A/N Well I have to say I've been totally overwhelmed by the response that this humble little piece has generated . Just a reminder that this is not a HEA sort of story. The best I can do is to offer all you fans of warm and fuzzy stories is ambiguity. Thank-you to everyone who dropped by to read and review, alert and fave. I hope you enjoy this chapter. Next one is DiNozzo driven.

Once again this chapter isn't beta'ed, just proofed. All errors are my bad.

Be Careful What You Wish For

Chapter 4

Evidently Tom was expecting him since he had a fresh cup of coffee sitting, waiting for him on his desk. Seeing Gibbs bemused expression he admitted, " I had Mac from security let me know when you went storming out of the building."

Feeling the betrayal wash over him, he scowled at the former Director of NCIS. "Damn you ,Tom. I want him back and I want him back ,now. What the Hell have you done with him?"

"He's not here, Jethro. He's at a security conference. He needs some time and some space and he's definitely not ready to talk to you yet. If I had my way, Hell would freeze over before you get to see him again. You broke him and I'm doing my best to try to put him back together again," Tom cautioned his former agent.

Leroy Jethro Gibbs was synonymous with pig-headed and he'd known that Gibbs was not going to take this lying down. Sighing at the thought of the coming confrontation, he tried to tell himself that his short term pain was definitely worth the gain of having this skirmish. Besides, someone sure owed it to Tony to step up and tell Gibbs a few home truths, even if was too damned little, too damned late to fix anything.

Glaring at him, said stubborn individual cursed his former boss. "Don't talk crap. DiNozzo's not broken; he just gets off track once in a way. Nothing a good head slap and a couple of hours on the mats with me won't cure to get him refocused. Can't treat him nice, he hates it."

"Oh trust me when I say he's broken Jethro. I haven't seen him for a while, well not since the last time I tried to get him to sign on with Homeland and now the man is a shadow of himself. He rang me over the weekend and asked me if I'd give him a job. Said he was prepared to start at the bottom if I'd have him. What the Hell have you people been doing to him?" He shook his head disgustedly before renewing his attack.

"Couldn't believe it when I told him I wanted him to head up his own team. I've had him on my radar ever since you lit out to Mexico and left him with a pile of crap while you and that old reprobate Mike Franks pickled your livers and brains on the beach. Course I'd always been impressed with him when he belonged to me but I still kept my eye on him after I left. That kid with his combination of investigative abilities and undercover skills, is a once in a life time find. I can't believe you and Vance let him go!"

"Damn you Tom, I didn't let DiNozzo go, you stole him off me and I'm going to get him back," Gibbs ground out; his anger evident.

Tom shot him a sad look. "Believe what you must Gibbs but I've been trying to entice him to leave the MCRT for the last three years, ever since you came back and dumped his stuff on his old desk with nary a word of warning or thanks but he's always refused to leave until now. He says he waited too long, that he should have gone a long time ago but that since you don't trust him any longer it was only a matter of time before you got rid of him. So he thought he 'd save you the trouble." He picked up his own coffee and took a gulp, then another one.

"Although he told me he'd lost your trust, he wouldn't say much frankly, but like I say, I've made it my business to watch him closely over the years. The crap he copped for working for that crazy assed Jen Shepard after you left, the shit from you and the team dished out to him when you found out, the fact that you never supported him in the team as your 2IC and let the junior agents, well in truth one of them was actually Mossad, think that it was perfectly fine to disrespect both the position and the individual. That all reflects badly on you as his superior, Gibbs."

He could see that the NCIS agent was ropable but he wasn't done. "The scuttlebutt around the traps was that Leon Vance decided to punish Tony for Shepard's decision to commit suicide by dirt bag in the desert, and that you blamed him too. And well, he was the last one allowed back on the team after that mess with the mole who wasn't really the mole. Totally seeing why he thinks you don't trust him anymore and add to it, the dogs' breakfast you and Vance made out of the Domino affair. Not exactly a sign of confidence in your SFA who was actually team lead at one point and deserved to be read in on that basis alone. He's more than earned the right but it was all about punishing him, wasn't it?

