Serieux Part 2 Chapter 3: Very Special Competent Agent, a Harry Potter + NCIS Crossover fanfic

A/N: Thanks to everyone who has left reviews. This site still hasn't fixed the glitch so reviews aren't showing up even though they are registering on the statistics. The last time this happened it was rectified much more speedily. Hopefully they will fix it soon.

I'd hoped to have the last two chapters of the story up before the airing of the finale of season 13 but I've made significant additions to this chapter so I'm unlikely to meet that schedule for the Epilogue. Still it is all in a good cause since it was so I could make an in-depth examination of the impact that 'Competent Tony' had over the course of his time at NCIS. The epilogue is mostly involved in payback details.

So this isn't beta'ed and its much rougher than I'm comfortable in posting but I want to post it before the finale. If you find anything major, I'd appreciate head's up. Hope you enjoy :)

Serieux (Part 2)

Chapter 3: Very Special Competent Agent Tony DiNozzo

Tobias glance over at his companion beside him in his car, his expression pensive. Frowning he asked, "Not having second thoughts are ya, DiNotzo?"

"No… there's no place for me here. Gibbs made sure of that. He's benched me, or sidelined me from investigations and made it plain he doesn't want or need me anymore. McGee is SFA in all but name only, as far as Gibbs is concerned. I knew leaving was inevitable. I just didn't see 'this' coming."

"What did you see happening. You know you could have come over to the Bureau, don't you?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"But?"

"Well it would have been a bit weird – the Bureau did try to arrest me twice on murder charges. Slacks still gives me shit over it."

"Fair 'nuff but you're always welcome, never forget that! But where were you planning on going?"

"Well the CIA has been throwing out feelers, especially Officer Teague but since they tried to blow me up years ago and they murdered my beautiful mustang, it would be really weird. The DHS has also been making offers again, especially since Hong Kong. S'pose there has to be some compensation for the whole Daniel Budd fubar, since it seems to have cost me my job on the MCRT."

"So what's with the Mandarin?"

"I was thinking about applying for a NCIS job in the Asia Pacific region. The only way I could possibly stay with the agency is to be well out of Leroy Jethro Gibbs sphere of influence. I've tried to apologise to Gibbs for getting shot but he won't forgive me."

"For what it's worth, I don't think that's what is really stuck up his butt, DiNotzo. Well apart from his head."

Tony snorted. "Nice image, Tobe! Doesn't matter anymore. Any friendship, any partnership that may have existed in the past has died. I don't fit in anymore… maybe I read too much into what existed between us in the first place. Gibbs seems more than happy to spend time with that flimflam guy, Anthony DiNozzo Senior but not me." He noted sadly. "I just wasn't good enough.

"It was never about you, Tony. It's Gibbs problem…really."

"Yeah if that was true how come I'm the only one he's pissed off at? McGee does his job, puts a kill shot into a suspect who threatened them while they were trying to get intel out of him about the death of Gibbs' family and the NCIS agent protecting him. The dead agent's son, a DEA agent goes postal – and what Gibbs and Mitchell were doing investigating this case in the first place is by the by, but the pertinent point here is that Gibbs defends Tim's action to his vengeance seeking crony. Not only does he staunchly defend him for doing what he's supposed to, but he tells Tim and everyone else what a good job he did. He's never once thanked me for saving his butt – ever in fifteen years.

"He spends the Thanksgiving holiday acting all supportive with Ellie and her family when she found out about Jake cheating on her, and I certainly don't begrudge her because it was a lousy thing to happen. Yet I run into Jeanne and then he tells me to suck it up and go back and use her to get info on a frigging case when he knew how I feel about her. Plus, I break up with Zoe and he doesn't even blink – not even an acknowledgement. So if he can be there for the others but not me… please…tell me… how in hell can it not be about me?"

Fornell sighed. "Okay…point taken. It is about you but not in the way you think. It isn't that you aren't good enough. Believe me."

"If that's so, what the hell is his problem?" Tony demanded heatedly.

"He's packing it. He's finally realised that he's getting past it. He screwed up badly with Daniel Bud and those kids. So now in his twisted thought processes, he needs a scapegoat so he doesn't have to face the truth – you are the scapegoat my friend! A diversion.

"But…"

"But nothing. If Jethro had responded appropriately with Luke Harris, even just disarmed him by winging him, it's highly likely you all could have taken down Budd, then and there. But by freezing as he did, and failing to do his job as he was trained to, allowing Harris to shoot him multiple times, he gave Budd the diversion he planned. The diversion he needed to escape, since as soon as Gibbs was down, all of your energy and resources went on getting medical aid for Gibbs and stopping him bleeding out.

