AN: I'm not exactly fond of sequels since I think the sequels usually ruin the whole thing... I mean come on, just look at so many of those movies with a sequel!
But there were so many requests for a sequel for 'Irreversible Step' that I felt bad for not writing one.

I played with so many ideas for this sort sequel and wrote so many things, but didn't feel good about any of them. Finally this one won and when I was done, I didn't feel like it was forced and I realized that I finally liked what I've written as a sequel. I hope you like it, too.

I also apologize it took me so long to write this. The real life becomes actually even more demanding once it finds out you like the fiction world better. It's such a jealous little thing, I'm telling you!

And well, like I said, so far nothing would appeal to me and my muse would jump all over the place, giving me ideas about other stories and I'm not one to ignore it! That'd make it stop talking to me for a VERY long time!

I just hope it's worth the long wait and you enjoy this short sequel.(And by short I mean really short! Just so you know! :D)
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. One Step Closer .

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Tony sighed with exhaustion as he plopped onto the couch in his current condo and closed his eyes.

It'd been a long day, maybe longer than any other day in the last six months, because as far as he could remember, during those months, every day had been a long day. He was bone-tired and even thinking about a long, peaceful vacation in Jamaica couldn't cheer him up anymore.

He was just glad that his mission was almost over.

A double knock at the door made him open his eyes and he groaned as he pushed himself up to get to the door. "You better not have forgotten your keys again." He muttered under his breath.

"I swear, there's no way you could've-" he forgot the rest of his sentence when his eyes landed on the guy behind the door and his mind finally registered that it wasn't his teammate with whom shared the condo.

"Hi, DiNozzo."

Tony frowned before suddenly grabbing the guy's collar and dragging him inside. "What the hell are you doing here?" Tony growled angrily as he took a peek outside to make sure no one had seen them and then closed the door. "And how did you know I was here?"

"I needed to talk to you. It's been six months. Nine, since the day I-" the other man went quiet and studied Tony.

"Since the day you what?" Tony asked coldly; then he clenched his jaw and took a deep breath. "Do you have any idea what you could've just done to me by coming here?" He asked furiously. "What was so important that you had to risk everything?"

"Tony-"

"No. Answer my question, Gibbs. What was so important?"

He hadn't seen his boss over six months and by showing up at his door the man could jeopardize his whole mission.

"You left with no words. You just left a resignation letter on my desk and just vanished." Gibbs' tone was so different from what Tony was used to that it deflated Tony's anger.

He could clearly see the pain in his former boss' eyes and couldn't, for the life of him, understand what could've happened over a span of six months to make him look so old and tired.

A sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach made him pale. "What's happened?" His tone was much softer. "I tried to keep up with the news, but I haven't heard much so far."

A ray of something close to hope shone in Gibbs' eyes. "Everyone is fine. Nothing's happened. Except-"

"Except what?" Tony frowned. "Wait. Is it your father?"

Gibbs shook his head. "The old man is fine."

"Then what?" Tony threw his hands in the air.

"My best agent is gone."

"Your best-" Tony stopped. Seriously? Gibbs was looking like that just because he'd been missing him? "Gibbs?"

"I've been looking for you the whole six months, Tony. I never gave up."

"Gibbs." Tony sighed. "What's this?" He really couldn't get it. He might've left with no goodbye, but he hadn't been on good terms with the others for a few months before that.

Things had changed since the day they all had made it clear that Tony had no friends among them.

Of course, after so many months, Tony wasn't angry anymore; he'd even forgiven them; but forgiving and forgetting were two different things and he just couldn't forget and well, he wasn't in a place to stay in touch with anyone from his old team. Not that he'd do that if he could.

"Since when you care so much when an agent leaves your team? Heck, even Stan Burly didn't get it like this. What's with this reaction?" He asked when Gibbs just stood there and studied him.

"You look more tanned. And what's that scar?" Gibbs avoided the question, pointing to the long scar on Tony's right arm; he was wearing a T-shirt and his arms were bare.

Walking back to his couch, Tony sat down wearily and rubbed his face. "Are you going to answer any of my questions? Because I won't hesitate to throw you out if you're here just to satisfy your curiosity."

"None of those agents were you." Gibbs finally started to talk, feeling certain that Tony would carry out his threat. "Not even Stan Burly. Not even... Kate. And I know I'm the one who drove you away, but the Navy Yard is just not the same without you. Happy?"

Tony's raised eyebrows showed his utter shock. "You sure everything is alright?" He asked after a few seconds. The only times he'd seen Gibbs that open, the older man had been grieving someone's loss.

