Gibbs was sanding his boat when his phone rang. Tempted to drop the thing in a jar of paint thinner, he checked the caller ID and saw it was Ziva calling.
"Gibbs."
"Gibbs, we have a situation." Ziva started.
"What have we got?" He questioned, ready to get to work.
"It's not NCIS, it's civilian. Tony is married to a cop from Baltimore and she was wounded today. Abby and I want to lend a hand to the locals since we don't have an active case and McGee is at the hospital with Tony for now."
"Ok. That's fine with me. What hospital is she in?" Gibbs wanted to know.
Ziva paused and Gibbs knew she was wondering why he didn't act surprised that Tony was married. "Maryland General. We just left and she was still in recovery."
Making a mental note of that, Gibbs told her, "Get to work. Report back to me what you find out."
"Ok, Gibbs, will do."
Ending the call, Gibbs sat down on the stool in his basement. Yes, he knew Tony was married. He knew the length of the time he had been married and the reasons behind it, but Tony didn't know he knew. He also knew that he needed to get to his agent's side to support him but he needed a moment. A moment to gather his thoughts. A moment to let the pain in his heart settle. He remembered when he learned his wife and daughter were dead. Tony had to be going through something similar to that and Gibbs had to get his "face" back on before he left or he wouldn't be able to hold it together if Tony fell apart.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Tim was sitting quietly beside Tony not knowing what to say or do. Tony shifted in his chair, uncomfortable as ever in a hospital seat, and looked over. "What do you want to know Tim?"
Thrown that Tony had called him by his first name, Tim sat for a moment thinking of every cheap shot he had taken over the years from his friend. Knowing now wasn't the time, Tim asked, "How did you meet her?"
Thinking back to that hot day seven years ago, he began.
Flashback
Tony was hot, sweaty and tired already when he got the call of the double homicide on Montgomery, he just wanted to go home, order a pizza and have a beer. He pulled his car up to the curb and saw the teen-aged girl shivering in the heat. Walking up to the door, the officers on the scene explained that Mr. and Mrs. McKensie were both shot dead and the bodies discovered by their sixteen year old daughter, Kira, when she had come home from her summer job. Ignoring protocol, he walked over to the girl and offered her his jacket. She was shaking so bad, he had to help her put it on.
"Ms. McKensie, I know this is a horrible time for you." He began, flashing her his smile of comfort. "I'll need to ask you some questions in a moment but first I want you to come see these paramedics with me."
With jerky movements, she shook her head no. "They can't help me. All they want to do is give me something for shock and I don't want to be doped up."
Looking her over with a new respect and concern, Tony asked, "Would you like to sit in my car over there?"
She looked where he motioned and nodded. "Yes, please."
He walked her over and helped her sit. Motioning for a uniformed officer, he left him there to keep an eye over her while he went to check out the scene.
End Flashback
"Her parents were murdered?" Tim asked, shocked. "Who killed them?"
"Hit man. It was paid for by her uncle but there wasn't enough evidence to connect him to it. By the time the investigation was over and child services was ready to let him have custody, she was 17. We had kept in touch through the course of the investigation and the only way or the least expensive way to keep her out of his clutches was for her to get married. Her legal guardian at the time was her foster mother. She was also worried what would happen to Kira when her uncle gained custody so she agreed to consent to the marriage."
Tony paused and looked at Tim. "The judge thought I was a pervert, but I didn't care. I had to keep her safe and marrying her did that. It permanently took away any hopes her uncle had of getting his hands on her money."
"Why didn't you ever tell us?" Tim asked.
"We agreed in the beginning to stay married until she finished college. Then things just got in the way. We've had grounds for a no-contest divorce for years, but neither of us has filed until now."
"All those women you dated?" Tim had to know. "Did she know about them?"
"Did she know about all of them? No. Did she know I wasn't a monk? Yes. We've had our own lives Tim, we've just had a piece of paper that made us legal to protect her."
Nodding, Tim replied, "Ok. So now what are you going to do? Will you sign the papers now that you've been seeing Jeanne?"
"I don't know, McGee. I just don't know right now." Tony said and slumped down in the chair to wait for the doctor.