Once everyone had left, and the dishwasher was loaded, Tony turned to Gibbs who looked absolutely knackered. "Tired?" he asked.
"A little." Gibbs admitted. It had been exhausting for him. "However, I'd prefer to talk to you." He said.
"We can talk in bed, I can't have you making you or baby sick by being on your feet too long, come on, I'll finish down here, you head upstairs, I'll be up in a moment," Tony said, gesturing for Gibbs to put down what he was doing and head to bed. He knew they needed to talk, but Gibbs looked so tired he was actually starting to worry that they'd have a repeat of the episode that put him in the hospital.
Gibbs rolled his eyes about Tony's over protectiveness but went upstairs anyway. He made quick work in the bathroom and was in boxer shorts and t-shirt before long. He lay on the bed, on top of the covers. It was unusually warm, or at least he thought so.
It took Tony a few minutes to get what he wanted done finished, and then he headed upstairs to join Gibbs. He stripped down to his boxers in the bathroom and headed into the bedroom. "You hot?" he asked, when he noticed Gibbs on top of the covers instead of under them. "If you are, I can open a window, it is a little muggy up here."
"Yeah, that would be fine I guess." Gibbs answered and sat up straight.
Tony walked over to the window and opened it. He then walked over and lay on top of the covers next to Gibbs. "So, what do you want to talk about?" he asked, knowing full well what Gibbs wanted to talk about.
"About what you said...and what I didn't say..." Gibbs started, feeling totally unable to use the word love.
"Okay," Tony said, still unsure how to voice his own feelings on the matter.
"Listen, I...I don't want you to think that I'm not fully into this...it's just..." Gibbs took a deep breath; summon up all courage in him to say it. "I'm afraid to say *it*, just now."
"Afraid to say what? That you care for me? That you want me to stay with you and have this baby together? That you....that you love me?" Tony pushed.
Gibbs nodded, looked at his hands. "You asked me if I thought telling the others about the baby was tempting fate and I said I don't believe in that...well, when it comes to loving someone...I guess I do a little." He looked at Tony. "I don't want to lose you. Not the way I lost my ex-wives, nor the way I lost Shannon. And I don't want to lose this baby." He put his hand on his stomach.
Tony shuffled closer to Gibbs and put his hand over Gibbs' and squeezed. "You won't lose me and you won't lose this baby...I promsie you that."
For a moment Gibbs didn't care how Tony would react and leaned forward to kiss the younger man. "I wish I could just believe you." He whispered then. "I do care about you, Tony...I - I do love you."
"I know you do, and I love you. I'm just sorry that it took me almost losing you and the baby to realise that," Tony said, closing the distance between them and kissing Gibbs.
Gibbs smiled against Tony's lips and put his hands on the back of his neck. Maybe this would have a happy ending for them anyway.
Gibbs sat behind his desk, running through the background of the victim of their last case. He had almost forgotten how boring this could be. And how frustrating. However, he hadn't forgotten how good the coffee down the street was. He wondered if he could sneak off long enough to get a cup. Looking up at Tony working silently he decided against it. It wasn't worth betraying the younger man's trust. Not now that everything was working out great. He was back at work, even in the field, but he had decided to give over leadership to Tony. It was easier that way, and meant less stress for him and the baby.
"I can hear you thinking about coffee," Tony said without looking up. "The answer is no." Tony grinned to himself, he knew it must be hard for Gibbs to go cold turkey without the stuff that kept him going, but he knew he had to for the baby's sake more than anything. No coffee, no bourbon, and no working on the boat. Doctor's orders and he'd make sure his partner followed them to the letter.
Gibbs bit his lips to keep himself from saying anything. He wasn't the boss and that meant he couldn't punish Tony the way he would have. Paperwork, paperwork and more paperwork. He would have to come up with something else. It really wasn't fair that he had to stop doing all the stuff he used to do but the pregnancy had no repercussions for Tony.
Tony's phone rang, and they had a case. "Grab your gear," he said to Ziva and McGee, "I'll meet you at the scene, Gibbs and I will take the sedan." He watched the two leave and then looked at Gibbs "And before you say anything, I'm driving, I don't want the baby to get travel sick in there!"
