Hey all,

Thanks to all those who read and reviewed chapter 1! Here is chapter 2, I hope you enjoy it, as always love to hear your thoughts! Happy Wednesday!

L xo

Chapter 2

The next morning Tony reached over to slam his alarm clock off. He had spent most of the night tossing and turning as he mulled over Fornell's offer. He wasn't quite sure why the offer was affecting him the way it was. He had never really give much thought to leaving NCIS, he was happy there, he enjoyed the work and for the most part the people. He was finally Supervisory Special Agent of his own team. So why was he seriously considering jumping ship.

Tony hadn't realized how long continued to lie in bed until his phone started ringing.

"DiNozzo." He answered.

"Good Morning Tony!" Abby's excited voice exploded through the phone.

"Monring Abs. What can I do for you so early in the morning?"

Abby's laugh echoed through the phone, "I just wanted to let you know that you are picking me up in thirty minutes for work."

"Oh I am, am I" he said amused.

"Yup!"

Tony laughed, "And why am I being so generous?"

"Because I am wonderful and you love me and my car is in the shop!" Abby said as if there was any question as to where they were going.

"Breath Abby." He reminded her.

"Sorry" she laughed

Tony laughed, "Well I guess if I am your chauffer for the day, I better get ready. I will see you shortly Abs."

"You're the best!"

Tony hung up his cell phone and put it back on the nightstand. Running a hand over his face, he had to smile at Abby, she was something else.

Throwing the covers off him, he made his way to the bathroom to take a quick shower to hopefully make him feel a little more refreshed then he was at the moment.

As the hot water ran over him Tony's mind once again began to think about Fornell's offer. He didn't give him any details on the undercover operation, but that usually meant it was a top secret operation and he wanted to make sure Tony was in before giving him the details. Which came with its own set of concerns, how dangerous was the mission, who was involved, how deep would his cover be, and so on and so on.

It wasn't until Tony reached for the front door of his apartment that he realized he had gotten dressed. "Focus Tony" he muttered to himself as he locked up his apartment for the day and made his way out of the building. Taking note of how quiet the building was for a Friday morning. Normally there were kids running around with their mothers yelling after them to get to school. He didn't know if he had already missed the morning commotion, or if he entered a twilight zone and all the kids had magically woken up on time to give their mothers a calm morning. Laughing at the thought Tony hit the unlock button on his key chain, the two beeps indicating that his car was unlocked

It wasn't a long drive to Abby's from his apartment and luckily he could do the route in his sleep, a fact he was particularly grateful for today. He wasn't surprised to see Abby waiting for him in front of her apartment; a big smile on her face as she twirled he black lace umbrella that protected her from the sun's rays.

Seeing Tony's car pull up, Abby jumped up and made her way to him.

"Your late Tony!" she laughed as she opened the door and sat down.

"I beg your forgiveness my dear lady." Tony said in an exaggerated British accent.

"You're forgiven." She paused, "This time."

It wasn't long into their drive that Abby disturbed the comfortable silence that had fallen on them. "What's on your mind Tony?" she asked, turning in her seat to look at him.

"I was thinking about the date I have tomorrow with Sarah, or is it Brittany?" He said trying to laugh it off.

"Nice try Tony, you have your something face on, not your lady face." She said as she crossed her arms in front of her.

"A lady face? I do not have a ladies face!" he said indignantly.

Abby titled her head to the side and looked at him. "You are hilarious Tony. Now don't change the subject."

Tony paused and took a deep breath, debating as to what to say to Abby. While he knew she would only ever have his best interest at heart, he knew she didn't handle change well, and Gibbs leaving had already done a number on her.

"Fornell came to see me last night."

"Oh?"

"With an offer."

"What!" she screamed.

"Calm down Abs. You'll blow one of my ear drums."

"Sorry" she muttered.

"I will tell you what he said if you promise to keep it to yourself."

Abby nodded.

