Chapter 9
Gibbs shifted uncomfortably in the overly ornate wing-back chair he sat in then checked his watch for the tenth time. He's been waiting twenty minutes in the stuffy sitting room of the DiNozzo estate, listening to the tick and tock of the impressively enormous grandfather clock at the other end of the room as he strummed his fingers to its beat on the arm rest.
As he sat and analyzed the room, he drew some conclusions about the man that owned it. Everything about the room and the home he had seen so far spoke of the ridiculous amount of time and effort that went into the business of collecting enormous amounts of money and spending it on over-priced amenities and luxuries. He realized that all of this material stuff was Vincent DiNozzo's way of showing the world that he had succeeded not only in gaining wealth, but power as well and he also knew that making Gibbs wait was a demonstration of that power, showing the agent that he was on his turf and would come and see him only when he was good and ready.
The waiting did little to improve his mood and if anything, it only gave him more ammunition and time to think about all he wanted to say to the man when he finally showed up.
It was another ten minutes before a figure in a grey, double breasted suit and black, Italian leather dress shoes entered the room. Gibbs stood and came face to face with what he imagined Tony might look like in about twenty-five years. In truth, he was the spitting image of his senior field agent save for the extra wrinkles and silver hair; there was no denying that he was Tony's father.
“Special Agent Gibbs, you do realize that it is seven o'clock in the morning? It's a little early for a social call.” The senior DiNozzo folded his arms and regarded Gibbs with open contempt.
“I'm not here for that reason, sir.”
“Then why are you here? Long Island is a long way from Washington, D.C.”
“That it is.” Gibbs agreed.
“You may have managed to bully your way in here and passed through my staff with that badge of yours, but I won't be so easily intimidated. You should know that I took the liberty of contacting your agency and spoke with Director Vance, he seems to think that you should be in Washington right now.”
“That's because I didn't tell him I was coming here.”
“He's none too pleased about that and neither am I."
"If I had called you before hand would you have found time in your busy schedule to see me?" Gibbs asked, knowing the answer.
"I suppose not....but you never answered my question, Agent Gibbs. Why are you here? I imagine it has something to do with my wayward son, Anthony. Am I correct?”
“It does, sir.”
“I believe I've made it clear in the past that what goes on between my son and I is a private family matter and I would suggest you stay out of it.”
“I wasn't planning on meddling in your family affair, sir. Whatever issues you have with your son are between you and Tony. I'm not here to force you two upon each other or reconcile your differences- God knows I'm no family therapist. I just thought you should know a little more about your wayward son, who is by the way, anything but.”
“I know my son, agent Gibbs. I don't need youto tell me about him. I provided him with anything he ever wanted growing up, sent him to the finest schools and primed him to take over the family business when I retired.....he could have had all of this...” The older DiNozzo swept his had around the room and all of it's symbols of wealth.
“But he was too headstrong and refused to take advantage of the opportunities that he was given. Instead, he wanted to play sports and chase the impossible dream of becoming a professional athlete, as if one could do that for an actual living their entire life. I cut him off from the family money because I wanted him to shape up and make something of himself. Instead, he goes off and becomes a nobody cop.” The senior DiNozzo spoke venomously, setting Gibbs' teeth on edge.
“He had so much potential, but he wasted it. So, trust me, Agent Gibbs, I know my son and he'll never change; he's a lazy, spoiled, obnoxious brat that thinks only of three things: Girls, sports and himself. I swear he has nothing but fluff in between those ears of his and I gave up any hope of him making a name for himself years ago.”
“Well, sir. I suppose you got him just about pegged.” Gibbs spat back sarcastically, crossing his arms. “Yeah, he can be annoying and crass, and maybe he was as you describe him when he was young, but I don't think you really do know him that well anymore. Now, I don't say this lightly and I'm not one to throw compliments around, but what you don't know is that he is one of the finest agents I have ever had the pleasure to work with. He saved my life, on more than one occasion, usually at the risk of losing his own. Did you even know he jumped into a freezing river to get me and another woman out of a car that fell into the water?”
Seeing the look of surprise that flickered over the other man's face, Gibbs continued. “Yeah, your spoiled brat of a son, selflessly put his own life in jeopardy to save mine. He was sick for two weeks after that too because his lungs aren't what they used to be after he nearly died from the plague.... You might remember being informed about that a few years ago if you care to remember.... He should have died then, he was only given about a 15% chance of survival, but he grabbed onto that chance and beat it... Why? Because your lazy son refused to give up.”
“Then there are all of the terrorists, murderers, rapists and other criminals he has put away over the years. Not to mention the Sailors, Marines and civilians he's also saved as well since he came to NCIS. And despite what you think, once you dig past the initial layer of fluff in his head you'd find out that he is way smarter than you would expect and he often makes connections that others don't see. His instincts are better than almost anyone I've ever come across and I for one, am glad he decided to become a nobody cop.”
“Did you come all of this way just to invade my home, insult me and judge my parenting skills, Agent Gibbs? Because if that is the case, then I'll have your badge before you can even make it back to D.C.” DiNozzo threatened.
“Not at all, sir....I was a father and heaven knows I wasn't perfect. I missed out on an awful lot of my daughter's life because of my career... Let's just say that I thought you should know more about the man your son has become and he's a man that deserves your respect. I'm proud of him and I'm not ashamed to say that I am honored to have him on my team.”
“Don't you think you could have just told me all of this over the phone instead of traveling all this way up here?”
“Sure, I could have, but I came here because I had to show you something.”
“And just what do you have to show me?” Gibbs stepped a little closer into the other man's personal space and bored his steely blues into hazel ones.
