So we gotta say goodbye for the summer
baby I promise you this
I'll send you all my love
every day in a letter
Sealed with a kiss

~ Sealed With a Kiss by Brian Hyland



Tony was not having a good week.

Matter of fact, the last two months had sucked. Ian had been out of town, first handling a situation in Georgia, before going to Miami in the aftermath of their sniper shootings, then New York and he'd been in Los Angles for the last couple of weeks dealing with yet another sniper situation. His car being stolen didn't help, he hated the rental he had and Tony was ready to throw in the towel. What he wouldn't give for Ian to be in town.

It wasn't just that he was missing his lover and was horny â€" okay that wasn't all of it, but a big part â€" but Tony found he just missed having Ian around to talk to. Emails and web cams helped but it just wasn't the same. Add in the fact that one of the new ladies down in the secretarial pool was flirting with him and Tony was getting sick of keeping up on his skirt-chasing act, well, his nerves were on edge.

He'd also been getting the feeling like he was being watched. Well, watched by someone other than Ian's usual spies. Tony was pretty much sure the janitor was Ian's inside man at NCIS, even though his lover was out of town he still managed to fuss at Tony for coming back into the office late at night to work. Still there was the feeling of eyes on him.

Ian was a paranoid man, but with a very good reason. Bad guys from the Middle East had probably all fifty States as well as Puerto Rico and the Central Americas wanted Ian dead. Hell, he probably had enemies hiding out in Antarctica, so the man had reason to be cautious. Some of Ian's paranoia had rubbed off on him, and this morning Tony found himself taking a different route to work, which made him a few minutes late.

He hated coming in late. He liked to get in early and walk around the building, get the feeling of what some of the other teams and personnel were doing.

Still, there was nothing Tony could do but put on a smiling face. Which was kinda hard to do after driving to work in a rental Ford Taurus, but hey, he was good at acting.

It took a few minutes to get in the gate with an unfamiliar car, park and get through the next security checkpoint. By the time he was in the building both elevators were on their way up and Tony shrugged and figured it was more of his bad luck before running up the stairs. Luckily his Gucci loafers weren't just stylish as hell, but had good tread on the bottom.

He made it upstairs just as the elevator opened to spill out Kate and the McGeekanator. Tony took one look at Kate and just couldn't keep his mouth shut.

"Kate, you look like shit."

He had walked up behind them and they both jumped. It really was amusing; must be why Gibbs snuck up on them all the time. Kate threw him a glare that would have been scarier if she didn't have red eyes and a swollen nose. "Gee, thanks, Tony. Just what every lady likes to hear. I feel like shit too so it's a matching set."

"What did you do? Spend the night sake-bombing?" It might do Kate some good to get drunk and let loose a little. At times she was too uptight.

Kate rolled her eyes at him. "It's a cold, Tony. Sake-bombing?"

Tony grinned. "Oh, come on, Kate! Don't tell me you've never heard of sake-bombing?"

"Would I ask if I ... you know what? Forget about it. I don't want to know."

Tony threw his backpack onto the floor behind his chair and sat on the corner of his desk, a teasing smile in place. It was so much fun to wind Kate up. "You take a cup of hot sake, you drop it in a beer. You toss it back and ... KA-BOOM!" He mimed an explosion with his hands.

Kate gave him another withering glare. Well, she tried at least. "Sake-bombing."

"Great for a cold." It was also great to help him forget a couple of weekends back in college but hey, these things happened.

"I'll stick to honey and hot tea, thanks."

Tony smirked at her. "McGee, Kate's never been sake-bombing." And here was a chance to pull on the Probster's leg, because the only person he could think of that was more unlikely to drink to excess than Kate was McWhite and Nerdy over there.

"You know, I don't think I have either." McGee had just a touch of sarcasm in his voice. The Padawan was learning.

Tony heard the boss' soft footsteps behind him and set himself up as the fall guy for the man. Again. Gibbs really should appreciate him more. "I work with a bunch of wankers."

"And you make three, DiNozzo." Ah, there was proof that Gibbs had a sense of humor. Not only did he take his cue correctly but had damn good timing. And he managed to scare both Kate and McGee at the same time. While Tony had gotten over his case of lust for Gibbs, he still admired the man and found him witty. It was fun to play with him like this. Well, when he wasn't being a complete and utter bastard.

Tony jumped as if he'd been scared as well and then straightened up to give a wide, shit-eating grin. "Good morning, Boss!"

Kate blew her nose, giving a short goose-like sound, before waving a hand at the boss. "Good morning."

