Chapter 17
AN: Well kids, this is the end. I think this is the fastest I have ever written a story. I owe a special thanks to Glow60. I read the first chapter of ‘Go Silently Into the Woods’ and I loved the premise. So, as I should have said earlier, ‘Thank You’. I took your idea and ran with it, thankfully in a totally different direction. This is a really long chapter, for me. I got several great suggestions and questions. And I hope I have satisfied them all in this chapter. Thanks to the suggestions, I added Tobias’, Jackson’s and Senior’s reactions. I hope I answered the questions in the part with Tony and Gibbs. Also, the part with Junior and Senior turned out a little different from what I had originally planned. But I do think it works. Thank you all, Jackie.
The ‘party’ concluded at about 1 a.m. The beer and pizza were long gone. Everyone decided to spend the night at Gibbs. Gibbs was in his bed. Abby had taken the half of the bed Tony was not occupying. Ducky had taken the chair beside Tony’s bed. Ziva, Tim and Jimmy were scattered around the living room, sleeping in chairs and on the sofa.
The evening had been full of laughter and remembrance. Everybody had some great stories to tell. They had all had some good times with Tony. And he was always doing things that made them laugh. Tony had laughed as hard as the rest of them. But in the end, he was the only one who ended up with aching ribs. He retired early, leaving the others to tell their tales.
Tony was the first to awaken. He got up as quietly as he could, careful not to disturb Ducky or Abby. He really had to ‘use the facilities’. But, by the time he came back to bed, he had two sets of eyes watching him.
“How are you, dear boy?” Ducky asked.
“Good.” Tony replied, lying back down beside Abby.
“Emma was a good nurse?” Abby asked.
“Excellent.” Tony replied.
“She really did do a great job with you, Anthony.” Ducky replied.
Tony nodded. He then yawned and made himself comfortable once again. He closed his eyes.
“Well, my dear,” Ducky said to Abby. “…how does breakfast sound?”
“Excellent.” Abby said, getting out on her side of the bed.
“Let’s go and raid the fridge, shall we?” Ducky said standing and then heading to the door.
“I want a stack of flapjacks.” Tony said, sleepily.
“Toast and coffee for you.” Ducky replied.
“Maybe tomorrow?” Tony asked.
“We’ll see.” Ducky stated.
A little while later the smells of coffee, bacon, sausage and pancakes filled the air. It brought Gibbs down from his bedroom and woke up the living room occupants. Gibbs has actually been down the stairs several times during the night, checking on Tony.
Ducky relented. He carried a couple pancakes, a couple slices of bacon, and a cup of coffee in to Tony.
Tony smiled broadly and dug in. “Thanks Ducky, everything is excellent.”
“Don’t tell Jethro I’m spoiling you this morning.” Ducky said.
“Too late.” Gibbs replied. He ducked his head in the doorway.
“You’re feeling better, DiNozzo?” Gibbs asked.
Tony nodded his mouth full.
“He is certainly enjoying his breakfast.” Ducky replied.
Gibbs nodded. He stood in the doorway watching his agent.
“I’ll get him back on track for lunch. He’s…it’s just….”
Gibbs nodded. “Yeah, Duck….I know exactly how you feel.”
NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS
There were a few other people who needed to hear the news. Gibbs called Fornell first. He knew that Fornell was probably already hearing the rumors.
“Tobias.” Gibbs said as soon as Fornell answered the phone.
“You’re back in D.C?” Tobias asked, there was something in Gibbs’ tone that was different. He was having trouble figuring it out.
“Yeah.” Gibbs said.
“Good. You need to tell your people to stop spreading those vicious rumors. ‘He’s alive.’” Fornell said, the pain evident in his voice. “I mean, the man is dead. They need to let him rest in peace.” Tobias said, referring to Tony.
“I will straighten things out, Tobias, don’t worry.” Gibbs said. “I’ll tell you what, drop by after work. We’ll drink some beer, eat some bad Chinese food….”
“Okay, sounds good.” Fornell said. “See ya then.”
They both hung up.
Fornell showed up about 45 minutes later. He had a bag of Chinese food and sat it on Gibbs’ kitchen table.
Gibbs made no move towards the food.
“We should chow down before it gets cold.” Fornell said, opening cabinets and drawers and getting plates and silverware.
