Tony had thought he had a high pressure job in the days when he worked for Gibbs. Now he realised that the long days, short nights, interrupted rest and snatched meals he endured at NCIS were as nothing compared to the reality of life as a single parent.

With Gibbs on the scene he had a few moments of respite as he watched as Tali took Gibbs on a guided tour of the small yard to the back of the cabin. Gibbs, always the soul of patience with children, allowed himself to be shown the pebbles and flowers which attracted Tali's attention and then, when she tired of that, spent time pushing her on the swing.

Tony wondered, as he often had in the past, how it was that Gibbs was so different with children than he was with adults. Tony knew that he was good with Tali but he still struggled with other children but he suspected that Gibbs had always been a natural with them. He sighed and then moved on to another, more pressing, problem. Why had Gibbs come to Milsom Bay days before he needed to and why had McGee been so squirrelly about it?

In other circumstances Tony would have tried to get the information out of Abby but that route was definitely closed to him. Tony sighed again as that loss hurt him once more. Ducky would once have been another option but, although in his 'retirement' he frequently consulted with NCIS, Tony knew that he had been visiting friends in New York for a few weeks although he was due in Milsom Bay for Tali's baptism. Tony grimaced at the thought of asking Director Vance who had never been a DiNozzo fan and suspected that Bishop would give him the same answer as McGee. That left one other person.

"Autopsy."

"Dr Palmer!" said Tony winningly. "Dr Autopsy Gremlin!"

"HI, Tony," said Palmer as he recognised Tony's nickname for him.

"Can you talk?" asked Tony considerately, "Or are you up to your elbows in some unfortunate's entrails?"

"No, you're good," said Jimmy, "Although I have just finished a fascinating examination of a maggot infested, putrid …"

"OK, OK," said Tony hastily, "Enough with the gory details."

"You sure?" asked Jimmy in a disappointed voice. "It was very unusual. You know, it reminded me of one of my first cases with Dr Mallard. Do you remember …"

"Palmer," snapped Tony, "Enough channelling of Ducky!"

"Oh, gosh! Is that what I was doing? I'm sorry. But you know, I do miss Dr Mallard. I didn't miss him so much when he first retired … but that was because he seemed to be here most of the time. You know, consulting on the arcane, abstruse and ambiguous …"

"You know, Dr Wordsmith, you are allowed to go past A in the dictionary," said Tony.

"Oh. Oh, I know that, I just like those words. And they remind me of Dr Mallard. Not that he's arcane, abstruse or ambiguous, you understand. Well, in some ways he is but …"

"Hey!" said Tony, "Concentrate!"

"On what?" asked Jimmy obligingly.

"Good point," said Tony, "I seem to have missed it myself. Anyways, is there anyone else you're missing at good old NCIS?"

"Pardon? Oh, well, of course I miss you, Tony. Goes without saying."

"And you didn't," muttered Tony.

"What was that?"

"Nothing. And I know you miss me. Who wouldn't?" said Tony.

"Well …" began Palmer thoughtfully, "There's …"

"That's OK," said Tony hastily, "I don't need to know."

"But lots of people do miss you, Tony," said Palmer earnestly. "Honestly."

"So, apart from Ducky and yours truly, is there anyone else you're missing? Anyone else who's not around?"

"I don't think Director Vance counts," said Jimmy. "I mean, I know that now I'm Medical Examiner he has to talk to me more than he used to but I don't think he's that comfortable with me so I don't see him all that much. So, I couldn't really say, hand on heart, that I miss him."

"Where's the toothpick gone?" asked Tony. "Not to the great woodpile in the sky?"

"No," said Jimmy with a slightly disapproving tone, "Director Vance is on a six-month secondment."

"Where to? Somewhere cold and rainy?"

"No," the tone of disapproval ramped up a little, "He's been seconded to work with a Senate committee looking at homeland security."

"How long has he been gone?"

"Two months."

"They haven't put Gibbs in his chair, have they?" asked Tony as he fleetingly wondered if Gibbs had done a runner to avoid the Director's assistant insisting that he review case files.

Jimmy made a choking sound, "No. Assistant Director Roberta Button has been brought in from San Diego."

"What's she like? Don't remember ever having met her," said Tony.

"Nobody knew her," said Jimmy. "She was with the FBI for ten years. Transferred to NCIS and raced up the ranks."

"And how's she doing?" asked Tony idly before saying, "Wait! You mean, the acting Director of NCIS is called Bobby Button?"

"Nobody else has pointed that out," said Jimmy stiffly. "Well, not to her face anyway," he added.

