Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs took pride in the fact that he knew almost everything about his Agents and especially about his Senior Agent, one Anthony DiNozzo. Ordinary things, seemingly unimportant ones, like patterns on china or which wine was preferred could fill in details that lead to understanding a person. Gibbs had a knack for cataloging even unimportant puzzle pieces and assembling them, it made him an especially skilled interrogator. The better one knew the subject, the easier it was to judge and manipulate situations.
Another, related thing he took pride in, was how he managed to get 110% effort out of his Agents because he knew them so well. Gibbs liked to have the best performing team at his beck and call. If he liked to see a particular Agent perform for him more than the others, if his internal file about the man was much thicker than others, well, that was unimportant, was it? It had no negative impact on the job they did.
Now, watching Tony interact with their surprise guest, it was like a slap to the face. Man and girl clearly knew each other and not just as acquaintances. That was one huge detail to have missed. The scowl on Gibbs’ face deepened and he had to unclench his hands. A scowling Gibbs was nothing new or noteworthy. White knuckles and fists while facing his Senior Agent? Not so much.
“Eh… looks like the little one found what she came for. I’m going back to my cab.” The taxi driver was more than happy to flee the scene, he could feel the tension in the air. He took a careful step in direction of the elevator. A commanding “No!” spoken simultaneously from both DiNozzo and Gibbs made him pause. With a sigh the taxi driver froze in place.
“I will have some questions for you in a moment. You’re not going anywhere!” bellowed DiNozzo.
It was painful to watch Tony and the girl. Was she a friend’s kid or a relative? Tony didn’t have many relatives and none were in DC. And Tony’s friends, from what he told his team about them, generally weren’t the kind with kids. Children and bonging beers didn’t mix, at least they shouldn’t.
Keen blue eyes tried to find similarities between them. Easier said then done because Sam - wasn’t that what his agent had called her? - had pressed her face into Tony’s neck and was sobbing her heart out while he tried to calm her down. Clumsily. The pats on her back were awkward and Tony fumbled with holding her securely. Maybe it was someone he met and told that he would help if there was danger. Gibbs hadn’t seen any wounds, just the small bruises children tended to collect at that age as easily as the dirt on their clothes. He could give them a little time. His gut told him that this had nothing to do with NCIS, it was clearly of personal nature.
Upset children were notoriously impossible to reason with until they calmed down. Gibbs should know and- he looked down at his hands, unclenched them and concentrated on the duo in front of him again.
The lull in conversation made the cabbie attempt to reason with the agents. “I have to go. I have to work too, ya know. Gotta earn some money.”
Gibbs turned around, took the driver by the arm, snatched Ziva’s chair and planted the man in front of his own desk. “We don’t know what this is about and may need your input and statement. Sit down.” Tim and Ziva were following the proceedings with big eyes. It was a little bit like watching tennis. Watch their boss intimidate the poor cabbie or ogle the most kid-phobic team mate being smothered and slobbered on?
It annoyed their boss that they couldn’t think of something productive to do. He could help them with that, and fast! “McGee, go fetch something to drink for the girl. Juice, pop, just not something with caffeine. And coffee for me and our other visitor. David, run down to the entrance and ask them why they sent them up without an escort!”
“Yes boss!”
“Gibbs.”
They scurried away, reluctant about leaving all the entertainment behind. In the meantime Tony had freed himself and the much calmer girl was sitting on his desk while he searched his drawers, muttering something about hankies.
Gibbs growled, stuck his hand into his own pocket. Retrieving a clean handkerchief, he offered it to the sniffling little urchin. She refused to take it and even crossed her arms defiantly in front of her chest, fiddling with her visitor’s patch in the process. Gibbs squinted at the name on it but it was half hidden. “It’s clean, take it”
Tony resurfaced, empty handed, looked between his boss and Sam and sighed. He took the offering and held it in front of her face. “Say ‘thank you’ to the nic- ehm, to my boss.” He accompanied the words with signs after he had closed her fingers around the cloth.
She was deaf. Another detail he had missed. Maybe he was getting old. On the other hand it wasn’t unusual for frightened children to not say anything, if they didn’t babble instead.
“Sam?” Interestingly the sign Tony used resembled the mathematical sign for eternal.
