Chapter 2: Thoughts and observations
Driving back to the headquater of NCIS turned out to be an unnaturally quiet affair. Kate and McGee sat in the back of the van, unconciously watching the interaction between Tony and their boss…waiting for what would happen after Tony's declaration that he was needed with his family.
Kate had been surprised that Gibbs had given in to her partner's wish almost immediately - and without any of his usual gruff behaviour. For a second she could have sworn to detect worry for Tony in her superior's ice-blue eyes, but then it was gone as if it had never been there. And now the silver-haired agent behaved like he always did. Yes, he had complied easily - for Gibbs - to the two-week absence Tony said he would probably need…but on the other hand it seemed as if he had already forgotten about it and was thinking about their current case again.
Little did Kate know - and neither McGee for that matter - that Gibbs had anything but forgotten about Tony's sudden need for a leave of absence. He never liked it, when Tony was not around. Even if he didn't let it show, Gibbs knew that he had come to rely on his Senior Agent very much. Tony's quick thinking, his unusual way of feretting facts out of suspects or a victim of a case were only some traits of the younger man's character that complemented his more curt behaviour towards most people. Tony was like the other side of the coin - where Gibbs himself was sarcastic, sometimes even appearing cold and driven, his second-in-command exuded warmth, kindness and humour, which had an unconcious effect on the older man Gibbs could no longer deny to himself. Tony's strength was his open-mindedness and optimistic, fun-loving nature, which while sometimes being exasperating for his Boss helped the silver-haired man not to become too focused on a case. He could depend on Tony to ease the stress with a joke or some other small gesture before he went overboard in his search.
Mentally sighing Gibbs reflected: 'Who would have ever thought I would become attached like this to Tony? It's ridiculous that I miss him even before he is gone! But…', the Senior Agent felt his heart ache slightly, '…I simply can't deny it any longer. These two weeks will be long, and it's not even sure that whatever happened to his family won't need more of his time than that…'
Scowling at himself, Gibbs clamped down on his feelings for Tony and shoved them back into a deep corner of his mind to think about later. Using it as an outlet for his mounting frustration, he drove at an even more breakneck speed than usually, dismissing McGee's quiet gasp of fear and Kate's horrified expression in the mirror.
When no reaction came from Tony next to him, Gibbs looked at him out of the corner of his eyes. Slouched into the seat, Tony gave the impression of being totally at ease - which was a feat in itself when normally driving with Gibbs had every sane person grabbing for something to hold on for dear life and praying. But the older man realized, that his agent had totally spaced out on him. The warm green eyes held a faraway look, like Tony's thoughts were in another dimension. Whatever the person on his cell told him, it troubled Tony greatly, judging by his behaviour. Gibbs had seldom seen the younger man so totally absorbed in whatever he was contemplating. Normally he would bicker lightly with Kate or tease McGee until Gibbs stopped the three of them with a glare or a sarcastic comment. But now Tony was only physically present. His mind was elsewhere.
Another half an hour later the team arrived back at headquaters and Kate and McGee gave an almost visible sigh of relief, which Gibbs heard but like usually totally ignored. It was not his fault, when his agents weren't able to come to terms with his style of driving. On the other hand, Tony had learned to cope quite well with it, even if he normally wouldn't space out on him to prevent a panic attack because of near crashs with other cars. But today he had been totally absorbed in his thoughts and didn't even seem to realize that they had arrived back at headquaters. Only when Gibbs tapped him impatiently on his shoulder the younger man snapped out of his minds wanderings.
When Tony's startled gaze landed on his superior, Gibbs had to suppress a surprised reaction of his own. His agent's usually warm forest-green eyes were speckled with gold. It made the young Italian's eyes even more beautiful than before, but it was nonetheless a startling sight. Gibbs blinked imperceptibly and covered his surprise with an sarcastic remark: "Planning on leaving the car in the immediate future, DiNozzo?"
Tony only blinked in reaction, then flushed slightly in embarrassment and nodded. When the younger man had left the car and fell into step with his boss, Gibbs mentally frowned, when he realized that Tony's eyes had regained their usual colour.
