A/N Wow what a lot of support this story seems to have generated. So many alerts, reviews and people faving not to mention the amount of hits it attracted. Hi there to all the lurkers who are reading along too :) Two more chapters to go after this one - one from Gibbs' perspective and the final one features Abby and Ducky.

Once again, this is proofed not beta'ed so any errors are my bad.

I''m adding this note to alert you to a story I came across last night but which has been taken down and moved because someone complained it was a crossover. which it isn't since the cast of both groups need to be present and interact. This is a fusion piece IMHO after checking out the definitions. Regardless it is a great story and deserves to be read but is unlikely to be found i lolling n the crossover section where it's been moved to. If you want to have a really good laugh go and read it at s/10295827/1/Wizard-of-NCIS. by moonstone glows.

Be Careful What You Wish For

Chapter 5

Anthony DiNozzo stood by the baggage carousel at J.F.K Airport waiting for his luggage to appear, musing about the life changing events that had occurred over the last seven days. It had been a tumultuous week for sure and he was really grateful for Tom Morrow for chucking him a much needed lifeline when he'd been drowning. Sending him away to the security conference in Montreal with their NATO allies had been a godsend too. It gave him a welcome change of scenery and a chance to regain his balance as he tried to figure out who Anthony DiNozzo was going to become in this newest incarnation at Homeland Security.

He'd totally surprised himself by expressing his doubts about who he should be and how he should conduct himself to Morrow. He guessed it must be because he'd been his boss before, because he usually wasn't that honest with his superiors. Chatty sure, but not given to actually baring his soul although he was pretty vulnerable at the time. Morrow had listened to him, scowled and advised him to be himself – that he would find his feet naturally. He'd pointed out that Tony wouldn't need to protect anyone from an bad-tempered boss or have to relieve the pressure any longer.

His words had struck a chord, although the former NCIS agent still felt anxious. "You're always going have a lively sense of humour Tony, but I suspect that you won't feel compelled to be quite so hyper. That said, Son, I don't want you to become a mindless drone or as you would say a MIB, I want you to keep your playful nature. There are enough automatons around here – I need your creativity and unique way of looking at cases, so don't be in too much of a hurry to change everything. You can end up throwing out the baby with the bathwater. I think Billy Joel's Just the Way You Are should become your new signature song," His old/new boss smirked.

The fact that Morrow had told him that he was good enough already and backed it up by hiring him and to his astonishment, given him his own team had made him feel a little less of a failure. He just hoped that he didn't ever let him down. Now ,here he was in New York, supposedly to familiarise himself with the personnel in the New York office and help investigate a potential terrorist cell operating at NYU. The plan was for him to go undercover as a visiting professor to assess the threat. The hidden agenda was that Tom also wanted him to check out a Homeland agent – Heather James - to see if he wanted her on his team and offer her a job.

DiNozzo k new that when he returned to DC, that he'd have to face Gibbs who was demanding to see him, and he figured that Abby was going to want a piece of his ass too. Honestly, Tony hadn't intended to leave without saying good-bye to her but Tom had really wanted him to attend the NATO gabfest and had thrown him right in the deep end. He'd barely had time to pack a bag and get his Homeland Security creds sorted before he'd been bundled on the plane to Canada.

Truthfully, he'd expected to have to give notice and work out his two weeks at NCIS but Morrow had pulled strings and no doubt Vance had been ecstatic to see the last of him. Leon was definitely not his BFF for some reason – well apart from getting Jenny killed, of course. What did surprise him however was that Gibbs had been livid and confronted Tom when he'd been informed of Tony's resignation.

Frankly, he was shocked that Gibbs had reacted that way because it was clear to Tony that he no longer trusted him or was happy with his performance. Still, thinking about it, Gibbs as the ultimate alpha male had obviously felt that he was challenging his authority by leaving the team without his permission. Tony sighed; it was just one more indication that where Gibbs and the team were concerned he just couldn't do anything right. Obviously, he was expected to expose his soft underbelly as a sign of supplication, perhaps bare his neck submissively for his former uber alpha boss to rip out before slinking off with his tail between his legs. Clearly he wasn't going to be permitted to leave with even a shred of his self-respect intact.

As much as he would prefer to avoid a confrontation with Gibbs, he knew the man well enough to know that he wouldn't give up and fade away into the background. And he couldn't avoid him forever; the law enforcement community in DC wasn't that huge, so they were bound to run into each other at some point in time. They might even have to work together so he didn't have much choice but get it over and done with. Hopefully he'd be satisfied by simply chewing on his balls and not feel the need to rip 'em off. Maybe by the time he headed back to DC Gibbs would have cooled off a bit. Yeah and pigs would sprout gossamer wings and fly, Anthony!