Gibbs threw Tony a death glare. Ok, slowly this was really getting on his nerve. As soon as he knew they were alone he voice his frustration. "You do know that you're supposed to keep me away from stress. Taking everything out of my hand, binding me to a desk, putting up boundaries over and over again does not help, DiNozzo!" He hissed. "I'm getting frustrated and worked up and tensed. I need something to release that tension."
"Calm down, boss," Tony said, trying to think of a way to calm Gibbs down before he blew a blood vessel
Gibbs crossed his arms over his chest. Keeping a glare on Tony.
"Look..I know it's hard for you, but it's doctor's orders. Now, calm down or I'll send you to Ducky and go and work the scene with Ziva and McGee."
Gibbs raised an eyebrow at the order that almost sounded like a threat. He let his arms drop in resignation. "I really gotta find something to release that tension, though." He told Tony. "Maybe I actually can work on the boat. At least for an hour or two. And yeah, I will talk to the doctor about it and won't make the decision without him or you." Gibbs promised.
"Fine," Tony agreed. "So long as you get the doctor to sign off on it first and he agrees that it's safe for the baby." Gibbs then stayed silent until they reached the crime scene.
Ducky quickly met them a few feet away, so they couldn't see the body yet. "Um, Jethro, I think maybe you shouldn't look at this right now."
Gibbs frowned. "Duck, when have I ever not been able to look at a body?" He raised an eyebrow.
Ducky looked at Tony pleadingly. "I just don't think it would be a good idea, in your current condition..."
Tony looked round Ducky and saw that the victim was a young child, no more than four years old. He grimaced and nodded to Ducky, then he looked over at Gibbs. "He's right, Gibbs, why don't you go and talk to the MP's that found the body," he said.
Gibbs narrowed his eyes on the two. "Fine." He muttered and turned to go. "I'll see it sooner or later anyway." He muttered to himself.
Watching Gibbs leave, Tony turned to Ducky and said, "What you got? She looks like she was badly beaten?"
Ducky nodded. "Yes, and she was also sexually assaulted. The MP's found her under that bush," he said, pointing to the left of where they stood. "They moved her out in case something could be done, but it was too late for her, poor girl."
"Gibbs is not going to react well to this one, Duck and we need to keep his stress levels down, we just had a row before we got here about how he's had to give up coffee and alcohol and working on the boat and everything and how he needs an outlet of some kind, I don't want him going off in a murderous rage because of this."
"Well, it'll be difficult to keep it from him and you know how he is on child murder cases," Ducky said. "We're just going to have to work hard to close it and catch that bastard."
"Okay, so, tell me what you have?" Tony asked, his stylus poised over his PDA to start making notes.
"She's approximately four years old, if that, white, female, her skull is crushed and I'd imagine that she'd got a fair few broken bones throughout her body, but I'll know more when I get her back. As for the TOD, approximately twelve hours ago."
"Thanks, Duck," Tony said, noting everything down. "If you're done and McGee's finished the photos, you can load her into the van before Jethro sees her."
Gibbs reached the MP and flashed his badge. "Gibbs, NCIS. You found the body?" He asked
The MP nodded. "Yes, sir. I located her on my rounds. I saw feet peek out from under a bush, from the size I assumed it was a child. I pulled her out, checking for pulse and breathing, but there was none."
Gibbs nodded it on his pad, trying not to think about it that the victim was a child. "Did you try CPR?"
"No, when I checked for pulse I noticed that the body was really cold so I knew it was too late for that." The MP answered and swallowed hard.
"Write up a report and send it to NCIS, attention Special Agent LJ Gibbs." Gibbs handed the MP a business card. Then he turned and slowly made his way to the scene. He didn't care what Tony said, he'd go and look for himself.
Tony watched as Ducky loaded the body into his truck and then drove off, he still had a crime scene to process. He saw Gibbs heading towards him and he didn't look happy. "What did the MP's say?" he asked, trying to avoid talking about the condition of the body.
