The three months after Tony's abduction were fairly routine for the MCRT – a mixture of occasional boredom, much frenetic activity, some spectacular successes and a few frustrating failures. On the whole, Tony was satisfied with the way that the team was coming together but he knew there was a formidable ordeal ahead of him … the time for the annual performance appraisals was looming.

Gibbs was utterly unperturbed by the process. Tony knew that he could be completely honest and straightforward with him. He didn't need to think of different ways to say 'good', 'excellent' or 'needs work': Gibbs would not be impressed if his Boss had used a thesaurus to find words to fill his report. Gibbs would accept praise, shrug wryly at being told he should loosen up with people and forget about it all as soon as he and Tony left the conference room. No, Gibbs wasn't the problem.

McGee had had a number of performance appraisals at NCIS but this was the first one with Tony and the anxiety was beginning to show. Tim became flustered if he offered to get Tony a cup of coffee in case this was seen as brown-nosing; it didn't seem to occur to him that he was naturally the most polite and considerate member of the team and often got his Boss a drink. His anxiety about the drinks was symptomatic of a sudden hypersensitivity concerning the significance of every action. The day that he slipped in the mud at a crime scene sent him into despondency at having messed up.

"Appraisals are about the year's performance," said Tony, taking pity on him, "Not what happens the day before I write them up."

"Yes, Boss. Of course, Boss," stammered Tim gratefully. "So it doesn't matter … too much?"

"Didn't say that," said Tony, "But it's only the second time it's happened since you joined us …"

"Yes, Boss," said Tim, "Er …" he trailed off despondently.

"What?" asked Tony with a sigh, wondering what he'd said to set Tim off again.

"N-n-nothing," said Tim.

"Go and get changed then," said Tony.

"Yes, Boss. Thank you, Boss," said Tim as he made his way back to the van. Tony was not to know that Tim was aghast that Tony seemed to have been keeping a count of how many times he'd messed up during the year. Somehow, he'd been expecting a more laissez-faire approach but it seemed that Tony was meticulous in his record keeping.

Tony smiled as he watched Tim go. Three years of delivering appraisals to Stan had got him accustomed to eager but anxious young agents. No, Tim wasn't a real problem. Tony's smile faded as he turned to look at Kate … he feared she would be the problem.

Kate and criticism didn't go together well. It wasn't that she thought she was perfect but she was good at finding an angle which suggested that it wasn't quite her fault when something went wrong. Tony wondered whether it was growing up with three older brothers that had planted an argumentative streak in her. As an only child, Tony wasn't an expert on sibling dynamics but he speculated that having to compete for parental attention with other children might generate an unwillingness to show any weakness or do anything which could dilute parental love.

Tony could remember visiting with his cousin Petey and his three siblings. As his aunt had spooned out the tiramisu, he had been aware of four pairs of young eyes suddenly fixed on her with alarming intensity as they made sure that each was getting exactly the same size portion. Petey had loved his brothers and sister but they had all demanded absolute fairness and equality from their parents. Kate had a similar hunger for equality and fairness. Sometimes Tony felt like pointing out that he wasn't her father. He had toyed with the idea of asking the Director to deliver her appraisal but he knew that was a forlorn hope. He would just have to rely on being scrupulously fair and being able to back up all comments with firm evidence. And if that didn't work, he would bring in a piece of Tilly's artwork for her pin board – that would soften her. Of course, Tilly wasn't doing much artwork yet, so he would have to 'help' her a little but it would be worth the effort.

NCISNCIS

"Any questions?" asked Tony as he finished explaining what he had written in Gibbs' appraisal.

"No," said Gibbs.

"Sure?" asked Tony.

"Yes," said Gibbs.

"OK. Sign at the bottom, please."

Gibbs signed the report.

"Well, thank you, Jethro. A good year's work," said Tony.

Gibbs nodded and stood up. "Shall I send McGee in?" he asked.

"No," said Tony. "Stay here for a while. If you go out now, he'll start worrying. He doesn't expect to come in for another 45 minutes."

Gibbs sat back down. "So," he said, "Is this because you're being kind to Tim or because you're dreading doing Kate's?"

Tony glared at Gibbs but went for honesty, "Bit of both," he admitted.

Gibbs barked a laugh. "You were right, you know."

"I often am," said Tony smugly, "But what am I right about this time?"

"That I wouldn't like being team lead! Being sensitive and kind to my agents. Not exactly my style."

"Can't argue with you there," said Tony.

The two agents killed a bit more time but Tony had finally to release Gibbs. A few minutes later, there was a tentative tap on the conference room door.

"Come!" said Tony. After a couple of seconds, he called again, "Come!" A few seconds later he strode to the door and swung it open and found McGee kneeling on the floor scrabbling to pick up a pile of papers.

"Tim?" he asked, "I said to come in."