"All the resources that were required to save his life…all the man hours and then valuable resources, not to mention the length of time that it took to hunt Budd down the second time and take him down. How much damage, how many more teenagers did he corrupt in the months after he escaped while he was free? Damn it, he had months to focus on his plan to plunge us into a war with North Korea – it was pure luck that we managed to avert that crisis, Fornell opined angrily.

Fornell looked across at his impassive companion. "Gibbs fucked up big time, Tony. He can't handle that!"

They both were silent as Tony reviewed Fornell's analysis. It was such an emotive subject and with all his guilt over letting Gibbs get shot, he'd been completely unable to look at it rationally. Even now, with the veteran FBI agent who was Gibbs' friend giving him his expert analysis of the situation, especially since he could be much more objective than Tony ever could, it seemed almost blasphemous to blame or criticise Gibbs.

Then again, the Marine had gone feral on McGee's ass when he'd frozen in the field and failed to shoot the dirty detective when he was just a rookie. He'd accidentally shot and killed the Metro detective's partner, thinking the unarmed Dee was firing at him. So when his corrupt partner pulled a gun and was going to shoot him, the probie froze. In Tim's defence, it was the first time the probie had killed anyone, yet that hadn't stopped Gibbs tearing the probie a new one.

Gibbs, unlike McGee certainly didn't have the excuse of inexperience and had it been anyone else on their team who had frozen in the field, he would have shoved his boot so far up their butt it would have caused indigestion. Still, for some reason it felt all sorts of wrong to blame Gibbs since he'd nearly died… felt like he was victim blaming.

Then again, Toby was correct about one thing. Gibbs had the opportunity to disarm Luke and made the choice not to because he was feeling guilty for not protecting Harris from Budd. Still a shot to the shoulder, much like he'd done with Ari Haswari, would have been enough to put a kid like Luke that out of the game pretty damned quick. It was highly unlikely he'd be able to fight through the pain of a bullet. But Gibbs didn't fire a shot and had, by letting Luke shoot him, in Tony's opinion, selfishly sentenced that poor kid to a whole world of hurt. Way more suffering than if he'd manned up, shot for the shoulder, since physical pain healed with time.

Shooting another human, especially for the first time was something that you never forgot. When a cop or a fed shot someone for the first time and/or killed them, they were adults and had been extensively trained for that eventuality and prepared for it as much as that was possible. Plus, there were support systems in place to help them deal with the inevitable rush of emotions that ensued, but that poor kid had nothing to prepare him and no support afterward. Sure Gibbs survived but Luke didn't know that until he and Joanna Teague caught up with him in Hong Kong. If he was Luke, Tony would hate Gibbs for just standing there and letting him shoot him when as the professional, he could have stopped it and saved him from Budd.

And as sacrilegious as it felt for Tony to admit it, Tobias was right. Because of his choice not to shoot Luke, Gibbs had jeopardised their mission and made it possible for him to escaped. Gibbs had decided that his guilt was more important than a young vulnerable boy.

Tobias had watched as the various conflicting emotions flashed across DiNotzo's face before he continued. "As for you not being good enough...well that's just crap! It's not that you're not good enough… it's that you're too good."

"Oh come off it, Tobias!"

Reading the frank scepticism apparent in his facial features and body language, the FBI agent embarked upon a crusade to convince Tony of his worth as a cop and an agent. He was determined that Tony would hand in his resignation with his head held high and his self-worth in place.

"I'm serious! You took down Daniel Budd, the dirt bag who got the best of the Legendary Leroy Jethro Gibbs. The perp who succeeded in getting inside Jethro's head and psyching him out, and he can't deal with that. Easier to blame everything on you. So he's trying to break ya…trying to make you second guess yourself. He knows your weaknesses, just like you know his."

"You're kidding?"

"Deadly serious…no pun intended."

"So you're saying that he doesn't blame me for him nearly getting killed."

"Exactly! You were the only one to do that, DiNozzo."

And suddenly the car was silent as Tony processed Fornell's observations and he had no doubt he was pondering whatever happened to Rule #1 – Don't screw over your partner... or was it always have your partner's six? Same difference as far as Tobias could see.

"Ducky's take on it is that he is treating me like dirt because it's his idea of tough love. He reckons that Gibbs is trying to push me out of the nest because my skills are being underutilised and he wants me to move on." Tony finally shared some of his mental processes.

Tobias snorted loudly, expressing what he thought of that suggestion. "So what do you think about it?"

"I think that this is Ducky Mallard. Who is fiercely loyal to his friends. Who loves Gibbs like a son or perhaps a brother, trying his best to justify what cannot be justified. He sees the best in everyone, especially Gibbs and if he has to choose between him and me, then he's always going to side with the boss."

"And?" Tobias probed since there was much more left unsaid.

Shooting him an infuriated scowl he continued. "And I think that he's desperately scrabbling around to find a reason why Gibbs is being such an asshole. I get that… I do!"

"Yeah?"

"Yeah but see, here's the problem with Ducky's theory. I'm definitely not some cute little baby bird," he stated the obvious and ignored the loud snort of derision emanating from the fibbie,

"And besides, since when does Gibbs beat around the bush or worry about soft soaping what he thinks? Especially when it's about me? He never shied away from head smacks or yelling at me in public, even if I was 'supposed' to be his 2IC." He concluded sarcastically, with particular emphasis on the 'supposed' since Gibbs had always ignored the chain-of-command when it came to his senior field agent.

"So why the freakin hell would he suddenly start getting all cryptic with me now, Tobias? And honestly, after 15 years of loyalty, surely I deserve more than that? All he had to do was sit me down over a beer or during a performance review and tell me that he thought I should start applying for promotions. It's what any normal leader would do." He argued, getting increasingly angry.

Fornell nodded. "I agree. Why go to such extraordinary lengths when he just needed to say, 'Look, Tony, you are too good to be a SFA for a moment longer. You deserve you own team and you have a responsibility to yourself and the agency to lead a team.' Ya know, DiNotzo, most people feel that you've been wasting your talents for at least the last six years, probably more. So maybe you need to ask yourself, why now?"

Tony looked serious as he pondered what had been discussed and Fornell supposed that many people might have stayed out of it – kept their yaps shut but that isn't his way. Like Ducky, Jethro is his friend, a colleague. For some years they were brothers-in-arms, survivors in the trenches of being married to Diane…until he hooked up with her again and then she was dead.

As much as he understood Gibbs, perhaps better than most other people - even Donald Mallard, he wasn't prepared to perform mental and emotional contortions that would make an Indian yogi feel like a human pretzel. Unlike Ducky and Abby he wasn't going to avoid facing the unpalatable truths because it was uncomfortable. Which included the fact that Jethro could be an unmitigated, unprincipled bastard when he thought the ends justified means.

In fact, at times he could be a downright cold hearted, Machiavellian prick, who would always put his own needs before a guy like DiNotzo, just because Jethro's sense of entitlement, his pain… 'his past' meant he felt he'd earned it. Fornell never could figure out just how Jethro managed to get away with half the shit he did.

A loose cannon like him certainly wouldn't be tolerated at the FBI because TPTB could be pretty damned anal about not just closing cases, but also pettifogging little details such not getting cases thrown out on technicalities, too. Perhaps if NCIS had been a little bit more concerned with observing the law and less worried about keeping Gibbs happy, he might have been less free to piss off perps and megalomaniacs. Certainly people…women who had the misfortune of being close to him might have been safer and... alive!

But Cate Todd and Diane aside, Tobias felt that this wasn't about Gibbs. His ascendance and his sphere influence in DC…in the world of spooks and spies was fast drawing to a close. Despite him fighting like a cornered rat against the laws of physics and the statutes on mandatory retirement to stay relevant, in the end age would win out. But Tobias Fornell was utterly determined that he wouldn't permit him to throw DiNotzo under the bus just so he could avoid having to deal with his own mistakes, his ghosts or gaining reprieve for a few extra years. Which was what this ultimately amounted to – a man staring down the barrel of retirement and obscurity.

This man beside him…this extraordinarily complex, flawed but essentially good guy, he deserved to walk out of NCIS with his head held high. Sound in body and spirit, free from the doubts and demons that Gibbs had knowingly or unknowingly sown in him, setting him up to second guess himself. That self-doubt was incredibly destructive for anyone…for someone like DiNotzo who was naturally prone to second guessing himself anyway, it could so easily result in a death sentence. A moment of doubt during a life and death situation and the consequences could be deadly…for him and anyone else that was with him. Fornell was not about to stand around and let that happen.

Even if he worked for the FBI and DiNotzo was NCIS and technically his mortal enemy in the fed wars, Tobias would observe Rule # 1 even if Jethro couldn't or wouldn't. After more than 20 years in law enforcement Tony deserved no less than his support.

Looking across at his silent companion Fornell cleared his throat. "You okay?"

