First thanks for all the wonderful reviews. I have tried to thank everyone, and if you were a guest reviewer, thank you for taking the time to let me know what you think. Thank for all who have made this their favorite and following. I can't tell you how wonderful this is all for me.
I may not get another one out till later this week so sorry for the delay, but I will do my best to have one by Wednesday. Thanks for your patience. Still looking for a beta if you are interested let me know.
NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS
Tony came into work Monday morning almost singing. He had a great weekend. Between dinner and the fair with Alex and Sunday afternoon at the Mallards, he couldn't have been happier. Even knowing that he had to work with his team couldn't dampen his enthusiasm for how his life was going since he met Alex. Tony wan't sure where the relationship was headed, but he knew he was going to enjoy the ride.
As he walked out of the elevator he realized he was the first one in. Tony looked at his watch and frowned, he thought that Gibbs had said 7am before they had left on Sunday morning. He had arrived at NCIS at 6:45am and was surprised to see that he was the first one in. At least they couldn't give him a hard time about being late. He sat at his desk, grabbed the file regarding the two dead bodies, and wondered if Abby had finished running the prints to confirm their identity.
The elevator dinged again and Gibbs came into the bullpen. Gibbs was surprised to see Tony already waiting for the team. "You got here early," Gibbs observed. "How did that happen?"
Tony looked down at this desk and closed his eyes. He was really getting tired of the sarcastic statements. "There was no traffic this morning," was all he said. Tony looked at Gibbs, "I don't know if Abby has confirmed the victims identities yet, I didn't see her car out in the parking lot when I drove in."
The elevator dinged again and Ziva and McGee walked into the bullpen. They looked at Tony with eyebrows raised. "Wow, look McGee, Tony is already here." Ziva paused, "Are we late?"
"No," said Tim. "We are on time. Tony just decided not to be late."
Tony chose to ignore the both of them. He figured if they didn't even have the courtesy to say good morning neither did he. He looked at Gibbs again. "I am going down to Abby's to see if she is here and see if she has confirmed the id of our two victims. I am also going to stop down in autopsy to see if Ducky has any addition information for us."
Gibbs waved his hand at him as a sign of approval. Over the next hour Gibbs and the rest of the team looked into the crime. Tony had come back up with the identity of both victims. The team slowly worked through the victims last few days. The office came more to life with every passing minute. "We are going to need a warrant to get the bank accounts and phone records." Tony said. "Do you want me to contact the Major, Gibbs?"
Gibbs looked at Tony, then up to the balcony toward the Major's office. "Yeah, I guess you better. I don't want her to come down and give us trouble. If I stay on her good side for the little things, when I need something difficult maybe she won't get so pissy."
Tony just looked at Gibbs and said nothing. He picked up his phone to call Alex. "Major, this is Agent DiNozzo, we need a warrant for one of our cases, do you want me to email you or bring you the information?"
"Ok," he answered. "I will email you what we need and just notify us when you get the warrant."
"Thanks for the help Major, see you soon." Tony hung up his phone and started to type. "The Major will take the information in an email and when and if she needs hard copies she will let us know." Gibbs looked at Tony and said "Ok."
About an hour later Alex came down with the warrant in hand. "Here are the warrants. Let me know if you need anything else." She told Gibbs' team. She look at Tony, smiled and walked away to another MCRT that was calling her name.
The team worked over the next week to find who and why the two marines were killed. They had a break in the case on Thursday after running phone records for both men. They found out that a former marine had dated the current girlfriend of one of the marines and was not happy about it.
Gibbs and the team went to go talk to the potential team reached the house and Gibbs directed Tony and Ziva to go around back, McGee and Gibbs would take the front door. Tony and Ziva went low around to the back of the house staying below the line of sight. The pair got to the back door and waited for Gibbs to give the call to enter the home. Gibbs bangs on the front door and the next thing that Tony realizes is that the suspect is coming toward the back door. Over the radio Tony says, "He's coming to the back door. Ziva get ready. Get to the other side of the door."
Ziva tells Tony no. She wants to go in and get him. "We can't!" Tony yells, "We don't have a warrant to enter the house. Stay away from the door!" Tony demands. Ziva ignores Tony's order and moves to open the back door. The next thing Tony realizes is that the suspect is shooting through the door. Tony feels something hot along his arm and feels a sting as he pushes Ziva to the ground. Tony is yelling over his radio that they have shots fired in the back. Tony raises his gun and begins shooting at the suspect. He sees the suspect go down and sees Gibbs and McGee coming around the back of the house. "Watch out he has a gun," Tony yells to Gibbs. Gibbs runs to the suspect and kicks the gun out of the way.
