"And Matt?" Alex called after his Chief Security Officer as the blond man made for the door.
"Yeah, Boss?"
"I don't want a gnat's bollock getting in here without my knowing about it - you see or hear anything suspicious - and I mean - anything - we need to know immediately."
"Sure thing - Taylor's old news - but we'll be ready for him." Matt flashed Alex a reassuring grin and pulled the door to as he exited.
"I don't like this," Nicky observed from where he lay sprawled on the sofa, cold slice of toast in one hand, his other hand reaching down to the floor for his coffee mug.
"And you think I do?" Alex snapped, retaking his seat behind the desk and leaning forward. "And despite all the crap that's going on - there's one job I am not looking forward to - but - "
"What job?" Nicky bit into his toast, pulling a face as he tossed the remains into a nearby trash can.
"Telling Jethro just - why - Rick and Tony were taken so easily."
Nicky pulled himself upright and swivelled round to stare at his brother as his stomach plummeted uneasily. "You wouldn't!"
"I have to."
"No - Alex - you don't." Nicky got to his feet and approached the desk, keeping his voice deliberately low as he leaned in on his hands. "Jethro doesn't need to know why - just that they were taken is enough - "
"I can't not tell him, bro. He needs to know - better he finds out now than later." Alex sighed heavily, shoving both hands through his hair before spreading them with a shrug. "You didn't see him earlier - he's in bits already - and the only thing holding him together is - "
"That's crap," Nicky snorted. "When did you ever see Jethro in bits? The only reason you thought that is because you've never known him not to be in control - he has no clue what the hell is going on - this is a whole new scenario to him. He's not in the bullpen now - he doesn't have his team behind him - all he's got is us Alex, just you and me and we're being economical with the truth as it is!!"
"Economical? Nicky, the man is hurting - he deserves to know what happened - he needs to know they had no chance - what happened happened because Rick - "
"Rick nothing!!" Nicky nearly yelled. "I don't know what fucking planet you are on, Alex!" Nicky threw his arms up in the air as he turned away and kicked the leg of the coffee table. "We have enough to deal with right now - don't you think you owe it to Jethro to at least let him gain some comfort in the fact we're doing our damndest to find the two of them?" He turned again, leaning on the desk once more. "You tell him what you know - go ahead - but I'll tell you this much - you tell him and that's a friendship shot to blazes!"
"Finished?" Alex rose fluidly and rounded the desk. "I hear where you're coming from - but - don't think I haven't thought about not telling him - it's all I've thought about." He hitched a hip on the dark wood and folded his arms. "Put yourself in his position for a second. He's NCIS, he has a nose for trouble - his - his - " Alex glanced around the room quickly before looking to his doppelganger pacing the floor. "I mean - he's here with - Tony - and I mean - here - Heaven's Gate and everyone in the City knows what goes on here from - the White House down. He - they - spend the night - for free - which says a lot about just where we rank Jethro in our clientele - and the next day - our brother and Tony are snatched in broad daylight from right outside - right outside here - for one reason - and one reason only - our dear fucking brother got horny and took advantage of an inexperienced - " Nicky opened his mouth to protest, his eyes blazing. "Hear me out." Alex barked with a raised hand. Nicky closed his mouth, cursing under his breath. "You saw the reaction Tony had to Rick - there was no way - no way this side of the fucking moon Tony was going to back off!! Hell, if Rick came on to me the way he did to Tony - I'd have been more than happy to jump in the sack with him!"
"You make Tony sound like an idiot - and you make it sound like it was all Rick's fault!"
"No, I'm not Nicky. Tony is still learning - he's still growing - as far as I'm aware - this was his first time out as a sub - he doesn't yet understand all the rules - or when to bring those he does know into play. He's with Rick, they're alone, Rick offers himself on a fucking plate - and you think Tony's gonna say no - and it could've been you and me taking out the trash - "
"Yeah?" Nicky sat down hard on the sofa, elbows resting on knees, head bowed. "I certainly wouldn't want to get caught kissing you bro - that's just - hinky." Slowly he raised his head. ""But you're saying the reason we're in this mess now is all because of Rick?"
Alex pressed his lips into a firm line and nodded. "You know him, he had his sights set on Tony then minute the guy came in - and you know how it goes - what Rick wants - Rick gets - no matter what."
"So, Taylor's goons had to have been watching them - watching the club," Nicky said - almost to himself. "How else would they have known where they were?"
"Which is why," Alex suppressed a yawn behind a hand. "Matt is on his way to the bars across the street for their CCTV footage."
"Oh God - not Smithy's?" Nicky sighed as he sat back on the sofa, letting his head fall to his chest.
"Among others, why?"
"Smithy - you've not offered him or the others a night here?"
"No!" Alex stated flatly, gazing at Nicky with wide eyes. "None of them passed the entrance exam when we first opened - "
"Oh - yeah - forgot."
"Smithy is a good guy," Alex smiled. "But his tastes are - a little too - subversive for our establishment - besides - he skulks off to the west side for his kicks. But we digress - "
"No we don't," Nicky rolled his head from one side to the other and back, groaning softly. "Jethro will be here any second now - and I need a clear head to think - "
"No need to leave on my account," Gibbs growled as he closed the door behind him - a little too hard. Nicky rose to his feet only to obey instantly when Gibbs signalled him to sit back down.
"Jethro - you okay?" Alex asked carefully - studying the older man's face intently.
