Minor spoilers for the Season 7 episode 'Reunion' …

"Hester?" asked Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo as he walked with Special Agent Gibbs along one of the corridors in the George Washington University Hospital. "Hester? What are you doing here?"

Agent Gibbs realised he had lost his Senior Field Agent and turned back impatiently but schooled his face to calm when he saw that Tony had stopped to talk to an elderly woman in a wheelchair.

"Uh, Boss, sorry … this is Hester Barrington-ffolkes," said Tony.

"Ms …" began Gibbs but he stopped as he realised he couldn't remember the whole name, "Ma'am," he substituted.

"You must be Agent Gibbs," said Hester with a twinkle, "Anthony has told me all about you."

"Has he? DiNozzo, I'll go on up. See if Simcott is conscious yet," replied Gibbs.

"Hester, what are you doing here?" repeated Tony as he nodded absently at Gibbs.

"Oh, I had a dizzy spell this morning. Lucy, you know my neighbour Lucy, well she found me on the floor and insisted on calling an ambulance. Such a fuss about nothing. If she'd come a moment or two later, I'd have been up on my feet and nobody any the wiser! But she's a dear girl and I suppose I should be grateful. But how are you, Anthony? You're looking tired, my dear."

"I'm fine," said Tony, "Busy, you know. I'm sorry I …"

Hester patted his hand, "No need to apologise, Anthony. I know you've got a lot to do …"

Tony nodded a little helplessly, aware that he could have made time to go see Hester but also aware that he had allowed too much time to slip by.

"Let me know what happens here," said Tony, "I could come and see you if they keep you in."

"Don't worry about me, Anthony, I'll be fine. Lucy is around here somewhere. And I think you have somewhere else to be," she nodded towards the figure of Gibbs striding back towards them.

"Simcott is still out," announced Gibbs, "We'll have to wait to interrogate him."

Tony hesitated, torn between duty to Hester and duty to Gibbs.

"You go on, Anthony. I'll be fine," said Hester. "He's a good boy," she said confidingly to Gibbs, "He comes and sees his old god-aunt as often as he can."

"You sure?" asked Tony.

"I'm sure, my dear, you go along."

"DiNozzo," said Gibbs, "We gotta go," he turned towards Hester, "It was nice meeting you, Ma'am."

"Likewise," said Hester, "It was good to put a face to all those stories!"

Tony stooped to kiss Hester on the cheek, "I'll see you soon," he promised before turning to follow Gibbs out.

"God-aunt?" asked Gibbs as they walked to the car.

Tony grimaced, "Her mother was my Mom's godmother. Hester said she was Mom's god-sister and that made her my god-aunt."

"Huh," Gibbs took a moment or two to disentangle the generations.

"She hasn't got any family of her own," continued Tony, "Which is why she focusses on me, I guess. I haven't seen her for a while. I kept on putting it off …"

"Hey," said Gibbs, "I know what it's like. I didn't see my Dad as often as I should've. It happens."

"I guess," said Tony looking back at the hospital for a second.

"You want to stay?" asked Gibbs.

Tony hesitated, "Nah. She's in good hands. I'll check on her later."

"OK," said Gibbs as he swung the car towards the exit, "Your call."

NCISNCIS

"Grab your gear!" called Gibbs the next morning as he ended the call on his cell, "Dead Marine in Mount Pleasant!"

"Thank you for letting me know," said Tony as he ended his own call.

"DiNozzo! Move it!" snapped Gibbs, "Deal with your social life on your own time!"

"Yes, Boss, coming, Boss," replied Tony.

A little later, as they worked the crime scene, Gibbs noticed that Tony had been unusually silent since they left the Navy Yard.

"How's that lady in the hospital?" he asked.

"Oh, that was the call I got right before we left," said Tony, "Hester died last night."

"Sorry to hear that," said Gibbs, "What happened?"

"Seems she had a heart attack … she just went …"

"At least you saw her," offered Gibbs as a small consolation.

