Tony is in Philadelphia PD's Arson and Drug Unit. He's been there for about two years now, trying to navigate his way in a hostile work environment and trying to find new ways to deal with a captain that hates him and a partner that blames him for everything- whether it is Tony's fault or not.

Chapter 1

Tony had had enough. It wasn't bad enough that his partner had punched their suspect in the face, knocking out several teeth in the process, but Scott had also shot the poor guy in the stomach and arm. Their suspect was currently laying in a hospital bed, post surgery, while he healed from the gunshot wounds. Tony had told Scott that he would report him if he shot the suspect, so here he was now, trying to make Captain Walter listen. Not that it was an easy task. Walter hated Tony- he had ever since Tony had joined the unit two years earlier. The captain never cared about a thing Tony said, and made sure that the rest of the unit hated him too.

"Sir, you have to do something about Scott. This is the third suspect he's put in hospital this week. He's escalating. The next person might not be lucky enough to go to the hospital," Tony tried for the fourth time.

"DiNozzo, I don't need to hear your silly arguments. Get out of my office." Walter pulled Tony out of the door, slamming it behind him.

Tony sighed. The squad room was empty, just him and his partner at the desks. There was nobody to back him up, there never was. Making his way through the jumble of desks, Tony reached his own just as the phone rang. He picked it up, hearing the police commissioner's voice on the other end.

"Yes, commissioner. We'll get right on it." Tony waited out a small speech, then said, "no sir, he's not. It's the third time now. His victims are still alive, though a couple are not doing too well… Sure… Thank you, commissioner."

Tony hung up the phone, noticing the glare he was getting from Scott.

"Captain wouldn't believe your lies, so you had to tell them to the police commissioner? You're pathetic."

"Actually, we have a case. Tommy Fields shot his fourth victim. Let's go."

Tony went to grab his gun, but he felt a hand on his arm. He swung around, ready to defend himself, but relaxed when he saw the smile on his partner's face. He didn't know why it made him feel better, because a moment later, he was being pushed up against the desks behind him, his partner's strong arms holding him there.

"Scott," he choked out through the strong grip on his throat. "What the hell?"

"You told the commissioner about me. Now you are going to pay." Scott tightened his grip on Tony's throat, choking him. "You know, your mother would be so ashamed of you. Your father, on the other hand, would be so happy to know his son was exactly like him. Maybe I should call him, let him know what you did?"

"Get off me!" Tony found strength he didn't know he had. Nobody spoke about his family without pushing his buttons, and the anger he was feeling right then made him want to kill Scott. He pushed Scott away, succeeding on getting the hand off his neck, but not quite getting enough room to free himself. "Get your hands off me!"

"Oh, Tony, you poor little wimp," taunted Scott just as he pulled back his fist and punched Tony in the face. "Such a waste of space and air." Another blow landed on Tony's stomach.

Tony was reeling now. He could feel the blood dripping down his face from his nose. He could feel blood on the side of his head, and assumed that Scott had managed to cut him open somewhere. He gathered up all of the strength he had and pushed again, getting Scott off this time. He slid out from the desks and tried to get to the staircase, only to find it blocked by Walter.

"Captain, you have to be seeing this," Tony tried, though it was no use. Walter wasn't even listening this time.

Tony felt a hand grab him again, and when he spun around this time, he let go of all his anger and punched out, catching Scott off guard. His punch landed on Scott's face, giving Tony enough time to slip out of his grasp again. He made his way to the phone, pressing the re-dial button. He wasn't sure what the last number he called was, but he didn't care right then. He was just hoping that someone would pick up and hear what was going on. He left the phone off the hook and ducked as Scott tried to hit him again. The next punch was unexpected, and caught Tony in the face again. He felt his nose break this time, and more blood began to gush.

"Scott, please, stop," Tony pleaded, the pain in his face becoming too much to handle.

"Shut up, DiNozzo," said Walter from near the stairs.

Tony ignored him. Blood was dripping into his eyes now, and he was having difficulty seeing anything through the red haze. He dropped to the floor and made his way to the stairs, the only way out of their squad room. He was stopped by Walter just as Scott went to kick him. Tony rolled out from underneath the foot, but he wasn't fast enough. Scott stopped him without even trying, using his foot to push Tony right back to the stairs. When Tony was able to see where he was, he looked up at his partner.

"Scott, don't do this…" he said. He saw someone walking up the stairs. "Help!" he shouted to them. "Help!"

The woman on the stairs looked up, dropped her file, and started running up. Before she could reach the landing below the stairs, however, Tony felt himself being lifted up, a hand around his neck again. Scott was laughing as he stood Tony up, then pushed him forward, watching him roll down the stairs.

Tony's head hit a few of the steps along the way until he came to a stop at the bottom of the stairs. He could just make out a friendly face above him through the blood that completely covered his face now.

"What the hell happened up there?" she asked as she bent down next to him.

"Help, Zoe, please," said Tony, feeling like his throat was on fire.

"Paramedics have already been called. Are you alright?" Zoe gently touched Tony's rapidly swelling face, making him wince. "Sorry."

Tony let Zoe lift him up. She sat him against the wall, so he let himself slide down the wall into a more comfortable position. His chest was tight, and he knew that he was wheezing, not breathing. It hurt too much for him to actually breathe like normal, with both his chest and throat painful.

