Being summoned to the elevator was usually a bad sign. Being summoned to the elevator after Kate and Tim had already been dismissed, and Tony had not been, was an even worse sign. Even as Tony walked behind Gibbs, his mind raced, trying to think of anything he might've done to earn Gibbs' wrath but he couldn't think of a single thing. He'd been working fairly diligently, been working late even, coming in on time or early and he'd even cut down a little on how much he teased his coworkers since that seemed to irritate Gibbs. Of course, everything irritated Gibbs. He wanted them 100% focused on finding the terrorist that had held Kate, Ducky and Gerald hostage in autopsy. Now that they knew his name was Ari Haswari, Tony was surprised Gibbs was taking time out of the search to reprimand him. This must be bad.

No time for further thought as they reached the elevator and as Gibbs hit the button for the sub-basement and the doors slid closed, Tony took a deep breath and braced himself for the worst.

"So, what'd I do?" Tony asked.

Gibbs frowned thoughtfully. "What do you mean?"

Whoa! Gibbs was calm. Tony blinked. This was the calmest he'd seen Gibbs ever since Haswari invaded autopsy.

"What'd I do that you called me in here at this time?" Tony sounded uncertain, but he genuinely had no idea what he'd done.

Understanding dawned in Gibbs' eyes and he smiled a little sadly and shook his head no. "Gotta tell you something."

Uh oh. This was it. He was getting fired. He should've known this was coming. Gibbs was tired of his crap, just like Kate and Tim were. Great. He didn't want to start over again, but he should be used to this by now. His shoulders sagged.

"What?" Tony braced himself for a physical blow even though he knew the hit would be verbal. He found himself unable to meet Gibbs' eyes because he didn't want to see the disappointment there.

Gibbs sighed from somewhere deep down. "I'm telling you this because I need you to keep an eye on things," he started.

Tony's head shot up. Okay, whatever this was, it wasn't what he thought. He raised an eyebrow in question.

"Had a talk with Kate this morning. When they were held hostage, she had an opportunity to stab Haswari and couldn't go through with it."

Tony blinked. "Yeah, she told me that. At the time, she couldn't explain why she couldn't do it."

Anger flashed in Gibbs' eyes and Tony realized that was the same anger he'd seen in Gibbs' eyes all day long. Gibbs was always temperamental, but this time he had a definite reason for it.

"She told me his eyes were kind." Gibbs' voice was sharp.

Tony didn't speak as he absorbed this newest piece of information. Finally, he formed words. "Are you…wait…is this…" Tony fell silent and finally just gave up. "What?!"

"Kind eyes."

Tony just stared in disbelief. It was a full minute before the disbelief gave way to darker emotions. "Oh my God," Tony said softly, shaking his head. "Was this before or after he shot Gerald?"

"According to Ducky, after."

Tony's eyes went wide. "She…how…what the…"

Gibbs held up his hand in a bid to get Tony not to speak, interrupting the next word out of his mouth. "I know, Tony. I know."

Tony knew in that moment that hell froze over. Not only was Gibbs not angry at him but he'd actually called him by his first name, which he rarely did unless Tony was hurt.

Tony stepped back and leaned against the elevator wall with a thud as he coped with this shock. "I…This…You...!"

Tony couldn't believe it…but yet he could. How could Kate have been so hesitant? She'd threatened to shoot him for less!

Tony shook his head. He stepped forward and turned the elevator back on and hit the button for the basement. Gibbs didn't say a word as they reached the floor and Tony got off, heading toward the gym.