Prologue:

There was only screaming. It filled every minute of every second of the silence. It was a horrible shrilling shriek that pierced that darkness as the hot, dry air clung to his body. Not one sound was made aside from the heavy breathing and of course, the screaming. Sweat poured down his face but he made no move to wipe it off. He couldn't have anyway with his hands bound so tightly behind him. Eventually, as the days turned to weeks…Everything began to fade. The blackness and heat turned into a comforting blanket and the pain eased into something of acceptance. Everything began to fade.

Everything but the screaming.

Tony woke up at three in the morning…Again. Sweat poured down his face and neck, down his chest and arms.

Years had gone by and yet, it felt as though nothing had changed. He still saw the blood, the people, the guns. He heard the screams, the blasts, the cries.

He still felt death all around him.

"God damn it." He muttered to himself and forced himself up on his elbows, the tangled sheets falling off of his bare chest. Luckily, he wasn't sharing his bed with another woman tonight. It was always an awkward situation to try to explain to some girl why you were waking up in the middle of the night screaming or crying out. Not to mention excruciatingly embarrassing.

Deciding then a hot shower would help wash away any traces of panic he was feeling from his dream- memory- whatever you wanted to call it, Tony pushed himself off the bed, stumbling for the bathroom.

"Anthony DiNozzo."

"Sir?"

"You ready to fight?"

Shuddering, Tony turned the water up higher, letting the heat pound on his back, trying to get the memories and voices washed out of his mind.

"RUN! I said run!"

"I'm not leaving you!"

"Damn it Tony go!"

"Shut up." Tony hissed to himself, getting out of the shower momentarily in order to turn on the radio at the other end of the room, hoping the music would drown out any other thoughts his mind decided to attain.

"Calm down. Tell us what happened."

"They... Took them! We have to go back! They'll die!"

It was no use. The thoughts, the screams, the feeling of fear. It wasn't going anyway tonight. It never seemed to at times. It was one of the reasons he was so apt as an investigator. He could work late nights every single night and never get tired. The memories made sure of that.

"What is it you do again Tony?"

"I'm a marine."

Chapter 1:

"Where is DiNozzo?" Gibbs growled, running a hand through well-trimmed hair. It wasn't unusual for his agent to be late. In fact, it was expected of him. It was another thing for his agent to not show up to work at all.

"Uh…I don't know boss." McGee stated, his eyes looking as though he wished Tony would appear, just to get the attention off of him. "I tried calling him, he didn't answer. Should I trace his phone or something?" he asked uncertainly. McGee didn't honestly think Gibbs would make him track down Tony, but he couldn't be sure. His boss was a bit odd when it came to his partner. One moment he would be threatening to kill him and the next he would be watching over him like a mother hen. Not that either of them seemed to neither realize nor accept this as reality. They both seemed perfectly fine believing that they had 'normal' boss- employee relationship. As if.

"Trace my phone? Really McGee? What am I? A criminal?" All three heads snapped to Tony as he marched into the bullpen, his smile stretched across his face as he threw his bag next to his desk. "Sorry I'm late." He added helpfully, probably adding fuel to the flames.

"Late?" Gibbs asked quietly and took a quickened step towards his agent. "Late? Late would be twenty minutes DiNozzo. Late would be maybe a half-hour at most. Four hours without calling does not qualify as late!" Tony seemed to realize he was in a dangerous area with his boss, and his expression sobered instantly.

"I had to take care of something."

"Were you not capable of answering a damn phone? This happens again, you can 'take care of something' without a job to worry about!" he spat out and stormed over to his desk, muttering darkly about his need for coffee.

Tony on the other hand, remained perfectly still. His eyes darkening as he accepted the scolding without comment. Wordlessly, he sat in his chair and began working, not another thing said the entire morning. Probably in hopes to bother Gibbs with his not-so-normal quiet mode.

Ass. Tony knew they hated it when he did that. Because despite the fact their friend was annoying as hell when he talked (nonstop), it was almost worse when he didn't. It was too…unnatural.

It was so unnatural that it made the morning drag by longer than usual. By the time lunch rolled around, it felt as though three days had gone by. Three. Long. Boring. Days.