She was still concentrating on Gibbs in a decidedly not friendly manner and Tony had to tap her on the shoulder to get her attention. “Stop it. Your mother raised you better than that. Say thank you and use the hanky, please. And he knows ASL, so that’s no excuse for being rude.” He wore a look of deep concentration as his hands awkwardly and slowly signed his words.
Gibbs remembered more than one occasion where Tony had shown interest in sign language. He had put it down as one of the typical flights of jealousy his Agent was prone to show whenever his boss shared something he couldn’t take part in with another member of the team, not necessarily genuine interest in learning a new language. It had never ceased to amuse the gray haired Agent to bait the younger man.
He had imagined Tony’s elegant hands performing the intricate signs of the language of the deaf. And he would have liked to be the one to teach Tony but it had never came up. They were too occupied with cases and day to day NCIS work. Plus, it would have been something deeply personal, something Gibbs craved but avoided. Gibbs pressed his lips together and forced himself to concentrate at the matter at hand. This was developing into a day of revelations and he really, really didn’t like it at all.
Tony was still concentrating on Sam, his hair standing on end, a victim of his nervous fingers. She signed something back at him and Gibbs’ mouth relaxed and twitched.
Tony had more difficulties understanding what had been signed, but before Gibbs could offer help he got it. “I stutter? Please excuse me for not being fluent. Again, what is going on here? You should be at school. Sam? You're not hurt, are you?”
Interestingly he didn’t inquire about anyone else. Shouldn’t he ask about her parents or whoever she belonged with?
She snorted into the hanky and then folded the now slightly damp blue striped piece of cloth in different shapes until Tony snatched it away. He shuddered slightly and placed it onto his desk instead of pocketing the thing. Armani and kid’s snot didn’t go together well and a fixed stare from Gibbs communicated clearly that he didn’t want it back either, not in this condition.
“Sam, now please. You’ve got me worried. And you're holding up business.”
She hopped to the ground, stomped her foot and began to sign furiously.
“Slow down!”
“DiNozzo, she says-“
“No! She can tell me herself.” Another new thing, Tony sounded firm and uncompromising. “And without the temper tantrum. Sam, slow down, I cannot follow.” Then he swallowed hard and his green eyes caught surprised blue ones over the head of the kid. He didn’t sign the next bit. “Boss, please, let me handle this or… ye gods… I will explain later. But- will you tell me if she says something I have to know at once?” Gibbs read the insecurity and frustration in his agent’s eyes and something else, something intangible. He nodded and held himself back. It seemed as if at least some of the trust he had shared with Tony was still there, even if his perception of their relationship gone slightly topsy-turvy.
The girl, in the aggravating manner of little children, refused to follow orders, her gestures were getting more forceful by the minute. Gibbs suppressed his reactions to the tale her little fingers told and leaned back to observe how Tony wanted to handle it. If he could handle it at all. It didn’t seem to be something life threatening, so Gibbs’ immediate input wasn’t needed.
“Sam.” DiNozzo snipped his fingers in front of her face and then turned around and crossed his arms, showing her his uncompromising back so he couldn’t see her anymore. That brought her up short. Her breathing normalized and she hiccuped. Then she went to him and touched his back, trying to get his attention again and to convey that she was sorry.
Who would have thought it. Between the Zack disaster and now, Anthony DiNozzo seemed to have acquired not only basic knowledge of ASL but some clues about how to deal with girls under the age of eighteen. And Gibbs hadn’t known. Hadn’t known and it stung like he wouldn’t believe.
Tony turned around and she began to sign anew, significantly slower than before. “No, no, I don’t believe you are a thief. Its okay.”
For the benefit of the audience and with frequent looks at Gibbs to verify that he got it right, Tony translated what Sam told him. “No, no, I REALLY don’t believe you're a thief. Calm down already. So your classmate said you tried to steal her cell phone and-“ he wrinkled his nose in disbelief; “said to the teacher she searched for it and had found it in your bag, smashed to pieces because you couldn't crack her pin code. And then Sophie-Ann held up the one I gave you two days ago, said it was hers and that you are a dumb, stupid thieving idiot.”
Sam nodded vigorously and once again stomped her foot. A disjointed gurgling sound escaped her throat and new tears sprung to her eyes, alarming his poor Senior Agent.
“Bet she lost it and now the little one is inventing stories to cover it up,” grumbled the taxi driver, annoyed and impatient because his good deed of the day used up more of his time than he had thought possible. Unfortunately the girl had him in her line of sight and she clearly understood some of what he had said because she stomped to him and only Tony’s hold on her arm prevented an unfortunate incident. She looked ready to claw the man’s eyes out.
“I believe you, I believe you, don’t start again. And you.” He turned his attention to the driver. “She can read lips to some extent, she’s a smart kid, so watch what you say. Such a story can be easily verified, and she knows it and what would happen if she lied to me, don’t you?”
Sam nodded her head and signed. Gibbs choked on a burst of laughter and raised his eyebrow at his suddenly red faced senior agent.
“Rule number 5: don’t lie to me. I will find out and there will be hell to pay and rule number 7: always be specific when you lie, as long as it to someone else, never to me?” Gibbs translated, holding back a smile.
Tony squirmed. “Ah boss… you know, plagiarizing can be seen as one hell of a compliment.”
“Uh-huh.”
A sharp clapping sound called them back to the matter at hand.
“Ok, so the teacher didn’t believe you and gave the cell to Sophie-Ann and dragged you to the Principal’s Office. Mrs. Raynolds suspended you.”
Sam nodded.
“And I picked her up in front of the school and brought her here, end of story, can I go now?” The cabbie tried to stand up, got caught in the stare of icy blue eyes and sank down again.
“Apparently not.”
“DiNozzo, there wasn’t anyone with her when he picked her up.”
“What?!”
The girl confirmed it and shrugged her shoulders. She didn’t get why the adults were so angry about this little fact when there were more important things to consider, like her being called a thief. The cabbie sighed and after a careful glimpse to Gibbs, retold his part of the story. Gibbs could clearly see that DiNozzo was anything but happy with the tale.
David and McGee returned, Ziva had been held up by the director and could only tell them that the guy at the front desk was new, stupid and would be reprimanded. McGee was slightly winded from his hunt for refreshments. Coffee had been the easy part. Every agent who liked to survive the wrath of Gibbs learned to acquire the brew fast within the first day of working for him. Fruit juice on the other hand-
“Tony? Who is she? Do we have a new case?”
David leaned against the room divider and let the computer geek ask the questions.
“Everyone, this is Sam Peltier. She is my daughter. I will answer your questions later. No, not a case but I will kick someone’s ass about it anyway.”
His daughter. Tony’s daughter. That was a possibility he hadn’t wanted to contemplate. His daughter…
For more than one moment there was silence all around. People looked between man and daughter, clearly shocked. Agents in neighboring aisles had been following the scene more or less discreetly and everyone knew that the news would spread like wildfire within minutes.
“Get over it. Yeah, I procreated. So do a lot of people.”
‘Tony…’ His senior Agent looked defiant and stubborn, and more than a little bit hurt by their reaction and incredulity. Gibbs longed to cuff him softly on the back of his head to insert some sense of normality but refrained. They could work it out later.
Tony exchanged a look with his boss, squared his shoulders and began to direct the circus Sam had caused. Gibbs let him, he wouldn’t say much in front of the child but he really looked forward to a conversation with Tony.
Ziva was told to write down the cabbie’s statement and make him sign it. Leaving an eight year old girl to fight for herself in the middle of DC might not be an offense worth the attention of NCIS, but Gibbs, and apparently DiNozzo, begged to differ.
Tony took the juice, handed it to the girl and introduced Sam to McGee. “Sam, meet Timothy McGee. He's nice. Don’t torture him. Probie, this is Sam. She can't hear you but she is good at reading lips if you speak slowly. Would you take her to the vending machine, please and then show her around a little?” That he needed her out of the way went unsaid.
DiNozzo had been accompanying every word he said since Sam’s appearance with signs, even if the message wasn’t directed at the deaf girl. Yep, he was -as Sam had put it- stuttering, the flow of his signs not smooth at all and Tony was simplifying the vocabulary, but he managed to communicate well enough.
“Don’t lose her, don’t give her too much sugar, don’t let her see anything a little girl shouldn’t see. That means no to Ducky’s and no to Abby’s. Stay away from teams with active cases. Here’s some money and a pad to communicate.”