Tony shrugged. "I'm fine. Honestly. I still don't get why you insisted on driving me into work today…why you insisted on taking the day off to dog my ass. Granted it is a damned fine ass," he joked with a semblance of his old humour.

"But I'm perfectly capable of going into the office and giving my notice. I don't need my hand held, much as I appreciate your sentiments, Toby."

"Don't call me that," the fibbie grumped at him. "And I have your back, whether you need it or not. We're family, you and me, Bucko Get used to it. Us Fornell's stick together!

Tony chuckled. "Okay, first off…how come Hermione is allowed to call you Toby but I'm not?" he teased Fornell. "Second thing…we are not family. I am related to Harry and now Hermione is related to him through marriage. Damn it! I can't believe he married Ginerva Weasley…a silly little fangirl if ever there was one when he could have had Hermione.

"Anyhoo… that means she is now related to me… tenuously through her marriage that makes Harry he brother-in-law. Your ex-wife, wife, did you guys remarry?" he queried gently as Fornell shook his head. "Diane is somehow related to the Weasleys and so because of Emily, you're distantly related to them…very distant. Like beta max video and blue ray DVD are related – not!"

Fornell snorted, his expression amused. This metaphor was vintage DiNotzo. "And the third thing?"

Tony smirked at him. "Okay the third thing…Bucko? Seriously Special Agent Fornell. I'd never have pegged you as a Richie Cunningham fan. The Fonz… maybe but Richie freakin Cunningham? C'mon!"

Sniggering, Tobias looked at him almost fondly. "How ya gonna deal with no more movies or television, DiNotzo? You're gonna go crazy," he predicted bemusedly, referring to the plan for Tony to re-enter the magical community. He'd accepted a job offer he'd received to head up the Department of Magical Law Enforcement from the new minister of magic.

"Not planning on giving them up, Toby. I'm not just a Black – I'm part DiNozzo too and he couldn't cope with the primitiveness of British magical society. Don't think I could go back after all this time either. I'll work in the magical world but I'll maintain a separate life in the non-magical world out of business hours. Hermione's parents are going to find me a house. It's less risky. The less time I spend socialising with wizards and witches, the less risk there is of anyone figuring out my secret."

Fornell nodded. "Do Hermione's parents know about you?" he asked curiously.

"Nuh uh. There are only three people who know. You, my godson Harry and Hermione and that's probably three too many to be safe." He countered. "Hermione's parents think, like everyone else that I'm an American wizard who has dual citizenship, since my mother was a Paddington. American wizards live far more integrated lives, unlike the insular British who are still mostly living in the Victorian era. I'll be considered an oddity but not overly suspicious for an American. Besides, since the new Minister of Magic has a foot in both camps and is on a mission to drag magical Britain kicking and screaming into the 21st century with regards to using technology – I doubt that anyone will focus too much on my living arrangements."

Fornell considered what Tony had said. He could find no fault with his rationale. "So you'll work with magicals and play with muggles."

"Non- magicals, Tobias. Muggle is demeaning. But yeah I can't really afford to socialise with wizards and witches in case anyone starts putting two and two together. I just hope I'm doing the right thing. Maybe I should have accepted a job in the non- magical world. Am I honouring Anthony DiNozzo's mission by taking this job when there is so much turmoil and chaos in the world."

Fornell considered this statement. There was no easy answer to such a loaded and emotive question.

"You said that you were sent back because Tony was destined to save hundreds, maybe thousands of lives. From my perspective I'd say you may have already fulfilled that obligation."

Tony quirked his eyebrow in disbelief. "How do you figure that one Fornell?"

"Well without going through every single case you've ever worked, let's just consider a few prominent highlights. In Baltimore you took down Macaluso; that whole branch of the Mafia came to a grinding halt. There's no way to quantify how many lives weren't lost to drugs with that lot in prison, plus all the guns you took off the street, the runaway and abused kids who didn't end up as sex workers because of drug addiction. All the kids who didn't grow up to serve in the Macaluso family business in one capacity or another.

"What about all the lives saved when you figured out correctly that Ari would target family and friends who were at Norfolk to welcome home the five ships in the Marine Amphibious strike group from the Gulf with the drone that he and his terrorist cell stole? The MCRT managed to stop the drone attacking all those innocent people and children, even though you all paid a terrible price losing Todd. You guys took out a highly dangerous terrorist cell and literally averted a human catastrophe. So how many lives did the MCRT save that day, Tony? Many hundreds, I'd estimate."

Tony stared at him contemplatively before nodding somewhat grudgingly. "Yeah, I guess so."