"No, Tony. Everything is not alright. McGee is quiet and distant and when he talks to me he stammers like he's a probie again; Abby is a shell of herself and I can't stand the sight of your empty desk. I can't stand anything, anymore." Gibbs took a breath and sat down in one of the armchairs. "Do you have coffee?"

Tony smirked as he stood up. "Oh thank God, I was starting to believe you were a pod."

A couple of minutes later he was back with a large mug of coffee for Gibbs and a beer for himself. "You shouldn't have come here." He handed the older man his mug.

"I had to. I couldn't take it anymore. The moment I heard you could be here, I filled in the forms for an extended leave of absence and left. Couldn't even wait to see if Vance would OK it."

Tony's eyes were round. "You didn't inform anyone? And just who told you I was here? Because that means I have to take care of a few things now. We can't risk the whole operation."

"What operation?" Gibbs was suddenly back to his sharp self. "Are you on a mission? Is that why you left? Why the resignation letter then?"

"Whoa. Whoa. Slow down, Boss." Tony was so amused he didn't even notice the slip of the tongue; Gibbs did, though and he smiled slightly. "Is Abby hiding somewhere in there?" Tony continued. "Because you sounded just like her; what with so many questions and all."

"Tony, talk to me."

'First name again?' Tony wondered, when Gibbs, very uncharacteristically, kept using his first name. Then again, the Gibbs before him didn't share many similarities with the one Tony used to know. "You first." He demanded.

"I told you everything." Gibbs almost groaned. "I need you back. Please. Look, I... I'm sorry for the thing I said that day in the bullpen. I'm sorry for everything that I've done wrong. Would you just come back?" He looked Tony in the eyes to show his sincerity. "I've talked to Vance. I don't need any other agents. I just need you on that team and he's OK with it if I can convince you. This is my last resort. If you don't come back now, I'll resign, too."

Tony blinked with surprise. He was truly at a loss. For a moment he was sure he'd fallen asleep and woken up in a version of "Mission Impossible" with one of the guys he was spying on, disguising as Gibbs to trick him and kill him right then and there. He was almost tempted to go and pull at the skin on Gibbs' face to see if it'd come off; and he was pretty sure it would; just like in the movie.

So many things were wrong. Gibbs had given in and had talked first and he'd said 'please' and 'sorry', twice, and hadn't even batted an eye, like those things weren't against his every rules and principles.

"Say something." Gibbs pleaded.

Great. Now he sounded desperate.

"I..." Tony shook his head. "I gotta admit, I could never imagine my day going this way when I woke up this morning." He studied the older man while he tried to collect his thoughts. "Gibbs, thanks, I guess. Umm, it means a lot that you came this long way to tell me these things and... And to apologize. WOW." He really was baffled.

"Come back, Tony. Please."

"Sorry and please. You're going to give me a heart attack." Tony sipped his beer, mostly to compose himself. "Look, Bo-" he caught himself this time. "Gibbs. I never meant to ruin what you had there. I just didn't think it was the right place for me anymore. And I didn't even want for you, any one of you, to apologize. You haven't-"

"Don't say we haven't done anything wrong." Gibbs growled, sounding almost like his old self.

Tony smiled bitterly. "You know what that means?"

"It means I, for one, didn't mean a word I said that day. I've told you so before, but I guess after everything, I can't blame you for not believing me. And I'm not here to make up for what the others have done; it's their mess to clean up and I want you to know that I didn't know they were going out that night. Still I was out of line and I want you to know that it won't happen again. No more jokes at your expense."

'Man, why didn't I leave sooner?' Tony chuckled inwardly. But he actually did miss his old place and... Well, almost his old team. He sure did miss Gibbs. Despite the hurtful words, Tony still liked the man and secretly looked up to him, and it especially felt right now that Gibbs had come such a long way to say those words to him.

He just wouldn't make himself the prey anymore. Not even to placate Gibbs. But, could he go back?

"I still can't come back." He said quietly.

Gibbs' shoulder dropped in defeat and sadness filled his eyes.

"Not because I don't want to." Tony added quietly. "I can't."

"I understand." Gibbs nodded, trying to sound like he did.

"No. No, you don't." Tony swallowed. "Look. I can't tell you much; just know that the reason behind my resignation wasn't because I hated your guts. I'm not five, Gibbs, and I sure am not a desperate house wife."

Gibbs raised an eyebrow.

Rolling his eyes, Tony said, "you know what I mean. I don't pack my stuff and leave the moment I see something I don't like and I don't cry and run away when things don't go my way. I left because I was picked for a secret mission and it was a huge one."

