Gibbs smiled as he realised that Tony had instinctively led them to a table which gave an excellent view of the diner while being in a discreet corner, and had then sat down on the side which gave him the best view of the door. He mourned momentarily the loss of such talent, but then turned his mind to the matter at hand.

"I don't remember much about the case," admitted Gibbs.

"It happened when you were sailing your boat down to Mexico," said Tony, "there wasn't much we could do. It seemed an opportunistic raid, not much planning, plenty of violence and the suspects went straight across the border".

"Will he recognise you?"

"No. We never laid eyes on him, let alone interview him. All we could do was put a warrant out for his arrest. There's probably some sort of watch on his passport but it's not likely he'd come through official channels".

"Do you recognise the guy he came in with?" asked Gibbs as he looked over the rim of his cup.

"No, but I think he's armed. What you want to do, Boss?"

"Let's get some help here. I'll go out back and phone McGee. You stay here and keep a look out. Phone me if you think they're leaving. We may need to follow them."

Tony watched the pair as they stood at the counter, apparently choosing something from the menu. It seemed to Tony, however, that they were more interested in trying to see how much money was in the till. It wasn't very likely that there was much cash around but it might look like some easy pickings. The diner wasn't very busy and just had a few mostly elderly customers enjoying a leisurely meal. The hairs on the back of Tony's neck began to rise as he got a worse and worse feeling about what was going to go down. He jumped slightly as Gibbs slid back into the booth,

"McGee has alerted the state police and they're on their way," he said softly, "told them to come in quietly. Don't want to spook anyone here."

Tony told him his fears about what was about to go down.

"Might be wrong, Boss. Perhaps they're just taking a long time choosing."

"You said the Navy raid was pretty much unplanned, is that right?" asked Gibbs.

Tony nodded, "That's what it looked like. No finesse, just brute force – and a bit of enjoyment in using their weapons."

"OK," said Gibbs, "so if we put a bit of a wrench in their plans, they might give up and just walk away?"

"Good plan, Jethro. How about I go and have a very long conversation with that waitress?" And before Gibbs could say anything, Tony had walked up to the waitress at the till,

"Melody," he said, peering at her name badge, "Hi. My friend and I have just ordered two medium rare steaks but I wonder if you could tell me something about the cows they came from?"

"What d'you want to know, Sir," asked Melody who found herself a little relieved to have someone else near her while the other two customers were choosing what to have.

"Well, are they organic? Free-range? Have they travelled far? I like to know how many food miles my meals have totted up."

"I don't know, Sir. I'm pretty sure they're reared pretty local and I don't think they're kept indoors all the time."

"Perhaps you could talk to your boss about finding out about food miles and things. Lots of people are interested in stuff like that nowadays. I could recommend him a really good book."

Melody smiled kindly, "I'll be sure to let him know. I think your steaks will be on their way soon."

"Thank you, Melody. Now, do you think I could order another cup of coffee?"

"Of course, I'll bring it over to you."

"There's no need for you to do that. I can wait here – save you the walk. And if you don't mind, I'll watch as you make it. My friend back there is a tad fussy about how he takes his coffee so he likes me to make sure it's done right. That's not a problem is it?"

Poor Melody, brought up to believe that the customer was always right, politely let Tony observe how she poured Gibbs' coffee and put up with his monologue on the correct way to roast and grind the beans and then make the perfect brew. Carey Lincoln and his sidekick were less patient and soon saw that their moment of opportunity had passed since the annoying customer seemed in no hurry to move. They nodded to one another in frustration and walked out. Straight into the waiting arms of the state police.

When a breathless McGee and Ziva arrived a few minutes later, it was to find Tony wearing a smug smile and finishing his steak.

"Where is Gibbs?" asked Ziva.

"He's just talking to the police. I think he's going to get them to take Lincoln and his crony to the Navy Yard".

"And what about you, Tony? What are you doing?" asked McGee.

"Me? Nothing, I'm a civilian, I don't have to do anything."

"So, you just sat here and let Gibbs do all the work?" said McGee in slight disbelief. Tony opened his mouth to answer but didn't get a chance because Gibbs came back at that moment,

"I didn't do anything, DiNozzo did it all," he said.