"I know, Boss," said Tim frantically, "And I was coming. But I dropped … all this," he gestured forlornly to the papers on the floor.

Tony thought about helping him pick everything up but somehow thought that this would alarm Tim even more. "Take your time," he said, "Come in when you're ready."

It wasn't long before Tim opened the door and came in. "I'm ready," he said. "I didn't knock. Well, I know you know I didn't knock. You didn't want me to knock, did you? Because you told me to come in when I was ready. And I was ready, so I came in. And I didn't knock … but I said that already. Did you want me to knock? 'Cos I can go out and knock again if you want me to. Is …"

"Sit down," said Tony. "Don't worry, it's fine."

"Thank you," said Tim.

"Do you want a drink of water?" asked Tony gesturing towards a carafe on the table.

"No!" said Tim in alarm. "No! Thank you, but no!" He saw that Tony looked surprised at the vehemence of his reply. "My first performance appraisal. I had a glass of water. I-I-I knocked it over and it spilled all over my Boss's papers. So I don't do that anymore."

"Good choice," approved Tony. "Good to learn from your mistakes."

"Yes, Sir. I have to do that a lot," said Tim sadly.

"Tim," said Tony, "You haven't got anything to worry about."

"I haven't?"

"Performance appraisals aren't meant to come as a surprise. If your performance hadn't been up to standard I would have told you before now," said Tony.

"You would?" said Tim.

"You think I'd wait a full year before telling someone in my team that they needed to do better?"

"Uh, no?"

"That's right. You've been doing a good job. There are things we can work on, things you might want to do better. But you're fine. You've adjusted well to being a field agent. You're a good addition to the team."

"Oh," said Tim, "Oh, thank you."

Tim relaxed after that. He didn't refer to the sheath of papers he'd brought with him which Tony guessed contained evidence of what he'd achieved during the year. He was able to listen without panicking to Tony's suggestions about areas he needed to improve on and to make a few suggestions about areas in which he thought the team could work better.

"Anything you want to add?" asked Tony as he finished his summary of what he had written in the report.

"No," said Tim.

"Sure?" asked Tony.

"Yes," said Tim.

"OK. Sign at the bottom, please."

Tim signed the report.

"Thank you, Tim. A good year's work. I enjoyed working with you and I look forward to seeing what you can achieve in the year to come."

"Thank you, Sir. I mean, Tony. I mean, Boss."

"Go on," said Tony. "And send Kate in, will you?"

Tim walked to the door but then turned back and said, without any trace of nerves, "Thank you for giving me the opportunity to work on your team. I've enjoyed it."

Tony nodded and Tim departed. A few minutes later, there was a knock on the door and Kate walked in. Tony guessed that she had probably chosen her clothes with care. A smart suit – but not too smart and not too new. Definitely not a power suit, it was business-like but feminine. It seemed to say 'I'm clever, efficient and definitely not a pushover'.

"Sit down, Kate," said Tony.

She smiled and took a seat. She seemed totally relaxed and at ease but Tony could see that she was gripping her bundle of papers tightly and that her eyes were wary. Tony's eyes narrowed as a thought struck him for the first time,

"Relax, Kate," he said. "I'm guessing that some of your appraisals with the Secret Service didn't go too well?"

"No," she agreed. "They couldn't let go of … what happened when I left the President's detail. Never seemed to let me move on."

"I'll say to you what I said to Tim. If there was anything seriously wrong with your performance I would have told you already. I wouldn't wait a year before telling you to pull your socks up."

"Oh," said Kate.

"Performance appraisals shouldn't be an ordeal if you've worked hard during the year," he added.

"And I do work hard," said Kate.

"Then this isn't going to be an ordeal," smiled Tony.

And after that, it turned out to be easier than he had expected. Kate didn't agree with everything he said but he had evidence to back up what he said which made it harder for her to contend that he was wrong. On the whole, the good things outnumbered the less good and Kate was pleased that Tony had picked up on what she had done well. Tony suspected that she was probably focussing more on the praise than the mild criticism but he could live with that.

"So," he said in conclusion, "Anything you want to add?" He found that he was braced for a lecture.

Kate's eyes travelled to her bundle of papers. She opened her mouth to speak but then seemed to change her mind and closed it again. A couple of seconds passed. "No," she said.

Tony felt that somehow a lecture had been prepared but was no longer needed.

"Sure?" asked Tony.

"Yes," said Kate.

"OK. Sign at the bottom, please."

Kate signed the report.

"Thank you, Kate," said Tony. "A good first appraisal. You're fitting in well with NCIS."

"Thank you," said Kate. "It's certainly different to the Secret Service."

"Different good or different bad?" asked Tony.

Kate hadn't mellowed that much. "Different," she said.

Tony nodded and let her go. As soon as the door was closed behind her he let out a great breath of relief and ran his hands through his hair. Then he looked at his watch and realised it was nearly time for his own interview with the Director.

