Warnings: None for this chapter.

A/N: Sorry it took so long for this next update. Enjoy!

Leah at some point became aware that she was in bed alone. Blinking open her eyes she peered into the golden haze of afternoon in their hotel room and found that Tony was missing. Reaching for her clothes, she quickly got dressed and went to glance out on the balcony.

It was a little after two and the sun was high in the sky, but she could make out Tony's tall silhouette standing against the rail, watching the rhythmic comings and goings of the city below them.

"Tony? Why are you up?" she asked, closing the door behind her. She walked towards him and wrapped her arms around his waist, pressing her cheek into his back. "I thought you wanted to stay in bed all day."

"You were still sleeping. And I was hungry for my eggs," Tony confessed, with a smile. He grabbed her arms and unhooked them, turning about to face her. "Sorry. I didn't mean to wake you."

Leah saw a distant look in his eyes. She knew that it must have been hard for him to give Ziva's necklace back earlier that day and that he constantly wondered if his former partner had found peace, sometimes to the point where it nearly dragged him down into a depression. Her Tony, too empathetic for his own good sometimes. "What's going on?" she asked, going to take his hand. As their fingers locked she was shocked to find something cold and metal in his grasp. She unlatched his fingers to find her locket, opened, in his hand. "Why do you have my locket?"

Tony glanced down at the jewelry in his hold. "Just curious to see what picture you kept inside," Tony answered, softly. "I was…I was surprised to find a drawing."

She looked at the tiny picture she had drawn as a child. "I drew it. When I was five. Prince Phillip from Sleeping Beauty. It was my favorite movie growing up. He's my placeholder."

He studied her for a moment, his green eyes settling on her blue ones. "Placeholder for what?"

"For the man who will keep my heart."

Tony turned away silently and looked out across the city once again. Leah was confused. Was he upset because he found a drawing of a fictional character in her locket and not a picture of him? She moved closer to him and silently begged him to tell her what the problem was. It was as if he could sense her presence. "My mom had a locket like yours. She kept a picture of me and my dad in there."

She nodded, slowly. "Are you upset that I haven't put a photograph of you in there?"

"No. That's silly."

"Because I plan too. Once we get our wedding photos back."

Tony spun around and stared at her, intensely. "Leah. I'm not mad at you. It's kind of cute. A child's drawing to hold the place for the real deal and the fact that you kept it in your locket this long means that you still, after all these years, believe in love and happy endings."

Leah smiled, gently. "Every little girl wants a happy ending."

He closed the locket and stepped closer to her. Gently, he placed the necklace around her neck and clasped it shut. Tony wrapped her tightly in his arms, protecting her from the cool wind, and took comfort in the fact that Leah was his happy ending.

Gibbs wouldn't say it out loud—but he was relieved to see Tony step off the elevator Monday morning.

"Hey, boss," the senior field agent greeted with an easy smile. He dropped his backpack down near his desk and started to go through his messages.

"Enjoy the rest of your weekend?" Gibbs asked, cautiously.

Tony smiled and nodded. "Yeah. New York City…always something magical about it."

Gibbs could easily see the change in Tony since last week. His shoulders were not as tense, his eyes were a bit brighter, and even though his father had nearly destroyed his weekend, the SFA seemed content. Gibbs suspected Leah had something to do with it. "You take my advice, DiNozzo? You talk to Leah about…whatever was bothering you?"

"Yeah," Tony said, softly. "You…you were right, boss…I do have a pretty great girl…wish it didn't take my father being an ass for me to realize it."

"Nah, you just needed a little push."

"Well…Senior's always pushed me."

Gibbs chuckled as Abby burst into the bullpen, arms spread wide, squealing, "Toneee!" She leapt at the SFA and latched on tightly. "I'm so glad you're okay. I was so worried when you and Leah didn't answer your phones!"

Tony hugged her and then pulled away, smiling, slyly. "Sorry about that, Abs. We…didn't want to be interrupted."

"I guess I can forgive you this one time," Abby tossed out, grinning. She hugged him tightly again, just glad to have him back. "You're okay? Tim told me what happened with your dad…before you get upset he had to call him to find you!" Abby pulled away and held him at arm's length. "It was wrong of him, Tony! To go to that lawyer and get a prenuptial agreement drafted! You don't need it! Anyone can see that you and Leah belong together!"

"Yeah, well, Leah and I might have to put off getting married for a while," Tony lamented with a sigh. "I kind of messed that up when I stormed out of our venue."

Abby punched him, not too hard, but enough that he yelped. "Anthony DiNozzo, Junior! Do you not know who I am? I am the party, wedding, planning expert and I am going to make sure that your wedding happens, on time!"

Tony rubbed his sore arm, noticing Gibbs chuckling silently. "Abs…I've kind of burned my bridges with my dad."

