Warnings: None for this chapter. Well... not unless you have something against a competent and intelligent Tony... and if you do what the heck are you doing reading this story? *Grinning hugely*

A/N Which brings me to the reviewer who feels that McGee was OOC in the last chapter. I've placed my response to that assertion at the end of the chapter so that people who are interested in the chapter don't need to read a lengthy answer if they just want to focus on the story. I tried to keep it brief and I restrained myself from using a lot of examples but it is still much too long to be included here.

Thank-you to everyone that continues to PM, review, follow and fav the story. The support is much appreciated because it helps to encourage me to be antisocial and write rather than hang out doing other stuff lol. I hope you enjoy the glimpse into Tony's new life. The past few chapters have all been retrospective, examining what happened following Tony's departure but next chapter the story will pick up in the present. Enjoy :)

Finally, I have to thank my Beta Arress for her help and advice in this story. Any mistakes are my bad.

What a Difference a Year Makes: 8760 Little Hours

Anthony DiNozzo Secret Agent: One year later

Anthony DiNozzo smoothed down his beloved Armani dinner jacket as he checked his hair to make sure it wasn't sticking up like a porcuswine or was that hedgepig. (Some habits die hard and he still found himself using the odd Ziva-ism even though it was a year since his resignation from NCIS.) Now, he was a spook, but not your average CIAss. No, he was a James Bond-like secret agent sort of spook that was undercover as an up and coming, talented but shallow and insular actor. One that was striving to become the next big Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt or George Clooney, but also went around saving the world when no one was looking. He was kind of like a real-life superhero, he smirked sardonically, more Batman that Superman, except that his disguise was his movie star persona which he was gradually building up, rather some latex suit and mask or wearing your underwear on the outside sort of costume.

In his first year, he'd mostly been building up his screen persona with the odd bit of intelligence gathering thrown in, and everything had gone like clockwork. A large part of his success was undoubtedly thanks to his handler and publicist, who certainly knew her job… well, both jobs. He'd started off by winning the role of Robert Wagner in the Natalie Wood biopic with little difficultly. Mastering the intonation, speech patterns and mannerisms had been fairly easy, and he'd had won critical acclaim for his debut acting role, even garnering praise from the man himself, who predicted he had a bright future. Carter and Ceinwen were over the moon to see their plan coming together so well!

He already had quite a reasonable fan base after his first role, and it continued to expand with each subsequent role he played. He's won a role as Penelope Cruz's love interest in a Spanish-speaking murder mystery movie shot in Majorca right after the biopic, before winning the lead role in an indie film about a serial killer starring as a small town cop. The film earned accolades at the Sundance Film Festival while the critics raved about his grittily realistic performance, which greatly amused both Tony and his spook partner, Ceinwen Davies. Now to finish up the year, he'd been nominated for a Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year, and the Penelope Cruz film had also been nominated for Best Foreign Language Film. It meant that he'd achieved the goals that he, Ceinwen and Carter Johnson, his boss, had set when he embarked on his new career of creating a credible persona as a promising actor who'd been discovered by a famous Hollywood publicist.

As he prepared for the ceremony, a part of him was looking forward to the evening. He'd be rubbing shoulders with boyhood idols, possibly even get to meet some stars like Sean Connery, who was presenting the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award tonight, but he was nervous about being surrounded by so many celebrities, too. He didn't want to blow the cover he was establishing movie by movie by getting star struck and acting dumb, or getting an attack of verbal diarrhea, either. That would be so uncool and out of character!

Then there was issue of how to cope if Anthony Paddington did win New Star of the Year. For as long as he could remember, he had longed for validation for his efforts and achievements, so it was one of life's little ironies that when he actually received praise, it made him feel unbelievably uncomfortable. Like he wasn't worthy of it and he would have to make a joke about it or downplay its importance. Neither option would be appropriate in this situation, so he hoped that his undercover skills were up to the task. He was supposed to be vain and shallow, ready to bask in all the accolades. Playing a version of himself was proving to be much more difficult than somebody else, probably because he'd never really been comfortable with the person he was.

Perhaps the real issue though was that praise from most people never felt like it was real; it always felt that people were simply being polite. After all, he more than anyone as a skilled undercover agent knew how easy it was to tell white lies and how it made the fabric of everyday life flow more smoothly. No, there had only ever been two individuals in his life whose praise and respect he'd ever truly craved, despite everything that had happened between them. His father and Gibbs certainly had that much in common inasmuch as they both possessed the power to turn a highly competent adult into a sniveling child, desperate to win their approval and affection. The truly pathetic thing about it was that he knew damned well that that the chances of that happening were probably somewhere between nothing and zero.

