"Potentially Problematic"
Chapter 3---
Tony stepped off of the elevator and strolled into the bullpen carrying a tray with five coffee cups in it.
"Where have you been?" Kate asked, looking up from a stack of papers.
Tony grinned at his partner.
"Gibbs sent me to get coffee." Tony replied, handing her one of the cups.
"Thanks." Kate said, as she took a sip from her coffee.
Gibbs entered from the other side of the room, and headed towards his desk.
"You're welcome." Gibbs said, as he neared his desk.
"McGee, one for you." Tony said, as he handed a cup to the probie.
"Thanks Tony." McGee said.
"What about me?"
Tony spun on his heel in his boss' direction.
"Coming boss!" Tony exclaimed, making his way to Gibbs' desk.
Tony relinquished a cup of strong coffee to his boss.
Gibbs took the cup, looked at it, and then took a long sip of the coffee.
"That's good coffee." Gibbs said, as he set the cup down on the desk.
He motioned with his finger for Tony to come closer, and the senior agent did as instructed leaning his head down closer.
"Feeling better?" Gibbs asked, discreetly.
Tony nodded. "Yes sir." he replied, softly.
"Good." Gibbs whispered, with a knowing grin.
Gibbs waved the younger man away, and Tony took the tray and the last remaining coffee cup to his own desk.
"Kate." Gibbs called, over his computer.
Kate knew as soon as Gibbs said her name what he was going to ask so instead of waiting for him to ask she answered first.
"It's all right here." she replied, quickly, as she grabbed a file folder up off of the corner of her desk.
She got up from her desk, and worked her way around to Gibbs' desk carrying the manilla file folder.
"Corporal Thompson's service record, and his next of kin." she said, as she handed the manilla file folder to her boss.
Gibbs looked up at the female special agent, and took the folder from her hand.
"Thanks." he said, plainly.
He flipped opened the folder and scanned through the documents within fairly quickly before shutting it again.
He realized after a moment that Kate was still standing in front of his desk.
"What?" He said, looking up at Kate. "You wanna another nap?"
"Well, yeah Gibbs--that would be nice." she replied, as she placed her hands on her hips.
Gibbs stared at her for a second or two, silently, biding his time.
"McGee!" he called across the bullpen without looking.
"Yes sir." the probie agent replied, looking up.
"How's that paper trail comin'?" Gibbs asked.
"Um, I'm still working on it boss." McGee replied, nervously.
Still staring up at Kate Gibbs nodded his head in the direction of McGee's desk.
"Help him." Gibbs said, sternly.
Kate rolled her eyes at her boss as she let loose a blow of frustration. She was beginning to realize that this was going to be a very long day.
She turned on her heel, and marched off angrily towards McGee's desk.
Gibbs wanted to laugh so badly, but knew that he could not compromise his hold over Kate or McGee.
Gibbs picked up his coffee cup and pulled the list of names out of the file folder, and walked out from behind his desk heading towards Tony's desk.
Tony sat at his desk sipping his coffee and touching his fingers to his still sore nose as if testing it to see if it was still sore. When he saw Gibbs walking towards him he quickly set the cup down and cleared some space off on his desk.
Gibbs stopped in front of Tony's desk and handed him the list of names. Tony accepted the sheet of paper from his boss without question.
"Make some calls, DiNozzo, and find out who on this list was the last to see our dead Corporal last." Gibbs said, in a low voice.
"On it boss." Tony replied, in that childish way of his.
The older man patted him on the shoulder as he walked off around the corner, and Tony watched until Gibbs was no longer in sight before turning back to his given assignment.
A few minutes later Gibbs strolled into the office of the Director's secretary, and paused at her desk.
"Can I help you Special Agent Gibbs?" the young woman asked politely.
"Yeah, I need to see a 'Leave of Absence Request Form'." Gibbs said, quietly.
"Just a moment."
The young woman stood up and walked over to a filing cabinet standing against a far wall. She dug through a drawer which she had practically snatched open, until she found what she was looking for.
"Oh, here it is." she announced quietly, as she turned back towads Gibbs.
She walked over to the edge of her desk, and handed him the semi-blank sheet of paper.
"Anything else?" she asked, as she re-took her seat.
"Nope." Gibbs replied, as he turned and headed into the director's office.
Gibbs walked into his director's office, and closed the door behind him.
