Chapter 9
Reynolds was cooperative. If you could call being coldly polite and answering every question pointedly without volunteering information, "cooperative". The lawyer, who seemed to be welded to her side, and who approved every one of her words before she spoke them, didn’t add to the picture in a positive way.
Oh yes, she was oh so concerned about one of the defenseless students under her care nearly being kidnapped. Just a pity that the real emphasis was on the "under her care" part and not the "student" part, she didn’t even seem to know that she should make it sound the other way round. Tony pressed his shoulder against the one-way mirror to the interview room and sneered.
Tony’s eyes lingered on the broad back of his lover. The way Gibbs held himself marine straight and how he tilted his head told Tony that he wasn’t pleased with the attitude of the woman. Gibbs' voice was glacial when he asked his next question, "Who has access to the office computer?"
The Principal, with her carefully coiffed hair and dark purple power suit, sniffed and waved her hand dismissively. She didn’t know how someone could have gained access to the schools database; surely it must have been an outsider. The door to her school was locked every night at eight pm and opened at seven am the next morning. They had protocols for it.
“What a cold bitch,” came the muttered comment from behind Tony. He didn’t turn around. McGee stepped beside him and offered a cup of hot and sweet coffee. Tony took it, smiled distractedly at the younger man, and then refocused his attention towards the ongoing conversation in the interrogation room.
“I’ve seen weapon smugglers that showed more emotions than that woman.” McGee went on.
“Me too.” Tony sipped from the cup. Reynolds was stiffly explaining that it was a common occurrence that parents demanded that another pupil should be kept separated from their child. Children with special needs were sometimes not compatible, Agent Gibbs had to understand that. It was only natural, and as a concerned principal, it was her duty to see that friction should be avoided if other means didn’t work.
The coffee hit the spot, delivered a needed dose of energy. “Sam’s still occupied?”
McGee bumped his shoulder against Tony’s. “Yep. Abby is keeping her company.”
The older Agent turned his head. “Should I be worried?”
“They seem to be getting along now. You should see their hands, they're fluttering and waving like you wouldn’t believe.” Out of the corner of his eye Tony saw Tim shaking his head. “Abby brought her little black beauty case with her, you know the one with her accessories, so maybe you should be concerned.”
Visions of his daughter dressed up in Goth splendor danced through Tony’s brain and it made him shudder. He wouldn’t allow his girl to prance around with black lips and hair. Her teenage years loomed on the horizon, Tony could foresee her trying out different styles then, but for now she was far too young for something like that. There was just one problem, Tony didn’t know if he could be steadfast enough to veto anything too extreme now and weather the resulting temper tantrum that would, without a doubt, rock the building. And he simply knew that the lab tech would use the opportunity of interacting fairly unsupervised with her to ask Sam a lot of questions about their morning. Nothing exceptional had happened after his rather embarrassing start of the day. Before… well. Tony squirmed.
Gibbs deep voice drifted from the speakers into the observation room, a welcome counterpoint to the principal’s cold mezzo. “Doesn’t matter how rich the parent is, you treat every request with the same attention and objectivity?”
The lawyer, a middle aged man in an impeccable suit, laid his hand on his client's arm. “Mrs Reynolds doesn’t have to answer such a question. Of course every one of her pupils has the same level of importance to her.”
Tony crumbled the now empty paper cup between his fingers and threw it into the waste basket. “You know, McGee, I even believe him.”
“Huh.” McGee’s fingers tabbed restlessly against the rim of the mirror.
Tony nodded in direction of the group in the other room, indicating to the younger man that he should pay attention. Gibbs hadn’t commented on the lawyer’s rebuke, he was probably focusing on his prey with his coldest stare, making them see the wasteland his eyes promised them if they dared to cross him. “The security of a child warrants that we investigate every possibility. Surely you approve?”
Reynolds nodded stiffly. “Of course. But since I am not involved in any way I would recommend concentrating your resources on other possibilities.”