Gibbs sat down and put his coffee down on its appointed spot. "Cold or flu?"

Kate gave another honk into her tissue before throwing it away. "Cold. Don't worry, I will sneeze into my tissues, unlike some other people." The tone of voice and look he got made Tony think she was talking about him. He was tempted to pick his nose and leave her a gift the next time she was out of the bullpen but he wasn't twelve.

Well, unless no one else was around of course.

Still, the idea that he went around snotting on people rather annoyed him. "I have allergies, Kate." It's not like you could predict when someone was going to be wearing some cheap perfume that set him off.

"Never had allergies. Never had a cold."

Gibbs' statement did not surprise him. Even if Gibbs did get sick he probably wouldn't admit it. Kate, however, hadn't learned not to push the boss on little things like this yet.

"You never had a cold?"

Gibbs didn't even look up from his computer. "Nope. Never had the flu either."

"Why do I believe that?"

Tony snorted and got up to switch on his computer and log in. "If you were a bug, would you attack Gibbs?" Tony could just see the little germs floating to the air, only to realize who they were about to infect and come to a screaming halt before zooming the other way.

He'd evidently been watching Osmosis Jones one too many times. Then again, that movie was crap. ONE time was one too many times.

The Probie got up to go through the team's mail. "I get colds all the time."

Tony rolled his eyes. "Of course you do, Probie." McGee was probably one of those geeks who were allergic to sunlight and had to wash his tightie whities in a certain type of detergent or else his McWilly got a rash.

"Huh." Tony looked over at McGee to see him holding up an envelope. "This one is just addressed to NCIS Special Agent." He flipped it around in his hand and Tony could see the bright red imprint of lips.

The hair on the back of his neck stood up and Tony found himself using McGee's real name. "Tim. Put the envelope down and back away!" While Baltimore hadn't had any anthrax attacks in 2001, they were close enough to DC that all the detectives and supervisors had been drilled in what to look for. Of course he'd been stuck listening to his then-partner Meldrick Lewis bitch about his love life and the postmistress he used to date, and shortly thereafter Tony had been hired by Gibbs, but still he remembered that one of the things Lt. Howard had pointed out was keeping an eye out for special envelopes.

An envelope that was sealed with a kiss was not a common occurrence at NCIS, not to mention it didn't name which agent it was going to. Add in the feeling of being watched and the whole thing was more than a little hinkey.

A year ago he probably would have joked about it being from one of his many admirers and it might even be true. He'd had a few one night stands that turned clingy. But Tony knew that envelope wasn't Ian's style and if he had a stalker, he sure as hell didn't want McVirgin to open it.

Besides, it could have been from one of Gibbs' exes. He's seen ex-wife number three pouring coffee in the driver seat of Gibb’s car. Tony wouldn't put anything past her.

Tim gave him a dirty look as he grabbed the letter opener from his desk. "Come on, Tony, don't be so melodramatic." With that he moved to rip the envelope open.

"Freeze, McGee!"

The boss' voice was harsh and the Probie automatically froze in place. Tony glanced over at him to find Gibbs giving one of his harsher death stares. The only time Tony had seen someone that pissed was when he was a hyperactive kid in Fifth Grade and he had started turning cartwheels before gym class and Ms. Thorn threatened to break both his arms. He hadn't even managed to get his dear old dad that pissed off.

Gibbs was picking up the phone, stabbing at the buttons with his finger. "McGee, put that down, back away from it. Kate, start the calls, DiNozzo ... "

"Evacuate the floor. On it, Boss!"

The next few hours were hell. Thankfully McGee had never broken the seal on the envelope, so Tony hadn't been forced to burn his Ermenegildo Zegna suit, not to mention his new shoes and the blue Armani tie that made his eyes look blue rather than green, which was sure to disappoint the secretary who'd been going on about his 'emerald orbs'. Whatever. If that had happened, Tony would have really been pissed off with McGee and probably would have attempted to swirly the bastard to death. Wedgies were still possible if Tony were ever given the chance. He was pretty sure Gibbs would look the other way.

When he found out the envelop had contained Y. Pestis, Tony shivered and got the feeling that someone was dancing on his grave.

"What made you suspicious about that envelope, Tony?"

Kate was in the back, looking green as Gibbs took a turn too sharply and the car felt as if it was going on two wheels. Tony grabbed the 'oh shit' handle and winced. Ducky and the other doctors had taken blood with what felt like milkshake straws to test. And people wondered why he had a phobia about vampires. McGee had been left back at the yard to help them. He was seriously on Gibbs' shit list at the moment.

