A/N: We're almost done guys. Just two more chapter by my count. Once again, thank you all for the kind words. They are appreciated. The first part are emails, just in case anyone has a problem understanding that. :)

Chapter Thirty Seven

To: a_sciuto

From: tonydinozzo2

Hi Abby, hi Boss and everyone else. We got off the plane a while ago which was good cause the ride was really long. I didn't like sitting still like that because it was sorta hard for me to walk around but we had really nice seats and I got to watch a movie and everything.

It was a new movie, the one with all the superheroes who save the world.

My favorite one is the one who can shoot really well, cause he doesn't have any special powers like the others ones but he still really smart and helps people, just like you guys do.

We went to London first. Its really nice here.

Dad is typing this, cause typing is different than writing and I don't write very fast and I type even slower.

Dad says hello and I waved to say hi too.

We are going to go on the big Ferris Wheel here I think. Dad called it an eye, but I don't think he knows what he's talking about.

Baron isn't with us. He went on a different flight straight to Italy. It was hard for him to fly so long and me and dad decided it would be better if he went separate. That, and dad says he's gotta stay someplace where they make sure he's not sick or anything.

So Baron is gonna be in Italy when we get there. We aren't gonna go by a plane again which is nice. Planes are really loud and I remember why I didn't like them very much.

It's nice here. It was raining when we got here but it isn't anymore.

I miss you guys. But I'm having lots of fun. I know it's gonna feel like a long time cause I'm gone, but I'll be back soon.

When I get back, Dad already said you guys can come over again to eat, as long as I promise that we have to eat something other than pizza. I think lasagna is delicious too.

I gotta go now. We are gonna go eat some food cause I'm starving.

Did you know that they call French fries "chips" here?

Bye Abby, Boss, Probie, Ziva, Jimmy, and Ducky. I love you.

To: a_sciuto

From: tonydinozzo2

Guys guess what! I remembered EVERYONE from my family here! I remembered Nonna because I could never forget her, but when I got here, I saw everyone's faces and I remembered their names. The only time I messed up was when Berto and Fredo came in together but that doesn't count cause their twins and no one else can tell them apart.

Nonna says my Italian still sounds very nice. Which is really neat. I don't stutter at all when I speak it which is really nice. Everyone laughs at me cause they say my accent is funny but that's not fair either cause they speak English funny too.

Some of the people that I remembered are a lot bigger. Which is okay cause it doesn't bother me. I'm taller than Vinny which is nice cause he was always bigger than me.

It's really nice here. I forgot how nice it was.

I'm glad we get to stay awhile. Baron likes it too. Nonna and Zio Domenico picked him up when he got here after everyone made sure he was healthy, and he was so excited to see me he knocked me over.

I was okay though, cause Berto and Fredo helped me back up and I didn't hit my head. Baron loves it here. Me and him go on walks through the land with Dad. It's so nice here, and it's quiet most of the time. Sometimes Nonna yells but that's okay too cause she's never really mad. Nonno isn't really my Nonno but he's very nice. He can't see very well but he likes Baron cause Baron is very nice to him.

I had a seizure yesterday. It wasn't really bad but it scared Nonna so much that she couldn't stop crying for a very long time. When I woke up, she kept rubbing my hand and she was praying.

I kissed her and hugged her and told her I was okay, that my head wasn't broken anymore.

She said that was good, cause she loved me very much and it wasn't nice to scare an old woman that way.

I laughed cause Nonna smiled and even though she never wants me to be alone, she was very happy with Baron because of what he did. She says that Baron is an angel, sent to help me, which is fine. Baron has always looked out for me. But I'm glad Baron isn't an angel, cause I like him as a dog instead.

I have to go now. Me, Baron, and Nonna are going into town for some food. I'm gonna be so heavy when I get back guys, I won't be able to fit in my clothes! Nonna makes the best food.

Bye Abby, Boss, Probie, Ziva, Jimmy, and Ducky. I love you.

"Look! Senior attached pictures to Tony's last email."

"Oh let me see!" Ziva said, gently worming her way through the taller men in front of her.

"Oh look!" Abby said, going through the photos slowly, "They took a train!"

"Baron looks like he's put on a few pounds," McGee laughed.

