Tony’s paternal father was a cousin to David Rossi of BAU fame’s father and he had grown up admiring his distant cousin to the point that he had secretly become pen-pals with the young man while Rossi was, first in university after the marines, and then through putting together the first BAU team with Crawford back when Lecter was still a consultant.

Rossi had been the one to go to all his sports games even during his time at RIMA and he was the one who still held his medical power of attorney (MPOA), and power of (POA).
He too, had been in ‘Nam but during the end of it, while Tony’s other form had been in the hot middle of it. And it was Rossi he turned to when he needed help to get his head on straight after everything he had been through. Getting the keys to a mountain cabin and the jeep he needed to get away from it all.

There, he found a place with a big brick Harry Potter style fireplace, tub that needed hot water filled from water heated from the fire, and enough non-electronic workout gear to help him work out his angst and help him get his mind on neutral instead of the dead he had left behind.

The place had no electricity and was a dead zone for cells. A battery-operated ham radio was to be used in case of emergency but that was all. He was completely on his own. As he wanted it.
Though his cousin did visit for a bit halfway through. Tony’s old black and white intake picture from 67 in his hand. Tony realized his old body in that timeline had died the same day this body had been born. Another turn of the wheel on the Mandela.

Understanding in Rossi’s eyes as he told Tony, with his job at the BAU, he was familiar with the weirdness of magic. And telling Tony he had registered himself officially as Tony’s psychologist so until Tony passed him there was no way he was headed back to the World.

%%%%%%%

Tony now stood in front of the Memorial, his hand leaning against it. His fingers rubbing against his own name with the symbol saying he had died. Right next to the names of the men who had died that day at the French Fort because there was no back up to be had.
He shook the fallen snow off him and gazed at the statue of the three soldiers out on patrol, saluted them in memory and headed off to catch the last bus out to his new condo Rossi had moved him too while he had been gone.

Gibbs and Todd were finishing up their time at FLETC and would be scheduled back after the New Year, but someone had to do the end of the quarter and end of the year paperwork.
He had already had a “discussion” with Morrow over how many hours a day/week he was willing to work outside a true emergency now that they had another member on their team to pick up some of the slack. He had also mentioned that he planned to put the extra time on his new docket to use by doing the continuing education they all were supposed to be doing. Gibbs as Senior Supervisory Agent (SSA) still was going to have to be the one to keep on Todd’s case about hers, as well be adult enough as SSA to do his own and his own paperwork now that he had done his refresher.

%%%%%%%%

Tony had come in early as the muse on a cold case he had been looking over had hit while he was in the shower getting ready for work.
The muse proved correct, and with one call out to Texas to the NCIS base there, he had the Agent on hand take over the case since the perp was now in their jurisdiction. Writing up his notes on the case for transportation to Texas. And set it aside as he got a call from Dispatch. Seems there was a woman who had been buried alive in Rock Creek Park (of course where else), and she claimed that she remembered there was a bomb on a navy ship but nothing else.

He quickly made out the warrant paperwork for her fingerprints and DNA to make things official since the information he got was that she didn’t remember her name or much else.
He called Todd to wake her up and order her to wake up her boyfriend, Gibbs, and the two of them get their asses over to where the victim had been buried alive.
He hung up on her before she could bitch back on him for his comments. Picked up the faxed warrants and headed out and on the way called the overnight scene techs to drive a van over to the scene to help the two of them work it.
He grabbed the fingerprint scanner that Miami had pioneered and that he had made sure was charged, as he headed out to the hospital to get what he needed from the victim.
His radio hooked up to his phone so it could play the music he had taken a liking too when he had been in country. Buffalo Springfield on:

Paranoia strikes deep
Into your life, it will creep
It starts when you’re always afraid
Step out of line, the man come and take you away

What a song to listen too when coming to interview a woman who was buried alive and had memories of a bomb on a US Navy ship.
He shook his head as he turned in and parked at the hospital, then got out and grabbed his gear. Everything was in his bag but the scanner. That, he was making sure was connecting to the hospital’s internet system. Showed the paperwork at the desk and was shown to where Jane Doe was staying. Gently talked to her as the nurse took her blood for the DNA test as he scanned her hands. As he talked to her, he gently tried to interview her and got quite a bit more than they thought he would.

The scanner beeped with a name contracted with the navy through the company, Bombe Fermentdeckung Fabrik, a company that tests bombs on mockup of navy ships. Her name was Suzanne McNeil, and the head of the company had reported her missing that morning.

In with her belongings, he found, a magnetic security card for a hotel called the Jackson as he logged everything into the system back in the yard.
He called that into Gibbs to meet him there along with the victim’s name and workplace that didn’t open until a few hours from then. The room was 8700 and he now had a warrant to check it out.

There, they found one of the heads of the company, Albridge, on the floor having been killed by a blow to the head from a nearby bust.
Fingerprints were taken of the bust while Ducky and Gibbs ran the body, and Kate ran the rest of the room.
Prints came back to McNeil. Good thing, a guard was placed in her room as she was found trying to get out of her room. Gibbs had her arrested for the murder of Albridge, while her own attempted murder led to the other head of the company, Richter.
Ending the murder wave and the company in one fell swoop.

Not a bad first case with the team back together again.

End Part Two
8/14/2026