The director was sitting behind his desk filling out some work-related forms, and signing off on some new documents and what not.
"Still don't know how to knock, Jethro?" Director Morrow asked, without looking up.
"No sir." Gibbs replied, quietly.
The director let out a short sigh, as he rubbed his eyes with one hand.
"Oh well, no harm done I guess." he said.
Gibbs grinned slightly, but then straightened back up just as quickly.
"What can I do for you Jethro?" Director Morrow asked his best agent.
Gibbs moved closer to the directors desk, and held out the semi-blank sheet of paper. The director accepted the sheet of paper.
"What's this?" the director asked, looking down at the paper.
"It's a request for leave of absence." Gibbs replied.
Director Morrow looked up at his agent standing in front of his desk, and tilted his head, slightly, to one side.
"Going smewhere?" he asked, somewhat amused.
Gibbs shifted in place. "You could say that."
Gibbs spent the next few minutes explaining the situation to his director who sat patiently and listened intensly.
"I just don't see why Agent DiNozzo can't handle this on his own." Director Morrow said finally.
Gibbs took another step towards the director's desk.
"With all do respect sir--you weren't there last time." Gibbs replied, quietly.
"You're right, I wasn't."
"But he is a grown man, Jethro, he's more than capable of taking care of himself." Director Morrow added.
"I understand that sir, but for him its like walking into a combat zone." Gibbs replied. "And I don't intend to let one of people walk into a fire fight alone."
Director Morrow drew in a long bretah, and then let it out, slowly. He rubbed his forehead with one han while holding the sheet of paper in the other.
"Alright. How long will you be gone?" he asked.
"Don't know, sir." Gibbs replied, as he leaned his head to one side until he felt his neck pop.
Director Morrow laid the sheet of paper down flat on his desk, and picked up his form-sighning pen and signed the request at the bottom, and then dated it. He looked at it one last time before handing it back to Gibbs.
"Clear this case, and you're free to go." Director Morrow said, quietly.
Gibbs nodded his appreciation.
"Thank you sir."
Tony sat at his desk with the phone to his ear arguing with the person on the other end of the line.
He finally got fed up with arguing and slammed the phone back down onto its base angrily.
"Havin' fun there Tony?" Kate quipped, from McGee's desk.
Tony shot her an annoyed look across the room.
"No Kate, I am not having fun." he replied.
Gibbs rounded the corner and handed Tony the sheet of paper that the director had signed only a few minutes ago as he passed his desk.
Tony studied it carefully and then looked up with a surprised expression on his face.
"Boss this-" he started to say.
Gibbs gave him the stare from his own desk, and Tony knew exactly what it meant.
While Gibbs, Kate, and McGee conversed about the case and what they'd found so far Tony flipped the sheet of paper over and found a sticky note attached to the back.
He peeled it off and read it silently to himself, as he stuffed the other sheet of paper into his desk drawer--knowing that he would have to finish filling it out later.
The sticky note read: **I'll explain later. Come to my place about 8:00 tonight. We'll talk.**
Tony finished reading the note, and glanced over at his boss sitting across the bullpen at his own desk. A cold shiver ran down the length of Tony's body.
He thought he saw Gibbs look up and wink at him, but then he shook it off dismissing it as his mind was just merely playing tricks on him.
Chapter 4---
It was just a few minutes after 8:00 when Tony arrived at Gibbs' house. He stood out on the front steps and rang the doorbell. He hopped up and down, in place, a few times trying to quiet his anxious nerves while he waited for Gibbs to answer. If anything Tony was nervous as hell just standing there.
The sound of the door opening made the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end.
"Tony." Gibbs said, his voice warm and inviting.
He motioned for the younger man to come in with a wave of his hand.
Tony's first thought was to just turn and run--as fast as he could, but he shook it off and entered his boss' house slowly.
Gibbs closed the door and locked it back.
"N-nice place you got here boss." Tony stammered nervously, as his eyes wandered over the decor of Gibbs' living room.
"Yeah, Abby really did a good job didn't she." Gibbs said, walking towards the younger man.
Tony just nodded in agreement.
"So Abby's been here already?" Tony asked, as he ran a hand through his dark hair.
"Yep." Gibbs replied, pointing towards the upstairs. "Still is."
"Oh." Tony said.
