Jan 15th 2011

He stood facing the glass window, his reflection more pronounced then he had expected. It almost scared him, looking at his ragged appearance in an abnormally clear piece of glass. A few days worth of stubble was invading his chin, his hair all over the place. His eyes were heavy, almost willing themselves to close against his actions to stop them. But his focus was targeted. He had a new goal now, a new mission, a new path in his mixed life. So much had happened in his past, the bad out weighed the good and there was a point in his life where he never thought he would be able to come back. He had been pulled down so much, that coming back up level was an almost impossible task.

But there, in front of him, snuggled silently in between her soft hand-knitted grandmother crafted blankets…..was his daughter. His life, his future. All he had was for her, and all he needed to do was in aid of her. Nothing else mattered anymore. He had promised to change his life when Rebecca had told him she was pregnant with their first child. Their little girl. Now only a few hours after she was born, he was stood staring at her beautiful face, her squishing little nose. He vowed to change his life for his little princess.

"Which one is yours?" A voice came beside him. He turned and glanced at the excitable man beside him, both his hands full with digital cameras ready to record his childs first movements.

"That little girl there." He pointed to the small bundle, the baby yawned behind the viewing glass.

"Adorable. That's my two there. Kyle and Kaden." The new father pointed to twin baby boys huddled together. "Whats your little tykes name?"

"Annabella." He replied. Annabella name after his grandmother. And his daughter sure had the same beautiful eyes as her name sake.

He knew his life needed to change. For her. She deserves a father who will be there for her. And he was not going to let his precious princess down.

Feb 13th

Sat at his desk, Special Agent Tony Dinozzo was glaring at the computer screen. He was concentrating hard, something Ziva and McGee didn't think he could do. He had barely noticed they were stood over him, watching him.

"It looks human, smells human…yet its like he is a statue." Ziva said.

"Maybe he turned to stone over night. He was still here when we left." McGee said.

"Tony?" Ziva tried to get his attention. Tony did not budge. "Its like he is Deer to the world."

"Dead." Tony corrected her. He looked up at the pair in front of him.

"So you are a real boy." McGee smiled.

"What has got you so interested?" Ziva asked. She rounded the desk and looked at Tony's screen. "She is pretty…..who is she?"

"Oh I see." McGee said taking a peek himself at the picture on the screen.

"What do you see McAnnoying?" Tony asked.

"That's her…..Valentines girl." McGee smiled.

"Who?" Ziva was intrigued.

"A few years ago Tony met this woman on valentines day, the date went well, the morning breakfast even better. He promised he would call her and then lost her details. She never had his contact details. Each year he contemplates what could have been and insists he will track her down." McGee explained.

"And she did not think to return to Tonys home to see him?" Ziva wondered.

"That's why Tony wishes to track her down, in case she 'forgot' where he lived." McGee smirked.

"So I take it she has yet to be tracked?" Ziva queried.

"Not yet….but I will. No one gets away from DiNozzo."

"What about that suspect last week when you tripped and…."McGee started.

"Okay McNosey." Tony stopped him.

"And I recall a day a few weeks back as well." Gibbs said as he walked through the office.

"That was not my fault boss." Tony defended himself.

"Grab your bags we got a case. Dead body in a graveyard." Gibbs said.

"Ah boss, isn't that a common thing. I mean…..graveyard is known for its dead bodies." Tony pointed out, a smirk on his youthful face.

"Well this one was left without a coffin, half his clothes missing and oh, resting against a grave stone." Gibbs described. Each member of the team scrambled to their desks and grabbed their go bags. All ready with what they needed for the crime scene. The team followed behind Gibbs and into the elevator.

The graveyard was unnaturally alive as Gibbs drove the van down the main road. Cars and vans were parked, rather unkempt, along the side of the road. A digger was parked in amongst a row of headstones. A sign that another sombre grave was being prepared. In the distance the police tape cornered off the access to the crime scene and beyond it, a route to a church inside the grounds. An array of police officers and officials were stood in amongst the graves. Gibbs parked the van in a tight spot along the main road. The team disembarked and headed through the graves. A section of the graveyard had been tapped off. As the team approached, the scene was becoming clear to them. The body of a man was propped up against a gravestone, as if he had come to rest after a night of girls and drink. To look at him from afar, it would seem he had been drinking and was sleeping off the effects. But it was clear as the team stood in front of him, that he was no more in this world. Ducky and Palmer were leaning over the body, starting their checks of the deceased.

"Ziva, find out who called this in and see what they have to say. McGee, comb the area. We need to find something. Tony, pictures." The team nodded and immediately set to work. "And DiNozzo, make sure you get the footprints around the side of that grave." Gibbs pointed to the grave behind the body. "Ducky, what can you tell me?"

"Well I will need a through examine to determine the cause of death. There is no obvious injuries, bullet holes or similar. Body temp indicates he has been dead for 8 hours at least." Ducky said.

"Makes it around 2am." Gibbs summarised. Ducky held out the mans fingers for McGee to place on his remote scanner. Gibbs was not a lover of technology, but even he admitted the scanner was a vital piece of equipment. It gave the team the name of any deceased in seconds…..and that meant they could get on with their investigations a lot quicker.

"Looks like we have a name, Lieutenant Adam Higgins. Currently on compassionate leave from Norfolk." McGee explained.

"Any chance this grave he is resting on is a relation to him?" Gibbs wondered. McGee noted the name and tapped away at his tablet.

"Not that I can see immediately boss. I will do a complete search back at the office."

"This reminds me of a case many a year ago. A young lady was found laying peaceful atop a grave. Rather tragic. The grave was of her husband of 1 day, killed as they travelled to their honeymoon. She could not live without him and killed herself on top of his grave." Ducky recounted, one of his many tales he regaled the team with on a daily basis.

"Any chance this is the same Duck?" Gibbs asked.

"Hard to tell. As soon as we have him back home I can hopefully give you those answers." Ducky replied. In the distance, Tony was busy taking images of the footprints. He noticed a rusty screw laying almost inside one of the prints. He took an photographer and then called Gibbs over.

"What are the odds this is just a random screw in an almost perfectly grassed graveyard?" Tony asked him.

"Bag it." Gibbs said. Tony picked it up and placed it in a bag. He carried on taking images around the headstones. The camera buzzed, indicating something was wrong. He checked the screen. The memory full icon was flashing.

"Problem DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked.

"Memory is full. Forgot to download it after the last case." Tony said.

"Sort it." Gibbs said.

"Got a spare one in the van. Wont be long." Tony said. Tony wandered off to the van leaving Gibbs shaking his head. Sometimes DiNozzo made him crazy, today was such a day. Gibbs re joined McGee and the two began to collect more evidence from around the body. A few seconds had passed and Gibbs heard the van engine start. He looked up and saw the van pull out of the parking space. Gibbs looked over to where the van had been parked. Tony was not in sight. He looked around and still could not see Tony. He must be in the van.

"DiNozzo, what are you doing?" he called out. The van increased in speed, tapping the corner of a badly parked police car. Ziva, McGee and Gibbs looked up. The van was heading away from them. The team stood and watched as the Navy and White van disappeared down the centre drive of the graveyard and through the police cordon at the end. The speed of the van made Gibbs intensify his look. That was not a speed of a normal Sunday driver….that was the speed of someone in a hurry. But who…..and where was Tony?