(quote from Doctor DiNozzo Chapter 5)
Tony smiled and Gibbs did feel somewhat reassured. "I…it's not that I am keeping a big secret, Gibbs. It's not even that I care that you know. I just…I like having a part of my life that is truly private. I like being able…you know everything about everything, Boss. It's just nice that you know nothing about this."
"So…you're not sick?" Gibbs asked.
Tony shook his head. "I'm not sick."
"This is a good thing…for you?" Gibbs asked.
"Yes, it is."
"I'm not going to be pissed off you kept this from me?" Gibbs inquired.
"Surprised, yes. Amazed, definitely." Tony replied. "But you will not be pissed."
(end quote)



Later that night...

They finished up at the scene and tiredly slumped into the car. Gibbs driving, Kate in the shot-gun seat, McGee and Tony in the back. Tony considered pulling rank and telling Kate to get in back, but she looked almost as pissed as Gibbs. They'd been out checking out an unexpected lead to a case for hours. An hour ago they ended up in a short and fast firefight with the shooters getting away. Now Gibbs was pissed with the other 3 agents in various stages between frustrated at losing their targets, and worried about dealing with Gibbs driving when he's in this mood.

A few minutes into the drive, Tony realized just how much his arm hurt. It had started earlier in the night, during the shooting he realized. He barely managed to hold in a cry of pain when Gibbs took a sharp turn, the force pushing Tony's weight on his arm against the car's door frame. Once the car straightened out and Gibbs settled into a steady pace on the highway, Tony gingerly felt his arm and grimaced when his fingers found two small rips in the jacket's sleeve. He unzipped the jacket a little and slipped his hand inside. The wet shirt sleeve worried him and he bit his lip as he felt around the edges of the wound. He wished for some light to get a better look at the bleeding, but for now he'd make do with a tight grip around his bicep.

Tony managed to read the highway signs as they sped by. “Uh, boss?” Tony broke the car's silence.

“Yeah?” Gibbs didn't sound as tired as he looked.

“Bethesda's this exit” Tony pointed out.

“Yeah, so?” Gibbs asked even as he switched lanes as the exit ramp came into view.

“I think I've been shot.”

Kate and McGee turned to look at Tony. “you think?” Gibbs bit out, even as he headed directly to the naval hospital. “My arm, I can't see it, but it sure feels like it. And it's bleeding.” This time Tony didn't hold back the painful cry as Gibbs took another turn that pushed Tony sideways. Tony ignored Kate's and McGee's questions as he concentrated on keeping away from the door frame as Gibbs peeled into the hospital parking lot and stopped by the emergency room doors.

Tony didn't protest when McGee undid his seatbelt and Gibbs opened his door. He got out of the car on his own and, still keeping a tight grip on his injured arm, headed toward the emergency room. Even though it was a Monday night, he knew there was a good chance that some of the nurses and doctors he worked with on his weekend shifts were on duty. Walking into the hospital, he wondered briefly how long it would take before the other agents found out.

He nodded to John, the security guard on duty, on his way toward the emergency room desk. He hoped that the quiet waiting room meant the ER wasn't too busy. Before Gibbs could get a word out to the receptionist on the phone, Tony gave a little wave to catch her attention. “Hey Marge, can you buzz me in?” he asked and nodded to the security doors separating the waiting room from the treatment areas. Marge gave him a quick smile and a nod. Without breaking her conversation, with an insurance company Tony guessed, from the little he heard her say, she pressed the buzzer and the doors slowly opened.

Tony ignored the puzzled looks on his teammates' faces and headed into the emergency room treatment area. Glancing at the patient board on the wall, he was relieved to see that the ER was as quiet as the empty waiting room implied. But then, Monday night's tended to be quiet. He headed toward the group of staff huddled around the central work station. Tony winced seeing that most of the weekend staff he worked with were on duty tonight.

Gibbs was ready to call for a doctor when one of the nurses saw them heading toward the desk. “DOCTOR!” and hurried toward Tony. The four doctors at the work station turned at her cry, and one pointed to an exam cubicle. “Room 4, Tony. And someone clean up the biohazard fluid he's dripping all over the floor.” he snapped out. Tony glanced at the floor behind him. “It's just blood, Joe,” Tony grinned as he headed into room 4.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's still a biohazard and needs to be cleaned up.” Joe looked surprised as the three other agents followed him into the small room with Tony. “It's ok,” Tony said to Joe's questioning look. Tony carefully sat on the gurney in the center of the room. “What did you do?” Joe asked. “I got shot. I think it's just a through-and-through at the upper brachilias, maybe nicked the triceps, from the feel of it. I haven't examined it visually. No arterial bleeding. No nerve or bone damage. No numbness. Haven't done a range of motion test though.” Tony slipped into doctor mode without thinking. The other agents were surprised at Tony's clinical description but stayed silent when the doctor nodded.

