Chapter 3

One week later

"Gibbs!" Jethro looked up at the Director, who was standing at the top of the stairs. "My office, please." Gibbs got up and trotted up the stairs.

"Close the door," Leon directed, as he moved to the conference table and took a seat. He picked up a sheet of paper, sliding it across the desk when the former Marine sat down.

To say Jethro was shocked would have been a major understatement.

'Letter of Resignation' read the top of the sheet. And the name Anthony DiNozzo stood out like a twelve foot tall neon sign.

"I'm not sure what to make of that," Vance said. "I know things have been tense on your team recently, but didn't think it had gone this far."

"Crap!" Gibbs growled as he threw the paper back onto the table. "Are you going to let him do this? He's got to come back to work out his notice, right?"

"Not like I can stop him from resigning, Gibbs. He's a grown man and can quit if he likes. And if you'll read the whole letter, he states that it's effective immediately upon receipt of the letter. Which is today. His two-week notice would be the rest of his vacation. And he has the time on the books to do just that. He's not planning to come back. Along with the letter was a note that Tony's work cell phone, badge, ID and gun could be found in the locked drawer of his desk. And that you should have the key."

Gibbs blew out a deep breath and shook his head. If Tony had left those items in his drawer, he really wasn't planning on returning. Obviously, he didn't want to give anyone an excuse to visit on the pretext of collecting those items. "Can you hold off on submitting this, Leon? I need to talk to him...really talk to him. I screwed the pooch on this one."

"You want to tell me what happened?"

Jethro grimaced. "Rather not. It's...embarrassing, to say the least." When Vance just raised an eyebrow and stuck one of his infernal toothpicks in his mouth, Gibbs knew he needed to fess up. "Several weeks back, Tony caught me and a woman in a ...let's just say, we were getting to know each other better on my sofa. He'd been trying to call me about a case, I didn't hear the phone, he thought something was wrong and barged in."

Leon was hard pressed not to smile, biting down on his lip to prevent a laugh from escaping his mouth. Gibbs of course noticed.

"Go ahead, laugh. I'm just glad it hadn't gotten any further than some kisses, some mussed up hair, and disheveled clothing."

A guffaw finally let loose from across the table. "Sorry," Vance said as he continued to chuckle. "I'm just trying to picture the scene...and can only too well." He settled down and leaned back in his chair. "I can imagine you took your embarrassment out on your agent," he accused, rightfully.

Gibbs slumped down. "Oh yeah."

"And that's what caused his whole behavior change recently?"

Gibbs sighed heavily. "Yeah. I said some really nasty stuff, Leon. Really nasty."

Leon leaned forward to place his arms on the table. "I can hold off forwarding the paperwork to HR, Gibbs. But once it got into my hands, it became effective, regardless of when HR gets it. I'll hold on to it, but you have got to try and get this straightened out, and soon."

"He's off with his frat buddies right now. I'm not sure where they went."

"Is there a way you can find out? I can give you time off, if you need it. McGee and Ziva can work cold cases or help other teams."

"Let me see what I can do." Gibbs got up and hurried back to his own desk. He called Tony's personal cell. He frowned when he got a "disconnect" message.

"Shit," he muttered. He quickly pulled out Tony's personnel folder from his bottom desk drawer. Although he and Ducky were listed as Tony's emergency contacts, there was also a list that Tony had given him of other notifications to be made in case of Tony's death in the line of duty. Gibbs knew at least one of Tony's frat buddies was on that list. Getting the number, he quickly dialed Pete Logan as he went into a conference room for some privacy.

"Hello?"

"Pete Logan? This is Agent Gibbs, Tony's boss."

"Oh, crap. What's happened?"

Gibbs was confused. "What?"

"Something's happened to Tony, right? He said if something did, you'd probably be the one calling. What happened?" The guy sounded scared. But not as scared as Gibbs.

"Wait a minute. Tony's not with you? Isn't this your yearly get together? He took three weeks of vacation time. I was calling to try and find out where you guys are. I need to talk to Tony."

