* * * * *

That night, Ducky, Palmer, Tony, McGee and Kate came to the house for dinner. Gibbs handed out assignments to everyone and soon, the table was set and dinner was served. The mood was light and there was plenty of laughter. It was Tony's first time with everyone since he'd gotten sick and he made them tell him every detail of every case they'd had while he was gone over dinner.

As everyone was cleaning up, Abby pulled Ducky aside. "Ducky, I'm so…"

Ducky held a finger up to her lips. "Think nothing of it, my dear. But," he added with a stern look, "don't ever do that again." He allowed her to be contrite for just a moment before he winked and smiled. He then turned and walked away. "Jethro!" he called, "where do you keep your dominoes?"

Tony walked over to Abby and put an arm around her pulling her into a hug. "You ok?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm ok now," she said with a slightly watery smile.

"Good." He released her from the hug. "So why did you come to me yesterday?" he asked as they walked toward the kitchen.

She shrugged. "Force of habit, I guess." He looked confused. "I always went to my brother when dad was mad at me." He stopped in his tracks but she kept going and was soon giggling with Kate about something.

He looked into the kitchen and caught Gibbs looking at him fondly. Gibbs grinned and nodded almost imperceptivity.

After a couple of hours of dominoes, Gibbs stood up and stretched. "All right. It's getting late and Tony needs to go to bed."

"What? Why me, Boss?" Tony whined. But the look he got stopped him. "Yeah, ok," agreed reluctantly. As he was being ushered out the door by Ducky, he looked at Gibbs. "So I was thinking about coming back on Monday."

"Not until Ducky clears you, Tony. I mean it. You still have two weeks of sick time left. And I think you ought to take advantage of them." It wasn't a suggestion and Tony knew it. He nodded, thanked Gibbs for dinner and followed his coworkers out of the house.

"Oh, Tony," Gibbs called after him. Tony walked back to where Gibbs was standing by the door. Gibbs grabbed his arm, turned him around and applied three hard swats to the seat of his pants.

"Ow! What was that for?" Tony asked, rubbing his backside.

Gibbs looked at him pointedly. "Abby did not just stop by your place to say hi."

Tony's mouth opened to protest, but he wisely decided against it. "Sorry," he said sheepishly. Gibbs grinned at him and he grinned back before he left again.

"So Gibbs," Abby asked when the house was otherwise empty, "what movie do you want to watch?"

"Go to bed," Gibbs ordered.

"But I'm not tired," she argued.

He gave her a stern look, and she folded. "Besides, you don't want to fall asleep in church tomorrow."

"I have never fallen asleep in church Gibbs," she said with an air of superiority.

"Well I have," he answered as he shooed her toward the stairs.

"You should drink a Caf-Pow before we go," he heard Abby call out as he turned out the lights in the living room.

"Good night, Abbs," he called up the stairs. She could hear his smile.