I know this chapter has taken forever, I am sorry. College has started again and we are applying to university and such so the chapters will take a little more time, I do however plan to finish this, and my other stories before I even start anything new. Enjoy this next chapter and remember I am going to be wrapping this one up soon and should have about 20 chapters all together, thanks for all the reviews so far and I hope you are still enjoying this story.

Chapter 17- A lead

Hearing that both Gibbs and Tony were on their way back, gave Abby a little hope that they would manage to fix what they had all broken. She'd opted for her dirge type music for a change, it hadn't been that long since it had been played but it seemed to be the mood of the general atmosphere in headquarters for the past week. Everyone had noticed that something had been wrong with Tony and he'd been almost desperate for well, anything to be honest.

"Abby?" came Ziva's voice through the fog of Abby's thoughts.

"Ziva." Abby replied curtly. She had, after all, been the catalyst to this whole catastrophe in Abby's opinion. Ziva put her hands up, signalling a sort of truce; she knew the Goth blamed her, maybe, more than she blamed herself.

"Abby, I have not come here to fight; I have come here to ask for your help." Ziva placated the fire she started to see behind the young lab tech's eyes.

"For what exactly, to make Tony feel more excluded? To make him think none of us care for him?..."

"Abby!" Ziva cut off the ramble that had started and gently grabbed Abby by the upper arms, looking into her eyes to convey the truth of her intentions she continued…

***

On the way back to DC, Tony had fallen asleep. Gibbs' watchful gaze flickered over at the younger agent a few times; he smiled when he saw Tony was sleeping peacefully for a change. Over the few days in the hospital, Tony hadn't slept without some sort of nightmare. He would have to speak to Tony about those at some point. Not now though, he knew Tony wouldn't give anything away until this case was wrapped up.

Half way to headquarters he almost had the urge to wake his agent up, just the hear the sound of his chatter about anything and nothing. He'd even almost kill to hear Tony try to explain some random movie scene of a film he hadn't seen, nor cared about. The silence in the car was the way he preferred it most times but now, with Tony in the car in their somewhat comfortable yet tense and in Tony's case, sleeping silence…not the way he wanted it.

He truly did feel guilty for not noticing that Tony hadn't been being treated well by the team or even himself, he'd also have to talk to his team about it. For them to be a good team, he needed everyone working together and not trying to be better than the other, or fighting to get one up on the other. Growling a little, he pressed the accelerator harder to get home faster, they still had a bad guy to catch, only then could he fix his splintered team.

A short while later…

Pulling into the Navy Yard and looking over at his sleeping passenger, he found himself not wanting to bother Tony in the peaceful looking sleep he seemed to be having. However, with their relationship frail at the moment, Gibbs not including Tony in the case would break the weak bond they had seemed to construct in the last day. They had been in the situation before though, when Tony had first joined NCIS, Gibbs had hoped that they had made progress since then but now, he wasn't so sure. Shaking the younger agent softly, he called his name equally as soft as not to startle Tony.

"Hey, DiNozzo, time to solve the case." Using the kid's desire to try solve everything, he knew he was being a bastard but it would get the job done and he had used a softer than usual voice.

"Yeah, Boss." Came the sleepy reply from his still tired looking agent. Well at least Tony was calling him boss and not just talking to him

The walk into the building and down to the lab was quiet but not as tense as the other times. Gibbs smiled a little, everything seemed to be going well at the moment, and he was sure that Tony was going to brighten up at seeing Abby like he usually would after being injured. Well, he hoped, the last actual conversation those two had had, had been back in the hospital room. After that, on the corridor, Tony seemed a little awkward around Abby, even though they were like brother and sister.

Entering the lab, the usual blast of music hit them. Abby had changed it back after her little talk with Ziva. They had a plan now, a sure way to get Tony to realise they all cared. And that they were all a family.

Sensing she had company she turned around, upon seeing Tony she jumped up aiming to hug him but he moved back a little. He wasn't all that good with contact, even in a good mood and that was without him being injured, she knew she had to tread carefully.

"I see you escaped your own personal prison." She winked at him, Gibbs just watched the two for a moment, hoping beyond anything that they were going to be okay. Tony face actually brightened a little and a small smile played across his lips. Abby almost wanted to squeal when she saw that spark of the Tony she knew so well.

"You got anything yet Abs?" Gibbs asked.

"No Gibbs, not yet, BOLO is out, still waiting for a hit."

"Isn't there anything we can do to find him faster?" Surprisingly, that question had come from Tony, who was leaning against the metal table, he looked a little worse for wear but Abby and Gibbs were both glad to see a flicker of Tony in the tired expression upon his face.

"Not unless you remember anything else of what Hughes said, DiNozzo." Gibbs answered a little more gruffly than he would have liked. He was surprised when Tony seemed to actually settle at the tone. He would have thought being nice for a change would have worked better but would take what he could get. Although, thinking logically, he himself wouldn't want to be treated any differently if he'd broken down like Tony had in the hospital. That would be embarrassing. Smiling a little more, they turned to leave, but not before Abby could get the last word in.

"Hey, Tony, you wanna catch a movie after we finish this case?" she asked hopefully. It being part of the big plan, she really hoped he'd say yes. Thinking about it for a moment, Tony simply nodded in reply; maybe, a movie was what they needed to get back to normal.

Not half an hour after leaving the lab, Abby called up with a hit on the BOLO. Tony started to move, seeing this Gibbs spoke up.

"Where do you think you're going, DiNozzo?" He cringed a little at the betrayal in Tony's eyes as both McGee and Ziva moved off towards the elevator.

"With you boss."

"You're not on duty, DiNozzo." Tony's look darkened, Gibbs had promised to help him, not to stop him. But couldn't Tony see, Gibbs only wanted to keep him safe.

"But Boss, I have to. You said you'd help, not take over, I need to, please." Tony didn't leave out the accusing tone to his voice nor, could he stop the pleading quality at the same time. He had to do this, no matter what, fire rose within him, his aching chest a thing of the past. He could deal with that later.

"Fine! But to do as I say, no questions. Got it?"

"Yes boss." There was just one thing he was missing. As Gibbs walked past his desk, he placed Tony's new service weapon in his hands, giving him a looking saying he understood the need to do this, but he didn't want him taking any chances…

TBC

I should have the next chapter done for tomorrow or the day after actually, I seem to be on a role with this one finally, again sorry for the long wait. Hope ya'll liked it.