New Lives & New Love.
Chapter 1.
It had come as a surprise to everyone that as the MCRT team were being put back together again following the Langer affair. That Eli David called Vance to say that Ziva wouldn't be coming back to DC again to rejoin the team. So it now meant that the team would be down on two members with Vance still standing his ground over keeping Tony at sea as agent afloat. Because of wanting and needing the MCRT team to be fully functional Vance managed to persuade Gibbs to at least take on agent Devon Jackson as a new team member.
Ironically though it had been Devon that had been the agent that had shown Tony the ropes as agent afloat on the Ronald Reagan. Shortly after leaving him she'd applied for a transfer to a job on land because of her father being very ill with cancer. Not only that her sister lived in the UK and was stuck there following just having had a baby. Their mother had sadly passed away when Devon was a teenager and their father had then single handedly bought the two of them up.
As things went despite his initial apprehension about Devon joining the 0team. In the end she ended up really proving her worth to Gibbs. As with her first case with the team it ended up being mostly computer based which even both Abby and McGee were struggling with it, which was saying something. But just as they got to the point where Vance was ordering them to hand it over to the cyber unit. Devon managed to break the code and they were able to solve the case. Then on the next case they ended up in a shootout with their suspect. Somehow the suspect managed to get himself behind Gibbs. Devon saw him about to take the shot at Gibbs, as she yelled and knocked him down out the way she took the shot herself, luckily for her it was just in the vest. Because of the way it had happened Gibbs was instantly transported back to the moment of Kate doing the same thing and then being shot by Ari. So because of not wanting history to repeat itself he told her to stay down. From where he was he took the shot, but only injuring their suspect. She ended up with some severely bruised ribs, but it also bought her acceptance onto the team.
It was then a week later when they finally got Tony home and the team was complete once again. It all started one morning when Gibbs walked into the bullpen telling them that Tony had called to say that a lieutenant Evans had jumped ship into the sea and that his wife needed to be told. He then gave McGee and Devon the file so that they could go and see her. When they got there they of course found that the wife was also dead. With Ducky's time of death it made it seem like lieutenant Evans had killed his wife and had then jumped ship killing himself. They then made the discovery that Evans credit card had been used in Cartagena a few days after he was supposed to have jumped ship. So Tony got permission to head back to Cartagena and investigate it. The next thing they knew was that Tony was calling them to say that he had just found Evans body and that from the look of it he was dead even before his wife had been killed. Meaning that whoever had most probably killed him and his wife had now taken Evans place on the ship. After Gibbs and Vance had talked to the ship's captain in MTAC to warn him about the imposter. Vance told Gibbs that Tony would need some help with the investigation. So he and one of the others should go out and join him. So he then went back down and told Devon that she should go and pack a bag because they were going to be joining Tony on the Seahawk for the investigation.
A few hours later she and Gibbs had arrived in Cartagena. As they walked together to the bar where they knew that Tony was going to be. He was there talking to McGee and Vance. When Gibbs made their presence known to him they were rewarded with a glorious smile. Which Devon was quite happy about because it made her feel more at ease with everything. Seeing as she hadn't known what Tony had actually knew about her having joined the team. Not only that when she was showing him the ropes on the Reagan. They had known that they were attracted to one another and had really tried to fight it. Then the week that they had their first round of a week away from the ship doing threat assessments things finally got the better of them. When she finally left the ship they'd agreed to keep in touch and would make a go of things if he ever got off the ship. To start off with they managed to keep the vow of staying in touch with each other. But then after a while it of course started to drift off. So there was also part of her that was feeling nervous about where the two of them did actually stand with one another. As they then headed to the coroner's office Tony was joking with them about things. Then as Gibbs phone started ringing and he walked off to answer it. Tony grabbed her arm and stopped her moving and said quietly to her that they would have a proper talk about things once the case was over. He then gave her a hug and congratulated her for the new job on the team. The only trouble was that with the hug as he squeezed her he caught her still healing ribs. So as she hissed in pain he of course asked what was up. Gibbs at that moment came and joined them after finishing his call and said "It's because she's got bruised ribs from having my six and taking a bullet in the vest." To which Tony then says "Ouch!" And Devon adds "It was, but isn't quite so bad now."
As they got off the plane on the ship a little while later and she was taking her stuff off, she couldn't believe that in just a matter of a few weeks she was back on ship again. Even so she did feel good about she and Tony being back together on board again. Although she was also glad about Tony also saying about having their talk later because they did seem to be just constantly on the go. Because they then got a suspect in the form of a lieutenant Caplin. Tony had then put out an alert for him and he then turned up in sick bay unconscious. As Devon was checking his medical records he'd boarded the ship before Lindy Evans had been killed. While she and Tony then went to check his quaters and bunk they got talking. As he started to dream about home she said "I know it's going to be hard. But you've only got a couple of months left and hopefully you'll then be back with us again. Not only that this time round we'll make sure that we stick to the vow of staying in touch."
He replies "We will do. But I just want to be back home again with you. So why did you decide that you wanted to be on a team instead?"
She answers with some slight sadness "Because things with dad have got worse. Jess also had her baby a couple of weeks ago. She ended up having to have an emergency c section so she can't travel for a while. So I just couldn't let him be alone Tony. So I needed to be closer to home."
Because of him knowing about her dad being ill he stops what he's doing and gives her a hug. Which he holds her in for a while as he senses her fighting with her emotions. When he finally lets go he says "I'll always be here for you. Just promise me that if I am still aboard here. If anything happens you will let me know. Because I will take some leave and will come to be with you so that you're not alone. That also applies if I'm back home once again. Even if something happens in the early hours. Because I will always be here for you."
She looks him right in the eye and replies "I promise that I will do."
With that he then turns back round to continue with what he was doing and then all of a sudden says "Bingo!" When she turns to face him. It's to see him with a vile of morphine and a syringe in his hand, which Caplin had been injected with.
In the end they did of course finally got the case solved. It turned out that their suspect had swapped places with Caplin on the plane that was supposed to be transferring him to a hospital on land. When they found Caplin still alive but having been dumped into a cupboard, Gibbs worked things out and went running off to jump on the plane that was about to depart. While Tony and Devon went running off to get the ships captain to hold the planes launch. Realizing that their suspect wasn't hanging onto anything, Gibbs wrapped himself in the planes mesh while ordering the pilot to fly off. As the captain was hesitating about giving the fly order, Devon turned to watch Tony as he gave the order to allow it. He gave it with such determination and confidence. It made her realize why she had fallen for him in the first place. Once the plane had landed again and their suspect was back down in the sick bay because of the way he was sent flying on the take off and had hit his head. Tony and Devon made their way back there to. When Tony then told them that their plane was going to be leaving in five minutes. Gibbs turned round to him and said "Grab your gear." He gave both Gibbs and Devon a look of puzzlement so Gibbs then added "It's your collar so you ride him home." As he looked between them both she said "Come on let's go home." She couldn't help but laugh at the way he went running off excitedly yelling at everyone to "Make a hole!"
By the time the three of them had got back to the Navy Yard again, Tony had a quick reunion with McGee before he had to head up to the directors office. So while waiting for him to come back again Devon did a quick pack up of her stuff. When he did come back again it was to the news that Vance had reinstated him as SFA effective immediately. When Devon congratulated him they hugged, with of course Tony being very careful of her ribs this time. As he let go he then shook hands with the others. As he was doing it Devon had to admit that she was feeling slightly emotional with it all because the team was now complete. Not only that she was quietly hoping that their relationship would work out well, but she was also worrying about them breaking rule 12. She was eventually bought out of her reverie as she heard the elevator ding and Abby running out of it yelling "Tony!" She then jumped on him in a hug. While she was rabbiting on at him Devon shut her out and then noticed that Gibbs was staring at her. As he indicated with a nod of his head to her to join him, she went over to him. As she stood next to him, he put his arm over her shoulders and pulled her into him. As he then kissed the top of her head he whispered in her ear "I know." Because of her giving him a puzzled look he said quietly "You and DiNozzo, I know." I will give the two of you my blessing. Just make sure that the two of you keep it out of the office. If you don't do it I won't hesitate to transfer one of your asses off the team, am I clear?"
She then answered with conviction "Yes Gibbs. Loud and clear!"
As he pulled her into him a little bit more and then whispered "Good. Now I suggest that you take that man home and get reunited." She then couldn't help but bite her lip because of his eyebrow wiggle and the look that he gave her. Before letting go of her he then said out loud "Come on everyone. Home as we have an early start in the morning. You all need to get some rest!" As she then turned to pick up her kit bag she saw Gibbs give Tony a manly hug out the corner of her eye. As she got up again and saw the look in Tony's eyes she knew that Gibbs was saying to him what he'd said to her. She knew that she was then right because as he went to collect his stuff together. On the way past her desk he said quietly in her ear "I'll meet you back at mine." She then guessed that because the rest of his things were still in the back of Gibbs car and that Gibbs was the one taking him home.
As Devon pulled in at Tony's apartment a little while later, she was not only feeling very happy. She also couldn't believe that she was feeling like a teenager all over again. The thing that did surprise her though was that as she approached his apartment door, the nerves actually began to hit her. They did soon disappear as Tony opened the door and pulled her into a kiss, still being careful of her ribs of course. When they eventually broke apart and went to sit on the sofa together, they cuddled up holding hands and with the arm he had put round her shoulders he gently stroked her shoulder. After a few minutes silence he eventually said "So, are we really going to do this, make a go at us?"
She replies with a sigh "Well I think that we can as I have missed you so much. But are you really sure about it? Because you know that I will most probably be running over to the hospice a lot."
He answers with seriousness "I know that you will be. And my promise to you earlier still stands. I will always be here for you. Even if you end up having to run off in the middle of the night. I will go with you and will stay by your side. I promise that you are not alone in all of this. I have just missed you so much. You don't know how many times I sat there with a blank E mail screen in front of me trying to work out what to say to you."
She replies "I know. You don't know how many times I did the same thing to you. Especially when we got the confirmation on dad's diagnosis. Then again of course when I got onto the team. Mind you I did also have a feeling that you did know something. Because of the way you didn't look exactly surprised when me and Gibbs were standing there."
He replies with a smile "Even though I didn't actually expect you to be there with Gibbs. I did know that you were on the team thanks to Abby telling me in an email telling me about Ziva as well."
"Aaah that probably explains the change in her then."
He asks "What do you mean?"
She answers "Well she was a bit funny with me when I first started. Then after that we had this case where all three of us were trying to crack a computers code. Vance was threatening to send the whole case over to cyber if we couldn't get it cracked. But somehow me and Abby managed it between us. So she then improved with me a little bit more. Then she improved again when I stopped Gibbs getting shot and I got my first Abby hug. It probably would've been one of her bone crushing ones if she hadn't have known about my ribs."
He says "It may have been partly me as well. Because I did sort of tell her to make you feel welcome. She can be funny with people though. As it took her ages before she got to know me and let me in. And it was even longer when Ziva came along too. I think the only exceptions she had were to Kate and McGee. But then she did actually date McGee before he became a full time member of the team. Plus I wanted to make sure that you did at least have something of a welcome to the team if I couldn't be there to do it instead."
She says "Well it was more than welcome. As I think I was finding it hard adjusting to life on land after having been afloat for so long. And I think I was also finding it hard looking over at your empty desk, knowing that you were still miles away at sea."
He replies "Well I will always be here from now on and that's a promise."
She then moves to initiate a kiss and then as they break apart she says "And I am very happy that you are now back home again. Although I still can't get over Gibbs giving us his blessing."
He replies "You know neither can I. But I think that we can manage to keep our promise to him and keep it out of the office... Well that's unless end up having to go undercover as a couple of course."
She says "I think that we might be able to manage to stick to it as well."
As they then both manage to yawn at exactly the same moment as each other he then says "And I think that we've both had one very long day and that we should head for bed."
She replies "I think so to. Although I'd better warn you and I know that I was at sea for a lot longer than you have been. You may find it a little difficult to sleep. As I really found it difficult when I first got back to land again."
He answers "Well perhaps if I've got a beautiful woman by my side I may not have such a problem getting to sleep." He then gets up from the sofa and pulls her up as well. Where he then pulls her into him for a kiss. After breaking apart he then takes her hand and takes her into the bedroom. Once they're both ready for bed and get in together. He makes her chuckle when he lifts up the shirt she's wearing and proceeds to just gently kiss her fading bruises. Because of them being so very exhausted though they just end up cuddling up together and falling asleep together in each other's arms.
A/N: I know that I've been a bit slow at updating my stories of late but it's been a mixture of real life getting in the way and also losing some of my motivation to get things copied up! Although I have been writing like crazy instead! Anyway I'm now just trying a new system with getting the copying up done and will be doing it more often now, or I'll at least try my best to keep you all updated! I hope you enjoy this new story which is going to be apart of one of my short story series so this world of Tony and Devon will be explored again soon! So I hope that you enjoy it! Xxx. D. :-)