"I could have stayed," said Tony, "I'd have been with her at the end …"

"You didn't know, Tony. And she wanted you to go … nothing you could've done. And she was in the best place."

"I know that, Boss. It's just that I think … well, I could've made more effort. She was always pleased to see me but …"

"I know," said Gibbs, "I know … Hey, what's that guy doing there, the one taking photos?" Gibbs jerked his head towards a youngish man standing among the usual crowd of onlookers. He gestured to Agent Bishop to go and investigate but, as she approached the crowd, the man with the camera beat a hasty retreat.

"He looked familiar," said Agent McGee as he approached Gibbs and Tony. "I've seen him somewhere."

"He ran off," said Ellie as she joined her co-workers.

"We saw," said Gibbs curtly. "Where have you seen him, McGee?"

McGee shook his head, "Can't remember, Boss."

"Not unusual, is it?" said Tony, "We often get people who think they'll be able to sell the photos."

"Nothing to see this time," said Gibbs, "Ducky's pretty sure that it was suicide."

"Ducky said he's finished," said Ellie, "He and Jimmy are packing up now."

"We'll head back as well," said Gibbs. "DiNozzo, anything you need to do about your god – what was it?"

"God-aunt," smiled Tony, "No, don't think so. She always said she'd made all the arrangements with her lawyer."

"What's a god-aunt?" asked Ellie.

"Her mother was my Mom's godmother," explained Tony. "She said that made her my Mom's god-sister …"

"So, she was your god-aunt! That's so cute," said Bishop.

"I didn't know you had a god-aunt," said Tim.

"Didn't see her very often," confessed Tony. "It was easier when she was able to go out, we'd go for dinner or stuff like that. But recently, she couldn't get out so much and … well, her apartment was a bit …"

"What?" prompted Tim.

"It was like a time capsule … or the place where time stood still. It was a bit creepy …" said Tony.

"You might have to like it," said Tim practically.

"What?"

"She might have left it to you," said Bishop with relish, "The house where time stood still … and you'll have to enter the time warp … and never be seen again …"

Tony suppressed a shudder, "Ha-ha! And no, she won't. The apartment was rented. I won't have to live in a Hammer House of Horrors! But thank you for that image, Special Agent Bishop."

"Was she British? Like your Mom?" asked Tim.

"Name like Hester … what was it?" asked Gibbs.

"Barrington-ffolkes. Two Fs," said Tony.

"Yeah, what he said. I'm guessing she was British?" said Gibbs.

"Born British but she was an American citizen," said Tony. "Came to study here on a fellowship, got a job at the United Nations in New York and never went home. I guess she fell in love with America."

"Enough chatter!" announced Gibbs, "We've got work to do! McGee, try and remember where you've seen that photographer!"

"Er, yes, Boss. But why? Like Tony said, it's not unusual to have someone taking pictures."

"My gut, McGee," said Gibbs.

McGee nodded humbly. The Gibbs gut was not to be questioned.

NCISNCIS

The MCRT worked cold cases for a few days and did not leave the office. On the fifth day after the trip to Mount Pleasant, Tony took another phone call.

Gibbs looked up suspiciously; sometimes he thought it would be better if he confiscated Tony's cell.

"You can? That's great, man … sorry, not man, I mean, Jay," said Tony, "I'll see you in a few."

Tony put the cell down and called across to Gibbs, "Hey, Boss. Is it all right if I go out for an hour or so?"

"Why?"

"Well, you remember Hester?"

"The lady who died?"

"Yep, turned out that Bishop was right," said Tony.

"You have inherited the House of Horror?" asked Bishop excitedly.

"No," said Tony firmly, "No, like I said, it was rented …"

"Get to the point, DiNozzo!" ordered Gibbs, "How was Bishop right?"

"Turns out that Hester has left me something."

"What?" asked McGee thinking that a mystery inheritance was more exciting than his current cold case.

"I don't know," said Tony. He sensed Gibbs' growing impatience, "It's the contents of a safety deposit box. The will doesn't say anything more than that."

