Tony studied himself in the mirror, he put his hands on his hips and smiled at his reflection. He wore a gray Ohio State t-shirt with a giant "O" in red, a pair of blue jeans and red and white running shoes. He had bought this outfit a month earlier after being released from the hospital and it hung off of him. That was when he realized just how much weight he had lost. He still had a way to go but he was slowly getting back to himself. He started to leave the room, satisfied with his outfit. Until he caught a glimpse of the scars on his wrists. They were jagged and despite being close to four months old still red and obvious. Today was his first day wearing short sleeves since coming home. Even his family had not yet seen his arms. He started to change until he heard the alarm on his phone ringing and realized that if he wanted to get pictures of her before her first day of school he had to get going. Taking a deep breath he walked across the hall, opened the closet door, and ascended the stairs that led to the attic. He saw Mollie sitting cross legged on her double bed. She was dressed in a pair of dark blue jeans and a slightly over-sized Black and White t-shirt that read "Piano Girl".

"You ready to go?" Tony asked.

"As ready as I'll ever be." Mollie sighed.

"Hey don't worry it won't be so bad." Tony assured.

"Do you think I will fit in?" Mollie asked.

"I am sure that you will do fine. You are so pretty, smart, and creative. You may not be popular but when it comes to friends it is quality that matters not quantity." Tony explained.

"That is the most dad answer I have ever heard." Mollie laughed.

"Well I guess I am a natural then." Tony replied.

"But seriously I am not going to know anyone!" Mollie cried.

"Well Emily Fornell goes to your school. That is why I sent you there I can't remember what grade she is in but you will probably have classes together." Tony replied.

"Emily Fornell?" Mollie asked.

"You remember Tobais Fornell who you gave the statement too?" Tony asked.

"From the FBI?" Mollie questioned.

"Yes well his daughter Emily is about your age. Her mother died last year and her dad had some issues afterwards. So she is in group too." Tony explained.

"I'll try to talk to her." Mollie replied.

"Great I think that you will really like her." Tony replied.


Mollie watched her dad leave her bedroom. After he left she looked out the window at the lawn below. They had been living in the new place for about three days now but it felt like a lifetime. It was an old house bought at a loss from an family desperate to get out from under the house payments from their parents fixed mortgage. There were three bedrooms but Mollie had opted to live in the attic. Even though Ziva had offered to share a room with Kelila for the time being. Mollie loved her room. It was spacious and bright. The privacy was the best benefit to the attic room. That and the fact that nobody could see into her window but she could see out.

"Mollie! Get down here if you want to have time to eat!" Tony called.

"COMING!" Mollie called back.


The DiNozzo's and the David's ate a quick breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon, and French Toast. After the meal was gone Ziva wished Mollie a great first day and got a picture of herself with Mollie and then one of Mollie and Kelila. She then left to take Kelila to daycare. After Ziva and Kelila left Tony and Mollie had their own photo session and then Mollie was off to catch the bus. Tony walked to the end of the block, making sure to keep his distance but once Mollie rounded the corner and did not look back he knew to let go. He then turned and headed back to the house. He needed to get to work. It had come as a relief to him when he was allowed to go back to NCIS after only a week out of the hospital. Even better he was permitted to return to field duty in the second week albeit under some strict provisions. For starters he was not allowed into the field alone, he needed another agent on his six at all times and he was not to handle his or any other service revolver unsupervised. Basically all that meant was that he could not go down to the shooting range by himself and he had to leave his gun with Gibbs anytime he went off alone. He was relieved that his teammates were understanding and respectful of his recovery. Of course he knew that Gibbs would always protect him and for the most part McGee was kind to him. Bishop was the only one had given him trouble with Mollie but she had been reassigned to a team somewhere near Oklahoma or closer to Oklahoma, Vance would not say. The team now had a new probationary agent. Her name was Laura Nathaniel, she was only twenty five years old and this was her first real job. She had shoulder length reddish brown hair and blue eyes. She was short and flat chested but she was beautiful. Though Tony had zero interest in her. He was in love with Ziva and besides she liked Jimmy. She had quietly asked Tony about her and he had told her about Breena. So Laura was working on building a strong friendship with Jimmy. She would grab coffee with him, joke around with him, and sometimes she brought little gifts for Victoria. Nothing too romantic but maybe one day it would build to something.


Mollie had gotten pretty good at pretending in her short life. Especially in the past few months and for that she was eternally grateful. Because today she needed to do a lot of pretending. Pretend that she was not scared to death, pretend that she did not see her dad following behind her on the way to school, pretend that she was not embarrassed. Most of all she had to pretend that she was ready to come back to school. She had not been in well over a month and now here she was starting a strange school, under a new name. To top it off she had also gone back a grade. Her old school would not release any of "Lonnie's" information to "Mollie". So it was basically like starting over. She had taken a test to determine what grade she would do best in and even though she had scored off the charts. Doing so well that she could have taken a test and graduated early. Due to her emotional trauma she had been placed in tenth grade for the final quarter. Then she would start the eleventh grade in the fall. In a way she was grateful that she would have an extra year to get to know her dad but on the other it was weird to repeat two grade for no reason. She studied her schedule, she had Algebra 2 first period. Then World History second, gym was third, then English for fourth. Fifth period was extended by twenty minutes as it was lunch period. It was also her science class. Six period was Sign Language it was the only language class that had an opening. Except for AP German which required a special entrance test. Her last class was Music Appreciation. It wasn't the most fun class but at least she would get to learn piano. She had group every afternoon which meant she was stuck after an extra hour. Not that it mattered much. Her parents were at work until at least five and it was too late to join any clubs or activities.


Somehow Mollie managed to get through her first day with limited issues. As it turned out Emily was in her grade. They were Math, History, English, sign, and Music with her. Unfortunate there was not time to talk and Emily must have had a different lunch period. School ended, Mollie grabbed her backpack, and headed toward the guidance office. Only to find that it was closed and she was to report to the "enrichment" room for group. She opened her backpack and began to panic when she realized that she had left her map at her desk in seventh period. She had no idea where the enrichment room was or what it was. She returned to the hallway and began to panic the buses had left and everybody had already gotten to their after school destinations. A strong wave of terror washed over her. She heard a male voice, a voice that sounded just like him. She ran for the nearest door and desperately turned the knob but it would not budge. She turned to run but was face to face with him. She tried to run but it suddenly the hallways seemed so small and tight. She could not breathe or move, she fell to the ground and began to shake violently. Suddenly he went flying down the hall and Mollie was face to face with a girl about her age. The girl had olive skin, short black hair and brown eyes. She wore torn jeans and Founding Father's high t-shirt. She had blue oval frame glasses.

"Go away, don't hurt me." Mollie plead.

"I am so sorry! I did not mean to scare you! I just wanted to tell you that, that is the teacher's lounge it is always locked." The girl explained.

"Where did he go?" Mollie asked.

"He? Oh you mean! Professor Evil!" The girl cried.

"Yeah him? Why did he fly?" Mollie asked.

"He's just a stupid prop for drama club. It's some idiot play about a pinata who comes to life and whacks kids with a bat. Some ninth graders wrote it and it's really dumb but what can ya do. I am sorry it scared you. I guess I will have to change him." The girl explained.

"It's fine for other people but he looks like my rapist." Mollie sniffed.

"Oh no! I am so sorry!" The girl cried.

"It's OK. I am sorry I freaked out." Mollie apologized.

"It's fine I get freak-outs. Do you want to go to the nurse? Do you have pills?" The girl asked.]

"No but I am supposed to be in group." Mollie explained.

"Yeah me too, I take it that you are new." The girl explained.

"Yeah it's my first day." Mollie replied.

"Figured as much. Anyway I just need to drop "The Professor" off in the drama room. Just wait here it is right down the hall and then I will walk you there." The girl explained.

"OK, thanks. I am Mollie by the way uh Mollie DiNozzo." Mollie introduced.

"Nice to meet you Mollie. I am Lana Johnson." Lana introduced.

"Lana that's a pretty name." Mollie remarked.

"Thank you" Lana replied.

"Lana if you don't mind me asking. Why are you in group?" Mollie asked.

"We have to say why whenever somebody new joins but it's all confidential. So it's no biggie. I am in group because my dad died of cancer and three days later my mom committed suicide." Lana explained.

"Oh Lana I am so sorry!" Mollie cried.

"It's OK well it's not OK but there is no need to apologize. I take it that you are in group because you were attacked." Lana replied.

"That ad about eighty other reasons." Mollie replied.


A/N: What do you think? Is the sequel going to be as good as the original? New chapter will be up soon. Please review and thanks for reading.