Sam clearly had other ideas and her hands made that known but Tony signed in return ‘You are not in trouble, at least not with me if your story is true and I need to make a call and probably use some words you shouldn’t witness. Please sweetheart, do as I say.’ Then he pulled playfully at her pigtails and she subsided.
Gibbs smirked, secretly enjoying that it wasn’t him Tony tried to send away. Not that he would have gone. McGee was gulping and squirming, obviously intimidated by the assessing stare directed at him by one little girl and her imperiously offered hand. He was a good agent, he would deal with the situation and keep her safe.
As soon as they turned around the corner Tony picked up his phone and dialed.
.-#-.
Agent DiNozzo listened to the ringing on the line and waited for someone to pick up. While waiting he contemplated the mess this day had developed into. ‘And never the twain shall meet.’ Tony couldn’t remember if it had been Dickens who said that but he would have been happy if it applied to his boss and his little girl. This was exactly the situation he had tried to prevent and judging by the eagle eyed look of Gibbs' it would get worse before it hopefully got better.
But would it have been too much to hope for more time? Months would have been fantastic. Mere weeks- he simply wasn’t ready.
Two years prior there wouldn’t have been anything to ponder, he would have informed Gibbs about everything the minute Sam entered his life. But things were different after the Mexico disaster. Yes, even if Ziva and McGee wouldn’t believe it, he liked to keep private things private, apart from tales about his conquests. Those were designed to rile up his co-workers more than anything else. The Boss mostly hadn’t reacted at all to the boasting as long as it didn’t interfere with the work, more’s the pity.
He didn’t trust Ziva with Sam, even though the woman had shown that she had his back in the field, he had a feeling she still collected leverage to be used when needed. And McGee tended to bubble when nervous and talk more than he should. Gibbs… Tony really didn’t want to attract his attention, firstly he felt like enough of a fuck up without the input of the child savvy, perfect, all knowing Leroy Jethro Gibbs and secondly… if he was honest it looked like pettiness.
Gibbs never wanted to know what happened outside work since he came back. So Tony just followed directions for once, Gibbs should be content and not pissed off. Tony was displeased with his boss’ behavior but that didn’t mean that he wanted to hurt Gibbs by reminding him of the child he lost. Meeting Tony’s own eight year old daughter ��" you didn’t have to be Nostradamus to predict the possible fallout.
A voice demanded to know his business, probably not for the first time either, but he had been lost in his thoughts.
“Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo. I want to speak with the Principal.” Using his title was mean but he didn’t feel like applying a soft touch with people who endangered his Sam. And it tended to get him what he wanted a lot faster than plain old Mr. DiNozzo would.
“Please wait for a second; I will inquire if she has time for you Agent DiNozzo.”
More Muzzak assaulted his ears, couldn’t people chose something else or did they want to discourage callers to stay on the line on purpose? Then the voice of a different woman wanted to know his business. Tony was icily polite when he demanded her side of today’s happenings. He hadn’t had much contact with the principal in the last few weeks, mostly because after some initial fireworks, he had decided to avoid the woman. Instead, he had spoken to a councillor once and with the secretary to update Sam's file in order to add his contact information. Information they should have used today!
Unsurprisingly, Principal Reynolds insisted that everything that had happened earlier that day had been Sam’s fault and that the suspension and note in her school records would stand.
“Principal Reynolds, listen. I was the one who bought her that cell phone. I don’t care what the other girl said.” Sam had been so proud when he gave her the gizmo. She had been especially happy with the inbuilt camera and the amount of free short messages and video messages she could send to him with it. There was no way she lost it or damaged it herself.
“Mr. DiNozzo, Sally-Ann Coultier insists that she is telling the truth and I tend to believe her. She even quoted some features this particular model has and one of her friends backed her up. In contrast to your daughter, who is prone to outbursts and sullen behaviour, especially during the last few weeks, Sally-Ann is a very sweet girl with an even temper. Why should she lie?”