Had his observation been a trick of light because of the slowly setting sun? The silver-haired agent had never seen Tony's eyes change colour before - and because of his hidden attraction for the young Italian and his undeniable physical appeal Gibbs had more than looked his share. And Tony's eyes had soon caught his attention, because even if his agent had learned to control his features, his expressive eyes always told Gibbs, what Tony thought in certain situations. Therefore the Senior Agent often got more of Tony's opinion from the expression in his green eyes than from asking him for his input.
"You here with me, Boss?", Tony's light tenor suddenly cut into Gibbs silent musings. It sounded a bit teasing because of his superior's previous sarcastic remark about the younger man's absent-mindedness in the car, but at the same time the words carried a slightly worried undertone. Warmed by Tony's worry, but not showing it in any way, Gibbs just nodded curtly and lenghtened his stride to gain on Kate and McGee, who had went ahead. The younger man easily matched his pace and fell silent again.
Entering the bullpen Gibbs concentrated on their case again and gave his team their orders. McGee was told to follow some lead on Petty Officer Laran's partner and Kate was sent down to Abby's lab for anything the tech would have found out in the meantime. Centering his gaze on Tony, Gibbs said: "If you want to have the next two weeks off, DiNozzo, I expect you to write your report and tie up any loose ends. Include everything Kate or McGee might need for further investigations in which they would have to use your previous results."
The younger man just nodded and then went to work. Gibbs raised an eyebrow in slight surprise at this unusual reaction from his agent, when normally Tony would moan a little at the amount of work he would have to do to assemble a list of his previous investigations with which his colleagues could work in his absence. Shaking his head mentally at this turn in Tony's behaviour and clamping down at his renewed worry for the younger man, Gibbs went to work himself.
It was three hours later - Gibbs having been gone for almost a half of it because of a meeting with the NCIS director Morrow - that Kate looked up from her computer. She couldn't shake a feeling of slight doom. Normally Tony would have distracted her from her work by now - teasing her about her slow progress of gaining new information about their case, throwing paper plans at her…
Everything but this looming silence she encountered today. This was definitely not normal and it disturbed Kate that she missed the things which every other day would drive her crazy. Smiling to herself, she amended that perhaps she had gone crazy because she missed it. But even if she would never admit it to her colleague, Kate knew that Tony only tried to tease McGee and bickered with her about everything and nothing because he deep down really liked and respected them. It was his way of easing the stress of their sometimes dangerous and even horrible work. And Kate was silently grateful for it.
But today Tony didn't do anything of his usual lightening of the atmosphere and Kate was curious to find out what stopped him. Since he had this ominous call from his family, Tony had been silent and deep in thought, showing his more serious traits of character. Kate frowned, when she realized that her fellow agent acted like something of great importance had happened - but she couldn't figure out why it had him reacting the way he did. And that made her worry more than she cared to admit.
Switching her gaze towards the subject of her thoughts, Kate felt her eyebrows climb up. For a moment it seemed as if she had worried about Tony too soon, because it looked like he had reverted to his usual lazy self. But then Kate realized that even if her colleague didn't seem to be working he also wasn't playing games at his computer. Instead he was totally focused on something he held in his hands and Kate's curiousity went up another notch. Sending a questioning look towards McGee, who answered her silent inquiery with a worried look and a helpless shrug, Kate stood up and went over towards Tony's desk. She was determined to find out what held her partner's undivided attention.
Crossing the few meters, Kate stopped at Tony's desk and saw that he held a very ancient-looking locket in his hands. The silver was tarnished by its obvious old age, but nonetheless it was a beautiful sight with its intricate engravings of foreign symbols. In the different shades of darkness and light provided by Tony's desk lamp the symbols almost seemed alive, pulsing with a strange sense of otherwordliness.
Kate blinked in surprise, not having known Tony to possess something of such beauty. She knew that he was not exactly poor, his family name even listed among the wealthiest and most influential in the world's business. But she had never realized that Tony would cherish antique jewellery like this old amulet.
If you didn't know Tony better, you wouldn't think that antiques were something he would take interest in, Kate mused. But after more than two years of working together with her easy-going but deeply devoted partner, she had discovered that there was more to Tony than met the eyes. More than he cared to let everybody know.
So it was only fleeting surprise Kate felt, when she saw the careful way her fellow agent cradled the silver locket in his hands. She realized that this piece of antique beauty meant very much to Tony. And if she interpreted the thoughtful expression on his face correctly, then it held many memories for him. Fond, happy memories, Kate specified inwardly, when she saw a smile flit over Tony's face and the way his eyes warmed from their usual forest-green to an emerald colour. Happy indeed.
Kate couldn't help it…and immersed herself in the feeling of contentment which began to emote from Tony the longer he just looked down at the amulet in his hands and smiled in his silent rememberings. This was something Kate loved about her colleague - how he was able to make her feel happy and secure without even conciously trying. It was a part of his personality she cherished silently, needing it to bat away the depressed feelings the sometimes gruesome details of their work caused inside her. Kate wrapped this feeling of contentment around her like a warm blanket, then stored it safely away to remember and take comfort from during the next days when Tony wouldn't be near to lean on.
Then she suddenly snapped to attention and turned around, when Gibbs came striding into the bullpen at his usual brisk pace, a thick folder held in a white-knuckled grip. The handsome face of the silver-haired agent was set into a deep frown and his eyes hard as ice. An invisible thundercloud hovered over his head and disturbed Kate's former sense of contentment. It was very clear to her that something must have happened to cause her superior to be so quietly furious. That in itself was a glaring signal of danger for everybody who knew Gibbs - if the silver-haired man's fury was at an almost silent level, that didn't bode well for the cause of said wrath.
Kate shivered involuntarily. Like Tony's warmth Gibbs could use his feelings of cold anger like an almost physical thing. She felt like doused with icy water before her superior had even started to explain the cause of his incensement.
A movement out of the corner of her eyes let Kate turn back towards Tony. The young agent had snapped out of his thoughts when he subconciously felt his boss come into the bullpen. And he could also feel that Gibbs was in a really bad mood. Stopping his silent conversation with Rethron, Leyra and his other childhood companions, Tony came back to reality. He swifltly put the silver locket back on and hid it under his sweater, before centering his gaze onto Gibbs to gauge the severity of the older man's temper.
Kate saw heigthened alertness invade Tony's expressive eyes, when her fellow agent watched Gibbs striding over to his desk without taking notice of his team. The green eyes of the young Italian narrowed in thought, his senses working in overdrive to figure out what had happened. Kate was fascinated to watch the way Tony's behaviour changed in an instant from silent, peaceful contemplation of whatever fond memories the ancient amulet evoked to ready alertness and concern.
When Kate made to go over to Gibbs to question him about the cause of his silent anger, Tony prevented her action with a short shake of his head and gracefully rose from his chair. He left the bullpen with a purposeful stride and didn't come back for over five minutes. When her colleague did reappear, Kate realized that Tony was more in tune with Gibbs' behaviour than she could ever hope to be.
With a small smile because of her raised eyebrow, Tony passed Kate who was still standing at his desk and went over to Gibbs desk. Placing the cup of deliciously smelling coffee right in front of the still quietly fuming silver-haired man like a peace-offering, Tony stood back and waited patiently until Gibbs would tell them what was wrong.
And his tactic paid off. When Tony's shadow fell over his desk, Gibbs had first started to look up from the content of the folder his was glaring at with a low warning growl, ready to bit out something surely not exactly friendly. But when he saw into the compassionate eyes of his second-in-command and realized what Tony had done, whatever he had wanted to say died in his throat and his composure relaxed marginally. It seemd as if Gibbs hadn't realized until now how much he must have shown his anger, because a tiny flicker of surprise went through his blue eyes when he looked from Tony's relaxed but attentive posture to Kate's openly questioning face and then over to McGee, whose eyes held a frightened and worried look.
Switching his gaze to the cup of coffee in front of him, Gibbs nearly smiled. Tony really had a knack for easing dangerous situations. Giving him coffee was the equivalent to presenting an addict his next shot - it was bound to make him less threatening. Knowing this, Gibbs reached for the cup to hide his amusement at Tony's tactics to spare his colleagues Gibbs' legendary temper. The silver-haired man realized once more how lucky he was to have Tony on his team.
Kate blinked when she thought she saw Gibbs' mouth quirk in a half-smile when he reached for the coffee-cup. Seeing McGee's wide-eyed look she knew he too had caught this glimpse of amusement. When Tony's green eyes lit up in a gentle smile at Gibbs' more obvious relaxion after taking several sips of his beloved beverage, the young woman sighed to herself. But it wasn't only her, whose thoughts were slightly desperate after this display of Tony's easy handling of Gibbs even when the older man was clearly angered.
'God, how will we survive two weeks without Tony running interference?' It was this thought, which run through three minds almost simultaneously - albeit riddled with different feelings. McGee was anxious, because he knew he was still too frightened of his superior to be able to think of something to relieve Gibbs of his anger before the silver-haired agent took it out on his team. Kate held a similar thought, with a mounting apprehension but no real fear of her superior. Gibbs' thought instead was coloured with resigned longing and a bit of amusement, because he knew that Tony's teammates would soon wish the Italian back into their midst.
The young man in question didn't seem to think much of his tactic, but rather still waited for Gibbs to tell them the reason for his tense and furious aura when he had come back from his meeting with the director. Raising an eyebrow in silent inquiery, Tony used his sometimes infinite patience when dealing with Gibbs and let the older man drain the last bit of coffee. Setting the empty cup down, Gibbs sighed and complied, giving over the thick folder he had brought with him.
Tony reached for the folder, but immediately passed it to Kate without looking at its contents. Locking his gaze on Gibbs' blue eyes, the younger man said: "Short version?" Now Gibbs smiled without hiding it. He felt warmth arise in him at Tony's desire to hear the news from him.
"Well, our case isn't as small as we thought - or even limited to Washington", Gibbs began explaining. "Director Morrow informed me, that there are several indications, that Petty Officer Laran and his companions aren't working on their own, but instead are part of a bigger group which is operating in a quite larger scale than we first thought. They aren't sure how important Laran and his friends are in the hierarchy of this group, but it seems as if they aren't totally insignificant. Therefore…"
Kate interrupted Gibbs' speech with a pointed: "They?" Clearly she hadn't realized whom Gibbs was speaking of. Scowling again, the silver-haired Senior Agent started to explain, but Tony's sudden groan prevented him from it. Switching his gaze towards his fellow agent, Gibbs indicated that he wanted an explanation of Tony's exclamation. The younger man ignored Kate's and McGee's incredulous looks when he guessed: "Fornell?"
Gibbs only nodded, pleased by Tony's quick thinking and connecting the pieces of information he had given his team until now. Tony rolled his eyes and murmured: "No wonder, you aren't exactly overjoyed, boss."
Now Kate had caught up with them, making the connection as well. She too didn't try to hide her rejection of the mere idea to work with the FBI Agent once more. "Where does the FBI come into the picture, Gibbs?", she wanted to know. "Nothing in our case indicates something that would fall into their jurisdiction."
Gibbs sighed once more and pointed to the folder the young woman was still holding closed. "In my meeting with Morrow I received the untold pleasure of being ordered to work together with the FBI in this case. And because Tobias' team is supposedly the best they have, we will have to help each other", Gibbs' use of the phrase 'help each other' was decidedly sarcastic. Kate grimaced and Tony grumbled.
Gibbs continued to brief them on the meeting. "Well, we definitely don't have to like it…but we will have to do what the bosses decided. Tobias gave me that information on why they think Laran and his friends are part of the group they are investigating. Until they heard of our investigation of Laran's group they didn't know that Navy personnel was involved in the thefts they observed. The FBI thought these robberies to be made by newbies to the matter of organised smuggling - amateurs which are trying to get into the really big business on the black market by dealing with stolen art.
But faced with the results of our investigation on Petty Officer Laran and his partners, Tobias realized that they had been fooled by the dealings of some lower henchmen…the whole extent of this group's operating scale wasn't known until lately. The FBI investigated more intensely after knowing of our case and came up with the result, that these thieves are operating statewide if not actually internationally. Their organisation concists of several small groups, which are operating almost totally on their own. So if one group is caught by the FBI or another police agency, nothing leads back to the higher-ups of the organisation."
Kate and Tony had shared a look of barely hidden glee at Gibbs' mentioning of Fornell's fault in seeing the whole picture on this smugglers, but now the profiler frowned slightly. "Gibbs, that changes the profile I made of Petty Officer Laran and his partners. And this in here", Kate indicated something inside the folder of the collected FBI data, "mentions that those smugglers are quite violent in their way of behaving." Gibbs scowl reappeared and Tony looked questioningly at Kate for further explanation.