"Agent Gibbs, Tony's not with us." He heard Pete sigh. "Shit. Tony called a few weeks ago to finalize plans, but..."

"But what," Gibbs growled.

"Well, the rest of us all have families, ya know. And we decided that we wanted to include them this year. We figured that being single, Tony might feel...out of place. So we made plans without him. I haven't spoken to or seen him since the night I told him. I've tried to call, so have the other guys. Tony never picked up or answered any of our messages. I stopped by his place several times, but he never answered the door. We're all in Orlando right now, at Disney World. But Tony's not here."

"Son of a..." Gibbs ran a hand over his head.

"Since you're looking for him so desperately, something is going on, isn't it?"

"Yeah. Yeah it is. Tony's resigned from NCIS, effective immediately. He left last week on vacation, but the letter of resignation just arrived here today. Look, I've gotta go. If he's not with you, chances are he's still at home."

"Gibbs, let me know if you get ahold of him, okay? We all feel really bad about what happened. Looking back, we should have just been straight with him and asked him if he still wanted to come."

"Yeah, you should have. But I have no room to talk, because things between the two of us have been...tense lately. I'll give you a call back once I find him."

/

Gibbs hurried back to the bullpen and up to McGee's desk. "Tim, if a cell phone is giving a 'disconnect' message, can you still track it?"

Tim looked up. "Yeah, if I have the serial number."

"Try and track Tony's personal cell," Gibbs ordered.

Ziva got up from her desk and joined the men. "Is something wrong with Tony, Gibbs?"

He ignored her question. "Tim, can you do it?"

"Sure, Boss." Gibbs watched as Tim's fingers flew across the keyboard, trying to stay calm. Then he saw Tim's eyes widen.

"What, McGee?"

"According to this, the phone is in his desk."

Gibbs quickly grabbed the key from his top drawer and opened the locked drawer in Tony's desk. Slowly, he pulled out two cell phones and Tony's badge, ID and gun. Ziva and McGee were both stunned.

"What's going on, Boss? Is Tony in trouble?" Tim asked.

Gibbs just looked at the desk top, then replaced the items and locked the drawer back up. "No," he answered grimly. "He's not in trouble, but I need to find him." He went to his desk and grabbed his own badge and gun. "I'm leaving. Don't expect me back today. You can both leave when you finish your reports."

"Gibbs, we can go with you," Ziva offered.

"No. I need to find him and the two of us need to speak privately once I do. I'll see you tomorrow." With that, he walked out, leaving both his junior team members worried and frustrated.

Gibbs drove to Tony's in record time, even for him. He bounded up the stairs to Tony's apartment. He knocked on the door for several minutes, his calls to Tony getting louder and more frantic. He thought it was ironic, considering how all of this had started. He was just about to kick in the door when Tony's neighbor came out to see what all the ruckus was about.

"You're wasting your time, sir," the lady said.

Gibbs turned around to face her. "What do you mean?"

"He doesn't live there anymore. The building super was in cleaning the apartment yesterday. Said Mr. DiNozzo moved out."

"Do you know how I can get ahold of Tony? Or the super?"

"No clue about Mr. DiNozzo, but the super lives in 1B."

Gibbs thanked the woman and headed downstairs. He went to apartment 1B and knocked, his heart pounding. He hoped the man had some answers for him. The door opened to a tall, skinny black man. Gibbs pulled out his badge and flashed it. "Hello, Sir. I'm sorry to disturb you. I'm Special Agent Gibbs, Tony DiNozzo's boss. I understand from a neighbor that Tony's moved out of his apartment. By any chance, do you have a forwarding address for him? It's important that I find him."

"Sorry, Agent Gibbs. He didn't leave one. Just paid up the rent last week, including the penalty for breaking his lease. He already had most of his stuff moved out before he came to see me, 'cuz he told me he'd be out the next day. He even told me to keep the security deposit."

His shoulders slumped. Tony had a week's head start. Gibbs softly thanked the man and trudged back to his car. He sat for several minutes, replaying everything that had occurred since that night at his house. He grabbed his cell. "McGee, are you still at the office?" he asked as he started up his car. "Good, try to get a trace on Tony's Camaro. I know he had it equipped with GPS after his last car got stolen. And run info on his bank accounts and credit cards. I'm on my way back. I'll explain once I get there." Throwing his car into gear, he headed back to the Navy yard. He needed to find Tony, and he was gonna need the team's help.