Tony turned to look at her, his eyes serious as he said, "I mean it Abs. You can't tell anyone."

"I promise."

He sighed, "Fornell asked if I would go undercover for the FBI."

"And leave the team?" she asked, her voice hitching in panic.

"It wouldn't be permanent. He sounded really desperate."

"So you are thinking about it?"

Tony shrugged, "I am not outright saying no at the moment."

Abby paused to collect her thoughts before she added softly, "But what about us? You would just leave us like Gibbs did?"

"Abs, you know I would never abandon you." He offered with a reassuring smile as he glanced quickly at her, he could see the tears gathering in her eyes as she tried to remain composed.

"But you are seriously considering it."

He shrugged again, "I guess so."

"But why?"

Tony took a minute before he responded. "I guess I have been feeling a little lost lately. Wondering if NCIS is really where I belong."

Abby didn't respond for a few minutes. "Is this because Gibbs left?"

Tony shook his head, "Not directly. You know me Abs. I have never stayed in one place for very long." He paused, taking a breath as he stopped at the red light in front of him. "With the exception of you, Ducky and Palmer, I am leading a team who has no faith in me as an agent, let alone their Supervisor. I get nowhere with Jenny in getting her support, and I just have to wonder if I have something more to offer another agency or team."

Tony could tell that Abby was having an internal debate between her head and her heart.

"What is the operation Fornell wants you to work on?" She finally asked.

"He didn't give me specifics, just that he wanted me for a few months and he wouldn't have asked if it wasn't important."

"So you don't even know what the operation is or how dangerous it is?" She scolded.

"Not at the moment, no."

"Tony!"

"Relax Abs, I wasn't born yesterday." Tony said as he pulled up to the entrance gate and flashed his pass at the guard. Abby sat cross armed in the passenger seat and didn't say a word until he pulled into his regular parking spot.

"Don't be mad Abs." Tony pleaded as he turned to look at her trying to give her his best puppy dog eyes, knowing that she was weak to resist them.

"Damnit Tony, you know I can't stay mad at you when you do that."

Tony threw his head back as he laughed, "I was counting on that."

Abby unbuckled her seat, "You know I will always support you no matter what. I just want you to be sure this is what you want, and that you are safe."

Abby exited the car and tried to hurry into the building. Tony quickly got out of the car and ran to catch up to Abby before pulling her into a tight hug. Abby threw her arms tightly around his waist and buried her head in the crook of his shoulder.

"Oh Abs. You know I always take care of myself. I'm like cat, always land on my feet."

Abby nodded her head in his shoulder but didn't say anything.

"I promise to carefully consider my options before deciding."

"And you will let me know as soon as you do?" She asked softly.

Tony tightened his arms around her, "You will be the first person I tell."

Abby pulled back and looked at Tony, giving him a sad smile, "You do know that I am going to do everything I can between now and then to convince you why it is a bad idea."

Tony laughed and nodded, "I wouldn't expect anything less of you."

Tony spent the morning finishing up the paperwork he didn't manage the finish the night before. It wasn't until around noon that he looked up from his desk and saw that neither Ziva or McGee were at their desk. Standing up, Tony scanned the squad room. As his eyes moved from desk to desk, person to person, he couldn't find his missing team members.

Frustrated, Tony sat back down at his desk. He took the card that Fornell had given him the night before and stared at it. Tony ran through the pros and cons of potentially taking Fornell up on his offer.

He wasn't sure how much time had passed before he reached for his cell phone in the breast pocket of his jacket.

"Fornell." Came a gruff reply.

"It's Dinozzo."

"I take it you have thought about my offer."

Tony sat back in his chair and quickly scanned the squad room to make sure no one was listening. "I have given it some thought, but I will need to know more about the operation before I agree to anything."

Tony twirled the business card between his fingers as he waited for Fornell to respond.

"Meet me at Gibbs' at eight tonight, I will tell you what I can."

