“Ziva, McGee! You’re with me, Kate - watch him.”
The tone in Gibbs’ voice held no argument, ice blue eyes boring into his agent as he pointed to the child who was trying to put his toes in his mouth. Gibbs voice softened at the sight,
“Make sure you look after him. And find out why the FBI is stonewalling us from DiNozzo’s file.” With that he turned on his heel and made his way out of the bullpen, Ziva and McGee raced off to follow, throwing sympathetic looks in Kate’s direction.
As Kate started back to her desk she glanced over towards the middle of the bullpen where the baby had now crawled, boogers coming out of his nose. She sighed grabbed a tissue and wiped the tiny nose clean, noting he had very rosy cheeks at current. She smiled; she was definitely starting to feel ‘clucky’. Kate had no idea why the other two team members gave her those odd looks as they left. As far as she was concerned she had the easier task, staying in the warmth of the office, and watching an adorable baby, how hard could that be? She placed the baby next to her own desk with his toy and continued to get back to work.
*************************************************************************************************
Gibbs drove at a furious pace towards the Roosevelt Bridge, foot flat to the floor, his agents holding on for their dear lives. Even Ziva looked rattled at the pace and erratic movements brought on by dodging the other cars.
Screeching to a halt Gibbs could see the whole bridge had been blocked off - police tape, cars and officers blocking any attempt to access the murder site. Stalking towards an officer, Gibb’s flashed his badge.
“Agent Gibbs, N.C.I.S.” Gibbs was in full intimidation mode now, his voice as steely as his glare. Never one to beat around the proverbial bush, his next words were straight to the point, “We are here to take over the crime scene.”
“Umm… Ah, sorry Sir. I’ll, umm… just go get the Captain, he’s in charge.” The young officer stammered and looked pale as he headed off towards where the officer in charge had set himself up.
“You could have been a little nicer to him Gibbs, could you not?” Ziva stated, exasperation in her voice.
Gibbs looked at Ziva and McGee, an un-readable expression on his face, before turning his back to them and walking over to where the young agent was bringing their commanding officer.
“He doesn’t play well with others, does he?” Ziva questioned to Mc Gee before following Gibbs’ lead.
“Captain Michaels, DC Metro,” A tall burley man introduced himself to Gibbs and his team, “Agent Gibbs I presume. Care to explain why Officer Jefferies came to tell me you were threatening to take over the investigation? I don’t see any boats or wayward sailors around here do you?” Captain Michaels chuckled at his own joke while Officer Jefferies, who had regained some of his colour after the initial meeting, tried to avoid eye contact with the agents.
“It wasn’t a threat.” Gibbs stated abruptly, eyes darkening with anger.
“Well Agent Gibbs, sorry to burst your bubble but you’re too late. FBI arrived 45 minutes ago - an agent ‘Fornell’ took over the whole investigation. They blocked all information regarding the woman in the car, we weren’t even able to respond to your BOLO’s till he had finished. They already got the body and evidence; we are just about to remove the road blocks,” The Captain said, “You can fight them for this one.” With that the Captain left Gibbs and his team.
“Shit...” Gibbs swore, frustration in his voice, “McGee, Ziva. Let’s go.” Gibbs stalked back to the car; he knew exactly who he needed to talk to.
*************************************************************************************************
Back at the office Kate was having a hard time. She thought this would be the easy job. However, just after she had sat back down, the whimpering had started. Softly at first, but soon developed into full blown screaming, and nothing she could do would calm the little baby down. She had tried soothing words and rubbing his back as Gibbs had done earlier, she had tried a bottle and the pacifier which she had found under Gibbs’ desk. 30 minutes later and nothing - the cries were getting louder and now the Director stood in front of her wanting an explanation as to why there was a baby in the office, and why he was making such a racket.
Then, suddenly, a strange churning sound was heard coming from the little baby, followed by what was quite possibly the worst smell Kate had ever smelt in her life - and that was saying a lot.
