The Business of Family

By Charli911 and Larabeelady

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Disclaimer: I don't own the show NCIS or any of the characters, they belong to CBS, Don Bellasario and Shane Brennan. I write this work of fiction for entertainment purposes only and make no money. My only reward is the feedback and reviews of those who read and enjoy my work. I hope the creators, writers, actors and other realize that we who write fanfic do it as a tribute to the wonderful work they do.

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CHAPTER 1

Tony DiNozzo powered down his computer, placed the files he'd been studying in his desk and locked it. He stood up, slipped his weapon into its holster, than leaned over to pick up his backpack. Glancing around at the empty bullpen, he sighed, then headed toward the elevator.

He had no clue where his team was. He'd returned from court just after lunch to find them gone. He'd called Gibbs to see if his boss wanted him to join the team and was bluntly told that he wasn't needed and then the phone was disconnected. That was five hours ago and the team still hadn't returned and two other calls to Gibbs had been responded to in the same way, his boss even ordering DiNozzo not to call him again before hanging up the last time.

So, Tony had decided to go home, since there was nothing more he could do at the office and it didn't look like the team would be returning any time soon. And frankly, he wasn't in the mood to deal with Gibbs' mood.

He'd been in Baltimore for two weeks, his testimony delayed while the lawyers dickered back and forth. Finally, just after court began that morning, the defense attorney had stood up and told the judge that his client had decided to change his plea to guilty. So everyone had been dismissed. Tony had happily driven home, grateful to not have to be in Baltimore over the long July 4th holiday weekend.

Stepping off the elevator, he moved toward his vehicle, but stopped as he heard the squealing tires indicating the return of Gibbs and crew. So he waited as his boss spun into a parking space and the team climbed out of the sedan. He waited as they approached the elevator.

"What are you doing here, DiNozzo?" Gibbs snarled.

"Guy decided to take a plea deal. I was looking at cold cases while I waited for you to get back, Boss. I figured I'd stick around in case you needed me to do any research for you."

"Don't need ya!" Gibbs said as he pushed past Tony and smacked his hand against the call button, the door immediately opening for him.

"That's right, Tony," Ziva remarked as she entered the elevator behind Gibbs, McGee following in her wake. "We've already solved the case."

"Yep, just like the other two we've solved while you've been twiddling your thumbs in Baltimore," Tim McGee added with a smirk. "We seem to be solving them left and right without your help."

"Gibbs?" Tony inquired.

His boss just frowned as him as he pressed the button for their floor. He jerked his head toward the other two in the elevator. "What they said! Don't need ya, go home. We're doing fine without you."

The doors closed before Tony could reply, but he saw the gleeful looks on McGee and Ziva's face before he lost sight of them. He stood there for a full minute, digesting the dismissive tones from all three of his teammates. Finally, a hollow feeling settling into his stomach, he turned and trudged toward his car. He climbed behind the wheel and slid the key in the ignition, but didn't turn it over, waiting for the shock to dissipate.

He'd been gone most of the last two weeks, on call for the trial and needing to be in Baltimore per order of the judge. When the defendant had changed his plea that morning, Tony couldn't wait to get back home.

Now he wished he'd stayed away.

Monday evening, Tony was sitting in his living room watching a baseball game when his phone rang. He glanced at the caller ID and sighed in relief when he saw Abby's name displayed, glad it wasn't Gibbs calling to give him hell about something.

"Abs! What's up?"

"Tony! How's Baltimore?" she asked, continuing without giving him a chance to answer. "Too bad you're not in town, Tony. We were actually able to convince Gibbs to let us come over to his house for a 4th of July barbeque. Now Timmy and Ziva are arguing about who has to do clean-up. I think Gibbs is gonna make them both do it!" she laughed.

DiNozzo froze, unable to reply. He could hear music, and heard Ziva and McGee laughing in the background. He pictured the whole team sitting on Gibbs' back deck, laughing and enjoying burgers and beers. And here he sat, pathetically alone, nibbling on cold pizza.

"...Tony? Are you there?"

