The team leader glared at the Director, curious as to the reason why she seemed so familiar to DiNozzo. Gibbs had not forgotten how she used his senior agent for her personal crusade against La Grenouille; nor had he forgiven her for the emotional scars that Tony still bore. Surely Jenny wouldn’t be involved in DiNozzo’s disappearance and subsequent torture. After witnessing some of the nightmares that Tony had been reliving, he could only imagine the torment that the younger man had experienced. If he discovered that Jenny was responsible for any of his agent’s suffering, she would not get the opportunity to hide behind the Director’s chair this time.
He glanced towards the door and then back at Jenny, silently indicating that it was past time for her to leave.
Acknowledging his subtle suggestion with an almost imperceptible nod, she nervously smiled at DiNozzo. “I’ve got be going Tony. I hope you feel better very soon; we certainly do miss you.”
“Thanks,” Tony mumbled.
“If you need anything,” she quickly added, “please don’t hesitate to ask.”
“Yes ma’am.”
Gibbs took the Director by the arm and escorted her towards the door. “I’ll be back in a minute, Tony,” he assured his senior agent. Tony didn’t answer him, but then again, he really didn’t expect one.
He guided her down the hallway, away from Tony’s room. DiNozzo’s hearing had always been exceptional and he was not going to take the chance that Tony would overhear his and Jenny’s conversation. They passed McGee, who was carrying a duffle bag containing what Gibbs assumed to be a change of clothes for DiNozzo.
“Tony’s waiting on you. Help him if he needs it, but only if he asks,” he instructed the junior agent as he and Jenny continued walking.
“Um…all right,” McGee stammered. “Is everything okay, Boss?”
Gibbs figured that the junior agent was confused as to why the team leader was forcibly leading the Director of NCIS down the hall. Unfortunately, McGee would just have to stay confused for now. “Just fine, Tim. I won’t be long.”
Leaving the younger man to carry out his orders, he pulled Jenny inside to the first vacant room he could find. She jerked free of his grasp, anger radiating from her piercing gaze. “That was completely unnecessary,” she exclaimed. “Just who do you think you are?”
“Don’t try and pull that crap with me,” Gibbs barked. “I told you not to come; Tony’s got a lot to deal with and you coming here hasn’t helped matters any.”
“I barely had the chance to say anything to him.”
“You obviously didn’t have to,” he argued. “Evidently just seeing you brought back some unpleasant memories.”
“That’s not true!”
He clenched his jaw as he struggled to rein in his precarious temper. “You’ve got to admit Jen, that even before he disappeared, things weren’t great between you two. He was still recovering from the whole ‘Frog’ ordeal before this happened. He was hurt by your thirst for vengeance and you didn’t care. Now, he comes back after a year with no memory of any of us, but he sees you one time and he remembers something. You know I don’t believe in coincidences.”
“Well, that’s all this is Jethro. How could you even think that I would have something to do with Tony’s disappearance?”
“You tell me. I used to know you and could tell what you were thinking, but ever since you sat down in the big chair, I don’t know who you are any more!”
“I had nothing to do with Tony’s disappearance,” she forcibly repeated. “I was concerned about him; that’s the only reason I’m here.”
“I hope you’re telling me the truth, because if you’re not, there’ll be hell to pay!” he vowed.
She placed her hands on her hips, refusing to back down from the ex-Marine. “Do you know what I think, Jethro?”
“Nope.”
“I think that you’re jealous because Tony responded to me and…”
“Don’t even go there, Director Shepard,” he snarled. “Just stay away. I’ll keep you posted on his condition.”
Turning sharply, he flung open the door, gesturing for her to leave the room. “I’m sure that you can find your way out of the hospital.”
“We’re not through with this discussion.”
“Fine. We’ll continue it when I get back to work.”
“And when will that be? You never gave me a definite date of your return.”
“I don’t know. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to get back and check on Tony.”
His icy stare followed Jenny as she walked out the door and down the corridor. He didn’t know if he believed her or not; time would certainly tell if she were telling him the truth. The one thing that he did know for certain was that Tony’s recovery was his only priority. He had to believe that deep down, DiNozzo was struggling to get out of the box that he had been forced to hide in so that he could save his sanity. The only problem was that the box was locked up tight, and so far, no one had found the key to open it.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Tony stared at the door that Jenny and Gibbs had just exited through moments ago. His gut was still telling him that he knew this woman, or at least had heard her name in conversation, but he was drawing a blank. Gibbs seemed to have an air of animosity towards her making Tony wonder if there was some kind of unspoken history between the two of them.
