Hi there! As you probably noticed I am posting a new chapter… I am a bit sad though… NO reviews on my last chapter… I mean come on guys; you know I absolutely love reviews… Anyways, this is the last chapter before Kate makes her first appearance. I will try to post it as soon as possible, but please (pretty, pretty please) review!

DISCLAIMER; I, sadly, don't own any of the NCIS characters mentioned in this fic.

A CHASE IN THE FOREST.

Somewhere in the woods near Admiral Buxton's mansion; 10 thirty in the morning;

Tony looked out from the back window of the car as they approached Admiral Buxton's mansion. He was basically surprised by the location of the mansion. 'No wonder Buxton's daughter said spending Christmas Eve in this place would be creepy.' Tony thought.

Outside his window he could see a vast forest area, filled with what seemed to be some huge oak trees. It was a bit difficult to pin point the exact type of the trees he was looking at, since everything was covered by a vale of thick fog. 'For some 'weird' reason,' Tony thought 'this doesn't look a lot like a cheerful snowy Christmas landscape.' And he was right. 'Everything in this place looks a bit… well, creepy I suppose, in lack of better words.' He thought and then added; 'It looks like one of those places that must look amazing during spring and summer and like Sleepy Hollow the rest of the time.'

He was however brought back from his trance as he heard Gibbs, who was up to that moment on the phone with Admiral Buxton, informing them they should be reaching the mansion in a matter of minutes.

"O.k. everybody. We will soon be reaching the mansion. I want you all on your best behaviors." For a moment he looked at Tony, ready to give him his usual extra warning only to remember it would no longer be necessary. So he just said; "Admiral Buxton is highly respected in the navy. He is a war hero and not to mention an important factor in Washington." Giving everyone a stern look to emphasize what he was saying, he continued; "At the moment in the mansion we will find Admiral's wife Susan and her daughter Anne as well as most of the staff, since tomorrow they are having some sort of party."

'Does he even know that tomorrow is Christmas Eve?' Tony thought. 'He almost looked surprised about the party…'

"You are by no chance in liberty to tell them about the reason of our visit. Admiral Buxton has already been informed about everything and we have agreed we will pretend to be staying there as a guard provided by the government for tomorrow's party." Ziva gave Gibbs an annoyed look once hearing the word 'guard'. Gibbs however seemed not to notice anything so he just kept going on;

"As you probably noticed the killer is going to strike tomorrow according to his timetable. As he seems prone to theatricals, if you have noticed the notes, it is most possible that he will make his move tomorrow, during the party, just to make the greatest impact." While Gibbs was saying that, everybody nodded in agreement.

"That means" he said while taking a swift turn, "that we have a little more than a day to make ourselves familiar with the house and the Buxtons. Admiral Buxton himself is at the moment in Washington and will arrive tomorrow, two hours before the beginning of the party, so it is highly impossible that Walker will make his move before that time. As you might have also noticed, we will have to spend the night at the mansion, so try not to break anything." He said in a casual voice, but looked intently at McGee.

He then took another turn and an enormous mansion came in sight. From the mere look of it, Tony could see that it was an eighteenth century colonial building with some Grecian elements, that had at least three floors and something that seemed like a huge stable in the distance, near the forest line. He could already see the commotion coming from the working personnel that was getting everything ready for the party next night.

'This is a first one.' He thought as they approached the main gates.

Buxton Mansion; 11 in the morning;

'Except from a first one, this is also going to be uncomfortable' Tony thought. They had just been introduced to the female Buxtons. The mother, Susan, was blonde with her hair curled in an elegant bun at the back of her neck. She had soft blue eyes and seemed to be unaffected by time. The daughter, Anne, was as blonde as her mother but her hair was cut right bellow her chin and her eyes were a bright shade of green. 'They are both beautiful' Tony thought 'and I am afraid that I got their attention… Great! I have barely set foot on this place and now this. As if it wasn't enough that I have to spend Christmas Eve in this annoying festive atmosphere, now I have groupies too. Kudos for me!' However, he didn't let any of those thoughts to come forth and show up on his face. Instead he kept his oblivious façade on and introduced himself with a polite;

"Agent Tony DiNozzo, pleased to meet you." He pretended to ignore their appreciative and in the case of Anne, who by her posture Tony guessed to be first or second year in college, seductive glances.

He then paid close attention to the tour of the house, trying to locate all the possible exits and entrances of it. While looking out of the window he noticed something intriguing, so he decided to ask;

"I noticed that there is no fence between the gardens and the forest by that side of the house. Isn't that possibly dangerous, I mean with all the wild animals in the forest?" He had used the wild animals as an excuse so that he wouldn't worry Anne or Susan and it seemed to have worked, because Susan said with a light voice looking once again appreciatively at Tony; "I like to ride the horses to the forest from time to time and it is much more simple to access it from here instead of taking the long route through the main entrance." She explained.

