"Rose?" asked Gibbs, "has DiNozzo hooked up with someone?"

"Not quite," said Archie, as they walked to the car.

"Tell me later," said Gibbs. "or rather tell us later. Abby and the others are my house organising a surprise party for you and Tony. I'm afraid you've got some explaining to do."

"I never said Tony was coming back with me," pointed out Archie.

"My bad," said Gibbs, "I assumed."

"I've just spent eight months learning about your rules, Jethro. Don't you have a rule against that?"

"Like I said, my bad." He took his cell out and called Tim, "McGee, we're on our way back. Tony isn't here. Archie'll explain. Yes, you do that." Gibbs turned to Archie and said, "they might need to do some adjustments to the welcome – thought you might not want everyone to jump out on you in the dark."

"Appreciate that, Jethro, although living with Tony recently has got me a bit more used to surprises!"

Arriving at his house, Gibbs was impressed at the quick changes his team had made to the planned welcome. The 'Welcome Home Tony and Archie' banner had been taken down from over the mantelpiece and the words 'Tony and' had been skilfully scraped off the cake and a suitcase made out of icing put in their place. From the slightly muted reception, however, Gibbs knew that Tony's non-appearance had not been so easily erased from the team's thoughts.

They put a good face on it, however. Abby hugged Archie enthusiastically even though Gibbs suspected that she had had to reapply her mascara very quickly and the others smiled cheerfully and thanked Archie for his messages. They settled Archie on the least lumpy bit of Gibbs' couch with a glass of champagne and a piece of cake and waited. Gibbs could see that Archie wasn't sure where to start so decided to kick things off,

"Seems that Tony wasn't coming back with Archie. He's stayed in Rio with Rose."

"With Rose?"

"Who's Rose?"

"How long is he staying?"

The air was filled with a tumult of questions and nobody stopped talking long enough for Archie to answer any of them. Finally Gibbs gave a loud whistle to call them to order and said,

"Let Archie explain."

"Er, right," said Archie, trying to gather his thoughts, "er, I may have given you the wrong impression, Jethro. Rose isn't a person ..."

"... aahh," said Ziva, with a happier expression on her face.

"Then what is she?" asked Abby, "oh ... is she a puppy, a cute little puppy?"

"'She' could be a boat," suggested Jimmy, "boats are she's."

"That's an interesting possibility, Mr Palmer," said Ducky, "perhaps Anthony is sailing her back?"

Gibbs whistled again. When everyone looked at him, he nodded towards Archie who was still waiting to speak.

"Tim, would you mind going to get my carry-on bag. Jethro, do you have anything I can play a DVD on. I think it might be easier to show you than to explain". Tim jumped up to go and get the bag and said,

"I've got my laptop with me, Boss, if you haven't got a DVD player."

"I've got a DVD player, Tim. Tony insisted I get one," said Gibbs testily. Tim looked apologetic but then looked to where Gibbs was pointing and realised that it was still in its box.

"Um, it'll take a while to set it up, Boss. Why don't I play it on my laptop? It'll be quicker".

Gibbs looked around the faces taut with anticipation and agreed.

Tim powered up his laptop and Archie passed him a DVD. The first frame of the DVD showed 'rose' in small red letters which gradually expanded to fill the whole screen. The letters then got smaller again and each letter was then joined by blue and white ones to form new words: 'rio's organization for sporting endeavour'. The letters then faded away as pictures of children playing basketball, soft ball, volley ball, football and other types of game filled the screen. Archie leaned forward and pressed pause.

"rose", he said, "is an American charity working in Rio with children in the favelas. Those children love sport and the charity founders figured that offering sports coaching draws them in and then they can be offered other types of help as well: education, food, somewhere to sleep. The acronym's a bit forced but I gather the founders thought a rose was a symbol of beauty and wanted that for the name".

"And always in lower case, I see," said Ducky in a slightly pained voice.

"Yep," said Archie, "it's supposed to be hip, or cool, or whatever the word is?"

Gibbs shrugged, he was the most unlikely person in the world to know what the right word would be. He could see that McGee was about to make a suggestion so asked a question of his own.

"So this is the rose that Tony's got involved with? How did that happen?"

