Touching Down

When the plane landed in the Middle East, Tony woke with a start. He hadn't realised he had been so tired but it was a long flight and he must have fallen asleep somewhere along the way. Grabbing his belongings he stepped of the plane and into the sunshine. Thankful he had remembered to bring his sunglasses with him he popped them on and looked around. He had been told that he would be contacted by a person he knew quite well and that they would take him to the headquarters.

He was walking towards the exit of the airport when he heard a voice beside him say "Didn't recognise me the Agent Dinozzo or should I say SAC Dinozzo. You've gone up in the world since we last spoke. "

"Good to see you too Chad and it's Tony please, you should know that!"

"I know Tony, I'm just kidding. So how have you been?" said Chad Dunham.

"You know, ok I guess. How are you?"

"Good thanks. So what brings you out here? I was sure you were perfect for Gibbs and you'd be on his team for a long time."

"To cut a long story short he didn't want me there anymore and I didn't want to be there either."

"Well I'm sure that isn't true. Last time I spoke to him only three months ago you two were getting along fine and I know for sure that he respected you otherwise he wouldn't have gone to so much effort to hire you."

"You really want to know?" said Tony. At Chad's nod he continued. "Well my apartment lost heating and electricity and while it was being fixed and he turned me away and left me with nowhere to stay except on the floor of the bullpen behind my desk until a friend insisted I went home with him. Also the head slaps were becoming so hard and frequent that they were giving me a permanent headache and making me feel dizzy. They were more out of malice than anything else at that point, just that he could head slap me so he did. I guess I just didn't feel welcome there anymore. Gibbs had made his own family there and I wasn't part of it."

"He really did all that", Chad questioned shocked that a man he considered to be his friend had excluded Tony, who was also his friend, like that. "Well I don't blame you. Good job then that we don't have any Gibbs' out here then isn't it. I think you will fit in just fine. I've heard plenty of good things about you from people you've worked with and so have the other agents here. They're looking forward to working with you, as am I."

"I hope so", said Tony. They collected Tony's luggage and made their way to Chad's car. Chad informed Tony that his belongings had been shipped over and were already in the apartment he had been supplied with and there was a car there waiting for him to use. Tony thanked him and watched the scenery pass the window hoping he would get along with the other agent just as well as he did with Chad. Remembering he had promised to call Chris he packed up his phone and dialled the number.

Back in D.C. ...

For the rest of day after Chris Pacci had stood up to Gibbs, Abby, Kate, Ducky and Gibbs had been treated coldly by the other agents and looked down on for pushing away Tony. The start of the next day had been no different and the bullpen had been really quiet without Tony to make things more interesting and break up the tension that often lingered there so, when Chris's phone indicated that Tony was on the line, it was heard by most people who looked up to see if it was anything interesting. When they found out Tony was on the line they all wanted to congratulate him but he couldn't stay long as it was late for Tony and he had lots of things he needed to get done. The rest of the bullpen had to satisfy themselves with listening to Chris talk to Tony.

"Special Agent Pacci speaking."

"Tony, hi, how are you? Was your flight ok?" At this point he had the attention of most of the bullpen including Gibbs' team without even knowing it.

"Good, is it nice there? How are the rest of the people?"

"Yes I know you haven't had much time to meet people yet."

"Really, I'm glad you have a friend there. Say hi for me."

"Yeah."

"Alright, speak soon."

"Bye."

Chris looked up to see everyone looking at him.

"What?" he said, conscious of having everyone staring at him again, especially after yesterday.

"How is Tony?" one agent asked.

"Oh, Tony is fine. He has already made a friend there although I think they were friends before from what I could gather. He likes what he has seen so far and can't wait to start his job." With that Chris walked towards the elevator and went off to get some work done. Tony had promised to video call him later so they could speak again without Gibbs listening in and Chris hoped he could arrange it so that Tony could speak with some of his friends here.

Later in the day ...

Gibbs had a feeling there was something going on that he didn't know about. Call it a gut feeling but he just knew that something was going to happen. He was just about to ask one of the passing agents what was going on when he got a call saying they had a case. That morning the Director had assigned them with two new agents, one with experience who took over as the senior field agent much to Kate's annoyance as she felt she could do the job better.