"That he pulled the body out, checked for pulse, didn't find any and then called us." Gibbs answered grumpily. He saw that McGee was taking pictures and Ziva was sketching the scene. "You want me to bag and tag?"
"Sure, go ahead," Tony replied, taking down notes from what Gibbs had told him. He was glad that the girl's body had been removed from the scene, Gibbs didn't need to see a child like that when he was carrying his own.
Once they were back at the office, Tony could tell that Gibbs was planning on making his way down to autopsy to check out what Ducky have found out, so he exercised his right as team leader to make him follow a lead that would have him stuck behind a desk for a while. He, on the other hand, headed down to see Ducky. "What you got, Ducky?" he asked.
"I was right about her skull being crushed and many bones being broken. She would have been in immense pain before she died. And she was sexually assaulted; I've done a rape kit and sent it up to Abby. How's Jethro coping?" Ducky said.
"He was about to head down here, but I've tied him to his desk for the moment, not sure how long we can keep this from him," Tony admitted. "Anything that will help us catch the SOB who did this?"
"There was semen in her vagina, so whoever did it, didn't use a condom, but there's no guarantee we have his DNA on file...unless he's in AFIS."
"I want him, before Gibbs sees the body and all hell breaks loose."
Gibbs slammed his hand down onto the keyboard, which made McGee wince. The first blow followed two more and colourful cursing. "Um, boss...something wrong?"
"Stupid computer! Stupid technology." Gibbs muttered as he chewed his tongue. He wasn't good at this. He was good at tracking down information old-school but he knew that McGee would have the information he was looking for within ten minutes, and Tony was doing this to keep him busy and behind his desk. He seriously hated this.
"Boss, maybe you should calm down a little." McGee said but almost instantly regretted it at the death glare he received.
"Tony told you to keep an eye on me when he's not around?" He gritted through his teeth.
"No, boss, actually, Abby and I have been reading up on MGS, and she's been right, there are a lot of complications." McGee pressed out quickly.
Gibbs took a deep breath, and then stood from his chair. "I need something sweet." He said, going to the vending machine.
When Tony finished with Ducky, he headed up to Abby's lab. "You got anything for me, Abs?" he asked, hoping she'd have a match of some kind so that they could put this case to bed before Gibbs gave himself a miscarriage.
"Sorry, Tony, I'm still sequencing the DNA, but if he's in the system, I'll get it for you," Abby replied, looking up from her work.
"Just make sure you let me know what's going on and not Gibbs, last thing we need is him getting stressed out," Tony told her, before heading back up to the bullpen.
The first thing he noticed was that Gibbs was not at his desk, panicking he looked at McGee, "where is he? You didn't let him go down to autopsy did you?" he demanded.
McGee opened his mouth, not sure if he just really screwed up, but Gibbs came back before the young man found his voice.
"Relax, Tony, I was just getting something to eat." Gibbs said annoyed, waving the candy.
"Oh, okay," Tony replied, relieved. "Did you find anything useful from the searches I asked you to do?"
Gibbs threw him an evil look. "Not really. There haven't been any kids reported missing in the last week."
"Check the schools, maybe the parents had a reason for not reporting her missing," Tony said, before turning to McGee.
"What about you? Found anything?" he asked.
"Nothing so far, boss...I mean, Tony, but I'll keep looking."
"Okay, and Gibbs...do NOT go down to autopsy, that's a direct order that I expect you to follow to the letter."
"Yes, boss." Gibbs answered sarcastically and returned to his search.
They all worked in silence until McGee came up with a name. "She's called Charlotte Ringwald, her dad's a Petty Officer, been off work for the past two weeks and here's his address," McGee said, passing Tony a piece of paper.
"Gear up," Tony said to Ziva, he felt Gibbs looking at him and he knew what was coming.
Gibbs stood, putting his gun in his holster and taking his badge.
"No, you're staying here. I can not risk you getting wound up when we question this guy and you ending back in the hospital," Tony said, firmly.
"Tony, I'm allowed to do field work! You can't push me behind my desk all the time!"
