I wish I owned NCIS and all the characters but only get to take them out to play.

I do not profit in any way from this story except for the joy of writing and sharing.

To all who post and read these stories, a heartfelt thank you. It is a commitment of time and love to take time to write some of the amazing stories I have read and equal time and commitment to read and review.

I hope you enjoy, this is my first chapter story and the longest to date. I have it about 2/3 written so I should be able to post on a regular basis. I know it is a premise that has been written before but I hope you enjoy. Its ok if you don't like, just leave it behind and move on.

Thank you, LAG00802

Tony and The Red Dog.

Chapter 1

The brisk day had turned down right cold, the clouds had moved in and a light snowfall had started to whiten the ground. Tony stood with his hands buried deep in his pockets for warmth. He had on his NCIS jacket, baseball cap and his leather gloves. While he might be comfortable running between the building at the Navy Yard and his car, none of what he had on was sufficient to keep him warm for hours on a cold Virginia day, especially as the first snow of the season fell all about him.

Tony watched the Sheriffs drive away, with a gloved hand he rubbed his face then ran his hand over his hair to brush off the snow before putting his cap back on.

With a deep sigh he turned back to his task. Looking around he felt a lonely ache in his heart. It was a long time since he could say that he loved his job and felt that he was part of the team.

There was a time when he felt appreciated and respected at NCIS. Tony had thought that leaving Baltimore and coming to work with Gibbs was one of the best decisions of his life. Gibbs' way could be harsh and he demanded everything Tony had to give and then more, but Tony thrived and had risen to the challenge. Tony remembered how excited he had been when Gibbs had finally acknowledged him as Senior Field Agent.

It was hard to imagine things had changed so much; that he now found himself standing alone in the middle of a forest with the snow falling about him.

Tony thought back over the past years, his relationship with the team had started to change when Gibbs took off to Mexico and they never seemed to get back in sync when he returned but then Tony had been keeping his undercover op. hidden from the team.

Maybe things would have worked themselves out if he had not, so royally messed up the protection detail for Director Sheppard. Tony knew he would never stop blaming himself for what happened, even if she was looking for a way to die that did not involve a long protracted illness.

Tony had been back from his stint as agent afloat since mid September and it was now early December and he still felt as an outsider on the team.

Tony thought that Gibbs had seemed initially happy to get him back but that did not last long as Gibbs and the team questioned everything he did and relegated him to do all the tasks no one wanted and normally assigned to junior agents.

Tim had gotten a taste of power being the "Boss" in Cybercrimes Unit and he was not willing to go back to Probie status.

After months back in Israel, Ziva had come back with her over confident, "I can kill you with a paper clip" Ninja attitude. She seemed to go out of her way to make him look weak by trying to always do things one better then him.

With a little huff, Tony decided he needed to go back to work if he was ever going to get out of here before it got dark.

The team had been called out shortly after arriving to work this morning to the section of Shenandoah National Park near Harrisonburg, VA, about a 2-hour drive southeast of Washington, D.C. Two young hikers had found the body of a Marine lying, just off the trail in the park.

Tony and Tim had driven in the emergency response van to the crime scene, Gibbs telling Tim to drive, this had been part of the continued punishment, Tony was always relegated to passenger or backseat. If in the van with the team, Gibbs had him ride in the back.

Gibbs and Ziva had driven in the Charger. Ducky and Jimmy arrived well behind the others in the Medical Examiner van.

The body had been identified as that of 35 year old, Marine Warrant Officer Thomas Spencer, station at Quantico, VA. The Marines, Warrant Officer Training School was based in Quantico.

After securing the site, searching the area for any evidence, sketching and photographing the scene, Gibbs and Ziva had left with the black agency charger to go to Quantico to talk to the victim's commanding officer.

Tim had ridden back with Ducky and Jimmy after Ducky had deemed the body ready for transport. Gibbs had wanted Tim to start the background check on the victim. Tim had also taken all the collected evidence that was bagged and tagged and Tony had been left with the van. At least he would get to drive back.

Tony had been ordered to continue searching for the murder weapon and any evidence they may have missed before a blanket of snow covered the area. Even though a white pop up tent had been secured over the site where the body was located, Tony knew that with the impending snow storm the tent would not stay up for long.

Two officers from the County Sheriffs department had remained with Tony, to assist with the search. The area was hilly and heavily wooded. Even though the trees had dropped their leaves, the branches and twigs of the undergrowth impeded their progress. Working in ever growing concentric circles the three of them worked out from the location of the body. The trio was searching for a long sharp object, as it appeared the Warrant Officer had been stabbed several times. The blood splatter, position of the body and blood soaked ground, found under the victim had lead to the conclusion that this was the murder site.

Tony had expected to leave the area with the sheriffs, but within an hour they had been called to a multi vehicle accident on highway, I-81. Tony had contacted Gibbs, as he had not yet reached the outer perimeter set by the Team Leader. Gibbs had instructed him to continue the search to the established perimeter, while there was still a couple of hours of day light, then he could return to the office with the remainder of the collected evidence.

The sheriffs were not happy leaving Tony alone at the site, but as a young police officer he'd on occasion been left alone guarding over a crime scene. He assured them that he would be fine. The Sheriffs indicated they would advise their commander and send a patrol out later to check on him.

Tony had been digging about some deep underbrush when he came upon what appeared to be the murder weapon, already partially covered in snow with the tip imbedded in the ground he found an 6 inch Buck knife with a black phenolic handle.

Tony became engrossed in his job, carefully documenting the location and position of the knife. After he carefully removed it and placed in an evidence bag. Pulling out his cell phone, he was surprised to see it was about 4:00pm and he had less then an hour of daylight.

Hitting 1 on his speed dial Tony called Gibbs. Gibbs answered with, "What you got DiNozzo"

"Boss, I found a knife in some underbrush at the edge of the perimeter, I didn't find anything else in the area and the snow is falling pretty hard now", a strong gust of wind roaring threw the trees drowned out Gibbs response.

Tony now yelled in to the phone, "Boss the weather here is getting bad and there isn't much daylight left, do you want me to come back"

Gibbs not giving much thought to the storm blowing in the background as his SFA struggled to make himself heard over the wind, Gibbs said with an irritated tone to his voice "Wrap it up and get that knife back here," with that Tony heard the click as Gibbs hung up on him.

Tucking the phone in his coat pocket, Tony was glad to put his gloves back on, if he thought it had been cold before, it was freezing out here now. The sun was quickly setting and the wind was gusting fiercely.

Tony looked up at the trees whipped around by the wind he did not want to be here any longer then he had to be. Picking up the evidence bag with the knife in it, he started to work his way back to the van. Opening the back door, he quickly stored the knife, camera and other equipment. Realizing he had forgotten the tent covering the site where the body was found, he slammed the door shut and quickly walked around the van.

Tony saw that the tent had blown over and was lodged against some trees, hurrying over he grabbed it by one leg and pulled it back, hoping he would be able to get it closed as the winds picked up. For a moment he thought of leaving it, but Director Vance would probably make him pay for it. Vance had replaced Jenny Sheppard as Directory of NCIS and he was responsible for Tony spending 4 months as agent afloat. Since coming back Vance had made it pretty clear to Tony that he was not the type of agent he wanted for the agency.

Tony was able to get the tent closed in about 15 minutes but his hands and fingers where now frozen as he had had to remove his gloves to get the damn thing closed.

Tony was shivering and exhausted from the cold, he wanted nothing more then to get back take a warm shower and crawl into a warm bed. He realized he should have started the van before getting the tent so it would have been warm inside. His stomach grumbled with hunger but Tony figured he could eat a power bar from his pack on the way back. Tony doubted he would be going anywhere near a warm bed tonight as he was sure Gibbs would want him to write his report and continue working on the case.

With the folded tent cradled in his arms, Tony headed back to the van for the last time, putting his head down to keep his cap from blowing away, Tony struggled against the increasing wind. About 10 feet from the van, Tony heard a loud cracking sound, before he had chance to react, he was knocked to the ground, his body falling heavily on the folded tent and he found himself pinned under a large branch as the world faded around him.