hospital as well.

"Good morning, Tony," said Eloise when Tony finally stepped out of his apartment to head to work.

"Hi, Eloise. How are you this morning?" Tony asked.

"Good. I see that you are still in a good mood."

"I am. It was nice to have some company last night. Thank you for that."

"Hey, I'm an old woman that lives alone. I'm usually at home, so it was nice to get out for a couple of hours. Even if it is just to visit a neighbour."

"Well, Eloise, you are more than welcome to come over whenever you want to." Tony smiled. "But, right now, I need to run. I'm already late for work."

Eloise laughed. "Why does that not surprise me?" she teased.

"Hey! It's Sunday! I wanted a sleep in. Is that too much to ask for?" Tony pretended to pout, making his neighbour laugh again.

"Well, I guess you had better get going, Tony. I'll see you later." Eloise smiled and waved, then entered her own apartment with a bag that contained what looked like a box.

Tony said goodbye and headed down the hallway to the elevator that had just arrived on his floor.

The trip to NCIS had been uneventful. Tony had spent the unusually short drive listening to a CD he had bought at a yard sale a week earlier. It wasn't the type of music he usually liked, but there was just something about the female singer's voice that he enjoyed. She had a great talent, although Tony was sure he had never heard of her until he had bought the disc.

"Hi, Tony!" squealed Abby as Tony stepped into the NCIS building.

"Hey, Abbs," said Tony after a moment. "What are you doing here now?"

"Finishing those tests I was running yesterday. How are you feeling? I heard about last night. Are your lungs okay?"

"I'm fine. If I wasn't, do you think Brad would have let me go home last night?"

Abby shook her head. "Just because you were okay at the hospital, it doesn't mean that you're fine now."

"I am. I promise that I am."

Abby glared at Tony for a moment, then said, "next time you go to the hospital, call me. I want to be there for you."

"Thanks, Abbs," said Tony. He knew that if he said anything else, the conversation would never end. "I'll come to your lab after I speak to Gibbs, okay?"

"Alright," said Abby cheerfully. She bounced off towards an elevator that would take her directly to her lab.

Tony smiled as he stepped into the elevator. Abby always made him smile, no matter how bad things got.

Gibbs was about to pick up his phone when the elevator dinged and Tony stepped out, looking refreshed and happy. Cautiously, he gave Tony a smile.

"Good morning, Tony," he said.

"Hi, boss!" Tony replied happily.

Unable to detect any traces of anger or resentment in his senior agent's voice, Gibbs relaxed. "I think we need to talk."

"We definitely need to talk, Gibbs."

"I'm sorry, Tony..." began Gibbs.

"Are you? You forced me to go to the hospital last night, Gibbs. You spent longer breathing in the smoke than I did, you should have been in the hospital too. Yet, I'm told that you chose to see Ducky instead." Tony paused to let his words sink in. "Does that sound fair to you?"

"I know that I was wrong. I shouldn't have gone back to work. You are right, I should have gone to the hospital, Tony."

"Did Ducky tell you off?"

"He did. So did Vance."

Tony couldn't stop himself. He smiled. "Vance, hey? Good. That means you really did get into trouble."

"Can we move past this? Be friends again?"

Tony nodded. "Of course."

Tony was glad that he and Gibbs were friends again. His boss was the closest thing to family that he had, besides his absent father, anyway. He hated to argue with Gibbs. However, the conversation they had just had was definitely long overdue.

"Boss, I'm going to help Abby with the evidence so we can close this case," said Tony. "Did he confess yet?"

"He did. I've got it on tape and Vance watched the whole thing when he came in last night," answered Gibbs.

"Did Vance let me off desk duty?"

"He hasn't decided yet. Either way, tomorrow you're back in the field and I'll deal with him again."

"What's going to happen with Ziva?"

"I don't know just yet. If she's honest with me when I go see her this afternoon, I might decide that she can stay on my team. Otherwise, she may be out of a job."

"Don't fire her. I just need her to understand what she's done."

"I may not have a choice, Tony. I can't have someone on my team that causes danger to colleagues."

"I really think that she can learn to not do this again."

"I hope so. She's a good asset for this team."