IN STROLLS THE BOSSMAN

AN: These are little episodes were I felt Gibbs should have been present or, at least, should have known what was going on and intervened. Each chapter represents one specific incident. The chapters are not related, and they are not in any particular order. Tony-Centered. and absolutely AU, it is 'what if' after all.

And for those of you who say that Tony 'gets away with everything' you are mistaken. Between the head-slaps and Tony's notoriously bad Karma, he gets away with nothing.

Episode 1-Aliyah

"Ziva!" Gibbs said, as he raced to the scene. He couldn't believe what he was seeing.

Tony was on the ground, injured arm and all. And Ziva had a gun on him, pointing it at various parts of his body and yelling at him. Gibbs heard what she was saying as he got closer and it only caused him to pick up the pace.

"Ziva! Stop, Ziva!" Gibbs said, arriving on the scene.

Ziva looked up at the sound of Gibbs' voice. She stepped away from Tony and lowered her gun.

Gibbs first tended to Tony making sure his arm was not injured further. He then helped Tony up.

Gibbs then turned his attention to Ziva. "Zi…."

"He. Is. Lying." Ziva said through clenched teeth.

"Michael was lying." Gibbs countered, he took the gun out of her hand.

Ziva shook her head vigorously. She didn't seem to even notice that she no longer had a weapon.

"Tony was following orders, Ziva…my orders! I had my suspicions, so did Tony. We both were watching him. Tony was following my orders. He didn't…." Gibbs stated.

"He was not when he dumped me to talk to Michael at the café." Ziva turned and glared at Tony.

"I ditched you." Tony corrected her. "And Michael lied to you the whole time he was in town."

"You were jealous! You were jealous of…." Ziva asserted.

"Is that what you think?" Tony spat back. "Is that what you really think, that you're so damned irresistible?"

"Tony!" Gibbs said, he was losing control of this confrontation and he didn't want a repeat performance. "DiNozzo!"

"No, Gibbs!" Tony said. "She's been saying 'I'm jealous,' 'I'm jealous' all the time everything I say, have said, about Michael…'I'm jealous." Tony then glared at Ziva. "I've got news for ya…there are women in our D.C. office a hell of a lot prettier than you. And they aren't freakin' homicidal maniacs."

Gibbs, with a combination of pushing and pulling, got him away from Ziva. Once Tony was a safe distance away he said a few words to Tony. Then he came back to speak to Ziva.

"What I saw here was unacceptable." Gibbs started.

"He…." Ziva said.

Gibbs shook his head. "Not Tony…you!"

Ziva looked at Gibbs, shocked.

"Tony is your partner. He is injured." Gibbs stated. "But above that…you never, ever, never point a gun at your partner. It's a fireable offence, Ziva." Gibbs paused to allow her to absorb it all. "We are a team!"

"I did not…." Ziva started.

"We are a team, Ziva." Gibbs started. "I cannot have my agents…."

"Tony…."

"Tony was following orders, and he was looking out for your best interests, for the best interests of the agency." Gibbs countered.

Ziva didn't know what else to say.

"Maybe you need to…stay here." Gibbs started. "At least until you…."

"Gibbs…you cannot…." Ziva pleaded.

"I can't have you on the same plane as Tony." Gibbs said. "You need to decide your loyalties, Ziva. You trusted Michael when you shouldn't have. That's on you, not Tony."

"Tony is my second in command. He was my partner…long before I ever met you." Gibbs admitted. "You don't have to believe what he says. But trust me when I tell you he was trying to look after his partner." Gibbs replied.

Ziva opened her mouth to speak.

"No, Ziva! You held a loaded gun on a federal agent, an injured federal agent, at that." Gibbs asserted. "I have every right to fire you! And I'm not sure Vance won't, not once he hears about it."

"Vance…you can't…?"

"I have to report this to Vance." Gibbs paused. "Make up your mind, Ziva…NCIS or Mossad." Gibbs turned and walked towards Tony who was standing a short distance from the two of them, watching.

"DiNozzo…" Gibbs said, leading him away. "…come on. We have a plane to catch."

THE END

Episode 2—Dead Air

"DiNozzo…what's going on?" Gibbs asked, after watching Tony stare into the bottom of his glass of bourbon.

Tony looked up at Gibbs and then back down at his untouched bourbon. He sat the jar down on the step beside him.

"It…it's nothing." Tony said.

Gibbs could tell that Tony was struggling with something. He put down his sandpaper and picked up his own Mason jar. He sat down on the step below Tony.

"What…tell me!" Gibbs demanded, gently.

"I just…I can't believe it." Tony replied, looking up at Gibbs. "I don't get why they would even joke about such a thing."

"What, Tony? What is it?" Gibbs asked, his gut churning.

Tony shook his head.

"Tell me, DiNozzo."

"Since when does my life not mean anything?" Tony asked shaking his head.