Kate read something again before saying: "The FBI collected evidence, that several of these smaller groups are responsible for at least four deaths in the last three months. Two guards were killed in Chicago during a break-in into a museum which held an important collection of prehistorical relicts. Another security officer died four weeks ago in Los Angeles when he surprised some burglars breaking into a private house - which, by the way, inhabited yet another collection of artefacts dating into prehistory. And yesterday someone broke into the Museum of Ethnology in San Francisco, killed an academic and stole several artefacts from the new exhibition she was responsible for."
"That means those groups look for antique art", Tony recapitulated. "Organised art theft in different federal states is pretty complicated - those groups are in no way amateurs. But Laran's group isn't actively stealing… we would have found out by now during our investigation. They must have another assignment inside their organisation, which suits them more."
Tony's green eyes narrowed in thought and Kate could almost see his mind going into overdrive. She shared a look with Gibbs, who regarded his Senior Agent with a satisfied gleam in his blue eyes. It was always an inspiring sight to watch Tony make the connections - his mind worked in a way Kate had long ago given up to understand. Sometimes he seemed almost psychic in his insights of people's behaviour even if he couldn't claim her profiler training.
It needed mere minutes for Tony to understand what had evaded Fornell and his team for over three months. Green eyes widened in realisation, before the young Italian suddenly snatched the folder with the FBI reports out of Kate's hand without reacting to her annoyed exclamation. He knew there had to be a list of the art objects stolen in the robberies in Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco. And if what he thought was true, then these thieves were pretty clever and very good organised.
Selecting the list he had been searching for, Tony gave the rest of the folder back to Kate who was by now watching him curiously. She had an inkling what her fellow agent was trying to do and felt it better to stay out of his way in the meantime and simply watch. And she didn't have to wait long.
Tony turned to McGee and asked: "Do you have a list of the things you found in Petty Officer Laran's house?" The younger agent nodded, clearly not following Tony's train of thought but not brave enough to question the Italian. Instead MdGee simply typed something on his computer and seconds later handed Tony a printout.
Studying both lists and comparing them, Tony suddenly whistled lowly and his head went up again. His green-eyed gaze held an expression of reluctantly impressed annoyance, when he said: "You have to give it to them, boss, that was a stroke of genius…I really didn't think Laran and his buddies would have it in them." 'Well, you didn't think he would have it in him to suddenly start throwing fireballs at you…so what do you expect?', the sarcastic little voice of his cynic part reminded him.
"It's a violation of everything they should honor in their position, DiNozzo", Gibbs growled. Tony rolled his eyes and favored his boss with a pointed look which said quite clearly that the younger man knew that very well. It was widely know that Gibbs held the Marine Corps' Honor Code above (almost) everything else. And to have it violated by members of the Navy surely aggravated him. It was no wonder, that the silver-haired man had been furious when he came back from his meeting. Fornell at their backs and this turn of events…woah. Tony thanked his intuition, that had told him to bring Gibbs coffee…who knows what would have happened else?
"Would somebody please tell me what's going on?", McGee's hesitant voice could be heard in the approaching silence. Kate nodded, her posture demanding answers as well. Tony blinked, then sighed when Gibbs' look told him is was his turn to explain what he had found out.
Shrugging Tony got right down to the point. "Petty Officer Laran and his buddies are smuggling the artefacts out of the respective country they were stolen in by members of these smaller groups Gibbs mentioned. It's easy for them to hide one or two of the smaller objects in their luggage. And when their respective ships leave the port, nobody will suspect them. Neither FBI nor other agencies like customs would think any of it, if a Navy ship is leaving the port shortly after a theft. They won't even make a connection to similar cases in other states, because every case would seem to be a single one. You could say that our group of Petty Officer Laran and his partners is the linking factor. I believe they are some kind of middlemen - they get the stolen artefacts when they are on shore leave and then smuggle them out of the state anboard of their ships and into another country or even overseas. Perhaps they store it for a certain amount of time or if they already have a customer they sell it…and the FBI is none the wiser."
The gleeful smirk flitting over his face when he thought of the anger Fornell must have been feeling when he got notice of the whole operation going on right under his nose while the FBI was investigating, gave Tony a slightly devious look. Gibbs realized that his younger colleague could see the bright side - for the NCIS team anyway - of this turn of events. But they had to focus.
