Hey everyone,

I'm back! I'm so sorry for taking so long to update but real life was taking all my time.

I especially grateful to BlueEyes444 who did a wonderful job to beta read this chapter. Thanks a lot!

Please R&R, it will make my day.

I'll stop boring you now, here's the story, hope you'll enjoy it!

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Chapter 5

In the lab, everybody was quiet after Gibbs's departure. They were worried about the team, their family… Ducky tried to cheer them up.

"Don't worry, I'm sure Jethro will regain his reason and explain himself with Tony. Everything will be fine…" The M.E. didn't know who he wanted to reassure. Himself or his friends.

McGee spoke for the first time since this little confrontation. "Do you really think that he loves her?"

Ziva smiled a bit. "Of course, Chris is the reason Tony was not himself the past few months… a man in love!"

Ducky knew it was useless to dwell on this, so he boosted everyone to work.

"Well, Mr. Palmer, we have a body waiting for us, and it's rude of us to make him wait so long."

"Yes, Doctor, we should go begin the autopsy," Palmer agreed, following Ducky out of the lab.

"Come on McGee. We better go back at our desks too and do some work before Gibbs reaps us a new one," Ziva said, leading the way to the elevator.

McGee followed her, trying to correct her slang. "Ziva, it's to rip us a new one, not reap!"

"Whatever, you understood me. Anyway, we still have to get back…" Abby could hear the Israeli replying to Tim.

She sighed. She had stayed quiet the whole time while the others talked. She was worried beyond herself. She could only hope that her two favorite men would be okay with each other. Taking her hippo in her hands, she held him. "Bossman and Tony have to make peace, and they will succeed, right Bert?"

Gibbs found Chris and Tony in the hallway leading to the interrogation room. Chris was sobbing in her boyfriend's arms while the Italian was comforting her. Sensing his presence before actually seeing it, Tony looked up and met his boss's eyes. Gibbs was distressed by the hurt and the betrayal he could see in his agent's gaze. And even more shocked by the sorrow he felt for Chris's sadness.

Before he could say anything, Tony beat him to it and growled, "What do you want? I think that you did enough for today, so please leave us alone! Come on, Chris, we still have work to do." Tony took Chris by her hand and led her back into the lab, brushing off Gibbs when they passed near him.

Gibbs tried to understand his reaction but came up with nothing.' Why was he reacting so badly and so deeply to Chris Mitchell? Sure she was the very image of Shannon; the resemblance was troubling him but he knew that was not the only reason. It has to be something else, if only he knew what!'

And the team leader still had to find a way to make peace with his senior agent.

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Tony and Chris arrived to the lab and found Abby sitting at her desk with Bert in her hands. Looking up as they come to her, Abby stand up and engulfed Chris in a bear hug. "Chris, don't worry about the bossman. He'll come to his senses. I don't know why he reacted this way anyway. Maybe he didn't have his coffee this morning or maybe his knee is hurting him again or maybe…"

"Abby! Calm down, will you?" Tony stopped her rambling.

"Sorry."

The Italian seeing that Abby hadn't released his girlfriend and sensing her discomfort to be hugged this way by … well a stranger to her, added with a little smile "Abby, maybe you can free Chris too."

Letting her go, Abby repeated herself with a, "Sorry."

Chris, feeling at least accepted by the Goth, smiled at her. "No worries, it's all right."

Abby tried to comfort her again seeing Chris's puffy red eyes."Don't worry about your job; you're working here with me. And give Gibbs a few days, I'm sure he will accept you!" And then turning to Tony, she hugged him too. "Tony! Please, you have to solve this situation with Gibbs! I'm sure he didn't mean what he said…"

Tony interrupted her again, "Abby, never mind. Don't worry about it, okay?"

"But…"

"No buts, Abs! Leave it to me and Gibbs, will you?" Tony didn't want her to feel so guilty and depressed; and knowing his girlfriend would easily take the blame for the deterioration of his relationship with his boss added to her, "And you too Chris. It's my problem, not yours. Come on, I'm sure you have work to do. I'll leave you to it, and see you later."

With that, Tony left the safety and the serenity of the lab to go in the bullpen. He knew Gibbs would be in a foul mood.

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Gibbs found McGee and Ziva hard at work when he came into the bullpen. Knowing that their last investigation was finished, he tried to hide his smile at their attempt to keep themselves from him. Sitting at his desk, he grabbed and opened the file of a cold case, trying to put his mind on something else beside Tony and his new girlfriend.

A few minutes later, Tony arrived too and sat at his desk without a look to anyone. He grabbed a cold case file and tried to concentrate on it, trying not to think of anything beside it.

It was going to be a long day…

The team spent the day working on cold cases in an awkward atmosphere. When came the time, Tony was the first to bid the rest of the team a good night and went to the lab to retrieve Chris to go home.

Gibbs' gaze followed him until he couldn't see him anymore. He knew there was only one thing to do. He'll have to break his own rules…

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The couple went to Tony's apartment after getting Sam from kindergarten.

Tony was playing with the little boy when the doorbell rang. Chris, thinking it was the Chinese food they had ordered, went to get her purse and to open the door.

Both Gibbs and Chris was a little surprised when the door was open, Chris thinking it was the delivery guy and Gibbs expecting his senior field agent.

Chris was the first to regain her stability, and asked her father curtly, "Agent Gibbs… what can I do for you?"

"Ms. Mitchell, is DiNozzo there?" Gibbs answered nicely. If he wanted Tony to speak to him, he couldn't be rude to her.

Seeing the team leader was being nice to her, she finally invited him in. "Yeah, you can come in and yes, he is with Sam." With that, she went to get her boyfriend and son who were in the spare room. "Tony, Gibbs is here, he wants to see you."

