Warnings: I don't think there are any for this chapter, but just in case, minor Spoilers for Season 11

A/N: Do I even have to tell you how awesome you all are? :) Yes, I know it was a sad beginning, but I promise...happy ending coming. Like I said the writers are determined to not let our team have happy endings on the show so I am even more determined to write them myself lol.

Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo stepped carefully around the muddy crime scene, not too enthused that he had been pulled from his warm bed at three o'clock in the morning. It had rained, heavily, the night before, and the car, which had hugged a large Sycamore tree, was covered in thick, brown clay.

This was not what he wanted to be doing four weeks before his wedding, shuffling around a crime scene with four dead NCIS agents in the car. For all intents and purposes it appeared that the agent driving had lost control and all four agents had died upon impact with the large trunk of the tree. Of course, Ducky would make the final decision on how they had died, but Tony had some experience in what wrapping your car around a solid piece of wood that had been standing for hundreds of years would do to you.

"Boss," McGee called, sounding exhausted. "Finger print matches on all four passengers. It's Agent Winters' team."

"Any signs that the car was tampered with?" Gibbs asked, appearing through the thick morning haze.

"None," the junior agent replied with a sad shake of his head. "Just looks like they went off the road."

Tony stopped his photographing and looked at the twisted, heap of metal—the cold, damaged bodies inside. He knew Clay Winters, knew that the man was the exact opposite of Gibbs when it came to driving. It was hard to believe that this was simply an accident. Judging from the look on the team leader's face he was thinking the same thing. "Tire tracks indicate they took the corner sharply and lost control," the senior field agent whispered. "It was raining, road could have been slick—they hydroplaned into the tree."

Gibbs sighed, heavily and frowned. He looked up into the haze as the firemen began to get ready to tear the metal away from the car so they could get the bodies out. His team had gathered all the evidence that they could. What was left of the car would be brought to Abby for further analysis, but it was beginning to look like that perhaps, Tony was right. Perhaps this had been a terrible accident. But still…something tugged at him. "Four dead agents, DiNozzo," he said, low and angrily, "no accident in that."

"Not everything is a conspiracy, boss," Tony snapped, and then immediately regretted his harsh tone.

"You want to accept their deaths at face value? Come on, DiNozzo, I trained you better than that," Gibbs snapped back, squaring his shoulders slightly.

Tony looked down at the wreck once again. When his mother had died, eight-year-old Anthony had thought up of every possible situation as to why it had happened. He just couldn't believe that his mother would do something that dumb and get herself killed. But the harsh reality he came to realize, as he grew older was that she had done something dumb and it cost her. He wasn't sure if Clay Winters had done something as equally dumb…but he wasn't ready to omit human error just yet. "People make mistakes, Gibbs, that's why they're called accidents. We may not like it…because we want answers…but sometimes these things happen."

For a second, Gibbs didn't say a word, just stared at his senior field agent with a bit of a glare in his eye. What had happened to the sharp investigator that always dug deeper? It was like Tony just wanted to close this case and move on and this wasn't like him at all. Something beyond dealing with the deaths of these agents was troubling him. "Your wedding plans aren't distracting you, are they?"

"What?" Tony asked, shocked. "No! Leah pretty much has everything under control."

"Then for God sakes, DiNozzo, snap out of this!" Gibbs nearly shouted. He noticed that Ducky and Palmer, nearby overseeing the transfer of the bodies glanced up.

Tony ran his tongue over his lips and let his face become stone. "Sorry…I had a moment of weakness…of feeling something. Guess I can't be cold like you all the time. If you want to write me up for that…go ahead. I'll be in the truck."

Gibbs watched as he stalked off, ripping his ball cap off as he went and running a hand through his hair. What in God's name had just happened? Tony, rarely, if ever, raised his voice at anyone let alone the team leader. He noticed the bewildered look on both Ducky and Jimmy's faces and realized he wasn't the only one confused by the SFA's outburst. Alright, so maybe he had been a bit harsh accusing Tony of being distracted by the wedding—and perhaps he shouldn't have told him to snap out of this. However, Tony's normal response to his gruffness was a deflection with humor or a simple, "yes boss." Something was wrong and if they were going to wrap this case up quickly, Gibbs was going to have to get to the heart of the matter.

He found a nice, quiet, and relatively hidden space to clear his head. Tony escaped to the roof of NCIS headquarters, and sat, with his knees to his chest, just taking slow, steady breaths. He would have to apologize later to Gibbs for his outburst. He would have to do a better job of hiding his demons and clear his head to solve this case. The team needed him at his best not moping about something that happened well over thirty years ago.

