Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or anything associated with it. They belong to CBS. I own Leah, Jack and Gracie.

Warnings: Tony/OC, McGee/Delilah, mentions of past Tiva, spoilers for past seasons

A/N: This is an old one that I had started, stopped, took down, and now have resurrected. Before it didn't feel like it fit, now it does. I know it has been a while since I wrote anything. Hope you like this one!

Secrets and Lies

Warm breezes tickled his cheeks as he stepped out of his old, beat-up, red pick-up truck. Leroy Jethro Gibbs pulled tightly on his jacket and made his way across the street.

Instructions had been to come alone. Gibbs didn't see the harm in meeting face to face with the frantic marine that had called him, said he'd gotten his number from someone he'd met overseas. He wouldn't specify who and Gibbs didn't deem that necessary information at this point. If, later down the road he needed to find out where and who the marine had gotten his number from—he'd have McGee do his magic.

Right now it was about the nervous marine, seated on bench in Rock Creek Park. Gibbs paused to study him for a moment. He was no more than thirty, drumming his fingers against his thighs, flinching at the slightest clink of a glass behind him.

"Lieutenant Ryan?" the former marine inquired as he stepped up to the bench. The younger man looked up with a nervous glance. "I'm Special Agent Gibbs."

"Did you come alone like I asked?" Ryan questioned, eyes darting about the street. "No back-up waiting for you in that car?"

Gibbs shook his head. "Nope. Just me." DiNozzo's going to kill me later when he finds out. "If I feel the need to bring my team in later—I will. But for now, we're just talking."

Ryan ran his hands over his face, shifting slightly when Gibbs took a seat on the bench with him. "I shouldn't have called you. God, everything is such a mess!" He pulled his hands away from his face and looked at Gibbs. The former marine could see the uncertainty and fear flashing in the younger man's irises. "I never wanted to be a part of any of it, Agent Gibbs, I swear!"

"All right, Lieutenant," Gibbs said, softly. "Just tell me what happened."

"I can't! Damn it! I never should have called NCIS in! They're going to kill me!" Ryan gasped, hands shaking violently.

Gibbs reached out and gripped the young man's shoulder. "Lieutenant. NCIS can protect you. We can put you up in a safe house."

Ryan shook his head, furiously. "You don't know what you're up against here, Agent Gibbs. These are bad, bad people."

"How bad, Lieutenant?" Gibbs prodded.

"Bad. I can't tell you here, they might be listening," Ryan said. "They have eyes and ears everywhere in Washington."

"Everyone has eyes and ears in Washington," Gibbs replied. "I can't help you until you tell me what I'm up against."

Ryan smiled, sadly. "You can't really help me, Agent Gibbs. Eventually, they'll find me."

Gibbs slowly nodded his head. "Who, Lieutenant?"

"Here," Ryan said, pulling out a long, thin, black rectangle—something that Gibbs had once heard McGee refer to as a flash drive—whatever the hell that was.

"What is this?" Gibbs asked, taking the flash drive from the marine.

"All you'll need to know."

Gibbs looked at the marine, gratefully. "We'll get 'em, Lieutenant. I'll hand this over to my team and they'll find 'em."

Ryan opened his eyes and stared at Gibbs, lifelessly. "Your team any good, Agent Gibbs?"

"Only the best, Lieutenant."

He seemed to be put at ease now that the flash drive was out of his hands. Gibbs stood and pulled the marine to his feet. "Let's get you back NCIS and I'll call my team."

Ryan let him lead the way back to his truck. Gibbs unlocked it and helped the marine inside, glancing around the park. Tony would call it his gut—or ninja sense—but he felt like he was being watched. And if Ryan was right, that someone was out to get him now that he had contacted NCIS, it was probably best to bring the young man back to headquarters and set up a protection detail.

Gibbs felt the weight of the world on his shoulders. He knew that the team was short staffed since he retired. They'd been working hard, they deserved a weekend off—they should be spending their weekends with their loved ones not hiding away in rural areas protecting someone. Perhaps it was time to call Tobias—Gibbs was sure the FBI agent owed him a favor again by now and could possibly already owe Tony several favors. Starting the truck up, Gibbs pulled out of his parking space and headed towards the Navy Yard.

"Your team have families, Agent Gibbs?" Ryan asked softly, calmly.

"One agent expecting twins," Gibbs said with a smile.

"What about the others?"

"Another has three kids, and a very independent wife."

Ryan sighed. "I'm sorry that I dragged them all into this."

Gibbs shook his head. "Nonsense, Lieutenant, they knew the risks the moment they signed up."

"Spoken like a true marine," Ryan mused. "Your friend in the Middle East said I could trust you."

"Yeah. Who was this friend?" Gibbs asked as they approached a four way stop.

Before the marine could answer, the passenger side window shattered in a hail of gunfire. The federal agent instinctively let go of the wheel to cover his head.

Glass shattered, tires squealed and the truck became airborne, catapulted through the air and landed in a ditch against an evergreen. Gibbs heard Ryan groan next to him once and then take one, last shuddering breath—all before pain and darkness took hold of him.

Scents of lilies and honey hit his nostrils as soon as he began to shift into a conscious state. Anthony DiNozzo felt a smile tug at his lips and he reached out, pulling the warm body sharing his bed with him, closer.

"Good morning, bella," he whispered as she stirred in his arms.

"Is it morning already?" she murmured, turning towards him.

Tony slowly blinked his eyes open and cast them over her delicate features. He smiled at her when her own eyes opened. "Yes. It's morning already. You know, it tends to come much faster when you don't go to sleep until two in the morning." He lowered his mouth to hers and kissed her, enveloping her into his embrace so there was no space between their bodies. "Comes much faster when you're doing other things too," he teased, pulling back and allowing his lips to linger over hers.