Tony shrugged and eased his grip on the handle before his hand cramped. "Been having paranoid feelings for a couple of days, nothing I can put my finger on just ... hinkey, as Abbs would say."

They came to a screeching halt in a parking space on the west side of the Lowell Pharmaceuticals building and Tony winced. Gibbs was really pissed off. The man glared at Tony for a moment before getting out of the car. "Piss off another one-night stand, DiNozzo?"

Oh yeah, this was not good. Tony and Kate scrambled out of the car to follow. "Not recently, Boss. Then again, I'm not sure it's personal. Could have been Typhoid Hanna's been watching us."

Kate snorted as they rounded the corner and started toward the entrance of the building. "Could be a pissed off ex."

Tony didn't think that was possible. With a few exceptions, most of his exes were totally out of the picture, and the only ex that Ian was still in contact with was a cop in Miami who had decided they made better friends than lovers. Tony had even talked to Calliegh once or twice; she reminded him of a southern version of Abby, only not as perky. "Who knows. At least I don't have any ex-wives to worry about."

That got Gibbs' attention off his current personal life. Tony had caught up to Gibbs by then and the smack to the back of the head wasn't unexpected. "How are we going in, Boss?"

Gibbs hit the door of the building and Tony could have sworn he heard the metal hinges screech in protest. "Subtle approach. You serve the warrant and I'll shove my Sig Sauer in her face."

Kate snorted. "Real subtle, Gibbs. I'm sure someone who has protested everything from the Vietnam War to Nuclear Weapons is going to shake in her boots, especially since she thinks she can hold the cure against you."

"Then I'll settle for dragging everyone from the janitor on up into interrogation and make their lives a living hell."

Tony smirked. "Ah, there's nothing like scaring the crap out of a bunch of nerds to help one get over a near death experience."

As they passed the flustered receptionist, Kate gave him a glare but Tony could have sworn he saw a smile cross Gibbs' face. For a moment Kate paused and then she scrambled to keep up. "Aren't we going to ask the receptionist where Lowell's office is?"

A guard came out of the hallways and moved to block their way to the elevator. Tony opened his suit coat to make it easier to draw his gun if he needed to and that allowed the badge on his belt to show. "She's the head honcho, Kate, they always get the office at the top."

They were close enough that Tony could see the guard's eyes flick to both his badge and Gibbs', but the man must have been paid good money because he still tried to get in the Boss' way. "Excuse me. Excuse me. You have to check-in with the receptionist. Do you have an appointment?"

Gibbs just blew past the man and strode to the elevators and stabbed at the buttons as if he was slapping Lowell in the face. "No. We have a federal warrant."

The guard grabbed the radio attached to his shoulder. "Security alert."

The doors opened to the elevator and the three of them got on. Tony wiggled his fingers at the guard as the door closed. "Buh-bye!"

"You shouldn't be so dismissive of the security, Tony, they could cause trouble."

Tony snorted. "Kate, if they were serious about security the receptionist would have a switch behind the desk that locked the elevators, and as soon as we hit the door guards would have come in to flank us. Nah-uh, that was just a little show. Lowell's expecting us."

Gibbs scowled. "I bet she's not expecting my boot up her ass."

The doors opened and Tony didn't even try to go first, in the mood Gibbs was in the man was likely to run him over and shoe prints were so difficult to get out of wool. The receptionist on that floor had obviously left his or her desk, the rolling chair far away from the desk as if whoever had been sitting there had been jumped.

As Gibbs pushed open the doors, a woman's voice could be heard. "It's about time you got here. I left enough cookie crumbs."

Gibbs was busy glaring so Tony took it upon himself to answer. "What can I say? I was told to never take candy â€" or cookies â€" from strangers. Especially when they're topped with the pneumonic plague."

Hanna Lowell was sitting behind her big desk with a smug look on her face. She looked damn good for her age, a real Cougar. She reminded Tony more of the high class Madame his father used to visit rather than the young, hippie radical she'd been in the photo they'd seen of her in front of the Washington Monument.

Lowell gave an elegant shrug. "I regret I resorted to such a ... dramatic act, but you people at NCIS left me no choice when you lied to protect the Academy. Now, you admit that a Midshipman raped my daughter and this will all be over."

Gibbs wasn't willing to even listen. He gestured to them and Kate and Tony circled around the desk to flank the woman. "This little drama is over now. Hanna Lowell, you are under arrest ..."

