Ducky entered his office and hung up his coat. He looked at the clock; it was just after 1:00 a.m. As he started to get ready for the arrival of the body he thought, “This is going to be another all-nighter.” When he had entered Autopsy, he didn’t see Tony standing in the darkened hallway, slumped against the wall. If he had, Ducky might have been more prepared for just whose body it was coming in. Once the body arrived, he couldn’t quite hide the look of shock on his face when he saw the name on the paperwork.
Ducky said softly, as he read over the papers, “Oh Anthony, you just can’t seem to catch a break when it comes to your family.”
Ducky was just about to pull the sheet off the body when he heard the doors swoosh open. He turned around and saw Tony standing there, hands in his pockets as he stared at the covered body on the autopsy table.
Ducky went over to him, put a hand on his shoulder and said, “My dear boy, I am so sorry. You have my deepest sympathies.”
“Thank you Ducky.” He said.
Ducky then said “Why didn’t you say something when you called?” Tony just shrugged, his eyes not leaving the sheet covered body of his Father. Ducky asked softly “Would you like a moment alone?”
Tony, his gaze still fixated on his Father, replied “That’s o.k. It can wait.”
“Just so you know,” Ducky said, “I called Abigail to come in and run some tests, but that was before I knew who it was. She won’t be happy that you didn’t call her yourself.”
Tony dragged his eyes away from the table and said with a ghost of a smile, “Thanks for the warning.” He then drew in a deep breath, “I’d better get upstairs, Gibbs is waiting for me.”
After Tony left, Ducky called Gibbs. When he answered with his usual abruptness, Ducky told him, “Anthony is on his way up, I hope you tread lightly here Jethro. I believe the poor boy is hurting more than even HE knows.”
Gibbs said quietly, “Don’t worry Ducky, I’ll take care of it.”
Just as Gibbs was hanging up the phone, Tony came into the bullpen, walked over to Fornell who was seated at McGee’s desk. “We need to talk. Now.”
Fornell just looked at him, and then glanced over at Gibbs. Not liking the way either one was looking at him he just sighed, “Fine, but we need to talk somewhere private and not your ‘conference room’.” He said as he pointed at Gibbs.
“Fine, follow me then.” Gibbs said as he got up from his desk.
Fornell followed him with Tony bringing up the rear as they went to one of the empty interrogation rooms. Gibbs and Fornell sat at the table as Tony leaned against the wall, appearing casual but even Fornell could sense the tension coming off of him.
“You need to keep in mind,” Fornell began “This is still an open case. I don’t need EITHER of you to do anything to jeopardize that.”
Tony just scoffed, “We’re not amateurs here.”
Fornell looked over to Tony and said, “Yea, well I know how things go when a case gets personnel, people get sloppy and this couldn’t GET any more personnel for you.”
“What are you trying to say Fornell?” Tony said as he straightened up, his eyes narrowing.
“I’ve seen how you are DiNozzo, with all your playing around. You don’t exactly follow the rules all the time.” Fornell replied, his voice getting louder. “We don’t need anything screwed up on this case!”
Tony, just as loud, said, “Don’t you mean anything MORE screwed up? Your guys are the ones that messed up here!”
“Enough!” Gibbs said forcefully, his hand hitting the table.
Tony leaned back against the wall, “Sorry Boss” he said quietly, but his eyes never left Fornell.
“So Tobias” Gibbs said, “Can we just get on with this?”
“Fine with me” Fornell said “We were investigating a group that we suspected of money laundering.” Looking at Tony, he continued, “ Your Father was one of the names that came up.”
Tony met Gibbs eyes for a second, and then looked back at Fornell, “So how did he become a witness for the FBI?” he asked.
“He came to us.” Fornell replied, “He offered to testify about what he knew in exchange for immunity.” Then as he looked at Tony he said almost accusingly, “It seems Daddy DiNozzo got wind of our investigation.”
Gibbs eyes narrowed, he didn’t like where this was going. He was a little worried how Tony would react, given the events of the last couple of hours. But as soon as Tony started to speak he knew he had nothing to worry about.
Tony just rolled his eyes at Fornells comment, “Oh please, like I don’t have better things to do with my time than to follow YOUR cases, let alone report back to my Father.” He said with a hint of his typical mocking humor.
Gibbs allowed a smile to briefly flicker across his face. Then putting the scowl back on his face, he turned to the FBI agent seated across from him saying, “I’d better not hear you say anything like that outside of this room. Not against one of my agents and not without hard evidence to back it up.”
“Come on Gibbs,” Fornell said, gesturing towards Tony, “I was just yanking his chain.”
Tony sighed, shaking his head as he stood up from the wall and turned to leave. As he exited he threw over his shoulder, “You’re a real laugh riot Fornell.”
As Fornell looked at Gibbs, he shrugged his shoulders saying “What?”
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