“In a minute, you need to see something first.” Gibbs said.
Fornell looked at Gibbs. “You aren’t acting…like your usual self.”
“This is unusual situation.”
“I’m not liking this cryptic thing you’re doing here.” Fornell admitted.
“What if I told you the ‘rumors’ were true?” Gibbs asked.
Fornell just stared at Gibbs as he followed Gibbs to his back bedroom.
Gibbs stepped aside as Tobias looked into the room. He stood, stunned, for few moments.
“Hello, Tobias.” Tony said.
It took a moment or two for it all to register.
“Well…I’ll be damned…Tony DiNozzo.” Fornell said, smiling. “I always knew you had nine lives.”
Gibbs and Tony filled Tobias in on the details.
NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS
“What’s going on, Leroy?” Jackson Gibbs asked. He was worried about his son. Jackson had been at the memorial service. He had seen how his son was taking his friend’s death and it had him a little worried. And now Leroy sounded happy. That worried him even more.
“I have got some good news, Dad.” Gibbs replied.
Jackson didn’t say a word. He couldn’t imagine what the good news would be.
“It’s about Tony, Dad.” Gibbs said. He was struggling with his words, knowing how it must sound to Jackson.
“What about Tony, Son?” Jackson asked, not sure if he was doing the right thing. He didn’t want to feed any delusions or prolong his son’s pain. But he had to know what Leroy was talking about.
“He…he made it, Dad. He’s here… with me.” Gibb stated.
Jackson wasn’t sure what to think of his son’s statement. Maybe he needed to pay Leroy a visit.
Gibbs continued. “He survived the crash. He fell out, or was thrown out of the car. But he made it.”
“Son, that…that’s not possible…from what you told me.” Jackson replied.
“I know, Dad. But it’s true.”
Gibbs handed the phone to Tony.
“Hello, Jackson.” Tony said.
Jackson was quiet for a moment. The voice on the line certainly sounded like Tony. But then, maybe he was imagining things.
“A nurse found me. She took care of me for a week. Gibbs came back to the neighborhood, investigating. He knocked on her door, showed her my picture. She brought Gibbs into her house and brought her to the back bedroom where I was.” Tony explained.
There was a long moment of silence on the Jackson’s end. The more Tony talked, the more Jackson realized it really was him.
“I…I’m not sure what to say, Tony.” Jackson admitted.
“That’s okay. It’s been going around.” Tony replied.
“I think I need to make another trip to D.C.” Jackson said.
“I would really like that, Jackson.” Tony replied. “Gibbs will be glad to see you, too.”
Jackson was on a plane the next morning.
NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS
Gibbs had left Senior several messages to call him as soon as possible. Senior, had, of course, been out of the country on business and nobody seemed to know when he would return, not even his secretary. Or, if they did, they weren’t telling Gibbs.
“Don’t bother, Boss.” Tony said from his spot on the bed.
Gibbs just looked at him.
“Maybe he doesn’t….”
“Tony!” Gibbs said, surprised. “He’s your father.”
“I’m his son. It hasn’t seemed to make a big difference to him. He’s not called you back.”
“Maybe he hasn’t checked his messages.” Gibbs offered.
“Maybe he doesn’t give a damn.”
Gibbs was not really shocked by Tony’s attitude. But, he thought of himself with Jackson. Gibbs just couldn’t imagine having those feelings towards him.
Tony shook his head. “You tried. You called. And maybe, when he gets around to calling you back, in a few weeks, you can tell him what’s going on. But I can tell you right now, he won’t care. He…he didn’t even care enough to go by and check out my apartment. But, you said, he had tried to look into my checking and savings. He tried to open safe deposit box at the bank. He…he’s worried about the money, Gibbs. And that’s…that’s all it’s ever been about with him. Mom left me money when she died. He knew it. He’s been trying to get his hands on it ever since it was released to me when I turned 21. He…he knows I get a yearly check and he comes around when he knows I am going to get it, and he’s always ‘in need.’ I’m sure, now that I’m ‘dead.’ He’s trying his damnedest to get his hands on it.” Tony paused. “He’s…the only way I will get peace in my life is if he thinks I’m dead.”
“Tony, that’s….” Gibbs started.
“Wouldn’t you want Senior as a dad?”
Gibbs shook his head.
