Chapter 17



After dropping Kate off at her apartment, Gibbs drove back towards his house. Today had been a long day but he didn't feel very tired, to many things were on his mind.



How could he let this happen? he thought when he parked his car in the driveway. Tony had told him his secret and Gibbs had promised to help him out of it. The younger man had counted on his help but Gibbs had let him down today.



He shook his head as he walked into his house, he really hoped that Tony was fine and stayed out of trouble. Gibbs smiled a little smile to himself, who was he trying to kid? Tony's middlename had to be trouble.



Gibbs walked down to his basement, to his boat. He knew he wouldn't get any sleep tonight so the only thing helping him to clear his head was working on his boat.



Abby had booked him and Kate on a flight that left the airport late tomorrow afternoon, no earlier flight were available.



Gibbs sighed as he started on the boat, tomorrow he would go to the office to fill Ducky in on the situation and talk to the big boss. He knew that he would understand and let Gibbs find his missing teammate.



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At first Tony felt totally lost as he woke up, he felt unknown but very luxury silk sheets around him. He didn't panicked at first but as he noticed that he was only in his boxers, his eyes darted open.



The room wasn't his at home but felt a bit familiar and then he rememberd what happened, the restaurant, the plane ride and his dad.....



God! How embarrassing! He must had blacken out at the dinnertable infront of his father and Dominic.



Tony felt himself flush a bit thinking that he had showed more weakness before his father.



Then he remembered the conversation in the car and the pictures of his friends, he had to call Gibbs!



Getting up from the bed into a sitting position he took a good look at the room he was in: it was painted in dark blue and pretty big. It held a big writing desk across from the bed, and to the right side off the bed stood a sofa, TV and two armchairs. He also saw a big window, it was dark outside and he checked the watch standing on the bed stand.



It showed 4 in the morning, he tried to stand up so he could walk over to the closet, which were standing near the door. But he felt really dizzy when he stood up so he decided to rest abit more before he hunted down a phone. Gibbs was probably sleeping anyway.



Tony sank back into the bed and fell a sleep when he closed his eyes.



The next time Tony woke up, the sun were shining thru the window and this time he knew were he was. He looked over at the clock.



10 am, time to get up and find that phone, thought to himself. He swung the legs over and this time he felt pretty good.



And now to the standing part, he thought as he took a deep breath and stood. A little dizziness, but it disappeared rather fast.



Tony sighed in relief, this was progress and he stretched his body as he slowly made his way towards the closet. His body felt a bit sore but he was content with that, he opened the closet and found a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt that come from his home.



He put them on and walked towards the door, he didn't want to think how "they" could get into his apartment.



Outside the door sat Rocco and was reading a magazine, he looked up when the door opened and when he saw Tony coming out, he stood up.



"Good morning, Little Anthony." He said with a smile.



"Oh, hey Rocco." Tony said a little suprised, but then understood why Rocco had been sitting outside his door. "So you are my babysitter for today? Do Vincent think that I would run away?"



"Hey, don't be like that." Rocco said. "The boss and Dominic had to attend to a meeting earlier and don't know when they will get back, so I was asked if I could entertain you. Do you want some breakfast?"



"Hmpf, entertain sure." Tony said in a sarcastic voice. His stomach rumbled a little at the mention of breakfast. "I could really go for some coffee."



"Good." Rocco said thinking that it was just like old times. Tony sensed what Rocco was thinking as the older man smiled at him and he could only agree with him.



They walked down to the kitchen, a room Tony remembered pretty well from his childhood. In here he had spent many early mornings and late nights, because of he had been sent out of the dinner room because he had been disbehaving at dinner, but mostly because his father and mother were to busy to eat with him.



In the kitchen he had been listening to Rocco and Dominic tell stories about Italy and their adventures. He had loved listening to them and as he grow older he had want to be just like them, but it all changed when his mother died.



Tony sat down at the big table, it looked exactly the same, Rocco served him some coffee and sat down facing him.



"Do you want something more? A bagel?" Rocco asked.



"No thank you." Tony said. "Rocco, you know I'm all grown up now so you don't need to be watch me. I can take care of myself."



"I know, Anthony. But your father sent for doctor Cortino and he told me to be by your side until the doctor had checked you. He had pretty big words about what would happen to me if I didn't follow his orders."



"Doctor? I don't need a doctor!"



"Maybe so, but we have to follow orders you know." Rocco said. "But when the doctor has cleared you, we can go and get you some more clothes."



Before Tony could say something, the kitchen door opened and Paulie, Rocco's wingman, walked in with a man.



"Here they are, dr Cortino." Paulie said and he nodded towards Tony and Rocco before he walked out again.



"Hello, dr Cortino! Nice to see you again!" Rocco shook the doctors hand. "This is Anthony and he will be your patient for the day."



"Nice to meet you, Anthony." The doctor shook hands with Tony. He was maybe two - three years older than Tony, with blond shortcut hair and brown eyes.



"Hello." Tony said feeling a bit annoyed.



"You can call me Ray. So, can we go to another room, to do your check up?"



"Yes doctor, follow me." Rocco said and they walked to the room Tony woke up in. "I will wait outside." he said and closed the door.



"Can you take off your shirt please?" Ray said. "I know that you have been stabbed and that your left arm was broken for like three days ago?. Anything else?"



"Yes, three days I think and no, it's mostly bruises." Tony said taking off his shirt, he didn't bother to ask how the doctor knew. He winced a little as Ray poked him and took off the bandages.



"The stitches look alright, no infections. Did you loose a lot of blood when this happened? Did you get blood transfusions?"



"One transfusion, I think."



"Ok, have you been eating well? You need to replace the lost of the fluids, you know."



"Yeah I know. But I have been pretty busy."



"Hpmf, that's not so good. Any dizziness?"



"A little, but I will survive."



"Ok, I understand." Ray said finishing his notes, that he had been making while they were talking. "I will write you some painkiller prescriptions, leave you some bandages so you could shower. Then I want you to start eating and drinking. Try to rest and I will be back to see you in two days."



Tony nodded, took the prescription and followed the doctor outside the room. Rocco stood up and Tony and Ray shook hands again.



"Thanks for your help, Dr." Rocco said as they walked down, Paulie stood downstairs and he showed the Ray the way out.



"So you were cleared?" Rocco said to Tony.



"Yes I was." Tony said, looking around for a phone.



"Good, what are you looking for?"



"Oh nothing..."



"Don't "oh, nothing"-me. I still remembered how you were as a child!" Rocco said with a big smile.



"I have to make a phonecall..." Tony said and looked at Rocco with pleading eyes, it had worked when he was little and it could work now, he hoped.



"Don't look at me like that!"



"Did my father told you that I was not aloud to make a phone call?" Tony said with mischief in his eyes.



"No, not exactly..."



"So then I can make a call?"



"Ok, it better be quick and if I get in trouble for this, I will tell your father what happened to his favorite car 15 years ago!"



"No you wouldn't!" Tony said with a big smile.



"Yes I will!" Rocco said also with a big smile. He showed Anthony into the big living room and gave him a cordless phone. Then he walked out so Tony could have some privacy.



