Chapter 12:
“Ah, Mr. Palmer. Glad to see your all set here,” Ducky greeted his assistant with approval as he maneuvered the gurney into autopsy.
“Sorry, Doctor Mallard, it won’t happen again,” Palmer apologized.
“Hmm, I can assure you it will,” Ducky said with a smile. “You are not the only one to get a flat tire. Let’s get this young man on the table, shall we?”
The pair worked together quickly and in no time was ready to start the autopsy.
“So he was really found outside Tony’s apartment?” Palmer asked as he brought the rest of the equipment over.
“Yes. It would seem Morris hasn’t forgotten who was after him all those years ago,” Ducky answered. “Fortunately Tony wasn’t home last night.”
Palmer shook his head. “I bet Gibbs isn’t gonna let him out of his sight now.”
Ducky chuckled. “Indeed, and we should all do our best to help keep an eye on Tony. We don’t need him trying to sneak out and going off alone to confront Morris.”
“Tony’s not going to like feeling like he’s being baby-sat,” Palmer pointed out.
“He will like being grounded even less, so to speak,” Ducky pointed out.
Palmer looked confused. “Grounded?”
“Gibbs will restrict Tony to desk work and forbid him to leave the building at all unless escorted by Gibbs himself,” Ducky explained. “It may be for Tony’s own good, but that young man has a hard time accepting it as such.”
“Things are going to get interesting around here, isn’t it?” Palmer said.
“You have no idea. Be sure not to get caught in the middle, there will be, shall we say, a few disagreements, coming around,” Ducky warned.
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The entire team was feeling frustrated. All of the evidence that they had gathered revealed nothing new. Picking up from where they had left off on the list of names, McGee soon found a lead to locate one of them. Not long after he and Ziva had left, Gibbs had been called upstairs to update the director. Deciding he needed a break from staring at his computer, Tony headed downstairs with the intention of getting lunch for everyone and a refill of coffee for Gibbs.
Well, it was, until he found out his boss’ most recent course of action.
“I’m sorry, Tony. I can’t let you leave,” the security guard informed the agent as he blocked his path.
“What do you mean, George? I can’t leave? I work here; I am not the subject of an investigation. I have every right to leave,” Tony stated in a neutral tone. In the back of his mind he already had an idea of what was going on, but he wasn’t going to take it out on a guard who was simply doing his job.
“I know that, Tony,” George said. “But you are being targeted by an assassin. Gibbs’ orders are that you cannot leave the building without him accompanying you or unless he specifies otherwise.”
“You have got to be kidding me,” Tony said in shock. “He can’t do that.”
“Actually, he can. By being a potential target of a known killer he can place you in protective custody should you leave the building. While you are here you are essentially under house arrest, so to speak,” George explained.
Tony was pissed. “Unbelievable,” he muttered under his breath as he turned around to go back upstairs. Luckily the elevator was empty when he got in, and Tony halted the elevator before it reached its destination.
‘I can’t believe him,’ Tony thought to himself as he paced around in the small space. ‘Didn’t even have the nerve to tell me himself.’
He stopped pacing and took a deep breath before slowly letting it out. He could feel the beginnings of a headache coming on.
Not wanting to face Gibbs just yet, Tony headed down to the lab, hoping that Abby’s company would calm him down.
As the doors opened, Tony felt a sense of deja-vu as he nearly collided with Palmer once again.
“Oh! Sorry, Tony!” Palmer exclaimed as he quickly tried to move out of the way.
Tony waved off the apology. “Not a problem. Hey, are you doing anything important right now?”
Palmer shook his head. “Just finished the autopsy and gave Abby her samples to run. Nothing else that can’t wait. Why?”
“Would you mind going out to get lunch for everyone? I would but apparently I am under house arrest at the moment,” Tony said with a hint of anger in his voice.
Palmer’s eyes widened. “I didn’t know they could do that here!”
“Gibbs can do that here,” Tony corrected him as he handed him some money.
Palmer accepted the money before moving into the elevator. “I’m sure Gibbs has his reasons.”
“Oh, he does at that,” Tony agreed as he waved good-bye to Palmer and headed in to see Abby.
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“Don’t you think you’re extending your authority a bit too far?” Director Sheppard asked.
Gibbs sat across from the Director, having just informed her of Tony’s new restrictions.
“Morris has made it clear that he’s here for Tony. Not having him under protection is just asking for him to go missing,” Gibbs replied calmly, confident in his decision.
Sheppard smirked. “Dinozzo is also a very capable federal agent, your Senior Field Agent. He’s not going to like not being able to do his job.”
“I’m not keeping him from doing his job, merely keeping him from doing it alone,” Gibbs stated. “And as you said, he’s my Senior Field Agent; I can order him to do his job any way I see fit.”
Sheppard sighed. “I agree that there is a serious threat and precautions should be taken, but there are other ways.”
Gibbs shook his head. “None that would work for Tony. I know him well enough to know what goes on through his head, what he would do to catch Morris. Trust me, this is the only way.”
The ringing of the phone on the Director’s desk interrupted what she was going to say next.
“Director Sheppard,” she answered. A brief pause as she listened to whoever was on the other end, then, “Oh really? Well thank you for letting me know.”
Hanging up the phone, she grinned at Gibbs. “I’ll let you deal with your disgruntled agent. He just tried to leave the building about five minutes ago. Good luck, Gibbs. You’re going to need it.”
With that Gibbs got up and left, intent on finding Tony before he had too long to mull over his boss’ most recent orders.
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Abby had had a feeling that Gibbs would resort to something like this sooner or later. What surprised her was how reserved Tony was being. He had come into her lab, told her about what had happened when he had tried to leave for lunch, and then…nothing. No complaining or yelling, just silence. He was using one of her computers running a search, sitting very still and looked defeated somehow.
That wasn’t a good thing at any time for Tony, but most especially now. He needed to feel confident that he was going to get Morris this time around.
“Gibbs just wants to make sure he’s nearby when you get hit with inspiration and find a lead,” Abby had tried to assure her friend.
“Yeah, maybe,” Tony had said with a shrug of his shoulders before turning back to the computer.
She had left him alone after that, getting the impression that he wasn’t in the mood for conversation. They worked side by side together in companionable silence for a little while, before Tony eventually started talking again.
“Gibbs is afraid I’m going to do something stupid. I know better than to go off and try to find Morris on my own. I know what he’s capable of; I’m the one who caught on to what he was doing!”
Pausing to take a breath, he sighed. “I don’t get it, Abby. Does Gibbs not trust me enough to handle this case? Next thing I know, he will remove me off of it completely. I couldn’t take that, Abs. I can’t just sit by and do nothing while he’s out there.”
“He’s not afraid of what you’re going to do, Tony,” Abby told him. “He’s afraid for you. Gibbs just wants to protect you. The first time around you could have gotten killed. Boss-man isn’t going through that again. He knows better than take you off the case; he knows what a big mistake that would be. When are you going to realize he knows you better than you think? Honestly, I would have thought the past few months would have made that clearer.”
“But I was just going out to get lunch…” Tony started to say before Abby interrupted him.
“And that would have been a perfect opportunity for Morris to make a grab for you! Try not being so selfish and see things from someone else’s perspective on all of this. We are your team, your friends. Everyone can see what this case is doing to you. We want to help, so let us! Ugh, it’s like trying to punch through a brick wall sometimes!” Abby had said the last part to herself, but good hearing allowed him to hear it anyway.
Tony blinked before reaching out to pull Abby into a hug. “I’m sorry, Abby. I know you guys are worried, but trust me when I say that things are a hell of a lot better this time around, and that is because of all of you.”
“Good,” Abby said into his shoulder before pulling back. “You are my best friend, Tony. I hate it when you get hurt.”
Tony gave her a real smile at that. “You’re my best friend too, Abs. I hate it when I get hurt too.”
For that remark Abby punched him in the arm.
“Ow! Geez, what was that for?!” Tony exclaimed.
“For trying to make a joke out of it. I’m serious. Don’t go trying to play the hero, either. I’ll get Gibbs to give me permission to lock you up in my apartment away from all things hazardous,” Abby warned him.
“Your apartment is hazardous by definition,” Tony pointed out with a grin that Abby had to share. “Besides, Gibbs wouldn’t give you permission to do that.”
“Don’t be too sure,” a voice from behind them said.
“Gibbs!” Abby yelled. “I hate it when you do that.”
“Don’t play your music so loud, then you might actually hear me come in,” Gibbs said as he walked further into her lab, casting a glance at Tony before turning his attention back to Abby. He could see hints of anger in his gaze, but bits of understanding mixed in as well.
‘This should be an interesting conversation,’ Gibbs thought to himself.
“Got anything for me yet, Abs?” Gibbs asked.
“No evidence, but you can take him,” Abby said pointing to Tony. “You two, out! I’ve got samples to run!” She pulled Tony out of the chair and shoved him in the direction of the door where Gibbs was standing.
They both knew better than to test Abby’s limits when she started to actually throw them out of her lab, so the two agents headed out and waited for the elevator.
“I sent Palmer out for lunch,” Tony said, the tone of his voice clearly stating how much he didn’t like his new boundaries.
“McGee and Ziva should be back soon,” Gibbs said as the both stepped into the elevator.
Gibbs looked at Tony in surprise when he hit the button for Autopsy.
“Ducky is finished, and I don’t want an audience,” Tony said in reference to the conversation they were most definitely going to be having.
Gibbs nodded his head in silent agreement, ready to let Tony take the lead on things for the time being.
Chapter End Notes:
Wow it has been entirely too long since I have updated. It is almost summer though, so school will be done soon. Hope you all enjoyed this chapter like the previous ones. Feedback, good or bad, always appreciated. Can’t improve if I don’t get proper criticism!