A/N *sniff sniff* it's finished :( I'm not sure about you guys but i really liked this one and am sad to see it go. Thank you again for all your reviews and favorites and follows. Not going to promise a sequel, but I may in the future dip into this universe again.
Disclaimer, I don't own it, but one day it will be mine... Mawhahahaha!
Chapter 20
After a weekend, where even Tony had had to admit, he had had fun, He had returned to work in a much better frame of mind.
He had helped Gibbs redecorate his spare room, although he had told Tony if he painted the room pink he would have to sleep in it and have his photo taken wearing a pink tutu.
Tony had paled as Gibbs delivered the threat deadpan style.
Consequently, the room was a tasteful shade of pale blue.
They had worked on Gibbs' latest woodworking project and fixed a loose step at the front of the house. All finished off with a surprise trip to the local movie theater, as a thank you for all of Tony's hard work.
"Morning Tim, Ziva." Tony said walking in, handing them a drink each a coffee for Tim and a tea for Ziva and dropping his bag behind the desk closely followed by Gibbs. "Morning Boss." He grinned as Gibbs walked past him.
Gibbs looked at the coffee on his desk.
"Yours?" He asked.
"Nope yours." Tony said innocently, he took a swig of his own coffee as Gibbs took a swig of his and promptly walked over to his SFA's desk and swapped coffee.
"Thanks Boss." Tony said taking a big gulp of the right coffee to get the taste out of his mouth.
They got down to working on cold cases, Gibbs having taken the team off active rotation until the results of Tony's IA investigation.
When he had informed the team he was pleased that not one of them complained, Tim even said it was only fair if Tony could not go out into the field then they should not either after all they were a team.
The smile that Tony had tried and failed to hide was worth it and he even let them have an hour lunch break.
The three-team members walked back into the squad room after lunch laughing at something that Ziva had said and stopped as Tony pulled up to a halt.
"Dad?" he said as he saw Fornell standing beside Gibbs' desk.
"Hey kiddo, have a nice lunch?" Tobias asked.
Tony nodded and looked around, "Where's Slacks?" he asked worried.
"Filling in forms at the unemployment office. I assume." Fornell grinned.
"Did he get a pink petticoat?" Ziva asked.
Tony and Tim laughed, "It's a pink slip Ziva." Tony said laughing so hard he had to wipe a tear away, "I'm sorry, I just had a vision of Slacks in a pink petticoat." He giggled.
Fornell rolled his eyes "I thought you got him out of his pink obsession?" He said jokingly glaring at Gibbs.
"So Sacks got fired?" Tim asked
Fornell nodded, "Breaking confidentiality is not encouraged in the FBI, I know you guys are a bit lax on these things but my director is tough, besides the fact he hurt his favorite Nephew." He grinned.
Tony smiled "See I have friends in high places."
Tim rolled his eyes and sat at his desk.
"So, Dad. Is that why you came here?" Tony asked.
Fornell smiled.
"Nope"
Tony waited and got worried as both men turned smiling at him.
"What did I do?" He exclaimed.
"DiNozzo, we just got the results of the IA investigation." Gibbs told him.
Tony sat heavily in his chair, "So I'm fired then?" he said and reached for the box he had placed behind his chair the day the investigation was announced.
"Nope." Gibbs said.
"With all the circumstances that you had been through with DiNozzo senior, it was accepted that you didn't mean to bring the gun in with you and that it was purely a lapse in judgment and you didn't mean for anyone to be harmed. With Senior dead they know there is no chance of it happening again so you're cleared."
A curious look crossed Tony's face before Tim and Ziva congratulating him removed him from Gibbs' view.
"Boss, I should let Abby know, you know how worried she's been." Tony said as Fornell clasped his son on the shoulder and left.
"I'll come with you." Gibbs said and they walked towards the elevator together.
The doors shut and Gibbs waited a moment and was surprised when Tony reached over and stopped the elevator from moving.
"DiNozzo?" Gibbs said and waited.
Tony stepped back giving himself as much space as the car allowed.
"Boss, I should have been charged." Tony said intently studying his feet.
Gibbs leant back against the elevator's wall. "Go on." He said waiting.
"I did mean to take the gun into the prison, I 'forgot' on purpose." He admitted.
Gibbs said nothing.
"I wanted to kill him, it was primarily why I went there, he had been taunting me, I couldn't take anymore he was threatening Emily." Tony said panicking.
"Did you pull the gun on him?" Gibbs asked.
"No, but?" Tony started
"Did you shoot him or the guard?" Gibbs asked
Again, Tony answered in the negative.
"DiNozzo, if I was arrested every time I wanted to kill my ex-wives….especially Diane….I would be inside for life, the fact is you can't be arrested or tried for something you thought of doing. IA were right, it was purely a lapse in judgment." He started the car up again, "Now go spend some time with Abby and give her the good news." He told his SFA.
Tony smiled a rare full on genuine smile, "Thanks Boss," He said.
The elevator opened and they both stepped out.
Gibbs leant against the wall as he heard the music go down, Tony talk and then Abby squealing in delight.
He smiled.
His team was fixed and for now all was well.