"What about that terrorist cell you took out in Somalia. You were the one who drove that whole mission, taking down Saleem Ulman, even before you were given point. You found a way to track him down and persuaded TPTB to go after him even though Mossad had given up on bringing him down. So how many thousands of lives did your team and the Marine's potentially save that day by taking out the terrorist cell and Ulman? It's hard to estimate the effect your mission had then and continues to have now, DiNotzo. You can't quantify something like that but I do know its effect was a huge blow for the terrorists – all thanks to your pigheadedness."

Tony chuckled, "Gee thanks for the compliment, Fornell."

Tobias flashed him a grin. "You're welcome, Tony. And there was your stubborn insistence that the estranged wife killed her husband, Lieutenant Arnett who was out on the ledge of the ten story building, trying to commit suicide after she'd drugged him to the eyeballs. Okay, so you thought she was after his money, but if you hadn't been so bull headed, hadn't trusted your instincts and had the foresight to bag her toothbrush from Arnett's apartment, what would have happened? An Al-Qaeda spy, wanted by Interpol would have gotten away with murdering Arnett and probably fled the country."

Tony rolled his eyes. "As Ziva, Abby and McGee were quick to point out, Tobias, Abby was the one who caught the spy. I asked her to check DNA on felony data bases. She thought to run her photo recognition on the Interpol database. She solved the case."

"Oh please, that's just crap, Tony. If you hadn't been so damned persistent about the wife being the killer, if you hadn't used your seniority to insist that Abby run the DNA and compare in on the National Felon's Database, why would she have even thought to check Interpol's database. Perhaps she would have got around to it when all the other leads that the rest of the team dreamed up didn't pan out, but by then she would have skipped the country. Dana Arnett was an Al- Qaeda mole, and would have disappeared before you had a chance to nab her.

"Abby's a lab tech who investigated the evidence that investigators – you in this case - bring to her. Her and the others denigrating your contribution to stopping a murderer and a dangerous terrorist escape was ridiculous, unprofessional and wrong. Undoubtedly it was motivated by jealousy, my friend. If Gibbs didn't pit you all against each other, ignore the chain of command and had praised all of you when you did good work, not just his favourites, then perhaps the rest of the team would be able to acknowledge the valuable contribution you make to the team. That's his bad, yet you paid the price, my friend."

Tony flashed him a grateful look for the scant praise on a case that was nearly a decade old. Which was all sorts of wrong.

"Look DiNotzo, if you'd been on my team, I'd have no problem telling you when you did good work. I wouldn't have been threatened by your talent because it would have made me look good, just like you made Gibbs look good all these years. But you deserved a shit load more than demeaning head slaps. You're an awesome, intuitive investigator and I wish you'd worked for me – for both our sakes."

Tony just sat there speechless, not knowing what to say. He wasn't used to praise let alone such fulsome compliments. At least ones that didn't contain some hidden barb in them like a scorpion's sting.

And Fornell wasn't nearly done yet. "Okay, so let's discuss the fact that your joint taskforce broke up Budd's ring of child assassins, saving not only countless at-risk-youths but also thousands of innocent lives that Budd's child suicide bombers would have targeted. All because you came back and risked your life every day to serve others."

Fornell reached over and put his hand on Tony's shoulder and gave it a firm squeeze in a manly show of support. "What about the fact that you've saved your team mates lives, and more than once? And while that is very important thing, clearly, by saving them, how many other lives did you indirectly affect? You saved Abby and McGee from Ari Haswari. By rights, he should have killed both of them - McGee with the car bomb and Abby by the sniper's bullet. Hell, DiNozzo! You shouldn't have even been out in the field when you saved them.

"They've gone on to do their jobs over the years and how do you put a price on that, or how many lives they've be able to impact by being alive to do their jobs. Not just all the single cases of criminals brought to justice but just think for a moment if they hadn't been there to avert that crap Budd pulled. We were on the brink of nuking North Korea because he'd manipulated the U.S.A. into thinking they were attacking us. If Abby and McGee died by Ari's hand back in 2005, their replacements might not have been able to avert that FUBAR crisis. Think how many hundreds of thousands, maybe even hundreds of millions of lives could have been lost?"

Both agents were silent, thinking about that horrific possibilities. The horrible consequences of that scenario was too hideous to envisage but yet all too real. Fornell decided to fill the void and change the subject.

"So let's look at how you saved Todd from Ari's car bomb…"

Tony interrupted. "Fat lot of good that did, Tobias. Cate got to live for one more day – big deal. He still killed her."