Tony's hands shook a little as he tapped in the number to Gibbs cellphone.



Gibbs were on his way down to Ducky, so he could fill the M.D. in about what had happen yesterday.



Kate was with Abby and McGee in the lab as the other two were trying to find information about the Chicago Mafia.



Gibbs walked out of the elevator and into Ducky's office, when his cellphone started to ring. He took it out and answered.



"Gibbs."



"Hey Gibbs..."



"Tony! Where are you!" When Gibbs heard Tony's voice he was very suprised.



"I don't have much time to talk, boss. But you need to listen to me..."



"Tony what is it? Are you in Chicago? Tell me where you are, damit!"



"I can't." Tony took a deep breath, this was not going to be easy but he had to do this. " You can't come here. You have to stay back and not to come here."



"In the hell I won't, Tony!" Gibbs said. "Tell me were you are so I can come and get you!"



"No, Gibbs. They will kill you and Kate if you come here and I don't want that! I don't want you two to get more involved."



"Then I will leave Kate behind, but I'm coming for you."



"Boss, I will call you when I can, but please don't come her." Tony said feeling desperate. He really wanted to tell Gibbs were he was so Gibbs could come and help him out of this. Weak, the sneaky voice in his head said, you are so weak. "Gibbs, please listen to me......"



"No, Tony don't! I know why you are doing this, but I promised you that I will help you and I never break my promises." Gibbs said with a voice hard as stone. "I will come for you. Our flight leaves tonight and you call me as soon as you can!"



"Gibbs..." Tony ran his injured hand thru his hair.



"I know that they are watching us." Gibb said in a calm voice. He felt, rather than heard Tony's disbelief. "I'm not stupid. Don't worry about me and Kate. Call me when you can. Don't do anything stupid."



"Say hello to everyone from me." Tony said knowing that he couldn't talk Gibbs out of it. "And Jethro, be careful."



"Yes I will, and we will see you soon." With that Gibbs listend to the silence on the other line.



Gibbs was glad that Tony called, the younger agent had sound allright, tired but ok. He let out as sigh of relief, he made a call so he could tell the others about the call.



Tony hung up, he shook his head, he couldn't believe this. Here he called Gibbs to tell him to stay away, to tell him that Tony could handle this in his own.



But Gibbs was coming here anyway, with Kate and Gibbs knew that they were watched. Tony wondered what his boss had planned.



"So are you ready to go?" Rocco said coming into the room. "Are you ok?"



"Yes, let's go." Tony said, now he had to think how he could help Gibbs.



Chapter 18



Gibbs walked up to Abby’s lab; Ducky closely behind him also wanted to know what had happened to Tony.



Kate, Abby and McGee looked up from Abby’s computer screen as the two older men walked in.



"I just spoke with Tony on the phone." Gibbs started, but was interrupted by the others, who all spoke at the same time. He held up his hands and everyone quiet down. "He seemed alright and I told him that we would help him out of this mess."



"Did he tell you were they took him?" Kate asked feeling a bit relieved that Tony seemed ok.



"No, he didn’t." Gibbs said. "I know that they have something on him, something that makes him not want to tell us were he is. But I know that he is in Chicago."



"What could that be?" Ducky asked.



"Tony doesn’t have any steady girlfriends for the moment." Abby said. "What could his weakness be?"



"Well, Abby." Gibbs said. "Look around. I think that we are the weakness."



Ducky, Kate, Abby and McGee nodded, Gibbs were probably right. It was something that Tony would do.



"We are being followed, but you don’t need to worry. It has been taken care off." Gibbs said. "What should we do know?" Kate asked.



"We need to find out so much we can about the Mafia world. Then we will fly to Chicago and help him out."



"I can give you some information right now." Abby said. Gibbs nodded for her to continue. "I didn’t hack into the Pentagon system, yet, but I hacked into Chicago Police force date base and they had some information. It was not easy but with McGee’s help we made it."



"Good, tell me what you found out." Gibbs said impatiently.



"Well, as we already know, Vincent DiNozzo is the head of the Italian branch in Chicago and his closest guy is Dominic Castellano. Then we have Boris Romanov, the Russian boss, his lost his closest guy in the Mafia war but Dimitri Vasilii, one of Tony’s kidnappers, was a favourite. The bosses are sworn enemies since attempted murder on Tony that resulted in his mother, Isabella DiNozzo’s death." Abby took a pause. " But listen to this! Boris claims and he has claimed it for ten years that he never ordered the hit. No one believed him."



"Could he be telling the truth?" Gibbs asked.



"Wait let me read this first." Abby said pointing to her screen. "I think, after reading all the facts that he could be innocent. The killer, who died at the scene, Yuri Novgorod Vladimirs brother, was also working outside the Mafia. He could have been hired by someone else, Yuri wasn’t exactly known for his loyalty."



"And look here." McGee said. "It says that the Russians were outnumbered from the start."



"Yes, good point McGee." Abby said. "So why should they start a war?"



"I with you on that, Abby." McGee said, thinking. "So the main target were Tony, who was, ehm, is the heir to the head seat. The let the Russians take the blame."



"Right on McGee." Abby said, high fiveing McGee. "The man, or woman, who hired Yuri must have planned this from the beginning. The DiNozzo family without a heir and a war with the Russians, were the boss easily could be killed."



"So if we say that the Russian are innocent." Gibbs said. "The man who hired the killer would be?"



"A man with connections." Kate said. "He is Italian, his family were probably powerful before the DiNozzo."



"Abby, check on that." Gibbs said.



"Are already on it..."



"Maybe…." McGee started, but interrupted himself.



"What, McGee?" Gibbs said.



"I was only thinking, this man must have his on heir already planned. Maybe the same age or close to Tony’s."



"Abby, how is it going?"



"Well, we don’t have much. There has been some reconstruction in the lines behind the DiNozzo’s. The people that were with them ten years ago and are still with them now, very few, seems very loyal. No one with a son in the same age as Tony." Abby said sounding a bit frustrated. "But wait, a family that moved to Chicago for three/four years ago, the Costello’s, have a son that are a few years older than Tony."



"But they haven’t been there for ten years." Kate said.



"It says here that, Alberto Costello, the father, was in Chicago the month before the assassin. They are related to the family that ruled before the DiNozzo’s. It seems like that the son is hotheaded guy. He have been arrested for blackmail and assault, but he never have been convicted."



"Good work." Gibbs said looking at his clock. " Keep on looking, Abby and McGee. Kate it’s time to grab some lunch before we go to the airport. Call me!"



Abby, McGee and Ducky nodded as Gibbs and Kate walked out of the lab. The younger ones turned to their computer screens and Ducky walked down to his office.



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Tony sighed in relief as he sat down in the big leather couch. He and Rocco had been out almost the whole day, now he was sitting in the big living room and Rocco was in the kitchen getting some cold drinks for them.

The day had been pretty good, they had been to exclusive stores and they ate lunch at a very nice restaurant. But Tony had been thinking a lot, Gibbs and Kate were on they way to help him. How would his father react when he hears the news? Tony hoped that Gibbs and Kate could shake the men following them.