Gibbs suddenly remembered Tony mentioning an operation earlier. "Then why did you resign?"

"Because I didn't know if I was going to come back alive." Tony said with no trace of self-pity in his voice. "And because I wasn't sure I'd still have a place on that team if I returned after such a long time. And because this case is classified and I couldn't share anything with anyone and because I didn't feel like being interrogated and belittled by my so-called teammates for something they clearly don't understand. And by that I mean doing my job and keeping secrets when I have to." His voice had raised by the end of his tirade and when he was done, he felt so drained that he just sank into the couch and closed his eyes.

"Yeah, I guess that was well deserved." Gibbs stood from his seat and sat beside Tony. "So, this suicide mission of yours-"

Tony opened his eyes and glared at him, daring him to ask one single question about it.

Holding one hand up in defeat, Gibbs said, "Just wanna make sure you have the proper backup."

"Gibbs. The mission is almost over." Tony rolled his eyes again and pushed himself forward.

"Things still could go wrong."

"Yeah, I guess now that you're here, anyone else could show up, too." Tony sighed. "My backup is the best that there is and if anything was going to happen, it would've happened by now."

"Do I know him?" Gibbs inquired.

As if on cue, a key turned into the luck and the door to the condo opened.

"Gibbs?"

"Callen?" Gibbs sounded just as shocked.

"He's your backup?"

"What's he doing here?"

Both men asked Tony at the same time.

Shaking his head, Tony smiled. "Yes, he is my backup." He answered Gibbs' question first and then looked at G Callen. "I'm still trying to find out how he's found out about this place. We might need to change a few things."

Gibbs stood up and gave his old friend a semi-hug; glad to know that Tony was right about his backup being the best that was out there. If he couldn't have Tony's back, at least he was sure of the man who was doing it. "So you two are in this together?"

"You could say so." Callen smiled. "Do I need to call Vance?"

Tony shook his head. "Only if you really think he could do something about it."

"Hmm." Callen smiled knowingly. "So, what are you doing here?" He asked Gibbs, knowing that Tony had resigned before leaving for this mission. Tony hadn't shared much with him, but he could tell that he wasn't fond of talking about Gibbs and his old team which meant they hadn't parted on good terms.

"Had to apologize to a friend." Gibbs announced with no hesitation, not caring if it made him sound strange.

Callen looked between Tony and Gibbs, trying to see if the said friend had forgiven the old marine or not.

But who was he kidding? If anything, during the months spent with Anthony DiNozzo, he'd learned that he truly was the best undercover agent he'd ever seen or heard of and he'd worked with many of them; and now, once again, he was unable to see behind Tony's masks. He was sure Gibbs was one of the few people who could do that and the man was a mystery himself; so it was only fair if the two of them could read each other so easily.

Shrugging in defeat, Callen smiled widely. "Well, I'm afraid you have to leave now and you have to be quiet about what you saw here today."

Gibbs nodded, knowing that it was the best thing he could do at that moment.

"Come to my place when it's over, alright?" He addressed Tony and almost sounded like he was pleading again. "Whenever it is. And come back to the team; like I said all those years ago, you're irreplaceable."

Tony was a little taken aback by how openly Gibbs was praising him and in front of another agent! But Gibbs had been surprising him from the moment he'd shown up at his door. "I'll call you." It was the best he could promise for now and he hoped that he'd walk out of his mission well enough to be able to keep that promise.

Gibbs stared at him before smiling slightly. "OK. Thanks for listening." He then turned his gaze to Callen and glared at him. "You better watch his back."

"Of course." Callen smiled. "When we first started this mission, I told him that he'd better be extra careful, because I know you'd have my head if anything happened to him."

"Damn right I will." Gibbs grinned and patted Callen's shoulder. "Thanks."

Callen nodded and left the room to give the other men a chance to say their farewells.

"Take care, Tony."

"You too, Gibbs. You'd better be there when I come -" he was about to say 'home', but somehow he couldn't bring himself to call it that. He'd severed all emotional ties with that place when he'd thought he was leaving for good.

Gibbs seemed to have read his mind once again. "I promised you that things would be different. All you have to do is concentrate on your mission now and then come home in one piece."

Tony's smile finally reached his eyes and that little improvement lifted a heavy weight off Gibbs' chest and he left the condo with his steps much lighter than when he'd arrived less than an hour ago.

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... TBC ...


A/N: Hope you share your thoughts with me. OOC Gibbs, I know! But this is a fiction! We can have Gibbs say those things at least here! Right?

Another -relatively short- chapter and this one will be over, too.

All mistakes are mine.

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