"Plus we don't have anything to fear with you around, right agent?" Anne added with a flirty voice and a mischievous grin. She then, without allowing Tony to answer, proceeded to the next room giving Tony another flirty look on the way. Gibbs, off course, noticed that little exchange and gave Tony a mock angry glance. Tony just shook his shoulders in a very 'not my fault' way and followed an oblivious McGee and a furious Ziva to the next room.

Buxton Mansion; Stables; 12 thirty in the afternoon;

It had been almost an hour and a half since Tony had entered the mansion and he had finally finished pacing around the gardens and the main house. He was glad that there seemed to be no other breech in the security of the mansion with the exception of the forest exit. They were now approaching the stables and Susan seemed eager to explain everyone -and especially Tony- everything she knew about horses. All that time, Anne appeared to be incredibly bored about what her mother was saying, but completely absorbed by Tony, much to his discomfort.

'I know you are laughing at me right now Kate.' Tony thought while trying to hide his discomfort. It was however difficult to ignore Anne who was 'accidentally' tripping every two minutes and used Tony as a way to hold her balance.

'I wonder what would happen if I moved a bit while she is trying to grab my hand…' he thought teasingly but quickly added; 'No, bad Tony! This would be hilarious but unprofessional…' So he ignored another 'accidental' tripping from Anne and tried to focus on what Susan was talking about. They had by now already entered the stables and Susan was showing them her new horse, the one Anne had mentioned to her friend Jenny in her e-mail.

The horse itself was a tall, young and still kind of wild stallion of black color and was at the moment being led in the middle of the stable by a man who seemed to be his trainer.

"Tornado is getting ready for his walk." Susan explained. "We are taking him out every night in order to get all the exercise he needs."

As Tony was thinking how much deprived of imagination one must be to name a horse Tornado, the said horse, obviously annoyed by the sudden commotion, broke free from his instructor and rose to his back two feet. Tony acted on instinct, remembering his riding lessons from all those years ago. He used his right hand to catch Tornado's leash and once he lowered the horse's head to his eye level, he used his left and stroke Tornado's head slightly, while whispering with taming certainty in his voice in order to calm him.

"Come on boy." Tony whispered. "Nobody is going to hurt you."

It worked almost instantly. The horse calmed down and Tony handed it to his trainer, who swiftly moved it a bit further in case it got annoyed once again. Tony took a look at his fellow agents and the Buxton women. Gibbs, Ziva and McGee looked clearly surprised while Susan and Anne looked excited. Susan was the one to speak first, joy clear in her voice;

"I didn't know you knew your way around horses, agent DiNozzo." She said.

Tony smiled slightly and just answered; "Oh, I used to take horse riding lessons in the past." The awestricken look on Anne's face didn't escape him. 'Apparently she isn't all that attracted at horses' Tony thought a little amused 'but her dislike doesn't seem to extend to their riders'.

"I should apologize however." Susan continued. "Tornado isn't usually that easily annoyed. He just isn't used to being around new people. We are actually teaching him to approach as by whistling those days…" Then however, Anne interrupted;

"I bet Tony can make Tornado approach him!" She said clapping her hands happily.

'No more 'agent DiNozzo' then.' Tony thought as he heard Anne using his name.

"Off course you should try agent DiNozzo!" Susan agreed, looking as happy as her daughter. "Go on give it a try." She said.

Since he saw no reaction from Gibbs, except an amused smile, Tony put his fingers in his mouth and whistled. To his surprise, Tornado broke free once again from his instructor and moved towards him.

"Brilliant!" Susan exclaimed as she watched Tony patting Tornado's head. "From now on, as long you are in his hearing range, Tornado will recognize your whistle and will come to you within seconds."

Tony couldn't find the words to answer and thankfully he didn't have to, since Gibbs finally decided to speak;

"Forgive us Mrs. Buxton," he said looking at Susan "but since we are going to spend the night here, we should probably go and fetch our clothes for the night and for the party tomorrow. We might not have time afterwards."

"But off course." She said a bit disappointed. "We will escort you to you car." And saying that, she followed Gibbs, who had already exited the stables. Tony followed her example, ignoring once again the bewildered look from McGee and the adoring looks from Anne and Ziva.

December 24th; Buxton mansion; 10 thirty in the afternoon;

Tony was standing at the main hall of the mansion trying to blend in with the guests. It wasn't very difficult to tell the truth; his suit was undoubtedly the most expensive one among the agents and suited him perfectly. His attire included a black suit, a white shirt and a tight black vest without a tie (as the latest fashion style commanded).

His hair was once again carefully messed up, giving him a flirty look. His looks off course hadn't helped with Anne's and her girl friend's reaction toward him. Although last night and the whole day Tony was carefully avoiding Anne and Susan, he was no longer able to come up with a viable excuse to leave the room.

'Focus DiNozzo.' He thought to himself. 'You have to catch a crazed killer if you remember.'

Admiral Buxton had come to the mansion about two hours ago and was at the moment talking to Gibbs trying not to look too worried. Tony had given him and all the other agents that had come to the party as 'bodyguards', a short briefing on the case as well as a recent photograph of Walker. He was a man in his sixties, with medium height and weight, gray hair (which were now probably colored) and black eyes. All they could do was wait for him to move in order to arrest him.

