Warnings: None for this chapter. Slight spoilers for my story, "Slowly Fading Away".

A/N: Continuing to tie everything together. This one shot takes places shortly after Tony and Leah purchase their new house.

"Dark Cloud"

It was noticeable, the first week after they had moved into the new house in Arlington, that Tony was living underneath a dark cloud.

Leah had seen his anger before but it had never been directed towards her quite so much. He accused her of babying him, hovering over him when he just wanted to be left alone. She kept telling herself that it was going to get better once Tony went back to work. It didn't get any better once he was approved to return to active field duty at NCIS. In fact, it only got worse.

Tony came home well after dinner. He barely looked at her, barely spoke to her some nights. Leah tried to brush it off that the case they were working was the reason why he was so miserable. After all, they were looking for someone targeting federal agents. She wasn't sure how many had already been killed, but she could surmise it was not good. She wasn't going to be able to blame Tony's lack of communication with her on his job for much longer; she could see that something else was brewing just underneath the surface.

"Vance wants me to go to England," Tony informed her one evening. "I'm not sure how long I'll be."

"England? Do you think your knee is strong enough to travel?" Leah asked, concerned about him leaving Washington in this state.

Clearly that had been the wrong question to ask. Tony's green eyes grew dark, his fists balled up and he snapped at her, "I'm in my forties, Leah! My knee is never going to be strong enough to travel!"

Leah stepped back, a slight tremble in her body, and she cast her eyes up stairs, where she could hear the baby stirring. "Do you need help packing?" she inquired, wondering if that was the proper question.

Tony growled and shook his head. "No."

Is there anything I can do? Leah wanted to ask, but kept her mouth shut. Marital problems happened, she knew this, but she never expected their problems to consist of Tony acting like he didn't want her around anymore.

It seemed like the noticeable black cloud was present over her as well. Leah was afraid that if it continued to hover over them that their marriage was going to dissolve to ruin.