Chapter 6:
“Hey, where did Gibbs and Tony go?” Ziva asked once they had all agreed on Chinese for lunch.
“Guess they weren’t in the mood for Chinese,” Abby said casually. Both she and Ducky shared a knowing look. It was hardly a surprised to them when the two agents disappeared from the lab.
McGee snickered. “Looks like Tony is turning into Gibbs more and more. Next thing you know Tony will be appearing out of nowhere with coffee in his hands.”
“Oh great, just what we need. Another coffee addict on our hands,” Ziva said with a grin.
Ducky chuckled. “Oh, I wouldn’t worry about that so much. Tony is too much of an athlete to drink coffee like Jethro does.”
Abby nodded her head in agreement. “I’m thinking he will start carrying around a sports drink instead of coffee. You know, get his own theme or signature drink thing going.”
“Like you with your Caff-Pow! drink huh?” McGee stated.
“Exactly!” Abby said excitedly.
The group laughed and compared Gibbs and Tony a bit more while they waited for their food to arrive. Eventually they moved up to the bullpen to eat, with Ducky sharing Ziva’s desk and Abby sharing McGee’s.
“So how come no one has ever talked about this case before?” Ziva asked after they had finished eating and were waiting for Gibbs and Tony to return.
Ducky and Abby gave each other silent looks, trying to decide how to answer her question without revealing too much.
McGee and Ziva of course picked up on this and shared a look of their own. They were both wondering why everyone seemed to be so hesitant about discussing the case.
It was Ducky who decided to try to clear things up. “Well, my dear, this is hardly a pleasant topic for conversation. I understand how curious you and Timothy are, but I must ask that you be patient. It is bringing back unpleasant memories for all of us, but most especially for Gibbs and Tony.”
“And before you even ask, we can’t tell you why,” Abby informed McGee and Ziva before they could think of another question. “It’s not our place to tell you about certain aspects of this case. Gibbs won’t let Tony try to talk about it until he’s good and ready to.”
“Hence the sneaking away for lunch,” McGee said as he considered what Ducky and Abby had said.
“Young Anthony needed a break,” Ducky told them. “He’s been remarkably composed so far, but sooner or later that facade would break if he didn’t get a breather.”
“Just don’t rush him or overwhelm him with questions when he gets back,” Abby recommended. “The best bet would be to let him get it all off his chest all at once. It’s going to be hard enough as it is.”
McGee and Ziva were taken aback at what Ducky and Abby were telling them. They had both picked up the tension that was in the air as they were being informed about the case, but neither had realized the extent of stress that their teammates might be under.
“How bad is it?” Ziva asked quietly.
“Bad doesn’t even begin to cover it,” Abby responded softly.
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The entire time that they were in Bob Evans, Gibbs purposefully kept the conversation away from their current investigation. Fortunately, between Tony and himself there were numerous topics from which to choose from to keep the conversation at a safe place. Interestingly enough, Tony seemed to favor discussing the progress of the boat in Gibbs’ basement.
Gibbs noticed how different Tony was whenever they were in his basement working, or, like now, discussing its design and what would come next. There was no mask, no frat-boy persona, just the real Tony Dinozzo. Knowing that Tony let his guard down lightly, Gibbs felt honored to be one of a handful of people that were trusted enough to know the young man in his true form.
As they walked back to the car after lunch Gibbs could see some tension starting to return. Having already decided that he and Tony needed to have another talk before returning to the office, Gibbs pulled out of the parking lot without a word to his passenger as to what their destination was. The ride was made in silence, each too occupied in their own thoughts to make it uncomfortable.
Eventually Gibbs found himself yet again pulling Tony from his thoughts with a touch to his shoulder and watch as the younger agent took stock in his surroundings before turning back to him with a questioning look on his face.
“We need to talk,” Gibbs said as he removed his seatbelt.
“Yeah, I kind of figured that. But the park, Boss?” Tony inquired.
“You’re going to need the space,” Gibbs replied as he got out of the car and headed for a nearby bench.
Tony had no idea what Gibbs meant, but he got out of the car and followed him into the park. He knew that Gibbs was trying to make things as easy as possible for him, and Tony appreciated it. He was especially grateful for not having to focus on anything important while they had lunch. Tony wasn’t sure that he would have been able to even eat lunch if he hadn’t been able to relax any, his appetite just wasn’t there.
‘Leave it to Gibbs to know what’s going on in my head,’ Tony thought wryly to himself as he took a seat next to Gibbs on the bench. It was a nice day, the weather just cool enough for a jacket. At the thought of the weather Tony couldn’t help but laugh.
“Something funny you want to share, Dinozzo?” Gibbs asked as he turned to look at his senior field agent.
Smirking, Tony said, “Just wondering where we would have ended up if it was raining today.”
Gibbs allowed a small grin to show before he got down to the heart of the matter. “There’s still some information that McGee and Ziva need to know about.”
Tony sighed and looked down at his hands. “I know,” he said quietly. “Guess it’s a bit harder than I thought it would be.”
“You’re not alone in this, Tony,” Gibbs told him. “I’m not enjoying having to relive any of this any more than you.”
“A lot of bad memories,” Tony agreed.
“True, but one good thing did come out of it,” Gibbs said.
Tony looked up at Gibbs, surprised by how calm Gibbs was being. “What are you talking about? Did someone slip something into your coffee?”
Not allowing Gibbs to respond, Tony stood up and started pacing in front of the bench. Gibbs merely sat back and listened as Tony finally released everything that he had been keeping inside.
“What was good about any of it? There were three killers, Boss, three. We only got two of them! A lot of people died that didn’t have to!” Tony was starting to shout now, drawing attention from a few others who were in the park.
“If those stupid idiots at the precinct had listened to me in the first place…but no…Rookie Dinozzo doesn’t know what he’s talking about, not enough experience. I wasn’t a rookie damn it!”
Gibbs continued to sit in silence as he observed Tony’s movements throughout his tirade. He couldn’t stand still; constantly walking back and forth while moving his arms and hands in abrupt gestures. This case was eating him up from the inside out, and Gibbs knew that after they closed this case he was going to have to do a salvage operation to ensure that Tony could sort everything out.
“Starks was my partner, he should have backed me. That’s what partners do! And I was the idiot who trusted him! If it wasn’t for him this case would have been closed years ago, but since when do things go right? Because if they ever did, my file wouldn’t be filled with so many reprimands for just doing my damn job!”
Finally Tony seemed to have run out of energy. He stood facing Gibbs, unsure of what to do. Gibbs waved him back over to the bench, and Tony plopped down with a heavy sigh. They sat in silence for a few minutes, which Tony used to catch his breath and calm down.
“Feeling better?” Gibbs asked lightly.
Surprisingly, Tony was. He turned to look at Gibbs. “You knew,” he accused the other man.
Gibbs smirked. “I told you that you were going to need the space.”
Tony just shook his head and slouched down on the bench. The fact that Gibbs could know him so well was bewildering. Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes and let the sounds of the park wash over him. He wasn’t sure where he was going to find the energy to tell McGee and Ziva what had happened at the warehouse that day, all of his energy had been sucked out of him during his rant. He couldn’t believe that he had done that in front of Gibbs. ‘Some federal agent I am,’ Tony thought to himself. ‘Can’t even keep control of my own emotions.’
The sudden smack to the back of his head came out of nowhere, causing Tony to jump upright in surprise. He saw Gibbs glaring at him, and Tony wondered what he had done now.
“One good thing came out of all of that hell,” Gibbs said as he held Tony’s gaze. “You did.”
Tony opened his mouth to say something but Gibbs beat him to it. “Don’t interrupt.” After making sure that Tony was going to listen, Gibbs continued. “I’m not talking about just surviving, although I could see how you could think that. You did manage to keep all of your brain cells intact while working with those idiots.”
Tony couldn’t help the chuckle that escaped his lips at that remark. “I’ve got the best senior field agent that I’ve ever had, and I’ve had my share of them. Your instincts are second to none, and you’ve got the makings of being a better team leader than I am one day. Don’t let this case wear you down. You found a lead before, you will again. Understand? And I swear Dinozzo, the only words out of your mouth had better be, ‘Yes, Boss.’”
Tony sat stunned for a moment before a smile started to form as he said, “Yes, Boss.”
Gibbs nodded. “Good.”
They sat in a comfortable silence for a few more minutes, each enjoying the other’s quiet company.
“You ready to head back?” Gibbs asked.
“I am now,” Tony replied as he stood up and stretched. Gibbs’ speech had given him the strength that he was going to need to pull through this investigation. And come hell or high water, Tony knew that he would have Gibbs’ support, no matter what.
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