Chapter 7
The next day, Gibbs had to reluctantly return to work. He made sure Tony had all of his medications before he left, wrote down the times he was supposed to take the next doses and promised to call Tony at lunch time if not before.
“Gonna just sleep all day, Dad,” Tony said. “Maybe watch a movie or two. Mainly I just wanna stay out of Diane’s way.”
“Good plan, kiddo. See ya this evening.” Gibbs quickly kissed Tony on the forehead and left, closing the door behind him.
He paused right outside the door to his son’s bedroom. His gut was churning again. He didn’t know why, but he knew it had something to do with Tony. Turning back, he opened the door.
“Hey Tony?”
Tony looked up, surprised to see his dad back. “Yeah? Dad you ok?”
“I’m fine Tony. Just…watch your six today, alright?”
Tony nodded. “Your gut churning too?”
Gibbs nodded. “Yeah. Call if you need anything?”
“Sure. Hey Dad?”
“Yeah, son?”
“Look…about last night…I didn’t mean to, but I heard what you and Diane were saying. I want you to know I’d never…”
“Hush. I know you’d never do any of those things she accused you of. She’ll be gone soon. Don’t worry.”
“Dad?”
“Yeah Tony?”
“If you love her…don’t kick her out because of me. I mean we can figure out something, y’know? If she makes you happy…don’t give that up on my account.”
“Tony you are my son. You were my son before she was my wife. She knew that when this relationship started. You are my son. You come first. You will be chosen over her. Every time. She knows that. It pisses her off, but she knows it. And the way she treats you does not make me happy. If she can’t love you then she isn’t loving me.”
Tony smiled. It was probably the first genuinely bright smile Gibbs had seen since the op went bad. “Thanks Dad. See you tonight.”
“Alright.” Gibbs closed the door and went down the stairs.
**
Just before lunchtime, Gibbs’ cell phone rang. “Yeah, Gibbs,” he answered without checking the caller ID.
“Um…D-dad?” Tony’s voice was low, nearly a whisper and slightly slurred. He sounded scared.
“Tony? You ok?”
“I…’m not sure…I th’nk…need t’come…home…I th’nk…something’s happ’ned.”
“What’s happened Tony? What’s going on? Are you alright? Where’s Diane?”
Tony looked over at the woman lying naked in his bed with him.
“She’s right here.”
**
“Oh Jethro it was terrible! Tony was calling for help, so I went to check on him. When I got in there, he grabbed me and ripped off all my clothes and he…he…oh God, Jethro…he made me have…he raped me, Jethro!”
Diane leaned weakly against her husband as he blinked in surprise, trying to understand what the hell had happened.
Tony was sitting with his back against the wall, his naked body sitting with knees tucked tightly to his chest, one hand covering his eyes, head bowed low, casted arm hanging straight out in front of him. He’d been sitting there when Gibbs arrived home, and since then he hadn’t moved or spoken.
Gibbs looked from Tony to Diane and back to Tony. There were bruises on Diane’s wrists. She was naked and her body smelled of sex. A smell he hadn’t smelled in quite some time. Then there was Tony. He looked completely disheveled. He looked scared. He looked…drugged?
“Do I need to call for an ambulance, Diane?”
She shook her head. “No…I don’t want to get the hospital involved in this! I work there! I’ll never hear the end of it! Isn’t there someone you can call? Someway we can keep this all under wraps? I warned you Jethro! I told you something like this could happen with that…that junkie son of yours! Damn you! Damn him! How could you let this happen?!”
Gibbs nodded. “I can call Dr. Mallard and have him come check both of you out. If there are any tests that need to be run, he can have Abby run them anonymously.” Gibbs was concerned…but not so much about Diane…there was no way that Tony would have been able to leave bruises like that on both of Diane’s arms when he only had the use of one hand. What was going on here? His gut churned. He was missing something.
“Do it,” Diane snapped, pulling the covers up over herself.
Gibbs quickly made the call. Once Ducky was on his way, Gibbs turned his attention on Tony. This was so out of character for Tony…he just couldn’t imagine what could have happened to cause his son to supposedly act this way then call and act as though he didn’t know what had happened. Gibbs was missing something. His gut had been churning that morning. So had Tony’s. Gibbs narrowed his eyes as he thought about the situation. Something wasn’t right here.
For now, though, he needed to get Tony up off the floor and covered up before he caught a chill. In his gut, he didn’t believe for a second that Tony had maliciously attacked Diane. He didn’t believe for a second that Tony would ever intentionally hurt anyone unless he absolutely had no choice. No there had to be more to this story than what was being told. There was no way Tony had done this.
“Tony?”
Tony looked up at his dad. Well. He looked up at his dad’s shoulder. He couldn’t meet his eyes.
“Tony we need to get you off the floor. Can you stand up Tony?”
