Secret Chapter 4: Reacquainted
Cynthia sat at the desk outside Director Vance’s door and her eyes grew wide as she saw Gibbs approaching.
“He’s inside,” she said softly, before he could even ask.
Gibbs didn’t bother to knock. He opened the door, and slammed it shut behind him once he was inside the office.
“I have one question,” Gibbs’ voice was quiet and controlled--a sure sign that he was furious.
Vance raised one eyebrow. “I’m listening,” he commented, folding his hands on his desk.
Gibbs stepped up to the director’s desk and put his hands on the edge of it leaning over the director. “I want to know what possessed you to give out any information on DiNozzo to anybody. What the hell Leon? Do you have any idea what his father did to him this morning? What he…what he said to him? Do you realize what you’ve done?”
Gibbs was furious. Vance had screwed the pooch on this one. To his credit, Vance looked uncomfortable under the onslaught from the Senior Agent.
“Gibbs, all I know is I got a phone call this morning from a concerned father who told me that he’d been unable to get any information on his son for quite some time and he would like to check on him.”
“He was waiting for us at the center this morning. He wanted to know why he hadn’t received his life insurance policy check on Tony! He only stayed long enough to see that Tony is still alive, call him a fucking retarded cripple and then he had the nerve to ask ME why it was I saved him when I could have let him die! THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE! DiNozzo is unable to protect himself now. You can’t just give that information to people! GODDAMMIT LEON!”
Vance blinked. He had no idea that this was how DiNozzo’s father would treat his son. “Gibbs, I--”
“Save it. I am DiNozzo’s next of kin and medical proxy. Any information that is passed about him from now on will go through me. I promised to keep Tony safe. I will not let him down. You will not fuck up like this again. It’s because of you he’s like this to begin with. We clear?”
Vance knew to pick his battles with Jethro Gibbs. Pick the wrong battle and he knew he’d lose. This was an easy one to concede to Gibbs. “Sure Gibbs,” Vance said softly.
Without another word, Gibbs turned and left a stonily silent director sitting in his office wishing he’d never heard of Anthony DiNozzo Senior.
xxx
Gibbs flopped down in his chair and looked around. He pulled out his cell phone to set on the desk but at that moment his phone erupted in a phone call.
Gibbs looked at the name on the Caller ID. The Elsie Matthews Home. Shit.
“Yeah, Gibbs,” Gibbs answered his phone, his gut churning. He’d barely left Tony an hour ago and he was fine--what could be wrong?
Agent Gibbs this is John calling from Elsie Matthews.
“Hi John. What’s going on?”
Well it’s Tony. We’re a bit concerned about him after the events that took place this morning.
Gibbs blinked. “Why are you concerned? Is he alright?”
Well we’ve noticed that he’s been hitting himself on the forehead and calling himself a ‘fucking cripple’ if I may be blunt.
Gibbs felt like he’d been kicked. “His father…his father said some terrible things to him this morning. Called him retarded and called him a fucking cripple. Is he very upset?”
Well Donna just noticed that he’s acting different and was wondering what happened. I’ll let her know what you said. He isn’t screaming or crying or anything like that; he’s just not his usual cheerful self. We were concerned; everyone saw Tony’s father being escorted out of the building this morning.
“If I had my way the man would have been escorted out in handcuffs,” Gibbs growled. He stopped and took a deep breath. Getting that angry was only letting Senior win. “Should I come see Tony?”
Well Agent Gibbs it might make him feel better if you did, but honestly I think he’s going to be alright. We’ll reassure him that you are coming to get him this afternoon--that is still the plan, right? I wouldn’t imagine that you’d leave him overnight on his first day back?
“No I’ll be there to get him. My director knows to keep my team on cold cases for another couple of days until Tony can get settled back into his routine. No big deal,” he said.
Excellent. Thank you for your time Agent Gibbs. We’ll phone again if we have more questions.
“Thank you John. Thanks for looking out for Tony like you all do. Good job.”
Gibbs hung up the phone and let out a long breath.
xxx
Gibbs decided to go see Tony at lunch. He called Abby and asked her if she would like to join him. Gibbs knew that Abby and Tony had always been close. Even after the accident, Abby was right with him, helping and supporting him, and toning down her scary attire when it frightened her friend.