Gibbs walks to Tony and crouches down. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah, just a graze." Tony says. "I'll have Ducky take a look when I get back to the office." He makes a face at Gibbs.
Gibbs looks at Ziva who is slowly getting up from the ground. She is looking at Tony while she does. "Are you ok?" Gibbs asks.
"Yes, I am fine."
Gibbs looks at Tony and then at Ziva. "What happened back here?"
Tony looks at Ziva and then at Gibbs. "I am going to sit in the car. Let Ziva explain." Tony walked away from the group. "I'll send the ambulance back when it gets here."
Gibbs looks at Ziva. "What happened Ziva?"
"Tony pushed me away from the door. He came out shooting. Tony shot him," was all Ziva said. She was looking where Tony had gone. She didn't know why Tony did not tell Gibbs and she had not followed Tony's orders.
The suspect was taken to the local hospital under local LEO guard. Gibbs and the team headed back to NCIS. Once they arrived Tony walked into autopsy to talked to Ducky. Palmer was the only person there. "Hi Tony, how are you today?"
"Hi Jimmy, listen I need a favor, can you look at this and clean it up for me? I had a little accident in the field." Jimmy walked over to Tony as Tony started to pull his jacket off. Jimmy could see Tony wince as he removed his jacket. Jimmy reached Tony and helped his take off his shirt.
"Damn," said Tony, "I liked this shirt. Guess I can't wear it with a hole in it can I?"
"What happened Tony, it looks like you got shot."
"I did. It is just a graze. Can you clean it up and tell me what the damage is?"
Jimmy looked at Tony and went to go get the things he would need to clean the wound. As he walked away Ducky and Alex walked into the room. Seeing Tony on the autopsy table Alex's gasped his name. "Tony, what happened?" as she walked quickly over to Tony.
Tony looked at Alex. "Crap Alex, what are you doing here? I didn't want you to know about this until I got cleaned up." Ducky came over to Tony to look at the wound. Ducky just shook his head at Tony and reached for the items that Jimmy was bringing over. Tony looked at Alex and said, "I'm fine really. It is just a graze. I zigged when I should have zagged. That's all."
Alex continue to look at Tony and didn't say anything right away. She watched Ducky clean the wound. It would need a couple of stitches at least. "Ducky, do we need to take him to the hospital or can you take care of him? I don't want him to get an infection." Alex slowly smiled at Tony. "I have plans for this man."
Tony smiled at Alex in thanks. She wasn't going to freak out about a graze. "I'm a Marine Tony, I don't freak out because of a bullet wound." Tony laughed as Alex said that. The doors slide open and Gibbs walked into the room.
"How is he Duck?"
"Oh Anthony will be just fine, Jethro. He just has a flesh wound. A few stitches and Anthony will be good to go. I will write a script for an antibiotic so that he does not get an infection," Ducky continued.
Gibbs nodded and looked at Tony. "What happened DiNozzo? What really happened out there?"
"I told you Gibbs, it just happened too fast and the suspect came out shooting. Anyone standing there would have been hit. I'm just glad no one was badly hurt except the bad guy. We have what we need, don't we, to charge him with the murders of the two marines?"
"Yes, we're good. Actually, I am glad you are here Major, I need a warrant to get into our suspect's life. He shot at our people, so we now have probable cause."
"I would think so," said Alex. "Send me the information and I will get right on it." Alex turned to leave, knowing that she could not stay here with Gibbs now in the room. "Agent DiNozzo, I hope that you feel better soon. Stay away from gun fire."
"Thank you Major, I promise I will do my best." Alex told Ducky and Jimmy goodbye, nodded again to the two agents and walked out of the room. As soon as she was in the elevator she took her phone out of her pocket and began to text Tony.
Please let me know when we can talk. I want to see u ASAP!
Will come upstairs ASAP
Alex was waiting in her office working on getting the warrant when Tony walked in the room. She looked up, stood up and walked over to Tony. "Are you really ok?" she asked as she hugged Tony. "When I saw you down there on the table, I will tell you for the first time in my life I wanted to panic." Alex paused, "that's a first for me by the way. I have been in some really wonky situations but I don't remember being this scared before."
Tony smiled down at Alex. "I am fine. Ducky gave me about 11 stitches, put enough antibiotic ointment on it to kill a horse, a few days of sitting at my desk so I don't pull the stitches out and I will be fine."
"Well, I suppose I can cook you dinner, you being a big hero and all." Alex smirked. Tony laughed. "Let me know when you get ready to leave and I can also drive you home if you want. Oh and Tony," as he walked away, "I will have the warrant within the next 15 minutes and I want to know what happened today, I think there is something you aren't tell me." Tony turned at the door, took a deep breath and nodded and continued to walk out.
