A/N: First, I would like to thank all those who reviewed and also all those who are lurking (I know you are there); Secondly, I would like to apologize for the wait. This was originally intended to be posted much earlier but I went two weeks without a reliable internet connection- believe me, I pained me just as much as you.

Thank you pheonix on cloud nine for the beta. Also, I hope everyone is enjoying the new year and I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas.

Finally, barring any complications, next update should be in a few days. :)

Chapter Two

McGee rolled over slowly, feeling another warm body in his bed.

"Wha?" he lifted his head and opened his eyes as a wet tongue licked his face.

"Probie," McGee huffed, turning his face away. Glancing at the clock, he sighed, rubbing his face.

It was too early to get up but if McGee didn't hurry, he was going to be late.

"You still don't get enough sleep."

"Ahh!" McGee yelled, rolling out of the bed and falling unceremoniously to the floor.

Tony, who had been sitting on the chair across from Tim's bed, leaned forward, placing his elbows on his knees, before letting out a loud laugh.

"Probie, you scream like a girl," Tony smiled, still not moving.

McGee, who finally moved around enough to release himself from the hold his blankets had on him, "You-I-but-where," McGee stuttered, still looking at the man sitting in his chair, "I-"

"A cornerstone for communication Probie, is actually speaking in complete sentences," Tony smirked. He stayed seated though, staring at Tim who was still gaping from the floor.

"You," McGee takes a deep breath, making sure he knows what he's going to say before he says it, "You left. I haven't seen you in months."

"You keeping track?" Tony quirked an eyebrow. He hadn't moved yet and even though Tim knew in his heart that this isn't Tony, not the real Tony anyway, it still unnerved him to see the former Senior Agent so…still.

"Why did you leave before?" Tim asked quietly, ignoring Tony's mock question. He's going to be late for sure now, but Tim didn't really care. Not now anyway.

Tony frowned at the statement and bit his lower lip in thought before answering McGee's question.

"I thought I wouldn't have to come back."

"What?" Tim asked, using his forearms to help him sit on the bed. Probie, who had been lying on the bed, crawled over and laid his head on Tim's lap.

"You know what I mean," Tony said, still not moving, "And I'm not going to insult you by repeating myself."

"You wouldn't-I don't," Tim silently cursed. Why did he always seem to stutter when he had to talk to Tony?

"Complete sentences Probie," Tony repeated, standing. He glanced around McGee's apartment, noting that Tim's room was a bit askew, "Told you, you need more sleep."

"It's been a tough week," Tim answered, getting up and heading towards the restroom, "Besides, I'll sleep when I'm dead."

Tony laughed at that statement and even though Tim didn't look back to face the man, Tim could see in his mind's eye the slightly haunted look that Tony frequently wore.

And for the first time since he had started seeing Tony, Tim briefly wondered if Tony was actually haunting him.

"We got a lead," Gibbs walked by Tim's desk, heading towards Abby's lab.

"Um, what?" McGee glanced up from his paperwork. They currently didn't have any active cases.

"A lead McGee, get Ziva and Wilson and get your ass to Abby's lab," Gibbs sipped coffee as the elevator doors closed.

Tim ran through his mental check list, making sure that he hadn't forgotten that they were actually investigating something.

Then, as Tim stood, it hit him.

They didn't have any active cases. Gibbs said they had a lead.

"Tony," Tim whispered before heading to the break room where Ziva and Wilson were bound to be. He didn't want to call them and he knew that the quickest way for him to get to Abby's lab with his junior agents in tow was to drag them there himself.

"So," Abby said, clicking away at her computer, "I was ahead with work and stuff, and normally I'll backlog some of our earlier cases but this morning, when I was getting ready, I had this weird thought so after I made sure-"

"Abby," McGee cut the forensic scientist off, "Please."

"Oh course," Abby said, looking as if she could barely contain herself, "Well I was thinking. When we were searching for Tony, we only looked for a Tony DiNozzo."

"That is his name Abbs," McGee said, watching and trying to see exactly what Abby was doing. But Gibbs was blocking his view and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't see the screen or Abby's hands.

"Well," Abby said, turning around and looking at McGee, "Not his only one."

"What?" McGee said, looking to the other members of the team to see if they found Abby's ramblings as outlandish as he did. Surprisingly, neither Ziva nor Gibbs batted an eye at Abby's statement. Even Wilson, who was rocking nervously on his heels in the background didn't open his mouth and ask a billion questions like he had the tendency of doing.

"What do you mean Abby?" Tim asked, since none of the team members seemed to be particularly interested in interrupting her.

"He went by another name," Abby said, "An Anthony DiNardo to be exact."

Tim opened and closed his mouth, looking much like a fish out of water, before finally speaking, "But, he-wouldn't-"

"Full sentences McGee," Gibbs said calmly, turning so he was fully facing McGee, "Can't communicate without them."

Remembering Ghost Tony's words from this morning, Tim's eyes widen slightly before shrugging off the coincidence, "I meant to say," Tim slowed his speech, using a few techniques the various speech therapists had taught him when he was younger and his stutter had actually been classified as a speech impairment, "If Tony had used that alias, wouldn't it have shown up somewhere? And another thing, why would Tony want to use an alias? I thought we had decided that he hadn't abandoned us."

"With what proof?" Gibbs asked, "What proof do we have that he didn't actually just leave us all here, without a backwards glance?"

"Boss!" Tim said, outraged but his self-control working full tilt to keep his emotions in check, "You-you know Tony wouldn't do that!"

"But he's lied before," Abby said quietly, "When he was undercover. He didn't tell anyone about his other life then. If he's done it once, he wouldn't mind doing it again."

"Abby," Tim turned, looking at the forensic scientist, "I know it doesn't look right, that we haven't been able to find anything-"

"You're wrong," Abby whispered, barely holding back her tears, "I told Gibbs I had a lead."

"You-what?" Tim tried looking at the screen again but Abby's body blocked it, "What lead?"

"I searched all the databases for Anthony DiNardo," Abby said quietly, her voice holding the slight tremor of impending tears, "And I found him."

Upon hearing those words, Tim felt as if someone had suddenly grabbed his heart and simultaneously squeeze and electrified it.

"What?" Tim breathed, holding the back of Abby's chair for support, knowing if he let go he wouldn't be able to hold himself up.

"He's living in California," Abby said, turning back to the screen, "At a beach house. Has been for almost three years."

"No, he…" Tim tried once again to look at the screen but was stopped by Gibbs' hand on his shoulder, "Boss he wouldn't-"

"He was never missing McGee," Gibbs said quietly, "He just didn't want to be found."

"No," Tim shook his head. He couldn't - for Tony to be okay, to be safe and living a nice life in a freaking beach house across the country while all along his friends - while HE had worried about him, "He wouldn't do that Boss."

"There's your proof Tim," Gibbs said sadly, "Now let's go back to work."

Tim watched as Gibbs, Ziva and Wilson rode the elevator back up to the office. He turned and watched as Abby wiped her eyes angrily before going to her office and closing the door hard.

And then it was just him, sitting on the floor of Abby's lab, wondering if this what being found felt like and if Tony had ever really been his friend.