DISCLAIMER: I do not own "NCIS" or any of it's characters.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Here is a new story I've been wanting to write for a looooooong time. The summary sucks...just read it. It's soooo much better than the few words I'm given to summarize this story on this site. TRUST ME! :o)

Thoughts are written in italics. A flashback is bold. Please feel free to give me any kind of feedback you'd like. Positive and/or negative! It helps me become a better writer!

Thanks,

Laura

SUMMARY: Gibbs has always been incredibly private, but how does the team react when they discover his biggest secret? The one he's been keeping from EVERYONE? And will Tony be able to finally move on after betraying Jeanne? Tony/OC, Abby/McGee, Gibbs/Mann

CHAPTER 1

It had been a slow month, which the team was all extremely grateful for. A lot had gone on in the last year and though no one on the team would ever admit it, every member was in dire need of some serious down time. Paperwork and paper cuts were the only action any of them were not only getting, but seeing. The break was a welcome for the first couple of weeks, but now all were getting antsy and slightly agitated, especially Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo (more commonly referred to as Tony) who was still reeling from the whole mess with Jeanne Benoit, the first woman he'd ever loved and the daughter of one of the biggest arms dealers in the world, Henri Benoit, usually referred to by his codename La Grenouille ("The Frog").

It had been a little more than 6 months since his "relationship" (Tony had been ordered by Director Jenny Shepard to befriend Jeanne, hopefully eventually dater her so the Director could get to La Grenouille himself) with Jeanne had come to an end and almost a month since she'd accused him of murdering her father. Having such a significant amount of time on his hands lately caused Tony to run through the events of the last year or so over and over again. He couldn't stop thinking about Jeanne and everything that had happened between them. It wasn't so much that he missed her, he did, however a little less each day, it was that he felt so terrible and guilty for lying to her and putting her in the middle of something she never should have been involved with in the first place. Her whole life Jeanne had placed her father on a pedestal. He could do no wrong in her eyes. He was the perfect man, the perfect father. There was no need for her to ever discover the kind of person he truly was. It was unnecessary and cruel and it was this that Tony felt the worst about: having shattered that image of her dad. Not only did finding out about her father change how she viewed him, but it put her in extreme danger, which was something he also felt responsible for. He only hoped she would find happiness somewhere down the road and be able to move on. Afterall, she truly deserved to. Even though they were no longer together and she had accused him of murder, Tony still found himself worrying about her, constantly wondering where she was and if she was safe. I still can't believe she accused me of murder. I mean I know I lied and hurt her, but I thought she would have been able to tell that my feelings genuine. The real lie was what I did and who I was, never how I felt. I really did love her. I wonder if she knows I lied to her that day, Tony wondered as he recalled Jeanne and his last encounter.

Tony had just been released from FBI custody after Jeanne recanted her statement claiming she had witnessed him murder her father, La Grenouille, on his boat.

Jeanne was waiting for the elevator in the squad room when he approached her. "Hey! Can you give us a second, please? Thank you," Tony said to the agent escorting her.

"No problem, " the agent replied.

A bit out of breath while slightly frowning Tony said, "Hey." Sighing he continued, "I'm sorry you got caught in the middle of all this…"

Jeanne interrupted him while moving her face closer to his. He could feel her warm, sweet breath tickling his face sending him an onslaught of memories from their time together. "Was any of it real," she paused. "Tony?"

Their faces were no more than 2 inches apart. Tony could feel his body reacting to the closeness. He knew what he needed to say, he didn't like it nor did he want to, but it was the right thing to do, that much he knew. Staring intently into the love of his life's beautiful eyes, the ones he had gotten lost in so many times before, he answered, "No," just as the elevator "dinged" signaling its arrival.

Jeanne's face dropped, her lips pursed in anger and hurt as she stared at him. Once the elevator doors opened she walked in. Tony didn't move a muscle, only continued staring straight ahead as if she still stood there gazing into his eyes. She turned around to face him in the elevator to say one last thing. "I wish I'd never met you, " as her chin and lip quivered with impending tears she whispered, however loud enough so that he heard.

