Gibbs smiled to himself discreetly as Tony stood before him giving him an excitable sitrep on their latest case. Two months or so had passed since their relationship had been challenged by his error, and with careful care the first and second in command had fallen firmly back into their old routine. The team leader hadn't felt such staggering relief in many, many years.

However, the discreet smile was soon wiped off his discreet face, as Tony was interjected.

"The spending patterns you asked for Boss, broken down by age grouping" Tim said stiffly, pushing past DiNozzo slightly to drop the file on Gibbs' desk.

The elder of the three sighed heavily as he caught the glaring look the two shot between them as Tim turned on his heel and strode back to his desk.

Whilst his and Tony's relationship was back on track, the whole sorry incident seemed to have brought previously suppressed, and intense jealousy between his second and third in command to the fore.

Crashing to the fore.

DiNozzo finished up his report, and he too strode back to his own desk, exchanging another scathing look with McGee.

Sitting down, Gibbs scrubbed a hand across his face.

The now familiar feeling of guilt began to stir in his stomach.

Believing Tim, when he hadn't believed Tony had started this whole thing off. Whilst the underlying fuse was there, he sure as hell was the catalyst.

DiNozzo had been giving McGee the cold shoulder since that very day, and showed no signs of relenting.

At first, Tim had been confused and hurt. He had tried to talk to Tony, only to be angrily rebuffed every single time.

After a while, his confusion turned to indifference and his hurt to anger.

When Tony had rubbed it in his face continually that he and Gibbs were going to the big game of the season, alone, and without inviting him, his anger had turned bitter.

They all knew by now that Tony had been innocent of the Sacks fiasco, and the logical and sensible part of Tim knew that their boss was just trying to make it up to DiNozzo, but…the logical side of him flew out the window as the burning jealously built up in him.

It was always the same.

He was always left out.

Because he didn't like…building stuff or kicking some…some stupid ball. Because he wasn't perfectly cool like perfect Tony freaking DiNozzo.

It wouldn't have even occurred to Gibbs and his precious Tony to invite him. Not that they ever did of course. He was never invited to help with that stupid boat or to watch the game with a beer.

Throwing a file down with more force than was necessary, he shot another seething look across the bull pen and the senior field agent, who looked up in time to return it with a maddeningly smug smile.

Dropping his head to the privacy of his own file, Tony also seethed.

McConceited just had to barge in whilst he was updating Gibbs on the case with his "oh look at me, I'm a genius" math skills. Why did he always have to try and show him up with how smart he was? He might as well go around with MIT graduate tattooed on his forehead, and why did Gibbs always treat him so gently?

If he said something stupid or did something stupid, Gibbs had no trouble rapping him upside the head.

But not his precious Timmy. Oh no, he was a delicate flower and had to be carefully handled

Tony snorted.

What a loser.

Gibbs ground his teeth in frustration as he was bathed in the tension between his two boys.

He'd tried gentle cajoling.

Didn't work.

He'd tried less gentle cajoling.

Didn't work.

He'd tried dispensing with cajoling.

Didn't work.

He'd finally tried yelling.

Also, didn't work.

Sitting back in his chair he stared blankly at the files Tim had left on his desk. He was stumped. His admonishments of his two boy's bickering had merely transformed the outright discourse into subtle, sneering jibes here and there and a whole lot of looks.

Like two sixteen year old girls he thought to himself despairingly.

He'd tried talking to Tim on his own two weeks or so ago; to explain that Tony didn't mean the way he'd been acting and that he shouldn't take any notice of the senior agent's odd behaviour.

To his alarm, it certainly didn't have the effect he'd hoped for.

Tim had seemed to stiffen almost at his words, and his eyes had seemed to close off before offering a forced nod and murmuring about having to get back to work.

Jolting out his reverie to the sound of his cell beeping angrily, he was on his feet a few seconds later.

"New body, down by the harbour. Gear up."

The two agents jumped to their feet and grabbed their go bags. Such was their haste that they all but collided in the narrow walkway between their two desks.

"Watch where you're going McMoron" Tony snarled immediately, as he pushed past the junior agent.

