Director Shepard folded her arms in front of her on her desk and waited until both Gibbs and Tony were seated in front of her desk.

“I’m not sure why you asked for this meeting, Agent DiNozzo.” The director stated. She was glad to see her agent up and moving. Tony had been released from the hospital only a week before and had been residing at Gibbs’ house, under the watchful eyes of both Gibbs and Ducky.

“I am requesting you hold off on your decision, Director.” Tony replied.

“May I ask why?” Jenny questioned, a little puzzled by Tony’s request.

“I haven’t changed my mind about my initial recommendation. I just want to talk to them that’s all.” Tony stated.

“What do….?” Director Shepard began.

“Gibbs and Ducky are not in favor, they say it is too soon after being in the hospital for me to put myself under so much stress.” Tony said, finishing her thought and reading her mind.

“I have to say, Tony, I agree.” Jenny stated. “Maybe in another week or two….”

Tony shook his head. “It has to be now, I can’t think of anything else.”

The phone on the director’s desk rang and she excused herself and answered it. She listened for a moment and then hung up. “I went ahead and arranged the meeting, Tony. But it’s not too late. You can still leave. They don’t know why they’re here.”

Tony shook his head.

“I had hoped I could talk you out of it.” The director stated.

“I appreciate your concern.” Tony stated. “But I’m OK.”

Jenny sighed and pressed her intercom button. “Show them in, Cynthia.”

Moments later Jethro, Tony, Jenny, Kate and Tim were all seated at the huge conference table in the director’s office. Kate and Tim had been surprised to see Tony. They had not seen him since the day of the shooting. They had been banned from the hospital by Gibbs and Ducky. Abby and Jimmy would not speak to them, much less give then information. They only way they found out anything was through the NCIS grapevine. And they never knew how accurate or how old the information was.

“I was the one who requested to see the two of you.” Tony said, breaking the silence and answering the questions their confused looks were asking.

“I have made my recommendations concerning your futures with NCIS. And I doubt that this meeting will change my mind in any way. The main reason I wanted to see you, to speak to you was to ask you, Why? Why was it suddenly OK for you to defy your Team Leader’s orders? Your Team Leader is your Team Leader, regardless of whether the position is filled by me or filled by Agent Gibbs.” Tony stated. He waited patiently for the answer.

Neither Kate or Tim spoke for a moment.

“Would you have defied the order is Gibbs had given it, even if you hadn’t agreed with it?” Tony asked, already knowing the answer.

Both shook their heads.

“I already knew that, but I wanted you to admit it to me.” Tony stated. “You both have questioned my right to be Senior Field Agent, my right to be Team Leader.” Tony stated, he was getting angry and he made no effort to hide it. “I earned these positions. I have more experience than both of you put together. Yes, I was a beat cop. But that prepared me better than any computer class…” Tony looked pointedly at Tim. “…or any profiling class could.” Tony looked at Kate when he said the last part.

“I have earned every commendation, every praise, every promotion I’ve gotten.” Tony stated. “Nothing was bought for me.” Tony said, addressing Tim’s and Kate’s thoughts about Tony’s family fortune. “My dad wanted me in the family business. He took my inheritance away after he found out I was majoring in Physical Education. I attended college on scholarships and working part-time.”

Tim and Kate were truly shocked at that revelation. They both assumed Tony’s education was funded by mom and dad and that he spent his time as most rich college kids did: goofing off, driving fast, sporty cars and chasing girls. They never dreamed he had to work for his college money or depend on scholarships, like most of the rest of the college population.

“I saw things in Baltimore and Peoria that would make you both sick to your stomachs. People don’t call the police unless things are going wrong, usually deadly wrong.” Tony said. “It was rare NOT to have to deal with dead bodies.” Tony paused before he began again. “A man, about 25 years of age, was holding his wife and his two kids. Two girls, aged 3 and 4 hostage. I had been talking to the man for about an hour. That psychology degree at work,” Tony said as an aside to Kate. “I had him ready to drop the gun and walk out. I was walking up to the house when some rookie cop said ‘Let’s take the bastard down.’ The guy must have heard it because the next thing we know we hear four shots, rapid succession. I take off running towards the house. They guy shot his wife and himself in the head. The girls had belly wounds. One oldest died on the way to the hospital and the other girl died two days later. That was how I celebrated my first anniversary as Detective.” Remembering the scene, even after all these years, was still very upsetting.

“It’s amazes me the cruelty one person can show another. My first ever call in Peoria was a domestic violence call. A child was found at the bottom of a flight of stairs, unconscious. He was about 10 years old. He has brain damage and is confined to a wheel chair for the rest of his life.” Tony paused, finding his anger again. “Do you want to know his offense?” Tony continued, not expecting an answer. “He left a toy on the floor in his room. He forgot one toy. The father found it under the bed and went ballistic. A man shot his wife to death in Baltimore because she refused to change the channel so that he could watch a basketball game. He is serving 25 years in the state penn. A woman shot and killed her best friend because she had heard the woman was sleeping with her husband. It turns out the neighbor who told her fingered the wrong woman. The woman lost it in the back of the squad car, started screaming she had killed her best friend. She was never charged with the crime. She’s still on lock down in a psychiatric hospital in Maryland. A 15 year old girl killed her mom because her mom grounded her for staying out past her curfew. It's unreal the amount of blood in the human body. It was splattered on the wall. In the girl's hair. On the ceiling. The daughter was still holding the gun when we walked in. I had to get it out of her hand. She threatened to blow her own brains out right in front of me.”