"What did you do, Tony?" asked Ziva.

Again, Tony didn't get a chance to reply.

"He bored them to death," said Gibbs tucking into his cooling steak.

"Sounds about right," said Ziva.

NCISNCIS

Tony had to go to the Navy Yard a couple of days afterwards to make a statement about what had happened at the diner. He didn't sit at his old desk but tactfully sat at the empty desk that had been Tim's. Gibbs hadn't chosen a new agent yet so one desk was going spare. Word soon got round that Tony was in the building and people made excuses to come visit. When Gibbs came back from a coffee run he was startled to find the squad room crowded with people and very little work being done.

"DiNozzo, conference room!" he bellowed. Everyone laughed when Tony instinctively jumped up and started walking to the elevator. "Not there," growled Gibbs, "with me," and he led Tony to one of the actual conference rooms on the next floor. The statement was a mere formality and didn't take long. As they left, Tony said,

"Any ideas about the new agent?"

"Not really," said Gibbs, "there's no hurry."

"Dorneget might be good," said Tony, "he's a bit green ..."

"A bit?" said Gibbs.

"Alright, a lot. In fact he's a lot like McGee was when he started but he's got a good heart."

"Hmmph," said Gibbs, which might have meant anything but which probably meant that the Gibbs who didn't really like change, was avoiding making a decision, "it's early days."

"Early days?" said Tony, "I've been gone nearly three months."

"But it doesn't feel as if you've gone, we see you all the time," said Abby happily as they reached the squad room, and she reached out to hug him.

"Ah, Tony," said Ziva, "McGee was trying to work out when our shooting range evaluations are due, but as you are here, you will be able to tell him."

For a moment, Tony wondered if this was a set up – having to come in to make a statement, all this people just happening to come by, Gibbs still having a vacancy on the team, Tim needing his help. He looked around and saw a twisted smile on Tim's face and immediately acquitted Tim of having any part in a possible set up.

"Ok," he said, "I've got to go. I'll see you chickadees later".

"Oh, but Tony," mourned Abby, " I wanted to introduce you to my new microscanner'.

"Another time," said Tony. He gave a courtly bow and was gone. The good mood of the room evaporated and people went back to their work.

NCISNCIS

Archie turned up at Tony's apartment the next day.

"Come on," he said, "it's time to go and look at Tara." Tony looked a bit puzzled, so Archie explained, "When you were in the hospital, just before you dozed off you said 'we'll think about Tara tomorrow'. Well, it's well past tomorrow."

"You do know that I had a traumatic experience there," said Tony plaintively, "I may be emotionally scarred forever."

"Hey, you were unconscious for some of it and you're a professional," retorted Archie.

"Was," said Tony, "I'm notCop now, remember."

"Whatever," said Archie, "but we need to go and see what we dealing with." He saw Tony still hesitating and continued, "you really don't want to go, do you?"

"No, not really. I don't think I'm frightened – well, not in a physical sense. I mean I don't think I'm going to be attacked there or anything. I'm not going to be jumping at shadows or sudden noises. It's, well, it'll sound stupid."

"Go on," said Archie, "I won't laugh. Well, I'll try not to and if I do, I promise I will be being sympathetic inside."

"A honest man," said Tony. "OK, those first few weeks were like a dream. Cleaning the place up, opening the coffee shop, Radhika being such a star, all those ideas we had and everything went well. And then, and then, well, Billy Smith came and smashed it all up. And part of me doesn't want to see it all torn apart. I'm worried that the heart of the thing has been ripped out and we won't be able to bring it back to life."

"Hmmm," said Archie, "but we don't have to put it back as it was. Perhaps it's time for a complete re-think. Ultra modern rather than retro. Part of the reason we went for restoration was that it was cheaper than remodelling."

"Don't tell Abby," said Tony, "she'll want us to go for Gothic twee-horror or mortuary-chic." He looked at Archie's stubborn face and gave in, "Oh, OK, Arch, let's go."