He cleared his throat, trying to get rid of the lump that had taken up residence there. "Ah, yeah, Abby, I'm here."

"So, what are you doing? Are you spending the weekend with some of your old police buddies? Are you gonna go down to Baltimore Harbor to watch the fireworks?"

"Ah, No."

"So, what are you doing?"

"When...when did you guys decide to have a party, Abs?" he asked, ignoring her question.

"Oh, a few days ago. I've been working on Gibbs all week and he finally gave in! He said it was actually the perfect weekend to have everyone over. Isn't it great!?"

"Yeah, great," he muttered. Remembering the scene in the garage Friday night, he now understood the happy expressions on the faces of McGee and David. The perfect weekend-the one weekend when Gibbs knew Tony would be out of town. Or was supposed to be out of town, anyway. Suddenly he was transported back to the bullpen that day so many years ago, when he'd found out that everyone had been invited to Ziva's house for a dinner party-everyone but him, that is. "Gotta go, Abs." He hung up the phone without waiting for a reply.

He ignored the phone as it rang again a few minutes later. Reaching for the remote, he turned off the television, no longer having any interest in the game he wasn't really watching anyway. Past incidents of abandonment and exclusion came flooding back, from his childhood, his previous police departments, even NCIS. He wondered what it was about him that made people not want to be around him. Oh, he knew he could be obnoxious, even annoying at times. But was he really so bad that they didn't want him at their parties? A depressing loneliness punched him in the gut.

Over the years that McGee and Ziva had been on the team, he had never once not invited them when he had a party or get-together at his place. He'd always invited Gibbs too, although the older man had never come. But Gibbs had gone to Ziva's party, when she'd first joined the team. She was still new to NCIS and he accepted her invitation, yet ten years later, he still wouldn't do the same with Tony. And now he'd opened up his house to the rest of the rest of the team to gather for a party, something he'd never done before. And on the one weekend they all thought he'd be out of town. And none of them had mentioned it when they'd seen him Friday afternoon.

Tony shook his head. He'd been so blind. And so stupid. He laughed bitterly to him. "Face it, DiNozzo, for an investigator, he sure missed the clue-bus on this one. Nothing like getting slapped in the face with the fact that they don't want you around." Oh, well, nothing he hadn't dealt with in the past. He was sure he could do it again. It would be harder this time, as he'd had a longer period to settle in.

And a longer period to make friends, he'd thought. Well, it also wouldn't be the first time he'd dealt with friendships that were obviously only one-way.

For the rest of the night, he worked his mind around the changes that would have to occur. He knew he'd be facing jabs from both McGee and Ziva...and likely Gibbs as well. They would all be harsh and blunt, he was sure. Well, he'd had a lot a practice closing off his emotions while growing up. It might take a few days...or weeks...to get back into the swing of being emotionally detached, but he couldn't afford to lose his job.

He'd start searching the NCIS site for job openings, update his resume and make sure to have a transfer request form ready to be signed. He could just take the first opening, but decided that he wasn't going to do that this time. He wasn't going to just take the first job available, like he had when he'd left Peoria and Philadelphia. And if they wanted him gone sooner, they could damn well do the paperwork themselves.

He would have to find the perfect opportunity. He knew there were some smaller NCIS offices, where a single agent worked alone or with only one other agent. No one else to depend on, or have to get friendly with. No one else who had to depend on him. Just him, alone, doing his job to the best of his ability. He could always go back Agent Afloat, but he really hated boats...ships...whatever. He preferred to stay on land.

He knew that Vance would be happy to see him go. There was no love lost between the two men that was for sure. He didn't fool himself. He knew it would be tough to leave D.C. and Gibbs, Abby and Ducky. Even Palmer. He wasn't sure he'd really miss McGee or David, however. They'd shown their feelings pretty clearly over the years, making no bones about their lack of respect for Tony and their disdain for the job he did.

Well, he hoped the two were ready for Gibbs at his worst, because Tony would no longer be a buffer between them and their leader's foul moods. He smiled at the thought. He'd come between his boss and his teammates on many occasions, often stepping in and taking the brunt of Gibbs' ire to spare the junior agents. He looked forward to stepping back and letting them take their lumps.