"Hey Tony…You want to grab something to eat?" Ziva asked tentatively. Usually, no matter how harsh their boss was on him, Tony always bounced back within a couple minutes.

"Huh? Oh, no thanks. Not hungry." Tony replied, without evening glancing up from his computer screen. His face was set into a deep scowl, as if reading something decidedly unpleasant.

"Well that's just too bad DiNozzo." Gibbs said, looking slightly disgruntled at his agent. "I don't need you falling over your feet in the field." Glancing up, the younger man frowned.

"Fine." He murmured and then turned to Ziva "Can you pick me up some pizza?"

"You mean you aren't coming with us?" Ziva asked looking alarmed. "What are you even doing over there?" she took a few steps towards him, but her partner quickly snapped off his monitor.

"Mind your own business." He snapped at her. All eyes immediately fell on him.

"I…Alright." Ziva said, her tone barely concealing the surprise and hurt at her friend's sharp comment. Getting up, she made her way to the elevator, only pausing a moment for McGee to scramble after her after giving a questioning look to his partner.

Silence followed momentarily after their exit.

"What the Hell was that?" Gibbs finally asked, turning to his Senior Field Agent.

"What?" Tony said in exasperation "What does it matter to her what I'm doing over here anyway?" there was no answer at first, simply Gibbs giving 'the look'. The two stared the other down until Tony finally let out an audible sigh and got up.

"Alright, alright." He muttered. "Be right back." Moving stiffly, he marched out of the bullpen, to God knows where.

Tony rushed himself to the bathroom, trying to regain his bearings. The e-mail he had received had been…unnerving to say the least. It didn't help that his team mates were obviously concerned either. Usually, Tony was a good actor…But this…Was a bit hard to hide his feelings about…

It was hot. Hot and dry. Dirt swirled in the wind, blowing harshly into Tony's mouth and eyes, making him even more desperate for water. It was his first day on the front lines and things weren't exactly looking up. During training it had been hard. Screaming and drills and shooting and what not. Running for miles and pushups until you collapsed. But Anthony DiNozzo did it. He did it for his country, because, honestly, he had no other reason to do it for.

Being disowned, abandoned, and with nothing more but a sports scholarship to get you through a few classes in college didn't exactly leave one with a lot of options. So when the recruiter came and asked Tony if he wanted to serve his country, he didn't even blink an eye. In his mind, there was no greater honor.

So far though, war was different than training. It was more real. Death was around every corner. Crying was heard in the distance and people were desperately fighting for any chance of survival, whether it be water or food to live to see till' tomorrow.

"Hey…You." Tony turned, getting a full view a man coming towards him, knife in hand. By the looks of it, the guy was a civilian, dark skin and eyes and almost covered in cloth. The private gave a weak smile, trying to summon his strength in order to help the citizen with whatever he needed.

"Can I help you?" he asked, trying to keep his wariness out of his voice. It had been a long ride over here. Three bombs had already been set off, blowing out one of the cars. He was lucky enough it wasn't his.

"Do you have food? My family and I need it desperately."

Damn. Tony only had a day worth of rations to last him the rest of the week. He had already given the rest away to others who had come along, already begging for something to eat.

"I only have a bit sir." Tony admitted "I might be able to split half with you, but I need the rest to stay alive." The man's eyes shimmered with anger and without a second thought; the man pressed the blade sharply to his neck.

"Give me the food and no one gets hurt." He said quietly and the man cursed under his breath. It would be easy for him to kill this man, but something told him it wasn't the smartest decision to kill someone who was staying on the front. But he couldn't very well give his food away either…

"Omar. Let him go." A new voice had jumped in from behind and Tony heard a growl from the guy who must have been 'Omar'.

"I need food Sargent." The man sneered mockingly.

"I said. Let. Him. Go. You have already pissed off enough people here, taking their food and water. You have more than enough. Let him go…Unless of course you would rather me bring out a couple more of my friends…?" Omar let out another hiss and Tony felt himself being released.

"You're lucky boy." He muttered, pushing past and the private turned to look into the face of his rescuer.

