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"Choices& Consequences"

Chapter 8

Pearl Harbor - Hawaii.

Tony knew that the US government is every slow, especially to allocate money for offices renovation and that he wouldn't be able to change the office for months. So he had taken advantage of currently being in the NCIS Director's graces and had emailed him a detalied design asking for money and, very strange to say, Vance had approved his plans for NCIS field office in Hawaii.

As soon as he had received Vance's approval, Tony had asked one of the secretaries at the entrance desk of NCIS Office in Pearl Harbor to call a company that was allowed to renovate government buildings.

So now the young Team Leader was discussing partitions, like the ones that there were around his desk at NCIS HQ, and color schemes.

"So light blue for walls and white for the ceiling," Honi Lua, the contractor, said and got a nod from Tony.

"My cousin builds partitions," Akela, the contractor's son and assistant, informed the NCIS Agent.

"Perfect!" Tony exclaimed. "And, since you have my sketch of how I want the one big room look like at the end of the renovation, that should be everything you need to get started, right?"

Honi nodded as he looked at the design once again. "You're good at sketching, Agent," the contractor praised.

"Years of sketching crime scenes, I guess," Tony grinned.

"So partitions and new desks. What about the color of the desks?" Akela asked.

"Black, just like the chairs. Can you find them too?"

Both men nodded.


"Boss," Jo called from the doorway hours later.

"Come in," Tony gestured for her to enter his office.

"It's about 0600 and you've worked non-stop since your arrival. Maybe you'd like to see your house?"

Tony rewarded her with a wide smile. "Sure."

Since the moment he had arrived and met Jo at the airport, he had felt that the younger woman had a special regard for him. Nothing romantic, just kindness and caring.

"If you want I can drive you there. It's on my way home," she offered.

"That would be great. Thank you, but I'm not going to live in the base housing the Agency assigned me," he grinned.

"No? Where are you going to live then?" Jo asked widening her blue eyes.

Tony gathered the files on his desk and put all but one inside the file cabinet.

"When I accepted this assignement, I remembered that one of my closest friend, Peter, owns an amazing house here on the beach. So I called him," he explained as put the other file inside his backpack and shut off his PC. "I wanted to ask him if he could host me 'till I'll find a place to live."

"And?" Jo was curious.

"Peter told me that he can't live there anymore because his boss transfered him to Montecarlo."

"Oh, no," Jo sighed.

"I got lucky!" Tony winked. "Peter was really worried the house, that had belonged to his granparents, got ruined if no one lived there. So he offered me to rent it for a very cheap rent and take care of it as if it were mine," he smiled one of his best smile.

"Amazing!" Jo exclaimed as she saw Tony leaving his office. "Don't you lock your office up?" she asked surprised.

"No," Tony shook his head. "Many things are going to change and..." he grinned as she widened her eyes in expectation.

"Tomorrow you'll have a great surprise," the Team Leader winked.

Washington DC - about midnight.

Vance was still at his desk when he heard someone knocking on his door.

The door opened slowly and Gibbs entered, asking, "Do you have a minute, Leon?"

"You knock and ask permission to talk? It must be really important." The Director motioned for Gibbs to sit. "What's going on?" he then asked, rubbing his eyes tiredly.

"It's about..."

"Ziva? I already told you that you can't fire her."

"No, it's not about her," Gibbs shook his head. "I need you to take us off active cases so I can investigate the mole case and close it ASAP."

"So then you'll get DiNozzo back," Vance added and got a nod from the older man. "Gibbs," he took a deep breath. "I don't think Tony'll ever come back to DC."

"Leave that to me," Gibbs replied, still confident in his abilities to read and manipulate his former SFA.

Vance didn't reply right away. He was tired of battling Gibbs' stubbornness and his blindness about the damage he had done to his relationship with DiNozzo was the last thing he needed in that moment.

"So, you want me to take your team off active cases?" he pondered. "Ya know I can't do that."

Gibbs glared at him and straightened up in his chair.

"I've already told you we can't change anything on any NCIS team. So you've got to work as usual and investigate the mole at the same time."

"Leon, I can't..."

"End of discussion, Agent Gibbs."

Gibbs stared at him for a few minutes in silence and Vance stared right back, not at all affected by the older man's famous glare.

With a nod, the MCRT leader stood up, left the office and closed the door. As soon as he was out of Vance's sight, Gibbs leaned against the Director's office door and closed his eyes.

What a mess...

Who's the mole?

DiNozzo... we need you here...

Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

"What's the address?" Jo asked walking to her car with DiNozzo.

"3 Edgewater Drive," Tony answered. "Is it still on your way home?" he asked. "I don't want you to..."

"It's not so far from my house," she answered getting into the car.

"You can afford a house near the beach?" Tony asked surprised getting into the car as well.

"My father can," Jo answered very serious and Tony frowned.

It was clear that the relationship between Jo and her father was not good and that the young woman suffered for that.

The new Team Leader knew too well how you feel when your father neglects you or treats you not too well, so he didn't ask further questions.

"You're lucky, Boss," Jo smiled as she turned on the right.

"Yeah," Tony sighed smiling as he took a deep inhale of the air coming through the open window. "Ocean," he whispered.

"Yeah," Jo nodded. "Does the house have direct access to the beach?"

"Yes," Tony smiled broadly.

"3 Edgewater Drive," declared Jo as she pulled into short driveway. "Welcome home!"

Tony got out of the car and stared in wonder at his new home.

The driveway led straight to a cottage in the middle of a garden and, even from the front of the building, he could hear the crashing of waves against the beach.

This is a dream...

Washington DC.

Gibbs was in his basement but he was not sanding his latest wood project.

He felt lonely and insecure about the future. He was angry but he couldn't blame anyone but himself.

It had been only after Tony had left that the Senior Agent had realized how much he had counted on Tony on the job and life too.

I wonder if he's feeling like I am...

TBC


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