No Head Slapping Allowed!

One of Tony’s bete noires was partners who were dirty. It didn’t bother him as much when it was some perp they were chasing that could be arrested and didn’t give a bad name to law enforcement, but to find out Danny was dirty really bothered him. He avoided Danny like the plague after that. Not just because he wasn’t sure whether to turn him in, but because he absolutely detested people like that.

He was glad of the excuse the Navy cop provided to get out of Baltimore, but as this wasn’t his first dealing with corruption in the forces of good he began to wonder if he should really continue as a cop. Gibbs, the navy cop, head slapped him for this thought.

“Did you just physically assault me?” Tony questioned affronted.

“I don't have a lot of rules, but rule number five is ‘you don't waste good’, and you're good.” Gibbs explained.

“Thanks.” Tony deadpanned. “However, don’t think I’ll let you assault me again. Slapping colleagues is ridiculous. You get a free pass on this one, but I will retaliate if you do it again. I’m a professional and I expect to be treated as one.” Tony demanded getting into Gibbs face.

Gibbs grunted, but secretly he was impressed. The kid had spunk. He was sure this would be the start of a beautiful partnership.

Gibbs wasn’t wrong. He and Tony had quickly formed an easy partnership for going on about two years now. When it was just the two of them, Gibbs had no trouble not head slapping, DiNozzo. They’d brought Kate on as a team member now though and he was having a lot harder trouble remembering to not head slap DiNozzo.

When Tony commented that he shouldn’t strain his eyes reading the file off of the computer screen, Gibbs couldn’t help himself and moved to head slap Tony. Tony dodged and grabbed Gibbs hand. “Since this is the first time in 3 years, I’ll let you off with a warning this time. I won’t be so generous next time.” Tony whispered into Gibbs ear.

The next year, Tony joked about Kate growing up because she knew some of the abbreviations now. Gibbs moved to head slap him for not growing up and Tony again dodged. Instead of warning Gibbs again, however, he head slapped Gibbs back.

Gibbs mouth dropped open. “Did you just slap me?”

“I warned you.” Tony shrugged.

After that, there were a few more mishaps. Tony successfully dodged Gibbs head slaps and Gibbs also dodged Tony’s return ones. Not too long after that the head slaps became a thing of the past and Gibbs found different methods of discipline to use instead and the whole team improved for it.

Tom Morrow was surprised to see the MCRT’s solve rate rise even higher than it had been originally. It was already the highest in NCIS and somehow they had managed to improve it. He didn’t know what had caused it, but it seemed the team had banded even tighter together and their solve rate reflected that.

Gibbs and Tony knew though. The lack of head slaps and the alternative disciplinary actions had really brought the team together as a family. Tony just smirked at Gibbs with an I told you so look when he gave Gibbs the report with the improved solve rate numbers.