Between Joe and Allison, the nurse who'd noticed them come in,they got Tony out of his jacket, bullet proof vest, and shirt. “The vest didn't help,” Joe said conversationally. Kate thought it sounded like he was continuing a conversion rather than just making a simple observation. Tony rolled his eyes at the comment, “it's a vest, not body armor” he pointed out. Allison handed Joe a large gauze bandage as the bleeding started again once Tony had let go of his grip on wound. While Joe cleaned the blood around the wound, Allison started to hook Tony up to the various machines to get and monitor his vital signs. She hesitated before putting on the blood pressure cuff.

“Doctor DiNozzo? You have a gun.”

Tony nodded absently, watching Joe and trying to get a view of the wound for himself. “I have three. I'm wearing one.” Kate and McGee traded looks, Kate rolled her eyes. Gibbs narrowed his eyes watching his second in command.

“um, the blood pressure cuff.. can I put it on without setting it off?” Allison asked nervously. Tony looked at Allison and then down at his gun. He picked up one of the plastic-backed cloths that Joe or Allison had put over him to protect the rest of his clothing- and the floor- from the bleeding. Holding the cloth so his blood-covered hand wouldn't touch the gun, he removed the gun from the holster and held it out to McGee. “Here Probie, hold this for me,” Tony asked. Tony didn't miss McGee's eyeroll this time, but McGee took hold of the gun without comment. “It's ok, ma'am, you can put the blood pressure cuff on Agent DiNozzo,” Kate said smoothly, stressing Tony's title. A look of confusion, then understanding passed over Allison's face as she put the cuff on Tony.

Joe grinned at the exchange and then frowned as he read the numbers on the large electronic board. “Your BP's down. How long ago were you shot?” he asked. “An hour ago, maybe two. It's not arterial bleeding,” Tony insisted. Joe stared at him, “Two hours ago? Were the hell were you?”

Gibbs cut in, “It's an active investigation, Agent DiNozzo can't disclose any details.” Joe stared at the older man. “You must be Gibbs,” he said with a small grin. He ignored Gibbs raised eyebrow, clearly asking for more details. He turned to the nurse, “Allison, set up an IV one liter fluids and antibiotics.” Tony nodded in agreement, resigned to spending 30 minutes hooked up to the IV.

Allison nodded and left the room to get the necessary supplies. Joe tightened a fresh gauze bandage on Tony's arm. “I'll be back in a minute, just need to get a suture kit.” Joe looked over at the three agents, “If you're Gibbs, then you must be Kate and McGee?” They nodded and Kate asked, “and you must be one of Tony's frat brothers.” Joe blinked and laughed, “nope, I went to school out west.” He left the four agents alone.

Kate spoke first, “Isn't she too young for you Tony?” Her tone clearly disapproved of Tony flirting with the young nurse.

Tony quirked an eyebrow. “Too young for what, Kate? She's a nurse. She's also married with a 3 year old son.”

Kate shook her head, “you must've flirted with her at some point, if she thinks you're a doctor. And really, saying you're a doctor to get a date? That's low, even for you.”

Tony just laughed. Allison, Joe, and another doctor came back in before Tony had a chance to answer Kate. McGee and Gibbs were uncharacteristically silent.

“Hey Tony,” the unknown doctor greeted him. Tony flashed a smile in greeting before flinching slightly as Allison set the IV needle in the back of his hand. “So what's the story?” the doctor continued.

Joe answered for him, “I'm putting in 14 stitches, Tom, but it should heal fine.” Tom nodded, “so how long will you be on medical leave?”

“14 days,” said Joe.
“Twelve,” countered Tony.
“Until Ducky says so,” Gibbs said firmly, ended the discussion.

Tom glanced at Gibbs and nodded in agreement. “You must be Gibbs,” he said, unknowingly repeating what Joe had said earlier, “keep up the headslaps.”

“hey!” Tony protested. It might have been from Tom's comment, or the pinch of the sutures Joe was putting in his arm.

Tom looked at Tony, “sure, I figure I'm only a headslap away from getting you full time.” Kate, McGee, and Gibbs protested at once. Tony rolled his eyes and said nothing.

McGee managed to get out, “Full time what? Security guard? Seriously, Tony?” Tony and the medical staff laughed at McGee's confusion.

Gibbs answered, “No. Tony IS a doctor. He works here on his off-call weekends.” He spoke with a calm assurance that implied he knew all along. Tony wasn't fooled and just nodded.

Kate and McGee stammered out, “Tony? A doctor? Here? That's, that's...”

“Amazing” Gibbs filled in with a smile.

(quote from chapter 5 of the Doctor DiNozzo story)
"So....you're not sick?" Gibbs asked.
Tony shook his head. "I'm not sick."
"This is a good thing…for you?" Gibbs asked.
"Yes, it is."
"I'm not going to be pissed off you kept this from me?" Gibbs inquired.
"Surprised, yes. Amazed, definitely." Tony replied. "But you will not be pissed."
(end quote)

Tony was in hell. Technically, he was at his desk, on the phone, on hold, listening to the same Muzak melodies for the last 15 minutes. Hell. The only reason he was still waiting was because it kept Gibbs from demanding answers about the information Tony's supposed to be getting from this phone call. Someday. Once the Muzak stops.