Tony seemed…disconnected. He looked like he was stoned. Gibbs reached out a hand to help Tony up and noticed the way Tony’s hand shook slightly as he reached out for the help. He wasn’t shaking in fear. He was trembling…from what? Gibbs pulled Tony to his feet, and the boy swayed dangerously before leaning hard on Gibbs, his forehead crashing down onto his dad’s shoulder.
“You bastard! What are you doing?! Why are you swaying like that?! There is nothing wrong with you! What the fuck is your problem you crazy bastard?! Why are you acting like that?! Jethro he’s tricking you"he wants you to think something’s wrong so you won’t blame him for…for what he did,” Diane snarled.
Gibbs looked at her. “Stay here. I’ll send Ducky to check on you when he gets here. You are both my family, Diane. I have to look after you both. Right now I’m checking on Tony. You just stay in bed and try to relax.”
Gibbs carefully led Tony out of the room and down the hall to one of the guest rooms and on into the connected en suite bathroom. He sat his boy down on the toilet seat and knelt in front of him.
“Tony? You with me?”
In the bright light of the bathroom, Gibbs noticed that Tony had a faraway look in his eyes"he didn’t look right, and he didn’t respond. Gibbs tried again.
“Tony? Tony can you hear me? Are you alright?”
Tony blinked and his eyes searched dizzily for Gibbs. Finally seeing him, his unsteady gaze rested on his dad. Gibbs narrowed his eyes. Something was very wrong with Tony. He reached up and slapped his son lightly on the cheek a couple of times, finally being rewarded with a slow blink.
“You with me?”
Tony finally nodded. “Dad,” he said hoarsely.
“Tony do you know what’s happened,” Gibbs asked him quietly.
Tony was quiet for a long moment before he slowly responded. “I don’t…I don’t remember doing any of what she said I did,” he finally said. “Dad?”
Gibbs ran a hand over his eyes. God what a mess. “Yeah, Tony?”
“Do you think…I mean is it possible that I could have…do you think I really did it,” Tony whispered, tears brimming his eyes. He didn’t like Diane one bit, but he never wanted to hurt her.
“I think if you did, it was because something happened to you as well,” Gibbs said quietly. He watched his son for a moment. “Are you feeling okay?”
“Feel…I dunno…like I’m in…mud…or something…everything is moving so slowly…feel so sleepy…so strange…”
“When is the last time you took your medication, Tony?”
“Only took…dose you gave me, Dad. Wasn’t time for more yet…?”
“You eat or drink anything this morning?”
Tony thought for a minute. “Diane made me coffee? Said she put the stuff in it that I like. Tasted kinda funny though…kinda salty…don’t remember anything after that, Dad,” Tony whispered, shaking his head sadly, eyes on his lap.
Gibbs closed his eyes and fought down his anger. She’d drugged Tony then blamed him for raping her when in actuality…God it was possible she’d raped him. He heard the front door open and stood up. Tony swayed dangerously on the toilet seat and Gibbs gently eased him into a standing position, wrapped Tony’s good arm around his neck and began leading him toward the bed in the guest room.
“Duck? You here?”
“Yes Jethro, where are you?”
Having Tony settled on the bed, Gibbs poked his head out into the hallway. He motioned for Ducky to join him in the guest room with Tony.
“Anthony! My dear boy, it’s been ages since I saw you last! How have you been?”
When Tony didn’t respond, Ducky looked at Jethro with questions in his eyes.
“He’s had a rough time of it lately Duck. He got made undercover last weekend. They drugged him out pretty good. Cardiac arrest, nightmares and hallucinations…it was terrible. Then he had to have surgery on his broken wrist. I brought him back here so he could recover…had to go in to work today. Tony called me about an hour ago and told me he needed me to come home. When I got here…Tony was sitting on the floor naked, Diane was in bed naked, and Diane is screaming that Tony raped her. I dunno though Duck. Look at him. Does he look like he could have raped anyone? He says the last thing he remembers is Diane making him a cup of coffee and it tasting salty.”
Ducky stepped over to the bed. “My dear boy. May I check you out and make sure you are alright?”
Tony shook his head. “Check on Diane first,” he pleaded, “I don’t remember it…make sure she’s alright…I never wanted to hurt her…can’t believe I hurt her,” Tony whispered. Tears were wetting his eyes, threatening to take over, but he was blinking them back furiously.
Ducky turned to Gibbs. “Jethro where is Diane?”
“Tony’s room, Duck. She has some bruises on her wrists.”
“Bruises? Already?”
It struck Gibbs then. He’d been right"Tony hadn’t hurt Diane. Someone else had bruised her wrists and she was trying to pin it on Tony. Gibbs realized then that he’d been correct in his assumption that Tony couldn’t have left those bruises because Tony only had one hand to use, and the bruises were too old. Gibbs knew he hadn’t done it"he and Diane had been sleeping in separate beds for quite some time now, and for the most part the couple never touched each other.
“Go check her out Duck. Figure out what the hell is going on. I’ll stay with Tony and make sure he stays in bed until you get back.”
Ducky nodded, picked up his medical bag and left the room.
**
That night, Gibbs’ phone rang. Diane was in bed, sedated to keep her calm (“and out of trouble, Jethro,” Ducky had added once she was asleep), and Tony sat curled on the couch, knees tucked up to his chin, head bowed low to his chest, arms wrapped around his ankles. He had hardly spoken since Ducky left. He hadn’t eaten and had refused every drink anyone had offered him. Now Gibbs sat next to him, waiting to hear back on the lab results.
“Yeah, Gibbs.” His voice sounded old, even to him. He was tired. It had been a long day.
“Good evening Jethro. How is everyone?”
“Diane’s still sleeping and Tony…well he’s right here with me. Still pretty out of it though. He’s refusing to eat or drink anything.”
“After everything the boy has been through I wouldn’t be surprised by that at all.”
“What did you find out, Ducky?”
“There is no evidence that leads me to believe Diane put up as much of a struggle as she would like us to think, Jethro. The exam leads me to believe she had engaged in recent rough sex, but it was all consensual. There was no tearing or bruising on her body to make me think she was forced into intercourse against her will. The bruises on her wrists are consistent with someone holding them very tightly, but the size of the bruises doesn’t match with the size of Anthony’s hands. That, in addition to the fact that Anthony’s right hand is casted because he just had surgery for a broken wrist, leads me to believe that there is no way Anthony caused her bruising. There was also nothing to lead me to believe that Anthony had engaged in any intercourse this morning. There would have been some exchange of bodily fluids, and there was none on Anthony.”
“What about the lab tests?”
“The semen we found on Diane’s body does not match with Anthony’s at all. Nor with yours Jethro. That merely backs up the other evidence that Anthony was not involved. I ran the sample I found through the computers looking for any match I could find.”
“And?”
“Jethro…The semen matched Tobias Fornell.”
Gibbs let out a loud breath and blinked. Tobias Fornell. His colleague. His…friend? What the hell?
“What else did you find Duck?”
“Anthony’s blood contained very low amounts of GHB"the very common date rape drug. It wasn’t anywhere near a toxic level"but he was most definitely drugged. I also found traces of a narcotic painkiller, as well as a benzodiazepine in his blood as well. Diane must have had sex with Fornell while Anthony was under the influence. Once Fornell was gone, she could have easily stripped Anthony down and slipped into bed with him. In Anthony’s intoxicated state it wouldn’t have been hard to make him believe he’d done something he hadn’t. It reminds me of a story I heard once, when the ambassador to Germany"”
“Ducky, He is taking prescription painkillers for his wrist and tranquilizers to help him sleep without the nightmares being so bad,” Gibbs explained, cutting his friend off before the story could get going.
“Did Diane know this?”
“Possibly, but I don’t think so. I haven’t told her. Tony was lucid enough to take his own medicines yesterday and this morning. There was no reason why he would have told her. If she knew, it was because she read the bottles at his bedside.”
“Under normal circumstances it would take a much larger dose of GHB to subdue a man of Anthony’s size. I am willing to bet Jethro, that she did know he was on those medications, and she reduced the dosage of the GHB drastically to avoid overdose-like symptoms or death.”
“What do I do with all this Duck? What would you do?”
“I would boot the vixen out on the street if it were me, Jethro. As for pressing charges…Anthony has grounds for a case, but ultimately it would be his decision on whether or not to pursue. There is no chance of rape charges holding up against Anthony when there is no physical evidence of him being anywhere near her at all. That coupled with the drugs in the boy’s system…he’d be well protected from the charges.”
“How long will Tony be out of it like he is?”
“I can come by and take another look if you’d like me to Jethro. The effects of GHB vary…but a typical dosage usually doesn’t last more than two or three hours. I believe what you are seeing now is shock, Jethro. Anthony has been under a tremendous amount of stress from what you’ve told me"first with the case, then the attack, the surgery, the most recent attempt on his life in the hospital and now this. It’s probably some form of psychological shock. I will come by and check him if you’d like.”
Gibbs looked at his boy who hadn’t moved in hours. He was staring straight ahead at a spot on the wall. “Yeah Duck…that might be good. I’m worried about him.”
“Jethro…are you going to contact Fornell?”
“I haven’t decided yet.”
“You may want to decide quickly Jethro. There is one more bit of information I need to give you.”
“What’s that?”
“Diane is pregnant.”
TBC…
Chapter End Notes:
Warning: Discussions about rape, nonconsensual drug use and manipulation.