A/N So this chapter sees a confrontation between Tony/Sirius and Gibbs for those people who have been hanging out for something a bit meatier than the basement hug we got on the show. It is also dedicated to Arress who is under the weather at the moment and assured me that a leaving scene where Tony decks Jethro would help her feel better. Unfortunately I don't have one of those scene just sitting around on my laptop by but hopefully this will be almost as good. Hope you enjoy it.

Warning: As stated previously, fans of Gibbs, McGee or Vance should skip this chapter.

Serieux Part 2

Chapter 4 Home Truths

Fornell watched Jethro, Bishop and McGee observing their progress as they made their way to the stairs from the mezzanine level following their awesomely fun tête-à-tête with Director Vance. Ellie Bishop was openly curious, smiling at Tony, while McGee pretended to be focused on his computer screen. Every so often he would shoot what he probably thought were covert glances at Tony as the two agents made their way down to the bull pen. Fornell decided his furtiveness was more obvious than if he'd casual watched them and pretended to talk on the phone.

Gibbs was seemingly impassive but the fibbie knew him and his tells well enough to discern the thinning of his lips and the steeliness of his glare. Jethro was curious and pissed off that Tony had been up in the director's office and he had been left out of the loop. Tobias knew if there was one thing that Leroy Jethro Gibbs hated more than anything, it was feel like an afterthought.

As they descended the stairs, Fornell was already metaphorically rubbing his hands together in anticipation of the showdown to come. Director Vance had been the appetiser – Jethro and his minions were the main course. This was going to be the best fun he'd had in years! Almost made up for having the thankless task of being the FBI's unofficial liaison with Gibbs for the last couple of decades.

~000~

Tony smirked as Gibbs growled at him. "You're late, DiNozzo."

Gibbs, even when he was being an ass-hat was nothing if not predictable in his responses, however, DiNozzo was pretty immune to bastard Gibbs by this stage of the game. If months of this uber bastard act after Shanghai hadn't toughened his skin to dimensions equivalent to dragon hide, then Toby's pep talk today had well and truly rectified the situation.

Grinning widely, just because he knew it would piss off the boss, he replied irreverently, "Nope, I was up chewing the fat with the Director, Gibbs. I was here early, actually."

Jethro glared at him as he sank down into his chair. When Tobias found himself a spare office chair and wheeled it over to park his butt at the end of Tony's desk, Gibbs started fuming. "Why are you here, Fornell and what's with ya playing footsie with my agent?"

Tony hid a grin. Gibbs thought they were colluding on a case with Vance. "We had urgent business to discuss with the director. Confidential business."

"You're on my team, so you don't get to keep secrets from me. I should have been in the meeting!" Gibbs asserted forcefully. Tony recognised that he was losing face with his junior agents and was no doubt incensed. Actually, since Gibbs was chronically angry, especially with him, this insight hardly made him psychic.

You know that's a steaming pile of horse hockey," DiNozzo retorted mildly, ignoring the snort of amusement from their favourite fibbie. "I don't have to tell you what we discussed in confidence…since it was classified."

"Yes. You. Do! My team…my rules."

Tony exchanged a look with Fornell, seeing that goofy grin on his face again. He was having way too much fun today, messing with NCIS personnel.

"Doesn't work that way, Gibbs. You don't have the clearance to know what we were discussing." Tony stated calmly, before looking at Fornell and shrugging. "You can throw him a bone if you want to," he declared offhandedly.

He knew he was fanning the flames – a giveaway was how Gibbs eyes started to bug out in fury and McGee had that petulant, stop-shitting-on-me look. The truth was that somewhere between Vance's office and the bullpen Tony discovered that he really didn't care anymore. In the meantime, Probish looked like she wanted to crawl under her desk, which probably wasn't such a stupid idea. Things might be about to get ugly!

"If you're sure, DiNotzo."

Tobias saw his nod of assent out of the corner of his eye as he glared at his long-time friend, shaking his head sorrowfully. His world was about to get blown apart. "I'm afraid that all I'm permitted to tell you is that I'm here on protection detail, Jethro."

"Why does Tony need protecting?" McGee demanded, managing to sound to Tony's ears, simultaneously disbelieving and querulously, shooting nervous looks between DiNozzo and his boss.