"And look at those fields, oh what a marvelous picture indeed," Ducky exclaimed. Senior had managed to capture Tony playing fetch with Baron, both looking at the camera as if Senior had called them and quickly taken the picture. Tony was smiling, a hand raised in the air to throw the ball again and Baron's mouth was open, his ears turned toward the picture but his focus definitely on Tony. The sun was setting in the background, highlighting the golds and reds on the fields behind Tony. It seemed, through the picture, that Tony's family operated a farm of some kind with the rows of trees and what looked like to be a vineyard in the background of some of the other photos.

"That's Nonna," Abby exclaimed happily, when the picture changed to Tony with an older woman. He was laughing at something, and through the picture everyone could see the loved that the older woman had for her adopted grandson.

"That looks like such a wonderful place to travel," Jimmy said, "No wonder Tony was so excited to go visit there."

"How long is he gone for?" Gibbs asked after they had gone through the pictures more than once.

"Two months total, so only a few more weeks to go," Abby said, quickly typing her reply, "Okay everyone say cheese!"

Abby snapped a quick photo of all the team and attached it to the email she sent back to Tony.

After that, everyone slowly trickled out, Ziva and McGee off to work on the case and Ducky and Palmer off to complete another autopsy.

"Boss?" Abby whispered, when Gibbs was the only one besides her left in the room.

"Yeah Abs?"

"I miss him too."

"Yes, yes, order more of the grains and hay, we can store it in the back section of the barn, there should be room there," Senior said, "Alright Sal. Yes. Thank you so much my friend, for all you have done."

"Tell Sal I say hi. And to make sure he's giving Denny an apple. He'll get really mad if you don't but don't let Bella see cause she gets jealous," Tony rambled on in Italian, his speech not stuttering once. He was humming more often now, which seemed to help exponentially with his speech. That, and speaking in his mother tongue was doing wonders for his speech, even when he switched back to English, which Senior made him do daily so he could practice his speech exercises.

Senior nodded his head, Sal having heard everything, sent his well wishes to Tony and all the family before ending the phone call.

"Did they send something back Dad?" Tony said, looking longingly at the computer that was in the office of Nonna's house.

"Let's check," Senior said, walking over, "Hmm, yep, Abby responded back."

"Did they get the pictures?" Tony all but shoved his dad out of the way trying to check to read the email, "Cause they were really nice pictures dad. And Abby said when she gets nice pictures like that she prints them and posts them on her wall," Tony hummed at the end of the sentence, his bad hand fumbling with the hem of his t-shirt.

"Yes son, they did. Now calm down a bit so we can read what they said," Senior laughed, "Come on. Read this out loud. We don't want you getting rusty in your English."

"Dad," Tony hummed again before laughing, "Only metal gets rusty."

Senior laughed at that, "True. But read this anyway."

"Hello Tony," Tony read the email slow, lifting a finger to trace the words, "We all loved your pictures."

Senior smiled at his son, as Tony read the email. Everyone was doing fine, the email said, and nothing much had happened while they were gone. They were all missing Tony, but they were glad he was having such a wonderful time. They had gotten the package that Tony had sent a few days ago, filled with all the presents for each of the team members. They were extremely thankful for the handpicked presents.

Tony continued to read until he got to the end of the email.

Sighing, Tony rubbed his head, before yawning, "I'm glad they got the pictures."

"I'm glad too," Senior said, frowning slightly when he saw Tony's left hand start to clench, "Son, are you alright?"

"It hurts," Tony bit his lip, "But no shakes. Just tight."

Senior nodded, glancing at Baron. The dog was lying calmly on the ground on the side of Tony and normally he would have been agitated if Tony was showing signs of a seizure.

"Let go sit down and rest then. I'm sure Nonna will watch some TV with you for a bit."

"Okay," Tony stood, but had to do so slowly. His head was starting to hurt, but still Tony didn't have that funny feeling like he did right before a seizure. It was just a headache, which he was getting a lot more of lately. It was sorta scary, and Senior was getting worried too.

"Come here my boy," Nonna said when Tony made his way into the den, "Come rest with me for a while. The rain has made today seem so sad."

"No Nonna, not sad," Tony laughed and sat down next to his grandma on the couch. Nonna gently pulled Tony down until he was lying with his head on her lap. She started to massage his head, and his shoulders, her strong graceful hands even going down until she was massaging Tony's bad hand.