NCISNCIS

"If I may so," said the Director, "You don't seem as well prepared as you usually are."

"Sir?" asked Tony.

"It's just that you normally have a lot to say at these interviews. This year, not so much."

"To be honest, Sir. I spent so much time preparing to deliver the team's appraisals that I sort of forgot to get ready for my own."

The Director laughed, "I know the feeling. But surely getting Gibbs' appraisal ready wasn't difficult?"

"No, Sir. I could pretty much have copied last year's … and the year's before that."

"So?"

"I was more anxious about Agents McGee and Todd."

"Ah. And how did they go?"

"Fine. After some initial nerves. I think they found them useful."

"You're a good team lead, Tony. One of the reasons I picked you over Gibbs. You work well with people."

"He said something similar just now. Oh, not that I'm good but that he wouldn't have enjoyed it."

Morrow smiled. "It's been a good year for your team. A lot of changes but it didn't affect the team's performance. And that's down to you, Tony."

"Thank you, Sir."

"So, I'd like you to consider something …"

NCISNCIS

Changes of personnel didn't happen at set times at NCIS but the period after appraisals were often when people began to move on as they evaluated their performance and considered whether or not it was time for a change. It was a time when the gossip machine went into overdrive …

Tim sighed when he saw Kate lying in wait for him as he arrived to work a few days after their appraisals.

"So, what do you know?" she demanded.

Tim walked boldly towards the stairs; he had no intention of being trapped in the elevator with her again.

"What do you mean?" he asked innocently.

"Abby must have told you something," said Kate, pulling him to a halt in one of the stairwells.

"What?"

"Come on," said Kate, "Everyone knows that Abby is the queen of gossip at the Navy Yard. And for some reason she likes you better than she likes me," she added broodingly. "Why is that?"

For answer, Tim blushed. Kate's eyes opened in astonishment.

"You and Abby? You and she … exchanged … um, did the …" Kate trailed off as words failed her.

"Abby and I had our moments," admitted Tim.

"Had?" pressed Kate.

"Long distance relationships are tough," said Tim.

"What do you mean long distance? You live like two miles apart."

"Not when I was based at Norfolk," said Tim. It was one of his almost regrets about moving to Washington; part of him wondered if Abby had preferred not seeing him every day. Distance had added a certain spice to their encounters.

"Hmm," said Kate. "That's not important … for now. But it explains why Abby tells you more than she does me."

Tim shrugged modestly. "Actually, I'm not sure that Abby is the queen of gossip. I think Ducky might be. I mean, not the queen but the person who knows most about what's going on."

"But I haven't got a hold over Ducky," said Kate practically.

"You think you've got a hold over me?" said Tim.

Kate smiled pleasantly.

"All right," caved Tim, "What do you want to know?"

"What you know," said Kate.

"About what?"

"About all the changes that are going on."

"I heard that Agent Shepard might be coming back to the Navy Yard," offered Tim. "Some sort of Middle East liaison is being set up."

"Even I heard that," scoffed Kate. "Why's that interesting?"

Tim looked around furtively. Gibbs' stealth skills were renowned throughout the building. "Seems that she and Gibbs might once have done … well, you know …"

"What you and Abby used to do?" Tim nodded. "When you were based at Norfolk?" Tim nodded again. "Hmm," said Kate. "Yes, that might be interesting. What else?"

"Leon Vance."

"Who's Leon Vance?"

"Team lead in San Diego. Abby heard from someone in the Director's office that he may be coming to DC for a temporary assignment."

"Why?"

"Don't know. Apparently he's worked with Gibbs before."

Kate sighed. "Everyone's worked with Gibbs before. He's been here for ever." She mirrored Tim's earlier furtive look as she belatedly remembered Gibbs' habit of apparently materialising out of thin air.

"You implying he's old?" asked Tim with a cunning look on his face.

"Oh no," said Kate, "You don't catch me like that!"

"Who's old?" demanded Gibbs as he bounded up the stairs.

Kate favoured Tim with a look that boded ill for their next sparring session. "Robert Redford," she said quickly. "Tim's favourite actor. I said he looks old."

Gibbs shrugged. "Comes of cycling in the rain, I guess," he said.

"No, Gibbs," said Tim, "That was Paul Newman."

"McGee," said Gibbs, "You really going to spend the working day discussing movies with me?"

"No, Gibbs," said Tim. He looked at Kate and wondered if her computer might be about to develop some annoying glitch.

"Come on then," said Gibbs. "Time's a wasting."

Kate and Tim hurried after him.

"Oh," said Tim, "And I hear that Faith Coleman is moving on."

"What?" said Kate. "You leave that to last! Where to? Does that mean Tony's leaving?"

Tim shrugged an annoying shrug.