Within 15 minuted Alex took the warrant down to the MCRT. Gibbs was impatiently waiting for the warrant, "its about time you got it here. We've been waiting forever."
"Thirty minutes Special Agent Gibbs from the moment you asked about it," answered Alex. "Let me know what you learn. I am writing up the chief complaint against him now." Alex watched at Gibbs told his other two members to get going to the house to collect evidence.
"I want everything collected tonight. Get going, I will be right behind you." Gibbs looked at Tony. "Go home DiNozzo, came back on Monday. Take tomorrow off." Gibbs started to walk to the elevator and said, "DiNozzo, I want to know what really happened today and I want the truth, no stonewalling."
Alex looked at Tony, "I can take you home if you want me to, it's not a problem." Tony smiled and nodded yes.
Alex put Tony in her car and waited for directions to his house. Tony paused an instant. He realized that he never allowed anyone into his home. He looked at Alex and said, "I don't usually have anyone come to my home. I mean I intended to ask you at some point, but not this soon."
Alex looked at Tony. "If you don't want me to come up I won't. I can stop and pick you up something to eat and then leave." Alex felt a little sad that Tony didn't want to share his apartment with her. She thought they cared for each other more than that.
Tony looked at Alex realizing that he was making a mistake. "No, Alex, I want you to come up, it's just usually I don't invite women upstairs. My apartment is not going to be what you are expecting. I usually just go out to a woman's home, not invite her to mine, that way she won't be expecting," Tony waved his hands, "expecting too much from me." Alex just continued to watch Tony as she drove, glancing at him off and on as she watched the road.
"You are really going to have to explain all of this to me. What happened today, your apartment, everything Tony. I feel like I am being left in the dark."
Tony looked at Alex, "Yeah, I know that I am. Get me home and we can talk." Tony knew the next hour or so was going to be the most important in his life. He looked at Alex as she drove him home, occasionally giving her instructions. Alex drove and started to look around, Tony lived in a upscale neighborhood close to Falls Church, and actually, not far from her home. Alex pulled into an upscale condo building. "I live on the third floor. The elevator is off to the left. Give me a chance to get the keys out and we can go in." Tony directed Alex to the elevator, pushed a button and watched the elevator doors opened. He put his hand on Alex's back to direct her. Once they had reached the third floor Tony turned left. Alex saw one other door besides Tony's. "That's my neighbor. They work for Homeland Security and aren't home much either. We try to take care of each other when we can. I have to remember to get the mail tonight."
Tony walked Alex into his house. Alex looked around and found it to be very clean. In fact, the space looked liked no one lived in it. There were very few personal items around the condo. Tony walked over to Kate, "Here you go Katie, enjoy your dinner." Tony looked at Alex, "My goldfish Kate, actually Kate the third. My old partner gave me the fish and I find I like having her here. It is nice to come home to something that needs to be taken care of." Tony looked around the living room again. "I know that there is not much here in personal stuff, but when I come home I don't want a lot of clutter. I like it just plain. I just want to be quite and at peace."
Alex looked at Tony and took a deep breath. "Tony, did you think I wouldn't understand the need to be alone and quiet. Believe me I do. I understand the need for quite. I also understand the need to have your own personal space. Again, if you want me to go I will. I don't want to put you out. I don't want to ruin our relationship." Alex was afraid that he was going to agree, she had a feeling this was a really important moment in their lives and she didn't know quite how to handle all of this.
"No Alex, I don't want you to leave. Something I learned over the past few weeks together is that you like the quite as much as I do. You like your privacy as much as I do, but you need to understand something." Tony took Alex's hands in his and said, "I want to share this space with you like I haven't with anyone else. I WANT you here with me." Alex stared at Tony directly in the eyes and did not move for several minutes.
"Tony, go sit down, let me see what I can get you to eat and you can start talking about what happen today and what is going on with Ziva. This time - no excuses."
Tony brought Alex's hands up to his lips and kissed the back of her hands. He then brushed his hand against her cheek. "Thank you Alex. I can't tell you how much I appreciate the fact that you believe me." Alex smiled at Tony again and headed into the kitchen. Alex walked into the kitchen while Tony went to sit down on his big leather coach that was in front of his TV. He put his legs out and his head on the back of the coach. "I don't care what we eat as long as it is edible food."
Alex began looking around his kitchen. It had a big island in the center. It was a great cooking kitchen. She open some cabinets and found some soup. She opened up the refrigerator and found bread and cheese for grilled cheese sandwiches. Once Alex gathered the food she began looking for pots and pans. "Tony, where are your . . ." she walked out of the kitchen and saw that Tony was asleep. Alex went back into the kitchen to find what she needed.