"You arrest me and you'll never get the antidote!"

Gibbs smirked. "Don't need it. No one was infected. You don't seriously think I'd have agents who were stupid enough to open a strange envelope after the anthrax scares in 2001, do you?"

Lowell's glared at Gibbs and Tony had to chuckle. She was almost as good as the Boss. He gave her an 8.5. "I don't believe you."

Gibbs shrugged. "Lady, I don't give a damn whether you believe me or not. As I said, you are under arrest for a biological attack on a Federal Agency. DiNozzo, take her to interrogation. Todd and I will wait here for the task force and the CDC."

Tony's hand went to the back of his belt and unhooked his cuffs. "On it, Boss. Hanna Lowell, you have the right to remain silent ..."

He made a move to make Lowell stand so he could cuff her, but she fought. "What about my daughter? What about her rights?!"

Tony tried to pull her to her feet again. "Yeah, you have the right to remain silent, I'd suggest you use it." She'd yelled in his ear and it hurt. "Anything you say ..."

Suddenly she came to her feet, making Tony unbalanced. "Wait! My daughter! She deserves justice!" There was a scuffle before Tony got the cuffs on the woman, and he didn't quite manage it before Lowell's elbow clipped in on the side of his nose.

"Ow!" Tony grabbed the woman and finally got her arms behind her. Still, Lowell was not going quietly and Tony was getting damp from all the spittle flying from the woman's mouth. She was obviously unbalanced. He continued to Mirandize her as he dragged her out of her fancy office to the elevator.

He'd make McDoofus do it again once he got the shrew back to the office, just to cover all the bases. That would make up for the Probie nearly killing him with the plague. Well, not really, but it was the best he could do on short notice.

*****

It was late at night and Tony was finally finishing up the last of the reports from today's insanity. Kate had long ago gone home, her near-constant sniffling finally causing the boss to send her home in a fit of temper. Abby and Ducky were trying to figure out new mail protocol while McGee was trying to keep as far away from Gibbs as he possibly could. Gibbs knew it too, so had therefore left for coffee hoping to flush his prey out of hiding. He was still pissed that the Probie had ignored Tony's warning, and for once Tony was glad of not being on the boss' bad side.

They could have all died, drowning in their own body fluids while coughing up blood. Tony made a mental note to take Outbreak and The Stand out of his DVD collection and hide them somewhere in the apartment. Sometimes his imagination ran away with him and he so didn't want to dream of what it would be like gasping for breath.

Tony shivered despite the fact that the building was warm and he was still in his suit coat. Yeah, he didn't need to add fuel to his already overworked imagination.

"You just can't keep yourself out of trouble, can you?"

Tony's heart leaped into his mouth. Well, not literally but it almost felt like it. For a moment he forgot to breathe and he felt like he had jumped a good foot into the air.

There, standing in the darkened bullpen with a visitors badge, was Ian Edgerton.

And god, did the man look good.

He was standing there in blue jeans, boots and a long sleeve shirt. The shirt wasn't anything fancy and the jeans weren't all that tight even. Still he was the most gorgeous thing Tony had ever seen.

"Ian."

He looked around and was glad to see that McGee wasn't in sight. The man would tease him about sounding like a love struck teenager.

"Am I going to have to hire people to follow you around and keep you safe, Tiger?"

Tony snorted. "As if you don't have minions willing to do that for free."

"Yeah, well, someone keeps on doing stupidly heroic things and it worries me."

Tony rolled his eyes. "This is so not fair! I mean, you have people who will tell you if I fart sideways and you're out there doing Mister Super Special FBI Agent stuff and I'm lucky to know what state you're in."

He made sure to say that with a smile, since back in the early days of their relationship the fact that his lover knew what was going on in his office was more than a little bit creepy. It had been a sore point until Tony had realized it was one of Ian's ways of communicating with him, especially since Tony had a tendency of playing any dangerous situations down.

Still, one of these days Tony swore he'd find a way to keep just as good of tabs on Ian. Maybe he'd hide a GPS tracker in the butt of one of his favorite guns or something. Better yet, maybe he could convince Ian into a nipple ring. The man already had several wonderful tattoos that Tony's tongue had a fascination with.

Maybe Tony should look into his own body art, while checking out the possibility of a nipple ring with one of those fancy spy cameras on them for Ian.

Tony shook his head to get rid of all his mental images. The NCIS office was so not the place to be thinking those kind of thoughts. He leaned against the corner of his desk and tried to look cool and collected rather than desperate and horny. "So, you in town for the night or can you visit for a couple of days?"