"I'm well aware of that, Gibbs, but this time you sit it out. I know what you're like when children are involved and added to the fact that you're pregnant and it's quite possible that this guy raped, beat and murdered his own child, there is no way I'm allowing you to go anywhere near him. You'll get stressed out and we both know that isn't good for you right now," Tony said, trying to be reasonable.
"I'm getting stressed out right now." Gibbs said forcefully. "I made you team leader to reduce stress for me, not to increase it!"
"I'm just doing what I think is best," Tony replied, calmly. "I'm not discussing this with you, Gibbs. You will stay here." With that, Tony and Ziva left the office and headed out to bring the guy in.
Gibbs slumped down in his chair and took deep breaths to calm himself down. This was not acceptable, but he needed to stay calm. Glaring at the elevator the team had vanished in, he stood, and took the other elevator down to the morgue.
Once Tony and Ziva reached the Petty Officer's, Ziva looked at him and said, "you are being too hard on Gibbs."
"What do you mean?" Tony asked, thinking that it was really none of her business how he and Gibbs interacted.
"I don't see why he couldn't have come along, just letting you take the lead in the questioning. I know he's pregnant, but he's not infirm," she replied.
"He has to avoid stress, Ziva, he's nearly lost the baby once already, I can't take that risk," Tony argued.
"Well, I think you're treating him like he's infirm and will collapse at the slightest ounce of stress, he knows how to conduct himself in the field," she told him, "and anyway, what's stopping him from getting stressed out at how much you won't let him do?"
Tony thought for a while. "You may have a point, I'll talk to him when we bring this guy in, but for now, let's just get this over with."
They headed to the door and Tony knocked and waited for an answer.
Gibbs had managed to get the elevator doors to close before McGee had caught up with him. On his way down to autopsy he wondered if he actually was doing the right thing here. Tony had ordered him to stay out. Well, yeah, rule 18, forgiveness rather than permission. He took a deep breath and walked into autopsy, ignoring Ducky, who rapidly tried to cover up the little girl on the slab.
"Jethro, you don't have to see this." Ducky said but Gibbs already stood at the slab.
Gibbs shook his head slightly. "I do, Ducky. I'm going to have a child, it's not going to be any easier then..." He took a deep breath, trying to suppress the nausea that came to surface.
"How can someone do this?" He asked confused and then quickly left the morgue.
"Can I asked why you didn't report your daughter missing, Petty Officer Ringwald?" Tony asked.
"I thought she was with a friend," he replied, neither Tony nor Ziva believed him.
"She was found about a mile from this house, where was the friend's house?" Tony pressed.
"About twenty minutes from here."
"Driving or walking?" Ziva asked.
"Driving."
"That's more than a mile then, isn't it?" Tony said. "Look, I'm going to have to ask you to come down to the Navy Yard with us to identify your daughter and answer a few more questions."
The man put up little or no fight and allowed himself to be led out of the house and into Tony's car; he said nothing on the drive back to the Navy Yard and left with Ziva to be taken to an interrogation room.
Tony made his way up to the bullpen and found Gibbs sitting at his desk. "Look, Gibbs, we need to talk," he said, quietly.
Gibbs was quite pale and he didn't really feel all that good. He ran a hand over his face. "ok?" He said.
"Ziva said something to me on the drive over there that made me realise that I've been trying to shield you from things that you're eventually going to have to deal with and I just wanted to apologise, my actions were in the baby's best interests, but I shouldn't treat you like one," Tony said.
Gibbs nodded, but couldn't really speak. He felt that if he opened his mouth he was going to puke. He licked his lips and stood slowly.
"Are you feeling okay?" Tony asked, suddenly concerned that Gibbs wasn't actually saying anything.
"Not really." Gibbs muttered and stumbled towards the bathroom.
Tony went to follow him, shouting to McGee "Call Ducky, NOW and get him to meet us in the restroom." He followed Gibbs as he headed into the bathroom and then into a stall and rubbed his back as he vomited. "Feel better?" he asked, once Gibbs had finished. "Stay there, I'm having Ducky look you over," he ordered when Gibbs made to stand up and wash out his mouth.
"It's ok, Tony, I was just upset..." Gibbs whispered to not strain his raw throat.
