A/N: WOW, you guys are just as upset as I am, aren't you? Not that it's a good thing that we're all upset with the show, but the fact that we share those feelings is nice. Thank you for your nice words and support. You totally made my day.

I wish I could reply to the anonymous reviews, as well, and thank them one by one; especially since some of the anonymous reviewers have left me long and very thoughtful reviews. Just know that I've read them all and am so grateful. Thank you so much for taking the time and reading and reviewing. It means the world to me.

Hope you all enjoy this chapter, too.

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Miraculously, the next morning Tony was back to his smiling self. He wasn't brooding when McGee arrived and he even greeted him with a grin.

McGee stopped in front of his desk. "Umm, Tony?"

Tony leaned back in his chair and waited for McGee to talk.

"About... Well, about the gift you gave me last night-... umm," Tim stuttered.

Tony frowned. "What? It wasn't what you wanted?"

McGee's eyes widened. "Oh, no. that's not it. It was great. In fact, I don't even know how you knew I wanted it."

"You might've mentioned it a few months back." Tony shrugged.

"And you remembered?" He had the courtesy to blush a little.

That stung, but Tony rolled his eyes, not letting the hurt show in his eyes. "Yes, McDoubtful. Look, it's no big deal. I'm just glad you liked it. Let's get back to work."

"But I wanted to apologize for..." Tim swallowed. 'How could you apologize for hurting your friend deliberately?' "Well, you know for what."

Tony was tempted to make McGee say it instead of just vaguely referring to the issue, but decided against it. "It was your party, Tim. You're free to invite whoever you like. Just because we've been working together for years, doesn't mean you have to like me or see me as a friend. It's fine." He smiled sweetly, but his eyes were distant and something in his tone implied that it was actually anything but fine.

Tim wanted to protest and say that he did like the older agent and he did think of him as one of his friends, but an inner voice stopped him, chastising him and reminding him that people don't exclude their friends from their parties and pretend it's the right thing to do.

"No hard feelings; get back to work." Tony nodded to Tim's desk.

"You don't see me as your friend?" McGee quietly asked; he couldn't help wondering if he'd ruined everything between them. Tony usually wouldn't let things get to this stage; he'd joke around and pull pranks on them and it'd always helped things to get back to normal. So now that the senior agent was actually being nice and talking, it meant something had changed for good.

Tony frowned; if he'd been asked that question the previous week, he wouldn't have hesitated to answer. But now; now things had changed and he wasn't sure anymore.

He really couldn't count on people who didn't want him around; people who never stopped telling him that he wasn't good enough for them. You can't call that a friendship.

So what was he supposed to say? He really wanted to say that it was Tim who'd told him that he didn't have any friends, but instead, he chose to elude. "I'll always have your six."

Right then his desk phone rang and Tony thanked his lucky stars that Tim didn't get the chance to call him on his evasion; he didn't feel like spending the whole day listening to empty apologies and half-assed excuses.

"DiNozzo." He answered the phone and was quiet for a few seconds. "Right. Hang on," he grabbed a file and went through some notes before saying, "That's right... OK. Thanks... Yeah, that'd be great. Thanks again." He hung up and looked at Gibbs who had walked into the bullpen when he answered his phone and now was waiting to see what was going on. "It was about the cold case I told you about yesterday. Still nothing. I'm trying to find one of the witnesses." Tony elaborated.

Gibbs stood there and studied his protégé; part of his mind was still on the conversation between his two agents that he'd just overheard, not sure what to think of it. Before he could turn around and walk to his desk, another call came in.

"DiNozzo." Tony answered again and this time he fell completely silent, a deep frown forming between his eyebrows. After a few seconds he jotted down some notes and then said, "We'll be right there."

Looking at him expectantly, Gibbs sipped his ever present coffee.

"We've got a dead body." Tony said and it seemed like his mind was miles away. "The victim's had my... my business card em-..." he took a breath to calm his nerves. "Embedded in her throat."

