Tony rubbed his eyes. He glimpsed at his alarm clock, it was nearly six. He headed towards the bathroom and got in the shower. The water flowed down his torso; this is just what he needed to wake him up. He got dressed and slung his work back-pack over his shoulder and headed downstairs to his jeep.

The office was buzzing when he arrived, just your normal, typical day at work. Tony sighed, it was Friday and they hadn’t had a case since Wednesday. They’d all spent hours just sitting at their desks, writing and filing reports.

He removed his bag from his back and sat down at his desk. As he did, a highly enthusiastic Gibbs came striding from the elevators, Tony lit up, Gibbs might be in a good mood. He walked to his office and grabbed his coat. He glanced around a saw Tony, but no one else.
"Where the hell is Kate and McGee?"
Before Tony could answer Kate and McGee appeared from the hallway laughing over what looked like coffee.

Kate eyeing Gibbs expression quickly replied, "Oh sorry Gibbs we just slipped out for a cup of coffee." Gibbs expression didn’t change, until McGee spoke up, "We got you one to boss." McGee quickly handed the coffee to his boss, not wanting to start the day of on the wrong foot.

"Well thank you McGee," Gibbs began walking towards the elevator, "Still, next time your late, you’ll be on desk duty. Hurry up we have a new case."
Tony and Kate grabbed their bags. "It’s about time boss, where we headed?"
"Virginia, DiNozzo." The elevator doors closed shut.

"What we got?" Gibbs marched up to the local sheriff.
"Lieutenant Geralds, just back from Iraq, shot to death." Gibbs knelt down beside the victim, "Who found him?"
"One Patricia Miles, lives down the street, the victim’s wife’s friend."
"Boss!" Kate was standing on the patio of the house.
"What is it Kate?"
"We have another victim in here"

It was a silent ride back to the office; usually Tony would be talking about the case, but was disturbingly quiet"
"Tony," Kate had nudged him, since they were both in the back.
"Huh?"
"Nothing, you’re just, you know, not talking."

"Well sorry Kate, not all of us feels like talking after 2 innocent people are shot to death."
Before Kate could retaliate Gibbs put an immediate stop to it. "You two knock it off, and DiNozzo another remark like that and you’ll be stuck in the office for a month!"
No one else spoke for the rest of the drive back to the office.

Tony sat at his desk for the rest of the day, just staring at the computer screen. Grief spread throughout his whole body like a cancer, but he had to hold it together, for the case.

Everyone at the office noticed Tony’s lack of enthusiasm. Gibbs was the first to sort this out. The team, including Ducky were all in the lab with Abby, when Gibbs spoke.
"Tony what’s your problem, is it this case?"
"Nothing, just drop it." Tony barely muttered it, but it was loud enough for everyone to hear.
"DiNozzo can I talk with you privately for a minute?"
"Whatever you’ve got to say, you can say it right here."
"Okay fine, is the other victim, Christina Geralds an old girlfriend?"
"NO! just drop it okay."
"Okay."

After the lab incident Gibbs dismissed them for one day. Tony announced he’d stay and get his report completed, that’s when the others got even more suspicious.

Tony sat at his office, he couldn’t work, he couldn’t go home, he just sat at his desk. He kept seeing her, them flashing in and out of his mind. He couldn’t stop it, he couldn’t hold it back. A soft tear fell down his face, and after that another one fell.

He felt extremely tired, his body weakened and before he knew it, he was asleep at his desk.

The next morning the team entered the building, to find Tony asleep at his desk. Gibbs led the way to their desks, but stopped and felt obligated to wake Tony up, especially after his display yesterday.
"DiNozzo!"
Tony woke startled. He stretched and sat back in his seat.
"Yes, boss?" Tony still wasn’t in a good mood.
"Tony, did u sleep here?" Kate felt a little worried about Tony, but it was probably just a faze.
"Yeh, um, I was just getting my report done, and I must’ve fallen asleep."
No one questioned him after that.

"So what we got on the 2 victims?"
"They’re both down in autopsy with Ducky, but we can’t perform the autopsy on the wife." Tony didn’t like Kate referring to her as ‘the wife’, she was much more then that.
Gibbs didn’t look happy. "Why?"
Kate replied immediately, like she was just waiting for it. "Well, Christina had a will, and it states that she does not want an autopsy in any circumstances."
"Is there anyway we can perform an autopsy, she may have died from something else besides the gun shots!" This did not make Gibbs happy, how could he get the evidence he needed, if he couldn’t look.
"We can only perform the autopsy if a family member, such as a parent or sibling, allows us to."
Gibbs started pacing.
"Well, I want to know everything there is to know about Mr and Mrs Geralds. I’m giving you an hour. Kate and McGee you take the wife, and DiNozzo," He looked down at Tony, "You take the lieutenant."

