Grounded In Truth
Chapter 6
by WCUGirl
Gibbs hauled himself up the stairs at an impressive rate of speed and took off up the stairs to the second floor. He reached Tony’s room in record time and turned on the light, only to find Tony sitting up in bed, knees pulled to his chest again, hands over his ears"rocking back and forth.
“Oh God,” Gibbs whispered, quickly rushing to his son’s aid. “I’m here Tony. Right here. What happened?”
Flashback: May 1981
She threw him bodily down onto the bed and straddled him, pinning his body to the bed. She ripped off the shirt he was wearing and tossed it aside. Tony struggled and fought against her. He was getting so big now, such a big boy. Isabella DiNozzo fought down her desire to touch Tony instead focusing on getting the sailor suit shirt on his thin frame. Christ, but he was getting strong! She would have to do something about that.
“Quit fighting me, Little Puppet,” she growled at him.
“No!” Tony cried, still trying to get away.
Tony’s mother reached out and grabbed the first thing she could and swung it. She smacked Tony in the side of the head with the brass lamp that stood on the bedside table. Tony immediately froze, stunned by the blow. Isabella slid off of her son’s limp body and eyed him carefully. He needed to be taught a lesson here…her eyes widened with the smile on her face when she saw it.
It would be perfect.
She swiftly opened the lid to the blanket trunk and pulled out all of the blankets. Then she dragged her son’s limp body across the bed and put him in the trunk. Tony’s eyes blinked open just as his mother started to lower the lid.
“Keep quiet or you’ll regret it, Little Puppet,” she snarled at him.
Tony opened his mouth to protest but the lid slammed shut before he could get a word in.
Tony couldn’t see Isabella DiNozzo then instruct two of the house attendants to carry Anthony’s trunk down to the basement. Really it was just taking up room and it would be better off down in the basement. The blankets could be stored elsewhere.
Two days later Isabella DiNozzo returned to the basement and opened the trunk. Inside she saw her son, who was awake, but in some sort of daze. She tried to rouse him but was unable to. Satisfied that he wouldn’t cause her any more trouble, she helped him back up the stairs and dressed him in the sailor suit before calling for the doctor.
End Flashback.
“Tony what happened,” Gibbs’ voice rose slightly, growing more urgent when Tony didn’t immediately respond.
“No please, no don’t, please I’m begging you, please let me out, please stop, please let me out,” Tony murmured over and over again, hands still over his ears. Gibbs was getting really scared now. He did the only thing he knew to do.
Tony flinched when Gibbs whacked him gently over the back of the head, but it was enough to bring him out of his headspace.
“Hey…you with me,” Gibbs asked softly, keeping a gentle hand on Tony’s shoulder.
Tony shuddered against the memory, wrapping his arms tightly around his legs, knees still drawn in protectively against his body. He tucked his head down onto his legs. His words were muffled when he spoke.
“Bad dream,” Tony finally whispered.
“Tell me about it?”
Tony shook his head slightly, hands running through his hair again, eyes glassy with emotion. “C-can’t…promised…never tell…can’t…”
“Tony it’s me. Alright, it’s Dad and you can tell me anything. I won’t tell a soul. You know that.”
Gibbs sat on the other half of the bed and looked at his son. He turned around and settled his back against the headboard and folded his hands contentedly over his stomach, long legs stretched out in front of him. Tony looked at him, saw the ease there, saw how determined Gibbs was to make him feel better. He ran a hand over his forehead and began to tell Gibbs what he had remembered while he slept.
“Don’t think I’ll be able to sleep tonight, Dad,” Tony finished hoarsely.
“With nightmares like that I’m not surprised,” Gibbs said quietly. “Want to go to work?”
Tony smiled just slightly. “You comin’ too?”
“Do you want me to?”
“You don’t have to…I’m going to keep working on the arms bust. Finalizing rendezvous points and everything you know.”
Gibbs recognized that Tony probably wanted some time to himself to sort out everything they had discussed that evening. He nodded once. “Call if you need me.”
Tony climbed out of bed and pulled on his shoes. The time alone would do him good, give him a chance to clear his head and think straight for a change. He grabbed his cell phone and, with a wave to Gibbs, left.