The director and Gibbs sat, stunned. They had no idea routine, beat cop, police work could be so horrifying.

Tony continued. The pain and hurt of remembering present on his face. “Each unit took an average of 4 to 5 calls a shift, depending. More often than not, the scene, the consequences were not pleasant. A girl gave birth to a baby in a bathroom stall in her high school. She cut the cord, cleaned herself up, and dumped the still live baby in the dumpsters behind the school. It was found the later that evening when the garbage was collected for the day. Her mother , the girl's mother, didn't know her daughter was pregnant. She had been eating a lot, so the mother thought her daughter was just gaining weight. My partner and I got the call and had to retrieve the body. She was perfect. No birth defects. She had blue eyes and blond hair. She was an absolutely beautiful child.” Tony paused, a mixture of anger and sadness on his face. “My last day in Peoria a woman and her teenage daughter were walking down the street. The woman was shot to death in front of her daughter. It was by another teenager, high on crack, for the two twenty dollar bills the mother had in her wallet. My partner and I had the pleasure of interviewing the terrified, hysterical girl, trying to get information.”

Tony paused, and no one spoke, still too stunned.

Tony looked down at his hands for a moment. “How DARE either of you say I haven’t earned what I’ve gotten!? How DARE you?!” He looked up, glaring at both Tim and Kate. “I've paid my dues! I have done things neither of you, could have, or would have done. I’ve seen cruelty and pain in its purest form. I saw a hell of a lot in those 4 years as a beat cop. So, no Kate, I’ve never protected a president. I had never been on Air Force One before I met you. And Tim, no, I don’t know how to do all the things you do on computer. But I did help develop a computerized criminal database when I was in Baltimore. I helped design the program and create protocols for program usage. And I did my job. I made Detective in a year, most take much longer. My partner and I had the highest solve rate when I was in Peoria AND when I was in Baltimore. I worked days on the beat and spent nights studying. Getting all those degrees I'm sure you’ve heard about by now. As, I said, I paid my dues.”

Tim and Kate started to speak at the same time.

“This is not a debate. You get no period of rebuttal. You have nothing to say that I want to hear.” Tony smiled, the anger gone. “Here you both are, feeling all kinds of superior, when, Kate. You and I probably have essentially the same education. And, Tim, my tested IQ is probably just as high as yours, if not higher.” Tony laughed. “I’ve had my say, Director Shepard. Thank you for giving me the opportunity.” Tony said as he got up from his chair. He then turned and left the room. Gibbs followed him out.


NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS


“So, what happened?” Tony said, as he got the plates and silverware out and sit the table. It had been 2 days since ‘the meeting’ in the director’s office. Gibbs had gone to NCIS to talk to the director in person. But he had returned, to Tony’s surprise, with Chinese food.

“Director Shepard took your recommendation and fired them both. She said Ducky, Abby and Jimmy’s statements were pretty damning to them both, as well. She took into account the conversations I had had with her about the situation.” Gibbs stated.

“When did you two start having conversations about us?” Tony asked, spooning food onto his plate.

“About two months after Shepard took the job. I noticed long before then though.” Gibbs admitted sitting down and starting to fill his plate. “I…I understood why you did what you did. How you wanted to toughen Tim up and mellow Kate out a little. But they didn’t, probably still don’t.”

Tony shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. It’s not important now anyway.”

“How do you know?” Gibbs asked sincerely.

“Because, that wasn’t the problem.” Tony said. “Well, not the main problem.”

Gibbs sat quietly, waiting for Tony to continue.

“The main problem was they didn’t respect me. Probably because they thought I was, “beneath” them, for lack of a better word. But, also because I act the way I do. I do it to throw suspects off their game. And you have to admit, Gibbs. It works. It works amazingly well. How many times have we gotten confessions because if it? People just don’t know how to take me.” Tony said smiling.

“But what about in the office?” Gibbs asked.

“Oh, that. That was just fun. Kate just couldn’t wrap her mind around the concept. I was an enigma to her.” Tony admitted. “And Tim was an easy target.” Tony said around a mouthful of food.

Tony sobered a little and Gibbs detected a hint of sadness. “It’s OK, Tony. You suffered a loss, two losses. It’s OK to grieve.”

Tony put his fork down and stared down at his plate.

Gibbs patted his arm. “We’ll be ok. Things will get better. Besides, we have official NCIS business to take care of.”

Gibbs got up from the table and retrieved some folders off the kitchen counter that Tony had not seen him carry in. “These are our new candidates…” Gibbs said, answering Tony’s question, at least partly.

Tony still looked confused.

“We are going to pick out two new team members?” Gibbs explained as he patted the folders lying beside his plate.

“We?” Tony asked.

“Yes, ‘we.’” Gibbs stated.

“You never asked my opinion with….”

“Maybe I should have.” Gibbs stated.

Tony smiled. He could hear the regret in Gibbs’ voice. “Thanks.” Tony said, quietly.

“Here.” Gibbs said, handing him a file. “Let’s get to work.”

“On it, Boss.”

THE END