He and Gibbs hadn't spoken since he left NCIS last year, nor were they likely to either. Gibbs rarely contacted him even when he was on his team, unless it was work related, and even when they did have social contact, Tony was always the one to instigate it. He would always have to go to Gibbs' place; the man never sought him out, and even when the boss issued the occasional cowboy steak invitation, which Tony figured was Jethro's somewhat lame version of a mea culpa/good job/buck up and get your head out of your ass or whatever, it was always done on his terms. There wasn't any reciprocity which would imply a relationship or friendship because that would suggest a certain equality that Gibbs would never concede. He never deigned to take up any of the frequent invitations that Tony or the rest of the team threw his way. Ducky had been trying to persuade Gibbs for more than a decade to accept his invitation to Thanksgiving, for Pete's sake.

So, even before his resignation, taking into consideration how much things had changed between him and Gibbs following his little margarita safari, as Jenny had coined it, the chances of him winning Gibbs' approval was as likely as Hell freezing over. Tony knew that Gibbs wouldn't be the slightest impressed with his new career… well, his cover career anyway, but he never had much patience for spooks either, so he doubted he would be proud or impressed. Even when he'd given one hundred and ten per cent of himself while on Jethro's team, Tony could count on single digits the amount of times Gibbs had given him genuine praise in the eight plus years they'd worked together. And even then several of those instances had been accompanied by a stinging put down to rob the praise of its power.

And when it came to his father, the irony was that all his life he had been willing to walk barefoot over hot coals to make his father proud of him, all the while simultaneously kidding himself that he didn't give a damn about what his old man thought of him. The truth was that while Tony had inherited some superficial commonalities with his father, they were in reality as alike as chalk and cheese. Perhaps the most significant difference between them being the strong moral code that Tony lived by, which made it impossible to earn his father's admiration. Now, the absurdity was that his change of career had finally earned Senior's unequivocal support and admiration, and it pissed Tony off to no end.

Senior was always turning up on the sets where he worked to try to network and make contacts with celebrities, always looking to find new marks to target for his investment schemes. As far as Senior was concerned, Tony was proving his worth as an adult in the Tony DiNozzo world of business, finally earning his keep like he'd done as a child when he'd paraded his son around like a pet or called on the small boy to entertain with his musical talent. This past year, Tony's father had embarrassed him greatly with his sleazy behavior with anything rich or female and his predatory behavior when he sniffed out potential investors.

He'd bitched about him to Carter and Ceinwen, who'd sympathized with him even while reassuring him that he was typical of many parents of stars. Carter Johnson soothed him saying that as mortifying as Senior was, he was great for local colour for his cover story and the analysts had already factored in this very behaviour before they started. Nothing, Carter assured his newest agent, could lend credibility to his cover like a greedy, grasping relative, so they really should be grateful to Tony's dad since that sort of authenticity couldn't really be orchestrated.

Giving himself a mental shake, Tony DiNozzo aka Anthony Paddington picked up his keys, wallet and the rectangular velvet box with a bow perched artistically atop and sighed as he exited his hotel room, careful not to crush the bow. And herein lay the remainder of his angst about tonight, he thought morosely. Strolling down the hall to his handler's room to collect his date for the Awards, he felt extremely panicky. Ceinwen had assured him that no one would find it at all odd that he was taking her along as his date for the award ceremony tonight. After all, she is his publicist, and in Hollywood it was considered in vogue for stars to date their publicists. The trouble, Tony sighed, was that he felt a hell of a lot more than he should for his handler. In fact, he'd decided a while ago that if he was being completely honest with himself, he would have to admit that he could easily fall in love with Ceinwen Davies if his resolve weakened even a fraction.

A part of his feelings were probably in part because she reminded him of Jeanne, insomuch as his handler was also a beautiful and highly intelligent woman, yet she managed to look past his façade to see that he was so much more than more than simply looks and brawn. They talked for hours about politics, religion, world affairs, literature, art and philosophy, just like he had with Jeanne. Ceinwen equally didn't fawn over him, which was either a good or bad thing depending of your viewpoint, since he had no experiences of anything remotely approaching being cosseted as a kid. He always found being fussed over made him feel claustrophobic and desperate to escape, but with his handler they had developed a genuine sense of camaraderie. She also had a strong personality and was equally at home taking care of herself. Tony had always found himself attracted to women of strength, he realized, remembering Jeanne and the drug mules that held them hostage in the hospital morgue and how she didn't fall apart.