He's also the same guy who at great personal risk to himself, saved you butt and your daughter's friend's life too, after you tried your damndest to kill her." He looked at the man who was such an amazing investigator and yet had helped turn one of the most gifted young agents he'd ever seen into a dispirited shell of his former self.

"Tony didn't say much at all about his reasons for leaving but he did say that you and Ducky said he was narcissistic and likened him to a serial killer. Have to say that's rich coming from you since you epitomise narcissism in all its glory Mr-Follow-My-50-Rules-Or-Else-But-Don't- Expect- Me- To- Follow-Them-As I'm-Your -Boss-And -Can-Do-As-I-Damn-Well-Please .Then a few days ago, behind his back again, you said he needed an attitude adjustment for Christmas - that was pretty damned crappy, even for you." The former director looked disgusted, especially since Gibbs looked truculent rather than remorseful.

"But like the loyal second he is he tried to change to please you, nearly killing himself, giving you a robot who didn't make a noise , joke or muck around." Morrow continued. "I suspect it must have been just like when he was a kid and was forced to act like a mini adult instead of a real boy. He said that even when he changed everything about himself to try to please you; it just made you even angrier, that he couldn't do a thing right. He said that was when he knew he'd worn out his welcome."

Shaking his head in disgust he asked, "What's that saying? Be care what you wish for? Well DiNozzo got an attitude adjustment alright and he looked at everything afresh and finally figured out it was time he move on."

"Oh for the love of Mike, give me strength Tom," Gibbs exploded. "DiNozzo's my loyal Saint Bernard. He knows I often get a bit pissed off and say things I don't mean or I pull his leg but he's not some little pouty kid. That wouldn't make him leave," He asserted angrily. Gibbs pulled out his cell phone and tried to call DiNozzo but it had been disconnected. Slamming his phone shut he glared at his former boss. "You Can't Have Him," he growled with deadly intensity.

Shrugging, Morrow appeared unthreatened. "Well when Tony returns from the security conference in Montreal at the end of the week, we'll leave it up to him shall we? If he wants to talk to you, he can call. Meanwhile, how is that boat of yours going, Gibbs? Is it finished yet?"

Regarding Morrow warily because of the abrupt change of topic caught him by surprise, he responded grudgingly. "Still workin' on it."

"So I would be right in saying that the choice of lumber matters in boat building?" Tom asked innocently.

Gibbs rolled his eyes, "Ya think, Tom? Course it matters. Pick a wood that is too inflexible and it'll snap under pressure in a storm and choose one that's too soft and it will bend and warp. And if you choose the wrong one it can be difficult to work with so that you don't enjoy shaping the wood. Ya gotta find a wood that you love working with because when you are doing everything by hand you have to love it since it takes a lot of blood, sweat and tears to build." He regarded the Assistant Director of Homeland Security curiously.

"Why are you asking Tom? You're not thinking of building a boat?" Gibbs enquired, sort of sensing an ambush but curious nevertheless.

Tom Morrow laughed, his close cropped poll shining in the harsh artificial office lighting, giving the impression that Morrow shined his head every morning. "Hardly Jethro, I think that my wife would definitely divorce me if I did. I'm just trying my best to understand. You have infinite patience when it comes to shaping the wood, spending literally hundreds of hours sanding every single plank silky smooth. Then when it comes to children you encounter in your investigations, you are kind and tolerant. Long suffering even, yet when it comes to making a little bit of time and effort, spending just a few minutes giving Tony a scant few words of thanks or praise, you baulk, preferring to spend all your free time with your boat. I'm just trying to figure it out, is all."

"Don't have time to waste on people that need their hands held, Tom. DiNozzo's hard work, insecure, constantly wants my attention.

And yet if he was a boat or a little boy that was hurting you'd happily supply it."

Not a boat! Not a little boy, not hurting and like I told ya, he hates it when I'm nice to him.

Maybe he does but that's only because he's not used to people treating him with kindness and so he doesn't think he's worth it. So that's no excuse… if anything it's even more of a reason why he needs kindliness, especially from you, since he's never had it before and needs to learn how to accept it. If you find a knot in the wood, it might take a lot more effort to sand it smooth but it needs more sanding, not less. Neglect begets neglect; and that young man has been neglected his whole life by too many people that should have been looking out for his interests. You brought him to DC and that made you responsible for his welfare. You told him "Ya don't waste good" but that's exactly what you've been doing. Makes you no damned better than his parents, in my book."

Ignoring Gibbs proliferation of expletives, he continued placidly, "And you're wrong, Jethro. He is hurting, he has been hurting for a long time, he just has been taught that showing his hurts equates to showing that he is weak. God forbid that he show that weakness to you. I'm certain that any half-ways competent psychologist would agree that children who grow up neglected tend to have their emotional development stunted or to use the current psychobabble, it arrests their development. There's a good reason why you think of Tony as your loyal Saint Bernard, since emotionally he's like a big puppy but even a Saint Bernard can get their feelings hurt."

"I bet you were a great dad, Gibbs. Did you tell your daughter that she was special, brilliant, and all round wonderful? That she could grow up to be anything that she wanted… of course you did. YOU were a loving, conscientious father."

Gibbs scowled, prickly beyond measure at Morrow daring to talk about Kelly. "What the Hell's your point, Tom?" His tone making it clear they'd entered dangerous territory.

"You're a gifted investigator; I'll let you figure it out. But I'll say this, if I had someone of Tony's calibre on my team who hadn't been told that he was special or loved then I'd want to make damned sure he knew it."

"Trust me Tom, DiNozzo knows that I think he's the best young agent I've ever worked with."

"How, Jethro? How would he know? You ever bothered to actually tell him that to his face? You told McGee in front of everyone in the bull pen that he was a good agent when you left ,and not to let anyone tell him otherwise. Tony… you could only spare two words. You'll do – two miserable, mealy-mouthed words – could you spare them? Have you ever actually told him – said the actual words?"

"Well… no but he knows. I wouldn't keep him on the team if I didn't."

"Ah yes, the ultimate compliment from the emotionally constipated and elective mute. If I deign to keep them around that is tantamount to a whole boxful of commendations and medals. They should be overwhelmed with gratitude by Leroy Jethro Gibbs' largesse in keeping them near, so they are within his orbit and can bask in his reflected glory and brilliance. Except… well clearly you're not getting the message across, because he was convinced that you were going to get rid of him since he's a screw up, so I'd have to say he has no idea that you think he is good. Quite the contrary, in fact." His former boss gazed at the senior special agent, wondering how anyone could be that dense and still work for a federal law enforcement agency.

"How the devil is he supposed to know? You hardly ever praise him and when you do it's always accompanied by a sarcastic little dig to undermine any praise you might dole out, oh so grudgingly. I'll never forget that momentous occasion when the Almighty All-Powerful Gibbs lowered himself to tell DiNozzo he was irreplaceable. You know, I thought he was going to burst with pride when you told him that, and then you had to be a prick and burst his bubble by telling McGee he couldn't have his desk after all because he was still alive. Imagine if Kelly's boss had done that to her if she was alive and returning from an attempt on her life? You'd go ballistic, probably kill the jerk but somehow it's funny when you do it, especially to someone that has never had a secure loving home life, who'd been neglected and abused by a pair of addicts."

He stood up and walked around the desk indicating their meeting had concluded. Holding out his hand to Gibbs he shook his hand perfunctorily . "Bye Gibbs, nice catching up but I've gotta get to a meeting. Good-luck with your boat, I sure it will be a masterpiece," He stated with heavy irony. When Gibbs didn't move he put his hand on his arm and hustled him to the door.

Gibbs glared at him, "Not going to let him go, ya know."

Tom shook his head, sadly. "Shame that it's too little too late. You've had eight years to act. Even the most cowed of working dogs will finally slink off and look for a new master after putting up with years of abuse. And now I'm going give him a damned good home. Always did want a kid!"