"Just as well I'm not there anymore," said Tony philosophically, "'Cos, somehow I don't think I could have kept a straight face with Bobby Button being in charge of me. But apart from that, what's she like to work for?"

"Strongminded. Fair. I guess she wants to make her mark," said Jimmy in a lower tone as if he feared he might be overheard. "Wants things done … right."

"And how is Gibbs coping with that?" asked Tony as he tried to lead the conversation towards its original target of why Gibbs was missing from NCIS.

"You really think Agent Gibbs confides in me?" asked Jimmy. "Although she is a redhead …"

"Come on, Jimster, you hear all the gossip … how are they getting on? Any twosome tangos in the elevator?"

"I wouldn't know," said Palmer with dignity, "But she has fitted alarms in the elevators. Makes it more difficult to shut them down between floors."

"Ouch," said Tony. "Though I never understood why they didn't have alarms anyway. Always assumed that Gibbs had some sort of hold over the maintenance engineers … oh well, I guess it's another of life's unsolved mysteries. So, it sounds as if Gibbs is getting on with Director Bobby?"

"I wouldn't say that," said Palmer cautiously, "She hasn't always agreed with the direction of some of their cases."

"Tell me more," said Tony.

"I'm sorry, Tony, I've got to go," said Palmer, "I have a class of NCIS students arriving to witness an autopsy. I've got to get a cadaver ready."

"Ah, brings back happy memories," said Tony nostalgically, "Happy days! Better get the puke buckets ready. And the smelling salts. Have fun."

"Will do," said Palmer, "See you on Sunday. We're all looking forward to it."

"Ciao," said Tony. He looked at the phone thoughtfully as the call ended. He wondered if he had just been got rid of.

NCISNCIS

"Hey, Gibbs," said Tony as he went out into the yard, "Millie's invited us all for dinner tonight. Well, late tea really. You want to take Tali down? I need a word with John. We'll join you later."

"Sure," said Gibbs, "Tali can show me the way."

"Yeah, good luck with that," said Tony, "She'll want to ride on your shoulders."

Gibbs smiled softly, "Haven't done that for years."

"Ruskin'll probably come too," said Tony, pointing to the Cavachon dog who divided his time between the DiNozzos and Millie. Ruskin's ears pricked up when he heard his name. "But you don't need to carry him," he added. "I'll see you in a little while, sweetie. Be good for Gibbs."

"OK," said Tali agreeably, "Ug here?"

"Oh, I'll ask John when's he coming," said Tony. "Doug," he explained to Gibbs, "She calls him Ug."

"Ug's my friend," said Tali confidingly to Gibbs, "Daddy doesn't like him. But I do."

Tony grimaced and Gibbs laughed. "Can't get anything past her," he said.

"Welcome to my world," said Tony.

"You're looking well on it," said Gibbs unsympathetically. "Come on, Tali, time to go for a ride."

Tali squealed with delight as she was hoisted on to Gibbs' shoulders and then proceeded to wave regally as she was carried along with Ruskin barking enthusiastically as he trotted along at Gibbs' heels.

"Should never have let her have those Princess dolls," muttered Tony. "They've gone to her head."

He watched until Tali, Gibbs and Ruskin disappeared from view and then went to find John.

"Hey," he said, "It's looking good," Tony pointed to a portrait that John was painting.

John Sutherland smiled as he wiped his brushes and looked at the picture. "Doug's pleased with it."

"Good?" asked Tony cautiously.

"He thinks it means I'm getting back into portraits," explained John.

"Ah," said Tony.

John Sutherland had once had a flourishing career as a painter of society portraits of the great, the good and the extremely wealthy. In what his son called a midlife crisis he had thrown his practice up to become a painter of seascapes. His work was gradually building a new reputation but his income had never reached its previous heights and his marriage had been a casualty of the change in direction. Doug had never really forgiven his father for blighting his own hopes and dreams although he had actually done very well for himself.

Tony had sometimes thought that he would have done better with John for a father while Doug would have been better suited to Senior but in recent years both Tony and Doug had drawn closer to their natural parents. Doug and Tony usually managed to disguise their mutual antipathy and particularly so since Tali had become almost besotted with 'Ug'.

"But you're not," said Tony pointing to the painting, "You're not getting back into people?"

"No," said John. "I like to do them occasionally. When I like the subject. As with this one …"

Tony smiled as he saw the likeness of Tali emerging from John's brushstrokes. "It's going to be good," he said.

"Could look even better," suggested John, "If it was a father and daughter …"

Tony shuddered, "No! Thank you, but no. It feels like something out of Victorian England. And, remember, what a pain I was to paint the first time."