Ten minutes later, paramedics were by his side on the landing. One of them was talking to Zoe, asking her what had happened. The second one was sitting on the floor next to Tony, carefully checking his face. She gently pushed on the skin around his eyes, and Tony winced again. He tried to pull away, but the medic held him still.

"Detective, I know this is painful, but the more you move around, the more it's going to hurt. You're swelling up, so we need to make sure that there's no hidden damage," she said kindly.

Tony nodded. He tried to let the medic work, but when she and her partner helped him stand up to walk to the ambulance, he let his head fall onto her shoulder for a moment, just to relieve some pain.

"Are you ready to go?" the medic asked Tony. He lifted his head and nodded. "Okay. We're going down the stairs, but we'll take it slowly if you need us to."

Tony let them lead him down the stairs and out of the police building. He let them help him into the ambulance and onto the stretcher inside. Once he was resting on the stretcher, Tony closed his eyes and passed out.

When Tony woke up, he was lying in a hospital bed. The blankets were warm and comforting. The pillows under his head were like clouds. Even the soft beeping from the heart monitor was somewhat comforting. Tony slowly turned his head and saw a nurse next to him. She was in the middle of wrapping a blood pressure cuff around his arm, but she looked up and gave him a smile.

"Welcome back, Tony. How are you feeling?" she asked kindly, finishing connecting the cuff to the monitor.

"Sore," said Tony, glad to find that his throat was no longer sore. Even his chest felt a little better.

"What's sore?"

"My face. And my stomach too."

"Your doctor will be back in a moment with some ice for your face. We've brought the swelling down a little bit, but it is going to take a few days for it to heal completely."

Tony tried to smile, but it ended up being a grimace. He looked out through the open door. "Who are they?" he asked.

The nurse didn't bother turning around. "The tall one is the police commissioner. The other two are from your Internal Affairs department."

"Great. Just what I need."

"Apparently, you called the Internal Affairs department."

"I did?" Tony thought a moment. "That must have been the last number I called. I just pressed re-dial because I didn't have time to press numbers."

"You aren't in trouble, in case that's what you were thinking. They just want a statement. And the commissioner wants to talk to you, if you're feeling up to it."

"I guess it's okay. I do want to speak with him about something, so I guess this is the best time to do it."

"After the doctor is done with you, you can talk to them."

"Thank you." Tony rested his head back on the pillows until a doctor walked in.

"Detective, I'm Doctor Constance. How are you feeling?"

"My face and stomach are sore."

"Your stomach will heal in no time. The damage is superficial. Your face, however, will take a while. At the very least, for the next several days, it'll be swollen. We've been applying ice-packs while you were unconscious in the hopes that it would help, but it hasn't done as much as we had been hoping it would."

"Can I go home?"

"I want to keep you under observation for twenty-four hours, but, after that, yes, you can go home."

"Okay." Tony wasn't going to argue with the doctor. His face was painful, and if he could stay in bed and rest for a whole day, that's what he was going to do.

Doctor Constance came over, gently applied an ice-pack to Tony's face for a few minutes. Then he took out his stethoscope to check Tony.

"How is your chest feeling?"

"Good. It's not burning anymore, and I feel like I can breathe now."

"That's good. Take a few deep breaths for me." The doctor moved his stethoscope around Tony's chest, listening to his heart and lungs. "Thank you." He looked at the monitor. "You're heart rate and blood pressure are normal now. We'll probably monitor you for a few hours, then take you off and let you get some rest."

"Thanks."

The doctor finished checking Tony, giving him some pain relief, and then left, letting him talk to the police.

"Detective DiNozzo, I'm Commissioner Stone."

"Never thought I'd actually meet you, sir."

"Most people don't think they will. How are you feeling?"

"A little better now that the painkillers are working."

"How did this happen?" asked one of the IA cops.

"My partner did it. I knew he had anger issues when I started in the unit, but I never thought he'd attack a fellow cop, let alone his actual partner."

"Did you think he would hurt you today?"

"He was angry with me, which had me on guard. For some reason, I relaxed once we were back at the PD, and that was when he started hitting me."

"Angry why?"

"He thought I had told Commissioner Stone about the way he had acted in the field today. It's not my fault he thought I was talking about him. If he has a guilty conscience, that's on him."

"What did he do?"

"He shot our suspect. Before that, he punched him, knocking out teeth. We didn't even need our weapons out. The suspect gave himself up and was not a threat. Especially not when he got hurt. I had already cuffed him and put him in the back of the car at the time."

"He was unarmed?"

"Yes. Just like the two other drug dealers we caught this week. All three are still in the hospital."

The IA detectives looked at each other. They thanked Tony for his cooperation and left, leaving the commissioner to talk to Tony.

"We'll deal with Scott later. Tony, I can't let you go back to that unit. Not after this."

"I don't want to go back there. I heard there was an opening in homicide in Baltimore. Would I be able to transfer there? I know this fight will be on my record, but can I still try?"

"Of course you can. I'll help you with the paperwork and put in a good word. You are a great detective, Tony, and that hasn't gone unnoticed."

"Are you sure about that?"

"I am. Several commendations have been put in your file already, and more will come. I'll let you know when I've sent the paperwork through for you. Try and rest, okay?"

"Thank you, sir. I appreciate it."

"I don't doubt that. Get better, and I'll speak with you soon."