Abby met Gibbs in the bullpen and he noted that she’d changed her clothes from what she’d been wearing earlier that morning. Gone were the spikes and vampiric images and in their place was a simple pair of black cargo pants and a red t-shirt. Gibbs smiled, knowing that Abby always kept a change of clothes handy in case Tony came around.
xxx
Gibbs pulled the door open and the first sound he heard was Tony screaming. John looked up with relief on his face and waved Gibbs and Abby on through, calling out that Tony was in his room as they rushed passed.
The private rooms had large windows to keep the rooms bright and sunny, televisions with easy to use remotes, standard hospital beds, and Tony’s room had a harness similar to the one in their bedroom at home. Gibbs noticed that Tony’s room was full of people, Tony was on the bed, and Tony was writhing, trying to get away, sobbing and screaming at the top of his lungs.
“HEY!” Gibbs’ voice boomed in its drill sergeant timbre. The whole room stopped--except Tony who kept crying and screaming, fighting the people holding his arms, trying to pull his hands free.
“What the hell is going on here,” Gibbs demanded. Why were these people holding his lover down?
Donna, one of Tony’s workers turned to Gibbs. She saw the anger and confusion on Gibbs’ face and immediately began to explain the situation. “Agent Gibbs thank God you’re here! Tony keeps hitting himself in the head and he started trying to hit his head on the wall, and we brought him in here where he could lie down. We were afraid he was going to hurt himself. We aren’t trying to hurt him--”
“Out,” Gibbs instructed. The other workers looked at each other as if they were unsure what to do. “I SAID OUT,” his voice boomed again. “Abby you stay. Everyone else give us a moment.”
“But Agent Gibbs he’s out of control--he’s never acted like this before--we know that thi--”
Gibbs cut Donna off. “Let me try,” he requested. “I have seen Tony act like this before. Trust me. It’ll be fine. Just give us a few moments. I know you weren’t hurting him. I just want to see if I can calm him down.”
Tony was already calming down, hearing Gibbs’ voice. The professionals in the room all looked at each other and agreed to give Gibbs a chance. After they all left the room, Abby shut the door behind them. Her heart warmed at the sight she saw when she turned around and she smiled sadly at her friends.
Gibbs was on the bed with Tony. He wasn’t holding him down; he was lying beside him and hugging him close. Tony was clinging to Gibbs, sobbing into his chest.
“Shhhh Tony, shhhh sok now. Need to calm down sweetheart you’re going to make yourself sick. Time to relax shhhh…”
Gibbs was running a soothing hand over Tony’s back and his other hand combed through Tony’s hair. Tony was still too upset to say anything, but his sobbing was slowly subsiding.
“Abby’s here,” Gibbs said softly right into Tony’s ear after he’d calmed a bit more.
“Hey Tonyboy,” Abby said gently. She reached out and rubbed a hand over Tony’s shoulder and was surprised when he flinched.
“Tony you’re okay. It’s just Abby and she won’t ever hurt you, you know that,” Gibbs said softly.
Tony took a couple of shuddering breaths before his sobs quieted fully. He kept his face buried in Jethro’s chest for several minutes as though he was afraid to look up and see the world. Finally he looked up at Gibbs as though realizing for the first time that he was there.
“J-J-Jehhh-th-th-throwww?”
“Hey there Tony. I’m here now. What got you so upset, eh?”
Tony buried his face against Gibbs’ chest again, not answering and clutching Gibbs’ shirt tightly. Gibbs grew concerned. Ever since the accident, Tony didn’t internalize anything much. His emotions flowed freely--if he was happy, angry, sad, or scared, he never tried to hide it behind a mask. The fact that Tony was not forthcoming with the reason he was so upset concerned Gibbs.
“Tony? Look up here.”
Tony mumbled something, but it was lost in Gibbs’ shirt. Gibbs smiled up at Abby, who was standing behind Tony, eyes wide, fingers twisting together nervously.
“Tony? Why don’t you raise up here so you can say hello to Abby?”
Tony shook his head and kept his face hidden.
“Are you still feeling scared Tony,” Abby asked gently. “It must have been scary with everyone in here like that. I know you don’t like crowds of people much.”
That was true--Tony hated going to places where there were large groups of people--grocery stores, restaurants, sporting events--Tony wanted to avoid anything where groups of people congregated. He was happiest when he was at home with Jethro and it was just the two of them.