John grinned as he remembered the portrait he had made when he first met Tony. Tony had been a surprisingly restless subject but the result had been good and the picture was on a long term loan to a prestigious gallery in New York. "Oh, well," he said, "But if you change your mind …"

"I won't," said Tony firmly. "The Pink House …"

"What about it?"

"You still hold the keys?"

John nodded. The local realtor had almost given up hope of selling the property so had resorted to allowing prospective buyers to call on John for the keys so they could look around by themselves.

"Anyone look around recently?" asked Tony.

"Nope. Not for months. I reckon all your escapades there have put people off. They probably think it's cursed," said John.

"And Gibbs hasn't asked for the keys?"

"That sort of information is strictly confidential," said John primly.

"It is?"

"No," said John less primly, "At least I don't think it is. No, Agent Gibbs hasn't asked to go see the place. Why?"

"Nothing," said Tony unconvincingly. "Just wondered. Hey, you ready to come down to Millie's? She said she was going to make something special for us."

John jumped up eagerly. He named Millie as one of the best cooks in the Carolinas so if she was doing something special´ it would be even more worth hurrying down for.

NCISNCIS

Gibbs booked a room at Millie's bed and breakfast rather than staying with Tony and Tali and didn't make any arrangements to meet with Tony the following day. In itself this was not surprising as Gibbs had implied that he hadn't made the visit to see Tony but, on the contrary, had been surprised to see him in Milsom Bay.

One of the joys of Milsom Bay for Tony was that he had an army of people willing to look after Tali. Tony tried not to feel guilty about this but rather to think that it was good for his daughter to get used to being with lots of different people. On this morning he took Tali to Rosie and Richie Ratched for a few hours. Rosie was the nurse at Dr Murray's clinic and, fortunately, did not live up to her unfortunate name. Tony wondered if she had married Richie after 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo Nest' had been released and, if so, whether she had had second thoughts about acquiring the name. He had never quite had the courage to ask her: she was the soul of kindness and benevolence but she sometimes had a steely look in her eye that sapped his courage a little.

With Tali safely out of the way, Tony decided to do a little research on why Gibbs might be in Milsom Bay. He quickly dismissed the idea of Gibbs wanting to buy the Pink House: the only uses Tony had ever daydreamed about in regards to the house revolved around setting up a hotel or some sort of conference centre and he could not imagine that any of those essentially sociable projects would suit the reclusive Gibbs. No, Gibbs was more likely to build himself a shack somewhere even more isolated than his current cabin in the woods around DC.

Tony had decided that Gibbs must be down in the Bay pursuing a case. And probably a case which Bobby Button disapproved of. Tony grinned as he pictured a Bobby Button with a pursed lip and narrowed eyes; he thought of trying to find a picture of her but decided he preferred to go with his, admittedly wild, imaginings.

As CAFALO, Tony had links with most of the police forces in North Carolina and with many of the Federal Agencies which had offices in the State. Tony's first task was to look at the reports of the police forces to see if they had picked up any rumours of criminal activity around Milsom Bay although he thought he would have already heard of any as most local police officers knew that he often visited the place. As Tony scanned the records he saw that he was right; nothing untoward had been reported around the Pink House although, in itself, that was odd as previously it had been a target of some petty vandalism as teenagers used it as an out of the way place for drinking and other activities best kept hidden from disapproving parents. Lately, however, even those reports had died down.

Tony registered this and wondered if it was significant. He was fairly sure that if any federal agencies had been aware of anything to investigate that they would have contacted the CAFALO. Tony took the Federal Agency Liaison Officer part of his job title seriously and had pleased his employers by building up genuinely good relationships.

There was, of course, one potential exception to this rule: NCIS. Or, more specifically, Leroy Jethro Gibbs who might well be on one of his personal crusades which he knew would not be approved of by Boss Button. Tony's access to NCIS was limited but he had had a recent case with the Coastguard Investigative Service and Agent Borin had given him a login to some of their records. Tony smiled as he realised that he still had access. He smiled again when he spotted that there had been reports of lights out to sea at night around the area of the Pink House. The incidents had been investigated but it had been concluded that it was just a case of unwary fishermen out too late at night.

Tony suspected that Gibbs had spotted something else and had come down to investigate. He had casually asked about the Pink House to avoid having to ask John for the information. And this was Gibbs, since when would he need a key to get in somewhere?

Tony knew there was no point in confronting Gibbs about this and he didn't think it was worth checking with McGee again: either he didn't know where Gibbs was or had been ordered not to get involved. With a new Director in place, McGee and Bishop might feel unable to defy her.

