Here's my sequel to Being Careful. I hope you all enjoy and review!
To everyone who was asking for a sequel to Free Falling, I'm going to write one, but I want to wait until I clear it up a little bit in my head. Also I don't know how many people watch movies from the nineteen forties anymore, I know most of my friends don't know what I'm talking about if I mention them, but there are some spoilers for Laura in here. Just a warning.
Please tell me what you think!
~Renee

Gibbs stared at the plasma screen and scowled.

A murdered marine and her sister who could possibly be next.

Diane and Ginger Comings.

No leads.

No motives.

No anything.

How could there be nothing?

Something didn't add up.

And he hadn't had coffee in hours.

His hand twitched as he leaned closer the screen, narrowing his eyes at information written across the television.

No suspects.

No coffee.

And no second in command.

Where the hell was his SFA?

"McGee."

The young man jumped to his feet, his eyes wide and face pale.

"Gibbs?"

"DiNozzo."

"Um...I…what about him?"

Gibbs sucked his cheeks in frustration and turned his glare to the probationary agent.

"Where is he?"

"Oh! Right after you left for your meeting he said something about a...a poisoned goose, I...I don't know. Then he took out of here like a shot and I don't know where he went. Then he called and asked for an address and told me to pull the records of a Brandon Howard."

Gibbs raised an eyebrow.

"And did you?"

"Did I what?"

Gibbs clenched his fists. There was a reason he only dealt with Tony and DiNozzo usually took care of the other agents.

"Did you get him what he needed?"

"I got him the address but the records, I um...Well...you were in the directors office and I didn't know if you-"

"McGee, did you pull Howard's records?"

McGee dipped his head.

"No Gibbs."

Gibbs drew a deep breath and took a step towards the agent's desk.

"DiNozzo is my Senior Field Agent. And that means when I am not here his word is as good as mine. You got that McGee? When he gives orders, you follow them. Now pull the d*mn records."

McGee paled even more, which Gibbs thought was impossible and nearly dropped into his chair, his fingers typing frantically.

"Yes sir."

Gibbs growled in the back of his throat but before he could ream him further the elevator dinged and a familiar voice floated over the desks.

"...And believe me, that was a pretty big mistake."

"DiNozzo!" Gibbs bellowed.

"Coming, boss."

Tony appeared in the bullpen, a large angry looking man in handcuffs in front of him, blocking Gibbs' view of the younger man.

"DiNozzo. Bringing home a friend for dinner?"

He could hear the smile in his voice though he still couldn't see his face.

"I don't usually bring playmates in handcuffs, but since you're so approving, I'll keep that in mind. Meet Brandon Howard, the man who is about to become very familiar with our interrogation rooms."

Gibbs nodded thoughtfully and waved at two agents who were chatting nearby.

"Johnson, Dell, take Mr. Howard to interrogation one please."

The two agents stepped forward and pulled the man away from Tony, revealing the agent for the first time.

Gibbs blinked once at his appearance.

His suit jacket was ripped and there was a dark bruise already forming on his cheek.

Gibbs' eyes narrowed and he stepped forward about to speak, when Tony raised a finger and whistled.

"Wait..."

A woman ran up and handed Tony a coffee.

"Here you go Tony."

He gave her the now infamous DiNozzo smile.

"Thanks Peggy. I owe you one."

She blushed and giggled.

"We're even. I would have been stuck on the side of the road forever. I never could get the hang of changing a tire."

With that she smiled and disappeared back to where she came from, waving at Tony.

Tony grinned and handed the coffee to Gibbs.

Gibbs stared at the cup and then DiNozzo for a long moment before reaching out and snatching the steaming beverage from his hands and pointed to the elevator.

Tony sighed and nodded, turning back around and stepping to the metal box.

Gibbs' eyes narrowed at the slight limp he saw Tony was trying to hide.

"Since we're here, we might as well go down to Abby, I dropped some stuff off for her to check."

He leaned against the wall and ignored Gibbs' look, choosing instead to stare at the ceiling.

