NOTES: So here is the last chapter. Thank you to everyone who went on this ride with me. I hope you all enjoyed it. Big thank you for everyone who left a review for the chapters. I love reading them and they give me encouragement to continue with my writing. Until next time.

Cheers Donna

Chapter 18:

He pulled into the driveway once again, alone this time. The last month had been a bit of a wild ride.

His father had surprised everyone by agreeing to plead guilty. Turns out his father's real name was Sean Pussell. A quick look into that side of the family and Tony realised his father's apple didn't fall far from the rotting Pussell tree. Drug dealers, mobsters and suspected hit men seemed to run in the family. Sometimes finding out who you are isn't all that great.

Fornell informed him that when his father was faced with all the evidence he knew there was no way he was getting off. Tony was in court the day he pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole. The sentence was not a surprise to anyone. Unfortunately, due to his father's advanced age, the life sentence wouldn't be anywhere long enough for the crimes he committed and the lives he had ruined.

His father turned and saw Tony and looked as if he was about to say something to him, but after looking with some satisfaction at his still bruised and swollen face, Tony stood and walked out without so much as a backwards glance. He never knew if his father was going to ask for forgiveness or tell him to go to hell. He didn't care either way.

Two days ago he had been contacted by the prison and advised that his father had suffered a suspected stroke and that he was being rushed to the hospital. He didn't know if the stroke was real or just another one of his Mr Pussell's scams. He merely told the person on the other end of the phone that he didn't want to be contacted in relation to this prisoner again. She said they would note their records and then she hung up. Who knows, maybe he died, but he truly hoped not. He wanted him to suffer for as long as possible first.

The US Attorney had kept up their end of the immunity deal and after giving a full statement of everything he could remember from his past; he had been released and free to continue on with his life. But who's life, was the question? Legally he was in limbo – a person-non-grata. Anthony DiNozzo was a stolen identify and Michael Brooks was declared dead having been missing for over 20 years. He certainly didn't want to become a Pussell. He literally didn't exist and with that, was legally unemployable. All his assets had also been frozen until it was all sorted out.

However, with the help of the US Attorney's office, contact had been made with the real DiNozzo family in Long Island. They had demanded a face-to-face meeting with the imposter, which Tony was more than happy to attend. After all, the least he owed them was an explanation. While Tony expected to be accompanied by the USA who had helped him out, he hadn't expected Special Agent Leroy Jetho Gibbs, FBI Agent Tobias Fornell and the NCIS Director Leon Vance to also attend.

The DiNozzo's were told by these men, of the life of a young boy; his mother murdered and taken from a loving home and forced to live life on the run by his father, a psychotic serial killer, never even knowing what his real name or age had been. They also told the story of a man who had had tuned his life around by becoming Anthony DiNozzo, not only an upstanding member of society, but an outstanding Federal Agent who had received not one but two Civilian Service Awards for his fight against terrorism against the US Navy.

The DiNozzo family had to agree, they would have been proud if Tony had carried their name by blood. They said that while they were disappointed their family name had been misused without their knowledge, due to the fact he had lead the best life he could, given the circumstances, he was free to continue using it if he so chose. After a few more papers were signed – by a few he meant several hundreds – he finally was legally declared Anthony Dante DiNozzo. He would never referred to himself as Junior again.

Thankfully, all the agencies involved were able to shield him from the media circus that follows such a high profile case. He was simply knows as 'a confidential informant who had known the accused for many years' and his father's alias of Anthony DiNozzo Sr was omitted from any press releases as they gave out only alias's they could link to a known murder. If the media had tried to dig further, the name Anthony DiNozzo only existed as a field agent in a Federal Agency loosely linked to the case.

Within the agencies though was another matter. Every agent who worked the case knew, as well as all of his or her superiors, all the way up to the big man himself. In fact, no one was willing to make a decision as to whether he could return to NCIS, all waiting on confirmation from their superior. Gibbs wanted Vance to sign off, Vance wanted the Secretary of the Navy to give the OK, Secretary of the Navy wanted the Secretary of Defence to authorise it and he, in turn, wanted the Presidents approval. So basically it was up to the President of the United States to decide if Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo could continue on with his job, or if he had to look for a job bagging groceries.

As President Obama was a somewhat busy man, all he could do was wait. To be honest though, returning to NCIS seemed like a pipe dream.

His friends had come around to try and cheer him up but talking about work was all they really had and it was just something that depressed Tony all the more. Then last night Gibbs had came around with a bottle of Bourbon.

He grabbed a couple of glasses and filled them – a bit more than would be socially acceptable, but that was a Gibbs serve.

He went to take a sip when Gibbs lifted up his glass, "To Very Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo, welcome back to NCIS."

Tony stopped with is glass halfway to his lips, "Seriously?"

"Yep, approval just came down the line a half an hour ago, and I already have your first assignment." He pulled Tony's badge, gun and ID from his pocket and put on the table between them.

Tony smiled broadly, eager to get back to the job he loved, "Great! What is it?"

"You are on a plane to Chicago tomorrow to inform the Brooks family that we have located Michael Brooks."

Tony almost spat out the Bourbon he had just sipped. After he finished coughing he said, "Are you sure. Isn't that something that should come from … anyone else?"

Gibbs downed his glass and stood, "Nope, you need to do this. They are expecting you at 1100 so don't drink too much of that." And with that, he left.

And now he was here, in the driveway of the Books family home. His family home he supposed. His stomach churned, his heart beat against his chest as if looking for escape and he could feel a sheen of sweat cover his body. He had spent the last 10 minutes going over scenarios in his mind of how he was going to tell them. He wanted just the right words to say.

'Hi, I'm Michael,' wouldn't do. How about, 'Mrs Brooks, I am here to inform you your grandson has been located'. He had been thought of hundreds of ways of saying it, but none of them seemed quite right.

He saw the front door open and Doreen Brooks, his grandmother, step out onto the porch and wave.

Tony took a deep breath and opened the car door.

"Hello Agent DiNozzo, it's good to see you again. I have made some lemonade if you would like some. I hope you are feeling better than you were last time."

Tony smiled down at the elderly woman, "I am and lemonade sounds lovely, thank you."

He entered the house and once again was greeted by George and Harry.

"You look better than last time we saw you," George said, slapping Tony on the back as he showed him to his seat. Doreen filled a glass with her home made lemonade and handed it to Tony.

"I don't know, he still looks a little green around the gills to me," Harry said.

"Shush boys, let him talk. Agent Gibbs told me on the phone there had been some developments about the case." She looked directly at Tony with those eyes desperate for answers, "Did that man, did he tell you what happened to … Michael" Her voice hitched on the last word.

Tony took a deep breath and started what was going to be a very long tale, "Yes ma'am, I am here to tell you where Michael is."

The End