Gibbs laughed. "Come on have a seat." Gibbs said, pointing towards the sofa.
Tony moved towards the sofa admiring this and that all along the way.
"Would you like a drink?" he asked Tony.
"Sure, thanks." Tony replied, as he sat down on the sofa.
Gibbs headed off in the direction of the kitchen to get the two of them a cold drink.
He returned a minute later carrying two beers--one in either hand. He handed one to Tony before he sat down on the sofa next to him.
"You seem tense." Gibbs pointed out, as he popped the top off of his beer.
"Really, I hadn't noticed." Tony replied, as he held his bottle out for Gibbs to open.
"I noticed that you had both of our names on that 'Leave of Absence Form'," Tony said, quietly, looking over at Gibbs.
"And you wanna know why?" Gibbs asked, with a knowing grin.
Tony nodded, and Gibbs let out a short chuckle.
"Well, first of all, Tony, its Jethro--and secondly-," Gibbs started.
"It was two years after you and I first met at NCIS," Gibbs began. "Your father was in town for a business meeting, and somehow he got caught up in the case that we were working."
Tony remembered all too well the case that Gibbs was talking about. The whole damn thing had been one huge nightmare for him.
"I remember what he was like when we tried to question him." Gibbs said.
Tony could see the whole thing playing out in his head over and over and over again.
They sat in silence for a few minutes together. Gibbs finally looked over at the younger man, and just looking at him he could tell that there was something bothering him--deeply bothering him.
"Spill." Gibbs said quietly, taking a sip of his beer.
Tony did the same, and then sucked in a deep breath as he prepared to tell his story. The younger man's eyes glazed over as he took another long sip of his beer.
......DREAM-LIKE SEQUENCE......
He and his mother walked in through the front door of the huge DiNozzo residence. Young Anthony had his head down as he walked behind his mother.
His father stood in the foyer waiting for them, and as soon as he saw his son he made a bee line straight for him.
"Got kicked out again, eh?" The older DiNozzo said, some amusement in his voice.
The young Anthony did not look up.
"I didn't like it there." he mumbled.
"What's that!?" His father asked, angrily, as he seized his son by the collar of his shirt.
"I-I said I didn't like-"
Young Anthony never got to finish his sentence before he felt the back of his father's hand come down, hard, against the side of his face.
His mother flinched at the sight of her husband hitting thei son, but all she felt she could do was turn away and pretend it didn't happen.
The young boy's father took a good, long hard look at his wife.
"Come on." he growled angrily, as he drug the boy away towards his 'study'.
He closed the 'study' door behind them, and almost as soon as he did--the shouting started.
"I spend good money--good money--to put get you into nice schools, and what do you do--hunh--this is how *you* repay *my* generosity!" the older DiNozzo shouted at his son, angrily.
Smack! His hand landed hard against his son's face once more. The shouting and hitting continues behind closed doors.
......END OF DREAM-LIKE SEQUENCE......
Tony cried out in reaction to the painful memory.
"Tony." Gibbs said softly.
Tony snapped out of the trance which he had fallen into, and looked up at his boss--his glazed over.
There were tears in the younger man's eyes as he stared into Gibbs' eyes. Gibbs could see the pain and the scars all over Tony, and his heart ached for the younger man sitting in his living room now.
"Tony, its okay--you're okay." Gibbs said softly, soothingly.
Tony closed his eyes, but still the tears came. He tried to ease the pain he felt by turning up the rest of his bottle of beer and chugging it--but to no avail.
Gibbs pulled the young man close, wrapped his arms around him, and held him there.
"It's gonna be alright--you're safe with me." Gibbs reassured the younger man in a soothing voice, as he placed a gentle kiss on his head.
This was why. This was the very reason why Gibbs felt he needed--no he had--to go back with Tony to see his dying father. There was just no way he could let him go in there alone.
The next morning came all too fast for Tony. When he awoke he found that he'd fallen asleep on his boss' sofa. Gibbs' arms were still wrapped around him, and they felt so warm and strong--they had a certain calming effect on the younger man.
He looked around, wiped drool away from the corners of his mouth, and then realized he had inadvertently drooled on his boss' shirt. It was strange though--he knew he should be panicked, afraid really, but he wasn't.
Tony almost wanted to lay his head back down against his boss' muscular chest, but before he could Gibbs began to stir.
