Tony got back from his early morning run at about 6:30am. Thanks to his stupid plague scarred lungs he couldn't run very far in the mornings anymore, especially when it was cold, but three or four miles was still better than nothing. Reluctantly he went and got in the shower so he could get ready for work. He dreaded arriving at NCIS each morning now, never knowing what sort of a reception he was going to get. And that was before he dealt with the killers, kidnappers, rapists, thieves and all other manner of criminal that the team interacted with each day.

The best Tony could pinpoint, everything had gone to hell when Gibbs had 'retired' and left for Mexico. Before that time they hadn't just been a team, they had been a family. After that, though everything had been thrown off balance. Their leader, their father, was gone. They had to get used to a new way of doing things and nobody had been happy about it. Then Gibbs had come back and Tony honestly couldn't decide what had been worse: NCIS without Gibbs or NCIS after Gibbs came out of retirement. Tony had really grown apart from the team while he had been leading it. As SFA he'd always been aware that there was an invisible veil between senior agents and junior agents but as Team Leader it became even more apparent.

This was just ridiculous, though. Abby plastered her lab with pictures of Gibbs and constantly bemoaned his absence, it never even crossing her mind that she was hurting Tony with her words and actions. Tim and Ziva blatantly flouted his orders, doing things however they wished – something they would never have dared do if Gibbs had still been around – and frequently doing a mediocre job. They also made it blatantly clear that they were disgusted with him as their team leader and, at best, he was a cheap imitation of Gibbs; certainly not worthy his own team. Ducky was so hurt and angry at Gibbs' departure that he wasn't even available to talk to anymore, other than cases discussing nothing but how disappointed he was in Gibbs. Tony had become close to Jimmy, the autopsy assistant, but he didn't work exclusively for the MCRT and with his many other responsibilities Tony didn't often have time to go down to the morgue himself so he and Jimmy didn't cross paths during working hours very much.

Then, after four months, Gibbs had returned. Tony had arrived at work one morning to find himself demoted and all his things dumped back on his old desk. Abby was thrilled with Gibbs' return, proclaiming that 'everything was once again as it was supposed to be' never realizing that Tony might be upset by the way things had played out. Ducky was still so caught up in his anger at Gibbs he talked to nobody. Tim and Ziva delighted in Tony's demotion, sure that Gibbs returning meant that he had messed up somehow, proving that he wasn't a capable team leader and Gibbs was determined to reassert himself as leader of the MCRT. In the two weeks Gibbs had been back Tony didn't think he had ever had so many head slaps. And it wasn't the sharp, but still harmless kind of slaps either. Tony had a permanent headache, which he suspected had been caused by Gibbs, and he was actually starting to become concerned for his health. He was forced to do all the probie work – dumpster diving, gassing the truck and running errands – and he never knew where the next cruel, borderline abusive, insult was going to come from these days: Gibbs, Tim or Ziva.

Tony was just glad that he wasn't working the La Grenouille op anymore. It had only taken a few dates with the beautiful Jeanne Benoit to establish that she had no idea what sort of a monster her father was so, seeing what kind of a strain Tony was under, Director Sheppard had agreed that he could pull the plug on the op. It seemed like that was the only thing that had gone right in Tony's life these days. He hated to think how much more stressful things would have been if he'd been working undercover as well as trying to cope with the abuse of his so-called friends. Things were so bad that Tony was seriously considering resigning. At this point he thought turning down the job in Rota might have been the worst mistake he'd ever made.

Just as he was getting out of the shower his cell phone rang. He wrapped a towel around his waist and reluctantly went to answer it, really hoping that he wasn't being called into work early for a case. A smile spread across his face when he saw the name on caller ID, though. This was nothing to do with work thank god. He pressed the button to accept the call. "Hey Beautiful."

"Good morning Romeo. I heard Gibbs was back. How are you doing?"

"Don't remind me," Tony groaned. "I'm not at work right now so I'm trying not to think about it."

Michelle Jenkins clucked her tongue sympathetically. Leroy Jethro Gibbs had a reputation that preceded him and she could only imagine how tough Tony was finding it to work for him while he was recovering from amnesia. "Well I have some news that might cheer you up."

"Oh?" Tony asked, intrigued. "Do tell."

"I'm moving to DC. I flew in an hour ago."

"Yeah?" Tony asked, perking up. "So you're done with active duty, then?"

Michelle was a Lieutenant who worked in Naval Intelligence but the last time she and Tony had talked, due to health related reasons, she had been seriously considering taking early retirement. Tony and Michelle had met about eight years ago when Tony was holidaying with some friends in Hawaii and Michelle had been on shore leave on the island. Since then they had made a point of talking at least once or twice a month and hooking up at least a couple of times a year. Because Michelle was never in one place for very long their relationship was an open one but they kept coming back to each other and while they'd never admitted it out loud they both knew that they had something very special.

"I am officially an ex-Lieutenant," Michelle said. "I got a job working in Counterintelligence NCIS."

For the first time in what seemed like forever Tony found himself smiling. It would be good to have a friendly face around NCIS. "Where are you staying?"

"Yeah, about that," said Michelle. "I was hoping I could stay with you, Romeo. NCIS was supposed to arrange temporary accommodation for me but apparently that's fallen through. Do you mind?"

"Of course not," Tony said earnestly. "I don't know what time I'll get off work so I'll leave a key for you with my neighbour. Just make yourself at home."

"Will do, Romeo. I'll see you later then."

Both Tony and Michelle had to get ready for work so they ended the call. Tony found himself getting dressed and heading out of his apartment with a bit of a spring in his step. For the first time in weeks he felt as though something was going right. Maybe today wouldn't be so horrible after all.

That was just wishful thinking, he thought to himself when he got home a little less than 12 hours later. Everything was dark and silent to he assumed that Michelle hadn't arrived yet. He started pulling off his clothes, just dumping them on the floor in a trail which led to the bathroom as he practically raced for the shower, hoping to wash away some of the strain of the day. He groaned with relief as the hot water started to relax his tense, tired body. Today may well have been one of the worst days of his NCIS career. They had been investigating the murders of a Navy Commander's wife and 10 year old daughter. Considering the loss of his own family a case like that was always going to have put Gibbs in a horrible mood but it had been so much worse than Tony imagined. The head slaps had become much more violent and the comments had been so much crueller. Today Tony had seen absolutely no vestige of the friendship he and Gibbs had shared for the last seven years. Gibbs, to Tony, was now a horrible stranger and, remembering the way the former Marine had exploded when a Metro cop accidentally mixed up some of the evidence, Tony knew he couldn't work for him anymore. Tony would be leaving NCIS with plague scarred lungs, a permanent concussion, absolutely no respect from his colleagues and the idea that he would never amount to anything. He shuddered to think what state he would be in if he waited any longer to get away from the place.

Tony jumped in surprise as he felt a pair of arms slide around his waist and a body snuggle up behind him. He'd been so lost in thought, his head under the spray, that he hadn't heard the shower door open and close behind him. He whirled around, ready to attack, only to come up short when faced with a gloriously wet and naked Michelle. She smiled radiantly at him. "Hello Romeo."

Smiling, Tony drew her into his arms and kissed her, hard. "I am so glad you're here."