“Oh my gosh…” Kate said with disgust as she held the baby at arms length, the smell overpowering.
“Perhaps, Agent Todd, you should change him first. Then you can explain this to me.” The Director walked away quickly; the smell becoming too much for her to take.
Kate was pretty sure the kid was unwell - he felt quite warm in her arms. She rushed to grab the nappy bag, still holding the baby at arms length and made her way down to Ducky - he would know what to do.
At the whoosh of the doors opening Ducky turned around to see Kate with an exasperated look on her face, holding little Anthony at arms length, his nappy looking full and something horrible starting to come out of one of the little leg guards.
“Ah… umm, Ducky,” Kate started, “I don’t think Tony is very well and we’ve had a breach of diaper integrity here, could you, ah.. Maybe…give me a hand?”
“Oh my dear, dear boy” Ducky said softly taking in the sight of the baby, who was snuffling and still whimpering “What happened, Caitlin?” Ducky carefully took the baby from Kate’s arms and bore him into his office, laying him down to change him.
“Ducky it was horrible, he wouldn’t stop screaming. I tried everything, the poor baby… I...I couldn’t help him, couldn’t calm him down, he was screaming for half an hour…Poor little thing. Then he did this,” Kate said voice full of distress and sadness pointing to the diaper which was full and leaking, “He’s really warm too Duck. Isabella said he wasn’t well at the moment.”
“Isabella….. Caitlin, when did you speak to Isabella?”
“We didn’t, she mentioned it on the DVD she left with Gibbs.”
“Oh,” Ducky’s expression fell, he was hoping the young woman was okay and had made contact with his friend, “Where is Jethro?”
“He’s out responding to a BOLO on woman who matched the description of Isabella.” Kate looked at the little baby sadness in her eyes. If the woman from the BOLO was indeed Isabella, the little boy would never get the chance to know his mom. Isabella would never hear her precious boy calling her ‘Mommy’.
Ducky cleaned up the little boy, changed his diaper and put him into the only clean item of clothing he had left (the little blue zip-up jumper). He then grabbed a thermometer and checked the baby’s temperature.
“Caitlin, I believe you are right. Anthony does appear to have a temperature, he may have picked up a bug somewhere from the looks of it. The best thing for him is to get him some baby Tylenol, a bottle and put him to sleep.” The baby had settled and was only sniffing occasionally.
“Ducky, do you mind watching him ‘till Gibbs gets back? It’s a lot quieter here and if I don’t find out why the FBI are blocking the files to DiNozzo senior, Tony won’t be the one in need of Tylenol.”
“Of course, it would be my pleasure to watch young Anthony here. I have finished my reports and have no new guests to work on. Just send Jethro down when he gets back.”
“Thanks Ducky.” Kate looked to the baby in his arms and smiled - he really was cute.
************************************************************************************************
She had just sat back down at her desk, when a furious looking Gibbs stormed into the pen, walking swiftly towards his desk; he picked up the phone and started to dial furiously.
“I take it things didn’t go well with the BOLO…” Kate muttered to her two team mates, who looked slightly worried.
Gibbs slammed down the phone, hard enough to make the other items on his desk rattle. Damn Fornell wasn’t answering.
“What do you got Kate?”
“Well….I…..Nothing Gibbs.”
“Nothing?” Gibbs voice was shaking with anger
“Well between trying to calm down a screaming baby, who has a temperature and a massive breach of diaper integrity - I didn’t really get much time Gibbs.”
Kate regretted the words before they were even out of her mouth, there was no need to add fuel to the fire with Gibbs �" she was going to regret this.
“Where is Tony?” Gibbs expression and tone softened at the mention of the little boy. This surprised his agents - they were sure Kate was going to get a chewing out.
“He’s down with Ducky, who’s is feeding him and putting him to sleep. He did ask to see you when you came back though.”