When he felt the elevator jerk to a stop he swiveled his gaze back to Gibbs' and grinned.

"Now, in my defense, I just had a couple questions for him, something I needed to check. I didn't know he was going to...well…yeah, but he only got in a couple swings."

Gibbs raised an eye brow and stared pointedly at the torn jacket.

"A couple swings huh?"

Tony's eyes flickered away.

"It was a good punch. But worth it."

Gibbs doubted that. He didn't like it when his people got hurt, but that feeling intensified when it was Tony. He couldn't explain the fatherlike attachment he felt towards the younger man, but he wasn't going to study it too carefully. He bit back the sigh and asked the question the he knew Tony was dying for him to ask.

"What did you find?"

Tony's smile was dazzling.

"The murder weapon."

Gibbs paused and then took a long sip of his coffee.

"What happened?"

"Laura."

Gibbs stared at him, but nothing was coming.

Tony sighed.

"Laura. A film noir from 1944 directed by Otto Preminger. All about a woman who was murdered and a case of mistaken identity and then the woman who was thought to be killed was almost murdered by an obsessed admirer. Great movie, classic. One of my favorites. Not to mention it got me thinking about our murdered marine and the similarities between her and her sister. I went back the crime scene and checked out Ginger's room instead of Diane's. Something just felt off. Her room was a disaster, stuff everywhere, a complete mess, typical twenty one year old's room. Except... for one of her windows. It was spotless. No dust had settled. It was like the entire window, the sill the glass everything, had been cleaned recently. The others were disgusting. Dirt, fingerprints, the whole nine yards, but not the one on the end."

Gibbs tilted his head back in realization.

"You think our killer came in through the window and erased his tracks."

Tony nodded.

"Through Ginger's window. He was waiting for Ginger. What he got was Diane. But it's dark, the two look a lot alike, he's seriously ticked off and shoots before he looks. And after shooting someone in the face..."

Gibbs knew what he wasn't saying.

"There isn't a lot left to make sure you got the right person."

Tony sighed and picked back up.

"So I started to dig into Ginger's stuff and found something interesting in her journal."

Tony paused and screwed his face.

"I don't care how long I've been in law enforcement, it never feels right to go through something personal like that."

He shook his head and refocused.

"She wrote something about a date that went wrong a couple months ago, it was a blind date, but the guy kept calling and wouldn't take no for an answer and she was starting to become scared. She found him once waiting for her outside their home and she called the police. When he was asked to leave the property she said he became volatile and dangerous. I thought it was worth checking."

Tony stretched and began to pace back and forth in the small space.

"So I called McGee for the address and headed out there. He answered the door, took one look at my badge, came at me and ran back in the house and tried to grab a shot gun."

Gibbs' gripped the coffee tighter at the thought of Tony without back-up and down as a potential murder got a hold of a shot gun, but Tony was oblivious.

"Thankfully I got to mine before he reached the weapon. 12 gauge, matched our murder weapon to a tee. Handcuffed Howard, stuck him in the car, bagged and tagged the gun for Abby. She ran into me when I was walking him up here and took it off my hands."

Tony paused again and pursed his lips.

"I think that covers everything. You're all caught up."

Gibbs stared at him for long minute then took a draining gulp of the now cool coffee.

"I was in a meeting for less than two hours. You did all of that in less than two hours?"

Tony grinned again and winked.

"Work smarter, not-"

"Harder. Yeah, I've heard. DiNozzo…the next time you go somewhere without back-up, I'm shooting you myself."

Tony chuckled.

"Get in line Boss."

Gibbs shook his head and flipped the switch sending the elevator back on its journey.

"And to think Kate said we wouldn't get a thing done while she was out of town."

Gibbs rolled his eyes but didn't respond. The team could get on just fine without Kate. And McGee. But take Tony out of the equation and they crashed and burned. They learned that the hard way when Tony had a horrible case of the flu a few months ago and had missed four days of work on Ducky's orders.

