A/N: It would seem that, try as I might, there is really no such thing as true one-shot in my deluded corner of the universe. So, again, this one's for Skippy (a.k.a. Bunny) cause, well, she deserves it! And no laughing from the peanut gallery, that means you guys, Velveteen Habit and Obligatory Abandoned Warehouse!

It had been the longest thirty minutes Tony DiNozzo could remember in a long time. Despite the two grand dames who had shared - no, GIVEN- their brownie and slice of cherry pie to him, Tony was still a bit shell-shocked from the entire experience hours later.

His boss had not been oblivious to his SFA's somber mood. Maybe he'd gone too far with the whole 'time-out' thing. He'd done it a few times with Kelly and it had worked wonders on her attitude, had given her time to calm down and think things through. But Tony looked to Gibbs like he'd been thinking a little TOO much. And Gibbs knew it had been the final straw in the punishment when Fornell had shown up with Sacks in tow and the younger agent had been more than happy to tease DiNozzo about his plight.

Honestly, what was the Feebie thinking?He cringed again just recalling when Fornell had steamrolled in with his lackeys and found Tony sitting on the stairs. Of all the days they'd needed to speak personally with the Director...

Gibbs hadn't been able to stop the train wreck, hadn't seen it coming until it had already derailed.

"DiNutso! What the hell, I almost stepped right ON ya!" the older FBI agent shouted. Tony looked up at them with the worst case of deer in the headlight eyes that Fornell had ever seen. A passerby was only too happy to fill the men in.

"He's in time-out, he can't talk to anyone. Got five more minutes."

Sacks burst out laughing. "Oh, this is too MUCH! Talk about being in the right place at the right time!"

"Sacks..." Fornell growled, feeling the vibes of anger rolling off Gibb's SFA. "Go tell the director I'm on my way, NOW!"

Sacks obeyed, but not before letting out an over-loud, over-done chortle as he went up the stairs. Gibbs heard the ruckus now and tore over when he realized who it was. "Ah, hell, DiNozzo," he grumbled half out-loud on his way over.

"Tobias, just this ONCE you couldn't have left him home?"

"Well SORRY, Jethro, I didn't know your boy was gonna be in TIME-OUT!"

Tony looked up at Gibbs with agony in his eyes. He couldn't speak to defend himself. He was counting on his boss.

"His name is Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo, Tobias, and don't make me drag you to my office to sort this out with you and Agent Sacks!"

"No can-do, Jethro, got an appointment with the Director we can't miss."

"He'd understand, Tobias. Don't push me!"

Fornell studied his friend. Gibbs was well and truly angry. It took some getting used to, Gibbs being protective over one of his agents outside of actual field work. And Fornell didn't have that with his agents, so it was doubly foreign to him. But he backed off, regardless.

"Alright, Jethro." he answered in a placating voice. "We didn't mean any harm, I mean, COME ON, how often do you come across THIS?"

"Well maybe if you took an interest in YOUR agent, he wouldn't be such an arrogant prick!"

"Hey, DiNutso ASKS for it, he's always -"

Gibbs reached out and grabbed Fornell's jacket front, causing Tony's mouth and eyes to fly open. He was getting quite the show from the cheap seats.

"He DEFENDS himself, Tobias, you think I don't know Sacks is the first one to open his big mouth and start something? There's teasing, and then there's disrespect. And then there's just plain nastiness. Sacks started off with the nastiness first time out. Tony would never do that to anyone."

"Right, because he's so PERFECT, that's why he's in TIME-OUT!"

Gibb's grip tightened a little on Fornell's jacket and the Feebie bristled and tried to back up, but Gibbs wouldn't let go. "He' being disciplined for this actions, not his mouth. You might think of doing the same for Sack's actions AND mouth. He's gonna get himself iced some day, and it might 'accidentally' be by one of his own teammates."

Fornell shrugged uncomfortably out of Gibb's grasp.

"He's MY problem, not YOURS, Jethro."

"Yeah, he IS, but maybe he WOULDN'T be if you'd set him straight every once in a while."

"Hey! Not ALL of us wanna be Papa Smurf to our agents, Jethro! YOU never wanted to be till now, so don't go preaching to me about how I'm supposed to treat my own!"

"Not preachin', Tobias. Tellin' ya to either muzzle Sacks or don't bring him near my bullpen again. Tired of him harassing Tony for no good reason."

"Oh, right, only YOU'RE allowed to do that!"

"Damned straight, I do it make him a better agent, not tear him down. I MEAN it, Tobias, when he comes back down here, he goes straight outta here, no setting foot in my bullpen. Got it?"

Tobias narrowed his eyes as he considered Gibb's threat, then broke into a grin.

"You think something's FUNNY now, Tobias?"

"Yeah, YOU! Mr. I-can't-remember-my-agent's-names-after-two-years-turned-don't-come-into-my-den-and-mess-with-my-cub!" He looked down at Tony and squeezed the young man's shoulder. "He's right, DiNozzo, I shouldn't have let Sacks mess with ya just now. If I looked after him like Gibbs does you, he wouldn't have even THOUGHT about it."

He leaned down closer to Tony's ear. "What'd ya DO to land yourself here, anyways?"

Tony looked away, not knowing if his time was up, but not willing to tell the man anything even if he could. Gibbs stepped in for him.

"Nothing that endangered anybody else, Tobias." Gibbs looked at his watch to see if the half hour had passed. It had, by a good two minutes. "Yer done, DiNozzo. Go back to work."