Tony made careful note of how she intoned every word. “Trust me McGee, the only things that witch cares about are money and reputation. Hers, preferably. The girls in the school could be robots instead, it wouldn't make a difference to her. Individually they hold the same importance to her. None.”
On the other side of the window Gibbs had handed a sheet of paper and a pen to the woman, he then demanded a list of regular visitors and services with access to her office. She didn’t even touch the things, making her flunky take them instead.
“I will forward your request to my assistant. My job as the principal of a school doesn’t leave me enough time to care for such minor details.” Reynolds inclined her head. The smile that developed on her lips made Tony’s balls try to crawl into his body. Surely the bitch wasn’t trying to charm Gibbs? His boss wouldn’t touch someone like her with a ten foot pole.
“Special Agent Gibbs, surely you must understand my position? There have to be a lot of minor tasks you prefer to hand down to your…ah, subordinate agents, like Mr DiNozzo?”
Unseen and unheard by her, both McGee and Tony snorted derisively. She couldn’t be more wrong. Their boss was anal when it came to keeping track of everything that happened, as long as it wasn’t about how a technical gizmo worked.
In the other room Gibbs didn’t even deign to answer her, he kept his hands motionless on the table before him and after a minute of terse silence he began to ask very detailed questions about her staff. Most of them she wasn’t able to answer, every time she couldn’t her voice rose a notch.
Tony stepped back from the window and turned around with a disgusted snort.
“You think she's involved?”
“I doubt it. But if she is, Gibbs will find out.”
The lawyer requested a break and something to drink, and Gibbs had to comply. It had been an hour. This wasn’t a real interrogation, according to the law, just an interview. Ziva was sent to fetch the requested coffee; Gibbs stayed in his place at the table and kept watching his ‘guests’.
McGee squirmed and his nervous behavior finally made the older agent concentrate on his colleague. As long as it didn’t concern personal topics the computer geek had overcome his nervousness. It was highly suspicious that he showed nerves while observing something like a simple interview. Gibbs had deemed him ready to assist with some interrogations months ago. Something else was making him squirm and all of Tony’s instincts screamed at him that it wouldn’t be something he liked. At all.
“McGee.” Tony could see the Adam’s apple bob in McGee’s throat. His little probie was burning to tell him something.
“I did some research.”
“Well, of course. Gibbs asked you to.”
“About your abduction. You lied, well, you left out a lot! It wasn’t just a simple abduction, they hurt you severely.” McGee stuck his chin out rebelliously.
The technician who had overseen the recording of the interview looked concernedly at the two agents.
If this was leading where Tony thought it was leading, it would be better to relocate. Gibbs' private conference room would do. "Come on McGee, elevator time.", the older agent said grimly and hurried out of the observation room, a stubborn McGee at his heels. The silver doors had barely closed properly and Tony flipped the switch.
He leaned against the wall, trying to look casual, a half smile plastered on his face. "McGee, what's this about? I thought we agreed that me being kidnapped decades ago has no connection to Sam's.”
The younger Agent was fidgeting nervously but Tony knew by the look of the raised chin and his mulish expression that the probie wouldn't let go now.
"I don't remember anything about an agreement, just a proclamation to not pursue the issue. I thought you might not be objective and... we had other cases where criminals from long ago came back to seek revenge."
That wasn't completely unreasonable but Tony couldn't forget what aspects of his ordeal McGee seemed to concentrating on. He could feel the smile on his face slipping into nothingness. "Yeah, but what seems to interest you most about it is what they did to me, not what became of them!" Tony could have told him that two of the men involved were dead and the third on death row for murder.
"Tony, what they did to you was barbaric, I am so sorry that you had to go through something like that."
“McStupid, kidnappers are not friendly, law abiding people, reluctant to inflict pain on other people. Otherwise they wouldn’t be, say, kidnappers! It is common practice to intimidate the victim.”
“I saw pictures of your back and …” McGee stuttered but then surged forwards, his eyes round and disturbed. “your, your…backside. Tony... I'm so sorry. They whipped you, didn’t they. And sent pictures to your dad.”