“Agent Gibbs,” Director Sheppard’s voice drifted down from the stairs. Gibbs looked up at a stern looking Director with one FBI Agent Tobias Fornell, “I need to speak with you immediately.”
Gibbs sighed, “Kate, Ziva, McGee take a break. You have an hour… Oh and Kate you have three, get some baby things to last the next couple of days - some more clothes, food, a couple of toys whatever he will need till the weekend.”
With that the agents left and Gibbs walked up the stairs towards the director’s office.
*************************************************************************************************
“Agent Gibbs - care to explain what is going on?” Director Sheppard sat across the desk from him, Fornell sat to her right, and they both looked at him expectantly.
Gibbs explained to them about Isabella, about Tony and the information they had found. The Director and Fornell exchanged glances.
“Tobias, care to share why the FBI are blocking our Access to DiNozzo, and why after responding to a BOLO we arrive to find out you have removed…..Everything?” Gibbs tone had lost all politeness at this stage.
“Jethro, we need that information Isabella gave you.” Fornell said, almost hesitantly.
“Why? Give me a good reason to hand all this information over to you. This is our case!” Gibbs was getting angry, this was his case. Okay, so there was no technical connection to the Navy - but still, this was for Isabella, he had to do this.
“I’ll give you a reason,” Fornell said, his face serious, his eyes holding a look of sadness, “That little boy, Isabella’s son - he needs you. He needs you not to be anywhere near this case. YOU need to protect him. DiNozzo senior is a ruthless SOB who will stop at nothing to protect himself and eliminate anyone in his way, and is also extremely possessive - despite the fact that he didn’t treat his son well…”
Gibbs snapped, “Treat him well? That bastard beat that kid, shook him so hard the kid has bruises covering his little body!” He roared.
“Agent Gibbs enough. Hear him out.” Director Shepherd said, kindness in her voice. She was shocked that Gibbs had a wild look in his eye.
Fornell continued, “As I said - DiNozzo is possessive, no one touches what is his - he will hunt that child down and who knows what he will do when he finds him, but it would be nothing good I assure you. Jethro you need to stay clear of this, make sure there is no way for DiNozzo to track you to the case. Protect the boy - and let us handle it.”
Gibbs could see the sense it what Fornell was saying - if he did investigate this case then there was a chance that Tony could be exposed, and he couldn’t take that chance.
Gibbs sighed, “Isabella?” The question came slightly choked out. He didn’t like anyone seeing him show this much emotion, but this was getting to him.
“I’m sorry Jethro; the woman in the taxi was identified as Isabella.” Jenny spoke her voice soft.
“Tell me…”
Fornell spoke up, “As you are probably aware, we have been watching DiNozzo for a while. He has numerous shady looking business deals including what we believe to be a weapons ring - high explosive, high powered weapons being sold to the highest bidder. As yet we have no concrete proof, he is clever, has high powered lawyers and more money than Midas. That combined with the fact people keep disappearing around him has made it impossible to pin anything on him. Every time we get close to pinning the bastard, things shut down; disappear. Which is why we kept his files inaccessible, so no one could get close and spook him before we were ready. Because of this we were also tracking Isabella’s movements; when we saw the BOLO put out by N.C.I.S we knew something was up. So we changed the BOLO to make it so that we were contacted 45 minutes before anyone else, so we could protect her if needed. Unfortunately, we did not get that chance; she was, as you know, shot whilst taking at taxi. Two men on a motorbike drove up behind the taxi, firing twice into the back window. She did not suffer.”
------FLASHBACK------
Gibbs was called in to his CO’s office at 9am on the 29th of February 1991, and was told the news that his wife and only child had been killed. The Earth shattered around him,
“Jethro, they did not suffer.” his CO spoke softly. Gibbs did not hear anything after that. His wife and child were gone, and nothing would bring them back. Slowly he shut down, the walls slamming shut. He was a hollow shell.