"Need-to-know, and I'm afraid the MCRT doesn't," Tobias informed them, pretending to regret not being able to divulge more details.

"What did you do this time, DiNozzo? Who did you piss off now?" his good friend joked peevishly. Apparently he had about as much patience as Gibbs about being kept in the dark – and people had the hide to call him nosy or in Tim's case DiNozy.

Tony felt himself getting mildly pissed off by them – he was fairly sure he'd have been absolutely ropeable if he wasn't just toying with the team. The boss and Tim seemed more concerned that they were out of the loop than they did that his life might be in danger. The fact this was all a stunt by the FBI agent, didn't prevent him feeling mildly irritated at how incredibly obtuse his colleagues were acting.

Tony stared McGee right in the eyes before asking him mildly, "Which part of classified and need to know are you not capable of understanding, Tim?"

"C'mon Tony. I thought we'd agreed last year that it wasn't a nice thing to do… being left out of the loop. I always share all my off-the-books hacking missions with you, so you agreed to share the classified stuff with me."

"No Tim. We did agree that it didn't feel great not being read in on classified intel, but this isn't grade school or a popularity contest. I certainly did not agree to ignore direct orders to withhold classified intel from you and any other unauthorised personnel. It doesn't work like that. People who reveal classified intel without authorisation end up going to prison."

He looked over and noticed Toby has pricked up his ears about hacking. "What are you, Tim… a 5-year-old? I'll show you mine if you show me yours?"

McGee pouted, ready to make a snarky response as Tony looked over at Ellie, who was giggling.

"Can you please knock sense into McDoofus? After you and Jake stopped working together but were still married, did he tell you classified NSA secrets because you were together."

"You know he didn't, Tony."

"Of course I do, but I wish you'd tell Boy-genius here."

"Shut up, Elf Lord!" Gibbs growled at him. "Don't be a dumbass. So McGee might not have security clearance, but I sure as Hell do."

"Not for this, Jethro." Fornell assured him.

"Bullshit, Tobias. I was a Marine Scout sniper doing black ops and then I did black ops for NCIS. I have a higher security clearance than your and DiNozzo's clearance combined, Tobias." Gibbs bragged, displaying his infamously inflated sense of grandiloquence.

Fornell glared at him. "In your dreams, Navy Re-tread-Cop!" He taunted, using a long forgotten insult. "But in this case, you will never have the security clearance required to know this."

Tony looked askance at his little duckling who was rapidly morphing into a cranky Rottweiler. Fornell seemed to be doing his level best to stir up the team's curiosity, which, since the magical world tried to keep a low profile with non-magicals, wasn't real smart. He also wasn't picking up on Tony's signals to stop.

At this rate, McGee was going to spend every spare moment he had, hacking into NCIS to try to find the classified data. Too bad there wasn't anything to find, not even in Vance's computer – well not any more than he was about to share.

Seemed like that re-tread taunt had definitely pissed off Gibbs. His next salvo was entirely predictable and typically cutting. "Thought you learnt your lesson with The Frog, DiNozzo."

Tony cringed, not because of La Grenouille but because of Jeanne and the last thing she'd said to him. Seeing the cringe, Gibbs continued the assault.

"Ya don't get to keep secrets on MY team. It's my way or the highway," he threatened, impatiently.

Tony grinned wryly – the more things changed the more they stayed the same. If he hadn't run into Jeanne twice recently he might not have felt so touchy about the subject.

"You're absolutely right, Gibbs. So I guess it's the highway. Once I settle up the cases that Legal need me to testify on, I'll be out of your hair. It is what you wanted for quite some time, after all."

He looked at Fornell who had a smirk on his face, then realised that not only had Bishop, McGee and Gibbs stopped in their tracks to stare at him, but so had every other person in the squad room.

"That's not funny, Tony," McGee whined, darting alarmed looks between Gibbs who was fuming, and Tony who looked determined and Fornell who seemed to be enjoying himself immensely. "You know we don't joke about that sort of thing with Gibbs." He raised his eyebrows meaningfully…code for don't poke the bear cuz we'll all suffer if you do.

"I do know that, Tim. Guess that's why I'm not joking."

"You were already going to resign, weren't you, Tony?" Bishop realised suddenly.