Those were pictures he never wanted anyone to see, to see what had been done to him. Tony was furious. “You must have hacked into the hospital files to get this much information! The pictures and video they sent are in the sealed records, I was a minor, and the only other existing ones are in the medical file. You couldn’t resist snooping, could you?”
“Everyone seemed to know what happened but me!” McGee raised his hands defensively. "I just wanted to know what they knew."
“They probably didn’t know about the nature of the injuries! Just that the bastards hurt me to make sure my father knew that they meant business.” At least that was what he desperately hoped, he couldn't bear the thought of Gibbs looking at him with pity in his eyes. He wanted to be a strong partner for his boss and couldn't imagine the scared little boy he had been fitting into the picture.
Another thought made Tony square his shoulders. His nostrils widened and he balled his hands to fists. “Come to think of it, why would you stop at hacking into the hospital files. You took a nice long look into the case file as well, didn’t you?” A file that included a video of twelve year old sobbing, desperate.... pathetic Tony pleading with his father to please, please come rescue him.
McGee pressed himself against the wall and the look in his eyes was all the confirmation Tony needed.
“If I ever, ever see certain pictures make an appearance in the office you will rue the day your mother spawned you, do you understand me?” Tony didn’t know when he had moved but he was standing with his fists balled around McGee’s lapels, nose to nose, crowding the younger man against the wall of the elevator.
Someone banged their fist against the elevator doors and they could hear Ziva's voice calling out to them. Tony took a step back, sorted his features into something that didn’t betray his fury as much and, with a warning look at the younger agent, made the doors slide open again.
Ziva's cold brown eyes took stock of the situation within seconds. She couldn’t miss the angry tension between the two men. “What is going on here?”
Tony straightened his clothes, grinned widely, his eyes glowed with barely suppressed rage. “Our probie thought he had to show initiative and poke his nose into things that are none of his business. And, surprise, surprise, he didn’t even gain anything by it but me being pissed at him.”
His words had to sting, McGee looked humiliated, angry red spots developed on his cheeks. The younger man was breathing fast, his nose raised high. “Just because you think it has no bearing on the case doesn't mean that it hasn’t. You're too close. Vance is right to keep you away from the actual work.”
Tony growled. “McGee, shut up.”
"Did you even call your cousin like you promised to check if something is going on on their end?"
"Yes, I did! And Pete told me that everyone behaves like always and that not even my name has been uttered in decades!"
"And that was enough for you?" The younger man waved his hand and turned to Ziva. “I'm right, he's too emotionally invested.” His chin climbed one nearly impossible inch higher. “Not that he's ever good at logic, if it wasn’t for his occasional hunches-“
What the verbal reprimand hadn’t accomplished, a firm stare finally did. McGee’s mouth closed with an audible snap. Maybe he sensed that he had gone too far.
Ziva didn’t look impressed by her colleague’s behavior. “If you are quite finished with your … discussion. I came to tell you that the taxi driver has arrived.”
“Good, as the only free official NCIS agent left on the team, I will conduct the interview. Ziva, you can witness the one Gibbs is conducting, the break should be over soon and DiNozzo…” McGee looked him up and down, “can keep an eye on his child, assemble her puzzle or something like that.”
Tony was motionless, his expression shuttered. A dozen and one possible replies came to mind but in the end he decided that it wasn’t worth the effort. He left them to their duties without another word.
.-#-.
Gibbs was used to deal with what he referred to as the scum of human society, people like drug runners, abusive husbands and traitors. Principal Reynolds couldn’t be officially classed with these. Still, three hours in her company left him with the wish to scrub his hands twice, just to make sure that he wouldn’t catch anything from her. Gibbs rubbed his fingers against each other and then over his chin and grimaced. A big cup of coffee wouldn’t go amiss either to dispel the bad taste on his tongue.