"Here's his-" Senior came back in with two pills and a glass of water, only to be shushed by Nonna.

"He's asleep now Anthony," Nonna said, "No need for pills."

"But what-"

"Baron will stay with us. Now shoo. You have been with Tony all day. Go with Dom and help him with the chairs that need fixing. Tony and I will be just fine."

"Okay Mamma," Senior kissed the older woman on the cheek before gently ruffling his son's hair, "Call me if you need anything."

"We will be fine, dear. Now go."

Senior smiled once more before walking out of the room, in search of his adoptive father.

Gibbs studied the situation for a moment before he stepped forward, plucking the keys out of Ziva's hands and lobbing them over to McGee.

"Drive," he told McGee, and inwardly smiled when neither of his agents complained. While Ziva's driving was appreciated occasionally, with the suspect in custody of the FBI (it had been a joint case), he would much rather prefer McGee's calm and careful driving style than to Ziva's more…reckless one.

Settling in the shotgun seat, Gibbs closed the door and waited quietly as McGee started the car and put it into park. They'd head back to headquarters to complete all the paperwork, and then Gibbs would let them all go on a much deserved break.

Soon, Gibbs would start looking into hiring another Probie. They had had multiple offers make their way through his team, especially when Gibbs had taken that long leave of absence, but the timing had felt wrong until just recently.

Finding DiNozzo way back when in Baltimore had been coincidental, and running into Kate had been a nice addition as well.

McGee's joining the team had been gradual, which had been more for his benefit rather than Tony's or Kate's.

The funny thing was, Gibbs' agents always found themselves on the team. And considering how the last case had gone, Gibbs was pretty sure Dorneget was the one.

But he wasn't going to push it. He had never worried about his team before, and they had been getting along just fine with only three. But Gibbs could feel the feeling in his gut, the one he had gotten when McGee started to become a regular visitor in his bullpen.

"Boss, your phone."

"Boss, your phone is ringing," McGee said, again.

Gibbs reached down into his pocket, pulling out the old flip phone.

"Gibbs."

"Hello, my name is Sandra Garcia I'm looking for a Leroy Gibbs."

"Speaking."

"I'm a nurse at the George Washington University Hospital and we currently have a Anthony DiNozzo admitted as a patient here, you were listed as an emergency contact."

"What?" Gibbs said, sitting up straight in his seat, "What happened?"

"I can't tell you that Mr. Gibbs, however, if you could come down to the hospital? There are a few things about his history-"

"Is his dad there?" Gibbs asked.

"I'm not sure Mr. Gibbs, at the moment he's alone. So far we have not been able to contact his primary emergency contact."

"Is he…can you at least tell me what's wrong?"

"I can tell you that he's stable, but the doctors are running scans and doing test right now to see if surgery is needed. Will you be able to make it down?"

"I'm on my way."

"Turn around McGee," Gibbs said, after hanging up the phone, "Tony's just been admitted to University Hospital."

"What?" McGee said, executing a perfect high speed maneuver. Ziva was definitely proud, "He wasn't due back until next week."

"Well the lady on the phone didn't mention anything about his dad. That man better be near, or so help me I'll shoot him myself."

Tony rocked back and forward, ignoring everyone around him. He didn't understand what was happening. Of course, he understood, in the sense that something horrible had happened and that he was in a hospital right now.

But he didn't understand why this had happened.

Everything had been fine. They were coming home early to surprise everyone. It had been such a fun secret surprise that Tony had no trouble not telling anyone in the emails. Even his dad was excited because of how excited Tony was. And even though Tony was gonna miss all his family in Italy, he missed his family, his other family, even more.

But now, he was so sad. And his chest hurt so bad. Where was his dad? He just wanted his dad.

His head hurt. So bad. His head hurt and Baron wasn't here to help him. No one was here to help him.

He didn't understand and everything was jumbled up inside. He hadn't felt this way in a very very long time.

He just wanted everything to be okay again.

"My name is Gibbs. I was called about Anthony DiNozzo. I'm his emergency contact."

The lady behind the desk looked at Gibbs, and at the two people behind him before turning to her computer, "Can you spell DiNozzo?"