------END FLASHBACK------
“DiNozzo, as usual, has covered his ass - he left the country at midnight last night. Isabella was shot at 7.30, and although she didn’t die by his hand we suspect he was heavily involved. We are chasing down the suspects as we speak.” Fornell looked across at Gibbs as the NCIS agent scrubbed a hand down his face.
“Where is DiNozzo now?” A weary tone issued from him, his voice matching his tired eyes.
“We lost him; we have him leaving the country but have been unable to find where he went. Anthony DiNozzo apparently took off from N.Y airport at midnight last night heading for Rome, Italy, with a stopover in London. He got off the plane, but never got back on; no one matching his description was on that flight into Rome. We have every resource available looking for him - all airports in the States are on high alert for him. Iif he tries to come back we will find him.”
“Agent Gibbs,” Jenny looked across to the silent Agent, “You will need to hand all evidence you have acquired on Isabella DiNozzo and Mr. DiNozzo’s business deals over to the FBI, including the DVD and USB drive. The boy is in your custody, the papers you require for the adoption, the bank account details as well as the Lawyers contact numbers will be given to you.”
Gibbs was too tired to be angry at this news, too many emotions running around his head, too many things he now needed to do His main priority was to protect the boy… his son.
Standing up slowly, he walked towards the door, throwing over his shoulder to the Director,
“I’m taking personal leave for 2 weeks - effective immediately.” Without waiting for a reply he headed down to Ducky’s office to collect Tony.
“I hope you can catch this scumbag Fornell. This is in your court now.” Nodding slightly Tobias Fornell left the Director of N.C.I.S pondering her next move.
**************************************************************************************************
Ducky took one look at Gibbs’ face; he instantly knew the news was not good.
“He’s sleeping in my office Jethro.” These were the only words Ducky spoke to the man before him - Gibbs was hurting and from years of experience Dr Mallard knew that now was not the time or the place to discuss such matters. He would make a detour past his dear friend’s house this evening and give him the support he would need.
“Thanks Duck.” Gibbs walked into the dark office; the only sound was the soft breathing of the sleeping baby. Gibbs picked up the little baby cradling him against his chest; sitting down on the couch and, holding the small child lovingly, he just listened to the soft baby breaths and ran fingers through Tony’s soft hair.
Memories were running through his head; wonderful times with his family - Shannon and Isabella sharing jokes, helping each other through good times and bad… Bella’s bright green eyes sparkling with life, her beautiful voice singing various songs to them all... Shannon, looking gorgeous as she did every morning, head on his chest smiling… Kelly playing and laughing happily… Memories so painful they caused his breath to get caught in his chest, tearing at his heart.
After what seemed like an hour, Gibbs spoke softly so as to not awaken the still sleeping child.
“Hey buddy,” His voice was thick with emotion, “I’m sorry, so sorry, for everything you have been through in your short years of life and for not being able to protect your mom. Mommy’s an angle in heaven now, looking over you with your Aunty Shannon and Kelly…” Tears were flowing down Gibbs’ cheeks now.
”Your mommy did what she did to protect you - never forget she loved you. Don’t be scared - you won’t be alone; I’m going to protect you and be the best Daddy I can for you. You will never be alone again…” He paused, “Neither of us will.”
Author's Chapter Notes:
When a baby is left on Gibbs' doorstep, memories of the past surface. Can Gibbs mend a painful heart and re-build family. Gibbs/Tony - father/son. Featuring Baby Tony! My first story....
Chapter End Notes:
This is my first ever posting on this site, so please forgive me if i get it wrong... I love feedback so please review it gives me the courage and enthusiasm to write when i know people are enjoying what they read.
I wrote this fic as there isn't many baby Tony fic's around and i think he would make a cute kid, plus I wanted to give Gibbs a chance to be a daddy again.
I wrote this fic as there isn't many baby Tony fic's around and i think he would make a cute kid, plus I wanted to give Gibbs a chance to be a daddy again.