When Tony came back there had been four plates of cookies on his desk and a pile of get well cards all telling him that the next time he gets sick, he sure as hell better sneeze on Gibbs and take him with him. Either that or never get sick again.

Ever.

Tony had bit back a smile and asked Kate if he had been missed.

She couldn't even deny it.

And neither could Gibbs, he simply opted to not answer the question.

That had been answer enough for the younger man who had simply smiled and settled himself behind his desk, humming the theme song to some tv show from the eighties.

That reminded Gibbs.

"Poisoned goose?"

Tony looked up at him with confusion.

"Excuse me?"

"McGee said something about a poisoned goose, I'm assuming that led to all of this."

Tony huffed.

"A poisoned...no. Ducky had come by and said something about his mother calling him a silly old goose and then McGee was bidding on antique ink pens and it reminded me of a quote from the movie. The killer from the film at one point said, 'I don't use a pen. I write with a goose quill dipped in venom.' Everything clicked."

Gibbs nodded and stepped forward as the doors dinged.

Tony began to follow him, but paused when he saw where they ended up.

"Autopsy...Boss I don't need Ducky!"

Gibbs narrowed his eyes and pointed to the sliding doors.

Tony sighed and slid his hands into his pockets.

"I'm fine Gibbs."

He said nothing.

"Fine. Fine, I'm going. But let me tell you boss, you have a serious problem. No other authority figure has ever forced medical attention on me. I think you have some sort of complex, you should have that checked out. No one else would do this."

He shook his head and walked through the doors, calling out a cheery greeting for the doctor.

Gibbs rolled his eyes and watched him go, murmuring to himself.

"And that's why I do it. Three years and you're still reckless."

Gibbs crossed his arms and relaxed, allowing Tony a moment alone with Ducky and himself some space to think. Heaven knew he needed it. He leaned against the wall and looked up at the ceiling and now that Tony wasn't around to see, Gibbs allowed the smile that he had been hiding to show.

In less than two hours, he had taken a case that completely empty, cold before it even started, and cracked it wide open. Found a motive, a suspect, the weapon and then brought it all back to headquarters wrapped in a nice little handcuffed bow.

Three years, four months and six days.

And he still had tricks up his sleeve.

Gibbs shook his head and pushed himself off the wall.

Time to see what the tricks had cost him.

Xxx

Tony whistled as as walked up the stairs to his apartment.

The day hadn't quite gone like he planned, Gibbs had nearly blown a gasket after seeing what Tony had hidden from him. So maybe the first punch had ended with the two of them rolling down some cement steps. And maybe Tony had ended up on the bottom and taken most of blows. In the end, Tony had reached his gun first and brought the guy in.

And after three minutes in interrogation with Gibbs he had cracked.

Case solved.

Tony was celebrating with a night of pizza and watching Laura in honor of its' inspiration.

Or not.

Tony paused when he saw the two pairs of feet.

He sighed and smiled.

"Hey Mags, Greg."

The four feet became two people as the two kids popped up from laying on their backs outside his door.

"Tony!"

The little boy jumped up and ran at Tony, throwing his arms around his legs.

"Hi Tony!" the little boy lisped smiling up at him.

Tony grinned and reached down, swinging the girl up on his hip while the boy gripped his leg.

"Hey Greg, you're so tall! I just saw you a week ago, what happened? How are you Maggie?"

The girl smiled at him, revealing a missing front tooth. She swung a backpack around and handed it to Tony who smiled at the dolls sticking out of the top.

"I'm fine Tony. Daddy said we should come visit. Mommy's doesn't feel good and she's shouting a lot. She looked angry."

Tony's brow furrowed and he glanced behind him towards the stairs.

That was strange.

Jonathan was always coming by to find his kids and apologize for them following Tony around like shadows. Tony had never minded, they reminded him of Tessie and helped fill the empty space that losing the Alexander's had left behind. He loved spending time with the kids and had told Mr. Eliot that several times until the man didn't bother trying to keep the kids away, but he never ever sent the kids to him. They always just showed up.

Leaving his kids alone in the hall, especially when Tony wasn't even home...something was wrong.

