Hiya ;) Thanks for all the incredible reviews ^^ I just can't seem to leave this story alone lol :P

"Hey Boss?" Tony looked up as he was sat quite comfortabley in Gibbs' arms. They were stood by the lift, and were just waiting for Kate to join them,

"Yes, DiNozzo?"

"Sorry..." Gibbs looked down in surprise. He honestly didn't know what the kid was apologizing for, so he asked,

"What for?" Tony shifted slightly in his arms, which made him instinctively move them, so that the toddler would still be comfortable.

"For the whole... crying thing. It's just... things seem to upset me a lot more than they did before, and maybe I..."

"Tony," Gibbs interrupted, firmly, "Don't apologise, you're probably going to feel things more now, I mean, have you never heard babies crying? Dear god they cry at anything! I'm not surprised you started crying to be honest." He fell silent, and Tony was amazed. It wasn't like his boss to give him a pep talk like that. Kate had now joined them, and was wondering why they were both so serious and quiet right now, but before she could say anything, Tony piped up,

"Kate, can I sit with you in the van?" Both Kate and Gibbs stared at each other, the question sounding nothing more than an innocent, childish one., "In the front? Please!" Gibbs chuckled as the doors of the lift closed and Kate managed to stutter out,

"Er... sure, sure Tony, but I don't think it'll be very safe. We should get him a car seat." This last bit she said aside to Gibbs, who nodded and said,

"Tony, you're going to sit on Kate's knee when we drive anywhere." His eyes widened and he looked like he would protest, or start to cry in anger,

"It's either that or McGee's." Gibbs growled, sure this threat would work. However, Tony was one hell of a stubborn child, and ground his teeth together angrily,

"I don't want to!" He almost yelled, making both adults wince and stare at each other in surprise. They were both sure that Tony had always been a sort of, 'happy-go-lucky' child. They'd never thought he'd be quite as spoilt and annoying as he was right now. Kate was about to say something to him, when she almost fell over. Gibbs had switched the emergency stop button on, and they had suddenly juddered to a halt.

Tony hadn't even realized, and was drumming his heels into Gibbs' side, whining about nothing.

"Young man if you don't stop this nonsense right now I swear to god I'll spank you right here, right now. I don't care how old you may be in mind, but right now, you're coming off as a spoilt, cranky child, and I really don't have the patience this early on a morning to deal with it. So you better shut up and deal with the fact that you're going to have to sit on someone's knee while we go, 'cause I will carry out my threat." Gibbs said this harshly, never once raising his voice, but saying it so firmly Kate felt sorry for Tony. The toddler had stopped whining now, and was sat there, almost frozen, waiting for someone to say something.

Gibbs reached forward and made the lift go again. He flinched as he looked down and saw the small boy sat there, sometimes trying to edge away from his arms, and poised as if ready to try and escape.

--

They had pulled up in the woodland where the marine's body had been found. Both Tony and Gibbs hadn't said a word since they'd left the lift, and Kate and McGee had been starting to get incredibly uncomfortable. Kate hadn't minded Tony sitting on her lap, in fact he was extremely comfortable, with the diaper he was wearing cushioning her.

"Kate photos, McGee, bag and tag." Gibbs finally spoke, and got out the van,

"What do I do?" Tony asked, his voice small and quiet. Gibbs didn't even look back as he said,

"Stay there and out of trouble." Tony looked down at the ground mournfully. The other two agents got out as well, hastily saying goodbye as they went off to their respectful duties. Tony stayed where Kate had left him on the seat, lip wobbling as he tried to bite back tears. He supposed he'd been a bit annoying, but he honestly couldn't help it. It must have been the sleeping pattern, he decided. He knew that his mum had given him a very strict pattern when he was small, and this had just thrown it all out of balance.

Yes, that must have been it. He decided he should apologise to Gibbs, explain, and then maybe he wouldn't be so angry. Knowing what happened last time he'd tried to get off somewhere, he wisely decided to get someone to lift him down. He knew he'd be able to walk from there, the crime scene wasn't that far away.

"Hey! Probie!" McGee looked over, not far from the van, "Will ya get me down?" He asked, putting on an angelic face and saying, "Please?"

"Er... I don't know Tony, Gibbs said to stay there..." Tony upped it slightly by making his lip wobble, and McGee hastily picked him up, underneath the armpits (He'd never been comfortable around babies). Not knowing where to put him, McGee looked around for a few seconds, before Tony sighed,

"On the floor McGee." McGee nodded and set him down,

"Tony, I don't know what you're going to do, but I don't think I should you unsupervised..."

"Back to work Probie!" He yelled, and McGee, so used to this treatment, jumped and turned back to his work. Tony grinned. He could already see Gibbs and Kate by the body, and he supposed he could just make out Ducky's head. He hadn't seen Ducky in ages, he realised, he should really go and say hello.