"This means we have accidently hit the jackpot when we investigated Petty Officer Laran?", Kate questioned. "But there wasn't any indication that he and his friends are working for somebody else - and quite frankly I don't believe he has the guts to be in a sensible and important position such as being the one to store and sell those artefacts. He ran the second he saw us, Tony…that's not the behaviour of a man who has the nerves to smuggle stolen goods on a Navy ship in cold blood."
Tony winced almost imperceptibly when Kate made the reference of a cold-blooded reaction. He couldn't help it. His memories of another case concerning stolen art six months ago still made him decidedly uneasy. Therefore his green eyes were deeply serious when Tony looked at Kate and said: "Looks can be decieving, Kate. Laran ran like a scared cat, but nonetheless I believe him to be dangerous when cornered." A shadow flitted over Tony's handsome face and he added: "He reminds me of Jeffrey…all anxious on the outside but in reality a disturbingly cold-hearted individual."
Kate's head snapped up when her friend mentioned his undercover-job which had left him all on his own and chained to a murderer…Tony had almost died then, because the NCIS agents hadn't thought Jeffrey White to be able to put on such a façade. They hadn't considered how good an actor the man had been and that fault had almost cost them Tony's life. But the young Italian's instincts had saved him - narrowly - again and Kate was all too willing to listen to what his gut was telling him now about Laran and his friends even if she couldn't feel the danger the Petty Officer presented herself.
Gibbs had moved silently when he had seen shadows of remembered unease appear in Tony's beautiful eyes and now stood next to him, offering silent support by being near his subordinate. When Kate questioned earnestly: "You really think Laran is dangerous, Tony?", the young agent's eyes narrowed in contemplation, then hardened to steely green and Tony nodded with a definite air. "Yeah", he confirmed.
'Nothing is better than having someone going all demonic on you and threatening your life with fireballs to decide if you believe this person to be a danger', he mused silently.
A strong hand on his shoulder startled Tony out of his thoughts and he turned his head to look at Gibbs. Ice-blue eyes held a searching - and dare he think worried? - look, which made the young agent blink mentally in confusion. But he didn't get the time to pose a question, because Gibbs beat him to it. "You ok, DiNozzo?", the silver-haired man wanted to know.
Tony smiled easily, his uneasiness at remembering Jeffrey and everything else concerning this particular almost fatally misgone undercover-job vanishing to be replaced by grateful warmth which arose in the Italian at the care his boss didn't hide for a moment.
Gibbs often acted unconcerned and hard, but he looked out for his people. Tony knew that, but it awed him time and time again to be included in the small group the older man called his own to care for. It made the younger man feel safe and comforted, but also let him long for more than a glimpse of concern in beautiful blue eyes. But that was something he strictly forbid himself to ask for, because Tony feared that if he dared to confess some of his deeper feelings for his boss he would loose everything he had gained with the older man. Gibbs was a close friend, a boss with high expectations and someone Tony was sure would always be there when he needed him. So his dreams of something more with the handsome silver-haired agent would stay right that - dreams.
Nodding reassuringly to answer Gibbs' question, he almost shook his head in amusement at the unconvinced look of the ice-blue eyes which held his gaze steady while probing in his soul for confirmation of Tony's declaration. Then Gibbs nodded curtly and stepped back. To cover the slight shiver which cursed through him at the unconcious caress of the older man's hand when Gibbs withdraw it, Tony crossed his arms and leaned against his superior's desk.
He didn't know that the gentle slide of Gibbs' hand over his shoulder hadn't been an unconcious action, even if everybody watching it would have thought so, too. But the older agent hadn't been able to simply take his hand back from the broad shoulder, feeling Tony's warmth even through the shirt he was wearing. Gibbs knew he was addicted - and not to something easy like coffee this time - but he knew he wouldn't see his second-in-command for at least two weeks. Therefore he had needed some physical contact, even something as unsatisfying as a mere clasp of the younger man's muscular shoulder. But it would have to do - for fourteen hellishly long days.
Gibbs sighed inaudibly and sat down behind his desk, putting some distance between him and the beautiful man who was his best agent. Then he nearly groaned when Tony leaned against his desk, diminishing the distance between them again. Gibbs asked himself, if his subordinate even realized what reactions his graceful, languid movements caused in those around him. Probably not, because even if Tony knew of his physical appeal he certainly didn't realize the extent of the strength and beauty of his personality. Gibbs shook his head mentally and realized once more how badly he had fallen for one Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo.