A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all.

XXXXX

'Why don't you come in first and then I'll answer all your questions.' The woman smiled at him, as she led him into the building.

Look Mrs…..' Tony paused for a moment. 'What are you going by now? I don't mean to be rude, but….' He shrugged his shoulders as he stopped talking.

'I'm still using the name Sterling, but I am seeing Tobias again. We've decided to give it another go.'

'I guess that explains why you're helping me.' Tony laughed. His body released more of the tension it had held onto. 'Why are you being so kind to me? I mean the last few times we've met you've been….' He waved his hand around.

Diane just chuckled for a moment, and then looked at him thoughtfully. 'You've been through a lot. I'm giving you a break.' She smiled suddenly. 'When you are back in top form, I'll be back to the bitch you know and love.'

Tony laughed. 'Thank you.' He told her seriously. 'I don't know what I was going to do if Tobias hadn't turned up. I had thought about just packing up and leaving, never to come back. I'm just so very tired.' Tony whispered wearily.

'No one is going to think of looking for you here at my house. You can stay as long as you need to. Once you are rested and are ready we'll be here to help you figure out what you want to do next.' Diane promised him.

Tony had been made so many promises, and most of them had been broken. He'd stopped believing in people for a while now. Being here in this house, with this woman, he actually believed her.

'Tobias told me about the F.B.I wanting to hire me.' He felt as if he should seriously consider it.

'Well, it is one option, maybe more will appear. Don't say yes just for Tobias, he wouldn't want that. Not with everything you've already been through. Just forget about it for now and get some rest. Your room is this way.' Diane watched as Tony stumbled slightly. She could see the fatigue in his slouched frame, pale skin and the huge bags under his eyes. She reached out and helped to steady him.

'Sorry.' He apologised as he tripped again. His body had been on alert for so long, and now that he felt safe he suddenly never felt so tired.

'It's okay.' Diane went upstairs and opened one of the doors. 'Here you go, this is your room.'

Tony walked inside the warm and homely looking room. 'My room.' He whispered.

'Get some sleep and come down when you're ready.' Diane told him.

'What about Emily?' He asked.

'She's at a friend's house tonight. She knows that you're going to be here. No matter what time you wake up there will be a plate of food waiting for you downstairs, all you'll need to do is just heat it up.'

'So this is more for just tonight then?'

Diane noticed the change in Tony's voice and attitude. He suddenly seemed like a lost little boy who was afraid he was going to be thrown out. She wanted to go and hurt all the people that had made him feel like this.

'This is your room for as long as you need it.' Diane promised him. 'I'll see you when you get up.' She watched Tony nod, and then she left him alone shutting the door behind her.

Tony looked around the room again. He couldn't believe who the two people that had come through for him were. He collapsed on the bed and fell asleep immediately.

XXXXX

'That poor boy.' Diane whispered as Tobias walked in.

'He's not really a boy Diane.' He held her tightly, but he couldn't believe how bad things had become for that young man.

'You didn't see him earlier. He came across as a lost little boy ready to be thrown out at any minute. He thought that he would only be here for a night and we wouldn't help anymore. That's how it seemed to me. What kind of childhood did he have?'

'I don't know, but if he can take the shit that Jethro throws at him, and stayed it couldn't have been pretty.' Fornell answered.

'Talking of Jethro, are you going to call him?'

'Not yet, I want him to be in a lot better shape before anything like that happens.' He was going to make sure Tony got the rest he needed.

XXXXX

Jenny had given it a couple of days before she tried to contact Tony. She had hoped that he would have cleared his mind and be thinking straight. She also wanted him to be in a better mood, one to which meant he would agree to the undercover op.

When he hadn't gotten in contact with her asking for his job back, Jenny had gone to his place. There had been no answer when she knocked, so she had no choice but to pick the lock. It was useful to keep some skills sharp. He wasn't there. The mail had built up at the door. When she entered the bedroom, the dresser drawers were open as were the wardrobe doors. Tony had apparently packed some things and left. Before she left Jenny went down and grabbed the security tape for the front door. Jenny had explained to the apartment manager that it seemed as if he was missing, and they needed to find out if he had any visitors.

Once she had arrived back at the office, Jenny did a little investigating herself. He had drawn out a large sum of money as soon as he had left the office. Apart from that there had been no other movement on his account. His cell phone was property of NCIS so it was still here and wouldn't be any help. When she checked out the location of his car, it was still at Tony's apartment.

Jenny sat at her desk and forwarded through the tapes. She watched and pressed stop as Tony arrived at the building. She looked down at her notes. He evidently had gone to the bank and then went straight home. Jenny was glad it was a slow day for her, well as slow as they could be. This was important, so she had told Cynthia not to disturb her unless it was an emergency. She pressed forward and watched as numerous unknown people walked in and out of the building. That was when her mouth fell open, and she paused the tape again. Tobias Fornell had just gone in.

'Why's he visiting DiNozzo?' She muttered to herself.

He had stayed there for an hour, and then he left alone. Tony never went out the front entrance after that. Jenny knew that he was gone. So when had that happened? He could have been hiding out in someone else's apartment in the same building. If not how had he left? If there was another door, did it have any cameras?

