I don't own NCIS or any of the characters on the show. I only like to play with them, but I promise to put them back in pristine condition. Here is the next chapter in our journey. Enjoy and let me hear from you.

Things Provided

Children will not remember you for the material things you provided but for the feeling that you cherished them. – Richard L. Evans



Gibbs paced the bullpen, furious. It had been three days, three days of searching and there was still no sign of Tony or Eve. That there had also been no word from either of them was disconcerting and a bit frightening. Gibbs had tried everyone he could think of to get information on where she might hide to no avail. Her parents had taken an impromptu vacation, and Tony's father was nowhere to be found. To say that he and Fornell were frustrated would be an understatement.

Davis was still on the loose, he had not left the country, of that they were certain, but whether or not he was still in the city was anyone's guess. They had exhausted all of the leads to his possible whereabouts, and were now waiting for a sighting to get the search amped back up into high gear.

In an attempt to find the two missing agents, Gibbs and Fornell had made a trip to Langley to speak to John Maxwell in the hope that he might have an idea of where Eve Dupree might run to, but they had been disappointed. John Maxwell either didn't know or wasn't telling, and the old spy was too skilled for them to trip him up in an interrogation. The only piece of advice he'd had for them had consisted of reminding Gibbs that she had contacts in every city beginning in Miami and heading south. He hadn't known quite what to make of that, so he had gone to Ducky for assistance. He'd left the old ME a redacted copy of the personnel file he'd received from Langley and hoped that Ducky could find some insight into their whereabouts.

The only promising lead had taken them to the airport. Ziva had managed to find the cab driver who had picked the pair up at the hospital. He had explained that the two passengers had wanted to stop by a bank first then had wanted to go to Dulles airport. The man had obviously been very ill, and hadn't said too much, but the driver could tell that he was there of his own free will.

Gibbs had been unable to get a warrant for the safe deposit box that Eve had visited because there was no record of any in her name. This case just kept reinforcing why he hated dealing with the Agency. He did have one thing that kept him from panicking; Gibbs knew that Eve Dupree loved Tony, and he also knew that she would protect him until his injuries healed. That was the one port he had in this storm on uncertainty, and he was clinging to it until he heard from his surrogate son and knew for certain that he was okay.


The morning sun streaming through the bedroom window was the only thing that finally pulled Tony from a deep slumber. He opened his eyes slowly, expecting the return of the nausea and headache that had plagued him every morning since their arrival here in Miami. He was pleasantly surprised to find that he had no pain, and was actually hungry for the first time in a couple of days. He sat up, gingerly swinging his long legs over the side of the bed and finally stood up, swaying a bit until he regained his equilibrium.

He was still sore as hell. His entire body felt bruised, and he knew it would be weeks before he could consider himself completely healed. He didn't even remember getting to Miami, the last thing he really remembered was waking up in the hospital then…nothing. He hoped that his memory would come back in time, but he knew from past concussions that it was entirely possible he'd never remember.

Tony glanced around the bedroom looking for Eve. She had been his constant companion and nurse since their arrival at the apartment on Calle Ocho, and he was grateful, especially when he'd finally gotten a look at her own injuries. She was a mess, but had put aside her own discomfort to take care of him once it became obvious that his concussion was going to keep him bedridden for several days.

He slowly walked towards the small bathroom and opened the door only to find her kneeling in front of the toilet vomiting and holding her broken ribs between attacks of nausea. He knelt beside her and carefully pulled her hair back from her face. "Are you okay?"

She looked at him with an incredulous expression before mumbling, "Do I look okay to you?" She took a deep breath and swallowed convulsively to attempt to hold the nausea at bay then continued. "I can't seem to stop throwing up. I've been sick ever since the explosion, I think I might have a concussion, I don't know, but I've been vomiting for three days straight."

He helped her to stand up and steadied her while she cleaned up and brushed her teeth then led her back to the bedroom. "Lay down. It's my turn to take care of you for a while." Once she was settled he walked to the bathroom and grabbed a washcloth from the towel rack. He ran it under the faucet then returned to the bed and proceeded to run it over her face and neck, gently sweeping her dark hair away from her face. He also checked the sutures that were in her scalp laceration and was relieved to find them healing well. "You wore yourself out taking care of me, Evie. Who was looking after you?"

She lay there completely still, enjoying the feel of the cold wet cloth as he gently bathed her skin. "I was, as best as I could. I know you do a better job of it, but you were slightly incapacitated." She reached a hand up to trace the lines around his eyes, lines that hadn't been so prominent when she had met him in Colombia. "I don't know why you stay with me. I've done nothing but almost get you killed since the day we met."