To Abby and Gibbs’ relief, Tony nodded just a bit.
Gibbs decided to pursue that line of thinking. “We were scared too, Tony. When we came in and saw you so upset, we didn’t know what was wrong. We cleared the room though Tony--it’s just you, me and Abby still here. You ought to look up here and see us.”
Tony lifted his head and opened one eye. Seeing Gibbs he relaxed and Gibbs helped him sit up a bit. Tony kept his eyes on his lap and leaned against Gibbs. He didn’t say anything for a long time, and without warning lifted his fist and punched himself in the forehead.
The action scared Gibbs more than anything had since Tony’s attack.
He easily caught Tony’s hand as he moved to punch himself in the head again. “Tony?” His lover struggled weakly against him, trying to free his hand from the strong grip. “Tony why do you want to hit yourself? What happened?”
“T-Toh-neee…T-Toh-neee r-ret-tard-ded…Toh-neee st-stu-p-pid…”
Gibbs pulled him into another warm embrace and looked up to see tears flowing down Abby’s face. “Shhhh you’re not any of those things, Love…you’re amazing and wonderful and strong and beautiful.”
Abby sat down on the bed facing Tony. She reached out and held his hand. “You’re super smart Tony! Look at all the nifty things you’ve learned how to do for yourself! You’re so smart, and I know that because I don’t hang out with stupid people!”
Gibbs pressed a kiss to his temple. “Are you thinking these things because of what happened this morning?”
At Abby’s questioning look he shook his head. Tony’s eyes shuttered, and after a few moments he nodded. Yes. That was exactly what was causing it.
“J-Jeh-throw m-madd…Toh-neee?”
“No sweetheart. I’m not mad at you at all. I’m worried about you. You’re normally so happy--it makes me sad to see you so upset. It worries me. I just want you to be happy is all. I’m not angry.”
“Toh-neee…s-sorrrrrry.”
“For what Tony? You haven’t done anything wrong?”
“Jeh-throwww sadddd…Toh-neee sorrrrrrry.”
“Well let’s try and get you feeling better so neither one of us will be sad, how ‘bout that,” Gibbs asked.
Tony smiled shyly up at Gibbs and nodded. Then he looked up and saw Abby.
“A-abbbbbbzz!”
“Hey there Tony. You feeling better now?”
Tony was quiet for a moment. Then he shook his head. Not feeling better.
Gibbs and Abby spent a few more minutes helping Tony get calmed down and back into his normal happy mood. They got him back into his chair and Gibbs washed Tony’s face for him. Tony smiled as the cloth brushed over his eyes and nose, and he sputtered a bit good-naturedly when it ran over his lips.
“Th-that…y-yuck,” Tony said, shaking his head. Gibbs and Abby chuckled.
They took him for a walk outside and then back to the sunroom. Tony blanched the moment they entered the room.
“B-baddd mannn go?”
Gibbs knew this was still affecting Tony on a deep level and he could kill Senior for what he did to his lover.
“Yes Tony. He’s gone, remember? Not coming back.”
“Jehhh-throwww stay.”
“I can’t stay this afternoon Tony. I have to go back to work. I just came to check on you.”
“Abbzz st-stay?”
“Awww Tony I’d love to stay but unfortunately Major Mass Spec needs me to come play with him this afternoon,” Abby said.
Tony frowned and was quiet for a moment. He stared at his lap. Then he looked up at Jethro.
“Toh-neee…work…Jehhh-throw?”
“You want to come to NCIS with me?”
“Y-yes.”
Gibbs smiled. Vance would get over it. This was all his fault anyway; if he hadn’t told Senior where Tony was, the man wouldn’t have been able to hurt him like he did.
“Okay Tony you can come with us. But there is a rule.”
“N-nummer…n-nummer telve?”
Gibbs smirked. “No smartass,” he laughed, “Not rule number twelve. That rule is long gone and you know it.”
Tony smiled and clapped his hands, laughing. Tony’s laugh was a tragic parody of sound; it almost sounded like he was gasping for air, but Gibbs loved it, knowing it meant Tony was truly happy and relaxed.
“Wh-what r-rule?”
“The rule is you can NOT hit yourself in the head anymore. Even if you get scared or mad, you may not do that. You feel like you need to hit yourself, you talk to me. We clear?”
“Y-yes.”