Gibbs caught the look of raw hurt that passed over Tim's face, before it changed to brooding anger.

Enough was enough.

As Tony walked passed him, the elder of the three hesitated for just a moment before issuing the first headslap he'd given his second in command since the whole…fiasco.

Over the surprised yelping, he herded the two agents into the elevator throwing Tony a stern look.

Turning to jab the elevators button in exasperation, he just caught the smug little smile Tim shot at a scowling DiNozzo.

Closing his eyes wearily, he willed Ziva to finish up her short jaunt in chemical weapons training. At least she seemed to break the tension in the van when all three men were cooped up together.

Half an hour of a mixture of tense silences and barbed conversation later, and the MCRT van trundled into the latest crime scene.

Clambering out quickly, Gibbs barked firm orders at his two agents and set off to talk to the first responding officers.

Mooching out of the van, both Tim and Tony set off on their respective instructions, with Tony laughing quietly as Tim stumbled somewhat in a pothole.

"Way to go Timmy" he sneered whilst he uncapped the camera lens, "did you run track in High School, with skills like that?"

McGee flushed and shot the senior field agent a glare, before turning to extract a notepad from his bag.

There was silence for a while, as the two agents worked steadily side by side, Tony taking pictures and Tim taking notes.

Gibbs was deeply engrossed in conversation with a police sergeant over by the docks, trying to piece together the recent development in the case.

And fight for their ongoing jurisdiction.

Stooping down lower to photograph a potential tread mark in the wet mud, Tony accidentally stepped on McGee's foot.

Hard.

Squawking, the junior agent snarled and pushed the senior agent off his pained digits with a growl.

"What is your problem you absolute moron?" he spat, hopping on one foot as the pain began to subside.

Tony's initial and instinctive response to apologise for the genuine accident, died in his throat at the tones being directed towards him by the one person whom he could quite gladly punch in the jaw.

Feeling his lips curl up in a cold smile that was not characteristic of him, DiNozzo merely arched an eyebrow.

"So sorry about that McLoser, it's just that you're so insignificant; I didn't even see you there."

Tim straightened up, and clenched his jaw.

"Aren't you a little old to be so jealous?" he shot back, feeling two months worth of frustration begin to rise up in his stomach.

The chilling laugh that filled the air was enough to raise the hairs on McGee's neck.

"Me?" Tony spluttered through his artificial laughter, "jealous of you?"

He laughed some more with a dangerous tinge to the forced joviality.

"People like me aren't jealous of people like you McPipsqueak" he explained callously.

The simmering anger that had been building inside Tim for the past eight weeks seemed to descend itself in that moment, in a red mist of rage over his eyes.

"Oh yeah?" he returned coolly, "so you aren't jealous that Gibbs basically decided you were an untrustworthy, lying, immature jerk then? And you aren't jealous that he believed me on the spot about Sacks? That's not what these past two months of your four year old tantrums have been about?"

The pleasant summer breeze that separated the two men seemed suddenly a hell of a lot colder.

"What did you just say?" Tony bit out between clenched teeth.

Tim looked back at him with a cold smile of his own.

"I said how does it feel to be the screw up? Then again, I suspect you've been used to that position all your life right?"

The air took another distinct chill in temperature, whilst both agents stared at each other with pent up anger and dislike.

"Me?" Tony eventually spat out, "aren't you the one who's own father hasn't made the time to see him in like five years? I guess you could say he thinks you're a screw up."

Tim stared for what seemed like the longest moment, his heart beating frantically against his rib cage, as completely oblivious as Tony was that they were in the middle of a crime scene.

"My father?" he eventually croaked out, "what about yours Tony? The only time he makes time to see you is when he needs money because he's a big a screw up as you, or… oh yeah…when he's being arrested for murder. Is that why you hang on so hard to daddy Gibbs' leg? Abandonment issues?"

The air plummeted right into the minus figures.

Over at the docks, Gibbs raised his head and focused his glance just in time to see both his youngest and eldest boy launch themselves at each other, fists raised.

…..

TBC

…..