"Very good, Probish. One day, you'll make a very fine investigator, but if I can give you a piece of advice? Think of it as a parting gift."

She nodded, shocked. "Of course, but why are you leaving? I thought you were supposed to take over the team when Gibbs retired."

"Ah well, that's a complicated question, my little Probette. Long story short – yes that was the plan, which was why I gave 15 years of loyal senior field agent service to the team instead of taking over my own team nine years ago. But that's before Gibbs spent this past year freezing me out after he let Luke Harris shoot and almost kill him.

"After that, everything changed, including my place on the team. The boss made it clear I wasn't welcome anymore – maybe because Daniel Budd escaped on his watch and then I was on the joint taskforce that helped to catch him. I broke Rule 45 – his mess up, he cleans it up. Or…maybe because I saw the infallible Leroy Jethro Gibbs freeze when Harris drew a gun on him. Which was it, Gibbs?"

"My office, now DiNozzo. Alone," he yelled, glaring at Fornell.

"Oh so now you want to talk, Gibbs?" Tony ignored the purple tinge to Gibbs features that resembled a threatening storm of epic proportions. "In private? Thought you didn't like secrets on your team. Or is it a case of do as I say, not as I do? Wait, don't bother answering that"

Fornell decided to turn the bull loose in the china shop. "I don't recommend that you enter the elevator unless I'm there too, DiNotzo."

Tony chuckled at the furious look that the boss sent them and tried somewhat successfully to turn it into a fit of coughing.

McGee was evidently intent on placating Gibbs or perhaps him so he wouldn't antagonise him further. Maybe Tim didn't even know who he was trying to mollify as long as he wasn't embroiled in a direct confrontation, since McGee preferred a more passive aggressive form of conflict that out and out confrontation. Tim was a maestro of delivering a poisoned comment before exiting, stage left or uttering an innocent denial, like he was joking if anyone called him on his shit.

"Gibbs didn't LET Budd get away, he got shot and nearly killed." Tim defended, his voice filled with tension.

Tony fresh from the discussion with Fornell that morning, and angered by Gibbs taunt about La Grenouille, shook his head, deciding it was time he slaughtered a couple of sacred cows; secrecy and DiNozzo-like loyalty wasn't go to keep the juniors safe after he left them.

Shaking his head sadly, he disagreed. "Sorry Tim, but that's exactly what he did. Remember, when that dirty detective, Sergeant Archer pulled a gun on you and you froze and couldn't fire - did our esteemed and sensitive leader give you milk and cookies? Pat you on the head and tell you it would be okay?" He ignored half a dozen snorts of derision from bystanders in the squad room.

"Did he tell you not to worry about it?" Tony continued to question McGee, who looked like a deer caught in a headlight, not sure how to extricate himself. "Hell no! He told you if you ever froze and second guessed yourself again, he'd take your badge. And let me remind everyone, you were just a probie."

"Yeah…but that was a cop, Tony. But Luke Harris' was just a kid." Tim protested, flashing a panicked glance at Gibbs.

"A kid with a gun, McGee. Who put two slugs in another human being with intent to kill. It sucks sometimes being a cop but when someone has a gun in their hands and pulls the trigger, it's our job to stop them, whether they're a kid or a little old lady." He looked around at the crowd in the bullpen, most who were nodding in agreement.

"But you're right about one thing, Tim. Luke is a kid. And kids have an immature nervous system; kids' also have a low threshold of pain. A slug…put in just the right place in the shoulder, would in all likelihood have disarmed him of his weapon pretty damned quick. And who better qualified to deliver such a tricky non-lethal shot than a highly trained Marine Scout sniper who was also a twenty-year plus veteran federal agent?" He demanded rhetorically, while studiously ignoring Gibbs.

"Budd knew damned well that Gibbs wouldn't fire on Luke. That's why he sent Luke into the square to kill him, knowing in the ensuing melee he could slip away and out of the country. Luke was his exit strategy and his sacrificial lamb, because although he profiled Gibbs and knew he wouldn't be able to shoot Luke – that it was his Achilles heel. Budd also knew that one of the other feds would take him down – it is SOP after all. It was sheer dumb luck that Harris escaped with Budd; he was always expendable.