"What?" McGee's eyes widened with shock and Gibbs' eyebrows knitted together. Silently, Gibbs walked to his desk to grab his gear, knowing full well that his other agents were doing the same.

They met Ziva right when she was leaving the elevator and since the case was already personal, no one was in the mood to elaborate where they were going.

Tony was looking distraught and stressed up; he didn't know what he was going to see at the scene, but whatever it was, there was a great chance that he knew the victim and it always hurt more.

Gibbs was dealing with his own feelings over their new case. He'd already been worried for Tony because of what had happened the other night and now this case, which was clearly personal, had added to their problems. It couldn't have come at a worst time. He wasn't fooled by Tony's cheerfulness that morning and he knew how easy it was to make Tony feel guilty over something that he couldn't control; so if Tony knew the victim, he sure would start blaming himself.

Tim was still shocked at what he'd heard about the case and still ashamed of his malicious attitude towards Tony.

So, all in all, the only thing that Ziva received from the team was a nod from Tim towards the elevator, indicating that she should follow them or they would leave without her.

She was sure that the dark mood hovering over her teammates was all Tony's fault.

He was probably sulking and making everyone's life a living hell for not being invited to McGee's party.

'It is just like Tony to be so petty.' She thought, sending a dirty look towards Tony and received a cold glare from Gibbs and a nudge to the ribs from Tim. Tony, on the other hand, was totally oblivious, or at least it seemed so; and for the first time she noticed that Tony looked a little pale and shaken.

Whatever had happened before her arrival must've been bad, because truth to be told, not much could shake Anthony DiNozzo Junior. Only DiNozzo Sr. had that power... Oh wait, maybe he was involved in their case again. That would explain why everyone seemed so morose.

Nodding to herself, she decided that it must be the case. So she kept quiet for the moment, trying to come up with some snide remarks for when they confronted the older DiNozzo so she could tease Tony. Nothing was more fun than getting under Tony's skin when his father was around.

All the remarks she'd come up with appeared to be useless when she saw the crime scene. There were no traces of DiNozzo Sr. and the victim looked really awful.

'OK, whatever it is, it is not about Senior. So what is it about?' She thought as she looked at her teammates, wondering who she could push for some answers.

"Anthony. My dear boy." Ducky said the moment he spotted them and once again Ziva wondered why it seemed like Tony was the center of everyone's attention. 'Why had Ducky addressed Tony instead of Gibbs?'

Smiling tightly in response, Tony knelt beside the body on the ground and took a closer look at the battered face of the dead girl. A few seconds later Tony's face paled.

"DiNozzo?" Gibbs called his SFA's name gently; he'd been studying the younger man and the moment Tony's face turned white, he knew that he'd recognized their victim.

"Is she one of your one night stands?" Ziva asked tentatively to see if Tony's distraught was real.

"David." Gibbs growled angrily which shut her up immediately. He then patiently waited for Tony to answer his unasked question.

"She's-" Tony swallowed thickly. "She worked in the coffee shop near my place. She... She couldn't be older than 25." He sounded outraged and sorrowful at the same time.

Ducky handed him the card in the evidence bag. "You shouldn't blame yourself, Anthony."

"Shouldn't I?" Tony grabbed the evidence bag and looked Ducky in the eyes. "The most dangerous thing she'd face in her job would've been burns caused by hot Coffee if she hadn't known me. She's dead just because I go to that cafe every morning to order a coffee. She was a student, working to pay her tuition and now..." he closed his eyes briefly. "What am I supposed to tell her parents? That their daughter is dead because her workplace was in the same street that I live in?" Tony's voice was tight with anger and yet it was scarily low and calm.

Gibbs had enough experience to know that a real angry DiNozzo was always calm at first, and when he was like that he was dangerous and ready to attack. He had to do something before Tony made a mistake because of his misplaced anger.