Collecting his gear, he hopped on the train to head into Manhattan, finding it an odd feeling to be back in New York again. With his luck, he would probably run into his old man who would if he learnt about Tony's latest change of jobs, smile smugly, nod and say 'I told you you were a screw up, Junior'. Deliberately thrusting all thoughts of his sperm donor out of his head, he decided to grab a coffee, hoping that it would settle his sense of discomfort. Perhaps though, it wasn't going to go away, not until he had confronted Gibbs and taken his lumps as Ducky would say.

Even as he mulled over the situation he was going to be facing on his arrival back home in DC, he was also still assessing his current environment and checking out the people that were around him. He'd been a federal agent for eight years and he hadn't been a beat cop for several years prior to that, but no matter what skills and training he acquired subsequently, the awareness he developed in those early days on the streets had always stayed with him. He might not possess Gibbs' infallible gut but his intuition hadn't ever let him down. He'd only ever slipped up when he discounted or ignored it and right now his sixth sense was telling him something bad was about to go down.

For some reason he kept coming back to a young mother with a fractious toddler who seemed very anxious. Abandoning his bags for the time being beside the security guard, he flashed his creds at him, asking him to keep an eye on them, the federal agent felt compelled to wander over and check her out. Assessing her carefully, he estimated she was in her late twenties, possibly early thirties and the kid was still in diapers. He seemed upset but was responding normally to the woman so he discounted the possibility she had kidnapped him.

Although he couldn't rule out a custody dispute, especially since they didn't appear to have any luggage and that was suspicious. And the way she kept looking around like someone was after them, that also fitted in with that scenario too but as Tony grew closer, he saw that she was wearing heavy facial makeup to try to disguise an ugly black eye and facial bruising. Looking at the woman's left hand, it looked swollen and discoloured and Tony would bet his mother's trust fund that it was fractured.

Okay, so looking less like a kidnapping by the minute, more like a case of domestic violence. Something which was, unfortunately, bread and butter to a former beat cop. He continued to assess the area for potential threats. When the woman rose from the row of seats she'd been resting on, Tony wondered if he'd spooked her, until he realised a muscle bound thirty-something 5 foot 10 white male was following her. Now his intuition was literally jumping up and down, screaming at him to do something and he picked up the pace. He arrived in time to hear the heavily muscled hulk, snarl as he grabbed the woman roughly and spun her around to face him.

"I told you that you could run but you couldn't hide Susanna." He threatened her viciously. "I'll always find you and drag you back home by your hair if I have to, you useless slag and I swear that if you ever try to take my son away again, you'll wish you…"

As Tony drew parallel with the pair he interrupted. "Excuse me Ma'am, is everything alright here?"

The muscle-bound hulk had his hand around the woman's slim bicep, squeezing her harshly and he scowled at Tony's intervention. The out-of- control fury was extremely obvious to the federal agent. This guy was as dangerous as cobra and probably a damn sight less intelligent.

"Is this the pretty-boy you've been cheating on me with, you worthless whore?" He spat at the woman.

And Tony saw hints of unbridled lunacy in the Neanderthal's eyes that boded ill for all concerned. In slow motion – oh how clichéd was that ,Anthony - he saw him pull a wickedly serrated knife out of a scabbard on his belt. Knowing his intuition had been right on the money, the former cop barrelled hard into the young woman, still carrying her son in her arms. He knocked her cleanly out of the way before her asshole of a partner/ husband could stab her, as was clearly his intention.

Tony, like any good cop, knew that in any violent domestic relationship, the most dangerous period of time for the battered partner was in the hours directly following her escape from her abuser. It was when the vast majority of these fatalities occurred and this guy was crazy violent. If Tony needed any more proof that the statistics he'd had drummed into at the Police Academy and his sixth sense were correct, then he figured fact that the knife that had been intended to kill the young mother was now protruding from his chest, should fit the bill. Strangely enough, Tony thought bemusedly, it really didn't hurt all that much. Probably because of the violent influx of adrenaline now flooding his system and as he drew his pistol, he was grateful that the little boy was probably too young to remember seeing him shoot down and killed his mother's loser deadbeat partner who in all likelihood was also his father.

Not wasting time with a nonlethal shot, since Tony didn't think he would have enough time left to take a second one; he aimed straight for the bastard's aorta. Even though he was beginning to lose consciousness, he was still an excellent shot and he snorted - it was also point blank range. Tony knew he wouldn't miss, that was one thing that Gibbs had drilled into him. He was determined that the woman and her son whose names' he didn't know and more than likely never would, would now be able live out their lives without the fear of being attacked anymore. As he lost consciousness, the last thing he saw was the asshole collapse and he heard people begin shrieking.

Guess he wasn't going to have to meet with Gibbs after all. His former boss was going to be so pissed that he wouldn't have a chance to tear him a new one for resigning without holding himself available for an ass lickin' but them's the breaks, he supposed. Still, Tony shouldn't be too surprised really; since he was never able to do anything without disappointing the guy he'd tried in vain to make proud for all those years. Why should his dying be any different?

End Notes:

No I don't have a death wish so no character deaths occur in this fiction.