AN: So sorry for not updating sooner after a cliffie. It really couldn't be helped. I'm leaving in the morning for an out of town wedding so the next update won't be until sometime next week. I'm not leaving you with a cliffhanger this time though.

As always, thanks so much for all your nice comments and reviews. I appreciate each and every one :)

xxxxx

Gibbs tried to compose himself as he saw Tony and Ducky getting out of the car. Then suddenly, his attention was drawn to a glint of sunlight hitting the barrel of a gun. "Get down!" he shouted.

Tony instinctively flung himself at Ducky and the two men went crashing heavily to the ground as gunshots were fired overhead. Tony turned his head as the car sped away, but it was already too late and all he saw was that it was a black something or other.

"Are you alright, DiNozzo?: Gibbs shouted out as he ran to Ducky's side.

"Yeah, I wasn't hit, boss," Tony replied as he slowly sat up, cradling his casted arm against his body.. "Thanks to you."

"Duck?" Gibbs asked worriedly as he put his arms around the older man and helped him into a sitting position.

"I'm fine, Jethro. Just a bit sore."

"You sure?"

Ducky nodded and Gibbs looked over in Tony's direction. "Is your arm okay?"

"Yeah, its alright," Tony answered, nodding his head. He had landed hard on his shoulder, trying to protect his arm, but it wasn't badly hurt. Like Ducky, he was just sore.

"Mr. Gibbs? Are you hurt?" An elderly woman called out from a small group of curious onlookers who were beginning to gather on the sidewalk.

"I'm fine, Mrs. Fielder," Gibbs answered as he stood up and helped Ducky to his feet. Tony awkwardly got up from the ground as well.

"I called the police," the woman called out again.

"Appreciate that," Gibbs told her.

"Thank you very much for protecting me, Anthony," Ducky said, giving the younger man a grateful smile.

"No problem, Ducky. I'm sorry if I was a little bit rough with you."

"Not to worry, my boy. I appreciate what you did."

"I didn't really see anything except that it was a black car," Tony said, turning towards Gibbs. "Did you, boss?"

Gibbs shook his head. "No, he took off too quickly. Couldn't even see the license plate."

"I guess you were right about them coming after me," Tony said with a sigh. He was getting really tired of being a target for all these nutjobs.

Just then two patrol cars pulled up followed by McGee's car. Abby was with him. The two looked stunned as they took approached and saw first-hand what had happened to Gibbs' home. "What happened, boss?" McGee asked as Tony went to talk to the officers.

"Someone decided to use DiNozzo for target practice."

"Wow...he's really getting it from all angles these days," McGee said. "Everyone alright?"

Gibbs nodded "It was a close call though. Whoever these guys are, they're not playing around."

Abby had been walking around, taking in all the damage, her eyes filled with tears. Finally she approached Gibbs. "I am so sorry this happened to you," she said softly, pulling him into a tight embrace.

"I'll be okay, Abs, " he said as he returned her embrace.

She shook her head sadly. "I don't understand why someone would do this...it doesn't make any sense."

"People like that don't make sense, Abby," McGee stated sadly.

"Hey, boss?" Tony said as he walked back over to them, accompanied by a police officer. "This is Officer Borelli. He'd like to talk to you about what you saw."

Gibbs went to talk to the officer and Abby threw her arms around Tony. "I'm so glad you're okay," she said. "You need to stop getting into so much trouble, Tony. I don't want to lose you."

"From your lips to God's ears, Abby," he replied with a sigh. "I'd like nothing better. Unfortunately, trouble just seems to be following me around these days."

"How's your arm?" McGee asked, eying Tony's cast.

Tony shrugged. "Its more of a nuisance than anything."

"So, how is the bossman doing, really?" Abby asked quietly.

"I don't know, Abby," Tony replied. "He isn't about to tell me how he's really feeling because he just thinks it'll make me feel more guilty."

"This wasn't your fault, Tony," McGee stated.

"That's easy to say, Probie, but trust me, if it was you in this situation, you'd feel even more guilty than I do."

"I thought we covered that this morning, DiNozzo," Gibbs said as he came back to rejoin the group.

"Yeah, we did, boss. I'm going to go take a look around and see what I can find." Tony quickly walked away and Gibbs' worry-filled eyes followed him as he left.

xxxxx

"Fuck!" Lou swore as he speedily drove from the site of the burned down house. How the hell had he been spotted? What the hell was it about this guy? How had he been able to escape, not once, but twice now?

Lou pulled out his cell phone and hit Warren's speed dial number, cursing loudly when he got the voice mail recording. "Hey, its Lou. Call me as soon as you get this message. Its an emergency." He clicked off as he inwardly debated what to do next. He had no idea if they could identify his car and/or license number. He was going to have to go into hiding. This guy was becoming a major pain in the ass. He needed to take care of him fast.

xxxxx

Tony breathed a sigh of relief as he put a safe distance between himself and the other members of the team. Maybe Gibbs would open up more if he wasn't around. Then again, he never really opened up much. Tony didn't suppose this time would be any different. He began looking around, hoping to find something that hadn't been destroyed by the fire. He couldn't even begin to imagine how Gibbs was really feeling about this. He searched tirelessly for quite some time, but was discouraged by his lack of success. He hoped the others were having better luck than he was. Finally, he caught a glimpse of something sticking out from under a piece of wood. He bent down to pull it out and found it was a porcelain doll. It was very dirty, but aside from that it appeared to be unharmed. He assumed the doll had belonged to Kelly. He clasped it tightly and continued to search.