"So, how are you feeling, Little Anthony?" Rocco asked as he walked in with the drinks.



"I feel fine, tired, but fine." Tony said, accepting the cold drink that Rocco had with him.



Rocco nodded and sat down in a leather chair beside him, Tony turned to watch the TV and Rocco started to talk with the two bodyguards that had been following them all day.



"I think I will go and take a shower." Tony said standing up. Rocco nodded to him and Tony went up to his room.



In his room were all the bags from their shopping spree; Tony selected a pair of pants and a shirt before he went into the bathroom.



He put the water resisting bandages and something plastic on his cast, and then he stepped into the shower.



Tony stood in the shower for almost a half hour, he felt really refreshed as he stepped out and put on the new clothes.



Time for dinner he thought when he looked at the watch beside the bed. Tony walked out of the room and down the stairs and he stopped outside the room were he earlier had made the call. He looked around, no one was nearby and he walked up to the phone. He dialled Gibbs number.



"Gibbs."



"Hey boss." Tony said.



"Tony, is everything okay?"



"Yes, everything is fine."



"Good, we are on our way to the airport. Kate says hello. We have something interesting."



"Tell her hello from me." Tony said. "Boss…."



"Yes?"



"Just be careful, ok."



"Always, DiNozzo."



Tony hung up and turned around, Rocco stood behind him and looked at him. Tony looked right back at him.



"Your father and Dominic are back. They are waiting for you in the dining room." Rocco said. Tony nodded and walked out, Rocco followed him closely.



When they came into the dinner room, Dominic and Vincent sat at the table discussing something; they looked up as Tony walked in. Rocco didn’t follow him; instead he went into the kitchen.



Tony sat down to the left of Vincent who was sitting at the head of the table and Dominic was sitting on the right side.



"How was your day, Little Anthony."? Dominic asked.



"Fine." Tony said he didn’t want to talk.



"What did the doctor say?" Vincent asked.



"Like you don’t already know." Tony said and the food was brought in. Vincent stared at him with cold eyes and Dominic looked a little amused.



"Yes, I already talked to the doctor." Vincent said, his temper flaring and he slammed his hand on the table when they were alone again.



"So then why ask me?"



"You are so….! Dominic, you talk to him."



"We are just worried about you." Dominic said.



"Hmpf, sure." Tony said sarcastic. He started to eat, he wasn’t really hungry but he had to eat.



They all ate in silent for a while, after the table was cleared and coffee was brought in Vincent said in a low voice.



"We know that Agent Gibbs and Agent Todd are on their way here."



Tony just looked at him with cold hard eyes, not opening his mouth.



"Maybe we will have someone to be there to meet them." Vincent said not backing down.



"If you do anything to hurt them…" Tony said in an ice-cold voice. "I promise you that you will regret it."



"Are you threatening me?" Vincent said.



"I’m just telling you…."



The both DiNozzo men stood up and you could cut the tension between them with a knife.



"Hey now. Take it easy." Dominic said standing up and walked between them.



"You little…" Vincent said to Tony. "Don’t think that I’m scared of you!"



"I don’t care, I’m sick and tired of this!" Tony said.



Dominic was squeezed between them and he had a hard time keeping them from jumping at each other’s throats. He was just about to call for some help when Rocco stepped into the room.



"Mr DiNozzo?"



"Yes, Rocco?"



"You have a phone call."



"I will take it in my office." Vincent said, he looked at Tony and then went out with Rocco closely on his heels.



"You will push him to far soon." Dominic said sitting down.



"It is he who keeps on threatening my co-workers." Tony said also sitting down.



"If you just answer his questions and talk to him…"



"Why should I?" Tony said. "I’m not here because I want to, I’m here only because that he and you made me come here!"



"Calm down." Dominic said with a smile. "You two are so alike, I had almost forgot how you two drove each other crazy."



"Maybe, but you were not always the calm one." Tony said.



"No, you are right. But I could never compete with you." Dominic said with a chuckle.



Tony just looked at him and shook his head; this came from the man who almost broke his arm a few days ago. But he knew that Dominic was right, he and his father could really drive each other crazy.



"So, what sort of meeting were you two at today?" Tony asked changing the topic.



"An ordinary business meeting." Dominic said. "We have a few trouble makers that we have to have on a short leech."



"One of them wouldn’t be that Vinnie?" Tony asked.



"You could say that he is one of them." Dominic said a bit surprised. "He is getting ideas."



"What kind of ideas?"



"He thinks that we should wipe the whole Russian Mafia out."



"But we need them, it’s good with some competition."



"Yes you are right. But he doesn’t see that." Dominic said sighing. "He and Alberto come from a important family. So I trying to see to that your father treats him respectfully, but Vincent are getting fed up with them."



"Maybe I could make me a new friend." Tony said. "But he didn’t seem so glad to see me yesterday."



"Well, I can understand that." Dominic said and Vincent walked into the room.



"Dominic, send someone down to the police station. A few of our guys have been arrested."



"Sure thing, boss." Dominic said and walked out.



Tony stood up and the two men looked at each other, Tony started to walk and was stopped by Vincent who held out his hand.



"I don’t want you to disrespect me like this when we go to the meeting tomorrow." He said in a low voice. "It have to look like we are united when we meet the others tomorrow."



Tony didn’t know what to say so he only made a small nod and walked up to his room.

Chapter 19



"Good morning, Little Anthony." Rocco said, walking into Tony’s bedroom.



"Humph…" Tony said laying his pillow over his head. "Let me sleep."



"Sorry, no can do." Rocco said with a big smile as he opened the blinds, letting the sun in. "You have to eat before you and your father goes to the meeting."



"Yeah, yeah." Tony said sitting up on side of the bed and stretched his body. "I’m up." He stood up and looked at the clock on the bedside, it showed 8 in the morning.



Man, I’m getting soft, he thought as he started to put some clothes on. If this had been a regular working day, he would be at work right now, gibbering with Kate and drinking his fifth cup of coffee or something like that.



He followed Rocco down to the dinner room; breakfast was already being served to Vincent and Dominic. Tony nodded to the two older men as he sat down and grabbed some bread and coffee.



"So, Little Anthony, are you ready to meet the wolves?" Dominic asked with a big smile.



Tony nodded, his mouth full of bread. Dominic returned to talk with Vincent about the business, leaving Tony with his own thoughts. I have to call Gibbs and make sure that everything is ok, he thought.



"I will be right back." He said getting up, leaving the room and he walked towards the so called "phone room". He didn’t see Rocco around; he was probably in the kitchen with the other guys. Tony walked into the room, closed the door, grabbed the phone and dialled Gibbs number.



"Gibbs."



"Hey boss. So how’s it hanging?" Tony said.



"Oh it’s you." Gibbs said.



"So, you are missing me?" Tony asked with a smile. "You are not harassing Kate?"



"Missing you? Not a chance." Gibbs said also smiling, but got serious. "Everything’s ok?"



"Yes, you?"



"We arrived at the place safely." Gibbs said.



"Good, I just…" Tony said, but was interrupted by a big and heavy hand on his shoulder. He turned around and looked into his fathers blue eyes.