The next morning, Tony showered and ate, then walked into his bedroom to dress. He'd spent the last two weeks in suit and tie for court and needed a break from that, so decide to dress casually, in nice jeans and a button-down shirt. Checking his watch, he decided to leave a few minutes early.

He was at his desk when McGee and David arrived that morning, exiting the elevator together, Ziva's laughter drifted out the door as it opened. He mentally prepared himself for what he was sure would be their petty attempts to get under his skin.

"Good morning, Ton-eee," Ziva purred as she approached his desk, glancing over her shoulder to share a grin with McGee, who stepped around her and dropped down into his chair, watching the byplay between his teammates.

"Agent David," Tony replied briefly with a smile.

Ziva smirk, again glancing McGee's way. "Did you have a nice weekend, Tony?" she asked.

"Actually, I did," he assured her, his smile widening. It caught her by surprised and he chuckled at the confusion that flittered across her face. If he hadn't been watching for it, he would have missed it. He gave himself a mental high-five, knowing that he'd surprised her.

He had no doubt that both of them knew that he was aware of the barbeque he'd missed. And he also knew that both of them figured he'd be upset by it. And he was. But he wasn't about to let them see it. Ziva was good at undercover, but so was he. He had, after all, been undercover for most of his life.

"And I understand you all had a nice little 4th of July celebration, as well," he said. "You should be proud of yourselves. It's not everyone who can talk Gibbs into having a party," he chuckling.

"Yeah, so why didn't you show up, DiNozzo?" Gibbs growled as he entered the bullpen, walking to his desk with a cup of coffee and a handful of files in his hand, not even glancing Tony's way as he passed by.

"Ah, because, Agent Gibbs, as stupid as you all think I am, I had no intention of crashing a party at your house. I value my life," he joked, although Gibbs probably didn't hear him, as his phone rang at that moment. "Not to mention the fact, by the time Abby called, you had all finished all the food. And I daresay, the beer was probably all gone by then too! So, who ended up doing clean-up?" he asked Ziva.

He nearly laughed out loud at the expression on her face now. She truly was not expecting his reaction. When she didn't reply, he turned to McGee. "Ah, Agent McGee, does that mean that you actually got one over on our former Mossad assassin and made her wash the dishes!? Good for you!"

"Ah, Tony, aren't you upset?" McGee asked.

"About what, McGee?" DiNozzo asked.

"Ah, not being told about the barbeque?"

Tony shrugged. "Not like it's the first time, now is it, Agent McGee?" Neither McGee nor Ziva replied, and Tony marked an imaginary slash on the scoreboard on his side of this contest. Hmm, it had been remarkably easy to get that first jab in. Maybe this wouldn't be so hard after all, he thought.

Any further deliberation on the subject was interrupted by Gibbs' "Gear up, we have a missing Marine!"

Later that afternoon, they had located the missing Marine and trudged back into the office to complete reports. Gibbs had been giving DiNozzo sideways glancing all day, but hadn't said anything to him that didn't have something to do with the case. Tony, for his part, had been strictly business.

And when Ziva had accidentally back into Gibbs, forcing him to spill coffee down the front of his shirt, Tony had walked away with a smile, listening to Gibbs berate her for being so clumsy. Normally he would have made some remark and gained himself a head slap. He took delight in the fact that the head that was ringing that day was not his.

He had rubbed the back of his own in sympathy, however, remembering fondly head slaps of the past. And vowing to make sure to be in the vicinity as often as possible as McGee and David both gained more of those in the future. He chastised himself for not thinking of this earlier. He could have saved himself some major headaches...pun intended.

Gibbs glanced his way as they climbed back into the agency sedan. Tony realized he must have laughed out loud.

"Something funny, DiNozzo?" he asked with a frown.

"Just thinking about something that happened over the weekend, Boss."

"Care to share, Tony?" Ziva asked from the back seat, the condescension obvious in her question.

He tapped his chin. "Hmm. Let me think...nope, I don't think so."