"You can't possibly blame yourself for that explosion." He was stunned by her statement.

"You never would have been in his crosshairs if not for me. I would have simply killed him as soon as he hit our radar, there wouldn't have been a need to investigate or arrest him, and he certainly wouldn't be on the loose right now."

He shook his head at her convoluted logic. "That makes absolutely no sense; that's your concussion talking. As soon as you rest we're going to start looking for him. Do you have a phone I can use; I don't know what happened to my departmental issue phone."

"I left it at the hospital. I didn't want them tracking us with the GPS. There are a couple of burn phones in the kitchen. I know you need to call Gibbs. Tell them we'll be back in the city soon."

Tony nodded and put a gentle hand on her cheek. "Get some sleep. I'll wake you up in a couple of hours." He slowly walked from the room and closed the door behind him.


Gibbs was sitting at his desk going through their nearly non-existent evidence when his cell phone rang. He answered in a rather abrupt tone. "Gibbs."

"Morning, Boss."

"DiNozzo! Where are you? How are you?" Gibbs could hear McGee in the background initiating a phone trace as he spoke.

"I'm much better; three days of uninterrupted rest will work wonders. We're coming back to DC in a day or two."

He was relieved to hear his second's voice, and he did sound better. "Where are you now?"

Tony sighed and tried to sidestep the rather direct question. "Somewhere safe, and don't bother getting McGeek to try and trace this call. It won't work."

Gibbs grinned at the deflection and kept pushing. "Where are Agent Dupree, her parents, and your father?"

Tony began to get impatient. "Boss, Eve is with me. I don't know where her parents are, but I'm sure she does. My father is at a safe house until Davis is captured. That's all I know. I'll call you once we get back to the city."

The phone went dead in Gibbs' ear, and he stifled a curse. He looked at McGee to see if the computer expert had been able to glean any information from the phone trace. "Get anything?"

"Nothing, Boss. I'll see if I can trace the cell towers used; that might get us a general location at least."

Gibbs nodded, "Work with Abby. She's been a wreck since Tony disappeared from the hospital. Let her know that he sounds good and says he'll be back in a couple of days."

McGee stood and headed out of the bullpen towards the lab relieved that he finally had some good news for Abby. Gibbs waited a few minutes then headed towards Autopsy with the same mission in mind.


Jeff Davis smirked to himself as he looked at his motley crew of former intelligence officers. They had pulled off the escape of the century and had just missed killing both Agents DiNozzo and Dupree. The pair had disappeared from the grid, but if he knew John's protégée then she would make another appearance soon. Davis was reasonably certain that she would have orders to kill him on sight, so he had taken some time to find out as much about her as possible.

He glanced through the dossier that had been provided by one of his associates and began to read. She had solid skills, both weapons and languages. She had spent the majority of her career in Central and South America as well as Afghanistan. She had been very efficient in taking out the heads of some of the major cartels and poppy growers during her tenure. Somehow last year she had gotten mixed up with Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo. Davis shook his head at that irony. By all accounts DiNozzo was a screw up, but they were together, were living together according to a source at NCIS. It looked like DiNozzo was her weakness and she was his if the reports of his behavior after her disappearance were to be believed. He gave a satisfied nod. Yeah, this was definitely information he could use once they made an appearance back in DC.


Ducky sat quietly at his desk and once again perused the file in front of him. It was redacted, but he had called a friend at Homeland Security and had gotten a more readable copy of the redacted information. It made for a fascinating study in how the CIA turned a well-brought up young woman into a remorseless killer. He sighed as he turned yet another page describing her kills. He had definitely come to some conclusions, and he wasn't sure how much Jethro was going to want to hear them.

The quiet whoosh of the autopsy doors alerted him to the presence of his visitor. He glanced up to find Gibbs bearing down on him quickly so he closed the file and gave his full attention to his long-time friend.

"What can I do for you, Jethro?"

"I heard from Tony this morning. He says he's doing better, but he won't say where he is. He did say that they'll be back in DC in a couple of days."

"And you're upset that he didn't tell you everything you wanted to know?"

Gibbs gave a smile that was closer to a grimace then replied, "There was a time he told me everything."

"That time passed when you 'retired' to Mexico and returned so abruptly. Since that time he's had several crises, and no one, not even you, to help him deal with them. Why would he feel that he needed to tell you this? He has someone in his life that he trusts to always be there."