Tony was still unable to meet her eyes or even look towards her as she said this for fear that she would see right through him and realize he was lying to her. He couldn't take that chance. He had lied to help her. She'd have an easier time moving on if she hated him instead of loving and pining for him. As much as he wanted Jeanne to know how much he loved her, he knew it was better this way. Tony stood there moments after she had disappeared within the elevator trying to keep his own tears at bay and emotions in check before he joined his colleagues.

Tony stared off into space while he reminisced only to be interrupted by his partner, Mussaud Officer Ziva David, throwing a wadded piece of paper at him. "Hey! What was that for Ziva?"

"Just making sure you are okay. You were staring off into space. You know, I heard that if you stay like that too long your face will get stuck like that."

"No, that's if you cross your eyes. They say if you cross your eyes your face can get stuck like that. Not staring," he corrected. "Yes, of course, I'm fine. Just bored. We haven't had a case in FOREVER!" saying the word "forever" the way the character Squints in the movie "Sandlot" said it while storytelling in the treehouse. "When are we gonna get a new one? At this point it's been so long and I'm so desperate to have something to do that I don't care what kind of case it is! Anything would do! I'm just so bored!" he whined as he "played basketball" by crumpling up paper after paper and tossing them, without looking, into Special Agent Timothy McGee's trashcan.

Tony was not the only one who found himself bored and without any kind of work to do. Forensic Specialist Abby Sciuto and Chief Medical Examiner Donald Mallard, most commonly called Ducky, were hanging out in the squad room, a rare sight to see. Slurping a Calf Pow! (her 3rd of the day and it was only 12:30pm) Abby sat with McGee watching him kick ass in an online game at his desk. Ducky sat at Gibbs' desk telling stories to his assistant, Jimmy Palmer (who had pulled a chair up to Ziva's desk), and anyone else that would listen. Food containers were strewn on all the desks due to the lunch the colleagues and friends had ordered in and eaten together. A rare opportunity they had, so they took full advantage of it. Everyone grabbing bits of another's food. To anyone, even a complete outsider, it was obvious this group of completely different individuals was a family.

As the team sat around and socialized, a rare vision, the flat/plasma screen TV located in the center of their desks played ZNN, like it often did. For the past 30 minutes footage of various happenings in the Middle East were being shown, updating viewers on what had been going on there recently. As Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs arrived back from lunch with Army Colonel Hollis Mann, the woman he'd been dating for the last several months (things hadn't been going very well between the couple since she discovered Gibbs had been married 4 times, instead of the 3 he'd told her about, leaving out his 1st wife and only daughter who'd been killed 16 years earlier), as ZNN segwayed into a new topic effectively catching everyone's attention. The footage being shown was of one of the biggest celebrities, Madeline Lily, visiting various military bases and hanging out with armed forces personnel. It showed her visiting Veteran Hospitals, sitting with wounded soldiers while talking, reading, and singing to them. Basically just supporting them.

While the footage rolled a woman's voice reported basic background facts about Madeline Lily. "At the young age of 24, Madeline Lily has accomplished more than most people do in their entire lives. She's currently getting ready to finish the last half of her world tour which promotes her most recent album, "Hope". With her clothing and shoe line, both titled "Kalm", her home accessories line titled "Kalm Yourself", her many endorsements over the years, her album sales, her movies, and many others she has grossed an estimated $400 million. However, meeting her you'd never guess it. In her spare time Madeline does whatever she can for people less fortunate than her or people that have just fallen on unlucky and difficult times. In fact, she seems to have a sort of soft spot for the brave men and women protecting and fighting for our country. Whenever she can she visits wounded soldiers and bases, whether she be performing or just sitting and talking with them. Over the years she's even raised several million dollars for various Armed Services causes, including The Fisher House Foundation, The Disabled American Veterans Charitable Service Trust, Homes for Our Troops, and many others. She can often be seen speaking at various political functions in support of our troops. When asked why exactly she seems to have such a soft spot in her heart for our troops she answers…

(Cuts to an interview clip of Madeline Lily talking.)