But that was easier said than done. He had never seen his mother's car that night, however years later, when he'd been a teenager and home on a break, he had gone down to the library and read all the newspapers articles. Elizabeth never had a chance, nothing the paramedics or the doctors did was going to save her. Basically she had been kept alive long enough so she could "say good-bye". Tony let out a harsh rush of air and closed his eyes tightly. He had done such a good job over the years concealing pretty much everything about his childhood. There had been the occasional slips of course. Right now, though, he was dangerously teetering over the edge and he needed to reign himself in. No one needed to know about his inner demons.

For a while the peace of the rooftop seemed to be working, as he sat there letting the breeze tickle his face, but then his cell rang. Tony knew that it was one of three people looking for him—Gibbs, Leah, or his father. And unfortunately for him it was his dad.

"Dad…thought you and Linda were enjoying vacationing in Switzerland?" Tony asked, when he answered.

"We did. Beautiful this time of year—you really should go next year with us, Junior," his father beamed, unaware of his son's inner turmoil. "Linda wanted me to invite you and Leah up for the weekend."

Tony sighed and kicked an imaginary stone in front of him. "Dad…I'm kind of in the middle of an important case."

Senior wouldn't take that as an answer of course. "Junior…I'm sure NCIS can run without you for a couple of days."

"Dad…that's not really the point…"

"Why are you being so stubborn, Junior! You kids should have a proper party to announce your engagement!"

And there it was, the whole reason that his father had called. It wasn't because he had actually wanted to see Tony—it was because Linda was having some kind of party for the younger couple. Tony felt like screaming, especially after the morning he was already having with the car wreck. "Four weeks before the wedding?" he snapped.

Senior chuckled. "Well…we would have done it sooner if Leah hadn't taken off for the summer."

Tony knew he wasn't getting off this phone call without agreeing to go up to the Hamptons that weekend. He just wanted to run...from everything. From the case...from his father-from his wedding. Where did that come from? Tony thought, with a sick twist of his stomach. He loved Leah. He wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. Why the sudden urge to run from that?

"Junior? Are you there?"

"Oh...yeah...sorry. I'll...I'll talk to Leah."

He could almost see his father smiling in triumph. "Great! We'll see you Friday!"

Tony gave him a numb response and hung the phone up. Closing his eyes tightly he shoved it back into his pocket. He should probably get back to work. He was already in hot water thanks to his outburst at Gibbs earlier that morning. He didn't need to be in anymore. Slowly he opened his eyes and pushed himself up, making his way off of the roof and back into the building. It took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the lightning but once it did, he decided to stop to see Ducky before returning to the bullpen. He could gauge Gibbs' annoyance with him by going to talk to Ducky first.

Ducky was in the midst of examining the four bodies and had a pretty grim expression on his face. Tony recalled hearing McGee remark that the elderly doctor had frequent lunches with Clay Winters. "My dear friend," the medical examiner said, softly, "I'm terribly sorry that this happened to you."

"So...it was an accident then," Tony stated, alerting Ducky to his presence.

"I am afraid so, Anthony," Ducky replied looking up at the younger man. "Has anyone told his family yet?"

Tony shook his head. "No...Director Vance was supposed to make the phone call."

Ducky frowned. "He was very excited about his daughter going to Georgetown this fall. Do you know that Agent Winters has been with his wife since high school?"

"No. I...I didn't know him that well," Tony admitted. And who's fault is that really? You keep everyone at arm's length.

"Love like that, Anthony, does not come along very often," Ducky told him with a sad smile.

Tony did not need to be told that more than once. He knew. He had been waiting his whole life for Leah to come along. Just last year he had resigned to the fact that he was never going to find that kind of love and be alone for the rest of his life. He had even convinced himself that being alone wasn't such a terrible thing. He'd joined a support group to get what he could for social interaction and contact. It had never really been enough and meeting Leah in that coffee shop that day had been a true life saver. "Well," he said, gently, "the vows do say until death do us part."

Ducky studied him for a moment and could see some of the anxiety in his green eyes. "Are you getting nervous about your upcoming nuptials, Anthony?"

"Nervous? No. Why do you ask?"

"You seem...tense."

"Just got off the phone with my father."

"Ah, well, that explains it then."

Tony chuckled, softly. Yes, it explained a lot actually. He could see that Ducky, however, was not going to buy that as a reason for his outburst at Gibbs that morning, and the SFA chose that moment to fake a text message from his soon-to-be wife, and dart from the room. Inside the elevator once more he let out a frustrated sigh. These people were really getting to know him too well. And it amazed him that he hadn't split years ago when it first became clear that they were getting to know him too well. Again that nervous, anxious, wanting to run and hide from everything crept into his senses and he did everything he could to shake it off. And failed.