He zoned out the repetitive music and wondered instead if Gibbs had figured out what he does on his off-call weekends. It's been almost a week since Gibbs cornered him in the elevator and promised to find out. Tony doubted he's figured it out yet becasuse Gibbs hadn't said a word. And Tony was sure that finding out about his being a doctor was something that Gibbs would talk about. He's not scheduled to work at the hospital this weekend, so another Gibbs stakeout won't prove anything except that Tony went to the gym, grocery shopping, and embelleshed his weekend-date stories.

Tony couldn't decide why it's taking so long for Gibbs to figure out. A simple background search would show up his medical degree. A financial check would show the payments from Bethesda into his account within two weeks of his shifts there. Even a review of his HR paperwork would show his second job. Maybe Gibbs gave up the hunt. Tony snorted. Not a chance.

His musings about Gibbs, still with the Muzak background, were interrupted by the ding of the elevator ding and an angry Fornell heading his way. Fornell just glared at him and continued to Gibbs' desk. Tony looked after the FBI agent in surprise. As far as he knew, Tony hadn't done anything recently to piss off the FBI.

"Gibbs. I want your file, DiNutzo's notes, and NCIS off the case." Fornell stood in front of Gibbs, his tone just one step below a shout. DiNozzo raised his eyebrows in surprise. He had no idea what case Fornell was talking about. From the look on Gibbs' face, Tony wasn't alone.

Gibbs looked up at the other man and slowly removed his reading glasses before answering with a small half-smile, "And what case is that, Tobias?" Tony exchanged glances with Kate. She shrugged her shoulders and turned to watch the two senior agents. McGee also looked clueless, but Tony couldn't tell if it was his usual expression or not.

Fornell gave a low growl. "You know which case, Gibbs. I want DiNutzo pulled out of whatever undercover op he's on, and I want all the details now. And NCIS better not have blown my case!"
Tony's jaw dropped open. Gibbs stood up, "Conference room. Now." He gestured for Tony and Fornell to follow him to the conference room - the real one, not the elevator - around the corner from the bullpen. Tony hung up the phone, finally silencing the Muzak. He scribbled a note and dropped it on McGee's desk. Let McGee listen to Muzak while he worked on whatever techno-research he was doing for the case.

Tony caught up with the two men just as they entered the conference room. Tony closed the door behind him and took a seat at the table next to Gibbs. Fornell spoke first, "Stop playing games Gibbs. You are not keeping this case."

Gibbs spread his hands wide. "No games, Fornell. I don't know what case you're talking about, and DiNozzo is not working undercover." Tony nodded vigorously in agreement.

Fornell clearly didn't believe Gibbs. He turned to Tony, "Really? So what were you doing last weekend?"

"Last weekend? I was..." Tony hesitated. Gibbs and Fornell waited expectantly. Tony gave a quiet laugh, and shook his head. "I get it. Gibbs set you up to this, didn't he? I'm disappointed, Gibbs. I didn't think you'd ask Fornell to find out what I do with my weekends off." He stood up, "sorry gentlemen, but it won't work."

Tony took two steps toward the door before Fornell and Gibbs both yelled at him to stop. Gibbs waved at Fornell to let him speak first. "Sit down DiNozzo. This has nothing to do with that." Fornell interrupted, "So you're undercover on your own? What are you investigating?"

Tony shook his head, "I'm not undercover. Not for NCIS, not on my own, and definitely not for the FBI!" He shook his head again, and went back to his seat. "Ok, then where you were last weekend?" Fornell demanded.

"You tell me," Tony said. "Prove that Gibbs didn't set you up - sorry, Boss, but rule 39- there's no coincidences. Fornell, you tell me." Gibbs scowled, but reluctantly nodded in agreement. Fornell looked at the two NCIS agents and sent a silent curse to whatever diety had caused their paths to cross.

"Fine. So help me, DiNutzo, if you did anything, anything to mess up this case..." Fornell shook his head. "You were in Bethesda's Emergency room all weekend."

Gibbs and Tony were both surprised. "You said you weren't sick," Gibbs said accusingly. "I'm not," Tony said, "Bethesda, that's, um, a part-time job. On my off-call weekends." He hoped that was enough for Fornell. It was certainly enough for Gibbs to track down the rest of the details.

Fornell gave a harsh laugh. "Really? You expect me, us..." waving a hand between Gibbs and himself, "to believe you're a doctor, a licensed Emergency Room doctor, working part-time at Bethesda? Come on, you can come up with a better story than that!"

Tony wondered what kind of background check the FBI had done that Fornell didn't know, or believe, his license was real. "Nope, no story, Fornell. That's exactly what I am."

Gibbs stared at his senior agent. "Amazing."

(quote from Chapter 2 of the Doctor DiNozzo story)
"I don't get it Tony." Gibbs asked, cutting in, obviously irritated. "Do you like this job?"

Tony's mouth dropped open. He had expected Gibbs to yell at him. He had expected 'the look.' But this…this threw him off. "Do I…What?"

"Do you like this job, Tony?" Gibbs said. "A simple question deserving a simple answer."

Tony's mouth opened and closed once before he could find the words. "Of…of course, I do, Gibbs?" Tony paused. "Where is this coming from?" Tony couldn't believe his ears.

Gibbs started to pace. "Try EVERY Monday morning, after every free weekend. You…you come in like you haven't gotten over your partying." Gibbs paused. "I used to not say anything. But…but Tony you…at first it wasn't every weekend. I wasn't too concerned. But now…it is every weekend we aren't on call. I…you're not a college kid anymore."

Tony smiled and started to chuckle a little.
(end quote)

A dozen agents and support staff from various areas within NCIS reluctantly filled the small training room. None of them were looking forward to spending the better part of the day learning the new protocols for tracking the various pieces of evidence and logs (phone, internet, financial, among others). The seats were arranged around the U-shaped table with the instructor standing in front, cheerfully greeting everyone as they entered and chose a seat.

"Ok, looks like everyone's here, so let's get started," the trainer said as he handed out a thick stack of paper stapled together to everyone in the room. Gibbs took one look at the 30-something man in a neat grey pinstripe suit and decided he'd never set foot in a crime scene, much less actually qualified as a field agent. He hid his grimace behind his coffee and settled in to what promised to be a useless training session.

After a few minutes of introductions and 'setting expectations' for the session, Zach (the trainer) asked a question of the group. "So how well do you really know each other?"

"We're like family! We know EVERYTHING about each other!" Abby looked around the classroom as if daring anyone to contradict her. A chorus of agreement sounded through the room.

"We know how we work together. That's enough," Gibbs muttered. Tony, seated next to him, grinned when he heard the blunt statement.

Zach looked around the room, "ok, then. let's see if Abby here is right. Will you come up front please?" Abby jumped up and happily joined the trainer.

"Ok, this is very simple Abby. You'll give you two pieces of information about yourself. One is true and one isn't. Your teammates, your family as you said, have to decide which is true and which isn't. Ok? Think about it for a minute, and then tell us your two things."

Abby nodded and after a minute, nodded sharply. "Ok. Got it. Number 1", she raised one finger the same way she did in the lab explaining a finding from her 'babies'. "Number 1, my brother Luca is deaf. And number 2," raising another finger, "I had a pet alligator when I was growing up." Zach nodded slowly, "Ok, thank you Abby," then he turned to the rest of the group, "So, which is true? and which isn't?"

McGee stated confidently, "Luca isn't deaf, so number 1's not true." An agent from one of the other teams disagreed, "A pet alligator? No way. That's the lie." Zach let the group discuss a few minutes before calling for a vote. The pet alligator was voted 5 to 5 (Gibbs refused to vote) to be the lie. Abby had a wide grin on her face. "Nope, that's true. We found it when she was a tiny thing, barely 3 feet long, and kept Ally-the-alligator until her broken leg healed. And then we let it go in the backyard."

Zach stared at her, "in the backyard? Aren't there laws against that?"

Abby shrugged, "In Louisiana? I don't think so. Besides, that's where we found her. She went right back into the swamp without even looking back to say goodbye." She looked a little teary-eyed.

"Um, ok, thank you, Abby. Who's next?" Zach looked around and had the agent that first disagreed with Tim come up and give two statements. It was fairly obvious which was which, and the lie was determined quickly. Zach asked for one more volunteer. "How about you, Gibbs?" Zach hesitated at Gibbs' glare, "um, ok, maybe something else later, how about you?" he pointed at Tony.

"Sure," Tony stood up and adjusted his suit sleeves before walking up front. "Ok, well, number 1, and I've never admitted this to anyone before," he started, "but except for NCIS assignments, I've never been to Hawaii." (which was a bald-faced lie. He clearly remembered, at age 12, the amazement of seeing live palm trees growing on the side of the street, and then the sheer panic when he realized that his father had abandoned him in the hotel.) He cleared his throat, "and number 2, I work part-time as an Emergency Room doctor at Bethesda." The entire room, except for Gibbs, broke out laughing. But even Gibbs was smiling, he had to admit, as a true-or-not story it was a good one, although extremely obvious as the lie. Tony looked at his Team Leader and gave small half-nod. Tony watched the Gibbs' smile fade and be replaced with a look of puzzlement before settling back into his usual Gibbs-is-pissed look.
Zach raised his hands to quiet the room. "Ok, let's see, I'll say that's 11 that say number 2 is the lie, Tony,"

Gibbs interrupted to say, "the Hawaii trip is the lie." Kate started to argue, but stopped when Gibbs glared at her. "Hawaii is the lie," Gibbs repeated. His gut told him that was the case, but it made no sense that Tony could also be a doctor. But Gibbs depended on his gut in the field, he could depend on it in a silly training session too.