She sits there, taking a moment to answer, as she appears to try and keep her emotions in check. Madeline begins to speak, "I feel that these men and women not only deserve our gratitude and support, but our respect for all they do for us. These are people that are fighting and standing up for people they have never met. They are selfless and sacrifice so much on a daily basis." She pauses to take a breath appearing to be slightly choked up. "Time with their families, watching their kids grow up, and unfortunately often times their lives." She pauses again, this time to look directly into the camera as if speaking to the cameraman himself. "I know I don't say it enough, but you are my hero…for all the reasons I just listed and so many more I didn't. I love you," she suddenly adds, "all," while trying to hide a severe blush and watery eyes.

As more footage is shown of the young celebrity the reporter's voice returns. "It was this interview that has people asking if maybe there's someone special to her that is in the Armed Forces. It seemed that she was speaking directly to someone in that last part of the interview. Maybe a significant other? At press time her publicist said she currently is single. Either way she's an exceptional young woman that I'm sure will only continue to succeed and make a positive mark on the world."

McGee walked closer to the screen to get a better look at the drop dead gorgeous celebrity. He stood there staring at the dark brown haired beauty as she sat, guitar in hand, at the bedside of a recently wounded marine. As McGee stood there, happily watching such a young woman doing actual good in the world especially for a celebrity, Tony walked up.

"Watcha lookin' at MgGoo?" Tony teased.

He ignored his mocking. "Have you ever heard of Madeline Lily?"

"Uhhh yeah!" he replied brows furrowed, eyes wide while shaking his head in a disbelieving "are you kidding me" kind of way. "She's HUGE! On the cover of every magazine and when she's not on the cover she's on nearly every page."

"Yeah, but I had no idea she did stuff like this," Tim said pointing to the screen. "Nice that she takes time out to help people."

"Not to mention she's insanely hot! Look at her eyes man! They're sooo blue…almost creepy! I wouldn't mind staring at those on a daily basis…or staring at more than just her eyes. If ya know what I mean Probalicious?!" Tony joked, elbowing McGee.

No sooner had Tony said this did he feel actual pain at the back of his head. Unbeknownst to any member of the team, Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs had not only heard their entire conversation about Madeline Lily, but saw them all gathered around the screen watching, gawking, and drooling. He had only decided on making his presence known once DiNozzo became inappropriate. Normally when Gibbs' slapped the backs of his team member's heads it didn't hurt. However, this time there was actual anger and irritation behind it leaving not only Tony but the entire team dumbfounded by their boss' viciousness. Abby yelled, "Gibbs!"

Tony turned towards his boss shocked by what he saw. As he stared into Gibbs' eyes he saw pure anger, disgust, and dare he say overprotectiveness? "Boss?" Tony confusedly questioned.

Gibbs answered only by silence and a look basically saying "say anything about her again and I'll kick your ass". Tony felt he should say something, what he had no idea, so he went with the basic. "Sorry Boss. I was just joking around. I mean…" he stuttered only to be interrupted by Gibbs walking towards his desk to answer his ringing phone.

While Gibbs was busy on the phone Tony looked towards his staring colleagues asking, "What was that about?"

"I have absolutely no idea Tony," Ducky replied just as puzzled by Gibbs physical outburst towards Tony.

"Does Gibbs know this celibacy somehow?" Ziva questioned.

"Celebrity, Ziva, CE – LEB – BRIT – EE. Celibacy is when… Oh forget it! You're hopeless!" Tony sighed, rolling his eyes, while Ziva only shrugged. "Ow! That actually really hurt!" Tony said as he rubbed the back of his head as Gibbs hung up the phone.

Ducky was just approaching Gibbs to try and speak with him about why he'd reacted the way he did when Gibbs grabbed his bag and growled, "Grab your stuff, we have a case. Marine family kidnapped."

They stared at him, all still incredibly confused by what had occurred only a minute earlier. Gibbs stopped almost to the elevator, "Are you all deaf? Hurry up and let's GO!" he bellowed shaking his head.

Tony, Ziva, and McGee scrambled for their bags then ran to catch up to their boss before the elevator doors shut with him inside alone. As the doors closed with the team inside, Director Shepard, Ducky, Palmer, and Abby all looked on, confusion and concern evident on their faces.

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