Dam it, he thought. His father looked really pissed as he grabbed the phone and threw it against the wall.



"Tony?" Gibbs said as he heard Tony interrupt himself and then big bang and the call were disconnected. "Dam it, Tony!"



Kate looked up from the breakfast table when she heard her boss outburst.



"Was that Tony? What happened?" She asked.



"Are you ready to go?" Gibbs asked grabbing his jacket and was on his way out before Kate could answer.



Kate grabbed her gears and followed him out and they got into a car. She looked at her boss from the corner of her eye as Gibbs pulled out from the driveway. He had a stern look in his face and she knew that somehow Tony had gotten himself into trouble.



They drove in silence the twenty-minute ride down to the NCIS office, the house they stayed in belonged to a friend to Gibbs who was out of town.



The two NCIS- agents had landed in the middle of the night and took a taxi to the house. They had kept their eyes out for any shadows; their tagalongs from home had followed them to the airport. Gibbs knew that the flight was booked and that they couldn’t get on.



He had sensed that someone was following them when they had landed and he knew that Vincent knew that they were in Chicago.



Gibbs stopped the car in front of the NCIS building and walked in with Kate closely behind him. They were meeting an old classmate to Abby, who worked at the NCIS lab.



"What tha hell, do you think that you are doing?" Vincent yelled at Tony and slapped his son in the face.



Tony just looked at his father, shocked, he stopped his hand from going up to touch the check that just been slapped. He didn’t want his father to see how much the slap burned.



"I can’t leave you even for a second!" Vincent continued to yell as he grabbed the younger man and dragged him towards the dinner room.



Dominic looked up and held his breath as he saw a very pissed Vincent dragging his son into the room. This is not good, he thought as the older DiNozzo almost threw his son into a chair.



"Dominic, I want the others in here right now!" Vincent said as he sat down across the table from Tony.



Dominic just nodded and walked out towards the kitchen. It only took a couple of minutes for the men to gather into the dining room. They all felt the tension in the room when they came in.



Dominic stood behind Vincent and the others stood behind Tony’s chair so the boss could look at them. Dominic laid a hand on Vincent’s shoulder when they were all there.



"I’m giving all of you an new exciment, you will work in pairs and work out the schedule by yourselves." Vincent started with a voice hard as steel, he kept his eyes on Tony who tried to keep his face emotionless. "Your job will be keeping an eye on my son, he will not be left alone only for bathroom visits and when he sleeps. He isn’t aloud to talk on the phone unless it’s someone from us and he isn’t aloud to speak to anyone other than people that are known by us."



Under his father’s demands, Tony kept on looking at his father each one of his words hitting Tony like punches. He couldn’t believe this; his father was taking his freedom away.



"You can work the rest out between yourselves, but Rocco and Paulie will start and come with us to the meeting." And with that Vincent dismissed the guys with a wave of his hand.



Tony looked as the men, his future babysitters, walked out of the room leaving him alone with Rocco, Paulie, Dominic and his father.



He felt the anger and embarrassment boiling inside of him, how could his father do this? He tried to keep calm but he couldn’t keep it down.



"Who do you think you are!" He started in a normal conversation tone but as he spoke it turned to a yelling. "I’m an adult, I have made me a pretty good life without your help and even before that, when I was living here I took care of myself!" At the end of the sentence he was standing, leaning over the table glaring at his father.



"How dare you!" Vincent yelled as he also stood up, hands planted on the table. "You are nothing without me!"



"Nothing without you?" Tony yelled even higher. "I’m everything without you! You were never there for me to help me be something! Isabella was the only one who cared and noticed if anything happened!"



"And you killed her!" Vincent yelled. "And you kill everyone around you, and if you keep this up you will kill your beloved co-workers!"



Tony opened his mouth to say something, but he didn’t know what to say. He sank back into the chair, the old familiar guilt washing thru him. He had blamed himself for his mother death, but he had pushed those feelings away.



Now hearing his father saying that his mother died because of him, that it was his fault and that he would be responsible for Gibbs and Kate’s deaths hurt him anymore that any knife would.



Dominic couldn’t believe his ears when Vincent spoke to his son, accusing him for his mother’s death. He saw the younger DiNozzo as he sank back into the chair with a blank expression on his face. This time Vincent crossed the line.



The silent stretched and grew heavy, Vincent looked at Tony’s blank expression. Did I cross the line? He asked himself. NO, I didn’t. He has himself to blame. Vincent kept his face angry without showing the war that was happening inside of him. He was just about to say something, when Tony opened his mouth.



"I say it again: if you harm any of them. YOU will regret it!" Tony said with a hard voice not breaking eye contact with his father.



Dominic felt rather than saw the situation spin out of control at the younger mans words. The older DiNozzo’s face went from angry to enrage and he lunged for his son, grabbing his throat with his hands.



Tony watched his father’s face expression changed and suddenly he felt hands grabbing his throat, cutting of his air. He tried to bend the fingers away and he tried to hit the man in front of him.



It was all over in a couple seconds, Dominic, Rocco and Paulie broke the fight up. Dominic and Paulie held Vincent back and Rocco grabbed Tony.



The adrenaline was running high amongst the five men, all breathing hard from short but straining fight.



Vincent shrugged off Dominic and Paulie’s hands and Tony did the same with Rocco’s, they stood looking at each other.



"We will be leaving in 30 minutes." Vincent said with a cold voice, walking away.



Dominic stood still for a couple of seconds, and then he nodded to Rocco and Paulie before he followed the boss.



Rocco let out a sigh of relief when they were left alone; he laid a hand on Tony’s shoulder as he said:



"We better get ready."



Tony nodded and the three men walked up the stairs to his room, so he could get ready before they left the house.



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"That was a bit scary." Kate said as she and Gibbs walked out of the NCIS building. "A male version of Abby." She shrugged her shoulders as she got into the car.



"It could have been her twin brother." Gibbs chuckled, getting into the driver side of the car. "Well, Amos had some interesting information for us."



"Yes, he had." Kate said with a smile.



Amos had told them that he had heard that a big meeting was going down between the Italian families; the meeting would take place in the city.



Gibbs and Kate drove towards the address they gotten from Amos, they figured that if they go down there they would recognize someone who could lead them to Tony.



The meeting place was a building at the harbour and Gibbs parked the car at the warehouse next to it. Soon the place was full of cars and people in suits, Kate thought it looked exactly like a set-up for a gangster movie. All the mobsters gathered outside the house and were talking to each other’s. Then a dark car pulled up and two men walked out of it.



"Look, that must be Vinnie Costello and his father." Kate said pointing at the newcomers.



Gibbs nodded as he looked at them, the younger man clasped hand with several of the men waiting outside the building.



Ten minutes after the Costello’s arrived another big black car pulled up, one of the men opened the car door and Gibbs saw Dominic getting out and after him Vincent DiNozzo got out. The other men bowed their heads in respect and a few older men walked up to them to shake their hands.



Suddenly Vincent made a wave of his hand and everyone turned their heads towards the car, a man walked out and after him Tony came out, he looked around and was giving many curious stares, closely behind him came another man.



The whole posse moved towards into the building, Vincent and Dominic lead the way in. The two men flanked Tony as he walked behind his father.



"Did you see?" Kate asked. "It was Tony."



"Yes, I saw him Kate." Gibbs said, he was relieved that Tony seemed ok. But he didn’t like the looks Vinnie Costello was sending the young agent. "And now we wait."



Kate nodded and turned to watched the door were Tony had walked in, it were guarded by four big men outside.



After two hours a man walked out of the building, he made small talk with the guards and the he walked towards Gibbs and Kate’s car. Gibbs looked at the man and was a bit surprised when he saw that it was Dominic who was walking towards them. Gibbs pulled down the window and Dominic leaned towards car.



"Special Agent Gibbs, Special Agent Todd." Dominic said with a small smile. "How are you?"



"We are fine." Gibbs answered.



"So what brings you here to Chicago harbour?"



"Well, I think you know." Gibbs said impatiently.



"I can’t help you, sorry." Dominic said looking at the building.



"So why do you talk to us?"



"You talk to us?"



"You can say that I’m watching out for Little Anthony’s interest. He needs you two to leave him alone." Dominic said looking into Gibbs eyes. "You two are, hm what’s the word, distracting him and that will not lead to anything good."



"We just want him back." Gibbs said.



"Well, if you stay around or contact him, you will get him into big trouble."



"Tell Mr DiNozzo that we don’t give up that easily."



Dominic just nodded, he sensed that the conversation wouldn’t lead to anything; he turned around and walked back to the building.



"I can’t believe he threatens us like that." Kate said angrily.



"I’m not sure what to believe." Gibbs said and the car became silent again, both agents watching the building.



After three more hours, people started to walk out of and getting into their cars. Amongst the last came the Costello’s. The younger one seemed really agitagited and was almost screaming at his followers.



"I guess the meeting didn’t go well for Vinnie." Gibbs mused.



When the Costello’s had left, Vincent DiNozzo walked out with Dominic closely behind him. The leader looked a bit angry while getting into the car, then Tony came out flanked by the two big goons. For a second Gibbs and Tony had eye contact and Gibbs sensed something, but couldn’t figure out what, then the big car drove away.



Gibbs started their car and followed them.



When Tony had walked out of the building after the meeting he saw Gibbs and Kate still sitting outside. He made eye contact with Gibbs for a second, Tony felt happy that his boss seemed ok, but he was anxious that something was going to happen to them.



He sighed as he got into the car, his father looking at him, Vincent was still a bit angry with him and Tony had the same feelings.



The meeting had turned out ok, the most of the families seemed to accept him, but Vinnie was casting hateful looks at him the whole time. Not that he was worried but Tony was really starting to believe that it was Vinnies fault that Vincent had grabbed him.



The car ride was silent and Tony was trying to keep from looking back to see if Gibbs and Kate was following them. It didn’t take long for them to come home.



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"We need to do something soon, papa!" Vinnie said pacing back and forth. "I can’t believe that we wasn’t invited to the dinner at "Papa Joes’s" tonight. We can’t take over if aren’t at the big things."



"Calm down, Vinnie." Alberto said to his son. "We can’t do so much now that Anthony has come back."



"Damn those Russians, they can’t do anything right!" Vinnie swallowed a mouthful of whiskey before he continued to pace. "We need to come up with a plan."



"But Vinnie, think about it, you don’t need to lead. We will make money as the second high family also."



"I don’t want to be a freaking underdog to the DiNozzo’s!" Vinnie yelled at his father. "I was born and raised to lead!"



Alberto shook his head, he didn’t know what to say, his son was becoming obsessed with the idea of being the head for the Italians in Chicago.



It had started for a little more than ten years ago, Alberto and Vinnie had been visiting old family graves, the DiNozzo’s had welcomed them into their home. You could say that Vinnie fell in love with the city and their family’s old history. He fell in love with some other thing also, like a girl called Vanessa but she only had eyes for a certain Anthony DiNozzo and she wasn’t the only one.



The young Mafia kids, the guys, knew that they couldn’t compete with the handsome and smart DiNozzo. But Vinnie didn’t accept that and it all ended in a big fight where the youngest, Tony, had walked out with victory.



As Vinnie remembered the fight, he got any angrier that Tony didn’t seem to remember him when they meet a couple of days ago.



He would not be so glad if he knew that he hadn’t impressed Tony much, he were a know fighter already at seventeen and this fight was easy for him.



"Father we need to do anything soon." Vinnie said turning back to the present. "Please father, help me."



Alberto looked at his son, he could never say no to his only son. It was he that had driven him to hire Yuri to kill the younger DiNozzo, so they could have taken over. But Isabella’s sacrifice at put the plans for hold but now they had opportunity.



"We need…." Alberto started and while he was laying out the plans he thought how ironic.



Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx



So this is were Tony grew up? Kate thought as she and Gibbs stopped outside the big house were the car with Tony it pulled in. he was a little impressed, the house were pretty big.



"How will we get to Tony?" she asked Gibbs.



"We will wait and see.".



Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx



"We will leave for "Papa Joe’s" in four hours." Dominic said. "You better get some rest before we go."



"I don’t want to go." Tony said walking upstairs.



"You don’t have a choice." Dominic said. "If you don’t walk, I promise you that we will carry you."



Tony sighed and nodded his head, to show that he understood, Dominic smiled and then turned to the babysitters, Rocco and Paulie.



"Who will be at the dinner with him?"



"We will, Mr DiNozzo’s request." Rocco said.



"Good, you two are the best." Dominic said with a smile.



"Thanks, Dominic." Rocco said. "We learned from the best."



The three men laughed at each other.



"Well, good luck and see you in four hours." Dominic said. "I think that while you are in the house you can split up, take some free time to get ready. The dinner requires the nice outfits."



The other two men nodded and walked up to join Tony, stopping outside the door.



"If I go and changes first." Rocco said. "Then you, ok?"



"Sure." Paulie said knocking on the door before he walked in.



Tony looked up at him as he walked him but didn’t say a word. This would be two long hours ahead of him.



Paulie and Tony had never liked each other very much and when Rocco came to give Paulie his time to change both men felt relief.



"So how are you doing, Little Anthony?" Rocco asked as he sat down.



"I’m ok, don’t feel like going to this dinner that’s all."



"I can understand that but you don’t have a choice."



"I guess you are right." Tony said looking towards the bathroom. "I think I will grab a shower."



"Ok, I will be here." Rocco said looking at some magazines.



Tony nodded as he walked towards the bathroom, he didn’t want to admit that Paulie made him nervous and that he had waited for Rocco, he didn’t know why but he felt safer with Rocco.



Tony closed the door behind him and took of his clothes. He looked at himself in the mirror, the bruises from the kidnapping had faded away but those from Vincent had replaced the ones on his throat this morning. At least they weren’t so big.



He looked down at his stitched side, it looked good and he put the water resisting bandages on and something for his cast. Then he stepped into the shower and felt the water running down his back.



Tony didn’t know how long he was standing there but he was interrupted by a knock on the door, he turned off the water and grabbed a bathrobe and stepped out. He opened the door and was meet by Rocco.



"I just wanted to check so you didn’t black out or something." Rocco said.



"You don’t need to worry, Rocco." Tony said walking towards the bed.



"Dominic came by and left some clothes for you." Rocco said pointing towards the bed. "He said that you would were them."



Tony just nodded and Rocco turned back to his magazine so the younger man could have some privacy.



The clothes were like a suit but no tie, thank God, Tony thought. Black pants, black jacket and a navy-blue shirt. It looked pretty good.



There was a heavy knock on the door and in came Vincent. He was dressed as Tony only that his shirt was black, he looked at his son.



"Rocco, leave us." He said, Rocco nodded and walked out. "I know that you don’t like me, but I just wanted to say…."



"What?" Tony said looking his father straight in the eye.



"If something would happened to me, there is a letter for you in my desk in the library." And with that Vincent walked out.



Tony just stared after his father, and then Rocco stuck his head in and said that they have to go. Tony followed him out and Paulie met them at the cars, his father and Dominic jumped in one car and Tony with Paulie and Rocco jumped into the second.



"They are moving again." Gibbs said to Kate who was resting her eyes a bit. At Gibbs words she became alert again. Gibbs started the car and followed the two cars.



"Where do you think they are going?" she asked.



"Well, they were pretty dressed up. Maybe a dinner or something."



Kate nodded as they followed the car downtown.



"So they are dinning at "Papa Joe’s", your main target are these two: Vincent and Anthony DiNozzo." Two pictures were held up. "Kill them!"



"Yes boss."



The two cars stopped in front of a big restaurant.



""Papa Joe’s" How original." Kate said with a big smile as she read the sign.



"The clichés must have some facts in them." Gibbs said with a smile as he parked the car a bit from the entrance.



They saw Vincent and Dominic getting out of the first car and Tony and his two babysitters from the second. As they walked in the one of Tony’s guard looked around and then nodded to someone.



"Did you see that?" Gibbs asked.



"Yes, some sort of signal maybe?"



"Maybe, I don’t know but I have a bad feeling about this."



Tony felt a bit nervous as he walked into the restaurant; it was the same restaurant that his mother was killed in. It didn’t have the same name or personnel and they had remodelled it but still it was the same.



He saw the guests already sitting down; three seats were saved for him, his father and Dominic.



Vincent sat down at the head of the table and Dominic and Tony in his sides, they all talked a bit before they started to eat.



Dominic looked around the restaurant, it was full of their people but it was always dangerous to meet like this. He looked at Tony, who was just playing with his food not really eating. Then Dominic looked up at the babysitters, Rocco and Paulie stood behind Tony.



Paulie leaned towards Rocco, he whispered something into Rocco’s ear and the walked out towards the kitchen. How odd was that? Dominic thought. He waved to Rocco and he walked over to him.



"Were did Paulie go?" Dominic asked.



"He wanted to check on something in the kitchen." Rocco answered.



"Ok, keep an extra eye out."



"Yes, Dominic." Rocco said walking back to stand behind Tony.



"Something wrong?" Vincent asked.



"I don’t know." Dominic said.



Outside "Papa Joe’s" Gibbs and Kate kept en eye on everything that moved. Suddenly two dark vans coming rushing towards the restaurant, one stopped in front and the other drove towards the back.



"Something is defiantly going on." Gibbs said and when he saw three men walking out of the van, they had guns he said to Kate. "Call the cops, Kate."



Kate nodded and did as he said, then both agents got out of the car and as the men walked into the restaurant, Gibbs and Kate followed them.



Tony was pretty bored and he wasn’t very hungry, he watched around the restaurant and thought back two that day ten years ago. But before he got lost in the memories, he saw Dominic wave at Rocco who walked over to him.



They had a small talk then Rocco walked back to his place, then Vincent leaned towards Dominic asking something.



Vincent accepted the answered from Dominic and then he looked at his son, their eyes met.



Tony felt a cold wind as the front door was thrown open and then all hell broke loose.

Chapter 20



Gibbs and Kate walked fast across the street towards "Papa Joe’s", they saw the men walk into the restaurant and just as they were about to follow them in Gibbs held out his arm to stop Kate.



She stopped and Gibbs pointed at something flashing in the last guys hand as the street light fell on him.



"They are armed." Gibbs whispered.



Kate looked at her boss thinking that nothing good will come out of this and she felt a bit scared. But then she thought of Tony and she took a deep breath, he needed her to be there for him, she looked at Gibbs and nodded.



Both NCIS-agents pulled out their guns and walked into the restaurant.



Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx



Tony felt the cold wind brush him as the front door was thrown open and like in slow motion he saw three armed men came bursting in. Just a couple of seconds later he heard noise coming from the kitchen and he turned around just to see four armed men walking out of the kitchen.



The hair on his neck were standing up as he felt someone watching him, he turned around towards the front door. One of the gunmen looked him right in the eye, Tony felt like he was frozen to the chair when he saw the man aiming his gun at him.



Then all seven gunmen opened fire, before Tony could react someone grabbed him and he was down on the floor. Something heavy was lying on him and he had a little trouble breathing, he tried to move but pain from hone of his legs shot thru him and the weight on top of him pinned him to the floor.



Tony took a deep breath and tried to move again, the weight on top of him shifted and it added more pressure on his injured side and Tony felt some of his stitches rip.



The pain from both his leg and side combined with the heavy weight, made it harder to breath and he blacked out.



Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx



Dominic looked up from his plate as he heard the door open, he saw men walking in with guns in their hands and then he heard men coming in from the kitchen. He turned around and saw four men, they had also weapons.



As the seven men came to a halt it seemed like time stood still, Dominic looked around and saw his own emotions in the others faces. This nice dinner had turned into a life threatning situation in just a couple of seconds and then the men opened fire against the table.



Dominic jumped towards Vincent and the two older tumbled to the floor. Around them bullets were flying and they heard people screaming.



Dominic pulled out his gun and started too return fire at the men standing near the door, he hit one of them in the chest, and he turned towards the kitchen and saw two of the gunmen running out. He got up on his feet and was just about to follow them, when he felt a hand grabbing his arm.



"Is Anthony ok?" Vincent asked him in a low voice.



Dominic looked around, he saw five of the gunmen lying dead on the floor but he didn’t see Tony.



"I don’t know, boss." He said kneeling beside Vincent, who coughed and blood came from his mouth. "Where are you hit?"



"My chest…." Vincent coughed some more and Dominic saw the wound in his boss chest.



"Someone call an ambulance!" Dominic yelled, he felt his eyes tear and he felt panic running thru his body. Then someone laid a hand on his shoulder and he looked up.



"They are on the way." Gibbs said. "Keep pressure on the wound, try to stop the bleeding. Have you seen Tony?"



Dominic did as he was told and snapped out of his panic.



"Last time I saw him, he was sitting at the table across me." He looked around. "I think I saw Rocco grabbing him and pulling him to the floor."



"Ok, we will look for him." Gibbs said with a calm voice. "Keep the pressure on."



Dominic nodded, he looked down at Vincent who was unconscious now and when he looked up again he saw Paulie coming out from the kitchen.



"Paulie! Find Rocco and Anthony!" He yelled.



Paulie looked at him for a couple of seconds before he nodded and started to look at the bodies on the floor.



Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx



Kate followed Gibbs into "Papa Joe’s", when they came in the gunmen had already started to shoot and two of them were lying on the floor.



One of the gunmen turned around and Gibbs fired his gun, hitting the man in his stomach. Kate fired her gun several times; she knew that she hot on of the gunmen at least.



It was all over in ten minutes but it seemed like it had been going on in hours. She saw Gibbs standing beside Dominic who was kneeling and was keeping pressure on Vincent’s chest.



Kate looked around and a horrible feeling started to grow in her stomach, she couldn’t see Tony anywhere and there was several bodies lying on the floor face down.



Thinking that one of them could be Tony and she almost started to panic. She had to find him and he had to be alive.



Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx



When Rocco saw several armed men coming into the restaurant from the front door and from the kitchen, he couldn’t believe his eyes at first. It was along time a hit was carried out this way.



Then he saw them aiming their guns towards the table and he covered the short distance between him and Tony quickly grabbed him, pulling him to the floor.



Rocco shield the younger DiNozzo whit his body and laid on top of him, he felt Tony under him and that he was trying to move. So Rocco shifted his weight a little so he could keep Tony pinned to the floor and then he fired his gun towards the gunmen.



At last the gunfire stopped and he saw two men running towards the kitchen. Rocco stayed down just in case if anyone of the gunmen were still alive.



He heard mumbling voices around him and he looked up and saw Dominic who was kneeling beside someone.



Rocco got up to his feet and looked down at the young man, he was just about to check on Tony when a woman came rushing towards him. She kneeled beside Tony and Rocco was just about to lift her when he heard Dominic’s voice.



"Rocco, she is one of his friends."



Rocco nodded and then he saw Dominic’s hand that were all bloodied and on top off Vincent and Rocco paled when he saw his boss in such a bad state.



"How is he?" He dared to ask.



Dominic just looked at him with blank eyes and Rocco thought that this was not good.



Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx



When Kate saw one of Tony’s bodyguards standing up, she rushed towards him to ask where Tony was and she saw he co-worker lying on the floor with his eyes closed.



"Gibbs!" She yelled as she kneeled beside Tony and she caressed his check and whispered. "Tony, please wake up."



"How is he?" Gibbs asked as he kneeled beside her, he didn’t get an answer and he checked Tony’s neck for a pulse. He let out his breath, which he didn’t know he was holding, and he saw the younger man breathing.



Gibbs checked his back for injuries; he didn’t find any so he looked at Kate and said.



"Let’s turn him onto his back." Kate just nodded not trusting her voice and they flipped Tony onto his back. Tony let out a little groan but he didn’t wake up.



"He ripped some of his stitches." Kate said as she lifted his shirt. "He is bleeding but not so much."



"He got shot in his right leg, it nicked him but he is bleeding pretty much." Gibbs said as he added pressure on to Tony’s bleeding leg.



The front door was opened and several medics and police men came into "Papa Joe’s" and two of the medics ran towards Dominic and Vincent, they started to work on the injured Mafia boss right away.



Gibbs waved at the medics and two came to them kneeling beside Tony.



"What happened?" one of them asked Gibbs.



"He got shot in the leg, is bleeding pretty much. He ripped a couple of stitches from a knife wound he got a couple of days ago." Gibbs told them.



"Ok. We need to get him to the hospital." The medics said loading Tony onto a stretcher, Gibbs and Kate followed them.



Rocco stayed behind, not really knowing what to do. Dominic looked up at him and said:



"Stay with Anthony, we will meet at the hospital." Rocco nodded and followed the first stretcher out to an ambulance.



Dominic looked down at the medics who were working on his boss, Vincent was lying there really pale and his breath sounded ragged.



They loaded him onto a stretcher and pulled him out to an ambulance; Dominic followed them and jumped into the ambulance.



On their way to the hospital, Vincent’s breathing became harder and harder and suddenly he stopped. The EKG turned into a flat line.

Chapter 21



Gibbs and Kate sat in the waiting room sipping some coffee and they looked up when Rocco came into the room.



"Special Agent Gibbs?" Rocco asked and held out his hand. "My name is Rocco and Dominic told me to keep an eye on Anthony. Have you heard something?"



"I’m Gibbs." Gibbs said shaking hand with Rocco. "This is Special Agent Todd. You were one of Tony’s bodyguards tonight?"



"Yes, I was." Rocco said sitting down. "We two go way back. I took care of him when he was younger, you can say."



"Ok, I think I understand." Gibbs said. "We haven’t heard anything yet. Do you know anything about Vincent?"



"No, Dominic went with him. He looked pretty bad." Rocco said with a heavy voice.



Gibbs nodded, Vincent hadn’t looked good but it could have been worse and he took another sip of his coffee. Then a woman walked up to them.



"Are you here for Anthony DiNozzo?" She asked.



"Yes." Gibbs answered and introduced him and Kate. Rocco introduced himself as a close friend.



"Well my name is dr Marlena Dorph and I have been treating Anthony." She said with a smile.



"How is he?" Gibbs asked.



"Well, he lost some blood and he is getting a transfusion now. We restitched his side and his leg wasn’t as bad as we first thought, the shot only nicked him. So we put a few stitches, but he can use the leg as usual."



"So can we see him now?" Kate asked.



"Yes, he is awake." Dr Dorph said.



"When will he be released?" Rocco asked.



"I want him to stay the night and then I think he can go home tomorrow."



"Thank you, doctor." Gibbs said.



"I will show you the way." Dr Dorph said. Gibbs just nodded and she showed the way.



Tony was lying with closed eyes, when they all walked in but he looked up and smiled big when he saw them.



"We must stop meeting like this." He said.



"Nice to see you too." Kate said with a big smile.



"You have met the nice dr Marlena Dorph." Tony said with a big and bright smile. "She told you everything?"



"Anthony, you know you can call me Marlena." The doctor said. "Yes, I told them everything and I will check on you later." And with a wink and a smile she walked out.



"We can’t leave you alone for a second…" Gibbs said.



"I can’t stop it." Tony said. "Rocco, can you tell me what happened?"



"Several gunmen came in from the kitchen and front door, they opened fire and I pulled you to the floor..."



"Just so you know, I think that you need to go on a diet." Tony said. "You were really heavy."



"That’s life, skinny." Rocco said smiling.



"Then what happened?"



"Well we killed almost all of the gunmen; I think two of them made it…" Rocco said preparing himself to tell the bad news.



"So did anyone else get hurt?"



"Your father, he was shot and Dominic sent me to go after you so I don’t know how he is."



Tony didn’t know what to say, he was really angry at his father for dragging him here but this was not something he expected.



"Call Dominic." Tony said, Rocco nodded and stepped outside to make the call.



Gibbs took a chair and sat down next to Tony, looking at the young man. Kate just stood by Tony’s bed and they were all silent for a moment.