A depressing scene met them at Seymour Boulevard. Shattered windows were boarded up as was the twisted door. Inside, broken glass from the windows and chandeliers littered the floor. The posters which Tony had loved so much from his first visit had been torn out of their frames and trampled on. In the coffee shop, the cups and mugs seemed to have been hurled against the mirrored wall. Tables and chairs had been smashed. Tony and Archie went silently from room to room marvelling that one person had been able to do so much damage.

"I don't know if I feel mad or sad," said Tony at last. "You know how people always say 'perhaps things won't be as bad as you think'? Well, they're wrong."

"I guess it's mostly superficial," said Archie, "just sweeping everything up would make it look better. Bare, but better."

"We'd better get the insurance company in," sighed Tony, " and get some quotes on how much it'll cost to clear it up."

"Have you made a decision then?" asked Archie.

"No," said Tony, "but I think we need to know what we're dealing with before we decide what to do. And that brings me to something I wanted to talk to you about. Let's get out of here and find somewhere to have a coffee."

They secured the building as well as they could and went to the diner down the road.

"You're not going to find an escaped criminal in here, are you?" asked Archie only half joking.

"If I do, we're leaving right away," said Tony.

When they were settled with coffee and donuts, Archie said, "OK, Tony, what's this about?"

Tony shuffled a bit uncomfortably and then began,

"You know that I think what you did testifying all those years ago was pretty amazing and that I understood when you decided not to find out what had happened to your family."

"Tony, I haven't changed my mind. I'm not going to turn their lives upside-down."

"Just hear me out," replied Tony. "If you knew that Janie was happily re-married and had more children. How would that make you feel?"

"I wouldn't go and mess that up for her."

"I know that. But if you knew she was happy, how would you feel?"

Archie thought for a while, "I guess I'd be sort of content. I'm not saying I wouldn't be sad but it would settle something. Go on."

"And if you found out that she was lonely or sad or ill; that she might need you. What would you do then?"

Archie didn't to think about that one, "I'd go to her. See what I could do."

"Then doesn't it make sense, Arch, to find out what's really going on? I don't think you lose. Chances are you'll still be sad but at least you'll know."

"Now who's the honest man?" smiled Arch. "All right, assuming I agree with you, I don't suppose you know how I could go about getting all this information?"

Tony grinned and took an envelope out of the inside pocket of his jacket. He put it on the table between them. "I asked Tim, in confidence, to do some research. I don't know what he found, I didn't want to know and he won't tell anyone."

Archie reached out a trembling hand and picked up the envelope, "Thank you. I'll think about it and I might open it later," he swallowed and said with an attempt at a smile, "at least I'd know what type of road trip to go on".

NCISNCIS

Archie went to visit Gibbs a couple of nights later. He hadn't quite believed the stories of Gibbs' basement and found himself trying to work out where the revolving walls were. Gibbs was used to people being distracted and let him wonder for a while before pouring him a glass of bourbon and asking,

"What can I do for you, Archie?"

"Tony persuaded me to find out about my family."

"He can be pretty persuasive when he wants to be," smiled Gibbs.

"Janie, my wife, got married again. She didn't have any more children," said Archie haltingly, "she went back to school and got a degree in fine arts. She taught painting until she retired. She and her new husband had their silver wedding anniversary last year." He took a gulp of his bourbon and went on, "my boys, Angus and Ross. Angus went into the army. He's an officer, doing well, married with a baby on the way. Ross seems to have drifted a bit but he's just gone back to school and he's studying to be a dentist would you believe? My son, a dentist!"

"You must be proud," said Gibbs.

"Yes, I am," said Archie, "real proud. And it's all mixed up, Jethro. Because I'm so proud, and I'm so sad that I'll never be able to tell them so. That I'll never hold my grandchildren in my arms or dance at their weddings. I'll never be able to tell Janie that I love her." He closed his eyes for a moment and then shook himself, "probably just as well I can't go the weddings, I'm a terrible dancer." He grinned at his awful joke and Gibbs grimaced back.

"But I think Tony was right. The truth hurts but it's set me free in a way. I know now what I can do and what I can't".

