Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS or anything associated with it. No money is being made from this work. Also, I messed around with the NCIS timeline. So, there will be familiar elements, they just may not be in the order, or context from the actual show. Additionally, this is an AU and slight crossover story. So, please, no attacks about how this didn't happen in the show, or that this character "would never do that." Finally, if you are a fan of Abby, McGee, Ziva, or Gibbs, be prepared for slight (but not continual) character bashing.

Fiction (n) – invention or fabrication as opposed to fact.

Chapter 1 – The Problem With People

Tony had bad luck with women. Wendy had left him at the alter; however, after some time and some severe damage to his liver, he had gotten over that. Jeanne tried to frame him for murder; but again, after some time, and more damage to his liver, he had gotten over that as well. Ziva was the hardest, though. Ziva had just dropped the mother of all bombs (pun intended). Her death was faked and Talia wasn't his.

Hmm. Tony didn't think his liver (or his spirit animal) could take the amount of damage needed to recover from that.

What Tony needed…was work. He had money. He had a place to stay. What he didn't have was something to keep his mind occupied. Something that perhaps couldn't stop the memories, the nightmares, or the damaged liver, but could, at the very least, temper them.

So, he bit the bullet and called Vance. He asked the NCIS director if there was any way he could come back to work. His only stipulation was that he couldn't work for Gibbs or his team. After that phone call, Vance contacted SecDef, SecNav, and Tom Morrow. After spending the next two weeks making calls, returning calls, and sneaking sips of whiskey between calls, Vance finally had a solution. He called Tony in for a meeting to deliver the news.

"Well, Well, DiNozzo. Aren't you a sight for sore eyes?" Vance complimented.

"I try, Director." Tony responded sparing a glance at Vance's german shepherd spirit animal, Nala.

"After two weeks, a lot of phone calls, and enough Advil to open my own drug store, I finally have a proposition for you." Vance explained. "I know you don't want to work on Gibbs' team anymore, and we'll discuss your reasoning for that in a moment, but what do you think about leading your own team?"

"A second MCRT?" Tony questioned. "I'm not sure how that would go down in the bullpen."

"Not necessarily a second MCRT, DiNozzo, a different MCRT." Vance explained. "The world is constantly growing and changing, DiNozzo, and while I have no doubt in the abilities of Gibbs' team, I do think there is a way to take some pressure off of their case load. You'll lead a second, case specific MCRT."

"Case specific how?" Tony asked.

"All the powers that be agree that we need to set up some type of task force to address a rising issue, and you get to be our guinea pig/test pilot." Vance explained. "Crime is crime, DiNozzo, but the Navy is starting to see a lot of crime involving spirit animals specifically. Selling them, killing them, exploiting them. You get my drift." Vance finished.

Tony grimaced, and looked down at his own boa constrictor spirit animal, Sofia. "That's barbaric!" He exclaimed.

"It is," Vance agreed, "but we can't change the dark nature of humanity. All we can hope to do," he continued, "is keep our nose to the grindstone, and keep that darkness in check."

"Agreed." Tony said after a few moments of contemplation. "I'll take the position. I just have a few stipulations. I get to pick my team, we get our own area in the bullpen, we get our own separate office with full security measures, so that we can store our files and hold any classified/personal team meetings there, we get our own separate forensic analyst, we get Palmer as our primary medical examiner, and you tell Gibbs and the rest of the agency the exact nature of our job and all that job details."

"And," Tony continued, "You tell them before we start, so that they can all have time to digest the forthcoming changes. You want us to establish a precedent with this new type of team, and I want the agency to see that we are just as important as the official MCRT."

Vance took a moment to think about how he could finagle the budget to handle these changes, and finally answered Tony. "Agreed. Your position officially begins in one month. That means that I will need the four names of your selected team by the end of this week, so I can fast tract their transfer. I'll start the set up of your office and workstations and talk to Palmer tomorrow, and I'll send out a department wide announcement one week before you start."

"You're going to have a lot of eyes on your team, DiNozzo, don't let us down" Vance concluded while stroking Nala absentmindedly.

"Agreed," Tony replied. "We'll do our absolute best to make sure SecDef and SecNav don't second-guess their decision to create such a team."

Three Weeks Later

24 January 2015

To: All NCIS Employees

CC: SecDef; SecNav

From: Director Leon Vance

Subject: New MCRT Team Designation

Please be informed that beginning 1 February 2015, NCIS will have a second MCRT team. The team is a specialized task force whose cases will focus solely on Spirit Animal Crimes. All crimes of that nature will be funneled to this team, and ONLY this team. If it is found out that others are deliberately obstructing their work, disciplinary actions will be taken. I will be meeting with all team leads individually to discuss the goals of the new team, and to go over the details of what will constitute an MCRT-SAC case specifically. The team will consist of the following members:

SAC Anthony DiNozzo Jr. (Sentinel) – Former NCIS agent; Spirit Animal – Sofia, Boa Constrictor; Security Level – 7

SFA Matthew Fielding (Guide) – Former USMC Sniper; Spirit Animal – Angela, Capuchin Monkey; Security Level – 6

Agent Deborah Lane (Sentinel) – Former JAG Defense Attorney; Spirit Animal – Rocco, Siberian Husky Dog; Security Level – 5

Agent Jennifer Adams (Guide) – Former British Intelligence; Spirit Animal – William, Siamese Cat; Security Level – 5

Agent Richard Bell (Anom) – Former Adult Psychologist; Security Level – 5

Forensic Analyst Dr. Lisa Tunnel (Guide) - Former FBI Forensic Analyst; Spirit Animal – Beaux, Monarch Butterfly; Security Level – 6

Medical Examiner Dr. Jimmy Palmer (Guide) - Spirit Animal – Babs, Holland Lop Rabbit; Security Level – 5

Please join me in welcoming our new [and old] members to the NCIS family.

Respectfully,

Leon Vance

Director of NCIS

LV/ct