Gibbs opened his eyes slightly as he started to stretch.
"Morning." he whispered. "Sleep good?"
Tony nodded *yes* as he slid away from Gibbs and scooted down a little on the sofa to give the older man more room.
Gibbs continued to stretch and yawn next to Tony who did the same.
"How about breakfast?" Gibbs asked, wiping sleep from his eyes.
"Sure." Tony replied quietly. "Sorry about your shirt." Tony said, lowering his eyes to the drool stain on Gibbs' shirt.
Gibbs chuckled at the younger man, and smiled a knowing smile.
He couldn't help but smile at the young man sitting there on the sofa next to him. "Don't worry about it." he said softly.
"Come on then." Gibbs said, waving his hand as he stood.
The two men stood and then made their way, slowly, to the kitchen. The two men entered the kitchen to find Abby, wearing an apron, and moving a pan of biscuits from the oven to the little breakfast table.
"Morning," Abby said cheerfully, when she noticed Tony and Gibbs.
"Morning." the pair said together.
Abby turned and closed the oven, and then switched it off now that she was done with it.
She was already dressed up in the usual Abby Scuito style as was her custom--pigtails and all. And the apron, Tony thought, was not something you'd expect to see Abby wearing on any occassion.
On the little breakfast table she had set out a breakfast feast fit for a king--it consisted of biscuits, gravy, eggs, sausage, bacon, toast, orange juice, and of course two different kinds of jelly--Grape and Strawberry. Abby turned to the coffee maker which sat on the counter top next to the sink.
"Coffee's almost ready," she said, looking down at the coffee maker.
"Correction--coffee's ready," she said with a chuckle as she pulled the pot away from the maker.
Then with her free hand she reached up into the cabinet just above where the coffee pot sat, and pulled down a couple of coffee mugs.
"Good," Gibbs said. "I could use some."
The two men each took a seat at the little breakfast table as Abby set the coffee pot down on top of a small warmer pad in the center of the table next to the pitcher of orange juice.
The two men began to make their plates both of them ready to dig in and eat their fill. Abby took off her apron as she reached into the refrigerator, and pulled out a plate with two tofu wraps on it--after which she took her own seat at the table.
"I didn't know you could cook Abs." Tony remarked, as he swallowed a piece of bacon.
"Yep," she replied with a smile.
"I mean I usually don't--not often anyway--ya know, cause I normally would just eat a tofu wrap or something; but Gibbs doesn't like tofu, or wraps, or tofu wraps," she explained with a chuckle. "And besides this really seems more Gibbs' style anyway." she added, with a smile at Gibbs.
Gibbs nodded at Abby gratefully as he poured himself a cup of *strong* coffee. Tony poured himself a glass of orange juice.
"So, how often do you spend the night here?" Tony asked Abby, as he cut through his biscuit & gravy with his fork.
Abby looked across the table at Gibbs who was digging into his eggs at that very moment.
"Occassionally." she replied, with a devilish grin.
"Oh, so you guys are-," Tony started to say waving his fork between her and Gibbs.
Abby chuckled. "Only if *Play Dates* count." she replied.
Gibbs took a long sip of his coffee. He let out a satisfied groan as he set his cup back down.
"Aahh, that's good coffee, Abs." he said, with an approving nod.
Abby smiled as she swallowed a bit of her tofu wrap.
"Why thank you," she replied sweetly.
Gibbs swallowed several more bites of his own biscuit & gravy along with a couple of bites of eggs, sausage, and bacon--chasing it all down with his coffee.
"How do you feel this mornin', Abs?" Gibbs asked, across the table.
Tony couldn't help but notice that an eerie calm seemed to come over Abby as Gibbs spoke those words to her from across the table.
Abby lowered her eyes away from Gibbs. "A little sore, sir." she replied, in a low voice.
Gibbs only nodded.
It did not take the three of them long at all to finish their breakfast, and once they were finished they talked for a bit.
The two men sat back, relaxed, in their chairs rubbing their full stomachs obviously satisfied at how full they were.
"That was delicious, Abs." Tony said, across the table.
"Why thank you, Tony," Abby said sweetly.
Gibbs just flashed her a smile.
In his case he didn't have to say anything--Abby knew what he thought and how he felt. She could always see it in his eyes.
Tony stood and reached for his cup and plate.