Tony nodded to himself, "Fair enough. See you tonight."

Tony hung up the phone and stared at it for a minute, "Why Gibbs' place?" he asked himself.

Trying not to dwell on it, Tony decided to visit Ducky and Palmer down in autopsy, the possibility of discovering the location of his missing agents was only an afterthought.

Pushing away from his desk, Tony stood and made the quick walk to the elevator. It was as Tony was waiting when he heard Director Sheppard call out his name from atop the squad room.

Tony turned and saw her motion him to her. Tony's shoulders slumped, he knew whatever she wanted to speak to him about was not going to end well for him. With a sigh Tony made his was across the room and up the stairs until he was standing right in front of her.

"My office." Came her short reply.

Nodding, Tony followed her into her private office, shutting the door behind him, as he had a feeling she didn't want their conversation overheard by the entire floor.

"What can I do for you this fine day Director Sheppard?"

The Director turned to look at Tony from behind her desk, she motioned for him to take seat across from her.

"I was wondering if you could explain to why there are three case reports that are still outstanding for your group?"

"I was just signing off on them Director, you should have them within the hour."

The Director sighed, "That is all well and good Tony, but they are still late. Are you unable to handle the responsibility or Supervisory Agent?"

Tony bit his tongue. He wanted to tell her that he had no problems, but he was having to redo all the reports his team did in order to ensure they were accurate. "I am Director Sheppard; it won't happen again." He offered as a way of apology, knowing it would do him no good to mention the shortcomings of his team.

"See that it doesn't Agent Dinozzo, or I will be forced to rethink your promotion."

Tony nodded and stood, assuming it was the end of their conversation.

As he turned to leave she added, "I expect those reports to be perfect Agent Dinozzo. Please be sure to hand them to Cynthia within the hour."

"Of course, within the hour."

Tony exited the Director's office and slumped against the closed door behind him.

Cynthia looked up from her desk and gave Tony a sad smile, "Is there anything I can do to help Tony? I know the Director has been awfully hard on you lately."

Tony pushed himself off the door and walked over to Cynthia, "My darling Cynthia, I dare not speak of the assistance you could offer."

Cynthia cheeks reddened as she laughed, "One of these days Tony your flirting is going to get you into trouble."

Tony smiled as he made his way to the door, turning he dipped his imaginary hat her and said, "But not today my dear, not today."

As Tony descended the stairs he noticed that McGee and Ziva still weren't back. Sighing he sat down at his desk and called down to autopsy.

After several rings Ducky's familiar accent came through the phone "Autopsy."

"Hey Ducky."

"Anthony my dear boy, how are you?"

Tony smiled, it didn't seem to matter what day or how much work they had, the good Doctor always seemed to be in a bright and cheerful mood. "I am well Ducky, happy it is Friday. The dead treating you ok down there?"

Ducky laughed, "Of course, you just have to know how to keep them in line."

"Well then they are in capable hands."

"Indeed."

"Has Jimmy made your lunch run yet?"

"He was just getting ready to head out; did you want him to get you something?"

"If he wouldn't mind, I have to get some reports to Jenny within the next hour, so I won't have time to sneak out and pick up some lunch."

It was a few seconds before Ducky's reply came, "He would be delighted to pick you up something, your usual?"

"That would be great Ducky, let me know how much I owe him."

"Nonsense dear boy, my treat." Ducky said, leaving no room for argument.

Tony smiled, "Thanks Ducky, I owe you."

"Mr. Palmer will bring your lunch up as soon as he gets back."

"Thanks again Ducky."

"Not a problem Anthony." And with that Ducky hung up the phone.

Tony turned his attention to the files in front of him, determined to get them up to Jenny before his hour was up. He didn't need more trouble from her today, especially if he was meeting Fornell later that night.

"Looks like it is going to be a long day Tony." He muttered to himself as he scanned the case notes, using post-it notes to mark where he needed to add in additional information.

"Yup, a long day."