Chapter 4
"Good idea, Duck. Let’s go inside" Giving Tony one last squeeze, Gibbs latched onto the younger agent's arm, in case he decided to try and make a run for it. "We'll go back in, you can get your buzz back and we'll come up with something to think about tomorrow when we're done being hung over. Assuming we can remember what we talked about tonight."
“Where’m’I gonna sleep, Boss? If they get the guest room, where’s there room for me? Your couch is too short and my car isn’t gonna work.” Tony ran his hand over his car sadly. “Got some body work to do, I guess.”
"I'll sleep under the boat, isn't the first time, won't be the last either I'm sure. You can take my room. Don't know that the mattress is up to your standards, but it will work for tonight, Tony."
“Not kicking you out of your bed, Boss. I can sleep under the boat. I snore anyway. Ziva…” he blinked back emotion. “She said I snored, but she had no idea how loud she was. Remember? Remember how loud she was? Do any of you remember?”
“You’re not kicking me out of bed, I’m offering, Tony. Big difference.” It was obvious that tonight was a night for Tony to dredge up memories and relive every aspect of every good or bad moment he’d had since joining the team. “I heard just how bad you snore. It’s why I’m offering you the bedroom furthest from anyone else. I have a mattress downstairs, and I take comfort in the boat. You’re fine up here, DiNozzo. I want you to be comfortable. Going to need you in top shape tomorrow morning.”
Tony gave Gibbs a wolfish smile. “We could share. Purely platonic, clothed, the works. I’d even give ya earplugs. What about that, Boss? Doable? Or maybe you can teach me how to work with those hand tools. I’d like to make something…I mean, with my hands.”
There was something kinda nice about this banter with Gibbs.
“If you want to learn how to make a boat, I’ll teach you, DiNozzo. All you had to do was ask. I’m finishing one up right now, and going to start a new one. Be happy to have a little help.”
Tony nodded. He’d always wanted to work with his hands on something like that and he knew it wasn’t an offer Gibbs made to just anyone. Tony allowed himself to be tugged toward the house. “Promise you’ll let me get as drunk as it takes. Til I can’t see her face any more. Til I can’t hear her ordering us to go away.”
"Not gonna stop you. Plan on getting that way myself." He wasn't sure there was a level of drunk that he could get to that would let him forget, but it would at least blur things for a little while. "I pour for you, you pour for me and we'll get drunk together. Seems kind of fitting. We both blame ourselves for what happened, and can't get her out of our heads."
“Why pour? Just slug back from the bottle, Gibbs. You sound too damn civilized. Party only needs one Ducky. Guys like you and me, we’re gonna make the party. You, Abbs, and me we’re the partiers. Man, too bad Abbs is taken, the three of us could play strip poker.”
“Can still play, just can’t touch. Ducky may look all sorts of civilized, but trust me. He can brawl with the best. And while he’s doing that he’s insulting your intelligence and heritage. Don’t want to mess with a man who can out talk you. Never any fun.”
Tony chuckled. “Or a man who can outstare you. You’re the master, Gibbs. The Sensei. The Mr. Miyagi to my karate kid. Wax on, wax off. Someday I gotta know if your mind is that empty when you stare or what you’re thinking.”
“I have no clue what you’re talking about DiNozzo.” There were times when Gibbs hated the movie references, because it was apparent that they were a jab at his lack of pop culture knowledge. Wasn't something that bothered him normally, but when everyone got on him about it, he did let it tweak him a little. "Talk in English, not in movie, or I'm not listening to you."
“There was this movie. The Karate Kid. Ralph Macchio and Al, the guy from Happy Days, the Asian guy. Not the second one, the fat one, but the first one.” Gibbs was starting to look frustrated. “Well anyway, in the movie, the guy from Happy Days, Pat Morita, trains the character played by Ralph Macchio to concentrate and does this exercise. I was just thinking of you as my elder and trainer that way. Make sense? I can’t stare. I talk too much and I’m amazed that you can. That’s all.”
“Makes some sense, although I’m pretty sure I’m not all that excited about being called old, DiNozzo. And just because I’m your teacher doesn’t mean that I’m going to teach you everything I know.” It amused Jethro that Tony thought he had some sort of power to stare or do something better then everyone else. “I’m just a really intense guy. You’ll get there if you stick around. You’re a good investigator even without the stare.”
“Old wise, not old old, Boss. And yeah, I get that you’re intense. Never would have known that beforehand.” Tony shouldn’t have felt so proud that Gibbs said he was a good investigator but he did puff up with pride even if he tried not to show it outwardly.
“Nice save. Even drunk, you can smooth talk, Tony. That’s something I’ve never managed to learn. I’m too brash.” Gibbs was pleased to see Tony was coming around. It gave him hope that things may go back to normal, or as normal as possible right now.
“I try anyway. Charming, that’s one thing I am.”
Tony’s mind wa stuck on Abby, naked. The idea of strip poker had a lot of appeal. “I’m in for poker but only if you’re in, Boss. Strip poker. Could be fun. Especially with the Probilicious threesome action. Damn! You I could see in a threesome. Ziva I could see in a threesome. Jenny I could see in a threesome. But Probie? And Ducky? And Abby? All together? Doesn’t that blow your mind, Boss? It’s like Loch Ness Brokeback Mountain or something. How do they all fit together, Ducky being so much shorter and all.”
Gibbs colored deeply, “Tony, I’m not sure I want to be thinking about Ducky or any of them like that. It’s bad enough I know now. Not because I’m offended or anything, but there are just visuals I don’t need. Most of them involve Ducky naked with anyone, let alone the girl I think of like a younger sister.” He’d have to bleach his eyes or do something to get that picture out of his head. “However they do it, seems to work don’t you think? They’re happy together.”
“Seems that way.” Tony shrugged. “I guess it works for them. Least some of us are getting some.” When Gibbs glared at him, Tony shrugged. “By getting some, I mean they have a relationship where guys like us don’t. You seen anyone since Mann? What happened there anyway, Boss? You know what happened with Jeanne, so it’s only fair that you tell me what happened with Mann.”
“She wouldn’t leave things in the past,” Gibbs said. It was a simple explanation for a complicated situation. He could have fallen in love with Hollis, even though she wasn’t a redhead. But she was an investigator, and wouldn’t let his past or the fact that he had a daughter and wife before all the exes. “It went bad after the case with Stephanie. Maybe she was feeling insecure but she started snooping around the basement, found a tape I had that Kelly made. She just couldn’t leave it alone and it was very clear after that that I loved her, just wasn’t in love with her.”
Tony blinked a few times, surprised that Gibbs was sharing something this intimate with him. “That must have been rough, Boss. Anyone who knows you understands that you value your privacy. There are things I’d never ask you or push into” And Kelly and Shannon Gibbs were two of those things. “I’m sorry she was a snoop, but I can’t say I’ll miss her. None of us really liked her much. She was too predatory.”
“It wasn’t one of my better moments.” Jethro knew that the team hadn’t ever cared for Hollis, but he’d needed to find out for himself. “Not sure I really miss her either. Better to find out now, than end up with another alimony payment.”
“Got enough of those,” Tony replied. This newfound camaraderie was intriguing.
~*~
The baby waited until they were near the border to make his presence known. Jen had started to feel fluttering a week ago, but she had attributed that to her own nerves. This motion was stronger, more deliberate, and brought unexpected tears to her eyes. The baby wanted to live, and she had to do all in her power to make that happen.
“Mike…”
"Yeah, Babe?" Mike turned to look, wondering what had her all upset again.
She met his eyes, giving him a gentle smile. “It’s the baby, I’m starting to feel him move!”
"You okay? Are you hurt? Do you need something to eat? I don't know much about pregnant women, so you need to tell me if you need anything. Whatever it is, we'll get it for you. I'm not out to starve you or make it any harder on you."
Mike had been treating her well enough, making sure the air conditioning was blowing on her face and she had water and food. “Mike, I’m managing fine. You don’t need to hover, but I appreciate it.”
“Someone needs to watch out for you, Jen. And since I’m one of two people who know you’re alive, guess it should be me.” He’d gotten used to having women folk around, having his granddaughter and her mother at the house. He knew how delicate they could be, even though his girl had a bit of rough and tumble in her. Knowing Jennifer was sick and pregnant on top of it brought out all of his protective instincts.
“Told you, a kid of yours and Probie’s would be tough. Just needed a little extra time to rest. Now, you can stop worrying about him and start worrying about getting you better. Got a long road ahead of you.”
“It doesn’t mean that the danger is over, Mike. It just makes me feel…a special bond with him… I told you it’s a boy, right? I’ve already named him. I should never have, it personalized it far too much, made him all the more real for me.” She let out a sad chuckle.
“Don’t get much more personal than a baby, hot stuff. And if you’re going to survive this, you’re going to have to start believing that’s going to be the case.”
“Hope. It seems so overrated right now.”
“Oh, Mike. I never wanted to be a mother, never thought I had an ounce of maternal instinct but now that I have this life inside me, it has awakened every instinct I have, has taken me to places I didn’t know I was capable of going and made me feel things that scare me to my bones. Facing death isn’t as imposing as letting this child down.”
“You aren’t going to let your kid down, Jenny. No matter what happens, he’s going to know his mother loved him enough to do the things she did for him. You’ll see, when he’s born and the doctor places him in your arms just what I mean. A baby has a way of changing your whole outlook on things. Gives you a reason to want to stick around.”
“Tell me…about yours?” she spoke tentatively, hoping he’d open up to her.
“You know as much as I do, Jen, or at least you could have known more. Didn’t even know I had a son until it was almost too late.” His boy was a sore spot, another failure in a long line of failures. “He was a good boy from what I could see. Didn’t even know I had a child, not until he was already full grown and ready to join up. Fell in love with a girl he shouldn’t have and got her pregnant. He died, saving his fiancé and child. You’ll meet Rana and Jessica when we get to my place. I got them out of the States and I take care of them because my son can’t.”
Jen placed her hand on his knee, squeezing gently. “I didn’t mean to upset you, Mike. I’m sorry.” He didn’t seem to want to talk any more so she just rested her hand on her stomach, taking peace from the baby inside.
“You didn’t know, not too many people do. You would have figured it out pretty quick. Small quarters for the four of us.” Rana would probably fall head over heels for the redhead, just having another woman around would be appealing to her. And there wasn’t a person on earth who could resist his grand daughter. “She’s a good girl, has a beautiful daughter and I think you’ll probably like them both.”
“I’m sure I will.” Jen sincerely did think she’d like them. And they were Mike’s family after all.
“Jessie, she’ll be good practice for you too. She’s growing up every day, but she’s still just a little thing. We’ve had to watch her; she’ll curl up in any stranger’s lap and go to sleep. Don’t get much trouble down where I am, but still. Don’t want to lose my girl.”
“I’ve never been around children much. I have a lot to learn. Do you think they’ll be open to helping me?” She was starting to solidly focus on a possible future. This was such a good sign.
"Yeah, you do. Luckily, they let you know in general what's going on with them. They scream when they're wet or hungry or don't feel good, cuddle when they're happy. If I can get the hang of it, I'm sure you can."
Jen smiled. The idea of Mike with a baby was quite charming. “I’d like to see you with them. I have a feeling the crusty old agent will melt into a doting father in law and grandfather.”
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