Title: First Indications of Tony 'doormat' DiNozzo

Author: wereleopar58

Rating: 15 at the moment

Fandom: NCIS

Pairing: Gibbs/DiNozzo

Warnings: Slash, Anti-Ziva, Anti-team (will change as Tibbs story)

Summary: Tony is tired of being treated like a doormat so he takes control both personally and professionally. It also annoys him when Gibbs can ignore his own rules, but head slaps Tony when he breaks them. What can he do to help make things improve, or is it time for him to move on?

Disclaimer: I own nothing to do with NCIS. I am not making any money from this, it is just for fun.

N/B I took a vote on my wereleopard58 page, twitter ( wereleopard58) and created two polls on my Tibbs Facebook page, to see what story I should write next. This was the winner. It is also AU as I have mixed the timelines up, and Ziva is still a liaison and never became an agent. You'll obviously see all the other changes to the timeline as the story goes on.

I would like to thank Bobdog54 for helping with this chapter. Any errors are purely mine after I had changed some things.

XXXXX

Tony saw it grow day by day. It stopped being a laugh. The once friendly banter had become cruel. The people he had believed were once not just friends, but a family and he had once believed in them, but that had changed. They were no longer family, barely co-workers. They had become the enemy and a very hostile one at that. How long could he manage to stay with their words and actions slowly destroying him? Would there be anything left of the man he once was, or would there be just an empty shell. Tony didn't want to be worn away to nothing, but what could he do, who could he talk to? What person would believe him when he said that the legendary supervisory agent, the Mossad assassin, NCIS techno wizard, and the genius Goth were destroying his soul?

Tony used to love coming into work. He enjoyed spending time with the people around him. As time went on that changed. There was nothing for him here, but what else could he do? It was something he would need to look into. Being at NCIS was slowly killing him, and one day one of his co-workers might be a little distracted and that would be it. Ducky would be doing his autopsy. He hated to think this way, but they had done it before when they turned off the radio. How the hell was looking for a terrorist considered a safe ? Tony once believed Gibbs would've had his back, but that man didn't seemed to exist anymore. He had barely made it to his desk before they pounced. Today was going to be a very long day indeed, and he'd only just arrived.

'Whose bed did you just crawl out of?' Ziva's eyes flashed with amusement.

'Did you even get a name?' McGee added.

'DiNozzo you better not have been messing around with someone when you should be working.' Gibbs growled, and head slapped him as he walked past to get to his desk.

'Actually a pregnant woman collapsed and I helped her.

'Making sure your unborn child was born?' Ziva sneered.

'Jesus, why don't you all shut the help up? I put in more hours than the two of you,you; the only person who does more is Gibbs. I know part of this attitude you have is my fault, but for fucks sake let it go. I have to take this down to Ducky.' Tony grabbed a file and stormed off ignoring the looks from the other agents in the room.

'DiNozzo?' Gibbs yelled and watched as his 2IC carried on walking and never even glanced back. What the hell was wrong with him?

Ziva shrugged her shoulders and went back to work it no longer mattered to her. McGee glanced and could clearly see a worried look on Gibbs' face. There was something clearly bothering him, but what was it?

XXXXX

Ducky looked up as the door to autopsy opened. 'Ah Anthony, thank you for the file my boy.' He paused for a moment. 'Is there something wrong?'

'You got a phone call from one of the others, right?'

'Yes, Jethro called down. He seems very concerned about you.'

'Yeah, of course he does. Gibbs doesn't want to be a man down.'

The elderly man watched his young friend closely. 'It's more than that, he does care about you.'

'The others maybe,' he took a deep breath. 'I'm just tired of it all.'

This sounded a lot more serious than Ducky had first thought. 'You aren't thinking of doing anything rash are you?' His hand was on the handset of the phone ready to call for help.

'You mean suicide, no. I am thinking that it's time to move on.'

'But why? I always believed you loved it here?'

'Not for a long time, I've never felt this alone in a room that's full of people, especially my own team.' He moved so he was leaning on one of the cupboards and slid to the floor.

'What's changed?' Ducky asked as he went to sit by Tony, he winced as pain shot through his kneecaps. He would definitely need help back up again.

'I was a little late this morning Ziva and McGee though it was a one night stand. Gibbs head slapped me before he even knew what had happened.'

'Why were you late?'

'A pregnant woman collapsed just outside the coffee shop I normally go to and I was helping her. Then Ziva joked around that it was mine. When did I become the clown? I know I bring some of it on myself, but I always thought that they saw the real me. Gibbs did once upon a time; I don't know what he sees now. Even Kate thought I was shallow and she was damn profiler. Unless I have to take control no one treats me as if I'm the senior field agent. Hell, Gibbs doesn't, he still makes me do the crappy probie jobs like getting the van, and then there are the arguments about who gets front seat. When did I suddenly become a caricature of myself? When I give some insight on a caseon a case Ziva and McGee look surprised for fucks sake. It's like they think I don't contribute anything. Out of the three of us I'm the only one whose been trained in investigation outside of NCIS!'

'It seems you have a lot bottled up. Let me just call Jethro and tell him you're staying here for a bit. They can do without you.' Ducky winced at his phrasing.

'Yeah they can do without me permanently.'

'Tony will be staying down here with me for a bit.' He paused. 'No, I don't think it's a good idea for you to come down. Please Jethro trust me on this, if any of you come down or Abby comes in— it could do a lot more harm than good. I will let you know when he is on his way up. No, I won't tell you what we're talking about, it's a private discussion between me and Anthony and I hope you all respect that. Yes, I will keep you updated.'

'Ducky you're busy, I'd better go.' Tony went to leave but the older man stopped him.

'I'm just going through some paperwork; I have time for you and Mr Palmer has the day off. So please continue.' Ducky was afraid that if he didn't help his friend with this, then soon NCIS would be without one of its best investigators.

'What is Ziva even doing on this team? She has no experience in this area. When did we start giving a security clearance, visa and gun to someone whose only qualification is that they are friends with Jenny? She lies to us all the time. Before the meal at the Director's house, Ziva knew her father had killed the marine. If she had owned up to it, Vance wouldn't have had Eli in his house and Jackie would be still alive.'

'Are you sure about her knowing?'

'Yes, Ducky I am. She has pushed the boundaries of the rules. Between her and McGee I am surprised cases are not kicked out. Yes, I know I've done some questionable things with cases. Gibbs should be stopping it not encouraging it. He's following the same root. How many people has he killed, or helped kill. Those men should have been arrested, what gave Gibbs the right to be judge, jury and executioner. He seems to be doing it more and more. I'm losing the man I…'

'You love, I already knew that. I do have eyes, but don't panic I think that I am the only one who has guessed. Do you really think that Gibbs is becoming that different?'

'He's colder; I used to spend a lot of time with him at his home. Now, I rarely see him outside of work. It could be, of course, that he's sick of me.'

'I doubt he is sick of you.' Ducky laughed.

'He used to be such an honourable man, what happened?'

'I truly don't know, but I will keep a closer eye on him. Not that I think you are lying, but I do hope you are wrong. If you aren't, then what kind of friend am I that I didn't notice?'

'I think glaring and head slapping makes things look normal for him.'

'That could be true Tony; I assume you have things to say about the others as well. Please let me know if I've done something to hurt you?'

'Nah you haven't,' Tony sighed as Ducky continued to stare at him. 'Fine, it was just one thing when Gibbs retired.. You were so angry at him. Every time I came in here you would rant. With the others on my back I really needed support.'

'I am so sorry.'

'I know, you were dealing with your own feelings, and I did have Palmer helping me. He was a lifesaver.'

'If I do something like that againagain, tell me. I am after all, merely human.'

'I will Ducky; I guess you want me to carry on?' He waited for the ME's nod. 'McGee, he likes to brag about his education, I have no problem with that because he should be proud of it. What he does do is rub my nose in my physical education degree.'

'He does realise that you were an exceptional athlete. You were one of the few that had the ability to turn professional, until the unfortunate incident with Dr Pitt.'

'I don't think it matters to him, I didn't turn pro, and hey, I was only a jock.'

'Do you have anything to say about his works of fiction?'