"I could be," Gibbs said, settling himself in the chair opposite. "It's just - my ears were burning as I crossed the hall out there - so I figured I'd just listen in for a couple of seconds to you two.
"Jethro - "
"No - Nicky. Not a word from you - I hear one single squeak - after all - I don't think Alex needs prompting - do you Alex?." Gibbs continued to stare at the younger man who - if anything - seemed to sink lower in his own chair. "What is it Nicky doesn't want you to tell me?" He let a small smile play on his lips for a moment or two and then lowered his gaze briefly. "I mean - I have an idea what it might be - but you know how it is when you're left guessing - you come up with the most bizarre kinda ideas - each one more unrealistic than the last."
"This isn't easy - " Alex began.
"Easy?" Gibbs echoed. "Right now - nothing is very easy is it? And with you two holding out on me - it's not going to get any easier anytime soon as far as I can see."
"We're not holding out - " Nicky started.
"I thought I asked you to stay quiet," Gibbs stated over his shoulder.
"Fine!" Nicky spat as he got to his feet. "Okay Jethro - you're not Special Agent LJ Gibbs - you're not at the Navy Yard and you are sure as hell in no position to - "
"Nicky - get out!" Alex barked, glaring at his brother. Nicky gaped at him, looking from Gibbs to Alex and back again. "Get out - go help Abs or something."
"Huh?" Nicky looked confused.
"I can handle this myself - you're more use somewhere else - not here."
Nicky didn't move for a few moments and then he approached Gibbs' chair and leaned forward - one hand on the back of the chair and the other on the desk. "Just remember we're trying to help you here," he whispered. "You won't like what Alex has to tell you - and I don't need you going in like a bull at a fucking gate shouting the odds - what happened in the alley - happened - "
"Sounds like a veiled threat in there somewhere," Gibbs smirked. "Is he threatening me?"
Alex closed his eyes and took a deep breath - grateful to see Nicky finally relented and paced to the door - slamming it hard behind him. "No one is threatening anyone, Jethro - Nicky's a class one a-hole at times - he'll be fine when he calms down."
"Small talk, Alex - not a big fan of it myself - just get to the fucking point."
"Rick,"
"Rick what?"
"He came onto Tony - and Tony - "
"Tony what?"
"The reason they were taken so easily - Rick flashed both myself and Nicky a brief idea - he and Tony were too pre-occupied with each other to notice the danger until it was too late."
"Rick flashed you what, Alex - you're not making any sense." Gibbs kept his voice level - already knowing full well exactly what Alex meant - but he needed to hear him say it. Gibbs knew Rick of old - and he had expected something like this - he hadn't planned on it - but he had been aware that Rick would try something - at some point - hell - he'd done it before! But in the past, he'd always owned up - and that was the part Gibbs enjoyed - Rick owning up - on his knees - head bowed - submissive and so ready for correction at the hands of his own private Master - Gibbs - the only man Rick would allow to master him - the only man he could trust implicitly. But all thoughts of those wonderful nights spent together disappeared in a flash - replaced by one enduring image - his beloved Tony wrapped in Rick's arms - the two men so lost in each other - so lost - and then it was too late. "So which brain was Rick thinking with?" Gibbs asked almost lightly.
"Don't do this Jethro - please. We feel bad enough it turned out this way already - "
"Bad enough?" Gibbs sat back, brushing some imagined fluff from the arm of his jacket. "Hell - you two don't know the meaning of the words - Rick thinking with his fucking dick again - and now Tony is up to his neck in shit with some demented half breed! You'll be feeling even worse when I get my hands on Taylor - and don't even begin to think I'm letting Rick off lightly either - "
"All I can say is - "
"Don't Alex - just - don't." Gibbs scuffed a hand over his face. "And when Taylor finds he's got a Fed on his hands?"
"Hopefully, he won't - Rick will be watching his six."
"Like he did in the alley? With his tongue all the way down his fucking throat." Gibbs let out a derisive chuckle, shaking his head slowly. "And I said Tony was in deep shit? If any of this gets out - half the damn city will be up to its neck in the brown stuff - from the White House, Pentagon - and down."
"Don't you think I know that?" Alex snapped. "Fuck Jethro - I've said I'm sorry - but now isn't the time for mud slinging - what!!" Alex rolled his eyes at the knock on the office door and groaned aloud as Nicky came back in with a blue folder in his hand.
"I'll keep it short - since I'm clearly in the way," he said by way of explanation as he handed the folder to Gibbs. "All we have on Taylor - from birth to a week ago - it doesn't make pretty reading but I figure you should know what you're dealing with."
Gibbs looked at the file in Nicky's hand and took it slowly, tossing it down onto the desk before him. "Aren't you going to read it?"
"Nope," Gibbs settled back in his chair. "I want you two to arrange a meet - in two hours. Just Taylor and me - no goons - no weapons - nothing. Think you can just about manage that?" The brothers looked at each other and then back to Gibbs who met their puzzled faces with a half smile. "Good. I'll be in the bar with Abs - you come get me when you're done." With that, Gibbs got to his feet and strode out of the open door leaving the two men slightly non-plussed.
"He took it well then?" Nicky breathed.
"Uh - no - he didn't." Alex answered. "You just met Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs - the second b is for bastard."
TBC……
Author's Chapter Notes:
Gibbs takes charge - ;-)