"No, I mean it, Jethro, I know you're still going through the first trimester so morning sickness is still possible, but that's my baby too and I'm not having it put at risk when you could have been checked over," Tony ranted. "Here, drink this," he said, handing Gibbs a glass of water.
Gibbs drank the glass slowly. "Tony, I've been down to autopsy." He admitted, knowing that soon Ducky would be there.
"Gibbs!" Tony half-shouted, but stopped when Ducky arrived.
"Ah, McGee said there was an issue with Jethro," he said, interuptting them before an argument could break out.
"He went down to autopsy and has been sick, when I specifically told him to NOT go there," Tony ranted, crossing his arms across his chest and giving Gibbs a harsh stare.
"You just apologized for doing that!" Gibbs pointed out. "I don't have cramps or something. I felt like this when we had such a case even BEFORE I was pregnant."
"Well, you never threw up before!" Tony snapped back.
"How would you know? Did you have a diary about whether or not I went to the bathroom after I was down to autopsy?" Gibbs barked.
"No, but you looked really bad!" Tony shouted. "And-"
"Gentlemen, didn't the doctor tell you both to avoid stress?" Ducky interrupted.
Gibbs sighed and leaned against the wall. "I had *this* kind of reaction before. It might be a little stronger, but I'll live. And so will the baby." Gibbs assured Tony calmly.
"Can Ducky just check you over," Tony asked, "for my piece of mind more than anything?"
"Fine, he can check me." Gibbs agreed. "Duck, your office?" He asked and the ME nodded. "Oh, Tony, how did the interview go?" Gibbs then asked before he left the bathroom.
"I've got a feeling that he's guilty, but I'll wait to interrogate until you can sit in, if that's okay with you?" Tony replied.
Gibbs smiled slightly that Tony would allow him to be present. "Ok, I'll let Ducky check me through and then come down to interrogation."
Actually he hoped he could interrogate that bastard but wasn't sure if he could ask Tony for that. "At least he'll stew in his own juices for a while until I'm down." Gibbs grinned and left with Ducky.
Tony left the restroom and headed down to interrogation to join Ziva in the observation room. "Gibbs is just getting the once over by Ducky and then he'll be down to sit in on the interrogation. How's he been?" Tony asked her.
"Just sitting there. I see you took my advice about Gibbs, he knows how much he can handle," Ziva replied. "Why is Ducky giving him a once over?" she asked, confused.
"He was sick a few moments ago and I wanted him to get check out for my piece of mind," Tony replied.
"You're so over protective of him," she mocked.
"He is carrying my baby!" Tony shot back. "Anyway, keep an eye on him, I'm going for coffee...if Gibbs comes down before I get back, let him know where I am."
"Sure thing, boss," Ziva said, and went back to watching Petty Officer Ringwald.
Gibbs was soon cleared by Ducky. He really had just an upset stomach. However, before he went to interrogation he made a beeline and grabbed some tea from the machine. He wasn't that big on tea, so he wouldn't know the difference anyway, but he remembered that it had helped his stomach when he was a kid.
Finally he arrived in observation. "Where's Tony?" He asked, looking into the other room, his eyes narrowing on the man sitting there.
"He went to get coffee." Ziva answered and gave Gibbs a once over.
"I'm fine." He said without looking at her. He kept staring at the Petty Officer.
Tony got back with his coffee to find Gibbs in the observation room. "Shall we get started?" he said, leading the way into the interrogation room.
Gibbs followed Tony into the other room. He took a chair from the corner and sat down next to the table, leaving the place across the suspect for Tony. "Special Agent Jethro Gibbs." He introduced himself shortly, his eyes never leaving the Petty Officer.
"I'm Special Agent Tony DiNozzo, Petty Officer Ringwald. You know why you're here?" Tony said, sitting down and sipping his coffee.
"No, all I know is my daughter is dead and you brought me in," the Petty Officer replied.
"Why do you think that is?" Tony asked, looking at Gibbs and then back to the suspect.
"I have no idea."
"Your daughter was found beaten, raped and dead. And you failed to report her missing."