First things first she really needed to find out why the F.B.I needed to talk to Tony, or was it a personal visit? Had Jethro sent him? Had either of them already heard about him quitting? Well, Jenny knew that she could find the answer to at least one of those questions. She grabbed the phone and called the director of the F.B.I Walter Skinner.

XXXXX

Fornell grinned as he put the phone down. He wanted to call Diane and tell her what had happened. That was so she could pass it onto Tony, but he wouldn't. They could talk tonight. He wasn't going to do anything that would make anyone suspicious. There was no way anyone would be able to figure out Tony's hiding place, not until he was ready. It seemed as if Jenny still hadn't given up on him. Whatever she wanted Tony to do was something serious and probably very dangerous. Fornell that Tony was up to telling him. It might help things in the long run.

XXXXX

Jenny couldn't believe that they had actually offered him a job, with all his antics, and at times childish behaviour they still wanted him. She still wanted him as well. He had the skills she needed, and if he didn't come out alive, well that was life. Their jobs were dangerous after all.

She couldn't spend any more time on this. Not without something new to go on. She finally had told Cynthia she was available again. Jenny had to now think of someone else who could be used in the undercover op.

'Damn you DiNozzo.' She muttered.

Jenny looked up at she heard a tap on her office door. As she looked up, Cynthia walked in with an armful of paperwork.

'Agent Burley is here to see you.'

The director smiled, Burley would do nicely for this op. He wasn't as good as DiNozzo would have been, but he would do.

'Thank you Cynthia.' She watched as her P.A. placed the paperwork on her desk. That was all the job seemed to be. Sometimes she missed being an agent, but she loved the power she wielded now, and no one was going to take it away. 'Please send Agent Burley in.'

'Of course director.' Cynthia replied, turned and walked away.

Jenny watched as the other woman left. Something was wrong. There was usually a warm sound to Cynthia's face. That had all changed recently, everything her P.A did was polite and correct, but there was a slight coldness to it. She thought back to when it turned and groaned. It had been straight after DiNozzo had resigned. It was probably all over the yard by now. Jenny hadn't even thought about his absence had said. It had evidently become more widely known if the F.B.I had already offered him a job. They had stopped asking because they knew that he would never leave Gibbs. For agencies that hated to work together, and pass information when needed, they did like to gossip. She didn't mind when it worked in her favour. This time it didn't. It wouldn't be long before the calls started to come in. Jenny remembered stories that Morrow told her about how people kept enquiring after Tony.

Jenny had to get her mind back onto the task at hand. Stan Burley. She knew exactly what to offer, and how to flatter him to get exactly what she wanted. This is how gossip worked in her favour. Morrow once again had been full of information when it came to Gibbs and the people that worked for him.

Stan's feelings for his ex-team leader were something she could definitely take advantage off. Her office door opened and in he walked. She must have missed it when he knocked.

'Director, thank you for seeing me.' Burley walked over to her.

'Please have a seat Agent Burley, and how can I help you?'

XXXXX

It had been a couple of weeks since Burley had been in charge. No one had heard or seen anything of Tony. Ziva didn't have time to, and didn't even care enough to worry about her missing ex-partner. She had run to her apartment and grabbed what she needed. She wouldn't be back until this misunderstanding had been sorted out. It wasn't her fault that he'd died of natural causes. Just because she had a certain skillset it didn't mean that she always used it. It was only used when she deemed it necessary.

Ziva thought about going to Burley, after all he was her team leader. She couldn't, no she wouldn't do that as he would be a complete waste of time. Burley didn't have an opinion of his own, whatever Jenny wanted, or what her opinion was it became his. If she said jump, he would just do it. It wouldn't occur to him to even ask how high. Ziva knew that she could play him if she wanted to. In this instance that wasn't a good thing, Burley didn't have the mentality to do what was needed as she would. There was only one man that did.

That man was Gibbs. He really was the only one she could call. The man who wouldn't be able to say now as he owed her something, Ziva needed Gibbs to help her.

XXXXX

'Gibbs.' He answered brusquely. It had been weird hearing his phone ring. Jenny had insisted that he keep it in case they needed to call him about any previous cases. If they did, they really hoped his memory would've completely come back. When it rang, a pair of amused green eyes flashed into his mind. Tony. He had been disappointed when he heard a feminine voice. 'Yes Ziva. Why don't you speak to Tony, he's your team leader.' He suddenly stood up and the chair he'd been sat on fell backwards. 'What do you mean DiNozzo quit? You don't know? Do you seriously expect me to believe that? Yeah, okay I'll come.'

Gibbs put down the cell and turned to Mike.

'So you're going to rush in and save the Mossad chick? How did she ever manage without you?'

'I'm going to see exactly what the trouble is. I haven't decided if I'm going to help her yet. What I am going to do is find out why the hell DiNozzo quit, and how Burley ended up in charge.'

'Burley,' Franks mumbled. 'Wait, wasn't he the guy that was your SFA before DiNozzo? Didn't he have the hots for you?'

'Yeah, that was Burley. What the hell's going on Tony?' Gibbs whispered.

'When you do find out what happened to your boy, and when you see him how about you fucking tell him how you feel about him. Then take the stud for a ride.' Franks chuckled.

Gibbs glared at his mentor, who just laughed harder, and then started to cough. He wasn't going to do anything at the moment. He had to find out what the hell was going on.

TBC