Gibbs checked Tony out of the center, reassuring them that it was not because of what happened that he was leaving with Tony. He explained that after the events that took place that morning, Tony was just feeling a little bit sad, scared and insecure and wanted to stick close to Jethro for a while. He assured them that Tony would be back the following day.
Tony waved distractedly as he moved out the door. He was busy racing Abby to the car. Gibbs thanked John and Donna and followed his two favorite people out to the parking lot.
xxx
Tony hadn’t been to NCIS since his attack over three years ago. He had vague memories of working there, but they were mostly gone. He’d reacquainted himself with his former team members--Tim, Ziva, Abby and Ducky on a personal basis in the hospital and in their home. The people who worked at NCIS knew about Tony, knew what had happened, knew better than to say anything to Gibbs about it, and they knew that the director was blamed for Tony’s current state.
Jethro got Tony set up in his chair in the parking lot then led the way to the office. Abby walked alongside Tony. Gibbs held the door open for Tony as he maneuvered his wheelchair into the building and Gibbs got him a visitor pass. He noted the security guards were staring at Tony, disbelief evident on their faces. This couldn’t be Agent DiNozzo who was always so bouncy and friendly and cocksure. No, this man was quiet and contemplative, taking in the details around the place--a place that had been as familiar to him as his own home at one time.
“B-bossssss,” Tony said softly, his eyes not leaving the security guards as he rolled passed them.
“Yeah Tony?”
“P-Poh-leeece? Wh-where b-baddd mannn?” Tony looked around anxiously, looking for the man who’d been escorted away from him earlier in the day by security guards.
“The bad man is gone Tony. These guys are here to help keep us all safe. They’re going to keep the bad man away.”
Tony lifted his hand to them in a thumbs-up. “G-good j-jobbbb,” Tony cried, smiling.
“Thanks DiNozzo,” one of them called out. Tony blinked in surprise.
“Kn-know Toh-neee?”
The security guard stepped around the desk and lowered his body a bit to Tony’s eye level. “My name is Steve, Tony. You and I were buddies when you worked here. You used to bring me coffee.”
“C-coffeeeee is y-yuck,” Tony said, scrunching up his nose. Steve laughed and stood back up. He patted Tony gently on the shoulder. “Well I’m sure you have lots of people to see,” he said, eyeing Gibbs cautiously. Tony nodded. “I’ll see you later, DiNozzo. Was good to see you man.”
“B-byeeeeeeeeeee,” Tony said as he rolled into the elevator. Steve and his partner stared after Tony in disbelief.
Gibbs knelt in front of Tony and talked to him the whole time they were on the elevator. Ever since the accident Tony hated elevators with a passion. But Gibbs held his hands still and kept him distracted by telling him who all he might see in the bullpen when they arrived. Gibbs had called Tim on the way to let them know what was going on, so he could give everyone a heads up on Tony’s upcoming visit.
The elevator doors slid open and Gibbs led the way out into the office area. The place was very quiet--down played from its usual bustle of activity. Gibbs walked over to his desk and sat down and Tony parked himself at the end of Gibbs’ desk, out of the walkway and close enough to reach out and touch Gibbs if he needed. Gibbs smiled at Tony. Gibbs wondered what he would do for the afternoon, but he knew that he would be mostly staying at his desk for the duration.
Gibbs started going through a cold case file, making notes and looking at pictures. It was the grizzly murder of twin teenage boys, sons of a Marine Gunnery Sergeant. They’d both been stabbed and then strangled. Ducky’s autopsies had confirmed that the stab wounds were the ultimate cause of death. Gibbs didn’t notice that Tony was looking at the file as well. As Gibbs laid the materials from the file aside to move on to something new, Tony was looking at the information.
There had been no leads on the case in the four years since the murder.
Tony stared at the pictures, the boys, the paperwork, and a signature at the bottom of one of the evidence reports.
Anthony D. DiNozzo
Tony gasped. Gibbs looked up at him, curious at the sudden sound, and then saw what Tony was doing. He started to move the stuff away from Tony, to prevent him from being exposed to such horror, when Tony’s hand shot out and grabbed his wrist.
“W-wait.”
Gibbs raised one eyebrow and looked at Tony. “Tony?”
“B-boys…D-ducky s-say st-str-stra…chok-ed. N-no. Kn-knif-fe…kn-knife c-cut. N-no kn-knife?”
