A\N: I published chapters 5 and 6 on Tuesday and started on this yesterday but didn't finish it until today. This chapter will have a flashback in it, and have a fluffy father and son moment in it. I hope you enjoy, Angels.

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Tony knew where he was before he opened his eyes. How many times had he stayed in this bed, slept underneath these sheets over the years?

He was in the guest bedroom of Gibbs' house.

He knew drinking a bottle of vodka last night was a mistake, a mistake that Ellie would have had his ass for if she was still alive as was going to Gibbs' place.

He should've stayed home and wallowed by himself.

A sharp knock came at the closed door, a voice accompanied the knock. "Agent DiNozzo, get up and get down for breakfast. Five minutes." The Director of NCIS said firmly through the door before he heard her walk away. He opened his eyes and groaned as the pounding his head made itself known.

He threw the covers off him and stood up, ignoring his head. He walked over to the large chest of drawers. Each member of the team has a drawer that Gibbs leaves spare clothes inside for them whenever they stayed over.

He opened his drawer and got out a pair of blue jeans and a plain black t-shirt and put them on his bed before he exited the bedroom. He'd shower after he had coffee and a dozen aspirin pills, and a chewing out by both the boss and the Director, who is sleeping with Gibbs again.

The smell of pancakes and bacon hit his nose as he stumbled down the stairs where Gibbs and Madame Director were sat at the kitchen table, holding hands while drinking cups of coffee, empty plates were in front of them, the Director was laughing. "That was so not what happened, Jethro." She said through her laughter. Gibbs had a smile on his face, a real smile that he had never seen before. "Ask Decker what happened, he'll back me up." He defended, the redhead rolled her green eyes. "Of course he will, he feels like he owed you for saving him from that tiger cub which I'm still pissed about by the way." Gibbs groaned as he took a sip of his coffee. "For the last time, Jen, we couldn't have had a baby tiger in the bullpen, and we still can't." Gibbs threw her a good-natured glare as he stood up and kissed her lips and grabbed their empty plate. The Director huffed as she finished her coffee and also stood up, turning around and saw Tony in the doorway of the kitchen.

"Ah, Agent DiNozzo, you're awake." She said, Tony only nodded as the woman gently took his arm and steered him into her vacated seat and placed a plate of piping hot pancakes and bacon in front of him along with a cup of coffee.

"You're taking a few days off, DiNozzo." Gibbs suddenly said as he took a mouthful of coffee. Tony looked at Gibbs and Jenny with wide eyes as he swallowed the coffee before he stood up, glaring at both of them.

"The hell I'm taking a few days off! Ellie's killer is still out there and I'll be damned if I'm letting you catch him, seeing as you're the reason she's dead in the first place." He snarled at his boss. Gibbs put a dry plate down on the counter and simply stared at his agent, not responding.

"You don't have any say in the matter, Agent DiNozzo." The Director replied, Tony just turned on his heel and walked back up the stairs to the guest room.

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Tony paced up and down the guest bedroom, anger flooding his entire body. How dare they tell me what to do? He fumed to himself. The only person who was catching Ellie Hunter's killer was him, and him alone.

He didn't need to take a few days off, he had no desire to. He did not care what he had been told to do: he would find Ellie's killer with or without the help of his team if it came down to it.

The door to the bedroom opened and in walked Gibbs and he looked pissed. Pissed with him. Pissed with what he had said in response to the order that he had given.

"Sit down, Tony." Gibbs said as he indicated to the bed.

"No." Tony responded simply, glaring hatefully at the man who had been his boss for the last four years and counting. Gibbs exhaled. "We need to talk, and we're not leaving this room until we do, so you might as well get comfortable." His boss said as he sat down at the desk that was in the corner of the room.

"Jen has gone into the office to give us some space and to tell the others that I will be late and that you will be taking a few days off."

Tony grit his teeth to prevent himself from snapping at the man he called a father anymore than he already had since setting his green eyes on Ellie's naked body.

"I don't need time off, what I need is to find whoever did this to Ellie and kill them before letting our brothers and sisters do the same." He knew when their unit found out that someone (most likely from the Marines) killed their sister, they'd all be wanting the bastard's (or bitch) body in a body bag and would have it shipped to where they were on deployment so they could tear the limbs off one by one, and so would he but he'd have the honour of killing the bastard.

"DiNozzo, I know what you're feeling and I of all people know you want to kill the bastard, but I'm telling you that we will catch him and arrest him. He'll spend the rest of his life rotting in prison." Gibbs had given him a pointed look as he said that. Tony didn't respond: he kept on pacing.

"You killed the monster that killed your family, so why can't I kill the monster that killed my family?" The hungover SFA asked, Gibbs just looked at him.

"Because it will haunt you for the rest of your life, it's not like killing out in the field, DiNozzo, and I don't want you going what I went through when I killed my monster, so I'll make you a compromise; if you take a few days off and in that time we catch the bastard, and once I've interrogated him, I'll let you have five minutes alone with him to talk and hit him, how does that sound?"

Tony knew that it was the best he was going to get so he just nodded and sat down on the bed he occupied not even an hour ago.

"I don't know what to do, Boss. How can I go on without her? She was my best friend, my sister, and now she's dead." Gibbs moved off the chair and came and sat beside him, wrapping an arm around his shoulders.

"You do it day by day. You live for her, and as time goes on, it'll become easier." Gibbs whispered into his hair when Tony put his head on his shoulder, not saying anything and just allowed the man to comfort him. Outside of his team, only Ellie had comforted his like his boss was doing now.

Flashback:

"You okay, Tony?" Ellie asked as she sat down beside him, staring at the sunset.

"No." He answered bitterly as he took a sip of the bottle he had in his hand. "Rogers is dead because of me." Ellie only wrapped an arm around his shoulders and pulled him to her.

"People die in war, DiNozzo. Rogers knew that, we all do. It doesn't make it any easier when we lose them."

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Jethro walked out of the elevator and into his two young agents who were waiting for him.

"Boss, is it true that Tony is taking a few days off?" Ziva asked.

"Tony would never take a few days off, not when his best friend's killer and rapist is still out there. He didn't do it for Kate and he almost died two weeks earlier." McGee protested. Gibbs smiled at his agents.

"Tony turned up at my house last night, drunk. The Director told him to take a few days off, and while he's having a few days off, we're finding Ellie Hunter's rapist and killer!" He ordered before he pushed past them and strode up the catwalk stairs to the Director's office.

He walked into Jen's office and smiled as he met her green eyes.

"Did you manage to get Tony to take time off?" She questioned as she stood up and walked around the other side of her oak desk, and pressed her lips to his before he had a chance to answer. They pulled away when his phone rang.

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A\N: This has taken me days to write, as of right now, I haven't got chapter 8 planned seeing as I've got a ton of other stories I'm working on, and some personal business to attend to. Enjoy this, Angels.