Zach turned to Tony, "ok, not quite unanimous, so which is it? The Hawaii trip or the doctor?"

Tony gave a small shrug, "I visited Hawaii when I was 12, so that was the lie. I've been working at Bethesda for 4 years."

Gibbs, as usual, broke the sudden silence. "So that's what you do on your weekends off."

(Quote from Chapter 2 from Jackie's Doctor DiNozzo story)

Gibbs started to pace. "Try EVERY Monday morning, after every free weekend. You…you come in like you haven't gotten over your partying." Gibbs paused. "I used to not say anything. But…but Tony you…at first it wasn't every weekend. I wasn't too concerned. But now…it is every weekend we aren't on call. I…you're not a college kid anymore."

Tony smiled and started to chuckle a little. OhGibbs,ifyouonlyknew. Tony thought, but he just continued to smile.

Gibbs, now, was unsure what to think. He certainly hadn't expected this reaction from Tony. Then it dawned on him. Tony was REALLY hiding something, something big. He had to be, Tony thought he had one over on him. Gibbs didn't like it. He had to find out what Tony was doing with his weekends.
(End quote)

Ducky and Gibbs were sharing a rare evening dinner together. Ducky contentedly ate the steak Gibbs prepared Cowboy style and served with a side salad (brought by Ducky himself of course). Gibbs on the other hand, looked, not quite miserable, but definitely not content.

"What's wrong Jethro," Ducky finally asked, putting down his knife and fork.

Gibbs gave a nearly imperceptible shrug, “it's DiNozzo. He's hiding something.”

Ducky was surprised. “Like what?”

With a little snort, Gibbs said, “if I knew that, he wouldn't be hiding what he does on his weekends off.”

“But what's the problem? His weekends off are his own.”

Gibbs swallowed his bourbon and nodded. “Sure, but not when he comes in late and exhausted on Monday mornings.”

Ducky bit back a smile knowing exactly what Tony was hiding. If fact, they'd talked about Tony's other job recently over a cup of tea in Ducky's office during a quiet afternoon for the team. Even though Ducky hadn't worked in an ER after he completed his internship and residency training, he found Tony's stories fascinating. It always surprised him to hear how similar the ER was to his military medical service years ago.

“Have you asked?” Ducky asked, picking up his own glass of bourbon. He'd have preferred brandy with dinner, but he knew it was unlikely that Jethro had any in the house.

Jethro nodded. “Sure and he won't tell me. Says it's his own time,” he shook his head, “I know it is, and he doesn't have to explain, but if he's not in top form, then it is my business.”

Ducky shrugged. “Tony not doing his job is your problem- if he actually is not doing his job- but his activities on his time off isn't your problem.” He spoke a little harsher than he'd meant to, but he also know how strongly Tony felt about keeping the Federal Agent and the Doctor sides of his professional life separate.

Jethro studied his old friend. “Aw hell, you know, don't you?”

Ducky looked away for a moment before meeting Jethro's surprised-but-angry glare. “I think I'll take a cue from your American legal system and, as you say, plead the fifth.”

Before Jethro could interrupt, Ducky continued. “Don't. Don't say it. It's been a lovely evening. Let's keep it that way, shall we?”

Gibbs said nothing for several long minutes before nodding. “Ok Duck, you're right. But,” he paused until he was sure he had Ducky's attention, “I told DiNozzo I was going to find out and you're not going to stop me.”

Ducky nodded and made a mental note to talk to Tony about Gibbs' interest. Ducky easily changed topics and the evening went on without Tony's name coming up again.

The next morning, Ducky called Tony down to autopsy. After sending Jimmy out on an errand, and making sure the autopsy doors were closed against unwanted eavesdroppers, Ducky quickly (for Ducky) filled Tony in on the conversation he'd had with Gibbs the night before. Even though Jimmy knew about Tony's medical moonlighting, Ducky had decided Jimmy didn't need to know that Gibbs was looking for information. Jimmy's nervous babbling around Gibbs might inadvertently tell Gibbs all he needed to know.

Tony just laughed. “It's ok, Ducky, I mean, please don't tell Gibbs, he can find out on his own easily enough. I don't know if he'll run a check on my financials or just a deep-background check,” he shrugged thinking about it, “it's really not that hard to find out.”

“Yes, that's true, but Gibbs isn't known for his technological skills.”

Tony smiled in agreement and headed back upstairs.

Morning came too early for McGee, but he got up anyway and started his morning routine. As usual, he was dressed and ready to go with 20 minutes to spare. McGee got his cup of coffee and sat down at the kitchen table.

One thing he learned less than a week working on Gibbs' team was that if he wanted to FINISH a cup of morning coffee, he better do it at home because there was no guarantee he'd be able to finish it at his desk.

He used the 20 minutes to drink his coffee and catch up on any reading he had. Non-computer reading that is. He'll spend enough time on the computer at work, and he liked the old-school feel of savoring coffee and a newspaper in the morning as way to wake up and get the brain going. Although it was never a print version of a newspaper. He absolutely hated the way the ink rubbed off on his fingers and stained his table.