Gibbs began to get frustrated. "Hey! I was there for him when she disappeared and his life went to hell in a hand basket."

"Yes you were, and I'm sure he appreciated it. However, Eve is the woman he is choosing to spend his life with, so she is the one to whom he will confide."

"He made her his next of kin." Gibbs could hear the petulance in his voice, but couldn't seem to help himself.

"Yes I know." Ducky's tone was matter of fact as he watched his old friend's reaction.

"Wait a minute. You already know? How?"

"Tony discussed it with me before he made the change. He wanted to know how I thought you'd handle it. I must say, I thought you'd be proud that he had decided to settle down with someone. I never thought you'd be upset about it. Don't disappoint the boy by letting him know that you aren't happy for him. However you may feel about Eve Dupree he loves her and won't take kindly to you disparaging her in any way."

"Duly noted, Duck. Now, what did you find out?"

I have done as thorough a study on Agent Dupree as possible. I was aided by an associate who works at the Department of Homeland Security and was able to get more information from their files.

She's a former gymnast who was an alternate on the 1988 U.S. Olympic team. An injury to her knee and a complete reconstruction put an end to that particular dream when she was sixteen. That same year she was the only surviving witness to her grandparents' murder at the hands of the Cartagena Drug Cartel. She is half Cuban, and seems to blend well in most Spanish speaking communities. She is fluent in six different languages and, according to her un-redacted file, was in the process of learning several others."

Ducky paused for a second then told him the juiciest bit of information he'd gleaned. "Jethro, she spent almost twelve years of her career with the Agency working exclusively as an assassin."

Gibbs considered that and then asked, "How many sanctioned kills do they list?"

"85. Is that a high number for someone in her profession?"

"It's high enough, and it doesn't include any unsanctioned kills she might have made. Where do you think she'd take DiNozzo if she wanted to feel safe?"

"Hmmm, all of my research has led me to believe that she'd most likely go to a place she could blend and not be noticed. I have two ideas on that front. She might go to Los Angeles because she spent so much time there training when she was a child. The drawback is that the city still holds negative memories for Anthony and she has done this to protect him. Therefore I think my second idea is the better one. It wouldn't be out of character for her to make contact with her Cuban roots. Have you checked Miami? That's where her grandparents lived, and the last place she had a stable home."

Gibbs smiled. "Thanks Duck." He turned and headed out of the room to find McGee and get him looking for a paper trail."


Tony sat quietly at the kitchen table sipping at a cup of coffee and waiting for his visitor to arrive. A few minutes later he heard the knock and opened the door to admit his father to the small apartment.

He reached out to shake his hand, but was still wary of any physical contact. "Dad, it's good to see you."

Mr. DiNozzo smiled and nodded his head at Tony's improved appearance. "You're looking better. I'm glad to see you up and around."

"I wanted to see you before we head back to DC." Tony saw no reason to beat around the bush.

"What about Davis? Will you be safe? Son, be reasonable; that man has tried to kill you three times now. He might succeed the next time."

"It's my job to find him, and I refuse to let him stop me from doing it just because I might be in danger."

"What would Eve say about that?"

Both men jumped when a voice behind them said, "She'd say that he's right and we both have a job to do."

"I see, you think he's doing the right thing?"

"He's doing the only thing he can. Tony is a sworn Federal Agent, and Davis is a traitor. You tell me, Mr. DiNozzo, what do you think he should do?"

The older man looked at his son and saw the determination on his face. He felt a flush of pride in the man his son had become and felt shame in the fact that he had not done a thing to contribute to this transformation. "You do what you've got to do, Son; I understand. I may not like it, but I understand."

Eve could tell that the conversation was difficult for Tony, so she strolled over and stood behind him, putting her arms around his neck and resting her cheek on his head.

Tony was grateful for her support. He had been watching his father carefuly and could see that he was struggling with his emotions, so he was completely unprepared to hear him say. "I'm proud of you, Son."

His throat tightened and he hastily cleared it to reply, "Thanks. That really means a lot."

Both men stood and shook hands then Mr. DiNozzo quickly pulled his son in for a brief hug. "Be careful; I hope that I'll see you back in New York once you've completed the job."

Tony nodded and watched as his father left the apartment. Then turned to his lover and smiled. "You feeling better?"

"Much. Are you ready to go back and kick some ass?"

Tony gave a wolfish grin and replied. "Oh yeah, Let's do it."