As Tony and Gibbs entered the room, they both looked around.
Gibbs took in how dark and somber the place looked. His gaze went from the windows with the heavy curtains on them to the wall that had the built-in shelving and cupboards with a bar in the middle. He saw a matching dark brown leather sofa and chair off to one side, he then turned to the large heavy desk that seemed to be the focal point of the room.
It was there that he saw his Senior Field Agent standing, running his finger along the edge of the desktop, seemingly lost in thought.
When Tony had entered the room, he was hit with a wave of memories and emotions, none of them good. As he walked over to his Fathers desk, Tony’s mind immediately flashed back to just one of the many times as a child he had stood in this exact spot. Being made to stand at attention while his Father admonished him for another one of his childhood indiscretions.
Gibbs watched him for a minute and then tried to get his attention.
“Tony” There was no response.
He tried again, a little more firmly. “Hey Tony”
When that didn’t work, Gibbs barked out “DiNozzo!”
Startled and still lost in a memory, Tony automatically responded “Yes Sir”
As Tony turned towards him, Gibbs could only guess at what had brought on that response so he answered back with his typical “Don’t Sir me.”
Seeing the confused and slightly dazed look on Tony’s face, Gibbs asked “You with me DiNozzo?”
As he shook away the last twinges of the memory, Tony looked at Gibbs.
“What?” he said “Oh yea, sure thing Boss.”
Gibbs asked, “You want to start with the desk?”
Tony moved around to behind the desk and slowly sat down in the large comfortable chair. As he just sat there with his hands laid flat on the top of the desk, Gibbs cleared his throat to get Tony’s attention. As he looked up and saw the impatient look on Gibbs face, Tony immediately responded.
“Right Boss, starting on the desk now.”
As Tony started going through the drawers, Gibbs pulled a chair up to the front of the desk. He started looking through some of the files that Tony was stacking on top of the desk.
Tony picked up the phone and after pressing a button, he asked the person on the other end if they could bring in some coffee. When Gibbs looked up, Tony gave him a small smile.
“Figured you were ready for a caffeine boost right about now, I know I am.”
Gibbs nodded his head and gave him a look that told him he had figured right.
The two of them spent the next hour or so going through some of the files that they found. Finally Tony sat back and rubbed his hands over his face. Glancing at his watch, he looked over at Gibbs.
“Hey Boss, we should probably take a break right now.”
Gibbs looked up at Tony.
Tony continued, “Dinner will be served in about an hour, this will give us time to freshen up first.”
Gibbs looked at his watch, “Ok DiNozzo.” He then got up and gestured towards the door with his hand. “Lead the way.”
Gibbs followed Tony up the elegant stairway, then down a long hallway that had a few antique chairs strategically placed against the walls. On those walls were some paintings that looked as if they should be hanging in an Art Gallery. All Gibbs could think of as he took it all in, was that this place smelled of money.
There were two doors towards the end of the hallway, Tony stopped at the first one. As he opened the door, Tony said “They’re both pretty much the same but if you don’t like this room, you can have the other one.”
The room was the size of a Hotel Suite, with a separate bathroom on one side of the room and double doors on the other side leading off to a balcony. But what really got Gibbs attention was the huge four-poster bed that seemed to dominate the room.
As Gibbs raised an eyebrow at the sight of the bed, Tony leaned over his shoulder and said softly “Just be glad it’s not a Canopy Bed, my Mother had a fondness for those.”
Gibbs turned around but Tony was already down the hall at the door to his own room.
“Be out here in 45 minutes DiNozzo, and don’t be late.” Gibbs said.
“Gotcha Boss, I’ll be here,” Tony said as he went into his room.
It was 40 minutes later when Tony exited his room, not wanting to be late, only to find Gibbs already waiting in the hallway. He was standing there, looking at one of the paintings and turned around when he heard Tony come down the hall.
Nodding his head towards the painting, Gibbs asked, “Is that an original?”
Tony just shrugged his shoulders “I’m not sure, probably.”
He then turned towards the stairs “We should probably head down to dinner now.”
As the two of them entered the Dinning Room, Gibbs took in every detail. There was a large over-sized table in the middle of the room, an ornate chandelier hung over the center of the table. Under the table was what looked like a Persian rug in dark red and black. Keeping with what seemed to be tradition in this house were dark heavy curtains on the windows.
The table was set with two place settings at one end, facing each other. As soon as they sat down, Bella arrived with their food.
“I’ll be serving you myself, seeing as most of the staff had been given the day off.” She said.
“You didn’t need to go to all this trouble,” Gibbs said.
“You know” Tony said, “We could have just eaten in the kitchen.”
“Don’t be ridicules.” Bella responded, “It’s no trouble at all”
“Besides” she continued softly as she patted Tony’s cheek “I’ve missed mothering you.”
Tony gave her a shy smile and then ducked his head. Gibbs could swear he saw Tony blush, thinking to himself “Well, that’s something I thought I’d never see.”
As they ate dinner, Gibbs observed the interaction between Tony and Bella in a new light. Picking up on the almost Mother/Son relationship the two seemed to have, he was glad to see that Tony seemed to have had someone that cared about him when he was growing up.
After dinner Tony and Gibbs went back into the study to finish going through his Fathers desk. They spent another couple of hours in there but didn’t find anything that would help with their investigation.
They both sat back in their chairs, frustration clearly showing on their faces. After a few minutes, Tony slammed his fist on the desk.
“Damn it, I know I’m missing something.” Tony growled.
Gibbs eyes narrowed “What do you mean?”
“Listen, I know how my Father ran things.” Tony leaned forward “He liked to have the upper hand when dealing with business associates.”
Tony’s voice lowered slightly “He would have had files on them, with private information. Some business, some personal.” He raised his eyebrows, knowing Gibbs would know what he meant.
“Ah” Gibbs said “Blackmail”
Tony just nodded his head in agreement. He sat back in his chair again.
“From what I saw of the FBI files, they don’t have them.” Tony said.
“If there had been anything on his computer, Fornell would have said something.” Gibbs replied.
“Unless he’s had some major personality change in the last few years, he wouldn’t have kept anything on his computer.” Tony answered.
At Gibbs questioning look, he explained, “Last I knew, he could be a little obsessive about keeping things private. He wouldn’t want them on his computer where anyone could find them.”
As he massaged his temples with his fingertips, Tony murmured, “I just feel like I’m missing something.”
Seeing the stress on Tony’s face Gibbs said, “C’mon DiNozzo, let’s call it a night.”
“Are you sure Boss?”
“Just get some rest DiNozzo, we’ll start fresh in the morning” Gibbs replied.
Both men then got up and left the study. Once they got into their own rooms, Gibbs hoped that Tony actually GOT some rest tonight. Thinking to himself that maybe he should have made it an order.
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