Losing track of an eight-year-old for hours didn’t make her look good. She knew it, Gibbs knew it and if he had anything to say about it, at some point in time and with the right word in the right ear, the parents of her other children would know it too. Fornell had a little daughter and when they met again…. Gibb wouldn’t have to say much, ‘Not St. Margareth’s. Good.’ In conjunction with a question about which school Tobias has chosen, would be enough to get the ball rolling.
No matter who actually tried to kidnap one of her students, no matter how much the bitch might proclaim her innocence, Gibbs wouldn’t feel one ounce of pity if Reynolds lost her job over this and Tony wouldn’t either. Speaking of DiNozzo. Gibbs looked around the squad room but couldn’t see his senior agent.
The other two members of his team were present. McGee was comparing data on his screen with a file he held in one hand and Ziva was on the phone, talking with someone. She waved at him distractedly and he turned to the computer geek.
“Where’s DiNozzo.” He had expected that Tony would wait for him to finish with Reynolds.
McGee blinked up at the boss, his free hand nervously fiddling with the slightly wrinkly collar of his jacket. “DiNozzo? With his daughter, I think.”
Gibbs fixed him with a stare, his gaze stoney.
“You can use the surveillance I installed to check, just turn on…” McGee came to a halt, visibly reconsidering what he had been about to say. “On it boss.” He nearly threw the file down and scrambled over to Tony’s work station. A few clicks and the monitor showed the insides of conference room, the missing agent sitting Indian style on the big conference table inspecting something Sam held out to him. The angle didn’t allow the observers to see what it was exactly, just Tony’s bent head and Sam from the side. Someone, most likely Abby, had braided her hair into multiple little strands and fixed them with small bat-clips at the ends.
“If you want to, I can patch the feed through to your computer.”
Gibbs nodded and waited till the younger man was done with his fiddling before taking his place behind his desk. He studied the way McGee's eyes avoided his, his own eyes narrowing as he pondered what it meant. No matter, he had a case to solve. Gibbs would find out whatever the youngest member of his team tried to conceal from him, sooner than later.
“Anything new?”
McGee answered “Yes, I found something. The cabbie remembered three numbers of license plate of the suspicious sedan. It was a Maryland, 7CE something. The cabbie said that paying attention to the plates of nearby cars is a survival skill of any good taxi driver. Ahm… the numbers aren’t much of a clue but they triggered a memory. I saw a very similar one mentioned in the case file for the accident that killed the Peltiers.”
Ziva left her desk. “Gibbs, shouldn’t we call Tony down, so he can hear about it too?”
“We can tell him later,” was McGee’s opinion.
Gibbs hesitated, turned his head to look at his screen. It showed his partner, now standing beside the table, staring at something in deep concentration. Suddenly he bent forward and carefully connected a row of puzzle pieces he had assembled in his palm to the half finished picture on the table. There were a lot of holes, but with a little bit of imagination Gibbs could guess that it showed a herd of horses. Sam was flittering around, applauding her dad and trying to find the right place for the little parts of the puzzle she held herself. In the background a female agent was lounging in one of the chairs, reading a book.
The little scene made him take a deep breath, but another incident he remembered from yesterday made him grab his cell and press the speed dial button for DiNozzo’s phone. He wouldn’t leave him out. Tony had made a very convincing point when he said that Gibbs himself would hate not being included in important aspects of the case if their roles had been reversed.
On the screen Tony was reaching into his pocket and a second later Gibbs could hear a questioning ‘Boss?’ in his ear.
Tony had to be aware that he was being observed through the camera, he raised his head. Green eyes seemed to stare at Gibbs, a big smile on his lips.
“McGee found something. Wanna hear it now or later.” Gibbs expected him to hurry out of the room but it didn’t happen. Tony seemed reluctant but finally he nodded.
“I’ll be down in a minute.”
Both men closed their cells, Gibbs watched as Tony said something to Sam and then he briskly walked out of the conference room. It didn’t take long before the senior agent strode across the squad room and straddled his chair at his desk. "So, I heard you found something, McGee?" Green eyes were glittering merrily, he waved his arms in a courtly fashion, indicating an exaggerated bow. "Come on, don't keep us waiting."