This morning's reading was the John Hopkins quarterly alumni magazine. The cover picture was one of the renovated buildings. Tim didn't remember it from his days at the school, but the headline identified as one of the School of Medicine buildings and Tim rarely was in that part of the campus. He flipped through the pages and skimmed through the president's message to the alumni. And the message from the Dean from the School of Medicine thanking the alumni magazine for focusing on the school for this issue (and of course, the obligatory 'don't forget your alma mater and donate' comments from both of them).

Tim actually read the articles about the school's involvement in various research projects. He recognized the names of his former professors assisting in the technical analysis in the project. He turned the page and put his coffee cup on the page to hold open the magazine when the phone rang.

After assuring the caller that he wasn't upset by the wrong number, he went back to his coffee and magazine. Five minutes left.

The page was a two page spread of "where are they now" for half a dozen alumni. Tim turned the page without reading any of them. He turned back when "DiNozzo" registered in his brain as one of the names on the page. Even though it wasn't anyone Tim knew, it would maybe give him some ammunition to use when Tony because overbearingly annoying. Something along the lines that "the other DiNozzo went to John Hopkins" Tim thought.

~ ~ ~
Anthony (Tony) DiNozzo is a 1995 graduate from the School of Medicine. He came to John Hopkins after doing pre-med at Ohio State. Tony went into the field of Trauma Medicine, and has practiced in hospital emergency rooms in Peoria IL, Philadelphia PA, Baltimore DE, and is currently is employed part-time at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center (known locally as Bethesda Hospital) in Bethesda MD. Tony took an unusual career path and is also in law enforcement. He is currently employed full-time as a Special Agent by the Naval Criminal Investigative Services (NCIS) in Washington DC.
~ ~ ~

Next to the write-up was a 2" high picture of Tony smiling up at McGee.

Tim choked on his coffee.

An hour later Tim walked to his desk at NCIS headquarters. He knew he must have driven to work, because he always drives to work, but if asked, he couldn't have said anything about the drive this morning. He was too busy trying to figure out how Tony managed to get included in the John Hopkins alumni magazine. Some kind of joke obviously. It had to be. Tony only ever talked about his OSU degree in Physical Education. Not pre-med. Maybe there's some overlap, anatomy classes maybe? But still. A Phys-Ed degree isn't the same as pre-med. Besides, why would Tony hide that he's a doctor?

Tim absently greeted Tony and Kate at their desks and settled into his own. Tony was on the phone and Kate didn't seem inclined to talk this morning. Something for which Tim was decidedly grateful for. Tim pulled up the John Hopkins website and found an entry for an Anthony DiNozzo in the 1995 School of Medicine alumni listing. Interesting. So whoever helped Tony with the magazine joke- and it had to be a joke- also updated the website.

When Tony hung up the phone, Tim couldn't help himself. "Ok, Tony, which of your frat brothers work at John Hopkins?"

Tony looked over at Tim, surprised at the question. He thought for a minute and shrugged. "None that I can think of. Why?"

"Really? So how do you explain THIS?" Tim waved the magazine at Tony. Tim had shoved the magazine into his backpack on his way out the door this morning. Tony came over to his desk to see what Tim was waving around. Kate looked at the two men, and after a minute's hesitation got up and joined them.

"THIS!" Tim repeated, holding the magazine open to the "where are they now" pages.

"Oh, that. I didn't think it was coming until the fall issue. Cool. When did you get this?" Tony pulled the magazine out of Tim's hands.

"What did you do? Spill coffee on it?" Kate asked with a touch of amusement in her voice as she tried to read the page. "School of Medicine??" she said, the disbelief clear in her tone.

"Exactly my point, Kate," Tim agreed.

"What's the problem? I was there. I graduated. They contacted me a few months ago about it. What's so hard to believe?" Tony asked, closing the magazine and looking at his two teammates.

"John Hopkins."
"Emergency Room Doctor."

Tim and Kate said simultaneously.

"Yes. Right. You get 100 points in reading comprehension, " Tony said with a grin. He tossed the magazine back on McGee's desk.

"Does Gibbs know?" Kate asked. Privately, she agreed with Tim that this was some kind of elaborate joke.

"Do I know what, Agent Todd?" Gibbs asked smoothly as he walked into the bullpen. Kate shot Tim a death glare. Being put on the spot by Gibbs was his fault.

"Oh. Um. Tony's in Tim's magazine..." she started to say before TIm interrupted. "It's the John Hopkins alumni magazine, Gibbs. It came a few days ago, and ... um, right," Tim stumbled over his words when he saw Gibbs' glare aimed his way. Tim cleared his throat, "it has Tony listed as an alumni, and we," gesturing at the other two agents, "were just talking about it."

Gibbs nodded, "and you wanted to know if I knew that Tony was a licensed doctor and a John Hopkins graduate?"

The three agents stared at him in varying degrees of surprise.