Carefully, he toddled through the woodland, occasionally stumbling over pieces of grass and sticks. He had to keep grabbing out for trees and was every so often distracted by the flash of the camera. He thought he could sneak up on them quietly, surprise them, maybe make Gibbs forget his anger. However, he tripped once more when he got over to them and the thud on the ground gave him away.

Although he didn't cry this time, all three of them heard the sound and looked round, in time to see Tony hastily try to stand up, blushing.

DiNozzo! What the hell did I tell you? Stay in the van! Is that so hard? I don't see why I should..." Tony had completely zoned out, and was staring at the body that Ducky was examining. The marine looked to have been badly knifed, his stomach actually falling out of his body, his face beyond repair, blood drying on his body. Tony started whimpering. He'd seen bodies before, of course he had, and he didn't see why this was upsetting him so much. Ducky noticed this while Gibbs continued to shout,

"Er, Jethro..." he stopped to look at Ducky, and then at Tony, who was still staring at the body, but now tears were pouring down his face. He was scared of being shouted at again, so didn't make any noise, but couldn't stop the salty liquid sliding down. Gibbs bit his lip. He hadn't known that toddlers could be so... emotional. He hadn't known they could feel empathy for others (A/N - they can just so you know ;) I'm a psychology student me :P). He picked Tony up, forgetting the anger he had previously felt toward his young agent,

"Tony, it's alright, come on, let's go back to the van, ok?" Tony nodded, pushing himself into his boss' jacket, sobbing quietly, still somehow scared that the soft, kind tone would suddenly change, and he'd lash out.

Gibbs didn't stop rubbing Tony's back until they were safely back at the van. The toddler had quietened somewhat, and was now just weakly snuffling, unconsciously trying to snuggle into Gibbs. When the older man was sure he'd stopped, he sat Tony down on the seat and whispered, crouching so they were eye to eye,

"What was all that for DiNozzo?" Tony miserably sniffed, and shrugged his shoulders. They were both quiet for a minute, before Tony said meekly,

"I'm sorry."

"Sign of weakness Tony." That got a tiny smile on the toddler's face. Then, "What for?" Tony wiped his nose on his hand, and said,

"'Cause I was so...bratty before, and not doing what you asked..."

"Tony, you were feeling left out, I can understand why you followed, that's one of the reasons I hired you. But I have to admit kid, that display back at the office, there's not really an excuse for that, is there?" At first Tony was shaking his head, but then he piped up,

"I did think of one!" Gibbs quirked an eyebrow, inviting him to go on, "My mom said she always had me go to sleep at a certain time, like a schedule, so maybe the sleeping last night kind of... upset the balance? I did feel kinda cranky..." Gibbs was nodding, taking it in,

"It sort of makes sense. Ok then, to avoid anything like that again, you might want to tell me what that schedule was." Tony looked to be thinking for a moment, before saying,

"She said I had naps at 10 in the morning, 2 in the afternoon, and when she put me down to sleep at 7, I didn't wake up 'till about 6 in the morning. She said it was amazing, all her friends were jealous." Tony was smiling at this happy memory, before blinking back to reality and saying,

"When are going back?" Gibbs glanced at his watch. It was half nine, and if Tony had taken naps at 10 in the morning, he wanted to get back and put him down for a couple of hours.

"Now." Gibbs answered, and motioned over Kate and McGee.

"Hey Boss?" he asked, just before the other two joined them, "Can I sit on your knee when we go back?" Gibbs smiled softly and nodded, throwing the keys to Kate so he could have the toddler on his knee.

--

When they were halfway there, and Tony had fallen asleep on Gibbs' knee, sucking his thumb, the ex-marine asked quietly,

"How did Tony get out of the van?" McGee looked around cautiously and stuttered out,

"Me Boss. He asked me to let him out. Sorry. I... er, I didn' think." Gibbs leant over, careful not to disturb Tony, and said,

"You may have just mentally scarred a young child McGee. Think about that the next time you look into his eyes." Gibbs pointed at Tony, which made McGee gulp and turn a nasty shade of white, and made Kate ask,

"What happened Boss?" She got no answer. Just the grinding of teeth and the sight of Gibbs combing his fingers very slowly through Tony's hair.

Aw, boo, no! Not as long as the other :( Ah well. Hmm, I need some ideas for future chapters tbh. Help? Anyone? Reviews are nice as well :D I especially like ribena and/or tropicana :P And icecream ^^ Ben and Jerry's style. And I really wanna watch Dr Who right now. Yanno that one with the weeping angels? Hmm... David Tennant meets NCIS... :) Interesting :P And Johnny Bravo :D xxx