In case you haven't read the other stories in the 'Upside Down' Universe, Tony is married to Faith Coleman and is senior to Gibbs at NCIS. Some other characters are in non-canon positions.

I haven't marked this story as complete as I think I may add some more to the continuing story of this version of the MCRT.

Warning – this may be angsty.

"Daddy!"

The scream from his daughter's bedroom jolted Tony DiNozzo's attention away from the agent appraisals he was poring over.

"Daddy!" came the cry again.

Tony was used to being summoned by Matilda but there was something different in her voice this time which had him running up the stairs as fast as he could. He raced into the room and found Tilly sitting on the floor with tears streaming down her face. She held out her hands to him when she saw him pausing at the door,

"It's Cherry-pie," she sobbed.

Tony felt his heart slow down slightly as he saw that his daughter was unhurt; the horrific scenarios he had pictured on his run to the bedroom faded away as he came to terms with another type of hurt.

"What is it, sweetheart?" he asked as he knelt beside his daughter.

"There's something wrong," Tilly replied as she cradled her hamster.

Tony sighed. He remembered the long discussions he had had with his wife over whether to buy Tilly her first pet. Tilly had wanted a hamster ever since Tony had shared the story of Ferrari, his own first pet: Tilly adored her father and always wanted to emulate him. Tony and Faith DiNozzo had had done their research, thought about the request seriously and decided that a pet would teach Tilly responsibility and, hopefully not for a long time, about loss and bereavement.

"And," had said Faith with a smile, "Hamsters are very cute!"

So the cute hamster had been chosen with great care by Tilly who had also bestowed the name Cherry-pie for a reason unclear to her parents. And, on the whole, Tilly had learned responsibility as she diligently cared for the small animal: Cherry-pie had fulfilled her purpose. But now, thought Tony ruefully, she had fulfilled the other purpose: teaching the little girl about death and bereavement. Why, he wondered, had he and Faith not thought this through properly? He took breath as he began to think how to deal with this latest crisis but, before he could speak, Tilly said,

"You can make it better, can't you, Daddy?" And she held out her hands in which she held the cooling body of her golden hamster.

Tilly was mourning the death of Cherry-pie. Her father realised he was about to be mourning the loss of his daughter's absolute trust in him. Until now Tony or Faith had mostly been able to make things better for Tilly. When her adored soft toy Floopy had gone missing Tony's junior agent Tim McGee had found a replacement; when Tilly's brother Jacob was born her parents and their friends had made sure she still knew her importance to the family; when she broke her favourite mug, Tony glued it back together. Faith and Tony DiNozzo had created a firm but loving structure for Tilly with themselves as loving guardians and teachers able to answer Tilly's questions and assuage her fears. Until today.

Hoping against hope, Tony took the creature in his hands.

"Do you know what happened?" he asked.

"Cherry-P was running up her ladder," gulped Tilly.

"And?" asked Tony.

"She fell off! And she didn't get up," said Tilly.

"Ah," said Tony. He gently felt along the hamster's body and soon realised that her neck was broken.

"Daddy?" said Tilly anxiously, "You can fix her, can't you?"

"I'm sorry, sweetheart. I can't," said Tony.

Tilly stared at her father in disbelief and then her expression cleared. "I know, we'll get Uncle Ducky – he's a doctor, he'll know what to do."

Tony thought briefly about allowing Tilly a few more precious moments of hope … of allowing Ducky to break the bad news but knew he couldn't do that.

"No, sweetheart. Uncle Ducky couldn't do anything either. Cherry-pie is … isn't going to wake up."

"But she has to," said Tilly, "I want her to."

"I want her to wake up too," said Tony wondering how much money he would give to have the small animal start breathing again, "But she isn't going to. She hurt herself too badly when she fell."

"She's broken?" asked Tilly.

"Yes," said Tony.

"But when I broke my Finding Nemo mug, you fixed it," said Tilly.

"I know. But you couldn't use it again, could you?" said Tony. "You couldn't have your drinks in it anymore, could you?"

"That's all right," insisted Tilly, "I can just look at Cherry-P. I don't need her to run around. I'll be gentle with her."

Pictures of freeze-dried preserved deceased pets flashed through Tony's mind but he resolutely banished them,

"It doesn't work like that, darling," he said. "When animals go to sleep like this, well … they stay asleep."

"And you can't do anything?"

"No."

"But you're Daddy. You can do anything," said Tilly.

"I wish I could do something," said Tony, "But I can't. Not this time."

"Could Mommy do it?" asked Tilly hopefully.

Again, Tony thought about suggesting that they wait for Faith to return home to see if she could indeed do something but again managed to squash the delaying tactic.

"No, Tilly, I'm really sorry. Mommy can do lots of things but she won't be able to make Cherry-pie wake up."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Really, really sure?"

"Yes."

Tilly took Cherry-pie back from her father and gently stroked her. "Is Cherry-P dead?" she asked.

"Yes," said Tony.

"I didn't know what it was like," said Tilly. "They told us about it at school but I didn't really understand."

"I know," said Tony.

"If I watched. For a long time," said Tilly, "Would she wake up? If I was quiet and let her sleep as long as she wanted?"

"No, Tilly. She won't wake up."

"I love her," said Tilly.

"I know."

Tilly was quiet for a few moments. "Daddy?"

"Yes, sweetheart?"

"Do people die too?"

"Yes, they do."

"Even if we love them?"

"Yes."

"Is that why you haven't got a mommy?"

"Yes, that's right."

"So, will you die one day?"

"Yes."

"And Mommy?"

"Yes,"

"And Jacob?"

"Yes. But not for a long time."

"I don't want you to die," said Tilly and she began to sob again.

Tony pulled Tilly on to his lap and put his arms around her wondering if his daughter had really needed this life lesson. All he wanted was to keep her safe and happy and, for a moment, cursed the day they had gone to the pet shop and picked out the adventurous Cherry-pie. He let Tilly cry on until she finally seemed to run out of tears,

"It hurts, Daddy," she hiccupped.

"I know, sweetheart. But … you're glad you had Cherry-pie, aren't you?"

"What?"

"She made you laugh, didn't she?"

"Yes."

"And you looked after her well, didn't you?"

"I did, didn't I?"

"You did. You were the best owner she could have had. You got her the best food, cleaned out her cage …" Tony smiled as he remembered how conscientious his daughter had been: in many ways she was her meticulous mother's daughter. "She was a lucky hamster."

"Was she?" asked Tilly doubtfully.

"Of course she was. And you're sad that she's not going to be around anymore. Some animals die and there's nobody to care," said Tony.

"But it hurts," wailed Tilly afresh.

"I know, I know," said Tony hugging her close once more. "But you'll never forget her. She'll live inside of you forever."

"She will?" asked Tilly.

"Yes, right there," said Tony pointing to Tilly's heart.

"You sure?" asked Tilly. "Does Ferrari still live there?" she pointed to Tony's heart.

"All the time," said Tony.

"Oh," said Tilly as she considered this new possibility. "Oh, I think I'd like that."

Tony breathed a sigh of relief as he began to hope that the worst was past. Tilly leaned back into him and relaxed. A few minutes she said,

"Daddy?"

"Yes, darling?"

"What shall we do with Cherry-pie?"

"What?"

"Do we throw her away?" asked Tony's practical daughter. "Because the men who come to collect the trash might not like it."

Tony managed to keep a straight face, "No, we won't throw her away. We could have a funeral."

"What's a funeral?" asked Tilly who was always eager to learn.

"It's when you say goodbye to someone who's died. We'd talk about Cherry-pie … remember what she was like, what she did, why we loved her …"

"You loved her too, didn't you, Daddy?"

"Yes, I did. So we'd say goodbye … that would be nice, wouldn't it?"

"And then we put her in the trash?" asked Tilly.

Tony imagined a ceremonial procession to the trash can but decided against it, "No, we could bury her." He braced himself for outrage.

"Like planting a seed?" suggested Tilly.

"Yes," said Tony but, perceiving a potential pitfall hastened to add, "But Cherry-pie wouldn't grow like a seed would."

"Oh," said Tilly as she digested this possibility. "Where would we bury her?"

"Where would you like to put her?"

"In the backyard," said Tilly.

Tony breathed a sigh of relief that his daughter hadn't chosen some exotic location. "That would be fine," he said. "And perhaps we could plant a flower over her. So we remember where she is." Tony didn't want accidentally to disinter a dead hamster in a few years' time.

"I'd like that," said Tilly. "A Cherry-pie flower."

"If we put her in the corner," said Tony with sudden inspiration, "We could plant a cherry tree there. Then we'd never forget."

Tilly nodded happily. Tony didn't think that the tears had gone for good but he felt that the worst of the crisis was over … for the moment at least.

NCISNCIS

Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs was sitting at his desk the next morning when he saw Tony walking in. He knew that his Boss had taken the previous day to write up appraisals and, while it wasn't a job he enjoyed, he was surprised to see the haggard look it seemed to have generated on Tony's face.

"Ah, Jethro," said Tony. "I wanted to ask you a favour."

Gibbs nodded and took a revivifying sip of coffee.

"I need you to make me a coffin."

Tony sometimes wondered what Gibbs thought about him but he got a clue when he saw the normally stoical and unflappable Gibbs lose all the colour from his face and jump up in alarm.

"No, no," Tony hastened to say, "Not like that. It's for Cherry-pie. We've got to arrange a funeral."

Gibbs sank back into his chair with relief wishing, not for the first time, that it would be acceptable to slap Tony's head.

AN: I think death is probably on my mind after the awful events in Manchester earlier this week …