"Tony?" Gibbs asked, concerned. "What are you talking about?"

"The case we just finished…." Tony started.

Gibbs nodded.

"While I was walking around the neighborhood…talking to all those people. I just…I can't believe they would do something like that." Tony said, interrupting himself. He shook his head.

"You can't believe who would do what, Tony?" Gibbs asked.

"When I got back to the car Ziva and Tim said they had not been listening to the recording. They turned it off or down or something…I don't know." Tony said, shaking his head again.

"They…what?" Gibb asked, shocked and angry. He started to pace.

"They turned it off!" Tony continued.

Gibbs paused his pacing and looked at Tony.

"That's what they said. They turned it off or down. Whatever it was, they weren't listening to it. I tried to take it like they said, as a joke." Tony replied. "But there is nothing about it that's funny, Gibbs. I could have…anything could have happened. And my….so-called backup would have been clueless."

Gibbs was livid. He wanted to choke them both with his bare hands, so it was very good, for them, that they were not present. Gibbs picked up his Mason jar of bourbon and flung it, with all his might, against the fall wall. It exploded on impact.

NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS

"Elevator. Now! Both of you" Gibb said as soon as he walked into the bullpen. He sat his coffee on his desk and headed back towards the elevator, expecting Tim and Ziva to fallow him. He stopped on and waited for Ziva and Tim to get on before he spoke. They could both sense his anger, but had no idea about its cause.

"Anything you want to tell me about yesterday?" Gibbs asked wanting to give them a chance to own up to what had happened.

Both Tim and Ziva shook their heads.

"Really? So…not backing your partner…that's not anything I need to know about?" Gibbs said, getting angrier and angrier.

Tim and Ziva looked at one another, as if checking their stories.

"Tell me, Damnet! Stop that, and tell me what the hell happened!" Gibbs demanded.

"We…" Tim replied, studying the floor. "…we got tired of hearing him talk."

"We turned it down so that we could not hear it." Ziva replied. "But it was still recording so I do not…."

"Yeah, it was still recording. Ziva." Gibbs growled. "But that's hardly the point. You were there to provide back up, Ziva. Back up to a partner out in the field. And how would you know what he was doing…out in the field, if you were not listening?"

"It was a joke, Gibbs." Tim started and Ziva echoed.

Gibbs nodded. "Good, since it was a joke, let's see how much you're laughing when you have to go back through FLECT training. See how funny it is when you have to have to recertify for weapons and redo your psych evals. And then you'll get to go through NCIS training again."

Both Tim and Ziva started to speak. Gibbs continued, ignored them.

"And you're going to roll around on the floor in laughter when you have to reapply for your jobs." Gibbs replied. "I just hope, for your sakes. I haven't found any suitable replacements."

THE END

Episode 3—Dead Air

"Hey Abs." Gibbs replied, strolling into the lab.

"What's up, Bossman?" Abby asked, she had no clue why Gibbs was there. She had no results for him, yet.

"I need to know if you can patch into where Tim and Ziva are…into where they are recording Tony." Gibb replied, his gut churning.

Abby started pushing buttons. "Your gut?"

Gibbs nodded.

Abby made the connection and then handed Gibbs a head set so that he could listen. He stood and listened for a few moments. Then he couldn't hear Tony anymore. He looked at Abby. "What happened?"

Abby shook her head as her hands flew over the keyboard. "The microphone is in working order. I just…I think they turned if off." She guessed, surprised as Gibbs was.

"They what?" Gibbs asked.

"They turned the microphone off. That's why nothing is coming through, Boss." Abby stated.

Gibbs pulled his phone and started to furiously dial numbers. He started yelling into the phone just as he exited the lab.

THE END

Episode 4—Boxed In

Gibbs looked at Tony for just a moment. He saw the hurt look in the young man's eyes.

"Tony, I had no idea." Gibbs stared at Ziva. "…next time, Ziva." The implied meaning being that Tony would be invited to her next diner party, if the other team members were.

Ziva got the message. She nodded.

Gibbs went over to Tony's desk. "Come on, Kid. I see beer and cowboy steaks, when you're better, in our near future."

Tony nodded and smiled. He grabbed his bag and let Gibbs guide him out the door.

THE END

Episode 5—Various episodes

This involves one particular line an episode where Tony and Kate are in Mexico. In the episode Tony tells her that he is in charge and Kate says he's not. She is saying something about Tony not being able to tell her what to do. In the episode she comes off really bratty-sounding. I just really thought her attitude stunk.

"The insubordination has got to stop, Kate." Gibbs replied, after he called her into his conference room one day.

Kate started to speak.

Gibbs shook his head. "He's your superior. Your hand-picked superior, Kate, Tony is the only person I have ever, ever hand-picked." He waited for particular piece of information to sink in before he continued. "The snide comments, the little jokes…."

"You hand-picked me." Kate replied.