“Me either. I have no choice, though. I’m stuck with him.” Tony replied. “I deserve to have him NOT blow into my life and turn it upside down. I deserve to be able to live MY life, NOT what he wants for my life. If…if he thinks I’m gone. I’m free. I know that sounds strange. I know he’ll find out eventually, and he will be very, very pissed about it all. But, right now, I don’t care. I don’t care, and for the first time, I don’t’ feel like I need to apologize for it.”
Gibbs nodded. He didn’t understand it all. But he nodded. He knew his agent well enough to know he had given this decision a lot of thought. But the repercussions still worried him.
--A Month Later��"
“It was your idea, wasn’t it?!” Senior demanded over the phone to Special Agent Gibbs.
Gibbs had not even had a chance to process who he was speaking to. Senior lit into Gibbs as soon as he answered his phone.
“What idea would that be, Mr. DiNozzo?” Gibbs said, adding an extra layer of sugar after he realized who he was talking to.
Gibbs could feel Senior’s rage.
“Don’t give me that, Gibbs!” He could hear the hard breathing through the line. “You know EXACTLY what I mean!”
Gibbs didn’t speak, it only enraged Senior more.
“My son is ALIVE and no one TOLD me.” Senior spat out between clinched teeth.
“I sent you messages.” Gibbs said, calmly. “I tried….”
“Messages that were always a step behind…AFTER I had checked out of the hotel…or had LEFT the country.”
“Give your secretary a more accurate itinerary.” Gibbs suggested.
“Let me speak with him!” Senior demanded in a not-so-pleasant tone.
“No.”
“WHAT!” Senior couldn’t have heard him right.
“No.” Gibbs repeated, not letting his anger creep into his voice. He took a deep breath. “Tony is nothing more to you than a checkbook, a yearly inheritance check. You don’t deserve him.”
Gibbs braced for the explosion. He wasn’t disappointed.
“HOW DARE YOU!!” Senior practically screamed into the phone. “I’m his father!”
“Yeah, just like the guy down at the sperm bank who puts his ‘junk’ in a cup.” Gibbs retorted. “He’s better off without you.” Gibbs paused. “Do Tony a favor. Do all the people who care about Tony a favor…pretend he’s dead.” Gibbs hung up before Senior could reply.
--Junior and Senior��"
“Gibbs didn’t convince me to do anything, Dad.” Tony replied to his father.
“You wouldn’t have told him that, Junior.” Senior replied, talking about the inheritance check. “We don’t talk about family stuff to outsiders. And the stuff about you being dead, he….”
“He’s not an outsider to me.”
“He’s not family, Junior.” Senior explained.
“He’s my family.”
“Not our family.”
“I trust him.” Tony replied.
“Big mistake.
“That’s your opinion of the situation. And you are entitled to it. But, I…I will not put up with this anymore from you. I won’t be bullied into doing things you want me to do.”
“Junior, I don’t….”
“Don’t interrupt me.” Tony said firmly. “I…I need people in my life who care about me. Not one’s who are out to take advantage, exploit weaknesses. You have always taken my kindness as a weakness. You are a shark in business, and it serves you well, there. But you are also a shark in your personal life. And I am nothing but that poor little trapped fish you keep taking bites out off. The problem is that there are only so many bites you can take.” Tony paused. “There is only so much I will put up with, from you. I’m at my limit. You thought I was dead and all you wanted was my money. My landlord said you never even came by my apartment. You didn’t want anything personal, anything of mine. You…you just wanted the money. And I have, in all honesty, I have thought about paying you off, several times. I know there has to be a price, that magic amount of money I could give you, and you would be out of my life. I know that amount exists. But, at the same time, it really bothers me that you would take it.”
“Junior….”
“No, Dad. I’m…I’m not doing this anymore. I deserve better than you. Goodbye.”
NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS
Tony took his customary seat on Gibbs stairs; he could have gone home weeks earlier. But it was taking a long time to get Tony’s bank accounts reopened. He had no money to live on. Thankfully, Tony’s landlord had not rented out his apartment. He hadn’t even gotten around to cleaning it out. It made Tony extremely grateful for his landlord’s skill at procrastination.
Tony closed the folder he was holding in his hand. It contained copies of the reports on his ‘death.’
“You really thought I was dead.”
Gibbs nodded, sanding a rib.
“Really?”