/

Getting back to the Navy Yard, Gibbs hurried inside. "Sit Rep," he barked as soon as the elevator doors opened. Tim and Ziva exchanged looks. Gibbs' stomach dropped. "Now! Give me what you've got."

"Boss, Tony's Camaro is at Sterling's used car lot. The manager confirmed that Tony sold the car to him last week. Took a cashier's check, which Tony deposited in his checking account," Tim explained. "The next day, he withdrew all but $100 each from both his checking and savings accounts. He also cashed in his 401K."

"Credit cards," Gibbs said.

"All his credit cards have had their balances paid off in the last month and the accounts closed," Ziva continued. "Gibbs, what is happening? Something is obviously going on with Tony. What is it?"

Gibbs sighed. He had promised them an explanation. But he only wanted to explain this once. He held up a finger to Ziva and Tim to hold on, then called Vance. Getting the OK, he called Abby, Ducky and Palmer, ordering them to Vance's office ASAP. He started the same way, motioning for Tim and Ziva to follow. Once everyone was assembled in Vance's office, Gibbs paced the room while the others sat at the conference table.

"Tony's resigned," Gibbs finally stated quietly to the group. "Effective immediately." Shouts and exclamations of disbelief came from those in the room. Once everyone finally quieted down, he continued. "He's moved out of his apartment, sold his car, paid off and closed his credit accounts and virtually emptied his bank accounts. And I can't find him anywhere."

Vance approached Gibbs. "Did you find out where he and his frat buddies have gone?" he asked the man

Gibbs briefly closed his eyes. "His buddies are all in Orlando with their families. But Tony isn't with them." He explained what he been told by Pete Logan.

"Jethro," Ducky said, "don't you think it's about time you told us what happened between the two of you? This has been brewing for weeks, and you intimated that the two of you had an argument. It's been affecting the team this entire time. Things have now gotten to the point that Tony has left without so much as a 'good-bye' to any of his friends." Gibbs flinched at that last word, which didn't go unnoticed by Ducky. "Jethro, what did you do?" he asked accusingly.

Gibbs slowly sank into a chair, suddenly feeling the weight of the world on his shoulders. Or maybe it was guilt and shame. "The night that dispatch couldn't get ahold of me, and Tony sent the rest of you onto the crime scene while he came to my house? He...interrupted me with a lady friend. I was embarrassed and upset that he barged in without knocking, catching me off-guard. So I said some things to him that weren't very nice."

"Define 'not very nice', Gibbs," Abby asked, her voice wobbling slightly.

"Okay, so they were pretty nasty." Gibbs looked around, but had trouble meeting anyone's eyes. "I basically told him that I wasn't surprised that he didn't have friends and that he was worthless and no longer welcome in my home. And I may have suggested getting rid of him at work, too."

"Jethro," Ducky admonished the man, his voice full of disappointment. "After everything that boy has told you about how his father treated him, how could you say such things? Even in anger. It's no wonder he's been so withdrawn and depressed. There aren't any words that could have cut him deeper, especially coming from you."

"Don't you think I know that, Duck!?" Gibbs cried out. "But the longer I let it go on, the harder it became to figure out how to fix it. I intended to head to his place the night before he returned from his vacation. But, of course, now he's gone and I don't know where!"

"Boss, we can find him," Tim said. "I'll do some more digging. If he opens other credit cards or bank accounts, or registers another car, I'll find it. He hasn't been gone long. We'll find him."

Gibbs looked at Vance. "Leon," he implored.

Vance gazed at the team sitting at the conference table. He sighed, knowing that they wouldn't be any good until they found DiNozzo. "One week, Gibbs. I'll give you all one week to try and track him down. But after that, I need you all to get back to your real jobs and search on your own time."

Everyone nodded and left the office. One week was surely enough time to find their wayward friend.

/