“That your son's worth the trip.” Gibbs turned to head for the door without another word and left, leaving a dumbfounded Vincent DiNozzo in his wake. He had nothing further he wanted to say to the man. It was all up to Tony's father now to decide what move he would make next.
OOOOOOOOOO
The TV was still on from the movie Tony had been watching before he fell asleep, but he was too tired to wake himself up fully to turn it off. He opted instead to allow the plot of it to incorporate into his dreams, creating some very interesting scenes in his slumbering mind between him in the role of Jimmy Stewart in Rear Window and a blond-headed Ziva as Grace Kelly. However, the weird part didn't come until the zombies showed up- he was pretty sure that didn't happen in the movie the last time he saw it.
Trying to shake off the strange dream, but still on that cusp between being fully asleep and marginally awake, his conscious mind was telling him he should wake up, that he had slept enough, but his body was slow to respond to its demands. Finally managing to break through some of the dense fog in his head, he opened his eyes blearily and looked up to see that the ending credits of the movie were rolling.
Damn!- he slept through the whole thing.
He hated how his pain medication made him so tired all of the time. Even though he was getting better and the pain wasn't as bad as it was the first few days, he just hoped he wouldn't always be dependent on the drugs to make it through the day like he did now. So that morning he decided to try and see how long he could go without them, making it from breakfast until supper before he could stand it no longer and finally gave in and pressed the button for the sweet relief the drugs delivered to him.
But now, that meant he was too loopy to even stay awake for long enough to enjoy being pain-free.
This all just sucked.
Feeling his eyelids wanting to close yet again, the pull of sleep beckoned to him yet again, but a sudden presence filled the room and started speaking, shaking him thoroughly from his drowsiness as he snapped his eyes wide open.
“You're gonna get weird dreams if you keep sleeping with the television on, DiNozzo.” Gibbs flicked off the TV and turned his attention to the younger man.
“You're telling me, I thought you were a zombie there for a moment, Boss.”
“Zombie? I didn't think I looked that bad.”
“No, but now that you mention it, you do look a little peaked. You haven't had any cravings for brains lately, have you?”
“No, but if I did, do you think I would be coming to your room to find some?” Tony grinned a bit from Gibbs' ribbing, but watched with growing concern as the older man took a seat and wearily ran a hand over his face. He looked way beyond tired or even exhausted; he looked old and worn out- a condition that Tony was unaccustomed to seeing in a man that he was certain had never shown a moments vulnerability to anyone.
“Gee, Gibbs. You ever hear of sleeping?”
“I used to before you joined my team and tried to get yourself killed every other week.”
“Ow-That's hitting below the belt, Boss.”
Gibbs slumped slightly and sighed, keeping his eyes centered on the coffee cup in his hands. Something was clearly up and bothering the older man if he was only looking at his coffee instead of drinking it and Tony was almost too afraid to ask. Even though it was like his Boss to normally be reticent and keep most, if not all things to himself, he couldn't help wanting to get to the bottom of things.
“What's going on? New case?” Tony asked.
“No, actually it turns out I'll be off for a little while.”
“You're taking time off?" Tony asked in disbelief "...Am I still asleep?...I must be dreaming...”
“No...I'm suspended.”
“What?” Tony asked, surprised. “What happened?”
“I pissed off the CEO of a fortune 500 company.”
“Ahhh, I see. So, he called the director and now Vance has to make it look like he has some control over you and his agents to these big wigs and gives you a suspension for like what...a couple of days?.”
“Not exactly...It's a week. But, I'll take my lumps. I deserved it....I took off without notice to speak with him.”
“But a week? God, Boss..What did you do, deck the guy?”
“Wanted to...but no...I crossed a line and for purely personal reasons, I tried to show him the truth about his son- that he wasn't as much of a screw-up as he thought that he was and that he didn't have to make money hand over fist to be a success. I explained how he was brave and heroic and had saved many lives-even my own.” Gibbs turned his head Tony's way and made eye contact.
"And most importantly, I told him that he was someone he should be proud to call his son.”
“You got suspended for that?” Tony's fuzzy brain may have been a little slow thanks to the medication and at first he thought Gibbs had been talking about some Marine, but he was catching up pretty quick to what Gibbs was trying to say and he wasn't sure he was liking it very much at all as he put 2 + 2 together. Realization coming to the forefront of his mind, he could feel the color draining out of his face as his boss continued.
“Apparently, he doesn't appreciate surprise, early morning visits or being told that he had been wrong about his son for so many years.”
“So, this CEO guy...He have a name?” Tony asked cautiously after a hard gulp, picking at his blanket and doing his best to play it cool and pretend like he didn't know who Gibbs was talking about and that he wasn't doing his best to hold back the flood-waters of his emotions by sticking his finger in the proverbial dike.
“Of course he does, DiNozzo.” Gibbs shrugged but leaned in closer and spoke softer this time. “But it doesn't matter. I got a feeling that I got through to him even if he didn't like what I had to say...He'll come around eventually.”
“What if....What if this son doesn't want him to...” Tony's voice faltered for a moment until he willed himself to continue speaking. “And what if this son is a little upset that you went and spoke to his father because he's not ready to forgive him and he'd rather the man just stayed as far away as possible?”
“Then I promise I won't let him anywhere near his son.” Gibbs reassured him. “Until he decides the time is right...if ever. But I don't and won't ever feel bad about what I've done.”
Tony nodded as well as he could against the constriction that came across his throat. He wasn't sure how he should be feeling right at the moment. Should he be angry? Sad? Grateful? He was too confused to know.
However, Gibbs made a promise and he never, ever failed to keep his word; at least that was something Tony could count on with certainty even if nothing else in his life right at the moment made any sense whatsoever.
TBC....
The T.A.D. by Angie