"Two days after we got there, we somehow got invited to a drinks party at the US Consulate. You know, I don't think we went anywhere without Tony knowing someone, or knowing someone who knew someone. The number of invitations we got was amazing. Anyway, we went to this party and got talking with someone who worked for rose. It turned out that one of their coaches had had to go back to the States unexpectedly and they couldn't get a replacement for another six months and they were worried that they'd have to close their program until the replacement arrived."

"And Tony volunteered?" said Tim.

"In the end, yes," said Archie. "We paid a visit the next day and we could see how keen the kids were and how desperately they needed someone."

"But Tony cannot speak Portuguese," said Ziva, "how could he be of help?"

"He already had a smattering," said Archie, "he said there was a Brazilian maid at his parents' house when he was a child and she used to speak to him. And he speaks good Spanish which helps. It was the sport bit they really needed, they've got plenty of translators and he's picking the language up quickly. He says it's about time he actually used that phys ed degree."

"So, he's not going to be there permanently?" asked Abby hopefully.

"Don't think so," said Archie, "the replacement is due in three months. I would have stayed on but we agreed that we need to start work on the movie theater. Tony's the one with the sport expertise, not me, so I was the one to come back."

"I think you have been teasing us," said Ziva, "telling us that Tony was staying with rose when all the time you knew he was just playing around with children."

"Well, Ziva," said Ducky, "I think it is more than playing. I know some of the work that is done with the children of the favelas and it is remarkable. I think we can be very proud of Anthony for doing this work. Can we perhaps watch the rest of the DVD, Gregory?"

Archie pressed the play button and the others watched the rest of the DVD. He thought the team's reaction to rose had been interesting: they had seemed a bit put out at the thought of Tony having formed a romantic attachment. He was relieved that he hadn't mentioned Sophie!

Sophie Bailey was the current director of rose and it was she who they had met at the drinks party. She explained that she was nearing the end of a two year stint with rose and would be returning to the US after that.

"What will you do there?" asked Tony.

"I want to go back to teaching in a public school," said Sophie, "I was brought up in New York and I was teaching there before I came out here."

She and Tony had then started comparing memories of New York and were soon swapping taller and taller stories of their childhood escapades. Sophie and some other rose workers were going on to dinner after the drinks party and invited Tony and Archie to go with them. Archie decided to go back to the hotel but Tony accepted. It was the beginning of at least a friendship between Sophie and Tony. Archie knew that Tony was genuinely impressed with the work of rose but wondered if he would have stayed if the charity's director had been a fifty year old male. He kept his own counsel, however, and simply noted that Sophie and Tony were each a little brighter when the other was in the same room.

It was partly true that someone needed to come back to Washington to oversee the building work in Seymour Boulevard but they trusted Ben and Radhika to get on with things there. It was also partly true that Archie had satisfied his wanderlust and was looking forward to living in his own home again. The bigger part of the truth was that Archie thought that Tony would be freer to develop things with Sophie if he didn't feel he had to spend time looking after Archie. So, Archie had announced his intention of returning to the States and Tony, probably understanding most of Archie's thinking, had simply nodded and let him go.

NCISNCIS

Three months later, Seymour Boulevard Movie Theater was something of a blank canvas. Re-painted, tidied up, new windows and doors, it was waiting for decisions to be made. Tony was due back in a couple of weeks' time and Archie was doing research into various options. Abby, as predicted, suggested some sort of gothic cavern effect; McGee favoured something futuristic and streamlined; Ducky wondered if some sort of Victorian look might not be 'rather striking and effective'. Gibbs thought it looked fine as it was. Archie wondered if Tony might want a reminder of his Brazilian experience and go for a carnival look.

Archie had folders full of paint charts, fabric and floor covering samples and lighting designs to fulfil any or all of the schemes. He went down to the theater early one Saturday morning to try and decide which he preferred. He was surprised to see a familiar figure sitting on the doorstep,

"Tony! What are you doing here?"

"Feeling unloved. You changed the locks! Even Senior never went that far!" but he was laughing and jumped up to give Archie a quick hug.

"Well, if someone had told certain people that he was coming home, someone might not have been left locked out," said Archie with mock severity, "but seriously, why didn't you let us know you were coming?"

