As Tony left the interrogation room and headed for his desk in the bullpen, he thought, “Great, not only am I tired; now I’m tired and pissed off.” As he sat as his desk, he thought over everything that had happened in the last couple of hours. After seeing his Father’s body down in Autopsy, he was glad he had decided NOT to go to the crime scene.
“O.k., so he hadn’t actually SEEN his body” Tony cringed, but he knew he was going to have to at some point. He didn’t know if he wanted to look at the crime scene photos though; he would just have to play it by ear, see how things went.
Tony realized that his headache was getting worse, so he started to dig around in his desk for some aspirin. After what seemed like an hour but was actually only a few minutes, he finally found some in his bottom desk drawer. Sitting up, holding the bottle of aspirin up in the air as if it were a trophy, Tony shouted “Ah Ha!” There stood Gibbs, just looking at him with one eyebrow raised.
“Oh, hey there Boss.” Tony said a little sheepishly, “I was just looking for, well actually I found,” he paused “but that doesn’t matter, does it?”
Tony noticed that Gibbs had a coffee cup in each hand and a file folder under his arm. Gibbs set one of the cups down on Tony’s desk. He said, “Here, you look like you could use this.”
Tony, clearly surprised, smiled and said softly “Thanks Boss.”
Gibbs then took the file folder out from under his arm and set it in front of Tony. “Fornell gave me this. It’s some of what the FBI had dug up on your Father.”
The smile immediately left Tony’s face. As he just put his hand on the file but not opening it, he looked up at Gibbs and asked, “Have you looked at it yet?”
Gibbs shook his head no, “Not yet, I figured you might be able to spot something that the FBI might have missed.”
Tony frowned “I was never involved in his business, don’t know how I would see something they didn’t.”
“He was your Father, DiNozzo” Gibbs said, “Think.”
A look of comprehension came across Tony’s face as it dawned on him what Gibbs meant. “I’ll know how he thinks, his M.O. so to speak.” He replied.
Noticing that the file seemed kind of thin, he then asked, “Is this all they have?”
“No, just the basics.” Gibbs said. As he walked over and sat at his own desk, “Apparently Fornell has to get approval from his superiors before he can show us the rest.”
“I’ll get right on it, Boss.” Tony said solemnly.
As his finger traced over his Fathers name at the top of the file, he just hoped that there weren’t any nasty surprises in there. He opened the file, as he took a sip of his coffee. A small smile crossed Tony’s face when he realized that Gibbs had gotten it just the way he liked it.
Meanwhile, down in Autopsy, Ducky was still working on Tony’s Father when Abby came bustling in with her pigtails bouncing.
“Hey Ducky, got here as soon as I could.” She said “Would have been here sooner but I was at this party and when I went to leave I had a flat tire and then I had to stop for gas. I’ve already been to my lab and I’ve got my babies all warmed up, ready to get to work. So, ya got some samples for me?”
Ducky smiled to himself at her rambling. He wondered how much caffeine she had drank this evening, looking at the clock he corrected himself; it was actually morning now, almost 4 a.m.
“I have the blood and tissue samples right over here.” Ducky said “I’m not done yet, so there will be a few more after these.”
Abby signed off on the evidence. “What kind of case do we have?”
Ducky handed her a clipboard saying, “I’m sorry to say Abigail, this one hits a little close to home.”
Reading the name at the top, Abby gasped “Oh no, Poor Tony! Does he know yet?”
“Yes, he does my dear.” Ducky replied, “Anthony was actually the one that convinced the FBI to have me do the Autopsy.”
“The FBI? Why are they involved?” She asked.
“I’m afraid I don’t have the details yet.” He said, “I was just asked to find the cause of death.”
Abby, now quiet somber asked “Do you know where Tony is now?”
“I believe he is upstairs.” Ducky continued “Don’t worry Abigail, Jethro is with him right now. He’ll make sure Anthony is o.k.”
“Good, that gives me time to get my tests started first. I want to see how Tony is for myself.” Abby said as she marched out with a determined look on her face.
Ducky said to the now empty room, “Well Anthony, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
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