Gibbs watched Tony go. After a few moments the churning in his gut was so bad that he decided to follow him. Tony needed him. He could feel it.
XXXXX
The elevator sounds were turned off for the evening, as were most of the lights in the building. Tony had been surprised when he flashed his badge at the night guard to hear that Blackadder was also there. Now, he stepped out of the elevator into the bullpen and saw Vivian sitting at her desk, staring intently at her computer screen. Deciding to do a little silent investigating, he stepped up behind her desk with feather-light feet and carefully observed her.
She had accessed an AFIS file.
Tony squinted his sniper eyes just a bit and started reading the words on the screen from a good eight feet away. His gut turned cold and he swallowed the gasp that threatened to burst out. She was reading his file.
What the hell was up with people reading his damn background file?
He took a step closer, trying to see more clearly what it was exactly that she was reading.
Excerpt From the AFIS Report…
Reports indicated that sixteen year old Anthony was the only person home with his mother when her body was discovered. Initial police reports indicated that Mrs. DiNozzo’s death had been suicide. The autopsy later determined that cause of death was due to an overdose of prescription painkillers prescribed for her son.
Reports later reflect that Anthony DiNozzo, Sr. was also at home at the time the body was discovered. He claimed that there had been an altercation between Mrs. DiNozzo and their son who was at home from Carson Long Military Institute for the Thanksgiving holiday. Mr. DiNozzo reported that this mother always tried to be supportive of their son, but Anthony was reportedly “troubled” and “withdrawn,” often instigating “aggressive encounters” between himself and his parents…
End Excerpt
Tony watched as Blackadder stopped reading and scribbled something down on a pad of paper. He knew he needed to stop her. She shouldn’t be doing this. Why was she researching him? He found that he was too dumbstruck to do anything except stand and bear witness to the woman who would undo him.
Vivian scrolled the page back to the top and started reading again.
Excerpt from the AFIS Report
New York Department of Social Services received a call on January 14, 1973 from a maid working at the DiNozzo estate. The maid, who remained anonymous, reported that on the evening of January 10, a dinner party was held at the estate. Anthony was reportedly ill that evening and had vomited during the day on several occasions. During the dinner party, Anthony vomited again, nearly hitting some of the guests and his father. Anthony DiNozzo, Sr. had his son removed from the party, but not before he allegedly beat him with a cane and threw him into the basement. He warned the kitchen and house staff that if anyone let Anthony out of the basement before he allowed it, it would mean their jobs.
On the morning of January 14, 1973 Anthony DiNozzo Sr. requested that the anonymous maid go to the basement and retrieve his “errant boy” so that he could be punished appropriately. The maid found Anthony on the floor in the basement at the bottom of the stairs where he’d landed, his arm broken, running a high fever and surrounded by days old vomit. The child was so badly dehydrated that he was hospitalized for eight days…
End Excerpt
Tony didn’t even realize he was moving forward, but suddenly he found himself striding right up to Blackadder.
“What are you doing,” He asked, surprised by the force in his tone.
Vivian smiled sweetly at him. “Well Anthony you see it’s like this…Gibbs told me to find out more about my partner. That’s all I was doing. My, but you do have an interesting story!”
“You can’t…I mean what…what are you going to do with the information you’ve got,” Tony sputtered. His dad had asked her to do this? No. His dad asked her to find out more about Tony. That must have meant that Gibbs wanted them to just get to know each other right? Gibbs wouldn’t…no Gibbs wouldn’t betray Tony in this way.
“Oh that’s easy, Anthony. I’m going to let everyone know just exactly the kind of person you really are! You will be instantly discredited by peop"”
Tony never heard the sound of someone coming up behind him, but suddenly his dad was there and was striding right past Tony toward Blackadder’s desk. Grabbing the monitor by its cord, Gibbs swiftly unplugged the device, pulling it off the desk in the process, and flung the cord onto her desk, ending her little speech mid-word.
“JUST WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING,” he boomed; the loud drill sergeant tone was one that Tony hadn’t heard since his days at Rhode Island Military Academy.