Leah traced a path with her fingertips down his jawline, feeling the rough stubble underneath them. Her eyes met with his and her cheeks pulled into a grin; she sighed. "Can we stay like this all day, Tony?"

"I want to stay like this, forever, Leah," he responded, snuggling them deeper into the covers.

"Me too," she breathed, her arms snaking around his waist and pulling her body closer to his own.

Tony grinned and buried his face in her hair, taking in a deep breath of her scent. He loved that scent. Loved waking up to it every morning, hated when he didn't. Kissing her soft, golden brown waves, Tony savored the moment. It wasn't often he got moments like these. His job, her job—they pulled them in opposite directions more often than not.

Leah shifted to be released from his grasp, but he tightened his hold on her. "What happened to staying like this forever?" he whispered.

"I want to, but I need to use the bathroom, unless you'd rather I go here…"

"Go. Before you ruin the sheets."

She laughed as he released her and she slipped out of the bed, running to the bathroom. Tony sat up and rubbed the remaining sleep from his eyes. Sunshine filtered through the large windows, giving the room the illusion that it was painted in gold, making it look larger than it was. A single dresser was all that remained from his old bedroom in his apartment; he still remembered the look on McGee's face when Tony had replaced his single bed with a queen. Apparently, at the time none of them believed him that he was ready to let people in. McGee's still waiting for the other shoe to drop, almost five years later, Tony thought, amused.

Pulling himself out of bed when he heard the bathtub start up, Tony went to his dresser and fished out some clean clothes. Glancing out the window he could see that it was a beautiful day—and he had the whole lot of it to spend with Leah. He knew that being married to a federal agent wasn't easy and married to a federal agent that worked for one Leroy Jethro Gibbs was especially difficult—but she had understood from the start. Now, he was making it even more difficult being married to an agent that was leading a team.

In the bathroom he heard the bathtub turn off and then the door creaked open. He turned slightly to see Leah standing there, wrapped in a towel, smiling at him.

"Very Special Agent DiNozzo, would you care to join me?" she asked, seductively.

"You must have read my mind," he said, grinning and abandoning his clean clothes on the floor. "I was just picturing you, naked, in a bath tub."

Leah rolled her eyes, playfully as he crossed the room and pressed her into the doorframe, lowering his lips to hers in a fiery kiss. His hands burrowed into her hair, pulling her close to him. He could feel his entire body responding to her, her fingers as they pulled at his tee shirt.

Tony smiled breaking their kiss, "Why, Mrs. DiNozzo, do I get the impression you want to spend this beautiful day inside?"

"Would you rather spend it outside, Agent DiNozzo?" Leah teased, returning his passionate kisses. "I don't think it would be as much fun."

"Oh, definitely not," Tony responded, his hands reaching for the towel.

He'd just tugged it loose when his cell phone rang. "No, no, no! Not now!" he gasped against her lips. It kept ringing incessantly. "Ignore it! It will stop!"

She shook her head and kissed him one more time. "You can't ignore it; you have a job to do."

Tony knew that she was right and growled low in his throat as he reached above the dresser, yanking his cell phone down. He slid his finger over the screen and pressed it to his ear. "There better be a good reason you're bothering me, McGee."

"Tony, there is. It's Gibbs. There's…there's been an accident. Tony… his tires were shot at... he lost control of the truck..."

Every muscle in his body stiffened. Tony pulled back from Leah, running his free hand through his hair. "What the hell happened, McGee?" he snarled, anger coursing through his veins. Someone had hurt his family. Nothing made him more pissed off than when someone hurt his family. "Gibbs said he was going to the cabin for the weekend."

McGee cleared his throat. "Metro isn't sure what happened. His car was found in a ditch in Rock Creek Park early this morning."

"Son of a bitch," Tony growled. He found the jeans he had discarded on the floor just moments before and pulled them on. "Anyone else in the car with him?"

"Marine Lieutenant Robert Ryan."

Tony buckled his jeans and then pinched the bridge of his nose. The name didn't sound familiar. "Alright," he said taking a deep breath. "Call Bishop, call Abby. Get them into NCIS. I'll get in touch with Fornell and Ducky."

McGee stammered his next response, it had been so damn long since he'd stammered, "D-Ducky's on his way…to the hospital…I…I called him…first."

"Okay, good job, McGee," Tony said, gently. "Where are you now?"

"At…at home."

"Have Delilah drive you to the crime scene. I'll meet you there."

"O-okay."

Tony took one more, deep steadying breath. "Tim—listen to me—it's going to be alright." He wasn't sure if his partner responded, but Tony hung the phone up. He closed his eyes tightly. Gibbs was targeted. Someone hurt my family. Hurt Gibbs. I'll be damned if they get away with it.

His eyes flew open at that moment and he pulled a lightweight sweater on over his bare chest. All thoughts about the day had flown out the window, all his relaxed feelings—gone. Tony felt like screaming, throwing things, beating up on a punching bag—anything to get his anger out so he could focus on finding the bastard responsible for hurting the man that had been more than a boss to him—Gibbs was a father. And no one hurt the people that he cared for and got away with it. Grabbing his badge and gun, Tony flopped down onto the bed and pulled his shoes on.

"Anthony?" Leah's voice was small. He had forgotten she was still there.

"It's not good," Tony whispered, looking at her, somberly. She had changed into one of his old, Ohio State t-shirts. He just wanted to hold her. You have a job.

Leah nodded. "Do you…do you need me to do anything?"

Tony blinked back his tears and stood. He reached out and pulled her closer. "You're doing all I need right now." I wish we could stay like this forever.