“I don't think that the accident which that killed the Peltiers was an accident at all. Ziva, would you, please-” The youngest agent ignored Tony and nodded at their flat screen.
Ziva picked up the remote and activated the screen. A scanned report appeared with one highlighted line. 7CB AO4.
Gibbs brought his senior agent up to speed with a few words and then concentrated on the screen. With his far-sightedness he had no problem deciphering the description of the car. A dark blue sedan. “It is easy to mistake a B for an E.”
“Two sedans of the same color and with similar or identical license plates, that’s too much of a coincidence.” Ziva agreed.
It was the first time McGee looked at his colleague since Tony joined them. “Huh. Someone’s famous police instincts seem to have been fooled.”
Ziva held up a folder, her brown eyes staring down McGee. “I’ve read this too. One of our teams worked the case because it concerned two marines. The case file says it was ruled accidental manslaughter. The Peltier’s car was forced off the road by a blue sedan, crashed down a hill. Christopher Peltier died in the car, his wife Evelyn two days later in the hospital. Witnesses reported that the driver of the other car, a punk clad in leather, stumbled away. The BOLO for him is still active but they couldn’t identify him since he wasn’t the owner of the car and didn’t leave anything to identify him. There was no reason for Tony to doubt the conclusions of another team. Without the additional information we have since gathered.
Tony had followed the presented facts closely, but he hadn’t contributed anything to the discussion. He rolled his eyes when McGee pointed out his error and if Gibbs hadn't kept a close eye on his partner he would have missed the short, downright astonished glance at Ziva for her support. “So we’re talking about double murder as well as attempted kidnapping.” Tony proclaimed sarcastically. "Great."
Yeah, great. An angry growl escaped Gibbs’ throat and his team looked at him, waiting for new orders. “McGee, you sent a copy of the case file down to Abby?”
“Yes, I did, two hours ago.”
“The owner of the car is a possible suspect?” Gibbs asked.
McGee shook his head. “The car belongs to Kenneth Riley. He is a 72 years old retired construction worker and according to him he rarely ever uses the car, it mainly stands in his garage collecting dust. He wasn’t aware that it was missing at all yesterday, too busy with his weekly Bingo round at the rec center.”
Ziva voiced what they all thought. “Someone who knew about the availability of the car must have taken it,” Now all the team had to do was hunt down the perpetrator and it would hopefully end the threat to Sam and Tony.
The elevator doors opened and, as if their talking about her had conjured the forensic scientist, Abby emerged, a thick pair of leather gloves in one hand and a whiskey bottle in the other. “Bow to me, because I am a Goddess among forensic scientists!” Her exuberance was met with more or less indulgent smiles but no one actually followed her request.
“No, really! You're a boring lot.” The lab rat stalked over to Gibbs and set the gloves and the bottle down on his desk.
Gibbs couldn’t guess what she wanted him to do with these and raised an eyebrow imploringly. “You already found something?”
“See the above statement about me being a Goddess.” Abby bounced up and down and crossed her arms in front of her chest to hug herself like she always did when she didn’t know if she should be excited or pissed off.
“Abs.”
“Ok, ok. This is supposed to be a test.” She looked around at the team who had come nearer. All of them were staring at the items she had brought with her. “Tony, put on the gloves and then try to open the whiskey.”
Tony did as she told him, slipped on the Yamaha motorcycle gloves, one hand around the base of the bottle, the other one twisting the cap. He managed after a few tries. Gibbs saw the deep concentration on his partners face and the unfocused eyes. “Oh. Of course.”
“Wanna share with the class, DiNozzo?” Gibbs had an inkling about where this was leading but he wanted to hear it from his senior agent.
Tony was biting down on his lower lip in thought, a habit he shared with his daughter. Then he began to walk up and down for one of his grand soliloquies, his hands busily underlining his words. “The witness report says that the driver of the car that caused the accident was clad in heavy motorcycle gear. The gloves were mentioned and that he seemed to be heavily drunk when he fled the scene. Open Whiskey bottles with their content spilled were found in the car, but there were no prints on them or the car, so he had to have worn the gloves the whole drive. But if he really was so abysmally drunk…. It is unlikely that he would have managed to handle the whiskey bottles, not without discarding his gloves. Drunks aren’t patient or dexterous.”
