Gibbs left the Directors office, after one of his weekly sit-downs, not in the best of moods. He stopped at the railing overlooking the bullpen, drained the last of his coffee and was just about to head down the stairs when he heard the elevator. As he glanced at the man exiting the elevator, he noticed Tony stiffen his shoulders and rise up to greet the visitor. Gibbs could see the tension in Tony’s body and decided to see what was going on. As he approached, he could hear Tony ask the man what he wanted. What he heard next surprised him but Gibbs made sure to keep his expression blank.
“So” the man answered, “I need permission to visit my son at work?”
His son? Gibbs thought to himself, I didn’t know Tony was in contact with him.
Tony responded, somewhat sarcastically, “Seeing as I haven’t seen you in over ten years, what do you think?”
His Fathers eyes narrowed, his voice a bit more stern, “There’s no need to use that tone with me” he said.
Tony stood a bit straighter “I’m sorry Sir, was there something you needed?”
Gibbs decided now would be a good time to interrupt. “DiNozzo” he said sharply, causing both men to turn in his direction. Looking at Tony he asked, “What’s going on? Did we catch a new case?”
As Gibbs turned to face the stranger he now knew was Tony’s Father, Tony replied “Ah, no boss, just some personal business”.
As Gibbs threw a glare at Tony he continued, “Which shouldn’t be conducted while at work, gotcha boss.”
The man in front of Gibbs extended his hand, “Excuse my sons lack of manners, I’m Dominick DiNozzo, Anthony’s Father.”
Gibbs responded as he shook his hand, “Special Agent Gibbs, Tony’s boss”.
Gibbs studied the man in front of him. He could see the family resemblance. Even though Tony’s Father was slightly taller and maybe a bit broader, the biggest difference was in the eyes. Where as Tony’s were lighter and almost always had a mischievous look to them, his Fathers were darker. The one word that popped into Gibbs head, while studying the senior DiNozzo’s eyes, was “unforgiving”.
As the two men stood there, sizing each other up, Tony decided he needed to do something to break the tension. He turned to his Father, “I can’t really talk right now, could we meet later?”
DiNozzo Sr. said “Walk me out, we’ll discuss it.”
As they walked to the elevator, Gibbs eyes followed them. He noted the almost submissive way that Tony followed his Father. As Gibbs went to his desk, his thoughts were on Tony’s Father and what in the hell he could want after all this time.
By the time Tony made his way back to his desk, McGee and Ziva had come back from lunch. Tony was acting as if nothing had happened, keeping up his usual banter with his coworkers. “Acting” was the exact word that described how Tony was behaving; at least that’s what Gibbs thought. As he watched him, Gibbs decided he would wait until the end of their shift to talk to Tony. He needed to get to the bottom of this and soon.
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended.