Tony found himself on the way to the airport for the second time today albeit in a different city but still fighting traffic. He was on his way to pick up Ezra. After a few mis-starts and delays the flight from Denver was finally due to arrive in NY although several hours late.
It had been a long and tiring day. David was in much better condition than Mel. His wound had only been a graze and he had been sent home, well they tried to send him home he wouldn't go until Tony threatened him and then promised to keep him updated with any changes in Mel's condition. Dave then left to the relief of his wife Gina.
Melissa was a different story. She had been wounded in the leg. It didn't sound like it should be such a serious injury but it was a thigh wound and it had nicked the femoral artery. It had bled twice as much into the muscle as it had outwardly. The blood loss went mostly unnoticed due to the fact that Mel had a severe asthma attack and went into respiratory arrest at the scene. The alley she had been in had old standing water and triggered a very bad reaction. By the time that her airway had been managed and brought under control by medications and mechanical ventilation the bleeding had nearly been forgotten about. After surgery to repair the damage to her leg and several blood transfusions Mel was stable but remained vent dependent and unresponsive except to deep stimuli. The unresponsiveness thankfully was due to medications at least that what was Mary was saying.
If the emotional trauma of dealing with Mel's condition and helping the rest of the extended family cope wasn't enough, he then had to deal with the political bullshit that Siobhan insisted on. He hated having to do that press conference. He tried to get out of it but Mary was a wreck and Siobhan wouldn't let her out of it. Mohamed was overseas and had been unable to get a flight back as yet so Mary was clinging to him and Joe. She wanted all of her children around her. She had been very upset that Ezra had not yet made it to NY that's why he was the one to be making the run to the airport.
He hoped that Ezra wasn't too badly injured because he didn't think that Mary would handle another one of her "children" being injured right now.
Both he and Ezra had found family with the Kendall Ait-Saids. It was an experience he had never thought he would be lucky enough to have. Still all these years later he half expected one day for them to say, hey we were just kidding we really don't want you around anymore.
That darn press conference. He had stayed in the back round as much as he could but he knew that the cameras had captured his image. He hoped that they had been busy back at NCIS when the feed was carried. He really didn't want his coworkers to see him.
One thing that shocked him this trip is that Siobhan was actually tolerable. She had never liked him or Ezra never accepting them when Mary and Mohamed had taken them in. He knew it wouldn't last. He still had not cornered her about what happened to Mel and David; he was waiting for Ezra to do that with him. So he knew the cordial way he was being treated would soon be a thing of the past.
Siobhan had even given him use of an unmarked police car to get Ezra from the airport. That enabled him to use the dashboard placard and park in a no parking area. He looked at his phone expecting his cousin to call him and found he had turned the thing off during the press conference and forgotten to turn it back on. There were 3 new messages in his voicemail. Leaving them for now he called his cousin to see if he was off the plane yet and was taken aback at the snarled response in the phone.
"WHAT!"
"Whoa Ez everything alright? I just got to the terminal sorry if I'm late. I turned off my phone earlier and forgot to put it back on." Even with his family he sometimes got defensive and felt that if someone was angry he must be the cause.
"Tony sorry I answered the phone without looking at the ID; I thought you were my boss Mr. Larabee. Apparently my team thinks I need a keeper and sent Mr. Tanner to NY to baby-sit me. Without my consent or knowledge I might add."
Personally Tony thought that was a nice thing to do and he knew as much as Ezra protested he secretly liked the fact that his team tried to protect him. Tony knew that his team would never do something like that Gibbs would take it as a sign of weakness and Kate would take any information and use it against him. As often as he teased her she at times could be vicious in her attacks on him and didn't seem to know any boundaries. It was why he didn't tell his team where he was going or why. His chosen family was important to him too important to be used as fodder for whatever joke Kate would play on him next.
"So I guess I have two to take back to the hospital huh?"
"Yes Mr. DiNozzo you do." Ezra replied sourly.
"Hey Ez don't take your temper out on me." Tony replied good naturedly.