“Well you told me to find out more about my partner, Gibbs. That’s all I was doing.”
Vivian had experienced Gibbs pissed at her before, but this…this was a whole new level of anger for her boss.
“Tony?”
Gibbs’ tone was immediately softer and Vivian was dying to know if Gibbs knew so much"why he seemed to care so much. What was the secret here? What was she missing? Cursing herself, she realized she should have started at the end of the file and read backwards. She decided to switch the focus back onto Tony. She turned to him, eyes flashing.
“What the fuck were you doing DiNozzo? Trying to sneak up on me? Spying on me?”
“It’s nothing compared to what you want to do to me, Vivian,” Tony said quietly. His hands were shaking just slightly and Vivian could see the weariness in his eyes. There was no anger, only…defeat? Seriously?
Internally she smiled. She turned back to Gibbs. She could work this.
“Gibbs you might want to check out Tony’s AFIS file,” she snarked, “it’s one hell of a read, let me tell you. Tony-boy here has quite a story.”
She heard the near silent gasp behind her and inside she smiled again. She turned to Tony now, not noticing that Gibbs had pulled out his cell phone.
“Have you told Gibbs your story Tony? About how you were sooo pitiful when you were a child and you let your mommy play with your pee-pee and you were your daddy’s whipping boy?” Her eyes were alive with delight and she nodded her head eagerly at him. “Did you tell him about how you let your mother die because you didn’t call for help because you were so angry with her? Did you tell him about how disgusting you were to your parents that they left you at the hotel in Hawaii hoping to never hear from you again? Ohhhh and did you tell your boss about the cute little sailor suit your mommy used to dress you up in? Honestly you must be slightly retarded to let someone"”
~WHAM!~
Vivian turned to see that her desk had been slapped hard by Gibbs.
“YOU CLOSE YOUR MOUTH BLACKADDER! YOU ARE OVER THE LINE! STAND DOWN!”
“Ohhhh I see now,” Vivian said saucily, “Tony must be YOUR whipping boy now Gibbs? Why with all the years of sexual experience our Tony’s had, coupled with the years of being whipped and beaten by his daddy…I’m sure he’d make the perfect little toy for you to play with. Is that what he is Gibbs? Is he your little puppet?”
“Stop it.”
Vivian turned back to Tony. She wondered what she had said that got that reaction.
“What’s wrong? Did I hit a nerve? You are a little puppet though aren’t you, Tony? Just a stupid little puppet to let people use you like that.”
“You are a stupid, stupid little puppet. You’ll never be anything but a stupid little puppet…” Tony’s mother’s words echoed in his head.
Of course, Vivian thought to herself, watching Tony’s reaction. That’s brilliant…absolutely brilliant…
“I said stop it,” Tony said again, hands clinching into fists.
Vivian held out her hands, wagging them back and forth as though she were operating a marionette. “Just a stupid little puppet, DiNozzo. Wonder what would happen if someone cut your strings?”
“I’m warning you Blackadder…”
Gibbs was on the phone, talking urgently to someone in muffled tones.
“You are warning me?” Vivian’s eyes were wide in mock-fear. “Ohhhh no,” she put her hands dramatically to her mouth, “should I be afraid? What are you going to do? You’re just a stupid little puppet!”
She stood up and took a step toward him. Tony, to his credit, didn’t take a step back as she stepped toward him. She reached out a hand as though to touch him and he grabbed her wrist.
Tight.
“Oooh big boy Tony has a strong grip for such a stupid little puppet,” she sneered mockingly, but broke off into a pained gasp when he twisted her arm. He spun her around so she was back to his front, arm twisted up behind her.
“Let me go you crazy bastard,” she snarled.
“You think I’m a stupid little puppet,” Tony muttered into her ear quietly. Gibbs was still on the phone. “I’m nobody’s puppet. Not anymore. But I can show you what it feels like,” he said, pulling down on her twisted arm forcing her to her knees.
“Tony!”
Gibbs was off the phone now. Director Morrow was coming down the stairs from his office. Gibbs stepped beside Tony and put a hand on his arm.
“Don’t do this,” he said quietly. “Don’t let her control you like this.”
