Chapter 1 Thanks to Kejfe Blintz for her awesome job as a beta. Her improvements made this story readable.

"Hi Abby"

"Tony!" Abby squealed into the phone. It had been three weeks since he had shipped out, and she had missed him a lot. "It's so good to hear from you. How are you doing?"

"The food sucks, there's not nearly enough women around, and I'm not allowed to date those that are." Tony replied unhappily. "This tour is going to suck."

"Not so good then?" Abby questioned.

"Sorry, not in a great mood today. But, I'm surviving. I miss everyone there. How is everyone? How are you? Is McGeek enjoying his geek job?" Abby was surprised he was asking about McGee, she knew Tony cared but he rarely showed it. The transfer to the ship must be really getting to him.

"I'm fine, except for missing the three musketeers. McGee's not great, he misses field work a lot and misses being on a team. It kinda gets him down, not that he'd admit it."

Tony sighed in response.

"What about the Bossman and Ducky? Have you heard from Ziva?" Tony questioned.

"Gibbs has been really crabby lately. I don't think he likes his new team, they screw up a lot. And Ducky has been really busy because Palmer is taking extra classes this semester. I haven't talked to Ziva, but McGee has. She misses us too."

"We all miss you Tony."

"I miss you too Abs."

"Do you miss McGee and Gibbs and Ducky and Ziva too?"

"I miss everyone, I'm just not sure they miss me" he admitted softly. Self-deprecation was one of Tony's bad habits when he felt depressed. He very rarely shared information like this, although Abby was his confidante.

"Tony" Abby scolded. "Of course they miss you. Gibbs really misses you."

"I don't think so." He replied very quietly.

"What the heck are you talking about? Of course he misses you."

"Abby, I killed the woman he…he cared a lot about." Abby could hear the pain in his voice.

"Tony, you did NOT! Take that back!" she demanded.

"Abs, he's mad at me. I know it. I feel like I've been sent back to military school all over again."

"Gibbs didn't send you away, Vance did. Gibbs misses you. A LOT." Abby reinforced.

"How's bowling going? Is your tournament over yet?" Tony asked, clearly changing the subject. Normally Abby would have objected to the avoidance tactic; however she was quite astounded at how quickly Tony had opened up to how he felt. She decided to let him change the subject and to attack this problem from another angle – the Gibbs angle.

Abby dialled Gibbs' desk, barely waiting for him to respond before she demanded, "Gibbs, I need you to come down to the lab, right now."

"I'll be right down Abs." Gibbs headed to the elevator, pondering what she needed him so urgently for. They had no active cases so it had to be something personal.

As Gibbs walked through the door of her lab, Abby began talking at lightening speed before he even had a chance to ask why she had called.

"I just got off the phone with Tony and he's really depressed and really wants to come home. He misses everyone and thinks you hate him, Gibbs you have to tell him you don't hate him! He feels like you sent him away to military school and I told him it was Vance's fault but he didn't listen. He thinks you're mad at him because you aren't trying to get him home. You have to do something Gibbs."

"Abs…" Gibbs tried to interject.

"I mean it Gibbs. I know it might take some time to fix everything with the Evil Sith Lord in control of NCIS, but you have to make sure Tony knows you care or he's going to think you're just like his father. You have to tell him you care. He thinks he's all alone and nobody wants him and you hate him because he killed the Director. I mean, he didn't kill the Director but he kinda feels like he did because he didn't stop it, but you don't hate him for that, do you? Ducky said she was sick and going to die anyway so you can't hate Tony for that."

"I don't hate Tony." Gibbs affirmed softly.

"Good, then do something. I've got his contact information…you could call him, or email him or mail him a postcard. He already sent me a postcard, see?"

Gibbs nodded and took the contact information Abby was holding out for him before turning and heading back to the elevator.

That night, Gibbs thought about what to do for Tony. He didn't really feel comfortable calling or emailing. To tell the truth, he was still somewhat annoyed at Tony for losing track of Jenny before she got killed, but he did not believe for a second it was Tony's fault that she died. Jen made her choice and now he knew why. As he worked on his boat, he contemplated just how to communicate with Tony.

Tony was excited when he received the envelope in the mail. The return address said only NCIS. He figured it was probably from Abby, he had sent her a couple of postcards since shipping out.

He ripped open the envelope once he got to his office and immediately knew it wasn't from Abby. It contained a photograph and a post-it note. The post-it note covered the photo and said only 'Chin up DiNozzo'

He instantly knew who the note was from. Awed at the fact that Gibbs had taken the time to mail him something, Tony removed the post-it and looked at the photo. A dock stood empty, surrounded by water. It looked familiar, and after a moment Tony realised what he was looking at. It was a very recent photo of the dock he had pulled Gibbs and Maddy onto when their car had gone into the water. That day, Tony had been terrified when he realised neither Maddy nor Gibbs were breathing, but relieved when both began to breathe after he administered mouth-to-mouth.

He flipped the photo over to find a single word written in black marker on the back of it. 'Forever'.

Gibbs had always been a man of few words, but by sending Tony only four words and a photograph he had effectively communicated his affection to Tony. It had been a long three weeks since he had been shipped out to sea. Most of the time he had felt alone and abandoned, but now Tony knew his boss cared and had not abandoned him. Gibbs was counting on him to keep a good attitude and he was going to do it. Tony was going to keep his chin up, because Gibbs told him to. It was a direct order.

Immediately, Tony hung the photo on the wall, took out a pen and paper and began to work on his reply.