Warnings: Slight spoilers for "SWAK", heavier on the "T" side at the end because of implied sexual situations, nothing explicit.

A/N: I have another chapter for you to wrap up the weekend. Don't know when I'll be posting again, have a busy week ahead. Real life sometimes just gets in the way of writing fanfic lol.

E- Ziva is a tricky character for me to write, honestly. Gibbs would not have asked for help, he doesn't when they're working on cases, so I agree, if she had wanted to help Tony she should have volunteered to help. As for Jenny, yeah she's nuts lol, but she isn't getting away with murder.

None- Tony already has his own team at the FBI, so calling McGee and asking him to his second in command would make no sense at this point. He left the card for Tim incase Tim needs help, so theoretically if Tim wanted out of NCIS, Tim could call Tony and see if Tony could help him get a job at the FBI.

Tony got up early the next morning, dressed in his best suit, and quietly left the apartment without disturbing Leah. He hailed a cab to the Adams House Hotel and nervously went over what he was going to say in his head to John Dawson when he asked permission to marry the man's daughter.

It was the last piece to this whole proposal puzzle. They planet tickets to Paris were booked, the hotel room reserved. Tony knew exactly the spot he was going to take her to get down on one knee… now he just needed her father's blessing to take Leah's hand.

John was seated at a small table in the hotel's restaurant, drinking coffee and eating a raisin bran muffin. He had The Washington Post in front of him and looked more imposing than Tony had remembered him to be. Swallowing the nervous bile in his throat, Tony fixed his suit coat and sat down at the table with a soft hello.

"Ah, Anthony," John said with a smile, putting the newspaper down. "I was just reading about Jennifer Shepard's arrest in the paper."

"Looks like you won't have to go after NCIS after all," Tony pointed out.

"Yes, but it would have been fun," John said as he took a sip of his coffee. "What can I do for you this morning, Anthony?"

Tony took deep breath. It was now or never, and he really needed to do it now since his was leaving for Paris in a few days. "You have to know how I feel about Leah, sir. She means the world to me and then some… I've been… I've been thinking about this for a while and I… sir I would like your permission to take your daughter's hand in marriage."

John paused and for a few moments Tony feared the worst—that the man was going to reject him. But then a smile spread across the lawyer's face, and he replied, "Yes, of course, Anthony you can ask her to marry you. I know you will take good care of my little girl and that's all any man wants for their daughter. Someone to give her the world, to protect her and support her—you do all of those things already, Anthony."

He felt the weight of the world lift off his shoulders. Tony sighed, happily. "Thank you, sir. I was… well, I was nervous you would say no."

"Anthony, I'm going to let you in on a little secret," John said, grinning, "You're the first boyfriend that Leah has brought home that I liked."

"Really?"

"Oh yes, really. A father wants to see a man with direction in his life, solid footing—not some weed smoking hippie."

Tony found it hard to believe that Leah had dated a hippie, but he smiled none-the-less. "Glad I fit the profile for marriage into the Dawson family material."

John chuckled. "You've grounded my girl, Anthony. She needed that. I love her, dearly, but that child would have spent the rest of her life digging around in ancient burial grounds, dating whomever she pleased if she hadn't met you. Now, I assume that you have your entire proposal all worked out—tell me about it."

With a beaming smile, Tony proceeded to tell John his plans for asking Leah to marry him.

Ducky invited him to lunch. No one really invited him out for lunch. Gibbs knew that something had to be bothering the medical examiner if he had extended such an invitation to the team leader. So, they now sat outside in the sunshine, watching passing businessmen and tourists. "Something on your mind, Duck?" the former marine asked half-way through the meal when their chatter had been nothing but small talk.

Slowly, Ducky put his fork down onto his plate. "I have been disturbed by Jenny's actions for quite some time, Jethro. As a field agent, she never would have left Tony without back-up like that, nor would she have let that operation go on for as long as it did. Something has impaired her judgment."

Gibbs was a bit surprised by that last statement. "Impaired her judgment? Like she's drinking or doing some kind of heavy duty drug?"

"No, nothing of the sort, Jethro," Ducky said with a shake of his head. "I think she is ill."

"Oh, well anyone could have told you that," Gibbs said going back to his lunch. "She hasn't been right in the head since she took the big chair."

"I didn't mean mentally ill, Jethro… although one could argue that."

"So what did you mean?"