Gibbs opened the doors to autopsy. He found Ducky observing the lieutenant.
"Ducky!"
"Oh, hello Jethro, I was expecting you."
"What you got?"
"Man was in perfect health, pretty straight forward died of a gun shot to the head and chest. Reminds me of a case back home in England, pretty open shut case, but was fascinating all the same."
"Thanks Ducky."
"My pleasure"

Gibbs walks back to his desk. His agents all move over to him, except for Tony who remains at his desk, jotting down notes, whilst talking on the phone.
"DiNozzo, get over here!"
"Yes boss." Tony moved quickly and swiftly to Gibb’s desk.
"Kate, what have you got on the wife?" Kate was ready.
"Christina Geralds, born 1970, has a clean record. However I can’t fond her maiden name anywhere or her parents. She basically didn’t exist until 2000, when she married her husband."
"Tony?" Tony looked hesitant, but answered.
"Lieutenant Adam Geralds, born in 1969, served 15 years in the military. Has a clean record, with no offences and no remaining family."
"What about Patricia Miles, the best friend who called it in?"
Tony answered first.
"No offences recorded, lived in Virginia her whole life."
Gibbs realised he had nothing without examining Christina Geralds.
"The wife, she got a relative we can ask?"
McGee looked down at his file, while Tony hovered around his desk.
"Not that we know of…..wait hold on a second!" McGee began franticly typing.
"I’m going to check the records for a Christina born near Baltimore in 1970. I found something! Christina changed her name in college because of an ex who was stalking her. Her maiden name was…"
McGee threw Tony an amazed look, mixed with curiosity.
"Her last name was…DiNozzo."

Gibbs grabbed Tony by the arm and practically threw him into the interrogation room.
"You knew who she was, but you didn’t tell us! Hell, I didn’t even know you had a sister."
Tony mumbled, "That’s because you never asked!"
Tony got up and stalked towards the door, Gibbs was yelling after him.
"You leave know and you’re not coming back! I’m dead serious!"
Tony turned and stared at Gibbs. He walked over to him and shoved his gun and badge into his hands.
"Good, I don’t care; my life is none of your business anymore!"
With that Tony left.

He headed towards his desk, with the gang, Kate, McGee, Ducky and Ab’s watching him. He shoved all of his personal belongings into his back pack, and slung his bag over his back.
"Tony, don’t you dare!"
"I’m leaving I’ve had enough of this!"
Gibbs was pissed.
"I don’t care I'm not accepting your resignation." The team looked at Tony disbelieving.
"You don’t have a choice."
"Get out of my sight DiNozzo, you’re a wreck."
Tony felt grief wash over him once again, that was the last thing his sister told him, that he was a wreck.
Tony felt a tear fall down his face, before he stormed out of the office.

He barely made it home, but he made it. He felt anger and pain. His sister meant everything to him, he loved her more then anything in this lifetime. He felt too much pain to bear, he needed relief. He headed to his bathroom and found a sharp metallic instrument. For a split second he felt grief, pain and anger all wash away from him. This was his release. His sight began to darken and he drifted away.

"Tony!" A woman was bent over him. She was crying, but he couldn’t hear anything.
"Christina?"
"No Tony, it’s me Kate."
He felt shocked and looked around he was in a hospital room.
"I’m sorry."
"It’s okay."
"Kate, I want to die."
"No you don’t." Gibbs was there somewhere, Tony just didn’t have the strength to answer or look for him.

Hours later Tony was back at his office, shaking. He almost killed himself, but it didn’t get reported, otherwise he’d never get a job anywhere. He began to cry as he shook himself, loosing her was too much, it wasn’t better when he remembered she had announced to him she was pregnant.

The team kept watching, like he was going to attack, but he wasn’t, he just couldn’t deal with pain as well as others. He had never lost anyone as significant as Christina, they would never understand.

They didn’t have to perform an autopsy on Christina after all. They found Patricia Miles fingerprints on the same gun, used to kill the Geralds. She had an affair with Adam, and found out that he wasn’t going to leave his wife for her. She flew into a rage and killed them both.

Tony was shocked. He would never be the same. He just couldn’t accept it. He made the funeral arrangements for both of them and then, he had to bury his older sister.

Kate placed a hand on Tony’s shoulder; he was sitting on the ground overlooking the water. He had let his sister go, but told her he loved her and in his heart, he would never let her go.

"Tony, it’s going to be okay."
Tony shuddered under her touch and got up. He walked straight past her; after all he didn’t work with her anymore.

Tony drove home, and in his heart began to mourn all over again. How could he ever forget her face, her smiling face, or when she announced she was pregnant. Tears swelled in his eyes again, and before he knew it, he was shaking uncontrollably and took his eyes of the road.

A loud clash could be heard in the distance. Kate and Gibbs were tailing Tony but didn’t want to get to close. Then they saw it. Tony’s care was smashed into a tree on the side of the road.

In the hospital room, Tony was undergoing surgery; he had hit his head against the windscreen. Kate was crying, she was being comforted by Abby.

The doctor came out, looked at them all. He shook his head. Kate let out an uncontrollable sob. Tony died. He was gone forever; he wasn’t going to come back. The team would never be the same.



The end.