Special Agent Johnny Valencia became the new senior agent and he was a brilliant investigator and knew some forensics so he got on with Abby very well. Like Tony he had trained as a police officer but had become federal agent. Special Agent Sarah Callahan was the new probational agent and she was very good with computers so she could cover the necessary computer skills. They were probably very competent agents but Gibbs still wanted Tony back. Telling Johnny to gas the truck, the team collected up their gear and made their way to the truck and to the crime scene. Back in the bullpen Chris connected with Tony for a video call and put it up on the screen in their office. Loads of agents crowded around to speak to Tony and give him their congratulations. Tony's face appeared on the screen in an office.

"Hey Tony, how's your office?" said Chris

"Great thanks", Tony said. "How are things back in D.C.?"

"Not bad. Gibbs is pissed because he got assigned two new agents and he didn't get to choose them. He tried to get me and Balboa to join his team so he didn't have to train a new probie up but the Director didn't let him get away with it and now he has to train a new probie up."

"Ouch, that can't have gone down well. I feel sorry for the new agents. They will be given all the horrible jobs and excluded. Do you think you could look out for them for me? I feel sorry for them. When Gibbs is pissed it ain't pretty."

"You're too nice for your own good Tony but yeah I will keep an eye on them for you and they and help them out when they need it."

"Thanks mate."

"It's fine. Now there are some people here who want to speak to you."

Looking worried Tony replied "Um ok. It's not Gibbs and his crew is it because if so I don't have anything to say to them."

"I wouldn't do that to you Tony. No, it's some of your friends from the bullpen."

Confused Tony nodded and Chris changed the camera view so Tony could see all the people crowding round the camera wanting to speak to him. Suddenly he was bombarded by people in the view and he smiled.

"Congratulations Tony", one agent said.

"You deserve it", another said.

"Well done."

"Good luck."

"Keep in contact."

"Glad you escaped Gibbs."

All these comments made Tony smile as he thanked them all. Checking the clock Tony informed them that he had to go. Disconnecting the call the agents smiled and thanked Chris for giving them the opportunity to say their congratulations to Tony personally. Just as the cluster of people disbanded, Gibbs' team re-entered the bullpen and looked confused at all the agents going back to their desks but made no comment as they were still being hazed by the other agents.

Johnny and Sarah received pitying glances and they understood from stories they had been told and their treatment that Gibbs was not a well-liked agent and would make their lives as difficult as possible. They were later approached by Chris Pacci and told if they needed anything to come to him and he would see if he could help them. When asked why he told them he knew how bad Gibbs could be and he was friends with the agent that had been their predecessor and he had been treated very badly by Gibbs and didn't want anyone to have to go through what he did so he had asked Chris to help them. Thanking him, they were glad that the man who worked with Gibbs had felt pity for them as they had a support network now.

In the Middle East ...

Tony was informed his base would be where he had landed in Bahrain and had been taken by Chad to the headquarters. It turned out as SAC Dinozzo he had his own office and had to appoint and ASAC, Assistant Special Agent in Charge, to help him. Without giving it a second thought Tony appointed Chad as his ASAC as he trusted him and he would only have someone who he trusted protecting his six in the field. Telling Tony that the teams had gone home and he would have a chance to meet them tomorrow, Chad left Tony's new office to let him make a video call to D.C. privately. Tony emerged not much later and Chad informed him that he would be taking him to his apartment now.

As it turned out, Chad was living in an apartment in the same building and security around it was very high. Chad had given Tony his gun, badge and ID back in the headquarters and the security would only let people into the apartments who were on their list as allowed in. Tony and Chad showed their ID's and gained access to the building. Chad gave Tony his key to the apartment and told him he would see him bright and early the next morning. Tony opened him apartment and looked around. It was furnished very nicely and all his belongings were already inside in boxes. He dumped the luggage he had brought with him that day in the master bedroom got changed for bed and got in quickly. He would unpack the next day and look around properly but now he had to sleep.