Tony saw the raised eyebrow from Gibbs, but chose to ignore it as he turned to look out the side window, a grin growing on his face. This was more fun then he'd thought it would be initially. Yes, he really should have done this sooner. He was relishing the ability to keep Ziva wrong-footed for a change, as opposed to the other way around.

He knew the feeling probably wouldn't last. Eventually, the former Mossad agent would adjust and probably come back at him even harder for making her work so hard to get his goat, but for the moment, he was winning this little war of wills. He was mentally storing these moments away, knowing he'd need to pull them out later as she retaliated.

Once they returned to the Navy Yard, DiNozzo settled behind his desk and quickly knocked out his report. Once it was finished, he printed a hard-copy for the file and emailed a copy to Gibbs. Then he pulled out some other paperwork that needed to be completed by the end of the week.

By the time the work day came to a close, he had completed all of the requisition forms for the entire month. After that he decided to clear out his desk, making sure he didn't have any wayward files stuffed somewhere or forgotten food items growing a penicillin experiment. He noted that he needed to bring in a fresh set of extra clothing, plus a new tube of toothpaste, to replace the nearly depleted tube in his drawer.

McGee and David had attempted to initiate conversation with him periodically during the day, but he'd either ignored them or rebuffed their attempts. It made for a very quiet day, but he could feel the eyes of both of them on him. He knew that his actions and his silence were puzzling to them, but he just couldn't bring himself to care anymore.

He shook it off, getting back to his desk clean-out. Stuffing some old issues of GQ and Sports Illustrated into his backpack to take home, he closed the last drawer. Looking up, he realized that McGee and David were gone. He wondered how he'd missed them leaving for the night. Obviously neither of them had deemed it important enough to say goodbye.

Gibbs still sat behind his desk, sipping on his ever-present cup of coffee and reviewing reports.

"Boss?"

"Hmmm," Gibbs replied, not even bothering to look up.

"Anything else you need me to do?" he asked.

"Nope. Go home."

Tony sighed, turning off his desk light and powering down his computer. He grabbed his back pack and slipped it over his shoulder. He headed for the elevator, not even bothering to wish Gibbs a goodnight, seeing as how the older man didn't bothering telling him to leave when he let the others go.

Five minutes later, Gibbs glanced up, ready to ask DiNozzo why he was still there, only to discover he was alone in the room. He frowned, looking toward the elevator. He hadn't noticed that Tony had slipped away without saying goodbye, which was not like his Senior Field Agent. But then, the whole week Tony had been behaving oddly.

Then again, Gibbs had been a bit preoccupied with personal issues of his own.

Tony DiNozzo sat at his desk in the empty bullpen of the NCIS offices. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the letter he'd received the day before. He fought to keep the tears from falling again. She didn't write letters very often, preferring to call so that she could hear his voice. But as she'd stated in the letter, she wanted to be sure he knew how she felt about him and wanted him to have the proof of her words in case the others in the family doubted her feelings.

She'd noted that she had sent letters to the others as well, repeating her thoughts and feelings, but knew the others would still harass him. He knew the time was coming when he'd have to make the toughest decision of his life. He didn't look forward to it. But everything that had been happening at work recently might actually make his decision easier.

Either way, he needed to take some time to go check out the lay of the land, so to speak. He had the accumulated time. In fact, he had some 'use it or lose it' time that Human Resources had been harping at him to use before they had to remove it from the books. And at this point, considering the bullshit his teammates had been shoveling his way lately, he hoped Gibbs would understand.

If Gibbs would even care. The man had been grouchier than usual lately. Ever since the night Tony had returned from Baltimore, it had seemed that Gibbs had little to no use for anyone. He'd even been snappy at Abby and Ducky, which was highly unusual. Tony knew something was bothering Gibbs, but the few times he'd tried to ask him about it, Gibbs had snarled and snapped at him, much to the delight of McGee and Ziva. So he'd stopped asking.

He shifted around to face his computer. Flexing his fingers, he checked his watch. Just past midnight. He'd better get started. He had a lot to do and limited time to do it in. Pulling up the Leave Request form, he filled it out, making a mental list at the same time of everything he'd have to do before he left town.