"You knew?" Tony asked.

"Well, yeah, DiNozzo. NCIS did do a full background check when you were hired. And I do read all the notices HR sends about the agents under my command, including notice of a second job."

Kate blinked in surprise, "why didn't you say anything?"

Gibbs quirked an eyebrow, "because I haven't had any reason to send DiNozzo undercover as a doctor. Yet." He fixed a level look at the three agents. "Don't you have any work to do?"

They all mumbled affirmatives and scrambled back to their desks. Gibbs shook his head watching them. "Amazing," he muttered behind his coffee cup.

Tony finished examining his patient's broken arm. "Feels like it's a clean break, but I want to get x-rays before putting a cast on it. Hopefully it's nothing worse than that and we'll have you out of here as soon as we can," Tony said as he carefully rolled down the sleeve as best he could without jostling the broken bone or the temporary splint that the paramedics had put on. The dark-haired man nodded, "yeah, ok, how long?" His chart said he was 28, but he looked like he could be anywhere between early 20s and late 40s. It was a habit from being a cop that had Tony guessing people's ages. Tony exchanged a quick look with Amy, the nurse assigned to Tony's patients today.

She shrugged her shoulders, "radiology isn't too busy right now, but it's little slow this morning." Tony nodded, "we'll do our best, Mr. Ramos." Ramos nodded resignedly. Tony made a note in the chart, and turned to leave. "Nice tat, by the way," Tony patted his own arm where his patient had a stunning tiger's head surrounded by a swirling pattern in red and oranges. Ramos gave Tony a small smile and a nod.

While Amy submitted the order for the x-ray, Tony saw he'd been assigned a new patient. He checked in with Joan, the patient coordinator to get whatever details she had. "She's still being checked in, Tony, so you have a few minutes. From her husband's description, it sounds like a cardiac case," Joan read from the new chart before holding it out to Tony. He nodded but didn't take the chart, "ok, that gives me time to hit the men's room while she's getting settled."

Joan grinned, "absolutely, can't have the patients' thinking our doctors aren't potty-trained."

Tony winced, "so NOT a mental picture I needed, Joan. Haven't done that since I was three, and I have no intention of starting again now." He laughed lightly and headed for the private men's room down the hall, outside of the busy emergency room.

He pulled the door closed behind him and flipped the lock. Tony pulled out his phone, glad that the ER didn't have any equipment the prevented the use of the sometimes annoying, but mostly useful, cell phone. He pressed a speed-dial key and waited through two rings.

"Agent Todd... Tony?? What the hell???" Kate swore in greeting.

"And a good morning to you too, Kate!" Tony answered. "Have a late night? Anything you want to share?"

"Tony....." Kate groaned, "do you know what time it is? On our first Saturday off in weeks?"

"Yup, it's 9:13. Just a quick question," Tony said before Kate interrupted.

"No, Tony, I will not go out to a club, movie, concert, or any other place with you tonight."

"Funny, Kate, funny. You wound me. Remember that cold case we looked at a few days ago? Lt. Waters? Didn't the suspect's description include a tiger head tat on the right bicep?"

"Uh, yeah, with a red and orange pattern around it. Not much else to go by, just a guy with dark hair. Not even a decent age range to narrow it down. Why?" Kate was sounding more awake.

"I have a lead on the guy. Call Gibbs and McGee, and get down here," Tony said. He glanced at his watch, he had to get back to the ER.

"Here where? And why don't you call Gibbs? Or Baker's team? They're on call today." Kate protested, but Tony heard background noises that made him think that Kate was up and moving around her small apartment.

"Because we put the work in on the cold case, not Baker's team. And I really can't make any more ...." Tony stopped talking when the alarm tones went off and an announcement came over the speakers. "Code Green, team 3, report to East entrance. Code Green, team 3, report to East entrance." This was the fourth call he'd heard this morning. Not for the first time, he was relieved that as a per-diem staffer, he didn't have to rotate through the code teams.

"Tony, where the hell are you?" Kate asked.

"Bethesda's Emergency Room. I got to go Kate. I'll keep an eye on the suspect. He's using the name Ramos." Tony hung up before Kate could ask any more questions.

Tony decided he didn't lie to Kate, he really was in Bethesda's ER, although not the way she thought. And he did need to go, he thought as he unzipped his pants. Again, probably not the way Kate thought he meant.

When Tony got back to the ER, he checked the radiology request Amy submitted for Ramos. He bumped down the priority by one level. If anyone asked, he could honestly say he didn't think a probable clean break of the ulna needed a high priority when radiology was behind. That would keep Ramos in the ER at least 20 minutes. The x-rays would take 10 minutes, plus transport time back and forth to the ER. Tony figured that would give the team almost an hour to get to the hospital. Plus once the x-rays were done, Tony could put off seeing Ramos with the results by keeping busy with his other patients. Not too much time, but fifteen or 20 minutes wouldn't be hard to justify. Casting the arm would buy him some time too. A complicated break could keep Ramos in the ER for hours waiting for an orthopedist to come down. And worst case, if Ramos did leave before Gibbs and the team arrived, the hospital would have an address that they could use as a starting point.