December 24th; Buxton mansion; 11 thirty in the afternoon;

Tony had already passed countless invitations for a dance and was getting more irritated by the minute. It had been an hour and Walker hadn't made his move yet. Tony had started doubting himself; what if he was wrong about the victims? What if someone else was getting killed right now because of him, while they were protecting Buxton and his wife?

'No!' He thought to himself 'None of this! Not now! I am right; all the evidence pointed to this direction. I simply can't be wrong. I'm not letting Kate down…' However, as he was fighting with his madness, he heard Ziva through his earpiece;

"We have movement behind Admiral Buxton and his family!"

Tony's head turned slowly so that he wouldn't let anyone suspect something bad was happening, but inside he was boiling as he saw the man Ziva had talked about; he knew in a fraction of a second it was Walker. His black eyes were unable to miss. He was dressed like a waiter and was slowly approaching Buxton and his family. Tony however couldn't see more details as his sight was blocked by some of the guests. He heard McGee however who said;

"Watch out; he has a gun!"

'Well off course he has a gun…' Tony thought. 'With my luck we are lucky he doesn't carry a canon!' Then he heard Gibbs saying;

"Move carefully and make the arrest. He is highly dangerous, so as I said move carefully." He ordered.

But it was too late. Walker had already notice the agents approaching so he moved as quickly as humanly possible; He grabbed the Buxton that was closer to him, Anne, and pulled out his gun shooting once in the air;

"Nobody moves!" he shouted. "One move and I will not hesitate to kill her!"

Tony heard Anne screaming and trying to run away, but to no avail. Walker was leading her outside, trough the balcony doors.

'Damn!' Tony thought. 'He is taking her to the forest's side. If he makes it to the forest we might never catch him!' He then heard Gibbs ordering as Walker made it to the garden;

"Agents follow him. Don't let him reach the forest!"

A shout was heard and then the roaring of what seemed to be a bike's engine coming to life. Tony run outside along with the other agents, only to meet the sight of a terrified Anne being consulted by Ziva and Walker who was fleeing towards the woods riding a bike, already out of their shooting range.

He looked around trying to find something that would help him reach Walker in time. Although he couldn't find anything he came up with a rather weird idea. But since he had no other option, he took a couple of steps forward and put his fingers on his lips.

'You better be watching this Kate.' He thought and then whistled as loud as he could manage. For a couple of seconds everybody went silent and looked at him like he had gone crazy. However their concerned looks turned to awe, as they heard at first and then saw Tornado approaching. Tony acted fast; he got rid of his suit as it would narrow his movements and with one swift movement, he jumped onto Tornado's back and followed Walker, oblivious to the awestricken expressions on the faces of his colleagues and the rest of the onlookers.

In seconds he was closing the space between himself and Walker. They had now reached the forest and Tony could move much swifter on horseback than Walker on his bike.

Tony was now on shooting range. 'I'd better get him back alive' he thought 'or Gibbs is going to kill me…' He aimed for Walkers right arm and shot at the very much surprised ex Lieutenant and now fugitive. The first shot hit a tree as Walker rode pass it. The second one hit his right arm exactly at the shoulder blade. That was enough to make Walker loose his balance an fall from his bike. Tony jumped off Tornado's back and approached Walker with his gun aiming at him the whole time. He kicked Walker's weapon that had landed about two feet far from Walker himself further away.

'No more surprises.' he said to himself. Then he addressed a still clearly confused Walker as he handcuffed him; "Are we going somewhere?" He then dragged him away from the pile of metal that used to be his bike, hit his head 'accidentally' at a tree, leaving him unconscious, put him on Tornado's bike and climbed on himself. He then took the road back to the mansion.

As he exited the forest, he heard clapping from the crowd near the house and saw the rest of the agents that had just reached the edge of the forest. He ignored the looks of adoration that came from his female colleagues (Ziva included) and chuckled a bit with McGee's awestricken expression thinking; 'If Probie keeps giving me these looks, his face will probably stay this way. Too bad for Abby I guess…' he thought and chuckled once again remembering the looks Abby had been giving McGee for the past months.

He then saw Gibbs who looked half bewildered and half amused. "You decided to chase a killer on horseback DiNozzo?" he managed to ask.

"I used whatever I could find boss." Tony said coolly, receiving some more amazed looks from the rest of the agents. He climbed down from Tornado's back and patted his head as he gave him to an agent so that they could finally get Walker under arrest properly.

He suddenly felt something cold touching his face. He looked up and realized it had started snowing. He took a look at his watch and realized it was five minutes past twelve. He then closed his eyes and tried to tune out the questions and the talking around him. He focused instead of the most beautiful thing that had happened to his life. He thought of Kate. He thought of her face, of her scent, of her laughter. And for a wonderful moment he felt like she was with him again, alive and happy as she should be.

'Merry Christmas, Kate. Merry Christmas my love.' He thought, allowing himself some time away from a cold reality without Kate.