Breakfast had been a surreal affair. Meeting Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy would never not be weird, but to learn that he wasn’t a Death Eater anymore had been shocking. Petunia Evans had been a pleasant surprise, and the two of them seemed to hit it off well. It helped that she was mostly Muggle, so she understood his struggles as he entered the wizarding world.
It had taken far longer than Tony was strictly comfortable with to be looked over by Healer Trueheart. She’d tutted over him as the diagnostic spells ran and huffed and muttered as she prepared the treatment plan for him. Tony got the distinct impression that there’d be hell to pay if he didn’t follow it to the letter.
They were getting precisely nowhere, and Ellie was frustrated. Granted, it had only been an hour, but in a kidnapping, every minute counted.
In the end, the Dverger had offered to include Ellie and Tony in the portkey transfer of several employees, including Master Sharptongue, who was to return to England now that Tony had completed his training in the time chamber. To his credit, he barely stumbled as they landed in the London branch’s portkey arrivals room.
Tony stood on the bridge that crossed over the river, not far from their village, cradling a cup of coffee and watching the sun rise over the mountains. He’d grown to enjoy the mornings in the time chamber. The world was quiet save for the sounds of wildlife waking to start their day, and the burble and rush of the water beneath his feet, and off in the distance, the roar of the ocean as waves crashed on the shore.
It turned out that the clothing Sandra had on hand for him was his own. He’d left some jeans and a few other things in his old room when he’d stopped by on his way to Italy to visit his nona. They were a little big, because he’d carried more muscle as an athlete than he did now, but Ellie turned out to be good with a tailoring charm, so they resized to fit perfectly.
They landed in a park a couple of blocks away from the Paddington Estate. Ellie had judged it easier to hide their sudden appearance in an area with lots of trees and bushes. Tony could just imagine appearing out of thin air in front of some old lady walking her dog along a quiet street. He’d agreed to the plan without argument after that.
The core block removal had been, on reflection, the easiest part of the whole process, in Ellie’s opinion. Once in front of the Healer—Nenissa Trueheart, Sharptongue’s wife, as it turned out—it was just a matter of a few spells and the core block shattered.
They emerged from Grand Central Station late in the evening. The air was crisp—January had been cold so far, but lacked the snowfall typical for that part of the year, though if the weather reports were to be believed, snow was on the way in quantities that would make everyone who’d wished for snow regret their wishes.
Tony wasn’t about to hare off to New York without at least letting Gibbs know that he was taking some leave. In theory, it was a good time to take a break since they’d just wrapped their last case, but he didn’t want to leave Gibbs hanging, since fully 50% of his team would be leaving.
Tony was an interesting person. He kept everyone at arm’s length with his charm, wit, and the movie quotes that seemed to pour out of him, indicating an encyclopedic knowledge of modern cinema. Underneath all of that, she sensed a deep well of compassion and a drive to find the truth that rivalled Gibbs’ own. She also sensed a vulnerability in him that was carefully hidden.
Tony DiNozzo stepped on to the elevator and breathed a sigh of relief when no one else joined him as the doors slid shut. Normally, he was happy to make small talk with his fellow federal agents, but today he just wasn’t feeling it.
Tony DiNozzo always knew he was different. He just never imagined how different he really was. Now, confronted with the truth of his heritage and pursued by those who would use him for their own gain, he meets a woman whose only goal is to save his life–and in turn her own. Entering into a world totally foreign to him, Tony must learn to trust strangers, distant family members, and even his own eyes. You’d think that last bit would be easy, but it turns out that’s the hardest part of all.