Yeah, okay… but if you hadn't interjected, what I was going to say was that while Ari still killed Todd, in that one day she saved Gibbs life up on the roof, tackling him out of the way of a bullet. If she was dead, there's no guarantee that Gibbs would have survived being on the roof that day – either from the terrorist or even from Ari's sniper rifle. So how many lives has Gibbs saved as a direct result of you saving her, even for one more day?

"Eh…there's no way to even geusstimate, not unless you are an actuarial analyst egghead…but I do know it would be a lot, all because of your heroic actions in taking hold of the trigger of the car-bomb, Tony. And, there are scores of examples of team mates and colleagues whose lives you saved over the years, who've gone on to save the lives of other people. It's called the butterfly effect."

Which reminds me, what about that spy you saved despite all the shit she put you through a couple of years ago in France? She was the daughter of one of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. She sounds like she was one ginormous pain in the ass, yet you refused to give up on her and even when she did her damnedest to give you the slip you, you had her back. You took out two Iranian moles and saved her life. No knowing how many potential lives she go on might save in the course of her career because you were the one who went to retrieve her. I'll bet most agents would have either lost her or given up when she ditched them."

Tony smiled sarcastically. He'd done good work on that assignment but he recalled that McGee was pissed off at being overlooked in favour of Tony. He'd downplayed the assignment with one of his typically dismissive barbs about Tony suitability for the mission, which he'd initially thought was about internet security. When Tim found out the true nature of the assignment, he'd told Bishop it was a suitable for Tony's level of skills as an errand boy. Fornell who'd always been something of a frenemy all these years was a helluva lot more complimentary about his contribution and its significance.

When he expressed these sentiments and revealed, "S'nice to be appreciated," Fornell snarled.

Honestly, what the hell was wrong with these people. This was no way to lead a team. One that spent so much time backbiting and trying to bring everyone down to the same level meant that it was energy that could be utilised in so much more productive ways. He couldn't help wondering just what could have been achieved if the team members had all felt validated and appreciated instead of having to compete for nonexistence reinforcement. Shrugging because it was too late to undo the damage done, he pressed on with his task, noting automatically that they were getting close to the Navy yard.

"Then there are the innocent lives you've save over the last seventeen years or impacted in some way. Take that time you saved Gibbs and his daughter's friend after they drowned in that submerged car. What was her name… Mary Taylor?"

"Maddie…Maddie Tyler."

"Right, Maddie Tyler. She was dead and you resuscitated both her and Gibbs. Putting aside the fact that you saved the old bastard's life again, for a second, who's not to say that Maddie Tyler might not discover the cure for Motor Neurone Disease or pancreatic cancer one day. Just because you saved her life? Maybe she affects the life of someone else who does find a cure?

"Or perhaps someone who might have been a victim of serial killer Jeffery White if you haven't killed him when you were undercover, goes on to invent some green technology that will save humanity. A family member that you exonerated from a crime they'd been accused of could decide to serve others, maybe become a youth worker or a nurse and save others."

Tony thought about the nine- year- old boy, Jason King that a young Anthony DiNozzo had saved from a burning building. Unable to get his sister, four-year-old Amber to safety too had traumatic. That event had been pivotal for both DiNozzo and Jason. It was what made both of them want to become cops and while Jason never forgave Tony for his sister's death, his hate and grief propelled him into investigating arsonists. Who knows how many people Jason would save. So it was possible he supposed, that some of the people he'd saved over the years when he took up DiNozzo's life's work might also be doing great things and saving lives.

Fornell was done with him yet. "And don't forget about all the so-called bread and butter cases, DiNozto. They mattered too. That kid that everyone thought was a suicide bomber and taken his classmates hostage. Everyone wanted you to kill that kid, thought he was a perp yet you decided not to listen to 'everyone' including Shepard. You wanted to save him in spite of himself and it turned out he was a victim too. You saved him, the kids he held hostage and Gibbs that day, plus you caught the real criminals. If you'd shot the kid like everyone wanted you too, chances are the perps would never have been caught and he, Gibbs and the hostages would have been blown up by the bomb. Instead you reunited the boy and his father with his mother who was in WitSec. How do you quantify what you did that day?

"The fact is there is no way to know how many live you've affected but I'd bet my last dollar that you've made one Hell of a difference, Tony. You're one damned amazing cop and a Very Special Agent. You should be proud of all your achievements," he concluded in genuine admiration.

Tony found himself becoming uncomfortably hot although he would deny that it was because he flushed as red as a beetroot with embarrassment. He looked at Fornell gratefully. "Wow I don't know what to say. Thanks man."

