Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS.

The plane shook a little. A tiny bit of turbulence. Tim turned to Tony.

'This has got to be weird for you on some level' he said. Jeanne Benoit sat next to her husband, David, a little way down the plane. They were returning from South Sudan.

'Yeah. I think the word is 'totally surreal'. All of it. The truly weird part is that I'm happy for her.' Tony looked down at Jeanne. She looked happy.

'You should be happy for yourself too. You have Tali and Ziva' said Tim. 'You don't have to carry around all that guilt anymore.'

'Maybe. Maybe not.'

Just then Jeanne came and sat opposite them.

'It's all been such a blur, I haven't had a chance to say thank you.'

'Yes, you have' said Tim. 'And you're welcome.' He got up and moved away, giving the former lovers some privacy.

'Thank you, Tony' she said quietly. She kissed his cheek. Jeanne was about to go back to her husband but there was something she wanted to ask Tony.

'Would you do it again?' Tony looked down at his feet. He knew what she meant and that his answer would probably hurt her all over again.

'Yes, I would.'

'Why?' Jeanne struggled to understand. Tony paused, figuring out the best way to explain it to her.

'Tali.' Jeanne looked confused. Tony pulled out a small card from his shirt pocket and handed it to Jeanne. It was a photo of woman and young girl, who couldn't be more than two. 'Tali is my daughter, Jeanne. Ziva's her mother, my wife.'

'Didn't you used to work together?' In the depths of Jeanne's memory, she remembered a woman with a similar sounding name.

'Yes, Ziva and I used to work together.' He took a deep breath. 'My point Jeanne, is that I would do everything all over again in order to have my daughter. Tali is sweetest, happiest little girl in the world, and she and Ziva make my life better. I would do everything all over ago, not just our relationship to make sure they are in my life. Every little thing whether it had a big impact or a tiny, insignificant one. Tali and Ziva are the centre of my universe.' Jeanne smiled slightly at hearing Tony talk about his family.

'They're beautiful Tony' said Jeanne, handing the photo back. Tony put it in his shirt pocket. 'You miss them when you're away. I miss David when one of us is away.'

'Oh, so much Jeanne. To a point that it makes me question whether I should keep doing this job or do something else.'

Silence descended upon them.

'I am so sorry for what happened, Jeanne' said Tony, very quietly. 'At the beginning, before you and I even met, it did not occur to me or Director Shepherd, that…'

'That we would fall in love?' Tony nodded.

'We forgot to take emotion into account. Both our hearts broke, and it took me a long time to move past what I did to you. I know that will not make you forgive me, but I am truly sorry for what happened.'

Jeanne listened to what Tony said. He had apologised the other night, before they found David and the others. He did break her heart, and it hurt that he never really apologised for it. Now, knowing that both of them were in happy relationships with different people, the hurt that was created started to heal properly.

A few hours later the plane landed and everyone disembarked. Tony and Tim saw, standing next to his truck, Gibbs. They walked over to Gibbs.

'What are you doing here? Is everything OK?' asked Tony. His immediate thought was that something happened to Ziva and Tali.

'Everything's fine, so are Ziva and Tali. Came to pick you up. You and I need to talk' he said to Tony. Tim said goodnight and went to one of the agency's provided drivers. Tony turned back to Gibbs.

'You want to talk to me?' Gibbs nodded and then climbed into his truck. Tony followed, climbing into the passenger seat. 'OK, Gibbs, I'll bite. Why do you all of a sudden want to talk? We haven't spoken properly in weeks.' Gibbs paused. This was way beyond his comfort zone.

'I asked you, not that long ago, what you reason for doing this job is.' Tony went to say something but Gibbs stopped him. 'I don't need to know it. You successfully led the team when I was gone You successfully led this mission and saved everyone.'

'McGee helped.' Gibbs chuckled slightly. Trust Tony to make a joke in awkward situations.

'There's nothing left for me to teach you, Tony.' Tony looked at Gibbs

'Well, that's not true.'

'Yeah, it is. I've been doing this job long enough to know when someone has reached the end of the line, when they need a change, do something different, when there's nothing left for me to teach them. I saw it with Burley, and Ziva. I see it with you now.' Tony had stayed silent, listening to what Gibbs said. 'I won't tell you what to do next. You need to figure that out. Something tells me you've already started.' Tony gave a small chuckle.

'We never really talked about Iraq.' Gibbs gave a slight jerk of the head. 'I should have watched your six. I shouldn't have been distracted.'

'It wasn't you fault. None of us could have seen what Luke Harris was going to do.' They sat in the truck, in silence, for a few minutes.

'Why the cold shoulder?' asked Tony eventually.

DiNozzo, I was shot. I almost died. Kinda has an impact on you.' Tony chuckled.

'You good now?' Gibbs nodded. 'We good?' Gibbs nodded again and switched on the engine.

'Yeah, we're good.'

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