"I doubt if anyone will believe me, but when I heard about your welcome home party I thought I'd rather give that a miss."

"You do know Abigail Scuito, don't you?" said Archie, " do you really think you have any chance of avoiding some sort of party?"

"No, I guess not. Still, you never know, she might be really busy and not have time."

"Tony, my lad, Abby already has the banner painted, the cake in the freezer, the champagne in the chiller and the streamers poised to stream. She'll be able to get a party organised in ten minutes flat. Nice try, though. When did you get in?"

"Just a couple of hours ago. I can't get into my apartment for a few days – it's being redecorated".

If Archie thought it was odd that Tony should arrange to have his apartment redecorated when he needed it to live in, he didn't say so.

"Where are you going to stay?"

"Hotel, I expect. Anyway, with re-decoration in mind, let's see what we've got here."

So Archie took Tony on a tour of inspection. At the end, Tony said,

"I'm starving. Let's go to the diner and get some breakfast and you can show me those design ideas".

So they went for breakfast and after Tony's hunger pangs were satisfied, Archie showed him the samples and told him everyone's ideas. Tony looked at all of them and thought for a while,

"Which do you prefer, Arch?" he asked.

"Not sure I'm the right person to ask," he replied, "I'm not as trendy as you younger folk."

"Does that mean you'd like to go back to the original look?" said Tony. Archie shrugged his shoulders and Tony went on, "because to tell the truth, I liked the 1950s retro style and I think it was popular. So I'd vote for retro restoration."

"And so would I," said a relieved Archie, "I think I might have had to retire if we'd gone for that Gothic look! I hope Abby won't be too disappointed."

"She'll be fine," said Tony confidently, "I'm going to ask her to work some magic on those damaged posters. She'll be happy to be helping. Are you happy to start this rolling?"

"Sure. Where are you going?"

"I'll be back. I want to go and see Gibbs."

NCISNCIS

Gibbs looked up from his latest woodworking project when he heard footsteps coming down the basement stairs. He thought he recognised them,

"Hey, Boss," came Tony's voice.

"Not your Boss," came the automatic reply.

"You know, I don't think I can break myself of the habit," said Tony, "and Jethro still feels kinda creepy. Not creepy in that it's a weird name, although, seriously Boss, do you ever wish Jackson's best friend had been called John? No, creepy in ... where was I?"

"Digging a hole for yourself," said Gibbs drily but feeling his gut settle at seeing Tony standing in his basement once more.

"Yeah, sorry, Boss, um, Gibbs."

"I don't mind being called Boss, Tony," admitted Gibbs, "so why didn't you tell anyone you were coming back. You know there's no point in trying to fly under the Abby radar. She has a party plan ready for activation at a moment's notice".

"Yeah, Archie pointed out that to me as well. I thought it was worth a try."

"So, you've been to see Archie first?" said Gibbs trying not to be disappointed.

"I wanted to talk to him about the theater, decide on plans. Business before pleasure, as Senior always said, but never did."

"And what did you decide?" asked a mollified Gibbs.

"We've decided to go for the retro feel again. I think it suits the building and doing something different would mean that Billy Smith had succeeded in destroying something".

"Good choice," said Gibbs.

"How's everyone?" asked Tony.

"If you mean Tim, he's fine and he's turning into a pretty good Senior Field Agent. I took your advice and we're rubbing along pretty well."

"I didn't just mean Tim, but I'm glad you decided that my wisdom was pearl-like."

"Pearls of wisdom?" said Gibbs, "getting a bit over confident are we?" Tony shrugged his shoulders and Gibbs took a closer look at him wondering if his words had had some truth in them. To the casual observer Tony had always seemed to be confident but Gibbs knew that some of that was bravado and a wish to hide certain insecurities. Now, however, Gibbs thought there was a different type of confidence about him. He undoubtedly looked fit and well; those months in warm and sunny climates had benefitted him but there was something else. Gibbs struggled to put a name to it and couldn't come up with anything better than serene: there was a serenity and contentment about Tony which he had never seen before.

Tony shifted uneasily under Gibbs' scrutiny, he smoothed his hair down and wiped his mouth surreptitiously, worried that he had a coffee moustache.