It needed to be said, Tony – should have been said by Gibbs but you and I both that ain't gonna happen. I'm a poor substitute and it would mean a whole heap more had it come from your partner and mentor of 15 years but it's still better than a poke in the eye with a blunt stick.

Tony laughed at that but it sounded almost like a sob and the FBI agent studiously ignored the uncharacteristic display of emotion, since Tony would be hugely uncomfortable.

Tobias looked at him speculatively. "You could do both, ya know? Living in the real – sorry non-magical world means there's nothing stopping you contributing to it too if the need arises or you so choose."

He snuck a swift glance at Tony since they were stationary at a set of traffic light. Green-grey eyes stared back at him and he suddenly realised that he had yet another answer to the enigma that was DiNozto. His eyes, their colour seemed to change with his mood and what character he was playing at that moment. Sometime s his eyes were emerald green, sometime greyish green and sometimes they were even grey blue. Chameleon eyes. Huh…magic!

Tony looked at him curiously. "How so?"

He grinned. "You might not know this but the FBI were approached for character references and security clearances for you from MI6. Hermione might have offered you the job, and as the new Minister of Magic elect, she carries a lot of weight as you'd expect, but as an American with dual citizenship you're still subject to vetting by the spooks. I'd say that if you wanted to consult for Scotland Yard, MI5 or particularly MI6, they'd welcome you with open arms. In fact, I know so, since they already sounded us out on what it would take to poach you from the DMLE."

Tony looked shocked but definitely interested in the idea. Fornell supposed that after almost two decades as a cop and fed he wouldn't want to simply walk away from that world completely. He couldn't fault him on that. He'd probably be the same.

Seeing the traffic was flowing better than normal, they were early. Seeing a coffee shop, he decided to stop off and grab a coffee so Tony wasn't hanging around the bull pen waiting to see the director at 8.30am. Ignoring his protests, Fornell drew him into the shop and ordered two coffees, before steering DiNotzo into a booth. He looked at the tense face and gave himself a mental pat on the back.

He thought it was funny that DiNotzo was letting him do so much of the talking. The normal garrulous man was definitely brooding on what was to come. Remembering something he'd said earlier about people knowing his secret, the FBI agent decided to address it head on.

"Oh and that reminds me of something you said earlier. You've gotta know that I'd never betray your secret, Tony. But if it makes you feel safer then I'll willing volunteer to undergo that oblivious spell thingy to make me forget it. That would just leave Hermione and Harry – can you trust him with your life? I think ya can bank on the new Minister of Magic keeping your secret – she's pretty fond of you," he observed with a smirk.

Although Fornell enjoyed teasing DiNotzo about Hermione, especially since she'd made no secret of her interest in him, Fornell knew that Tony was not interested in getting into a relationship at this stage. He was still too gun shy and with all the major changes that he was facing, Tobias figured it was pretty smart. He just hoped that Hermione would respect Tony's reticence and not push him. None- the-less, Tony rolled his eyes at the good-natured jibe.

"I trust both of them, Tobias. They've sacrificed a lot in the war and they already share a secret that could be extremely dangerous if it became common knowledge. They understand the consequences if my identity was ever to come to light, not just for me but for the 'greater good,' he pulled face at the loaded phrase. "And you, Bucko! I trust you since we're practically family," Tony joked playfully. "If ya can't trust your family, then who can you trust?"

Tobias smiled, feeling rather honoured by Tony's trust in him. "Fine but the offer stands if you ever change your mind. Just please… let me have some time to saviour the memory of Vance, Gibbs and his merry minions when you tell them that you've been headhunted to be the head honcho director of a super-secret British law enforcement organisation waaay above their security clearance. It's gonna be so awesome!" He chortled gleefully.

Tony looked at him and smiled as they made their way back to the car and eased back into the traffic stream for the final few miles to the Naval yard.

The mood was much lighter after coffee and Fornell's thoughts turned to more practical matters.

"So…by the way, have you decided what you're gonna do with your apartment yet? You gonna sell it or rent it out?"

"Well I was considering renting it to McGee and Wheels but that was before he and Probish hacked into my financial records, including my Tax records. Now I'm going to sell it I think, or lease it out for an astronomic amount."

"THEY WHAT?" Fornell shouted, glaring at him and Tony grabbed the dashboard in alarm.

"Eyes. Road." Tony spat out, panicking. "I have no desire to end up at the ER before I hand in my resignation, Toby."