"Tony?"

He turned around and saw Ziva staring back at him. "Hi Ziva," he said quietly.

"I have been worried about you." Her eyes full of concern, she reached for him and pulled him into a tentative hug.

"When did you get here?" he asked.

"A little while ago. I did not want to bother you. You appeared to be lost in thought." She looked distressed as she reached up and gently touched the shaved area on the side of his head. "Oh Tony...you could have been killed."

He wanted to come up with some light little quip to lighten the mood, but nothing came to mind. "I'm okay, Ziva. It was definitely too close for comfort though."

She nodded and looked down at the doll he was holding. "Did that belong to Gibbs' daughter?"

Tony shrugged. "I'm not really sure. I'd imagine it does." His eyes went to the area where the others were searching. "Have you been able to find very much?"

"Abby found a photo album that was not hurt. Gibbs seemed happy to have it."

"Yeah?" Tony brightened upon hearing that. Photos were irreplaceable. It made him feel better to know that at least some of them had been found intact. "That's good news. What else have you found?"

"Some pieces of china, some old coins..." She hesitated thoughtfully for a moment. "Some Kit Kats."

"Kit Kats?" he asked, clearly puzzled. "Candy bars?"

She shook her head. "No...not candy...little statues and things like that."

"Oh..." Tony understood now and he couldn't help but grin. "Knick knacks."

"What kind of a word is that?" Ziva asked. "It is ridiculous."

Tony just shrugged, not really wanting to get into a debate on English words and expressions. "I don't think there's anything left over here that's salvageable," he stated. "Let's go over to where the others are."

He started walking in Gibbs' direction and Ziva walked along beside him in companionable silence. Gibbs looked up as they approached and his eyes were drawn to the doll that Tony was carrying. He could feel his heartbeat begin to speed up. Shannon had bought the doll to commemorate Kelly's very first day of school. He could still remember that day as if it was only yesterday. She had been so scared when they walked her into the kindergarten classroom. She had clutched his and Shannon's hands tightly, as if she would never let go. She had done well though. That night, at the dinner table, she had excitedly told him all about her teacher and the new friends she had made. After dinner, they had given Kelly the doll and she had been overjoyed. She had named her Amy and the doll had become a constant companion. Other dolls had come and go over the years, but this one had always been her favorite. Seeing that doll brought a lump to Gibbs' throat and he had to try hard to control his emotions.

"Here, boss," Tony awkwardly handed the doll to Gibbs, not really knowing what to say.

"Thank you, Tony," Gibbs said gruffly. He took the doll from Tony and brought it over the the small pile of things that had been found which hadn't been harmed beyond repair. He gently placed it down with the other items.

They continued the search for a while longer, but it was soon apparent that there wasn't really any point in keeping it up. Although they were trying to hide it, both Tony and Gibbs were pretty well wiped out by this point.

"I really think we need to put a stop to this," Abby whispered to Ducky who readily agreed. He decided the best approach would be to speak with Gibbs.

"Jethro," Ducky began, keeping his voice low. "I think we should call it a day for now. I don't think it would be wise for Anthony to completely exhaust himself." 'Or you,' he added silently.

Gibbs glanced over at Tony and nodded. "DiNozzo? Come on. We've done enough. We're not going to find anything else here," he said, walking over to the younger man and putting a gentle hand on his shoulder.

Tony shook his head, looking distressed. "No. We need to keep searching. You don't know that we've found everything. There might still be more here."

"We're not going to find anything else," Gibbs repeated, pretty sure that it was true. "I have some things that were important to me...photographs, Kelly's doll, some of Shannon's things. That's all I really care about. The other stuff can be replaced."

"I still think we should look some more," Tony said insistently.

"We've done enough, Tony." Abby went and put her arm around his waist then gently attempted to lead him away.

More tired than he was willing to admit, Tony stopped protesting and went with Abby. The team then gathered up the items that they had found and divided them up, packing them into the trunks of Ducky's, McGee's and Ziva's cars.

"Do you want us to drive Tony and Gibbs to Tony's apartment?" Tim asked Ducky as he and Abby prepared to leave.

"Thank you Timothy, but its not a problem. I'll do it." Ducky replied appreciatively.

"Okay, you guys take care," Tim said. "Let me know if you need anything."

"Thanks, Probie," Tony said.

"I'll give you a call later on today," Gibbs stated. He then went over to speak with Ziva for a few moments while Abby hugged Tony goodbye.

"Remember what I said, Tony," Abby stated as she released him from her embrace. "No more getting into trouble."

"I'll do my best, Abs," Tony said, giving her a small smile.

"Take care, Tony." Ziva came and hugged him as well, then briskly headed to her car.

Abby gave Gibbs a goodbye hug then she and Tim headed out. Tony and Gibbs situated themselves in Ducky's car and a few moments later they were on their way to Tony's apartment.