Ian's head tipped to the side and he took a small but deliberate step back. "Just till after I present some numbers to some of the head honchos at Quantico, then they're asking me to make some rounds, make sure no one else is going to go trigger happy."

Tony snorted. "If anyone knows trigger happy it would be you." Tony heard the slight ruffling of clothes too and figured that Gibbs was watching. "Kate went home sick but if you have time for dinner we can grab some pizza and some brews and you can tell me more about how that professor didn't believe in guns." Tony had heard the rant already. Twice. Ian was kinda cute when he was ranting about his beloved rifles.

"Wanna introduce me to your visitor, DiNozzo?"

"Gibbs!" Tony jumped despite knowing Gibbs was there. He hadn't expected him to speak up quite so soon. He hated it when his boss did that. "Gibbs, this is my best friend, Special Agent Ian Edgerton of the FBI. Ian, this is my boss, Special Agent Jethro Gibbs."

Both men stood there staring at each other but Tony didn't say a thing. He was staying far out of this one. Ian and Gibbs were both big boys; there was no reason he had to get in between them. A little voice in the back of his head called him a coward. Tony reasoned with himself that he wasn't that stupid.

Finally, Gibbs broke the silence. "Marines. Gunnery Sergeant."

"Army Special Forces. Captain."

"Sniper."

"Sniper. Fourth best in the country."

There was a smirk on Ian's face and Tony just knew he was enjoying one-upping Gibbs. Problem was it would be Tony who'd be paying for it later in head slaps. "You guys want me to get a ruler so you can whip out the little snipers and compare?"

Tony really hoped they wouldn't choose that option. He saw Gibbs in the decontamination showers earlier and he didn't have anything to be ashamed of but from a couple of showers down it looked like Ian would win that contest as well. Not that Tony was biased or anything.

Gibbs reached over and smacked him on the back of the head. "Where the hell is McGee?"

Tony snorted. "Hiding from you, boss. I think the Autopsy Gremlin helped him find an out of the way place." He had been tempted to say closet but he did NOT want to think about Palmer and McGee that way.

"That won't save him. Where's your report?"

Tony jumped behind his desk and sat down to finish up. "Almost done, boss."

"Almost doesn't count unless it's hand grenades, DiNozzo. Hurry it up."

Tony rolled his eyes and thanked god Ian was leaning against Kate's desk and not his own. That would make it impossible for him to concentrate. "Did you talk to Lowell's daughter, boss?"

"Pointed out that if she'd been truthful from the start, none of this shit would be happening. If I could arrest her for stupidity, I would have."

Ian laughed at that. "Believe me, Gibbs, if you started arresting people on charges of terminal stupidity there'd be more people in jail than out of it. Three quarters of DC alone would be in jail, not to mention most of the politicians."

"Point. Still if she thinks her mother didn't play any tie-up games, she's too damn naive."

"Most people don't like thinking about their parents and sex, boss." Tony was still scarred from finding his dad and soon to be ex-wife number two passed out in the hall closet when he was eleven.

"Parents are people too. You done with that yet, or are you going to continue yapping?"

"Shutting up, boss." It was deathly quiet and Tony tried to hurry. There was tension between Ian and Gibbs and he didn't want them to blow up. Five minutes later he was emailing a copy to Gibbs after a quick proofreading and printing out a hard copy for the files. FLETC really needed to have a brush up grammar course or something for guys like him who slept through English class. A lot of cops and agents were former jocks; it would be a popular course. "Done, boss."

"Good. Go home, DiNozzo. Pin McGee to his desk in the morning and keep him there until I have a chance to torture him."

Tony jumped up and grabbed his back pack. "My pleasure, boss!" Maybe he'd tie McGee to his desk chair and then spin it really fast till the Probie puked.

"No making him vomit, DiNozzo."

Damn it, Tony hated it when Gibbs did that. "Aw, boss!"

"If he pukes, you're cleaning it up. Now get out of here before I change my mind and find something else for you to do."

"Going, boss! Have a better night." Tony went to leave but Ian lagged back. He and Gibbs was doing one of those alpha dog staring things before Ian nodded and followed Tony. He waited till the elevator doors were closed and they were on their way down to the garage before asking. "Do I even wanna know what that last bit was about?"

"Gibbs knows."

"Huh." Tony wasn't all that surprised. "I don't think he'll give us any trouble though."

Ian leaned over and gave him a quick kiss on the lips. "Nope. He threatened me with agony if I didn't treat you right. I said I would."