Yet Ceinwen, even with her kick ass skills and attitude, had no issue with encouraging and supporting him, and all without resorting to petty putdowns or negating her praise. Nor did she resort to playing on his many insecurities to control and manipulate him, unlike other people had done in the past. All of which made for a refreshing change, and it was no wonder that he was becoming smitten by her, despite his best intention to keep her at arm's length. The irony wasn't not lost on him that like the relationship he had with Jeanne Benoit when he was also undercover, both relationships felt more honest and fulfilling than he'd ever experienced, even with his former partners or teammates. Yet knowing how badly he screwed up Jeanne's life, he has no desire to do the same to Ceinwen, who had fast become his best friend.

So, determined not to screw up their friendship, Tony embarked upon a flurry of relationships with his leading ladies and a bevy of starlets, seeking to distract himself from the woman that he really desired. Ceinwen had, not unreasonably, assumed that he was establishing his cover as an up-an-coming actor with a playboy reputation. Ironically, he was rapidly earning a reputation as one of Hollywood's most eligible bachelors.

Although if she was at all observant, and Tony knew that she was, she probably noticed that the constant stream of beautiful dates seemed to make him melancholy and self-deprecating to the point of self-loathing. Although Tony knew that they were using him to further their careers, he was using them too to try to distract himself from his growing fondness for his handler, and it made him feel both guilty and grubby. Finally, after a period of him turning down scores of females hell bent on persuading him into their beds, Ceinwen had confronted him, knowing that something was wrong and determined to discover what ailed him.

Knowing about Jeanne Benoit, she assumed that he was still caught up in his feelings for her and she confronted him, thinking that he needed to talk. He'd told her when they first began working together that he was going to write to Jeanne and clear the air, to apologise and tell her how he'd really felt about her. He wanted her to know that he had lied when he told her at their final meeting that he'd never loved her and that he was sorry… sorry for all of the lies and deception. Although Ceinwen had some reservations about him making contact with her, she seemed to understand how important it was to him and she'd supported him to go for it. Now, when she confronted him, concerned about what was wrong, wanting to know if he still had feelings for Jeanne, he groaned.

"If only it was that easy, Ceinwen," he responded, his head in his hands. "I think I'll always love her, but equally I'll always be consumed with guilt about what I was forced to do to her. So as much as I might wish it otherwise, we are done."

"So what is wrong then, Tony? The gossip rags and the paparazzo are starting to speculate that you have a secret lover since you've stopped dating." His handler looked at him and was surprised to see that she had inadvertently hit the mark. "OMG, Tonio, who is she?"

Tony groaned, embarrassed that he couldn't prevent the blush from spreading across his face. Bowing his head, he mumbled, "Someone that I can't have."

Puzzled, she pushed at him. Was this secret lover married? "Why not, Tony?"

"Leave it, Lovely!" he growled.

Ceinwen smiled at the nickname that Tony had given her. Her name was Welsh and meant beautiful, white browed or lovely depending upon who you consulted and she found his pet name endearing, especially when he'd said it was fitting when he bestowed it on her. He was such a charmer!

"Can't do it babe. Who is she?" she coaxed, dying of curiosity.

Tony had stood up and paced up and down the hotel suite before stopping and sneaking a peak at his partner. "Haven't you guessed yet, Lovely?" he asked her, regarding her with a look that was part exasperated and wholly tender. Seeing the dawning realization, he continued. "Now you know why I said I can't have her, so leave it be. Please?"

"But what if I feel the same, Tony? There's no reason why we can't date, this isn't NCIS and there is no Rule 12."

"Ceinwen, you're killing me here. I don't care about Rule 12, I never did! It never stopped me when I decided to go after Paula Cassidy and contrary to the scuttlebutt; it wasn't what stopped me dating either of my teammates. If I'd really been interested in more than a fling with either of them, I wouldn't have let a stupid rule get in the way. It wasn't as if Gibbs ever managed to stick to them himself, after all. I just was never interested in them enough to break the rules."

He saw that she was confused. "Damn it Lovely, I don't want to date you or sleep with you! I think I've fallen in love with you and it's killing me! I want to marry you and have kids and a dog with you and grow old together," he revealed; his voice becoming louder until he was practically yelling. "Now do you get it? Why I can't have you? We're spies, we're under cover, none of this is real," he whispered, before storming off and grabbing his gym gear and disappearing out the door of their hotel suite.