Gibbs shook his head. "No, I didn't, I hoped you out when you were down on your luck. I extended an offer because I saw potential there, Kate. But when I saw Tony in action in Baltimore…." Gibbs shook his head. "I liked what I saw."

"You took pity on me, that's what you're saying?" Kate asked.

"I took advantage of a situation." Gibbs asserted.

"But, Tony…." Kate said exasperated.

"You and Tim cannot be SFA's. Read the reqs sometimes, Kate. It's obvious you haven't." Gibbs said, then he pushed the button and exited the elevator.

Kate left the elevator shaken. What did Gibbs means, she didn't qualify? Of course, she qualified. If Anthony DiNozzo could…. She stopped, mid-sentence.

Kate had rushed back to her desk and checked out the reqs as soon as she got off the elevator with Gibbs. He was right. She didn't have the combination of education and experience to qualify. Kate leaned back in her chain, deflated and in shock. She had not missed in her research that Tony had additional degrees. She just assumed that they were bought with dad's money. It's amazing what a large chunk of change can buy you.

But then it occurred to Kate, Tony had told her that his dad had disinherited him, which meant that there was no money. How did one get a masters of anything with no money?

Gibbs could tell she had read the reqs. "It shouldn't have taken this to get you to open your eyes. You, as junior agents, are under the leadership of a Senior Field Agent who is under the leadership of a Team Leader. It's called chain of command. I would have thought the Secret Service would have made you understand that. But since you didn't get it or you chose not to get it, this is your first reprimand and that was your warning. Tony is your SFA. He's in the position because he has earned it, and he's good at it. You will respect the position and the person in it because you are a federal agent who is capable of doing her job." Gibbs said, glaring at her. "And this will not happen again. Do I make myself clear?"

Kate swallowed and nodded, unsure if she could speak the words.

THE END

Episode 6—Hiatus (or Hiatus-related)

Gibbs waited until Tony was far enough away that he couldn't hear before he pulled Ziva and Tim over to talk to him.

"This behavior is inexcusable." Gibbs hissed. "I don't know all that happened while I was gone. But I'm back now. I left Tony in charge because he was very capable of doing the job."

Tim started to open his mouth.

Gibbs glared at him. "I would suggest, Agent McGee, if you like your job and you want to keep it…that you will keep your opinions about Agent DiNozzo to yourself!" He said, cutting Tim off at the knee. "That goes for you too, Officer David!"

Gibbs watched their expressions then he continued.

"I treated Tony badly. That will be remedied, very shortly. But that still does not give you two…two supposedly professional federal agents, an excuse to act the way you have." Gibb explained. "Insubordination is a serious offense; consider this your first write up and warning. I don't plan on issuing a second."

They had been back in the office about an hour when Gibbs stood up and cleared his throat. His team all looked up from their work. And so did a few people in the immediate vicinity of the bullpen. Gibbs cleared his throat again, louder this time, more people looked up.

"I would like to have everyone's attention, please." Gibbs then gestured to Tony to stand. By this time, Gibbs had the attention of everyone present. "I just wanted to thank Agent Anthony DiNozzo for the fine job he did in my absence." Gibbs took Tony's hand a shook it. He then looked Tony in the eyes. "Thank you, for everything, Kid." He said the words loaded with meaning.

Gibbs waited for everyone to go back to work before he said the next part. "I should have called you, Tony."

Tony nodded and smiled. He then knew, for sure, that Gibbs had seen and had understood how Tony had felt when he came in and found Gibbs back at work and all those files dumped back on his desk.

THE END

Episode 7—Judgment Day

"Hey!" Gibbs said as he grabbed his SFA by the arm. They stood to the side of the door of the crime scene as Vance and Ziva continued to take boxes out of the place.

"Gibbs, I'm…." Tony shook his head. "…I should have just followed her. I should have. I should have been here. I…." He shook his head again.

Gibbs shook his head. "Shepard had her own agenda with this job, DiNozzo. I didn't know it. Few people did." He patted Tony's arm. "You are not to blame for this. You followed orders, as you should have."

Tony looked unconvinced as Gibbs continued.

"Jenny had unfinished business here. This was unfinished business, nothing to do with you, with NCIS, or with the directorship. She was on her own, as she should have been." Gibbs replied. "She'd used the agency since she took the job. She used you. She'd done enough."

"Gibbs…." Tony started.

Gibbs shook his head. "She started it. Maybe…this is how she wanted it to end. You did your job, DiNozzo. End of story."

THE END

FYI: I was writing these things at work. So I didn't have my DVDs for reference, if you see any issues, let me know. If it's minor, I probably won't change it, just because it's AU anyway. But if it's a major thing that I just got completely wrong, I will consider it. It's still AU, but I want to have my facts straight.

Are there other episodes where Gibbs should have intervened on Tony's behalf? Or are there other incidences were Tony could have handled things a little bit different? If I agree with you, I may do my take on it.

Hope you enjoyed.