"Perhaps it's a box of gold," said Bishop breathlessly, "Or diamonds!"

Tony laughed, "Hester wasn't rich. She was what my British grandfather would have called a distressed gentlewoman!"

"Distressed?" asked Ellie, "You mean she was unhappy? That's so sad."

"No, distressed means not well off," explained Tony, "She had enough money to live on but nothing much left over. She was one of the happiest people I knew, very contented but she had a mischievous twinkle in her eyes sometimes."

"So, why do you need to go out?" asked Gibbs.

"Oh," said Tony as he remembered the beginning of the conversation, "The lawyer says I can go look in the box anytime I want but that the rental runs out any day now … First Mutual Bank is keen to get it emptied … and Jay just called to say now's a good time."

"Who's Jay?" asked Tim, "She your latest?"

"Jay Danforth. You've met him, Tim."

"When?"

"We ran into him on a case – you remember, that one where the three schoolfriends all got murdered at a bachelor party … one of them worked for an auctioneer. Jay worked there as well."

Tim frowned, "Oh yeah. The guy who looked as if he had a bad smell under his nose whenever we were around. You know him?"

"He's not so bad when you get to know him," said Tony.

"And how did you get to know him?" asked Tim.

"Funny thing. Well, not funny hilarious but funny odd … and it's a coincidence … and I know you're not a fan of those, Boss but in the real world they do happen …"

"Get on with it, DiNozzo!" said Gibbs brusquely.

"Well, it turned out that Jay is a member of my men's support group …"

"Just how big is this men's support group?" asked Ellie. It was a fair question as, over the weeks, it seemed that Tony had found a plumber, lawyer, yoga instructor, chiropodist, masseur and goldfish sitter from among his newfound friends.

"There's a few of us," said Tony evasively.

"And why do you need this Jay guy to go with you?" asked Gibbs.

"Oh, yeah. Well, he's an auctioneer."

"Got that," said Gibbs drily.

"And he's British. An expert on British antiquities …"

"But you're not expecting gold and stuff?" said Bishop who was still clinging to her dreams.

"No, but I mentioned it to Jay, and he offered to come along and give me an appraisal of whatever's in the box."

"And what if it turns out to be stocks and shares?" asked Tim practically.

"Then I'll ask Clifford to look at them," said Tony, "He's a financial whizz …"

"Let me guess," sighed Ellie, "He's a member of your group as well."

"Well, he's thinking of joining," said Tony, "But he's holding out … no, he's one of my neighbours."

"Go," said Gibbs, feeling weary by this insight into Tony's private life. "In fact, we might as well all call it a day."

McGee and Bishop stared at Gibbs in momentary shock: only momentary as they instantly decided to take advantage of Gibbs' rare benevolence and grabbed their gear.

"They can move fast when they want," observed Tony. Gibbs raised an eyebrow, "And so can I, Boss! See you in the morning!"

NCISNCIS

"Hi, Jay," said Tony as he met Danforth outside the First Mutual Bank in Connecticut Ave.

Jay frowned, "Good afternoon, Anthony," he said soberly.

"Sorry. Good afternoon," corrected Tony. "Hey, thanks for doing this."

"It sounds intriguing," conceded Jay.

"Hope it's not too intriguing," said Tony gloomily.

"I beg your pardon?"

Tony gestured for Jay to precede him into the bank, "It's just that … well, a while back, two of my co-workers opened one of these boxes and found a mummified hand inside."

"Indeed?"

"Although it did have an emerald ring on one of the fingers … and the hand was holding a treasure map!" continued Tony a little more cheerfully.

"And are you expecting something similar today?" asked Jay.

"No," confessed Tony in a tone of mingled hope and disappointment.

A few minutes later, Jay and Tony were alone in the secure room with the box before them. The bank official backed out politely leaving them to their discovery.

"Here goes," said Tony as he lifted the lid. They both leaned forward to peer in.

The colour drained from Jay's face as he saw the contents of the box.

"Wow!" gasped Tony.