With a couple of hours to go before he needed to collect Tali, Tony decided to make a visit of his own to the Pink House to see if he could spot what Gibbs had found. He had recently purchased an all-terrain vehicle to make travelling over the sand dunes a little easier. Tony told himself that this was because it was easier on Tali's little legs but he had to confess that since the time he had broken his leg at the Pink House (or had it broken for him, as he preferred to put it) it also made things easier on his own leg too.

It didn't take him long to get to within a mile of the Pink House but he then went the rest of the way by foot so as not to alert Gibbs if he was already there. Tony kept his eyes and ears open for Gibbs as he approached the house, hoping to spot him if he was hiding out somewhere and also not to give Gibbs' position away if he was trying to lie low. It was therefore, something of an anti-climax to find Gibbs sitting openly on the pier of the house with a fishing rod in his hand.

"Hey," said Gibbs as he saw Tony approach.

"Hey," said Tony. "What you doing?"

"Fishing," said Gibbs.

"Ha ha," said Tony. "No, what you doing?"

"You know," said Gibbs conversationally, "Tobias tells me that people still think highly of you."

"They do?" said Tony.

"Yeah. But I reckon they're wrong."

"You do?" asked Tony. "Why's that?"

"Was a time you were a good investigator," said Gibbs.

"I still am," protested Tony.

"Nah," said Gibbs, "I'm not so sure."

"Why?" asked Tony.

"Was a time you'd have seen someone sitting on a pier with a fishing pole and you'd have known they were fishing. But now …"

"Ha ha," said Tony again. "You know what I mean. What are you doing here? Yes, I know, you're fishing. But you didn't need to come all the way to North Carolina to do it."

"It's a good spot," said Gibbs, "You like it."

"I guess," said Tony. "Look, this could take all day and I've to pick Tali up from the Ratcheds."

"Can't believe there's a real Nurse Ratched," said Gibbs.

"And I can't believe that you get the movie reference," said Tony.

"I worked with you thirteen years," said Gibbs, "Some of your movie yabbayabba was bound to rub off."

"I guess," conceded Tony. "Let me tell you why I think you're here. I mean, apart from fishing."

"Go on then," said Gibbs as he looked out to sea.

"I think you've picked up that something … criminal … is going on. I heard about Boss Bobby …"

"Who?"

"Director Roberta Button. Bobby Button. Who I hear is by the book and eager to make a name for herself."

"Abby?" asked Gibbs.

"Nope," said Tony with a shudder.

"McGee?"

"No."

"Bishop?"

"Likewise no."

"Palmer?" asked Gibbs.

"Yes."

"He's quite the source of information, isn't he?" observed Gibbs.

"Taking up the Ducky mantle in more ways than one," said Tony.

"He's doing well," said Gibbs.

"Good."

"But it's not the same. I miss Ducky," said Gibbs.

"Yes."

"And you, Tony," said Gibbs. "It's not the same."

"And do you miss Vance?"

"Not so much," grinned Gibbs, "Or at least I didn't until Boss Bobby showed up."

"So you've gone off grid," said Tony wisely, "'Cos she won't let you have your head and follow your gut. Which sounds anatomically complicated … but never mind, we'll put a pin in that one. What you found out, Gibbs?"

"Nothing."

"I'm kinda disappointed that you didn't tell me," said Tony, "I could have worked something out. You know, me being a Federal Liaison officer and all. You could have given me a heads-up."

"I didn't find anything," said Gibbs.

"Yeah," said Tony sceptically, "Don't give me that. I looked at the Coastguard reports and our police reports and I spotted something hinky."

"So perhaps you are still a good investigator," said Gibbs wryly.

"You gonna tell me what you found?" asked Tony.

"Can't do that, Tony," said Gibbs.

"I thought you trusted me," said Tony.

"I do," said Gibbs.

Tony glared at Gibbs in frustration but before he could say anything he heard banging coming from the Pink House.

"What's that?" he asked.

Gibbs shrugged but, like Tony, he was on the alert.

"Come on," said Tony, "We'd better investigate … unless you want to tell me what's going on?"

Gibbs shook his head.

"Stubborn ba … blighter," said Tony. "Well, at least get your weapon out, Agent Gibbs."

"I haven't got my gun with me, Tony. And I can't tell you what I don't know," said Gibbs.

"Damn," said Tony, "You choose the worst times to decide to be law-abiding and honest. What's got into you?"

Gibbs nodded towards the people coming menacingly out of the house towards them.

"Don't you think we should have this discussion another time?" he asked.