"And what can you do?" asked Gibbs

"I can go on the trip of a lifetime and see all the places I used to dream of. I used to have a plan to go and visit the places where my favourite movies were filmed. I can do that now. I know it's a cliché but one door has closed but others have opened."

"And what about the movie theater?" asked Gibbs.

"We don't know. There are options but we're going to put it on hold for a while. Ben, the lovely Radhika's husband, is a builder. Once we know what the insurance company is going to pay out, we're going to get him to fix what has to be fixed and clear it all up. He and Radhika are going to India to see her family for a few months. When they get back he'll start work and by that time we might know what we want to do."

"And in the meantime?" said Gibbs.

"The road trip!"

"And what about Tony?" continued Gibbs.

"You'll need to ask him yourself," said Archie. "You know, I don't know what would have happened if he and Tim hadn't come in to interview me that day. I was a real curmudgeon to him but he was determined to like me."

"He has his moments," said Gibbs wryly.

"You know, I realised something when you filled out Tony's medical questionnaire at the hospital, Jethro."

"What was that?"

"Tony's almost exactly the same age as my sons. What do you think about coincidences?"

They clinked their glasses togethe, "Semper Fi".

NCISNCIS

Tony knocked on Tim's door that same evening.

"Oh, it's you," said Tim bitterly, "did Gibbs send you? Found something else for you to teach me how to do better?"

"No. Is it so unlikely that I'd come to see you of my own free will?"

"I guess not, come in, then. I doubt if you're going to leave without a fight anyway."

"That's better, Tim. And look – I bring be-sprinkled donuts."

After carefully picking the sprinkles off a donut, Tim seemed to recover his temper a bit.

"Hmmm, good donuts. Thanks, Tony. Sorry about before."

"No problemo, Timmyo. So, what's troubling the Timothy?"

"Nothing. It's nothing."

"Now, Tim. I'm sure a scout leader of your experience knows that lying is bad. How will you be able to stand up in front of your troop next week knowing that you lied to your best friend?"

"My best friend?" said Tim.

"Well, I hope so." Tim blushed and Tony continued, "so, spill, oh SFA!"

Tim didn't say anything so, after he had gazed at Tim knowingly for a while, Tony said, "Let me guess. You don't feel like you are Gibbs' Senior Field Agent?"

"Tony, you're always around. And when you're not around, you're still around!" Tony raised a quizzical eyebrow and Tim tried to talk more sense, "I mean it's great that you're still in Washington, that we see you all the time. But then Gibbs sends me to get lessons from you in background checks; you manage to capture a wanted criminal with Gibbs without even trying; Ziva thinks you know how to do everything better than me, the whole office lights up like a parade when you turn up; Gibbs won't give us a new team member because secretly he thinks you're coming back and ... and ... now you can even make Gibbs' coffee perfectly. I don't stand a chance!" he laughed a little hysterically, "Sorry ... but you asked."

"I'm sorry too, Tim, I didn't mean to make things difficult for you."

"I know, and it's not your fault. I think it's just the DiNozzo wattage is a bit too powerful for me."

"It's often been said, Tim, it's often been said. But you're doing a good job, you know that."

"Yeah, because Gibbs is so good at telling us things like that."

"Hey, you're preaching to the choir here, you know."

"Well, it's no fun having everyone keep reminding me that I'm not you and saying how much they miss you."

Tony opened his mouth to remind Tim of what it had been like in the early days of Gibbs' absence in Mexico but then closed it again. There was no point in making him feel worse. He settled instead for just saying blandly,

"You'll get used to it. People don't like change, especially El Jefe, but give it time and all they'll remember is how irritating I was."

McGee nodded vigorously in agreement at that.

Tony left shortly afterwards. He sighed as he walked to his car. He had half hoped that he was wrong about Tim but his visit had showed that his instincts had been right. He had always wondered how Archie had dealt with the grief of walking away from his family; well now, to a lesser degree, Tony was going to find out. He pulled out his cell and hit speed dial #7. When the call was answered, he said,

"Arch. How'd you like some company on that road trip of yours?"

AN – thank you to AgentD.6 for the 'notCop' idea.