Hi all, so this is my first ever story posting here. I don't really have much to say other that I hope you enjoy and it's rated M for a reason; language, violence. So, if you don't like that kind of thing or you're easliy offended by it don't read! The heavier stuff will come later.

.:. 1 .:.

Faye knelt on her balcony, scooping up fallen flower petals before more fell on her neighbor's car below. The car hadn't left it's cozy space since she moved in two weeks ago and her black, 1965 Ford Fairlane was beginning to look like a boat next to the silver Camaro. She admired her father's classic car as she often did, it's silver accent details glowing hot and bright in the summer sun. If one touched the chrome at that moment it would singe. She was fortunate to have been able to hold on to the car after her father died despite the many attempts that her mother made to sell it. The pair had moved to D.C. when her mom told her they were broke and were moving to live with a man she had only known for a little over a month and had met on the Internet. It was sketchy, but the things her mother did always were. It wasn't the first time her mother had gotten into a relationship for the money. However, drugs were the usual reason.

Gregg was nice, though. He was an older gentleman who lost his daughter to cancer decades ago. Time had begun to warp his mind and he occasionally called Faye by his daughter's name, Gracie, but otherwise he was sharp as a tack. Just that morning Faye had gently explained again that she was not Gracie; showing him the photo of Gregg and Gracie that always sat next to his recliner, his features showed recognizance and then sadness. It hurt her to hurt him whether it was her fault or not. She contemplated simply playing along next time.

Anthony DiNozzo felt a pang of dread as the cab pulled up outside his complex. Why couldn't vacations last longer or at least go by slower? It was just like a nice vacation to fly by in the blink of an eye, only allowing for a little taste of the high life before it was time to pack up and head back home. His Camaro was still sitting safe by the walkway leading to his condo and it seemed she'd made a friend with a black classic. 'Nice,' Tony thought as he admired the car and pulled his bags from the trunk of the cab. As much as he loved his new car, he missed his old one. As he walked to his door he frowned at the flower petals sticking to his baby's pristine, silver paint and looked up towards the source.

He saw a redheaded girl in a flowing summer dress, tip her beer bottle long neck down and swigged the last sip of the ale. "And you say I'm always breaking the law." her mom's snide voice rang out behind her. Where was Gregg, Tony wondered.

"It's one beer, Mother."

"Actually, it's my one beer and you're only twenty." Her mom tilted her jaw up in triumph. "Don't say mother like that. Like it's a bad thing. Do I have to remind you that I pushed that huge head of your's out me all by myself with no help from you? Or that I fed you and took care of you? Or that you're twenty and I'm still fucking taking care of your worthless ass!" Her voice rose with anger and resentment toward her daughter. "Twenty years old! No education, no man, no job." Tony cringed at the altercation. He remembered a few words he and his father exchanged when he was younger. He remembered being the one most often on the receiving end. He wanted to walk into his apartment, out of earshot, but he couldn't. So, instead pretended to rummage for something in his car.

Faye felt her anger rise, tried swallowing it down, but failed, "You were a terrible mother. How about all the times I had to sit up with you at night to make sure you didn't choke on your own vomit after you passed out from a pint of vodka? Or all of your horrible boyfriends I've had to endure, or gone with out food because we had no money in the bank?"

"Oh shut your trap," The woman barked at her daughter.

"Maybe, Mom, just maybe I'd be getting an education if you hadn't blown all our money on coke. If you hadn't forced me to pick up and start over again, I'd still have a job. And maybe I'd have an apartment of my own if I didn't come home to my room torn apart and hundreds of dollars of mine missing. Do you think I want to live here? You think I'm stupid, but I know you're using again, Mom."

Tony was frozen. Whew, did all redheads have fiery personalities? He'd have to ask Gibbs; he should know. The girl had moved to the rail of the balcony and was facing in his general direction. He didn't want to be caught eavesdropping. Like that the girl's mother had vanished into the apartment and reappeared, charging out of the downstairs exit with something in her hand. She flung up the windshield wiper of the classic car and slammed it back down over a for sale sign. Tony winced in sympathy for the car. It didn't take long for the barefooted redhead to reappear as well and rip the sign away.