“See Tony? You are just a stupid little puppet! I have you wrapped around my little finger,” Vivian sneered at him. Tony twisted her arm a little higher and her face took on a slightly pained expression. “Gibbs! He’s going to break my damn arm!”
“Let her go Tony,” Gibbs said again, tugging slightly on Tony’s arm. It took a moment, but finally Tony relented and let go.
“Tony,” Morrow said quietly. “Would you join me in my office please?”
Tony looked from the Director to Gibbs who nodded his head silently. His face was unreadable and Tony’s gut sank. He was going to be fired. How could he have been so stupid to try and work for a federal agency with his past? Tony followed Director Morrow with a heavy heart. He didn’t even look back to see that Gibbs had taken hold of Vivian much in the same way Tony’d had her, and was dragging her toward the elevator leading to the interrogation rooms.
XXXXX
Tom Morrow guided the young agent into his office and offered him a seat on the couch. He handed Tony a bottle of water then sat down beside him.
Tony kept his eyes fixed heavily on the plastic bottle in his hands. How could he have behaved so badly? He was so terrible; he didn’t deserve a job like this. He knew that he would be punished severely for acting the way he had"that was if he got to keep his job at all. Finally, he pulled himself together enough to look up at his boss’ boss.
“Tony, are you alright, son?”
He nodded shakily, just slightly. “’M ok sir,” Tony said quietly. “I’m…I’m sorry,” Tony whispered.
He flinched slightly at the hand on his shoulder. “Tony you don’t have anything to be sorry for,” Morrow said.
Tony turned to look up at his boss. His eyes were wide and full of confusion. How could he not have anything to be sorry for? He had plenty of things to be sorry for! He blinked at him and shook his head.
“What are you talking about sir? I have plenty to be sorry for! I behaved terribly down there! I deserve whatever punishment that you feel you have to give me! I’m sorry, I screwed up, I shouldn’t have grabbed Blackadder like that, I’m so sorry. It’s just"”
“Tony.” Tony’s eyes shot up. There was his dad standing in the doorway. Ducky was right behind him.
“Dad?” He didn’t hesitate to call him that here"he was with friends after all. These people all knew about his relationship with Gibbs.
“Tom she’s down in Interrogation 3. I’m just…I can’t talk to her right now.”
Tom smiled. “I’m proud of you Jethro. I’ve never known you to be one who could use restraint. I will go talk with Ms. Blackadder. Tony?”
“Yessir,” he replied automatically, his gaze back on his water bottle.
“We are a family here at NCIS. We take care of our own here,” Morrow said quietly.
Tony stared up at the director. “Thank you sir,” he said quietly.
Morrow nodded, greeted Ducky on his way out, then was gone from sight.
“Ducky what are you doing here?”
“Moral support Anthony. Jethro called me and told me the basic gist of what was going on…he asked me to come be with you in case you needed a friend this evening.”
Tony grinned faintly. He was still trying to wrap his brain around everything that had happened. Gibbs sat down on the couch beside Tony and wrapped an arm around his shoulders. Ducky sat on his other side and placed a gentle hand on his knee.
“Why are you all being so nice to me,” Tony wondered out loud, mostly to himself but overheard by the others.
“You haven’t done anything wrong here Tony,” Gibbs said, squeezing his shoulders a bit.
“Indeed Anthony. After what Jethro told me, there is no reason why you should apologize for anything.”
“Dad…do you think Morrow will fire her?”
“I think he will handle the situation with a much cooler head than I would have been able to. I couldn’t guarantee that I would not inflict bodily harm on the bitch. Why don’t you try and relax for just a bit until Tom comes back?”
Gibbs leaned back against the couch Tony leaned against his shoulder. Neither Gibbs nor Ducky commented on the way Tony silently cried himself out until he fell asleep waiting to hear what Tom decided to do about Vivian.
TBC…
Chapter End Notes:
Flashback Warning! Super-Bitchy!Blackadder warning! Mention of physical and sexual abuse. Be warned of the flashbacks and AFIS report--both are clearly marked. I'm assuming creative license with AFIS--I have no idea how it works, or what info would be included on the AFIS reports