Gibbs had to think for a moment to understand what Tony was telling him, but then he looked back over the reports. There was no knife reported in the evidence. Gibbs looked through it again to double check, but it was true. They had no murder weapon.
Gibbs picked up the phone and called down to autopsy. “Duck it’s Gibbs. Got a question for you about the Morrison case from 2006. Could you come up here?”
A few moments later Ducky emerged from autopsy, wearing his surgical scrubs. Tony’s eyes grew wide with fear until he recognized his friend.
“H-heyyyyyy D-D-Duck-k-key!”
“Well Tony my dear boy what are you doing in the office with Jethro? I thought you were starting back at the center today?”
“N-no…Toh-neee sc-scared…b-badd mannn go…b-bad mann g-get Toh-neee. S-st-staaaay Jehhh-throwww.”
“Tony had a rough morning Duck. He was pretty upset when I stopped by to check on him for lunch, so I decided to bring him back with me. AND, Tony might just have given us a clue on this case. Do you have the ability to figure out what type of knife would have made these cuts on these boys?”
Ducky looked at the photographs from the crime scene. Then he flipped over and looked at the photographs from the autopsy. “Interesting…judging by the shallowness of the cuts, as well as the markings along the edges of the cuts, I would wager these marks were made by a short blade knife…the smoothness of the cut leads me to believe that the blade was a sharp metal, perhaps stainless steel. I will have to investigate further to be sure. I will have Abigail help me.”
Ducky left and Gibbs smiled at Tony. “That’s good work Tony,” Gibbs said softly. Tony smiled.
An hour later, Ducky returned to the bullpen with Abby in tow. “Jethro, we have interesting information on the knife we believe was used on these two boys. We believe they used a Clip Point Stag Trapper to inflict these wounds.”
“You think this was done by an antique hunting knife?”
“We do, Jethro. This knife would be a collector’s item.”
Gibbs raised his eyes to Tim who was already hard at work on the search for registered knife collectors in the area.
Gibbs looked back to Tony. He was amusing himself with the stress ball that Ziva had handed him some time earlier. He was looking a bit tired. Gibbs eyed the clock; it was nearly 5pm.
“Got it Boss. Retired Scout Troop Leader Barry Kneedler had both of these boys in his scout troop, he’s a knife collector, and in the last four years he’s sold off nearly all of his collectible knives.”
Gibbs raised his eyebrows. “Go bring him in and question him.” He looked at the clock again. He knew that he needed to keep to Tony’s regular schedule as much as possible. He was torn--should he stay or should he go? What would be the best thing for Tony?
“Take Tony home, Gibbs. We can handle things here. I’ll call you if I need you,” Tim said.
Gibbs nodded his thanks to Tim, who smiled back. “Get Tony something good for dinner tonight, Boss,” Tim said. “After all, he’s the one who cracked the case. It’s the first lead we’ve had in four years.”
“R-re-memory,” Tony said softly. Tim raised his eyebrow in question, but Gibbs immediately knew what Tony was saying.
“What do you remember, Tony?”
“C-caasssse. Re-remem-mory.”
“You remember working this case?”
Tony reached out a slow uncoordinated hand and pointed at the evidence report he’d signed four years ago. “Toh-neee,” he said, pointing at his signature.
Gibbs smiled and ruffled Tony’s hair affectionately. “That’s a good job Tony. That’s your signature. Do you remember that?”
Tony nodded.
Vance had been watching from the railing at the top of the stairs. He descended slowly, approaching Tony from the front so his former agent would see him coming.
“That’s good work, Agent DiNozzo,” Vance commented, smiling at Tony.
Tony looked up at Vance with a confused expression on his face. “N-no. Toh-neee n-not A-age-nt n-nooo m-more.”
“No you aren’t an agent anymore, Tony. You did, however, help us find a lead on a case that we’ve been unable to figure out for quite some time. Congratulations.”
Tony shook his head. “G-go h-hoooooome now. Byeeeeeeeeeeee!” Tony steered his chair towards the elevator.
“Guess he’s ready to go,” Gibbs commented. “I’ll be in later tomorrow. Got to get Tony settled back at the center again. Oh and Leon?”
Vance looked at him.
“Remember what we talked about,” Gibbs said. Without another word, Gibbs turned and joined his partner in the elevator.
TBC
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.