He startled at the sound of someone knocking on the door. “Come in,” he tentatively replied.
It was the Elf Lord. Tony struggled to pull the man’s real name from the new file that he was creating in his mind. McGoo. No, that wasn’t it. McGillicutty. No, that was Lucy Ricardo’s maiden name. He shook his head at the random thoughts that were running through his head, while silently willing the right name to come out of his mouth.
“Hey Tony,” the younger man greeted.
“Hey,” he quietly answered.
“I’ve brought you some clothes. As soon as you’re dressed, you can get out of here.”
“Sounds good.”
Tony grinned as a name finally came to him. He just hoped it was the right one. “Thanks, Tim.”
“You’re welcome. You’re memory is getting better; you remembered my name.”
He nodded as he blew out a pent up breath. “Yeah, but you don’t know how many names I had to go through to get the right one. I’m still not sure about your last name.”
“McGee,” Tim reminded him.
“McGee,” he repeated several times, hoping that the act of repetition would help him remember it in the future.
Tony took the duffle bag from McGee and opened it. He pulled out a pair of sweatpants and a change of underwear and socks. “Nice,” he muttered. “I’m a boxer guy, huh?”
“I…uh…uh...yeah,” McGee answered. “I mean I never looked; I just um…”
He shook his head in amusement at Tim’s apparent embarrassment as he pulled out a pair of tennis shoes. “Nike. Look brand new.”
“You bought them a week or so before you disappeared. We were at lunch and you saw them in the store window and had to have them. You’re old running shoes had pretty much bit the dust.”
“Expensive.”
“Yeah. You always had expensive taste in clothing.”
Tony looked up at McGee. “I did?”
“Yeah. Name brands and designer labels. You used to tell me that you had to pay for quality.”
“Oh.” He wasn’t sure what else to say. Reaching in, he pulled out the last item; an Ohio State sweatshirt. “Buckeye,” he whispered.
“You went to college at Ohio State,” McGee explained. “You played sports and…”
“My leg was broken in a football came.”
“Yes. Do you remember anything else?”
Tony closed his eyes and after a few seconds shook his head in frustration. “No. Do you remember how when a TV station went off the air and nothing was left but that picture and that loud, annoying hum? Well, that’s kind of what my memory does. It’ll be going along and then it suddenly goes off the air.”
McGee smiled. “Don’t worry about it. I have a feeling that you’ll be seeing things in high definition in no time.”
“High definition?”
“I’ll explain it later,” Tim promised.
Laying aside his clothes, he shakily rose to his feet. Tony used the bed to hold onto until he gained his balance, waiting patiently for his world to stop spinning. Out of his peripheral vision, he saw McGee take a step towards him, hovering nearby just in case he needed him.
“You okay?” he agent asked.
“Yeah, just gotta get my feet under me.”
Tony slowly pulled on his underwear and pants before he removed the hospital gown. When he buttoned them, he noticed that his jeans were hanging loosely on his hips.
“Looks like you lost some weight,” Tim observed.
“Thank you, Captain Obvious,” Tony retorted as he pulled his sweatshirt over his head. He sat down on the bed as the room started to sway once again.
“Tony?” McGee called out to him. “Are you all right?”
“Just moved too fast.”
After a few minutes, Tony picked up his socks, wondering how he was going to manage getting them on; he could barely tolerate sitting up and he knew that he couldn’t bend over without excruciating pain. Every muscle in his body was still aching from the withdrawal. He hated asking for help, but given his current options, he had no choice.
“Do you think that you could uh…” Reluctantly, he held the socks out to McGee.
“Sure, Tony. No problem.”
He watched McGee as the younger man effortlessly slipped his socks on and then put his shoes on as well. Tony was amazed at the simple act of kindness. Most people would look down their nose at him on the rare occasion when he had asked for help; everyone but Megan and Olivia. He guessed that he could now add Tim McGee to the list of people that he could call friend.
Tony cleared his throat. “Thanks, McGee.”
“You’re welcome.”
The two men sat in companionable silence for the next couple of minutes. Tony still felt embarrassed that McGee had to put his socks and his shoes on him; it was hard to accept help from strangers when you had learned to expect the worse in people.
“So, did you see Gibbs and the red head out in the hall?” Tony finally asked, shattering the stillness of the moment.
“You mean Director Shepard?”
“Yeah.”
Tim nodded. “I passed them in the hall. Gibbs didn’t look too happy.”
“That’s one way of putting it. I’d say he was pissed.”