Tony slowly woke back up when he smell the soup heating in the kitchen. He got up with a groan as he walked into the kitchen. "It smells really good, Alex." Alex looked at Tony and smiled. He looked better and had a little more color in his face. "It is just soup and sandwich. It's ready whenever you are." Tony smiled and said, "lets eat."
Tony and Alex sat at his small round table, moved some work off it and started to eat. Alex didn't press at this point, letting Tony eat first, but he knew that she wanted answers. Something was just a little off and she couldn't figure out why. It didn't take them long to finish eating and clean up. After the kitchen was clean, Tony took Alex by the hand and sat down on the couch.
Tony took a deep breath and started. "I guess today first, Ziva and I went around back. We were waiting at the back door and she wanted to go in. I told her no but she did it anyway. I had to pull her away from the door and got grazed for my troubles. She didn't listen and unfortunately it is not the first time." Tony took a deep breath and continued.
"Last spring, Gibbs was in an explosion, he was unconscious for a while and when he woke up he didn't remember the last 10 years. He forgot all of us except for his late wife and daughter. He thought he was still an active Marine. We were in the middle of an active terrorist investigation and it was just a mess. He finally remember a few things, but after the case was over, he told me 'I would do', handed me his gun and badge, and walked out the door." Tony paused again and took a deep breath. "It was really difficult for a while after he left. Abby fell apart, Ducky was upset because he thought they were friends but Ducky knew nothing about Shannon and Kelly, his wife and daughter, everyone kept telling me I wan't Gibbs. It took a while, but I thought we where finally getting our rhythm. The team was finally listening to me, our solve rate was as high as before Gibbs left. We had really come together. Ducky and Abby were working well with the team again. Then about four months after Gibbs left he came back to help Ziva and Fornell. The next thing I know, Gibbs has dump all my stuff back on my desk without a 'by your leave'. After that, all bets where off. Ziva and McGee figured if Gibbs could treat me like I didn't know what I was doing, then they could also."
Alex didn't say anything and just sat in silence with Tony. "This is the first time I got have been physically hurt though. I will talk to Ziva when I get back. She has to understand there is a chain of command for a reason. I know how these guys work. She has never been a cop only an assassin. The behavior is different."
Alex was hesitant to ask a question, but she thought he wouldn't mind. "What about McGee, I have heard him make a few comments, nothing overtly insubordinate, but it is borderline."
"Probie thinks he is God's gift to computers. He thinks because he can hack into everything that he is better than I am. Computers are great, but if you don't have the investigational skills you won't solve a crime. Tim doesn't realize that when Gibbs and I were a two man team I did all of the computer work and if I needed more I went to Abby for help, but I didn't need it very often. I still got the information we needed to solve the cases. We didn't need to hack."
Alex shifted in her seat closer to Tony and put her head on his uninjured shoulder. She knew that there was more to this story and more people involved than he was telling her. "What are you going to do? It sounds like it is getting worse instead of better. If they ignore an order from you, them or you could really be hurt or even killed. You don't have to like or even agree all the time, but if you give an order it has to be obeyed, period, no questions."
"I know. I am staying home tomorrow and we have the weekend off so I think I will wait until Monday to deal with this. I haven't decided if I am going to keep this between me and Ziva or let Gibbs get involved." Tony started to yawn as he was talking. Alex gave a small smile.
"Ok hero, time to get you into bed." Tony's eyebrows raised as Alex said that. "Forget it. Not going to happen." Tony just laughed.
"Come on Alex, I'll walk you down to your car." Tony and Alex walked out of the apartment, went down the elevator, out the door and toward Alex's car. Tony opened Alex's door and helped her inside. "Have a safe drive home. Let me know when you get there." Alex said she would and then Tony leaned into the car and kissed Alex goodbye. This time the kiss was even longer. Once they broke apart both Alex and Tony let out a breath. "See you later Alex."
"Bye Tony, sleep well. I will talk to you tomorrow."
Alex pulled away and Tony went back upstairs. About 30 minutes later a text came over his phone. Got home ok. Talk to u tomm. Hugs.
Alex and Tony spent most of the weekend together. Dinner Friday night, class on Saturday and then Tony came to her home on Sunday where they studied together and watched a movie. This was the first weekend they had spent together without other people. There were two important things that they discovered this weekend. They liked spending time with each other and they liked who they were when they were with each other. Monday's problems would take care of themselves. The two of them were happy.
(All day on Sunday, Tony the Elephant, watched his two humans interact. He was very happy on how things were progressing for the two of them.)
NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS
A/N again. Will finally have Palmer and Abby in the next chapter. Be patient. Thanks again for all the support.
All mistakes are mine. And I still don't own a thing.