"We'll think of something, Tony! Promise! I'm going to go call Leah right now! If the two of us put our heads together…we can make this wedding happen!" Abby stated, firmly, as she turned on her heel. She then quickly turned back to Gibbs, "That is…if you don't need me right now, Gibbs."

"No. Nothing new on this case," Gibbs said with a smile, "Go on. Make sure we all have a wedding to go to in a few weeks."

Abby grinned and rushed off. Tony watched her go before asking, "Where do we stand on this case?"

Gibbs sighed and glanced at his SFA. "Four dead NCIS agents and one dead JAG lieutenant. All killed in car accidents after being given high doses of Valium."

Tony pursed his lips together. If it had only been Winters' that had the drug in his system…well…he might believe that the accidents were coincidental. But…the entire team had been drugged. Meaning…someone wanted them dead. "And you're certain the lawyer wasn't working with Winters' team? Maybe a case on the side?"

"Actually," Bishop's voice said as she entered the bullpen. "A case file was found in the car. We thought it was the one the Lieutenant was working but turns out, it's not."

"NCIS case?" Tony inquired.

"No. FBI. Missing persons report."

Gibbs scratched his chin. "Missing persons report?" he repeated, just making sure he heard right. Why would a JAG lawyer be looking into a missing persons case? "Are you sure?"

Bishop nodded. "Yes. I brought the file back over to the FBI myself last night. Agent Fornell was surprised that the lawyer had this case. It's over three decades old. Balboa kept a copy for our case file…but we didn't see any connection."

"Can you bring the case up on the plasma?"

"Yes."

Tony could see Gibbs gears turning. His were as well but at this point he wanted to look at the case before he came to any conclusions. Of course, that wasn't going to happen when Bishop brought the photograph of the missing woman on the screen. "Boss…" he said, startled, "that's…that's Agent Winters' wife. At least…well…at least when she was about twenty years old."

Gibbs stood and went to stand next to the senior field agent. "You said she seemed upset when you and McGee went to see her last week. Nothing else seemed out of the ordinary?"

"I…I was pretty messed up in the head, boss," Tony confessed, sheepishly, "I might have…I might have missed something. But…she played the grieving widow well."

"Bishop…when was this young woman last seen and where?"

"Last seen on May 21, 1977…at a local coffee shop. Witnesses say she left alone."

"Runaway?" Tony guessed.

Gibbs could only begin to speculate what this all meant. "Take Bishop. Go pay another visit to Mrs. Winters' again."

Tony grabbed his badge and gun. "Sure thing, boss." He led the way to the elevator, feeling all the tension returning to his body. So much for those two days in New York City with Leah, he thought, sadly as he climbed inside the cab.

"So," Bishop said, breaking the silence as they rode the elevator down to the garage, "Have a nice weekend?"

Carla Winters was surprised to see Tony back at her house. "Agent DiNozzo? I thought that my husband's case was closed?"

Tony frowned. "There's been a new development in the case, Mrs. Winters. Do you mind if we come in?"

"Of course not," she replied, letting the two agents inside of her house.

Immediately Tony noticed that it was cleaner since he'd been here last, and Mrs. Winters was dressed sharply. She no longer looked like the grieving widow and this sent his warning bells ringing. "Sorry to bother you on a Monday morning like this. But um…well…there was another car accident over the weekend. Driver overdosed on Valium."

Carla looked surprised. "Really? That's…that's strange."

"We thought so too," Tony said, sitting down on the sofa. "Especially when it was a JAG lawyer."

"Did he…work with my husband?"

"Not recently."

Carla shifted, uncomfortably in her chair. "Agent DiNozzo…is there something you're not telling me?"

Tony took a deep breath. "We tested the other three agents in the car with your husband. All of them had Valium in their system."

"My husband was murdered?"

"It looks that way, ma'am. I'm sorry."

Carla shook her head to clear her thoughts. "I just thought Clay had made a mistake…taking that Valium."

Tony ran his tongue over his lips. "Mrs. Winters…can you think of anyone that would want to hurt your husband?"

"Agent DiNozzo…my husband was a federal agent for a long time…why don't you start by looking into his case files."

"Can you explain why this was found in the car with the JAG officer?"

Bishop looked on as Tony showed Carla the missing person's poster from when she had disappeared thirty years ago. The older woman's face showed very little surprise or recognition. But her shoulders certainly stiffened.

Tony placed the poster down onto the coffee table. "Is this you, Mrs. Winters?"

"Oh…I guess it could be have been say thirty something years ago…but, rest assured, Agent DiNozzo, I have never been a missing person."

Something told Tony, as he left with Ellie, that the woman was lying through her teeth. And he wanted to find out why.