Tim came back hours later pushing a dolly with a bunch of filing boxes on it. Ziva was the first to notice him. "What is that, McGee?"

"Oh, Ziva, you are going to regret asking me that," Tim said with a smirk before putting a box on her desk. "These are copies of cases matching our killer's MO from Metro from the last fifteen to twenty years.

"Oh, man," Brooks groaned.

"Yes, you will all hate me in about five minutes. Now before you come to my house and slash my tires, know that my building has security cameras and II will make your lives hell," Tim joked.

"Pretty sure we're already there, Boss," Brooks said as a box was put up on his desk.

"Boss, our MO is simply stabbing. There are millions of those a year," Ralph said.

"No, our MO is brutal stabbing. He enjoys killing and causing as much damage as he can while doing so. I want to establish a pattern. Maybe we can find a case where he wasn't so good at hiding evidence," Tim told the man before putting a box on his desk as well. He then put one on his own and brought the last two over to where Gibbs and Tony were.

"You really think this is the best use of our time right now?" Gibbs asked. He could see having one or two agents doing this, but the rest of them should be talking to people and looking for evidence, not going through cold cases.

"Yes," was all Tim said before putting the box on Gibbs' desk and walked away from him. He approached Tony and saw that the man was barely paying attention. He seemed lost in thought. "DiNozzo, you with me?"

Tony had been semi paying attention. He'd heard what McGee wanted, but half his mind was elsewhere. He was thinking on what Agent Brooks had told him. That was pretty much all he thought about since they got back from the coffee run. He tried not to think about it, but the more he tried not to, the more he did think about it and the more awful he felt.

Tony forced himself to put it aside, at least long enough to answer McGee and try to get some work done. He avoided eye contact though, feeling too guilty to look at the younger man directly. "Yeah, sorry, McGee. I'm with you," he said before taking the box from him.

Tim was pleasantly surprised by Tony's response. He thought the man might complain about having to go through the files, like Gibbs tried to. He was glad to see that he hadn't. However, he'd also noticed the way Tony hadn't met his eyes and wondered what was up.

Tim looked at Tony for a minute, but quickly gave up and went back to his desk. He had bigger concerns right now. "Did we work out any witnesses connected to all three men?"

"Possibly. Talen and Richards both met through Mickey, so he connects all of them. Mickey has a younger sister who was not interviewed eleven years ago. We are trying to get in touch with her," Ziva said.

"Good, keep trying. What about Richard's wife? When is she supposed to be coming in?" Tim asked.

"Around four. She could not make it in any earlier. Ralph and I also interviewed a couple of others earlier. There is nothing knew there." Ziva said.

Tim nodded. "Alright, let's get through these files then," Tim said as he started on his own box.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

About an hour later, Tony was leaning against the wall by the Mens room. He'd needed to be alone for a while and away from Ziva and McGee. The more he saw them, the more guilty he felt. As he thought about his actions five years ago, he knew how selfish they were. It was even more selfish that it never even occurred to him that his team, his family really, might be hurt by the way he left, especially since the shock of Gibbs leaving had barely left everyone.

Tony thought about the way he left. It was almost like he was reliving it. It was cold, much like Gibbs'. He told them he was transferring and basically walked away without letting them even say anything. He did that because he thought it would be easier on himself. He didn't want them to try to convince him stay or call him out on the coward he knew he was being.

When he thought back, he remembered the frosty looks and the hurt and anger laced voices. He chose to ignore them before because he didn't want to see that they were in pain. He didn't want to care what it was doing to them. The only person he could think about back then was himself. He'd been seriously selfish and he knew it. And he couldn't fix it. He could never fix what he broke that day. All he had to do was look at them to know that. They were too different. Well, McGee was anyway. He was so different. He was stronger. He'd had to learn before he was ready. He'd had to figure out how to do what Tony wasn't willing to, and he didn't just mean being the boss. McGee had had to repair the damage that Tony and Gibbs had caused when they left. And now Tony was sure his former probie was someone that was a hell of a lot less forgiving.

"You alright, DiNozzo?"

Tony turned to see the last person he wanted to. Gibbs. He never thought he'd say the those words, but he didn't wanna be around Gibbs. He hadn't felt that way when Gibbs first got to NCIS, but since analyzing his own actions, he did. Tony knew he was at fault for leaving. He had to be responsible for his actions. But Gibbs was too. He started all of it by leaving himself in the same cold, selfish manner. He just didn't wanna be around him. "I'm fine. Just needed a few minutes to myself."

"Be over soon, DiNozzo. You know, if you had stayed where you were supposed to, I'd have the lead and we could get through it quicker," Gibbs said. He was still a bit irritated that Tony had left when he'd basically handed him the dream position. He also knew that if Tony was in charge, he would've let Gibbs lead.

Tony twitched angrily. "Did you really just say that to me?"

Gibbs raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"What right do you have to judge me leaving? You bailed like a coward and left the rest of us in the wind!" Tony said in a very low tone. The others he would take it from if they came at him. He more than deserved it for doubling their pain. But Gibbs? There was no way in hell he deserved to be judged by the man that left them all to rot, never even bothering to pick up the phone.

Gibbs was surprised by the reaction. It wasn't that Ducky's words were lost on him, but he really didn't feel he did anything wrong. He had the right to leave after fifteen years with the agency and he thought Tony of all people would get that. Tony had been the agent that always seemed to understand him the most. "I retired. You left because it got too hard."

Tony was seething. He had to actually count to ten to stop himself from screaming at the man in front of him, and the only reason he even tried to do that was because he didn't think Director Shepard would appreciate him putting on a show for all of NCIS. "Do not think you have a clue about why I left! You weren't here, remember? You don't get to tell me why I left and you don't get an opinion on it!"

Gibbs couldn't get over the way Tony was speaking to him. It was like he hadn't been his boss for years and the man hadn't respected him as that and more for years. "Cut the disrespect, DiNozzo!"

"What reason have you given me lately to show you respect?" Tony asked before pushing past him and going back towards the bullpen.