Tony blinked. "Oâ€"kay. If he's not back to normal and making McGoober cry in the morning, I'm checking his basement for pods."

"Is it really that difficult to believe he likes you and worries about you?"

Tony snorted. "In a word? Yes." The doors opened and Tony walked to his rental with Ian following. He put a bit of a sway into his step in hopes his lover was watching his ass. "Did you drive?"

"Nah, I took a cab. Can I get a ride?" Ian leered and Tony burst out laughing despite the embarrassment of leading his lover to a Taurus.

"If traffic isn't bad I'm sure we can fit in a couple of rides before morning." Oh yeah, tonight was going to be a good night.

*****

The next day Tony was in early with a big cup of coffee for himself and one for Gibbs just in case the man was in already. He wasn't so Tony set it on his desk and went to make his rounds, hoping to wake up some. With Ian being in town only one night, he hadn't had much sleep but Tony had to admit he was glad his lover had gone to the trouble. He'd woken up at five thirty after dreaming of the actor who played the bad guy on The Stand trying to choke him. Ian had to calm him down and remind him he could breathe. Death via plague did not sound like fun.

Tony made a mental note to take that DVD off his shelf of favorites when he got home. Outbreak too for that matter.

The building was mostly empty at the moment. There were a few of the secretaries in and clerks in the personnel department but Abby's lab was still dark as was Autopsy. When he got back to the bullpen, a few other agents had drifted in but other than Morrow being in early the building was quiet so far.

The coffee was gone from Gibbs' desk, so his boss was somewhere around. Tony tried to ignore the fact he was worried and got busy booting up his computer so he could go through the morning emails. There were several, including new mail room policies so that no letter would get through the system again. Thank god.

Tony quickly got sucked into the flow of reading various memos while at the same time planning a prank on McGee. The Probie had taken to locking up his keyboard and computer mouse in his desk so Tony couldn't fool with them. He had a hiding place for his chair ... maybe the best way to get at McGee was to not prank him but look smug. It was an old trick but a good one and McGee was green enough to fall for it.

"An Army man, DiNozzo? And a Fibbie to boot. And here I thought you had better taste."

For once Tony was totally unprepared for Gibbs' voice coming from less than a foot behind him. He jumped and would have fallen out of his desk chair if Gibbs hadn't caught his arm. "Good god, Gibbs! Why hasn't someone put a bell on you yet?"

"Because I'd look stupid in a collar. Edgerton?"

Tony was sitting so he had to turn around and tilt his head up to meet his boss' eye. "Edgerton. It's not going to be a problem, boss."

Gibbs looked at him a moment with one of his blank faces that made you wonder if he was pissed off or constipated. Then the corner of his mouth started to twitch and he took a quick drink of coffee and used the cup to hide his mouth. "Considering that your head has been out of your ass for the most part for the past few months, I'm thinking it's good that you found something else to put in there."

"GIBBS!" Tony was torn between laughing his ass off and dying from shock that his Marine boss was being that graphic.

Gibbs walked over to sit behind his desk. "Stop squeaking like an outraged virgin, DiNozzo. Especially since I'm pretty sure you're not one in any sense of the word. Where's McGee?"

Tony shook his head. And people said Gibbs had no sense of humor. The man did -- it was just a twisted one. And a bit mean. Which was why Tony was looking forward to the show when Gibbs did get his hands on the Probie. "Not in yet, but the security guy is going to call me when he gets here."

"Good. Still having that feeling of being watched?"

Trust Gibbs to remember a comment from the day before. Then again it was important. "Yeah. Nothing I can put my finger on Gibbs, but just in the back of my head. I'm keeping the rental and switching it out, just in case. Parking away from my building too."

"When Abby gets here, I want the two of you to check out the team's vehicles for bugs. Personal and the agency ones. After I tear a few strips off McGee for hiding from me, I'll have him check our electronics. When you’re done I want you to check for any scumbags that might have gotten out on parole and we weren't notified. Anyone with a grudge."

"On it, boss! Ian has some contacts he was going to ask while he was in town today too. He has some strange contacts that aren't connected to the Fibbies so hopefully we'll hear something."

"I supposed help from an Army Ranger is better than nothing." Gibbs tossed his coffee cup in the trash can and got up. "I'm going to talk to the Director. Hopefully we can figure this out before something happens."

Something in that statement made Tony shiver. Maybe he and Abby would check out all of their homes for bugs too. Better paranoid that sorry, as Ian would say.


~TBC in Twilght Time~