Tony stood up, brushed his butt off, and looked meaningfully at Gibbs. "Thanks, Boss," he told the man quietly as he squeezed in between the two men and made a b-line for the men's room. "Goin' to the little boy's room, be right back," he said to no one in particular.

The two older agents watched him hurry off.

"Did he just THANK you for punishing him?"

"For that AND other things." Gibbs turned his back on the man and made his way back to the bullpen. He was weary, ready for the day to be done, and it was only 14:00. He was also anxious to make sure Tony had intentions of returning to his desk after the goatrope that had been the last half-hour. He sighed heavily and collapsed into his chair.

"Is Tony alright, Gibbs?"

"He's fine, Kate, and don't be buggin' him when he gets back to his desk."

IF he gets back to his desk, Gibbs pondered.

A couple minutes later Tony returned to the bullpen, sat down in his chair, and turned to his computer as if he'd never been gone. Gibbs shot a glance at him from the corner of his eye, but as usual, Tony must have heard his eyeballs move.

"I'm fine, Boss. Quit worrying about me. And make Kate stop looking at me."

Gibbs chuckled out loud, and went back to his own computer, but kept his radar open for any signs of Tony being rattled and needing a coffee break outside the building. He didn't seem to, and Gibbs concentrated on his work instead. Still, he was surprised at the silence radiating from his SFA'S workspace, and eventually it unnerved him, prompting him to jump up and announce he was making a coffee run. He cast a coded look at Kate on the way past her desk and she gave him an almost non-existent nod. Tony waited until Gibbs was in the elevator before he spoke.

"I'm FINE, Kate," he called over to her. "I don't need you keeping an eye on me while Dad goes for coffee."

"Tony, he had no IDEA Sacks and Fornell would show up."

"I KNOW that, Katie, I'm not mad about it."

"I would be."

"Yeah, well, you're not me...Though I bet there've been plenty of times you wished you WERE!"

She looked up and over at him, got a good look in his eyes, and saw real humor there. The guy was like silly putty. He actually seemed to be fine. How COULD he be after getting embarrassed in front of what she considered his worst adversary? Sometimes Kate thought that all of the profiling skills in the world wouldn't enable her to figure out her partner in a satisfactory way. And sometimes that scared her. She shrugged, shaking her head, and went back to reading the file in front of her.

Twenty minutes later, Gibbs strolled in laden with bags and trays of coffee, and put them all on his desk before sorting through them. He set a pastry bag and large tea in front of Kate, and the same in front of Tony, only his drink was a flavored coffee that thankfully, the barista had known how to make without Gibbs having to remember the name of. Both looked up at him in surprise.

"THANKS, Boss!" Tony's eyes genuinely lit up at the sight of what was in the bag. He wasn't about to tell Gibbs about the brownie and pie and soda he'd just had, and besides, who could have too much dessert, especially when third helpings were a piece of carrot cake he was always raving about from the small cafe.

Gibbs studied him for a moment while he ate, and decided he could stop the staring. His gut wasn't twinging or complaining in any way, so enough was enough. The three of them spent the rest of the afternoon in pleasant silence, occasionally tossing a joke or comment about a case out to the other. At 17:00, Gibbs dismissed them, and Kate hurried to pack up and leave, but Tony lingered. Gibbs wasn't surprised.

"Something I can do for you, DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked, trying to sound matter-of-fact.

"You leavin' too, Boss?"

"Yup. Had enough paperwork for one day, time for some woodwork. Join me if ya want to, I got beer and fresh steak."

"Yeah, okay. I'll grab a side of potato salad and meet you there."

"Hold on, DiNozzo, I'll walk down with ya."

Gibbs grabbed his jacket and phone and strode to the waiting elevator. He let the door close before he started talking.

"Tony, I - "

"Boss, it's okay." Tony turned to look at the man, so Gibbs could read the sincerity in his eyes. "Really, it IS. I didn't mind the time-out, I deserved it, even though it WAS a bit unique, even by YOUR standards. Slacks - was another story, but you had no way of knowing he'd be there in that little cosmic time slot you picked out.

"In fact, I'm glad you did it, I - I appreciated what you - said to Fornell, that you defended me against him and Slacks. Nobody's ever... and well, the whole part about the 'don't come into my den and mess with my cub', that was... It was funny, boss, making Fornell say those things...and grabbing his jacket front like that, I thought he was gonna fall OVER from shock, and, well, it really meant a lot to me, boss."

Gibbs reached a hand out towards Tony's head and he waited to be smacked, but it didn't come. Instead his boss gently patted his cheek, and winked at him. "What did Linda and Michelle give you while you were in time-out, DiNozzo? 'Cause I know that sugar/caffeine buzz is from more than just that carrot cake I brought ya."

"A brownie and a piece of cherry pie and a Dr. Pepper, boss. I guess I AM kinda buzzed, aren't I? Sorry, I'll be better once I get some protein in me. Thanks for inviting me for dinner, boss, I actually didn't have plans for tonight, though I COULD have if...hey, did you know that Michelle just got engaged, she went out with Steve from accounting for the longest time and he finally popped the question. Where do you think that came from, boss, popped the question, I mean, it doesn't really make sense, how does a question POP, I mean, a THOUGHT can pop INTO your head, but..."

Gibbs sighed and bit the inside of his cheek, knowing that he had created the monster beside him with his knee-jerk response to discipline. Well, he would have some peace and quiet on the ride home...