Thanks to S'Dot Yam for the love, we should totally party. Once again I own very little in the way of this story (Apart from Lily hands off her she's mine!)

The team walked into the house which was eerily unfurnished the plain magnolia walls only helping to highlight the crimson puddle that surrounded a female in her forties. Her hair was wavy like Lily's but a much lighter shade and in her former life her eyes would have been a bright crystal blue.

"Looks like a clean through and through boss" McGee piped up breaking the silence photographing a bullet that was lodged in the wall.

"I've got some prints here boss" Ziva called mere moments after McGee broke the peace.

Gibbs lined himself up against the bullet on the other side of the room as if he were the shooter "Look for some gun residue here" He pointed towards where he was standing obviously hinting at Ziva to come over immediately

"I was walking and I heard yelling and then screaming" Lily winced at this her eyes welling up with tears once more "I walked up closed to the house and then it was silent. I thought something must have happened you don't just stop arguing like that mid-flow unless... unless something happens and then I saw him"

"Who? Did you know him? Lily this is really important"

"No. I didn't know him. He was around 6.1 or 6.2, lightish hair, marine hair cut, typical "marine off duty clothes"; he had a good tan on him so I'd say he'd been on tour somewhere like Iraq or Afghanistan if we're assuming he's a marine, because I am. He was carrying a K857 with a silencer and he was speckled in splashes of blood. I could sketch him if you wanted me to" She looked up a Tony again this time with desperation in her eyes "I would have given chase, but he had a gun and there was someone hurt and there's only so fast my legs will carry me and what would I have done if I had caught up with him? And, and" Lily became more frantic as she wept.

"It's alright, you couldn't have done anymore you did exactly the right thing calling us." She continued to sob "C'mere" He wrapped his arms around holding her to his chest, as she shook violently within his embrace.

At that exact moment Ziva looked outside, this was the side of Tony she loved. He was being genuinely concerned and caring, and she was glad he had stopped thinking about Jeanne. Ziva knew it was a bad thing to be happy that Lily was obviously distraught but if it was taking Tony's mind off things...

"David! Quit gawking and start working" Gibbs yelled

"Yes Gibbs"

"Can you remember anything else?" Tony questioned as her cries slowed down. Lily nodded silently.

"I went to go and see if whoever had been shot was alright, if they were still... alive. But she wasn't she was just lying there and it was all my fault"

The senior field agent tried to reassure a now hysteric Lily "Don't think like that, this is not your fault"

She shook off his arms "But I should have tried harder, I should have made them listen, I should have found her"

"I'm really confused now Lily, can you repeat that putting in all of the details, please" Tony crouched down so he was at her eye level.

"Holy mackerel, how stupid can I be?" She wept a little harder now if that was even possible "My Mum has been missing now for 3 weeks, I tried to tell the FBI or even just the regular police, that she had gone but they wouldn't listen. He kept repeating over and over again "I'm sorry but I can't report her as a missing person unless she is under sixteen or in an extreme circumstance" it was an extreme circumstance. How could they just leave her like that she worked for them, don't they care at all?"

Tony interrupted her before she could get anymore worked up "Lily, listen to me take a deep breath and try and explain to me how this is relevant, I know this must be hard for you but when you speak that quickly without putting in the key nouns ... my brain just can't compute" He gave her a nod and a smile and allowed her to continue

She took a deep breath "Does this make it any clearer? My name is Lily Stroud. The woman the rest of your team are investigating the murder of is my mother" White hot tears streaked down her face.

It took a few moments for the information to register in Tony's brain "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry" He wrapped his arms around her in a tight embrace. Lily forced a small smile from her lips as she pushed his arms off her once more.

"What is it with you and trying to hug me huh?" She tried to lighten the mood "There's more, I'll attempt to speak clearly, but you have to pay attention. Okay? " Tony just gave a weak smile in response "After my mother disappeared i knew something was wrong. As I've said before I phoned every agency I could think of, I even phoned NCIS obviously it was a long shot as she's not, wasn't navy personnel. Nobody was prepared to help so I commenced investigation thunderbird; you know thunderbirds to the rescue and all. Sorry off topic, I found this address and that was why I was here, you know the rest of the story"

"Sounds like you should have my job" He gave her his best "DiNozzo" smile, only then did he realise that it was raining and Lily was shaking. Ever the gentleman he took off his NCIS fleece and wrapped it around her delicate shoulders. "See you even look the part, better than McGee"

"Thanks did you. Hold the phone, did you just say McGee?"

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IMPORTANT: I know nothing about guns so I made the type up, don't shoot me