And for Cassandra to be shouting...

"Tony?"

Tony smiled past the worry and reassured the children.

"Hold on guys, let me get my keys and you can go pick out a movie. Did you guys eat supper?"

The two kids exchanged looks then grinned.

"What are you having?"

Tony chuckled.

"I was going to have pizza."

Greg threw his hands in the air.

"We haven't eaten!"

Tony laughed and pushed open the door, struggling to get through the doorway with Maggie's arms cutting off his air flow and Greg gripping his knee.

"Here's your drop off."

Maggie and Greg laughed and dashed over to the shelf of DVD cases, each pulling their favorites.

Seeing them settled, he locked the door behind him and went straight to his bedroom and placed his weapon in the safe, the first thing he did every time the kids came by. He was never going to take the chance, no matter how uncomfortable he felt without the gun nearby. Double checking the lock on the safe he closed the door behind him and walked back into the living room and checked on the two.

They stood holding handfuls of movies, arguing over their favorites even though he knew they hadn't even seen most of the ones they held.

Tony smiled at their chatter and picked up his cell phone, concern creeping up again.

Before calling for pizza he dialed an unfamiliar number, he seldom used it, but kept close by. With the kids popping by as often as they did, he kept the number handy but he had seldom had to use it. Only to let Jonathan know they had followed him upstairs or if it was okay if he fed them pizza.

But now he was having a Gibbs moment and his gut was telling him something was going on.

The phone rang endlessly.

Finally someone picked up.

"Hello?"

The voice sounded strained.

"Jonathan?"

"Yes?"

"This is Tony from downstairs, I was just making everything was alright."

"Oh yeah, I um...Cassandra and I are having… I really didn't want the kids around here. They spend so much time knocking on your door, I didn't think that you would…. I….do you mind?"

Tony glanced over at the kids who were tearing his living room apart and grinned.

"Of course not. I don't mind at all. I love having them here. I just wanted to make sure everything was alright."

Jonathan hesitated.

"We're having a difficult time, Cassandra decided to stop her medication and I'm trying to convince her to get back on it...she's a little erratic right now from the withdrawal and I don't want the kids to see this."

Tony narrowed his eyes. He didn't know Cassandra took medication. It didn't matter to him, but he knew that stopping certain medicines suddenly and then trying to start back up again could really screw with your head. It could get messy. And dangerous.

"Do you need any help?"

He could practically hear Jonathan shaking his head through the phone.

"No, I can handle it, we've done this before. Thank you though. I'll be down for the kids in a little bit. Are you sure you don't mind?"

Tony looked back at the children who were making giant piles of his DVD's and pulling toys out of the backpack.

"I don't mind at all, but call if you need anything Jonathan, alright? Please don't hesitate."

Jonathan agreed and thanked him again before quickly getting off the phone. Tony looked at the display that showed the ended call for minute, conflicted as to what he should do next. He could go up there, make sure everything was alright. But the kids...if things were unsettling, he didn't want to expose the children. But if Jonathan needed help...
Tony sighed.
Jonathan had done this before. Everything would be alright. Besides, Jonathan wasn't a stupid man. He would call if things got out of control. He knew Tony would help in a heart beat. They weren't close neighbors, but everyone in the building knew Tony was the guy to call if you needed a helping hand.

"Tony, we're hungry!"

"What do you want on your pizza?"

"Cheese!"

He shook his head at the thought of a plain cheese pizza but dialed the pizza place anyway, placing his order quickly.

"Tony! Come play!"

Tony turned his attention back to the kids who had built a road out of DVD cases and books were driving hot wheel cars up and down it.

He smiled and pushed back the uneasy feeling lingering from the phone call.

Everything was fine.

Of course it was.

Tony jumped over the couch and settled himself on the floor, smiling.

"Want to play Tony?"

Greg offered a car.

Tony reached out and took and car, studying the tiny mustang.

"I'd love to."

Maggie smiled and crawled over with her dolls and sat on the floor next to him.

Together they started to make a castle out of DVD's.