Ducky looked at him seriously. "Do you remember when Anthony had the plague?"

Gibbs frowned. "How could I forget? He nearly died."

"Yes, and the woman that sent that terrible letter suffered from a brain tumor," Ducky pointed out. "It made her judgment impaired, drove her to delusion and insanity. Do you get what I'm saying, Jethro? Jenny has acted the same way—delusional, obsessed, violent… not only should she be questioned by a psychologist she should also be looked at by a doctor."

"Are you trying to tell me that she didn't know right from wrong, Duck?" Gibbs asked, feeling slightly angry that there could be a way out for Jenny. "She had to have known that her actions were going to lead Tony to trouble. What would have happened had Tony and Leah been killed in that explosion? She showed very little remorse for what happened to Tony… but even she has to be aware of what she did was wrong."

Ducky sighed. He understood Gibbs frustration. He wanted Jenny to pay for what she had done and he wanted to keep Tony safe. "Precisely, Jethro. She showed no remorse for her actions. She thinks that Rene Benoit's death is justified, that what Tony went through was just a means to an end. I'm not saying she doesn't understand that murdering a man is wrong… clearly she does… I'm just saying that I do not think she is entirely responsible for her actions."

Gibbs suddenly wasn't hungry anymore. Could it be possible that a brain tumor had turned Jenny into the mess of a woman that had been led away yesterday? He had been looking for answers as to why Jenny had gone so far to get Benoit. "She still killed him, Duck. Plain and simple. With her mind so warped I'm afraid that Tony could be next if he's not careful."

"She did seem to lay a lot of blame on Anthony," Ducky pointed out. "Her lawyers are not going to leave it alone. I hope Anthony is ready for a fight."

"He is," Gibbs said, softly. "He's been ready for one the moment that operation went south."

"And Leah… is she ready? The girl has stood by him through so much but at some point…"

"No. She won't leave him… not the type. She'll see it through to the end with him."

Ducky nodded and pushed his plate away from him. "It is good to know that Anthony has someone that loves and supports him. When he spoke of her a year ago I thought something was different about her."

Gibbs looked at the older man, curious. "Tony talked to you about Leah?"

"He didn't use her name," Ducky said. "But it is easy to piece together that the woman he spoke so fondly of is Leah."

"She's good for him, Duck," Gibbs said as his phone rang. He glanced at it to see it was Langer. "Hope he doesn't screw it up with her."

Ducky was more concerned that Jenny was going to be the cause of Anthony and Leah's relationship crumbling. If his theories of a brain tumor were correct, than Jenny's ability think rationally was gone. She had no moral code anymore, the tumor having blocked those signals in the brain. He always did say head trama was a tricky business… tumors included.

Gibbs snapped his phone shut and threw some money on the table. "Gotta go, Duck. Dead body found behind a slum bar in Baltimore."

"Just when I thought we were going to get through the day without any death," Ducky sighed, standing. He took a deep breath and followed Gibbs to the car. "Duty calls."

"No one said this job was easy," Gibbs muttered getting behind the wheel. As he thought about what Tony had been through in the last year, he added, "Some times it sucks."

Tony came home to find his bed covered with suitcases. "Leah? What's all this?"

Leah popped out of the bathroom, dressed in short athletic shorts and a thin camisole. "I started packing." She saw that he was dressed in one of his suits. "Why are you dressed up? Did you go into work?"

He loosened his tie and then slipped out of his jacket. "Had a meeting to attend," Tony lied to her, with a smile for good measure. "I see you're in your underwear, Miss Dawson, some might say you were hoping to seduce me."

She smiled at him, a flirty twinkle in her eyes. "And so what if I am?" Leah asked as she ran her tongue over her lips and stepped closer to him, swaying her hips slightly.

Tony felt his breath hitch. He unbuttoned his shirt and tossed a broad grin in her direction. "Well then, who am I to complain?" he asked, reaching out and grabbing her waist. He pulled her towards him and brought his lips to hers in a soft kiss. "If we do this, we're going to have to move those suitcases and mess up whatever system you have for packing, bella."

Leah sighed and ran her hand up his bare chest. "Mmmm, who says we have to do this on the bed?"

"And where… dear lady… do you suggest we do it?" Tony asked, feeling his heart beating wilding in his chest.

"I've always had this fantasy of us on the piano bench," Leah replied in a husky whisper.