Tony laughed and rubbed his jaw. 'He keeps telling us it's not based on us, but he never told us about it. He kept it a secret. The way he portrays me in that novel is such a clichéd kind of character. When I mention something like beer pong, you could see he wanted me to physically do it so he could put it in his book. '"Even though it's not based on me.' Does he take us all for complete and utter idiots? Well okay, he thinks I am. That brings us to Abby, I love her like a sister, but she gets so much her own way. Now she automatically assumes it's going to happen. What really hurt me was when I was in charge; she wanted me to be Gibbs. To act, to talk, to walk like him and arrive when one of her machines pinged carrying a Caf-Pow. She doesn't ask that of anyone else, what's wrong with Tony DiNozzo? Why aren't I good enough to be just me?

'Oh Tony.'

'Don't get me wrong, I've wound people up, played tricks on them, given sarcastic replies, acted like a flake and the class clown. I kept poking and prodding at McGee because he was so quiet. You remember when he first stared out he was so quiet some of our suspects would have eaten him alive. I may have gone the wrong way about it, but it worked. When McGee told me he never thought I deserved my own team I always wondered if it was the heat of the moment or something he truly believed. I think Gibbs wants McGee as his SFA. He gave him the lead on a case. If it was to help McGee learn the ropes I wouldn't mind, but he never said anything. I think Gibbs has lost trust in me. I wonder if it's because I let Jenny die?'

'You didn't let her die, it wasn't your fault. You weren't even there.'

'Exactly I wasn't and I should have been. If I was it could have made a difference and she might have… I don't know.'

'Jennifer went out there to die; she didn't want the disease to kill her. She wanted to go out her own way. Is Ziva beating herself up about this?

'If it isn't about her I don't think she cares.' Tony winced. 'Sorry that was uncalled for, she and Jenny were friends.'

'You were friends with our lovely director as well, weren't you?'

'I thought we were until that damn unsanctioned op. She never once took the blame when it went wrong, when you all thought I was dead. It doesn't matter anymore, does it?'

'Do you feel any better?' Ducky's voice was soft and soothing.

'Not really, it makes me more determined to go.'

'Please don't do anything rash, come and talk to me first.'

Tony just shrugged his shoulders. 'Fine, if that's what you want. I doubt if it's going to make any difference. What are you going to tell Gibbs?'

'Well, what we talked about is private, but I do need to find some way of telling him that he is losing you.'

'You can tell him Ducky, I really don't think it's going to make a difference.'

Just then the phone in autopsy rang. 'Yes, hello,, Jethro. He's still here.'

Tony reached out and took the receiver. 'Yes Gibbs.' He winced as he pulled it away from his ear

'Why the hell aren't you answering your phone? You know to never been unreachable.' Gibbs shout could clearly be heard. 'Get the hell back up here.' Then sudden silence as Gibbs had closed the connection. Tony held out his hand to pull the older man off the floor. He then turned and walked away.

Ducky rubbed his forehead as he watched Tony leave, that call could not have come at a worse moment.

XXXXX

'DiNozzo, what the hell took you so long?'

'I needed to talk to Ducky.' Tony crossed his arms over his chest defensively.

'And it had to be now?'

'When I went down there we didn't have a case.' He argued.

'If you were reachable you would have known.' Gibbs slapped him on the back of the head again.

Tony watched as Ziva and McGee laughed. He'd really just had enough today. He went to move past Gibbs to get to his desk.

'You'd better hurry Tony.' Ziva joked.

'We're in no hurry;, Tony has to get the van ready.' Gibbs jangled the keys.

'No, actually, he isn't.' DiNozzo replied.

'What do you mean no?' Gibbs grabbed hold of SFA's shoulder.

'Remove your hand Gibbs, I'm warning you.'

'What the hell is wrong with you?' Gibbs went to jerk him back.

Tony spun around and hit him hard in the jaw. Gibbs staggered back onto Ziva's desk, his blue eyes wide open.

'You don't need to worry about me breaking one of your holy rules; there is no way in hell I'm going to apologise.'

'Tony, we h..h..have a case.' McGee stuttered.

'No, you have a case. I need to see the director.' Tony ran up the stairs and headed to the Director's office. He never even turned back to enjoy the look of shock on the rest of his teams face.

TBC