"Leave it." Gibbs said.
Tony looked down at his boss with a confused expression painted on his face. Gibbs knew what the younger man was thinking even before he said anything.
"Leave it," he repeated his instructions. "Abby will take care of it."
Tony was shocked that his boss, Leroy Jethro Gibbs, would think in those terms--he would just have to protest.
"Si--er--Jethro, you can't really expect Abby to cook breakfast, and then clean up the mess afterwards." Tony said in protest.
Gibbs shot Tony the stare. He really did not want to have to speak to Tony in this way--not now of all times, but he would do what he had too.
"Its okay, Tony, really--I don't mind." Abby said, sweetly.
"DiNozzo," Gibbs said, sternly.
"Yes s-sir," Tony replied, automatically shifting into his work place persona.
"Shower--Now." Gibbs instructed.
"Yes sir."
Tony let go of his dishes, and turned to leave the kitchen when Gibbs called his name again.
"And Tony," Gibbs said softly. "I do plan to help her."
Tony smiled at his boss. "Okay."
"Now go get ready for work," Gibbs instructed waving him out of the kitchen.
Tony hurried out of the kitchen and up the stairs to the upstairs bathroom. He closed and locked the door behind him, and then found a fresh towel waiting for him on top of the toilet lid. He would have to thank them later he knew.
He stripped down out of the clothes that he had worn the day before, and threw them into the clothes hamper in the corner.
He turned on the shower, waited until the water was just right, and then stepped in. He let the warm water run down over his face and naked body, silently with his eyes closed, for a few brief minutes just letting the heat clear his head.
He didn't know why he felt the way he did when he was around Gibbs--he just knew that he did. It was a feeling of warmth and acceptance. It seemed as though when he was around Gibbs he had this longing to be with the older man--even as far fetched as he knew that it would sound to someone like Kate or McGee--he knew deep down it was true. He was almost utterly and completely at peace around his boss.
Just hearing the man speak was enough to send shivers down his spine.
In the kitchen--Gibbs and Abby stood over the sink doing the dishes as a team. They picked at each like old friends do as they carried out the tedious task before them.
Gibbs leaned in close to Abby, and whispered her name in a low voice.
"Abs," he said, in a low voice. "About last night."
"Sir," she replied.
Gibbs drew in a long deep breath before he spoke again. "You understand why I had to punish you, don't you?" he asked, in that same low voice.
He really hated what he'd had to do to Abby last night, but he knew that if he did not do it then Abby was most likely to hurt herself--and he could not let that happen, not after the last time.
Abby nodded, lowering her eyes to the floor.
"I do not enjoy punishing you, you know that."
"I know, sir." she replied, quietly.
Gibbs reached around and very gently placed his hand against one sore spot that he knew of on her left butt cheek. Even though he did it very gently she still winced in pain as the area was still very tender to the touch.
"But I deserved it," she said, in a low voice, not looking up at Gibbs. "I failed you."
She could feel the tears burning behind her eyes, and she fought with everything that she had to keep them at bay.
Gibbs kept his eyes trained on Abby the whole time as she spoke.
"I wasn't able to make your deadline,' she said with a sniffle.
Gibbs put his arm around her shoulder to comfort his favorite forensic specialist.
"And what did you learn," he asked her, softly.
By now the tears were streaking down her cheeks. "I promise it'll never happen again, sir." she sobbed.
Gibbs gently kissed the young woman's temple. "I believe you, Abs." he said, softly.
Chapter 5---
They were almost 2 hours later when they arrived at work later that morning. Stepping off of the elevator the three of them switched into their work place personas.
Gibbs and Tony had let Abby off on the floor that her lab was located on before they headed up to the squad room.
The elevator pinged and the two men stepped off.
"A little late don't ya think?" Kate said, as the two men rounded the corner.
Tony rolled his eyes at his partner as he took his seat across the bullpen from her.
"Kate--don't." Gibbs said sternly, as he took a seat behind his own desk.
Gibbs set his coffee cup down on the desk in front of him so that both of his hands would be free.
He turned to his computer and punched up his e-mail the same as yesterday.
Gibbs turned at his desk so that he could see his team--well mostly anyway.
"What do we know?" Gibbs asked, flatly.
Kate sat back, relaxed, in her chair behind her desk.
"Well, we know that only two people actually saw Corporal Thompson prior to his death." Kate offered.