When he'd come back hours later, exhausted and sweaty she was waiting to ambush him. Ceinwen argued that while they were undercover, it didn't mean that their feelings for each other weren't real. Which was all well and good but what happened if it didn't work out. They couldn't just break up and go their separate ways; they still had to work together long term, he argued.

Ceinwen had conceded that it was a valid concern but that repressing their feelings would in the end have the potential to be just as problematic. She insisted that bottling up emotions was bad for you and Tony had snorted, thinking that his partner clearly wasn't an adult child of alcoholic parents like him. Repressing his feelings, telling lies, keeping secrets and denial were all SOP in the DiNozzo family and he honestly didn't know any other way to be. It was normal for him but probably also why he had such deep-seated issues with trust.

Still… Tony explained that it wasn't the only impediment to him getting into a relationship with her. What if anything happened to her or him and in their game, that wasn't such an outlandish suggestion? Or what if the dirt bags used her to get to him and control him. He'd never be able to forgive himself. And Lovely had agreed with him that it was a possibility but then she had asked him a question that had been the game changer.

"Tell me Tony, did it hurt any less when you lost Agent Todd because she was simply your partner than it did when Paula Cassidy sacrificed herself for you? Whether you and I are life partners or simply partners and anything happens to either of us it's gonna hurt so bad. But is that a reason not to grab what happiness we can together if we both care for each other? Life is too short not to grab any opportunity for happiness when it presents itself, since they don't come along all that often.

She reached out and kissed Tony, chastely on the lips before continuing. "In our job, I think that since we've found each other, we should see our feelings for each other as a gift to be cherished. You said that this isn't real, that we are undercover but Tonio, this isn't like you and Jeanne. We both know that we are undercover and there isn't any deception between us. If anything, it would be a more honest relationship that we might try to find with anyone else because we would never be able to tell them who and what we really are."

Tony cocked his head to the side as he considered her arguments. "Maybe… but…"

Ceinwen interrupted him, "And really, what other options are there but lie to anyone we're dating and I know right now that you're gonna have a big problem with that if you get serious about her. Or we can never have a serious relationship again while we are undercover. Both of us know that this job is, in all likelihood, a long-term one… possibly years… hopefully longer if we are doing our jobs properly and I don't want to be alone. Life is too short to be lonely Tonio, when you don't have to be. Who knows what is around the next bend!"

Tony looked at her, conflicted and confused as he considered everything that she had to say. "Maybe Lovely, but what if we get together and it doesn't work out? I suck at relationships, what if I screw it up? We're still gonna need to work closely together."

She smiled and took his hand, playing with his long, elegant pianist's fingers as she considered his fears, seriously. "Did you and Paula work together again after you broke up?" She sensed his assent as he nodded. "Well there you go then; you were both professionals. Plus we can take this thing between us as slow as you like so that if we don't work, we won't have gotten in too deep."

And so they had agreed to explore their feelings for each other but slowly. Tonight Ceinwen was going to be his date for the Golden Globe Awards and even though she had been his official escort on many occasions, tonight was different. It was their first official date and he was ridiculously nervous and desperate not to screw it up. He'd found a pair of antique earrings in sterling silver with marquisettes and black pearls that were a close match for his handler's pair of antique hair combs. He hoped she liked them and understood that he was so awkwardly trying to say.

And so, even though Tony was still far from certain that they should begin a relationship, he knew that he also needed to not self-sabotage and give them a chance at least. So as he strolled down to her hotel room he was nervous and fidgety. Separate hotel rooms had also ensued after they decided to explore their feeling because Tony wanted to romance her in much the same way that he had with Jeanne. He was eager to develop a relationship separate from their working one and Ceinwen hadn't argued. Knocking on her door he hoped that everything went well tonight and he didn't trip over his feet or his tongue. Somehow tonight he felt as awkward Jimmy Palmer having to deliver a sitrep to a caffeine deprived Leroy Jethro Gibbs!

~ What a Difference a Year Makes: 8760 Little Hours ~

Now one week on from the Golden Globes he was driving with Ceinwen to appear on Tonight Show and she was prepping him about what to say and how to act and trying to keep him calm. Finally after going through all the likely questions she decided to distract him from his nerves by changing the subject.