They discussed where to meet and in short order they were back in the unmarked police car. "Nice to meet you Vin. Wish it was under better circumstances."
Vin liked Ezra's cousin he was a cheerful man about his and Ezra's age. Easy going and obviously caring toward his cousin.
When Tony had seen Ezra the first time at the airport his eyes hardened as they swept over Ezra, he had burst into a spate of Italian that could only be about the state of Ezra's health. Ezra answered him and they argued a little. Tony finally relented, after hugging his cousin with obvious affection, Tony said in English. "Mary's protective instincts are in overdrive. You will be lucky if she lets you out of her sight to go to the bathroom."
Tony wasn't injured At least not in any way that she could see. He had some bruises from that incident in the sewers a few days ago but nothing noticeable. He hadn't had time to talk to any of the family after that incident and now he knew it was a good thing, Mary hadn't wanted him to leave to get Ezra from the airport. If she knew he had been injured recently even a minor injury, she would keep him near her. He kept many of the details of his job from her. If she ever knew he had been pushed out of a plane for example…Tony shuddered at the thought.
The men walked towards the car while Ezra and Vin filled in how Ezra had gotten injured. Tony explained to Ezra the extent of Mel's injuries and that Dave had been released from the hospital.
The trip from Queens to Manhattan was long not due to distance but traffic. Tony took the time to talk to Vin getting to know his cousin's team mate. His phone rang in the middle of the conversation. He looked at it and paused not immediately answering once he looked at the caller ID. Ezra opened his eyes he had been resting but not really sleeping. When the phone rang and Tony did not answer it he became concerned that the call was somehow related to Mel and Tony was not answering because he feared bad news.
Tony looked over at his cousin and noticed his questioning glance said "Gibbs" with a grimace on his face. Ezra nodded in understanding, As much as he complained about his team mates and in particular his team leader. He knew that they cared about him. Tony had told him on numerous occasions he thought that Gibbs was looking to replace him that he was just waiting for Tony to screw up badly enough.
"Not answering or in this case calling him back is not going to improve his demeanor." The phone had finished ringing by this time "You better call him back" Ezra advised him.
Tony sighed "You're right. I think that he called me earlier but I had the phone off." He looked at Ezra "You missed Siobhan's press conference. I didn't get any calls except from Abby and I answered her call. Had to turn off the phone for the press debacle… uh I mean conference. I forgot to turn it back on until I had to come and get you. I had a couple of voice mails I haven't listened to yet." Tony said a little sheepishly.
At the mention of a press conference set up by Siobhan Ezra winced. He knew that she loved her niece but he also knew that she lived for playing political games. NY was in competition with DC as to which town had more of that type of game being played.
" I am sorry that I missed the performance." Ezra said sarcastically. He hated politics too, but Maude made sure he knew how to play however; almost as well as he played poker.
Tony grinned at him looked at his phone and sighed. As if on cue it started ringing again. Looking at the traffic, which had started to move he gave the phone to his cousin to answer.
"Agent DiNozzo's phone Agent Standish speaking how may I help you?"
In DC Gibbs looked at the receiver in his hand in puzzlement at the strange southern voice. Who the hell is Agent Standish and what is DiNozzo doing with him?
"This is Special Agent Gibbs; I need to speak with DiNozzo."
"I am sorry sir but he is unable to speak at the moment may I take a message."
Gibbs had been holding on to his temper by his fingernails. When Tony wouldn't talk to him he lost what little control he had left.
"You can tell Agent DiNozzo that he is UA and if he isn't back at his desk in 48 hours don't bother coming back at all." Gibbs disconnected the call without saying anything else.
Ezra looked over at Tony and said dryly "Charming boss you have there. He said you were UA whatever that means and if you weren't back at work in 48 hours don't bother coming back."
Tony looked over at Ezra "UA is a navy term it means Unauthorized Absence." He grinned " Gibbs must be feeling generous he actually is giving me 2 whole days to get home."
Chapter End Notes:
some spoilers for "missing"