"Yeah, um, his Commanding Officer, Staff Sergeant Trevor Jackson, and his girlfriend Melissa Carmichael." McGee added, reading the info off of his computer screen.
"Both of which own a gun," Tony pointed out. "So either one of them could've done it--easily."
Gibbs nodded in agreement. "But only one did." Gibbs said.
"So, in other words, we've got nothing." Kate said, rubbing her eyes.
Suddenly Gibbs' cell phone rang. He checked the caller ID first, it was Abby, so he answered it.
"Whatcha got Abs?" Gibbs asked.
"Gibbs, I need you to come down here right away." Abby said excitedly over the phone.
"On my way." Gibbs replied.
He hung up his phone, quickly, and then stood and headed for the elevator.
"Let's go," Gibbs said, motioning with his finger for his team to follow.
Gibbs and the team strolled into Abby's lab a few minutes later.
Abby spun on her heel to face the team.
"What, no Caf-Pow?" she asked, playfully.
Gibbs stepped towards the forensic specialist.
"Whatcha got Abs?" he aske, sternly, looking into her eyes.
Abby giggled. "Right," she replied, as she turned back to her computer screen. She punched a few keys on the keyboard until an image flashed up onto the plasma screen.
The team moved around for a better look at the image.
"First off--the image on the left is a slightly smudged finger print, which was pulled off of the headboard of the bed that Corporal Thompson was lying on when he was found," Abby began to explain.
"Now I know it took awhile, but I finally got a match off of it."
"Well if anybody could do it Abs, it'd be you." Tony remarked.
"Why thank you Tony--I'll take that as a compliment," she replied with a smile.
Gibbs cleared his throat loudly to get the team's attention focused back on the case.
"Right, sorry." Abby said, apologetically. "The fingerprint on the left was a match to Melissa Carmichael." Abby announced proudly, as she punched a key on her keyboard.
This action caused an image of Melissa Carmichael to appear on the plasma screen next to the fingerprint.
"Okay, so if she's in the database then that means she must have a record," Kate pointed out.
"Indeed she does," Abby announced, with a smile.
"I took the liberty of looking up Ms. Carmichael's record, and e-mailed it to McGee." Abby explained. "And it seems your Ms. Carmichael did a stint in Juvie Hall, when she was in high school."
"Wow," Tony said from the other side of the room.
"Yeah, she must've been a wild child back then," Abby remarked.
"Anything else, Abs?" Gibbs asked.
"Yes, as a matter of fact there is," she replied.
She punched a few more keys on her keyboard and another image flashed up onto the plasma screen overhead.
"Staff Sergeant Trevor Jackson," Abby announced.
"What was he doing there?" Tony asked out loud.
"Sorry Tony, but that's for you to find out," Abby said, with a grin.
"W-well--well we know why Ms. Carmichael was there," McGee said, stammering slightly.
"Right, because Ducky already said he found traces of semen on Corporal Thompson's boxers." Kate added, picking up where McGee left off.
Tony looked over at his partner with a slight grin.
"And you're thinkin' that Corporal Thompson and Ms. Carmichael were gettin' it on in that motel room." Tony remarked.
"You are such a child Tony." Kate said, rolling her eyes at her partner.
Tony couldn't help but chuckle at himself.
Gibbs took a moment to silently soak up everything that he'd just been told, before speaking.
"And those three slugs Ducky pulled--there to badly damaged to be any help, right?" Gibbs asked, quietly.
"Yep," Abby replied. "Sorry."
"Not your fault Abs," Gibbs said quitly.
Gibbs drew in a deep breath and then let it out as he ran a hand through his silvery-hair.
"Kate, go interview the girlfriend, again" Gibbs instructed sternly.
"DiNozzo, you're with me." Gibbs said, as he turned on his heel and headed around to the door.
"On your six boss." Tony called, as he followed after his boss.
Kate was already out the door ahead of the others.
"Uh, b-boss what about me?" McGee asked, nervously.
Gibbs turned back to face the probie agent with a glare. He studied him for a moment before saying anything.
"Get Abby a Caf-Pow," Gibbs commanded, pointing to the door.
Out of the corner of his eye Gibbs could swear he saw Abby grin.
.........To Be Continued In "Homecoming".........
Author's Chapter Notes:
The story continues...