"Er, Boss, I know I've been gone a long time and you want to drink me in, but you're freaking me out a bit here."

Gibbs pulled himself together,

"Tell me about Rio and rose – gotta tell you that Archie had us all going with that one. Everyone thought you'd hooked up with someone."

Tony's smile stiffened a little, "rose was wonderful. It was a real wrench to leave the kids behind but my replacement is a great guy and he speaks better Portuguese than me. But we hope to go back some time and see how they're doing".

"We?" asked Gibbs, "do you mean you and Archie?"

"Well, I expect Archie would like to go back but I didn't mean him. Um, Boss, just how much did rose get people going?

"I think people were surprised, that's all," said Gibbs neutrally, although he wasn't sure that was the whole truth.

"So, they ... you wouldn't mind if I had come back with someone?"

NCISNCIS

McGee tiredly went to the door of his apartment. It had been a long week and one of those weeks when he honestly believed that NCIS Senior Field Agents (or at least Gibbs' version) did at least twice as much work as anyone else on the team. He was well on top of the job now but he sometimes wondered how Tony had seemed to make it seem so effortless. When he opened the door, he thought for a moment that he must be even more tired than he'd thought, he blinked, rubbed his eyes and realised that it really was Tony standing at his door.

"You going to let me in. McJanus?" asked Tony.

Those words convinced Tim that it was Tony standing there.

"Yes, yes, of course. What are you doing here?"

"I've come to see you, why do you think I'm here?"

"I didn't mean that. I meant why are you in Washington, I thought you weren't back for another ten days. There's no point thinking Abby won't be throwing you a party, it's been planned for three months, she estimates she only needs fifteen minutes to execute it."

"Well, don't light the blue touch paper yet, Tim. Bob, my replacement, arrived earlier than expected, fitted in really well and so I finished a bit earlier. Had some things I wanted to get started in DC."

"It's good to see you, Tony, really good. I can't throw you a party but I ordered a pizza a few minutes ago and it should be here soon. You're welcome to share it."

Tony moaned in delight. "I loved Rio, don't get me wrong, but I've missed Washington pizza like you wouldn't believe. Is it from Angelo's round the corner?"

At McGee's nod of confirmation, he moaned even more. Tim was very hungry so, out of self preservation, decided to ring and add a large pepperoni, sausage and extra cheese pizza to his order. Tony smiled in appreciation and said,

"I think I love you, Timbo."

Tim smiled and realised how much he had missed Tony's mutilations of his name.

"Come and tell me about Rio," he said.

Over pizza, Tony told Tim about his work with rose and his travels with Archie, "Hey, I forgot," he said, "I brought you something back from New Zealand," and he reached into his jacket pocket and drew out a small package which he handed to Tim. Tim opened it, "It's ..." began Tony in explanation.

"... it's Lord Elrond, from Lord of the Rings," said McGee excitedly.

"Yeah, a real elf-lord," said Tony.

"This is great, Tony. Thank you."

"You're welcome, Tim, although I found out that I didn't need to go all the way to New Zealand to buy it. I could have got one in Walmart."

"About that, Tony, I'm sorry that you felt you had to go."

"I didn't go all that way just to get you a figure of Elrond," pointed out Tony.

"You know what I mean, I'm sorry that I was, well, finding it difficult having you round. And thank you for not asking, but it's going well with Gibbs now and I think you might have had something to do with that."

"Hey, the T in my name actually stands for 'tactful', not Tony."

Tim smiled, but persisted with his apology, "No, let me say it, Tony. I was feeling insecure and I didn't handle it well. I'm sorry that you felt you had to go away for so long."

"So let me get this straight, Tim," said Tony, "you're apologising that I went away on a trip through the beauty spots of Europe; that I travelled to other side of the world to one of the loveliest places I have ever been; that I went on safari in Kenya; that I spent six months in one of the liveliest places on earth doing work that I loved?"

"Er, pretty much," said Tim.

"Well, Tim, I suppose I could let you apologise for all that. But there's one thing I won't let you be sorry for."

"What's that?" asked Tim.

"That I met the woman of my dreams in Rio and we're getting married."

AN: this has become a bit fluffier than I anticipated ... and there may be more to come.