"I guarantee if Luke had killed Gibbs, like he was supposed to, as Luke believed he had, then Harris would have been riddled with bullets. But his incompetence still created enough of a diversion for Budd, as everyone hustled to stop Gibbs from bleeding out."

Most people were speechless at what was occurring in the bullpen. Ellie meanwhile tried the Walt Disney gambit, looking extremely uncomfortable with their level of acrimony. "Well at least Luke and Gibbs are both alive and Budd is dead. So… ah… all's well that ends well."

"Yep, you're right, Probish. Luke is alive…at least for now." Tony conceded gravely. "Not sure that he'll make old bones though. I think that misplaced guilt is the hardest emotion for anyone to deal with," he stated, staring intently at Gibbs who glared right back.

"What do you mean?" Bishop asked, the furrowed lines in her forehead indicating she was trying to put the pieces together but coming up empty.

"A screwed up, guilt riddled teenager? I've seen it often enough to know how it plays out," Tony declared pessimistically. "Turning to drugs or drink to blot out the guilt and or engaging in extreme risk taking behaviour." He stared steely-eyed at Gibbs who was trying to remain impassive.

"C'mon Ellie, you remember how hard it was the first time you shot someone, but you're a federal agent and it's your job. You had training, plus you have the cognitive maturity to deal with it – hopefully."

"Ellie considered what he'd said before she grimaced. "Yeah…fair point. I'd rather be shot I think. Bullet holes heal... emotions are a lot trickier to mend."

McGee scowled across the bullpen. "Why are you making a scene, Tony? You know this won't end well. We don't piss Gibbs off…especially now." His baby-faced features were a study in petulant sulking, although he did have a point.

Tony stared at Gibbs who seemed to have been sandbagged by the topic - although he guaranteed that state of affairs wouldn't last forever. "Because I finally figured it out myself… with a bit of help." He glanced at Fornell and flashed him a tight smile.

"I was blaming myself for Gibbs getting shot but the truth is he made that decision himself or more accurately, he forced Luke into making it for him when he froze and refused to do his job."

Tim keened plaintively as he watched Gibbs' fury. "Stop. Just because he tossed you off the team, no need to ruin it for Bishop and me."

Tony stared at the guy who told him he was one of his best friends. So much for solidarity. "Not this time, McFearless… I've taken all his crap for 15 years, respected the man and the rank but enough is enough. Gibbs refused to attend mandatory counselling after Iraq where he nearly died…again.

"Just like he failed to attend mandatory counselling when he got blown up, lost his memory and ran off to Mexico for 4 months of boozing in the sun. He somehow also managed to skip mandatory counselling when he drove that car off the docks and drowned himself and a civilian; and look how that avoiding mandatory counselling turned out. Someone needs to have the guts to speak some home truths to him."

"Gibbs wouldn't drown a civilian," Ellie objected staunchly, looking like a kid who'd been told that Santa Claus couldn't stand kids.

"Not intentionally, Bish. But he still drowned her and himself…because of his stupid damned misplaced guilt. He deliberately went off half-cocked without backup or telling anyone where he was going and ended up dead in the bottom of the Potomac, along with his daughter's best friend.

Tony was silent as he remembered staring into their dead eyes and the desperate attempt to resuscitate them, his lungs screaming in protest before he even started CPR.

Gibbs charged him – his expression feral as Fornell stepped in front of Gibbs to shield him and Balboa stepped up to assist. "Shut the fuck up, DiNozzo. You've no right to talk about them."

"That's right – I forgot! We all have to tip-toe around and never mention your wife and daughter but dirt bags know all about your Achilles' heel and use it to manipulate you, and your team constantly get caught in the crossfire. If it's not dodging bullets then we're dodging you and your outrageous temper, your head slaps or your verbal abuse.

"And I'm not going to be there anymore to pull your ass out of the fire, so you, Bish and Tim need to know that Gibbs has feet of clay when it comes to red-heads, surrogate daughters or just kids in general."

Tony saw Ellie's disbelief and felt sad. She and Gibbs had gotten extremely close this year after her divorce. Still he needed to warn her, even if she refused to listen.

"Whether you want to believe me or not, you need to realise that his Achilles heel could get you killed. Its' not like other people don't know where to attack - what his weakness are. Haswari knew; ask Cate – oh wait – you can't! Haswari killed her! Eli David knew and used it to manipulate him to spy on us with his daughter and Budd did too, so you need to be forewarned.

