Warnings: Spoilers for "Deja Vu"

A/N: Haven't felt much love for this story, actually, while I've enjoyed the season, the constant drama over Tony is getting tiresome. MW deserves better from his fans.

"Walk Away"

The power finally came back on twenty-four hours later. At least it came back on at Tony and Leah's place. Tim was going be without power for a few more days and not wanting to stay at Gibbs' house by himself, he elected to sleep on the sofa in the DiNozzos' apartment.

Leah and Jack had been out of town when the extreme cold and snow hit. She had taken the baby to a conference in Florida that she was speaking at and wouldn't be home. At least it would be quiet in Tony's apartment and Ellie's snoring wouldn't keep them up all night. That had certainly surprised Tony and Gibbs; Tim had been aware of it since that undercover mission.

"Here, you can borrow some of my sweats," Tony said, tossing some clothes at Tim. "We can swing by your apartment on the way to work tomorrow."

"You okay?" Tim asked, picking the sweats up off the floor. "You sound a little depressed."

"I could have gone to Florida with Leah," Tony replied with a shrug of his shoulders. "But you know... the job... I had to stay behind."

"Was she mad?" Tim asked.

Tony shook his head. "No, she understood. I'm the one that has a problem with it, Tim. Feels like I'm missing out on Jack's childhood because of NCIS. I almost missed his birth because I was tracking Daniel Budd overseas."

Tim held the sweats against his chest. In the last few weeks he had noticed a change in Tony. It felt like Tony was pulling back from them. He was willing to stay after hours to do work, willing to travel to pick up witnesses alone...all things he would not have done in the past. Something was going on. "Maybe you need a long vacation. You have the time. Take it."

He chuckled, a deep one in his chest, "Please. Can you see Gibbs approving that? He's pissed off as it is at me for doing his job. You know he wanted to be the one to put the bullet in Budd but Vance sidelined him. And the Sudan? How do you think he felt when it was you and me that saved those doctors?"

Frowning, the younger man put the clothes he had been offered down onto the sofa. "Tony. It isn't your fault what Gibbs' is going through. There's only so much any of us can take on this job. Look at Ziva. She had to walk away or it was going to kill her. Gibbs just doesn't know when to walk away."

"Maybe I do," Tony said.

"What?" Tim inquired.

"Maybe I do know when to walk away."

"Are you going to leave NCIS?"

Tony shrugged. "I don't know. Leah would like it if I left. Been thinking of going back to school. She makes enough money to support the two of us. I mean it would be tight, but we'd get by."

Tim couldn't believe what he was hearing. Tony, walking away from NCIS? "What... what would you do if you left? I mean... being a cop is what...you do!" He was having a hard time picturing Tony in any other role...

"She thinks I would make a good teacher; maybe teach criminology classes or FLET-C training."

"You're really thinking about leaving?"

"There are days, Tim, I think it would be for the best," Tony said, sadly. "Not just for me, but for the team."

Tim wanted to say something but the phone rang. Tony informed him that it was probably Leah calling to make sure he was alright. She had been worried about him when she heard the power went out.

By the time he was done on the phone, their conversation was all but forgotten. In fact, it would be months later that Tim even thought about their talk again, pushed the back of his brain until such a time that Tony was ready to walk away again.