"My. Car." Faye said through gritted teeth. She was so mad it was almost too difficult to squeeze them out. "We are n-not selling Daddy's car. You may want to forget he ever existed because you're a bitch, but he was the best you ever had and you'll never have anything so good ever again."

The sound of flesh hitting flesh silenced everything. Faye's eyes watered as her cheek screamed from the contact. "Is there a problem here?" Tony stepped in looking very commanding.

The two women stared at him for a moment before the girl looked down and the older woman smiled a menacing smile. "Just my daughter being a disrespectful little bitch." The women turned to the girl who was now holding back tears of embarrassment. Her cheek glowed red as a white hand print started to form. "Get the hell upstairs."

Faye felt like a little girl again. In times like these she knew it was easier to resign herself to the fact that she was stuck there and to make the best of it. She gladly ran upstairs, shutting the door to her room and hiding under her ratty comforter that she'd had since she was fourteen. She sobbed the afternoon away and fell asleep for a few hours with out eating dinner, emotionally exhausted.

Meanwhile, Tony accounted the events of the afternoon. He hoped the beautiful, young woman was safe. He felt his need to help kicking in again, but he was was hurting too and being home felt a lot like work. Selfishly, he didn't want to get involved. He had enough on his plate. The girl wasn't a child. She could take care of herself.

It had been a lazy afternoon. He hoped the remaining three days of his vacation would be just as quiet. He sat around. He didn't bother unpacking. He wouldn't be having company tonight and even he if was, he probably wouldn't bother anyway. At seven he checked his work email just to feel like he was in the loop. Gibbs must have given orders not to include him on case emails. He read a few protocol emails he had been included on. Tony then checked his personal email. Mostly spam, but one email from a frat brother that simply read: "Where you been?". Seriously? Had his social life gone downhill this much since Jeanne? She hadn't even been part of his inner circle and no one knew the identity, just that a woman was making Tony a very happy man. The spam emails were from bots trying to get him to join a dating site for "sexy Latinos" and two telling him he won a free pizza. The mere mention of pizza was enough to merit the ordering of a large, meatlovers pizza – extra cheese, extra meatlovers – from the pizza place across town. Seven-thirty came fast and it was time to go get dinner from Courthouse Pizza. The little joint's sign depicted the scales of justice, atop which was pizza. A courthouse stood down the road. The smell of bubbling cheese and sausage rushed at him as he opened the door. 'Justice...' Tony thought.

"Tony!" the owner's voice bellowed.

"Hey, Mick." Tony said flatly. He wasn't in the mood for pleasantries.

"Long time no see. What've you been up to? You didn't find a better pizza shop 'round here, did you?"

"Nah, nah." Tony furrowed his brow and shook his head. "I was just on a little vacation."

"Good. You work too hard, kid. Take it from somebody who's barely worked a day in his life, other than throwin' an order of fried pickles in the fryer now and then and toppin' pizzas all day of course; slow the hell down. Find a sweet little girl and put a ring on 'er finger. Annie and I – twenty years tomorrow and she's still as pretty as the day we met. Closin' the place early tomorrow, just so ya know. "See," Mick leaned in and glanced behind him toward the office where his wife spent most of her time. "I'm takin' her out to this real fancy restaurant and I got her a real diamond ring this time. Couldn't afford one back when we first met. Did I ever tell you how we met?"

"You did. Thanks for the advice. Is my pizza ready?" Mick sighed and nodded. He got the feeling the girl he used to come in here with wasn't around anymore so he didn't take the younger man's abruptness personally. Poor kid was on top of the world last year.

Why did everyone want to give him advice? First Ziva, then Gibbs, even McGee, bartenders, and now the guy at the local pizza joint. He was dealing with everything in his own way. Ducky would call it self-medicating. Tony topped off his rum and coke, grabbed the pizza, a roll of paper towels, and headed outside to eat. He couldn't sit inside his stuffy condo anymore, and the dusky, summer evening fit his mood all the same. He didn't like it here anymore. He wished he'd grabbed the real estate booklet on his way out of Courthouse Pizza.

The redhead was sitting on the hood of her car smoking a cigarette and drinking a beer when he sat down in the plastic lawn chair on the patio. She glanced in his direction very briefly and then returned to her own thoughts. He considered offering her a piece of pizza, but he wanted to eat alone. Finally, deciding it would be a nice thing to do he waited to get her attention and then waved her over. She reluctantly stood up and stamped out her cigarette on the fencepost.