"Hell seems like someone took out a classified ad in the Dirtbags Daily to inform the entire criminal and terrorist population what his soft underbelly is. But shame on me for daring to mention it in the bullpen with the good guys in the hope it might save his life, or someone who works under him – my bad."

Tony watched as Gibbs shot him a lethal glare before shaking off Fornell and Balboa, suddenly taking off up the stairs. trying to escape from the unpleasant truths that he refused to face. He was probably headed for the director's office to find out about the classified info he'd been denied access to. Well he wished him good-luck, since Vance didn't have a clue about his job offer either, although he was probably working his contacts as soon as they left the room.

Bishop looked crushed but he supposed there'd been a lot of confrontation; probably felt a bit like mom and dad fighting in front of the kids. Changing the subject, she asked Tony. "Was that what you wanted to tell me before?"

Replying to Bishop question, albeit distractedly, while watching the boss stalk along the mezzanine walkway, he shook his head. "No, that was more under the category of general housekeeping issues. I wanted to offer you some advice – in private."

"What about McGee?"

"What about him?" he asked her, puzzled.

"Haven't you got some words of wisdom for him too?"

Tony shook his head. "Nope!"

"C'mon Tony, I thought he was your friend. I'm sure Tim would appreciate any advice you choose to share, too."

"Then you'd be wrong, my naïve little Probette. Tim is my friend but he has never needed nor wanted my advice." He grinned and shot a look of nostalgic at McGee.

"Even when he was a raw little probie with only a few months of field work under his belt, he was never interested in anything I had to say. Hey McGee, remember the time I tried to warn you about poison ivy at a crime scene when you were a rookie?" He chuckled. "He was outraged, and he told me in no uncertain terms he'd graduated top of his FLETC class and didn't need my advice. Trust me, he prefers to learn things the hard way, Probette."

Ellie strode up to McGee and stood in front of him, hands on hips, glowering. "You told me that it was Tony's fault that you got poison ivy…twice."

Tony stared hard at Tim, feeling crushed. "You blamed me for that? Thanks a lot McGee."

Ignoring McGee who was spluttering nervously under the weight of Bishop's ire, he felt cold inside. What else did his 'friend' say about him behind his back? Of course it didn't really matter anymore – he was leaving it all behind. He just needed to get through the next few weeks.

Tony decided now would be a good time to head down to Legal and discuss his departure with them.

"Hey Tobias, I'm going down to Legal for a chat. How about you hang about in the bull pen 'til I get back."

Fornell got a wicked gleam in his eyes, although the rest of him remained poker-faced. "I'm sorry, Director DiNozzo but I can't permit you to go down there unaccompanied. It would be ill-advised."

The activity in the bull pen stopped and you could hear a pin drop as everyone stared at an uncomfortable DiNozzo. Bishop whirled around – her ripping Tim a new one glare momentarily forgotten while McGee was left with his jaw wide open

"Tony, why is Agent Fornell referring to you as Director?" Bishop blurted out, inquisitively.

He remained silent, ignoring the probie, preferring to glare at Tobias who stared back at him, trying hard to look innocent - even though they both knew he'd deliberately let slip that snippet of info.

"It would be ill-advised? You sound like that stoic alien – Teal'c in SG1. What's with you and the pop culture references today? First it was Happy Days, now it's a sci-fi show?" Tony grouched. He wasn't in any way in danger at NCIS except from Gibbs. Or perhaps getting stuck in the elevator as a result of all the emergency stops Gibbs had instigated over the decades he'd worked in the building. Other than that, he might suffer a paper cut down in legal, he supposed. Or getting a paper cut while stuck in the elevator, with Gibbs - that might be ill-advised.

As he engaged in a battle of wills with the shit-stirring FBI agent, he was peripherally aware that Tim was responding disparagingly, bringing back memories of countless other times when McGee ridiculed him or minimised his contributions to the team and investigations.

"Please, Ellie. He's pulling your leg. Tony as Director. Much as we all love him, you have to know that's just plain ridiculous."

"Why is it so ridiculous, Tim?" Bishop challenged him passionately.

"Well okay, he's a good agent but he's not even team leader. Plus, he doesn't have the background to be a director. Why would anyone want to appoint him as a director, Ellie?"