"We start location work at the Naval Yard at DC next week, Tony. Are you ready for that? Having to see everyone again? Even the people who were openly disparaging are probably going to turn out to watch you and the other actors."

Tony looked at Ceinwen fondly. "Yeah I know, Babe. Can't say I'm thrilled at the prospect but not much either of us can do about it. I'm just grateful that they're letting me do most of my own stunts, cuz I'll need the distraction."

"Maybe Tony but you end up with anything more serious than a hangnail and your ass is mine," his handler warned him seriously. "Oh wait, it's already mine, so you better not break it," she joked, flirtatiously.

"Yes Boss," he mock saluted her as she glared at him.

"If I've told you once I've told you a thousand times, I'm not your boss I'm your partner," she lectured exasperatedly.

"Yes Dear," he smirked. Of course it'll be nice to catch up with the old DiNozzo support crew again. It's been too long since I caught up with the gang. But tell me again, why are we doing this movie? It's not exactly historically accurate … a British Naval officer commanding a US destroyer during World War II sound rather implausible to me."

"Because Tony… playing a British Navy Captain is going to be really good for your reputation even if it isn't plausible or accurate. And it's completely different from the movies you done before so it shows your versatility especially with showing you are able to do other accents. Remember why you are doing this… it's a means to an end."

"Yeah, I know but really… they have to do location shooting at the DC Naval Yard? The only place worse would be the bull pen at NCIS," he grumbled. "Man, I have the worst luck… as if getting the freakin plague wasn't enough!"

"Chin up Babe, I have some news that will make you smile," She grinned at her partner, looking forward to his reaction. My sources tell me that your about to be courted for the lead role in a big budget movie remake of Magnum PI. Of course, you'd have to be willing to grow a moustache. Not sure if I could cope with that!" She searched his facial expression, surprised that he hadn't made a sound. He was staring at her, dumbstruck.

Finally he found his voice. "Please don't toy with me, Lovely! Are you serious?"

She nodded, grinning like Sylvester having swallowed Tweety Bird. "Oh I wouldn't joke about something so momentous."

Tony unleashed a boyish grin as he pumped the air with his fist. "OH YEAH! I'd grow a moustache on my butt to play Thomas Magnum, he is one of my favourite all time television characters, you know." He finished excitedly. "Oh man I can't believe it, how cool that would be!"

Ceinwen chuckled, Tony's reaction while delayed initially, when he found his voice, was everything she could have wished for, He was thrumming with excitement and practically bouncing on the seat as he drove. "Whoa Tigger, calm down" she teased thinking of A.A. Milne's much loved character. "They're going send me the script for you to read and they want you to read with the actors trying out for Rick and T.C. Of course, that's if you want it," She teased him, playfully.

Tony flashed a scornful glare at her, not even dignifying her remark with a response. Instead his thoughts turned to the other cast members. "I wonder who will end up playing Higgins." He mused.

Ceinwen thought for a split second. "I think like the lead, it's been cast without audition, too. I believe they've signed that English actor, David McCallum. He's a little long in the tooth, as my dad would say but he is very youthful looking, so he will be able to get away with it. And I saved the best until last, Tom Selleck is gonna have a cameo playing Magnum's father." She grinned a Cheshire cat sized grin as she announced the last little snippet and looked across as Tony who looked like he was going to burst at the prospect of working with a childhood idol.

"WOW!" After several minutes of silence Tony opted to change the subject since he needed to get his head straight to do the talk show so he tried to push it to the back of his mind. They could celebrate later.

"Has Carter heard anything from McGee's literary agent about us getting the screen rights to the Deep Six series, Lovely?"

"Oh yeah. He has agreed to the deal although he is stipulating that he be given creative control over the screen play."

Tony snorted trying not to laugh hysterically. "Yep, sounds about right! Offer him a job as a consultant script writer. Since it's not likely we would ever want to make it into a movie it will keep him happy, but no way in Hell is he getting any creative control even if we have no intention of filming it. I'm damned if I'll reward him any more than I have to for being a passive aggressive twerp… I can't believe we have to buy up the screen rights just because he's gotten his TISA groupies all hot and bothered by killing off Agent Tommy… Causing a near riot with the lunatic fringe gave the franchise far more publicity than his damned books ever would. We really don't need the controversy." He fumed, wishing that the TPTB had forced him to write something original.

Ceinwen nodded. "Don't worry, Carter's as pissed off as you are and he's willing to play hard ball over the negotiations. It annoys him no end that NCIS never had the balls to do the right thing and step in and have the books removed from publication due to National Security issues seeing McGee based it on actual cases and personnel."