Abby was nodding frantically. “I saw the photos of the car and it just clicked- I know how difficult it is to handle delicate things when I wear my thin evening gloves. Heavy leather, alcohol and opening bottles just don’t go together. It is circumstantial, but I would bet Bert on it that the accident was staged to be seen as, well, an accident.”
“Good work Abby!” praised Gibbs.
The forensic scientist preened and did a little pirouette. "That's all for now. Just wait till I get my fingers on the car itself!" She waved at them, snatched her props and was gone again.
Ziva held up her phone. "I talked to Mr. Coultier. He agreed that we can sensitively question his daughter at his home. Due to her delicate state he would prefer if we send someone ... nice. Additionally he wants it understood that Sally-Ann didn't try to harm Sam, ‘it was just a harmless joke that got out of hand’."
That left Gibbs with few possibilities. Coultier would object to him on sight, even if most kids tended to like Gibbs, and DiNozzo was on the bench. Well, McGee was as non-threatening as could be and Ziva had learned to tone it down a bit, those two would have to conduct this interview and afterward take a detour to Maryland to question Mr. Riley as well. Tony and he still had to question Sam about her family, and wouldn't that be a fun. Asking a little girl questions about her dead step-father was always at the top of Gibbs' list of things he didn't want to do.
But first he would tackle another apparent problem. Gibbs gave his team new orders and then asked Tony to follow him to the elevator where he promptly flipped the switch.
"Uhm, boss?"
"You haven't smiled like that since before the case began."
Tony jerked and blinked at him. "I am just happy that we are finally making progress."
Gibbs stared at him till the fake smile disappeared from his partner's face.
"Should have known that you would prefer the more somber DiNozzo, Boss" Tony peered at him from under his eyelashes, probably to judge his reaction.
All it bought him was an annoyed grunt and another fierce glare.
Tony finally got it and gave himself a slap, his grin returned at half power but at least it wasn't faked.
Gibbs nodded. "Rule about lying still applies. So what did McGee do to rile you up?"
"Just his usual shit." Tony rubbed his hand absentmindedly over his head. "Our probie is at a stage where he feels the need to buck authority and he is practicing with me, hasn't grown a big enough pair for you yet. Just got some punches through."
That might explain why Tony had returned to his frat boy persona as a shield, but it was unlikely to be the full reason. Gibbs eyed his lover's hair, the once carefully styled spikes were in complete disarray again. Since they were unobserved, he took the opportunity to reach out and tame some of the worst offenders. A look of honest astonishment appeared on Tony's face in reaction, even has he moved to lean into the petting.
"Healthy competition is one thing but that felt malicious." He knew that he hadn't paid as much attention as he should have in the past. As a team leader Gibbs had pitted his agents against each other to achieve the best possible performance. In hindsight, and with other faults pointed out to him recently, it now seemed to have gone too far and he would have to do something about it. Their purpose as a team was solving crimes, defending the armed forces and not upstaging each other.
"We'll talk about it later, yes?" Tony pleaded and Gibbs gave a grudging nod. Neither of them wanted Sam to pick up on Tony's distress.
.-#-.
The puzzle on the big table had progressed to a stage where only a few bigger holes were giving Sam a real challenge. It showed a herd of winged horses in flight across a night sky and it was the dark spaces that were mostly unfinished, nothing giving her clear hints which of the available little bits of puzzle might be the right ones.
Nevertheless the little girl was visibly proud about her accomplishments and she had every right to be. Sam pulled Tony to the table, completely ignoring Gibbs and pointed out that it wasn’t a kiddie version, it had 500 pieces and could be mounted on a wall when it was finished. Tony would allow her to display it, yes?