"I told you, she was at a friend's house!" the PO snapped.
"What's that friend's name?" Gibbs asked calmly.
The PO looked from Gibbs to Tony, "Mary..."
Gibbs exchanged a look with Tony, raising his eyebrow. "He doesn't seem to remember the name, Tony. That's strange. If my daughter was four years old, I'd make sure to always know who she's with."
"Yeah, so would I," Tony told Gibbs. "You see why we have a problem believing you Petty Officer?"
"I don't know her that well," the PO stammered.
"Gibbs, would you send your four year old daughter to someone you didn't know 'that well'?" Tony asked.
"Nahhh, I think I'd know pretty damn well who is watching my kid." Gibbs agreed, levelling a first-class stare on the Petty Officer. "Where's her mother, anyway?" Gibbs asked.
"She left when Charlotte was two," the PO replied, looking nervous under Gibbs' stare. "What's that got to do with it anyway?"
"Who looks after Charlotte when you're at work?" Tony asked.
"A friend."
"Friend have a name?"
"Clara Smith." Ringwald said reluctantly.
Gibbs narrowed his eyes. "I assume Clara has a phone number and an address?"
"Um...she comes over to my place. I don't know where she lives..."
Gibbs crossed his arms over his chest. "Petty Officer, I get the feeling that you don't care all that much about your daughter." He handed Tony the file he had pulled when Tony had picked the PO up. It was Charlotte's medical history. She had been to the hospital on several occasions. Mainly with bruises or broken bones.
"I do care about her, but she's very difficult and hard work," the Petty Officer complained.
Tony looked through the file. "What happened when she broke her collarbone?" he asked, reading through the medical report.
"She fell off the top bunk of her bed," Ringwald said, looking nervous.
"It says here, it looked like someone had grabbed her and twisted her arm around, also there were suspicious bruises that suggested someone had caused the break," Tony read. "Why don't you just admit it, Petty Officer, she was a difficult child, you said, hard work, you said, you've been off work for a few weeks and you got angry with her."
"No!"
"You beat her..." Tony continued.
"No!"
"You raped her..." Tony continued.
"No!"
"You killed her and dumped her under a bush, a mile from your home," Tony stated.
"That's not how it happened!"
Gibbs leaned forward. "Then how did it happen?" He asked picking up on the PO's insecurity. He tried to sounds as if he was on his side. "Tell us what happened, Petty Officer, so we can help you." He took a deep breath, almost hating himself for what he was about to say. "I know how it feels to lose a daughter."
Petty Officer Ringwald sat back in his chair and sighed. "I didn't kill my daughter," he eventually said.
"But you know who did?" Tony asked.
The Petty Officer paused for a long time. He looked from Tony to Gibbs and back to Tony. "It was an accident," he said, finally.
"Tell us what happened." Gibbs pressed on, trying to decide whether the PO was lying or not.
"We were playing a game, she came onto me, I didn't mean to hurt her, but she wanted it and then she wouldn't stop screaming so I banged her head on the floor once or twice," Ringwald started.
"Her skull had caved in!" Tony shouted. "How can a four year old come onto you?"
"It was her idea! I only did it because she wouldn't shut up and I didn't want the neighbours to find out and then she stopped breathing and I knew she was dead, so I took her to that place and left her there. But it was an accident I swear!"
Gibbs jumped from his seat, knocking the chair over, leaning over the table until he was close to the PO's face. "Four year olds don't get such ideas!" He barked.
"I'll swear that was the truth, I didn't mean to kill her, I just wanted her to stop screaming," he sobbed.
Tony looked at Gibbs and motioned for them to leave. He needed to get his partner out of there before he floored the guy.
Gibbs however had another idea. He slammed his hand onto the table. "You raped your daughter and then you killed her! There's no way this was an accident or her idea! If you're lucky, you'll get away with life. Right now, I'm very tempted to tell the inmates why you're going to prison. Do you know what they do with child rapists and murderers?"
"You can't do that!" Ringwald shouted.
"Watch him," Tony said, and then he got up and practically dragged Gibbs with in into the observation room so they could talk without the Petty Officer overhearing.
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