Tony went in to see his new possible-cardiac patient

Thirty five minutes later, Gibbs, Kate, and McGee were waiting for Ramos in the small exam room when he got back from radiology. Maria, the nurse covering for Amy while she worked with Tony in another room, refused to let the team take Ramos out of the ER before the broken arm was taken care of. Gibbs grudgingly agreed to wait, "tell that doctor to get in here, now."

Maria crossed her arms, "he'll be here when he's finished with his other patient, Agent Gibbs. The doctor will be in as soon as he can," she motioned to the gurney Ramos was lying on, "besides, you've already handcuffed Mr. Ramos to the gurney." She didn't mention that she'd had to stop them from cuffing his broken arm. Ramos pulled against the metal cuff again with a frustrated grunt. He hadn't said a word since seeing the team waiting for him.

As much as he wanted to, Gibbs didn't push back. Contrary to what his team thought, he did know when to give in and when to push. Instead he turned to McGee, "go find DiNozzo, make sure he's ok." McGee nodded and started to walk away. He stopped when Maria spoke again, "I told you, the doctor's with another patient." McGee looked confused, "yes ma'am," he said politely, and walked out of the exam room. Maria sighed and shook her head. After warning Gibbs and Kate not to jostle the broken arm, she left Ramos with the two other agents and went to her next patient.

McGee walked back to the Joan's desk. She'd been the one to direct them to Ramos' room, she'd probably know which exam room Tony was in. "Excuse me, ma'am," McGee said. Joan looked up from the computer, "yes, Agent? Did you find who you were looking for?" McGee nodded, "yes, thank you. I'm looking for another patient too. His name is Tony- Anthony- DiNozzo. Do you know where he is?"

Joan looked at him in surprise. Like most of the ER staff, she knew Tony also worked at NCIS, and at least by name, knew Gibbs, Kate, and McGee. "A patient? You're sure?" Joan looked through her patient charts. She would've remembered a patient also named Tony DiNozzo, but she'd just gotten back from a coffee break and maybe there really was a new patient named Tony DiNozzo.

"Yes, ma'am, he called from here about an hour ago," McGee said, checking his watch.

"Is there a problem?" a doctor came up behind Joan. He looked at McGee, "I'm Dr. North, I'm one of the attending physicians here." McGee shook his head, "no, no problem, just looking for a patient." Joan looked over her shoulder at the doctor, "This is Agent McGee, from NCIS. He's looking for a patient, a Tony DiNozzo." Dr North's lips quirked as if he holding back a grin. McGee got the feeling that Joan and Dr North were sharing a private joke.

"Joan, I'm admitting Mrs. Davis. Call Cardiac and find her a bed in the CCU, please. Did you find Ramos, McGee?" Tony said, coming up behind McGee and holding out the chart to Joan.

McGee turned around and his jaw dropped open. "Tony? What..." McGee spluttered before grabbing the chart out of Tony's hand. "You can't do that!"

Tony, Joan, and Dr North looked at McGee. Joan and Dr North didn't try to hide their grins. Tony sighed. "Why not? And yes, I can." He pulled the chart back and held it out again to Joan. McGee grabbed it again. Then he grabbed Tony's arm and pulled him away from the desk.

"This is how you keep Ramos under watch? Pretending to be a doctor? Are you nuts?" McGee hissed. "Just because you swiped someone's lab coat doesn't mean you can go around admitting people!" McGee said, just barely kept his tone at a normal level.

Tony chuckled, "it's ok McGee. Go tell Gibbs I'll be there in a minute. And I can go around admitting people wearing a lab coat, the same way I could arrest people back when I wore a police uniform. It's all about appearances." Tony pulled his arm, and the chart, out of McGee's grip and nudged McGee back toward Ramos' room. Tony walked back to Joan's desk before McGee figured out what Tony was talking about.

"Did you find him?" Gibbs asked when McGee walked back into the exam room. McGee nodded, "yeah, he's uh, yeah." Kate and Gibbs waited for more. "And?" Kate asked.

"Tony's on his way in here, he's uh, well, he thinks he's a doctor," McGee said.

Gibbs raised an eyebrow in surprise, "he's a doctor?"

"Tony's in the ER for a psych eval?" Kate asked.

Tony walked in at that moment. "Funny, Kate. And no, I'm not. I'm here working."

He turned to Ramos, "the good news is that the x-ray showed a nice clean break, we can get that casted for you in a few moments."

Ramos grunted, "the good news, huh? and the bad?"

Tony grinned, "Right you are. You get to go with these Agents to NCIS headquarters and explain what happened to Navy Lt Juliane Waters two years ago."

Ramos eyed Tony warily, "you a cop or a doc?"

"Depends on the day," Tony said.

Gibbs shook his head, "amazing luck that today's Doc-day, huh, Tony?"