Back in the study at the DiNozzo mansion, Gibbs was pulling the boxes out of the hidden crawl space. As he started to go through a couple of the files, he realized that they were exactly what he thought they would be. It seems that Tony’s Father kept some very detailed records on the private lives of his business associates.
Tony had paused outside the doorway; he took a couple of deep breaths and entered the room.
“Hey Boss” he said, trying to act as if nothing had happened.
Gibbs looked up, then came over and stood in front of him. Looking him straight in the eye, he asked, “You ok?”
“I’m fine” Tony said, trying to act nonchalant. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
“I had a little talk with Marcus.” Gibbs gestured with his head toward the open panel, his eyes never leaving Tony’s.
“Oh, that” Tony said as he looked away and took a step back. “I’m sorry about, you know, over reacting the way I did.”
Feeling a little embarrassed, Tony ducked his head and tried to walk around him. Gibbs stopped him with a hand on his arm He then raised Tony’s chin with his other hand, forcing Tony to look at him.
“Tony, you did NOT over react.” Gibbs said gently
Tony look unconvinced. Gibbs eyes narrowed as he continued.
“What your Father did? That’s on him, not you. You’ve got nothing to be sorry about, got it?”
“Got it Boss” he almost whispered. Then with his voice a little stronger “Thanks Gibbs.”
Gibbs gave him a small smile as he just patted his cheek. He then turned around and became all business again.
“C’mon DiNozzo, we’ve got to get this stuff to the car so we can get on the road.”
Tony went over to the boxes and as he looked at a couple of the files he asked “Is this what we were looking for?”
“Looks like it. I want to get it back to headquarters so Ziva and McGee can help us go through it all.” Gibbs replied.
“What about the FBI?” Tony asked.
“What about them?” he said firmly.
“I thought that they could help go through these files” he saw the glare that Gibbs was giving him, “Except that we don’t need any help, gotcha Boss.”
“I’m just going to put these in the car.” Tony said as he grabbed two of the boxes and hurried out the door.
Gibbs grabbed the last two boxes and met Tony at the car. After stowing them in the rear seat, they both went back inside and up to their rooms to get their bags. They stopped in the foyer to say their good byes to Marcus and Bella.
As Tony and Marcus said their good byes, Bella went over to Gibbs. As she handed him a thermos filled with coffee, she began to talk to him in a low tone.
“I know I don’t have to tell you how much Anthony means to me. You’ll make sure he’s ok?”
“Always” he said as he leaned over and kissed her cheek.
Bella then turned to Tony to say good-bye as Marcus and Gibbs looked on.
Bella kissed Tony’s cheeks “Prendere cura di te stesso.” (Take care of yourself)
Returning her kisses he said, “Ho sempre fare” (I always do)
She took his face in her hands. “Promessa?” (Promise)
He just smiled at her. “Promessa.”
As she hugged him good-bye, Bella whispered in his ear.
“Sapete che io vi amo” (You know that I love you)
In a voice so soft that she barely heard him, Tony responded.
“Anche io vi amo” (I love you too)
Tony hurried out to the car ahead of Gibbs as he discreetly wiped at his eyes. After they were on the road, Tony reached behind him and started digging in one of the boxes.
“Sit back DiNozzo.” Gibbs said, “What do you think your doing?”
“Just wanted to get a start on the files,” He said as he settled back in his seat.
Over the next 30 minutes or so, Tony had reached into the back seat a couple of times.
After the third time Gibbs barked out “DiNozzo! Are you going to be doing that the whole trip?”
Looking at him with an innocent look pasted on his face, Tony said, “Probably”
“Or not” he continued when Gibbs reached over and smacked the back of his head. Tony settled into his seat, having to be satisfied with the few files that he had in his hands.
Gibbs just shook his head, thinking that although it was good to see that Tony seemed to be getting back to normal, it was like driving with a fidgety 5 year old in the car.
Back at NCIS, Ziva and McGee had been going through the files that they had gotten from the FBI since early that morning. They weren’t finding anything useful, but they knew that they had to try and at least find SOMETHING before Gibbs and Tony got back.
McGee had actually given up on the FBI files, deciding to do some investigating into the computer files instead. McGee thought to himself that ‘technically’ it was hacking but, given the circumstances, he didn’t think anyone would mind.
As he started digging up some background information, he came across something that peaked his interest.
“Hey Ziva?” He said.
Ziva looked up from her paper work. “Yes Tim?”
“How much do you know about off-shore banking?” he asked.
“I know that there are countries whose banks some businesses like to use, to avoid taxes or to hide their money.” She said as she sat back in her chair.
Her eyes narrowed “Why do you ask?”
“Well” McGee began, “It looks like Tony’s Father like to use some of these banks.”
Now curious, Ziva got up and went over to his desk. “You have found proof of this?”
“I’ve been able to trace deposits he had made but it looks like the money trail pretty much ends there.”
McGee continued, “The security at these banks is pretty high, I don’t know if I’ll be able to find out much more.”
Ziva leaned over his shoulder and said quietly “So you are doing, what do they call it, chopping?”
“Hacking” McGee mumbled.
“Ah yes, hacking” she said louder as she stood up.
“Ziva, not so loud.” McGee whispered as he looked around.
McGee was now looking into the background of the DiNozzo family. He was curious to see what he would find, since Tony didn’t talk about his family very much, but at the same time feeling a little uncomfortable because it was one of his co-workers.
Ziva had been watching over his shoulder when she suddenly pointed at something on the screen. “What is that?”
“It looks like some kind of police report that was sealed.”
“Can you get into it?” Ziva asked.
“I don’t know Ziva, it’s from almost 30 years ago.” McGee looked up at her. “I can’t imagine it would have anything to do with what we’re investigating.”
“McGee, how will we know that unless we check?” she said, “Do you want to be the one to tell Gibbs that we missed something because you thought it wasn’t connected?”
Truth be told, Ziva was curious about Tony’s family too. The dossier she compiled on everyone when she first came to NCIS had contained just basic information. Most of the things in Tony’s file had been gathered from public records.
She has a point, thought McGee. His fear of Gibbs was stronger than the discomfort he felt about digging into the DiNozzo family background. Once he got the file opened and began to read it, McGee began to feel uncomfortable again.
“I don’t think this has anything to do with our case.” He said as he closed the file.
Ziva picked up on his uneasiness, now she was really curious. “Tell me McGee.”
Reluctantly he reopened the file. He began to quietly read out loud as Ziva stood over his shoulder.
“A staff member at the DiNozzo Mansion filed a complaint against Tony’s Father, he claimed she was a disgruntled employee. Doesn’t look like there was much of an investigation though. The case was closed immediately and then sealed.”
“What was the complaint?” she asked.
“Suspected child abuse.” He said even quieter.
As they looked each other in the eye, a silent communication passed between the two. They would not mention this file to anyone.
As Ziva went back to her desk, she was thinking that she now understood some of Tony’s behavior a little more. McGee, on the other hand, was just trying to figure out how he was going to face Tony again, without letting on that he knew about this file.
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