The Italian looked at her for any sign of being disturbed. Seeing none, he was relieved. "Stay with Sam. I'll show him the door." He wasn't going to let his boss stress his family in his own home.

"Tony, wait! I really think he just wants to talk. You should hear him at least."

"Gibbs is here, you mean your super boss?" Sam exclaimed, excitedly. Tony had talked a lot to Sam about his job and the people he worked with. And of course, speaking of Gibbs, he painted him as a super hero. So of course, Sam was excited to meet him and rushed toward the living-room where the silver haired agent waited. Neither his mother nor Tony could stop him in time.

Sam charged Gibbs like a little tornado, leaving him stunned. "Hi, I'm Sam and you must be Gibbs, Tony's boss. Right? Is that true you built a boat in your basement? And by yourself? By your hands? Could someday I come with Tony to see it? Right Mommy, could I go? Pleeease?" Sam blurted out, turning to his mother who just came into the living-room with Tony.

"Sam! It's very rude, and Agent Gibbs didn't permit you to go," Chris scolded him. In the meantime Tony took him in his arms and looked at Gibbs and praying that his boss would not lose his temper on the child.

"Oooohhhh…. Mommy. Please?"

Gibbs could clearly see the relationship of this little family and was overwhelmed by it. He couldn't say no to a child. "It's okay. You can come one day with Tony…"

Sam was trying to disentangle himself from Tony's arms as he talked, "Oh! Really! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Finally, Tony gave up and in seconds, Sam went straight to Gibbs and hugged him around the legs. "See, Mommy? Gibbs is okay. So I can go?"

Watching her son with his grandfather, without them even knowing the link they shared brought a bitter smile to Chris. "We'll see Sam. Come on, why don't you leave Agent Gibbs alone now?"

Everyone was surprised by Gibbs's answer. "It's okay, I don't mind."

The doorbell rang again, this time the food being delivered. Chris went to the door to get the dinner while Sam was still hanging onto Gibbs. "Tony, could Gibbs eat with us, please? Gibbs, you staying right? So can tell me about boats? And Navy? Tony told me you were a marine before being a cop!"

Gibbs knelt down to be on the same height with Sam. "I don't know Sam, it's depends on Tony and your mom." Gibbs knew he was playing it dirty, putting his agent on this situation, but if it meant he could stay and talk himself out of the mess he was with Tony, it would be worth it.

Tony read Gibbs perfectly and made it understood he knew he had been played, giving Gibbs a murderous look while Sam wasn't looking at him, he replayed smoothly, "Of course you can stay Agent Gibbs!"

They all ate dinner together, Sam being unaware of the heavy atmosphere between the adults. He chatted during all the time, asking questions of both Gibbs and Tony. Gibbs really appreciated his time with the kid; it felt good to spent time with him. He didn't understand how he could react so badly to his mother and be so at ease with Sam.

When they finished their dinner, Chris told them that she and Sam would go spent the night to her apartment. She was glad Sam could spend some times with his grandfather and that they got along so well. But she knew Tony and Gibbs needed to talk.

Gibbs was a little taken aback by the hug Sam gave him before parting. What surprised him most was the warm feeling he felt when he returned the hug.

The two Mitchells gone, Tony was uneasy. He didn't know what to expect from the former marine. He was still rather angry at the older man and he wasn't too sure if Gibbs was or not.

Gibbs knew it had to be now or never. He had to find the words to express his regrets but found it difficult.

"DiNozzo, I don't say this often," Gibbs snorted to himself. He didn't say this at all. He added a little gruffly: "Listen, you're a good agent, the best one I have worked with, but furthermore you're a good man, one I would have been proud to call my son. I never meant the things I told you earlier."

Tony knew that it was the closest thing to an apology he would get from Gibbs. The compliment went straight to heart. He always looked at his boss as a father figure, seeing Gibbs was the father he never got to have, and in his wildest dreams, he wished the feeling was returned. This night, even if the team leader hadn't told him plainly, it was clear to Tony, Gibbs considered him as his son, and it felt good to hear the endearment.

Tony, always being able to forgive easily, was tempted to give in. But the fact that Gibbs didn't like Chris for an unknown reason was disturbing. Tony loved Chris and he would do anything to assure the durability of his relationship. Without giving anything to Gibbs, he asked, "What about Chris?"

"What to tell about her?" Feeling cornered, Gibbs played it dumb. He honestly couldn't say what troubled him about her was.

But that just unnerved Tony more, he snarled, "Gibbs! What is it about her that made you act like that? I can't understand why!"

The team leader, seeing this mattered a lot to his agent, tried the truth for once and snarled back, "I don't know. Okay, I just don't know!", then added more gently, "I don't know why I reacted that way… it's a gut feeling…like her arrival is a bad omen but I'll try to be nice to her in the future…"Then he added quietly, "I'm sorry for that."

Tony was speechless, and he had good reason to be. Gibbs had actually apologized to him, and he couldn't believe his ears. Knowing that his boss was willing to smooth things over between him and Chris and on top of his apology, Tony gave in. He looked at his boss with a small smile before it turned into a full-fledged smirk. "You apologized! I can't believe I don't have a camera to record it!" Then more seriously he added, "It means a lot to me Gibbs, and thank you."

And with a heartfelt handshake between the two men, the storm was averted. But Gibbs knew he would have to get to know Chris and understand his attitude toward her if he didn't want to lose his son.

TO BE CONTINUED.

Stay stunned for more angst, I know it's short and I apologize again but with work I barely had time to write. I know where the story is going. I just need to find the time to put it on paper :-)

Oh, and don't forget to review.