“We had no proof otherwise.” Gibbs explained. “The witnesses and the MP were burned so badly. We couldn’t tell who was who. And your ID was found near the car, well, what was left of it.”
“So, I was thrown from the car?” Tony asked. “That’s how I made it?”
Gibbs nodded. “It looked like the door bowed in on your side. If that happened, the latch would have popped, and the door would have opened. You would have fallen out or have been thrown out.” Gibbs said.
Tony shook his head. He still didn’t remember what happened.
“Abby studied the pictures Pacci took of the road we were on. She said it looked like car smashed into one of the trees along the road. She said, from the way the tree looked, it very well could have done enough damage to bow the door and pop the lock.”
“So,” Tony said, trying to put it together. “A bullet hit the driver.” Tony had read that part in Ducky’s autopsy report. The slug had been buried in the front driver’s seat and had, somehow, survived the explosion. “The car went out of control. Then hit a tree on my side of the car. The door ‘popped’ open and I was thrown or fell out when the car tumbled down the embankment.”
Gibbs nodded. “That’s what we think.”
“But why didn’t I have my ID with me, or my gun. I know I wouldn’t have taken those things off.”
Gibbs shook his head. He didn’t think so either. “The ID probably just fell out of your pocket. The gun…we guess it just come undone from your belt, somehow.”
Tony just shook his head.
“You may never remember that day, Tony.” Gibbs stated. “And it’s okay. Why would you want to remember the worst day of your life?”
Tony looked up at Gibbs. “As much as I trust you and as much as I know you’re telling me the truth. I just want to know, for sure, what happened. There’s…there’s just a big gap in my memory, in my life, and I don’t like it.”
Gibbs stopped his sanding and took a seat beside Tony. “Trust me, Tony, sometimes it’s good you don’t know. You learn to live with it, to accept it, maybe even be grateful for it.”
“Are you talking about the explosion on the ship?”
Gibbs nodded. “All these years later and I still don’t remember it all. There are definite gaps. I figure it’s the head injury, the amnesia. But I still don’t know everything that happened that day. I know I never told you that.” Gibbs said, looking at Tony. “But I know what I need to know. I am very grateful to have made it back from that as far as I have. I survived it, Tony. That was all that was within my power to do. I survived it.”
“I am grateful, Gibbs. I really, really am.” Tony told him. “I just…why didn’t you look for me? I mean…it took so long. I was with Emma a week.”
Gibbs sighed. “My brain and the evidence were telling me you were dead. My heart was telling me to keep looking. And I thought my gut had checked out.”
Tony didn’t say anything, waiting for Gibbs to continue.
“When Vance gave us our leave time, I told him I was going back to the scene. I…my gut had kicked it. It…I knew I would find something.” Gibbs put his hand to the back of Tony’s neck and squeezed. “Then when I walked in at Ms. Hargrove’s…. I…there are no words, Tony. There truly are no words.”
Tony smiled and bowed his head momentarily. He then looked at Gibbs. “I really would like to go visit Emma. She’s so nice. And Buster is the best dog ever.”
“Give it another couple of weeks, then we’ll see.” Gibbs replied.
“Gotta get some sleep.” Tony said as he stood and turned started upstairs. Tomorrow was his first day back at work. Tony stopped. “There’s the doorbell again.”
“No doubt for you.” Gibbs replied.
Since people had found out Tony was very much alive, flowers, cards and gifts had been arriving at Gibbs’ door regularly. Gibbs’ living room looked like a greenhouse, and Tony had gotten a pile of pizza discount coupons. So many, in fact, that Tony figured he wouldn’t have to pay for another pizza for a couple of years. He had also gotten a few assorted DVDs and gift cards.
“Those flowers are going with you when you leave, DiNozzo.” Gibbs yelled up to him.
NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS
Tony pulled into the long driveway. The barking of a dog announced his arrival.
“I hope its okay that I didn’t call. Tony said when Emma answered the door.
Emma opened her arms wide. “I would be glad to see you anytime, Handsome.”
She and Tony hugged. Tony then leaned down and patted Buster on the head.
“Good to see you too, Buster.” Tony said.
“You’re just in time for supper.” Emma said. She set Tony a place at the table.
THE END
END NOTES I hope you enjoyed reading this story as much as I loved writing it. Thanks to my wonderful, faithful readers. Jackie
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.