"Yes?" Faye questioned standing just far enough away to feel safe.

"Want a slice? Extra cheese and meat."

The girl smiled a weakly. "No thanks, I'm a vegetarian."

Tony scoffed, "Mmm, tofu and lettuce. Exciting."

"You know, In Japan it's actually just as common for non-vegetarians to eat tofu as it is vegetarians."

"It is, is it?"

"Yeah," the girl swung her beer bottle back and forth slightly and played with the hem of her t-shirt. "I'm sorry about all that earlier. Hopefully we didn't disturb you. My name's Faye by the way. We – my Mom and I just moved in with the guy next door."

"It's fine. Are you alright? I see your cheek bruised. Damn it," Tony mumbled as all the cheese slid off his slice. When he looked back up she hadn't replied and was repositioning her long hair so it covered her bad cheek. Tony felt bad for pointing it out. "My name's Tony," He said quietly. He looked at her for a moment and then asked, "Faye, huh?"

Faye nodded and finished her beer, "After Faye Dunaway. My Mother went through a brief 'Bonnie and Clyde' phase just before she had me." Tony polished off his rum and coke and smiled, thoroughly enjoying how she was named.

"Want one?" he asked holding his glass up. "Wait, how old are you?"

Faye looked at him sheepishly for a moment and then replied that she was almost twenty-one. Tony stood there contemplating. "Eh," he said. "You're already drinking. If anyone asks, you told me you were twenty-one." Tony pointed his finger at her and she smiled. He disappeared into the apartment and Faye stayed put, not sure if she should follow. "Do you want ice?" He yelled. She took it as her cue to follow and slowly wandered inside. The place was dimly lit by his computer screen and a single light in the kitchen. It smelled manly; like sandalwood and amber. She liked it.

"Ice is fine." She discretely tried to check out the rest of his living area before the drinks were ready. A red leather sofa sat in front of a big screen TV. A wall of DVDs and even video cassette tapes boasted an impressive collection of movies. Coffee mugs and a shot glass, magazines and a bag of chips sat on the coffee table, the remote on the floor. The badge sitting among all the other items caught her eye. She quickly looked away. The place definitely lacked a woman's touch. "What did you do to that plant? Torture it?" she teased as she gestured toward the remains of a potted plant; maybe a fern.

Tony glanced at the now brown plant in the corner. Ducky had given it to him. 'Sorry, Ducky,' he thought. "It came that way,"he joked at first and then said, "I don't know what kind it is let alone how to take care of it."

"Well, there's no telling what it is now."

"Heh, funny." Tony said sarcastically. "Seeing that your flowers are the ones dying and leaving petals on my beautiful car; I'd say you're no better at gardening than me."

Faye looked down, feeling as though she had overstepped her boundaries. She shouldn't have come inside. No man ever let her get away with remarks or actions like that. She gulped slightly, a fear response, as he stepped to her. "Here," He smiled and handed her the drink, catching her off guard.

Her confidence slightly restored, "Actually it's perfectly normal for them the lose petals. The flowers die off, but the plant is still alive and growing more buds." she uttered. "I'm sorry about your car though," she caught herself. "I tried to stay ahead of them, but the breeze blows them off."

"No biggie," he motioned her outside. He offered her the chair, but she declined the offer and instead said she would sit on the lawn. He watched her settle into the grass, realizing she felt safest closer to the earth. Faye fidgeted with the umbrella in her drink while Tony chowed down on another slice of pizza.

"Where you away?" Faye broke the silence.

Tony looked up from his dinner at the girl. Her drink was almost gone. He smiled at her, sitting with her twig legs tucked underneath her and twirling the mini umbrella between two fingers. "Yup, I was on vacation in Miami."

"I lived in Miami for a little while when I was younger." She stared into her drink. Tony just nodded. Feeling she had already overstayed her welcome, she gulped the rest of her drink and stood up stating that she should get home. He gave her a simple smile and they said good-bye. He watched her wander back to Gregg's condo, picking a flower petal off his car as she walked by, briefly looking back at him to see him give her a smile.