Once the FBI agent was refocused on the driving he responded to his previous question. "Tim and Ellie were snooping into how I could afford my apartment, so they hacked into my financial records."

"Please, tell me you reported them?" Fornell huffed, greatly outraged. NCIS agents…well McGee and now Bishop at the behest of Gibbs, were always too quick to hack into FBI files and it pissed him off no end. Especially when they kept getting away with it. It was time to take a leaf out of Hermione's book and indulge in a little bit of payback.

"Nah. Gibbs told me to suck it up when I was stupid enough to mention it. Said I was a habitual snoop and what goes around comes around. And yeah I might have snooped in people's desks, listened to their phone calls when they were in the bull pen or searched Cate's purse when she left it lying around on her desk but…"

"If you want to have a personal phone call, don't have it in the bull pen," Tobias observed cynically. "Yeah snooping in people's desks is a bit much, Tony but it's a far cry from hacking into someone's private financial data. Gibbs would kick them to the curb if they did it to him – after he gave them a colonic irrigation – courtesy of his boot!"

"Too true, Toby. When I snitched his NCIS issued phone to figure out his movements when he was trying to protect his former CO, Colonel Ryan and you guys were trying to track Ryan down over missing money in Iraq, Gibbs told me he'd break my hand if I did it again. But short of reporting it to IA there's not a lot I can do about it."

"Leave it with me. We have a computer tech at the Bureau that is a maestro of the keyboard. She'll make them wish they'd never gone near a computer, let alone decided to hack your records," he promised gleefully. He'd heard she could be extremely creative.

"So what if Senior wants a place to stay?" He asked a bit later as they were approaching the Navy yard.

"Then his good buddy Gibbs can put him up at his house. He spends more time with him out of hours than me, especially since Hong Kong. Seems like Senior's a better conman than I gave him credit for. So much for Gibbs' infallible gut. Though, if he shags Gibbs' nympho neighbour in Shannon's marital bed it, might be a different story. He'd probably kill him after he shoots his boys off."

"Shags, DiNotzo?"

"Point, Tobes. Spending time with Hermione has me regressing. Need to keep up my guard and not let the English idioms creep back in, though. Have to remember who I am... or who I'm not."

Fornell wondered if Tony was biting off more than he could chew. Perhaps he would be better off accepting a job in the non-magical world after all. It was a big ask to return to his roots and maintain such a deep cover, even for the king of working undercover. But then again, now that the genie was out of the bottle, was there any way to stuff it back in? Probably not.

He also knew that the new Minister of Magic, aka Hermione Weasley nee Granger, had been as good as her world, and planned a spot of retribution concerning a certain Leroy Jethro Gibbs. She swore that it wasn't using magic but he quailed at the thought of what Hermione had planned even without magic. The woman's intelligence and drive made Abby Sciuto look average by comparison. Fortunately, he'd persuaded her not to act while Tony was serving out his notice so he didn't get caught in any fallout but she steadfastly refused to tell him what she had planned.

As they drove into the NCIS carpark and exited the car, Tony flashed him a smile. "Once more unto the breach, dear friends…"

"Once more." Tobias finished the well-known Shakespearean quote, returning an encouraging smile as they made their way to through the front doors of NCIS

Tony looked sad and Fornell understood…sort of. Fifteen years…a lot of water under the bridge. Gibbs and some of the others were in for a nasty surprise. More than that if he read Hermione right.

Taking a deep breath Tony plastered on his trademark grin, as sincere as a newly converted paleo dieter at a pasta night. Adopting his brash persona and swag, he approached the security staff with a gay, "Showtime!"

End Notes:

So this chapter has ended up being a fair bit longer than the first draft that I wrote, which is why it took longer to post. There are a few reasons for this. The video clip that EW dot com have posted in anticipation of this week's season finale airing in the US, which will see Tony DiNozzo bowing out after 13 seasons plus appearing in the pilot episodes in JAG, NCIS LA and NOLA is one reason. The ten things, which FYI were 'supposedly' celebrating what made Tony such a great agent/memorable character, made me seeing red as imho, it trivialises his contribution. The spin is already on even before he leaves to downplay his importance, presumably to convince people to stay loyal.

The second thing that got me steamed was the conversation between him and McGee in Charade 13.20 - basically it parrots the party line. Thus, I felt compelled to do some more in-depth analysis of the effect that 'Competent Tony' has had over his 15 years' tenure on the MCRT. This all took longer when I did my extra redrafts, I'm afraid but I hope you enjoy it, although I'm sure I've left out some important stuff.

In case you're curious: