Chapter Five
When Gibbs told Tony he’d be that father for the boy, he’d expected exuberance, much like Tony had given him by launching into his arms earlier. The boy, after all, was a bundle of energy. When Gibbs had met him a few months ago, he’d been almost humming with it.
It was a surprise when Tony only turned in his chair and rested his head against Gibbs’ shoulder. His shoulders started shaking then and with a choked cry, Tony let go. This was different from Kelly’s temper tantrums, different even than Shannon’s adult heartbreak; these were the sounds of a broken child finally releasing his anguish.
And it shattered Gibbs into a thousand pieces.
Tony was fifteen, he remembered them talking about ages on that snowy day. A fifteen year old, halfway between childhood and adulthood. Gibbs knew in his gut that Tony had been an adult in responsibility for a while. Just the way he carried himself with such independence, the way he’d been at a military school…this wasn’t a boy given to tears. That would have been beaten or taunted out of him in a military school environment.
And yet he was urgently, eagerly pressed against Gibbs’ shoulder crying out his heartahche. It was uncharacteristic of everything he knew about being a teen, about everything he remembered about being a teen. And that worried him.
“It’s going to be okay, Tony,” he soothed, stroking the young man’s hair gently. Without knowing the full rundown of Tony’s injuries, he was wary of hurting the boy even more. Though he wanted to tighten his embrace, even pull Tony onto his lap much as he did with Kelly when she was scared or hurt, he knew he couldn’t do that. Not yet. There would be a time when he could comfort Tony like they both needed.
Both needed? That was…unexpected. Gibbs knew that a bond had formed with the young man but his thought process was taking him places he didn’t anticipate going. Not yet, if ever. It was not a secret that he’d longed for a son, but it hadn’t come to pass for him and Shannon. She’d had one miscarriage since Kelly’s birth almost seven years ago. And that had been all. They hadn’t so much as had a pregnancy scare in the last three years even though her birth control pills were a thing of the past.
Shannon wanted to go in for medical testing but Gibbs was resistant. He didn’t want to know if it was bad news. It was better to not know and be casual about the whole thing, hiding his deepest longing from Shannon. She had her hands full with school and Kelly most days anyway.
But he couldn’t deny the rightness of this teen boy calling him “Dad” even if it wasn’t biological. It went much deeper than that for Gibbs. Something in Tony was calling to him and vice-versa. And he hadn’t felt that since a girl in a Stillwater, PA train station had flirted with him all those years ago. Gibbs couldn’t work out what it meant right now, just that it felt like Tony was home.
“Dad?” Tony whispered and Gibbs realized his shirt was soaked through with tears. Tony had been sobbing for a while now.
“Yeah?”
“I’m not a wimp. Or stupid. For crying I mean.”
“Never thought you were,” Gibbs assured. “You’ve had a really hard time and it’s natural to be upset. I need to know what happened and how badly you’re hurt, Son. What if you have some serious injuries and need to go to the hospital?”
Tony shook once and choked out a couple of more sobs. “I’m not. He makes sure he doesn’t cause lasting damage. I can’t go to a hospital, Dad. H-he might f-find me…”
Gibbs gulped down his fury and disgust. There was a pattern, just as he’d expected and Tony was scared to death of his father. “Nate is a dentist. I know he isn’t a doc, but if he can find someone to look at my son right here, will you let him? Nobody would have to know your name. They’d think you were Tony Gibbs.” He reached down, cupping Tony’s chin in his hand and forcing the younger man to meet his eyes. His touch was gentle but his intent was firm and unwavering. “You don’t have to suffer any more. You don’t have to be hurt any more. I’m here and I’m going to protect you.”
Tony nodded reluctantly. “Oh…Okay. But not yet? Please? Can we just sit here? I wanna feel safe for a little bit.”
“You always are with me.”
~*~
Nate Powers watched his wife as she moved from the kitchen to the sitting room and finally to him. She clearly didn’t want to leave Jethro and the teenager alone, but her sense of propriety and good manners forced her to do so, albeit with some great reluctance. She had been his wife for thirty-two years now and Nate didn’t need to see her expression to read her unease in the way she held her shoulders, the way she was fluttering her hands around the knick knacks in their comfortably expensive home.
“Sarah…” He wasn’t quite sure what to say. Though he and he wife had an incredibly strong bond, these circumstances were well beyond anything they had faced
“Is he Jethro’s son? Did Jethro have a childhood indiscretion that has risen up to visit itself on us at a most inopportune time? Does Shannon know?” When Sarah was upset or unnerved, she reverted to more cultured speaking. They tended to be casual around the house, saving the large words and stilted speech patterns for society dinners and charity events, but she was a child of humble beginnings in Pennsylvania and often times seemed to assert her authority in speech patterns she’d learned here in Manhattan when nothing else made sense. It was as if she was reminding herself that she was a city woman now, with money, prestige, and authority to back that up.
Nate opened his arms, gesturing his wife closer with a gentle smile. When she was in his embrace, he led her to the couch, easing her down and then settling in beside her, encouraging her to kick off her shoes and curl her feet under her. Sarah remained stiff for a few moments, but finally allowed herself to cuddle, her body unclenching and relaxing beside him.
“He assures me that Shannon was his first girlfriend. He and this boy just met over the holidays and formed a bond. You know how Jethro is, Sarah. He found someone greatly in need of nurturing and leadership.”
“But Nate…” She took his hand in hers, stroking the palm. “He kept referring to Jethro as his father. Is he under the impression that Jethro is?”
Nate shook his head. “I don’t think so, hon. More of a spiritual bond than anything, just like Jethro calls the men he serves with brothers. Speaking of which, we need to speak about Jethro. Hold the rest of your thoughts about Tony for the present.”
Sarah nodded and Nate waited until her eyes had settled, no more emotion racing through the deep blue depths. “Jethro was injured much more seriously than he has led us to believe. I can’t be sure how bad the injury is and only have his word to go on, but it appears that he narrowly missed a fatal blow.”
“Oh good lord. There has been an edge in Shannon’s voice but I had no idea… How bad is it exactly?”
“Bad enough that he had no business flying up here,” Nate said firmly. “But his damned noble sense of honor and family wouldn’t keep him away from a boy in need. He’s got double and sometimes triple vision, problems with his depth perception, and even some blackouts. I’m going to call in some favors and see if we can’t get him a neurological consult in DC. The blow came far too close to his temple for me to be comfortable with it.”
“He’ll fight you,” Sarah warned.
“He will, but I can fight dirty. I’ll even appeal to his sense of family, work the guilt in. A Marine until the end, Semper Fi, and all that. I know what I’m up against. But telling him he may very well not be here any longer to be a father and husband will have its own impact.” Nate smiled faintly. “Bringing Jackson in wouldn’t be a bad idea either. I know they aren’t particularly close and Jethro would never admit it, but he does listen to his father’s advice. As much as he listens to anyone who isn’t his commanding officer.”
He jerked his head toward the kitchen. “We can even use his new bond with Tony in there, about not leaving the boy alone when he clearly needs a father so badly.”
A deep frown marred Sarah’s face. “I’m sure Tony needs help, Nate, but we can’t do it at the expense of Kelly. She’s very insecure and misses her father so much as it is. To have some strange boy calling her father “Daddy” as well could be damaging. And what about his family? How will they react?”
Nate sighed heavily, wondering how to phrase what he needed to say. “He’s blamed his father for his injures.” As expected, Sarah clapped a hand to her mouth, barely stifling her gasp. “There’s more, Sarah. A great deal more. The boy’s father is Giovanni DiNozzo, reputed mobster.”
“Oh good lord, Nate. What have we gotten ourselves into?”
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