“Sam lost her mother and stepfather; she has reason to be upset. You and your staff are are supposed to be professionals when it comes to special needs of children in difficult circumstances, you should not need me to point it out. I do not care why Sally-Ann lied, or why Sally-Ann's friend lied. It can be proven easily enough. You have the phone in question? I'll come over to collect her things and then I'll take a look at the cell and its chip. Even if the electronics are shot to hell, the chip should be alright. It doesn’t sound as if the damage is that big and short of water or fire damage it's just a question of inserting it into another phone. Or let someone else do it if you don't trust my word. The data on the chip should clearly show who the owner is.”
There was silence and then some stuttering on the other end of the line. Tony looked at Gibbs. The older man’s expressive blue eyes told of his approval, he had followed the conversation over the extension headset. They solved bigger mysteries every day. One little schoolyard dispute should be easy to handle.
“I could ask one of my colleagues to check the GPS of my daughter’s cell and track it’s position.”
“That's a lot of effort for one little incident.” The woman clearly wasn’t as sanguine as she would like to pretend.
“I don’t like my daughter being called a thief. I do not like it at all. She is only eight years old but even at that age the accusation can hurt her.” Coultier, where had he heard that name? Suddenly something else made sense and he nearly snarled. The school was a fairly prestigious institution for children who were talented, handicapped by some bodily restriction, rich- or any of the above. In this case, rich was apparently the deciding factor.
“Furthermore, I do not care if the other girl’s father is a business mogul. I wouldn’t care if he was the President himself. You will make time for me this afternoon, say at four o’clock? We will talk about it then and about something else too. Please see to it that the phone is there.” He would have to take time off but in this special case he didn’t think Gibbs would give him any trouble, not when it concerned Tony’s little girl.
“I don’t know if there is a free slot. It is very nearly the end of the school year and I am a busy woman.”
“I will be accompanied by someone-“ his lawyer if he could arrange it.
“Michelle just told me that someone has cancelled his appointment at half past five. Does that suit your needs? But I have to tell you, regardless of the outcome of the conversation, your daughter has shown a troubling tendency to cause problems and we at St. Margaret’s cannot justify housing and educating our other children with such a violent pupil. Fisticuffs are not proper behaviour, no matter the reason. You will have to search for another school for her in the fall.”
San hadn’t mentioned anything about a fist fight but it shouldn’t surprise him. She had a temper. Another little conversation he dreaded to have.
“Half past five suits me just fine. Have a nice day Principal Reynolds and please have my daughter’s things ready for me to collect. I will be checking that everything is accounted for.”
“I don't like what you're insinuating.”
“I don't like your assumptions either.”
“Good day.” She hung up and Tony stopped the recording. All this over one eight year old girl and teachers who saw the social hierarchies of their pupil’s parents instead of their pupil’s personalities and needs.
Ziva handed Gibbs the signed report from the taxi driver who shook hands with each of them and was obviously happy to get away. Tony handed him a substantial tip, the guy had looked out for his girl, he deserved it.
Ziva, after a commanding gesture from Gibbs, accompanied the cabbie to the elevator.
The gray haired Agent looked imploringly at DiNozzo. “You didn’t mention the fact that they let her lose all alone in DC.”
“You always told me to keep something back as leverage and I will mention it to her later, bet on it.” Tony rolled his shoulders to dispense some tension. The he looked at his boss from under his eyelashes to judge his mood. At the moment he would describe Gibbs as thoughtful, assessing and relentless. Wasn’t Tony a lucky boy today, now that the cat was out of the bag he wouldn’t be able to escape the inquisition.
“I'm going with you," stated Gibbs firmly.
Oh. God. On the one hand, if he wasn’t so angry with her he would pity the principal having to face pissed off Gibbs, on the other hand he really, really didn’t want to draw Gibbs further into this tangled mess.
"McGee will be back soon. Since we're not working a case right now, we can focus on Sam. How about we have our favourite ME come up and take a look at her. You know he'd love to hang out with her, and that will give us a chance to talk.” his smile turned predatory. "And we will be talking, DiNozzo."
Ducky was a very good idea, especially if Sam had been in a fist fight. She hadn’t shown any pain but who knew with children? The talk on the other hand… Tony sighed as he reached for his headache pills.
End chapter 1
Chapter End Notes:
I have a lj account and two more chapters are posted there, but they are not beta read and thus might change. http://kathana-grey.livejournal.com/