Her question brought up some problems Tony would have liked to avoid and he didn’t know what to answer. He would have to ask Abby how the picture could be preserved until he had a wall to adhere it to. It would be weeks till he could move into his new apartment. His relationship with Gibbs was progressing wonderfully but was far to new to assume that Sam would be allowed to decorate the guestroom at the house to her taste, nor had Tony gotten the impression that his daughter wanted to do that. In the end he went for honesty. Tony had hated it when his own father had fudged about the facts, he would do his best not to get caught in the same behavior.
“As soon as we find the perfect wall, we'll display it, is that ok?”
Sam nodded and, for the first time since they entered the room, acknowledged the silver haired agent with a look. Tony had hoped that the quiet morning spent together and their joined enjoyment at his mishap with the blankets would have thawed the ice between his lover and his daughter, but it looked like a good part of it was back full force, judging by the distrusting glares Sam threw at Jethro.
‘I am hungry.’ Her statement of fact made both men smile. Agent Quann, who had still been reading her book and was ignoring them, was roused and sent for some food.
Tony looked around the room, there were some additions. Reynolds had done them one favor, she had brought Sam’s things to the Yard. Most of the packages were waiting in the trunk of the agency car they would later use to drive home, but her schoolbag and a plush cuddle toy had been brought up. It was obviously well loved, the fluff of the fabric rubbed off in places and discolored, the original navy blue faded to a soft baby blue, but all of Squid's leather suction cups seem to be accounted for.
Gibbs was looking at the toy, walking over to where it was perched on one corner of the table. Tony held his breath and hoped that his partner didn’t do something that would cause Sam to blow up again but he should have trusted in Gibbs’ instincts. He didn’t touch the plushy, just looked at it admiringly.
“That’s a very handsome sea monster. He has the battle scars of a great warrior,” he finally spoke and signed, his blue eyes twinkling as charming as could be.
Sam had come nearer, snatched her toy and pressed it to her chest. ‘You are making fun of me!’
Tony thought it was the right moment to interfere a little bit, he crouched down between his partner and his daughter and smiled up at them. “No, he rarely makes fun of anyone, me being the exception.”
That wasn’t something positive, according to the way gray-green eyes glared at Gibbs but at least she sat the plush squid back on the table.
The silver haired agent hopped up on the table and let his long legs dangle. “May I?” Gibbs pointed at the unfinished puzzle.
Sam thought about it and then nodded. Tony stood up again and heaved her onto the table so she was sitting at an angle to Gibbs. For some minutes all that could be seen was one burnished silver and two brunette heads bent over the work in progress, putting small pieces in their rightful places. Gibbs’ eagle eyes were ideal for comparing shapes and color, spotting the right places and pointing them out to Sam.
Squid was keeping watch over the trio. Sam was crawling up and down the big surface, looking at her puzzle from different angles. Every now and again Sam’s sneaker clad feet came near to pushing the toy off the table but Gibbs only reacted when it indeed came to pass. Sam must have felt it, seen it happening, she turned around but it was Gibbs' hand that shot out and caught the plushy, handing it back to its mistress.
‘Thank you!’ Sam signed. Tony saw how his little girl finally smiled up at his partner and he had to admire Gibbs' devious mind. He could have sworn that there had been some underhanded little slight of hand helping the toy to fall involved.
“Squid looks like a formidable defender, it wouldn’t do for him to land on the floor. You said Chris gave him to you?” Gibbs carefully questioned, rotating one of the few remaining puzzle pieces between his strong fingers.
Sam nodded and cuddled her squid, stroking its head.
Gibbs clicked his piece into place before he concentrated on the girl again. “He might have told you stories about the adventures Squid had before he came to you. Wanna share?”
That made her wrinkle her nose but she seemed to consider the request. ‘You really want to hear Chris' stories? Mummy always said he should not fill my head with nonsense.’
The men looked at each other and then back at Sam, encouraging smiles on their faces. Of course Christopher Peltier wouldn’t have blabbed military secrets to his little step-daughter, but he might have rewritten some of his adventures into stories for Sam.
Sam arranged her legs Indian style and placed the toy in her lap so he was facing her audience. Her hands took one tentacle each and waved them around while she gathered her thoughts. Finally the toy got a break and she began to sign. ‘I know that Squid is just a toy, he’s like Santa Clause and not really real, you know? I am not stupid.’
Tony couldn’t stand how insecure his little girl looked and he rubbed one hand down her back. “That’s ok, you loved the stories and feel better when Squid watches over you. Nothing to be ashamed of.”
‘Really? Kimmy says I am a big baby.’ Sam sniffed and a dangerous glint appeared in her eyes. ‘But I looked under her pillow when she wasn’t in the dorms and guess what? There was a ratty rabbit under it. I am at least honest, she is a hypo- ‘ her hands faltered and she shrugged her shoulders.
Gibbs knew the sign and helped her, even repeated it until she got it right. “Hypocrite.”
Sam removed a bat shaped barrette from a braid and fixed it onto one of poor Squid's tentacles. The braid began to unravel. ‘I wanted to write the stories down, so I won’t forget them, won't forget him. I started a diary, if you really want to, I can lend it to you. Chris told me that the blue Squid was once a great hero, traveling to other worlds and rescuing innocents from the bad people who wanted to hurt them and enslave them. Nobody should be enslaved, we learned about it in history. You know that some squids can change their color to blend with their surroundings?’
Gibbs and Tony nodded, both fascinated by the colorful tale.
‘In my favorite story the blue squid and his partner the green eagle sneaked into the spaceship of the enemy king, he had captured their princess. The eagle was waiting outside so he could cause a diversion if needed and Squid sneaked to the dungeon, avoiding the guards. He picked the lock on the princess’ cell with his clever tentacles, and folded himself around her so she wouldn’t be seen either. Then they tried to sneak out of the space ship to where Eagle was waiting but the evil king had gone down to the cell and when he saw that she was missing he made his guards search for them. Eagle had some big bombs and he blew up parts of the space ship so his partner could escape, the eagle took one of them into each claw and flew away, the evil king was hopping up and down, really, really mad, not longer able to reach them. And then his ship blew up in a hundred tiny little pieces and he never could hurt anyone again.’
“That’s a great tale.” Tony had to leave it to the dead man, Peltier had been a wonderful story teller with a great imagination. The man might have drawn from his own experiences, his file stated that he had special ops training and it was likely that he had taken part in missions to free hostages, but he wrapped it so much in fantasy that nobody would be able to draw conclusions about real projects. Tony hoped that he would grow into his role as a father and maybe match the great job the other man had apparently done.
Sam nodded earnestly, and then she held up her toy for inspection, one tentacle in particular. ‘See, he has a scar. Even heroes get hurt and Chris told me that Squid decided that, after all the adventures he had, he would like to watch over me instead, because he couldn’t be as fast anymore but still wanted to serve and defend.’
One of the tentacles had been sewn on again after some unfortunate incident, there was a faded red thread line around the plush appendage. Sam’s fingers slowly followed the line and suddenly her shoulders began to shake like a leaf and she threw herself into her father’s arms without further warning, not minding that she nearly destroyed the puzzle. Tony caught her and pressed her against his chest, his eyes seeking his partner's concerned blue ones in a plea for help. The squid ended squashed to his neck and he could feel Sam soaking his throat with her tears.
Sam’s desperate sobs and the other disjointed sounds she made were painful to witness and Tony really didn’t know what he should do. Gibbs hurried around the table and sat beside them, one of his big callused hands gripping the younger man’s shoulders reassuringly. Tony could see by the way his throat worked and the look in his eyes that his partner was touched by this too.
“The psychologist warned me that she might…but. Jethro?”
It was Gibbs turn to soothe. “Just let her grieve and cry.”
Sam ignored the outside world, she was clutching at the only safe haven she had left and let out her desperate longing for those she had lost. The two men kept watch over her, banking their fury. The needs of the living were more important now than revenge for the dead.
.-#-.
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