“That’s probably a more accurate description,” the agent agreed. “Do you know why he was pissed?”
“Not really,” he admitted. “She came in my room and introduced herself. I thought I recognized her name. I remember hearing it when…”
“When what?”
“It’s not important.” Tony didn’t want to think about his captivity. Truthfully, he couldn’t face those memories, except in his dreams.
“Tony? You can talk to me,” McGee urged. “I just want to help.”
“I know.”
Tony stood up and using the bed, he braced himself and slowly made his way to the window. He stared out across the parking lot, the thought of facing the world sober terrifying him. Life was so much easier when he could drink until his problems ceased to exist. But now he was clean and his troubles had seemed to magnify.
“What’s Gibbs’ house like?” he asked, his eyes now fixed on the horizon.
McGee joined him at the window. “It’s nice. It’s got a lot of room.”
“Does he live alone?”
“Yeah, he does. Gibbs spends most of his time in his basement.”
“Why?”
“Working on his boat.”
Tony stared at McGee, disbelief etched in his gaunt features. “His boat?”
“Yes. He’s building a boat in his basement,” Tim explained.
“In…his basement?”
“Got a problem with that, DiNozzo?”
Tony flinched at the sound of his name. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw Gibbs enter the room. He didn’t like people sneaking up on him; he had spent a long time looking over his shoulder and to be caught off guard unnerved him. “No problem,” he tersely replied. “I’ve just never heard of anyone building a boat in their basement before.”
“We all deal with things in our own way, Tony,” Gibbs pointed out. “When life begins to get to be too much, it’s nice to have something else to turn to.”
“And I guess your way is better than mine?”
“What do you mean?”
“You build boats and I get drunk.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
Tony turned back to stare out the window. He wasn’t trying to pick a fight with Gibbs; after all, the man was opening up his home to him. Gibbs was putting his life on hold just to help him and all he could manage to do was to hurl insults at the Marine. “Sorry,” he mumbled. “Guess my nerves are still a little on edge.”
“That’s understandable,” Gibbs replied.
He could tell by the stern expression on Gibbs’ face that he didn’t buy his flimsy excuse. “McGee, go bring the car around,” Gibbs instructed. “We’ll meet you out front.”
“On it, Boss,” Tim replied.
Tony didn’t miss the sound of relief in McGee’s voice. He figured that the agent was grateful that he would have a respite from the awkwardness between him and Gibbs.
Gibbs put his hand on his shoulder and gently urged him to turn around. “Want to tell me what’s going on with you?” the older man inquired.
“Nothing. I don’t know why I said what I said. My mouth got ahead of my brain,” Tony attempted to reason.
“Tony, I…”
“Just drop it, Gibbs!” he growled. “God, you’re like a pit bull when you get your teeth into something! Like it or not, I’m a drunk and drinking is how I handle my problems! You build freakin’ boats in your basement, and that’s how you handle your problems. End of discussion, Gibbs.”
“Do I need to remind you that you haven’t had a drink in several days?”
Tony held up his trembling hand. “Nope. Everywhere I turn I’ve got a reminder.”
“It’ll get better,” Gibbs vowed.
“That’s what everybody keeps telling me.”
“I know it just seems like a bunch of words right now, but I promise you that we’ll just take it a day at a time until it does get better.”
Tony had lost count of how many times Gibbs had told him that he could trust him. He had always prided himself on his self reliance, but that had been shattered by the cruelty of others. Trust was something that he couldn’t give easily and now people were starting to demand it from him.
He jumped when Gibbs squeezed his shoulder. That was the second time in the last few minutes that the ex-Marine had caught him by surprise. “Please don’t do that,” Tony whispered.
“I’m sorry; I wasn’t thinking. Just wanted you to know your ride is here.”
Tony glanced at the wheelchair now stationed by his bed. “I can walk,” he protested.
“Hospital rules. You gotta ride until we get out the front door.”
“And you always follow the rules?”
“My rules,” Gibbs replied.
“Guess I’ll be learning about those pretty soon.”
“Guess you will. Now sit down.”
Too tired to put up too much resistance, Tony carefully made his way to the chair and sat down. Gibbs crammed his release papers inside his duffle bag and handed it to him. He was still nervous about going to the agent’s home, but at the moment, it was his only option. As they waited for the elevator, he looked up at the silver haired man.
“So Gibbs, tell me something.”
“What?”
Tony permitted a soft chuckle to escape his lips. “How do you get that boat out of the basement?”
Gibbs returned his smile. “You stick around long enough and I’ll show you.”
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.