"When are you going to stop underestimating people because of their education, Tim? Tony will make an awesome director and he has been team leader on several occasions. I think he'll make a great director – he's a great people person." She declared loyally, which warmed Tony's heart just a little.

"It's probably an undercover gig. Like the time he was supposed to be an internet security expert…as if."

"Well if that's the case, explain, why he needs a protection detail?" Ellie asked him reasonably. "Fornell's pretty high powered protection for a UC op."

Striding over to Tony with a devilish grin on his face, Supervisory Special Agent Eric Balboa extended with his right hand to shake his hand, thus breaking up the staring contest between him and the FBI agent.

"So it would seem that congratulations are in order, Director. You've finally accepted one of the offers you get constantly?"

Tony flushed. "Ah… actually Rocky, this one came out of the blue, but it was the right time, ya know?"

"Yeah, I do man. I honestly don't know how you've stuck it out with Gibbs for so long. Such a damn waste. You still going to be based in DC?"

Aware that everyone on the floor was listening to their conversation he shook his head. "No…London."

"Right, you've got dual citizenship, haven't you?" Balboa asked and Tony nodded assent.

"When do you finish up here, Tony?"

"Um not sure…hence my need to go down to Legal and confer," Tony explained, rolling his eyes.

"Well we have to go out and do some serious celebrating before you go." Balboa promised, clapping him on the shoulder.

Bishop apparently tired of glowering at McGee bounced over to Fornell, grinning cutely. "Can Tony go down to the Legal Department if I go with him as back-up? Please, pretty please, Agent Fornell."

Tobias tried to scowl at her but she gave him the wide-eyed innocent look while clasping her hands in supplication and Tony could tell he was on the cusp of smiling, despite his best intentions.

"Fine, but take your Sigs," He growled at them in much the same way a parent might grumpily admonish their rambunctious teens to wear clean underwear or make sure they had protection, as Probish mock-curtsied playfully, making Tony smile.

She'd been really down in the dumps after her divorce and it was good to see her smiling, for a change. He cared about her, felt protective of her… well provided she wasn't trying to turn into a Ziva-like clone or hacking into his tax returns. Truth to tell, he'd always felt protective of Ellie. In lots of ways she reminded him of his favourite cousin, Nymphadora Tonks. According to Hermione she'd died in the final battle with Voldermort, along with her husband and his best friend Remus Lupin, leaving behind their infant son, Teddy.

Ellie's physical resemblance to Tonks – who'd hated her first name with a passion, was negligent. It was her kind disposition and happy nature that reminded him of his cousin. Plus, they both had a goofiness and neither young woman was ashamed of their eccentricities. Well not until recently, when Bishop had stopped working on the floor when she was trying to figure something out.

Frankly he thought it was a cute and endearing quirk - but that aside, Ellie, like Tonks had been able to see straight into his soul. She saw his strengths and forgave his flaws; thankfully she'd never felt the need to enter into the gleeful publicly humiliation of his flaws the way the rest of the team did. Ellie was a glass half full kinda girl and she'd extended that philosophy to Tony. She also didn't shy away from acknowledging his good qualities, which made for a breath of fresh air.

Tonks was like that too. She'd fervently believed in his innocence right from the start and had tried to calm his bouts of mania when he'd been shut up in the Black ancestral home. A fate as far as he was concerned which had been only a marginal improvement to being imprisoned in Azkaban. She managed to see beyond his depression and bouts of irrational anger and make him laugh, a no mean feat during that time frame. He realised ow that he'd been a walking textbook of PTSD symptoms.

He still couldn't believe the pretty young auror, his favourite cousin had been dead for almost two decades – it was such a terrible waste. He was glad that she and Remus had found a little happiness together though he would have teased them so much if he had still been with them.

Sighing at Bishop's pleading puppy-dog eyes, Tony capitulated. "Fine, let me get my gun." She raced to her desk and drew out her own Sig before grabbing his hand and pulling him towards the elevator.

She called to Fornell. "Don't worry, I'll take excellent care of Director DiNozzo."

Tony decided to burst her bubble. "Not shouting out my new job title across the squad room would be a start, Probie. By the way, don't think I don't know that you were hoping to milk me for information, Probish. Not gonna happen!"