"Yeah, well when it was published our beloved former director had other things on her mind, like chasing arms dealers that she believed had killed her father." Tony quipped cynically.

"Be that as it may, the fact is that this publicity is increasing the profile of NCIS and the odds of someone connecting Agent Tommy with Anthony Paddington is a lot higher than any of us would like especially if it were ever to became a film. He's also the only one that can't see that he took his characters straight out of real life except for the TISA crap that is. Carter is as keen as you to tie up the film rights tight so it doesn't happen and I think that McGee's motivated to sign the rights over. I've heard that his publisher dumped his latest book and decided not to renew his contract."

"Did you…?"

"No Tony, it had nothing to do with us. It was the fans that stopped buying the book. It seemed that killing off Tommy was the death knell. Some of them were the wingnut fringe, the rabid TISAs who started stalking him and sending him death threats and the rest were the silent majority that saw through Tommy's masks to his complexity and read the books because of him, even if Mr. Gemcity didn't ever get it. When Agent Tommy was killed off, there wasn't a reason for either group to stay loyal to the franchise." Ceinwen glanced at his furrowed brow and knew that he still wasn't absolutely sure.

Reaching over and grasping his hand she squeezed it. "Honestly Tony, Carter didn't pull any strings. It was McGee's really dumb move. To put it into context, it would be like Helen Fielding killing off Mr. Darcy in the next Bridget Jones' Diary instalment which she would obviously would never do because it would be a suicidal move. Or that TV show a few years ago with Jessica Alba. Once she got together with the hottie in the wheelchair it was all over Red Rover."

Next up: Tony's return to the Naval Yard and catching up with 'old' friends?

Authors Note: Apologies in advance for the length :(

I don't want to write a novel here in an author's note, but I do want to address a claim that McGee is OOC in the story. First off, his phobia of dogs impacted his ability to do his job. In season X e.18 Seek he panicked, ran away and left Tony without back up, locking himself in the car and preventing his partner access to the vehicle. In fact, Tony would have been badly mauled if the car hadn't possessed a sunroof, which was very luckily open. He didn't apologise but made the excuse that he panicked, which for an experienced federal agent was pathetic. You have an issue like that, you get it fixed before it gets someone killed. His fear of heights also prevented him from being able to collect evidence and Gibbs had to do his job, and then he proceeded to deny that he needed help for the problem.

From day one Tim was arrogant and thought he knew better… refused to listen to advice about poison ivy, annoyed even Abby by flaunting his degrees in people's faces, refused to listen in Toxic… the list goes on and on. As to Tony being nasty to McGee when Cate died… well, Gibbs was being totally OOC too, and Tony had Cate's brain matter splattered over his face after watching her die, so it is understandable that he would be short tempered. He'd also come back a week earlier than he should have from the plague and was clearly unwell, and would have been in pain from taking McGee's place with the car bomb and getting blown up. Which I might point out, neither McGee nor Todd even thanked him for saving their lives… they chose to torture and tease him instead when he was clearly in pain. Contrast that with Tony thanking Tim when he pulled him back over the ledge from the car garage in Leap of Faith. Tony also went with McGee when he finally got up the nerve to go and say goodbye to Cate so he wouldn't be alone.

As to the statement that he is as good a field agent as Tony is now; leaving his partner without back-up occurred during season X along with some other actions that would dispute that assertion. For example, colluding with Ziva to misappropriate government equipment/resources to track Bodnar without authorization and resulted in a Ziva killing an innocent man to avenge her father. In Berlin he tipped off the bad guys that they knew they were being followed. Despite Gibbs ordering him not to look at the car, he acted like a rookie and turned around and rubbernecked at them. And also in season X it seems that his hacking wasn't nearly as surreptitious as he thought if Richard Parsons and DOJ were so well acquainted with it. While back in season 7 he endangered his partner by switching off the comms they were supposed to be monitoring while Tony was trying to track down a terrorist/murderer; something completely against every procedure that even a rookie would know not to do. And even if you want to argue against canon and say it was just them having a joke get back at Tony, I would argue most emphatically that even joking about doing something so egregious and fundamentally wrong is enough to utterly damage the delicate bond/trust that law enforcement individuals require to be able to perform effectively. So I am mystified in what universe any of this makes McGee as good a field agent as Tony. And let's not forget Gibbs' proclamation that, "DiNozzo is the best young agent I've ever worked with."