Tony moaned, softly as her fingers traced imaginary patterns on his chest. "Really? Where else have you fantasized about us—," he said, but was cut off when her mouth pressed his in a passionate kiss. Screw it. I can find out the other places later.

He let his hands slid up her slender body and underneath her camisole, delighted to find that she did not have a bra on. That was going to make his job of getting her naked as fast as possible a whole lot easier. Slipping the thin shirt over her head as he broke their kiss, he grinned at her wickedly before he guided her out into the living room, remaining clothing flying in all directions as they went.

One way or another they made it to his piano bench, where she murmured that she pictured them naked on it every so often when he sat down and played. Knowing that she had pictured them in this very spot heightened his desire. Everything about this encounter was heightening his desire. The feel of her skin against him, the feel of the leather underneath him and the loud clang of several of the keys going off every time his body slammed into them. The mixture of temperatures, of her hot skin on top of him while he was sprawled out over the cool ivory, sent tingles through his body.

Leah knew exactly what she wanted from him, but even then it was turning out better than her fantasy. The sound of the piano, their heavy breaths between hot kisses, the gentle breeze blowing in from the open window… anyone on the street could probably look up and see them… that made this encounter even more urgent, passionate and thoroughly mind blowing. By the time it was done, and they were sitting there trying to catch their breaths and reveling in pure satisfaction… she closed her eyes and sighed.

Tony pushed her sweaty hair back. His heart rate was starting to slow but it was still rapidly beating and his breaths were still coming in as gasps. She was going to have to divulge her other fantasies to him because that… that had been some of the hottest sex they'd hate to date. And he certainly was never going to look at his piano the same ever again…

Someone knocked on their door, startling the young lovers. They quickly scrambled to part and find their clothing that was all over the living room. "I'm coming!" Tony gasped, sliding into his pants and an undershirt. Leah giggled behind him and he realized the double meaning… especially since… well it had only been a movement ago that the pair had been in middle of the throes of passion on his piano bench. He shot her a glare while he struggled to get to the door and she disappeared with nothing but her boy shorts on back into the bedroom.

On the other side of the door the mailman looked slightly embarrassed. "Ah, saw your car in the lot, Tony. You have… you have a package here… thought I'd, ah, bring it up to you so no one takes it…"

"Thanks Jerry," Tony said taking the mail. He threw him a soft smile as a blush crept to his cheeks. "Sorry you had to, um… well… you know…"

"Don't worry about it. Wouldn't be the first couple I've interrupted," Jerry said with an even deeper blush coloring his cheeks. "Stories we mail carriers could tell…"

Tony chuckled nervously, thanked him again and closed the door. He frowned at the package. He hadn't ordered anything recently.

Leah appeared in the doorway to the bedroom, fully dressed and hair tied back into a bun. "What did you get?"

"Don't know. It's from… it's from a jewelry store downtown," Tony admitted. He found a pair of scissors in the kitchen and opened the package.

Inside was a Rolex box. Tony's watch had been destroyed in the car explosion and he had yet to replace it. There just hadn't been much time, no pun intended, or the desire to replace. He carefully opened the box and looked at the beautiful watch inside. Was this an early birthday present from his father? It seemed highly unlikely since Senior usually was months late with his gifts…

But a Rolex watch was just something his father would do, Tony decided as he gently took the watch out to further inspect it. He quickly learned that it wasn't from his father, when he spied the inscription on the back. To my love, Tony, with all of mine, Leah. "Did you… where did you get the money for this?" he asked, watching the smile form on her face.

Leah came into the kitchen and clasped the watch around his wrist. "I've been saving for months, even before the explosion claimed your watch. Moving in with you gave me a little extra cash to have it inscribed."

Tony pressed his lips to hers. "You didn't have to do this, bella. Having you in my life is enough. I don't need fancy watches or gifts from you."

"But I wanted to do it, Tony. You bring me flowers and gifts all the time," Leah argued with him. "I wanted to show my love in a similar fashion. Do you… do you like it?"

"Yes, I've never had such a beautiful gift," Tony replied, smiling at her. "Or such a beautiful woman."

Leah smiled, coyly at him and wrapped her arms around his neck, drawing him down for a kiss. "Good. I'm glad you like it."

Tony kissed her, wanting to drown in her all afternoon. He knew that they had a lot more to do before their trip, but he wanted to explore some more of those fantasies she had. Packing was just going to have to wait.

Paris is happening in the next chapter ;) You know what that means...