"So, how do you feel?" Kate asked.



"Like I’m getting really tired of hospitals, you know." Tony said.



"You will be out of here tomorrow and then we will talk to Vincent." Gibbs said.



The door opened and a pale Rocco came into the room. Tony looked up at him almost sensing that it would not be any good news.



"I just talked to Dominic, he is on his way here…." Rocco took a deep breath.



"My father?" Tony said in a small voice.



"I’m sorry Anthony, but he didn’t make it." Rocco said.



Tony just stared at Rocco, thinking that this couldn’t be happening, his father dead? Kate gasped and sat down next to him on the bed and laid a hand on his shoulder.



"How?" Tony said.



"I don’t know, Dominic will tell us." Rocco said sitting down.



The room became silent; Gibbs kept his eyes on Tony ready to do anything for the young man. But Tony just sat staring at the door; Kate rubbed his back trying to comfort him.



After twenty minutes the door opened and Dominic walked in after a short knock. His eyes were a little red at the edges and when he saw Tony, he walked up to him and hugged him.



Tony felt a bit surprised but he accepted the hug, Dominic and his father had been best friend since they were children. Tony felt his eyes starting to water, his father was dead. Dominic took a deep breath and stood up; he grabbed a chair and sat down in front of Tony.



"I’m sorry, Anthony…" Dominic said with a lump in his throat. "Vincent is dead."



"How?" Tony asked.



"He was shot in the chest and he died in the ambulance. They tried to save him but it was too late. I was with him the whole time."



"That’s good." Tony said. "What will happen now?"



"Don’t worry. We will take care of everything." Dominic said. "We will find out who planned this and Rocco will stay here with you. Do you know when you will be released?"



"He can go home tomorrow." Gibbs said.



"Good, we will pick you up and drive you home. Shall I send someone over to get you things. Gibbs?"



"No, we will get it and be ready to follow you tomorrow."



"Ok. Rocco don’t leave him." Dominic said, he walked over to Tony and kissed the younger DiNozzo’s forehead. "Try to get some rest, Little Anthony."



"Kate, go to the house and fetch our things." Gibbs said.



Kate opened her mouth to say that she didn’t want to leave Tony, but she saw the look in Gibbs face and just nodded.



"Ok." She said and the looked at Tony. "Do you want anything?"



"No, thanks Kate." Tony said looking at her with sad eyes.



Tony leaned back into the bad and closed his eyes; he fell asleep with his father on his mind. Kate returned after an hour, she had bought some food to her, Gibbs and Rocco. Then they settled down in the chairs and waited.



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Tony walked into the house, Gibbs and Kate were right behind him and they both didn’t intend to leave his side.



"How are you, Little Anthony?" Dominic asked.



"I’m ok" Tony said walking towards the library.



"Good. I have some news for you about all this."



"We will talk in the library." Tony said and they walked in, Tony sat down at his father’s desk. He looked around, feeling sad. When he was a child he was never aloud to be in this room but he had sneaked in several times to look at the books and to snoop around.



Tony opened the middle drawer, he knew that his father always kept personal things there and he found a letter that had his name on it. He took it out and placed it in front of him, and then he looked at Dominic.



"You had some news?"



"Yes, we caught one of the gunmen." Dominic said. "After a little persuasion he told us everything."



"So, who was it?" Tony asked.



"They were all hired by the Costello’s, so we contacted the other families and went over to their house. We found Alberto dead and Vinnie was gone." Dominic paused before he continued. "It seems that Vinnie was behind this, he bought someone inside our family to get information and we know that he ordered the hit on you that resulted in Isabella’s death."



"But he is only a couple of years older than me…" Tony said.



"His mother was in love with you father and when he chose Isabella, she became full of hatred and she married Alberto instead and moved to another town. But she raised Vinnie to believe that he was supposed to be head of us here. Alberto was a weak man and he couldn’t say no to his wife or son. So after she died, Vinnie told his father to make a move and they ordered the hit on you."



"Do we know where Vinnie went?" Tony asked.



"No but everyone is looking for him. Don’t worry we will get him." Dominic said.



"Do we know who turned on us?" Tony asked.



"Yes, it was Paulie and he has been taking care of."



"That’s good." Tony said drifting away and looked down at the letter. "When will the funeral be?"



"Tomorrow and then we have to have a meeting about the next leader." Dominic said.



"I understand." Tony said.



Dominic nodded and walked out of the room, leaving Tony, Kate and Gibbs alone with the letter.



Tony looked at his close friends, he had told them about the letter his father had left him and with unsteady hands he opened the letter and started to read.



"Anthony,



I know that I never were a father to you and I regret it know when I see you all grown up. I know that this is very hard for you, but the family really need you to take my place.



But I can see now that I made it wrong from the start, I should never have left you go after your mothers death.



But you can’t change the past and I can’t make you do anything, but know that my last wish would be that you should follow in my footsteps.



If you still won’t do it, I think that you know who I would want to take my place.



I will tell your mother hello and I know that she is proud of you.



Vincent DiNozzo."



"What did it say?" Gibbs asked.



Tony gave him the letter, Gibbs and Kate read it together. Then they looked at Tony who had tears in his eyes, and then they walked over to him and hugged him.



When Tony felt the embrace from his friends, he couldn’t keep the tears back and he started to sob.



"It’s ok, Tony." Kate said while she ran her hand thru his hair. "We will take care of you."



Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx



The funeral was nice, if you could call a funeral that, with many people who paid their last respect to Vincent DiNozzo.



Afterwards Tony followed Dominic and Rocco to the big meeting. Gibbs and Kate couldn’t go in with him, but they didn’t want to be to far away from Tony so they stayed in the car nearby with the other bodyguards.



The meeting lasted for three hours, Tony was one of the last one getting out of the building and he was followed by Dominic and Rocco.



Tony and Rocco had big smiles on their faces, but Dominic looked a little sour faced. They walked over to the car.



"So what happened?" Kate asked.



"We will tell you later." Tony said with a secretly smile.



The car ride was silent, but Tony and Rocco was grinning the whole way. They pulled up at the DiNozzo house and when they got out Rocco said.



"I will tell the others to meet you in the dinner room so you can tell the news." And with that he was off.



The others walked into the big dinner room and sat down, Tony took the chair at the end of the table and Dominic sat down to his right. Gibbs and Kate sat down to his left after Tony motioned them to sit down.



It didn’t take long for the other men to gather in the dinner room and when the room was full and all where silent Tony spoke up.



"A decision has been made about the next leader. It will not be me, but someone you know will take over. Your next leader will be Dominic!"



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"And know that you are always welcome here." Dominic said giving Tony a big hug.



"I know." Tony said hugging Dominic back.



"And you two, take good care of him." Dominic said shaking hands with Gibbs and Kate. "And try to keep him out of trouble."



"We will try, but you know him." Gibbs said.



They all laughed and then they said their last goodbyes before walking into the private airplane.



Tony sat down beside a window and waved at Dominic and Rocco, he felt a bit sad to leave but he looked at the smiling Kate and Gibbs and he knew he was on his way home.



The End