"You wanna be mad at someone, be mad at the bastard who did this." He said firmly to his SFA. "You need to focus, DiNozzo."

Standing up from where he was kneeling, Tony clenched his fists. "I'll take pictures." He announced curtly as he walked away to get the camera from the car.

"Ziva, McGee, bag and tag." Gibbs ordered as he knelt beside the ME. "TOD, Duck?"

Ducky's eyes were still on Tony's retreating back. "At this point, I'd say around midnight, but I can't tell the exact time yet."

"He'll be fine." Gibbs said quietly, knowing that Ducky was worried for Tony.

Ducky looked back at him, concern and a shadow of doubt clear in his eyes.

"I'll make sure of it." Gibbs nodded determinedly, before standing up and walking towards the car.

Tony took longer than it was needed to fetch a camera and stayed by the car to regain his composure, which gave Gibbs enough time to go to him.

"I'll be right there." Tony said quietly from the back of the SUV where he was sitting.

"Take your time." Gibbs replied and stood by his side. After a few seconds of silence, Gibbs decided to say what he had on his mind. "You should sit this one out."

Tony's head jerked up. "What? No."

"DiNozzo-"

"You can't make me."

That earned him a glare from Gibbs. "I can and I will if I think it's necessary."

"Dammit, Gibbs, no." Tony rose to his feet, and Gibbs didn't miss the fact that Tony hadn't called him Boss, which meant Tony wasn't going to ask for permission, he was going to outright defy. "And don't tell me about rule number 10, because you've broken that very same rule way too many times yourself. Being the Boss doesn't give you the right to order us to do things that you, yourself, can't and won't do." Tony towered over Gibbs and that alone said a lot. Even though he was a little taller than the older man, he'd never used it in his own favor and hadn't even shown it. This time, though... This time he was angry and tired and he didn't feel like being cornered by his mentor. This time he felt completely alone and that was adding to the pressure he was feeling in his chest.

Gibbs could easily read the anguish in the younger man's eyes and his gut told him that it wasn't there just because of their current case and their dead body. Heaving a sigh, he opened his mouth to say something, but once again, Tony didn't let him.

"I'm tired of your 'do as I say, not as I do' attitude, Gibbs. You can fire me for all I care, but I will see this case through, even if I'm not working for you." He turned around to walk away when Gibbs' gentle hand on his shoulder stopped him.

"I'm just worried." Gibbs decided that being nice would deflate Tony's anger more than anything else.

"Don't be. I can stay professional."

'OK, Tony clearly misunderstood him.' Not that Gibbs could blame him after the last couple of days; 'or years'. An inner voice commented sarcastically.

"I thought you knew that, after so many years of having me around." Tony continued coldly. "But then again, obviously I've been turning a blind eye to things that were happening around me for a long time now; assuming things and breaking another rule of yours." He sighed. "Tolerating me must've been hard." He mumbled the last sentence under his breath.

'Tolerating?-' Gibbs frowned before suddenly it hit him. He'd been the one who told Tony that people didn't want him around more than necessary; of course Tony would think that Gibbs had been tolerating him all these years.

Damn, he needed to make amends or he'd lose Tony for good and just over a stupid comment. "Worried about you, Tony." He clarified curtly; hoping that the younger man could get the secret message behind his words and read his eyes and the remorse and concern in them.

Tony narrowed his eyes and then smirked bitterly. "Yeah, right. Whatever." He said dismissively and walked away; leaving Gibbs with his thoughts and regrets. Things were way worse than he'd initially thought; Tony had taken his negative comment, his really bad joke, to heart which meant taking those words back would be almost impossible now.

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... TBC ...

A/N: Please tell me what you think! :)

Tony might sound a bit OOC, but I think that if we want him to act differently, then he WILL sound different and a bit OOC for a while; and that's something that I'd be VERY happy to see.

Once again, many thanks to anyone who reviewed, followed or favorited.

All mistakes are mine.

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