Gibbs suddenly had an urge to strangle this woman, but instead he calmly spelt Tony's last name.

"Hmm," the lady sighed, "He's on the third floor, in the CCU. They'll buzz you in when you get there. Just take this elevator up to three, make a left and walk all the way down the hall."

Gibbs nodded and walked away without another word, both Ziva and McGee hurrying to catch up.

"I just don't understand," McGee scowled, "CCU is all heart stuff. It's like the ICU but for heart attacks. If anything, I thought it would be Tony's head that gave him trouble."

Hearing those words, a thought jumped into Gibbs mind and didn't let go.

Thankful that the elevator operated at break neck speeds, Gibbs practically ran down the hallway to the CCU. Waiting to be buzzed in was the most awful feeling in his life but suddenly, Gibbs was through the door and there… it wasn't Tony.

Thank G-d.

It was Tony's dad, Senior, hooked up to machines and tubes.

"Can I help you?" a nurse, the same nurse that had called him most likely, asked him.

"I'm…" Gibbs wet his lip, trying not to show his relief on his face, "I'm Anthony DiNozzo's emergency contact. You called me."

"Ah, we were expecting you. Thank you for coming. The doctor-"

"Did anyone come in with him? His son should have been with him."

The nurse paused, clearly having not expected that to be the next question to come out of Gibbs' mouth.

"He's currently with the social worker in the conference room. We didn't-"

"Which way?"

"At the end of this hall but sir, wouldn't you like to know-"

Gibbs didn't hear anything after that.

While he was concerned about Senior, there was nothing he could do for that man at the moment.

But Tony.

He had to find Tony.

Tony tried to listen to the lady that was with him, but it was like he was broken again and his head hurt and nothing made sense.

He didn't understand. Everything had happened so fast.

His dad-

Where was his dad? Was he okay?

Why was he in here? He didn't understand.

"My head hurts," Tony tried to say but when the lady just looked at him, he knew he must have said to wrong.

"My head," Tony tried again and rubbed his head. It hurt. Nothing was right. He just wanted to go home.

The lady opened her mouth to talk and Tony closed his eyes and tried to listen.

His dad was sick. Something was wrong. He had done everything he was suppose to, like call so people could help them.

But that was a long time ago it felt like. They needed to go home. They had just gotten off the plane. Tony was so tired he just wanted it to end.

Tony must have been crying again, because there was wetness on his face and someone was trying to take it off.

And it wasn't Baron.

Baron. Where was his dog?

His dog was supposed to stay with him all the time. That's what the vest said, the one Baron wore. It said he didn't….

Where was Baron?

"Tony."

Someone kept saying his name. He was afraid to open his eyes because the words were starting to make sense again but he didn't know who he was talking to.

"Tony, come on buddy, I need you to open your eyes for me."

Tony let out another sob. He just wanted to go home.

"Oh Tony, kid, please look at me."

Tony didn't want to. Not really. Everything hurt really bad and he just wanted it to stop.

"Tony."

Suddenly, something in Tony's mind shifted. He knew that voice. He knew why the words were making sense.

"Boss," Tony tried to say and it must have come out right cause when Tony opened his eyes, Boss was there and his eyes had the lines that meant he was smiling.

"Boss," Tony said again, his face crumbling.

Boss was here. Boss would know what to do.

Boss could fix everything. Cause Tony didn't want to be in charge of all the stuff anymore.

"I'm here Tony, I'm here."

"Boss," Tony said and reached forward and held on as tight as he could. He didn't want Boss to disappear like his dad had.

"I won't leave you Tony. It's gonna be okay."

And even though Tony knew Boss didn't know everything, and that it might not be okay, he didn't care.

Boss was here and Boss would help.

And that's all Tony really wanted, was help.

Everything doesn't make sense right now. Something bad happened and even though I thought I did everything right, it still ended bad.

My head hurts, but not the kinda hurt that it use to have.

My chest hurts too, like my heart is gonna come out cause it hurts so bad.

Dad is sick. I don't know why, cause he didn't get hurt like me, and he didn't have to go to the doctor before, but something bad and horrible happened cause he's in the hospital like I was, after I broke my head.

But Boss is here. Boss is here and Boss will help.

Cause I don't know what else to do.