Tony was at his desk, he had been reading thru the FBI file. He let out a deep sigh as he sat back. There wasn’t a lot in there but on the surface, it certainly looked like his Father had been involved. He would just have to wait for Fornell to show them the rest; he hoped that it would help clear a few things up. Tony had just decided to go and get more coffee when he heard the elevator and the unmistakable sound of Abby’s boots as she came towards him. He stood up and braced himself; he knew what was coming.
“Tony!” Abby shouted as she flung herself at him, embracing him in one of her infamous hugs. “I’m SO sorry about your Father.”
“Thanks Abby” then choked out “Kind of need to breath here.”
“Oh, sorry” she said as she let go. Then she punched him in the shoulder.
“Ouch! What was THAT for?” Tony whimpered as he rubbed his shoulder.
“For not calling me yourself. I thought we were friends Tony?” Abby looked mad.
“Kind of had other things on my mind Abby.” He said quietly as he looked down at the ground.
Abby immediately grabbed Tony into another hug. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it like it sounded.” She said guiltily. Tony let himself be enveloped by her hug. He rested his head on her shoulder with his eyes shut as she slowly rubbed circles on his back.
Gibbs had been watching the whole scene unfold and decided to give Tony a little “alone time” with Abby. He knew that Tony often went to her to talk thing s over and that he probably needed this time with her. He left quietly without either of them noticing.
As Abby stepped back slightly, she took his face between her hands forcing him to look at her. “So, how are you, really?” she asked as she looked him straight in the eye.
Tony just shrugged “I don’t know, sad, confused, numb, pissed off and not necessarily in that order.”
Abby’s eyes ran over his face, taking in the pain and stress she could see etched there. “O.k. mister, you’re coming with me.” She exclaimed as she grabbed his hand.
“Where are you taking me?” Tony barely had time to grab the jacket off the back of his chair before Abby pulled him toward the elevators.
“Well, first we’re going to get something to drink and then there’s someone down in my lab that I think you need.” Abby said with a determined look. Tony knew better than to argue with her when she got this way. But secretly he was glad for the distraction that Abby offered.
After refilling his coffee, Gibbs made his way down to Autopsy to talk with Ducky. He hoped he had made some progress so he could get this solved as quickly as possible, for Tony’s sake. As he walked into Autopsy, he could see Ducky was just cleaning things up.
Ducky looked up “Ah, Jethro, I was wondering how long it would be before you came down here.”
“Do you have anything yet Ducky?” Gibbs asked as he drank his coffee.
“Nothing conclusive, I’m afraid. Although Mr. DiNozzo was not in the best of health, I don’t believe it was why he died.” Ducky replied as he made his way over to his desk.
“What do you mean by ‘not the best of health’?” Gibbs said his brow furrowed.
“Well” Ducky began “His liver had the beginning signs of Cirrhosis, too much alcohol for too many years I’m afraid. His heart was damaged; I believe it wouldn’t have been too long before he had a massive coronary.”
Gibbs just sighed, “Anything else?”
“Well I’ve sent blood and tissue samples to Abigail. We’ll have to wait and see what she finds.” Then Ducky asked. “How is Anthony doing?”
“Seems to be getting thru it” Gibbs said “He was upstairs talking with Abby when I left.”
Ducky nodded “Good, Those two are close and I think being with Abigail will be the best thing for him right now.”
As Gibbs nodded in agreement “I’m going to go check in with Abby, see if she’s come up with anything yet.”
After getting herself a Cafpow and Tony another cup of coffee, Abby practically dragged him down to her lab. She led him over to a darkened corner where her futon mattress was, practically pushing him down. “Sit!” she ordered.
Grabbing Bert, she handed the stuffed animal to Tony “Lay down” Abby ordered again.
Tony grumbled “What am I, your dog?” but made no move to lie down.
Abby grinned at him “Roll over?”
Tony smirked back “As long as you don’t ask me to beg.”
They just grinned at each other, and then Abby said, “Fine, you stay there and finish your drink. I’ve got to check on my test results.”
The grin immediately disappeared from his face. Faking a nonchalance that he didn’t feel, Tony asked, “Are those about my Father?”
After glancing at her machines, only to see that the test weren’t done yet, Abby went over and sat down next to him. With a guilty tone to her voice “Sorry about that, I forgot for a moment.”
“That’s o.k. Abby” he said as he leaned against her.
Abby immediately wrapped her arms around Tony, stroking his hair with one of her hands. They just sat there in silence for a while, she didn’t have to ask him any questions, and she knew he would talk if and when he was ready. After a few minutes, he took a deep breath and let it out slowly.
“I never thought it would hit me this hard, that I would actually miss him.” Tony said
Abby replied, “He’s your Father, of course you’re going to miss him.”
He turned to look at her “You don’t understand, we never had much of a relationship, we’ve barely spoken to each for years.”
“Doesn’t matter Tony, he’s still your Father.”
He leaned his head back on her shoulder and closed his eyes. All he wanted to do was sleep, but with all the caffeine he had drank, he knew that wasn’t going to happen for a while. So he just sat there, perfectly still, as Abby held him.
Gibbs had been watching them thru the glass, not wanting to interrupt. He smiled slightly at the sight of the two of them, especially Tony clutching the stuffed hippo. He just shook his head; he would never understand their attachment to that thing.
He waited for a few minutes after he had seen them stop talking and then entered the lab silently. Gibbs signed to Abby “Is he asleep?”
She signed back “Not sure”
Tony, with his eyes still closed, suddenly spoke “You CAN talk out loud you know, I’m not asleep.”
This caused Abby to jump; she then said, “You know, it’s not nice to pretend to be asleep.”
Tony answered back, with a smile “Well, it’s not nice to talk about someone in front of them in a way that they can’t understand either.”
Gibbs just smirked “Point taken, DiNozzo” He turned to Abby “You have any results yet?”
Abby jumped up and went to her machines “Nothing yet Gibbs.”
His phone rang “Gibbs” he answered. He listened for a second then hung up without saying anything. “With me DiNozzo, Director wants to talk to us.”
“On your six, Boss” Tony said, groaning as he got up off the floor.
“Get me those test results” Gibbs threw over his shoulder to Abby.
“You’ll know as soon as I do, Boss man.” She replied
As Tony followed Gibbs onto the elevator, they looked at each other with the same expression; that this was NOT going to be fun.
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