The guy who Omar had called Sargent was about six foot and in his thirties. Blonde hair was cropped into the military cut, only just peeking out from under a helmet. Piercing blue eyes bored into him, illuminated by tan skin.

"What's your name marine?"

"Private Anthony DiNozzo sir."

"Ah…A newbie. Welcome kid." The man grinned, sticking out his hand. "Don't worry about Omar. He's really the only threat inside of camp. We'll watch him for you. I'm Sargent Jake Archers, nice to meet you."

Tony splashed water on his face, trying to clear his mind. It had been years since he and Jake spoken. Years. Which was why the NCIS agent was baffled by his old friend's recent reemergence. The e-mail he had sent had been brief, basically saying that he needed Tony's help.

Yeah, way to be specific Jake. Thanks.

It was an added stress to his life, which the man honestly didn't need. Trying to find killers and save lives could actually be a taxing job believe it or not. Crazy right? Note the sarcasm.

Maybe he had been a bit snappish with his team…But it was all justified…Right?

Because if Jake needed his help…That could only mean a few things. None of which were good. Tony closed his eyes, pressing his forehead against the cool surface of the mirror. He didn't want any of those things to come back…He was haunted by the past enough as it was. His old best friend's appearance would just rub salt in an already bleeding wound.

Now that he thought about it…How old would Jake be now? If Tony had joined the Corps when he was around twenty-two…Stayed there for about five years…He was about thirty-six now…Wow. Jake would have to be almost fifty now.

Maybe he was retired now. Fifty was a bit old to be fighting still wasn't it? Perhaps Jake just wanted to talk. To catch up. This could have nothing to do with his military experience at all.

It wasn't as though Tony regretted serving his country. It was one of the proudest moments of his life…It was just….That…Well…The memories were so fresh. The scars were still there.

War was so often glorified. By people, books, even his beloved movies. People sign up to fight in battle thinking that it will be this dramatic experience. That it will be this thing you are part of that feels just so damn good because you are part of a cause that it bigger than yourself. That is bigger than anybody or anything. You are fighting for something that matters. You're doing something right. The lines are never blurred…

At least that was how he thought it went.

"Save me!"

"DiNozzo what are you doing? Leave him there!"

"He needs help!"

"He just tried to kill us!"

Swallowing hard, Tony tried to even out his face. Tim and Ziva should be back by now. He needed to get himself together. If Jake did end up showing up at his apartment tonight, he could at least do himself the favor of keeping himself composed.

Walking out of the bathroom with a redeemed look, Tony strode into the bullpen, his eyes falling onto the pizza box on his desk. Nobody acknowledged him and Tony felt the slightest plunge of guilt as he looked at the box of meat lovers on his desk which was still steaming.

"Thanks Zee." He said quietly and she glanced up, her eyes searching him before giving a slight nod.

"You're welcome!" Tim added in jokingly and Tony grinned.

"What did you do McKissAss? Carry the box?" he hazed and the younger agent stuck out his chin defiantly.

"I'll have you know it was a heavy box."

"We need to get you to the gym McGee."

"You try to lift it then." Snorting, Tony reached over to lift the pizza. It didn't move.

"What the-" he muttered as he tried again…and again…and again…What the heck? Why wasn't it moving?! He heard McGee's laughter as he finally pried it off the desk with both hands, only to find the bottom of the box rip off.

"You super glued the box to my desk?" he asked incredulously before letting his face break into a smile "Aw, McGee! I'm so proud of you!" he laughed and momentarily he forgot that there was anything wrong.

Hey everyone (: So lots and lots of things to say here! First off, thank you for reading my story! It came at request by Mythologyrox, and I simply loved the idea =D. Now, some of you might already know this, but I still think it needs to be said. I like to think I'm a pretty fast updater, but this one might be a little bit slower considering I'm going to take on the challenge of doing two stories at a time. I actually have a majority of this written, so hopefully it won't be all that long.

I know this is going to be pointed out/addressed so I'm going to talk about this now. This story is not AU... It is something that is very unlikely to happen, but not really AU. Anyways, I'm done here (: Please review, tell me what you think and all that!

Thanks,

Kensi (: