Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo, correction, NCIS Agent Afloat Anthony Dinozzo, looked around the small living quarters that he had called home for what was now six months. He was sitting on the small bed in which he could never cater to a lady friend, even if it were allowed. Tony looked over at the small desk next to him. Hidden behind a stack of files he saw something that always made him smile. He picked up the black picture frame, a gift from Abby, that held a photo of his old team. He sighed. It would be good to see them again...well some of them. He emailed Abby regularly, and often had a few brief conversations with McGee. He had attempted to keep in contact with Gibbs, but that had proven to be difficult. Phone calls on the Reagan were few and far between. He had emailed Gibbs twice, but both times responses came slowly, and true to his style, Gibbs had kept the responses short and to the point. The only person Tony had not heard from was his partner, Ziva. He hadn't spoken to since the day she left for Tel Aviv. He missed being able to correct her mistakes, and the wads of paper he would through at her across the bullpen. Tony missed his old life at NCIS. Thankfully, he was on shore leave for two weeks, and he would to return somewhat to his life before the damn ship. Even if it was only temporary. Putting the frame into his duffel bag, Tony exited his quarters, and made his way off the ship, and onto dry land.

Special Agent Gibbs sat at his desk as he watched his "team" going over the evidence of their most recent case. A marine had been murdered in what looked like a hit and run. However, Ducky had made the discovery that the injuries sustained from the car had been delivered post mortem, and the marine had in fact been killed by a severe break to his neck. Gibbs' new team scrambled to locate any traffic cams or video surveillance that would lead them to their killer. So far, no one had any luck. Finishing his coffee, Gibbs forcefully threw out the cup, and stormed off down to see Abby. With any luck, she would have some physical evidence that could link the dead marine to his killer. If not, Gibbs was going to have to get his 8th cup of coffee of the day.

As he made his way into Abby's lab, the first thing he noticed was the blaring music coming from inside. It was strange, because ever since his team, his real team, had been spilt up, Abby's lab had remained quiet. As he entered the lab, he could see that Abby was standing in front of her computer bobbing to the music.

"Abby!...ABBS!"

Abby turned around and turned down the music simultaneously.

"Why hello, my silver haired fox! What brings you down here?"

"Abbs, do you have anything on Corporal Garcia yet?"

"Gibbs! I just got the evidence a few hours ago! My babies are working as fast as they can, but I need more time."

"You have two hours Abbs, I need that evidence."

Abby looked at Gibbs wide-eyed and pouty, "Giiiibbs," she whined, "I told Tony I would pick him up at the pier!"

"Abby, Tony will be fine taking a cab. I need that evidence now!"

At that Gibbs turned, and left the lab to go get his promised 8th cup of coffee. Abby stood in the middle of her lab sulking momentarily. Ever since Director Shepard had been killed, and Vance separated the team, Gibbs had changed. He rarely visited Abby in her lab, and had nearly stopped bringing her Caf-Pows!. The sparkle that occasionally gleamed in Gibbs' eyes was never there, and an anger brewed in him that clawed at the surface. She missed her silver fox. She missed Jen, Tony, and Ziva. And even though she saw Tim regularly, she missed him being around all of the time. It was as if her family had simply fallen apart. She smiled as she thought of another way to destroy Director Vance. It was a little game she played with herself when she was bored and lonely at work. She would think of a way to dispose of him, and then think of a forensically perfect way of covering it up. Her list was now up to 57. She shuffled over to the phone at her desk, and proceeded to call Tony to deliver the bad news.

Tony stood by the edge of the pier waiting for his ride to come. It felt strange to be back on dry land, and his legs were still getting used to the ground not moving. He looked around at his happy ship-mates who were being greeted by friends and family. He glanced down at his watch, and noticed that Abby was running a bit late. He scratched the back of his head, and hoped she would come soon. He really wanted to be around some one who wasn't constantly aye aye sir-ing him. Tony looked away from all of the happy families when he heard the cell in his duffel ringing.

"DiNozzo."

"Tony!!" Abby replied enthusiastically.

"Hey Abby, where are you?"

"Tony I'm so so so so so so sorry!! I was just about to leave NCIS when the bossman came down looking for evidence, and I said I didn't have anything yet, and that I was supposed to come pick you up, but he told me I have to finish working the case, and he seems really cranky, and I feel really bad..."

"Abby...Abby! It's fine! I understand," Tony replied cutting off Abby's rant.

"Are you sure, because I feel really bad, and I wanted to come see you!"

"Abby it is fine. I will catch a cab back to my place," Tony stated, trying to hide his disappointment.

Abby pouted on the other end of the line, "Ok, I really am sorry though. Hey maybe we could meet up for drinks later?"

"Sounds like a plan," Tony replied as a genuine smile crossed his face. He was really glad to be home.

"Ok, I'll see if Timmy and Ducky want to join us, like a big reunion!"

Tony chuckled, "Sounds great, Abbs. I'm just gonna head home to shower, and change into some real clothes. I'll call you later for the info."

"Great! Oh, and Tony?"

"Yeah, Abby?"

"I really missed you."

"I missed you too, Abbs."

With that Tony hung up, and began looking for a cab.

The cab ride from Norfolk to D.C. seemed to take forever. Tony sat in the back of the cab, staring out of the window watching the buildings fly by. He felt strangely tense as the cabby darted down the streets of D.C. It was almost bittersweet, Tony was so glad to be home, but he knew that in 2 weeks he would be back on that damned ship. His mind flashed back to the day he and Ziva found Director Shepard's body lying on the ground in that dusty old diner. "If only I had listened to my gut, she would still be alive, and I wouldn't have lost...everything" Tony thought to himself. He shook his head, as if physically trying to remove those thoughts from his head. He knew it was foolish to sit and wonder about all of the what ifs. He had failed Jen and his team, and no amount of what ifs could change that. Maybe he should just give up on getting his old team back, and move on again, as he had done so many times before. It had been six months, and no word from Gibbs on whether or not he would be getting the team back together. Tony really hated being on that ship, but somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew that Gibbs was going to fix things. It was only a matter of time, and if he quit now he would never get a chance at getting his life back. He stopped his internal debate as the cab pulled up in front of his apartment building.

Handing the cabby his fee, Tony exited the cab with his bag, and made his way into the building. Not much had changed, he noticed, as he went through the lobby towards the elevator. He flashed a smile at the lobby attendant who had welcomed him back, and entered the elevator. The elevator dinged as the doors opened at his floor. Tony exited the elevator, and took a deep breath. It was good to be home. As soon as he entered his apartment, he dropped his duffel bag, and looked around. "Thank god I didn't fire the cleaning service," he thought. The apartment was spotless, and smelled freshly cleaned. He walked over to the answering machine, which was blinking rapidly. He pressed the play button on the machine, and the monotone woman's voice spoke to him. "You have 86 new messages."

"I knew I should have shut off the phone service," Tony said aloud as he smiled listening to the first message.

"Hi Tony. This is Viv. Where are you? I though we were going to go out some time for Chinese? Call me." BEEP. Tony deleted the message. He was only in town for 2 weeks, and Viv was not on the top of DiNozzo's list. "Tony! It's Shannon, why haven't you..." The sound of the next message faded as he walked down the hallway towards his bedroom. He was feeling exhausted, and there was plenty of time to take a quick nap before his evening plans. When he entered the room he paused. Something didn't feel right. His senses were tingling as he looked around. Nothing was out of place.

"That damn ship must be making me go crazy," Tony said to himself as he gave up looking for whatever it was that was making him uncomfortable. Suddenly, Tony felt white hot pain, as a baseball bat connected with the side of his head. He fell hard to the floor as he went unconscious from the blow. A dark looming figure stood above him, smiling down at his conquest.

"We meet again, Detective DiNozzo."

To be continued...